Virus, Dentists and Old Bombs.

Struggling a little bit this week with a virus infection; coincidentally reading a book (Station Eleven) that deals with a “post apocalyptic” world depopulated by the fictional Georgia ‘flu – and what happens to civilisation – or rather what remains and/or evolves as civilisation. Interesting reading, but not designed for those who have heavy spasms of coughing. I smile as I type this.

Apropos to which, big medical news is about the breakthrough in “bionic” technology: the development of a working mechanical hand that can grip with varying pressures and is managed by electrical impulses from the brain. This is the super side of humanity. The opposite to the terrorist shrieking demands and violence – and it is most welcome. As is the fact that I had my dental check-up this week and have no remedial work needed.

In the World Track Cycling the GB team threatened to overwhelm, then managed to win creditable medal places. Opinion is divided about whether this is a good omen for the Rio Olympics, but on balance I am optimistic. The races shown on TV include the omnium and the kirin, both of which are fascinating to watch and bewildering to score. One of our class cycling heroes, eleven times Paralympic champion,  Sarah Storey – officially a Paralympian but determined, sharp and easily able to compete with able bodied athletes – is intending to try and cycle a world record distance in one hour. The current record is 46.065km and was set by Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel of the Netherlands in October 2003. I wish her luck: trekking around the velodrome for an hour is said by Chris Boardman to be “one of the most painful things you can do on a bike.”

 

Meanwhile an unexploded Second World war bomb was discovered beneath the car park at Borussia Dortmund’s stadium (which has a capacity of 80,000). I am not sure if they were digging up the ground or it was a chance find.

And one of our former players, dean Holden is moving into management, though perhaps only temporarily: Dean Holden is stepping up at Oldham. Good luck to him – unless they play Walsall of course. He was centre half and coach at the Banks’s Stadium and I remember buying tickets for a charity his family actively supported; his young daughter died from a rare blood disorder. He always seemed a genuine guy.

So to Walsall. The week began with Walsall Football club – and, to be fair almost all clubs in league One still with a reasonable chance of making those important play off places.

An away game at Bradford on Saturday had Bradford going one up, but finished with a one – all draw. That seemingly indefatigable spirit coming back to bite Bradford on the bum! But not finish them off!

But, then again maybe the intense pressure of a lot of games in a short timeframe is taking a toll on our small squad; although morale seems cheerfully high.

The first allocation of JPT tickets has been sold and we have been granted an extra five thousand. Phone lines and queues have been the order of the day … and I cannot get through to ask about the Early Bird season ticket offer.  There are Wembley-linked prizes on offer if we buy before 14^th March.

A rearranged game against Preston North End has Romaine Sawyers rested and Ashley Grimes beginning the game. Young Rico Henry replacing Andy Taylor at left back and Paul Downing not starting due to injury. Ashley Grimes is a lot more physical than Sawyers, who maybe being rested. But, sadly for Grimes his hoodoo remains with him. He failed to make any real impact (lack of match practice/ lack of skill?  According to manager Dean Smith we – as a team –  took too long to get started: giving Preston too much of the ball, the play and the territory – and paid for it by losing one nil.

Perhaps there is something of an anti-climax here, or fatigue is setting in. It may be no surprise that we – finally – lose to Preston whose resources are far bigger than ours but …

We have Leyton Orient at home on Saturday, we are still in the mix and there is time to get points and table position still. But games are running out now.

Images; Sarah Storey; daily mail; Omnium: telegraaaph.co.uk; dean Holden: http://www.thenational.ae; Match action: Walsall Advertiser

Chess and Spiders: Port Vale, Home.

Got up this grey Sunday morning, went downstairs, made a cup of tea: fooled myself that I was keeping my brain active playing a repetitive kids game on the i-pad. Match of the Day F.A. Cup on TV – and a huge house spider above the curtain, looking as if he/she owns the place.

Port Vale at home yesterday. Walsall –once again – starting to build up a run going in to the game: Wembley, successes in away games (against some top teams), three goals in twenty something minutes against Rochdale – a local derby in prospect: a chance to make progress towards those teasing play off places.

It’s that time of year again: Early Bird offers for next season’s season tickets, evenings getting lighter … serious excitement and long queues and associated rumours for the Johnstone’s paint Trophy Final.

I am expecting, as I desert my brother to the box office queue, the team to be playing to impress, to be playing for their places on that “hallowed turf”; if not for the fans who have been so faithful and, just perhaps, deserve something special. And against Port Vale would be special: wouldn’t it just!

Walsall crowd a little disappointing in numbers, but not in support. This is a packed-games, expensive time of the season. But, I smile, remembering the Facebook post “Walsall is for life, not just for Wembley”.

 

The highlights of the previous game (now regularly shown on the “new” electronic scoreboard) are backed by the theme music to, I think Gladiator –and the Who’s mighty “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. How well they synch! It could almost be planned.

… and we start like lions! Just as I had expected: rampant.  Sawyers again, dictating things smoothly from mid-field and getting up to support Hiwula. Jordan Cook is fast, Michael Cain too. Adam Chambers is running all over and involved in much. Port vale look leaden and shocked in comparison, responding with some heavy challenges.

The seats immediately around us seem to be taken up by “irregulars”; perhaps the friends and families of players, certainly they are used by football scouts on occasion – though we haven’t been aware of any for a couple of games now – and this game is no exception. Stout people they are, these hearty people: grandmothers, girlfriends and so on. Watching their mates, their loved ones, their families at work. The couple of guys in the seat in front of us manage to keep watching the game for all of, what, fifteen minutes? Then its mobile ‘phones out. Facebook and  …?

… chess? What, really? Chess? Yep. Sure enough, looking over his green-hoodied shoulder I see he is definitely playing chess! Whoever said these tiny machines, linked to GPS and brain numbing soul-less corporations would be the end of civilisation as we know it had never bargained for this. On-line chess.  Daddy or chips? Chess or the Walsall match?

Sawyers, seeking perhaps to lean on a defender and spin around him, falls to the floor inside the penalty box. He looks to the referee: Andy D’Urso who, quite correctly ignores the unspoken appeal.

 

D’Urso has quite a history as a referee and is not a favourite of the Walsall crowd. Even today he is not keeping up with play and a few decisions go against both teams. None so decisive as the penalty-that-should-have-been. Young Jordy Hiwula, playing up front was on a pushed through ball, just enough control on it to be able to beat the Vale keeper when he was pulled down by Ryan Iniss. The players job is to kick on and make the next one count, but after that we seemed to lose heart. Sawyers became distracted by constant niggling from a couple of vale defenders … and instead of becoming more determined to do damage with the ball he started trading fouls. Cook also lost impetus. The game got even worse when Vale scored from a corner. Walsall defenders claiming a foul, but the appeals, just a sign of despair, were never going to come to much.

 

Hiwula is keen; going to become a decent player at some level, but lacking in experience and not bulky enough to play a whole game as target man. Baxendale had been pretty ineffective, his running game easily snuffed out by the closing down tactics of Port Vale … and he’s just too short to win many of the crosses aimed in his general direction. We wonder when he ever scored from a header and, digressing as we are wont to do what is the collective name for headers. A charm of finches we agree, a warp of herring (is it really?). So what is the term for a gathering of rhino?

Ashley Grimes came on in the second half; Downing looking out of sorts and out of ideas at the back and, if this is a team of players playing to get a seat on the coach to Wembley, I am not impressed. Something happened to the team after that goal: we just lost all spark and got to easily pinned back in our own half. Port vale are really not a better team than we are, but its “goals as counts – the ball in the sprout bag!” and today they got one more than we did.

It could be about our lack of a credible strike threat when Bradshaw is out, the lack of real strength in depth or the tactics we try … any road up, every time we lose hurts our chances of getting to the play offs.

I don’t believe I’ve mentioned it here yet, but the major political parties are now seriously on the campaign trail. The general election is months away and the bickering, accusations and finger wagging have started. This week about HSBC and some shady tax-evasion for well-suited customers, some of whom may/may not have become politicians/advisors. Tories (Conservatives) are saying it actually happened when labour was in power. The Labour party are saying it did not become public knowledge until this coalition came to power. Me? I’m thinking: stop blaming each other and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Show me the policy and the will to clamp down on this kind of thing, rather than bitch about what has already happened.

Politics? It’s not going to get any easier!

Oh and when I finish typing, that spider is still up here: hasn’t moved a leg!

Images: match photos from http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk

Tensions and Intentions: Rochdale at Home.

There are so many international tensions at the moment: one of them is the escalating unrest created by Islamic State. The following is a short definition taken from the official BBC website and I am posting it here to give a reasonably unbiased context (of course any definition will be slanted by the political background of those defining it)

“Islamic State (IS) is a radical Islamist group that has seized large swathes of territory in eastern Syria and across northern and western Iraq.

Its brutal tactics – including mass killings and abductions of members of religious and ethnic minorities, as well as the beheadings of soldiers and journalists – have sparked fear and outrage across the world… The group aims to establish a “caliphate”, a state ruled by a single political and religious leader according to Islamic law, or Sharia.

Although currently limited to Iraq and Syria, IS has promised to “break the borders” of Jordan and Lebanon and to “free Palestine”. “

I mention Islamic State here because the Kingdom of Jordan, recently in negotiations to save one of their pilots held hostage by IS reacted to news of his savage murder by mounting air strikes against IS targets. This is a strong statement to be making, but only follows reported attempts by the kingdom to conduct fair discussions and meet the demands made by IS. I am sorry but I find it hard to imagine that here can be a place in the modern world for a non-secular state such as the one apparently proposed by Islamic State.

Meanwhile in Europe, the situation in the Ukraine continues, defying the confidence I had back in March last year that it would all be sorted in gentlemanly fashion. A group termed by media here as “Russian separatists”, though not officially overtly supplied by Russia has taken over a fair stretch of territory and is actively fighting against the “Ukrainian national army”. This week there have been negotiations and discussions involving Germany, France, Ukraine and the USA. Russia will soon be involved in the ongoing talks.

 

On a more local, definitely less dramatic and newsworthy level, I think I got a bit of a chill in the couple of hours I was queuing up for the Wembley tickets (but so glad that I did) . The emphasis now moves on the actually getting there. I have searched train prices, hotel overnight stays, just entered Walsall F.C. Wembley tickets into the search engines … so many options – but the train is E X P E N S I V E.

And er …

Will the connections be there? On time? Will there be cancellations? Work on the line? And how to get from London Euston – for example to Wembley stadium? Not impossible of course, but stressful?

So, at the moment I am thinking coach. Give that stress to somebody else; parking near to the stadium, chance for a spot or two of beer, leaving times sorted according to the game (extra time, penalties). But waiting to hear from my brother (hurry up mate!).

Waiting for my brother and taking LemSip (other cold cures are available). I wrap up warm; big coat, scarf, gloves and two pairs of socks and set out for the home game against Rochdale. Home game number sixteen? Really? Sit alone in a draughty seat in the Savoy Lounge – now I know why nobody else was sitting there, every time someone comes in or goes out there is a cold draught up your back!

Cully and Andy arrive. Talk about Wembley, why we are paying to have the wind-power turbines turned off, whether you need felt under the tiles on your roof and straw bale houses (prompted by Eddy Winko and his blog at https://winkos.wordpress.com/ ).

Then out to the colder air. And what a different team we looked! Dean Smith had been quoted in the Express and Star as saying he wanted the team to make a “faster start” – and they did. Playing to a strategy I haven’t seen at Walsall for a long time now. Based on attack and pushing forward. On loan Jordy Hiwula playing up front (Ashley Grimes on the bench) and very enthusiastic, chasing every ball. Sawyers playing – almost alongside him, but also weighing in with some incredible runs, control, switches of play and accurate passing. Forde and Cook also very aggressive and Purkiss pushing forward up the right wing. Within twenty two minutes we are three (count ‘em!) nil up.

 

 

Brave diving header bulleted in from O’Connor stooping to meet a driven corner; via a few deflections. The second a majestic long sweeping cross field diagonal ball from Sawyers, finding Ford tracking in on goal and a clinical slotting in at the near post. Rochdale looking bewildered. Similar pass to Purkiss, pushed inside, possible poor control from Chambers but the ball picked up by Hiwula who scored. Two games, two goals. Good start, even though he occasionally looks stranded; he puts in the work. O’Donnell has also made a couple of good saves.

Ford is substituted at half time: Baxendale comes on and, for this or some other reason we look vulnerable. Sawyers looks tired and is less bullish in the challenges. He rarely gets in to challenges where it might hurt – and had a cracking first half. Cook is edgy, looking annoyed and tetchy; I get a little bit worried that he’ll get sent off. He is much improved but still has that underlying streak that makes him a bit of a “red mist” player at times. Rochdale have obviously had a bit of a talking to and they are all over us,. Getting two goals back and pressing hard, just failing to get the equaliser before the end.

After a half time discussing whether or not to buy “Early Bird” season tickets – now on sale with a chance to win Wembley prizes the second half is fraught. Thank goodness we got three in the first half!

Credit to the Rochdale fans – supporting their team even when behind and respectful during the pre-match silence for former Walsall captain, Albert Macpherson.

 

Port Vale at home on Saturday: season’ warming up!

Che Sera, Sera … We’re Going To Wembley

Three forty five. Pee. Emm. Friday.

I’m coming down the stairs, two at a time. My big orange anorak in my arms. Smile on my face. Signed timesheets in my fist.

“Hey,” she says looking up at me, “don’t tell me you’re going home already!”

“OK,” I reply, “I’m not telling you.”

Like most of the others, she will be here for some hours yet. A meeting, progress and target data, seemingly endless planning for jumping through next week’s hoops.

I haven’t been near my mobile phone all day, but as I edge into the last school-run traffic of the week – some courteous drivers out there, today, thank you – it rings.

My brother. He who had my season ticket and said he would be in the queue for nine o’clock this morning. What queue/ the one for Walsall’s first-ever Wembley appearance of course! I guess he’s ringing me to tell me mission completed: the Wembley tickets safely in his grasp. That he’s at home. When do I want to collect them?

NO! he’s still in the queue, estimating a couple of hours before he gets to the front. Been there since ten thirty this morning! Trying not to sound miserable … he does.

“D’you want me to come and take over?”

“If you could …”

Takes me forty or so minutes. Facebook is full of up-dates: the first people started the queue at three a.m!

I hop over the security fencing, people all around are quiet, resigned, full of Saddlers humour:

“Who would have thought this many people would want tickets for the Doncaster game tomorrow eh?”

On Ashley Grimes first goal (against Gillingham earlier this week); “they say there’s a new souvenir shirt on sale in the club shop. Says on it; “Ashley Grimes … I was there when he scored!”

This self-mocking is a happy characteristic, it seems, of many Walsall supporters; easy, casual and tongue in cheek; just in case we get to taking ourselves too seriously.

“Is this the queue for Elton John tickets?”

“My mate said that show’ll  be the first time a queen has been to Walsall …”

We have a game at home (Rochdale) on Tuesday night, then on Saturday, again at home against Port Vale. Saturday is Valentine’s day. “Is it?” somebody isn’t sure.

“Yes,” chips in somebody else, “I’ll have to do something about that then.”

“What? Like buy yourself a Valentine’s card?”

Repartee. Nobody taking offence. But perhaps you have to be English to get it.

I haven’t got any money, no credit card, so I have to borrow my brother’s. He tells me his P.I.N. I keep saying it to myself, so as not to forget it. Then the train spotters around me (yes, really) start talking locomotive numbers and I become confused.

   

During the day, the queue started in the car park, went in through the away supporters entrance, down the pitch side track, out of the exit and to the ticket offices. The security man tells me he’s been on duty since six this morning. There are four ticket windows in operation. The ladies behind the windows, clearly tiring, are nonetheless doing a sterling job. They have to check season ticket details, find the correct seats, take financial details and wait for the tickets to be printed – away from the desks. Another lady is ferrying the tickets from the printer to the windows.

Behind window 1 the lady signals and says to the security guard:

“No more here for a while!” Then moves away.

Stan, long-time fan and club legend, apparently he hasn’t missed a game: home or away since 1970-something, has an armful of season tickets. Every season ticket is allowed to purchase up to six tickets today; general sales commence later. He has to reel off names and addresses from a list on a multi-folded paper. There had been grumbles: tickets should be per person, not per season ticket, it’s not fair. But this is allocations. If the initial allocation sells out, the club simply asks for more (s I understand it).

The chief of security comes forwards:

“Why are we one down?” he asks over my shoulder, nodding to the vacant chair behind Window 1.

“She’s gone for a cigarette.”

“What!” he says.

“Really? There’s a three hour queue and somebody’s got to take time out for a fag?”

I can understand he is irritable. But I haven’t been there all day, I am getting civilly served and will soon be on the way home. I also understand that every now and again it is wise to take a breather (if not a cigarette) or mistakes will be made.

My niece is heading for South Africa tomorrow. My brother needs his card back, so I drop it off on the way home. Then I’m home and drinking tea.

Not as soon as I’d imagined when I joined the traffic in Burton some two and a half hours earlier.

But we have got the tickets.

A big, much deserved thanks to my brother for standing in the queue for five-and-a-bit hours, to the people in the queue for their company and humour – and to the staff in the ticket office and security team for their endeavours.

Oh and an interesting aside from the Express and Star last night. Every club bar one (Huddersfield perhaps) that Andy Butler has played for has got to Wembley the year after he left. Why did we have to keep him so long? As somebody (was it me?) asked in the queue that is already fading into memory.

Saturday. Five forty five p.m.

After a walk over Cannock Chase and an afternoon up at the allotment I listen to local radio to find that Walsall have won two – nil up at Doncaster (coincidentally where said Andy Butler is now plying his trade). Ashley Grimes a scorer? No: goals from Jordan Cook (in the first three minutes) and twenty year old loanee Jordy Hiwula in the second half.

Reality Check: Gillingham at Home.

The question to ponder here is what exactly do referees say to players who have committed offences; especially the brutal and heinous ones? These are professional footballers remember? Football is their livelihood and their lives. They train, train, play and train: set pieces, tackling, heading, off-sides … the whole nine yards.

So … does the referee need to remind them that, barging somebody over, thuggishly from behind is against the rules? Does the referee need to remind said offender (for which read cheat or bully) that this behaviour is not allowed, will not be tolerated?

Or should the referee simply blow the whistle and dig out the red card?

We played Gillingham on Sunday evening (yes I know it’s weird, but we’ll get to that okay?) and Gillingham were out to intimidate, scare and rattle the Walsall team. At one point James Chambers was literally bounced over the goal line and onto the pitch side wall by a blatantly unfair push in the back when shielding the ball from a Gillingham player. The ref spent an inordinate amount of time “talking” to the man responsible and instead of, justifiably sending him off pulled the yellow card.

What?

A Chelsea player, stamping on the foot of an opponent got sent off this week because his actions were deliberate and could have seriously damaged a fellow player. This was exactly the same: Chambers could have been literally taken out of the game for a number of games after the crash into the wall: a sold object. Deliberate! Intentional!

Now I do blame the player to some extent. He did it after all. But a greater responsibility lies with the officials. Make an example of these thuggish tactics and they will not continue.

This ref made enemies of both sets of fans during the game with mind-boggling displays of ineptitude all over the pitch, favouring neither one side nor the other. I do not think I have ranted too mush about refereeing decisions in this blog, so trust me: this ref was a clown.

Gillingham sacked Peter Taylor their manager some weeks ago and are currently operating some kind of management by committee structure. We joked about each of the four choosing a different line a la Football Manager computer game (“You get to choose the goalkeeper this week, I’ll choose the defenders”). They were beaten in the other Area Final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy by Bristol City and were, understandably out to get some respect back. Gillingham is a fair journey on a fair day, but with a six p.m. kick off on a Sunday evening ? Their few travelling supporters have my deepest respect.

This was a rearranged fixture, arranged for Sunday by negotiation. We cannot play our Sunday games earlier, because the Bescot Sunday Market takes precedence: so I set out, picked up my brother and parked up, feeling rather surreal.

“It’s not cold,” my brother cheerfully remarked. It got cold during the game and was well towards freezing as we trudged back to the car.

Cully is still tremendously excited about getting to Wembley and we spent most of the first half going over getting-to-Wembley options. The tickets go on sale to season ticket holders on Friday. A lot of the game went by, all but un noticed. I wondered if our players might be a little awe-struck; concentrating on staying fit and uninjured so as to be available for the Wembley game. And, while I was wondering I was hoping not. We still have a chance of play off places and promotion and that won’t happen if players won’t go in where it’ll hurt.

The players might have been tired and emotionally drained but there was no chickening out of challenges and we were largely in control of the game, but – as has happened so many times this season we were in little danger of actually scoring: on top, a lot of shots, but nothing to show for it.

James Chambers, nursing that injury no doubt didn’t come out for the second half; replaced by O’Connor.

Tom Bradshaw had some very neat, edge of the penalty area footwork and a tidy shot, but immediately looked uncomfortable, quickly replaced by Ashley Grimes – who hasn’t scored for a couple of years. And, with the defence expecting an off-side flag Gillingham broke away and they are one nil up. Deep joy for the travelling supporters, probably imagining a happy journey home at that point.

But we went on the Bradshaw-less rampage. Cook playing well, Sawyers missing a shot, Forde showing good control (amazing how little space players like Cook need down the touchline to get by defenders) and, finally thanks to a scrappy challenge from O’Connor  who else but Ashley Grimes stuck the ball into the net! Easy to see how relieved he was. But Bradshaw’s injury looked serious , so – with Manset leaving us to go the Cheltenham Town – Grimes might be our main man for a few weeks.  Please note, however we did pounce (if that is the correct verb) to secure a month long loan of rising Manchester City teenage star, Jordy Hiwula apparently a striker too.

Final score one all, not a great deal of help in our crawl towards promotion, but being a Walsall supporter is never easy. If it was, surely we’d get more supporters at home games.