Y GRIFFINY

Monday 14th April entry

 

Y Griffiny Worldwide Iron presents: Flag day - Sunday 4th May

Ho-hum, the white flag was raised a long time ago by Wharton and his cronies, Adkins became Madkins and we all went to Championship heaven in a little creaky leaky rowing boat clap clap!

Put your underpants on your heads chaps this league one season could put the skids on our Y Griffiny Worldwide Iron campaign to bring supporters old and new together.

Just a reminder that the hugely successful "Flag day" at the last game and afterwards in the Honest Lawyer still goes ahead and the Y Griffiny Worldwide Iron flag will get pride of place in this most wonderful of taverns.

Last year was a triumphant success, talked about for months afterwards, guests included BBC Radio Humberside, Study United, Officials and staff of SUFC, Serbian Iron, Japan Iron, Australian Iron and Cliff Byrne but what made it special mainly was the camaraderie and spirit of decent loyal fans having a slurred chat and a sing-song, united in their joy.

It may be a sombre affair at the match this year with the short excursion into the Championship having been a poor effort for SUFC but the fans deserve a day just for them.

Enter flag day.......see last year's efforts click here.

Wednesday 19th March entry

 

Well Y Griffiny will ignore the recent results to concentrate on a time before this, a time full of sadness and as usual, ahead of it's time. Y Griffiny knew, and it was painful to accept.

 

For​​ the​​ fir​​st tim​​e in my SUF​​C lif​​e i was​​ ash​​ame​​d, dej​​ect​​ed and​​ una​​ble​​ to put​​ a sma​​rt spi​​n on a bad​​ sit​​uat​​ion​​. The​​ pho​​ne ran​​g, The​​ Obs​​erv​​er,​​ i swi​​tch​​ed it off​​, i wan​​ted​​ to go hom​​e, not​​ eve​​n the​​ loc​​al inn​​ cou​​ld con​​sol​​e me now​​.



Ano ​the​r rub​bis​h hom​e gam​e, ano​the​r was​ted​ thr​ee poi​nts​, ano​the​r hal​f of a gam​e was​ted​ pla​yin​g hoo​fba​ll try​ing​ to han​g on to a one​ goa​l lea​d. It cou​ld be one​ of man​y hom​e gam​es but​ i rem​emb​er thi​s one​ as the​ day​ Y Gri​ffi​ny gav​e up on the​ Cha​mpi​ons​hip​.



Rub​bis​h Adk​ins​, rub​bis​h Wha​rto​n, rub​bis​h the​ lot​ of you​. Bla​me som​eon​e els​e if you​ lik​e but​ you​ nev​er eve​n had​ the​ gut​s to giv​e it a go,​ tha​t is a ter​rib​le leg​acy​ to pas​s on to the​ nex​t gen​era​tio​n.



Cow​ard​ice​ on all​ fro​nts​.



Cow​ard​ice​, spi​n and​ BS.​



No-​one​ bel​iev​es any​thi​ng you​ say​ any​mor​e SUF​C.



Up you​rs.​



Y Griffiny

 

 

Saturday 15th March entry

Please check out our new updates in the links on the left, Y Griffiny TV is a smashing waste of time if you are staying home listening to the wireless coverage of the Iron away at QPR. Also, for those of you living on the moon the new Y Griffiny video has been released so check that out too here.

Keep it Y Griffiny guy and gals, if it's Y Griffiny it's in, enjoy.

 

Monday 28th January entry


We have finally waved the white flag, or rather Steve Wharton has. In a shocking and dismal transfer window for the Iron absolutely no ambition has been shown and the current squad look disjointed, dejected, resigned to their capitulation and impending relegation. Without a leadership of strength and investment the current Iron squad are in freefall from the Championship and there are doubts whether the support will recover their belief and faith in Scunthorpe United FC and the current set-up. It was a dream come true for most fans to see their team in the second tier and doing rather well too, sadly the board failed to capitalise on the great start handed to them by the players and we are now paying a horrible price for their failure and tight-fisted stance, Wharton may have under-estimated the public opinion in Scunthorpe ranks when proudly announcing he would be a "Scrooge". Disgraceful, shocking waste Steve.


Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!


Tuesday 4th December entry

Scunthorpe 1 Blackpool 1

The day after the night before and Y Griffiny feels the need to comment on the home game against our bogey team Blackpool shown via satellite around the world, unlike the passion lacking performances that we have seen recently the Iron side that took the field against Blackpool were intent on winning and in style it seemed, the first 45 minutes saw Scunthorpe play good football to feet and totally out think the Seasiders in an attacking sense, what followed was an end to end football match with much incident, controversy and a right old ding dong with both sides playing decent stuff at times.

Jack Cork was certainly showing why Adkins should strike while this particular Iron is hot with showing the sort of form and class that Andy Keogh showed two seasons ago. Forget the result if you can, although badly needing a win to stave off the very real threat of relegation the Iron showed promise aplenty but lacking in real cutting edge to finish the casino of Great Britain off. Many problems have been glaringly obvious in this Scunthorpe squad this season but as a short term answer surely we should be preparing to act now in time for January, if scoring goals is the cancer eating away at the league table for the Iron then Y Griffiny has sort of found a cure......here it is:




Not my words Adkins but the words of the Scunthorpe Telegraph no less, at aged 28 the young-ish striker Matthew Marshall is showing the sort of form to dispel any criticism of being too old, past it, untested at league level etc..etc.

This young-ish man marshalled the BAPP Scunthorpe team to a outstanding victory in the prestigious World BAPP club championships and now is trampling all over the Sunday Leagues score-sheets with his keen eye for goal and non-stop work-rate, except when actually at work that is.

So join the Y Griffiny bandwagon once again and say it loud and say it proud: Marshall for Scunthorpe!! C'mon Adkins, get down to the park of a Sunday, earn your money and unearth a chrome-plated gem, failing that, sign this Marshall chap up.

C'mon who's playing Park Idol? Lets find a star!!

Y Griffiny fans: Seen any slightly portly, untested or clearly drunk chap knocking them in during your Sunday strolls around the Saturday/Sunday leagues, send us a pic and a brief description and we'll pass the details on to Nigel Adkins via the world-wide-web.

Also, if you happen to think you can play the midfield anchorman role, have passing ability, shooting prowess and can tackle hard but fairly Y Griffiny would like to hear from you, send your vital statistics on a postcard to Y Griffiny Towers clearly marked with the tag-line "If Goodwin can play for Scunthorpe, so can i!!"

Cheerio for now!


Sunday 14th November entry

It was a cold miserable day by the sea for the Iron faithful who travelled to witness the poorest display of Adkins' time in the hotseat with a 1-0 loss, bizarre substitutions and tactics by the fan's favourite sent the Scunthorpe United bandwagon into the bottom half of the table and raised heartbeat of every Iron fan who looked upon the league table. Shaleum Logan was to be the only shining beacon of hope in this rather predictable drab-fest.

Saturday the 3rd November entry

Alas, not even the flashing switchblades of Kelly Youga or the great touch of the master U19 International Jack Cork could save this horror-show from being a total shutout. Crystal Palace came to defend and the Iron midfield lacked the cutting edge to put the eagles defence to the sword.

It was in a hotly contested affair throughout, and although Scunthorpe United looked the better team, time and time again the ball flashed disappointingly into the final third to no end result, i do believe there was not a decent effort of note to test either keeper in the game. 

We all need to look hard and critically at this game, as it should be looked upon as two points dropped and the Iron management team should be working hard on strategies for unlocking the stubborn defences that aim to fight a staid battle in order to gain ground.

Come on, whose slicing the back four with the finely polished Katana of a master? No-one sadly, change it Adkins!!

Up the Iron, the journey continues!


Sunday 28th October entry

On this fine day in Cardiff the men of Iron were facing a mighty spending force of Wales with such big rumbling artillery as Robbie Fowler, Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink and Trevor Sinclair in their ranks it was going to be a tough ask for the Claret and blue army to hold back the tide of attack. However, Scunthorpe United proved once again that fear of reputation has no place on the field of battle and rightly took the attack into the Bluebirds' nest. With force and guile, openings were fashioned and squandered in the first half for the Iron, this folly was to be punished in the form of McPhail who flicked Cardiff ahead on 37 minutes.

However this Iron team is no pushover once knocked down but who would have thought that the saviour of the day would be under-fire midfielder Jim Goodwin, Goodwin has faced flak in abundance from supporters for below par performances over the last few weeks but the fire of an indignant soul must have burned deep into his heart as he rocketed a scorching equaliser from Hurst's cross on 55 minutes, cometh the hour cometh the man hath ne'er a truer word been spoken? A good point and well deserved.

 

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

 

--Rudyard Kipling

Wednesday 24th October entry

Many might have thought that like the Allies' attempt to break through German lines in the battle of Arnhem, Hillsborough might be a bridge too far for the Iron, with Brian Laws under immense pressure to gain a result for the Owls in order to retain his creaky, rickety status in the hot-seat that he so desired.

And so the battle of Hillsborough followed, 3500 war-bitten veterans of the Scunthorpe United cause gathered with menace and bitterness in their souls to sound an echoing battle cry around the Leppings lane end of Sheffield Wednesday's heartland, and so it began with the "Nigel Adkins' Barmy Army!" chant spitting bile from every pore of the stand with pride and somewhat cunningly directed at the stands in which Laws was bunkered in deep no doubt.

This was personal, this was a proud town's backlash and a show of strength was needed. The game was scrappy and fought hard with tackles flying in from both sides which allowed no fluency to the game, one suspects this was to be the Owls undoing. They had a deserved penalty coolly dispatched by Deon Burton in the 17th minute after a Jim Goodwin nightmare in the penalty area, but 2 minutes later the Iron soldiers of fortune defied the odds yet again with Paterson stabbing a ball shaped bayonet into Laws' ribs making it 1-1.

In the 40th minute the troops in the Leppings lane seats had their wicked way, with the modern day "Irish Rambo" Paterson stepping up once again with a superb conversion of a Taylor cross to cause a near Krakatoa east of Java in the away enclosure. "Lawsy, Lawsy, what's the score?" the delighted following taunted gleefully.

The taunts and jeers towards the Iron's ex-dictator continued through the night despite a scrappy and uneventful second half following the half-time break with neither side looking dangerous or threatening despite ridiculous possession conceded by Scunthorpe, but no-one cared, the main thing was 3 points and a dejected and lonely looking figure standing in the Sheffield Wednesday "technical" area.

The defensive formation and lack of midfield creation or width may have frustrated Iron fans but thankfully the blue and white artillery were woefully off target  with many a "high wide and handsome" chance squandered and sent every man jack of the Scunthorpe following home happy. Job done!

The joyful chant of "You're getting sacked in the morning! You're getting sacked in the morning!" will echo in the mind of Brian Laws for some time i expect.

Ho ho!

Y Griffiny indeed.




Sheffield Wednesday not pictured [Snigger]



Sunday 21st October entry

Poor entertainment was Y Griffiny's view of the match served up for the instant noodle generation watching on SKY. Leicester were terrible and Scunthorpe failed to find a killer blow as the problems in midfield creation continued, the Iron were on top for most of the game but that really isn't saying much for this game as the high bombs and channel balls were aplenty.

The catching practice for both keepers continued throughout this dire fare, despite Hume being sent off for persistant fouls and uncontrolled aggression this could hardly have been considered entertainment.

Scunthorpe really must do more to stay in this division than sheer workrate and trench warfare, we are being found out constantly in the guile and technique department and Y Griffiny begs the bigwigs to halt the slide in performances with proven classy additions to the midfield.

Y Griffiny expects.....

Saturday 6th October entry

Well having just got back from witnessing the destruction of my team i could be forgiven for being mournful and depressed but Watford showed real quality and were deserved winners to be honest.

Watching the first twenty minutes was akin to the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan with the Iron forces being totally out gunned and lacking in control. The heavy artillery of gold and black threatened to slaughter the troops in their own backyard, and so it came to pass.

The determined Scunthorpe fightback came in the latter stages of the first half and Forte's clever chip was to die for, however Watford continued their dominance in the second half and the Iron wilted badly under the pressure.

Overall the Iron must do better at this level if they are to survive and quality players are needed to assure this great status for any length of time.

Ho hum.



Wednesday 3rd October entry

A mild night in Norwich provided much more of a storm than the scoreline suggested actually, with the Iron peppering the Canaries defence with light artillery and Norwich responding with the heavy shelling of a long ball game directed to the marauding shape of Darren Huckerby.

Despite their threatening shape and pillaging forces, the men of green and yellow failed to make any ground against the stubborn force of the resilient Iron back four, when changes were needed Adkins sent his men into battle with no fear and a real home fire in their belly.

The introduction of  Izzy Iriekpen was truly a master-stroke as the men sporting Alan Partridge's finest clobber were in danger of making Cliff Byrne lose his cool when cool heads were desperately needed.

In the retrospective view of a battle well fought, 0-0 was a fair outcome of a game lacking in real heroic "over the top" attitude to decide the three points.

Scunthorpe United will return to their barracks truly satisfied in their endeavours i'm sure.

Watford are next to test the Glanford Park fortress gates and a full house of baying locals will be there quite willing to witness the destruction of a household name.

Bring on the play-offs!!!!

Monday 1st October entry

Twas an ordinary day in football folklore as the Iron trojan horse rumbled ominously into Colchester. The Scunthorpe team sat prepared for a battle, prepared and silent in their contemplation of what would greet them at the gates of Layer road.

One man was to settle this contest, his flashing golden locks and sword forged of deft, unassuming Iron will was to cut a deep gorge in the side of popular opinion with achilles-esque brutality.

With the superb touch of a footballer at the top of his game Paul Hayes struck dumb the voices of dissension in the fan's ranks and proved once again that quality in the battle is of utmost importance and a finely polished sword and the skills of a master can overthrow the walls of the most stubborn of defences.

Colchester 0 Scunthorpe 1

Be still my beating heart as the heady heights of sixth place are upon us.




Sunday 22nd September entry

Well Scunthorpe challenged the big guns this Saturday and were right royally shelled into submission it was a gallant fight full of spunk and determination but the best team won unfortunately.

West Brom punished the Iron for their folly at times and this was the difference between the two teams, how Barraclough and Goodwin deserve a place in the midfield is beyond me, creativity and guile still missing from the centre of the green, but i'm not picking the team, Barraclough is, only kidding chaps!

Get Cork and Morfaw in for god's sake Adkins!

However i digress, Paterson was superb again, causing endless problems left, right and centre of the last third, Youga showed his talent well once again and the entire Scunthorpe United team certainly showed the fight and spirit in the last ten minutes to prove that this battle ain't over until it's over, lets just pick the best method of operation, eh Nige?


Wednesday 19th September entry

Well, well, well. Just as you think the season maybe taking a turn for the worse, Adkins' army treat the fans to a blood and guts performance of epic and dramatic proportions with a sending off for Preston, a penalty save by Murphy and a two-one victory of immense value and significance.

Martin Paterson showed his battle weary troops the way with many single-handed patrols into enemy territory, armed only with his boots and sheer aggression.

He even paved the way for Paul Hayes to fire a gut-wrenching blow to the visitors netting four minutes into the second half, such is this young man's influence.

Murphy also held the back line with fearless intensity beating away all the enemy contact including a good save from from striker Patrick Agyemang and he threw himself at full-stretch to turn away a stinging drive from  Darren Carter.

The bombardment toward the end was heavy but this team is not unused to this kind of battle, it shows character, hope and belief in the will and human spirit that will win many battles like this to come.

All these characteristics will be tested on Saturday with the visit of West Bromwich Albion, but i see no quivering of lips, no cowardice in the face of mighty forces, vanquish we can and vanquish we will.

Y Griffiny

Martin Paterson's anger management!!
Martin Paterson's anger management!!
Martin Paterson's anger management!!

Up the Iron.

Oh, and don't forget to check out the Keegan interview just added to the links on the nav bar, it really is good stuff. Keegan as a 17 year old trainee and training at Quibell park, top stuff.

That's the way to head a ball kids!

Sunday 16th September entry

Well as the fruit of the horse chestnut tree fell and spiked the veins of the Y Griffiny fan outside the Honest Lawyer we might have been forgiven for thinking this was some kind of all conquering omen, well we set off aboard the Iron Union coaches with gladness in our hearts and the spirit of young Billy Casper in our souls.


The day however sadly failed to live up to the working class fairytale expected for the strong following of Iron faithful who sang their hearts out for the spunky, gutsy performance given by the eleven men of Iron for the entirety of the first forty five minutes in which Scunthorpe United thoroughly dominated the lacklustre Barnsley mob, who were distinctly lacking in direction, ideas and energy.


Sadly after the desperately unlucky first goal at the near stroke of half-time in which Crosby bizarrely blasted the ball into Williams' backside and the ball looped over a despairing dive by Joe Murphy the heads began to drop and it was clear that the uncompromising and ugly approach to the tykes' football was going to prove too much for the Iron.


The total football approach was dropped for a more direct approach by Adkins later in the second half and this sealed Scunthorpe's fate, they were never going to match the Barnsley team in the arena that they know best and a poor second half with the heavy handed Odejayi pressing and out-muscling the Iron defence for his first goal for his new club to make it two nil.


The 2-0 result told a sad but fair reflection of the game and the signs of the lack of creativity in midfield were no more evident than in this game for Adkins. With a squad as threadbare as his, it must be only a matter of days before the next loan signing is brought in.

Honourable mentions must go to Martin Paterson, looking like a modern day Rambo, complete with his all stopping thousand yard stare, he was terrorising the Barnsley defence with his usual kestrel like predatory instinct and his manic, post traumatic stress disorder madness in the penalty box for the entirety of his time on the pitch. Adkins...why take him off? Legend.

Kelly Youga was outstanding for the whole 90 minutes with his solid pacey defending, double switchblade attacking style and entertaining duels with his opposite number, it truly was a joy to behold in an otherwise poor performance.

C'mon Adkins make the changes and lets make them permanent! Why is Goodwin still on the pitch? What is wrong with young Cork? He has to be a better passer and get some bloody creativity in midfield, this should have been sorted out long ago.

The battlefield has seen it's first major outbreak of trenchfoot and the sullen, battle weary soldiers must summon all their pluck and guile to outwit enemies of dastardly shelling and might, but this enemy is full of cowardice, with much diving, feigning injury and complaining, so hit them where it hurts Iron, push on with all the might you can muster! Use the trickery and skill of the sword and silence the big guns forever.

They don't like it up 'em so shove it right up 'em!

Up the freaking Iron!!

 

Up the bloody Iron indeed Graham!

 

"This is your team, your championship." - Andy Crosby.


Y Griffiny!

RIP Jack Haigh.