That Dirty Feeling

At around 10:00pm on Monday evening I felt really dirty, my skin crawled and I wanted to scratch.  I don’t think that even sharing a sleeping bag with a diseased tramp and the skankiest crack whore in Britain for a couple of hours could have made me feel worse.  I wanted to jump into the shower with a manly body gel and scrub my body with a rough exfoliating sponge (which all modern men should own) until my skin was pink.  Was I ill?  No, I had just spent 2 hours watching Sky’s Monday night Championship coverage of Leeds United versus Middlesbrough wanting Leeds to get a positive result.

Football fans are a funny lot, even watching a game as a neutral we generally want one team to win.  This may be the underdog, a team that has done your team a favour in the past or just one you admire.  There are more reasons not to like a team though.  There are natural city rivalries like in Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and London and just as intense local derbies like Burnley/Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth/Southampton.  There are also odd rivalries like between Crystal Palace and Brighton caused by some long distant slight.

There are also reasons to dislike a team just because you can.  This could be the nouveau riche like Chelsea or Manchester City or in case of the lower leagues any team that gets a disproportionately large cash injection.  It could be the ‘but we are a big club’ mantra, the haughtiness of Arsenal or the ‘we won the world cup for England’ West Ham United.  Lower league fans tend not to approve of MK Dons the ‘franchise team’.  It could also be down to individuals connected with clubs, such as any team managed by Tony Pulis, Sam Allardyce or Steve Evans.

Manchester United of course are loathed by many and Leeds United suffer from the Dirty Leeds tag of Don Revie’s 1970’s side.  To be fair I had a sneaky liking for the Leeds side of 2000 vintage that lived the dream and played sublime football at times.  Then they crashed and burned and blew it all by being in denial about their fate believing it was undeserved and they should really be in the Premier League.  They have then become a bit of a travesty and my personal view is that promotion will not come until they embrace their true position in the same way Manchester City and their fans did.

It was pure self interest that made me want Leeds United to win; Middlesbrough are close rivals of Hull City for promotion this season and it is very tight at the top.  So was it worth it?  Well Leeds played pretty decent and managed a goalless draw.  Then the following evening...

Hull City V Brighton & Hove Albion

It was perfect conditions, considering the rain which had caused many non-league postponements recently, for what should have been an entertaining top end of the table clash.  Sadly the game was rather niggley never really got going with few chances created.  Brighton had suffered a slump in form in recent weeks and looked to be set up not to lose and City lacked the guile to make a breakthrough.  Brighton did get the ball in the net but it was ruled out for offside.  The most exciting moment came at the death when Cluclas’ shot produced a fine save from  Stockdale who pushed it onto the bar.

This left Hull City at the top of the table two points ahead of Middlesborough who have played one game less.  Not a great result but I suppose at this stage of the season when games come thick and fast one point is better than a morale sapping defeat.

Hull

McGregor, Odubajo, Dawson, Davies, Robertson, Snodgrass (Akpom 72), Livermore, Huddlestone (Hayden 61), Clucas, Diamé (Elmohamady 82)Hernández

Substitutes: Meyler, Maguire, Jakupovic, Akpom, Hayden, Diomande, Elmohamady

Brighton

Stockdale, Bruno, Goldson, Dunk, Calderon, Knockaert (Skalak 86), Stephens, Sidwell, Kayal (Crofts 71), Murphy, Hemed (Baldock 71)

Substitutes: Mäenpää, Crofts, Baldock, Rosenior, Zamora, Lua Lua, Skalak

Referee: Andy Madley

Attendance: 17,321

The Half time dram this time was Old Pulteney 12yo.  This fine whisky is made in Wick and is the most Northerly distillery on the mainland and right on the coast.  It is a personal favourite of mine and was reasonably priced, though has become dearer of late, and it rarely disappoints.  This whisky really brings home the ‘taste o the sea’ and can have a real salty tang to it which makes a nice change from the heavily peated Islay or sherried Speyside whiskies.