Please note it is definitely "bantre" and not "banter"
So 2011/12 is finally over for Lincoln City and it ended in a fitting way, in a very bizarre fashion.
It all started for me at around 5am, my alarm wasn’t even due to go off for another hour but my body’s ability to piss me off by waking me up ridiculously early resurfaced. A quick breakfast and drive later and I was down at Lincoln train station, I wasn’t catching a train however. Billy Jarish had organised a coach to go down to Lincoln’s last game of the season at Ebbsfleet, a separate coach from the usual supporters coach.
An hour passes at the train station before the coach actually turns up and I ended up being the first one on it from Lincoln, and the driver wants me to talk about things like Boston United’s season, to which I know very little, but I try and make polite conversation, because I like to think I am generally a polite individual…..most of the time. After a while everyone starts turning up and there’s the usual crowd, and a few others who I don’t know.
Included from the usual group that I know are Dave Kirkbright, Jack Mulhall, Max Heath, Billy Jarish (more on him later), Chris Lemm, Stuart Houlton and Adam Mawer. I was originally planning on sitting on my own down at the front as I'm currently trying to figure out a few things and am preparing for one of the busiest periods of my life....but I ended up sitting with them around the middle, an area that felt very crowded to say the least.
There are also a few others that I know but either don’t speak to them often or they rarely go to away games, such as Luke Fane, Jordan Brown, Josh Woodcock, Nick Green, Callum Goddard and a girl called Michelle, who despite the fact we sit near each other at home games and have done for the entire season, was someone who I had never actually shared a conversation with.
The trip doesn't start particularly well as the toilet is out of order.......or to be more precise....it hasn't been assembled.....cue a trip of people pissing in bottles or the sink that is in the toilet......lovely!!!! You'd think for the money that was paid (which I am told was quite a bit), that the company would provide a working toilet.....especially due to the distance.
Things go like normal, everyone with the exception of myself is drinking, that despite the hilarious safety video telling us that we couldn’t…..then again this video also told us to do proper stretching exercises after sitting down, which was a first. I had prepared a quiz that proved difficult to do for the simple reason that I was consistently being interrupted by various participants. After 25 questions….that took nearly an hour to read due to the interruptions, Dave Kirkbright continued his tradition of winning the quizzes I prepare.
Then things take a weird turn as all of a sudden the group starts singing chants about each other and they move onto myself and I am “fortunate” enough to be given two chants…….something which I was not thrilled about.
The first : “Oh Nathan Jackson, you are the love of my life, oh Nathan Jackson. I’d let you shag my wife, oh Nathan Jackson. I want gypsy hair too.” <repeat several times>
The second :“He shags who he wants, he shags who he wants, he’s Nathan Jackson, he shags who he wants.”
I was particularly uncomfortable with the second chant as it basically infers that I’m a womaniser, something which I assure everyone that I am not. Infact, those who know me properly know that I am far from a womaniser and the fact I have only been with two different women in the last three years, and neither were for more than a few weeks, shows that I am certainly not a womaniser.
I didn’t know how to react on the majority of occasions, sometimes I tried to laugh it off, others I couldn’t hide that I was pissed off…..and I am not good at hiding that I am pissed off.
But anyway, the intake of alcohol makes everyone a bit more rowdy that usual, with Billy being particularly badly effected….but again, more on that later.
After three and a half hours, which includes a 20 minute break, we finally get to the ground. Ebbsfleet is a bit of a shithole and it’s hard to find somewhere with a good view.
Ebbsfleet's shithole of a stadium - Blue Square Premier football.....isn't it glamourous?
Then another bizarre moment. I’m stood there minding my own business (with several renditions of the first of the chants from above in between) and all of a sudden a woman called Wendy Best comes up to me and the following confirmation commences….
Wendy : “Did you meet up with Tristan?”
Myself (looking puzzled) : “Tristan?”
Wendy : “Yeah, you met up with him at Hayes and Yeading.”
Myself (desperately trying to figure out if I know someone called Tristan) : “I don’t know anyone called Tristan”
Wendy : “Yes you do, he works in the job centre.”
By this point I have absolutely no idea who she’s referring to and I just had a “What the fuck are you talking about?” sort of look on my face. Soon after she gives up……10 hours later and I still have precisely no idea who she is talking about.
The match finally starts soon afterwards and for those who haven’t been to Ebbsfleet, it’s not segregated, meaning all the fans are shouting banter at each whilst stood amongst each other, it’s quite strange. Lincoln went on to win 3-2 but could have easily scored 7 or 8, but poor finishing meant that we would score “just” three. I’m not going to write a match report, so here’s the official report - http://www.redimps.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0,,10440~60485,00.html
The chants about myself continue throughout the match, even when I move to another stand.
Billy Jarish - Remember Ghandi.
After the game finishes we all get back on the coach and it doesn’t take long before the alcohol takes it’s toll on those around me. Jack Mulhall even attempts to fall asleep on me, and Billy Jarish falls over on several occasions, and on one occasion people start pouring beer into his mouth….to which is replies…..”Remember Ghandi,”…….not sure if it was a question or a statement, but either way it was a bizarre response.
Billy continues to get worse throughout the trip and the strange thing is that he is normally really reserved.
More chants.
The coach finally gets back to Lincoln and the season is then officially over. It’ll be 13/14 weeks before I most of these people again, but if next season’s away games are as unusual as this one then it’ll be an interesting season.
To be honest I am glad this season is over and that I don't have to worry about it for another few months. I can now go through the summer and go to Sincil Bank in August as a new person, or at least on my way to becoming a new person, which will be interesting in itself.
But anyway, until next season this will be the last time I mention football in this blog for a while.
"Nathan, you're far nicer now. You used to be a bastard all of the time, then you were a bastard most of the time with a little bit of a goodness, then you were 50/50, then you were mostly good and now you're not a bastard at all," ....Amy from where I work.
That was followed up by omeone else from work saying I seem a lot happier these days and you know what, I am. I can't really explain it, I've just mellowed out over the last six or so months. It takes a lot to properly annoy me these days, and what's even more bizarre is that the stuff that used to really wind me up doesn't even bother me anymore. I have mellowed out. I'm just far more chilled and laid back than I was a few months ago and it's a good thing.
I can't really explain it, but over the last few months I have just become more relaxed about stuff. I don't really dwell on stuff for long periods of time anymore, which probably helps, and I no longer have a "best friend" who treats me like shit and is a self-centred little hypocrit, which probably helps. Maybe it's because I've accepted that I support a shit football team, or maybe it's just that I am now longer worrying about moving to either America or Canada. I can't really put a finger on it.
I'm just considerably happier these days than I used to be. In my last blog entry I had said that my life isn't on hold anymore, which is has been for a long time, and I no longer feel pressured to be a "performing monkey" for some "friends". I am satisfied, for the first time in a while, with how my life is progressing and although I only have one plan for the long term, that plan finally looks like it's going to be going ahead after 27 years of waiting.
I'm on the verge of moving to Newark (I'm moving to be closer to work), so it'll be nice to be on my 8-4 shifts and not having to wake up at 5:30 like I currently do.
For the first time in a long time, I can say that I am happy.
As many of the regular readers of this blog know, I have been keen to move to America or Canada for some time now, however, after recent events I have decided to re-assess my life on several levels and I have decided that moving to either one of the aforementioned countries isn't for me, at least not at this stage during my life.
To be honest I was going to be moving for all of the wrong reasons. I fell in love and that love blinded me and caused me to be deluded into ignoring pure hard facts. Once you fall out with someone, you soon start realising just how much you had misjudged everything and if anything, I'm only just recovering because I realise that I have put the last year of my life effectively on hold. I have wasted one year of my life chasing something that I didn't really want.
That's not to say that I don't want to visit either America or Canada, I'd love to go there for a few weeks, but not to move there permanently. At the moment I am just going to concentrate on fulfilling some life goals, which some of you who read this will know about, and the rest will know in what will hopefully be the near future. This has caused me to actually re-assess some relationships I have with people and as the below song says, it turns out that I have everything I need right here.
I would stress that when I saw that band live (they were supporting Bowling for Soup) the fact fuck of a drummer decided it would be a good idea to lob a broken drumstick into the crowd....and guess who's face got in the way.
In recent weeks some of my relationships with people at work have changed and to be more precise, my life now feels like it's going full steam ahead. Although I won't get into full details, I can't thank Amy, Becky, Claire and Layla enough for their help in the last few weeks, especially Layla who has made me feel right at ease with a certain issue, or at least more at ease than I was. I feel especially bad to Amy as I have been far from pleasent to her on many occasions and yet she has always find the time to help me which various issues. God knows why she continued to do so when I treated her life shit, she didn't deserve it.
I think for now I am satisfied with life in England and now, for the first time in ages I have a plan for the next few years. That's another thing that re-assessing had done, after I fell in love I abandoned all plans and as I say, my life effectively got put on hold and now it's time to make up for lost time. I am on the verge of moving to Newark (where I work) and after that I think my real life can finally begin, a life I have waited 27 years for.
As I say, I will let you all know what I am actually going on about when the time is right, which is hopefully in the very near future.
For the first time in a long time, I can say that I am happy with how things are, I just wish I hadn't wasted the last year. I regret wasting my time on people who weren't good for me. I regret treating people like shit and I hope one day those people can fully forgive me. I regret that I wasn't a good friend to Amy, Becky, Claire or Layla before hand because they are four awesome ladies, and most of all I regret that it has taken me all this time to get to be on the verge of where I want to be and whom I want to become.
"You wait your whole life for a single moment and then suddenly it's tomorrow," -Dr Susan McCallister (played by Saffron Burrows), Deep Blue Sea (a film from 1999)
Hello all
You know what creeps me out? Well, a few things, but for the purpose of this blog entry, it's time and how quickly things creep up on you.
For 27 years I have looked at a certain day where something (which I will talk about in a future blog) that will happen far off into the future and I haven't really worried about it because of this, but now that day is fast approaching and it's freaking me out. For years I have been waiting for this day to come and it's now just a few months away and it is the scariest thing ever. It's properly freaking me out. Just for your knowledge, it's not tomorrow, if those reading this thinking that something will happen on April 20th, I just thought the quote sounded cool.
I could use many words to describe how I feel right now - apprehensive, edgy, fidgety, irritable, jittery, nervy, on edge, overwrought, querulous, ruffled, shaky, skittish, snappish, solicitous, spooked, taut, tense or timid, but I can't put into words just exactly what I am feeling at the moment.
It's never really felt real until now. Until now it's just seemed like a day that just wouldn't come. I've talked about it, at length sometimes, with some people but I never really took it seriously, but now it's in the near future it has left me in a near permanent state of nervousness. I'm nervous for many reasons but the thing I'm most nervous about is the aftermath, what happens afterwards. I always say that I have a relatively thick skin and can handle anything that comes my way, verbally anyway, but that claim is going to be put to the test in the few months following this day.
Just how ready can you be for the day you've been preparing for for your entire life?
Of course some of you already know to what I am refering to and will think I am over-reacting somewhat.
Please note that all of the below is based on my opinions and observations and does not reflect the views of any other party. Unlike others that I could name, I’m not going to try and pass my opinion off as if it’s fact, nor am I going to try and force my opinions on others, please take that into account whilst reading this.
Before I start I would like to say that whilst I am disappointed with the season we have had, but I’m going to try and be fair with all my reflections and I’m not going to abuse anyone at the club, again, unlike certain people I could mention.
So it’s been a long season for the Imps. Back in August we couldn’t possibly have known the rollercoaster that would follow over the 51 games in League and cup that comprised the 2011/12 season. It’s been a year where just as you thought the embarrassments were over, something else would come along and knock the wind out of the fans. Two managers, big wins, big defeats, nearly a whopping 43 players used, infighting, protests and downright viciousness from City’s fans have helped craft this season.
So where better to start this than at 4:53pm (roughly) on the final day of the 2010/11 season? City had just lost 3-0 at home to Aldershot and confirmation of Barnet’s win over Port Vale meant that the Imps had been relegated to the Blue Square Premier division. Manager Steve Tilson committed to the cause and Bob Dorrian said that Tilson could have the job as long as he wanted it, however, that could not be said for most of the playing staff as the squad was torn apart following relegation. Off the field jobs were lost as well as the club prepared for life without Football League funding.
Only three players were offered new deals, one of whom was bizarrely Andy Hutchinson, who is one of the luckiest footballers ever. Never has one person played 22 games and done so little, yet constantly got new contracts. Everyone highlights that most of his appearances have only been from the bench, but just because he’s a sub it doesn’t mean he only comes on for the last 2/3 minutes. He came on for close on 35 minutes against Stevenage towards the end of 2010/11 and didn’t touch the ball once. To say he hasn’t been given a fair chance is a load of bollocks, and to constantly get new contracts is a joke.
Striker Kyle Perry
On paper Tilson bought in a strong squad ahead of the 2011/12 pre-season. Strikers Jamie Taylor, Kyle Perry (right) and Sam Smith all joined from Eastbourne, Tamworth and Rushden respectively, all with excellent goalscoring ratios in the last few years. John Nutter, Josh Gowling and Tony Sinclair all joined from Gillingham, Alan Power from Rushden, Cambridge’s Player of the Year Simon Russell, French trio Jean Arnaud, Jean-Francois Christophe and Francis Laurent, and free agents Nicky Nicolau and Brad Barraclough. On paper it was a fine assembled squad, but as we all know, football isn’t played on paper and Sincil Bank has a habit of destroying reputations.
Doug Lingberg was a sign of things to come in this bizarre season. Tilson signed him as back up goalkeeper but then admitted that if Anyon got injured then we would bring in a loan goalkeeper rather than using Lindberg. What was the point in bringing him here if we weren't going to get anything from it all? Where's the benefit for us in that?
Pre-season results were mixed, thumping wins over Ilkeston and Brigg Town were coupled with defeats to Gainsborough and Nottingham Forest, as well as a strong side struggling to beat Barton Old Boys. The pressure didn’t seem to be on Steve Tilson at this time.
The season eventually started with a 2-2 draw at Southport, not a bad result considering, but consecutive home defeats to Kidderminster and Wrexham saw City laying near the relegation zone. A 2-1 win at Telford was City’s first three points since March 12th but the fans were far from happy and after the poor start to the season continued, a 4-0 defeat at Tamworth was the final straw as Steve Tilson and Paul Brush were sacked due to fan power.
I was never really a fan of Tilson, he didn’t really do enough for me and in a pre-season fans meeting with Bob Dorrian, Bob confirmed that Tilson had told most of the squad in March that they weren’t going to get new contracts, not realising that those players would be the only uninjured ones by the end of the year, and they weren’t going to give a fuck about a club who had already told them that they wouldn’t be wanted.
On paper Tilson did sign a lot of decent players, but as mentioned earlier, Sincil Bank had a habit of destroying reputations and it wasn’t really a surprise to anyone when it was announced he had been sacked.
He was replaced by David Holdsworth, the former Mansfield manager, and some fans were really against this appointment, an a lot took an instant dislike and the abuse that Holdsworth has had to take is a bit ridiculous, especially as he has actually achieved what he was asked to achieve and stop us being relegated and cut the wage bill. Granted, results haven’t always been great and some of the performances were diabolical, but there was no need for the abuse that the fans gave him. Regardless of whether people think he is good or not or not, he didn’t deserve the abuse he has gotten all season, similar to the Steve Kean situation at Blackburn.
Infact, our season and Blackburn’s have reflected each other both on and off the pitch. Much like Blackburn’s fans, City’s fans have hardly covered themselves in glory this year. Protests against how the club is being run, infighting between fans at away games and a poor season on the pitch tested most fans patience and one of the finest examples of the bitter turn of our fans came after a 2-1 home defeat to Alfreton Town in the FA Cup. An Adam Watts mistake (mistake being the key word) allowed Alfreton to score the winning goal, and then fans on the Lincoln City Banter Facebook group were posting a link to his profile and encouraging others to send Watts abuse.
The sooner Lincoln fans realise we’re not a big side, the better. We’re not even a big club in the Blue Square Premier. There are far bigger clubs than us at this level, Luton, Wrexham and whether we like it or not, Grimsby, to name just three. People need to stop comparing our results and success with the Keith Alexander era. Until another manager achieves what he achieved, some fans will never be satisfied and often this season some fans have turned up to away games and done nothing but shout abuse to the manager and players, even when winning. Fans are finding any excuse to complain these days.
Infact, I’ve noticed the majority of the trouble comes with the brain-dead thugs who seem to only want to trouble and violence. Whenever you’ve heard abuse (and I don’t just mean abuse of “you’re shit,” I mean proper vile stuff) they’ve not been too far away from the trouble, but I’ll get onto those idiots again in a few paragraphs.
Sam Smith - Injured in November
The Imps continued through November and December without really impressing but staying just ahead of the relegation zone. Sam Smith was the man in form but he soon got injured and this was followed by the first example of David Holdsworth’s activities in the transfer market. Never has a manager been so keen to bring in new players so quickly. When you look at the list of players who have played for this club this season, the amount who have played less than 10 games in ridiculous, with four players only making one appearance for the club.
Performances were generally poor. A victory at Forest Green in December proved to be City’s only league win anywhere near Christmas and you see a lot of people refer to that as one of the best performances of the season………that despite Forest Green absolutely dominating and City struggling to create anything before a penalty just before half time. Infact, despite rarely being overwhelmed by the opposition, the performances throughout the season have been generally poor, but as I say, very few sides actually dominated against us.
The ultimate low arguably came in January when the club was drawn against Carshalton Athletic in the FA Trophy. A 0-0 draw at home was followed by an embarrassing exit in the replay. The Imps couldn’t even claim to have been playing a weakened side as the near full strength Imps went down 3-1 at the home of a side two divisions below us. It was a dark night to be an Imps fan.
At that point a lot of Imps fans were calling for the head of David Holdsworth and it was pretty hard to defend him based on his record. When I used to run a website based on Lincoln City I would have joined them, but not having to write about it anymore means that I can sit back, relax and think about things.
A few weeks later and the Imps were losing at promotion chasing Gateshead at half time and those idiots who only go to a small handful of games and only go purely to cause trouble, decided it would be a good idea to start abusing their own fans, with one of the brain-dead thugs actually threatening a fan because that fan clapped at half time. We would eventually get a draw from that game after being 3-1 down, a good result considering.
Gateshead - Scene of our fans fighting each other
Results on the pitch hit a low as a 2-0 win over Southport on January 24th proved to be the only victory between mid-December and mid-March. A 1-0 home defeat to Alfreton Town proved too much for some fans and that, combined with the poor run resulted in some fans calling a protest that was never actually going to achieve anything. I do respect that they have a right to protest, but 150 or so pissed of fans aren’t actually going to achieve anything if they don’t have a realistic solution to the problem. It’s all well and good highlighting problems but completely pointless without a solution. Simply getting rid of Bob Dorrian (which I heavily suspect is easier said that done) wouldn’t do anything, you need a plan of what to do next, and Bob is not the only person to blame for the club’s recent issues.
I’m not going to claim to be Bob’s biggest fan, infact I could actually write a blog based on why I dislike him, but I won’t because it won’t do anything, it won’t change anything. At the end of the day he’s not a football chairman. He’s a football fan and he happens to be chairman, but he’s not a football man, neither was Steff Wright and to an extent, neither was Rob Bradley, all had their own businesses to all look after as well as the club, and it’s the same with all the other directors as far as I’m aware, and we won’t be in a situation that’s any different if Dorrian did step down because he’d just be replaced with someone who has other things to focus on as well as the club.
That protest came before a home game against Newport, and that was the first of three games that City won in a row to move clear of the relegation zone, and just like Newcastle fans and Mike Ashley, pissed off fans suddenly became very quiet when the team were winning games, but as soon as we lose, regardless of the opposition, everyone ignores that we had won the three games before and was back planning more protests. The word fickle comes to mind.
Fleetwood - A ground where city effectively secured
Blue Square Premier football for another year
A 5-0 win over Darlington on Easter Monday was followed by an excellent 2-2 draw with Fleetwood (who were crowned Champions the next day) meant that the Imps were as good as safe, and safety was confirmed on April 14th as Mansfield Town, a club with a few ex-Imps, beat Hayes and Yeading to mean that only Newport and Telford can be caught by Hayes, and the Imps were safe.
Now it’s time to assess and one thing we must realise is that there’s no reason to panic about struggling in our first year of Blue Square football. No team has gone straight back up since 2005 and far better sides than us have also struggled in their first few years before then challenging for promotion (York and Cambridge being the main examples). We don’t have an automatic right to do well and yes, I agree it’s been a bad season, but we have come through the rough seas and have had a half-decent end to the season.
So now we can start planning for next season knowing that the remaining two games of the season are pretty meaningless really.
Whether David Holdsworth is the man in charge is next season is another matter. He has a very hit and miss record with his transfers, but then again so did Keith Alexander. Everyone forgets that as well as signing some very good players, Keith did also sign a lot of shite…..Niall McNamara anyone? Holdsworth’s signings are similar, either they are very good, or they are shocking.
My personal opinion is that the best player he bought in is Danny Lloyd, I really rate Danny Lloyd. Danny is the sort of player the aforementioned Alexander would have loved, his energy is fantastic and I personally think that had he started on a more regular basis then we would have been safe a long time ago. I also think we did well to get players such as Richard Hinds at the club, however briefly.
On the flip side some of his signings have been diabolical and/or pointless. What’s the point of bringing in loanees such as Louis Almond and Matt Pearson and never play them? It’s no wonder their parent clubs called them back. Then there’s not to forget Jason Beardsley (who I hear many of you say…..exactly). Then my own personal jury is still out on Paul Robson, Rob Williams, Tyrone Thompson and one or two others.
With contract length seemingly not worth having meaning these days, we’re effectively working from a blank slate, but here is my brief summary of whether I would keep players or not (please note these are done in squad number order).
Joe Anyon - Many people's choice for
Player of the Season
Joe Anyon – Easily the player of the season for me. Unlike 2010/11, he hasn’t made a major mistake this season and has been our one truly consistent player. I would definitely offer him a new contract but he’s too good for the Blue Square Premier and will more than likely receive a lot of offers.
Karlton Watson – I’m unsure what to think of Karlton but he’s young and has done reasonably well in his appearances for the club. I would personally offer him a six month contract.
John Nutter – I would personally get rid of him. He started off reasonably solid but as the season has gone on he has gradually got worse. His distribution and decision making, especially at set-pieces is shocking most of the time, and he gives the ball away quite often. There are better, and more importantly cheaper, left backs out there.
Josh Gowling – I’m undecided on Josh as I don’t think he’s actually that good, but I think he is a decent leader on the pitch. His main problem is inconsistency. Against the ridiculously poor sides he looks competent, but whenever we come up against anyone half decent he struggles.
Danny Hone – I’d personally get rid of him. Everyone keeps saying he should be given a chance but whenever he is, he makes a mistake and costs at least one goal a game. We can get far better defenders.
Jamie Taylor – Until recently I didn’t see much in Jamie Taylor. Granted he has spent a lot of time out injured but has still managed a fair amount of games, and his goalscoring record in the League is generally poor, however, he has started to show in recent games why he almost single handedly kept Eastbourne in the division. I’d give him another year.
Alan Power
Alan Power (right) – As the season has gone on he has got worse. He started out really well and was arguably our best player early on, but his form has gone seriously downhill. His distribution is terrible and he does quite a lot of moaning. He’s a bit like Scott Kerr in that respect….but without the clapping. I wouldn’t keer Alan because I don’t think he’s good enough for a side that is better than relegation fodder.
Kyle Perry – Talking of players who started out really well and got worse, hello Kyle. Kyle started off in great form this season but then everything changed, he just wasn’t really doing anything except falling over. There was one particular incident that I saw at Wrexham where one of their defenders nudged him in the lower back and he went down holding the back of his head. I wouldn’t keep him.
Jefferson Louis – I was not happy when we signed Louis, he had a generally poor record everywhere and I had seen him several times and never been impressed, however, he has surprised me and done really well since joining. He’s a good all around striker, he can use his feet and his header really well. I’d keep him.
Francis Laurent – Francis is a frustrating player because he’s so ridiculously injury prone that offering him any sort of contract is pointless because he never plays more than four games before he then spends several months out injured. He showed what he was capable of whenever he played but unless you wrap him in bubble wrap, you’re never going to see him for more than 1/3 of the season.
Conal Platt – Who remembers Marcus Richardson and how he played when on loan from Hartlepool? He was awesome when on loan and then his form went to shit after it got made permanent, which is exactly what Conal Platt did. Conal was awesome on loan but as soon as it got made permanent, he just lost it. The creative midfielder with an eye for goal turned into another body on the pitch that wasn’t really contributing. I’d keep him because he showed that when on form, he can be brilliant.
Tony Sinclair – The owner of a dodgy moustache has had a mixed time as a City player. Before he got injured he never really stood out, never had a bad game but never really had a good one either. He was just there. I’d keep him because he’s better than Paul Robson.
Sam Smith – Another one who seemingly needs wrapping in bubble wrap, Smith has been out injured since November. Sam showed he could certainly finished and 8 goals before his injury was a good return, but other than finishing he was an atrocious football. His first touch is one of the worst I’ve ever seen. Just for his goalscoring ability I would keep him, but he would seriously need to work on that first touch.
Simon Russell – Another one who got worse as the season went on. Early on he was providing plenty of crosses into the box and it was obvious why Cambridge fans voted him as their player of the season, skip forward to mid-season and he wasn’t really doing anything other than occasionally wearing a coat that is far too big for him whilst warming up. I’d be surprised if he’s here next season.
Richard Pacquette – Started off well before disappearing really.He had a decent finish on him, such as his goal against Southport, but I can’t really comment further as he hasn’t really made enough appearances and they were all too long again to actually remember what he’s like.
Nicky Nicolau – Nicolau’s one of those players who’s just there, he doesn’t really do anything. I can’t actually recall how he’s played. I know he has played, but I can’t recall if he played well or not, which says it all.
Danny Lloyd - From the Lincolnshire Echo
Danny Lloyd – I am a big fan of Danny Lloyd’s, he is an awesome young player. Hisenthusiasm and approach to the game reminds me a lot of Chris Herd, and that is only a good thing. I would definitely give Danny a new deal without even thinking about it.
Brad Barraclough – It was hard to get an opinion on Brad because he didn’t play much for the Imps but his record on loan at Buxton has been fantastic. He’d be worth a new deal, even if only for six months.
Nick Draper – He appeared to be a good young keeper in his few appearances. Can’t really comment further but won’t do any harm keeping him.
Andy Hutchinson – Deserves a new contract about as much as Hitler would be welcome at a Jewish only party.
James Wilson – Hasn’t played a first team match so can’t really give an opinion either way. If whomever the manager is doesn’t intend to play him then there’s no point in him being here.
Karl Cunningham – He made an impressive handful of appearances under Grant Brown. It’d be worth keeping him as he looks like the first talent to emerge from the youth team that’ll actually be worthwhile since Lee Frecklington.
Paul Robson – If ever being out of position becomes an Olympic sport then Paul Robson will no doubt represent the UK. The amount of times the left winger of the oppositon finds themselves unmarked is ridiculous. Distribution is terrible and there are far better right backs out there.
Jean Francois Christophe – I don’t rate Christophe. He plays like Marcus Richardson (after he had been made permanent) and that’s not a good thing. Distribution is again terrible and I can’t recall one game where he actually played well.
Jordan Thomas – Played a few games under Grant Brown, didn’t really have a chance to make an impression.
Peter Bore – I remember being quite pleased with the signing of Bore but he’s been largely uninspiring. Much like several other members of the squad, he is there but not really doing a lot. We can get far better.
Nialle Rodney – I know he has played but I can’t actually recall him playing, surely that tells it’s only story.
Mark McCammon – Another that came to the club with a reputation for not scoring but has done okish in the beginning of his City career. I think Holdsworth will try and keep him but whether he will settle for not being a first team starter is another matter.
Tyrone Thompson – Accumulating nearly 30 games and yet he hasn’t actually played well in many of those games. First touch is appalling but he does have sped, something we haven’t had in central midfield for ages. I heavily suspect he will be here next season because him and Holdsworth are quite close and apparently travel in together.
Tom Miller – Good, solid defender who doesn’t mess about. Our recent good record started when he arrived and I think he is the best defender we have at the club. I would definitely try and keep him beyond this season.
Jake Sheridan – I thought Jake started really well and you could see why Eastwood fans were gutted to lose him, however, since then he’s not really done a lot and has just been a passenger in a lot of games. Not brilliant but not the worst player we have by a long stretch.
Tom Richardson – “One for the future” apparently…….not that we know as he was loaned out as soon as we got him in.
I decided to do another video blog and in this I cover several subjects ranging from Lincoln City's form, the fickleness of their fans, moving to Newark and potentially going to Norway. I also talk about how weird I look without facial hair.
And here are a few songs from Lene Marlin, the artist I mention in the video.
Now I know some of you will be looking at the "beautiful Canadian" part of that title and think "Oh for fuck's sake, he's going to be talking about Jodi again," .... but you'd be wrong.
No, this blog is about a subject matter that has always interested me for various reasons and that's transsexuality and difference, or to be more precise, I'm going to talk about one transsexual in particular, Jenna Talackova (right). Jenna recently entered the "Miss Universe Canada" contest but was disqualified after it was discovered that she was born male.
I'm not going to get into the politics of it all but I must say that disqualifying her simply because she was born male was ridiculous, having said that, so is a contest to decide which of a group of females is the most "perfect". For me personally, it's not about how a person was born, it's who they are now and in a world where racism and homophobia are now in a minority, it's such a shame that transphobia is still "going strong."
No-one's perfect, everyone has something "wrong" with them and taking hormones and having surgeries to become the person you want to be is not a character flaw. Everyone wants to change something about themselves, either emotionally or physically, and on the most basic level there's no difference between someone changing their sex than there is someone changing there hair, that person is only becoming the person they want to be. Obviously a sex change is a bit more "extreme" (and costly) than colouring hair, but both are changing how they currently are to be happier.
From Pinterest
"I am gay. I am lesbian. I am bisexual. I am transsexual.
I am heterosexual. I am like you. I am human."
I think it all comes down to people being afraid of what's different to them, or at least people not understanding what it's like for other people. For example, I like rock music, but all my friends who my friends who don't like it just assume that all rock music is about slicing open your wrist or hating your family, whereas it's not at all (although granted there is a certain small percentage like that), and I think that is being blind ignorant, and I think that's the same with aspects of sexuality.
Ignorance is what is the cause of a lot of hate in the world, people not understanding the "different" people out there and not wanting to.
The way I see it is that if someone is living their life in a way that they want to live it, and as long as their not hurting anyone, then just let them get on with it. If you find out that your friend is gay, it doesn't automatically mean that they are attracted to you. If you find out that your friend wants to change their sex, it doesn't automatically mean that they're doing it because they are attracted to their original gender. These people are just trying to live their lives, just let them get on with it and if you don't like it, you don't have to make their lives miserable because of it.
I'm going to leave you with the reaction of Jenna and her lawyer to finding out that she has been disqualified, and this includes one of the best pieces of logic you will ever hear.
It's April 6th 2012 and that can only mean one thing.....it's ten years since I last drank alcohol. It's strange looking back on it as it doesn't seem like ten years. I am always asked why I don't drink alcohol and I have given many reasons over the last ten years as to why, but only twice have I actually told someone the reason.....until now.
To tell the story I will have to go back exactly ten years to April 6th 2002. I was 17 at the time and was in the middle of my first year at college. My closest friend is a girl from Brighouse, just outside of Huddersfield, called Faye and we had met for the first time about 2 months previously. We had met via a mutual friend of ours (Dee) and become good friends, and I was looking forward to seeing her again. I had been given that opportunity by her sister, who was turning 18, as she had invited me for her night out.
Skip forward and it's around 7pm and the group of five of us head out and despite being only 17 (for those of you who don't live in the UK and don't know why I am highlighting that, the legal age to buy alcohol in bars/pubs in the UK is 18), but luckily I have always looked older than I am, this in hindsight was a bad thing as I was freely buying alcohol.
Skip forward and it's now around 11pm and I have had what must have been close on 10 pints, and given that I had never drunk that much before, it didn't have a good effect on me. We move onto more pubs and I continue to drink. I should really mention that at this point in my life I was a bit of a drama-queen and made things out to be a lot worse than there were and during the night I climb to the top of a car park and threaten to throw myself off......I do. Maybe I had drunk far too much but I thought I was on top of a six/seven storey car park.....in reality I was on a car park that only had two floors, so did pretty much fuck all damage to myself other than maybe a slightly hurt toe.
Several hours later and we have finally made it back to where I am staying. By this point I had thrown up at least four times, and it was still coming.
The next morning and despite originally supposed to be there for another night, Faye's mum drives me to the train station because I am ill, or at least that's what she said. I should have gotten the clue by the fact that Faye didn't talk to me at any point during the day before I left, not even saying goodbye. Several hours pass and I finally get home, and Faye says that she knows what sort of stuff I did, including the car park incident. She says she doesn't want to be friends anymore, and I was distraught as she was my closest friend and probably the only person at the time that I trusted.
So, that's why I don't drink. Not only do I remember not liking the taste and it saves me a lot of money, but I don't trust myself not to do something stupid if I got drunk again, such as finding a car park that is actually several storeys high and jumping off of it.
I'm sorry that it might not be the dramatic story that some of you were hoping for, but there you go.
The Aftermath
As soon as Faye told me that she didn't want to be friends anymore, I went out to try and replace her and ended up finding Marinda/Maz that same day, and she turned out to be the great love of my life. Had I not getting drunk and ruined my friendship with Faye, I never would have met Marinda, so in that sense that was a good thing.
I also try and take my mind off things go deciding to go to more football matches, however, even I never imagined how far that would go. The day I went to Brighouse saw City play away at Kidderminster towards the end of the 2001/2 season....since that day I have only missed two matches, for better or worse.
Me and Faye also haven't spoken in the ten years since this all happened but I am now fully over her. I have been for a long time. I might occasionally think of what happened but not very often, and it's the best example I can think of of the term "time heals".
I've recently discovered a website with a lot of images that states a fact and then say something that fights the stereotype, so I went through and found a load about myself. I figured that not a lot of people who know this blog will know certain things about me, so I figured this would be a good way for me to do that, rather than me trying to explain it all.
I wasn't able to find a ridiculous amount but the below nine all sum me up quite well.
I write this on a Tuesday afternoon where I am recovering from several days of illness. I don't get ill very often and in three years of working in my current role, I have only ever phoned in sick once and that was last July....and was because I had torn an ankle ligament and couldn't walk, but didn't have any crutches. I wasn't even sick, so having to phone in sick felt a bit ridiculous, but when you don't have a working ankle, you can't get to and from work and you don't have much of a choice.
As I was ill a lot as a kid, it's served me well as an adult as I am very rarely ill, and even rarer is an illness that causes me to phone in sick to work, but that's what happened over the last few days. It didn't stop me trying to get into work though. I still woke up at 6am on Monday morning and drove to work, but two hours and one toilet bowl full of sick later, and I agreed/was told to go home from work.
Since then I have been confined to my bed, although now I have started to recover and will probably return to work tomorrow. It has been like hitting a brick wall in many ways. I don't get ill often but when I do, my body doesn't cope very well at all and stuff like simple colds can end up lasting for several weeks.
It seems strange being sick though as I am rarely sick. Before yesterday I hadn't phoned in sick (as in actually being sick rather than just injured) since Christmas 2005. Don't get me wrong, I have been ill in that time but not enough to stop me going to work. It does take a lot to stop me from working but the illness of the last few days managed it.
....and before someone says it, no, this wasn't man-flu.
Posts
Included from the usual group that I know are Dave Kirkbright, Jack Mulhall, Max Heath, Billy Jarish (more on him later), Chris Lemm, Stuart Houlton and Adam Mawer. I was originally planning on sitting on my own down at the front as I'm currently trying to figure out a few things and am preparing for one of the busiest periods of my life....but I ended up sitting with them around the middle, an area that felt very crowded to say the least.
