I didn’t watch Spurs last night. Couldn’t. I was at tai chi hitting a punch bag. And although I do think of football whilst I’m channelling my inner Bruce Lee, those thoughts are normally reserved for Chelsea players, Arsenal managers, Match of the Day presenters, who form the focus for my aggression. As well as hitting punch bags, I also managed to hit my mate’s car door whilst parking too last night. Don’t ask. Just an ‘added bonus’. I was getting ‘into character’.

So the Spurs match was far from my mind. Which, generally this season, is the best place for it to be. But not last night. No. We won. A match. A whole one. Actually it was ‘2 whole ones’ as it was a 2-parter. And we played brilliantly. Then played shit. Then were fantabulous. Then fucking abysmal. Then…

Usual Spurs really. EXCEPT… for the final result. At which point the wonderful had exceeded the dire by one goal. Which was all we needed to progress to the quarter finals of the Europa League. To play Eintracht Frankfurt over two legs.

We deserve to win a trophy. Not the players; they’re terrible. Certainly not the manager, though it might save him his job. But the fans. WE deserve something. We spend every year making excuses for not winning anything and playing rubbish, whilst still spending our money and giving our hearts to our club. Who, in return… just take it.

Dealing with Putin is much easier. Predictable. Stable. I’m not saying ‘nice’, necessarily, I’m not saying ‘fair’ at all, just a man who knows what he wants. And takes it. Regardless of who anyone else thinks it may belong to. Like Ukraine. He wants it, he takes it. So as they now discuss ‘ceasefire’, this may be difficult given Putin’s criteria. And also that among the Russian’s ‘concerns’ are that Russia must be protected from ‘this happening again’. Yes, Ukraine must agree to not drag 200,000 Russian soldiers onto its land like it apparently did last time. And as for the ‘security force’ of European (cos Americans won’t do it) military on the ground, that’s a red line. Basically, short of Moscow’s total control over Kyiv, just like in the ‘good old Soviet days’, Putin’s going to be difficult.

Happy Friday

A xxxx