Ready And Waiting

An interesting fixture for us tonight.

We play Peterborough, also newly promoted.

Who do seem to be struggling in this division to date.

Although not, I would suggest, a team to be underestimated.

We beat them 4 - 0 at home last season but they beat us 2 - 0 on the return visit.

We play them at home.

Where we remain unbeaten for over a year.

Cummon then you Posh.

We're ready!

A Little Bit Scary

Remember this bleak moment last year.

And now here we are back where we belong, for now, in the Championship.

I gather the fixtures are due out on Wednesday.

I've always thought what an unenviable task the scheduling of the league must be.

So many things to take into account.

Then you think to yourself "But they have amazing computers today. They'll simply feed the information in and the computer will do the rest".

WRONG!!

"Oh well there's bound to be some specialised software which does the bulk of the work with just some tweaks required"

WRONG AGAIN!!

My research has led me discover that the fate of the football league with its millions of pounds turnover every year, upon which so many millions of fans rely to fill huge sections of their lives and which creates numerous networks of businesses providing supporting and spin off services, rests with one man, his laptop and an excel spreadsheet.

I find that just a little bit scary.

The Derelicts

Money?

Check.

House keys?

Check.

Sat Nav?

Check.

Home shirt?

Check.

Scarf in back window?

Check.

And we were off.

Despite the odd hiccup (such as finding the greasy spoon cafe recommended by my friend Sandy derelict!), we got to the Walkers in time for me to purchase a Foxes badge for my cap and one of those thingys that goes on the top of your aerial.

The first half was something of a disappointment with the Foxes struggling to keep possession and string anything together. Going in at half time one goal down seemed to galvanise them, however, and the second half offered much more of a spectacle. Particularly Dicov's goal less than a minute after he joined the game.

Shame we only drew in the end. Some might argue thanks to the referee, who made a number of very questionable decisions, mostly against us, including the free kick that led to their goal.

I can hear you saying "That's right, blame the ref" but trust me it was a shocking display. Being quite new to football I sometimes struggle to spot infringements even when given by the ref. But I saw 3 blatant handballs, a number of free kicks and throw-ins given the wrong way and a clear penalty ignored.

As derelict as that cafe.

Which explains the resounding chorus of "One Nil to the referee" after Colchester scored.

On The Road

Hey! Guess what.

My lover and I are going on a journey on Saturday.

We will be taking a trip up the Fosse way.

Through Stow-on-the-Wold and Moreton-in-the-Marsh. Stopping for breakfast at a greasy spoon cafe on the roadside. Then on towards our destination.

The Walkers Stadium.

Junior Goonier was due to come with us. He may still. But a friend of a friend is in this country from America and he has offered to spend some time with her at the weekend.

A hard choice for him. I'm sure his decision has nothing to do with this friend of a friend being an attractive 20 year old.

It All Adds Up

0 - The number of goals Cheltenham Town scored against us today
1 - Leicester City's position in League One
4 - The number of goals we scored against Cheltenham Town today
5 - The number of goals Leicester City Under 18s scored against Birmingham City earlier this week.
10 - The number of games left for us to play this season
28 - The number of goals Matty Fryatt has scored this season
135 - The number of years Leicester City FC has been going

And perhaps most importantly of all;

2 - The number of years I have been writing this blog today (can you believe it?)

A Load Of Offal

I saw a heart warming story on the regional news last night.

A Bristol Rovers fan gave his wife a kidney for Valentine's day.

Not as in bought from a butchers.

But as in under general anesthetic removing and replacing.

Maybe not the most obvious gift but romantic in its own way.

As a reward, players from the Rovers made a DVD for him telling him how groovy he is.

Nice eh?

It mirrors my own experience in a way.

I was kind to my lover this morning.

And Matty Fryatt scored a goal this afternoon for me.

Better Than Sex?

So there I was.

After a rather traumatic journey to Leicester (from Gloucestershire via Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire - don't even go there!), and a 20 minute dash at the hotel to unpack and put my glad rags on, I walked through the doors.

The Walkers Stadium.

Moaning as my colleagues dragged me off the carpet whilst I kissed the embedded LCFC badge.

Gasping as I walked along the photo-adorned corridors full of Foxes' teams and past star players.

Gazing into the eyes of Gary Lineker as he stared out at me from the wall.

Whimpering as I looked out into the dark at glimpses of the beloved turf.

I was in such ecstasy I could have howled at the moon.

An experience better than sex?

Well being a lady I couldn't possibly say.

Under Pressure

How ridiculous!

A story that states MK Dons are "keeping the pressure" on Leicester City.

You call 10 points pressure?

Only if you are the bottom of the table mate.

I'll tell you what pressure looks like.

Pressure is trying to remain cool in the face of this.

Or this.

It Could Have Been Worse

Did you know Leicester City Football club will be 125 next season?

To commemorate, the club allowed fans to choose the shirt, which will be without a sponsorship logo.

There were 4 to choose from but 65% of the fans voted for a blank one.

It's a bit of a blow to my ambitions of course but hey - onwards and upwards. It could have been worse.

No doubt the club will be hoping to sell quite a few to help offset their 14.2 million pound loss last year.

Presumably it will be even worse this year.

There is no doubt about it though. Despite the difficult times we have had over the last couple of years, I have no regrets about choosing the Foxes to support.

On the contrary I thank my lucky stars.

Imagine how much worse it could have been.

What if I had chosen Leeds United or Swindon Town?

I break out in a cold sweat just thinking about it.

Many A Word Spoken In Jest

I am grateful to Paulsc for bringing to my notice something very important in his comment on my last post.

Imagine if I had missed this story!

And of course Paulsc is absolutely right.

What better than a scantily clad woman with a fox's tail?

With Leicester City tattooed on her bottom.

Leicester 'Til I Die

This is my 600th post.

You may have noticed earlier this week I had to put a new hit counter on. My old one proved too small and reaching the 100,000 mark returned to 0. As you can see this one is bigger.

So since I started blogging on 7th March 2007, this site has had over 100,000 hits. How amazing is that?!

So many girls learning about football with me - and a few boys too!

All sharing the joy and the grief of the beautiful game.

Some joining in the debate.

Others content to sit and watch from the sideline.

So would I stop posting if people stopped reading the blog?

Possibly.

Would I stop following football?

No chance!

I'm Leicester 'til I die remember.

Behind The Scenes

So Mr Gallas has lost his captaincy and place in the team as a result of telling tales out of school.

Good decision I would say.

Despite the fact that, if we are honest, most of us are probably secretly fascinated with knowing what goes on behind closed doors, our sense of moral reasoning usually tells us that we all have a right to a degree of privacy.

Breaching that right is only really justified in a whistle-blowing situation in my humble opinion. And this was not that. If I was Wenger and the other Arsenal players I would feel very betrayed by Gallas' actions.

Of course none of this applies to a behind-the-scenes peek at Leicester City FC ..............

Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud

It's a shameful thing to admit, but I haven't been to a Leicester match yet this season.

The good news, though, is that I have just purchased my tickets for Saturday's match against Swindon (away).

When I rang to order the tickets I was delighted to learn that they only cost fifteen pounds each.

"Bargain", I thought. "There are some advantages to being in League 1".

My pleasure was short lived, however, when the woman who sold me the tickets added "They're not under cover".

I'm not put off going by this of course. I am a proper football fan after all.

But I can't help hoping that there will be a good supply of hot chocolate and pies to keep me warm as I watch the Foxes stuff the home team.

Velvet Fist In A Velvet Glove

Big match for the Foxes tonight. At home.

We are playing Yeovil in the League and having one game in hand, if we win we go top of the table.

How good would that feel?

So what is the quality of the opposition?

I think this will tell you all you need to know.

The Glory Hunter

2 points behind the leaders in League One is a very satisfying place to be. A respectable away draw against Oldham yesterday was enough to give me a feeling of general contentment and security.

What we all know of course is the only thing certain in the world of football is the uncertain. For every up there is at least one down, and the price you pay for the euphoria you feel when your team is doing well is the utter despair when things go horribly wrong.

One Tottenham fan has decided to go to great lengths to always be supporting the winning team (or at least avoid supporting the losing one). He calls himself The Gloryhunter, and has put his support for Spurs on the back burner (just as well given the season they are having!), to try a new approach which ensures he never has his week ruined because his team lost.

Starting at random with Grimsby at the beginning of the season, he moves to the area of the team he is supporting at that time, then continues to stay there and support them until they lose. He then upsticks and moves to wherever the team that beat them come from.

And so on.

Even more remarkably, the fans of the various clubs seem to regard him as something of a celebrity. Apparently, during the time he was supporting Brentford fans were heard to sing "There's only one Glory Hunter" during matches.

By my reckoning he is in Darlington at the moment, having been to Brentford and Luton since leaving Grimsby. It will be interesting to see if he stays in League 2 all season or crosses over at some point.

If he ends up at Leicester I will probably advise him to get some more permanent accommodation as judging by current form he will probably be there for while.