Arcticterntalk.org
The blog of a travelling psychiatrist and football lover. Who happens to be a halfway decent photographer. Takes a cynical view of the world
Archive for the tag “surrey”
Ljubljana – the most beautiful city in Europe
Ljubljana is the capital city of Slovenia and is a city with the river Ljubljanica running through the city centre giving an intense backdrop to the many restaurants and cafes that line the river banks.
The city has a population of around 300,oo and that excludes the many dragons lining bridges and other areas. The dragon is the symbol of Slovenia.
It is an attractive lattice of cobbled streets, arched alleys and fine cultural monuments, many of which were bequeathed to the city by Jože Plečnik (1872–1957), Slovenia’s most celebrated urban planner including the brilliantly conceived Triple bridge.
There are plentiful museums as one might expect from a capital city but the real enjoyment comes from simply walking the streets and seeing this city first-hand. Oddly the castle which gives an almost fairy tale backdrop to the city is about the only average feature of the city .
Many of the streets are cobblestone and lined with street art. Small bakers and other artisans sell their wares.
The bars and restaurants are plentiful and provide ample choice, although maybe pizza is the commonest type of cuisine.
Never also forget the amazing street art that is everywhere.
You can sit literally in the river and eat and drink in various bars and restaurants
When nighttime comes there is often entertainment in Pleseren Square.
Marnus Labuschagne and Chewing Gum While Batting. Is this sensible?
Just randomly noticed Marnus Labuschagne chewing what almost looked like bubble gum when given out LBW against Jofra Archer . Marnus is a 25 year old South African born Australian batsman who is having a great series .
Never having considered this it got me wondering whether this is sensible when batting against a potential 95 mph bowler who has already induced concussion in Steve Smith this summer. Batsmen take all sorts of precautions in terms of helmets and body guards but would chewing gum potentially be a bad idea if hit on the head or worse? It’s a question not a statement. Same question to any sportsman with that potential to be hit on the head . There must be a potential to choke on the gum.
What’s the opinions of sportsmen and physios here ? 
Patrick Ohman. Carshalton Keeper and Penalty Save
Am often getting told off for not photographing more defenders . But sometimes you get lucky . Patrick Ohman is the current goalkeeper at Carshalton playing in the BetVictor Premier league. So a mere three promotions would see Carshalton as a league club.
In the league game yesterday he had a superb game , saved a penalty that won the three points against Corinthian Casuals and ended up with a dislocated shoulder .
Here are a few shots of the saved penalty
Dear Kingston Council The Rubbish Under The Bridge over A3 at New Malden Needs Attention
Dear Kingston Council
This awful rubbish situation has been reported to you many times by many routes . As one walks along A3 from Shannon Corner towards New Malden roundabout , there is a huge increasing volume of rubbish dumped under the footbridge over the A3. Mixed bags of clothes, food and various items. A large number of hot dog type sub roles litter the pavement together with broken glass. This sits directly outside the side entrance to Coombe Boys School.
Clearly there will be rats taking residence with their plethora of diseases. The rubbish looks simply awful and gets spread around the walkway daily by local urban foxes.
Can you explain why you have not acted on this ? I was told that there was debate regarding whether this walkway sits in Kingston or Merton council area. As the area in question is south of the Beverly Brook surely this is Kingston council jurisdiction. Either way just sort it . As of tonight the view is of this disgusting pile of rubbish 
Football Goal Celebrations. This is one of the best
In this era of sometimes silly goal celebrations it was genuinely humbling to witness a far more relevant and genuine one today in a nonleague game. The goal was an incredible free kick from a player who had come on shortly before as a second half substitute . This was enjoyable and humbling . 
Brentford 3 Stoke 1 . Learnings for both sides
This was not the result most fans of either side predicted. Many Bees fans, maybe half , would have taken a point before the game. The reality was that a resurgent Brentford side played their best football this season and possibly for a few seasons and dominated the game from every angle.
- Stoke expected to get something out of the game . Nathan Jones came with a good track record but expecting anything to change in a few days is dreaming. He had no time to change anything of note other than motivate his players.
- Commenting as a Brentford fan there were several Stoke players who seemingly are not at the standards they used to be. Berahino was an exciting prospect and looked sensational years ago on loan at Brentford. Yesterday he was not part of the game. Shawcross was unlucky with the own goal but looked an aged and slow defender. His time has surely gone. Afobe looked superb yet got little service of note . Hard working and a simply brilliant goal. The defence looked poor, and trust me Bees fans know how to spot a poor defence. Jack Butland was anything other than commanding.
- Brentford made Stoke look average. Their tempo and work rate was the best this season. Mokojoto and Sawyers were simply brilliant. 10/10 performances maintained all 95 minutes. This was a bad day for any club to come to Griffin Park and the performance was echelons higher than the win that got a scrappy 1-0 win over a dismal dispirited Bolton side before Xmas.
- Brentford were set up superbly . The midfield had the engine of a Rolls Royce and not of a lawnmower. None of the dismal midfield displays of negative passing were seen and although not wanting to be critical, the lack of Yennaris, MCLeod and Josh was a positive one
- The debate over Bentley and Daniels was not even addressed as cannot recall a single save Bentley had to make.
- Henrik Dalsgaard had a good game, not a great one, but maybe his confidence is back. The set up of three central defenders , all actually wonderful footballers in their own rights, allowed Henrik to play in the more right midfield area where he does actually play even when a traditional full back
- Thomas Frank and Brian Riemer we’re visible in the technical area, shouting, cajoling but never critical. This is good to see for the fans and maybe the team too.
- Maupay has his usual superb game as did Said Benrahma.
Overall Brentford were brilliant more than Stoke were poor. Brentford need to carry on with this tempo and maybe Stoke need to jettison a few players simply past their prime .
Lastly I loved seeing the great reception Ryan Woods received . Nice Brentford fan behaviour for players we respect . And a privilege to see not only a few minutes of Peter Crouch but also him posing with young fans after the game and again the nice Ealing road reception he got when warming up.
Neither side will go up nor down this season and it will be interesting to see where they finally end up .
The Full Hogburger might be the best football food item around
Football food is far from idyllic. In general nonleague clubs serve better and cheaper football fare. One of the best food items is served at Met Police football club. They play in Esher at Imber Court and participate in Evostik Southern League Premier South and are well worth watching .
They have recently started serving The Full Hogburger. For £5 you can have a superb burger cooked properly in a toasted bun. But on top there is a large sausage cut in half , cheese, onions and a thick slice of back bacon. Tasted delicious. They do not serve chips but there again you hardly need them. If there is a criticism it is that the burger is huge and not so easy to eat. This is a real meal! Football league clubs might learn here
Distracted By The Moon Over The Ealing Road End During Brentford v Bolton
During the second half of the recent game versus Bolton, the view over the Ealing Road stand was as good as any I have seen in years watching Brentford. So instead of photographing Neal Maupay rampaging through the Bolton defence , I spent 5 minutes capturing this beautiful moon. 
When we move to Lionel road I will miss hugely Griffin Park and moments like this will forever be remembered. 
These three photos were taken only a few minutes apart and using different exposures. Don’t let anyone ever say it’s easy to photograph the moon. Sometimes you get lucky and some of the trees behind the Ealing Road stand can be seen in front of the over exposed moon making an interesting image.
Some Frank Thoughts On Where Brentford go now
Over the last few months there has been an optimism amongst fans that for me is a little over placed. Sure we have some good players and at least two who could start in the premiership right now. The issue though is consistency. The teams that get promoted have good players but are consistent. Brentford have not been consistent.
My personal view might not go down well with some fans and that’s fine . Lewis McLeod is a luxury player. He has some good games. Some good moments . But if you were in a casino would you bet on him having a good game for example at Preston? Don’t think so. Some of his passing is sublime . But will he compete in every game ? Josh M… well ok we can explain an average performance on Saturday. Why was he selected? But many of his performances have been average . Intertwined with some brilliance . What was missing Saturday was physicality until Kamo came on. This guy is good. He rattles other teams. And he is consistent and needs to be a starter.
Thomas Frank will have his own views and I suspect team selection will evolve rather than see 5 changes overnight. We know our best defence. We know our most consistent player. Barbet. We need a Plan A and B and C for midfield. On days when Ollie Watkins is not at his best we need a quick change. Sitting in New Road the warm up gives me an indication who is up for it . Certainly by 30 minutes I can tell for sure. Let’s be radical and make substitutions early if needed or not at all if not .
Lastly we need leadership. Is the rotating captain working? Not sure. The natural captains of the side are Mepham , still learning his trade , Barbet and Dalsgaard. I would experiment with making Barbet captain. It just might work.
At the moment we are a mid table side. We could make top six but no way top two. Our focus needs to be on consistency and finishing off games. Few teams are better than us but on Saturday we saw a side that worked harder than us and it sounds bad but Lee Johnson got his tactics spot on. Thomas Franks did not.
For Preston let me see a real high tempo start . Kamo in the line up and early changes if things not going well.
A Great Place
The rants and warblings of an active and some would say disturbed mind. A Brentford Fc supporter and a psychiatrist and photographer. Welcome to my musings and rants.
chris1957
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