What a difference a couple of weeks can make. Just over a fortnight ago the Glovers succumbed to Exeter City at home for the second time this season and had fallen to just outside the relegation zone in the table. Gloom and doom amongst fans was rife and even your humble scribe - normally a glass-half-full kinda guy - was moved to write the following: ...right now Skivo's judgement and tactical nous is being scrutinised as much as it ever has been by a fanbase - those of us that are left - getting increasingly impatient with poor results and worse performances.
Three games later and the picture looks very different. A good 1-1 draw at home to a strong Southampton side followed by those rarest of beasts, two away wins in a row, firstly at Walsall and then last Saturday at Rochdale. Seven points from a possible nine on offer and most importantly, two clean sheets. Four points away from the relegation zone, but only three points away from the play-offs. I guess the only conclusion to draw from it all is that, as Skivo himself said not so long ago, we shouldn't over-react to events. Rudyard Kipling said it better:
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
He knew what he was on about did Kipling. I particularly like the lines: If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same. Very apposite for the modern day YTFC fan. I'm tired of worrying about football. I'm fed up with concerns over Holdingsgate. I'm bored with obsessing over every last YTFC related fact. I don't care where the missing fans have gone, nor do I want to think about the crap beer tent. All I wanna do is have some fun, as Sheryl Crow once said. I just want to go and watch my team play football, to be entertained for a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon. If we win, we win, if we lose, we lose. It doesn't really matter either way. Me and 3,000-odd others will turn up, whether we're playing the likes of Sheffield Wednesday or Hayes and Yeading. It's football at Huish Park, it's what we do.
Talking of Sheffield Wednesday, they are next up for Skivo's men. The Owls are the latest fallen giants to fill the away end at Huish Park, the latest ex-Premiership club to be informed that they are 'not famous anymore'. They are a massive three points ahead of the Glovers in the table so naturally the bookies make Wednesday 11/8 favourites to win the game on Saturday. The draw is priced at 23/10 and a home win at a somewhat insulting 19/10. My miffed fiver is going on the home win. Running total: -£5.25p.
In case you haven't noticed it's been International Week this week: No Premiership nor Championship football on tv, just international football, qualifiers for next year's European Championship. I noticed because Sunday's without football on the box are plain wrong. I pay a not inconsiderable sum to Sky TV to be able to watch football on a Sunday, so why did they not show a League One or League Two game? The lack of football meant I had no excuse not to go to a flea market/craft fair at the Shepton Mallet Showground, not an experience I want to repeat in a hurry. Sort it out Sky!
It's not as if international football - tournaments apart - is much good or very interesting. I reckon most Champions League teams, hell, most Premiership teams would beat most international sides with something to spare. I'm bloody sure Cardiff City, for example, would see off Wales very comfortably; while Everton would more than likely eviscerate England and Liverpool lamp Latvia. Er, well, maybe not that last example. Congratulations are due to Shaun MacDonald for his first Welsh cap proper, but as a Welshman I can honestly say I have little or no interest in international football at the moment, the damage done to Wales and Welsh football by the mis-management of John Toshack has knocked the stuffing out of a whole generation of Welsh fans and players and it's going to take a long time to get the enthusiasm back. Mind, the Welsh FA could help by appointing the right manager this time - hint, that is NOT Ian Rush. My choice would be for a Ryan Giggs/Brian Flynn partnership but I'd be equally pleased if Chris Coleman got the job. Hell, I'd even give Robbie Savage a go, if he fancied it.
Just read: The Evolutionary Void by Peter F Hamilton: The final part of the Void Trilogy, here at last. Was it worth the wait? Just about. It is, in my opinion, the weakest of the trilogy with the ending, as usual with Hamilton's books, somewhat forced and contrived. Having said that I still thoroughly enjoyed the journey to get to the ending and I'd still recommend this novel highly - but you'd have to read The Dreaming Void and The Temporal Void first, The Evolutionary Void won't make much sense otherwise. It's epic space-opera on a galactic scale but Hamilton never gets carried away with the high-tech settings and neglects his characters. It's just a small shame that the final chapter doesn't quite live up to all of the rest.
Showing posts with label Shaun MacDonald. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shaun MacDonald. Show all posts
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Sunday, 12 September 2010
L1: Yeovil Town 3 Tranmere Rovers 1
That's better. The Glovers bounced back from last week's mauling in the Midlands with a well-deserved 3-1 win over Tranmere Rovers. Terry Skiverton's men blew the visitors away with 3 first half goals without reply. The Glovers went off the boil somewhat in the second half, contenting themselves with containing Tranmere and playing on the break. The visitors scored a consolation penalty in the final minute, but that was the only blemish on an encouraging overall display from the home side.
Yeovil's domination of the first half was as complete as it was surprising. The team lined up in a 4-4-1-1 formation, Gavin Williams playing behind Dean Bowditch up front, Andy Williams returning from injury on the right and Sean MacDonald taking up his usual central midfield role. The excellent Bowditch opened the scoring on 7 minutes, a fluffed goalkick rebounding to the striker who made no mistake with a well-placed shot from around 35 yards to beat the scrabbling keeper. The Glovers doubled their advantage 4 minutes later, Andy Williams supplying the cross which allowed left-winger Andy Welsh to score in the far corner with a well-placed header. Paul Huntington made it 3-0 on 27 minutes, prodding home after a scramble in the box following an Andy Williams free-kick. Modesty forbids me from gloating about the fiver I had on Huntington to score at anytime at 12/1! Three goals by half-time then and it could have been more. Gavin Williams forced the Rovers keeper into several saves and was denied what appeared to be an obvious penalty after being tripped in the box, and Andy Williams headed straight at Collister in the visitors goal when it looked easier to score. But all in all a fine first 45 minutes for the Glovers, with Super Gav and Bowditch looking like they'd played together all their lives and the team as a whole playing with pace, energy and purpose, keeping the ball on the floor in the main and running the visitors ragged.
It was perhaps asking too much for the Glovers to dominate the second half as much as they did the first, and the visitors saw more of the ball after the break. Even then, any Yeovil alarms were largely self-inflicted with Adam Virgo and John Sullivan getting in each other's way on one occasion and almost letting in Arnaud Mendy. JP Kalala was unlucky with a thunderbolt from 20 yards which scraped the bar and substitute Luke Freeman screwed his shot narrowly wide when one-on-one with keeper Collister. Adam Virgo thought he'd made it 4-0 with a far-post header late in the game, but the referee disagreed, penalising the big defender for climbing on his opponent, a poor decision from where I was sitting. Tranmere got their consolation in the final minute, Nathan Smith pulling back Lucas Akin to give away a penalty, which Ian Thomas-Moore converted.
The Glovers lined up as follows:
1. John Sullivan: 6/10 - Competent display. Didn't have much to do until later in the second half but coped well enough with the few shots Rovers managed on target. Maybe some concerns over a lack of communication with his defenders at times.
2. Craig Alcock: 7/10 - Very good first half, got forward well to support Andy Williams on the right and always available for the pass. Quieter second half, came close to scoring with a header from a corner.
5. Paul Huntington: 8/10 - Probably his most convincing defensive display so far in his short YTFC career. On top of that he's been threatening to score for a few games now and was in the right place at the right time.
19. Adam Virgo: 8/10 - Same comments as above, but was unlucky inasmuch his goal was disallowed. Needs to listen to his goalkeeper a bit more, especially when Mr Sullivan is shouting "my ball!" Some of his long passes to the wings were works of art.
6. Nathan Smith: 7/10 - That's more like it. Solid defensively and made some barnstorming runs forward with the ball in the first half in particular. Quieter second half and I've marked him down a point for giving away an unnecessary penalty.
7. Andrew Williams: 8/10 - Not heard his name mentioned much in regard to yesterday's game but I thought he was excellent. A constant threat on the right in the first half in particular, provided the assist for Welsh's goal and linked up well with his fullback, the midfield and his forwards. We've missed him these last few games.
25. Shaun MacDonald: 8/10 - You don't know what you've lost 'til it's gone, as the song goes, but we knew exactly what we were missing when the Ginger Ninja went back to South Wales. Graft, application, hard-tackling, accurate passing but above all else bags of skill. Swansea must have some absolutely fantastic midfield players if this fella is surplus to requirements. Ah well, their loss is our gain.
21. Jean-Paul Kalala: 7/10 - Battling. Bustling. Bristling. Belligerent. Business as usual, in other words. Unlucky with one effort in the second half that skimmed the bar.
11. Andy Welsh: 7/10 - Marked him up a point for the way he took his goal - a well-placed header (of all things) away from the keeper into the far corner of the net. Slightly quiet match otherwise.
24. Gavin Williams: 7/10 - His mere presence gave everyone else a lift, crowd and players alike. Linked up well with Bowditch and always made himself available for the pass. Always appeared to have plenty of time and space come to that and popped up all over the pitch. Faded a bit as the match wore on but he hasn't got his match legs yet. Much, much, much more to come.
10. Dean Bowditch: 8/10 - Lead the line with great verve and energy. Excellent finish for his goal and looked to be thoroughly enjoying himself all afternoon.
Subs:
8. Luke Ayling (90 mins for Dean Bowditch): n/a - Not on long enough to affect the game.
18. Luke Freeman (84 mins for Andrew Williams): 5/10 - Barely on long enough to affect the game, but had one golden opportunity when one-on-one with the Tranmere keeper, which he fluffed. Might find chances to impress are hard to come by, in the next few weeks at least.
20. Owain Tudur-Jones (90 mins for Andy Welsh): n/a - Not on long enough to affect the game.
Crisis? What crisis? Play like this every game and my pre-season prediction of a 9th-place finish might not sound as daft as it did this time last week. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, again. Tranmere were ravaged by injuries and in the first half at least were as accommodating to their hosts as any away team could ever be. Having said that you can only beat what's put in front of you, and beat them we did, convincingly. What was most pleasing was the almost complete absence of the vaguely-aimed long-ball up front. Passes were to feet, or into space for players to run onto and possession wasn't just frittered away. Not that was to the taste of some in the crowd. I felt sorry for Andy Williams in particular at one point in the first half when instead of whacking a long-ball forward to no-one in particular he elected to pass back to Craig Alcock and keep possession instead. 'Get it bloody FORWARD Williams' came one stentorian bellow from behind me, followed by other shouts of displeasure, including, I swear, 'bloody rubbish Yeovil!' The beautiful game still has some way to go before it filters down into certain parts of South Somerset.
Still, at least the long-ball fans turned up. Yesterday's crowd was a miserly 3,364, the second-worse attendance at Huish Park since we joined the Football League. And that's with the return of Super Gav and Shaun MacDonald figured in. If that doesn't give the Board some serious concern and pause for thought, then nothing will.
Just read: Transition by Iain Banks: For me, Banks is one of those authors who could make a shopping list gripping. Love his books, particularly his science-fiction, which he releases under the name 'Iain M Banks'. This one's without the 'M', but don't be fooled, it's as science-fiction as they come. Infinite parallel worlds and multiple story-lines with diverse characters all of which come together in a thrilling and satisfying finish. Highly recommended.
Yeovil's domination of the first half was as complete as it was surprising. The team lined up in a 4-4-1-1 formation, Gavin Williams playing behind Dean Bowditch up front, Andy Williams returning from injury on the right and Sean MacDonald taking up his usual central midfield role. The excellent Bowditch opened the scoring on 7 minutes, a fluffed goalkick rebounding to the striker who made no mistake with a well-placed shot from around 35 yards to beat the scrabbling keeper. The Glovers doubled their advantage 4 minutes later, Andy Williams supplying the cross which allowed left-winger Andy Welsh to score in the far corner with a well-placed header. Paul Huntington made it 3-0 on 27 minutes, prodding home after a scramble in the box following an Andy Williams free-kick. Modesty forbids me from gloating about the fiver I had on Huntington to score at anytime at 12/1! Three goals by half-time then and it could have been more. Gavin Williams forced the Rovers keeper into several saves and was denied what appeared to be an obvious penalty after being tripped in the box, and Andy Williams headed straight at Collister in the visitors goal when it looked easier to score. But all in all a fine first 45 minutes for the Glovers, with Super Gav and Bowditch looking like they'd played together all their lives and the team as a whole playing with pace, energy and purpose, keeping the ball on the floor in the main and running the visitors ragged.
It was perhaps asking too much for the Glovers to dominate the second half as much as they did the first, and the visitors saw more of the ball after the break. Even then, any Yeovil alarms were largely self-inflicted with Adam Virgo and John Sullivan getting in each other's way on one occasion and almost letting in Arnaud Mendy. JP Kalala was unlucky with a thunderbolt from 20 yards which scraped the bar and substitute Luke Freeman screwed his shot narrowly wide when one-on-one with keeper Collister. Adam Virgo thought he'd made it 4-0 with a far-post header late in the game, but the referee disagreed, penalising the big defender for climbing on his opponent, a poor decision from where I was sitting. Tranmere got their consolation in the final minute, Nathan Smith pulling back Lucas Akin to give away a penalty, which Ian Thomas-Moore converted.
The Glovers lined up as follows:
1. John Sullivan: 6/10 - Competent display. Didn't have much to do until later in the second half but coped well enough with the few shots Rovers managed on target. Maybe some concerns over a lack of communication with his defenders at times.
2. Craig Alcock: 7/10 - Very good first half, got forward well to support Andy Williams on the right and always available for the pass. Quieter second half, came close to scoring with a header from a corner.
5. Paul Huntington: 8/10 - Probably his most convincing defensive display so far in his short YTFC career. On top of that he's been threatening to score for a few games now and was in the right place at the right time.
19. Adam Virgo: 8/10 - Same comments as above, but was unlucky inasmuch his goal was disallowed. Needs to listen to his goalkeeper a bit more, especially when Mr Sullivan is shouting "my ball!" Some of his long passes to the wings were works of art.
6. Nathan Smith: 7/10 - That's more like it. Solid defensively and made some barnstorming runs forward with the ball in the first half in particular. Quieter second half and I've marked him down a point for giving away an unnecessary penalty.
7. Andrew Williams: 8/10 - Not heard his name mentioned much in regard to yesterday's game but I thought he was excellent. A constant threat on the right in the first half in particular, provided the assist for Welsh's goal and linked up well with his fullback, the midfield and his forwards. We've missed him these last few games.
25. Shaun MacDonald: 8/10 - You don't know what you've lost 'til it's gone, as the song goes, but we knew exactly what we were missing when the Ginger Ninja went back to South Wales. Graft, application, hard-tackling, accurate passing but above all else bags of skill. Swansea must have some absolutely fantastic midfield players if this fella is surplus to requirements. Ah well, their loss is our gain.
21. Jean-Paul Kalala: 7/10 - Battling. Bustling. Bristling. Belligerent. Business as usual, in other words. Unlucky with one effort in the second half that skimmed the bar.
11. Andy Welsh: 7/10 - Marked him up a point for the way he took his goal - a well-placed header (of all things) away from the keeper into the far corner of the net. Slightly quiet match otherwise.
24. Gavin Williams: 7/10 - His mere presence gave everyone else a lift, crowd and players alike. Linked up well with Bowditch and always made himself available for the pass. Always appeared to have plenty of time and space come to that and popped up all over the pitch. Faded a bit as the match wore on but he hasn't got his match legs yet. Much, much, much more to come.
10. Dean Bowditch: 8/10 - Lead the line with great verve and energy. Excellent finish for his goal and looked to be thoroughly enjoying himself all afternoon.
Subs:
8. Luke Ayling (90 mins for Dean Bowditch): n/a - Not on long enough to affect the game.
18. Luke Freeman (84 mins for Andrew Williams): 5/10 - Barely on long enough to affect the game, but had one golden opportunity when one-on-one with the Tranmere keeper, which he fluffed. Might find chances to impress are hard to come by, in the next few weeks at least.
20. Owain Tudur-Jones (90 mins for Andy Welsh): n/a - Not on long enough to affect the game.
Crisis? What crisis? Play like this every game and my pre-season prediction of a 9th-place finish might not sound as daft as it did this time last week. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, again. Tranmere were ravaged by injuries and in the first half at least were as accommodating to their hosts as any away team could ever be. Having said that you can only beat what's put in front of you, and beat them we did, convincingly. What was most pleasing was the almost complete absence of the vaguely-aimed long-ball up front. Passes were to feet, or into space for players to run onto and possession wasn't just frittered away. Not that was to the taste of some in the crowd. I felt sorry for Andy Williams in particular at one point in the first half when instead of whacking a long-ball forward to no-one in particular he elected to pass back to Craig Alcock and keep possession instead. 'Get it bloody FORWARD Williams' came one stentorian bellow from behind me, followed by other shouts of displeasure, including, I swear, 'bloody rubbish Yeovil!' The beautiful game still has some way to go before it filters down into certain parts of South Somerset.
Still, at least the long-ball fans turned up. Yesterday's crowd was a miserly 3,364, the second-worse attendance at Huish Park since we joined the Football League. And that's with the return of Super Gav and Shaun MacDonald figured in. If that doesn't give the Board some serious concern and pause for thought, then nothing will.
Just read: Transition by Iain Banks: For me, Banks is one of those authors who could make a shopping list gripping. Love his books, particularly his science-fiction, which he releases under the name 'Iain M Banks'. This one's without the 'M', but don't be fooled, it's as science-fiction as they come. Infinite parallel worlds and multiple story-lines with diverse characters all of which come together in a thrilling and satisfying finish. Highly recommended.
Monday, 30 August 2010
It's the hope that hurts
Catch-up time. This blog is a Holdingsgate-free zone, at least for today. We've seen a couple of unexpected new signings since the last time I blogged as well as the confirmation of longer-term loans on a couple more; added to which the rumour-mill, fuelled by no less a source than Skivo himself, has gone wild with the possibility of one more big signing before the transfer window shuts at 6pm tomorrow. Oh, the possibilities! If one was of a cynical frame of mind then one might conclude that the Glovers Board had relaxed the purse-strings somewhat in order to distract attention away from Holdingsgate, but we're not that cynical are we? Hell, no. Oh, I nearly forgot, we also earned a good point away yesterday against a decent Oldham side for which we were full value and were evidently somewhat unlucky not to come away with all three points after having what seemed like a perfectly good goal disallowed as well as a cast-iron penalty refused, again. What is it that referees have against Yeovil Town?
The two loanees who have penned longer-term deals are the expected ones: Millwall keeper John Sullivan and Watford midfielder/defender Rob Kiernan will remain at Huish Park until at least January 3rd 2011. Good news there, but the really good news came on Friday. In hindsight everyone and his dog and cat could see after the Hartlepool debacle that the weak link in the squad was the central midfield, especially when JP Kalala was missing. That has now been addressed, firstly with the arrival of Welsh international Owain Tudur-Jones from Norwich City, back for a second month's spell at Huish Park after his month long loan deal last season; and secondly with the massively welcome news that Shaun Macdonald is back and on a reasonably long-term basis too, also until January 3rd. We won't actually see the Ginger Ninja in action until the September 11th home game v Tranmere as he's off for the next week on Welsh u-21 international duty, but the news that both he and Tudur-Jones have signed was a huge boost on Friday after a pretty dismal week. Welcome back boys, with so many Welshmen back on the playing staff how can we go wrong?
And then there's the possibility that's got the rumour-mill in overdrive. Speaking after the Oldham game, Skivo stoked the fire: "I am still trying to add one more and I am not going to say who it is yet, but I am still trying and I think if we get this one that I am looking for we will be very strong this year." ITK's suggest the mystery man is none other than Gavin Williams. The Welsh international is out of favour at Bristol City, barely appearing on the bench so far this season under former manager Steve Coppell or current boss Keith Millen and is set to go out on loan. According to the rumour-mill L1 rivals Southampton were thought to be keen on signing Super Gav, but with the shock sacking of manager Alan Pardew - who signed Williams from Yeovil when in charge at West Ham United - that move must now be in doubt, which may just leave the Glovers in pole position. It might be a case of 2+2 equalling 5, but there have been whispers all summer about the possibility of the player returning to Huish Park at some stage, and it might just be that this time the rumour-mill's got it right. Fingers are very firmly crossed.
The thought occurs to me that if Gav did sign (I know, I know, let's not count any chickens, but I can't help myself and it's my blog so I'll say what I like), but if he did sign then not only would we have three Williams's in the squad, we'd have a grand total of six (count 'em!) Welshmen as well, if you count Andy Williams as being Welsh which I do seeing as he was born in Hereford. Six Welshmen! Plus one with a surname of Welsh! That's more sons of Wales than Cardiff City and Swansea City combined managed to name in their first team squads this weekend! Cymru am byth!
Ahem! Back to reality. The Glovers entertain Exeter City in a Football League Trophy 1st round match at Huish Park tomorrow night, a game I'm hoping to get to if my sodding electric wheelchair can be fixed before then. My back wheel fell off as I was taking the dog for a walk today, not an experience I want to repeat in a hurry. To add insult to injury it happened at Huish Park as I was foolishly going to see if the ticket office was open so I could buy a ticket for tomorrow night's game. The ticket office open on a bank holiday? What was I thinking? The bookies make the Glovers 6/5 favourites for the win, the draw is priced at 12/5 and an Exeter win at 15/8. My fiver's going on the home win. Running total: +£3.25p.
Just read: Time's Arrow by Martin Amis. Life starts at the moment of death and winds backwards in this Booker Prize-winning novel. Our sympathy is with the protagonist as he gradually gets younger until we realise that his present life hides an appalling past as an assistant to Mengele in Auschwitz. A clever, very readable novel which horrifies and amuses in equal measure. I finished it nearly two weeks ago and I still find myself haunted by the scenes set in the concentration camp, as time inexorably flows backwards, with all that implies. Frightening and absorbing.
The two loanees who have penned longer-term deals are the expected ones: Millwall keeper John Sullivan and Watford midfielder/defender Rob Kiernan will remain at Huish Park until at least January 3rd 2011. Good news there, but the really good news came on Friday. In hindsight everyone and his dog and cat could see after the Hartlepool debacle that the weak link in the squad was the central midfield, especially when JP Kalala was missing. That has now been addressed, firstly with the arrival of Welsh international Owain Tudur-Jones from Norwich City, back for a second month's spell at Huish Park after his month long loan deal last season; and secondly with the massively welcome news that Shaun Macdonald is back and on a reasonably long-term basis too, also until January 3rd. We won't actually see the Ginger Ninja in action until the September 11th home game v Tranmere as he's off for the next week on Welsh u-21 international duty, but the news that both he and Tudur-Jones have signed was a huge boost on Friday after a pretty dismal week. Welcome back boys, with so many Welshmen back on the playing staff how can we go wrong?
And then there's the possibility that's got the rumour-mill in overdrive. Speaking after the Oldham game, Skivo stoked the fire: "I am still trying to add one more and I am not going to say who it is yet, but I am still trying and I think if we get this one that I am looking for we will be very strong this year." ITK's suggest the mystery man is none other than Gavin Williams. The Welsh international is out of favour at Bristol City, barely appearing on the bench so far this season under former manager Steve Coppell or current boss Keith Millen and is set to go out on loan. According to the rumour-mill L1 rivals Southampton were thought to be keen on signing Super Gav, but with the shock sacking of manager Alan Pardew - who signed Williams from Yeovil when in charge at West Ham United - that move must now be in doubt, which may just leave the Glovers in pole position. It might be a case of 2+2 equalling 5, but there have been whispers all summer about the possibility of the player returning to Huish Park at some stage, and it might just be that this time the rumour-mill's got it right. Fingers are very firmly crossed.
The thought occurs to me that if Gav did sign (I know, I know, let's not count any chickens, but I can't help myself and it's my blog so I'll say what I like), but if he did sign then not only would we have three Williams's in the squad, we'd have a grand total of six (count 'em!) Welshmen as well, if you count Andy Williams as being Welsh which I do seeing as he was born in Hereford. Six Welshmen! Plus one with a surname of Welsh! That's more sons of Wales than Cardiff City and Swansea City combined managed to name in their first team squads this weekend! Cymru am byth!
Ahem! Back to reality. The Glovers entertain Exeter City in a Football League Trophy 1st round match at Huish Park tomorrow night, a game I'm hoping to get to if my sodding electric wheelchair can be fixed before then. My back wheel fell off as I was taking the dog for a walk today, not an experience I want to repeat in a hurry. To add insult to injury it happened at Huish Park as I was foolishly going to see if the ticket office was open so I could buy a ticket for tomorrow night's game. The ticket office open on a bank holiday? What was I thinking? The bookies make the Glovers 6/5 favourites for the win, the draw is priced at 12/5 and an Exeter win at 15/8. My fiver's going on the home win. Running total: +£3.25p.
Just read: Time's Arrow by Martin Amis. Life starts at the moment of death and winds backwards in this Booker Prize-winning novel. Our sympathy is with the protagonist as he gradually gets younger until we realise that his present life hides an appalling past as an assistant to Mengele in Auschwitz. A clever, very readable novel which horrifies and amuses in equal measure. I finished it nearly two weeks ago and I still find myself haunted by the scenes set in the concentration camp, as time inexorably flows backwards, with all that implies. Frightening and absorbing.
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