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View from the cemetery - September 2016

Submitted by Ghostly Gadgie on Friday, 2 September 2016

So the first competitive Ryhope derby ends in a draw. Probably just as well, wouldn’t want the chip shop set alight again and blood running in the streets would we? That 130 strong bunch of the local elderly can be deceptively volatile. We can all breathe again until Boxing Day or thereabouts. Though hopefully not Boxing Day itself, I will have train sets and computer games that need sorting.

As I write the big boys transfer window is coming to an hysterical climax, and very entertaining it is. How many players costing £10 million or more will prove to be complete flops? At least half I reckon, given past performance, with a good few failing to play at all. Who is the new Mido? That's what I want to know. Christian Benteke is a strong candidate in my opinion. Reminds me of the old Joe Bugner joke; built like a Greek statue, but sadly doesn’t move quite as well.

Sunderland as usual bring calm amongst the chaos. That is the positive view of things, a view not shared by many of the increasingly desperate faithful of the SoL, who are suffering their normal weeks and months of anticipating the certainty of relegation, before a late miraculous escape. Surely not again? And all they want is vast amounts of someone else's money to be spent on assorted Spaniards and Frenchmen, is that too much to ask? Well, yes, it looks like old Ellis thinks it is. Make your way to sunny Ryhope ladies and gentlemen, that's what I advise.

Transfer windows are not something we have to worry about down here in the Northern League, but should we? Maybe not having your best players pinched for a few quid more on a regular basis would make things a bit easier for those clubs, including I might say, poverty stricken FC of Ryhope, who don’t have mega bucks to spend. Probably not such a short window or windows as they have up above us, but maybe a couple of closed periods for transfers in the autumn and the spring would give clubs more of a chance to build longer term. Which we seem to be doing quite well anyway down here at Meadow Park. Very good start to the season. Might have been even better if the ball had been more willing to go into the net, but top six after six? Yes, we would take that any year. Happy days.