Post by Macmoish on Aug 27, 2010 13:18:23 GMT
Chris Charles Blog - Football League
THE CHRIS CHARLES BLOG 4
Posted on: 27.08.2010
When Ian Holloway was elevated to the Premier League in May, I feared he'd taken 50% of the potential material for this blog with him.
Having done a weekly column with Holloway for the BBC, I got to know him well and was cheering louder than anyone when Blackpool won promotion in May's dramatic Play-Off final. But at the same time I was worried the Championship may lose its sparkle once it had been drained of his wit and wisdom.
However, it seems that when Ollie shook the hand of defeated Play-Off Manager Dave Jones, he was also handing over the comedy baton, because the Cardiff boss has been on fire this past fortnight.
You may remember last week that Jones insisted marquee signing Craig Bellamy would have to cut the boss's grass and groom his horses to get in the starting line-up.
Well, this week the Cardiff Manager has been recounting the tale of how Master Bellamy pinched his house of choice from under his nose.
Jones recalled: "He gazumped me - the first house I looked at, he got it - so I had to go to the other side of the village.
"Now I raise my Union Jack and I take the horse round and I make sure the horse (does its business) right outside his gates!"
Since his arrival, Bellamy's had a picture of his face beamed on to Cardiff Castle, been serenaded with Peters and Lee's Welcome Home by the Bluebirds DJ and attracted big-name celebrities to watch his debut (well, Neil Kinnock was there anyway). Can life get any better?
Not only that, 'Bluebina' on CardiffOnline has come up with a song for the Welshman: "He's mad, he's a nutter, he'll (hit) you with his putter"
Not quite sure that's one Bellamy will sing along with, but still better than this from 'worsesterccfc' on the same site: "Everybody hates us, we don't care - we've got Bell-a-mee, Jay and Chopra/Burkey too…" I think Tom Jones can sleep easy for a while longer.
Once again (and sorry to sound like a stuck record) I haven't been sent too many chants and the like this week - come on people, you know what to do, although there was a good chant suggestion from 'Lancaster Claret' on Burnley's Clarets Mad forum - even if it was for Dutch team FC Omniworld, after they found themselves 12-1 down at Sparta Rotterdam.
"Any chance the away team were singing 'We're going to win 13-12'?" he pondered.
On the same board, 'Sarum' was asking fellow fans about their pre-match breakfast of choice. Among the standard cereal/bacon roll/scrambled eggs replies, there were two that stuck out for me - 'Guinness' and 'Last night's Chinese' - two fans I'd suggest you wouldn't want to be sitting next to come three O'Clock.
In the Carling Cup, Edgar Davids was making his debut for Crystal Palace against Portsmouth - not a sentence I thought I'd be writing at the beginning of the season.
Eagles fans, scarcely able to believe it either, were snapping up replica shirts at a rate of knots, while over on the Holmesdale messageboard, Eaglesally admitted: "I'm a bit worried that he doesn't actually know who we are. Maybe someone showed him a picture of the team and he thinks he's signing for Barca?"
Another pair of jokers also had their say on the 37-year-old Dutchman's arrival:
User 1: "Him sitting in front of the back-four will be class!"
User 2: "Yes - but he is so old he probably will be sitting in a deck-chair."
MK Dons produced the result of the round with a 4-3 win over Blackpool, a game which was noticeable by the absence of the afore-mentioned Ian Holloway.
BBC Radio 5live were so concerned they put out an APB for the Tangerines boss, who was 'spotted' by assorted listeners on Hackney Marshes, at home watching Big Brother and down at the chip shop with Elvis.
In fact he was at the Sc**thorpe-Sheffield Wednesday game, as confirmed by an Iron fan who rang in to say Ollie was at Glanford Park with his wife. He sure knows how to treat a lady.
Northampton also had a good win at Reading, with Cobblers fan MC Hammer (wonder if that's his real name?) confessing: "As I said back in July, who cares about the Carling Cup anyway...oops...that would be me dancing around the living room at approx 22:50 waking everyone up in the process, then! OK, maybe I care a little bit."
The results of the week came at Rotherham and Crewe in League Two. Crewe trounced Barnet 7-0, while the Millers beat Cheltenham 6-4, with Adam Le Fondre helping himself to four goals.
He's already been dubbed 'fondue' by some wags, which takes me back to my childhood in the 70s, when bread dipped in melted cheese was all the rage, along with Choppers, space-hoppers and knitted tank-tops.
Quote of the week came from Middlesbrough boss Gordon Strachan, following his side's scrappy 1-0 win over Sheffield United in front of the TV cameras.
"I hope there was a good film on the other side - a bit of John Wayne or something like that!" he quipped.
Indeed, the Yorkshire side could have done with some True Grit - with defeat leaving them bottom of the Championship - but at least Jonnyrover on Blades Mad site saw the funny side by posting a picture of the table upside down, under the heading 'We are top of the league!'
Torquay and QPR (I can't believe I've held my tongue for this long) boast the only 100% records in The Football League going into this weekend, although caution was the watchword for one Gulls fan, who asked: "When should we stop worrying about relegation?"
I know how he feels. After supporting my club through thin and thinner, I'd still be fearing the worst if we were 10 points clear with three games to play (which ain't gonna happen, by the way).
Neil Warnock's men travel to Derby this weekend, with Robbie Savage hoping to do a number on the mercurial Adel Taarabt once again. The last time the sides played it finished 1-1, with Savage tweeting: "Great point tonight. I'll let Taarabt out of my pocket later!"
Video footage of the Welshman - who welcomed Edgar Davids back to England by writing in his Daily Mirror column: "I'm delighted he's become the third most famous player in the Championship, after me first and Craig Bellamy second" - has recently been unearthed, in which he attempts a Derby-themed sing-song in his car. Warning to those of a nervous disposition, don't click here.
Thanks also to Ben Browett for sending in this grainy footage of Walsall fans performing their version of Madness' legendary One Step Beyond - a classic I'm sure you'll agree.
And a quick salute to the Yeovil trumpeter who, bored with the game against Hartlepool, invited requests and cheered up the crowd with theme tunes including Rocky, EastEnders and…Ground Force.
And finally, for a lesson in how not to welcome a new team-mate to your club, look no further than Hull's Liam Cooper, who said of Jay Simpson: "I don't know what he'll make of it (Hull) - there's not much to do. There's a couple of nice restaurants, but that's about it." In the words of Bullseye legend Jim Bowen: "Here's what you could have won."
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/page/ChrisCharlesBlog/0,,10794~2133300,00.html
THE CHRIS CHARLES BLOG 4
Posted on: 27.08.2010
When Ian Holloway was elevated to the Premier League in May, I feared he'd taken 50% of the potential material for this blog with him.
Having done a weekly column with Holloway for the BBC, I got to know him well and was cheering louder than anyone when Blackpool won promotion in May's dramatic Play-Off final. But at the same time I was worried the Championship may lose its sparkle once it had been drained of his wit and wisdom.
However, it seems that when Ollie shook the hand of defeated Play-Off Manager Dave Jones, he was also handing over the comedy baton, because the Cardiff boss has been on fire this past fortnight.
You may remember last week that Jones insisted marquee signing Craig Bellamy would have to cut the boss's grass and groom his horses to get in the starting line-up.
Well, this week the Cardiff Manager has been recounting the tale of how Master Bellamy pinched his house of choice from under his nose.
Jones recalled: "He gazumped me - the first house I looked at, he got it - so I had to go to the other side of the village.
"Now I raise my Union Jack and I take the horse round and I make sure the horse (does its business) right outside his gates!"
Since his arrival, Bellamy's had a picture of his face beamed on to Cardiff Castle, been serenaded with Peters and Lee's Welcome Home by the Bluebirds DJ and attracted big-name celebrities to watch his debut (well, Neil Kinnock was there anyway). Can life get any better?
Not only that, 'Bluebina' on CardiffOnline has come up with a song for the Welshman: "He's mad, he's a nutter, he'll (hit) you with his putter"
Not quite sure that's one Bellamy will sing along with, but still better than this from 'worsesterccfc' on the same site: "Everybody hates us, we don't care - we've got Bell-a-mee, Jay and Chopra/Burkey too…" I think Tom Jones can sleep easy for a while longer.
Once again (and sorry to sound like a stuck record) I haven't been sent too many chants and the like this week - come on people, you know what to do, although there was a good chant suggestion from 'Lancaster Claret' on Burnley's Clarets Mad forum - even if it was for Dutch team FC Omniworld, after they found themselves 12-1 down at Sparta Rotterdam.
"Any chance the away team were singing 'We're going to win 13-12'?" he pondered.
On the same board, 'Sarum' was asking fellow fans about their pre-match breakfast of choice. Among the standard cereal/bacon roll/scrambled eggs replies, there were two that stuck out for me - 'Guinness' and 'Last night's Chinese' - two fans I'd suggest you wouldn't want to be sitting next to come three O'Clock.
In the Carling Cup, Edgar Davids was making his debut for Crystal Palace against Portsmouth - not a sentence I thought I'd be writing at the beginning of the season.
Eagles fans, scarcely able to believe it either, were snapping up replica shirts at a rate of knots, while over on the Holmesdale messageboard, Eaglesally admitted: "I'm a bit worried that he doesn't actually know who we are. Maybe someone showed him a picture of the team and he thinks he's signing for Barca?"
Another pair of jokers also had their say on the 37-year-old Dutchman's arrival:
User 1: "Him sitting in front of the back-four will be class!"
User 2: "Yes - but he is so old he probably will be sitting in a deck-chair."
MK Dons produced the result of the round with a 4-3 win over Blackpool, a game which was noticeable by the absence of the afore-mentioned Ian Holloway.
BBC Radio 5live were so concerned they put out an APB for the Tangerines boss, who was 'spotted' by assorted listeners on Hackney Marshes, at home watching Big Brother and down at the chip shop with Elvis.
In fact he was at the Sc**thorpe-Sheffield Wednesday game, as confirmed by an Iron fan who rang in to say Ollie was at Glanford Park with his wife. He sure knows how to treat a lady.
Northampton also had a good win at Reading, with Cobblers fan MC Hammer (wonder if that's his real name?) confessing: "As I said back in July, who cares about the Carling Cup anyway...oops...that would be me dancing around the living room at approx 22:50 waking everyone up in the process, then! OK, maybe I care a little bit."
The results of the week came at Rotherham and Crewe in League Two. Crewe trounced Barnet 7-0, while the Millers beat Cheltenham 6-4, with Adam Le Fondre helping himself to four goals.
He's already been dubbed 'fondue' by some wags, which takes me back to my childhood in the 70s, when bread dipped in melted cheese was all the rage, along with Choppers, space-hoppers and knitted tank-tops.
Quote of the week came from Middlesbrough boss Gordon Strachan, following his side's scrappy 1-0 win over Sheffield United in front of the TV cameras.
"I hope there was a good film on the other side - a bit of John Wayne or something like that!" he quipped.
Indeed, the Yorkshire side could have done with some True Grit - with defeat leaving them bottom of the Championship - but at least Jonnyrover on Blades Mad site saw the funny side by posting a picture of the table upside down, under the heading 'We are top of the league!'
Torquay and QPR (I can't believe I've held my tongue for this long) boast the only 100% records in The Football League going into this weekend, although caution was the watchword for one Gulls fan, who asked: "When should we stop worrying about relegation?"
I know how he feels. After supporting my club through thin and thinner, I'd still be fearing the worst if we were 10 points clear with three games to play (which ain't gonna happen, by the way).
Neil Warnock's men travel to Derby this weekend, with Robbie Savage hoping to do a number on the mercurial Adel Taarabt once again. The last time the sides played it finished 1-1, with Savage tweeting: "Great point tonight. I'll let Taarabt out of my pocket later!"
Video footage of the Welshman - who welcomed Edgar Davids back to England by writing in his Daily Mirror column: "I'm delighted he's become the third most famous player in the Championship, after me first and Craig Bellamy second" - has recently been unearthed, in which he attempts a Derby-themed sing-song in his car. Warning to those of a nervous disposition, don't click here.
Thanks also to Ben Browett for sending in this grainy footage of Walsall fans performing their version of Madness' legendary One Step Beyond - a classic I'm sure you'll agree.
And a quick salute to the Yeovil trumpeter who, bored with the game against Hartlepool, invited requests and cheered up the crowd with theme tunes including Rocky, EastEnders and…Ground Force.
And finally, for a lesson in how not to welcome a new team-mate to your club, look no further than Hull's Liam Cooper, who said of Jay Simpson: "I don't know what he'll make of it (Hull) - there's not much to do. There's a couple of nice restaurants, but that's about it." In the words of Bullseye legend Jim Bowen: "Here's what you could have won."
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/page/ChrisCharlesBlog/0,,10794~2133300,00.html