Norwich 1 – Colchester 7
As an Ipswich Town supporter, I don’t wish Norwich City too much good fortune. Who in Suffolk does?
But for Norwich to go lose by seven goals to one on the first day of the season shows there must be some problems at the club. Unless of course they had seen that Ipswich were playing tomorrow and thought they were as well. So half their players didn’t turn up!
I just looked on the Internet and they beat Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in a warm up match. That wasn’t too bad or are Palace even worse!
Delia Smith seems to have created a wonderfully chaotic new pudding!
There’s Always Hope
I just had to post a link to this heartwarming tale.
A professional footballer, Robert Hughes, was left paralysed after an attack in Crete in June 2008. It was felt he was unlikely to walk again and he had no recollection of the last ten years. But now, he is playing football again and has just signed a contract with Welling United.
Well done to all concerned. And of course best wishes to Robert and his friends and family.
Name the North Stand after Sir Bobby
There is a movement to rename the North Stand at Portman Road after Sir Bobby Robson. BBC Radio Suffolk is backing the call and there is also a group on Facebook.
I think this would be a good idea.
Roy Keane’s Ipswich
Roy Keane may or may not have a hard job to do as manager at Ipswich Town. They played bright football against Real Valladolid on Friday night, with Lee Martin, Pim Balkestein, Jon Stead and Connor Wickham looking particularly bright. I do sometimes wonder that Jim Magilton had two problems; it was a difficult transition from player to manager, as possibly he was too close to them and he didn’t have the contacts amongst other managers when it came to transfers.
Keane has none of those problems.
Certainly it seems his start has been easy.
But his biggest advantage is that just like Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson before him, he will succeed or fail on what happens on the pitch. The people of Suffolk will probably keep quiet about any off field problems, just as they have done in the past. The London media also always finds Ipswich far to far to come for a story.
My Money’s on a Draw
Well it isn’t as I’m not betting. But it’s raining in Birmingham now and it looks like it will rain most of the day today and then again on Monday.
No wonder the Draw is now 10/3 on with Paddy Power.
Remembering Sir Bobby at Ipswich
Last night I went to Portman Road to see Ipswich play Real Valladolid. I’d always intended to go, but because of the death of Sir Bobby Robson, I went a little earlier. There’s also the advantage that if you get the timing right you can park for free in places near to the ground. I parked in Berners Street which goes up the old Ipswich Hospital in Anglesey Road. It’s a lovely old building and I wonder how many of the new hospitals we recently built will look so good when they are a hundred years old.
I also went past the pub and the offices where I spent time as I designed and wrote the software system that made my reputation and most of my money in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Queen's Head
Like many other pubs it is now closed. They changed the name to The Victoria, but that didn’t seem to help. I still remember Ron Topple’s pies, which we used to eat every day for lunch. All that gluten! Would my life have been better, if I’d been diagnosed as a coeliac early. Nobby and I spent a lot of time in the bar there discussing software and the finer things of life.
Pearl Assurance House
The offices were actually quite nice and I think I worked there for perhaps about three years before we moved most of the development to the other side of the town.
I was surprised how quiet the town was with just a few people drinking outside cafes in the sun. Even the pub I had a drink in was virtually empty. Sky was playing a news feed about Sir Bobby.
There was a crowd around Sir Bobby’s statue in Portman Road.
Crowds in Portman Road
Stuart White of the BBC was interviewing a very interesting lady, Pat Godbold. She was secretary not only to Sir Bobby R9obson and also to Sir Alf Ramsey. They always say that behind every great man is a great woman. But can any secretary lay claim to be behind two such legends? She actually served every manager from Sir Alf to George Burley.
Stuart White and Pat Godbold
She has an amazing tale to tell. This sad story in The Independent shows the true side of Sir Bobby’s character. It also shows how we can forget our heroes.
Sir Bobby’s statue was bedecked in scarves and flowers.
Sir Bobby's Statue
Tributes Under the Statue
I do have a video of Pat and Stuart White and I may put it up. But I suspect there’ll be a much better version on the BBC tonight.
The football was a bit of an anticlimax and I thought the crowd would have been larger. But Ipswich won 3-1, with a couple of good goals from Pim Balkestein and Connor Wickham. The third was one of the best own goals I’d seen in years.
Flags at Half Mast for Sir Bobby
Onions Does the Business
England’s revival in the Edgbaston test after their poor showing yesterday, would seem to owe a lot to the first two balls of the day, where Graham Onions took two wickets.
Now Onions is from Gateshead and plays for Durham, so like Sir Bobby Robson he is a born-and-bred Geordie. It is also well known that Sir Bobby loved his cricket, was often seen at Test matches and helped fellow Durham player, Steve Harmison, with his attitude to the game. According to Mickey Stewart he was no mean cricketer himself.
So were those first two balls for Sir Bobby?
What Would WG Grace Have Done?
Yesterday, Andrew Strauss had a chance to reduce the Australian team to ten men before a ball was bowled. But in the spirit of fair play, he allowed them to change their wicket-keeper.
What would all those hard and legendary England captains of the past have done?
Farewell Sir Bobby!
It has just been announced that Sir Bobby Robson has died.
He gave everyone a lot of pleasure and I don’t think he ever made an enemy.
How many people can you say that about?
Football Starts
I’ll be off to Portman Road to see Ipswich take on Real Valladolid tonight. It’s only a friendly, but it passes an evening.
Whether this season will be any better than the last few, I don’t know, but one has to live in hope.
Since my wife died, football has been very much a crutch, in that in trips to Portman Road, I’ve been very much amongst friends. And when I take the occasional foray to an away match, it’s an opportunity to lose myself in something trivial.
I’ll have to drive to Ipswich though. Guess what! The trains are on strike. But for evening matches they don’t put on a return train to Newmarket, as the last train stops at Bury St. Edmunds.
The Anonymous Widower 