Post by Macmoish on Apr 29, 2011 13:24:52 GMT
Football League/Chris Charles Weekly Blog
Some people thought it was all over - but when reality dawned only the Canaries were still singing.
'QPRarrrrgh!' screamed the headline in The Sun after Rangers were nine minutes from rising to the promised land on Easter Monday, only for things to go spectacularly wrong. A typical afternoon in the life of a QPR fan, in fact.
First of all David Amoo equalised for Hull and with Norwich and Cardiff both winning it looked like the champagne was going on ice.
But when news filtered through of an equaliser for Derby at Carrow Road, fans were convinced they were back in the big time after a 15-year hiatus.
I was in the toilets when I got the news that QPR's promotion ambitions had gone down the pan - at least for the time being. I'd begun to fear the worst when a section of the home support were singing "Two years to the Bernabeu!" - although I did quite like "Where's your lollipop?" refrain to a random bald chap.
Simeon Jackson's dramatic late winner for the Canaries was Norwich's 12th goal in added time this season (although it feels like 112 to most of the teams around them) and led to a TV station hastily removing a graphic declaring QPR had been promoted, as the bunting was rolled back up and the fat lady had her microphone switched off.
All it needed was Jim Bowen appearing on the big screen to announce "Here's what you could have won" and the comedy of errors would have been complete.
All of which means if Norwich and Cardiff win their last two games and Rangers get right royally spanked in theirs, the west London side are in the Play-Offs. I've always taken the view that a pessimist is never disappointed.
On Saturday I shall have plenty of time to dwell on the permutations as I join a group of 30 walkers in a 15-mile stroll to Watford to raise money for the QPR Tiger Cubs team for kids with Down's syndrome (my little girl's future side) - if you'd like to lend a hand, feel free to click here. uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=qprtigercubs
Cardiff were held 2-2 by QPR on Easter Saturday in a game which featured stunning strikes from Jay Bothroyd and Adel Taarabt, but the Bluebirds kept their hopes of automatic promotion alive with a 1-0 win at Preston, which condemned North End to the third tier for the first time since the turn of the century.
'Little Lamb' on PNE Online refused to be too downhearted, suggesting they adopt this tune to the tune of Tubthumping for their next game: "We've got Phil Brown and we'll come up again - no-one's ever gonna keep us down!"
A gloomy 'Elwiss' retorted: "'We're s*** and we know we are' would be a more truthful representation."
Back-to-back wins for Sheffield United, including a brilliant 3-2 victory at Reading, kept their faint hopes of survival alive, although they still needs snookers (to borrow a phrase from Wednesday boss Gary Megson) to pull off an improbable escape.
On the Blades Mad messageboard, someone posed the question: "If we stay up, how will you celebrate?"
'Radio-hits_wall' immediately replied: "I'll take Elvis out for a pint."
Sc**thorpe fan 'Crozzer is a legend' attempted to cheer the Sheffield United fans up by listing the reasons why playing in League 1 was better than the Championship. After receiving a shedload of abuse, he returned to say: "Sorry, only trying to lighten the mood."
'Lingsbord' replied: "You could have lightened the mood by not putting seven (flipping) goals past us this season!"
Sc**thorpe are also on the brink after a battling point at Coventry was followed by a 2-1 defeat against Millwall at Glanford Park.
Teenager John Marquis scored both Lions goals, taking his tally to four in four starts. If the 18-year-old fires Millwall into the Play-Offs they might have to upgrade his surname to Baron.
Nottingham Forest moved back into the top six following back-to-back wins over Leicester and Bristol City - both by the odd goal in five.
Forest's strongest challengers for the final Play-Off berth are Burnley and Leeds, who intriguingly meet at Elland Road on Saturday in a winner-takes-all affair that could make the War of the Roses look like a lover's tiff.
Burnley's 'Big Bob's Dad' on the Clarets Mad forum eased the tension by reeling off his favourite chants for the players this season.
I quite like: "Andre Bikey, Andre Bikey…" to the refrain of The Smiths' Panic and :"He wears stripy socks, his name's Danny Fox - Danny, Danny Fox, Danny, Danny Fox (Boney M's Daddy Cool)
But the winner is this tribute to the evergreen Graham Alexander, to the tune of My Old Man's A Dustman:
"Gra-ham Alexander is 94-years-old,
"He should be wearing glasses, he should be going bald,
"He should be on a pension, but he's not ready yet,
"And when he takes a penalty he puts it in the net."
Incidentally, I saw Lonnie Donegan at Glastonbury a few years back and he played everything except My Old Man's A Dustman. I'm still getting over it.
Into League 1 and champions Brighton appear to have taken their foot off the pedal after drawing with Colchester and going down at the Withdean to two late Southampton goals, losing the only unbeaten home record in the league.
Not that Seagulls fans were too disheartened, with their highlight of the game coming as Craig Noone was warming up. 'Tom Hark' on the North Stand Chat messageboard takes up the story….
"Marvellous scenes as Nooney scampered down the touchline singing 'Championes! Championes!' Even funnier when he did it a second time and got a rousing rendition of 'You've only got one song!' for his troubles."
Huddersfield are clinging on to Southampton's coat-tails, with successive wins over MK Dons and Dagenham and Redbridge making it 23 games unbeaten. Jordan Rhodes got both goals in the defeat of Dagenham, predictably attracting headlines of 'Jordan's Pair' in the tabloids.
Peterborough will have to be content with a place in the Play-Offs after defeat at Leyton Orient was followed by a draw against Yeovil. Craig Mackail-Smith got a late equaliser for Posh, taking his tally to 31 for the season, while his strike was the 99th league goal Peterborough have scored this campaign.
Orient are knocking back on the door after making it two wins in a row at Carlisle, while Bournemouth are still firmly in the mix after a 2-1 win over Bristol Rovers, which did nothing to ease the visitors' fears of relegation.
Swindon are the first team to drop into the bottom tier after losing at Sheffield Wednesday following a Neil Mellor double which took his season's tally to 20, while 35-year-old Jamie Cureton also reached the same landmark for Exeter against Oldham.
The Grecians' Play-Off hopes were ended by a thumping 4-0 loss at Tranmere three days later, which preserved Rovers' place in League 1 and they could yet be joined in safety by Plymouth, who had a very happy Easter, taking maximum points.
In League 2, Bury earned promotion after a fine 3-2 win at leaders Chesterfield. It was their sixth straight success under Richie Barker - possibly the most popular caretaker since Hong Kong Phooey.
Wycombe leapfrogged Shrewsbury to move back into third thanks to a Scott Rendell double against Crewe, which made it six goals in his last six games. If Rendell's inconsistent side contrive to throw promotion away in the last two games it will be a horror story to rival any of Auntie Ruth's.
At the bottom, Izale McLeod fired a hat-trick as Barnet enjoyed a fantastic 4-2 win at Gillingham, ending the Gills's 16-game unbeaten run, while Burton picked up four points from six.
But spare a thought for Stockport, whose 107-year stay in The Football League is all but over despite a stunning 35-yarder from Greg Tansey to grab a late point at fellow-strugglers Northampton.
I suggested to a Northampton-supporting mate that they could be joining Stockport in the Blue Square Premier .
"Cobblers!" came the reply.
And finally, the story of the week is of course the Royal Wedding, but those unpatriotic lot on the Notts County Mad messageboard were plotting how they could best avoid it.
Suggestions included: "Going for a long bike ride," "Planting runner beans" and "Going to the pub and facing the other way from the telly."
But my favourite came from 'Roadsider', who wrote: "I'm in Budapest for the week having my teeth pulled out and replaced - probably a bit extreme!" Just a tad.
Have a good weekend one and all.
To contact Chris with an interesting story/quote/chant to share, then email him on chris.charles@football-league.co.uk or contact him via Twitter at twitter.com/chris__charles.
www.football-league.co.uk/blog/20110429/the-chris-charles-blog-38_2293319_2349619
Some people thought it was all over - but when reality dawned only the Canaries were still singing.
'QPRarrrrgh!' screamed the headline in The Sun after Rangers were nine minutes from rising to the promised land on Easter Monday, only for things to go spectacularly wrong. A typical afternoon in the life of a QPR fan, in fact.
First of all David Amoo equalised for Hull and with Norwich and Cardiff both winning it looked like the champagne was going on ice.
But when news filtered through of an equaliser for Derby at Carrow Road, fans were convinced they were back in the big time after a 15-year hiatus.
I was in the toilets when I got the news that QPR's promotion ambitions had gone down the pan - at least for the time being. I'd begun to fear the worst when a section of the home support were singing "Two years to the Bernabeu!" - although I did quite like "Where's your lollipop?" refrain to a random bald chap.
Simeon Jackson's dramatic late winner for the Canaries was Norwich's 12th goal in added time this season (although it feels like 112 to most of the teams around them) and led to a TV station hastily removing a graphic declaring QPR had been promoted, as the bunting was rolled back up and the fat lady had her microphone switched off.
All it needed was Jim Bowen appearing on the big screen to announce "Here's what you could have won" and the comedy of errors would have been complete.
All of which means if Norwich and Cardiff win their last two games and Rangers get right royally spanked in theirs, the west London side are in the Play-Offs. I've always taken the view that a pessimist is never disappointed.
On Saturday I shall have plenty of time to dwell on the permutations as I join a group of 30 walkers in a 15-mile stroll to Watford to raise money for the QPR Tiger Cubs team for kids with Down's syndrome (my little girl's future side) - if you'd like to lend a hand, feel free to click here. uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=qprtigercubs
Cardiff were held 2-2 by QPR on Easter Saturday in a game which featured stunning strikes from Jay Bothroyd and Adel Taarabt, but the Bluebirds kept their hopes of automatic promotion alive with a 1-0 win at Preston, which condemned North End to the third tier for the first time since the turn of the century.
'Little Lamb' on PNE Online refused to be too downhearted, suggesting they adopt this tune to the tune of Tubthumping for their next game: "We've got Phil Brown and we'll come up again - no-one's ever gonna keep us down!"
A gloomy 'Elwiss' retorted: "'We're s*** and we know we are' would be a more truthful representation."
Back-to-back wins for Sheffield United, including a brilliant 3-2 victory at Reading, kept their faint hopes of survival alive, although they still needs snookers (to borrow a phrase from Wednesday boss Gary Megson) to pull off an improbable escape.
On the Blades Mad messageboard, someone posed the question: "If we stay up, how will you celebrate?"
'Radio-hits_wall' immediately replied: "I'll take Elvis out for a pint."
Sc**thorpe fan 'Crozzer is a legend' attempted to cheer the Sheffield United fans up by listing the reasons why playing in League 1 was better than the Championship. After receiving a shedload of abuse, he returned to say: "Sorry, only trying to lighten the mood."
'Lingsbord' replied: "You could have lightened the mood by not putting seven (flipping) goals past us this season!"
Sc**thorpe are also on the brink after a battling point at Coventry was followed by a 2-1 defeat against Millwall at Glanford Park.
Teenager John Marquis scored both Lions goals, taking his tally to four in four starts. If the 18-year-old fires Millwall into the Play-Offs they might have to upgrade his surname to Baron.
Nottingham Forest moved back into the top six following back-to-back wins over Leicester and Bristol City - both by the odd goal in five.
Forest's strongest challengers for the final Play-Off berth are Burnley and Leeds, who intriguingly meet at Elland Road on Saturday in a winner-takes-all affair that could make the War of the Roses look like a lover's tiff.
Burnley's 'Big Bob's Dad' on the Clarets Mad forum eased the tension by reeling off his favourite chants for the players this season.
I quite like: "Andre Bikey, Andre Bikey…" to the refrain of The Smiths' Panic and :"He wears stripy socks, his name's Danny Fox - Danny, Danny Fox, Danny, Danny Fox (Boney M's Daddy Cool)
But the winner is this tribute to the evergreen Graham Alexander, to the tune of My Old Man's A Dustman:
"Gra-ham Alexander is 94-years-old,
"He should be wearing glasses, he should be going bald,
"He should be on a pension, but he's not ready yet,
"And when he takes a penalty he puts it in the net."
Incidentally, I saw Lonnie Donegan at Glastonbury a few years back and he played everything except My Old Man's A Dustman. I'm still getting over it.
Into League 1 and champions Brighton appear to have taken their foot off the pedal after drawing with Colchester and going down at the Withdean to two late Southampton goals, losing the only unbeaten home record in the league.
Not that Seagulls fans were too disheartened, with their highlight of the game coming as Craig Noone was warming up. 'Tom Hark' on the North Stand Chat messageboard takes up the story….
"Marvellous scenes as Nooney scampered down the touchline singing 'Championes! Championes!' Even funnier when he did it a second time and got a rousing rendition of 'You've only got one song!' for his troubles."
Huddersfield are clinging on to Southampton's coat-tails, with successive wins over MK Dons and Dagenham and Redbridge making it 23 games unbeaten. Jordan Rhodes got both goals in the defeat of Dagenham, predictably attracting headlines of 'Jordan's Pair' in the tabloids.
Peterborough will have to be content with a place in the Play-Offs after defeat at Leyton Orient was followed by a draw against Yeovil. Craig Mackail-Smith got a late equaliser for Posh, taking his tally to 31 for the season, while his strike was the 99th league goal Peterborough have scored this campaign.
Orient are knocking back on the door after making it two wins in a row at Carlisle, while Bournemouth are still firmly in the mix after a 2-1 win over Bristol Rovers, which did nothing to ease the visitors' fears of relegation.
Swindon are the first team to drop into the bottom tier after losing at Sheffield Wednesday following a Neil Mellor double which took his season's tally to 20, while 35-year-old Jamie Cureton also reached the same landmark for Exeter against Oldham.
The Grecians' Play-Off hopes were ended by a thumping 4-0 loss at Tranmere three days later, which preserved Rovers' place in League 1 and they could yet be joined in safety by Plymouth, who had a very happy Easter, taking maximum points.
In League 2, Bury earned promotion after a fine 3-2 win at leaders Chesterfield. It was their sixth straight success under Richie Barker - possibly the most popular caretaker since Hong Kong Phooey.
Wycombe leapfrogged Shrewsbury to move back into third thanks to a Scott Rendell double against Crewe, which made it six goals in his last six games. If Rendell's inconsistent side contrive to throw promotion away in the last two games it will be a horror story to rival any of Auntie Ruth's.
At the bottom, Izale McLeod fired a hat-trick as Barnet enjoyed a fantastic 4-2 win at Gillingham, ending the Gills's 16-game unbeaten run, while Burton picked up four points from six.
But spare a thought for Stockport, whose 107-year stay in The Football League is all but over despite a stunning 35-yarder from Greg Tansey to grab a late point at fellow-strugglers Northampton.
I suggested to a Northampton-supporting mate that they could be joining Stockport in the Blue Square Premier .
"Cobblers!" came the reply.
And finally, the story of the week is of course the Royal Wedding, but those unpatriotic lot on the Notts County Mad messageboard were plotting how they could best avoid it.
Suggestions included: "Going for a long bike ride," "Planting runner beans" and "Going to the pub and facing the other way from the telly."
But my favourite came from 'Roadsider', who wrote: "I'm in Budapest for the week having my teeth pulled out and replaced - probably a bit extreme!" Just a tad.
Have a good weekend one and all.
To contact Chris with an interesting story/quote/chant to share, then email him on chris.charles@football-league.co.uk or contact him via Twitter at twitter.com/chris__charles.
www.football-league.co.uk/blog/20110429/the-chris-charles-blog-38_2293319_2349619