handsofclay

I remember a home derby in about 82, which we lost 1-2, and I was stood in the Enclosure. About an hour before kick-off, Gould emerged and some Gasheads in the Enclosure started clapping and welcoming him onto the pitch. Gould turned around and not only clapped them back but thanked them by name. I was most impressed as he called out these five or six names and made them feel like he was mates of theirs. Hats off to him, there's not many football league managers who know the names of half their team's fan base.

I wish you had posted this a lot earlier!!

I wonder if this social separation biz will impact upon football when it returns. Will there be extra instances of players being given too much room on the pitch and when it comes to the communal bath will players keep two litres apart?

We are constantly being told that robots have already been developed with superior skills and intelligence to us humans. Nightmare scenarios are constantly perpetrated regarding how AI will take over from humans in the not too distant future, making us all redundant. Well, quite a few people are redundant at the moment, including footballers. So where are these robots? Surely, they should be ready to step into the breach? Detractors of football always slate it as a non intellectual pursuit where 22 people kick a bag of wind around. Surely, then, it is feasible to expect that during this prolonged period where humans are not allowed to play football that by now 22 robots would have been revealed to us that can kick a bag of wind around. Some might even have been tweaked to replicate the free-kick technique of Ronaldo or even the classy wingplay of Garrincha. Even if they are devoid of these skills and can only replicate your average player on The Downs, it'll be something to watch. They might even be of a decent enough standard to fulfil the remainder of the fixture lists. The absence of this Robot Football League leads me to conclude that robots are centuries away from replacing human beings and what we are constantly being fed about AI by scientific boffins is a load of ******** Incidentally, we now know what the Coronavirus bug looks like as its magnified picture is shown to us regularly accompanying news items, so why not issue us all with magnifying lenses so we can spot the buggers approaching us and then get out of their way?

Fagin Or even The Artful Podger as Lee Tomlin was occasionally called.

Actually I can reduce mine to four. I didn't really want the bride there anyway. She's always guaranteed to spoil my fun.

What I don't get about all of this is we are constantly being told that the best way to protect ourselves (apart from self isolation) from catching this coronavirus is to wash our hands after we've touched things and especially before then touching our faces or eating. If we cannot wash our hands - due to the unavailability of sinks and running water in everyday situations - then hand gel is just as good. Now that is something we can all carry around and get into the habit of using. After all, it will be a lifesaver. Now this is the bit I don't get. In the last war, it seemed likely that the home front would be subjected to poison gas attacks. Gas masks were thus quickly issued to everyone in the country and everyone carried them around in the supplied cases. Gas masks cost a fair bit of dosh to produce for a nation that in the late-1930s was still in the midst of the Great Depression. Yet it was done. It was seen as a necessity to protect our population. Now in 2020 we are a far richer country than our 1939 former selves. Yet, there has been no talk of providing everyone in the country with hand gel. Hand gel being significantly less expensive than a gas mask to produce. Instead we are just told about how hand gel can be a lifesaver and when one looks to purchase a bottle at the supermarket, there's none there because someone has bought 59 years worth of supply. I can imagine back in 1939 a Public Information Film telling us that gas masks were essential but it was your task to find one on the empty shelves of the local stores. Surely it isn't beyond the Government to impose emergency powers upon the alcohol sanitising gel manufacturers and get them to produce enough to provide everyone in the nation with a bottle or two a week.

Definitely, 100% was on MotD that night. City lost 0-2 home to Arsenal that day. The following March I was at Highbury seeing us 4-1 down after about 20 minutes and I thought we were going to concede more than 9 at that rate, but the score remained 4-1. The same day Rovers lost 2-3 home to Spurs, it was chosen for MotD again...I wonder why?

I have heard the suggestion that matches should be played behind closed doors and televised live on public service TV. But surely, it will be more profitable to state that spectators can only attend matches if they HAVE coronavirus. As they have nothing to lose as they already have it. The matches can then be broadcast live to those who don't have it, then we can all see who has it and stay the F away from them.

I'm buying my shirt in instalments. So far I have bought the Umbro diamonds sleeve.

This is a good idea. It could mean we will get special dispensation to play games in front of crowds of more than 1,000 during the next stage of the corona virus outbreak because we are supplying a giant handkerchief.

He's wearing one of the umbro diamond tracksuit tops. They're worth a mint now on eBay, especially if there is some sanitizer gel in the pockets. He also appears to be trying to strangle himself. Roy Hodgson doesn't seem that concerned, partly because he will then nab his jacket.

Bob Tovey is a name that rings a bell from that period

They were worried about being caught offside by VAR.

You won't be there for the 200?? So you reckon you'll be going down with corona virus then?