"It's so easy to hate it takes strength to be gentle and kind..." Morrissey wrote that..yea Mozza, who spits bile at all & sundry that come within his compass like a rabid cobra.But the bloke's right about it being easy to hate.Up to a point...
All fully paid up members of the human race can agree on the proper things to hate; Fascism,climate change,the new UK banknotes with the texture of the cheap wax paper bog roll you used to have to wipe your arse with at school...Y'know the big stuff.
But i'm on about football,unimportant,vacuous,infantile football.The stuff that takes up too much of our time,money & thoughts.The stuff that some say is the modern equivalent of warring nations despite there being enough wars going on to make such trite observations obsolete before the words are cold on the lips...
Football fans need rivals.If you don't have rivals to hate,and to hate you back with equal venom,there's really no point in watching football at all.Indeed there'd be no reason to have any sport.We'd may aswell call it a day and do something trivial instead like saving the planet and being nice to each other...it's rivalry that gives us our raison d'etre.Ask any football fan and the worst reaction you can get from any opposition fan is indifference to your club.Ask any Walsall fan,all they want in return for detesting Wolves with a hatred that borders on psychotic is for some of that hatred to be returned by us instead of a pat on the head with an "ah bless" condensation they normally get...the feeling of worthlessness eats at them and they have to settle for being slightly disliked by Shrewsbury instead.Like two eight year olds fighting over conkers.Not all grown up like us fourteen year olds who still think football's important...
It's not just sport of course. Rivalries are always popping up in popular culture.Beatles v Stones,Pistols v Clash,Oasis v Blur,Eastenders v Corrie,ITV v BBC etc.However these are'nt real,they're all media led cos's the media knows above all else that rivalry sells,and sex of course,that sells...sexual rivalry is the money shot that's splashed all over the front pages like a painter & decorators radio...I have never heard of anyone not playing anything by The Stones cos they like The Beatles.The rivalry is a sham,a media construct.Sometimes the protagonists play along with the conceit to help shift more units.That's show business folks...but not football.In football it's real.
Football is where grown men and women will give out eyes bulging,chin spittle, banshee screeching dogs abuse to those who support another team.Those just like them,with jobs,families,probably 2.4 kids.Loving parents who help their neighbours and donate to charity...normal people who turn into bug eyed beserkers at the sight of blue & white liveried opposition fans...it's nearly always blue & white.
And yes it does occasionally spill over into violence...i'm not passing judgement here.The world can be a violent place.Add beer with irrational hatred and you can get a nasty mix.On the other hand some people just enjoy fighting and hang their hat on supporting a football club knowing full well there will be others of their ilk in among the opponents fan base.Call it what you want but where there's rivalry of this intensity things will occasionally spill over...you only have to glance at any social media platform to see how some can't keep their emotions in check.
Luckily i am not a violent person and in truth the older i get the less hatred i feel towards my football rivals.Nowadays it's less hatred more arms folded,sit back in the easy chair, smug filled scadenfreude when we do well or they fuck up...i'm still deeply passionate about my own team of course but don't have enough to waste on the other bastards...
Oh and my hateful seven and half...in no particular order naturally.
Chelsea
----------
I hated them before it was fashionable to do so...when their fans do the big club in Europe thing i'm reminded of our FA cup quarter final loss to them in 94' and they pulled in 11,000 at home to Wimbledon four days after getting to the semi final...
Birmingham City
--------------------
Ah yes Blouse...Another fan base with missplaced big club bravado.Third biggest club in Birmingham if you don't include Solihull Moors...even their Yamyam insult to us backfired in spectacular fashion...can't get anything right.
West Brom
--------------
The second biggest club in Birmingham.Our backward Black Country cousins.Consider themselves culturally our betters despite not even being a proper place...Call us Dingles which like Blouse Yamyam "insult" we have appropriated as our own,also it shows up their telly viewing habits.
Reading
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Chelsea light...Wannabes who never will be.Have a god awful ground on an industrial park by the motorway.Even their much vaunted music festival is a shite fest these days.
Wigan
---------
Hahahahahahahahahahah...will concede they do a good pie but nine sided dominoes? Oh come on...their windbag of an ex chairman Dave Whelen just puts the tin hat on my hatred of them.
Bolton
----------
Oh dear lord.Keep pushing this "Only one Wanderers" schtick like a five year old seeking attention & love from parents too busy watching Eastenders to care.Could'nt even get their ground built in their own town.
Leeds
--------
As the song goes "We all hate Leeds and Leeds and Leeds" This all goes back to the early 70's when i fell in with everyone else in hating them.Another ground built miles from anywhere with the choice of either getting attacked waiting for a bus or walking along the canal back to the station.There was a danger of them being loved under O'Leary but thankfully that crashed & burned...
Millwall
-----------
Actually i don't hate Millwall.Like many other fans i just hate going there,and as i travel up from London i also hate playing them at Molineux too,every fibre of my being tells me i should detest them but...well,i can't hate a club that sold us Alex Rae.Besides playing them keeps us fans on our toes...
See what i mean about blue & white ?
Saturday 30 September 2017
Sunday 24 September 2017
Limbs!
Yep limbs.All over the place,arms and legs smashing into each other,hugging complete strangers like they're long lost relatives at an airport,screaming "get in you bastard!" Taking a sneaky peep at the opposition fans with heads bowed like they've put a winning lottery ticket through the wash.Just being glad you're not them, loving their heartbreak...
It's probably only football fans who know the feeling of a 93rd minute winner...even sweeter when the other mob have grabbed a goal barely ninety seconds before to seemingly take a share of the points and leave us shuffling out at the end of the game,crestfallen,blaming everyone from the manager to the ballboys for drawing a game we were meant to win but could have lost...
Three wins in a week whilst not firing on anything like all cylinders points to an ability to stick at it no matter what.It points to a squad that's harmonious,happy and willing to fight for each other to keep them win bonuses coming in...opposition fans will probably call us lucky but one game may be won by a fortunate bounce of the ball or a myopic referee but not three on the spin.Nobody gets that lucky.That takes a strong mentality and an ability to carve out and take one last chance...
Barnsley were supposed to be the sacrificial lambs slain on Nuno's alter...over 28k fans turned up to savour the impending slaughter.However football does'nt always work to the script and Barnsley were clearly determined to give us a metaphorical kicking.Bloody stubborn,Yorkshire blood & nettles Barnsley who gave us a 4-0 dicking at the same venue the previous season...The first half was a non event,a couple of half chances here and there.Barnsley could have had a penalty when Danny Batth climbed all over their striker like Chris Bonnington scaling Everest.By the same token they could have been a man down after a crude lunge on Ruben Neves...so not the expected bloodbath then.
Everyone thought fit again Helder Costa would come off the bench to show these Tyke upstarts what for.Instead Nuno put Barry Douglas on and we instantly looked more menacing going forward.All we needed was a goal and that would be game over...the goal came from another sub, Bright Enobakhare,set up by the third sub,Alfred N'Diaye.Clearly Nuno also knows how to use a substitute properly too...
Bright Enobakhare is fast becoming the player we all hoped he'd be.He's always had the skill but seemed to lack the knowledge of what the game was about.He'd go down blind alleys when an easier pass to an unmarked team mate was the better option.If he carries on like this then that dream move to Chelsea, being loaned out to nondescript Premiership clubs for five years,is his for the taking...
So 1-0 with not long to go.Thank you,we'll take that run of the mill win and move on to the next game...but...ah bloody hell Barnsley just lay down,accept the 0-1 and bugger off with pride intact.But they only go and bloody score one minute into injury time.Cue limbs in the away end...i hate watching away fans celebrating at Molineux.It scorches into the soul,it's a personal affront to all that i hold dear.It's a fucking diabolical liberty is what it is...
In previous seasons that would have been that,or we could have even lost it,but not now,not with this bunch.After thirty seconds of head shaking disbelief the players woke up again and bombed forward...93 minutes.Bright lays it to Bonatini in the box who produced a superb reverse pass into the path of the onrushing train that is Alfie N'Diaye...cue limbs.
Proper limbs...
It's probably only football fans who know the feeling of a 93rd minute winner...even sweeter when the other mob have grabbed a goal barely ninety seconds before to seemingly take a share of the points and leave us shuffling out at the end of the game,crestfallen,blaming everyone from the manager to the ballboys for drawing a game we were meant to win but could have lost...
Three wins in a week whilst not firing on anything like all cylinders points to an ability to stick at it no matter what.It points to a squad that's harmonious,happy and willing to fight for each other to keep them win bonuses coming in...opposition fans will probably call us lucky but one game may be won by a fortunate bounce of the ball or a myopic referee but not three on the spin.Nobody gets that lucky.That takes a strong mentality and an ability to carve out and take one last chance...
Barnsley were supposed to be the sacrificial lambs slain on Nuno's alter...over 28k fans turned up to savour the impending slaughter.However football does'nt always work to the script and Barnsley were clearly determined to give us a metaphorical kicking.Bloody stubborn,Yorkshire blood & nettles Barnsley who gave us a 4-0 dicking at the same venue the previous season...The first half was a non event,a couple of half chances here and there.Barnsley could have had a penalty when Danny Batth climbed all over their striker like Chris Bonnington scaling Everest.By the same token they could have been a man down after a crude lunge on Ruben Neves...so not the expected bloodbath then.
Everyone thought fit again Helder Costa would come off the bench to show these Tyke upstarts what for.Instead Nuno put Barry Douglas on and we instantly looked more menacing going forward.All we needed was a goal and that would be game over...the goal came from another sub, Bright Enobakhare,set up by the third sub,Alfred N'Diaye.Clearly Nuno also knows how to use a substitute properly too...
Bright Enobakhare is fast becoming the player we all hoped he'd be.He's always had the skill but seemed to lack the knowledge of what the game was about.He'd go down blind alleys when an easier pass to an unmarked team mate was the better option.If he carries on like this then that dream move to Chelsea, being loaned out to nondescript Premiership clubs for five years,is his for the taking...
So 1-0 with not long to go.Thank you,we'll take that run of the mill win and move on to the next game...but...ah bloody hell Barnsley just lay down,accept the 0-1 and bugger off with pride intact.But they only go and bloody score one minute into injury time.Cue limbs in the away end...i hate watching away fans celebrating at Molineux.It scorches into the soul,it's a personal affront to all that i hold dear.It's a fucking diabolical liberty is what it is...
In previous seasons that would have been that,or we could have even lost it,but not now,not with this bunch.After thirty seconds of head shaking disbelief the players woke up again and bombed forward...93 minutes.Bright lays it to Bonatini in the box who produced a superb reverse pass into the path of the onrushing train that is Alfie N'Diaye...cue limbs.
Proper limbs...
Saturday 23 September 2017
It's football Jim,but not as we know it...
The Fosun company took over Wolves about 14 months ago and boy a lot has happened to the club since then...
When they first bought Wolves they openly admitted they knew jack shit about the game, but for a club that employed the clueless Dean Saunders as manager not long before the takeover that statement seemed to be a step up.Fosun also own Cirque du Soleil and maybe they thought they'd purchased their second circus.Many football fans thought so...
That feeling was further enhanced when they employed the lovable,but hapless,Walter Zenga as their head coach.To say this decision was left field would be like saying Kim Jong Un is a bit of a wrong un'.Zenga's managerial record was patchy at best,something like sixteen clubs in as many seasons.His style seemed to consist of picking the team out of a tombola before every game then booking a flight to the middle east for a weekend break...he was the errant uncle who turns up at the family wedding,cops a feel of the bride and leaves with a bottle of brandy under his coat...
I'm guessing he was employed on the say so of Jorge Mendes.The so called super agent who has close ties with the Fosun group.It seemed to be a case of "Give him a go,it might work" it did'nt...
Come November and we were in danger of getting dragged into a relegation dogfight by an incompetent boss.We had the players to fight for a play off place at least but the man piloting the ship was basically a drunken deckhand...we needed stability and you can't get more stable than Paul Lambert.
Look up "Dour Scotsman" in the dictionary and you'd probably get a picture of Paul Lambert.The club had gone from cool,crazy uncle to Rev Ian Paisley in one bound.Dare i say it but that's what was needed.We avoided relegation but the general feeling was that Lambert was too shackled by fear of losing to take the club forward.When he could let lose without fighting for league points he presided over two pretty easy wins at Stoke & Liverpool and ran champions elect Chelsea close in the FA cup run...he had it in his locker but the dour pragmatic side of him always came to the fore...but thanks PL you saved us from relegation and gave us a cracking day out at Liverpool.
It now appears that both Zenga & Lambert were makeweights while Fosun waited for Nuno Espirito Santo to be available and in time honoured soap opera style it seems the previous nine months had all been a bad dream...Not only has NES come in like a breath of fresh air but he's also been instrumental in recruiting young players,mostly from Portugal,backed by Fosun's money and ambition,who are not only more skillful than most players we have seen down Molineux for many many years but also have the drive,ambition and team ethic demanded by a club with the goal of promotion this season,and more beyond...
Yes we have spent money,you have to if you want to compete,but the fact that we have been able to attract players with champions league calibre is mostly down to NES.They know him and want to play for him...even in Wolverhampton!
But it's not just money.look at many clubs who have wealthy new owners and are in a total mess.Yes you have to spend but you also have to make correct decisions and spend wisely.Fosun may know jack about the game but they're quick learners clearly...We've also had the added bonus of pissing off all our rivals fans and the national media alike.Despite the occasional puffed up article about plucky lower div clubs versus the big guns in cup games many in the national media love a cartel and woe betide any upstarts who attempt to smash their way into the Premiership top six party...
NES has changed our formation to fit the players at his disposal rather than the other way round.He's also shown his ruthless side by quickly dropping those deemed not good enough for his squad.By the same token he has taken established players like Coady,Doherty & Batth and improved them by leaps & bounds.All in a handful of games...
Much has been made of our recruitment of Portuguese players.The old "but can they do it on a wet tuesday night in xxxx" cliche abounds.Of course that's bollocks.Every title winning team for the last twenty years has been crammed to the brim with foreign fancy Dans who've managed to do it on a cold wet tuesday night in xxxx...I work with a Portuguese lad who's a tough little bugger and works like a dervish.If he's any indication then we're in good hands...
The old stager in me should be wary of all this new found optimism surrounding Wolves but y'know what? Fuck it,i'm just gonna enjoy the ride while it lasts.The fact that i am eagerly anticipating todays game versus Barnsley says it all.Eager,anticipation & Barnsley are not three words that normally sit together easily...
Thanks Fosun,thanks Nuno and thanks Wolves.
When they first bought Wolves they openly admitted they knew jack shit about the game, but for a club that employed the clueless Dean Saunders as manager not long before the takeover that statement seemed to be a step up.Fosun also own Cirque du Soleil and maybe they thought they'd purchased their second circus.Many football fans thought so...
That feeling was further enhanced when they employed the lovable,but hapless,Walter Zenga as their head coach.To say this decision was left field would be like saying Kim Jong Un is a bit of a wrong un'.Zenga's managerial record was patchy at best,something like sixteen clubs in as many seasons.His style seemed to consist of picking the team out of a tombola before every game then booking a flight to the middle east for a weekend break...he was the errant uncle who turns up at the family wedding,cops a feel of the bride and leaves with a bottle of brandy under his coat...
I'm guessing he was employed on the say so of Jorge Mendes.The so called super agent who has close ties with the Fosun group.It seemed to be a case of "Give him a go,it might work" it did'nt...
Come November and we were in danger of getting dragged into a relegation dogfight by an incompetent boss.We had the players to fight for a play off place at least but the man piloting the ship was basically a drunken deckhand...we needed stability and you can't get more stable than Paul Lambert.
Look up "Dour Scotsman" in the dictionary and you'd probably get a picture of Paul Lambert.The club had gone from cool,crazy uncle to Rev Ian Paisley in one bound.Dare i say it but that's what was needed.We avoided relegation but the general feeling was that Lambert was too shackled by fear of losing to take the club forward.When he could let lose without fighting for league points he presided over two pretty easy wins at Stoke & Liverpool and ran champions elect Chelsea close in the FA cup run...he had it in his locker but the dour pragmatic side of him always came to the fore...but thanks PL you saved us from relegation and gave us a cracking day out at Liverpool.
It now appears that both Zenga & Lambert were makeweights while Fosun waited for Nuno Espirito Santo to be available and in time honoured soap opera style it seems the previous nine months had all been a bad dream...Not only has NES come in like a breath of fresh air but he's also been instrumental in recruiting young players,mostly from Portugal,backed by Fosun's money and ambition,who are not only more skillful than most players we have seen down Molineux for many many years but also have the drive,ambition and team ethic demanded by a club with the goal of promotion this season,and more beyond...
Yes we have spent money,you have to if you want to compete,but the fact that we have been able to attract players with champions league calibre is mostly down to NES.They know him and want to play for him...even in Wolverhampton!
But it's not just money.look at many clubs who have wealthy new owners and are in a total mess.Yes you have to spend but you also have to make correct decisions and spend wisely.Fosun may know jack about the game but they're quick learners clearly...We've also had the added bonus of pissing off all our rivals fans and the national media alike.Despite the occasional puffed up article about plucky lower div clubs versus the big guns in cup games many in the national media love a cartel and woe betide any upstarts who attempt to smash their way into the Premiership top six party...
NES has changed our formation to fit the players at his disposal rather than the other way round.He's also shown his ruthless side by quickly dropping those deemed not good enough for his squad.By the same token he has taken established players like Coady,Doherty & Batth and improved them by leaps & bounds.All in a handful of games...
Much has been made of our recruitment of Portuguese players.The old "but can they do it on a wet tuesday night in xxxx" cliche abounds.Of course that's bollocks.Every title winning team for the last twenty years has been crammed to the brim with foreign fancy Dans who've managed to do it on a cold wet tuesday night in xxxx...I work with a Portuguese lad who's a tough little bugger and works like a dervish.If he's any indication then we're in good hands...
The old stager in me should be wary of all this new found optimism surrounding Wolves but y'know what? Fuck it,i'm just gonna enjoy the ride while it lasts.The fact that i am eagerly anticipating todays game versus Barnsley says it all.Eager,anticipation & Barnsley are not three words that normally sit together easily...
Thanks Fosun,thanks Nuno and thanks Wolves.
Tuesday 19 September 2017
Smoking...good lord i miss the demon weed.
Yep i said it...no point in denying the fact.Once you give up an addiction it pulls at you like...well,like an addiction.It's not a craving,it's more of a smoky,smelly fug of nostalgia that pulls at you occasionally,like hearing an 80's pop song and remembering an exciting,sensual,but ultimately expensive and destructive girlfriend...
Cos' yes smoking is sensual.It's Marlon Brando in a white t-shirt with his packet of tabs lodged in the upper sleeve like a friday night in Newcastle when it's minus 15c.It's Lauren Bacall being the sassiest sass in Sassville.It's Humphrey Bogart blowing smoke in Ingrid Bergman's face before saving her from the clutches of the Nazis...it's black & white films.
I had been toying with giving up long before i actually did.Smoking was getting far too expensive for one thing.I was never bothered about the restrictions imposed.I understood them perfectly well and actually agree with them...however in March i ended up laying in a hospital bed wearing a rather fetching oxygen mask after a continuous failure to walk ten yards without holding onto a hand rail.After thirty hours and more drips than a loose tap i was given the all clear by the doctor who then laid it on the line."Give up and you'll probably live a lot longer,keep smoking and you'll be pushed around everywhere breathing through a tube...it's your choice." Her bedside manner may have been abrupt but i knew where i stood...
It took me a couple of weeks to get back to some kind of normality physically.Having been on thirty/forty a day i fully expected giving up to be extremely difficult whereas i have found it to be pretty easy.Don't know why.I have been tugging at the weed all my adult life along with a fair proportion of my childhood.the constant cough i had disappeared within a few weeks and obviously i can now walk more than ten breathless yards...But yea i have no problem being around smokers and i would never do that exaggerated stage "cough" some non,or ex smokers indulge in,or ask a smoker why they don't give up(probably two of the worst things to bring to a smokers attention)
An added bonus was the fact that the money i saved between March & August paid for a three week tour around Germany & The Czech Republic...Yes i smoked in Germany.Everyone smokes in Germany after all.It's an unwritten law like the ability to speak four languages and double denim...many would say it was stupidity on my part,and maybe it was,but i saw it as a holiday romance.It was great fun while it lasted but ultimately we both knew it was just a fling and would end at the train station...
Of course i vape...that's my crutch.Any ex smokers who vape use it as a crutch.Nothing to be ashamed of there,we all need a helping hand and this is what vaping offers.However never let any bearded hipster tell you it's better than smoking cos' that's patently a load of bollocks.Vaping is the vapid younger brother trying to attain coolness through association...is there such a thing as a post coital vape? I doubt it.
Mind you vaping probably helped save my life.I don't want to be too harsh...
Many people are turning from smoking to vaping( i have never heard of anyone taking up vaping having never previously smoked,I just can't imagine such a thing) and we all know it's only a matter of time before gov't ministers pick up the shortfall in smoking tax by introducing ever increasing vaping tax...bastards. They may cite the strain smokers put on the NHS but we never hear how much money they make off smokers.Besides smokers tend to die earlier than non smokers so.y'know,swings & roundabouts...
I know i will never smoke again.I accept that (apart from Germany of course) but i also know that on my death bed my final words will probably be " Anyone got a spare fag...oh and can i borrow your lighter ?"
Cos' yes smoking is sensual.It's Marlon Brando in a white t-shirt with his packet of tabs lodged in the upper sleeve like a friday night in Newcastle when it's minus 15c.It's Lauren Bacall being the sassiest sass in Sassville.It's Humphrey Bogart blowing smoke in Ingrid Bergman's face before saving her from the clutches of the Nazis...it's black & white films.
I had been toying with giving up long before i actually did.Smoking was getting far too expensive for one thing.I was never bothered about the restrictions imposed.I understood them perfectly well and actually agree with them...however in March i ended up laying in a hospital bed wearing a rather fetching oxygen mask after a continuous failure to walk ten yards without holding onto a hand rail.After thirty hours and more drips than a loose tap i was given the all clear by the doctor who then laid it on the line."Give up and you'll probably live a lot longer,keep smoking and you'll be pushed around everywhere breathing through a tube...it's your choice." Her bedside manner may have been abrupt but i knew where i stood...
It took me a couple of weeks to get back to some kind of normality physically.Having been on thirty/forty a day i fully expected giving up to be extremely difficult whereas i have found it to be pretty easy.Don't know why.I have been tugging at the weed all my adult life along with a fair proportion of my childhood.the constant cough i had disappeared within a few weeks and obviously i can now walk more than ten breathless yards...But yea i have no problem being around smokers and i would never do that exaggerated stage "cough" some non,or ex smokers indulge in,or ask a smoker why they don't give up(probably two of the worst things to bring to a smokers attention)
An added bonus was the fact that the money i saved between March & August paid for a three week tour around Germany & The Czech Republic...Yes i smoked in Germany.Everyone smokes in Germany after all.It's an unwritten law like the ability to speak four languages and double denim...many would say it was stupidity on my part,and maybe it was,but i saw it as a holiday romance.It was great fun while it lasted but ultimately we both knew it was just a fling and would end at the train station...
Of course i vape...that's my crutch.Any ex smokers who vape use it as a crutch.Nothing to be ashamed of there,we all need a helping hand and this is what vaping offers.However never let any bearded hipster tell you it's better than smoking cos' that's patently a load of bollocks.Vaping is the vapid younger brother trying to attain coolness through association...is there such a thing as a post coital vape? I doubt it.
Mind you vaping probably helped save my life.I don't want to be too harsh...
Many people are turning from smoking to vaping( i have never heard of anyone taking up vaping having never previously smoked,I just can't imagine such a thing) and we all know it's only a matter of time before gov't ministers pick up the shortfall in smoking tax by introducing ever increasing vaping tax...bastards. They may cite the strain smokers put on the NHS but we never hear how much money they make off smokers.Besides smokers tend to die earlier than non smokers so.y'know,swings & roundabouts...
I know i will never smoke again.I accept that (apart from Germany of course) but i also know that on my death bed my final words will probably be " Anyone got a spare fag...oh and can i borrow your lighter ?"
Saturday 16 September 2017
Notts Landing
They hate it and of course that's why all football fans call them Notts Forest.They have a real hang up about being called "Notts" instead of "Nottingham". Fans being fans they will always latch on to a supposed weakness in their opponents but Notts Forest fans make it pretty easy by doing the "Well actually it's Nottingham" schtick every time they get called "Notts" .Tying themselves up in knots whenever Notts is used instead of Nottingham.It could be worse though,we could be playing Nottingham County...
This will only be my second game of the season,after seeing us demolish M'boro 1-0 on the opening day, i have been away for three weeks and watched the Nuno revolution only via You Tube highlights in various German bars.Don't get me wrong i loved being away on a break but also felt at times i was missing something quite remarkable unfolding down Molineux way.There were signs of it in the Boro game and there seemed to be lots of fans looking at each other with a taciturn " Blimey not seen this type of football played by Wolves before..." Which Google would probably translate as "fuck me,what's going on?"
Last time i went to Notts Forest was two seasons ago.Think it was near the end of the campaign and in truth all i remember about the game was that it was deadly dull.I can't even remember the score.Was it a draw? In truth i can't even be arsed to look it up.The bar we went to stayed in the memory longer than the match...
I'm expecting things to be very different this time though...Where under Lambert the football we played was moribund & frightened (many games i saw us play we barely created a chance,but thanks for Liverpool PL) To paraphrase that old dog JFK we are not troubled by what teams can do to us but rather what we can do to them...with style too!
After years of seeing us lump it forward to a big fella or a quick fella,in the hope of something breaking via a deflection off the cliched hairy arsed centre back we now pass the ball,to feet no less.Not only that but to feet wearing the same coloured socks that are also moving and looking for the next pass in the chain.As revolution's go this is our October 1917...
Things are not perfect of course but hell i don't mind.I just want to see us playing exciting attacking football and hang the rest...I love a strong defence as much as the next man but at times it's good to go down the Keegan route and play school playground stuff...we have attracted the sort of players,who're still young too,who don't want to get bogged down by scratching out results.We have signed lads who want to bomb forward with style,skill and purpose...we still have Helder Costa to come back yet too!
So this Fosun/Mendes/Nuno revolution rocks for me.It may all go tits up of course, as these things invariably do, but that's the chance we take when we sign up to support Wolves.If all was sweetness & light all the time what the hell would we moan about in the stands and on Twitter?
Next stop on this revolutionary bandwagon is Nottingham for Notts Forest v Wolverhampton Wolves (as the Yanks call us) an early train out of London,lots of beer and hopefully we can tie Notts up in knots...
This will only be my second game of the season,after seeing us demolish M'boro 1-0 on the opening day, i have been away for three weeks and watched the Nuno revolution only via You Tube highlights in various German bars.Don't get me wrong i loved being away on a break but also felt at times i was missing something quite remarkable unfolding down Molineux way.There were signs of it in the Boro game and there seemed to be lots of fans looking at each other with a taciturn " Blimey not seen this type of football played by Wolves before..." Which Google would probably translate as "fuck me,what's going on?"
Last time i went to Notts Forest was two seasons ago.Think it was near the end of the campaign and in truth all i remember about the game was that it was deadly dull.I can't even remember the score.Was it a draw? In truth i can't even be arsed to look it up.The bar we went to stayed in the memory longer than the match...
I'm expecting things to be very different this time though...Where under Lambert the football we played was moribund & frightened (many games i saw us play we barely created a chance,but thanks for Liverpool PL) To paraphrase that old dog JFK we are not troubled by what teams can do to us but rather what we can do to them...with style too!
After years of seeing us lump it forward to a big fella or a quick fella,in the hope of something breaking via a deflection off the cliched hairy arsed centre back we now pass the ball,to feet no less.Not only that but to feet wearing the same coloured socks that are also moving and looking for the next pass in the chain.As revolution's go this is our October 1917...
Things are not perfect of course but hell i don't mind.I just want to see us playing exciting attacking football and hang the rest...I love a strong defence as much as the next man but at times it's good to go down the Keegan route and play school playground stuff...we have attracted the sort of players,who're still young too,who don't want to get bogged down by scratching out results.We have signed lads who want to bomb forward with style,skill and purpose...we still have Helder Costa to come back yet too!
So this Fosun/Mendes/Nuno revolution rocks for me.It may all go tits up of course, as these things invariably do, but that's the chance we take when we sign up to support Wolves.If all was sweetness & light all the time what the hell would we moan about in the stands and on Twitter?
Next stop on this revolutionary bandwagon is Nottingham for Notts Forest v Wolverhampton Wolves (as the Yanks call us) an early train out of London,lots of beer and hopefully we can tie Notts up in knots...
Thursday 14 September 2017
Union Berlin v Arminia Bielefeld.A day at German football.
Kick off time is 1-30pm local time on Sunday.Like our game in the UK all German matches are spread over a long weekend to accommodate TV audiences.As it's a 1-30pm ko I decided to do what most football fans do and get to the pub over three hours before the game.It's the law and very rude if you don't...
Think Hansel & Gretel combined with Green St...
The home end.I think they were belting out the club song written by celeb fan Nina Hagen.Bit like us if we sang a song by Robert Plant!
End of the game...many fans hung around.After all the bars were still open so what's the rush.,,
FCUnion play in the south of the Berlin in Köpenick (pronounced Cooper nick) only about fifteen minutes from the centre of the city by S-Bahn...The bar I went to was directly opposite the railway station,no idea what it was called but let's say The Railway Arms or whatever the equivalent in German is.It was'nt a 'Spoons though even if the prices were comparable...as it was 10am the place was pretty full( maybe it was a 'Spoons) and I seemed to be the only bugger not wearing red & white.It did cross my mind they may think I was a Bielefeld hoolie spy as I did get a few glances as I walked in, however as soon as i opened my mouth the glancees returned to their beer as it was obvious I could barely say Bielefeld never mind pass info on to their top boy...
Union Berlin have a bit of a trendy alternative fan base.Nowhere near the anarchist/left wing base of Hamburg's St Pauli but they have as much kudos having saved their club from financial ruin and rebuilt the stadium to their own specifications ( 22,000 capacity, 3,500 seats & the rest terracing) The stadium is about a ten minute walk from the station but you do have to pass beer stalls so obviously it can take much longer...
Oh and you then stroll to the ground through a forest...
Think Hansel & Gretel combined with Green St...
There are a good few differences between football in the UK and Germany.For one thing security is tighter...Everone entering the ground is searched.This is also fairly meticulous compared to the perfunctory one second tap down to every fourth fan over here.I presume their stewards are both better trained and better paid...
Clearly this system takes longer which is one reason many German grounds are pretty full a good hour before the game unlike ours where everone piles in two minutes before kick off...If you have that many fans in the ground so early then make sure you can adequately cater for them.Again unlike our stadiums there is plenty of room for everyone and many bars & food outlets.Obviously the booze & food is a little dearer than outside in the real world but that's to be expected.However this is good food we're talking about here and not a half cooked steak & kidney pie with more gristle than Matt Murray's knees..and of course the beer is German not Carling.Even the worst German beer is infinitely better than Carling...
Much is made of how cheap the pricing is compared to our game and up to a point it's true.My ticket to what was effectively a Championship game was about £13.Very reasonable.However the merchandising was a lot more expensive.Club shirts are somewhere between 60 & 80 Euros...
As beer is also served within sight of the pitch,unlike here where obviously we can't be trusted to watch a game or even see a freshly mown patch of grass,with a beer lest we go apeshit,..then the atmosphere is already rocking by ko time.After all what else are you gonna do?
Considering Bielefeld is nearly 400km from Berlin and it was an early Sunday afternoon ko they had a decent away following...although I'm sure Leeds fans would claim they'd take more...
Probably 3,000 away fans...good effort.
The game was solid Championship fare.Union should have been three/four up before Bielefeld took the lead( sound familiar?) before equalising after about an hour played.After that they laid siege to the opponents goal with no success and almost lost it to a last minute sucker punch breakaway...the match ending 1-1
The home end.I think they were belting out the club song written by celeb fan Nina Hagen.Bit like us if we sang a song by Robert Plant!
The singing never stopped all through the game and was probably loudest when Union were losing.Also a good variety of songs too including a few in English...Meanwhile all around me fans were happily boozing & smoking like sailors on shore leave...
End of the game...many fans hung around.After all the bars were still open so what's the rush.,,
Union Berlin are a solid top ten Bundesliga 2 team having never stepped up to the top division since reunification( they were an East German team before of course) It's a well supported club with an average of about 20,000 and clearly well run but not sure how much of a benefit going up to Bundesliga 1 would
be.The fans I spoke to don't seem too fussed either way.They just love the day out...
After the game I went back to The Railway Arms for a few more beers and a few Jägermeisters ( when in Rome an all that) and had a good old natter with a couple of home fans.All good stuff...
This was my third German game,all at this level and i have loved every experience.It's worth going just for the novelty of it if nothing else but once you have been you'll probably want to do it again...
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