Admittedly, there`s still a lot to do to ensure we secure a date with either Ajax or Juventus but the win last night has given us a fleeting chance, even if we`ll need to reverse that poor away form trend of ours.
After the game, Roy Hodgson enthused about events but was quick to point out a fault that blighted our play in the second part of the first half, when he remarked,
“We started quite brightly. But when they started to get their passing game going, the ability they showed obviously got our lads lifting their heads and looking in amazement.”
“Maybe as a result of that sub-consciously we dropped too much off them.”
“We talked about it at half-time and we were determined in the second half to take the game to them. We were able to compete with them and win the game with a wonderful strike from Bobby.”
And as for the result, did I spot a smile as wide as Putney Bridge on that face of his when he commented,
“I`m very happy to have got such a victory against such a good team.”
“I`m just pleased to have taken such a big scalp.”
“We`ve come an awful long way. When we were battling to stay in the league in my first season here, if someone had said, ‘Give it a couple of years and you will be beating Shakhtar Donetsk` I`d have thought they were taking the mickey.”
“But there`s an awful lot left in this tie as we saw how good they were. At least we go there with a one-goal lead and with the chance to make a name for ourselves, although it will be a big ask.”
Confidence but with a hint of realism thrown in from a true gentleman who has done so much for this club of ours!
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