IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER

There are exceptions to the stereotypical fleece wearing, middle class, middle aged folk who are drunk and do not give a crap what anyone else thinks about them

With Butcher it was psychotherapy but with Yogi it is just talking football twice a week.

Bradford City at home. But that will be a big incentive fer Halifax. Big earner fer both teams. Replay tomorrow night.

I could say ask me again after Saturday but he is still tinkering with systems and, on the whole IMHO, has learned from mistakes, at times has even had the guts to admit to that and now appears to be putting systems and selections to suit the opposition. I have been one of the more positive onlookers but I fel that he has actually surpassed my expectations. Many felt that the departure of the Grand Narcissist would lead to a mass player exodus. The fact that it clearly has not is the most positive feedback that could be afforded to the manager of a wee team in an isolated situation, an outfit well short of finances and with an unpredictable fan base.

EYES DOWN

JAMES Dean wants to land the knockout blow for Chorley when they play his former club Halifax Town in the FA Cup today, but the striker almost swapped a career scoring goals for one kicking people in the head when he was younger. A popular player amongst the supporters of both clubs, the 29-year-old has enjoyed the best spells of his career with the Shaymen and the Magpies.But as a teenager he almost gave up his footballing ambitions to pursue a promising career as a professional kickboxer. For two years Dean was playing part-time for Clitheroe, and had four successful fights as a kickboxer, before Conference side Northwich Victoria came calling, and he decided to swap the gloves for the boots. “I went down for a week’s trial and it went from there,” he said. “I had to choose between kickboxing and football and obviously the football paid a little bit better than the kickboxing, and you don’t get hurt as much.” Dean, who was born and still lives in the Accrington area, got into kickboxing when he was working as a lifeguard at Hyndburn Sports Centre, and he had fights in Stranraer, Coventry, Middlesbrough and Birmingham. “There was no money in it, I just did it for the enjoyment,” he added. “It’s not like it is now when the MMA comes into it and people are all doing that and it’s on the telly, kickboxing was just a hobby to keep you fit and look after yourself basically.” The decision to step down back into non-league has led to the most enjoyable time of his career. After a spell with Harrogate Town he went to FC Halifax, a reborn club after the previous incarnation had entered administration. Dean scored 83 times in 130 games for the Shaymen, and thrived playing in front of big crowds. “From Halifax the last six years of my career have been the best.” he said. “That was the moment I started enjoying my football, the crowds they used to get there were unbelievable. To experience it was amazing.” At Halifax Dean formed one third of a potent attacking trio alongside Jamie Vardy, who is now playing for Leicester City in the Premier League, and Lee Gregory, who is now playing for Millwall in the Championship. Garry Flitcroft gave me a call and said he wanted to sit down and speak with me to see if I was interested,” Dean said of his move to Victory Park. “As soon as I met him I sort of knew it was the right club for me. He said ‘I’ll make you love football again’. That’s all I needed to hear really.” Dean hit the ground running with the Magpies, and sees similarities between them and Halifax, and the crowds the two sides get. “As a player it sells itself if a manager comes up to you and says ‘listen, I want you to sign for this club, we’re getting five, six, seven hundred every week, a thousand’,” he said. “You’re going to go there rather than playing for another club where they might pay you twice as much but you’re playing in front of 200 fans. “You want to play in front of as many people as you can. It wasn’t about the money, it was about playing in front of a crowd.” Dean is convinced that Chorley, who are currently third in the Conference North, can eventually make the Football League, and he is loving life playing under Flitcroft, with Matt Jansen also a member of the backroom staff at Victory Park. “Their advice, just to sit down and talk to them and listen to some of the stories, and the advice that they give is unique, it’s second-to-none, you’ve just got to make sure you listen because it will help, they’ve been there, they’ve played against some of the best players in the world. “Janny still joins in training now, and he destroys everybody, he’s unbelievable. The gaffer tells him sometimes ‘pass the ball, pass the ball’, but he just takes everybody on and scores, it’s ‘right, come off, you’re not playing properly, let them have a chance’, it’s incredible.”

I think that he will adhere to the team that started yesterday. It is clear that playing the slowing down, tippy-tappy possession game at venues like Parkdread is tantamount to footballing suicide. There are enuff examples this season of how to play against Cellic away and to win. Having the option of Christie and Ibra on the bench is also a big bonus.

It could be too much for some individuals !!

James Dean

We really should not be scared of this as Cellic are dodgy at home if they do not score early doors. But Yogi has got the tactics ALL wrong on the last couple of visits. Butcher got it feckin right fer once. Play in the same manner as we did at Midden please. But more importantly - Who is going and where is the pre match watering hole ?

Guess who I am going to put down as first scorer next Saturday ?

But not starting at Parkdread ?

Goalless draw - but in the First Round proper draw. Never heard the crowd but must have been close to 3000.

What was the team and what was the crowd - may well have been more at Chorley !

Or he could be headed to Victory Park in Chorley to watch the game of the day ?

I think that Yogi shouldn't and will not tinker that much. I also do not think that Ibra is ready and fit enuff to play from the start. He would be better to keep on hold till the latter part. Mckay benefitted last week by being freed to run his socks off. Having said all that it is a tad worrying that there are not many (any?) other permutations. He could do worse playing Williams and Doran with Watkins supporting Billy.

What match ?

Jim Goodwin is clearly innocent as he would have never taken him from behind by surprise and would have left him in a far worse state. Mccluskey is clearly part of the Goalkeepers Union and nobody would have heard of him far less recognised him. Wilson clearly left his Mark and Paul gave him a Pat on his napper.

You are all being too kind - that is clearly outside the box and the sash wearing linesman has the perfect view. The Old Filth bias would appear to have no boundaries.

Where can I watch the Aberdeen game in Manhattan ??

It may be in his genes ?! He is only a young lad and he will learn from the experience. The first yellow was unlucky and was probably on the back of 2 previous niggles. The second was a rush of blood to the head. He barely touched the player but he did go in studs up. He has not exactly got the role models playing beside him though !! But - Nicky Ross / Aaron Doran - have oft been criticised for not getting stuck in so wee Ryan has dispelled that belief. Plus he is a winner and winners battle. And just another sign that you can overplay and over rely on youngsters. Learning any trade is about making mistakes.

Not sure about that unless he tries to play Billy in the hole. I would love to see Watkins in that role though. Ibra is a back up fer Billy methinks.

Well that is due to the Merger.

I have missed a couple of games this season trying to finish off reading posts by Caley D

I was quite impressed with Yogi tactically yesterday. Fer once it appeared that we had done our homework on the opposition and played accordingly. We started off with a 4-2-2-1-1 which I didn't feel that we changed until the sending off but the subs were well thought out and we went to a 4-4-1 eventually. However it looked to me that our back four were asked to play higher up the pitch than usual and Raven and Shinnie had also evidently been told to defend and they rarely foraged forward. Apart from two great crosses when Mckay was offside and Ibra scuffed it. None of the tippy tappy either - suited Warren and Meekings far better - and nice to see Brill and the defenders trying to feed Tansey, Christie, Watkins and Williams. The latter two to me were disappointing. Watkins appeared to drift aimlessly and I suspect that he was carrying a knock or took a knock. Williams was never in it and I would have preferred to see Doran starting. Christie played in the hole and should have scored. Wee Billy was his old self but I suspect that he was told from the off to put himself about as he was going to be eventually hooked. Good substitutions too - Ibra fer Mckay was a no brainer BUT Vincent for Watkins and Tremarco fer Williams were two shrewd moves. Vincent tucked in with Tansey and Draper, as did Shinnie. And both Shinnie and Vincent gave us an on the break option.