JJ in the middle with devastating effect

[Sir X]

<P align=justify>Colin Todd is not going to let the Valley Parade boo boys grind him down.<P align=justify>Once again he finished a home game under fire from a section of the crowd. And once more, the City boss came out fighting.<P align=justify>The abuse began when he substituted David Graham for Joe Colbeck as City chased a game they were suddenly losing with ten men.<P align=justify>As the board went up, his critics saw the excuse to deliver another damning chorus of "Todd out" from the stands.<P align=justify>But Todd knew what he was doing by throwing on Colbeck on the right wing and pushing Jermaine Johnson into a central attacking role.<P align=justify>Within three minutes, Dean Windass had got his head to a booming goal kick from Donovan Ricketts and JJ stepped on the accelerator before drilling home his fourth goal for the club.<P align=justify>Sam Allardyce had said at the weekend that managers need to develop the skin of a rhinoceros with an elephant on top to deal with all the stick that comes their way these days. But it is only human nature for Todd to stick up a metaphorical two-fingers at the "experts" who had ridiculed his decision to make the switch.<P align=justify>"What delight I had when JJ came up with an equaliser," he beamed. "The majority of our crowd are very very good supporters but you've got the so-called boo boys who think they know better.<P align=justify>"I went with a very positive formation after David Wetherall was sent off. I went to 3-4-2 and kept two attackers on and we salvaged a point from a game that could have been slipping away from us.<P align=justify>"That sort of reaction has happened before - it happens all the time. Those same supporters who are booing wouldn't be cheering or applauding if we were winning games of football.<P align=justify>"They are waiting for things to go against us. At the moment that it is the case but I still remain upbeat that out of adversity we will turn it round."<P align=justify>Adversity does not come any greater than losing your skipper just after half-time.<P align=justify>It wasn't just the shock of being down to ten men once again for the fourth time this term. It was who they lost that left everyone stunned.<P align=justify>Wetherall is the last player you would bet on seeing red. But for the first time in 516 games, he was dismissed for a second yellow card after a clumsy tussle with Damian Spencer - who also didn't make the final whistle following his lunge at Marc Bridge-Wilkinson in the closing minutes.<P align=justify>To add insult to City injury, infuriating referee Rob Lewis awarded a penalty for the foul which appeared to have taken place just outside the area.<P align=justify>Cheltenham captain John Finnigan exacted sweet revenge for the alleged ball-tampering furore with Windass by hammering home the spot-kick, though Donovan Ricketts got both hands to it. Windass had cheekily claimed he'd never heard of Finnigan but he does now.<P align=justify>The afternoon had started much better for Wetherall when he came up with his first goal since that overhead stunner at Walsall back in March.<P align=justify>Bridge-Wilkinson delivered yet another inviting free-kick into the "corridor of uncertainty" between the penalty spot and the goal and Wetherall should have buried the header. He missed completely but fortunately the ball struck an unsuspecting Michael Townsend and despite keeper Shane Higgs' best efforts to push it away, Wetherall reacted to the rebound with what looked a sliding tackle rather than a shot.<P align=justify>A goal up after 15 minutes should have been the springboard for a morale-restoring victory to see off 2006. Especially against a side with the worst away record in the division and who had travelled up from the west country on the morning of the game to save money.<P align=justify>There were bright flashes with Craig Bentham again very prominent in midfield and even David Graham looked interested with a couple of well-weighted passes to sprea

[Tilla]

RE: JJ in the middle with devastating effect

:yawn: :yawn: (sleep) (sleep)

BTW, is what league this again:?: