My facebook photo is Gareth Bale. In a Spurs shirt. Making the ‘heart’ sign he did every time he scored. Which was ever such a lot. He left Spurs in 2013 but that’s fine. The photo has become ‘ironic’. Yet when one of (previously) ‘your own’ does good things you score ‘points’. Its like, when Harry Kane scores, that goal is yours. When Gareth Bale scores, it is 10% yours. Its the nature of the contract. We’re allowed a kind of ‘glory-by-association’ on former players. Not Arsenal players, obviously, they always leave under the most acrimonious of circumstances and generally join the Gunners’ rivals. Like Van Persie, Fabregas, Sanchez. But nice players. Spurs players.

So although I wanted Liverpool to win last night due solely to some misplaced sense of nationalism, another part of me was really rooting for Gareth Bale and the sublime Luka Modric, everyone’s favourite Croatian, both of whom happen to play for Real Madrid, having previously worn an different white shirt, that of Tottenham. And I’m not sure whether it was the brilliance of Bale which won the match for Real, giving them their 3rd consecutive Champions League title, or the abysmal goal-keeping of poor, hapless Karius who had the nightmare of nightmare games.

Strikers play on confidence. ‘You’re only as good as your last goal’ kind’a thing. But goalies are different. They’re always as bad as their worst cock-up. Paul Robinson had a terrible event in an England game when Gary Neville’s backpass bounced over his head and he was never the same again. No matter how many wonderful saves he made, he seemed cursed by that moment. So how is Karius, who has been a bit doubtful most of the season, going to get past almost gifting Real Madrid 2 of their 3 goals? However he decides to try, you kind of feel he ain’t gonna be doing it at Liverpool. Nor, hopefully, at Spurs.

Meanwhile, look at my rhododendron bush. Just look. Go on. Its fab. And only looks like this for a couple of weeks a year. When we went to Russia it was green with a few shoots starting to appear. We come back a week later and LOOK! And its covered in bees, which is apparently a good thing, because we love bees. Apparently. That hedge is at least 3 metres high, so the bush is a big one. We’ve been here nearly 30 years and it was ‘mature’ then. No idea how mature, bit like me, but it always gives me an ‘isn’t nature wonderful!!’ moment.

Happy Sunday

A xxxx