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NEWS
29
June 2000
Roger Smith is the new Academy Director. He was previously in charge of
youth development which has been very successful. On the other hand, he
also bought up Carl Cort and Jason Euell.
Gareth "Wild Thang" Ainsworth is fit and raring to go, which was exactly the same thing he said last year. Hopefully he won't get something wrong
with him this time, it's quite frustrating to see him waltz through defences
one or twice then get injured again. Hopefully with John Clinkard now helping
Steve Allen such nasty injuries are kept to a minimum
Fuck knows how I missed this one from last week - as we all know, Paul Jewell
is the new SW manager. He's been promised money to spend, dough which OGEM
claimed was never available. Now, somebody is lying, I wonder who....?
Finally, check out Regulars for a revamp. I trust you'll like it. Hell,
you may even decide to get involved....
28 June 2000
Well, as you all know by now, TB was on "Any Sporting Questions" last night
from Wimbledon Rugby Club. SW19 was there, albeit as a literally last minute
decision, and here's what occured : I got to speak to TB before the show
started, and although he stuck to the party line on many questions, he came
up with this gem : "I think that Cort is only worth £6m, but we're holding
out for £7m". Hmm.... The show started, the specifics are elsewhere
on other WFC sites, but suffice to say that Claire Balding can certainly
sink those pints :) The basis of the show was mainly planted questions,
with ab libbing on the way. SW19 regular David Challinor got to ask a pointed
question (yes, everyone heard you Dave :) ), and even the editor of this
site got in on the act. Again, the answers are elsewhere on the web, although
I do have a tape and will endeavour to MP3 some of it later this
week. Honest.
The juicy stuff as ever comes off air, and through Mr Challinor and a couple
of others who were there (I decided to leave because I would probably been
arrested for sexual harrassment of Ms Balding by now), here's what I've
divulged : firstly, nobody is going anywhere unless it's "right for the
club". Standard fare. However, more was to follow - during the broadcast
TB said he felt sorry for the supporters for going down, sorry for the new
owners, but not sorry at all for the players. He also hinted (during a debate
on dope testing) that two first team players had gone to Ibiza and "took
some Lemsip because they had a bad cold". And what is Lemsip? Powder, though
is also available in tablet form. Hmm. Off air, he was apparently quite
scathing of the team, saying that they often turned up for training late
last season and weren't fit (that figures). I get the impression that he
doesn't think much of the current squad of players, which he seemed to back
up when asked who our biggest opponents were next season - "ourselves".
So, with that in mind, who's he signing? Well, there will be "signing
soons" but no Nogs. Shame, guess I can forget about Flo then. Indeed,
he did send back Lund and Dry Martini, but he won't send back Trond (more
later) because "he's still under contract". Actually, he seemed none
too impressed with people like Cort and Euell, saying "I only wanting
committed players", and indeed hinting that contary to what Barnett
would have you believe, agents do really seem to be influencing players
(TB often speaks to David O'Leary, and the Leeds manager doesn't want him.
However, Barnett has apparently convinced Cort that he's going to Leeds).
He also mentioned that REMBE could be the new reserve team manager, though
he's not too convinced that he'll ever play again. All in all, he seems
like a bloke with a mission, and I hope he gets the luck that Drillo didn't
get. He certainly does at least seem to have R&G's backing, given the comments
that "they've got serious plans for a new stadium".
Two more things on this subject : firstly, the club are trying to confirm
a "Burton Day" after the Sutton Utd friendly on 22 June. Whilst I would
prefer it a day afterwards, it is none the less a great idea. Secondly,
during a break in the R5 broadcast, a guy passed me and DC and said "I tell
you what, I'll take a stadium everytime". Has he read "Premiership - Who
Cares?"???? :)
Trond's story is apparently bollocks, according to Barney. The club haven't
heard from him, because he's on a weeks extended leave after E2000. Whether
it's just a nasty bit of shit-stirring, or Trond really did tell
his agent that he wanted a move is something that will come out in the weeks
to come.
Finally, and as it's getting late I'll be brief, I've finally persuaded
someone to start contributing to SW19. Starting the next time I update SW19,
I will have a new regular columnist. Who it is I will not say, but suffice
to say he's used to things being heated......... If anyone else wants to
try their hand at writing for here, just drop an email at the usual address
and we'll take things from there.
26 June 2000
New signing - well, kind of : John Clinkard, ex-Oxford and Everton physio,
has come in to help Steve Allen with injuries and such like. Now, previously
Allen has had to deal with an appauling injury list, and this appointment
is a further pointer to the increased "professionalisation" of WFC. Anything
that stops us losing key players for various times is surely a good thing
A little bit of confusion reigns as to whether Trond actually said what
he said. Confused yourself? Well, the Official Site made a slight hint that
the club thinks it's BS. Or at least it's not quite a transfer request as
such - remember, these things have happened to us in the past, and
they'll happen again in the future. Ironically, the story first broke in
the..... Daily Star. Hmmm.
Now, I don't really like to do these sort of commentaries, but I'm not exactly
a "let and let live" person, so I will say this only once, and with a high
degree of seriousness : I received a poll through today which was purely
written to antagonise me. Yeah, somebody actually sat down and told me that
I shouldn't be running SW19 (because my views were totally different to
theirs it proved that I was a tosser and that I should "get a life"), and
yes, it was quite aggressive in nature. Now, I've had loads of poll replies,
and this was the first one of its kind : I have had a few people who question
my views on certain things, but at least they are wised up enough to realise
that the person who they're emailing spends a LOT of time on this
site and at least extend the courtesy - I respect that. But to come on and
slag my site (and me personally) off is something different entirely, and
I get enough shit in my life most of the time anyway without some smart
arse trying to "prove a point". In a nutshell, if you really, really don't like what I'm doing, then read the disclaimer on the front page and
then reconsider your options. I do not force you to come here, I'm normally
glad if you do and I do genuinely appreciate it when people - whatever their
viewpoints - come to me and say that they appreciate what I'm doing. But
if you're just going to slag me off without trying to at least give some
sort of justification, then don't fucking bother. If anyone else wants to
use the poll to do the same, don't waste your time or mine, because I'll
just bin it. I could end the poll now and still have enough to do a decent
write-up. As for the person in question who told me to "get a life", all
I can say is - if you spent all that time nicely formatting the reply in
nice bright colours just to tell me that you hate the site and that the
best bit is the exit button (there is no exit button, fuckwit), then may
I suggest you take your own advice about getting a life. You clearly don't
have one either.
24 June 2000
Wonderful - Trond has decided he wants to leave now. According to VG Nett
(via Henrik) he's asked his agent to tout round various Premiership clubs
because he doesn't want to play first division football next year. Yeah,
well I don't particularly want to watch first division football next
year, but hey, I've got Womble in my blood (must visit the Marie Stopes
clinic). Actually, I'm more puzzled than pissed off - Trond said on his
website that he wanted to stay, and this has come out of the blue. Also,
VG Nett have a reliability factor on a scale with the Daily Star, so maybe
there is a serious misquote somewhere. That said, I think he's been tapped
by his agent into wanting to move : he's seen most of his countrymen get
ousted, and feels he could be next (and you thought the "ethnic cleansing"
comment below was a flippant comment). One thing in his "favour" though,
at least he had the decency to wait until the close season (Euell and Cort
please take note), and he was one of the few WFC players last year
to emerge with any credit. Still a pisser though.
Also - REMBE may stay. Now that IS taking the fucking piss
Went around Wimbledon itself today, and Elys (aka Allders rejects) is stocking
the new Puma shirt - yours for £40. And they're selling WFC scarfs. Hmmm......
Also, there are at least TWO nicely sized shop units in Wimbledon to let,
one in the Centre Court shopping centre and one outside it, sandwiched around
JD sports and HMV. Couple that with the new development next door to Safeways
and you've got a lot of scope there. Also, there's an empty shop in Morden
(actually, it's more unusual to see an open shop in Morden) which
is "To Let", which looks typical football-club-shop-outlet-in-the-centre-of-town
size, next door to Woolies for those of us who have the misfortune to live
in SM4. Watch this space.
23 June 2000
Some major(ish) site news first : there is a remote possibility that I may
have to reduce the amount of time I spend on this site within the next couple
of months. Don't worry, I'm not going to close SW19 down or anything, but
some of the features are decidedly looking dormant. Therefore, I'm considering
this : I am going to stop doing the John Fashanu Elbow Award and What If??
because frankly I have not had any time or inclination whatsoever to even
contemplate writing these up. The JFEA will probably be renamed anyway because
the award itself is looking a bit wanky now, and What If?? is a pretty hard
concept to do. So, I'll probably consign them to the archives. This will
leave a nice little gap in the SW19 schedule, so, suggestions please. And
if you want to start helping me out by contributing a little bit, then I
may be accomodating......
Anyway, onto proper news. The fixtures are out, and it's quite interesting.
OK, so not seeing us play against Man U and Celsi may to some people suck,
but actually there are some quite good matches there. Obviously the last
"away" game of the season (at Fulham) stands out, as does the Boxing Day
clash (literally) between us and Pompey and the New Years Day game at Watford,
but even so the wet February day at Grimsby could well see a perversely
large turnout. Already Sky are planning to alter the fixtures but from what
we hear so far, only one game looks certain to be moved anyway - the Barnsley
away game to the Sunday 5 November. Saturday night in Sheffield, anyone?
The other game being televised is the humdinger against Huddersfield at
the McAlpine, which is scheduled for a Tuesday night anyway. One other thing
about the fixtures here - they also seem to play on Bank Holiday Mondays
which actually suits me better. And the prices should (theoretically) be
cheaper, so maybe this season will turn out to be the most enjoyable we've
had for a few years. And at least we're not predicted to go down for once.
Anders Lund and Dry Martini are now on loan back to Molde which did actually
surprise me. On the surface of it, it makes sense - it's considered only
a loan anyway and even Lund himself reckons that if they do well enough
they'll both return to England, but half of me has this horrible feeling
that it's some sort of ethnic cleansing going on. You know what I mean -
Lund and Dry Martini seemed to be nastily singled out for abuse last year
simply because of where they came from (some of the comments I heard during
the Arsenil game by quite a few WFC fans has forced me to reconsider where
I sit next season), and hopefully this isn't seen as a "victory" by those
people. Actually, at last years Drillo Day it was suggested by a certain
Politically Unsound WFC fanzine that WFC should loan out some of our players
to Norway just to get them experience. Didn't think that it would actually
happen.....
Speaking of Norwegian, Double H (who is actually Icelandic but most people
think he's from Norway) has been listed in the South London Press as our
player to watch next season. Didn't actually do that badly last year in
truth, especially when you consider our midfield went AWOL for most of it.
The Lebanese Asset Stripper is linked with Cardiff City, who have told him
to piss off. Well, they obviously looked at what he did with us and got
cold feet. After all, Ninian Park is ideally situated to have a supermarket
on it isn't it? And I doubt whether the inevitable groundshare with Swansea
will go down that well. Not too sure that SH is ideally suited to
Cardiff come to think of it - when asked what he thought of the Bob Bank
he reportedly said that it didn't matter because he stores his finances
in the British Virgin Islands anyway. Hmm.
Did a bit of lurking around the main Palace chat board recently, just to
see if I could get any leads which will tie up with BRG's comments (below)
re: SP. Interestingly enough, there is talk of Palace building a brand new
stadium in Croydon or Gatwick (hey, that sounds familiar...) after the Lim
(or Jordan) takeover, which if it was to happen would take about 4 years.
Which definitely fits in with what BRG said. So, is SP to be sold
to somebody like Sainsbury? It would actually tie in nicely - you can't
actually redevelop SP that well, remember Uncle Ron's problem with trying
to redevelop the SP Main Stand. I doubt whether BRG would accept it and
you can bet your life that with the problems Palace have had with Uncle
Ron thus far I bet the new owners would like to stich him up for
once. Which leaves a question - what about us? Could WFC be invited as joint
owners of this new stadium in Croydon? Would make economic sense, but again
would BRG buy it? Especially as it would probably mean that he won't get
to keep all the profits from it. And remember, he seems quite keen on the
"community" thing. One thing about the Palace board though - they still
find our small attendances as a great source of amusement (although somebody
reckons that we won't survive on our first division gates : then again neither
are Palace). Yeah, I suppose having about 75 years more league history in
a higher plain in a more concentrated area of London WITHOUT having to move
anyway would give you loads and loads more support. Just remember that CP's
average attendances since the 70s have hovered around the 16,000 mark. That's
before we came in the league and they haven't really grown.... dear oh dear.
Meanwhile, from today you can't buy the club shirt in either the club shop
or on the OS. And here's why - well known Womble and chief merchandise purchaser
Peter Bowles contacted the SP club shop and was told "we hardly have any
Wimbledon stock in because they're moving to their new shop". More on this
later....... (for legal reasons, I have to tell you that this is NOT an
SW19 exclusive and is in fact information available to all WFC websites.
OK Pete?)
20 June 2000
BRG gave an interview to Nog website http://www.fotball247.com and very
interesting it was too - here's what he said (obtained via various sources)
: . "We're working on a three year project. By then we should be back
in the Premier League, but hopefully it will happen next year.". Note
that he's not going for the "immediate return or bust" approach, which I
have to say is probably the best thing. As said previously, I firmly believe
that we won't get promotion next season, and indeed I think we'll finish
8th. I don't buy this notion that everyone else is less crap than we are,
after all what division did the two teams who beat us in the cups this year
come from? There are still too many snotty attitudes around, it will
take a while for it to clear, and I predict that next year we'll be accepting
money from NTL as opposed to Sky. This is not to say that we'll never go
up again - we will - but not yet. Actually, BRG's plan seems to revolve
round a 36 month timescan : witness - "Wimbledon will continue playing
at Selhurst Park for the next two or three years". So then what? New
stadium at last? Well, BRG is committing himself like this quite a lot,
and he seems to mean it. I wonder if 3 years is still a little too short
a period? Unless BRG has got something up his sleeve.... of course, Palace
are thinking of moving from SP themselves, especially if Uncle Ron start
pissing about. Can't see a new groundshare happening somehow. As for transfers,
here's what he says : "Terry Burton is now finding out which players
he wants to keep. Right now there are too many players in our squad. The
details aren't ready yet, but Terry says he needs 24-25 players. This means
there are eight to 10 players who will have to leave the club. We should
know within two weeks who's leaving and who's staying". Pre-season restarts
next week, so maybe Cort and Euell will still be slumming it with
us. Serves them right.
Ian Feure will sign Thursday, he's got to suss things out with Barney. Hope
he minds the step on the portacabins, they are NOT easy :)
Can somebody please expain to me exactly what Luton have ever done to us?
Apart from beating us in the last minute on a windswept Wednesday evening
in February 1990? First was the Ceri Hughes saga, now Lenny Lawrence is
POed because we withdrew from a friendly we were going to play. Apparently,
it was our idea in the first place, which isn't exactly the best way of
making friends and influencing people. Indeed, LL said "We've got enough
pre-season games but it's left us without a prestige friendly". Yeah,
prestigue friendly. And you thought that only Sutton and Kingstonian ever
referred to pre-season kickabouts with us like that.
17 June 2000
And welcome to the current bi-weekly SW19 update. Believe it or not, I do have a life, albeit not a very pleasant one :) But I will endeavour to keep
going a little while longer yet. Honest.
Anyway, where to start? Oh yeah, TB has made his first signing, a 6 ft 7
goalie called Ian Feur. From West Ham. For nowt. Well, Harry Redknapp wanted
to keep him, but as he was on a Bosman then he could bugger off. Now, there
are two schools of thought here : firstly, you can argue that TB and R&G
don't know what they're doing, and signing goalies is not a sign of rebuilding
properly, or you can argue that we need another goalie simply because Sully
is gone, Kelvin is just that little bit too inexperienced and Healdy is
a bit of a walking wounded character. Myself, I go for the latter - just
remember that we haven't exactly signed big name goalies in the past few
years (Perry Digweed? Paul Kee? Simon "4.5 goals conceeded in two games"
Tracey?). As my brother said to me recently, "there are plenty of good goalkeepers
around". Relax, don't think that this will be our only major signing this
season
Coincidentally, did you know that Ian Feur is Mickey Rouke's brother-in-law?
Neither did I. Wasn't he the ex-boxer? No, that's Mickey Rooney isn't it?
Or whoever.
Everyone's favourite embarrasment to Elephant and Castle, one Carl Cort,
is whinging yet again. He wants to move to Leicester because of Peter Taylor,
and he's prepared to move out of London. I suppose that he wants to show
the world that he is harder than Mark Morrison. Difference is, Mr Morrison
knows how to shoot properly. Anyway, he conveniently and so earth-shatteringly
tells us that his heart isn't with WFC anymore. No shit Sherlock. Obviously
we were priveliged last season to watch him perform 100% so I shudder to
think how much he'll put in if he stays. I guess he won't even get out of
bed.... Actually, it's probably best if he does go (sudden U-turn alert),
because we'll get £5m for him and TB is only prepared to keep players who
are committed to WFC. So, that's half our first team squad gone for starters.
Speaking of which, everyone's second favourite embarrasment to Elephant
and Castle (funnily enough, most E&C residents I know would give their weekly
DSS payment to even be playing pro football), one Jason Euell, is going
down the Peter Fear route. As many people know, he was seen partying it
up and snort..... er, anyway, he wasn't exactly focused on the Soton game,
and now he's been caught on the piss again, this time in Cyprus. Rumours
abound that nobody had exactly come in for him - Celsi have reportedly had
a very lukewarm interest in him, but nothing more - so he's decided
to combat the indignity of playing for the club that made him by pissing
it up the wall. Great, another career ruined, and more importantly another
£5m down the drain. What is it with our players when their values
drop?
W&WW has some intriguing stuff re: transfers. You all know about Jermaine
Darlington, but Chris Bart Williams (who we should have signed about 3 years
ago) and John Scales are reportedly linked. Now, CBW would be a good buy,
but Scales bothers me. His injury record is quite long, and although his
experience is invaluable (the way he marshalled the green Chris Perry amazes
me to this day), I'm still not too sure. It's worth remembering though,
that we are a first division club these days, and we're not exactly going
to entice the cream to come to us. But then, when did we ever?
The world's biggest anchronism behind the Civil Service, the BBC, has lost
all rights to the Premiership. Boo fucking hoo. Before you start lamenting
its loss, just remember that they have a habit of doctoring games to make
the glamourous team look far better than they actually were (this is not
a problem unique to WFC), they employ Lineker and Lawrenson, their coverage
is bland etc etc. Besides, ITV have Gaby Yorath. Also, if we do exactly
what SW19 suggests next season and don't go up, we'll be much more OK because
ITV/ONDigital have bought the Nationwide rights for £315m. Or nearly £1m
a year. Now, does anyone else remember the days when the fans raised £16k
to buy Tommy Cunningham by carrying a blanket around the Plough Lane pitch
in 1981? And people complain that the Sky money is pushing clubs out of
business.
From the Don't Know You're Born department : the chairman of Charlton has
complained that the Sky money they've got from being promoted isn't enough.
Some clubs would like £3m next year, like Palace. Of course, if they don't
like the money they could always forfeit their right to going in the Premiership
and give their place to a more deserving cause. Like, erm, us.....
With regards to Palace, they've been given another week to sort themselves
out, I would not swap our position for theirs anytime soon. The main problem
seems to be around the SP leasehold : if Lim doesn't get it, then he'll
either move or (possibly) Ron Noades will take over Palace again. Or the
latest one I've heard - an Anglo-German consortium, featuring none other
than SH. Funny how he's been linked with Palace more and more recently -
and people still worship him? In many ways, if SH does get
involved with CPFC (remember, the guy tried to merge us and CP at least
twice) then it may well work to our advantage : SH hates R&G for catching
him with his hand in the till chucking him out of WFC, and being the
spineless spiteful little tax evader that he is, he'll use his newly found
power to try and force us out of SP (just remember who drew up the contract
in the first place). Although I wouldn't doubt that R&G's lawyers are slightly
better than SH's.
Finally, I've bunged a Message Board on the SW19 Poll section, this is for
those of you who need help with filling the poll in (and some people seem
to). BTW, you may wish to resubmit your entry if you so wish. Aren't I nice?
13 June 2000
The Jermaine Darlington stories still won't go away - even Teletext
report on it now. Sadly, the same source report that Maggie will go to Spurz
for £4.2m. Low I know, but as said last time, it's either that now when
his value is still high, or nowt this time next year.
One of the crybabies, one Carl Cort, has been linked to Leicester. However,
Peter Taylor has realised that he'll have to put up with the sulky lanky
shit for much longer than a week at a time, and has subsequently denied
it. So, why are Spurz so keen on our players?
It's nice that SW19 gets the news before anyone else, and this is one such
occasion : if you read the 4th June (below) you will have seen that KIR
is considering taking a couple of players on loan for Molde. Well, today
the rest have picked up on it, and from what we can gather, it will probably
be Dry Martini and TP to rejoin. Both Trond and Lund have catagorically
stated they want to remain with us, so I guess they'll stay. Shame about
Dry Martini going, but then remember this : it IS a loan job, not permanent,
and maybe it'll give both players a chance to shine again. Remember what
happened to Paul Miller after he went on loan to Plymouth (or whoever) -
he came back and became our top scorer. Now, I expect the usual "Nogs Don't
Care" crap, but I would rather have a squad full of Lunds or Dry Martinis
rather than even one Jason Euell...
Speaking of a certain much-maligned Scando country - Norway 1 Spain 0. No,
I am not laughing. Much.
10 June 2000
First things first - notice the nice new javascript on the front page? There
will be some changes to this site in the preceeding weeks : firstly, the
JFEA will be disbanded due to the increased twattishness of the figure who
it was based on. It WILL still exist, but I don't know in what form yet.
Secondly, I will DEFINITELY sort out the archive, and What If?? Thirdly,
I am currently trimming the guestbook, expect that to take 4 weeks
:) And finally, I will add a picture or two. So keep watching....
Onto news, what is worth repeating that is. Carl Leaburn wants to stay at
WFC. Bugger, even Blackpool have wised up. Ah well, maybe we can try and
offload some other reserve standard rejects. Try Jason Euell for starters.
Maggie seems "certain" to go to Spurz for £5m. This despite him claiming
that he wanted to stay with us into the first. Hmmm. This story picks up
more creedence (clearwater revival) when you read on W&WW that we're after
QPR left back Jermaine Darlington. Although it's annoying to see Maggie
leave supposedly, it does keep our chances of having 11 men on the
field above the 50% rate :) As painful as it is to say it, it does actually
make good business sense to sell him. He'll be out of contract this time
next year, and if it's a case of £5m now (at a time when we'll be rebuilding
anyway) or £0 next year (when we may go up, though I still doubt it) then
it's probably best to take the £5m and done with it. Remember Sully?
TB was interviewed in the South London Press this week, and he hinted that
people like Wayne Gray and other players whose names I'm shit at spelling
would be making much more of an appearance this season. Which is good, unfortunately
last season we weren't really in a position to play them (although even
without the benefit of hindsight it probably wouldn't have made things any
worse). Still, as long as they don't develop into the sulky Big Time Charlies
that Cort and Euell have become, they'll do OK by me.
Speaking of Cort, Newk decided not to go in for him after all. Sensible
people. The official reason given is that they're "cash strapped". Yeah,
so a potential audience of 50,000 per game, fuck knows how much merchandise
sales, Scottish and Newcastle, having the England captain etc etc and they're
STILL cash-strapped? How about "sense strapped" - I would find that much easier to believe - especially as they're after Luis Enrique....
According to It Must Be Dons, there is a strong likelyhood that there will
be another "Drillo Day", though for obvious reasons Drillo himself won't
be there. However, some of the players might be, though we can have a straw
poll as to who won't be there. Even if they are under contract.
Peter Taylor looks likely to get the Leicester job, which makes the Filbert
Street side the 22nd club to reject OGEM to manage them. The excuse made
is that JK is quite simply "too old". Though I can't help thinking that
his fitness and (just as damaging) his severely bitter attacks on certain
people last year (which don't forget bought SEVERE condemnation from the
LMA) has made him unemployable. Also, the Sheff Wed business shouldn't be
discounted - think about it, he wants loads of money, the only team who
ever came near to employing him don't have much and now he's in limbo. Never
mind, at least Eurosport can employ him...
7 June 2000
Very quick update tonight - if you're in the vicinity, there is a
WISA meeting at the St George Community Centre in SW19 next door to Elys.
All are welcome, it's upstairs and it starts at 8pm
Add Terry Neill (source of some of SW19's stuff) to TB's list of admirers
- he reckons that TB has got a tough streak in him and indeed used to go
to him for much advise. Promising.
Finally, if you could check out http://gash.net/~repd/js1.htm,
you will find a new javascript thing for you to test out, see if it works,
hangs your system, whatever. Courtesy of the SW19 reader called Clocky,
buy him a pint next time you see him :)
5 June 2000
Watch out - looks like TB is on the warpath already, and in his line of
fire is John Fashanu. Now, Fash has been going round, telling everyone how
shit TB is, and TB isn't exactly thrilled. "What has angered me is that
Fashanu thinks he's pretending to be the voice of Wimbledon Football Club
when he knows absolutely nothing about the modern-day Wimbledon Football
Club.". Owch. This was from the OS, which has actually started becoming
OKish recently. Well, loosely speaking. Follow this up with "The last
time anyone at the club heard from John Fashanu was around the time of his
court case. Since then he's never been near the club, near the training
ground and there he is pontificating on the radio, saying that he's knows
what's going on at the club which is crazy."The original article quotes
that TB's methods upset some of the players which made them leave (one of
whom was Fashanu, who was POed because he was actually asked to train once
a month). And you thought it was only Drillo who had these problems? Thing
is, if Fash hasn't been round the club, and yet these stories are coming
out, then who is spreading them? Is it somebody in the club, trying to discredit
TB even before he's begun (sounds familiar?). Or somebody who's left the
club recently, and has a grudge against TB? Hmmm......
Interesting rumour flying about, Carl Leaburn to Blackpool for £250k. Guess
they need a new steel girder for the Blackpool tower.
Went down SP today to pick up some ST application forms, and spotted a car
that I've never seen before. Nothing unusual there, except that the number
plate was WFC 90X. Now, who the hell could it be? Anyone got any ideas?
One more thing not WFC related : if you turn your javascript on, please
make your way to http://gash.net/~repd/js.html and see if what I've done
works. Don't worry, I won't fuck your computer up :)
4 June 2000
Ah, donta just love summer? Hot, sunny days, nice strolls in the park, barbeques
on the lawn? And fucking ants and my neighbour deciding to play Kiss FM
until 4am in the morning. Very loudly. Bastard. Anyway, summer means nowt
going on at WFC. Or so we think.
The press are full of Johnathon Barnett's shit stories. This past couple
of days, we have had Euell, Cort and JH as "certs" to go, along with Thatch.
Now, I'll deal with Cort and Euell later, but JH has reportedly been linked
to Spurz (wow) and - wait for it - Charlton. Yeah. Maggie's been linked
with West Ham and - well, I'll give you a clue, they're based in N17. Now,
the fact that there is so much talk of our players going to one club is
too much to be coincidental, which makes me believe that somebody has wormed
their way into WHL who's been trying to disrupt the club. Who? Well, I won't
name names, but I bet Alan Sugar is glad he's came.
Now, Cort and Euell. As ever, part of me wants them to fuck off, part of
me wants them to slum it out with us next season. I'm teetering between
the two schools of thought at the moment, and I won't be 100% satisfied
whatever happens to them. I won't bother repeating what the two McDonalds
helpers rejects said, but here it is in a nutshell : they're POed at being
first division players, and the only way they're going to play international
football - which they soooooo richly deserve, of course) - is by
leaving the club they've just helped relegate. Now, I won't bother repeating
anything that I've said already. But I can really see a Van Hoodwink situation
occuring here - as mentioned here on 1st June, DB (the guy who does the
buying and selling of players) has said that nobody under contract is leaving.
So really if we're true to our word, Cort and Euell will have to slum it
out for another three years with the club that they hate. Both of them are
big time charlies, and rather than be professional about it, you know that
if forced to stay, they'll just do a major strop. Reserves to follow? Don't
know, but if the Van Hoodwink saga was anything to go by, expect both of
them never to be heard of again in about 2 years time. We live in hope.
REMBE may well be offered to stay - biiiig mistake. Remember, this
guy may well be a "living legend", but his constant sniping last year seems
to make many people distrustful of him. After all, judging by what he's
done in the past, if TB wants to layeth the smacketh down, and REMBE doesn't
approve, I wonder how long it will be before we will read an article in
the ESS stating how "the players" have lost all confidence in TB? Best to
get shot of him, my memory is way too long to want to see him wearing Tiny
again next year.
Speaking of media whores, one J Fashanu is another one who seems to be using
his "Mr Wimbledon" tag to slag off the club he supposedly loves. He's getting
on TB's case, calling him a "youth team coach", although bearing in mind
most of our squad act like 15 year olds, perhaps that may not be such an
inaccurate description. None the less, Fashanu seems very bitter
that he wasn't even considered for the WFC post. Well, let's compare the
credentials of Fashanu and TB shall we? OK then, TB has bought through the
legendary Arsenal back 4, he's done wonders for our youth team, he made
OGEM look like OGEM, he's nurtured people like Sully and Perry, he's extremely
well respected etc etc. Fashanu? Bunking off training to do TV shows isn't
exactly going to help your case in becoming a manager is it? Case closed.
Coincidentally, ever wondered why Fash is only now starting to act like
he is? Somebody has suggested that he is nothing more than the Lebanese
Asset Stripper's media mouthpiece : remember, SH's reputation is mud, so
he's using his more media-friendly associates to snipe at us now. Cheers
Fash, you were one of my favourite players once.
Interesting news from our most professional owner since 1981 : BRG has stated
in the Norge press (thanks once again to the ever-reliable Claes Thure Moberg)
that "the upcoming weeks will be used to evaluate what is good for WFC
and for MFC. MFC is said to need a bigger troop and reinforcements from
WFC would be welcome.". Now, it's thought that the not-so-popular Nog
contingent at WFC are thought to be returning to Norway - I mean Dry Martini,
Andreas Lund, Kjetil and TP, but Lund has stated that he wants to stay,
not too sure about the others, but they seem to like it here enough to stay
as well. What nobody has twigged is that they don't necessarily have to
be Norge players either - maybe we've finally found somewhere to get shot
of Leaburn and Roberts? Hey, even Cort and Euell. Nah, Molde will want decent
players...
The obviously shite methods that Drillo tried to install at WFC have clearly
failed - Norway disasterously beat Italy 1-0 using the same primitive tactics
that were 100% down to WFC getting relegated this season. Trond came on
in the last half an hour, and apparently did nothing wrong. In fact, Ceefax
South East reckon he'll even play as Norway's regular right back during
E2000. Can't see that somehow, but still, if he becomes the first WFC player
to start at E2000, I won't complain. Anyway, he's Norwegian, and he's at
Wimbledon, so obviously he'll leave, won't he? Er - "Trond Andersen is
quoted to have said that he does not want to go back yet. He has played
for five years in Molde and feels that he is finished with that. If WFC
should state that they does not need him he wants to move to another club
in England, prefferably in the Premier League. . Thanks to Claes for
that one.
Oh, and one more story today - we've been linked with Ian Walker. I won't
even begin to dignify that rumour with a comment.
1 June 2000
Well, after weeks of speculation (?), we have finally confirmed one Terrance
Burton as our manager. We wish him every success, as usual. However, some
people are doubting whether he can combat the Player Power shit that relegated
us last season, especially as he's employed the unproven Stewart Robson
(who served under TB's youth team at Arsenal) and the proven failure Mick
Harford as his right hand men. A few things to bear in mind : firstly, these
two guys are coaches. Time will tell if TB will appoint an assistant
manager to help him out. Secondly, as unproven as TB as manager is, he can't
be that bad if he lead our youth team to glory. Different kettle of fish
I know, but seeing as though most of our squad act like 16 year olds.......
thirdly, and most importantly, the players openly respect him. Now, you
may think this ain't such a positive move, and in that sense I agree with
you. But the bottom line is this : we got relegated this year thanks to
player power. Now that the players have "their" man in charge, and they're
in a lower division (and as we keep on being told, our lot are a Premiership
force), they have no excuse whatsoever not to walk the division next year.
If they don't, well, I know that R&G won't be happy, and whilst Drillo was
under a lot of political pressure from SH, I think TB will have no such
problems under BRG. Witness the way they got on together at the press conference
after Drillo's leaving - they didn't exactly seem enemies. I say - give
TB the benefit of the doubt. As for the attitude of the players, if playing
at Grimsby and Stockport isn't enough to wipe your negative attitude off
the map, then you will never make it as a professional footballer.
So, why the delay? Well, the OS got hold of Barney, who I don't recall ever
being interviewed before. WFC 2000 I suppose. Anyway, here's why we had
to wait 30 odd days - "The reason for delaying the announcement was quite
simply because it was a case of getting the whole board together at the
same time," . So really, all this stuff about new #2s or even a new
manager was just shit? Well, I suppose getting Peter Cork back from San
Francisco was a little bit difficult at short notice :) Anyway, I'll continue
on that theme - "we [the board] also feel that he is the right man to
take us forward and his appointment was a unanimous one.". So what about
Peter Taylor and John Jensen? "Nothing more than a comedy sketch." .
But it was in the Mirror, it must be true. Mustn't it? Anyway, speaking
of tabloid shit, what about all the players we're meant to be selling? You
know, the two crybabies, and Thatch, and..... "Carl Cort and Jason Euell,
who have both been linked with moves from the club would not have to be
sold. Both players are on long contracts and until the time is right for
the club no-one will be leaving," This is exactly what Barney
said to SW19 at the Drillo Sacking day. So maybe BRG's threat is coming
good? Well, that remains to be seen of course, but just imagine that we
do pull it off (yeah, I know we should get rid of the crybabies, but to
the outside selling them both is a sign of weakness) - that proves a point
not only to WFC but to the rest of UK soccer as well - if you stand firm
up to your players and their agents, they will fold. Well, that's what I'd
like to think anyway. Anyway, new signings are an issue - "Terry has
given the board a list of players he would be interested in signing".
Well, let's see.... Ronaldo for starters, get his mate Rivaldo in as well.
Link him up with Tore Andre Flo - is Zola still available? Who else? Well,
Beckham wants to move back to London - his wife certainly does - and I'm
sure that Wimbledon Village has plenty of nice boutiques for Ms Adams to
slip her size 4 frame into. You think I'm joking - believe me, KIR has the
money to make all of that happen. Never rule anything out.
Anyway, TB's in, but his ex-boss is still looking for a job. Get this -
OGEM ruled out Wednesday simply because there wasn't enough money for him
there. Now, coming from the guy who boasted about "buying at Woolworths
and selling at Harrods", this is a little bit rich. At least when Harry
was employed by a broke club he never asked for more money. And besides,
when JK has had money to spend, what's he done with it? Sign JH,
who never plays more than 20 games a season for one reason or another. Hmmm,
can't see Leicester willing to let JK loose with £20m. Just think, he could
buy his mates up - Fash, Vinny etc (for that "steel") for a total combined
fee of £15m. And you can bet he'll get rid of Mussy Izzet for being too
foreign.
Not a news article (not a new one anyway), but a little bit of a comment.
A complaint, even. Sully has officially signed for Spurz, and he's gone
on record as saying that if he ain't a regular first teamer, he'll fuck
off for £2m. Now, some Wombles think that this kind of thing is OK - some
even suggest that it's good because "he can go around the country fucking
other teams up". Now, call me a sour-puss, suggest I'm over-reacting, but
that is an absolute wank attitude to take. I don't like Spurz, never have
done. But isn't what Sully is doing to them exactly the same as what Euell
and Cort are doing to us? Ever heard of the term "hypocracy" guys? It ain't
something I want to be associated with, especially not from WFC fans. Think
about it - by saying this, Sully has made himself sound like an ungrateful
sod who demands first team football wherever he goes. If you think what
he's doing is great, then I can only assume you wank over Jason Euell every
night.....