Bear-Faced Hound

Three of us this week. Graham probably in the air though if Kevster's experience of recent flights was continued, loitering around Malta airport. Steve had a strategy meeting, whatever that is.

Anyway, we arrived in the pub, looked like one of LATT had made it in early.

Why the big paws?

We never really got a decent explanation for his presence, but we could have used him on our side. By way of pre quiz fun, I produced a wrist ball which were all the rage back in the day, gosh must have been around 1999 or the like. The hours of fun we had back then, simpler times.

So first up in the quiz, pictures of UK celebs back in their younger days. These were pretty A list and I think we got most of them, only mixing up Emma Watson with Helena Bonham-Carter, Gryffindor rather than Slytherin I guess.

Next up, the usual current affairs nonsense. The Scrabble World Champion won £7,000. Decent but probably not a cue to give up the day job and a crossbow bolt shot into the ground disrupted Surrey v Middlesex.


Third round was trains and the like. Sadly not focussing on the Tattenham Corner line but a more global challenge if you will. A few missed punts here, Beijing, Tokyo and New York all featuring but we probably got them in the wrong order.

Mumbai station, if it didn't feature, it should have done.

Onto connections, Jerry Lee Lewis, Henry VIII, Richard Pryor and Elton John pushed us onto the tracks of multiple marriages/divorces though Henry generally didn't bother with such formalities. Did we get the ten pointers? I'm going to say we did. Fine sandwiches as well with a good proportion of egg.

Link ups went awry towards the end, we lost it on Hajj and Jollof, citizens of the world that we are. Eyes down and time to focus on the jeopardy.

Or something.

So which England manager preceded Capello? The first name to jump up was Sven. But what about Stevie Mac? And didn't Pearce have a few games as caretaker? And then Howard Wilkinson has a game or two in charge every now and then? So we won't forget again (likely).

Graham Taylor - 1990–1993

Terry Venables - 1994–1996

Glenn Hoddle - 1996–1999

Howard Wilkinson 1999, 2000

Kevin Keegan 1999–2000

Peter Taylor 2000

Sven-Göran Eriksson 2001–2006

Steve McClaren 2006–2007

Fabio Capello 2008–2012

Stuart Pearce 2012

Roy Hodgson 2012–2016

Sam Allardyce 2016

Gareth Southgate

At least now we've accepted it doesn't really matter, we're not going to win anything and I'd say we have Roy to thank for that. We swerved it, plus maybe another. Music we got nearly all on and drum roll, joint second, beaten by a narrow three points by the Busters. So no win and close enough to think about what might have been but good to share the love, another fairly thin week in terms of team entries so no harm in the wins being shared around.

Phew, left my blogging notes in the pub but I think I got away with it.