First things first, and I have to say that I did not go to Sunday’s match at Alicante, where we lost one-nil.
I had a long standing promise to fly back to England for my mum’s 80th birthday, and I had no doubt whatsoever that I would have been challenged severely in the testicular area if I had not made an appearance.
But I did also use my weekend in trying to set up one or two pre-season friendly games against English clubs, and I will carry on doing some phone-bashing here to get some lively opposition for FC Torrevieja over the summer.
It has though been a very sad week for me, when you remember just how important life is.
I was shocked to hear about the death of the Macclesfield manager, Keith Alexander at the age of just 53.
I got to know Keith very well as a colleague and a friend, when I was his chief coach at Peterborough United four years ago. I know it sounds like a cliché, but he was a lovely guy who did all the right things in the game of football.
I would describe him as a big cuddly teddy bear who got the respect of the players and knew the lower leagues inside out.
We had a really good working relationship and we enjoyed sharing a beer or two.
However, I found his eating habits very predictable! It was always chips with everything!
As a black manager, the issue of race never never cropped up.
There were no chips(of the proverbial nature) on his shoulder, and he was only interested in finding and developing players from whatever background they came from. He never used his race as an excuse for anything.
Keith would tell me about the problems that he had with his brain aneurysm which he suffered in 2003, and it was clear to me that he was at times struggling three years on at Peterborough. He would sometimes forget something that he might have said or done only five minutes before, and he always did fear a severe relapse.
To his total credit, he got on with his job with no complaints, which is a real mark of character. My sympathies go out to his family and everybody that knew and worked with Keith in the world of football.
Keith’s death has also reminded me of how few opportunities there are these days for a lower league or non-league manager to be given a chance by the bigger clubs in England.
Despite his wealth of experience, his name never seemed to be whispered as say a possible Championship manager.
I remember chatting about this to David Sullivan when he was at Birmingham City. I asked why a club like his always chased a bigger name, rather than somebody who had had success at a lower level. His reply was that the fans would not accept somebody like that, because they wanted a big name, even though that big name could waste a lot of money and achieve absolutely nothing. Perhaps its time for some of the teams to look closer to home and down a division or two when it comes to picking their next manager. If nothing else, it might be the difference as to whether they stay in business or not!