I don't set myself up as a football pundit, but I do reckon I can spot a chancer when I see one, and as evidence I refer you to my earlier musings from the 8th March on this very site, and I quote, "And who do we fancy for the England job? Good old Arry? I don't think so. I reckon his bubble is in the process of bursting good and proper". Quite perceptive I think you will agree. The ever reliable Hotspurs, the original morning glory, starting like Jack Nicklaus and finshing like Jack Duckworth to use a golfing term; collapsing like a pricked balloon as soon as any chance of success shows on the horizon. And with good old 'Arry watching from the sidelines, looking like he doesn't know what to do, and for why? Well in my humble opinion, because he doesn't know what to do, that's for why. And anything more than a cursory examination of his career would reveal the same, unless of course you are a member of the Fleet Street mafia, waiting in vain for a London-based saviour. Or a dodgy agent who has 'Arry's number on speed dial. Still, it's easy to mock. Sometimes very easy. And he seems an amiable old duffer and handy to know if you are short of a few quid.
Anyway, enough of weighty national matters beyond our simple understanding, and back to life in the raw, or Ryhope, which is much the same. A good win against Bedlington to get the league season on the right lines close to the finish, and then the usual bashing up at Spenny in the League Cup. Bit short handed I hear, what with half a dozen cup tied or injured, but we supposedly did well for most of the game, only to to be speared by our little mates free kick, and then conceding two at the death to make it look bad. Which it was. But also featuring a cameo for the obsessives when Craig Shields came on at centre forward, a real good effort by a great lad, but evidently you could see why he has spent his career in goal....
And so the life of the season draws to a close, as they said about the old King, and what of next season? Will our ranks be pillaged by the wealthy? Can we find a few more gems from the Sunday league? What price the Colliery down here in a cup tie next year? Plenty to look forward to no doubt, and we will all have our hopes; me, I just want a quiet life...