Cleanliness Is Next To 'Arry

Who ever would have thought ol' 'Arry was one of these?

Conspiracy Theories

Make up your mind 'Arry.

Are you going to field your weakest team today?

Or your strongest team?

Maybe he has so many injuries in the squad they are the same thing anyway.

Or maybe it is a smoke and mirrors move to disguise some cunning plan.

And talking of conspiracy theories - what about Ulrika winning Celebrity Big Brother?

Nominated consistently by her housemates. Long odds of 12/1 to win (compared to Verne who was 5/1). And very very irritating.

So who on earth was voting for her?

What is the demographic that explains that?

Want to know my theory?

OK.

Terry Christian (my favourite to win) whom she was up against in the final vote just happens to be a mad bonkers ManUre fan. Famous for it.

So everyone who dislikes the ManUre goes into the Ulrika camp.

Reinforced by Ulrika's Sven connection with their arch rivals Manchester City.

And Ulrika's connection with football generally.

In other words, it was football that made the difference.

She's been planning it for years.

And no-one saw it coming.

You heard it here first.

The Good The Passionate And The ... Er.... Confusing

Sometimes a girl following football is so busy she doesn't have time to post.........

So it was yesterday.

I got home and had just enough time to light our brand new woodburning stove before my guitar teacher arrived. Whilst I was having my lesson my lover made tea.

After eating a delicious veggie shepherd's pie we headed off to the pub to watch the Arse/Tottenham match.

Whilst waiting for the match to start we got chatting to the barman. He revealed that his 13 year old niece is very poorly with an aggressive and degenerative bone marrow disease. She wrote to a charity who try to make the wishes of poorly children come true. Her wish was to have a laptop and meet the Portsmouth squad.

The landlord then proceeded to show us photos of her visit to Pompey, which included her with Sol Campbell, 'Arry and of course the lovely Crouchy (who was sort of bent in the middle so he did not tower over her too much).

As for the match itself - blimey! What a battle!

An in form Arse playing some wonderful football vs the less talented but greatly impassioned Spurs.

Nailbiting to the very last seconds.

Now that - as they say - is real football.

(PS - Looking at the picture above I'm left wondering how many arms and legs Crouchy actually has)

Kiss And Tell

Back in November Georgina smelt a rat.

Not a major surprise then to learn today that Harry Rednap is taking action against the police for the way he and his family were treated when he was arrested last year.

I heard the news as I was travelling down the M5 with my lover on the way to a day out by the seaside.

Obviously as this is a post about football I won't be telling you about the wonderful crab sandwiches I ate at lunchtime at The Anchor Inn in Seatown, accompanied by a lovely pint of local ale. Nor the delicious triple chocolate ice cream I devoured to follow it up.

I won't regale you with story of how I persuaded my lover to climb to the top of a steep hill with me against all his inclinations.

You won't get to know about the groovy red hat I bought in Lyme Regis and wore the rest of the day or the succulent Lemon Sole we bought at a local fish shop and he is cooking for my tea as I post.

Instead I will return the conversation to the harsh reality of The Foxes' situation. Away to Barnsley on Saturday with a desperate need to win.

I should have bought another red hat like mine for Hollow Way. He needs a hat to pull something out of this weekend.

There's Nothing Like A Mother's Love

Happy Mother's Day!

They say, don't they, that no matter how ugly or awful someone is, their mother probably loves them. And in most cases I am sure that is true.

Despite the heartaches it is a real gift to be a mother. It is certainly one of the joys of my life.

It won't surprise you to know, therefore, that mothers are often an important feature in the lives of footballers.

For example, there is evidence to suggest that Arsene Wenger's mother is responsible for steering him towards the Gunners rather than any other team as a child. I mean look what she named him for goodness sake!

And even if they have not influenced them in a particular direction, footballer's mother's can sometimes provide us with an insight into what has inspired their offspring. Kevin Keegan will certainly be hoping Berbatov's mother's belief her son has Newcastle running through his heart will help him attract the Bulgarian player to the club in the summer.

And the theory that a love of football can be inherited seems to be proved by the fact that Frank Lampard's aunty is married to Harry Rednapp, and their son, Jamie, Frank's cousin, also has a career in the beautiful game.

Of course, the maternal influences have not all been good necessarily. There is a rumour, for instance, that Wayne Rooney's mother is responsible for his distinctive facial features because she fed him too many sprouts as a child. If that is the case, then maybe if I had put more pressure on my children to eat up their greens, one of them would now be a footballing god too. How we mothers let our children down!

And isn't it heartening to know that even one of the most famous football manager's in the world at the moment, Fabio Capello, is still the subject of his mum's worries, not least because she is concerned he may do so well that England triumph over Italy.

At the end of the day, there's nothing like a mother's love.

I Smell A Rat

So - what to make of it all then.

A major disaster or a storm in a teacup?

The start of major financial difficulties and other troubles for LCFC, or a damp squib that will all be forgotten in a week.

It is hard to know what to make of these arrests.

There are some things that make you think there must be considerable substance to the allegations, including:

• The police are unlikely to make such high profile arrests without good evidence (aren't they?)
• Rumours about corruption in the game are widespread, suggesting this might be the first in a number of similar operations
• The chances of there not being corruption in the game given the high financial stakes seem low

On the other hand, there are some puzzling elements, including:

• Milan presents as a man with integrity (although I recognise I am partisan)
• Harry Redknapp's account of the subject of the questioning is that they are witnesses rather than suspects

And there are some ratty smells about too. For example, what a coincidence that just when Harry Redknapp is well in the frame for the England manager's job, he is arrested. And what an even bigger coincidence that there were a load of tabloid photographers there when the police raided Harry Redknapp's house.

In the world of football speculation is what they do. They'll make this story last - eke it out - as long as they can. If they are guilty then they must follow the course of justice. If innocent they will suffer the damage of tarnish, not to mention the distress.

I'm going to sit and wait and see.

May You Live In Interesting Times

When I originally selected LCFC as my team to support, my lover said "You have picked an interesting team at an interesting time in their history"

How prophetic his words were.

It has been a non-stop roller coaster since the moment I made my choice. The passion of the new owner. The drama with the various managers. The variability of performance ranging from the extremely dire to flashes of complete brilliance (a la Chelsea match for example).

Nothing has quite prepared me for tonight's news that MILAN MANDARIC HAS BEEN ARRESTED however.

It is still breaking news even though the arrests were made in dawn raids this morning. Five men have been arrested in total, including Harry Redknapp. They have all been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting. The allegations relate to the period Mandaric was at Portsmouth.

It is important to remember that at this stage these are arrests. I am not yet aware of anyone being charged. It would therefore be inappropriate for me to comment further on the specifics.

It does make you realise how close the world of football potentially is to the world of crime though. Rumours have been rife for a long time about corruption in the game, leading to the Stephens Enquiry which reported earlier this year of course. Then there were the recent arrests at Luton. Now this.

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase " May you live in interesting times".