If OC is was the saviour, does that make Phil Gartside his priest in Rome?
Evening all. Apologies for not being here yesterday, but I appeared to have caught the same thing that has been laying Al low. It`s not that we live together and licked the same spoon or anything. Maybe it`s just that common affliction of carntbearsedness. But that wasn`t the way I felt yesterday.
So, Tuesday night brought a win at Tranmere and a hat trick for new signing Allhailbenik Afobe. It would be very hard to knock a performance like that, and the goals were well taken. All in all, the team coped admirably with a team that Mrs X believes will be challenging for promotion from League One next season. In the end we didn`t go, as we couldn`t agree on which end to sit in, which in itself is a recipe for a successful marriage. If you can`t agree, don`t go. Simple.
There seems little point in adding anything to the game, but as I said after the Morecambe game, any win is a good win. The club decided to unveil the little known of beforehand third kit, all grey and red and available for a limited time. Hey, any change from the dross that Reebok gave us is a good thing, but it reminds me of the old Liverpool away kit that Adidas threw at them a couple of years ago and that wasn`t well received. It also brings to mind the England kit from Euro`96, the “one you could wear with jeans” and lasted barely one tournament. By the looks of things, the away top is going to be blue and with quite a few clubs playing in the Championship this season, it may be that the “limited edition” top won`t be as limited as previous third kits.
Elsewhere, the club have finally seen the light and called off their proposed move for Carlos Sanchez after his agent asked for a doubling of his wages without really being worth it, in a move not seen since Johan Elmander wanted extra money for doing very little for two years and nine months. There is always something fishy about elongated transfer deals amongst clubs who aren`t challenging for Champions League places, and this one has been going on since virtually the day we went down. Agents, non agents, lost mobile phones, holidays and the like always give the impression that a player is either trying to avoid contact or put himself in a position where he can hold the buying club over a barrel. OC may not have done much right over the past eighteen months, but to tell Sanchez (whose name sounds more like a 1970`s Basque terrorist than a footballer) where to stick his demands may just end up being a sound move.
Now, the Swansea move for Mark Davies, offering more than four million pounds for the midfielder. Four million pounds for a player who, although he has his moments, hasn`t really set the Bolton field alight would appear to be a good deal. The club, however, have turned the bid down and, I suppose, if Swansea are willing to come in at the price, then they will be willing to go higher. Liverpool`s pursuit of Joe Allen is ongoing and looks closer to happening so if Swansea want to replace a mediocre player for a slightly less mediocre player, then they will have to up the bid.
This does, however, lead me to another faux pas from our beloved chairman. Or three faux pas, if you will. Here, here, and here he denies, like a 21st Century, Lancastrian St Peter, that there has been, or it appears ever will be, a deal for Mark Davies. Three times he denied it, then the Laudrup crowed. Now, this isn`t really Phil`s fault as the tweets are nearly a month old and he may not have known, or realised, that Swansea were looking to our midfielder. But it does prove, if proof were needed after the abuse and perceived abuse that was actually non-abuse that those at the club have suffered, along with the foot in mouth tweets by others (latest to fall foul of such was Joe Riley,who appeared to be having a go at the old for not being able to get round roundabouts when statistics still show that it is people of around Joe`s age that cause more traffic incidents than anyone of any other age put together, (and would he have said the same about any other group covered by anti-discrimination legislation?)) that the club need to be doing something about the Twitter accounts of players. I know that Joe is young and needs to learn a lot about life but he`s not a comedian who can frame a joke to make it sound anything other than what it means. He was simply having a go at old people. And it wasn`t funny.
In other news, Fabrice Muamba has gone back into hospital to have some more surgery in the hope of playing again. I know that I`ve said that he should try and slow down the amount of things that he goes to, if only because, as a quite wealthy and high profile football player, he could be doing a lot more to raise awareness for heart disease rather than promoting it by going to stuff for free. But, in the grand scheme of things, I would rather he do all that than not be here at all. All surgery is risky, heart surgery one of the riskiest no matter how minor the procedure, so let`s hope that it is just what Fab says it is and he is back ligging with the best as soon as possible.
Finally, Big Phil and OC are doing a Fans Forum in the Lion of Vienna Suite next Tuesday. This you already know. However, I feel that it is time that I attend one of these things, just to get the lay of the land and see if either of them sweat under the lights. I dare say that any questions of land mines, debt, stupid and reckless tweets and just why we loaned Tuncay will be batted away with the usual platitude and grin, but it will be fun to see the interaction between the pro and anti Coyle brigades, whilst I sit on the fence. In my balaclava.
Anonymity is the key, my friends. Until tomorrow.