Back to the minibus we went with a cracking old school crowd , which meant a no holds bar level of banter on both journeys ... Tune wise it was the Shrimp man who stood up to the plate first and a new level of technology was reached with a Bluetooth I-pod being used.. Impressive !!... A mix cd from the Merthyr day out was also sourced plus the usual Dance tunes for the journey home to warm up the dancers and lovers on the bus... !!
After getting misplaced we toured Wellington (Telford's original footballing name until the new town swallowed it up)Eventually we spotted the ground hidden behind a hotel and parked up at the cost of £2 English pounds... Then the fun began... The steward assigned to us had to get clearance for us to get off the bus ... WTF? So we were asked to stay on the bus ..and then we were not allowed in the same bar as our other fans and were directed to a home bar !! We think you may cause trouble so we will put you in a small home bar not the main one ??
The ground was impressive if not finished .. They refused to open the bar in the stand for us but did manage the food part in the end.The excuse they had been told we would only have 20 fans at the game .. Even for Gateshead on a Tuesday night we managed that many ... Muppets .
Continuing in the same direction we counted 35 stewards in the ground at one point... now that must be the highest in the league by far.
The game was all huff and puff and little else of any interest. We worked hard and kept them at bay until the schoolboy injury time defending.Good goal for the boy Dwyer..Renton looked miles away from fitness in fact the word oaf was used to describe him on the journey home ., harsh ? only maybe.It was an impressive away support with the scarfers joining in with the old standard songs... Some song writing is needed ... please send me suggestions.
Whether the man Keith has a wire tap on our bus i am not sure but much of his comments reflect conversations that were held on the bus.Perhaps we should be manager, as a co-op.
I felt more than happy with a point in the end although several of those around me were more than gutted and took solace in the bottle for the journey home.
I would like to give thanks to the steward that got the police nosing around our van and got me pulled over for a chat about the big brother laws in this country. Cheers bud ... But he was a blue nose with some common sense..( yeah really ) Taking beer from us is like taking sweets from a child .. the reaction would of been interesting to say the least and a night out in Telford would of been the result without doubt.. Good times !!
Superb fish and chips in Thrapston on the way home ... Visit Bens Chippy if passing always excellent and yeah i did get free food to say this ..
Onto Solihull tonight and hopefully the full 3 points to edge closer to safety ... See you There ...
As a footnote .. anyone else get a little creeped out by the behaviour of the steward that was giving art classes to sheep head and his pals ?
10.3.09
Telford Away
Bearsuit - More soul than Wigan Casino
All 3 bands last night were equally good in different ways ...
Chew lips .. oozing new band full of coolness & attitude with great synth tunes....Great front lady ... very cute indeed in an out of reach way.Bless she watched most of the HB stood just in front of me after gently pushing in .. of course i let her in !!
Joy F -very good even with a few sounds hitches .. real attitude backed up with powerful tunes ..
Howling Bells - very good as well , Juanita is amazing as the front woman ... great new atmospheric tunes from both albums .. the new LP is very good .
All in all a great night out with a sell out crowd who were very quiet but appreciative ... No moshing at all ..
It seemed a very grown up crowd.Is that a bad thing ? I am not sure .
Onto the next gig on Sunday and Bearsuit plus the Brownies ... with Bearsuit using it as a fundraiser for their SXSW excursions next week hopefully without any deportations this time ..
9.3.09
Catch up time ...Redditch Away
A good win against a very poor side that we nearly let back into the game in the last 20 min's ...well until Bradley Thomas showed great timing in his headlock release and as the referee turned to look got a little slap in retaliation .... I wonder if tells jokes with such great timing ??
A tin pot ground that looks like it has struggled over the years with a gazebo over the far bit of seating.An odd cheap musty bar that kept us in Magners... I had a chance to escape the driving as the Fighter and the shoe salesman took their vehicles.Funniest thing of the day was the Fighter parking his car getting in as a kid then buying a beer ... Quality Jibbing ...
A Good turn out of fans witnessed another poor game but 3 points that were needed.
My Memory is shot on the rest but very little was memorable...
Another Gig calls
This time the wonderful Aussie group "The Howling Bells" supporting by the gonna be huge this summer "Joy Formidable" plus the hotly tipped "Chew Lips" as support also ... Its gonna be a cool night at the Norwich Arts Centre especially with the gig selling out 2 weeks ago... Good Times ...
Video is very cool have a watch
8.3.09
Southport , Harrogate & Hucknall at Home
Catch up time .... Lets see how the memory is
Southport ... well a good battle and a well earned point that helped towards survival ... can't remember too much about the game but i seem to sort of think that we should of put away early chances but a draw was a fair result.
Harrogate ... An abject last 15 minutes meant that we threw away the points when they should of being long secured... Lots of positives apart from Murray losing it ( after several good displays ) in the last ten minutes & being rooted to the spot for the free kick , Chapman showing why his recent departure is not a loss when he again conceded a free kick in a dangerous position..This is the game when Webb lost Joe Francis for the club by slating him in the dressing room for not passing to Mitchell to maybe make the score 3-0... and then following this up in the radio later .... Management skills ?? Guess the defending and goalkeeping were adequate then !!
Hucknall..... Thanks to whoever woke me up when the game ended ?
A quote after this game in the press was that as long as he was manager at the club then Francis would still be at athe club...
Is our manager a Man of his Word ?
Gaslight Anthem
Gaslight Anthem played in Norwich last Monday along without support from Frank Turner and The Polar Bear club ...
Polar Bear club were good in there own way but in truth i missed half of the set getting there late and getting a beer ... Frank was on his own and played a storming set ....He deserves to be huge and the third LP out later in the year may will be his launching pad ...Check him out on YouTube or google ...Quality... He is also at loads of festivals and has a full tour in October ... Cambridge Junction being our nearest date on Oct 23rd.
Gaslight Anthem were pure rock n roll .... A band who looked like they were enjoying every second of being on stage,playing tunes that were sing along , danceable and oozing with quality ... This is another band that deserve much bigger stage ...and not just the lazy comparisons to the utterly shit Killers .. Good times
Apologies
Firstly apologies for the blog going off line for a few weeks ... I initially took it off so that i did not get involved in any arguments / discussions over the Chinn affair and the perilous state of the clubs finances .. Much of what has been said has been wholly inaccurate and i did not wish to play a part in this .
I am now back and will catch up on the last few weeks games and add my two Penney towards what has happened and where i think we should go forward ..
10.2.09
Time for an Eighties Classic
Simple Minds - Promised you a miracle
7.2.09
4.2.09
3.2.09
1.2.09
Gateshead at Home
Were the players drug tested after the game ?
That could not of been the same basic set of players that i have been watching over the last 3 months.Where did the passion,ability to defend and to play football again suddenly resurface from and will it be carried forward to the next few games?
Well that is the negativity out of the way for a while....
Yesterday was a very good, controlled ,creative and passionate performance with the side led with by the main man Mark Peters...why didn't he start at Tamworth instead of the inadequate Crane?
Mark Peters was immense in everything he did ... He led the side,directed it and guess told the other players how to play... He may as well of been the player manager.Now there's an idea !!!
Mitchell .. what a star.. worked his arse off and gave Johnson the space to improve his game... We even learnt the lesson that if you give JJ some quality he may well do something with it.... Even the ego that is Frew played ok .... Does he have a pump in his shorts to keep that chest puffed out like some male cockatoo trying to attract a mate...?
Mark Camm also quality .....
Is this the turning of the corner ?...How much credit should i give the manager ? None yet is the answer,yesterday looked like it was totally down to the players..
Credit where credit is due... we played very well... big round of applause from me ........ and yes i am still clapping.
I expected nothing and i am still smiling at the result but to coin a pair of cliches as Keith will in the papers tomorrow ..One swallow does not make a summer and also was yesterday just papering over the cracks...??
