Resource

Football is back. It's actually never really gone away but playing it is back. Celebration! Of sorts. New year, same old story. Getting stuffed.

It's all in aid of the competition coming at the end of the month. We need practice. Heaps of it. Seemingly the guys have been playing this team of Nepalese blokes over in Sharjah (next emirate over). I'd heard that the last time 'we' played them, they won about 8-0. I couldn't quite believe it to be honest. I mean, when we play, we get beat but we've never been beaten by that much and we have always scored. They were either gifted or we were crap. I'd like to say that they are gifted but I'd definitely be lying.

So, we played today straight after work. I was determined to put on a show. I did and I didn't. I tried but the problem is we just haven't got the know how to play. We have a couple of guys who can play but not to any great standard. They know to tackle and hoof the ball when it comes near but don't ask them to do anything like running or taking a touch or passing to a team mate. Needless to say, they are defenders. Also, they don't - and others, it must be said - don't quite have the tactic or positional nous that you get from playing football for years and years. I would know that when we have a corner kick, our defence doesn't sit 10 yards in front of our own penalty box. In addition, people would know when to move forward or in what position to maintain.

I feel that's the big problem for us. We need strong people in defence, in midfield and up front. People that know what's what and who talk and organise those around them. We lack that. Not only that, I'm not convinced we all play in the best possible positions either. We don't talk about where we are going to play particularly or how to we are going to play. It's more of a 'you go there' thing. It really shows. This Nepalese team, are organised and with it relatively quick. That is there strength. They have 3 defenders who aren't the most skillful or silky but they get the job done. They get the ball and pass it to a team mate. They have a couple of strong runners in midfield who get things going. And that's it. It's just we can't deal with that. We don't build from defence. Our goally just kicks. Our midfielders have decent skill and are good in the tackle but they don't have the stamina to get back to defend when needed and conversely can't get to the other end of the field to help out when we attack. It's a chicken and the egg thing. We need people to get forward to help but we can't. Our strikers aren't getting the support and it's hard. As a 'striker' I have to put my hand up and say I was poor. My touch wasn't there. I kind of lost my enthusiasm as the game went on. I did 'do' my job though by scoring with the only shot I had *.

The upshot is that we need to sort ourselves out. I would change peoples positions and make it clear what that position entails. We need to put people where they can do some good and be able to play and be effective.

OK, I sound like a mini-dictator but we can't continue to be crap and not have a look at how things are going. It would be silly just to accept things as they are, even if it is 'only' a friendly game of football. If we can't do it in a friendly, then how can we step up and do it when it matters in the competition?

We can't.

I might have a word but no doubt someone will have there noise put out by it. Tough tolly as they say!

* the goal was something of a peach, incidently, even if I do say myself.  Just outside the penalty area. The other striker had his back to goal but received the ball. He kind of flicked it up to me. I was about 5 yards from him. The ball was up in the air as it came to me. I saw it coming and thought 'hmm, interesting'. I took a step forward and clipped it perfectly with my left foot. Generally, I can hit balls like that but where they end up isn't always were they should; mostly miles over. This own though kept low and went straight. A good clean hit. straight towards the goalkeepers neck actually. He saw it coming but decided that he wasn't fancying it and actually sidestepped it! Fair enough because it would have hurt had it hit him. It was good. No mass celebration ensued but it was good to know that I'm not always totally crap.

Oh, I did whack someone though. Kind of on purpose. Well, I had the clear the ball and he was too close. I punted it and it hit this guy on the hand. He was in a lot of pain. Ouch. He should have got out the way.

Enough football chat for now.

Triptonic

Oh oh oh, another football competition ahead. At work that is. This time it's a 7-a-side. Again. The last one was as well. I didn't get to play in it though because it ad been postponed due to bad weather and I couldn't make the rearranged competition. Which, was probably a good idea as we were stuffed in all 3 games, scoring only once. Not good.

This time I might well be able to play. Not that I will improve the team much. I'd like to think I do but I suspect that I don't. I've not been to the gym or done much in the way of exercise this year so that is one aspect that will need to get addressed as soon as possible. Time up at the gym is a must. That, and more practice which has been lined up for Wednesday.

Get in.

pencilcase

...and that was the end of the January football transfer window. What a pile of poop. It wasn't up to much this year with little or no money spent by anyone really.

In fact, the only people in Scotland who really did any business was Celtic and boy, do they need to. They are pretty poor at the moment. They are lacking all over in fairness. They make chances but couldn't score in a certain establishment. And the back, they are leaking goals. Out have gone around 8 players and in have come a bunch of players that not many people have heard of and who were playing in Northern European leagues. Not exactly anything to set the punters into raptures. The last day of the transfer window did see Robbie Keane join until the end of the season. It's an interesting one. He's not playing that much for Spurs so in some ways it makes sense. I just wonder if he really is the 'saviour' or if he's simply just a very naughty boy. Either way, he'll have to hit the ground running like all of the new recruits. Goals need to be scored, none conceded and games won otherwise the League will be all over by Easter.

tortiose

Hahah.
But I'm not laughing.
Yes, the Blair or should that be Bliar managed to smarm his was around the Chilcot Inquiry. No great shock there it must be said. Did he apologise for anything? No. Did he convince us that he is nothing but a warmonger or a liar? No. Is he still entirely convinced that he did the right thing? Yes. Regret? No.

His lawyer skills rode the storm and indeed his appearance was actually made easier by the ones who were meant to be grilling him. They didn't give him a tough time nor pursue areas which should have been. He had an easy ride. He still continued to link 9/11 to Saddam and even threw Iran into the mix just for the sake of it. I wonder how long it takes people to actually believe the lies they tell. Is it like osmosis or something or do you simply 'forget' that it was a lie in the first place. Perhaps you need to work at it over a length of time when finally, the truth quietly disappears to be replaced with the story you spun does actually represent the truth.

He should have been given a harder time but he was going to get it, was he. Sadly.

Flit

So, today will see the former PM, Tony Blair, take the hotseat in the Chilcot Inquiry. This is an inquiry that will try to determine the 'fact's of what the government knew and did in the run up to the Iraq War. It's been a said affair up until this week actually. This week saw a couple of civil servants appear before the committee. Both of whom had warned that the war was essentially illegal under international law. Then we had the former Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, trying to explain why he had initially agreed that the war would be illegal, who then, having met with his U.S counterparts, decided to make the biggest U-turn ever and backed the war by recommending that it was no illegal.

Blair, I hope, will get the grilling of his life. The 45 minute deployment 'lie', the lie of WMD, the 'lie' of a link to 9/11, the 'lying' to Parliament, the 'lie' to the boys on the front line. It's an endless stream of utter nonsense. Too many questions and not enough answers.

Of course, it is likely to be a whitewash event akin to the Hutton Inquiry back in 2003 in which the government was completely cleared anything wrong or dishonest or anything like that.

I was reading a newspaper article on the forthcoming 'event' and was also reading the comments made underneath it. I saw this particular one below which, for me, hits the nail on the head.

"The facts are that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, had no WMD and was no threat to the UK. There was no justification in international law for the invasion and it wasn't sanctioned by the UN, in spite of Goldsmith's disingenuous waffle. Blair invaded because Bush told him to. End of."

 A botched job from day one which still rumbles on and on. And on.

Mix

Is there anyone else out there who is somewhat underwhelmed by this new 'ipad' thingy that has just been announced?

I mean, it's a big iphone, that you can't actually use as a phone.

It just seems a bit pointless to me but then what do I know. I'm not a tech kind of guy. It doesn't look like it would be all that comfortable to carry and very prone to getting damaged. And 'only' 64 GB of hard drive. The touchscreen typing might be alright but you'll have to lie it down to type and kind of peer over it to see anything. At least with a laptop you can just look straight ahead of you to see the screen, instead of craning your neck to look down.

Perhaps my view will change when I see it close up. Or not.

nothing

As 'regular' readers may or may not know, I have concerns with 'time'. The passing of it mostly. And how quickly it all seems to flow. It scares me a lot. I would be perfectly content to be stuck at this age and not get any older. As it is however, it doesn't happen like that. It passes and nothing can be done about it. It passes in only one direction. Forward.

I guess the dawning of the new decade doubly reinforces the notion that time, is indeed ticking and moving forward. I just don't like it. I wonder if I could have my own personal Groundhog Day. Although, I might get sick of it eventually. Though, if it's always the same day, then you could in theory perfect it so that it does become the 'perfect' day. All if's and buts.

Perhaps the real reason all this has come to the fore is the events that occurred 10 years ago, literally to the day. Before that time, I had finished University and was working full time in retail with no real sense of much; this compounded with that fact that I was living at home and really just meandering along going out on the weekend, working and passing time. I would say that in an unconscious way I was actually yearning for a life less ordinary. It's easy to say that now, looking back. In the end, something had to pass. Or, I had to grow up which could be considered to be one and the same.

The decision had been made to leave Edinburgh. To leave Scotland actually and go around the world. The destinations were discussed with the major objective of getting to Australia on a one year's working holiday visa. That was secured. The other destinations then fell into place. Hong Kong, Bali - which I didn't really know anything about, Australia, Fiji then back. It's the kind of thing that looks good on paper and me being the wide eyed, start gazing 'fool' thought it might just work.

In the end it mostly did.

Today, 10 years ago however, we landed in Australia. Perth to be exact. Late afternoon, feeling somewhat rough having had about 3 hours sleep the night before thanks to a visit to the Sari Club and a couple of other places. I know it was the Sari Club because it was a blown to bits in 2002. It was all a massive adventure. I mean, I would never dream of landing in another country with no idea where I was going to stay. It didn't really matter at that point though. I was away from home. In the sunshine having been to Hong Kong and Bali. Could life actually get much better.

So there it was, the start of what could be classed as my 'adult' life away from the sheltering umbrella of home. At the time, it was certainly the best decision I had ever made. Without it, I would be living in Edinburgh in same random job with a wife and family and not sitting here writing this. I can definitely say that. Ten years later.