Small Competencies and Magpies: Blackpool at Home

 

Saturday, 23 January 2016

This morning, looking out of the kitchen window I spotted two magpies sitting in the bare crown of a nearby ash tree. Two? That’ll be

One for sorrow,

Two for joy …

That has to mean a Walsall win today surely; against Blackpool, short of support, with a megalomaniac chairman and just beginning to revive their fortunes (they beat Scunthorpe five nil last weekend).

I duly saluted the birds, being blown in the warm (yes warm) January gusts of wind.

We were en route to the allotment, via the library to return books and take out new ones. I was taking back a Terry Venables biography; Born To Manage. In his time Venables has managed QPR, Tottenham, Barcelona, England, attracted and generated all kinds of publicity and written (or co-written) a number of books. As usual a person’s autobiography reveals what that person wants to have shown and is short on those that would give a rounded assessment. For me the phrase “everyone seemed to think I was just a cheeky cockney” was repeated too often. Wonder why that is then Tel?

Earlier in the week we had booked last-minute tickets to go to hear Chris Hadfield, Canadian born test pilot, astronaut and International Space Station commander talk at Birmingham Symphony Hall. Simply stunning. A modest, articulate presentation, given with a sense of place and sense of humour. But what great things this man – born into a nation without a space programme – has achieved already in his lifetime.

He puts it down to ambition, determination and “building small competencies”; talking about the future of space exploration, his own experiences, personal insights in a genuine and inspirational way. Giving credit to all of the ingenuity that was Birmingham and the Black Country in Industrial Revolution times (1760 to 1840) where and when there were people taking personal, financial risks and risking capital to move ideas, commerce and society forwards he fitted this wonderfully into his overall presentation.

I came away with new perspectives; primarily that “one space rocket” is actually “ a thousand or more small inventions bolted together” and thinking for the first time that science and technology have got us to a stage where we could almost build a “Moonbase Alpha” on the moon. After all, as Hadfield explained “anyone under the age of fifteen has lived in a time in which not all of us lived on Earth” because up in the international space station people were testing the small competencies that would enable us to leave the planet.”

Back to match day and I got a surprise text from my brother. I had believed he was heading for Scotland but he had changed his plans. So he picked me up and we headed to the game.

Notably small band of fans in the away end. Karl Oyston, their chairman has – and is – upset their supporters by the at least cavalier attitude he has with their money apparently. Many of the fans believe, to put it mildly that he has been responsible for poor management of funds. They are not happy and so boycott games. This, however does not seem to affect Oyston in the slightest.

But so many have turned up and are packed into the home end. Cheerful, noisy and expectant. There has been a rush on this week to get tickets for the Burton Albion game. It was never predicted but both Burton and Walsall are having wonderful seasons: at start of play today they were top of league one, we were second … and they have a game in hand.

But this run of results and the magnificent performances finally seem to have generated bums-on-seats! Yes! Higher attendances, higher income, better motivation on match days … better results and, er … promotion? Yes?

Definitely maybe!

And what these supporters got was a high energy game from beginning to end. Blackpool an entirely different side to the one that rolled over and died in August ( https://saddlersfan.wordpress.com/2015/08/30/vote-pies-blackpool-away/ ). An intense game but played fairly with very few serious infringements but, sadly dominated by a referee who saw things differently (taking six names; three from each team by the end of the game).

We had the most possession, but failed to do anything with it. I love the neat little interplays, close ball control – and we can do this in spades! – but get frustrated when the team tries to get in just one more pass before shooting – oh and one more …

Consequently at half time after a fast paced game we are locked at nil-nil. It hasn’t been boring but there are no goals.

Burton, we learn are losing against Shrewsbury … could it be? If we can take the three points on offer, we are, we are, we are top of the league. That’d be a boost!

We eventually take the lead after some fine wing work and Andy Taylor – knocked down and probably out in an earlier incident – puts it over for Demetriou – nominally a full back but so often with the speed of Billy Whizz, getting up and attacking, putting the boot on it that gives us one nil.

Blackpool are stung into action: there’s a flurry of substitutions: Bradshaw off for Lalkovic, Henry off and Matt Preston on and Kieron Morris on for Sawyers.

In the run-down of the added on time Blackpool get a free kick. It comes back off the wall and a Tangerine (had to get that one in), Philliskirk, is in exactly the right place to squeeze in the equaliser. This has been a tremendous game of football: skills and spills on both sides … and it is good, sometimes just to recognise this value in a single game rather than see t in the context of the bigger-picture race to promotion. Where (and maybe this is the joy those two birds brought to us this morning, results have gone in our favour: Burton ended up losing and the other top teams don’t profit from our letting go of two points in a thrilling game.

Meanwhile we can see in front of our very eyes those small competencies being built up. Up the Saddlers!