Sunday, 28 June 2026

It's being so miserable that makes me happy

I see that some of the leading Charlton moaners are turning their attention to England and the World Cup.  It is, of course, a great opportunity for armchair managers to criticise the coach's selection and tactics.

It reminds me of the old Australian joke, 'How do you know when a British Airways plane has landed at Sydney?'  Because you can still hear the whining noise when the engines are switched off.

I have watched every late afternoon and early evening game in the World Cup and one lesson I have learnt is that a well organised 4-5-1 is very difficult to break down.  Think Cape Verde and Spain.  However, those tactics won't work in a knockout stage, although I hope we can avoid penalties.

Not that I think that England have any chance of winning the World Cup.  We simply don't have the world class players in depth that a country like France possesses.  Bellingham is one of the few, but a lot depends on which version of him turns up.  His dad was a great striker for my non-league club and we all cherish a picture of Jude and his brother in Leamington kit.

I almost didn't make one game, but our local NHS trust is excellent.   I called out the community emergency response service, they took one look at me and and an ambulance arrived in three minutes and whisked me off to the local A and E.   I was given a scan immediately and then the A and E doctor carried out a procedure which was a bit uncomfortable but worked.   My only disappointment was that they asked the fire service to take me home, which is a standard local procedure, but they were needed elsewhere in the hot weather so an ambulance took me back.

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