Posted in match review on Apr 30th, 2009 11 Drinks »
A day later I am messing with my phone, and find a shot I forgot I took last night that should have accompanied the review. See what I mean about how many we must have had up there? I am to the right of the six yard box and everything to my left was just […]
Read Full Post »
Posted in match review on Apr 30th, 2009 17 Drinks »
The pre-match mood at Old Trafford was good spirited and quite surprising. We parked up just outside Manchester and came in on the metro, then enjoyed a couple of pints in mixed company at a pub just around the corner from the ground. Unfortunately the bonhomie extended to the pitch, where for half an hour […]
Read Full Post »
Posted in match preview on Apr 28th, 2009 23 Drinks »
My first visit to Old Trafford could have been my last for a couple of reasons. It was in 1974, and Britain was in the grip of the three day week brought in to conserve electricity supplies during a miners strike. Astonishingly United were about to lose their first division status. On the final day […]
Read Full Post »
Posted in match review on Apr 27th, 2009 14 Drinks »
What a strange and wonderful day that was. The trains ran on time. The sun shone. Middlesbrough arrived at the Grove and put up precious little resistance. Pints of Guinness mysteriously appeared in front of me at regular intervals, and the ticket inspector woke me up before we reached my station so I didn’t have to spend the […]
Read Full Post »
Posted in match preview on Apr 24th, 2009 19 Drinks »
Middlesbrough at home. Not normally a fixture you would pick out months in advance and say, ‘I have to be there’. A whole bunch of Gooners that I enjoy spending time with are there on Sunday, so I will hopefully avoid the Marathon crowds and take up my place in the pub nice and early! […]
Read Full Post »
Posted in match review on Apr 21st, 2009 56 Drinks »
How on earth am I not minted tonight? I told you beforehand I had no option but to put the ‘holic pound (and several of his mates!) on an Arsenal victory. We should never be four to one against anyone, anywhere. The emotions ran high and swung this way and that through ninety-six minutes, and […]
Read Full Post »
Posted in match preview on Apr 20th, 2009 17 Drinks »
Ok, so that was the phone call that hasn’t happened since the firm’s team played the Fire Brigade, and one of the young lads was without appropriate footwear, but I was on tenterhooks all day. The news that Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie are missing the trip to Liverpool was not timed to raise […]
Read Full Post »
Posted in match review on Apr 19th, 2009 38 Drinks »
As days go I have had worse. I’ve had better, of course, but losing a semi-final to strong opposition with a weakened team is not one of them. Those who seek a conventional match report are in the wrong place. The day itself was a mixed bag. A trouble-free trip meant I was in the […]
Read Full Post »
Posted in match preview on Apr 17th, 2009 34 Drinks »
It’s been Dad week, one way or another, for ‘holic. From the Dad dancing exploits of a top Gooner on the small screen last Sunday (sorry mate!) to the discussions I have shared with the old man on here this week. I would like a pound for every time he spoke of being at our […]
Read Full Post »
Posted in match review on Apr 15th, 2009 28 Drinks »
The evening starts with a call to ‘holicdad. Two weeks short of his eighty-seventh birthday he is having to spend more time than he would like visiting the doctor, so I am checking on the latest news. At the end of the conversation I try to take his mind off matters medical. “Will you be […]
Read Full Post »