Paul’s blog

I follow Forest Green Rovers, and even attend the odd game when I am home, however I must admire the dedication of Chris Barrett who travelled all the way from North Carolina to watch the Rovers in action after years of saving up the required funds for his journey.

However to his dismay the game had been cancelled!.

Barrett, a 36-year-old American school teacher, was putting on a brave face on Saturday, saying he had enjoyed the trip nonetheless, despite not getting to see Forest Green Rovers take to the pitch.

“They have given me signed shirts and a scarf and all sorts of memorabilia. They’ve put me up and me and the vice-chairman are best chums now,” Barrett said.

Source: www.iol.co.za

His love of Rovers grew from playing the computer game Championship Manager, where he chose Forest Green Rovers. Here he aimed to guide them from the lowly Conference to the high reaches of league football. If only Rovers could climb those lofty heights, instead of being embroiled in a regulation battle.

After picking Forest Green Rovers, Barrett soon developed a genuine attachment for the team.

“From there I started to look at the club website at the time when they were trying to stay up (in the same division) at the end of the 1999-2000 season. It was a really fun time and from there I was hooked.”

After gradually saving up, he booked the flight to England and made his way to ‘The Lawn’, the club’s home in Gloucestershire to watch them play regional rivals Hereford, only to find out just before leaving that the game had been called off.

He decided to go anyway, and was well looked after by the committee and fans alike. He now plans to make the journey again in a few years when he has saved up for the journey. A bit of advice though, it’s best to visit in the summer. The English weather can be notoriously unpredictable!

I had the pleasure of watching the Chelsea vs Barcelona game last night. OK I was not there in person, but watched the game on TV, but boy - what a game. Chelsea going 3-0 up in 20 minutes, then Barcelona to hit back with two goals - thus drawing the tie but going through on the away goal rule. I must admit the penalty decision seemed very harsh. Yes the ball did hit Paulo Ferreira hand, but he had his back to the ball and was purely accidental. Also I must admit I missed Ronaldinho’s second goal which I have been told was something a bit special. Was the Barcelona goalkeeper held when John Terry scored Chelsea’s fourth? To be honest - Yes.

Mourinho got the tactics spot on. He was also very clever diverting the focus away from his players whilst the build up to the game occurred.

Now Barcelona, and Samuel Eto’o in particular, are claiming all sorts of injustices were against them. Hopefully the racial abuse which Samuel Eto’o claims, did not occur. I should imagine IF it did occur, he has received 10 times as worse back in La Liga. But he went on to blame the referee (has he forgotten the shameless dismissal of Drogba in the first leg?) and Mourinho. It seems that Barcelona were so confident of winning the tie, they were not mentally prepared for losing. Now they play the blame game.

Today is International Women’s day. To those of you who are blissfully unaware of this event, like me before I met Éva, it is a day to celebrate our womanfolk. It is always celebrated on March 8th, and the giving of flowers is customary (especially in Hungary).

The official line:

International Women’s Day (IWD) is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women

Source:internationalwomensday.com

If you want to find out more then check out the following links:
About Ladies day
wiki definition

Now I would like to take this opportunity to wish all ladies, especially my dear wife, a Happy International Women’s day

Happy Mothers day Mum! sorry I cannot be there in person this year.

I see Swindon Town were jinxed by Andy King being awarded the ‘Manager of the Month’. Typical, losing 3-0 at home to Bournemouth. To make matters worse I have relatives down that way…

… at least Forest Green faired a little better, gaining at a draw at highly placed Accrington Stanley. Still they need to start winning if they are to avoid the drop.

I have been trying to install Wp-plugin-mgr but have run into a brick wall due to an error which only my host can rectify. I have sent a couple of e-mails to them but they have not even polite enough to acknowledge my problem.

Another morning, another covering of snow! OK the weather was not as bad as Tuesday but it was still bad enough for my car to skid on the road. The slip was only minor and the only affect was my heart to miss a beat, occurring when I braked at the end of my street. I was not even doing 10 mph. The main roads were clear, and as is the norm lately as soon as I descended the hill where I reside I was confronted by the green, green grass of home.

Yesterday I took the document I have been working on to the printers. The process was smooth enough, I am just paranoid that I missed some vital information. Still if I have I can add amendments later. This is not as extreme as it sounds, I have been waiting for four chapters from various agencies which never arrived in time. This meant the document is being published with these chapters pending.