Diplomatic Immunity: Everton

September 13, 2013

An occasional series of open discussions with opposition fans. They can say what they like about Chelsea and I promise to just shut up and listen. Toffee Tomy This is Tomy. Not Tommy, Tomy. She is from a long line of – no, let Tomy describe it herself… When did you start supporting Everton? I can’t remember honestly. As early as I can remember. My Dad used to rattle off…

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A Chaos Theory and The Element of Surprise

September 4, 2013

I have to admit to a strange feeling before games these days. I only realised I’d had this feeling before the Manchester United game. But it had been there from the start of the season. It was a feeling I didn’t wholly understand. And then again, before the European Super Cup Final. Something was missing. There were the usual matchday feelings of course. Excitement, building up as the day wore…

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Sideways Glances: Looking Back At The Future

July 24, 2012

There is no evidence that any of what follows is actually a fictionalised, poorly imagined account. Any resemblance to real or fictitious persons living, dead or even undead, is either purely coincidental or outright miraculous. Coincidences happen, alright? On the other hand, in a universe far, far away, all this may already have happened. 1. The True Spirit Of Sport: The Pan-Continental League. The year is 2030. The Pan-Continental League…

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It Wasn’t Our Turn…

May 21, 2012

…to be European Champions. (It wasn’t even our turn to win the FA Cup.) At last I am starting to realise that Saturday night wasn’t just a dream. It really, really happened! And now, after the event and with a sore head easing and reality setting in, I would like to give a quick reply to those people who have been saying our name was on the cup from the…

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Book Review: “There’s A Golden Sky”

February 29, 2012

Ian Ridley’s “There’s A Golden Sky” is about as wide ranging and comprehensive a look at the state of football today as it is possible to cram into 260 odd pages. Ridley writes extensively on football with a style that is fluent, lucid and very easy to read and this, his latest book, is both fascinating and informative. Ridley’s first book, “Seasons In The Cold” written all of twenty years…

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Diplomatic Immunity: Birmingham City

February 19, 2012

An occasional series of open discussions with opposition fans. They can say what they like about Chelsea and I promise not to be rude back to them. Number 4: The Blues v The Blues Meet Bill, aka Jasper and a hundred other names. He won’t tell me how old he is and won’t say when he became a City fan. But he just couldn’t stop when it came to other…

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Standards of Behaviour

November 17, 2011

The furore surrounding John Terry since the Queens Park Rangers game has bought into focus a number of issues. They are, perhaps, two sides of the same coin, but they pose a number of questions. And I for one have no answers, only more questions. So, let’s play Devil’s Advocate. 1. Is He or Isn’t He? or “No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent.” (Abraham Lincoln) Amidst…

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Togetherness – Or The Bitter Taste of Success

October 28, 2011

So, here we are. Vote taken; situation more-or-less unchanged. Time now, perhaps, for forces on both sides to regroup and plan their next move? A fine display of solidarity coupled with getting the truth out to as many people as possible (without the aid of a corporate machine) and SayNoCPO have succeeded in safeguarding the future of the club. Or halted the clubs ambition in its tracks. Whichever way you…

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Diplomatic Immunity: Everton

October 14, 2011

An occasional series of open discussions with opposition fans. They can say what they like about Chelsea and I promise not to be rude back to them. Number 3:  Toffee Time Why Everton? As a Scouser, what’s the choice? Tranmere? I used to go to watch them play sometimes, but when you’re a kid you want a bit more razzamatazz don’t you? You want to see the big names play….

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A Question Of Trust – Or Is It?

October 7, 2011

With the background of Chelsea’s offer to CPO, it seems to me that there are a lot of questions about whether or not we trust Ron Gourlay, Buck et al, to do the right thing. Most of us seem to trust Roman quite a bit (I count myself amongst those) but aren’t sure about the others. Mr Buck wants our trust – he wants us to trust the Board to…

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