Smiley Culture

In fairness they’re paying this fella a wage and seemingly not letting him sign players so it’s a waste of money technically but it begs the question “why bring him in, in the first place?” and “What has changed that dramatically that he’s no longer of use to Everton?”. I’m not sure Everton are in any shape to answer those two questions anyway.

Went to Harlow Town v Waltham Abbey. Ended 3-2 to the home side, who got away with one really as they should have been held for a point, Waltham Abbey had a goal disallowed for offside despite their being at least one defender playing the striker on, which would have been quite the turnaround from being 3-0 after their keeper kicked the ball at his own defender to give away the first and some comedy defending for the other two. Both were fairly similar, two poor defences though Harlow have better attackers.

Announced this Omnivore thing about three days ago and the planets gone bat shit crazy already. Thoroughly depressing.

Hopefully it kickstarts it again as a thing again and away shirts become the third shirt in the “second” season of its lifespan.

There was no reason The FA could have against offering him a new one. It’s fully deserved, he and England have done things I didn’t think they were capable of when he was appointed. The only “worry” I had was whether he thought he was due a club job and wanted to try his arm, again, at that.

Didn’t they wait till the Monday to sack Mourinho because it tied in with a stock exchange opening and they needed to tell them, or some modern football bullshit along those lines? They could have sacked him after getting beat by Liverpool but waited six days for the Tottenham game, which temporarily kept him in a job and meant they potentially missed out on Antonio Conte, who joined Spurs then seemingly sat around for two weeks during the international break to then sack him straight after. The lack of strategy starts at the top but it shouldn’t be forgotten that Solskjaer is out of his depth and taken United as far as he could.

Top tip, don’t go to your local firework display. It’s cold, dark, you stand around for ages and it’s over within minutes. Instead, stay at home and just go on your friends’ Instagram stories, you’ll see the fireworks from the comfort of your own home.

They absolutely fucking butchered that. Shame, it was very, very good.

Lucian Fabre is a French Alan Curbishley. I’m not even sure he exists.

https://mobile.twitter.com/theJeremyVine/status/1446371180479459343

The narrative from Newcastle fans shown on TV and radio today that the club has endured endless misery and suffering over the past ten years is absurd and strange. Equally, “today isn’t the day for that” in regards to the issues with the Saudis is a funny stance from people so ardently abusive with their dislike and disdain for their previous owner is a funny one. I’m not a fan of fans celebrating new owners like they’re celebrating league wins or legends of the club returning. I just find it all a bit strange really. Don’t get me wrong, I get they’re happy to see the back of Ashley and there may be a percentage purely celebrating that but are new owners really to be celebrated? There’s no guarantee these will be any better and having been burnt by Ashley and the various characters he’s had associated with the club over the past however many years he’d been there, is there any guarantee this one is going to be any better? Just because this one has money (so does Ashley though), is that okay? Having seen what a bad owner can do to a football club and having been broken by a megalomaniac, with a new play thing before the money stopped, that left me repelled from the club and confused and angry that the next chairman with no links to the country let alone the city, the place or the club to be treated like some sort of hero and celebrity, I hope Newcastle fans get a club they can be proud of and aren’t at the end of another bad owner. It’s not pleasant and it’s not nice, ultimately, to have to make a decision to walk away. If it’s done “right”, Newcastle could well make the big six, a big seven and provide a new test to the traditional names but they’ll do their bit to push back on their monopoly being challenged by a newcomer.

You can begrudge them when it’s out of the fire, into the frying pan and it bring the Saudis but selective outrage reins here. Genuinely hope it doesn’t go through, though it feels like another nail in the coffin of football at the top.

And won me some money, so nice one for that. Fourth Qualifying Round draw for the FA Cup today.

The North Coast 500 is incredible. Did it last week.

Ten permanent managers since 2017 at Barnet. Lucky to not get relegated last season and it looks to have been a continuation of the same thing this season despite the change of manager. The National League is incredibly tough, though. I know that’s the general feeling of the league most years but this year especially it looks the toughest it has done for some time. You’re probably only two or three bad appointments away from the bottom of that league, which really shows the standard of those in the league.

Very much a hipster club, by all accounts.

You going to Bromley on Saturday? I might have gone if it was a 3pm kick off.

I watched Harlow beat Hertford 2-1. The reverse fixture was the last competitive game I saw prior to last seasons non-league season being cancelled and both sides then were very youthful and both looked like they’d struggle. Harlow now have 5/6 more experienced heads whereas Hertford still look very young and will struggle against experienced sides. That said, it could have quite easily ended 4-2 on another day as Hertford had a penalty saved, hit the post twice and were in the ascendancy in the second half.

It’s all well and good fans saying they’d get rid of x, y and z if they were manager but, firstly, it’s not FIFA and more importantly, the market isn’t exactly booming at the minute given a mixture of a global pandemic and the Euros.

There’s more intent in Fofana trying to turn the lads Achilles into cheesestring than the one on him.

Yeah, it was. Bit daft but hardly worth the reaction that’s come from it.

Accusations of intent like it’s Keane on Haaland doesn’t sit right with me, either. It’s quite a big statement and it’s not as though the lad stood over Fofana like Keane did. The reaction would not be the same had the lads Achilles ruptured but that’s the emotion of following a team. It’s the clichèd “strikers challenge”, not a lot more. Accusations of intent are unfounded too when it’s two lads playing directly against each other.

Seen the reaction. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not good but it’s not worth the reaction so far.

We are back. Didn’t realise Rangers was an early one but; Rangers. Kelty Hearts + 1.5 goals to be scored in the game. Got just a touch over evens for that.

Dagenham charge £250 prior to an early bird window ending, £325 is the most expensive price in the early bird window. I saw the prices in the local paper at work. These graphics are usually wrong, as is the BBC price of football stuff.