onionbagblog

Long live local journalism

Peter Shilton’s ‘hand of god’ shirt to be sold this year

Harry Hodge should buy it.

Councils lack resources to successfully deliver LTNs amid “culture wars”, study finds

The more I cycle, the militant I become. Chapeau!

“These are special days; occasions we have longed for, but I have this horrible feeling we are going to let them slip away without much of a fight if we aren’t careful. I think it’s why many ended up so dismayed and even angry, because these days on the continent aren’t something we are entitled to expect again anytime soon. Once this adventure is over, we don’t know when we will return.”

What the fucking hell was that, etc.

And so there’s a new Cafe Bleu SIX CD boxset out. Gosh. Outstanding though TSC debut is, I’m not sure that anyone needs six CD’s of Cafe Bleu. Sure, one CD is an early TSC live recording; another is made up of BBC sessions. Actually, I might just fork out…

It has the official Weller endorsement as well. 2026 seems like a good time to reflect on 1984, living under Cold War uncertainty and retreating to music to help get you through it all. Not a lot has changed.

Universal has been drip feeding some of the rarities from the Cafe Bleu deluxe over the past few weeks. It’s been more hit than miss, tbh. This was a pleasant surprise though, a Long Version of Paris Match. It’s very much in demo form, but still captures that essential Cafe Bleu cappuccino vibe.

There’s also been a mix up in the pressing of the vinyl and CD’s. It’s one for the obsessives, but The Whole Point from the album is actually now The Whole Point II, which was originally a b-side from 1985.

That Weller golden run from late ‘83 through to around late ‘85 produced so much richness and variety. You go from late Jam sounds that could still be heard on Speak Like a Child, all the way through to tipping his toe in the water of Transatlantic soul with some of the Our Fave Shop extras.

Much like now tbh, with his prolific run of albums every other summer. Quite a legacy he’s building up.

Kevin Holland’s Pig in Shit book. This was a weird one. I heard a snippet of a news story this week about a Copper called Kevin Holland. Blimey, surely not the Hobby Bobby of SE17 from around two decades ago? I thought he had retired and moved on? It turns out that the name Kevin Holland isn’t unique amongst the Met.

But anyway, it got me thinking about Hobby Bobby. He was a well known - and hugely popular - face around Champion Hill a quarter of a Century ago. We’re talking the days when you could have a conversation with a member of the Rabble whilst you were sitting up in the stand on the other side of the ground.

PC Kev use to stage various events around the Hamlet involving young school kids. It was the very early days of club and community engagement, before it even became a thing.

A Pig in Shit is his memoir of policing the Aylesbury. It was around this exact same time that I was first introduced to the Aylesbury and its many characters through work. In the twenty or so years that I spent working around Walworth, I always felt safer there than I did in the West End.

I’ve had a brief flick through the book. It looks like a real page turner with some interesting local stories. I’m not sure about the dodgy geezer on the front cover though who came to SE17 for one his first photoshoots.

London’s Wonderful Mosaics

Inoffensive, but not for me. I am open minded when it comes to music. I even played some George Michael the other day. But this isn’t part of my world. I recognise that it’s important for others. But sometimes I just want to listen to some dumb rock ‘n’ roll and wave my willy in the air.

⭐ ⭐

This was always Nuno’s fixture for me. When the draw was made back in September, Nuno’s eyes lit up when enthusing about Braga in his home country. Little did we know at the time that Nuno was well aware that he was unlikely to be the Forest Coach by the time the jolly to Portugal came around. September now seems like a lifetime ago in Forest world.

The team news dropped. It was more or less what I predicted in my head during my afternoon spa session. Honest. I needed a mind game to keep me awake and not start snoring in public. Savona would give Neco a rest, likewise for Morato with Murillo. This fixture was made for Yates I thought, as I drifted in and out of sleep. Seven hours later and Yates would be sleep walking to a European OG.

I also thought it was time to rehabilitate Luiz and Bakwa. McAtee I wasn’t so sure about. Ndoye was a case of needs must when it comes to how Forest have fucked up with forwards in recent weeks. Still, a half decent team, with the Big Guns on the bench, just in case.

The rain ahead of KO was a bit of a concern. For half an hour or so, Sir Colin of West Bridgford seemed convinced that the match would be called off. He even went as far as explaining that Friday afternoon behind closed doors at a different stadium was the fallback option. With Brentford away only two days later, I started my own rain dance in the kitchen.

Out came the players to have a shifty at the Portuguese rain-sodden pitch. Ooooh - blazers with the badge on. Nice. I’ve not seen Forest wear these since the European Glory Days forty five years ago. I’d pay good money for a dodgy eBay club blazer knock off. I’d never wear it, mind.

I fired up the Forest app just ahead of KO for the BBC Radio Nottingham commentary - you know, the one that I pay for. It sounded like Sir Colin was broadcasting from underneath some of the puddles. I unmuted TNT on the telly. It was a nice surprise to hear Fletch having another Forest European jolly, all in the name of paid employment.

I felt confident for the first fifteen minutes or so. Braga were poor, and offered nothing apart from an interesting architectural ground. Also offering nothing were Bakwa and McAtee. I don’t want to go all Dyche and call out individual players, but we ight as well have been out there with nine men. Of course it didn’t help that Dyche had effectively tarred and brushed them both in public after Wrexham away.

The Forest fans were magnificent throughout. I’ve watched visiting German or Spanish teams on the telly in recent years takeover Premier League grounds with their noise. I could only dream that this would be Forest one day. Sadly the show of support didn’t filter down to the players.

I was amazed to see the Wrexham Two hadn’t been hooked at HT. To be fair, they weren’t the only candidates who could have been pulled. It’s saying something that McAtee’s only contribution in a Forest shirt since arriving in September was to win a dodgy penalty away in Braga.

Don’t do your stupid skippy thing, Morgan. DON’T DO YOUR STUPID SKIPPY THING, MOGAN.

Oh shit. He’s done his stupid skippy thing.

Less than a minute later and we were a goal down with what was an horrendous OG. It had to be the Forest Skipper putting the ball through his own net in Europe. One of our own, etc. 5Live the following morning described it as a “grubby” goal. You get the idea.

This had Sabri at home to Stoke vibes all over it. Forest started the match in pole position, yet without any help from the opposition, they managed to find a non-existent banana skin in which to slip up.

On came the cavalry. They couldn’t help out, either. Anderson, CHO and Sangare weren’t bad, but they didn’t exactly help Forest to find the attacking flair that we know this team is capable of.

This was a disgraceful performance. It’s on par for me with the Boxing Day disaster at home to Doncaster in 2008. We booed them off at HT, we booed them back on again at the start of the second. SHOUT OUT to the drenched Forest fans in Braga that made their feelings heard to the players, as well as live on the telly.

Fletch tried to filter his disappointment. You could tell he was crushed as well. This was a performance that might just tip the Big Fat Greek into thinking about a fourth manager in one season. It sounds bat shit crazy, but the longer Dyche gets to coach these world class players, the worse they get.

Something has to change.

I do miss Nuno.

Fairport’s Liege and Lief. I thought I already had this tbh, but nope. The 1,001 Albums list threw this up earlier this week. I’ll have a bit of that, I thought. Fairport is a band that has always been around for me. There is a direct link going all the way back here to the much missed John Shaw and Here Be Dragons in the Fair City. They’re not exactly cutting edge, but they fit like a good pair of slippers. Sandy Denny is stunning on this album.

Sydney is not feeling too well today. But Syd is best when he’s a little bonkers. I’ve always loved Terrapin. The Marc and the Mambas cover is worth a listen. There’s obvious comparisons here with Bowie of the same period. Syd pours his heart out. It’s almost a Pink Floyd Unplugged - which sounds like a very bad trip, but somehow The Madcap pulls it off.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Oddcaste 268

Not a duff selection in the thirty minutes of song choices from Mr Mule. He’s getting rather good at this - but don’t tell him that I said that. And then by pure coincidence, after Mr Mule dropped a track from the Syd Barrett debut, the 1,001 Albums list served up the very same album for me this morning. Mr Mule works in mysterious ways.

“Over the past few months the Greens have seen a huge surge in membership. In Lambeth alone it has tripled to nearly 2,500. The challenge now is to harness that injection of energy and turn it into electoral gold.”

Having dissed Dave yesterday for his distaste for all things Greens, fair play for publishing a piece about doing the Green doorstepping thing in Lambeth.

““It’s big enough that we’re serious, but there’s still a local feel.”

Matt Forde on Forest, 2026.

Plus:

“It’s been a MAD season, even by Forest standards.”

Yep.

Tower Hamlets mayor acted unlawfully in attempted removal of LTN schemes

“At Lewes town council, the conversations we are having focus on how these changes could be an opportunity for the town. Sussex is one of the six counties on the government’s priority programme for establishing a combined authority. As the possibility of a more unified county structure edges closer, we are having to think imaginatively about the future. That means exploring how residents can lead discussions on creating truly community‑led and place‑based solutions to the most local issues.”

The Graun on local elections and possibilities

“Let’s talk briefly about the Greens”

Dave shows his true colours. As if we didn’t already know.

The €950 cycling glasses

And yep, they’re FUGLY. The cycling industry sometimes does itself no favours.

“There isn’t a reason for most things to exist… but there is for Sleaford Mods”

Tell It Like It Is