THE WEEK THAT WAS
Best mate at the club? Ben Nugent. He came into the club around the same time as me and we’ve got on well ever since then. He is on loan from Cardiff at the moment and we will definitely stay in touch if he goes back – but hopefully he will stay on full time after January. Last to buy dinner? Hopefully no-one thinks it’s me! I haven’t had too many nights out with the lads since I joined in July. I’m worried now! The FIFA king? This is one crown I’m happy to take. But Kieffer Moore is also decent on it and so is AJ Leitch-Smith. They are both good players. We usually play with Man United, Man City, Barcelona – all the top teams. Certainly no-one chooses to be Yeovil! There’s no Playstation at the training ground, so I usually end up playing with a couple of the lads online after training. Worst dressed? Our goalkeeper Artur Krysiak is the worst. You would have to see what he wears to believe it. You could say it is a European style of dressing – that might be his excuse anyway. It’s hard to describe, but he has some awful jeans and gets a bit of stick from the lads. The dressing room DJ? Captain Joe Edwards is normally the one to get his iPod out. He plays a big mixture of tunes but it is usually stuff that’s high up in the charts. He’s on the speakers before games, which helps get us up for it. The most skilful? Definitely Joel Grant. He has got really sharp feet and he is very tricky with the ball. He moves defenders around and does a lot of step-overs. He’s the standout trickster in the squad. Late for training? Joel Grant again. He’s always the last to get into the training ground, although he’s not usually late for the actual session. We’re pretty good as a squad for our time-keeping because there’s a fine system in place. You have to pay money into the kitty for the Christmas do if you’re late, so everyone gets in on time. Teacher’s pet? Gary Johnson is actually a little short on volunteers in that department. No-one in particular is too keen on getting to the front with their hands up when it comes to drills! The worst tattoo? Calvin Brooks. He has a small half black, half white circle on his back, which doesn’t look too smart. It could be a Ying-Yang symbol, but it’s so bad, it’s virtually impossible to tell! Never puts their phone down? Everyone’s on their phone most of the time, be it calls, messages, Twitter posts. AJ LeitchSmith is the worst offender. Going to make the best manager? Sam Foley. He loves to play Football Manager on the computer, so I reckon he would know what he was doing. He’s on that quite a bit, a lot more than most of the other lads. He’s not said anything specific about going into management when he retires to me, but based on his Football Manager success I think he would be good.
December 7 – 13
December 7, 1968: Billy Best scores five for Southend United in a 10-1 FA Cup second round win over Brentwood. Three of the goals come in a three-minute spell – a record in the competition at the time. December 8, 1979: Neil Hood scores both goals for Clyde in their 2-1 victory over Airdrieonians. He then gave away a penalty which gave Airdrie their goal and subsequently got sent off!
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN’S week has been a tale of two breaks and if it were not for Sheffield United’s intervention, it’s unlikely the Rocket would have achieved blast-off in York.
Snooker’s star broke a bone in his ankle while out running days before the UK Championship – the sport’s second biggest tournament.
But after recruiting the help of the Blades’ physio team, O’Sullivan has undergone a miraculous recovery and no better was that illustrated than on Thursday when he broke his own record to achieve his 13th perfect break of 147 in a fourth-round victory over Matt Selt, claiming a whopping £40,000 in the process.
“I practice up at the Sheffield United academy, so they’ve always helped me mend injuries there,” said four-time UK Champion O’Sullivan.
“The physios there like Nathakorn Piangcharoen and Tony Denton, they’re all top boys.
“It’s only an hour drive so I’ve been over there three or four times this week. I’ve had five different sessions and they’ve put me on a routine that I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing on my own. It feels really good now.
“It’s a Weber fracture – which is the best of all fractures to have – and it’s getting stronger and stronger with all the exercise I’m doing. I can walk on it but I can’t be doing any running yet.”
Arsenal fan O’Sullivan says his cheque will help pay the bills.
“It pays the tax, I’m bang in trouble – get the inland revenue off my case,” joked O’Sullivan, who celebrated his 39th birthday on Friday.
“The motivation to get them is not as high as it used to be and I knew somewhere in the back of my mind the rollover was mounting up for the maximum. Unless it’s over 40 grand you won’t be getting a maxi from me!
“I worked my way into the match and it was a great ending. The excitement never wears off.You get the adrenaline. I already had the record at 12 and I thought someone would have to go some to beat that. But it’s always nice to add to it and make it that bit more difficult for someone to reach.
“I don’t go out trying to do anything differently. It’s how I’ve played since I was young and how I always will.”
CHRIS BAILEY