Crap Match Report: Sunderland 0, Forest 5 (FIVE)

Woh. Where to start with this one? We were led to believe before KO that Sunderland’s Dutch ‘keeper Roefs was half decent. He wasn’t. Forest were relentless in the first half, and then shut up shop in the second. Jame Redknapp described this as “the performance of the season” over on Sky. For once I agree with what some of the mainstream talking heads come out with.

I lost track of the first half goals tbh. I tried to track them and keep pace with my BOOZE. Points, first pints later, yeah? But at 4-0 up at HT, there was never any real danger that Forest would mess up. It was more likely that my own BOOZE situation might create a little mess.

Finally we seem to have mastered the art of set pieces. It’s only taken four years in the PL to work this one out. MGW was magnificent once again. I can’t see how he can continue to be ignored when it comes to the World Cup squad selection.

The fifth and final goal for Anderson was a special moment. The Geordie boy scoring against Sunderland probably meant all the more to him than it did to the Forest fans. It was a touching moment after what has been tough personal patch for him.

You know something special is happening when the telly cameras focus in on the scoreboard in the ground, with 5-0 illuminated in bright LED. It’s a symbolic image of what has been achieved, without the expectation of such a battering. There’s an incredible stat that 20% of Forest’s PL goals this season have been scored in the past two matches. Yep, it’s been that kinda season.

Are we safe from relegation? The brains behind the OPTA super computer thingy seem to think so. Never trust an algorithm, Comrades. A lot will depend on the #lolspurs and West Ham results later this weekend. I can’t see either of them catching us if they fail to pick up three points. All focus can then turn towards Europe.

Links for 25-04-26

In too deep: Inside the messy, lucrative collapse of a lido empire

Cracking read on the collapse of Fusion, via The Londoner

“Indeed there are seven former Lambeth Labour councillors now sitting as MPs for the party: a number of alumni in the Commons matched only by Manchester city council, which covers double the population. That contingent, and the various other branches of the so-called “Lambeth mafia” that run through the Labour Party and trade union movement, will feel the council’s loss most sharply.”

Come the Glorious Day, Comrades. via, erm, The Times.

Coupons Can Wait, Justice Can’t

I had plans to cycle off to Lidl to cash in my Thursday Lidl app cheapo coupons. But the Estuary Wilds sun was bloody lush. It was too good an opportunity to resist a bicycle ride, on the Brompton, natch. Abandon Lidl! Let’s roll out along the lanes instead.

I managed to avoid rush-hour - although every hour seems to be rush-hour around these parts of late. Tenpenny Hill was fine. A dickhead then close-passed me on the approach towards Thorrington. Fast forward 24 hours later, and Essex Police had already put the driver on a course. Job’s a good ‘un.

Some pretty fierce crosswinds hit me as I ventured further out into the great unknown. Random Church bells were ringing - odd for mid-afternoon on a Thursday. They weren’t the Bells of Doom, either.

A decent ride. I even ended up at Lidl. You can take the man out of Lidl, etc. Chapeau!

And So Farewell Leicester City

And so farewell Leicester City. Piss off back to the old Third Division where you belong. Harsh? Yep. But you try living for a year or so in the City of Death and not coming out of the whole experience feeling slightly unhinged.

Leicester are a club that deserves to be relegated. Careful what you wish for, etc. At the end of the we always win, and all that. But the club itself has been a disgrace over the past three seasons or so.

I admit to being caught up in the PL winning love in team of a decade ago. You always like to see the underdog win. The 2015/16 team was a side that you couldn’t but help admire. Come back and have a conversation when you have won two European Cups though.

Since winning the FA Cup five years later, the club has had a shocker, on and off the pitch. Some pretty tragic personal circumstances didn’t help. But that’s no excuse for the mismanagement that followed.

The way the fans and players treated Steve Cooper was poor. It may not have been the wisest decision by Cooper to head off down the Fosse. But posing for photos with signs saying they miss their old manager wasn’t a classy look.

Then there was the PL PSR dodge. Suck it up, fellas. Forest had to in the PL. We managed to overcome this and survive. Some creative accountancy at Leicester allowed them to carry it down to the Championship.

The relegation from the Championship to the third tier is all the more sweeter, knowing that the delayed points deduction has pretty much finished them off.

And do farewell Leicester City. Shame about the Derby play-off push as well.

Album of the Day: My Morning Jacket - Okonokos

Live albums rarely work. I want to hear the music, not the whooping. Once the audience gets settled, My Morning Jacket have some cracking tunes. It sounds like the melodies however are cranked up for the live crowd. I would have preferred an unplugged format for this album. It worked for Nirvana - probably the best and only decent live album.

⭐ ⭐

Album of the Day: Slapstick - Slapstick

I never really got the whole ska punk thing. Slapstick does little to convince me otherwise. I love ska, I love punk. But only in their purest forms. You’re better off listening to Sandinista! from start to finish. So there

⭐ ⭐

Links for 22-04-26

“McSweeney may be gone from Downing Street, but Labour Together’s alumni remain ensconced in high office – Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Communities Secretary Steve Reed among them. Labour Together’s record of law-breaking, deception and harassment of critics and independent journalists is well-known.”

aka Made in Lambeth

via Morning Star

The Postman Delivers

A pair of LUSH Nike Air Max 1/97 Sean Wotherspoons. GEDDIN!

I’m not normally a sneaker head. But I couldn’t resist these. I first clocked them on a dude at the chemists whilst I was waiting for a prescription. I discreetly took a snap, and then Chat GPT filled me in with the details later.

I was hopeful of maybe £50 for a second hand pair. Multiply that by at least ten, and you’re in the right ball park figure.

OUCH.

But OF COURSE there’s no way I’m paying that. I did manage to source a pair at a fraction of the average selling price. The only downer is that the tread is pretty much fucked.

No worries. I’ve found an online company that can repair this for £50. Let’s see what comes back.

I probably won’t wear them. But that’s not the point, is it?

The Postman Delivers

Some more G Force goodness, all the way from the Fair City. I’ve been LUSTING over a G Force original gilet for some time now. I’ve only ever seen a couple of the BEAUTS from the old Hockley shop appear online.

I did win one on eBay last year. And then the dickhead seller pulled out, claiming that she had sold it elsewhere, minutes after she bumped up the price on Vinted.

Hey hoe.

But wait! What’s this? Mr G Force posed on Insta last week some pics of some of the new gilets as part of the Re-engineered range. Oh LOVELY. I’ll have a bit of that please.

The deal was done, and then this G Force 2026 style cashmere dropped in the post. It fits perfectly, and with good timing as well. Spring and early summer are made for gilets, right?

PONCE. And proud.