Saturday, and the Greens are taking to the streets, maybe a bit of an over exaggeration but we are holding a Street Stall in Brentwood High Street. It's the first campaign that the Party have fought in Brentwood and in a sense its dipping our foot in the water time. Our candidate is present, we have posters but the leaflets are dated and don't tie in with the election. In truth the party see this as a paper candidature, but the local press have asked to see us campaigning, and so all publicity is good publicity, and an article in nthe Brentwood gazetter is worth several hundred leaflets.
In fairness the stall went well there were five of us, and the public ranged from interested to dis- missive, as Elaine mentioned to me its years since we've done this and you forget about "the nutters". The individuals who think politics surrounds one small issue and proceed to pummel you with it for ten minutes. The candidate Jess has asked us to go to the count on May 6th which should be interesting, not seen one of those since 1997.
The campaign in Brentwood has been a low key affair, the sitting MP Eric pickles tours the country showing the "northern face" of the Conservative Party. Meanwhile the Lib Dems seem to have fewer posters and given the hype surrounding Cleggomania I was genuinely surprised not to see them in town on Saturday. On Saturday evening I walked through Highbury and discovered that there posters were more plentiful and in contrast to Brentwood there wasn't a Tory poster in sight. A tale of two nations.
Talking of Highbury, Arsenal v Manchester City. When I got the ticket the online ticket office was in meltdown, what a difference a few weeks make. Two weeks ago Arsenal were genuine title contenders, not anymore. As a result not many are going to the Emirates with any sense of hope. The only real plus is the return to fitness of Robin Van Persie, but the crowd focus more on the return to Arsenal of three former players. Patrick Vieira remains an Arsenal legend, even his last kick for the club delivered the FA Cup in 2005. Vieira did play against Arsenal for Juventus at Highbury, thr night Cesc Fabregas came of age, but tonight is a chance to show respect.
Kolo Toure was the last remaining member of the invincibles, that said he never seemed the same player in the last couple of years at the Club and Arsene in time honoured tradition knew when to sell. Finally Adebayor, the manager asked the crowd to trat him with respect, but as he later said in a TV interview "they don't alwats do what I say". Adebayor and Vieira never could the reception for one player being substituted by the other have met such contrasting reactions.
Adebayor to Arsenal fans symbolises someone whose loyalty could be bought. The chant of "wanker" echoed around the ground, other fans wave banknotes at him.
The game itself never caught fire and ended 0-0, but it was never dull, and I found myself focussing on a player who has been a great professional in the weeks just gone. Sol Campbell. I doubt when he started to train at the Club after his brief stop at Notts County, he thought he finish up making MOM performances come April. It might seem far fetched, but with England centre backs dropping like flies, a recall for Sol is not far fetched.
Coming out of the Emirates, I strolled through the neighboring streets eating my chips with curry sauce. How I enjoy wandering the streets around Finsbury Park. It is so far removed from my life in Ingatestone, the houses, scenes and multi-ethnic shops seem so alive especially after evening games.
Issues resolved:All my teams should enter the field to London's Calling by the Clash, what better anthem is there for sports team from the city.
Listening to : Jim White albums- here's hoping its not long till the next tour
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