Roderick Returns

Rodericks Return

Was he really our gaffer

Did he manage a game?

Not quite Arthur Laffer

In a time tinged with shame.

For a quote always willin’

The king of the cheese

A pantomime villain

Amongst the Maltese

He revels on banter

And snakes in the grass

A kind of enchanter

Neck of solid brass

Ever stylish and dapper

You can’t put him down

Be a booer or clapper

Roderick’s back in town

This coming Friday sees the return of Roderick "Shoddy" Collins to Turners Cross.

He was manager of Cork City between December 2009 and February 2010, a somewhat ill fated time for our club, he never managed us in a competitive game.

Arthur Laffer was US Economist who served on Ronald  Reagans Economic Policy Advisory Board between 1981 and 1989 and is best known for the Laffer curve.
This is an illustration of tax elasticity which asserts that, in certain situations, a decrease in tax rates could result in an increase in tax revenues.

His surname also rhymes very well with gaffer.

Time For Relection

Time For Reflection

Milestone birthday this week

Not fresh faced nor meek

Not a second thought given.

Cos life is for livin’

Sunday last, time of crunch

QFT, out for lunch

I just tried to forget

For the fear of upset

I had no need to worry

Texts came in a flurry

Suarez twinkle toes

Befuddled our foes

Nanis head precision

Dirks second incision

Edwins further spillage

Completed the pillage

It doth make you reflect

 Reassess, recollect

Takes me back to the day

When my hair wasn’t grey

My earliest joy

As a six year old boy

Beat United in style

Went to bed with a smile.

My earliest memory of watching Liverpool is a 3-1 win over Manchester United on the 25^th of February 1978 when as a six year old I was allowed stay up for Match of the Day.

This weeks milestone birthday has made me reflect on lots of things and last Sunday brought me right back to that day in 1978 when Souness' first goal for the club, Ray Kennedy and Jimmy Case scored the goals that defeated the old enemy.

QFT = Quality Family Time.

A New Start

A New Start

As the buds of this season
They grow and they sprout
I have a worrying affliction
That I’m worried about

I never used to care for d’Elections
Tallies and votes left me numb
But this car crash TV predilection
Made my visual interest succumb

Now that it’s all done and dusted
A new dawn that may bring an upturn
Some new TDs can be trusted
While others our stomachs still turn

Block A this Friday, football consumed
My one focus Cork City FC
For Wexford and City, service resumed
Both clubs with their own new TD

Last Fridays general election  had me strangely attracted to the coverage.

I think it was allure of Fianna Fáil getting their come uppance for luring the country into such an awful state.

The new season starts tonight and we play Wexford Youths at home, both clubs have brand new representation in the Dáil.

Wexfords chairman Mick Wallace was voted in as an independent candidate in Wexford and Jonathan O'Brien a member of Cork Citys board was also elected in Cork.

This poem will appear in tonights Cork City FC match programme.

Let the season commence.

Spanish Archer

Go on, give us a kiss!

Spanish Archer

Vile Spanish Archer

No early departure

McCarthy lad tough

No rolling round stuff

A vicious attack

Deliberate whack

Red card did Mark render?

Laugh and joke with offender

Awardance of a free?

Visual periphery?

Accidental presumption?

Shows negative gumption

Why not be consistent

Consult your assistant

Failing that above all

Check your crystal ball

Very comfortable win

Made by heinous sin

No justice, just shame

By the refs guessing game

A bad mistake or a cunning plot?

For a league two game at Aldershot

 Three match ban escaped, a fraud

FIFAs rule book sadly flawed

An awful mistake by Mark Clattenburg lets Rooney away with an elbow on James McCarthy.

It is quite clear from the TV pictures that the referee had his eyes rightly on the ball and not on the "coming together" of Rooney and McCarthy so I thought that if the referee didn't see the offence then he couldn't give a free but he claims he saw the incident and took the appropriate action.

Surely any referee worth his salt, having seen a player purposely elbow another player would have branded a red card?
This can only mean that Clattenburg saw it in his peripheral vision and basically took a guess which has backfired on him horribly. Why didn't he consult his officials?

If the perceived foul had happened in the box would Mr Clattenburg have assumed a penalty?

Maybe he'd have asked the eight ball.

The greatest striker i've ever seen

The Real Ronaldo

Ronaldo Luiz Nazario da Lima

The greatest striker I’ve ever seen? Yeah!

King of the nutmeg with pace and finesse

Completely unplayable, defenders oppressed

Most of his goals they were only sublime

I bought his Brazil shirt Ronaldos R-nine

He wore a goofy grin and a cheeky smile

Whether crowd was friendly or hostile

The lad he had everything in his bag of tricks

All he was short was some ortho-don-tics

Horrendous injuries, so hard to handle

Some of his hairstyles were more of a scandal

Loved a big party, not ever a pooper

Resplendent with models that were only super

Like myself partial to putting on weight

Size didn’t hamper his goal per game rate

Four hundred and twenty goals he did score

A goal every game and a half, now no more

Seen wonderful strikers but I cannot be clearer

Ronaldo, the greatest of this modern era

I would have to say this lad was the greatest I have ever seen, always loved to watch him play. He has scored more goals in World Cup finals than anyone else despite his career being littered with horrific injuries.

Just look at the stats, magnificent.

Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1993	Cruzeiro	14	(12)
1994–1996	PSV	46	(42)
1996–1997	Barcelona	37	(34)
1997–2002	Inter Milan	68	(49)
2002–2007	Real Madrid	127	(83)
2007–2008	AC Milan	20	(9)
2009–2011	Corinthians	31	(18)

1994–2006	Brazil	97	(62)

Adeus El Fenomeno.

This week i'll be mostly listening to...

Belfast band Cashier No 9 and their new single Goldstar
lovely little tune.



and The Go! Team and their new single Buy Nothing Day.

Can you hear the Drums?

Can you hear the Drums?

Revered and adored

Listless and bored

Hodgson to the sword

Form now restored

Sudden form upturn

King Kennys return?

Or agent head turn

Latter, I’d discern

Nicknamed the kid

Came from Madrid

£35 million quid?

Insulting first bid

Your Interest expressed

Spent Friday depressed

Void of all zest

Then transfer request

Liverpool spurned

For London you yearned

No 9 jersey burned        

50 million we learned

Oligarchic financer

Wages enhancer

Agents the cancer

What is the answer?

Your colour now blue

Get a lion tattoo

Decorum undue

Have a careful debut