The win at Sunderland was frustrating and ultimately unsatisfying fare. God knows why anyone pays to go and watch them up there. Niall Quinn wants to devote his energies to thanking those that do show up opposed to berating those who don’t.
There’s a serious issue here though. Those fiendish pubs broadcasting ‘bent’ satellite schedules are actually a part of the community in my book. One that’s poorly looking and might not last. I hope that the challenge mounted by that landlady in Portsmouth comes off. Am I alone in questioning that paying one company through the eyeballs for the privilege is actually progress?
I like buying meat from a butcher and finding one these days is as easy as finding someone who doesn’t know who Simon Cowell is. The nearest butchers to me displays joints and sausages in it’s window like pieces in a museum. Their trade obliterated by an Asda that fell out the sky not a six minute walk away.
The financial reality is that these back street and not so back street boozers beaming in images of the sacred stars will simply not survive without football and they cannot afford to be held hostage by those who currently own the rights. All that’ll be left are Neverspoons and the wanna-be gastro pubs.
Neverspoons administer their last rights daily via a drip feed of bulk bought booze to the long term unemployed, unhappy, unwashed, unloved. No football to disturb the peace. No conversation to disturb the mind. ‘Y’alright Tom?’ ‘Yeah, you Sean?’ If you stay long enough you can’t separate the scent of stale urine from the fresh.
The other survivor will be the Gastro Pub 4.0. These joints make my skin crawl as much as the chain pubs, but at least I feel less in need of delousing on the way out. These aren’t pubs they’re are a sham. They aren’t pubs as I understand the definition. No one’s even trying to get drunk. The only recorded vomiting is an incident involving a woman who bundled a pot of Cow & Gate down her child too quickly.
Let’s dispel a few myths while we’re here. Ron & Carol who welcome you to the The Albion aren’t some charming couple who intertwine their own lives (his functional alcoholism and both of her affairs) with keeping you topped up…
They’re faceless micro-managers from the planet Vatincluded who don’t just know their mass produced, part deep-fryed menu off by heart, but they know their customers on sight.
Walk in on your own to one of these places and order a pint and and you may as well have sauntered into your local library and confidently asked to be directed to the Child Porn section. ‘Will you be eating?’ Actually translates to ‘Are you a potential nuisance?’
So Niall Quinn masks the threat of boot-boys clutching Court Orders with a friendly anecdote about Sir Alex looking at his watch wanting to get the heck out of Dodge because a full house at the Stadium Of Light was deadlier than Delia when it came to the 12th man. His vision is of good clean family safe fun is @£22 per person but the cost will be considerably greater.
His vision will leave us in this post apocalyptic wasted-land of boarded up juicers passed by a disparate, broken tribe of emotionally disfigured survivors foraging on a diet of patronising highlights and meals which all include a side salad or 135gm sized portion of chips.
What did have we actually learned here? We need a striker who can score.
There are some of us who can remember football before Sky and Premier league,although there were some things that were not perfect somehow i cant help looking back with a regret that it has all come to this,the national game where a working class dad needs a mortgage to take his sons to football.A time gone where you could go to football as easily as you could go to the cinema,bowling alley or swimming pool.Then Sky and Prem league took over and i acknowledge the better stadiums and facilities i think the jury is still out on if the football is actually better but the game is so far removed from ordinary people and it seems that the rich are squeezing the real supporters out.Why should this lady publican not be allowed to get her satellite football from the cheapest source as in market competition, it is competition for Murdochs money making machine.I want to go to real pubs and watch football with non plastic people who have an oppinion not always the same as mine and enjoy a drink of beer not dictated by the massive factory breweries as to what beer is on offer.Why should we have to drink Carling,watch Sky,sit in plastic pubs with plastic beams and sit with finance directors and look at walls covered with Jack Vetrianos.If we can afford the £150 to £200 to take the kids to football then we have to sit less and less with real football fans and more and more with the “look at me,s” because its the new trendy to be seen place.Oh for the days when footballers could be spoken to before a game and dare i say it even had a cup of tea with in a local cafe and i swear that this was a true happening in my lifetime.
A great read indeed, nice one Harry.
Hope you dont mind me asking Sir, but areou indeed a Hastings Yid? Only ask as as i am one myself
ALL of what you say Col resonates very strongly with me especially the bit about players going to the local cafe after the game. The fabled Spurs team of 50-51 had a superb winger in Sonny Walters.
After the game he’d be in the local cafe.The best goalie Spurs have ever had, Ted Ditchburn, would spend half an hour signing autographs then walk home. My brother and I would walk to the game clutching our 6d for entry to the boys enclosure.
It was REAL in those days and the football was sensational a lot of the time. The legendary Tom Finney used to catch a bus to the game and chat to Preston supporters. Old Fogie? Yes I probably am.
If Niall Quinn wants to encourage more plebs through the turnstile there are one or two positive steps he can take.
Stop taking the Sky / ESPN money
Stop paying average players ridiculous money
Stop spending ridiculous money buying average players
Insist that most if not all league games are played at 3pm on a Saturday
Having done all that he’ll be able to charge less and the real fans will be able to spend the £600 plus a year they currently spend in the pub or with a TV company, with Niall instead.
I do not understand why anyone watching Spurs on a regular basis cannot see that Pav is a far better striker than Defoe and Crouch. Yesterday he was far more involved than Defoe and looked more likely to score.
Nico’s last couple of games have demonstrated that we show greater attacking threat playing him or VDV in a five across the middle with one up front.
Can someone please speak to Arry and sort this out.
And the future is Sandro shaped.
Ive been banging this particular drum for some considerable time ODM, couldn’t agree with you more
If PAV is some sort of head case we should have got rid of him. If PAV had been shown as much support as Defoe we’d possibly be in the top three.
When you think that Nico has scored 10 in 44 games for us WHY has he been left on the bench so long ?
I like Arry and he’s done very well for us but some of his selections make no sense unless you’re a Seagull.
Agree. And I too have been on this page for an eternity.
I’ll forgive Pav the odd mis-control, air shot as the way he makes space, brings in midfielders and wide men is far and above whatever the greedy midget and long waste of space have to offer IMHO.
And yesterday, the greedy midget couldn’t even be that, just aimless, lacked impetus, urgency you name it, he didn’t have it.
Totally agree, Pav is the best we’ve got; and how the hell Krankie is behind ***** I’ll never know. Shouldn’t someone tell ‘Arry, that if Defoe is as Arry says ‘England’s most natural finisher’. Then he should be banging them in!
As he isn’t get him out, and someone else in, try something, anything, if it doesn’t work at least you’ve tried, ffs.
But ‘Arry did not buy him so he does not get a game, lets persist with the £40 million pounds worth of shite he bought himself
the trouble is i think that pav is not a smashing triffic lad like crouch and defoe,top notch fella and all that
i agree though,pav deserves a run in the team,can’t see why it wouldn’t hurt,
id vdv is crocked i wonder if krank will play his role in milan or we will go 2 up top
Nico should be given some games on the left side of the midfield with Bale playing as a striker. We don’t need to do it vs the top teams, but it’s time to see what happens if our goal scorers play more prominently.
I would go with that, we can’t keep playing Defoe.
it must be very hard to be so reasonable all the time ODM. Not new, but incredibly sensible all the same.
The same goes for the rest of you. cap doffed to one and all.