Is That a Smile, Pards?

I said yesterday that we could all enjoy ourselves for the day with no chance whatsoever of losing a game, and instead have a laugh at other people's misfortune in the 4th Round of the Cup as once again, of course, we're not there.

I was really after seeing some giant-killing from the minnows of Luton, Southend or Bristol City to upset the Big Boys and relishing the fact that we don't include ourselves in that demeaning category anymore, well not currently anyway. But I certainly didn't expect to see a Watford win for the second time in a week and, for better or worse, that is the result that we all want to read about. In our desperation to find three worse teams in the Premiership, anywhere, it seems that despite their loads of readies, there remains one very close to home over there in E13.

But the situation is a bit like seeing your ex-wife, and mother to all your kids, who having walked out on you has now been dumped by her new man. You want to smile but after all those years together you find you can't. And likewise, its very difficult after 15 eventful years to get rid of a certain fondness for our ex-manager. We've been through a lot together and he just happens to have joined our nearest neighbours and as chance would have it, currently one of our chief rivals. You couldn't write a better script, well you could, it would end with us playing them on the last game of the season.

But if you can't find a smile you can at least enjoy a quiet read and tell yourself its called therapy sharing stories with other people with the same problems that you have, then the independent is a great help and calls their performance "guileless", "a shocking capitulation", and talks of "panicking players" and sees more problems for Curbs when the two sides meet again in 2 weeks time at Upton Park. Seems he had 16 complaints to make in the programme notes and then saw his new signing Lucas Neil limp off injured. So I have to say encouraging reading.

And although we feel its all good news about West Hams plight, its still OK for us to feel some pity for the our ex's situation, but what about our new leader Alan Pardew? What's he thinking this morning? After getting his team into the Cup Final and into Europe and then this season beating the Arse and manure and even getting a draw at Vicarage Rd, does he still feel a little hard done by? What expression do you suppose he has got on reading the reports over his morning coffee? He wouldn't be human if he didn't have a bit of a smile on this morning, would he?