Alex

Imagine loads of betting shops having to close. Like it’s a bad thing for society.

And while the final was a mental turnaround in the second half it was Benitez’s tactics that got them there. So he’d never have won a Champions League without him either

Only time I sat in the old West Stand was the Keegan farewell friendly v Liverpool. As a nipper the noise and the shaking of the stand was mental

I can’t remember that off the top of my head. But I seem to recall Xmas Eve falling on a Saturday on more than one occasion where you had a full fixture list that day then two days later on Boxing Day.

I think if they’d gone about it differently they could’ve got Guehi in the last window which would have definitely helped from a defensive pov. It would be hilarious if they have a poor season and he ends up somewhere like Bayern Munich

Classic Daily Mail “In an apparent break from tradition – which may well trigger outrage”. Not like then to stir up something out of nothing Boxing Day falling on a Friday makes it even less of an issue. For actual fans attending games it’s probably much better from a public transport pov etc going on the other days. Rather than if they’d moved all the proposed Saturday fixtures a day forward to maintain this ‘tradition’. Not that the Mail cares about that. As an aside, I find it mental that top flight matches used to be played on Christmas Day.

Or the only manager to have to integrate new players at the start of a season

Used to have these discussions with a proper nut job on another forum way back where he reckoned the Book of Genesis was an instruction manual from aliens on how to terraform Earth. Believed loads of other wild stuff too. You couldn’t reason with him at all, funnily enough. He claimed all the species on the planet were designed by these aliens and also bought into this planet only being a few thousand years old. Another lad used to always ask who designed these aliens then? He used to lose it and offer people out to ‘meet him in the ring’. He must have been quite old too. As he used his real name as his username. When someone asked if he was the same CW Bradbury who was a candidate for the BNP in Portsmouth back in the 70s he said he was Sorry, that just reminded me of him

The series she did with her husband Timothy West where they were going round on narrow boats was quite good I thought. Showing my age like. Didn’t he pass away quite recently too?

I would imagine that bit of trivia about the Romans is a bit of a generalisation for a multi-ethnic empire which lasted several hundred years and covered a huge and ever changing area and was made up of a myriad of different social classes though Plus there’s loads they don’t know. Didn’t they think the Romans only ate unleavened bread until they found ‘modern’ loaves preserved at Pompeii? More interesting than this dietary chat however. Just kidding, I guess it’s really about finding a lifestyle that works for the individual at any given time really. We’re all different and getting older all the time.

Just as an aside, bodies aren’t designed full stop.

it’s a bit sterile like. Not exactly doing his bit for biodiversity

You need to be in their position to do stuff like that though. Not like the Anderson situation, for example

Agreed. And even the bitter old cunt in me can’t blame him for going there instead of here when he did. He probably thought he was nailing down the England spot as well and now he’s largely frozen out of that and first team football after they signed Donnarumma. It’s not even like he’ll take over soon as Donnarumma‘s only in his mid 20s too

They’re doing loads of retro stuff with other clubs I think. I just saw some stuff on their app which is Arsenal reissues from 92/94. But, aye - there’s a definite market for it with our fanbase. I think it hits a sweet spot as it’s good quality, looks nicer than the modern stuff and has the nostalgia of the Keegan era and all the great players we had then.

They can’t even enjoy this run of form without making it about us

It’s tough on Krafth expecting him to be able to come in for the Spurs game too (assuming he will). Due to the lack of game time he’s had. You can understand it with Hall / Livramento situation that Howe wants to play what he sees as his best defence. But you’d think it would’ve helped Krafth (and Trippier) if he’d had a few 10/15 minute cameos in the league. The defence has been excellent on the whole though and what the fuck do I know?

Good luck with the recover @sammynb, mate.

Playing at 50 at that level is unbelievable.

They used to have a load of committee members but I’m not sure anymore. There was talk about them folding last season. Their games were suspended for two weeks and they somehow ended up at Morpeth Town who I assume are doing them a favour letting them use their ground on the cheap. When they went to Palmersville that was meant to be their permanent home. They paid for the ground improvements required for the Northern League (you need x amount of covered seats). To be honest the pyramid system is tough on north east clubs. If you move up a couple of tiers it costs you more money for the upgrades, the travel and the players appearance money (and contracts in some cases). But then you make less money because there’s less local rivalry with the extra travelling fans that brings. Like Morpeth Town (Northern Premier League, Premier Division) play teams from all over Lancashire, Yorkshire, Manchester area and so on. Also you can’t decline promotion any more like you once could. Or if you do you get relegated a further division

No. They’ve been a nomadic club to say the least but they’re doing a ground share with Morpeth Town at present. It’s about 15 mile from West Allotment (ie the actual village). When I was young and watched a bit of the northern alliance they played for years at Backworth Welfare (where the golf club is). Then they ground-shared with Whitley Bay. Then they played at Blue Flames (next to the current NUFC training ground). Then they moved to where the old Newcastle Blue Star used to play (ie next to the airport. Then they had maybe one season at Benfield before going to Palmersville where Forest Hall play. They’ve been going for about 100 years but it’s decades since they were actually based in West Allotment. I just find it a really weird set up. Like how you supposed to get a bit of a local fanbase going?

Btw, without Googling, any idea where West Allotment Celtic are currently playing their home games?