I have no skin in this particular game, but I do increasingly think that the large amount of randomness/luck/capriciousness in football means that many different narratives are possible in most situations.
UK civil servant (so no politics), MAT and @RSPH.bsky.social trustee, classical music, #LCFC š¦, #FPL, Englandā½ļøš, walks, photos (+Alt), words; husband, father, generally curious https://substack.com/@jembenson š Leicestershire, UK.
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I have no skin in this particular game, but I do increasingly think that the large amount of randomness/luck/capriciousness in football means that many different narratives are possible in most situations.
Third arrival today: Aaron Ramsey Makes Leicester City Loan Move #LCFC š¦š
Leicester City Secure Jordan James Loan From Stade Rennais. #LCFC š¦š
Your regular reminder that the transfer window deadlines relates to deals not announcementsā¦
If you look hard thereās a little asterisk and a footnote that says āoption to buy so if heās good it could be a lot longer than thatā
Striker JuliĆ”n Carranza Joins Leicester City On Loan #LCFC š¦š
Having bought no new outfield players so far this transfer window, #LCFC could apparently bring in up to five new players on deadline day. š¤
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1.9.15 Nathan Dyer signed on loan from Swansea to complete what seems like a great transfer window. #LCFC #Impossible10YearsOn
First time I heard it was at a Prom, which was the only time I have genuinely LOLād at a classical concert.
Do you know DohnĆ”nyiās Variations on a Nursery Tune?
Glory hunters all š¤£
Indeed it would.
I used to walk to work via Green Park and the Mall in those days. The number of flowers left there over the following few days was staggering.
The light of your life?
Late drizzly stroll. The sky wears a pale grey veil, which covers deep grey hints. Cars carefully follow pairs of vertical light-lines travelling beneath them in the shiny road. A fridge waiting on a drive turns its back to me enigmatically. A tree silhouettes darkly.
We used to sing that too š¢ #LCFC
Did you post that before or after they equalisedā¦?
They didnāt score a first, tbf.
āā¦and then make it so they have to rely on their opponents to score for themā¦ā #EPL-Live
Or, in the case of Leicester and RvN last season, a change to no discernible style at allā¦
Leicester in the first half of the 2023-24 season were utterly dominant in the Championship (though we tailed off badly in the 2nd half of the season) - we had the best squad in the division but he got them playing cohesively in a completely new style with only a few weeks of pre-season. #EFL-Live
One of the best games Iāve been to for a long time (tbf not much competition recently)
File in the metaphors drawer under āominous clouds over the King Powerā. #LCFC
Giuseppe had an enjoyably well-oiled night last night and would really have appreciated not being woken this early.
Coming soon on BBC1: Rob Brydon takes a group of contestants round Europe in a coach without windows, in search of Aliceās parcel.
What a win that was! Made Birmingham look like a newly promoted team slightly out of their depthā¦ Bilal who? š¤£ #LCFC š¦š
Thanks Chris!
No plans to start doing politics or work on here, because that wouldnāt add to the sum of human happiness, though I remain personally & professionally interested in Government. So go elsewhere for hot takes on the issues of the day, & stay here for the usual random silliness & football partisanshipā¦
Rare work-related post: after 30 years as a civil servant Iāll soon hang up my bowler hat and take on a new role as a senior adviser @aqaeducation.bsky.social. Excited for whatās to come, but sad to say goodbye to many great civil service colleagues and friends, and the only career Iāve ever known.
(I wish I had written at the time āI wonder if Vardy will go on a scoring run nowā, but I didnāt.)
29.8.15 drew 1-1 with Bournemouth away. I was listening on the radio on holiday at Weston-super-Mare, literally on the beach. A late penalty from Vardy, and we are now third behind Man City & Palace, who beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (Liverpool lost at home to West Ham). #LCFC #Impossible10YearsOn
Matchday. Back to the KP tonight for a match against Birmingham City, newly promoted but a punditsā favourite. Iād be very happy with another ground-out win to get some more points on the board before the window closes and Marti sees what heās got to work with for the next few months. #LCFC
#FingerpostFriday
Researching this, my mind was blown about how complex composing a symphony is. May be of interest.
(Iām really hoping that someone with the surname āYoungestā gives the definitive response to this exchange)
We sacked a manager today if that helps?
Late stroll. A darksponge is soaking light from the air, leaving raingloomy sky. First crowds of leaves gather autumnally on the path. The yelloworangered sun droops beneath the cloud & gazes at me walking down the hill. The clattery rattle of two passing peopletrains.
I donāt know whether Jon Rudkinās role includes the womenās team. I think thereās a new Director of Football for the women. Either way itās not a good look.
Two āsolved-in-oneās is quite impressive!
Looks like they want to appoint Matt Beard. Not a good way to do business though.
#AdoorableThursday
As a non-Man Utd fan, I endorse this post.
Man Utd lost the 2021 Europa League final to Villarreal by almost as many penalties (11-10).
The Seagull follows the trawler something something
šš
Perhaps they need to sack all the players rather than the manager?
I donāt particularly mind which ābigā team is flailing helplessly but if it wasnāt Man Utd Iād want another club to laugh atā¦
Late stroll. Thin low clouds mill aimlessly in the setting sky. Trails of snails move house just across the path. A hedge sparkles with rain-memories in streetlight. The pavement proudly shows off its shiny new surface. A weed by the path is as tall as me, but weedier.
This is out of the blue, and seems late - and harsh. #LCFC
#WindowsonWednesday
Late stroll. The half-moon relaxes into a bed of evening cloud. A fallen stick arches its back and howls angrily. The lookout pigeon sees me and raises an alarm, allowing a feathery scarpering from whatever nefarious pigeons do. A line of bollards: attentive road-sentries.
So youāre not āappy then?
I wonder if twice being in international headlines in the 2010s raised awareness of its quirky pronunciation?
My point was you might be rightā¦ š
Happy birthday! May your day be a serenade to musicā¦ š š¶
Leicester doesnāt easily take offenceā¦
Ten years ago some people were making similar jokes about Leicester.
This beautiful forest is not what it seems. It's a quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) in Utah, nicknamed Pando. It may *look* like a mass of 47,000 aspens, but itās actually a clonal organism, connected by a root system over 42.8 ha./106 acres. But this is not the wildest thing. 1/ š·: J Zapell
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Late stroll. A joggerās elbows are thumping pistons, and his fluffy facemask turns out to be an elegant beard. Sunlight flows down the bank onto the path. My head-shadow bounces on top of the wall-shadow. An articulated lorry reverses into a bay, in defiance of physics.
There is plenty of life yet in the genre of slightly snide and (for a neutral) entertaining critiques of Manchester Unitedās performances and general dysfunctionality.
Or maybe JRR Tolkien had a little-known career as a mapmaker?
And hereās the church at Yardley Hastings, simply so that I can note that it is in south-east West Northamptonshire.
Four old churches enjoying the bank holiday sunshine.
A āboathouseā is a type of house. A āhouseboatā is a type of boat. This is a common pattern in English. The first noun MODIFIES the second word. The second noun is what it IS. š§µā¬ļø
Look after him - heās a good lad (& for a time before he started getting injured was one of the best full-backs in the league). We bought him from Luton in 2019 & he soon went back to Kenilworth Rd in the cup & scored against his former team, where the home fans cheered him anyway. That says a lot.
I admire your optimism.
25.8.15 with a completely different XI from Saturday, we beat Bury 4-1 away in the first round of the league cup. A lad called Joe Dodoo who I'd never even heard of got a hat trick on his debut. #LCFC #Impossible10YearsOn
His Candide with the LSO will do as an answer to both questions!
Maybe we should have one or two incomings before we sell any more players? #LCFC
This is the street I lived on until the age of three. Do not recall any balloon landings.
Late stroll. I ponder the underside of the white cloud bridges built to cross the sky. A tree throws up its branches in mock horror. That sunflower convention has ended badly, judging by all that studious ignoring. A train wearily, grindingly sets off down to London.
Canāt decide whether or not it would be better if he was allowed to post his reactions here at the same time.
I think that *was* the invention of cricketā¦
But apart from that you enjoyed itā¦? š
There must be material in the replies here for at least one (admittedly somewhat niche) @footballcliches.bsky.social podcast.
TIL about the C18th racehorse called Potoooooooo.
āPeople watch as the church slowly navigates a tight corner.ā
24.8.15 Arsenal and Liverpool ground out a goalless draw so after completion of week 3 matches, we're still second in the table behind Manchester City, level on points with Liverpool and Manchester United and ahead on goal difference. #LCFC #Impossible10YearsOn
āI wouldnāt say I was the best conductor in the business, but I was in the top oneā.
Some thoughts along these lines here, which may be of interest.
āSo what do you think the conductor will be saying to them at the interval?ā āMore of the same, I think - they just need to keep doing what theyāre doing, and keep the concentration up. In particular theyāve got to be ready for the Adagietto when they get to it.ā
Looking forward to hearing Robert Plane and the Goethe Quartet, and music by composer-in-residence Eleanor Alberga, at the Presteigne Festival this afternoon.
I managed a rather pleasing symmetry! Wordle 1,526 3/6 ā¬ā¬š©ā¬ā¬ ā¬šØšØšØā¬ š©š©š©š©š©
Congratulations @georgevass.bsky.social!
This, on the anniversary of the founding of the Tudor dynasty, is fun. I got *mumbles indistinctly* (including, I confess, 15).
#FingerpostFriday The Hague
The Battle of Bosworth Field took place #OTD 540 years ago. Richard III was killed & ended up under a carpark, & the first Tudor king, Henry VII, was crowned. I donāt think itās controversial to say it was one of the most consequential battles in English history, culturally as well as politically.
22.8.15 drew 1-1 with Spurs. First dropped points of season, but still ended day top of PL. Spurs unimpressive; lots of possession but did little with it. Mahrez has twice as many goals as Man Utd. Hot; much hilarity over pic of Drinkwater drinking water in drinks break. #LCFC #Impossible10YearsOn
22.8.15 drew 1-1 with Spurs. First dropped points of season, but still ended day top of PL. Spurs unimpressive; lots of possession but did little with it. Mahrez has twice as many goals as Man Utd. Hot; much hilarity over pic of Drinkwater drinking water in drinks break. #LCFC #Impossible10YearsOn
2
Hildegard of Bingen definitively did not have a clean phone screen.
