So, Sunday morning in Madrid, and this is the choice: a first ever, probably only ever, visit to the Stadio Santiago Bernabeau, home of Real Madrid and one of the most iconic football grounds in the world for a lunchtime fixture against Athletic Club of Bilbao, one of their oldest opponents and with Real and Barcelona the only clubs in Spain to have always played in the top league in the country. And more than that, they play in red and white stripes, which with their English name is down to the big part played in their formation by shipyard workers from some small place in North East England. So, practically an away fixture for Sunderland then. Or, a trip to the El Rastro flea market. No difficulty there then.
Anyway and quite surprisingly I really enjoyed the trip to the flea market with the missus, and bought a green plastic crocodile key ring which lights up when you press a button for only a single euro; an absolute bargain and that will come in handy I thought, back in the Ryhope Cemetery. Because this apparent rise from the ranks of the deceased cannot continue indefinitely, normal service peering through the fence resumes this next week. Anyway, more important than Real, beat at home by Bedlington I hear, but short handed and a canny effort against a decent side, with two more good uns to come in the next few days. It's a tough league this one all right. But we seem to be coping pretty well overall, let's keep it going is what I say. And I have failed so far this season to mention our friends from the secret shopper campaign.
Match by match reports this time round I hear, mostly fair as far as it goes; but with a tendency to want to referee the match retrospectively and from the sidelines, the same insistence as every other spectator in claiming to know what the ref said and usually getting it wrong, and some wildly imaginative use of the English language 'as wot she is wrote', as that famous old playwright called Ernie Wise used to say. Never mind, hearts in the right place as they say; and we soldier on. Hasta la vista amigos!