Clarke Carlisle's Blog by Clarke_Carlisle

Why hello there! I must apologise for my little mini sabbatical! After our last match the manager took us away to Portugal for a change of scenery, but more of that later! I must first comment about my sending off in that match against Millwall, where I feel I was really hard done by. I appealed against the decision because the referee said that I had endangered the safety of my opponent, which I couldn’t disagree more with. Tackles are usually deemed dangerous when they are late and result in the offending player cleaning out his opponent instead of/as well as the ball. But I aimed my tackle to intercept my opponent’s touch, and so ended up tackling too early! Sliding across the front of him, he didn’t take the touch I was expecting so I went across the line of the ball and it trickled between my legs! He had plenty of time to take evasive action, hurdling the challenge, and had he retained his balance on the other side, I’m sure an advantage would have been played.

Even though the suspension has been upheld, I’m claiming a moral victory because I wasn’t awarded an extra match ban for a frivolous appeal, which leads me to believe that the decision was open to interpretation! But when you’re a hairy-backsided centre-half like me, you’re going to make challenges that force the ref to make a decision and, unfortunately, I came out on the wrong side of this one! On to our little trip to Portugal and it was very well received by the squad, as I’m sure you would expect! When you leave a deluge of rain in England to land in a 20+ degree climate, you can’t help but appreciate how fortunate you are! Amidst the R’n’R that we enjoyed, the only event of note might actually scar me for life!

Dean Marney was my playing partner in a round of golf against Michael Duff and Steven Thompson, and he was also the driver of our buggy. As we meandered down the cart path a couple of pigeons blocked our way. Now, I don’t know if they’re a different breed over there but these guys didn’t move an inch! Fully expecting them to up and away as normal pigeons do, Deano gunned towards them, but one bird merely ducked! A plume of feathers shot into the air and as our necks whiplashed around to see if that actually just happened, we witnessed Thommo applying the finishing blow! I’m not one for excuses but I’m sure that physically affected me for the rest of the round! We took an offering at the end of the round and it’s on its way to the RSPB as we speak! Finally, it’s my birthday next week! Woo hoo! The spritely age of 31, and if my room-mate and skipper is anything to go by, I’ve still got 10 years left! I can guarantee that I won’t last as long as the mighty Graham Alexander, he is in peak condition and is the ultimate pro. In fact, he’ll probably still retire after me! Have a great week and many blessings!