Erithacus

Columbia gaining a reputation for the Dark Arts, as the Germans are now finding out. But has Caicedo just scored the goal of the tournament? You'd pay good money to see that.

A pyrrhic victory? Firstly, a win. Tick. Top of the table, looking set for the last sixteen round. Tick. Injuries: a bad one to a key midfielder. Cross. Performance: flashes of real world class imperiousness, occasional periods of domination without scoring, but a few patches of rustiness that could have resulted in a much different scoreline. Overall: 6/10. We looked at times untouchable, but never really got hold of the game and made our lives a but more burdensome than it needed. As time went on, we began to slide back and allow errors to creep in - particularly in the last quarter hour when we looked really leggy and slack. A downhill sort of game. At first we pushed really high; Bronze and Daly were in the middle of the Danish half for ages and the ball was kept around the penalty box. However, when we gave possession away sloppily we were caught short of defenders. Millie Bright showed signs of not having played for months, although I thought Greenwood at centre half had a great game to compensate. Daly returning as a fullback was a surprise (perhaps a 'no sub' attacking option if things didn't go well). However, the dark cloud is Walsh being stretchered off. Naturally the medical staff will be on it fully and we will have to wait for the results. Hopefully it is not as bad as feared, because that will strip the spine out of the Euro 22 winning side (centre half, centre forward and now possibly a central midfielder taken out by ligament injuries). Coombes is a decent replacement but she has very few caps or minutes in the middle of the England side. Finally, the Danes might feel aggrieved they didn't level the score. Earps was a spectator as they smacked the post late on and perhaps should have made better of a couple of other chances. But as I mentioned, it's a 'W' and we can take some comfort in the fact that we are top of the group with maximum points. And as they say, the real football doesn't begin until the knockouts start. Exactly. It might be a good sign or not, but no team has really stormed this tournament thus far. USA looked sufficient, the Germans showed occasional touches, the French are yet to get up to speed, Brazil weren't really tested against Panama and the Spanish have a few new players this time round. No-one has stood out yet - this could be the tightest World Cup to date and it might be anyone's name on the Cup.

Knowle Stadium, home to dirt bikes and greyhounds. I think this may be covered here earlier but the Know Your Place website gives accurate mapping:

Didn't Liverpool have a large section in the lower Lansdown when they won the title on our patch a couple of years ago?

More well-meaning words and ideas from the local council. I haven't gone through the whole plan but I wonder if all the dreams are going to come to fruition - particularly at this time of economic stress. Clearly Broadmead is a headache as the trend for a change in city centre shopping has brought a downturn and the future looks less certain. Also wonder if the Western Harbour plans are being shuffled underneath meantime.

So, an April Fool's joke played in July? I would have thought Greg Wallace is disturbing enough.

Hmm, not quite the opening game we might have thought. Have to say it's not a surprise the side looked a little rusty and ponderous at times, given the build-up and the injuries. I thought the overall performance was not too bad for game 1, but with lots of areas to work on. This is a different set-up to the Euro 22 winners and there were several key points. With the players sent out we had a bit of trouble getting the gameplan in action against really tough and organised opponents. Haiti had several players from the French league and gave us too many awkward problems that we struggled with for most of the game. Credit to them, I think they will believe they have a good chance to get out of the group in the end. Two areas really concern me: the 'new' centre back partnership of Bright and Carter looked uncertain at times and often played with a large distance between them. The other worry was the midfield where Walsh and Stanway had a lot on their plates, often hounded by lots of opponents. Toone was anonymous for long periods, I felt, leaving a midfield pair to bear the load and not always succeeding. Up front we had occasional sparkles of a threat but lacked a real edge. Still no goal from open play and all that. Early days, of course. But overall a reasonable effort but not the silky football of the Euro winners just yet. That will come, no doubt, in good time. This is a different England side with new players in important positions, still to find the rhythm and style. But improve we must.

The future of the BBC overall is up for debate, never mind local stuff. There have been comments that after the end of the present contract, the funding system is going to have a massive overhaul. That almost certainly means the current license fee will be either changed greatly or scrapped altogether. Stand by for a sea change in British broadcasting and a 21st Century application of technology.

I've no doubt that American Football has influenced FIFA and they are trying the idea out in the WWC. Note that in the NFL/college games every foul or infraction (or other administrative point) is announced, not just the contentious ones. It strikes me that just replaying the incident should be enough and any spoken comment might become superfluous, even patronising. Another aspect of this competition is that the TV broadcasters seem to be withheld from replaying it to viewers, and am I right in thinking that the fans in the stadium don't see what the referees see too? That kind of control could look a touch shady. One thing is for certain, though, it won't speed the game up and the insistance of FIFA to add every minute lost will only get worse - especially if there are lots of VAR interventions. Is this the shape of football to come? Has video officiating taken over from the actual game?

You're right Phantom, of course. I was also looking at the men's dates at the same time. Fourth Round it is at the Gate, then!

Opening games are often unpredictable but a great start for the Ferns. I thought they had lots of energy and desire, despite their lowly ranking. The Norweigans on the other hand must be fearing 'Oh no, not again' - they looked out of sorts, without a solid gameplan, second best to the ball and disjointed until about the last ten minutes. However, it is only one game and there will be a response. Overall I thought the game was pretty good for a tournament starter - seen many worse.

Also for the diary: WFAC 1st Round proper: Sun 12 Nov - (League game home to Villa) 3rd Round : Sun 10 Dec Final : Sat11 or Sun 12 May

Something of a return to home for Lia. It was clear that she had dropped down the order here and would have been kicking her heels a bit. Pity, as she is a quality player and I feel she will do well at Palace.

Saddened to hear of his passing, but perhaps some sort of relief after the later years with his health. Condolencies to all the family and friends. I had the pleasure of meeting Chris when I was a scrawny, spotty-faced kid trying to break into local football as he often helped out in the club's training sessions. Older types may remember exercises where a player would be on piggy-back, then have to get off, through their legs forwards, then backwards, then round them, then back onto their backs again. Chris picked me (perhaps being the lightest) and I realised how solidly-built he was, although he was not so obvious on the park. Strong and balanced. Also remember him trying a diving header one City game but cracked into the post and spent the following week with his head in a support collar. Got some stick for that one. But it's difficult to compare him to most modern players and times. His commitment and love for his home club never faded, and that will be his lasting memory even among all the goals and glamour. Could you imagine a young player of today doing so many (unpaid) things for the club. His sort were few and far between in the day, never mind today. RIP Chris and thank you.

City Women/WSL fixtures are still to be released, but the Toolstation Western League has published theirs (you may need to check individual club's sites): http://toolstationleague.com/upcoming-fixtures/

Good morning all round. Interesting to see parts of the ground you wouldn't normally see (Trauma Room - what must go in there), and how the various elements of the club are focussed to create a top side. Walshy was in good form too, and I suspect we would have sat there all day if we could to hear all his stories. Not surprised there so many turned up for the event though - we might not get many more for the opening League game. Thanks to all the organisers and hopefully there will be more.

I seem to recall an old visual Benny Hill gag on those lines.

And finally, it's all back. 'We will learn our lessons...', etc.

Luck old you, FR. Still no good news here. Could be later this week.

Just printed mine out. On paper too.

Another official update: it's still f*****d. But we'll fix it all soon.

Can't remember that! Mind you, I don't remember much of the mid-80s. Still, some wonderful old cars to jog the memory.

Virgin emails (now run by Talk Talk) fell over earlier this week and caused a lot of problems. Most accounts were back up and running within a day, but some have been badly affected. One of mine was fine but another lost all the historic stuff and emptied the system. This appears to be a tricky headache and they are not able to get everything back as yet. To that end, they will shut down the system from midnight tonight to reset things. We will see if that works. VIrgin a misery to deal with? Yep.

Does this have an equivalent system in men's football or is this particular to the women's?

Good to see the pre-season training is already underway, and Clevedon's Marine Lake is beautiful this time of year.