Saturday 29 March 2014
Tuesday 25 March 2014
Saturday 22 March 2014
Tuesday 18 March 2014
Monday 17 March 2014
Nathan Mulligan - The Forgotten Striker
Scoring 18 goals by mid-October is an achievement that any player would be proud of. The truth is, that was the achievement by Nathan Mulligan last season, as he partnered Graeme Armstrong in what was developing into a lethal partnership.
Mulligan’s goalscoring record was an envied one throughout the division, and it led to others taking notice. People would often comment on the ruthless nature of Mulligan’s play. A hard-worker, with a natural eye for goal. He was the player that Whitby Town had been crying out for. A penalty taker, a set-piece taker, even a corner taker. He had it all in his locker. For a striker, it was impressive. But, there was always a feeling that he was only up front because we had nobody else. The club even brought Jamie Clarke back to add to the striking options. But the arrival of Craig Farrell was the final nail in the coffin for Mulligan’s hopes of a regular starting spot up top.
Upon Farrell’s arrival, Mulligan was immediately moved back out onto the wing. A role that he played in the Great Escape season. From then onwards the goals dried up for ‘Mullers’, who sees himself as a central player, rather than a winger. But why has Mulligan rarely been given another chance in the centre of the attack? It doesn’t really make too much sense. In fact, the last time he played in the middle, against Grantham last season, he scored for the Blues, so it’s obvious that this is a role which he is comfortable with.
Perhaps Darren Williams sees the pace Mulligan possesses as an asset out wide rather than in the centre. But what does it matter? If the player isn’t comfortable out wide, then he’s not going to produce, which is, in a way, what has happened with Nathan Mulligan. Despite the fact he still gives his all to everything on the pitch, he can’t quite manage to make things happen, which is bound to knock his confidence. Where-as, in the centre, he can do a lot more. He can get the ball and pass it around, he can directly run at goal. He can get shots away. He can be the player that we all know he can be. That’s the frustrating thing for us all, we know what he is capable of in the centre of the attack. The 20 goals of last season prove the point, aswell. Mulligan is a central player; only one of those goals came from the wing.
With 9 games left, it’s perhaps time to start looking at options for next season. How about, instead of looking at bringing new strikers into the club, we take a look at Nathan Mulligan as a centre forward alongside Graeme Armstrong? A) you’ll save on paying wages for another player and B) you’ll unearth a talent in a player that you may just have forgotten was there.
Mulligan’s goalscoring record was an envied one throughout the division, and it led to others taking notice. People would often comment on the ruthless nature of Mulligan’s play. A hard-worker, with a natural eye for goal. He was the player that Whitby Town had been crying out for. A penalty taker, a set-piece taker, even a corner taker. He had it all in his locker. For a striker, it was impressive. But, there was always a feeling that he was only up front because we had nobody else. The club even brought Jamie Clarke back to add to the striking options. But the arrival of Craig Farrell was the final nail in the coffin for Mulligan’s hopes of a regular starting spot up top.
 |
| Mulligan post-FCUM |
Upon Farrell’s arrival, Mulligan was immediately moved back out onto the wing. A role that he played in the Great Escape season. From then onwards the goals dried up for ‘Mullers’, who sees himself as a central player, rather than a winger. But why has Mulligan rarely been given another chance in the centre of the attack? It doesn’t really make too much sense. In fact, the last time he played in the middle, against Grantham last season, he scored for the Blues, so it’s obvious that this is a role which he is comfortable with.
Perhaps Darren Williams sees the pace Mulligan possesses as an asset out wide rather than in the centre. But what does it matter? If the player isn’t comfortable out wide, then he’s not going to produce, which is, in a way, what has happened with Nathan Mulligan. Despite the fact he still gives his all to everything on the pitch, he can’t quite manage to make things happen, which is bound to knock his confidence. Where-as, in the centre, he can do a lot more. He can get the ball and pass it around, he can directly run at goal. He can get shots away. He can be the player that we all know he can be. That’s the frustrating thing for us all, we know what he is capable of in the centre of the attack. The 20 goals of last season prove the point, aswell. Mulligan is a central player; only one of those goals came from the wing.
With 9 games left, it’s perhaps time to start looking at options for next season. How about, instead of looking at bringing new strikers into the club, we take a look at Nathan Mulligan as a centre forward alongside Graeme Armstrong? A) you’ll save on paying wages for another player and B) you’ll unearth a talent in a player that you may just have forgotten was there.
Thursday 6 March 2014
School of Hard Sums
I hate maths, that isn't a secret, in fact it never will be, but Dave has seemingly found a slight antidote.
The Upgang Ultra movement is starting to gather pace. More and more people are interested in coming to games, and flags are being designed at a rapid rate. We should have our first flag ready for Saturday, and hopefully another, a Paddy Spenceley tribute, will be going on order next week. If we pack the Shed and spread the word, the Ultras movement will really take off, I'm sure of it.
Until next time,
Fans of topical TV Panel shows will know what I mean by Dave. It's the TV Channel of the Gods. All is there. Mock the Week, Have I Got News For You etc are all repeated there. It truly is a legendary channel in my opinion. In fact, it definitely lives up to its self-set reputation as the 'home of witty banter'.
 |
| The true home of Witty Banter |
On there tonight was the first in the new series of Dara O'Briain: School of Hard Sums. Now, I hate maths with a passion. I literally danced with joy when I realised that I would never have to study it again. I was the kind of person that would have killed Pythagoras, if he was present at the time of my learning of his theorem.
I'll be honest, I never saw myself gaining any further interest in maths after that point, but when I watch Dara O'Briain's show, I find myself mesmerised. I find myself trying to work out the problems on there, then after it's finished, I go back into my hating maths mode. I can't work out how it happens either. Perhaps it's the whole 'brains vs brawn' thing, or perhaps it's just all down to Dara. He certainly is a great host.
 |
| Dara O'Briain - The God of presenting... |
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| Paddy Spenceley - A Whitby Town legend |
Paul
Wednesday 5 March 2014
Pack the Shed; Back the Blues!
For a number of years, the support given to Whitby Town Football Club has been dwindling, with average attendances starting to dip below 300, season upon season. One fan group is hoping to see that change though, launching a campaign to 'Pack the Shed'.
The 'Upgang
Ultras', backed by the Blue Army Fanzine, are looking to see the club return to
at least 400+ attendances in the near future by packing the club's Scratching
Shed, as the club aims to move forward into the Conference North.
Blue Army
Fanzine editor Paul Connolly described the move as 'vital' for the club, and
firmly believes that the players and management can benefit from a vocal backing
from the Shed.
"It's
vital that we get this campaign building up", Connolly told Real Whitby.
"Darren Williams and his players have been excellent this season, and they
deserve a vociferous support as a reward.
"A
couple of years ago, we saw the Great Escape. Every week, the Shed was in full
voice and we were all behind Darren Williams and his side. That helped us to
survival that year. Just ask Darren, just ask the lads in that side. It really
helped and we need that kind of support back. It's the kind of support that
will help the club move forward on the pitch.
"The
Turnbull needs to be a tough place to visit, and hopefully the formation and
taking off of an Ultras group will really help us to achieve that goal. With a
packed Shed and loud noise, anything is possible. I know what Darren and the
players are like. They thrive on the noise from the Shed, so it's a case of the
louder, the better."
Elsewhere,
supporters are discussing different ways of spreading the word of matches, with
a poster run through the town being, so far, the most popular choice. Fans, and
club staff alike are also spreading the word of matches over Social Media
sites.
Whitby
Town host Stamford AFC at the Turnbull on Saturday (8th March) afternoon.
Darren Williams will speak to Blue Army Fanzine ahead of the 3PM kick-off, on
the club's official Audioboo channel: https://audioboo.fm/channel/whitbytownofficial
ADMISSION:
Adults - £9; Concessions - £5; Under 18s - £2; Under 16s go FREE with
accompanying adult.
Magic
As the Coldplay fans amongst you will know, Monday saw the release of Coldplay's new single, 'Magic'.
A couple of years ago, I was, I'll admit, insanely jealous of my good friend Mike, who saw Coldplay at the Stadium of Light (I think? Mike?!) in their Mylo Xyloto. That was way back in 2011. It's been that long since a Coldplay single or album, believe it or not... Way too long for me, and I'm sure that quite a few will agree.
Coldplay have been very sporadic in music release since Mylo Xyloto. We've seen 'Atlas', their contribution to 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' soundtrack. As ever, that was excellent, and suited an excellent film. We also saw the random release of 'Midnight'. It came from nowhere. But, we had some warning for 'Magic', and the wait, and build-up to a new single and album, has been worth it. 'Magic' hasn't failed to impress. As ever, it's an excellent effort by Coldplay. Roll on May 19th, the album is going to be fantastic, I'm sure of it.
I'll be posting an article later on, about the Upgang Ultras' campaign to 'pack the Shed and back the Blues'. Keep an eye out for it please, we need a lot of support. We have one last throw of the dice at the play-offs this weekend. There's still a faint dream of getting in there, but we're close to falling out of the mix. A loud backing, with a packed shed can make all the difference!
England are playing Denmark, literally as I type. Kasper Schmeichel is in goal for the Danes, and I can't help but wonder one thing... What the hell has he done to his face? That beard is awful. The worst thing is that his dad is openly in support of the beard. He's even grown one too! I thought a parent was meant to prevent you from doing daft things? Not encourage you to do stupid things? You've dropped a clanger with that beard Kasper (and Peter), trust me. I preferred the clean-shaven Kasper Schmeichel of Leeds United, way back in the 10/11 season. No homo there, by the way. I just think the beard is awful.
Anyway, until next time, and a beardless blog (hopefully),
Paul.
A couple of years ago, I was, I'll admit, insanely jealous of my good friend Mike, who saw Coldplay at the Stadium of Light (I think? Mike?!) in their Mylo Xyloto. That was way back in 2011. It's been that long since a Coldplay single or album, believe it or not... Way too long for me, and I'm sure that quite a few will agree.
 |
| The last album... A great album... |
Coldplay have been very sporadic in music release since Mylo Xyloto. We've seen 'Atlas', their contribution to 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' soundtrack. As ever, that was excellent, and suited an excellent film. We also saw the random release of 'Midnight'. It came from nowhere. But, we had some warning for 'Magic', and the wait, and build-up to a new single and album, has been worth it. 'Magic' hasn't failed to impress. As ever, it's an excellent effort by Coldplay. Roll on May 19th, the album is going to be fantastic, I'm sure of it.
 |
| Surprise single after surprise single... What next Coldplay? |
 |
| A full shed - A massive advantage to Whitby Town |
 |
| Wembley selfie, awful beards. |
Paul.
Tuesday 4 March 2014
Professional Football is Rubbish
It
takes a lot to walk away from your professional team. In fact, the chances are,
you never will. But, once Non-League grips you, you realise that it’s not
something that lets go easily. It sticks with you, and over time, you start to
stick with it...
The
thing is, when you start supporting a Non-League side, whether it be your local
side (in my case), or another side, there’s always an attachment bound to form
after the first visit, and it can be an attachment that is way stronger than
one with a professional football club.
 |
| Passion in a photo. Non-League fans. Small numbers. Big noise. |
To say
that professional football is rubbish is perhaps a bit unfair. It does have its
upsides, but for me, I can no longer see too much of an appeal. If you talk to
many people in fact, they will reel off page after page of reasons why
Non-League football is nothing on the professional game. But, when you compare
the two after having a vast experience of both, you notice a lot in the way of
difference.
The
first difference I noticed between each form of football was the difference in
the passion shown by players. Over the years, I’ve taken my seat at Elland
Road, only to realise at half-time that I’m paying my money to watch a lot of
overpaid footballers not care for the club that they are playing for. There is
absolutely no consideration for the thousands of supporters who have spent
their hard-earned money on watching them. They can’t match the passion of the
supporters who have been following them week in, week out. I find that quite
sad in many ways. Their loyal supporters are having everything, including their
£30 match ticket, thrown right back at them. In fact, there was one photo that
summed it all up for me, and that was the now infamous photo of Michael Brown
supposedly laughing at Charlton’s winner against Leeds United last season. The
truth is, Brown probably wasn’t laughing at all. In fact, he’ll probably have
been very disappointed. The fact that Leeds had just conceded at the death of a
relegation 6-pointer will have hurt him as a professional. But, the unfortunate
camera timing, along with his unfortunate facial expression at the time mean
that the photo seems to epitomise the state of
professional football nowadays. It was used as a way of making
professional footballers fit the picture painted by many. The picture of these
overpaid stars being just that, overpaid and unloyal.
 |
| "1-0 down. Relegation scrap. This is a right laugh, ey lads?" |
Another
thing with professional football that really does get to me is the
unprofessional manner in which the club owners seem to go about their business.
All the time, the fans, who are the life and soul of a football club, are
constantly shoved away by the owners. Every year, ticket prices go up, food
prices go up, merchandise prices go up. Also, there’s a new shirt to buy every
year. It’s as though they do it deliberatly. They just find so many new ways to
milk money out of the fans, and every year, the fans buy into it unknowingly.
They constantly give the owners the money to entertain the prawn-sandwich
brigade, and the majority of fans are seemingly none the wiser, which is a
shame, because if they realised, they would perhaps think twice about paying
the money for that.
 |
| Wembley's prawn sandwich ultras... |
I’m
not saying that this doesn’t happen in Non-League. At certain clubs, I’m sure
that it will do, but it’s way more evident in the Football League, because
everybody seems to do it. In Non-League though, the clubs are generally run by
supporters, or people who care about clubs. Their month-to-month costs don’t
involve prawn-sandwich brigades, they just involve the basics. Match costs,
running costs etc. Also, they don’t bleed the fans dry for their money because
the club is struggling for money, they’ll organise fundraisers and get the community
involved to help the club. This is what sets Non-League aside. That community
spirit that runs through everyone at the clubs.
Looking at the two closely, after vast experience of both, I ask:
why would you want to watch professional football? Non-League offers so much
for everyone. The sense of belonging to something special, that community
spirit that lacks in the Football League and the passion of players who are
playing for the game; not the money. Also, you get to have a laugh with your
mates, along with having a few beers. Non-League offers a cheap day out, and a
good laugh. You can’t really beat it.
 |
| Paddy Spenceley - The epitome of passion... |
Monday 3 March 2014
Just another manic Monday
I don't do Mondays. It's all well and good saying "oh, it's just another day". No it isn't. It's the day that is always bad. Or it is for me, at least.
Firstly though, I must apologise for no blogs over the weekend. It's not been a great one, but I will touch upon it later. Expect a poor Whitby performance... The worst since West Auckland away? It has been suggested...
Anyway, back to Monday. Well, it's been a strange day. I awoke to my Grandma leaving to go back to Weymouth. It's been nice to see her. I don't often get to, so it's good to just spend time with her more than anything. If truth be told though, I woke up, and just thought the same as everyone else... That thought: 'do I really have to do this? Do I really have to wake up and do another whole week?' It's the worst feeling ever. I for one hate it, and I'm sure that you do too...
A noticeable feature of the day has been people asking what has been wrong... Well, a lot has been wrong, but I'm not exactly one to talk. People, it's nothing to worry about. It's Monday, and I was having a bad day. It's not a problem. Thank you for caring, though.
I won't go into too much detail about the Whitby Town match on Saturday. The bus was full again, meaning a strong Whitby following... Unfortunately, the average age of people on the bus was around 60, meaning the noise levels weren't going to be great. But, the 7 or 8 of us singing did the best we could. If truth be told, it was difficult to get motivated for this game, and that seemed to reflect on the players, as they put on a very lacklustre performance. Something that none of us wanted to see after traveling all that way. Paul Waring once spoke about a certain place about 20 miles away being a nice place to own a gun, the same could be applied to Grantham. We were about 3 miles from the pitch, due to a huge running track around the pitch. Against modern athletics stadiums being used as football grounds... Guess what? I don't like Grantham...
The Oscars last night, and apparently, somebody took a photo... It wasn't just any photo though, it was potentially the most star-studded photo you'll ever see. 3 million retweets though? I'm not sure it was that good. Not everyone was looking at the camera for a start, but 10/10 for effort, although I'm giving them just 6/10 for the final product. It would have scraped another point if Morgan Freeman in there, and another 4 if Billy Paynter popped up in there. Until that happens, It shall remain at a score of 6/10. See, I can pick faults in everything...
Tonight saw Norfolk 'N' Good return to losing ways. It's good to see that last week was only a blip. Hopefully we'll have a few more of them. In all truth, the 5-2 scoreline doesn't really reflect the performance. We were undone by a mix of some of the best players in the league, and didn't disgrace ourselves. It's better than previous weeks. Just look at the 9-0 defeat to Whitby Whites... We've come a long way. Even if Ben is still a moaning prick...
Just to finish off, I started reading the Wolf of Wall Street book last Thursday, after watching the film. Trust me, if you're looking for a book to read, choose this one. It's even better than the film, which is excellent aswell. I'd recommend the book (and the film of course) to anyone. Jordan Belfort, you've had one really quite interesting life...
Anyway, that's my lot this time around... Make sure you read 'The Wolf of Wall Street'... Go on, you know you want to,
Until next time,
Paul
Firstly though, I must apologise for no blogs over the weekend. It's not been a great one, but I will touch upon it later. Expect a poor Whitby performance... The worst since West Auckland away? It has been suggested...
 |
| West Auckland away... The worst Whitby performance I've ever seen. |
A noticeable feature of the day has been people asking what has been wrong... Well, a lot has been wrong, but I'm not exactly one to talk. People, it's nothing to worry about. It's Monday, and I was having a bad day. It's not a problem. Thank you for caring, though.
 |
| Similar to me trying to get out of bed on a Monday morning... |
 | |
| A nice view... If you have a pair of binoculars... |
 |
| At least all look at the camera... |
Just to finish off, I started reading the Wolf of Wall Street book last Thursday, after watching the film. Trust me, if you're looking for a book to read, choose this one. It's even better than the film, which is excellent aswell. I'd recommend the book (and the film of course) to anyone. Jordan Belfort, you've had one really quite interesting life...
 |
| Good film, even better book... |
Until next time,
Paul
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