It made me smile ...

... it might be pants on the dole but ... today, a trip up to Top Mossley to buy "stuff" for a meal tonight - we have a friend coming round - and unfortunately the "fish wagon" wasn't there (I'm sure it always turned up on a Thursday but ... there you go). Hey ho - the Co-op will do (plus loyalty card pennies !).

Anyway - walking back past the Mossley Health Centre - I spotted this rather hilarious "door decoration" ..



Well I thought it was funny ... "vigorously with care" - covers all options (and note I've said nowt about the final word ... until now !!).

Back to the kitchen then ...
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Mossley to Assist Ashton United

From the Mossley site ...

Ashton United are currently trying to raise £10,000 to launch an appeal against the court decision to award damages to an opponent injured in a match, in 2005.

In recent months, Ashton have been very generous, in offering neighbours Mossley AFC the use of their Hurst Cross ground for evening matches after Mossley’s floodlights were deemed unsafe.

We at Mossley AFC have greatly appreciated the support Ashton United have given our club, during this period without floodlights. Without this offer we would have been unable to continue.

As a sign of our appreciation, we have agreed that our next game at their ground, all gate income will be donated to their fund.

We would request all football supporters in Tameside to join us, in raising funds to assist in this very important appeal that can affect all football clubs in the future.

The game in question takes place on Tuesday 30th March between Mossley and Skelmersdale United - it would be good to see some neutrals there as well - Skelmersdale are "up there" in the play-off zone and we could end up doing certain clubs a favour that evening (yes Curzon Ashton !) - as well as doing Mossley's play-off aspirations no harm at all. Yes - play-offs for Mossley ... something that's not really been mentioned up to now, but certainly something that is not out of the question - still a few games in hand on the teams above and with the present form (over the last 10 games we're second behind FC Halifax in the form table with a record of won 6 drawn 3 lost 1 (against FC Halifax !)) ... who knows ?? If the results go the way of Mossley this Saturday, they could find themselves up in 8th place ......
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Interesting Job Offer from Canon ...

Got an e-mail today ... as follows ...

Based on your career profile, you may be interested in the following job(s). Please review the job description(s) and if you wish to continue the process, click on the job link below.

CFI0106 -- Yhteyspäällikkö Canon Business Center Ouluun

Haemme nyt lisää myyntivoimaa Canon Business Center Ouluun

Etsimme 19 hengen tiimiimme yhteyspäällikköä vastaamaan nimettyjen asiakassuhteiden ylläpidosta ja kehittämisestä sekä uusasiakashankinnasta. Toimialueesi rakentuu Oulun talousalueen asiakkuuksista erittäin monipuolisessa yrityskentässä. Tehtävässä onnistuminen edellyttää sinulta aitoa kiinnostusta asiakkaittesi liiketoimintaa kohtaan ja halua kehittää heidän työnkulkujaan tulostuksen- ja dokumentinhallinnan osalta.

Työskentelyotteeltasi olet aktiivinen, tuloskeskeinen ja pitkäjännitteinen. Kommunikoit sujuvasti eri tahojen, niin yritysjohdon kuin tekniikan ja hankinnan ammattilaisten kanssa. Koulutustaustasi on kaupallinen ja suomen lisäksi tulet toimeen myös englannin kielellä.

Tervetuloa menestymään kanssamme!

Canon on arvostettu brändi kautta maailman. Olemme luovuuteen ja innovatiivisuuteen innostava kumppani, yhteisö- ja ympäristövastuullinen edelläkävijä, kuunteleva huipputeknologian ja palveluiden kehittäjä.

Lisätietoja tehtävästä: aluepäällikkö Petri Mattila, Canon Business Center Oulu, p. 040 716 9391.

Odotamme hakemustasi ja CV:täsi palkkatoiveineen viimeistään 31.3.2010.

Might be a bit cold "oop north" - and my lack of Finnish could also be an obstacle !!!!

Trafford v Mossley

... nearly forgot - there was some action on the pitch as well ...

Trafford 3 Mossley 3

... although for a supposed "six goal thriller", it was a pretty poor effort by yours truly !! I guess everyone is allowed an "off day" ...
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Melford Knight - time to retire...?

In short - and there's no legal problems about this next statement (because I was a witness) - tonight a Mossley supporter was attacked by an opposition player IN THE CAR PARK AFTER THE GAME...........

... so - me home from tonight's game at Trafford - a 3-3 draw with Trafford nicking an equaliser in the 94th minute - but the game was totally overshadowed by the "apres match antics" ...so b*ll*x to the pictures for now anyway.

The game of football covers many many things - and at the non-league level "things" are more easily put into focus, due to smaller crowds and the closeness of players and fans. Banter and insults are more obvious - reactions are naturally more obvious - tonight we (or at least three of us) saw the darker side.

Melford Knight - he's "been around" as they say in non-league circles - spent three years with Mossley - a solid midfield player with an eye for goals (scored 16 for Mossley in just over 100 appearances). However - there was aways that "edge" about the man - cannot give you the red/yellow card stats - and that "edge" was never a comfortable one. He left Mossley "under a cloud" - mostly due to the demise of Jason Beckford - and has moved around a bit since then - so you could say there IS a bit of "previous" with some of the Mossley fans.

We've crossed paths on several occasions since his departure from Seel Park - and naturally he has received some stick - as most ex-players do. Tonight was no exception (me as the photographer - looking to stand in the right place for ME - note that I was not standing with most of the Mossley fans - I never do - but we are talking about a crowd of 106 - you can hear everything ...). Now hear this - Melford Knight was Trafford's captain tonight - don't you expect the man with the armband to lead by example ? He got a yellow card tonight - he continually moaned - he continually niggled - and he continued to show that bit of skill that makes him a good player .... but that "edge", that bloody "edge" - and I'm afraid the yellow card proves that point - and that was his behaviour ON the pitch ...

Anyway - to the point (if you're all still awake) - Trafford snatch a late equaliser - Mossley fans not pleased - much shouting at all as they leave the pitch (even the Trafford fans admitted that the set of officials tonight were p*ss poor !). I'd turned up at the game via train - but was offered a lift back to Mossley - which I accepted. We got back to the car (NOTE - car park about 200 yards from the ground) - doors unlocked - and then it kicked off - we three were surrounded by some Trafford players - and the "cronies" of one certain player (guess who) - and this particular player (guess who) hit my fellow passenger on the head - this particular player (guess who) and his "cronies" (some of whom were NOT Trafford players it has to be said) continued to push/shove/insult/threaten - and may well have damaged the car ( the owner will be checking in the full light of day tomorrow - any damage costs may well be forwarded to Trafford FC) - to put it bluntly they were a total disgrace to Trafford FC - as far as I am concerned a particular player (guess who) should be sacked immediately, told to attend anger management classes and also learn to cope with football banter on his own rather than taking the cowardly route of "getting his gang together"... I could say that the behaviour tonight was akin to a Sunday morning pub team - but I feel I would be doing a disservice to Sunday morning pub teams ...

So Trafford - while that particular player (guess who) is involved with your club - he disgraces your club and therefore I'm afraid you as a club disgrace this league.

(Can I just add one "voice of reason" - Joe & Robyn - you were the attempted "calm down" side of things - but I'm afraid you had no chance - your particular team mate (guess who) and his "cronies" just ... f**ked it up -so it's up to you whether you feel the need to be involved with people like that).

I await any further comments ...

(E&OE)
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Black Monday ...

... well afternoon anyway - a couple of e-mails received today ....

Thank you for your recent application for the role above. I am sorry to say that you have not been selected for the initial interviews to be held during the next 2 weeks but we will retain your CV on file for further review should these interviews fail to produce a clear winner.

Many Thanks for your interest in E***** E***** and good luck in your job search.

and later on ...

Thank you for your application - Req//105075 Data Analyst

Having assessed your skills and experience for this role, I am sorry but you have been unsuccessful on this occasion. However, I have found your CV of interest and have placed it on our internal CV document search engine.

Hey ho - made £16 on Ebay today - could well be the future - because there seems to be naff all in computing ... tomorrow is the "directive" from the DWP (as in some "Back to Work" refresher type thing) - whoo hoo ... and only after certified attendance will I be permitted to attend football no doubt - ha ha ...

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Weekend in Northumberland - Part Two

A few (non-football !) 'snaps' from the weekend to be found here ...

... and a quick plug for "Cafe Delicious" on Market Street, Alnwick - excellent tapas !

Next stop - Trafford v Mossley, tomorrow night ...
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Weekend in Northumberland - Part One

... football first as they say !! A comfortable win for the home team to be honest - and despite wearing the "wrong trousers" and an outsized number 5 shirt, the Embleton Whinstone Rovers "number five" was very tasty indeed - he covered a lot of ground and created havoc in the Bamburgh Castle defence. The Bamburgh "number five" was all set to explode towards the end - a real "blood pressure job" - but he couldn't be faulted for his effort either. Good weather - and a nice pub just up the road (the Greys Inn) made it a good afternoon all round - some pictures at

Embleton Whinstone Rovers 3 Bamburgh Castle 1

It was a weekend up in Northumberland staying with some old friends from Mossley - and Mossley AFC in fact - Lynn and Andy - excellent weather - excellent food - excellent company - seaside - and football - result !! More to come picture/word wise ... but now - some (take away) tea !!
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Tomorrow I will be mostly watching ...

... Embleton Whinstone Rovers v Bamburgh Castle in the North Northumberland League Division 2 ...

Different eh ?
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Zippy leaves DragonForce !

(One of mine from Manchester Academy - December 2006)

Official statement:

It is with great regret that DragonForce announce a parting of the ways with singer ZP Theart. This is due to insurmountable differences of musical opinion but the rest of the band sincerely wish ZP great success with his future projects.

While the creative core members have begun writing the fifth album, they have also started a worldwide search for a new vocalist. “We are looking for a powerful melodic singer, to write a new chapter of DragonForce with us.” said guitarist Herman Li.

Anyone wishing to audition for the vacant position should apply following the instructions at this web address www.dragonforce.com/audition

A great shame - anyone out there fancy the gig ?

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Stalybridge Celtic v Southport

... yes I know, it should really have read "Radcliffe Borough 0 Mossley 1" (four wins in a row now, three of them away from home - now up to 12th !), but we are suffering from some fairly serious computer problems at home at the moment (Mrs Smiffy appears to have obtained a variant of the Kryptik trojan on her pc and it's completely knackered the internet setup), so I was trying to sort that out yesterday afternoon - which went into early evening - so Celtic ended up as the only option.

When I got to Stalybridge Station - the lights were out on Platform 1 - electrical fault (they must have known that Southport were coming - the previous game between the two teams was abandoned on 86 minutes ... when the floodlights went out - electrical fault !!)

It was a much changed side for Celtic, due to injuries and "new boys" - and to me (strictly neutral of course), it looked somewhat disjointed - Hankin looked a lonely figure out on the right while nearly everything came down the other side to new boy Michael Twiss. The other major problem (for Celtic anyway) was the presence of ex-Hyde United man Earl Davis in the centre of things for Southport - to put it simply, he had a blinder - won everything in the air - and quite a lot on the ground as well (as some of the pictures show) - oh yes - pictures are at

Stalybridge Celtic 0 Southport 1

Southport took the lead just on half-time - but had already had one disallowed for offside and one that came back off the bar. The second half was disappointing - the substitutions made little difference, Earl Davis continued to "gobble everything up" - and some of the time-wasting tactics used by Southport were a little hard to take (although it did prove that they had a certain respect for their opposition I guess). So - the three-match unbeaten run came to an end for Celtic, and the win puts Southport four points behind leaders Fleetwood Town (with two games in hand), with Alfreton Town now third after their 5-0 demolition of Droylsden last night.

Meanwhile the Mossley bandwagon keeps rolling on ...
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Losing my Ebay "virginity" ...

... in the selling sense anyway !! Well I have got a fair few years (and boxes) of accumulated "stuff" (notice use of the word "stuff" rather than "cr*p" !), so ... worth a try isn't it ? So - four (football) programmes and two (non-football) badges later ... six and a bit days to go ...

Curzon v Wakefield game off tonight - frozen pitch - the stars are out again as we write, so I wonder what tomorrow will bring football-wise - and I wonder where I'll end up ... if anywhere ... (possibly) more bugger !
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The "Man in Black"

... no not Johnny Cash, but the oft-maligned arbiter of our beautiful game - spotted this today on the Glossop Message Board (thanks to "Haggis"), and thought it worth sharing a bit more ...



Hilarious !
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No Wake in Wakefield !

... well I've been to one this week - more than enough.

A right good day out today. On the train at 1155 - having discovered an even cheaper way to get there ! Weigh it up - Mossley to Wakefield return is £12-20. The usual plan is Mossley to Marsden (£5-20) and a West Yorkshire Day Rover (£5-30), thus saving £1-70. However, thanks to "Northern Duo", a pair of us got the Mossley to Marsden leg for £7-80 (one full, one half), so another £1-30 saved each !! We'll beat this stupid ticketing system (if you can call it a "system") EVERY TIME !!

Arrived in Wakefield about 1315 - we had young Callum with us so pub options were limited - ended up in the Wetherspoons - they'll have anyone, anytime (a great shame really - I can remember founder Tim Martin's initial "ideals" back in the late 70s/early 80s - those ideals now sadly thrown out of the window in the pursuit of profit !) - spent the train savings in there before we took a "roundabout route" (!) to College Grove.

A pretty even start to the game - well until Wakefield took the lead via their version of Peter Crouch ! The equaliser had a hint of "dodgy" about it in my mind - but the ref's decision is final of course (especially when it's in YOUR favour !). However all the good work was undone just before half time when Ryan Pleasants made it "unpleasant" for Mossley.

As the second half went on it wasn't looking brilliant - lots of pressure from Mossley but no product - and Wakefield still looked dangerous going forward. However, the old adage of "It's a 90+ minute game" - that Mossley have played to so many times this season - came to fruition when Chris McDonagh smacked one in from the edge of the box to set up a tense final 10 minutes ... and with one minute left on the clock, a moment of pure magic from Lee Blackshaw - squirming through the penalty area before slotting home - saw Mossley snatch a 3-2 win which takes them to the giddy heights of 13th place in the Unibond 1 North - still with games in hand over a few teams above !

If you've made it this far, you'll be looking for these no doubt ...

Wakefield 2 Mossley 3

(Pleasantly surprised that it turned out to be a fairly good set - I was a bit dubious at the end of the game (that "crisis of confidence" is still alive and kicking in the Smiffy psyche for some reason ... if someone would give me an effing job it may well put this "all to bed" as they say)

A happy trip home - with time for a swift slurp in Huddersfield - and in deference to Friday night's "Heavy Metal Britannica" on BBC4 which featured rather a lot of Iron Maiden, I managed a pint of Harviestoun "Number of the Beast" in the "Head of Steam" on Hudd Station ! Anyone else watch that last night ? I was a touch disappointed with the Beebs "apparent history" of Heavy Metal which just seemed to stop dead at the end of the 70s ... and the half-hour prog following that was AWFUL - picked some right duff tracks - "Wise Man" by Uriah Heep - heavy metal - give me strength ! Anyway the Iron Maiden tour movie made up for it - even though I'd seen a lot of the stuff the night before when they showed the "Flight 666" film ... but I digress ...

Back to Mossley to catch the last 15 minutes of the Wolves/Man United game - Scholes scored just as we were getting off the train - he could have waited a couple of minutes - then home to this ...

Tomorrow sees a bit of DIY in the "new curtain rail" area ... and then to create something with some lumps of braising steak ... but a trip to Rajas for a copy of the "Non League Paper" will of course come first (although I must remember to take steak out of freezer tonight - in fact I'll do it now !) OK - steak now defrosting ... best finish this off and "have a trawl round" - early spots show Stalybridge winning and Belper losing ... best get up to speed before the paper tomorrow ...
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Recruitment Agencies - Waste of Space ?

When I joined the ranks of the "great unwashed", one of the first "tips" I got was to sign on to a number of recruitment agencies - and thanks to the beauty of virtual job-hunting you can upload CVs etc to apparently "increase your profile" and "put yourself in front of hundreds of recruiters" - sceptical was I ...

I've tried several different CV "styles" - dependent on who I talked to, each version was "very good" - I was told that the trick is to tweak it each time you apply, dependent on thejob itself - cover letters were another topic where conflicting advice appeared - "don't make it too long" - "don't make it too short" etc etc.

... oh, and don't forget to set up the "job alerts", so the agencies can e-mail info about the opportunities that fit your "keywords"...

Now - this morning - I received one such alert - a developer job - "looks familiar" I said - as many of them do. Checking back through my "job diary" (that thing you have to show down at the Dole to show that you're actually doing SOMETHING), I noticed that I first applied for this job on 29th January. The same 'job' "re-appeared" on the 19th February - so I re-applied using different CV/Cover Letter option. And now it's back ... who are the fussy ones, the agencies or the actual prospective employer ? If the post STILL hasn't been filled 2 months down the line, isn't it time somebody in the whole chain of communication started to lower their sights a bit - or for that point, does the job really exist ?? You really start to wonder at times - these recruitment agencies are apparently taking a serious "rake off" for every post they fill - but these people seem to be in the position of "Playing God" in the whole recruitment process - and preventing people who "can do" from actually "doing" - or even getting in front of an employer to prove it ...

Depressing isn't it ?
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Breaking News from Wakefield ...

... and all this just before the visit of Mossley tomorrow




Hot off the presses today - yes it's Wakefield District Housing presenting their experiences of Implementing Cascade's fully integrated HR and Payroll system, and describing how this saved them loadsa money (probably by sacking a few software developers - ahem !) ... truly a "top ten" Youtube hit !

Follow that Lilywhites ...
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A Humdrum Thursday ...

(To the sound of "A Day in the Life" ...)

... applied for three jobs (got knock-back on one late this afternoon - sulk)
... had haircut (by Giuseppe)
... swapped some curtains (eyelet for "ordinary")
... got specs "mended" (dodgy screw)
... cooked tea (oriental style salmon with stir-fry veg)
... opened letter confirming our endowment mortgage is "short" - (something to use a chunk of the redundancy pittance towards - sulk)
... new CD arrived from EBay "Stereo Spirit" by Daby Touré (from Mauritania)

Fallen asleep yet ? Me neither ... 1500 hrs on Saturday soon comes around though ...

But first ... Friday !!!
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Day of Departures

... a simple yet effective "celebration of life" today at Rochdale Crematorium for Steve Bostock - well attended, much emotion and a dignified farewell for someone who was slightly more than just a "workmate" - we had photography in common too - I need to play "catch-up" big style in that area though ... anyway farewell Steve - you will be missed ....

A bad 24 hours all round - on Tuesday night Macc Town Manager Keith Alexander passsed away after returning home from the Silkmen's away game at Notts County ...furthermore Michael Foot has also "left the political arena" as has Winston Churchill ... enough ...
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PC Football & DVD Football

... a quiet night in, taking advantage of Bamber Bridge's excellent live match update gizmo - and having a bit of a laugh at the same time ! And it was Mossley who had the last laugh with an important 2-1 away victory which, coupled with Woodley's 2-0 defeat at Trafford, nudges them another place up the table - and also gets the goal difference back to zero !

At "sign on" today at the Department of (No) Work and (Frozen) Pensions, I was politely informed that, as I had been signing on for six weeks I now have to attend a "Back to Work" session - I say "politely informed" - the actual wording is "I am directing you to take the action below" - naturally if I fail to carry out this "Jobseeker's Direction" I 'could' lose ... you know the rest ... hey ho ... appears on the face of it to be nowt more than a reminder about what I'm already doing (although highly unlikely to touch on phrases like "ageism" - because that doesn't happen any more - does it ? ).

Now that the PC football has finished - and in deference to Mossley's trip to Wakefield FC on Saturday - I've pulled out a DVD which I bought several weeks ago, but haven't got round to watching - it's the Emley vs Stalybridge Celtic NPL "title decider" from April 2001 - it's 1-0 to Emley at the moment (half-time) but we all know the final score don't we ? One of those games where I can say "I was there !" (after several pints in Fernandes Brewery Tap !) - and I missed the late winner rushing for the train home !

Tomorrow - off to Rochdale to attend Steve Bostock's funeral - sad times - or a celebration of his life ... I'll go with the latter.
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Ashton United v Matlock Town

... as I'd declared myself "unavailable" for the Mossley game @ Bamber Bridge tonight and no ju-jitsu for small boy, it was a choice of the two Ashtons last night - and it was to Hurst Cross that I went (no thanks to the bloody 408 bus - ten minutes late going up and non-existent going back !), eschewing the "top of the table" clash between Curzon and Lancaster (can't beat a good "eschew" now and again !).

An even first half - and it was going pretty much the same way in the second 45. Just when we were all looking at a 0-0 stalemate, up pops Ross Hannah with a marvellous free kick to put the Gladiators in front. The turning point was the goal-line clearance at the other end, closely followed by a killer second goal on 89 minutes that did flatter the visitors to be honest.

Pictures at

Ashton United 0 Matlock Town 2

Can't complain at the effort put in by Ashton - they did hit the woodwork as well (which I contrived to miss !). While play-off hopes may be fading, Danny Johnson has assembled a good nucleus of players - wonder how long Moyo-Modise will be there - a very useful acquisition if I may say so - and once Marlin Piana gets back to 100%, who knows ? The creativity IS there - maybe the addition of a target man would be the final piece in the jigsaw.

That's real football over for the midweek though - fingers crossed for Mossley tonight though ... back to "work hunt" now - 'tis "sign on" day as well (sulk) ...

Nearly forgot - a Matlock game would not be the same without "Rico" phoning through his report - so I present ... "Rico @ Work" - courtesy babycam


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