A Disappointing Result at the Morgue
I went in hope to Chelski for the FA Cup match with Ipswich. I returned very disappointed, as it seemed that the Town players virtually gave up after thirty minutes.
Inside Stamford Bridge
Chelski may have an impressive stadium, but I wasn’t very impressed with the pitch and it certainly wasn’t up to the standard at Portman Road.
Considering that there were 41,000 people inside it was also very quiet.
I last went to Stamford Bridge in probably about 1963 to see Spurs play. In those days, you stood in an enormous terrace alongside the pitch, with the so-called Shed sticking up like a thumb to your left on the other side. There was also a lot more aggro about and Spurs and Chelsea still have a certain amount of bitterness between them.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the difficulty of getting to the ground. I took the train to Fulham Broadway to get there and coming home, I did what we did in the 1960s and walked to South Kensington. From there in the 1960s, I would have taken the Piccadilly Line to Oakwood. Yesterday, I just took it to Piccadilly Circus and got a bus from there all of the way to the stop by my house.
Thoughts on Liverpool Football Club
I spent a enjoyable day in Liverpool on Thursday. As I was wearing my Ipswich woolly hat, I did get the odd comment. I might have returned some quip about the state of Liverpool Football Club, but to a man and woman, they always replied that they were Evertonians.
So is Liverpool Football Club less important than its main rival in the Second City?
It’s Grim Up The North-East
Sunderland lost two-one at home to lowly Notts County, Middlesbrough lost by the same score to Burton Albion and then in the late match Newcastle lost three-one at Stevenage. When I last looked at the map, Stevenage was in that hotbed of football, Hertfordshire.
Only a few footballers appear to have been born in the county and but they do include Dave Kitson, Kevin Phillips, Vinnie Jones, Jack Wilshere, Ian Walker, Iain Dowie, Rodney Marsh, Dean Ashton, John Radford and Ashley Young. The last incidentally was in the same class at school in Stevenage as Lewis Hamilton and his brother, Lewis, was also on the bench today for Burton Albion.
So there might be some mild celebrations just to the north of the M25. But don’t insult the county by calling them soft Southerners or something similar or they’ll get Vinnie Jones to show you the errors of your ways.
Are Leeds Softening Up Arsenal for Ipswich?
I need to go to Waitrose this afternoon and as I want a bigger branch, it will probably be the Jones Brothers one on Holloway Road. But that lies just next door to the Emirates where Arsenal are having a torrid time against the team that most football supporters don’t like; Leeds.
So I’ll wait until the match finishes.
Let’s hope Leeds maintain their lead for the last five minutes, as Ipswich would probably like to play Arsenal, when they are not happy bunnies!
So if I wait, I can at least wear my Ipswich hat!
The Fightback Starts Here
So Roy Keane has gone and now the players of Ipswich Town can get on with what they hopefully want to do; play football to the best of their ability, without being bullied all the time.
It’s probably a good thing that they’re playing Chelski on Sunday in the Cup, as if they go down fighting, it will be character forming at worse and if they win, then it will prove that money isn’t everything.
I should think that the ghosts of Sir Alf and Sir Bobby are laughing their heads off, as they share stories and they will be motivating the players in the ways only they know.
I’m going to Stamford Bridge tomorrow and the match could well be something special, no matter what the result.
But whatever happens, it will be the start of Ipswich Town’s fightback.
The fans seem not to like the idea of Paul Jewell as manager, but there are a few out there without jobs, who manage almost in the mode of Ipswich Town’s great ones of the past. Roy Hodgson and Chris Hughton to name but two!
Beckham Makes It to North Korea
Pehaps the most surprising news over Christmas, was the news that Bend It Like Beckham was shown, albeit heavily edited, on North Korean television.
What odds would you get on David himself going to North Korea this year?
Not very good, I suspect!
What Are the Odds on England Staging the 2014 World Cup?
According to The Times today, the progress for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil is virtually non-existent, with stadia and transport links, either not planned or years late.
FIFA would never take the World Cup away from Brazil, but where will they stage it in that country? I’m told the beaches are nice, even if the stadia are crap!
There are only a handful of countries that are ready to stage an event like the World Cup tomorrow, of which England and the United States are two. But as they aren’t on Sepp Blatter’s Christmas Card list, it would be unlikely they’d be given the chance.
But then the finals will have to be played somewhere!
Giving Up on Ipswich Against Forest
I was late back from Upper Street after breakfast and shopping at Waitrose and it is now too late to make the last train to Ipswich, as especially with a coach in the middle, there’s a high chance it will all end in tears.
I should have allowed more time, but probably it’s another consequence of the quadruple weekend Bank Holiday.
So they’ll have to do without me!
Could Chelski End Up Fifth in the Premier League?
That’s where they are this morning and they look good to me in that position. Hopefully, the two Manchester clubs, Tottenham and Arsenal will keep them there!
Let’s hope so and perhaps Chelski’s dip in form will give Ipswich a chance in the FA Cup.
A Recipe for Disaster
Tomorrow, I’m attempting to get to Ipswich to see them play Nottingham Forest. The East Anglian main line through Chelmsford is shut as far as Ilford, so you have to take a tube to Newbury Park station and then get a special bus to Ingatestone, where you get the train to Ipswich. It started to go wrong today with a serious road crash outside Newbury Park. Earlier this evening, I was passing Liverpool Street station, so I went in to buy a ticket. I said that I wanted to be in Ipswich by 15:00 and wanted to return home any time after 17:00, so could I have a Cheap Day Return. The man in the ticket office didn’t think he could sell me one and wanted to charge me about £46.00 for the return. He said that I might get it cheaper, if I nomininated particular trains. But when there’s a coach service in the middle, I’m reluctant to do this.
When I returned home, I phoned National Express East Anglia and they said that Cheap Day Returns will be available.
But what with coaches, a Bank Holiday and new fares coming in, I think we have a recipe for disaster, so I’m looking at serious alternatives, including going to Cambridge and getting a train to Ipswich from there. It will be more expensive, but probably a lot more reliable. It’s also a few minutes quicker and I could have lunch in Cambridge on the way out or dinner on the way back.
The Anonymous Widower 