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Hello All, Hope you all had a fantastic weekend and it was great to see, in some limited ways, football fans back into stadiums in England last Saturday afternoon. Below were the ‘sell out’ scenes at Carrow Road where Norwich left it late to rescue a point against Preston North End as Canaries fans were able to bask in the late summer sun in East Anglia. They were scenes played out at a few other grounds around the country and we all had our fingers crossed that if we could all behave in the next few weeks we would soon be able to start watching our favourite teams in person. The news that came on Tuesday afternoon when Boris Johnson spoke to the nation really came as a blow to us all and the chances of getting crowds into grounds this season now really looks a long way off. Did Brentford deliberately try and make their new stadium look like a Subbuteo Stadium? If they did, they nailed it as it hardly looks real when you are watching on television! I have to say having been a regular over the past few seasons to Brentford I would really miss my trips to the tight confines of the old ground and it will be interesting to see how the Bess perform in their home. Griffin Park smelt of Bovril whenever I stepped through its gates and I mean that in the very nicest of ways as it had the feel of an incredibly old football ground steeped in history. Yes, clubs need to move forward and progress but I can’t help but feel that Brentford has lost a part of their history. It certainly didn’t take them long to send out their emails from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as by the time I woke up on Sunday morning I had the message to the right here flashing in my inbox. £600k a week are the reported wages that the ‘Flying Welshman’ is set to receive during his time back in North London but do we really know where he is at this stage of his career? Bale is undoubtedly one of the best players that has ever worn a Spurs shirt but is this more of a marketing/nostalgic signing as opposed to thinking he can have a real impact on Jose Mourinho’s side season? Bale has become almost a figure of derision in Madrid as the locals think of him more of a golfer than a footballer in recent weeks and months. I won’t say that one game has had a dramatic impact on Spurs but if they had beaten Everton last week would this transfer have even happened? It seems so much of a risk to me but for both Bale and Mouurinho the stakes are high, and the clock appears to be ticking as their careers begin the climb down the other side of the hill. It is really interesting to see how different leagues around the world, as like their countries themselves, are handling the COVID-19 crisis and the measures they have in place to mitigate risks. In the NFL a league wide memo was sent out reminding all coaches of the need to wear their masks on the sideline and in the Premier League all officials not directly officiating have to wear them. Why do managers and coaches not have to wear them then? Whatever side of the fence you want to be on surely, we can all agree that the picture to the left here is just ridiculous as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer berates the 4th official at Old Trafford last Saturday night whilst the 4th official is masked up. Last Saturday afternoon I watched my ‘Mighty Imps’ go two from two in League One ahead of their big night last night against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side. We beat MK Dons 2-1 thanks to a very dodgy penalty (you see I don’t watch games through rose tinted glassed) and a well worked second goal. Watching games on iFollow is a strange thing for me and I have still not got used to setting my seating arrangements up correct for games. What I would say though is that I am really enjoying listening to the ‘Away’ commentary as last week I was able to listen to BBC Three Counties Radio where I listened to two very bias commentators who seemed to think that they were very impartial. They were far from impartial and they had some very interesting comments on MK Dons legend Dean Lewington who is the Dons’ club captain. I sensed that they are not fans of the thirty-six-year-old skipper as they spent the entire game calling him names such as ‘The undroppable one’ and ‘The immovable object’ as I got the feeling they feel he is almost above the law of Dons boss Russell Martin. Lewington has no pace left so Martin has moved him to the centre of his defence and that lack of pace caused the penalty and although it was a poor decision the referee would not have had to make a decision if Lewington could move faster than an OAP with a zimmer frame. Yes, he still has a wand of a left foot and with time on the ball he will still look graceful but folks please keep a look out for him lining up in the centre of the Dons’ defense because if he does then their sheets will be as clean as Spud’s on Trainspotting! If you have not seen the famous film based on the Irving Welch film then you can guess that the sheets are not very clean and if you have had your tea a long time ago then perhaps you could Google the scene! The game was played behind closed doors but as usual at Stadium MK (pictured below), could you tell the difference? Wednesday afternoon saw me tune in to watch Smolevichi and FC Minsk game on YouTube as I looked to re-find my love for the Belarus Premier League. I didn’t though as I had a little lay of the away side and they won 4-0 so my net lost. The fact that on Thursday afternoon the UK Secretary Of State Dominic Raab announced that the UK does not recognise the Belarus results did not seem to hold sway with Bet365 as it seemed it only applied to results announced in their election and not ones from their Premier League! In midweek I also tuned into Morecambe v Newcastle in the EFL Cup and as you all know I have a bit of a soft spot for Morecambe and their fans as they are perennial League Two strugglers. It is hard work being Morecambe FC as since they came into the Football League for the 2007-08 season and the Shrimps have never finished higher than 11th in the League Two standings. On Wednesday night they were given a footballing lesson by Newcastle but in some ways the empty stands were a stark reminder of the fate awaiting many clubs as we enter a winter of minimal revenue for lower league clubs. Joelinton who put Newcastle 1-0 ahead cost £40m whilst Morecambe’s entire ground (a smart little prefab looking number) only cost £12m. Newcastle will continue to receive the big money from the TV deals over the coming months whilst Morecambe will be left waiting on (bigger) hand outs than normal. For many years I have been against the Premier League ‘owe you the other clubs’ argument as my little corner shop doesn’t rely on a handout from Tesco as they have to organise their own business model to attract customers. However, this pandemic is something completely different to the challenges that lower league clubs have ever faced and even the economically viable ones will be lucky to survive with no additional funding from the big clubs. One lower league team that was substantially assisted this week was my beloved Lincoln City who hosted Liverpool on Thursday night in the EFL Cup. We pocketed a cool £125k for the game and sadly we would have probably grabbed another £200k if this had been played in any other season with a crowd in attendance. Some of my two-team w***** mates went off into town looking for the Liverpool team bus and players after their private jet landed at a local RAF base just after lunchtime. You know how I have said that recently I have tried to be less judgemental but, on this matter, I am not holding back. For crying out loud chaps I am not sure what you were expecting to see by hanging around outside a Marriott on the Lincoln waterfront, VVD sipping a caramel latte and Jurgen Klopp walking down past the Lincoln Odeon with a surgical mask on? Well if that was your goal then I hear some of you were successful in your quest! I am pressing send on this weeks edition to you all just before kick off and although the team that Liverpool have selected is a strong one I have a strange funny feeling that the Imps will keep this a lot closer than the Liverpool -2 ¼ line suggests. I have taken a piece of the Imps on the Asian Handicap line so fingers crossed by the time you read this I will have cashed. Whatever happens I know this Lincoln side under Michael Appleton will do the city proud! All the best, if you have any questions then please fire them over, have a great weekend and stay safe Jimmy Kempton Editor *All prices and statistics quoted, unless stated, are correct as of 7am Thursday 24th September* Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester United Manchester United – ¾ and 2 ½ goals Well I certainly got whacked at St James’ Park last Sunday when Brighton walked away with all three points thanks to a 3-0 victory on Tyneside.

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