wakey

Bassini's tipped up mob-handed. Half a dozen blokes with him. Not sure why, but that surprised me a bit. Come to think of it, means either 1. he's got 6 mates 2. he's paying for 6 blokes to be there with him both / either surprise me

our U-18s lost 5-1 to Watford on Saturday. Amazing we managed to get a team out at all given most of them were in the first team squad.

does anyone know if the Bassini's contract to buy us - assuming one existed - was with Burnden Leisure (to buy the shares of the subsids) or with Ken's company (to buy shares of Burnden Leisure)?

after all them years wishing for prolific strikers and we're still moaning

pretty sure that was Chris Thompson's debut.

No way kids would fall for that. I mean, who the fuck's called 'Ken' these days?

Mr Pot ... there's a Mr Kettle for you on line 2

If he's not used to not getting paid and training with the kids by now, he never will be. Hit him where it hurts; make sure the showers are cold and there's no bottled water ...

come to think of it, how come David Sullivan's not Dave Sull?

For some reason Bassini cheers me up no end. Not entirely sure why, but current working theory is that whenever you feel things can't possibly get worse, up he pops to prove they could. Or maybe it's the avalanche of hilariously nonsensical shite he comes out with.

absolute quality 🤣 Bassini really is the gift that keeps giving. (great spot btw)

or X factor early rounds laugh-at-the-loons time. Like standing at the gates of the special needs school taking the piss. Bassini can't afford rent on his mates flat, there's fuck all chance he's buying anything.

If FV have a manager lined up who can come in immediately, that has to be plan A. I personally wouldn't include Lee, Darby or Phillips as sensible options here (despite the obvious "at least they're not Parkie" appeal). If not, it has to be Parkinson for the time being. Either way, it'll be seat of the pants stuff for the foreseeable.

This. If it was worthless, Ken wouldn't have spent time trying to remove it. In our (former) circumstances, there's value in the delay and moreso in making any attempt to sell it public. Seems pretty obvious to me.

suspect we'd all take mid-table obscurity if offered at this stage.

Re Parkinson, his achievements in the first two seasons were at least acceptable, as was his record with Bradford. Last year was a write off, but managing any group of people in any scenario where there are significant underlying issues is phenomenally difficult, and probably moreso in a sporting scenario where you need to get the best out of people week in week out. On that basis, I'd say much of the criticism of his ability is harsh. There will be plenty of managers we could have had (including the current Celtic manager) who'd probably fare much worse. That said, the football is turgid and there seems little hope that it will improve under the current manager if he stays even if he is relatively successful (whatever 'relatively successful' looks like these days. Once you've lost hope that things will get better, it's probably time for a change. Even accepting that change will not necessarily lead to improvement. Thanks Phil, but time for a fresh start.

Bassini's a fantasist. No problem with Nixon following a story that - if true - would be interesting. But for balance he should be pointing out that nowt else Bassini has claimed previously has been demonstably true and plenty has been demonstrably bollocks. I'll draft Nixon's next tweet for him. "bassini's claims intersting if true. But almost certainly bollocks".

Similar thing happened with me. First time I went in my old local I ordered a pint of bitter. Second time, ordered the same. Next time I went in, the landlord asked "The usual?". Bastard had clearly been keeping tabs on me. Even knew my name, the sneaky git. Actually, both the landlord and the pub are sadly no longer with us, and I fucking miss them both.

Loads of old Bolton tops, but rarely wear them now as I don't do 5 a side any more. And keeping football tops in a bag in the wardrobe makes them all go tight round the gut area for some reason I haven't fathomed. Only non-Bolton one is a Dortmund top bought in their club shop when we took the nipper over to see them as a long-promised birthday treat.

apparently, nobody in France actually says sacre bleu. Became a bit of a running joke with the locals on a recent trip over there. (so, in better news, now some of them do)

not the best combination

seeing the Halifax clip reminded me ... When Phil Neal first came in and he'd play balls down the line to absolutely nobody, me and my owd man used to say "he's on a different wavelength to the rest of them". Took a while to realise just how absolute gash he was for us as a player, hard to fathom given his pedigree. That clip of him looking like the non-footballer drafted into the pub side to make up the numbers brought it all back. Not said it before, but great stuff with these clips Paul.

As long as there's no more London aways with Stonefrost as our star player, anyone else will do.

someone who would pay the bills would be a massive step up

Leeds nearest club. Individually, they're a decent enough bunch. Have a pretty fatalistic view, always sure they'll find a way to fuck things up even when they're doing well. I know plenty of folk get touchy about the 'big club' tag, but Leeds for me have massively underperformed for most of the last 30 years or so. Also within 20 miles or so of Bradford, Huddersfield and Barnsley but can't think of many fans I've known bar - literally - the odd one or two. Lots of egg-chasing obsessives over here. The Northern working class version. Mainly split between Wakey, Cas and Leeds if anyone's arsed.