Traveblogue

The second Five Guys from the USA tour is in the books.  Last time - chronicled here, here and here - we spread out three games over 10 days and several towns.  This time was much more concentrated, with three games in five days, all spent in London.  Also, we were just Four Guys from the USA, as Don P bowed out in favor guarding his health for a trip to St. Johns.  

Arrival

The lineup - Michael, Charlie, Graham and Steve

We arrived Thursday morning and successfully navigated the various components of London's intricate train system to reach our Airbnb in the Camden section of the city.  This was a spacious old house with plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms.  This should have meant no controversy about room assignments like we had last time and yet somehow, Charlie ended up with a bedroom with no access to a bathroom on the same floor.  En suite is cool if its yours but not so much if you've got one of the other bedrooms.

With guidance, we were
perfect gentlemen

Our backyard was esssentially Regents Park, just a few blocks away.  The Tube stop was a five minute walk away and there were plenty of pubs.  The house came with its own three-legged fox.  Clever fellow - we all saw him at various times but we never could get a good picture. Possibly concerned that we wouldn't behave ourselves, the host left a big hint on the coffee table - see picture right.

Do, do, do, lookin' out our back door

The house wasn't ready when we got there so we dropped our luggage and headed off to The Sheephaven, a pub we saw on our way in.  Turns out it wasn't just any pub.  This was Celtic territory and wouldn't you know it, they were playing Rangers that day at 3 pm.  The Old Firm is one of the most enduring derbies in football as explained here.  Fortunately we got there early enough to get a table and enjoyed some pints and sandwiches.  We were quite jet-lagged at that point and there is a possibility that one or all of us nodded off at various times.

Yankees In London

Salon in Camden Town - No chance they can duplicate that hair

Friday was our touristy day with the main stop being the Churchill War Rooms, a sobering look at how the British government managed to operate during the WWII bombing by living underground.  The first of many fish and chips orders was consumed on the way back to the house.  We also discovered that the English are working on the duplicating Charlie's most valuable hair - see picture left.

Friday evening we reached our full complement as Simon and Annie arrived from Norwich.  Regular readers of the blog will remember Simon from previous posts, especially our last trip to London. Though he was a visitor here like us, Simon again proved the most awesomest host.  He outdid himself Friday night, shepherding us through the Underground to a fine French restaurant with live music and then picking up the tab.

 

Getting Serious

The full crew before kickoff

And finally it was time for football.  With Simon again at the helm, we made our way to Seven Sisters station and then did the mile walk up to the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (guess no one has bid high enough for naming rights yet?).  We walked through the gift shop, which is bigger than some NBA arenas and packed to rafters with Spurs stuff.  Which meant no purchases for me.  We were then off for food and drinks in the hospitality suite, which is really the plush space they use as the lockerroom when the NFL is in town.  Nice enough but agree with Annie that the food was a bit chi-chi; "where are the proper sausage rolls?" she asked.

Though not an outcast per se, I was in the unenviable position of being a Newcastle fan in the company of 60,000 Spurs fans.  Sure, there were about 5,000 from the Toon Army down to our right but they were in their designated space.  A quick goal from Solanke left me with a sinking feeling that this might be a tough day.  The Magpies responded well, first with a goal from Gordon (discussed below in the refereeing section) and then another from Isak (seen here).  I allowed myself a surreptitous fist pump for the first but did not react to the second.   

Newcastle players thank there supporters

Ange made some adjustments and Spurs made this a tense contest the rest of the way.  We had a great view of Maddison's miss from the left side that barely failed to curl in.  Spurs did have the better chances in the second half but Newcastle were pretty well-organized even under the pressure.  Though the xG disagrees (2.37 - 1.02 favor the Magpies), the match felt much closer than that and a draw would have been a fair result.

Hopefully, I was a graceful "winner" back in the hospitality suite for post game libations and food.  I offered to get Michael a beer and when I came back, he had eaten my sandwich.  Insisting it was an accident, he noted that in any case, he was willing to call it even.  

Cottagers All

Craven Cottage in classic London mist

We woke Sunday morning to a thin coating of snow that posed no threat to the 2 pm match at Fulham. Though we had been managing well on the Tube, the continued rain convinced us to take an Uber to Craven Cottage; this meant passing up a scenic walk from the station to the stadium along the Thames.  Though no where near the size and architectural wonder of Spurs Stadium, the Cottage has its own charm.  We had lunch and a beer in the new hospitality suite, looking out on the Boathouse Row of the Thames.

Late action at Craven Cottage

Fulham came out full of fire but couldn't find a goal much to the delight of the Ipswich supporters, who were probably louder than the home crowd.  The Tractor Boys picked off a scruffy goal late in the first half, seen here.  Second half was more of the same - Fulham mostly dominant but simply unable to get the ball in the net.  Finally, they got their break on penalty that Raul Jiminez neatly converted to level things.  In a classic let-down after a big goal, Fulham then conceded a PK of their own and Ipswich were back on top a mere two minutes later.  But in a trend that could spell relegation for Ipswich, they again conceded a goal in stoppage time on yet another PK that Jiminez did not miss.  This was the fourth time this season the Tractor Boys have conceded late, leading to six dropped points.  The xG was interesting - 2.29 to 1.46 favor Fulham; taking out the PKs it would be about .69 -66.  A riveting, if not high quality contest.  

We did get our walk along the Thames but it wasn't quite as scenic as we headed home in the early darkness of a London January.

Moving Down the English Football League Food Chain

Bare patches in the pitch - we're not in the EPL anymore

One more stop on the trip - to Loftus Road for Queen's Park Rangers vs Luton Town.  Accomodations weren't as grand as either Tottenham or Fulham.  Anyone over 5'3" (i.e. everyone in our group) would find the seating, shall we say, cramped.  That is not to say, however, that the atmosphere was any less special.  Not to take anything away from home Spurs or Fulham supporters, I thought the QPR fans were the most vocal and supportive of any we saw.  The match was a hard-fought 2-1 win for QPR.

This Week In Refereeing - Handling Part LXIII

Gonna be a little brutal here about the supposed controversial no handling call on Joelinton in the build-up to the Newcastle equalizer.  You can see the play here.  There are two situations in which this could be a handling infraction.  First, you could argue it was deliberate handling by Joelinton and the play should stop right there; that would be an incredibly harsh interpretation of the rule.  His arms weren't pinned to his side (which is hardly a natural position anyway) but neither was this an attempt to make himself bigger.  In short, they were in a natural position for someone moving on the soccer pitch.  The only other way this could be an infraction was if Joelinton himself was the goal scorer.  In fact, he didn't even get the assist on the play.

The lack of knowledge on this is staggering.  It is true that not that long ago, an accidental touch would have been called handling if it led to a goal scoring opportunity; however, that part was dropped in the IFAB Laws of the Game 2021/22 and now the accidental handball applies only to the goal scorer.  Casual fans may be excused here but coaches, players and pundits should know better.  Further, to those complaining that the rules should be altered to ensure goals like that are chalked off - WE TRIED IT YOUR WAY and enough people hated it that they changed it to the current language.  

More controversy on Sunday at Craven Cottage in the 27th minute when Fulham's Harry Wilson was pulled down by Ipswich's Leif Davis.  I couldn't find a good video of the play but ESPN explains it pretty well here.  Referee Bond, Darren Bond, showed Davis a yellow.  Real time, DOGSO crossed my mind but thought there may have been a covering defender.  The pictures are inconclusive, which is presumably what the VAR decided as well.  There is a second picture in the ESPN article that shows an Ipswich player in the vicinity quickly after the foul.  On the other hand, if the call on the pitch had been red, hard to think that would have been overruled either.

Rain Gray Town (apologies to The Byrds)

London showed us about everything in its weather repertoire but saved the worst for times when it didn't matter.  Other than a few walks to dinner in drizzle, we were fine.  The snow fell in the wee hours of the morning, the wind-driven rains came when we were under covered stands at Craven Cottage, and the coldest temps came when we were packed into the tiny stands at Loftus Road.  I can report that neither Michael nor I donned our Elmer Fudd hats in London - mostly because it was cold enough that we needed the wool caps.  

"Congestion" Fee

A contentious point from the last trip was a ticket issued in Michael's name for driving in London during a peak period without a permit.  Michael gracefully paid it and never asked for reimbursement from the rest of us, a fact which he never fails to point out to us.  He got his revenge this week, as we all paid a congestion fee with Michael constantly hacking as he recovered from a heavy cold.

Only Three Returned

Graham sends his regards from Wales

The plane touched down in Philly on Tuesday afternoon carrying only me, Michael and Charlie. Don't worry about Graham though; he extended his trip to explore family roots in Wales and Ireland.  I believe his schedule called for a stop in Wrexham.

Carabao Cup Footnote

I arrived home at about 2:30 pm on Tuesday and by 3 pm was watching the Arsenal - Newcastle Caraboa Cup semi-final - with Laura's permission I might add.  The Magpies will take a 2-0 back to Saint James' Park for the second leg in four weeks.  Michael was almost as happy with Spurs' 1-0 first leg result against Liverpool; slightly more work to do there as the second leg will be at Anfield.

FA Cup Weekend

This weekend is the 3rd round of the FA Cup, which means the EPL and Championship division sides enter the competition.  If you want a refresher on the FA Cup, check out this old BFS post.  

A few matches are already in the books and there are a couple on Friday (see Aston Villa vs West Ham at 3 pm).  Saturday has a full schedule running from 7 am to 1 pm and there's a bunch more on Sunday.  The round concludes on Monday at 2:45 pm with Millwall vs Dag & Red. [Actually with three matches on Tuesday - who's editing this thing?] 

Newcastle have Bromley (League Two) at home on Sunday at 10 am.  Look for a heavily rotated line up for that one.  The quaint practice of not seeding teams means we can have Arsenal - Man United in the third round (that's also 10 am on Sunday).  Meanwhile, Tottenham get Tamworth FC from the fifth tier.  Ah yes, all part of the charm.

[Also, no mention of Matchweek 21 covering Tuesday - Thursday?  We will blame jet lag.]