Damn, no score and the Dale have it all to do in the 2nd leg at Gillingham on Sunday.
May I draw your attention to this article concerning Spot the Dog, former mascot of Welsh Premier League side The New Saints. Spot has recently perpetrated perhaps the greatest crime in football history (IMO) by selling out his ‘loyalty’ to TNS in defecting to rival club Technogroup Welshpool.
Quoth Spot:
Mr Pritchard, 24, said he had become bored of dressing as a huge dog, and was looking to develop his role in football.*
- Better known as Spot.
This raises a couple of important questions. Firstly, and despite the assurances given in the article, the employment prospects of Welshpool’s current mascot Pogo the Panda would now seem to be under threat. Think about it. We are in the middle of a recession and here’s a football club with one mascot surplus to requirements. Clearly, one of them has got to go.
Secondly, thinking about your squad for next season, is there a vacancy for a displaced panda to take the mascot spot at Swansea?
We’ve got as much as we can handle with Cyril the Swan. He’s a feisty character and wouldn’t take lightly in having to share the limelight with another mascot.
I also have to mention that occasionally Cyril shares his duties with Cybil the Swan and having a threesome is a recipe for disaster even if the third one is possibly a lovable panda.
By the way, congratulations on winning your last game of the season. I always felt it could be on the cards but I’m also hoping we won’t be so generous next season.
Thanks. 
We finished well in the end, with but one defeat in our last ten games. You won’t find many Blackpool supporters complaining about the club’s performance this season, although our home form continues to be a cause for major concern.
That’s one mean swan you’ve got there.
Cyril is right up there in the pantheon of badass mascots alongside Chaddy the Owl of Oldham and Wolfie (Wolves). Chaddy has also seen the inside of a police interrogation cell following this ugly fracas with Bloomfield Bear in 2003. For those of a nervous disposition it would be unwise to click the link. I must, however, reveal that a totally innocent Bloomfield gets his head ripped off by the odious owl.
Wolfie once took on one of the Three Little Pigs at Bristol City, and the pair had to be separated by the Ashton Gate security forces.
Well, our season - Oldham Athletic - ended in tatters with a nine-game streak of draws and defeats thumping our playoff chances. Joe Royle came, saw, sacked a couple of big-earners (Lee Hughes off to Blackpool on loan and out of contract, Mark Crossley and Andy Liddell released), and signed off with one win in ten (courtesy of 17-year-old Ryan Brooke’s goal three minutes into his professional debut).
Now we have Dave Penney in charge, we’ll shortly be seeing his backroom team in place (Martin Gray and Andy Collett) and, if strong rumours are correct, next week Pawel Abbott will be gracing Ice Station Boundary Park, while Danny Whitaker, Stefan Stam, Matthew Wolfenden, Sean Gregan, Kelvin Lomax, Kevin Maher and possibly the unlucky Kieran Lee will all be asked to leave the building.
Sadly, Rochdale did not get it done today. 
So I’m starting the official movement for promotion in 2010!
Up the Dale (in 10!) 
I don’t think we’ll have him replace Gully at the Albion although we’re always willing to panda to local opinion. 
what?
I sometimes wonder why we didn’t opt for a seagull mascot rather than a bear. There are, after all, more seagulls around Blackpool than bears. Or at least, that was the case when I last looked.
Anyone who watched the Reading v Burnley game last night saw two individual goals fit to grace the finest football stage. The Clarets were excellent value for the win, but then they were playing a Reading side which, since a 4-0 home victory against Watford on 9 January, had scored precisely 4 goals in 9 subsequent matches at the Madejski Stadium.
Torquay United make the jump back into the League. The Gulls get another season of playing Conference football.
Predictions as to how the other finals will go?
Burnley to beat Sheff U
Gills to beat Shrews
Millwall to beat Scunthorpe
I hope Burnley put one over Sheffield United.
There’s a strong case for Owen Coyle to be made manager of the year for the second division, given the resources he has at his disposal. Plus, any Burnley supporter who bought a season ticket before 8 August last year will be given a free one for next season, subject to the team being promoted. It will cost the club around £2 million. This may be a relatively small proportion of the riches available to a newly promoted club but it’s a nice gesture, anyway.
I think Scunthorpe might edge out Millwall and Shrewsbury can take Gillingham, but as we all know these games can be decided by one mistake, one flash of brilliance or an outrageous piece of luck.
A small crumb of comfort is the fact that Rochdale lost to the eventual winners, Gillingham
What a cracker.
Best game I’ve seen all season.
Nice one Burnley