“ Hello..hello..hello , is there anybody in there, just nod if you can hear me, is there anyone home?
Pink Floyd was my go to band when I needed to do some soul searching. My head spun and my thoughts were scattered. I needed answers. I had too many questions. I was lost in the nothingness, the wilderness inside me. The pain seemed surreal as I swam to the shore of life fighting the waves that drowned me into the pool of blood.
The England Football team, dare to believe. With the three lions roaring on their chests, they will proudly step out on the Donbass Arena in Donetsk in Ukraine against the mighty French contingency. With a new era in English football under the experienced Roy Hodgson and Gerrard leading the team forward, every English fan looks ahead in hope towards the EURO 2012 fever. The fear still remains in their eyes as they book their tickets to Ukraine. It might be the same old story after all.
On 1st may 2012, when it was announced that the ex-West Bromwich Albion manager had beaten Harry Redknapp to the race of becoming the next England man, a few people looked at their television sets with utter disbelief. The stats were clear. Roy Hodgson didn’t only prove his capabilities through the 2010-11 and 2011-12 season in the West Brom dugout, but also helped them secure a 11th and 10th finish in the premier league which was a commendable achievement for a newly promoted team who had lost 13 out of their first 18 matches under Di Matteo. Yes, the same man who has taken Chelsea to the Champions League final single handedly.
The experience he brings to the English camp is exceptional through his years in Internazionale, Switzerland, Fulham and his brief stint as the Liverpool Manager. When these stats were presented to the English hopefuls their faces beamed with excitement. The expectancy rose and they dared to believe that a change was coming. A new look young England team would tear the opposition apart. Every eye in England was awaiting 16 May 2012 for the team news. Who would be in? Who would give way to younger players? What new surprises will be thrown up this time in the team sheet?
So the England team was announced, and yes it was full of surprises as expected. The struggling John Terry was selected. Micah Richards gave way to Phil Jones. The improved Rio Ferdinand (at least in the second half of the season), was not handed a ticket for the Euros and the struggling Andy Carroll actually found a place in the 23 man squad. Michael Carrick who sparkled in the united shirt this season was not even mentioned in the standby list and even Jordon Henderson got his nod ahead of him who might just play if Scott Parker doesn’t recover from his injury. As the team sheet rolled, the inclusion of Stewart Downing came as a shock to the world. Even Everton Keeper Tim Howard has scored more goal than the Stewart ‘disastrous’ Downing this season. And where did Peter Crouch go? Hodgson says that Caroll is strong in the air but did he forget that Peter Crouch is around 6’7?
No matter how much we might criticize the selections, Roy Hodgson still has taken up a tedious job of reconstructing a broken down puzzle with pretty much the same old pieces who have not fit properly for the past few years. He needs a tape, he needs scissors and he needs a lot of patience to actually make the three lions roar again and fight the Swedes, French and the also mighty Ukranians in their own backyard.
We wish luck to Roy Hodgson and hope that with Gary Neville as the coach of this ‘NEW’ England squad they at least get past the group stage unlike last time. Oh!! I forgot. They weren’t even playing the Euros four years back. They have already exceeded our expectations. Bravo!!
Signing off
An English fan since Birth (With a heavy heart I admit, I have been a fan forever and I hope one day, one day these sleeping lions roar past the world and make this world their own. Even though it’s painful, It’s always good to be optimistic. Right?)
This is not a hate mail. This is not a discussion forum. This is not a letter written in self pity.
This is a shout out, a call to the true red side of the world, let alone Manchester. This is a war cry for the world to know that UNITED WE STAND… UNITED WE RISE !!!
13 May 2012 may be remembered as the day the world saw the most unbelievable moment in football unfurl in front of their eyes on that green piece of land in the Etihad stadium in Manchester. The colorful part of the world rejoiced while the red brigade stood there in utter disbelief at their ill fate. The world did not celebrate the city victory, the world celebrated a united loss. Its Manchester United vs the Premier League. Says quite a lot about the 19 other brave teams trying to fill up the numbers.
This is a thank you to the brave red warriors of Old Trafford spear headed by the one and only legendary Sir Alex Ferguson. Paul Scholes ran riots with his passing. A true red legend, could never give up football. Ryan Giggs, tormenting defenders on the left hand side for the last 2 decades was a class apart yet again this season. Rooney stood there with his head held high after the final whistle, walking towards the crowd with a heavy heart. Not because they had just lost the premier league but because they had let the supporters down. Alex Ferguson, an epitome of calmness, the true face of Manchester United. “If you can’t support us when we lose, don’t support us if we win.” A true United blood has spoken.
So looking at the table. Arsenal, commendable performance. 3rd place after nearly fighting with relegation. Hats off to you guys. You’re just a few 19 points behind. I hope someday you find your way till the top. Coming to Chelsea. The Chelsea flag flutters high and mighty with a mere quote written at the bottom. ‘Money Cannot buy Everything. For everything else there is Mastercard.’ For the Liverpool fans, thank you for completing the numbers. 8th well that’s not bad at all. Next year you ll come back stronger, “I hope”. And last but not the least, the supposed blue side of Manchester, which club did you support last season again?
Love us or hate us. We are Manchester United. United We stand, united we rise, 20th title is in front of our eyes. And as Carlos Tevez lifts the trophy in blue, the true united heart stands there with a smile on his face.
Premier League 2012-13, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED !!!
The fire cracked in front of him as he sat quietly staring into the flames, smoking his cigar with Frank Sinatra playing on the record player
in the background. The walls on either side of him were lined up with books from top to bottom. He had been collecting them for years now and was proud of his library. He had books which had been gifted to him as a child, to books he had bought from garage sales to collectibles which had cost him a bomb. His receding hairline was just an indication that he was growing old, even though he was still believed that he was still 18 but his body seemed to disagree. He grabbed his robe as he felt the chilly air blowing through the nearby open window. He got up to close it and cause of his shivering hands he knocked over the book kept on the shelf right next to the window.
“I remember the first time I saw him. He was 13 and just floated over the ground like a cocker spaniel chasing a piece of silver paper in the wind” -Alex Ferguson
In 1987, a 14 year old Welsh boy stepped onto the green fields of Old Trafford and left legends like Sir Bobby Charlton speechless. 24 years down the line, he has not only reached his own legendary status but this boy wonder since then has never looked back. He who with every touch of the ball gives us Goosebumps, he who epitomizes what Manchester United stand for today, he goes by the name of Ryan Giggs.
Loneliness is just a wall you walk into very often. You stumble your way through this gruesome forest of life just to encounter this
wall once in a while and you don’t have an answer. You prepared yourself for this situation for years. You thought that when time would come and you would need help there will be these few people standing next to you ready to break down the wall with you and you never checked to look back cause you always believed they were there behind you. But now they are gone. They are nowhere to be seen when the time of reckoning comes. They leave you standing there helpless and alone, unprepared for what might be there behind that wall. You just stand there looking up trying to look for ways to fight this war alone as the suns coming down in the distance. You just wasted countless number of months preparing for the inevitable just to be left alone on the lonesome day.
Old Trafford was a scene of utter jubilation after a so called 2nd stream Manchester United took charge and beat the minnows Schalke 4-1 at home to confirm their spot in the Champions League final in Wembley on the 28th May 2011. Every united supporter had a huge smile on their face after they had seen their team push aside the German opposition in a very confident display which highlighted the depth of their wonder team. The date is marked in calendars of every Red Devil and Barcelona supporter. Both the teams will take the stage in Wembley on the 28th for this crucial match which is deemed as the replay of the 2009 Champions League final where Barcelona stomped all over Sir Alex Ferguson’s United to lift the trophy for the third time in their history.
29th May 1968, a day etched in hearts of every Manchester United supporter. The old Wembley stadium, 2 years after England won their first ever world cup there, witnessed another day that glorified English football. Manchester United was the first English team to hold the European Cup under the management of the one and only Sir Matt Busby. They brushed aside the Portuguese side Benfica in extra time to lift the cup and write their names in football history. It was the Manchester United led by legends like Sir Bobby Charlton, Dennis Law and George Best. It was a fitting finale to a dream Sir Matt Busby had and had set out to achieve when he took the reign at Old Trafford.
As I lay there with smoke rising like a heap of cloud above my head, my thoughts gave way to clearer facts about life. I felt light. I felt free. As the smoke found its way out of my lungs into the clean air of the room, I felt as if I was letting go. My mind for once had gone blank, no thoughts, no worries and thankfully no pain. I was alone and the world was there for me to carve it the way I wanted to. I lay there mind purified and for the first time I really heard the lyrics of the song which was playing in the background.
I had heard the song before a million times but somehow never cared to really understand it. Till now it had never made so much sense. Every word the dude sang engraved its way into my heart and fit like lost pieces of puzzle of my life. The way he talked about love and hurt and pain made complete sense. Our life was just another joke for the man sitting above us, laughing his way as we tortured our way through this unbelievable painful path.
The day had been long, lonely yet refreshing. The sunset took place nearly an hour back, hiding behind the trees around the lake. The lake looked red as if had been filled with blood, the blood of the noble soldiers who had fallen in love and lost. There wasn’t a single soul in sight. I had come to this lake every day since I was a little kid. I loved it. It was just me and silence and the calmness of mind. It was peace at a completely different level, maybe a level not known to man himself. I was sure this level of serenity no one could have ever experienced. This lake had been my best friend whenever I needed one. Never speaking back, never giving any kind of advice. Just a silent listener, understanding every word I spoke. The silence said it all. It empathized with me.
I came here today to clear my thoughts. I came here to renew myself and get back to the world which somehow “needed” me. A world where everyone found it easier to be fake, than to face the truth. Was it ever so hard to fight the truth? Did truth hurt as everyone had told me before? How would I know? i never faced the truth. I just washed it away with this lakes water. It got washed away in my “best friend’s” tears.
As I sat in front of those still trees with the moon staring at me waiting for me to start my story, there was only one thing on my mind. Expectations. Why do we expect so much, when we know its going to hurt us. Do expectations ever get fulfilled? why does it hurt so much every time? Why is it not easy to just wash it all away like everything else? So what builds up these expectations? Can it be love?
Alan sat in front of me with a cast on his hand and a shoulder support. I had seen him come to the bar every Friday for the last six months. He was a young enthusiastic lad who was always smiling and was full of energy. The people around him always seemed to love him and he was an amazing listener. I had seen how he had always been there for his friends when they really needed him.
But today he seemed to be in physical pain. He looked tired but still the smile never left his face. I turned towards him and asked him the reason for his tattered condition. He had a few bruises on his face and well the cast seemed to be from a serious injury. Alan didn’t seem to be a guy who got too much into fights but well my curiosity got the better of me so I had to ask. He insisted it was nothing but my curious face was jus irresistible for a story.
Lonelyreaders 