View from the Cemetery

I won’t go on about Frickley. For one reason, a man of my obvious limitations couldn’t possibly have been there, and for another, because every man and his dog has been doing so all week.

Suffice it to say it must have been quite a performance. Well done.

As, to be fair, was the previous midweek up at North Shields. There is no doubt in my mind that North Shields will be there or thereabouts come the end of the season but my spies tell me that although it finished in a bit of an Alamo performance as Shields tried to win it at the death, before then we had played a very full part and could have scored more than one goal ourselves. Coming after the disappointment of the Northallerton game both of these matches were very good news.

Bishops weren’t good were they? And that is being charitable. No doubt a lot of injuries and other mishaps to deal with but even so, a sorry performance. Still, you must play the people in front of you. Great for Sparky of course, who looked twenty one again as he kept soaring above the Bishop defence to nod another one in. Been some servant the same lad. Never stops working and running, encouraging or bollocking his teammates, depending on how things are going, though often at the same time to be fair. Tremendous player, keeps himself fit as a fiddle running the streets around Sunderland. Quality.

That is as nice as I’ve been about anybody for a good while, I must be going soft. But it was a pleasure to watch the whole team, a non stop effort everywhere across the pitch. Very early days but reasonable grounds for some cautious optimism.

I never think it is good thing to play any of the promoted sides too soon in the season, everybody gets a lift from new opponents and visits to new grounds, the weather is quite nice and hopes are high. It sometimes takes until a bit of cold and rain and a few defeats kick in before you see who has the character and heart for it and who hasn’t. Doesn’t always apply of course, but anyway a guaranteed tough outing today against Northallerton. We should be up for it and we will need to be.

Well, I thought that was overall a decent start to the season. A tough and competitive game against our old friends from across the cemetery, which we won deservedly, but not by much. Wednesday night was a bit of a disappointment with, according to my on the spot spies, the game turning on two first half penalty incidents, the first being rightly awarded to us for a trip, and then unfortunately poked just wide of the post, and the second twenty minutes later being a pretty poor decision by the ref when our new and excellent centre half, Simon, recovered his own mistake with a superb tackle, which the ref unexpectedly saw as a foul and a pen. More than a bit unlucky. Having said that Guisborough won well in the end and looked very decent, a young, hard working and very mobile side. Apart from the keeper of course, the redoubtable Deano, who could have been sent off before half time for one of his trademark lunging challenges outside the box but got away with a booking. He couldn’t believe it either. Anyway, enough sour grapes.

Plenty to build on, and be very nice to win today and maybe have a little cup run, with the next round away to Frickley Athletic. Nice ride out.

Bishops always seem to come with a weight of expectation, which sometimes they embrace and sometimes weighs heavy. They seem to be putting their faith in youth and home grown development nowadays, which is very wise in my opinion, best to build new history every year. Their time will come again.

Been a good long while, hasn’t it? Anyway welcome back, and as usual we play the lads from the CW very early on. Why? Nobody knows, but it's just about always the case, and anyway it's a good start and a decent football attraction, something which most of us have been really looking forward to. All change at LGV Park, with lots of old stalwarts leaving the club over the summer, and we wish them all well wherever they go and whatever they do, and a new managerial team in place bringing in a lot of new lads. Pre season has been disrupted, with some mediocre results, and one outstanding performance in the win against a pretty full strength Shildon team, which promised much for the season ahead. Not that friendlies count for much, and are rarely much of a guide. So fingers crossed we can start on the front foot over the first few fixtures.

And what has been happening this summer? The Euros were eventually a failure with Gareth Southgate’s ultra cautious approach letting him down at the final hurdle. Hard to criticise, he has done better so far than any England manager since Sir H’Alf, but hoping to defend with six, seven and occasionally eight men, pinch the odd goal, and if all else fails win on pens is rarely enough, and so it proved. A simple question Gareth might very well ask himself is this, if Jack Grealish goes to Man City, Man Utd or Chelsea, who will be Man City, Man Utd or Chelsea’s best player?

Still, always the Qatar World Cup to look forward to, which is not something you will hear very often, and certainly not from any of the players, it could easily be far too hot even in the winter. And any of the daft lads who disgraced themselves at Wembley might be wise to give Qatar a miss, with likely very little in the way of drink to be had, and the security will not be in the hands of spotty youths in Hi Viz jackets two sizes too big, more like big blokes with guns and itchy fingers. On second thoughts, on you go lads…