Whitey Grandad

Or the swimming pool is full of weeds.

Where's everybody going to be in Copenhagen on Wednesday night?

My accountant and his wife who was my administrator for 15 years moved out to Dunedin because his daughter and grandchildren were there. We went to visit them three years ago and also did a driving tour of most of South Island and a couple of days at Auckland. Christchurch is very familiar, you could almost be in England and we could live there easily. It's very quiet, we drove 120km one evening on highway 1 and only 40 vehicles came the other way. North Island is quite a bit different but warmer.

Doesn't everybody? We've missed a few in our time.

If we score I think we'll be ok, but it might be that we'll need to score a couple.

Good call, on the bench at least.

16 now. Oops, make that 17.

Wise words indeed. All we can do is hope for is some sort of stability in the longer term once we have established our place in the upper half of the table.

There was a midweek home game against West Ham at the Dell a long time ago that finished 0-0. That was really bad.

The apparition of someone who you knew very well has a resonance with me. Twelve years ago my business partner who I had known for nearly thirty years died from lung cancer so I had to buy his half of the business from his widow and made several rearrangements. For several years I had a recurring dream where he had come back, seemingly from the dead, and I was annoyed that all my changes would have been in vain and that I would have to share the business with him again. Because I knew him well and knew all his mannerisms I could talk to him and he would respond as I expected. He was very real. Gradually I learned to adjust, firstly by arguing that I had seen his death certificate, then later that I had bought out his share anyway. Gradually the dreams receded until they stopped but for the few years that they continued they were very real and disturbing. When you have a model in your head of how someone behaves your mind can recreate them in a very realistic fashion and it can be very unsettling.

I've missed the start of this showing so I've programmed to record the next showing on Wednesday. Thanks for bringing my attention to it.

Because he was chicken?

It's not that I'm not bothered, I'm just pragmatic.

Very true. Had someone messed up his hair?

That's good, isn't it?

I saw the 1972 version years ago. How does this one compare?

A clean sheet away from home and a point. That's a good solid basis on which to rebuild. I have only seen the result and not the performance but at this stage of the season we need to be grinding out results. Flair and understanding can come later once the window closes and the squad is settled.

European compromise innit.

But both Vlaar and Gardos are suffering long-term injuries which doesn't help us much for at least the first half of the season.

I also have one spare in the home end. If not taken then I shall have a bit more space to sit

We might all be excused for thinking that the playing side of the business is not top priority. Nothing beats a settled team and at the moment our team seems some distance from that. Hoddle makes the point in the Mail today that the manager spends a lot of his time sorting out transfers rather than coaching the squad.

No, not on Sky

Yes, that surprised me too

Clément Turpin. I thought he was good too. http://sportif225.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ARBITRE_TURPIN_Ligue1.jpg

Hoddle doesn't like the window either: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3207352/Deadline-day-panic-day-transfer-window-shut-season-begins.html And on Wanyama the Mail on Sunday stirs the pot further: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3207372/Victor-Wanyama-tells-Southampton-unhappy-wants-leave-midfielder-refusing-discuss-new-contract.html