Nov 21, 2021 | Family Matters
A year ago today, our beautiful third child, Josie Jean, was born sleeping at Liverpool Women’s Hospital. I wrote about her short, tumultuous journey in this space a few days after the event. Today, I want to mark her first heavenly birthday by writing about her. You...
Nov 21, 2021 | Football Writing
Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together? The challenge for anyone who writes a regular column in any publication is to try and avoid making yourself look too stupid, especially when talking about a football match that hasn’t happened yet. For the Mossley...
Nov 21, 2021 | Football Writing
“It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn.” Those are the words of 15th Century historian Thomas Fuller but they remain as prescient today as they did when he first published them in 1650. Modern wisdom applies them as a reminder that,...
Nov 21, 2021 | Football Writing
The journalist Tim Vickery, who is an expert on South American football, regularly defines the role of a Head Coach or Manager as being broken down into three main tasks; “He selects the team, prepares the strategy – and he also sets the emotional tone for the...
Nov 21, 2021 | Football Writing
If “a week is a long time in politics”, as the saying goes, then it must be an eternity in football. This time last week, I was writing my notes for Saturday’s programme and trying to skirt around the fact that I had no idea who our new manager might be, or when they...
