tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58171809375723767262024-03-14T05:10:49.059+00:00Poppies at the Gates of Dawn"Coming in hotter than the Sun" and "Bursting Pomposity" since 1989GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.comBlogger1474125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-69382206203344231882024-03-10T11:39:00.000+00:002024-03-10T11:39:01.366+00:00The Dave Singh-cidentOvershadowing the vital victory over Stratford this weekend was the bizarre incident involving everyone's favourite other-Father, Dave Singh. Dave was escorted out of the ground after a Stratford player got in the ear of the linesman and managed to twist an utterly innocuous terrace comment into something that caused the referee to threaten to abandon the game unless Dave was ejected. I can only hope the Stratford player in question is proud of his actions and the linesman is content to have been played like a poorly tuned piano.<div> </div><div>Leaving aside the obvious ridiculousness of the incident a more disquieting thought occurs. In an honest attempt by the sport to rid football stadiums of overly foul, racist or homophobic abuse, brusque terrace badinage runs the risk of being twisted by thin-skinned players playing the system. Are you a player getting a bit of abuse for stealing a few yards at a thrown-in? Get jeered for slicing a clearance? Mention to an official you've been singled out for racist abuse. The referee will sh*t himself at the thought of not doing the right thing. So what if an innocent fan or two are ejected? So what if those supporters are tarred with being known as racists. So what if the club they support gets an unjustified reputation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Poppies social media have been all over Singh-gate and rightly so. </div><div><br /></div><div>As we all know, there are many reasons to dislike Dave Singh. It's never his round at the bar. His beard tickles when he kisses you after the Poppies score. That bloody blue coat he's owned since the 80's. The way he always manages to insert himself in front of you on the terrace. His dumb-ass, annoying-as-f*ck, cheery optimism. The mouth-meltingly hot curries he makes. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, so many reasons to take against Dave that pathetically making up a sneery, racist slight shows how utterly classless the player was and how dangerous it is for officials to blindly take the word of a player over such emotive issues when there is absolutely no corroboration and dozens of witnesses are telling you the exact opposite.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMaUC_pl8iep7T-vmpRx0k-IelhMPk0VpRdao2XUgXdJ1GtX3mL7nW7904CvJbgwfzPko_-Sd7o_fPvMxcTVqRqx4vME-Np24bP1sONAXgF6WeoPLfWrVYb6MIx7tMXrxkvj0fIlx7wth3JGkVEwuBOXeA2t7Ld-p-FYkTvuEvnrOPBvhV9iWO1fA-UYid/s1600/Dave%20Singh%20and%20Friends%20-%20Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMaUC_pl8iep7T-vmpRx0k-IelhMPk0VpRdao2XUgXdJ1GtX3mL7nW7904CvJbgwfzPko_-Sd7o_fPvMxcTVqRqx4vME-Np24bP1sONAXgF6WeoPLfWrVYb6MIx7tMXrxkvj0fIlx7wth3JGkVEwuBOXeA2t7Ld-p-FYkTvuEvnrOPBvhV9iWO1fA-UYid/w640-h480/Dave%20Singh%20and%20Friends%20-%20Copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>An artists impression of when Dave still had friends</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-78382210074395986252024-02-27T12:34:00.001+00:002024-02-27T12:34:29.571+00:00The Big One<p>The importance of tonight's match-up cannot possibly be overstated. A match between the forces of light and the forces of shite. Apparently there's a football game this evening between Kettering and Sudbury, but I'm talking about the clash between the two Tory MP's representing both towns.</p><p>On the right, in the blue corner is James Cartlidge. He has been Sudbury's MP since 2015, during which time has has served as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Justice, Exchequer Secretary for the Treasury, and Minister of State for Defence Procurement. The bugger is still not even 50 years old.</p><p>On the even further right and in the even bluer corner is local boy Phillip Hollobone who, despite being in the Commons twice as long as James has never come close to holding any official office. Even Peter Bone was briefly given a job as the Deputy Leader of the House of Commons FFS! When you consider how many PM's he has served under, and the absolute shit-show of changes in personnel under them, it takes a special kind of dim-wittedness to somehow be passed over for so long, by so many.</p><p>However, he DOES own a rather old union jack coat that, no doubt, he'll be wearing about the town when the General Election comes, when he'll be trying to blame all societies ills on everyone and everything but himself and his party despite being in power for the past decade and a half.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGB3-H7i-NsKEUeyrjwwsL86Iqqn_cn-TY372mfiTF1XAv7yEEv08Z7KUcKJDm_SqwdOjCm0eWAwlP3aNmdKYJoe3xfRTESfARDWBrZF-S0G2nbhqYpkX38NdUbNAXCJfNjg8I2CMEJrgvgrCu1leziUPVu1e8NEDJKSf61jU_U-W8ZksqGZymqZhD0M9t/s1067/800px-Official_portrait_of_James_Cartlidge_MP_crop_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGB3-H7i-NsKEUeyrjwwsL86Iqqn_cn-TY372mfiTF1XAv7yEEv08Z7KUcKJDm_SqwdOjCm0eWAwlP3aNmdKYJoe3xfRTESfARDWBrZF-S0G2nbhqYpkX38NdUbNAXCJfNjg8I2CMEJrgvgrCu1leziUPVu1e8NEDJKSf61jU_U-W8ZksqGZymqZhD0M9t/s320/800px-Official_portrait_of_James_Cartlidge_MP_crop_2.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>James Cartlidge - Justifiably Smug</i></span><br /><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR8xTpdipBHx1O3lbx0gVastiA9-B1g9nK7FP-bzGbQCnxhqtIURC1TN2cgFvaBk3vw8muPPzuxUjvYVSc664JCYbFTDNXVmLDV770lboefR6mvfZ6EeunHIFC1drj_MobkbkEVllX2Op0kwx_UgGOfS-Both-TPlpDF8F05P4JTsLC0dRJzHQeQoiUJsy/s600/st,small,507x507-pad,600x600,f8f8f8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR8xTpdipBHx1O3lbx0gVastiA9-B1g9nK7FP-bzGbQCnxhqtIURC1TN2cgFvaBk3vw8muPPzuxUjvYVSc664JCYbFTDNXVmLDV770lboefR6mvfZ6EeunHIFC1drj_MobkbkEVllX2Op0kwx_UgGOfS-Both-TPlpDF8F05P4JTsLC0dRJzHQeQoiUJsy/s320/st,small,507x507-pad,600x600,f8f8f8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Phillip Hollobone simply can't believe<br />we keep electing him</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-1146394142433063662024-02-27T08:09:00.004+00:002024-02-27T08:16:58.322+00:00Trial by Television<p>It’s hard enough watching us play lately, but for those of a
particularly masochistic bent, even more self harm can be derived from the post-match interviews on Poppies TV.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">First we had Andy Leese, whose media strategy can be
summarised as:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->If we didn’t lose, it was all down to him and
the clever decisions he made<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->If we lost, it was because the players hadn’t
followed his instructions<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->And it wouldn’t happen again on his watch (it
did)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Initially Jim was a breath of fresh air, speaking apparently
from the heart and with a healthy dose of common sense. But this miserable stretch of results has
slowly sucked the life out of him, to the point where he has literally run out
of ways to answer the question, why are we so shit?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For fans of the genre of trying to polish a turd, a
collector’s item was the opening query after Telford, where Jim was
asked if he had seen any evidence of improvement since Long Eaton. After... a long pause... he suggested that we had
kept our shape for the first 20 minutes.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Somehow, despite being demoted to ball wiper and other
duties as required, Jim seems to have kept the media gig judging from the
latest sorry spectacle.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Possibly the new boss is being kept away from the camera
after his debut appearance almost crashed under the weight of so many
obviouslys, including six in a single sentence. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But more likely, Lav was still otherwise engaged delivering
the mother of all bollockings and sent Jim out to do the honours.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unless results improve (please God) can we make a
humanitarian request. Do the interviews
have to be so long? There’s nothing to be gained from making the poor man field
yet another question to which we already know the answer. Wriggling politicians
get off lightly compared to the Poppies TV inquisition! </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>PWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14489389484776012410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-42281673375260029892024-02-25T12:08:00.003+00:002024-02-25T16:05:04.996+00:00Is this the worst Poppies team in living memory?I suppose it depends on what constitutes "living memory" but there has to be a case for holding up the class of 23/24 as possibly the worst Poppies squad certainly that Patgod has seen. Sure, we've often assembled teams with shoddy players in it, but it is difficult to look back and identify a whole squad that has so woefully underperformed over so long.<div><br /></div><div>Some of the early to mid 1980's teams were pretty ropey, but they were teams that still managed to avoid relegation from what was the top tier of non-league football. The team that was finally relegated from the top division in the early 2000's wasn't great, but it won promotion the following year. Mind you, the team that was relegated again the following season, rock bottom of the Conference was pretty piss poor. But again, it was a team being relegated from what would now be the National League, so that in itself must garner a kernel of respect, surely?</div><div><br /></div><div>In the battle to be crowned "Worst Poppies Team Ever" it really comes down to a straight fight between our current team and the last one to be relegated from this division in 2012-13 season where even if we hadn't been deducted 10 points we'd have still finished rock bottom by a further 10 points.</div><div><br /></div><div>A closer analysis of that season and this one throws up quite a few disquieting similarities. </div><div><br /></div><div>Both seasons followed relegation from the National League structure into the Southern League Premier. Both seasons took place against a backdrop of an owner actively seeking to sell the club. Both seasons saw a revolving door of players and managers where you rarely bothered to learn new players names as they had a shelf life of less than a month. And that was if they were any good.</div><div><br /></div><div>But are we being entirely fair to the class of 2012-13? During that season we barely escaped from Non Park to Steal Park. We stopped playing for a month. We were back in Court facing winding-up orders. We were literally piecing teams together on a weekly basis. We had an owner who didn't give a f*ck and a prospective owner about to be handed a 5-year ban from football. Clearly 2012-13 was a clusterf*ck of clusterf*ckedness. </div><div><br /></div><div>We were rightly relegated and were frankly an embarrassment to Kettering Town FC, the town of Kettering, the County of Northamptonshire and the Southern League. And yet.....</div><div><br /></div><div>This season we may well have shuffled off an owner and a shed load of managers and players, but we are a far more settled club. We know, barring the merest hint of rain or the lightest of frost, where we're playing. We're getting several hundred punters through the doors. We have a thriving off-field scene. Our only problem is getting 11 sufficiently qualified and motivated players onto the pitch wearing red and black. But, here we are, getting regularly thumped by tiny clubs from tiny towns and are reliant on other clubs going bust or being patently not good enough to be in this division to give us even a CHANCE of staying up. </div><div><br /></div><div>2012-13 was always going to be a crap season. 2023-24 we started off pondering, if not promotion, at least a good showing and a possible tilt at the play-offs.</div><div><br /></div><div>We have a couple of games coming up against Sudbury that will go a long way towards deciding our fate this season. But even if we somehow pull ourselves out of current nose-dive I think we would be hard pushed to award worst Poppies team in living memory to anyone but the current crop.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, Lavery, print this article off and pin it to the dressing room wall. Show it to the players before they take to the pitch.</div><div><br /></div><div>We've tried everything else....</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK-bgh8E-onTofjjmGNFwRr_iDKD59ox2BCD9xurRXkvqfyPDIzX708qo5Xdt8UewlpbQgxBCeg2qgQe3Mzhf6PLBl6ghl318bFW0C2Xa78Hs9CZxW4X7x-iy6tPOUJOmIW3Wi2ib-vx_teoMhG3HlTrjJ0xkXNxo5jx6zMu35hR3BAVTRV5Y-O7HwH7x9/s640/article-0-0CE96A1200000578-237_634x422a.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK-bgh8E-onTofjjmGNFwRr_iDKD59ox2BCD9xurRXkvqfyPDIzX708qo5Xdt8UewlpbQgxBCeg2qgQe3Mzhf6PLBl6ghl318bFW0C2Xa78Hs9CZxW4X7x-iy6tPOUJOmIW3Wi2ib-vx_teoMhG3HlTrjJ0xkXNxo5jx6zMu35hR3BAVTRV5Y-O7HwH7x9/s320/article-0-0CE96A1200000578-237_634x422a.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beginning of the end?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-79978602372658930902024-02-17T12:22:00.002+00:002024-02-17T12:22:46.681+00:00The Third, Last Throw of the Dice<p>After drafting in additional players and trawling our back-catalogue of managerial bods with only Richard Lavrey picking up the telephone, the club has taken the further ambitious step of sacking all the supporters and drafting in a replacement crowd for today's game.</p><p>Having tried most other permutations to win a home game the Board have taken the bold move of releasing all 700 hardcore Poppies supporters and moving into the loan market for an entirely new crowd for the visit of Leamington.</p><p>The previous supporters have taken to Twitter with the following message -</p><p>"Our collective time at Kettering Town has come to an end. We'd like to thank the board and all the managers for giving us the chance to be disappointed most weekends. Our mutually agreed departure gives us the chance to look at options moving forward that may or may not include trips to B&Q, National Trust joint memberships and lunch with the in-laws. More than likely though we'll all be spending every other weekend in either Harborough or Wellingborough. Either way, we're gonna have to get used to wearing an awful lot more yellow than we've been used to...."</p><p>Speaking on behalf of our new supporters, former fan Anus McLintock of Brigstock also took to Twitter to say -</p><p>"On behalf of the new fan base I can only express how excited we are to be joining the club at this crucial time of the season. I used to be a supporter back in the day, and can remember as if was only yesterday the day we were relegated out of the Football League, blowing a 73 point lead in the League with only 3 games to go, being denied entry into the Premier League on the grading of the stadium and winning the World Cup at Wembley. I'm really looking forward to supporting "The Cherries" once again and cheering the lads on at a sold-out Rockingham Castle."</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMrYInYiVeWBzFeAP35z1HOTWucEGGnewUDQQ8WpteW_ZrIL_07GLOoI1LIJ0cCTp_7M86kwGjvOShPBJobKXjo8ch_hxS2l3W8oCuIB8waNj9LjlyxNgBhJawY4B64m_JX-AZ3CQ900Ywvn5Kw2uK06xa6Xr8CuHMUSFSzJto76gCAv3g7zhn8rgcUgzq/s942/20240217_121521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="942" data-original-width="742" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMrYInYiVeWBzFeAP35z1HOTWucEGGnewUDQQ8WpteW_ZrIL_07GLOoI1LIJ0cCTp_7M86kwGjvOShPBJobKXjo8ch_hxS2l3W8oCuIB8waNj9LjlyxNgBhJawY4B64m_JX-AZ3CQ900Ywvn5Kw2uK06xa6Xr8CuHMUSFSzJto76gCAv3g7zhn8rgcUgzq/w315-h400/20240217_121521.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">"Kettering Town on hold for Ron Atkinson...?<br />Sorry mate, wrong number. Do you need a cab...?"</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-30433880363390895642024-02-15T21:16:00.002+00:002024-02-16T13:59:18.042+00:00The Second, Last Throw of the Dice<p>Another week goes by and a couple more players in blurry photographs appear on social media holding the ubiquitous Poppies shirt, standing alongside an increasingly panicky looking Jim Le Masurier. That poor bloody shirt has been handled by so many temporary visitors this season it must feel like it's on a table in the entrance of a Primark store on the first day of the sales. I'm not sure how many more times we'll be welcoming kinda-nothing players who are of a level and quality that the prospect of a handful of paydays at a struggling Poppies side seems like a good career move. Surely we can only have so many more changes in personnel if not performances before we're all reaching for "deckchair" and "Titanic" cliché.</p><p>A look at the League table, best done like my Missus watching a horror film - through fingers or from behind a cushion, squeaking, "has it gone yet?" paints an ugly, stark, but clear picture. Basically us or Sudbury are going to fall off the footballing map at the end of the season. As we have yet play Subdury we have no idea how indifferent a team they are. Were it not for Nuneaton's latest demise they would be sitting above us in the table. As it is, with Nuneaton's results now a distant irritant, we sit 4-points proud of Sudbury.</p><p>We know very little about the club who are standing between us and consecutive relegations. What we DO KNOW is that not only do they have 3 or 4G pitch, but they now have permission for a second artificial pitch. TWO artificial pitches to make money out of, while we continue to try to play on our flooded or frozen cabbage patch with, seemingly, no chance of ever getting just the one new surface. They also seem to have a positive outlook to the remainder of the season, making a big feature on their social media of the run in, grandly calling it "THE RUN IN!" They also count, switching between the blog and Wikipedia with masterful aplomb, former Poppies players Jamie Griffiths, Bradley Thomas and former Poppies Assistant Manager Dean Greygoose among their less than stellar array of old boys.</p><p>What they don't have is a terrific number of supporters or the best of luck when it comes to teams going bust. They had managed to do the double over Nuneaton and must have been less than chuffed when those results were wiped. Their attendance against local rivals Needham Market attracted an extra 300 fans (more than double their average gate) to the hotly contested B1115 / B1078 derby. Nor do they have, unlike us, the very strong likelihood that they'll be playing a 38 year-old defender as a makeshift centre forward for the rest of the season.</p><p>But, probably the best thing they have over us is they don't seem to share our almost crushingly fatalist outlook and our world-weary pessimistic self-destructiveness somehow magically allied to a blind belief that we are still some sort of force in non-league football. The bastards.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitKumePttblY6qeUGMkw7Xi7lZjkfXhhYHgewT1LqNOPMJAcYKfhOrjl0FJYN3O-ZSs1QXmu57mMoH6dpv92SH0Kd22iQtQjNYQEo9DDqGRjoshu5jc1szPvQX5EpAZFT9S2vE6a924OaYvSErCb8e6sbmQmdsFvjjjRxQ902JV43wxr5AtcrLdD0mXbN_/s298/yyyyy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="281" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitKumePttblY6qeUGMkw7Xi7lZjkfXhhYHgewT1LqNOPMJAcYKfhOrjl0FJYN3O-ZSs1QXmu57mMoH6dpv92SH0Kd22iQtQjNYQEo9DDqGRjoshu5jc1szPvQX5EpAZFT9S2vE6a924OaYvSErCb8e6sbmQmdsFvjjjRxQ902JV43wxr5AtcrLdD0mXbN_/s1600/yyyyy.jpg" width="281" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifN4M1_sBPbd9kNNHrXoDKdvJQJX3-ApCaSv9czVM-tUwAGlBeDSwNf12h2_7l-e3M_yCEQ4OO4ynu461F4eE2jK49YW_RGE2urW_bU-sAoaIhdpKg5vtbwhHHYuePmuKqYv4XZLDwH3nUIRg9ZqXTkfDd7cn4Y-VdvldUCcdmcD7sDq2YmEN5VwgECVtf/s456/zzzz.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="456" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifN4M1_sBPbd9kNNHrXoDKdvJQJX3-ApCaSv9czVM-tUwAGlBeDSwNf12h2_7l-e3M_yCEQ4OO4ynu461F4eE2jK49YW_RGE2urW_bU-sAoaIhdpKg5vtbwhHHYuePmuKqYv4XZLDwH3nUIRg9ZqXTkfDd7cn4Y-VdvldUCcdmcD7sDq2YmEN5VwgECVtf/s320/zzzz.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Probably nice guys and may even be able to play a bit of football. <br />Unlikely to reach double figure appearances for the Poppies between them <br />as we scramble around for a magic personnel formula rather than <br />try old-school nonsense like playing with heart, passion and fight.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-2838668870698805972024-02-05T17:45:00.003+00:002024-02-05T17:45:58.980+00:00What Just Happened?<p>At the time of writing, a match report on the Long Eaton
game is yet to be added to the official website. It seems fair to assume that whoever
was assigned to write this one up has downed tools in protest, or has been
unable to get past “shitshow” in the opening sentence. </p><p>There are bad days at the office and there is what we
witnessed on Saturday, a supposed ‘must win’ that far from slightly easing our
relegation anxieties has sent them off the scale. Did the players expect Long
Eaton to simply roll over? Long before
the visitors had the temerity to actually score, we were merrily fluffing
chances like it was all going to be a walk in the park – until suddenly
crumbling at the first setback.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At half time it was still possible - just - to believe that fired up
and attacking the Tin Hat, a win, however narrow, would still be scraped. As opposed to the bottom of the barrel, which
was tunnelled through after about another 20 minutes, followed by about ten feet of
Latimer Park clay until finally hitting bed rock.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Pretty much without exception the players out there looked
like they’d given up. Against a team that only we seem to have any trouble in
beating. A team whose noisy little band of fans were so unused to seeing them
dominate a game, one of them forgot to take his flag when changing ends. In
front of a crowd mostly stunned into silence, rather than ripping their heads off
in fury like many a Kettering crowd of old.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Where on earth do we go from here? Afterwards, Jim seemed to have no better idea
than the rest of us. His post-match interview was part WTFery, part disaster victim
being encouraged to relive events as the first stage in rehab. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The frustrating, maddening thing is the same group of
players are capable, not of so much better, but at least looking like they possibly could
care less. We have seen this, on occasions. They are even capable of putting in
a good collective 45 minutes. But if they think they are too good to go down, think
again.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>PWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14489389484776012410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-3127060208662520182024-02-01T22:48:00.002+00:002024-02-01T22:51:17.341+00:00Stripes? Why stripes?<p>After 151 years our club has finally bowed slightly to that new-fangled democratic malarky and given supporters a say in the design of the shirts we will be expected to rush out and order over the summer in the hope of wearing them in time for the Christmas postponements. You know. The sort of thing other clubs have been doing for years. The great Poppies-supporting public were never trusted to give their opinion when club owners and Chairmen had the opportunity to flick through a sports catalogue and pick a random colour and design, content in the knowledge that they were literally the only person in the club who would NEVER actually wear the final shirt.</p><p>The three bland choices the club have given us for next season haven't exactly set pulses racing in this corner of NN16. Not like the wild "Design a Kit" competition when the Trust hosted the memorabilia exhibition at Kettering museum when kids (and, ahem, older kids) were encouraged to create a Poppies kit from scratch. Some of those were pretty out-there, and you were left wondering what was being smoked in a number of households. But, still, it would have been fantastic to have been seen some of the designs made real, adorning an embarrassed looking Henry Eze or a baffled looking Adam Cunnington.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgzJKfwpO3SIdBfaX4ZGwquzZ8pNcO_uXHqvgOW9SCuV2yfaoRtA5asq1ESDStok2bum-i2wT9bXkklkTIVlBQlNjVojawdHfGp_ixOiRiq4o4sRnLFFPjVPJjj9eGLL92xVk_C2bni8sTryFSUgKrcPE-J_slaathwOT7_7oTT0u1X7F1jZmdtggl7kE/s745/20240201_213655.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="745" data-original-width="403" height="656" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgzJKfwpO3SIdBfaX4ZGwquzZ8pNcO_uXHqvgOW9SCuV2yfaoRtA5asq1ESDStok2bum-i2wT9bXkklkTIVlBQlNjVojawdHfGp_ixOiRiq4o4sRnLFFPjVPJjj9eGLL92xVk_C2bni8sTryFSUgKrcPE-J_slaathwOT7_7oTT0u1X7F1jZmdtggl7kE/w346-h656/20240201_213655.jpg" width="346" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Oh so meh....</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table>No, instead we've been handed a choice of red and black stripes, or red with a bit of black and red with seemingly no black. Disappointingly, the "traditional" red and black stripes seems to be by far the favourite with the herd-mentality, seal-clapping, Poppies fanbase. But why? And why do we consider red and black stripes as our "traditional" kit.<p></p><p>I'm happy to be corrected for this (well, not <i>happy</i>, obviously) but traditionally we have worn red and white with red and black only coming in in the early 1970's. And for a number of seasons after Big Ron's red and black stripped warriors were a happy memory we reverted to a mixture of red and red and white. Sometime with a saucy dash of black thrown in - such as the mighty Milas FA cup run shirts of the late 80's. I'm pretty certain the red and black stripes only made a belated comeback under Mark English's brief but eventful reign.</p><p>But, for out-and-out red and black stripery I believe we've probably gone this route for, maybe 15 seasons in our history. And even then, to my mind, the best stripery kit wasn't even really stripery, but the hoopery kit of several years ago. Now, THAT was a classic which I'm delighted to continue to model and receive envious glances for on matchdays. And will continue to do so until it wears out or it shrinks further (!) I doubt anyone will again wear the current horror-show of a shirt an hour after the final whistle of our last game of this season.</p><p>It's not that I inherently dislike the red / black combination because I don't. There are so few teams that use red and black as their colours that it makes us a bit special. There might be other teams that wear red and black other than us, AC Milan and Bournemouth but I can't think who off the top of my tired head. It's just, I wish we could be a bit more imaginative with how we deploy the colours. Red shirts with hooped red and black sleeves? red shirts with black collar and cuffs? Red with black side panels? Red with black pinstripe? Narrow red and black hoops? Red and black halves or quarters? There's so many options ahead of falling back on the red and black stripes.</p><p>And why oh why can't we EVER have red and black hooped socks? Retro or not, I think they'd look dead cool!</p><p><br /></p>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-62693868030155926892024-01-29T22:05:00.005+00:002024-01-31T08:08:12.019+00:00Who you gonna call?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhajAd1OtbxfSFlWHm7Jt8BeUAygrCY1YIbD8yn2s-c1s8UneNEYmYRY_Wsx7gfJeWHwrxmhx_-aFW5feUR18-Gj0pIiBmVItjJ2eHTlmKiGg5ehMqV2aQEDvVT4rn5stTpNtaJPm-8r7HVNUuHkuX-yoS4edUV4MXAAmxwbn6fG2tIVEp-av0RHKpTiyiG/s1563/20240129_210332.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="759" data-original-width="1563" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhajAd1OtbxfSFlWHm7Jt8BeUAygrCY1YIbD8yn2s-c1s8UneNEYmYRY_Wsx7gfJeWHwrxmhx_-aFW5feUR18-Gj0pIiBmVItjJ2eHTlmKiGg5ehMqV2aQEDvVT4rn5stTpNtaJPm-8r7HVNUuHkuX-yoS4edUV4MXAAmxwbn6fG2tIVEp-av0RHKpTiyiG/w640-h310/20240129_210332.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWRBRAEls53qjgVgmVQ1NPM3LZgKmhv0yfbPxKGcZh2C3hAsUh6p0fbwPKP5H8FbpWh9EGqeW1E6Tn8swWkRNRzSo1Ot4l6wFlwse9DAoBnsKPeaVI3RatXl1nrpc5_p_PU2Lo4FtoYvbU2-__hZEtuAi4outB6OGIJEHvl3FMFSXj7-EGBKLNUgzbky1U/s1065/20240129_205456.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="966" data-original-width="1065" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWRBRAEls53qjgVgmVQ1NPM3LZgKmhv0yfbPxKGcZh2C3hAsUh6p0fbwPKP5H8FbpWh9EGqeW1E6Tn8swWkRNRzSo1Ot4l6wFlwse9DAoBnsKPeaVI3RatXl1nrpc5_p_PU2Lo4FtoYvbU2-__hZEtuAi4outB6OGIJEHvl3FMFSXj7-EGBKLNUgzbky1U/s320/20240129_205456.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieWz3CpZQ_KDB-FPuistFZLkkNGWspyEEFd7xqbh3XGV41DPjyHwn4lYMzHqf9W-W_0Kk3ZZFrkWRCSdTi1KKBs436yPZA5gG4lD9Ud0lnkGcklKB9pMhBk4kMAaNq-7WkPT85PwurQs8ACQMhk0X3461ZG-_FwNTV5f8Pw_Jzx61K2pKnPzzW89Bo2n9o/s1530/Screenshot_20240127-225605_Gallery.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieWz3CpZQ_KDB-FPuistFZLkkNGWspyEEFd7xqbh3XGV41DPjyHwn4lYMzHqf9W-W_0Kk3ZZFrkWRCSdTi1KKBs436yPZA5gG4lD9Ud0lnkGcklKB9pMhBk4kMAaNq-7WkPT85PwurQs8ACQMhk0X3461ZG-_FwNTV5f8Pw_Jzx61K2pKnPzzW89Bo2n9o/s1530/Screenshot_20240127-225605_Gallery.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1530" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieWz3CpZQ_KDB-FPuistFZLkkNGWspyEEFd7xqbh3XGV41DPjyHwn4lYMzHqf9W-W_0Kk3ZZFrkWRCSdTi1KKBs436yPZA5gG4lD9Ud0lnkGcklKB9pMhBk4kMAaNq-7WkPT85PwurQs8ACQMhk0X3461ZG-_FwNTV5f8Pw_Jzx61K2pKnPzzW89Bo2n9o/s320/Screenshot_20240127-225605_Gallery.jpg" width="226" /></a> </div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Where's Bill Murray when you need him?</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Addendum: Or a referee and linesmen with even </span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">a nodding acquaintance with the game of football.</span></i></div><p></p>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-3864606482341780722024-01-27T11:02:00.003+00:002024-01-27T11:02:57.497+00:00The first, last throw of the dice.<p>Obviously as the weather has calmed down on a Saturday we are away from home. No storms. No flooding. No ice age. We must be on the road....</p><p>Exactly WHO we will be cheering on the road today down at Hitchin is more of a mystery. We've signed a new spine of a team in the shape of, checks notes, keeper Dan Jezeph, defender Lathaniel Rowe-Turner, midfielder Jack Degruchy, and forward Kane Richard, plus George Forsyth until the end of the season.</p><p>If nothing else, the club are setting out their stall about trying to keep us up this season. Signing actual grown men rather than a succession of kids who were getting well and truly bullied off the pitch by all and sundry. It hasn't escaped anyone's notice that three of the signings are from the now-defunct Nuneaton. In fact, I had a "heated debate" with someone who accused the Poppies of picking over Nuneaton's still warm corpse. Their point of view being it was unseemly to acquire these players. On the contrary, I corrected them, we've offered <i>the chance of a payday*</i> to three players who were suddenly out of work and had no club. </p><p>*assuming we can afford to pay for new players while simultaneously telling fans we have no money and have all our home games called off due to the vagaries of the new-normal UK winter weather.</p><p>Heading out of the revolving Latimer Park door (not that they got to play at Latimer Park particularly) are the exotically named Phoenix Schultz and Neo Dobson. No great loss except in as much as I never got to post a photograph of 80's funkmeister James DeBarge and pretend it was Neo Dobson. Well, at least until now....</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheYbXkKhfxbhiiiAfVuxRbqOwqA_AS6q-mLQTn516eCXNFeQ4Enwe4CA8FvuAh0Cn4GIcuRcBDrLnuFp8c5oVLThRm63eAYaoElzju_vukVDY3rDXWOcqldzQU3mA8fgKleP6HaOqQWR_UQmHVHCfGvUY4Nu-UaK_RLA6sKd_hbewe_UN9gY4m7Cd7kDr_/s1200/debarge--rhythm-of-the-night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheYbXkKhfxbhiiiAfVuxRbqOwqA_AS6q-mLQTn516eCXNFeQ4Enwe4CA8FvuAh0Cn4GIcuRcBDrLnuFp8c5oVLThRm63eAYaoElzju_vukVDY3rDXWOcqldzQU3mA8fgKleP6HaOqQWR_UQmHVHCfGvUY4Nu-UaK_RLA6sKd_hbewe_UN9gY4m7Cd7kDr_/w400-h210/debarge--rhythm-of-the-night.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Neo Dobson takes our thanks with him <br />as he heads back to the Cobblers</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-71080012186664544482024-01-21T11:18:00.004+00:002024-01-21T11:18:50.384+00:00Dear Diary<p><b><u>Wednesday 17th January 2024</u></b></p><p>Weighed into an online discussion about the time we had a large lead at the top of the Conference at Christmas before falling away over the last couple of months. Different people seem to remember what actually happened in many different ways. I've heard otherwise sensible Poppies fans claim we were as many as 15-20 points clear after leaving Boston with out customary 3-points. One today managed to mix something like three different seasons together and claim that we were 10 points clear with 4-games to go at the top after beating Lincoln City and still blew the League.... Reminded me of seeing a video of addled-Gazza telling how he managed Kettering to a relegation during his 39 days here....</p><p>Memory is a curious thing. And another thing memory is, is curious.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Thursday 18th January 2024</u></b></p><p>After a week of shedding players the news comes through that Nuneaton Borough have resigned from the League. Not entirely unexpected, but still utterly shocking at the same time.</p><p>Feel guilty that after feeling incredibly sad for Boro and their fans for all of two minutes, I wonder how their demise will impact our League standings and chances of avoiding relegation. Only natural I guess, but I'm not proud to be thinking such thoughts.</p><p>Attended the latest Fans Forum where any potential bolshiness from the floor was tempered by the Nuneaton situation. If them. Why not us? Particularly as we seemingly don't play home games anymore. Oh, and the potential for flashpoints greatly reduced by the fact that our biggest loudmouth keyboard warriors have an aversion to attending Latimer Park.</p><p>Meeting quickly adopted the traditional format. Club bigwig spells out how precarious things are. Second bigwig makes it clear we need to redouble our efforts to attend off-field club events. Manager and Captain apologise for team playing crap. The usual. Questions requested from the floor, where it takes ages for the first hand to go up but once it has the dam is burst and the oft-asked questions are asked until the meeting is called to an end when the same questions have their second or third airing. Still can't work up the nerve to ask anything out loud. Bottler.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Friday 19th January 2024</u></b></p><p>You can tell that we have a home game this weekend as the temperature has dropped to minus 42 degrees and even polar bears are wearing scarfs. It seems that the build-up to every home game is greeted by Biblical-level flooding or the dawning of another ice age.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Saturday 20th January 2024</u></b></p><p>To no-one's surprise the game against Stamford is called off. Shame, as I was looking forward to<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-tmoB-yKBRJHryTymzuqcS_VrsoeibFFOBhwjOY5MO2VKv03YLB9ZE98uw9LI1stNbrbA-9sY9ww_JExBCZGUq2jkVJ9qLnE4olpHPMRty6ezR-IrOtgn9NcaOhaN8GYsaQUDRUvszLGQkLbBZ_To1yV8ihjTxKoQO40Paq6j1GX9eKgvITomS4APSTi/s300/stamford.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-tmoB-yKBRJHryTymzuqcS_VrsoeibFFOBhwjOY5MO2VKv03YLB9ZE98uw9LI1stNbrbA-9sY9ww_JExBCZGUq2jkVJ9qLnE4olpHPMRty6ezR-IrOtgn9NcaOhaN8GYsaQUDRUvszLGQkLbBZ_To1yV8ihjTxKoQO40Paq6j1GX9eKgvITomS4APSTi/w320-h179/stamford.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Stamford - lovely town. Crap people</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> meeting up again with the pig-ignorant arseholes that seem to make up most of Stamford's support. Once got offered "outside" by one of their delightful followers for questioning his horribly sexist, racist and homophobic exclamations and then basically told to f*ck off by another Stamfordian when I jokingly asked why he was huddled under an umbrella long after the rain had stopped. </p><p>Bought some Poppies online raffle tickets of some description. Don't expect to win.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Sunday 21st January 2024</u></b></p><p>Saw an unofficial League table showing Nuneaton's results removed and, if accurate, we are lifted out of the relegation zone. The way we are playing this was the only way we were ever going to be thus elevated. A lot of teams around us have suffered points deductions by having their wins against Nuneaton expunged. I'd feel wore had the same not happened to us about a thousand years ago when Newport County went bust.</p><p>Obviously weather today is 10 degrees warmer then yesterday....</p>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-17425020902143863802024-01-16T18:44:00.013+00:002024-01-16T19:54:40.269+00:00Hitting A Stour Note<p class="MsoNormal">Two photographs taken 5 years apart:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-_YaWtFrKSCd_26d_OjKNKJJdBGEU5tbGfLPM_H-sYAfda6zKWrp5Kp8tqloDlbbL5ZcYxACh11cSZw7fLEjlst5IWTXV6f6G-fr2Tf5ioCnmu_l-aVdCqhQfBEkVwtgwQz7suXhoDqwzHkn5bWD725224b6iymlAgq5UQHYHgC09EBsUCSwobK2S3zL/s1278/Stour.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1278" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-_YaWtFrKSCd_26d_OjKNKJJdBGEU5tbGfLPM_H-sYAfda6zKWrp5Kp8tqloDlbbL5ZcYxACh11cSZw7fLEjlst5IWTXV6f6G-fr2Tf5ioCnmu_l-aVdCqhQfBEkVwtgwQz7suXhoDqwzHkn5bWD725224b6iymlAgq5UQHYHgC09EBsUCSwobK2S3zL/w400-h225/Stour.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal">2019, moments after Tom Knowles’s thunderous winner at Stourbridge. Last we saw of Tom, he was disappearing under a pile of team mates, never to be seen again. Thanks for the, er, memory. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUWAFz5OuWSu08YnqGagUvvUX9lR11TntlTblglvngyxc8AxXVIaxKKo-ZUk52d7wK43h7xPS41huXdoLHBsaL7S_yIMYhd30KgDjRk6ZPtey_M7njsDSdSKmNr6kmySf8Wh6M-2BwhUUWnM8AeDWJLh-2X8M2q6g4l2FFIu20096PkKruN-HkxrUXSTf/s4032/IMG_0878.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUWAFz5OuWSu08YnqGagUvvUX9lR11TntlTblglvngyxc8AxXVIaxKKo-ZUk52d7wK43h7xPS41huXdoLHBsaL7S_yIMYhd30KgDjRk6ZPtey_M7njsDSdSKmNr6kmySf8Wh6M-2BwhUUWnM8AeDWJLh-2X8M2q6g4l2FFIu20096PkKruN-HkxrUXSTf/w400-h300/IMG_0878.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">2024. Same
ground, same opponents, same division.
Very different direction of travel!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Instead of several hundred behind the goal bellowing out our
victory songs, a glum few watch in near silence. Whilst, just out of shot, being mocked by a
bunch of potty mouthed ten year olds. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It wasn’t that we were bad at Stourbridge. They barely
threatened apart from the two times they found the net, whilst with a bit more
belief in the penalty box we might have had three or four.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Certainly 1000% better than the shitshow at St Ives,
which was so limp and disinterested it would surely have aroused police
investigation if anyone had actually bothered to bet on the result. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But the overwhelming feeling was that, like five years ago,
this was a pivotal game for our chances and this time it didn’t go so well. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It seems that we may have been kidding ourselves that the
main problem was Leese’s management
style. Increasingly it’s clear that – yes that was certainly a contributory
factor – but the plain fact is this squad is too lightweight and inexperienced
for this division. A lot of that is on
him too, but not all.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Without Stohrer’s industry in midfield or someone other than
Ty capable of scoring, right now it looks an uphill task to avoid
another, unthinkable, drop back to a level where we will be closer to park
pitch than the Football League.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Whenever a season starts to really unravel the cry goes out
for a fan’s forum. Well, fair play, this
week we’ve got one. However, from
information already made available, it feels like optimism may not be high on the
agenda. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Well done to the vocal minority who have been relentlessly
harping on about how uselessly run the club has been and predicting village
football, starting from when it seemed a distant possibility.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As they show absolutely no sign of shutting up, indeed seem
to revel in every setback, they may get to gloat about how right they were. </p>PWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14489389484776012410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-68728397762954771312024-01-08T21:38:00.000+00:002024-01-08T21:38:02.595+00:00Some Good Kettering News For A Change<p>Being from Kettering can be tough. Our football club is meekly slithering to consecutive relegations, the town centre is a dismal shop-free wasteland and James Acaster is unfathomably considered the funniest person from the borough. But not everything is going against the residents of the Holy City.</p><p>Buccleuch Estates have today been refused permission to bulldoze some of the few remaining woods and meadows in Kettering to build even more warehouses that would be standing empty for years to come. It's possible Buccleuch Estates will appeal as there are two things the obscenely rich don't like. Not getting even richer is one and having the proles telling them what to do is the other. In this case, the people of Kettering, wonderfully well marshalled by Dez Dell plus many others and their "Save Weekley Hall Wood" campaign have risen up and said a resounding "NO" to our betters. </p><p>I'm sure the Duke will be furious that the peasants have stymied his evil plans, and wishes it was the 17th century so he could round up the ringleaders and have them hunted with his hounds. But it's not, your Grace. It's the 21st Century now, so you'll have to go the modern route and consider "fiscally-encouraging" our easily-swayed, tame local council to get your way. Or, perhaps look to get on the right side of history and consider a different plan that doesn't trash what little of our countryside you haven't already covered in asphalt and tin roofs? </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-beats-goliath-as-campaigners-win-fight-against-kettering-warehouse-park-plan-4470577" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Green - yes, Greed - no.</span></a><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://saveweekleyhallwood.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">https://saveweekleyhallwood.com/</span></a><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCa7KvVjddVFvjf71ps7mQtom3_6fGE6zduDeGNJvHRMVSVYpn7Fs5YZYRi0JfuH4mKwNEzcvpRL02Sx7dxmqfYV1KjDkSgHSdfJedL-wn3ZID_s6oMTt6T0o2px40x9C9hbYBGjuvZ7H5xkKbTyCrdlgUcJfMVFyGn1U-XhMWlNg5ilBITNT8sc2jNMlN/s1280/100999806_2774463142874064_1530460919610474496_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="1280" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCa7KvVjddVFvjf71ps7mQtom3_6fGE6zduDeGNJvHRMVSVYpn7Fs5YZYRi0JfuH4mKwNEzcvpRL02Sx7dxmqfYV1KjDkSgHSdfJedL-wn3ZID_s6oMTt6T0o2px40x9C9hbYBGjuvZ7H5xkKbTyCrdlgUcJfMVFyGn1U-XhMWlNg5ilBITNT8sc2jNMlN/w640-h165/100999806_2774463142874064_1530460919610474496_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-style: italic;">Another sunset. One we hope we'll continue to enjoy</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">(c) Dan Whitney</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-54757275021413511672024-01-07T12:21:00.004+00:002024-01-07T12:25:26.788+00:00Where do we go from here?<p>Another away game and another comprehensive thrashing handed out by another team looking better than us in all departments (except goalkeeper, but this is only because I can't rate a player that was untested over 90 minutes of football). A defeat to a team backed by a town with a population half that of Desborough.</p><p>What's worse is there's no obvious way out of our cycle of thumping defeats. We have conceded 10 goals in our last two matches (as if you needed reminding), but could not have argued if we had shipped twice as many. There's a strong case for awarding Billy Johnson MOM for both games even though he spent most of them picking the ball out of his net.</p><p>The morale-boosting win over Mickleover now seems like a game from a different age. Since then we seem to have lost a number of grown-up players to be replaced by young boys, playing at being footballers. It's not their fault to be young and hideously inexperienced, but it does us no good as we fight to stay in this division.</p><p>Increasingly I'm reminded of the last time we were dropped into the Southern League Premier division. We were extricating ourselves from Non Park, didn't play for a month when we really should have been wound-up, and rotated through numerous players who were picked simply because they were available on the day and could get to the ground for 3 o'clock. We finished rock-bottom of the division and spent the next couple of years rebuilding against clubs who looked on a three-figure gate as a bumper pay-day.</p><p>That time we had the backing of Ritchie to help us rebuild. Now? Well, don't look at the League Table for the Love of God. A win in the 6-pointer at Stourbridge next week will still see us firmly in the relegation zone. And this is at a time when the very notion of 11 players in our shirts beating another set of players in a different jersey feels more like a fantasy than a possibility.</p><p>Still, as we wallow in the unceasing dread of another relegation here's yesterday's sunset. Not as good as the Halesowen one, or indeed, as good the as the sunset at Needham Market when we last played there and strolled to a regulation 3-0 win on our way to the League title.... But then, most things aren't as good now.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnzKBkFZoiEM21A0bHHbjWKFD2o6m8AcZ8ZunJJXtpqwtEIe-17DVXBI7Eso8Bq3TxekREtYuix0NaNT0RvkDHmn8Jl_ePylXC7OtTc8R-g4UncS1nlx3shlYDo6xkLnMl6Ro5ZPEvEFLTIbyGue_eZSuahj-HarQHg3gtDngpmwZe6-fDf7wbe1P0RdY/s4032/20240106_163341.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnzKBkFZoiEM21A0bHHbjWKFD2o6m8AcZ8ZunJJXtpqwtEIe-17DVXBI7Eso8Bq3TxekREtYuix0NaNT0RvkDHmn8Jl_ePylXC7OtTc8R-g4UncS1nlx3shlYDo6xkLnMl6Ro5ZPEvEFLTIbyGue_eZSuahj-HarQHg3gtDngpmwZe6-fDf7wbe1P0RdY/w400-h225/20240106_163341.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-1398313429495985962023-12-28T09:45:00.006+00:002023-12-28T15:22:40.670+00:00Another week. Another reset.<p>Hopefully anyone unfortunate enough to have followed the Poppies down to St Ives on Boxing Day will have shook off the after-effects of that pathetic performance by now. Or drowned it in booze and chocolate. It was one of the few times I have ever watched the Poppies where I could point at the players and definitely say that they had given up. Not one of them could leave that pitch with even a smidgen of self-respect and say they had earned their money. Were the Poppies not existing on a hand-to-mouth basis it was the sort of game where supporters would be offered refunds of their admittance fee from club coffers.</p><p>Sharpe was singled out for his utterly abject performance, where every touch he had either led to a St Ives goal or, at best, a near miss. And then he followed this up by being pulled-up by the referee for a foul throw. Cue much gallows humour at the thought of what he was now good for if not to take throw-ins....? He still had the fight in him to argue with some fans when he had finally, mercifully been substituted, but that passion came too late to be of any practical use. But, Rhys wasn't alone. We had a couple of new players flitting around the edge of the game to absolutely no effect as the St. Ives players played straight through them. The midfield of Dawson, White (!), Scott and Jarvis contributed NOTHING in an attacking or defensive sense for the full 95 minutes we had to endure. Probably they did nothing of note during the warm up too, which I missed, being in a lovely pub that to my dying day I wished I'd never left. Bennett was in his oh-so-useful full "arms thrown up in the air mode" and the defence managed to easily ship 6 goals, and the fact it wasn't well into double figures represented the full extent of our good fortune.</p><p>Look back over the 15 years this blog has been running and you will struggle to find another article when we have named and shamed players. Partly because it does no-one any good and partly because players generally give it their best, no matter how moderate their best is. Not so on Boxing Day. St Ives looked like a Championship team tearing a bunch of amateurs to shreds, threatening to score with every attack, while their goalkeeper continued to stretch, jog and chat to bemused Poppies fans to remain active. There is no way on earth a neutral who had the good fortune to pick this game would have believed these two teams were a single place apart in the league table. Or in the same league come to that. Having watched St Ives three times this season I've no idea why they aren't challenging for the play-offs. Perhaps it's just us they turn it on against. Does Michael Richens hate us THAT much?</p><p>New Year's Day fixture against Stratford now assumes enormous importance. It may tell us whether St Ives was a blip and, <i>he types in frantic optimism</i>, the final flushing out of Andy Leese's influence, or whether these players simply don't have the balls or ability for this level of football. Without Stohrer and Lewthwaite for God-knows how long, one wonders where the heart and goals will come from to prevent us remaining in the bottom four until the end of the season.</p><p>Yet another home defeat and it will be difficult to see how we come back as a team or support. The team's limitations are there for all to see. But the supporters have been nothing short of magnificent this season. We have put up with almost nothing but dross and continued to turn up in far better number than the performances have warranted. But, the tipping point when we wonder why we are bothering when the team isn't is not just approaching. It's here. Stratford is likely to be the breaking point. Not just for occasional fans either. Hardcore supporters are starting to fear the worst and are also voting with their feet. In the past Patgod would have attempted to take a contrary stance but, presently, it's difficult to find a compelling argument when a fellow supporter considers non-attendance. </p><p>This is the point in the article where we usually throw in a positive couple of lines so you go away with a slight lift in your step, but we have nothing for you this time. What can we say? That our players will grow a f**king backbone or feel a sense of shame at the living they are stealing at the moment? What's the point? They'll either step up to the plate or they'll continue to serve up the current sh*t until we're back playing the likes of North Greenford and Chalfont St Peters again. There's bugger all we can do about it other than watch and hope.</p><p>Still, here's another nice sunset photograph from the Halesowen game, the last time the team flattered to deceive.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4yxmxz5LXtCnyoZ0KFttAeWWGzxSaO_KPZ0czK_GMsw6DsS7Pjcs0zzqTk1Aa70QcwrlnR-QO8NzzEHvQlWQPxSb0l0dp11IK4C02iJvmNoRdJI8CH_VrD4nRbQjjMMqBmx1QObyc6XvN7LYhtSVM89ce_kC4BnPuidRkvNm1Q1uHJDZPbiE-IjgwWrqO/s4032/20231216_163514.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4yxmxz5LXtCnyoZ0KFttAeWWGzxSaO_KPZ0czK_GMsw6DsS7Pjcs0zzqTk1Aa70QcwrlnR-QO8NzzEHvQlWQPxSb0l0dp11IK4C02iJvmNoRdJI8CH_VrD4nRbQjjMMqBmx1QObyc6XvN7LYhtSVM89ce_kC4BnPuidRkvNm1Q1uHJDZPbiE-IjgwWrqO/w400-h225/20231216_163514.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-66038381498151769652023-12-17T21:50:00.005+00:002023-12-17T21:52:52.230+00:00Portaloo Sunset<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw6cOrAn-6-vFPYkbLhhDFypeFr3fTSs-1IZkM1ZibElb3fGAaHRRLz7lxL2HMnEzy2uLXJ3GM4BfKSjvrRp9Xr8R_gC5FkpAVk6o38MNxKJZgKKaQ57Kz44p2YwGo6WQBT9n4Pw51DYDKUB1e5tcA0-Sl44eMOs-J00qQplU8268Bosp1JPNZPQ9FdoP-/s4032/Waterloo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw6cOrAn-6-vFPYkbLhhDFypeFr3fTSs-1IZkM1ZibElb3fGAaHRRLz7lxL2HMnEzy2uLXJ3GM4BfKSjvrRp9Xr8R_gC5FkpAVk6o38MNxKJZgKKaQ57Kz44p2YwGo6WQBT9n4Pw51DYDKUB1e5tcA0-Sl44eMOs-J00qQplU8268Bosp1JPNZPQ9FdoP-/w400-h300/Waterloo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Continuing our occasional series of great backdrops to step 6 or 7 football, here's the celestial scene as we held a 1-0 lead at Halesowen. What pinks! Or are they coral? Not a debate you will ever hear at the Etihad or Emirates - their loss. </p>PWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14489389484776012410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-11733622579289277162023-12-16T17:14:00.000+00:002023-12-16T17:14:02.163+00:00Golden Goal Glory!<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHZQXP5Y-DEe1GZVaSC6hLTwl3ce3fEc11Xy4fl9ACK3Wnpju0-g7cTLRrN_XK1S7_Ybb_BHJSUrF2XXHsuy1CNb0dtDjnHWuHqN3DqqcrE4ye-ZfszUj1czr9Q7bhI34whpwsiXenglbzJFW2-Ky5kM5jJoMho4VbFXwerbHH_GU45JSTGVVyUjZWx8Wx/s1753/20231216_170716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1113" data-original-width="1753" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHZQXP5Y-DEe1GZVaSC6hLTwl3ce3fEc11Xy4fl9ACK3Wnpju0-g7cTLRrN_XK1S7_Ybb_BHJSUrF2XXHsuy1CNb0dtDjnHWuHqN3DqqcrE4ye-ZfszUj1czr9Q7bhI34whpwsiXenglbzJFW2-Ky5kM5jJoMho4VbFXwerbHH_GU45JSTGVVyUjZWx8Wx/s320/20231216_170716.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hand it over!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-38044893586292518992023-12-15T16:09:00.000+00:002023-12-15T16:09:13.051+00:00Fancy a lengthy Poppies career?<p style="text-align: center;"> If so, don't strike this pose!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18NH5Qf1QfdHUSmB6c1eImFjlcSkFTpBQSOH3iCbV4PYXT2NJCdYx7VOsvCR9jjYtZzzLT6vyLYyE_re5_NCIP4DxnL3CixFvNcKOEcEIvfgIGiRycHRuUVMwR67Dn_98RKncY-BV4lCfF_FPlD6OWyw73YLxqR8PbzZ1Nn1sqqPtAE1e-cH7K0fBlT_j/s1070/20231215_160237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1070" data-original-width="1062" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18NH5Qf1QfdHUSmB6c1eImFjlcSkFTpBQSOH3iCbV4PYXT2NJCdYx7VOsvCR9jjYtZzzLT6vyLYyE_re5_NCIP4DxnL3CixFvNcKOEcEIvfgIGiRycHRuUVMwR67Dn_98RKncY-BV4lCfF_FPlD6OWyw73YLxqR8PbzZ1Nn1sqqPtAE1e-cH7K0fBlT_j/s320/20231215_160237.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGkTqYk1bPixzGN0Oagw7RsNSFY7AJrs9B1BUzF77zAAg_XLOlhTAXFrK-pBvXzfiMRe6CkLtWVfIDLHbVTra7ksikxSETNTJkawvaXsnpIwZ8WHP7m8isMNL8sjaO3wGJBgSnKa8Vw9dlPPUvGNdTa4nyM4li4NWGqaRbC24LViQm0XN3ViTRBPZsFDH/s1098/20231215_160252.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1098" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGkTqYk1bPixzGN0Oagw7RsNSFY7AJrs9B1BUzF77zAAg_XLOlhTAXFrK-pBvXzfiMRe6CkLtWVfIDLHbVTra7ksikxSETNTJkawvaXsnpIwZ8WHP7m8isMNL8sjaO3wGJBgSnKa8Vw9dlPPUvGNdTa4nyM4li4NWGqaRbC24LViQm0XN3ViTRBPZsFDH/s320/20231215_160252.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-58202073718646372282023-12-15T14:56:00.000+00:002023-12-15T14:56:08.334+00:00Intelligent Life Discovered at Latimer Park<p>Did anyone else catch Will Mellors-Blair on Radio Northampton's Non League show this week? If not, click the link below. It really is worth a listen.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0gtsxzt" target="_blank">Mellors-Blair Interview</a><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Will comes across incredibly well and succinctly puts his finger on the difference in philosophies of our previous and current Managers. Without ever bad-mouthing Leese overtly it was pretty clear the players felt constrained and unhappy under him. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyw6ue2E9gViGVeTbpaT2cmULX4IcAtgdpy3Z0Tq17K3HtinJGGXcFXLyJ3X9KIo3kIwc0pf9uN9smHjN5_joJsFRASpFf1JZDoTyy1qVFlGysjgsN8dBc6B-6NmYOJFvw_4-4Khu71qCWlIX0yaM3O8J8ubS1GAEgI0J_MSlgEBPPZwbOpRva8RUgbzW/s300/WMB-300x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyw6ue2E9gViGVeTbpaT2cmULX4IcAtgdpy3Z0Tq17K3HtinJGGXcFXLyJ3X9KIo3kIwc0pf9uN9smHjN5_joJsFRASpFf1JZDoTyy1qVFlGysjgsN8dBc6B-6NmYOJFvw_4-4Khu71qCWlIX0yaM3O8J8ubS1GAEgI0J_MSlgEBPPZwbOpRva8RUgbzW/s1600/WMB-300x300.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p>More interestingly, Will then goes on to talk about his vast number of professional qualifications and work helping other footballers with their mental issues after having suffered previously himself. It was a timely reminder that those young people on the pitch running around for our entertainment are all normal, flawed human beings and not simply one-dimensional puppets defined only by which colour shirt they wear and whether they can trap a ball.</p><p>It shouldn't need repeating, but probably does, that everyone on the pitch huffing and puffing for our gratification is doing something they love for the watching, paying public. Whether this is a goalie who drops a ball, a striker who blazes over or a linesman who may have missed an offside. All human. All flesh and blood people. All of them feel and think and react the same way as the rest of us to praise or criticism. Perhaps something to consider before we next bellow our outrage at someone barely in their 20's for failing once to do something we lardy f*ckers could never do while we have holes in our arses.</p><p>And Will is as human as they come. He has experienced a lot in a short life. He speaks with a great deal of sense and obvious intelligence.</p><p>And yet....and then.....</p><p>Will goes and spoils everything by claiming that we are the best team in the division and should be looking at the play-offs as a minimum. Mmmm.... It's difficult to know whether we need to reassess everything else he has said in light of these patently wishful-thinking statements!</p><p>However, we will be happy for Will to point back at this article come April when our second-half of the season surge up the table propels us into the end of season shoot out. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-54409152162467711322023-12-02T17:14:00.003+00:002023-12-02T23:03:07.526+00:00Makes Sense I Suppose<p>I guess we now know why Leon Clarke put in a bit of surprising effort when we played Mickleover recently. There's nothing like a job interview for making someone who hadn't so much as shed a single drop of sweat in several games start chasing around the park as if he actually wanted to earn his wages for a change.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDXEYFw8-VlGM_qTMMPborFIcNxxF-CUGXcLwefddnte7V8dOsRiTNZqjl4Di-5pDAhInQrlZEKHNDFHPEEP2LCl8xFtWuKQ8LZEfh-APIkqC0OhnXVEMFod-p52wEgfNajLYuGvd83tgLewwfTN5NKv12_y0xHzZUJC8MuFSBkvCrz8GHakMRZwOE87o/s2048/GAQJpELXEAEcx9n.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1358" data-original-width="2048" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDXEYFw8-VlGM_qTMMPborFIcNxxF-CUGXcLwefddnte7V8dOsRiTNZqjl4Di-5pDAhInQrlZEKHNDFHPEEP2LCl8xFtWuKQ8LZEfh-APIkqC0OhnXVEMFod-p52wEgfNajLYuGvd83tgLewwfTN5NKv12_y0xHzZUJC8MuFSBkvCrz8GHakMRZwOE87o/s320/GAQJpELXEAEcx9n.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Let's hope Mickleover get better value for money than we did out of this lazy has-been. God knows how they can afford him on their threadbare gates, but who knows, maybe another club are lining up a bid for him as we speak to pay him even more. As long as he doesn't have to rely on goal bonuses....<div><br /></div><div>It was good to see Leese's glamour signing manage to watch his new team lose again on his debut, this time in their kit rather than ours. <br /><p><br /></p></div>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-85735467074692447402023-11-25T23:56:00.000+00:002023-11-25T23:56:15.092+00:00Leon Clarke - End of an EraLeon Clarke's sudden departure has come at a most inopportune time. There was every indication that at some time in the next 2 or 3 months he was likely to notch an actual goal for the Poppies. Those first 4-5 games where he didn't have a single effort of note seem a distant memory. Great days where he barely moved above walking pace, and generously never caused defenders any problems whatsoever. For the next few games Leon crept closer and closer to, if not actually scoring a goal, at least making the goalkeeper aware he was on the pitch. The locals at Berkhamsted and Leiston will talk in whispered, reverential tones for many years to come of the day THE Leon Clarke played at their stadiums and almost had an effort on target.<div><br /></div><div>And then. It happened. Mark the date - Tuesday 21st November 2023. Leon lumbered into the air like a disinterested salmon and headed the ball towards the Mickleover goal. An actual attempt on goal where, if the keeper had not made a regulation save, it would have been an honest-to-goodness goal. We were THAT CLOSE to seeing an actual, live Leon Clarke goal. For the Poppies. In the flesh.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the end it wasn't to be. Leon has left us, heading to his 300th club and they will be the next team willing to take on the eternal quest of trying to tease a goal from him before he gets his bus pass. We wish them all the best.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-EXL4zx_jVkVjn0A_5x7Ox6x-nmBbFhrYS3kqJQ0tFW9Fshokf3HRojws1IFSqDIm0wRn5TRunkU1PhwIU8cDtwzbv0KiClEmc_3rMp0Ujde6kLnHy1iBxgJM2O5cWrM8tI2gl7PDtpXBbi0y12Voih0_BrjIOYF0a19sYCjrr8atipN6JTE0xdz3wrck/s300/Leon-Clarke-300x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-EXL4zx_jVkVjn0A_5x7Ox6x-nmBbFhrYS3kqJQ0tFW9Fshokf3HRojws1IFSqDIm0wRn5TRunkU1PhwIU8cDtwzbv0KiClEmc_3rMp0Ujde6kLnHy1iBxgJM2O5cWrM8tI2gl7PDtpXBbi0y12Voih0_BrjIOYF0a19sYCjrr8atipN6JTE0xdz3wrck/s1600/Leon-Clarke-300x300.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">As interested as Leon <br />ever looked in a Poppies shirt.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-38659851843311104242023-11-24T22:54:00.001+00:002023-11-24T22:54:55.885+00:00Don't Panic Chaps!<p>It's all change as club stalwart Paul Cooke steps down and retires from his numerous roles at Latimer Park. This means some other mug will have to become club statistician, assemble too good a matchday programme for our level and bully the boss into admitting where it all went wrong in post match interviews.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://ketteringtownfc.com/pauk-cooke-retires-thank-you/" target="_blank">Needed - a new Cooke</a></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">But, for the love of God DON'T PANIC! Don't listen to the doom-mongers. Ignore the naysayers. We can 100% confirm that Patgod IS NOT GOING TO RETIRE. Honestly, we're in it for the long haul and won't let you down. No more than we do presently anyway.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;">When you need poorly punctuated sarcasm, unresearched statistics and baldy spelt cynicism masquerading as wit, we will be there for you. Chairmen leave. Players flit in and out. Managers get the chop. Club worthies quit to join us proles on the terraces. But Patgod will endure. You have our promise and our commiserations.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjqvuRpsELh-2Uqb0jSFDUQwd9StOiCWgP0n3r5W0KI6Gij73aZ-pb5UOeLC8pdnpEYlSlKUepBWx26R0D07nwaPjGcSCDDIOPakb-WSEOOLwonsggdaSlWSQHC9cVs4OM0FaVXHxQ-V7Dh-gT_nalIzRnA5zJUzbRjMs1PfCTbsnqiqqz9XP-p9uZM0o/s800/don_tpanicmetalwallsign.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjqvuRpsELh-2Uqb0jSFDUQwd9StOiCWgP0n3r5W0KI6Gij73aZ-pb5UOeLC8pdnpEYlSlKUepBWx26R0D07nwaPjGcSCDDIOPakb-WSEOOLwonsggdaSlWSQHC9cVs4OM0FaVXHxQ-V7Dh-gT_nalIzRnA5zJUzbRjMs1PfCTbsnqiqqz9XP-p9uZM0o/s320/don_tpanicmetalwallsign.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-6750128050618483422023-11-22T18:17:00.001+00:002023-11-22T18:17:13.814+00:00Poppies Re-Leese-d<p>We all know one swallow doesn't make a Summer. Equally we know that one good performance doesn't mean we are out of the relegation woods. But, bloody hell, how refreshing was last night's effort against Mickelover? Players that previously shrugged their way through sleepwalking defeats to all and sundry suddenly looked hungry, determined, communicative and active. It shows how anaesthetised the players and supporters had been by Leese with his dismal outlook and tactics that simply putting in a 100% performance was so bloody entertaining. Just seeing us looking to go toe-to-toe with another team rather than stand off them and watch them carve us like a Sunday roast, brought tears to eyes, smiles to faces and swelling in loins all around Latimer Park.</p><p>Langmead was solid. Toseland expansive. Sharpe dangerous. Scott useful. Miller excellent. Even Clarke was spotted sprinting on at least two occasions.</p><p><i>As for the players, we'll tell you what. Why don't we draw a line under the season so far? We won't bang on about the lack of endeavour, the poor results and poorer performances. Let's say the season started yesterday and we'll put Leese's wretched tenure firmly behind us.</i></p><p>How does that sound? OK? See you at Alvechurch.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbXqUBfu6fk6CnrkuUVSSuuIJGioSh29Zd6F6RwL_w8znf1Mr9ADMRtkg-84whXSCxMqZU9eM4mEdWiz5sq7UtW66yhoB-LbOjVpB3jtMkX-W_Mq2JWwEiBJWubhPL8XXnAWgDZ2dlVhYawk9-86Ou0EBmzG6meOn_atVIwHtkVSZT7cZrquIQ_2JRUVv/s800/turning-the-corner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbXqUBfu6fk6CnrkuUVSSuuIJGioSh29Zd6F6RwL_w8znf1Mr9ADMRtkg-84whXSCxMqZU9eM4mEdWiz5sq7UtW66yhoB-LbOjVpB3jtMkX-W_Mq2JWwEiBJWubhPL8XXnAWgDZ2dlVhYawk9-86Ou0EBmzG6meOn_atVIwHtkVSZT7cZrquIQ_2JRUVv/w400-h268/turning-the-corner.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Turning the corner at last?</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-39472402348466442792023-11-12T12:22:00.000+00:002023-11-12T12:23:02.495+00:00Bye Bye Andy Part 1: Barely ManagingIt took a final humbling capitulation away to Coalville for the club to bring down the curtain on Andy's unhappy reign at Kettering. In truth he couldn't have argued had the club chosen to terminate his contract earlier. Chastening defeats interspersed with the odd flukey win had not won Andy to the hearts of the supporters. Throw in his post match analysis which rarely deviated from, "it is all the fault of the players for not listening to me", and we have ended up where we are. Over a third of the way through the season, looking over our shoulders at relegation and seeking a new manager.<div><br /></div><div>And yet, his appointment back in the Summer was greeted with universal acclaim. Finally, a Manager with experience, longevity and suspiciously dark hair for a man older than even the writers of Patgod. He was personable and said all the things we'd been wanting to hear. The only, even slight issue was that the majority of his managerial experience came in more southerly leagues. But a good Manager is a good Manager. Most of us weren't even bothered when the, "we're a few weeks behind in pre-season" line was trotted out again. We had our man and our man was Andy.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the end of September Andy's reputation was in tatters. I heard fellow supporters who had stoically accepted a lot of ropey football over the years calling, vociferously for the gaffer's unusually brown-haired head. Our record over August and September makes harrowing reading and made even more harrowing watching. We won just one of our first 10 league games. And some of those defeats were substantial. Not always in the score. Yes, sometimes in the score, but more to do with the gulf between us and often quite moderate opposition. In the first three games both Stourbridge and Barwell completely and utterly played us off the park. They were both in entirely different gears to our lumbering team. Had both won by several more goals we couldn't have argued. Hitchin's 4-0 win at Latimer Park, equally could easily have been by a larger margin. </div><div><br /></div><div>"But, what of our FA Cup run" fans of Andy would argue if he had any. It does seem, looking back, that any luck Leese enjoyed came in this competition. Completely uninspiring wins against Hullbridge, Sporting Khalsa, and a Rourke's Drift win at Hitchin got us far enough to be easily rolled over by a Chesterfield team rarely out of first gear. It really didn't matter if the opposition came from two divisions above or below - we sportingly strove to make them look better than us.</div><div><br /></div><div>Belatedly, Andy started picking up a few league wins. But, incredibly lucky triumphs over Berkhamstead and Royston where our opponents are probably still shaking their heads over their defeats, did not even come close to papering over the cracks. It was soon business as usual as we slithered to further Leese-shoulder-shrugging defeats against Leamington and Coalville.</div><div><br /></div><div>If nothing else, we've had a salutary lesson this season that there are truly no guarantees in football. An established manager. A reasonable budget. An incredible amount of supporter goodwill. Even the Latimer Park surface is behaving well. And still, we are struggling like f*ck not to be relegation fodder. </div><div><br /></div><div>The club simply HAD to act now to give any replacement a fair chance of pulling us out of our current nose-drive. Disappointingly, it was clear Andy wasn't going to accept his limitations and volunteer to step down. He would have ground this season down to dust and considered it a job well done had we finished fifth from bottom playing in front of 200 bored supporters. Sorry Andy - not good enough.</div>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5817180937572376726.post-19747576305750414182023-11-12T12:19:00.001+00:002023-11-12T12:22:57.794+00:00Bye Bye Andy Part 2: Barely Playing<p>Andy Leese has been removed from his job for not being able to do it very well. But, as we know, Managers can only do so much. Once the players cross the white line there's little Managers can do. That goes doubly so for Leese.</p><p>The players this season have been very poor. No if's or but's. We've been rubbish at the back, rubbish in midfield and, yes, rubbish at front. They have not played two good halves of football back-to-back. There has been no leadership, little communication and scant effort. The players all look half as fit as the players we have played against. Personally, and more disappointingly, I don't think I'd be bothered if ANY of them left, and I cannot recall ever thinking that in previous seasons, no matter how dire things got.</p><p>I can't believe any of our players could put their hands on hearts and say they've given their all this season. They have looked unfit, under-prepared and often, unforgivably, uninterested.</p><p>This is all the more annoying as a lot of them are easily good enough for this level. They are not world-beaters, but they should at least be Barwell-beaters. Most of them will still be here under the next manager so we can only hope the new man (or woman...!) can wring the missing 20% out of each of them that a good manager, or even professional pride should bring forward.</p><p>You've let us and yourselves down so far this season. But, unlike Leese, you have the chance to redeem yourself. If you do - great. If you think you've done your absolute best so far this season I'd strongly suggest you follow your ex-gaffer out of the door because you haven't.</p>GLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356814913452168274noreply@blogger.com0