The Round Ball Game

[EdgeleyRob]

A warm welcome back, Edgers.

Look forward to your first update of the new season.

Let's make a date to meet up again on Sunday with Sainty and co.

Cheers chuck,I'll be there.

[EdgeleyRob]

A bit of a tidy up of the forum team list first.

The official list as it stands -

Inverness Caledonian Thistle (Aeolium)
Wolves (Bullock in D)
Chelmsford (Alison)
Truro (Cloughie)
Wrexham (Ams)
Hereford (Aeolium and a soft spot for me)
Stockport (ER and EA)
St Mirren (John Corrigan)
Partick (Scotty)
Brighton (BBM)
Chelsea (Calum)
Southampton (TS)
Leicester (Alison)
Palace (Gurnemanz)
Sheffield Wednesday (Cloughie)
Newcastle (BBM)
Coventry (JW)
Hartlepool (Anton)
Bristol Rovers (8o and Anna)
York (Lat,where is he?)
Wimbledon (Lancashire Lass)

I've relegated Aberystwyth,Fulham,QPR and Port Vale from the list because I can't for the life of me remember why they are there.
If anyone claims ownership at a later date I will gladly re-instate them.

Right,time to look away now,

Bayern Munich 2 Chelsea 2 (EUFA super cup.,BM won on penalties)
Newcastle 1 Fulham 0.Toon needed that.
Norwich 1 Southampton 0.Ruined my accumulator.
Crystal Palace 3 Sunderland 1.Saw this on tv,stunning 3rd goal.
Brighton 1 Millwall 1
Charlton 2 Leicester 1.Didn't expect that.
Middlesborough 1 Sheffield Wednesday 1.Useful point.
Port Vale 1 Wolves 3.Going great.
Shrewsbury 1 Coventry 1.Almost in credit,
Wimbledon 2 Fleetwood 0
Bristol Rovers 1 Northampton 0
Exeter 2 York 1
Torquay 0 Hartlepool 0.A hell of an away trip but a useful point.
Inverness 2 Hearts 0.Top of the tree.
St Mirren 1 Partick 2.Forum derby,no fighting you two.
Wrexham 0 Chester 2,Tasty looking derby,Wrexham struggling.
Hereford 2 Welling 1.Great start to the season.
Harrogate 3 Stockport 1.No effing comment .
Chelmsford 1 Weston 2.
Truro 1 Hitchin 1

[antongould]

Warmest of welcomes back ER ......wonderful post....yes we had to go a very long way but as you say a, more than, useful point.......

[scottycelt]

Thanks ER!

Don't worry, I'm always very careful to be quietly magnanimous in victory ... so ... HARD LUCK, JOHN! ...

[johncorrigan]

Thanks ER!

Don't worry, I'm always very careful to be quietly magnanimous in victory ... so ... HARD LUCK, JOHN! ...

Danny's coat's on a shoogly peg, scotty...thanks for rubbin' it in...oh the pain!!!!!etc Well done there Jaggies...right! where did I put my gritted teeth?

[BBMmk2]

er, a nice cordial welcome back and with themost excellent service too. thanks to teamsaint for his valuable contribution, in your stead. At last The Toon had a win! Hope we do the same next game. The game we against man C,i suppose was a forgone conclusion but do not forsake the underdog!

[aeolium]

Great to see you back, ER, and with a typically comprehensive summary of Saturday's results. Thanks too to teamsaint for his sterling work in your absence.

(What's happening to Stockport?! Remember Eine Alpensinfonie is a supporter too, IIRC)

[teamsaint]

EA gets sad when people forget his allegiance to Stockport !! What on earth is going on up there.
anyway, great to have ER back, I can tell you that even doing a shoddy job on the results is tough work..so many thanks ER .

Incidentally, I have recalled, in a fit of board footy unity, who the token skate (portsmouth fan) was. Uncle Monty it was.

[EdgeleyRob]

Great to see you back, ER, and with a typically comprehensive summary of Saturday's results. Thanks too to teamsaint for his sterling work in your absence.

(What's happening to Stockport?! Remember Eine Alpensinfonie is a supporter too, IIRC)

EA gets sad when people forget his allegiance to Stockport !! What on earth is going on up there.
anyway, great to have ER back, I can tell you that even doing a shoddy job on the results is tough work..so many thanks ER .

Incidentally, I have recalled, in a fit of board footy unity, who the token skate (portsmouth fan) was. Uncle Monty it was.

Thanks guys,apologies to Eine Alpensinfonie,list duly ammended.

What's going on at Stockport ?,I don't have a clue.
It's a complete shambles,now we are managerless again.

[teamsaint]

Thanks guys,apologies to Eine Alpensinfonie,list duly ammended.

What's going on at Stockport ?,I don't have a clue.
It's a complete shambles,now we are managerless again.

during really bad times, The Saints are often best without a manager, the ball, a game, anything. So the managerlessness may help ! I really hope so.

[Lancashire Lass]

Thanks for subbing for ER in his absence, Sainty. And welcome back ER. I'm sorry about all the travails you are going through

I suppose in our case at least we got "relegated" seven divisions in one fell swoop; after that, the only way was up!

I sincerely hope you manage to hang on this season, but I can imagine how it must feel to wonder how long this nightmare will go on.

But you will sort yourselves out, stabilise, and come back. I do think the football environment is slowly changing in terms of public perceptions, particularly of the fans. Look at Coventry City (I know it won't make you feel better, but anyway!). A few years ago the press would have had a go at them for not going to "home" games; now everyone is behind them, because it is clear they are the pawns in the financial manoeuvrings of money men (and woman, in City's case).

I think the landscape could be very different in a few years' time -- the bubble has to burst some time and maybe there'll be more of a levelling down. What you're going through might become more commonplace, but then more ways of fixing it will also have been developed.

At least you don't have to watch some obscenely overpaid footballers week in, week out and wonder whatever happened to wages parity with jobs that really matter.

Sorry this is isn't more cheerful, but hope it helps!

[teamsaint]

Thanks for subbing for ER in his absence, Sainty. And welcome back ER. I'm sorry about all the travails you are going through

I suppose in our case at least we got "relegated" seven divisions in one fell swoop; after that, the only way was up!

I sincerely hope you manage to hang on this season, but I can imagine how it must feel to wonder how long this nightmare will go on.

But you will sort yourselves out, stabilise, and come back. I do think the football environment is slowly changing in terms of public perceptions, particularly of the fans. Look at Coventry City (I know it won't make you feel better, but anyway!). A few years ago the press would have had a go at them for not going to "home" games; now everyone is behind them, because it is clear they are the pawns in the financial manoeuvrings of money men (and woman, in City's case).

I think the landscape could be very different in a few years' time -- the bubble has to burst some time and maybe there'll be more of a levelling down. What you're going through might become more commonplace, but then more ways of fixing it will also have been developed.

At least you don't have to watch some obscenely overpaid footballers week in, week out and wonder whatever happened to wages parity with jobs that really matter.

Sorry this is isn't more cheerful, but hope it helps!

great post LL.

The PL is bloody bonkers. We spent £30m on new players, tickets are £40 ish, and TBH, its no more fun than our first (unsuccessful) season in L1.

I wonder if the bubble will gradually deflate, as technology means that fans can see every PL game online(and in pubs) for free, and Sky subscriber numbers start to fall.
My kids all got the train to Southampton last week. They can't afford to go to games regularly, so they paid an extra £5 for a groupsave train ticket, saw a quality stream in a pub, and had an afternoon out for a few quid.

[EdgeleyRob]

Thanks for subbing for ER in his absence, Sainty. And welcome back ER. I'm sorry about all the travails you are going through

I suppose in our case at least we got "relegated" seven divisions in one fell swoop; after that, the only way was up!

I sincerely hope you manage to hang on this season, but I can imagine how it must feel to wonder how long this nightmare will go on.

But you will sort yourselves out, stabilise, and come back. I do think the football environment is slowly changing in terms of public perceptions, particularly of the fans. Look at Coventry City (I know it won't make you feel better, but anyway!). A few years ago the press would have had a go at them for not going to "home" games; now everyone is behind them, because it is clear they are the pawns in the financial manoeuvrings of money men (and woman, in City's case).

I think the landscape could be very different in a few years' time -- the bubble has to burst some time and maybe there'll be more of a levelling down. What you're going through might become more commonplace, but then more ways of fixing it will also have been developed.

At least you don't have to watch some obscenely overpaid footballers week in, week out and wonder whatever happened to wages parity with jobs that really matter.

Sorry this is isn't more cheerful, but hope it helps!

Brilliant post Lass and thanks for your kind words.

[BBMmk2]

Bale's transfer fee, is that justified?

[gurnemanz]

Thanks to Rob and Saint. We spent the weekend visiting our daughter in London. The progress of the Palace match was allowed to invade our quickly grabbed pre-performance meal at Jamie's Italian in Angel near Sadler's. None of us had seen West Side Story on the stage and it was a good show. A great weekend and good to watch MoD without hiding behind the sofa. Also took in Pompeii at the British Museum and the highly recommendable Genesis photoshow at the Natural History Museum