Dear Diary...

This is my diary. How things are. Or something. Please note that the diary is archived month by month, so feel free to click the links for the archives (which now will go back five years maximum):

2026
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021


Saturday 5th September – Sent To Coventry

It was an early rise for me this morning and got myself ready to head up to Manchester. I was on the 0813 departure to Piccadilly in order to be there in good time for today’s Manchester City home game against Coventry City. Whilst some had thought it would be an easy win for us today and that many Fantasy League managers had triple captained Erling Haaland, I was not so sure. They had narrowly lost to Hull City last weekend and the opening game of the season against Arsenal was always going to be some form of a hiding to nothing when playing the defending champions. Therefore, I held the captain card close to the chest and did not play triple captain this time and hoped that Manchester City would win and not regret it.

Thankfully the train was on time today (and not subject to a day’s wait, see yesterday for context) and being on time did mean that The Love In My Heart very kindly came to collect me. We headed off to the local Tesco close by as we needed to get a couple of things for tea later and some coffee, which was thankfully on Clubcard price, so that was a good win. We had some breakfast later on, and Brian the cat was more than happy to get a fuss and a love from me and then sit by the window and watch the squirrel do his thing of running along the bushes and be on a search for anything that he had dug up and be ready to have an early lunch. Brian of course was on watch for this and he was very happy to be atop his pouffle and be a king on this throne. He was not for moving, let me tell you!

I headed over to the Etihad Stadium in good time and got some food and a drink and was all ready. Nico O’Reilly had injured his back in the warmup which meant that he had to drop out of the team and be replaced by new signing Enzo Fernandez on his debut. Iliman Ndiaye was already set to start too, so a very different line up in part, with Jeremy Doku still injured and Antoine Semenyo down the right – although I have to say I do prefer him central or left. The Coventry City fans were here in good numbers and the stadium attendance record was broken once again as the teams lined up for the kick off. Could my beloved blue shirted heroes make it three wins out of three and be top of the league?

Well, we did not start out convincingly at all. In fact, we almost conceded when Gianluigi Donnarumma let a back pass slip via his foot and he just about kicked it out before the ball had crossed the line – with the goal line technology not beeping to indicate anything. Thing is, he did similar against Arsenal last season with a disaster of a goal conceded, and he’s currently prone to too many mistakes like this – the sort that fans last season had vilified James Trafford for. In addition, Awoniyi had broken through and almost scored but shot wide, and we could have easily been 1-0 down within the first quarter of an hour – and would not have been undeserved either to be fair. We just needed to press on and get one good chance.

And after a couple of chances where Rayan Cherki had hit the post and Erling Haaland had forced a good save, we finally got a reward. Enzo Fernandez released Semenyo down the right, and his cross was perfect for Haaland to head it and smash it into the net for the opener. It was Haaland’s 300th goal in football by all accounts, and he went straight to Semenyo to thank him for the excellent cross, and certainly that did help. Haaland could have made it 2-0 before half time but the Coventry keeper pulled off an excellent save in a 1 v 1 situation and kept the score as it was. I was just relieved to be honest to be ahead, and may be a sign that the new signings may take time to gel into the team and be part of the setup that would be a stable one to win.

The second half was a little bit of pressing from City to get a second goal but to be honest we held on a little bit too much for my liking. Coventry did press forward and we had to thank a good save from Donnarumma to keep one shot out from close range, and a Marc Guehi defensive interception to stop another cross from coming in. Either way, it was tense and much more so than it needed to be , to be perfectly honest. However, as the time ticked past the 90 and into stoppage time, I felt we would have just done about enough to win, and it was a nervy one to say the least. Tune of the day is the classic 1972 anthem The Boys in Blue, because today they never give in, although it was a bit too close for comfort. Three points yes, but we will need to improve massively to play Porto in the Champions League during the week, that’s for sure!

Friday 4th September – A Day’s Wait

It was a busy day in the office today, but I was glad that I was able to use the time efficiently, chasing up those who needed to be with regards to legacy storage being used, and also have a number of team meetings in person with colleagues. I think too because Fridays are usually much quieter, we get more chance of getting a meeting room (understatement), and the transport getting in is also generally a lot quieter, so does not seem that much of a hardship to be able to get in and get home either. I was hoping there was a spare locker at work to put some stuff in and collect on Monday, but no dice, so I headed home first and dropped off what was needed to leave behind.

It was then on the train to London Victoria followed by the Victoria Line, which is always way too hot down there, over to Highbury and Islington station. I did of course have the right carriage so I could be at the right end for exiting out of the station, and with no football on at least, it was the usual Friday night crowd. That said, it is quite busy around there and with a gig on at Union Chapel and indeed a gig I was going to at Islington Assembly Hall, then I’d expect things to be busy in the pubs, and they were, but I managed to get a table and a seat, and have some food and a drink in comfortable enough surroundings, saving me the hassle of a takeout or anything like that. A bit more civilised too.

It was then the walk down to Islington Assembly Hall, and had the ticket scanned and was inside. It was the first gig I’d been to at this venue, and I think I’ve done around 35 different ones around London now (need to check my spreadsheet on this.) Only one of the two bars appeared to be open so did wonder if it was a full crowd tonight, and the bar prices were not cheap, £9 for a pint in some cases. I held out for a bit and then had the Guinness Zero for £6.25 but even that seemed a little steep to me. Granted, yes, it probably is Islington prices and all, but considering you’ve paid enough for the ticket already, it does make me wonder just how some venues can justify the expense. More need to take the lead of Holmfirth Picturedrome and Hebden Bridge Trades Club, where it’s a better drink experience all round.

On came the support act, Grace Calver. It was just her and the guitar tonight, and not the full band she sometimes has. I did get annoyed by those who just insisted on talking during her set – if you want to do nattering, head down the pub and come into the gig when you are ready to listen. I listened and quite liked her quirky indie pop tunes, which included one called Milk about a day going wrong and how that becomes something you forget to get along the way. Her recent single New Shirt also was aired too, which again was all wholesome, and biting remarks on the modern day dating and online world with the likes of Social Media Generation, So Last Season and Love Me Not. Definitely will be keeping ears open to how she gets on in future, and definitely the lyrics made me smile as we’ve all been there with some of those moments, right?

After a short break, on came Altered Images, with the band looking suitably gothic and dark. Clare Grogan had a really different outfit on, with the top layer covering the black mesh underneath, and she explained later that the outfits had been designed by someone she knew well, who had passed away as of late and wanted to wear them to celebrate her, which was a lovely thing. Clare did get emotional and so did some of the crowd too, which showed how much it meant. They had played the first song from the Happy Birthday album from 1981, which they were playing in full – and also in track order too. So this meant the intro and Love and Kisses had been played before Clare’s monologue, before then heading through Real Toys, Idols, Legionnaire (not difficult to get the words in that one), Faithless, and the superb Beckoning Strings, which really came across well. The band were tight and the same line-up I had seen during the Bite anniversary tour, so Mandy Clarke on bass being ace as per usual along with Gillian on guitars, Andrew on guitars – sadly I didn’t catch the drummer’s name but he was sound too.

With the first half of the album done, that of course meant the single version of Happy Birthday which had everyone bouncing around, before going back to the overall more darker goth tone that the album had, primarily due to Steve Severin’s production. Midnight was lovely, and A Day’s Wait also really hit home with its lengthy intro and then Clare bursting into life with the song. As much as I love that, the next track Leave Me Alone has long been a favourite of mine, and she actually nailed it perfectly, complete with the more desperate sounding of “Why don’t you care?” as the song goes on. Tune of the day without question, and certainly with that and then Insects as a real mood changer, they both were ace, and the little outro to Happy Birthday to complete the album in full. And yes, it sounded great.

After a brief pause Clare went off for an outfit change, a lovely all white sheer number with a white layer on top including flowing boa type arms, and she did the whole Sandie Shaw Barefoot Contessa thing on stage too. That of course allowed the band to do the extended intro to the twelve-inch mix of I Could Be Happy, which of course was really good. There were also lovely band versions of See Those Eyes, Love To Stay, Change of Heart (which Clare explained was big in Germany), Mascara Streakz, and naturally as she said herself, it should have been on the Happy Birthday album, so would have been remiss not to do Dead Pop Stars. Totally agree and having her blast out “Dead dead dead dead dead!!” at the end was just brilliant. There was even a version of The Slits’ version of I Heard It Through The Grapevine, and Clare also noted such female musicians such as Debbie Harry and Siouxsie Sioux. I must admit, I’d love Clare to give Happy House a go with her current live band! The set ended with Don’t Talk To Me About Love and was a lovely evening all told. If you get chance to see this tour, please do – you’ll enjoy it.