Sunderland’s winning goal on Saturday was awarded by the referee despite the match ball colliding with a beach ball, introduced to the field of play by a Liverpool supporter…..keep your head down for a couple of days young man.
And if getting sacked by Tranmere Rovers on October 9th was bad news for John Barnes then how did he feel when he filed for bankruptcy only five days later?
My advice John, is to use the well crafted approach displayed by former home secretary Jacqui Smith. She ‘got away with it’ by making a brief apology to MPs after she was criticised by a Commons committee for using the second home allowance to fund her family home.
She also apologised "unreservedly" for wrongly claiming for the cost of films watched at her family address, including two pornographic films seen by her husband.
Although I have to say I’m still not convinced by her defence that the parliamentary system approves of her action. In fact I would like to know where she keeps her collection of Redditch United FC programmes. The Reds are not having a great season in the Blue Square North, in fact they look a good bet for ‘the drop’…..……but if Jacqui keeps her collection, that no doubt dates back to 1891/2, in her London ‘box room’ then she is truly ‘innocent’.
October 9th wasn’t a great day for League managers. As Peter Taylor joined John Barnes in the ranks of the unemployed, when he parted company with Wycombe Wanderers.
But did we care at Aldershot Town?
No, certainly not on the following day when the Shots climbed to 6th place in League 2, following a 4v1 home win over Morecambe.
But then it happened……Gary Waddock resigned.
Despite the news coming as a bit of a shock I'm not so sure it will prove to be Gary's best ever career move. At the age of 47 he certainly can't be considered a 'good young manager'- 36 year old Roberto Martinez, Wigan Athletic, is a 'good young manager'. No, Gary is almost the same age as Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez, and his future doesn't look too good at the moment.
A few weeks ago I was approached by a Shots fan who wanted to share her feelings about our Club with a much wider audience than just husband and son.
Waddock’s move to Wycombe Wanderers, accompanied by the loss of coach, Martin Kuhl inspired Victoria Rogers to write the following……
‘Gary has gone…..yes, he’s gone to Wycombe…’
Music has always been the background to my life. The many years of LP, cassette and CD purchasing has left me with a huge selection of popular songs that suit just about every occasion. But when I feel the need to start listening to the melancholic musings of The Verve, I know that something is not quite right in my life.
And so it was when I got into my car, on Wednesday October 14th 2009, and realised that only the words of ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ and ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’ were going to match my mood.
But why was this?
Simple.
Because Tuesday had been an angst-filled, tension-filled, frustration-filled and ultimately, a sadness-filled day. A day when it became slowly and inevitably apparent that, manager, Gary Waddock was going to leave Aldershot Town - after only two years in charge. Yes, he was going to leave at a time when our form and league position could not be better. Well, perhaps our defence could tighten up a little bit.
The bad news had started to surface on Monday when various postings on the Shotsweb message board suggested that Gary might be moving on to Wycombe Wanderers, to replace their recently-sacked manager, Peter Taylor.
With no formal announcement by the end of that day we were all hopeful that it was, just a rumour.
Sadly though, when I ‘logged on’ to Shotsweb on Tuesday lunchtime, things were really hurrying on at a considerable pace. Oh how I wanted to read that it was no more than a cruel hoax. But there they were. Posts supporting the ‘fact’ that Gary was to leave – and from people in whose opinions I had trust.
From then on it was no more than a long and anxious afternoon, waiting for the inevitable. And it duly arrived, early evening, in the form of a text message from the Aldershot Town Shotsonline service.
Will I always remember where I was at 7.16pm on October 13th?
Possibly not. This wasn’t a death, birth or marriage.
But as my phone squawked into life a feeling of relief flowed through my veins as the pain of uncertainty was over. I relayed the information of Messrs Waddock and Kuhl’s departure to my Shots-supporting husband and son. Then, in a family show of solidarity, we gathered around the computer and listened to Gary’s final interview with Graham Brookland on ‘Shotsonline’.
The rest of the evening was spent in various states of emotion. We tried the ‘elephant in the room’ approach, where we tried not to talk about it- but this just led to long periods of silence. Then we tried discussing it, so that we could perhaps rationalise the events - this was not madly successful either as there was quite a lot of distress, frustration, disappointment and anger pretty close to the surface.
Yes, we were all Shots fans, so nobody could to tell us that it didn’t matter, ‘it’s only a game’…
However, night follows day and day follows night. And here I am just 24 hours after the event, searching out my Verve albums. For now it does all seem like a ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ and a bit of time may need to pass before I wish that Gary Waddock is a ‘Lucky Man’.
I will move on though. No doubt as we all will. But just for a while, and as I start my recovery process, I will wrap myself up with the sounds of a band who at times sound even more down than I am at the moment.
But then they are from Wigan.
‘Gary has gone….yes, he’s gone to Wycombe’.
-Victoria Rogers, October 14th 2009
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