Bouncebackability

This entry is dedicated to someone who is quite possibly my blog's biggest (and only) fan. I promise to keep it going until the end of the season, just for you MM!

Ten weeks to go! The countdown until the end of the season has officially begun and I can now start to imagine the return of my Saturday mornings. Longer lay-ins, no trip to the Co-op for the Sun, no phoning FM3 in mad panics, no swearing at the TV, no more football. For approximately 3 days, until it all begins again.

Until then though, I have unfinished business. I'm still in second place and the way I look at it, if Birmingham can beat Arsenal, anything is possible.

My team is in a very bad way and fielding a team of 11 has been a real struggle. Littered with injuries and an Egyptian goalkeeper it's looking like, well, a team of players who are at the tail end of a World Cup year. Any little knock or knack seems to lead to weeks of treatment and indefinite return dates. Fantasyfootballscout.co.uk's injury table has become my Holy Grail.

Weird cup fixtures are throwing up double games and worse, blank fixtures. I've had to break my own golden rule of not 'taking a hit', which means a 4 point deduction for every additional transfer you make each week. I've lost precious ground and annoyingly, my main opponent seems to be taking it all in his stride and is streaking ahead. I'd like to say that he's had a lot of luck, but I think, realistically and depressingly for me, he knows a bit about football.  

The start of the season feels like a very very long time ago and in the past few weeks I have talked about throwing in the towel. I'm known for getting bored of things very easily. Mention DIY to my husband and he'll talk quite freely about the enormous amounts of energy and excitement, which lead to tiredness, frustration and an obvious lack of skill and eventual complete abandonment.

This time though, I will see it through. To the end, properly, for all the bit of skirt fan(s). This may just be the comeback of the season.... 

Skirt on top

Had to post an update today, because it might be the only time for a while that I can say that A bit of skirt is back on top.  It’s only by 3 tiny points, and the chasing pack are gaining (smug with their 100 + point gameweek), but it’s where I like to be.  How many weeks to go? Too many to comprehend.

I’ve been busy, and not much time to dedicate to proper team research.  I made a transfer in four minutes flat this morning (a new record) and about 30 seconds too late I realised that my entire bench was injured and one of my key strikers is in doubt.  I was torn between feeling sick with worry and not caring very much (I know! Something is definitely changing…). In the end I texted a football mentor looking for sympathy and I felt better after that.

I blame my limited knowledge of injuries and fixtures this week entirely on the fact that football news (and quite a few of the front pages) has been completely dominated by the sexism debate (Keys/Gray Vs the world) and the dizzying excitement that was the close of the mid-season transfer window.

I couldn’t give two hoots about who paid what for who, but I did find the transfer window intriguing.  So much hype and debate. On Sky Sports news there was even a little countdown timer on the corner of the screen.  2 hours and 31 minutes to go….  It was like the world was about to end.  There was live coverage of football clubs in darkness with a single lit window; reports of players being spotted in cars (probably off to do their weekly shop); a few hardcore fans stood outside the gates (why?) and a massive amount of speculation as to who was going to pull “the rabbit out of the bag” at the last minute.  In the end, there weren’t any major rabbits in my opinion. The Torres rumours started early.  I think those who watched until 11pm may have felt let down. 

In saying that, it’s all been beautifully set up for Chelsea V Liverpool this weekend.  Could the timing be any better?  It’s a Sky Sports dream fixture and, shock horror, it just happens to be one of the games televised that day. Liverpool fans are not happy, and who can blame them? Just as Torres finds his form he’s off. Apparently magic King Kenny cannot fix everything.  The big question is this - will Torres grow his hair back?  I think he will.

Speaking of hype and drama, on Monday last week I started to write a blog entry about sexism in football. By Tuesday, the world’s media had said everything there was to say on the topic. So I refrained – thinking about it made my head hurt and frankly I was bored of it. 

I will, however, share a few personal insights as discussions on the topic have lead to surprising outcomes. For example, one of my male friends confessed that he would not date a woman who is into football.  He believes football is a sport for men.  Shallow but honest?  I come from background of Netball, where men are openly welcomed and recognised for their abilities, both on the court as players; as umpires; and as followers of the game.  I was shocked. 

I am happy to say though, and this is the important part, that everyone I have spoken to agreed that you shouldn’t be judged on your ability to do your job based on your gender (or race, or sexuality for that matter).  That’s what happened to Sian Massey and it is not right.

For the record, when the story broke last week (and my hackles were up) I shared my very own, un-googled, female interpretation of the off-side rule with one of my football mentors. “Yes, that’s about it”, he replied, “It’s the phases that get complicated though”.   Phases?  This was completely new to me – I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.  “Yeah,” I quickly agreed, “They can be” and swiftly changed the subject.