November Musings

Where has this year gone? I know we say that every year but this more than most has absolutely flown. To be put it into context, 2014 didn’t go fast. In fact, it dragged like you wouldn’t believe, but never a truer word spoken......time flies when you’re having fun.

So, with only 49 days left until Christmas (I googled that btw), it is time to get back into some blogging. And some serious blogging at that. Kicking things off, as usual, with some random sporting thoughts. And as always, don’t be shy in sharing your thoughts and opinions.

When I first felt obliged to write this blog, it was after reading an excerpt from Sir Alex Ferguson’s book Leading in which he named the Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only world class players he managed. Plenty was made about David Beckham not being mentioned in the list or Roy Keane. Becks’ reply was typical him – ‘I wasn’t world class’. You can debate him as a world class player all day long, but there’s no doubting he’s a world class operator. Personally, I would rate Beckham over Cantona myself.

October had a sad note in the passing of Howard Kendall, Everton’s greatest ever manager. I became an Evertonian because of him and the superb team he assembled in the mid-eighties. That midfield of Trevor Steven, Peter Reid, Paul Bracewell and Kevin Sheedy stands out to me as one of the most balanced midfields ever, and I have something of a random fetish for superbly balanced midfields. Others that stand out? The Leeds midfield from the early nineties of Strachan, Batty, McAllister, Speed. The Valencia midfield of 99-00 of Mendieta, Farinos, Gerard and Kily Gonzalez. Individually, you wouldn’t say any of them were world class, but as a unit constructed by canny managers, they formed a world class team, and credit to those managers – Kendall, Wilkinson and Cuper. RIP Howard.

It has been said that I like to attend one or two decent sporting events in my time. I can’t deny it. One sporting event which may not be that high profile but I would love to attend is the Invictus Games. They held it in London last year and the next one is planned for Florida next year and Australia in 2018. Fair play to Prince Harry for spearheading the campaign for it. Of course, it’s an easy win in terms of PR, but you never get the feeling that he is doing it for that reason. It’s on my ‘to do’ list!

Jose, Jose, Jose. I’m fascinated to see how this all plays out with him, but I felt it back when there was the special Eva Carneiro bust-up, it may be difficult for him to turn this one around. He really does not help himself. I suspect that incident more than the results, are the reason for him losing this dressing room.

On the Chelsea subject, little has been made of Juventus this season, but they too have endured a miserable start to the season, and their fall has arguably been greater given the fact they reached the Champions League final last season. They sit 10^th after scraping a late winner against local rivals Torino last weekend and their form is far from impressive. Chelsea are not the only big team to be struggling this season.

Speaking of under-performing stars, Sidney Crosby has had a ‘shocking’ start to the season with just 6 points in 12 games and 4 of those came in one game. Just how Cristiano Ronaldo had a dry spell for some 6-7 games without a goal at the start of the season, it happens. We’ve just been spoiled by their brilliance for so long, that these barren spells hit the headlines, but it’s only really about selling newspapers and creating some drama. Nothing to see here.

Going back to the Premier League, I am fully expecting a league win for Man City this year. United are still some way off from really challenging, while Arsenal will have sufficient slip ups for them to drop away. City on the other hand, have so much firepower and so many options, it is hard to see them slipping up as much as the others. They may still be a striker short, but I fully expect them to push on, and they may even go further in the Champions League this season than in recent years.

Now that I’m back in blogging mode, there’ll be the usual predictions blog at the turn of the year!

Bobby's Ten Commandments

I have been giving some thought to what we should all learn from 2011 and abide by for 2012. If you’re wondering why I am blogging about this now, it is because Christmas will be here before you know it.

They don’t all apply to me directly….some of them are things I have witnessed and experienced from others, but I am sure you can work it out for yourselves. There are some that can be considered as New Year resolutions, others that I should really apply now rather than wait until then.

Thou shalt:

1. Not lift yourself up out of my seat in an aeroplane by pulling the seat in front to raise myself - there's nothing worse than it happening to you when you are sleeping.

2. Not write stupid things on Facebook when your auntie, grandma, or anybody else you respect and respect you can read it. Especially relevant for juniors but adults are daft too. NB: This one is not for me!

3. Not waste as much food as we do. It is bad planning and caused by a lot of travel, but I need to be more resourceful.

4. Not shop as much at the big supermarkets and will support local producers more.

5. Not get my hair cut after six pints. In Manchester. In a non-English-speaking Japanese hairdressers. Have an inch taken off. And pay £17.

6. Not offer to help friends with their Fantasy Football draft if they cannot be online. Picking Peyton Manning was a genuine mistake….could have happened to anybody.

7. Not suffer from man-flu and be a drama queen whenever I get a cold this winter.

8. Directly do more for charity in 2012. Whether it is a sponsored run or something, I should do more and I will.

9. Not leave an Everton match early despite having to catch a flight or attend a party. They can wait, missing late goals and action is more important.

10. Continue to travel plenty but ensure that A. there is a gym in the hotels we book and B. when I take my running/gym gear, I actually work out instead of bringing it back clean.

11. Not to watch any more international friendlies – the players don’t care about them so why should i?

12. Not to come up with twelve commandments when I promise to only give ten.

A Stick Of Gum

Well we are in the second week of January and it is fair to say that Christmas is well and truly over. That may not be quite the case for some folks I know who have a couple more days of celebrating on the beach to go, but for most normal people, it is a distant memory now.

Our Christmas was excellent once we eventually got to Canada. Good times, with good food, good drink, and good friends and family. You cannot really ask for much more. It was a little short after the cancellations and delays, but HJ and I were just happy to have gotten there. That said, waking up on Christmas Day in a hotel was slightly surreal, but the fantastic free cooked breakfast made up for it.

Our return back to Switzerland was less eventful though there was one moment that sticks in my mind. We had to take a shuttle from Freeport to Halifax – a small minibus if you will – that squeezes around eight people including a driver in. The journey was smooth and pleasant apart from an hour in when the chap behind me found a piece of chewing gum in his pocket. I have mentioned before that I consider myself to be a relatively easy going fella, but somebody chewing gum in my ear is one of those things that will bug me until the cows come home. It is irrational in some ways though I have yet to meet somebody who loves the sound of gum being chewed in their ear lug. I well and truly hate it. With a passion. It got me randomly thinking about what annoys other people. If I chew gum in your ear, will that annoy you as much as it does me? And if not, what things really really annoy you?

Living abroad has many advantages but Christmas time is always a tricky and difficult situation, filled with highs, and then ultimately the final low. Going home is great, and means the world to most folks. Leaving is tough. Apart from the odd whinge about some attitudes in Switzerland, we are pretty lucky to have the lifestyle that we have. I notoriously hate saying goodbyes however. The worst ever was when my mum and dad dropped me off at Liverpool University back in September 1998, the first time I had ever lived away. The car pulled away as I marched off to my Halls of Residence with my note book and pen and as I turned back, Mum mouthed ‘I love you’ through the window. An absolute killer for me. It certainly gets easier the more I come and go, and it definitely makes seeing my family much more enjoyable when I do get to spend time with them all. But it is never easy and I feel for everybody who goes through it.

I deal with it by thinking of the next time I will see them. It comes as no surprise to anybody to see me online searching for flights, planning my next trip. It is not always possible to do, but if I can have that next trip in mind or booked, it makes the world of difference to know when I will see them again. I would recommend that to anybody to solve the early new year blues. Alternatively, if you cannot afford the flight or have the time to take off work, buy a pack of gum and hand it to the guy sat behind you on the bus, and you will feel a different emotion.

Christmas at the Estevas/Burnsies

Christmas should be a time to relax, to spend and enjoy with your family or friends, and the hustle and bustle of working life is forgotten for a short while. Go to any airport in the UK, and in fact, most across Europe right now, and that seems like a million miles away. On Saturday we flew from Geneva to Leeds, on Tuesday we fly from Heathrow to Halifax. It was not easy, five hour delay, but at the end of the day, we got there in one piece. Tuesday may not be so easy but we’ll give it our best shot and hope for the best.

There was a point in the airport on Saturday when they announced over the system – ‘We would like to announce that all flights to London are now cancelled’. If we were flying to London, I would have been gutted. It was tough to see so many disheartened faces who may not get home, or get to see loved ones. Pretty tough though it will be far worst later in the week, when there may not be alternative flights to jump on.

Even this morning, there are some 70% of flights cancelled from Heathrow…thankfully the flight to Halifax is scheduled to leave on time today so hopefully that will be the same tomorrow. There may be live updates on my FB and Twitter pages tomorrow, though I’ll keep the language fit for children even if the worst happens. I feel sorry for the airport staff – no win situation for them and some seriously unhappy faces to deal with. My vow for the next couple of travels is to be chirpy and smiley to all airport staff.

This Christmas, HJ and I are heading to Freeport, Nova Scotia to spend the holidays with HJ’s mum. Over the last five years, we have alternated between England and Canada for Christmas, and this time, we head to Freeport – the perfect location for a wind down and to spend good quality time with family and a few animals. We are both hugely looking forward to this one as always, and it will surely be another memorable one.

All we can do is hope that the snow comes back on Christmas Day. Everybody loves a white Christmas, but not while one has to travel or work. I am not quite sure still why the UK struggles so much to deal with a touch of snowfall although Greg Dyke made some very valid points on television. It is amazing how the snow and bad weather only ever hits the press when London is bombarded with snow. I find that particularly hilarious. The main point though was that it is virtually impossible to invest in ploughs and other major snow-shifting equipment when we have not had a great deal of snow in the last twenty years, and there are no guarantees it will continue. If we are going to have this every year, then fair enough, let’s do it, but tough to justify the costs for something so sporadic despite the disruption and chaos. I guess the question is, does the disruption cost more than the price of the equipment? That should be the determining factor.

Good luck to any folks travelling this Christmas!