Rules for modern living - Fulham 2 Newcastle United 1

Late kick-offs on a Sunday afternoon are rubbish. One more reason to hate Sky’s influence on the English game. Part of my argument to convince Mrs Chopper that parting with £330 is a worthwhile expense includes the suggestion that I won’t actually go to EVERY game and will therefore be “flexible” when required to do jobs at home or take the boys to some event or party. Of course we both know that I don’t ACTUALLY mean this and I will, when it comes down to it, try quite hard to make sure I do go to EVERY game and maybe a couple of away ones as well. That said one of our unwritten rules is that I won’t go to late kick-offs on a Sunday. Sunday’s are pretty busy in the Chopper household, sporting activities to take the boys to, washing, ironing and tidying to get done, a roast to cook, kid’s homework to finish off (under duress) and generally a lot of activity to get everything ready for the week ahead. So, nipping out for 4 or 5 hours to watch the football late in the day is often something I have to forego … unless it’s Chelsea … or Arsenal … or, well you get the idea. This might be a good point for me to mention that Newcastle United didn’t make the cut, if you’ve wandered this way in search of a concise yet interesting match report you’ve come to the wrong place. In fact if that IS what you’re looking for, try HERE.

So that was just a rather long winded way of saying that I didn’t actually go to the game. Somehow I always seem to miss the visit of the Toon. Last year it was a 5:30 kick-off on a Saturday, it was cold and late and I didn’t fancy it. We lost 1-0 and Sanchez got the sack shortly after. The year before, with Coleman still at the helm, we won 2-1 but I was on the Isle of Wight to celebrate a pal’s birthday. In fact the last time I saw Newcastle we won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Malbranque and a battling performance from Ian Pearce against Alan Shearer’s elbows. I’m more than happy missing a game though if it ends up with us getting the three points. With a resurgent Spurs due at the Cottage this Saturday, I was concerned we’d take nothing from back to back home games. Instead we’ve already banked three vital points, ridiculously find ourselves in tenth position and can head into the weekend full of confidence.