I’m finally done with the rituals that comes with having a kid in our culture. A month at my ancestral village, with AQI in double digits, fruits and veggies from the farm, empty roads and no honking, clear and visible night sky – things that are “normal” for them were something “awesome” for me. Made up my mind, 10 years and I will go back to where I was born.
But, before that, are we going to WIN? City are only 2 points behind us with 10 games to go. Last couple of months have looked familiar, we have seen it 3 times under Mikel and we dropped points to Wolves and Brentford. We did win NLD but hey, their ex-manager is calling them ‘spursy’ on podcasts these days and it’s hardly a contest in recent time.
Today’s a challenge. Anything but a win and City will be level on points. I don’t see us making it from there, Pep knows how to win things when it matters. And Chelsea are not going to make it easy for us. All we have to do is win our games, let them drop points before we do, and then we can think of winning the league this year.
Kai and Merino are out. Ben White is a doubt but hopefully we won’t miss him. I would personally go with the same playing XI we had against Tottenham. Calafiori in place of Hincapie can be OK, but lets not go back to Odegaard. Eze did well, and he needs couple of games in the #10 role to truely dominate games. He is our only players apart from Martinelli who got creativity outside of Mikel’s system and can do something on his own. The first goal against Spurs was a brilliant one and that short of ball wins you game.
Gyokeres has finally picked up. He scored 2 brilliant goals against Spurs and was moving better through out the game. Frankly I was disappointed so far with him, but he has got 10 games + CL + FA Cup + Carabao Cup games to prove me wrong.
Right, I will keep it short but I promise I will be more active. 3 very exciting months ahead for us, where we can win everything. Lets hope we do.
Nice to have some Chas and Dave recognition on here. There’s an interesting clip somewhere about censorship imposed on them over the use of the word ‘cowson’ in Gertcha.
They made the word up but the BBC, in a fit of paranoia, didn’t trust them and insisted they deleted it for their totp performance. So Chas (he was the piano player right?) just kept schtum for the 2 syllables it would have taken to say the word.
I still call my eldest Cowson from time to time and he doesn’t seem to mind.
Agreed with you Aitcho, their stuff verged on poetry sometimes. Great anecdote NORG. A few brown ales with C and D would’ve been cool. With Francis Rossi and the late Rick Parfitt maybe not so much…
On the same poetic tip, were you a fan of Smiley Culture? Another geezer who had a beautiful way with words.
‘Cockney Translator’ and ‘Police Officer’s. Funny as anything, politically sound and a real unifying brand of music.
KP
Cowson goes back a long way. Language from Chatham and the Medway Towns is similar to the East End. The word is mild in comparison to quite a few others that spring to mind. Did Derek & Clive manage to squeeze it in?
Smiley RIP was another icon and from the Saxon Sound stable that brought us a a number of legendary names.
I still have a 7 inch of Police Officer somewhere, still amazed it got national airplay at the time.
I’m sure there’s an interesting family tree we could draw from UK artists of that time with the likes of Smiley, Chas n Dave leading up to today’s Grime artists.
Chas and Dave – I can remember before they made it they were performing at ‘The Essex’ on the Silvertown Way. The audience was probably just about in double figures.
My granny lived in Chatham and I spent lots of time there. Not the most picturesque part of Kent by a long shot but a place with a long naval history and some properly atmospheric streets. I haven’t been back to the Medway towns for a long time, not least because it’s almost 300 miles from where I live now. Vera never called me Cowson, but she was a Spurs fan who knew a shit load about football thanks to the Daily Mirror. I tried to convert her by taking her to Highbury back in the day for a game against Charlton. I’d already bought tickets in the West Stand of all places but as we were walking in through that gate on Gillespie Road, she tried to persuade me that we should go on the North Bank instead (she was always up for anything and was in her 70s at that point). I held firm and insisted we sat down. I’ll always remember what she said as we took our seats, ‘the view here is even better than watching the game on telly’. I’m so glad I took her that day. I drove her home and she insisted on some banging dance music all the way back along the M2.
I have ‘Police Officer’ on a 7 incher too. That tune never fails to delight…the idea of SC being stopped by a dodgy copper ready to insist on a ‘producer’ only to find the person he’s stopped is the great Smiley Culture. I still don’t think his untimely death has ever been adequately explained.
PS to that anecdote about my gran.
When he signed for the Spuds, she became fascinated by Paul Gascoigne, who she called ‘Gazzo’ for some reason. We both used to watch quiz programmes together including University Challenge, and she didn’t bat an eyelid when I solemnly told her that Paul was Bamber’s son. She and I used to laugh our fucking heads off about stuff.
Just one more. I’d got back from the Parc des Princes after the Zaragoza defeat and decided I’d get out of N London and go and see her for the day. She was lying in waiting for me as I walked up her garden path. She flung open the door and reminded me – as if I needed it – that Nayim was a former Spurs player.
Aitcho
Do you remember ‘Horsemove’ by Horseman? It’s on YT. Another fine example of rap-inspired reggae – very creative and properly funny. General Echo and the Lone Ranger too.
🗣️ Pep Guardiola: “I don’t agree with the people saying the league is not good this season, or the winner will not be good. I don’t agree. It’s tougher, it’s really, really tough.
Look at Wolves, bottom, and I see them, how tough it is. Arsenal could not win, they beat Aston Villa – Unai [Emery] is one of my mirrors as a manager. I learned a lot watching them, incredibly well-prepared. It’s really, really tough.
Look at Nottingham Forest, individual player by player, ‘How are they struggling?!”
Couldn’t have said it better myself , and there are still some who actually believe that a league with 6 teams through to last 16 in the champions league is a weak league.
As pep says , “the league is really really tough” so it’s good to hear someone talking common sense after all the rubbish written and spoken the last few days after we beat Chelsea with 2 set piece goals, especially as our previous SEVENTEEN goals have been from open play..
It’s amazing the ignorance of the journalists and the pundits and some fans who are so desperate for Arsenal to fail that they have to promote fake narratives which will only make The Arsenal stronger as a group.
Some very interesting matches tonight the results could have a major bearing on the race fro Europe / CL places etc.
Marc
Only if City drops points to Forest and we go on and win the 1-0 game.
Mosquera should be a bit careful now, he is already on a yellow.
I get the process by which one assesses the scorer of a goal, but anyone with eyes and an ounce of common sense would be hard-pressed not to call that an own goal
TRVL
Let Saka enjoy it, he has scored one after ages.
City winning against Forest, we can’t afford to drop points from here… Brighton are pushing us though,
Hincapie has been so good, we are not missing Calafiori at all in that LB position. He is equally good going forward if not more.
Cala’s far better in the opponent’s final third, but Hip has held his own in recent weeks
50 minutes between shot attempts…Artetaball
Things are not looking good for us…
I think with these set of players, even Mourinho would play better football. Brighton’s dominating and we are playing most of it in our own half.