A Good Day
Seeing Tornado was the start of a good day.
I then took a Virgin Train to Manchester Piccadilly, where I had lunch at Carluccio’s in the station before going to the Reebok stadium to see Ipswich Town at Bolton. Town won 2-1, which was a good result, just like England’s victory in the rugby over New Zealand Although a friend had his pocket picked at Twickenham.
Coming back wasn’t the best part as the train from Bolton to Manchester was just three coaches and far too crowded. This was then followed by a Virgin that was empty in First Class and nearly half-an-hour late into Euston. If you’re going to get problems coming in to London, you can generally rely on Euston to not perform.
Although I eventually found some supper there, Marks and Spencer at Euston, looked as if it had been ravaged by a plague of locusts.
I do wish that someone starts a London to Manchester service from St. Pancras after the line is electrified. But they won’t be allowed to as you mustn’t annoy Saint Richard! Although to be fair, the lateness wasn’t down to Virgin.
The day was also improved as Chelski lost! On the train and in Bolton, no-one had any sympathy for them!
Dutch Footballer In The S-h-1-T
I first heard this story on Radio 5, where it caused a lot of hilarity. Mainly about the Dutch word, wildpoepen, for which there is no English equivalent.
The story is in full, in the Mirror.
Why Can’t I Buy Tickets For England v Brazil?
I’ve bought tickets for England home games in the past, but I can’t even get logged in as a registered England fan to even see if I can purchase tickets. I just get a message saying.
According to our records, you are not eligible to purchase tickets for this event.
I suspected that this could be because I have moved house, since I last bought a ticket.
So I registered as a new England fan at my new address and tried again. And what happened?
I got the same message again.
I wonder why I’m not allowed to buy tickets. I have e-mailed them and guess what? I’ve not received any reply at all.
So it could be that FA doesn’t stand for Football Association, but something else.
Or could it be that I’m too old? Or perhaps someone with the same name as me, is on a banned list?
All I want is a ticket for myself and a couple for friends.
By the time that I get logged in, they might all have gone!
I think, I’ll reach for my solicitor if that happens. I think my human rights have been abused.
BT Will Setup BT Sport On The Olympic Park
There was good news today for Hackney, when BT said that they will run their BT Sport operation from the Broadcast Centre on the Olympic Park. It’s all here on the BBC.
As BSkyB is also London-based, does it not look to have been a bad decision to move BBC Sport to Manchester?
Fabrice Muamba Shows How To Come Back
Fabrice Muamba has made a remarkable recovery from his collapse on the pitch at White Hart Lane, where his heart stopped for 78 minutes.
He’s now going to appear on Strictly Come Dancing at Christmas.
I suspect now that Fabrice will be unlikely t0 die from any form of heart disease, as his doctors will watch him like a hawk and give him the best of care.
The New Chelsea Manager Has Been Given A Contract To 2015
That’s not three years, but about three hours as I write.
Iron Bars
I know it is a serious matter, but it is being reported that Spurs supporters have been attacked in Rome using iron bars. It’s here on the BBC web site. This is an extract.
The owner of the bar, Mario Manzi, told the BBC: “At 1am there were around 30 English fans here, plus some American students, and some Italians.
“At some point, from around the corner, some 40 guys, all wearing helmets, faces covered with scarves, came here, destroyed that window, and came in.
“The English people hid behind here, and everything was destroyed. There were rocks, iron bars, everything.”
He said: “The English fans were very calm, they weren’t even drunk, then these men with heads covered came barging in throwing cobblestones. They had clubs and metal rods. It lasted about 20 minutes.”
Now where do you get iron bars from? Not that I want to get any. But it does seem to be an expression used with violence.
Abramovitch Revolves The Door Again
Roman Abramovitch has sacked another manager at Chelsea. What a way to run a football club? Especially, as it seems to be generally accepted that stability in football leads to success.
I suppose the only winner is Roberto di Matteo, as he’ll probably be well paid.
But it doesn’t alter the fact that Chelsea are rapidly becoming a joke in the mind of many!
Some of the statements on the BBC’s web site get straight to the point.
Colin Bundred has said “How is it possible to be Champions of Europe and the joke of the football world at the same time? Sad really.”
And then Post and In give it the treatment.
I wonder if Roman Abramovitch is going to sue everybody who is criticising him on Twitter. If he is, every lawyer in the UK, will be rubbing their hands. I suspect the Americans will lend us a few lawyers if we need help.
The Worst Football Match I’ve Seen In Years
I went to Leicester yesterday to see Ipswich play.
What a waste of time and money!
I’ve not seen my team play so badly, since in the 1960s, when I saw Spurs lose 5-1 at Manchester United. But that was worse as I was standing by myself in the pouring rain on an open terrace.
Ipswich yesterday seemed to throw the match away.
If they want to go down, they can go down without me.
Football Grounds Of Clubs Who’ve Won A European Or UEFA Cup
This is another idea, that might be easier. Only clubs, that have won the European Cup, Champions League, Cup Winners Cup or UEFA Cup qualify.
Aberdeen
Amsterdam – Ajax
Anderlecht
Barcelona
Belgrade – Red Star
birmingham – Aston Villa
Bremen – Werder
Bratislava – Slovan
Bucharest – Steaua
Donetsk – Shaktar
Dortmund – Borussia
Eindhoven – PSV
Florence – Fiorentina
Frankfurt – Eintract
Gelsenkirchen – Schalke
Genoa – Sampdoria
Glasgow – Celtic and Rangers
Gottenburg
Hamburg
Ipswich
Istanbul – Galatasary
Kiev – Dynamo
Leverkusen – Bayer
Lisbon – Benfica and Sporting
Liverpool – Everton and Liverpool
London – Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United
Madrid – Athletico and Real Madrid
Magdeburg
Manchester – City and United
Marseille
Mechelen
Milan – AC and Internazionale
Monchengladbach – Borussia
Moscow – CSKA
Munich – Bayern
Naples – Napoli
Notts Forest
Oporto – Porto
Paris – PSG
Parma
Rome – Lazio
Rotterdam – Feyenoord
St. Petersburg – Zenit
Seville
Stuttgart
Tbilisi
Turin – Juventus
Villarreal
Valencia
Zragoza – Real
I got all of these from this list in Wikipedia.
The Anonymous Widower 