Welcome to Issue 276 of Red All Over The Land.
Not going too badly is it? The result at Old Trafford left me shaking because I don’t know how good this team might actually be. However, we can’t just bathe in the glory of that day because the games are coming thick and fast and we hardly get time to enjoy one result because another game is around the corner and we’ll only be as good as our last one. As will Everton and Manchester United.
We still have problems on the injury front because at the moment we seem to have another midfield player injured and if we have any concerns, that has to be the main one. Naby Keita has started to look like the player we were told he was but then he gets savaged by Paul Pogba. Thiago Alcântara seems to be out more than in; Fab picks up an injury and James Milner has probably been overplayed considering his age. Harvey Elliott getting injured at Leeds seems so long ago now and we all hope he’s doing well on the long road back.
We also had to contend with the farcical situation of players being forced to play games in high risk Covid countries and the Three Stooges – The Premier League, The FA and The Government, not to mention BT did sweet FA to help unlike in other counties where teams could cancel fixtures due to players being ‘Isolated’ or whatever term was being used.
There’s a lot of things affecting this Fanzine at the moment and we’re powerless to do anything about them. All those away games being one but the biggest is NFC. Outside the Kop being swamped with fans queuing to get in is simply a pain in the arse for those of us trying to sell the Fanzine. When the situation will return to something akin to normal is anybody’s guess but in the meantime it’s a case of the Fanzine trying to survive. I was hoping to cover NFC in more detail but I’m still waiting for responses from various groups so maybe in the next one?
This Issue hasn’t been easy to put together either but that’s because of the amount of content received. To say I was overwhelmed with articles would be an understatement, so much so the next Issue will be out after the end of the next International break and this Issue will only be on sale at the games against Brighton and Atlético Madrid. If you sent something in and I haven’t included it, it should be in Issue 277 which will also celebrate the 26th Anniversary of the first Issue. Time flies!
I’ve changed a few things in the Fanzine as well because of the new content, hopefully it all makes sense as you read through it.
Sadly, we lost a genuine Liverpool legend, the great Roger Hunt. Those of us fortunate to see ‘Sir’ Roger in action will know just how great a player he was. We have an extended tribute in this Issue and they will continue into the next.
As the situation surrounding Newcastle United shows, football in the Millennium is about money and more money. Roger Hunt played in an era when football was a game and the money was secondary. Where did it go wrong? Ah, TV maybe?
JJP They say there are Seven Wonders in the world but they don’t include Mo Salah.