DJW1

In the 70s, when we got our first phone, we shared a party line with the Christmas family across the street.

If Streeting or Burnham became PM then within a week people would be moaning they'd shifted to the right. The same would have happened if Corbyn had defeated May. Centre-left governments in the UK are under constant pressure from powerful lobbies, hostile media, the Americans etc. and often cave in on many policies

Is that Alan Waddle from the infamous 77-78 season? Who is his better family member?

The 1978-9 season, we nearly went down to old Div 3. It´s not a bad comparison with the current situation since we went down from Div 1 in 1978 with an aging, poor squad but stayed up in Div 2 wth a mixture of old and young. The following season we went up to Div 1! The difference is that the manager was Jock Wallace.

My brother´s plumber´s sister says she saw Allardyce in a kebab shop on the Narborough Road last night

A serious multi-million pound football club should have a permanent short list of potential managers to approach in case their current manager is sacked or poached. The sames goes for players. If a player is sold or suffers a serious injury, the club should already have a replacement identified. Does LCFC operate like that?

That MAY mean that he's going to sack Cifuentes

Do the home fans at other grounds applaud the away team's goalkeeper when he takes up his position before KO? This was usual, but doesn' t seem to happen at Leicester anymore.

Was Foster's a menswear "boutique", as they used to say in the 70s?

If JJ´s injury is going to keep him out for more than a month, they will HAVE to sign a CF and midfielder, to prevent relegation. Two new fullbacks would be ideal also. Unfortunately, I think the club is going to spend nothing, cross its fingers and hope we don´t go down

A well thought out, constructive comment 👍

I think we´ve found the goal-scoring centre forward we´ve all been asking for! To be honest, I´d rather have Vesty up front than Daka

Although I have sometimes felt down and lonely, I have never suffered from clinical depression. It is a good idea to fill as much of your time as possible with activities, so that you are not at home and perhaps tempted to drink/smoke/take drugs. Exercise will fill in your time and help with your health and with sleeping. A good idea would be to join a club or take part in an activity where you have a common interest with the people who attend. For me it´s football, birdwatching etc. The advantage is that when you first attend you know that you have something in common. I think winter can be harder for some people due to the shorter days, but the internet can provide a distraction through music etc. and in chats like this. Best wishes.

Between my CDs and YouTube, I´ve been enjoying: Johnny Marr - Getting Away With It Suede - Metal Mickey Deep Purple - Made in Japan (double LP, my all-time fave album) NWA - Straight Outta Compton (not for the fainthearted!) Carole King - Tapestry (LP) Pretenders - Singles (LP) Cardigans - Sick and Tired

His year at Seagrave Spa Resort obviously did him good

I'm not a scout but I'm sure I could find a dozen better LBs in Leagues 1 & 2. I saw Eastleigh in a televised game and their LB was miles better. The only reason I can think of for giving him a 4 years contract would be to maintain his Transfer value. But since nobody would pay more than 100k for him then that's no justification

If we had a proper striker we'd be in the top 6, despite our shortcomings

I think there was one in Nottingham, although we preferred Berni Inns!

Thanks for the reply. To combine 2 topics, my dad and brother went to an FA Cup tie at Carlisle on a football special, and my dad hitched to Sunderland for a game. Both around 1971 I think

Do "football special" trains still exist? I went on several in the 80s

Thanks for that. So It looks like they demolished houses to build Waterloo Way. I've never noticed the date on the station front, but it must be post-1885, as in this 1885 plan the station building is facing the City centre

I've walked hundreds of times from the station to the 2 grounds since my first game in 1971. The other day I was wondering what was there before Waterloo Way was built. Does anyone have a photo or street map?

Yes, I too was a trainspotter, in the late 70s and early 80s. I had the book that included the multiple units (DMUs and EMUs)! I grew up near Toton depot and also spent summer afternoons and evenings with my pals fishing (do kids go fishing these days?) or playing cricket near the train lines, pausing to jot down the numbers of passing trains. If my train was pulled by a particular loco then I wrote "H" next to its number (Haulage). Occasionally the driver would let us go in the cab for a few seconds - this was recorded as a "C" in the book!

I see parallels betweeen LCFC and the political situation in the UK (and not just that Keir Starmer looks a bit like Marti Cifuentes). Summer 24: Kick the Tories out! We want everything to be better NOW, but we´re not prepared to pay a penny more in tax to achieve it. January 25: why isn´t everything better? Starmer out! Reform in! June 25: LCFC is a disaster - the players are useless/don´t care/are too young and the club´s broke. September 25: why aren´t we in the top 2? Cifuentes out!

Nice photo from "Kes"!