TBP and TBM

L is very chipper this morning, not. She got locked in what is now known as TBP (that bloody park) this morning. She feels disenfranchised because the gap in the gate wasn't wide enough to squeeze through, although Doggo managed, and she couldn't climb over because of her gammy leg. There were the usual queues outside the gate waiting for someone to turn up and let them in. She had to double all the way back through the golf course.

I encourage her to complain. She says she'll request that they stretch the holes in the fences a little wider so everyone can get through. After all, it is preventing the old and anyone who isn't incredibly slim getting on the park. She says that must be an "ism", some form of discrimination. I like that, I shall use that as the basis of my next complaint to them.

The TV and the radio are on about that kids shouldn’t have gadgets in their rooms, like adults do, because it's meaning they're not getting enough sleep. I thought that was that’s last years news, talk about recycling. We have living (wrong phrase) proof at our house but there's no realistic alternative. If kids don't have the gadgets upstairs, then they'll want them downstairs, which means we'll all have to share in the 'fun'.

L goes to her physio and gets the needle literally. Acupuncture. She says this is to cause a micro-trauma which will activate the healing process. Hmmm. She says she didn't feel a thing at the time but says she didn't dare sit down on her bike on the way back. Mind you standing up on the bike will do wonders for her thighs.

For some reason tonight, me and 8,600 other hardy souls pay £15 to watch Derby County Reserves lose to Blackpool Reserves. Which is a bit silly as reserves games cost £2 and this year for your two quid you could get to see a bunch of foreigners in Chelsea’s reserves rather than Blackpool but this is the crazy crazy world of the League Cup.

We know we’re going to lose before the outset because we always lose cup games, seemingly on purpose, no matter who our manager is and it's almost always to a team beginning with the letter 'B'. Add to this, the fact that Blackpool are now a half decent Championship side, e.g. the sort of side we’d possibly have scrapped a 1-0 win against last season but we’re not yet in any sort of form yet. So Blackpool are pretty much odds on favourites.

As it happens, Derby dominate most of the game, playing stuff up to last years standards, not high but usually good enough to win at that level. So when Mo Camara scores early in the second half, with what was probably a cross, it could well have been game over. So in the usual style of TBM (that bloody manager), it's all 11 men behind the ball defending the 1-0 lead, despite the fact it's only Blackpool. TBM gradually removes our forward thinking players for more defensive ones. His tactic, when it works, usually sends everyone, including the opposition, to sleep but sometimes it doesn’t work and the lads haven’t quite mastered it yet this season. So in the last minute with all 11 Derby players in their own penalty area Blackpool head an equaliser.

So to extra time, which follows the same pattern. Derby again start to boss the game and after 10 minutes retake the lead and then job done, they drop deeper and deeper. We have two corners, yet send no one up. We have a free kick on the edge of their penalty area but no one is interested. The tactics dictate that extending the lead is not permitted. Hence with Derby retreated to their own goal line, Blackpool who had yet to muster any sort of shot in extra time, head an identical equaliser in the dieing seconds.

We lose on penalties. It’s even too late to go to the pub. A miserable night. Cheers Billy.