I am so wrong about this manager, Bruno. I take my hat off to you.

 

In trying times, the stalwarts of Wolves carry the day.

In stressful times, Wolves stalwarts came to the fore to save, nay win the day.

This is THE derby between Aston Villa and Wolves. For so long, Wolves had played second fiddle to Villa in the Midlands and this was something of a grudge match for Wolves.

I am but a fair weather fan who has seen the worst of times of this proud club, but I can safely say that club's the best days are ahead. I was wrong to write them off especially with Bruno Lage - a relatively unknown manager to me, but a Champion manager with Benefica and the Super Cup, I am ready to say I am totally wrong and quite hopeless as a forecaster.

The match was scrappy from start till end, testament to the fact that both sets of players wanted so badly to be the match winner. Boths sides had their share of the strikes at goal, but Villa struck twice, early in the second half.

First was a sweet header from a great cross by John McGinn and Danny Ings (ex- Southampton and current England striker) was there to head home pass Jose Sa.

The second goal was the result of a poor back pass by Hwang Lee Chang who stupidly gave away the ball to Villa striker Matt Targett, who shot and upon the richochet, John McGinn struck to the extreme left of Sa's goal. 

Villa 2 Wolves 0

Things were looking bleak for Wolves, but they had a never say die attitude.

Right on the 80th minute after a short corner, the ball came to Reuben Neves, who passed an inch perfect ball to Daniel Podence and his inswinger into Villa's final 3rd was sweetly met by who else, Romain Saiss, Wolves Moroccan defender with his outstretched left boot and passed the hapless Martinez.

On the stroke of the 85th minutes, from another corner, and set piece, the ball came to Podence (a masterstroke by Lage to put him ahead of Jiminez) who crossed the ball again, and left back Max Killman headed against the crossbar. That rattled the entire Villa defence and Killman got the ball back again, to pass it to Adama Traore. He deftly dribbled past 1 guy, attempted to appear he was going into the goal but sent an inch perfect pass again to Podence over the heads of 3 + 2 Villa players. That assist is my match winning play, the vision, the weight, the timing, are all the hallmarks of a worldclass player like Traore.

Podence lobbed the ball into the far end, and there was a mad scramble and Conor Coady, Wolves stalwart and England International was on had to scramble the ball into the net. Much to the dismay of the Villa defence who were in tatters.

At practically the last kick of the game, 95th minute, Reuben Neves hit a screamer of a shot at the Villa defence, it deflected one player and sent the keeper the wrong way to give Wolves a totally unbelievable lead 3  - 2 against the arch enemy !

One point I would like to state is that in crunch games when every kick and breath matters, who comes to the resuce ? The stalwarts. Those who have stayed with the club for 4 seasons or more. I take off my hat to them.

a) Reuben Neves - 5 Seasons

b) Romain Saiss - 5 seasons

c) Conor Coady - 9 seasons

They are the unsung heroes in my mind. 

And today they are basking in glory - which they so thoroughly deserve ! 

 

      

There is a Time for Everything. Now is the time to be Brave.

The COVID 19 has hit Singapore's economy hard. People are reeling from the statistics that thousands are infected daily with the virus. Whilst a great percentage of them have very mild symptoms, the number of deaths have gone up, as a proportion of those who caught the virus.

Take for example, last year, we had a total of 32 deaths per 60,000 infected. Now, with the caseloads reaching 3,000 daily, we see everyday, deaths of people from all ages. 

Now is the time to be brave. Our Government has kept on flip flopping on the opening and shutting of the  economy, with dining restrictions ranging from 0 to 2 to 5, back to 0 then 5 then 2. There are too many clusters and asymptomatic carriers all over the place.

It makes for a bad  impression, as once we were held as a model for COVID-19 containment and control and now we are practically the highest in the world in terms of infection per 100,000 population.

Why did our Government drop the ball, and so badly ?

I don't have the answers only questions, and the sentiment on the ground, to put it mildly is sour.

So in this time of economic uncertainty, global warming and general gloominess, lets take stock of our 'lot'.

1.We have a very high percentage of fully vaccinated people (over 80% of the total population).

2. Many (slightly more than 98 %) will experience no or very mild symptoms if they catch it and they will recover, just like the common 'flu.

3.The 1.8% or so will need medical care, hospitalisation and oxygen. Some will require ICU attention and some will be overwhelmed by this disease and pass away. Whilst the majority of deaths are above 60 (I am perilously close to that "magic age") the overwhelming majority of cases had pre-existing co-morbidities so, their immune systems were weak to start with.

The COVID 19 was the tipping point of the equilibrium.

This makes for very sober reading as all of us, as we age will encounter illness, some mild and some life threatening. Cancer, diabetes, heart conditions, high blood pressure are the most common diseases which have established themselves into our everyday vocabulary.

So, what do we do ?

We need to study the science and decide for ourselves whether vaccines DO or DO NOT protect us from this terrible disease. For the most part, most reports conclude that they DO.

So, please go and get vaccinated.

We need to take charge of our own health.

1. East nutritious foods

2. Exercise regularly

3. Sleep well and have enough sleep

4. Go for our 'flu and 3rd booster jabs when they become due

5. Release stress as best as we can.

We need to be brave to carry out our daily chores and NOT be afraid to go about and do what must be done.

                                                    My did my annual 'flu jab recently  

  

Belief - Words - Actions ; Hot Mike Aftermath

                           I may be illiterate but I am a man with a good heart 

Recently during a Parliament session, we watched with amusement when the PSP candidate was raising a point about the number of foreign employment in Singapore and whether Singaporeans benefitted or we actually disadvantaged by certain Free Trade Agreements.

During the back and forth of the debate, one minister uttered certain things which were cringeworthy about the Non Constituency MP's education and his comments were caught in the microphone which was not switched off.

"Illiterate, and lousy school" were the words uttered.

To be sure, many people were shocked at the utterance and this has ascertained that the MPs and Ministers of a certain party are elites and have all along held elitist views about people in general. Their mindset has always been as such and it is impossible to change that.

Well, since this is the Government we chose, we the people have to think carefully if indeed this is the kind of leaders we want to govern us.

Its not necessarily a bad thing, but empathy, compassion and walking a mile in the poor man's shoes are not what I would associate with the ruling party leaders. They mean well, by and large, but the bridge that divides the ruling and the ruled is one of class and wealth.

Time for a rethink ?  

Living with the COVID - 19 in our society.

Recently, Singapore announced that it is preparing to handle COVID - 19 as an endemic. This means that with the population at roughly 80% vaccinated, we will be encountering up to several hundreds of cases each day.   

This means in a nutshell, the employment of some or all of the following, proactive swab testing, speedy and accurate test results, society generally has to cooperate and agree to be tracked through AI and TraceTogether, quarantine orders, stay home notices, community hospitals and dedicated care facilities for the sick. Limits to the number of people gathering for all manner of social events. Travel will be slowly restarted and will never be the same again.

 All these  will set into the mindsets sooner or later for our population.

The faster we accept these infringements to our civil liberties, the quicker life can return to some semblance of the past.

All in the name of healthy recovery for both the population at large and very importantly, the economy. 

Now We are Free - Title Song of Gladiator

A fast run to end a rather uneventful week.

 Today's run was eventful for a variety of reasons, I was waiting with frustration for some delivery of our company's equipment, which was delayed by several weeks. As I was in a no-win situation, I decided not to dwell on the negative but rather focus on the positive for the week.

The new office renovations were dragging on. Fortunately we should be able to kickstart Phase 2 of the office renovation, put in all our equipment which were meant to be there in the first place and get on with my plan of action. All this SHOULD start and finish within the next 2 to 3 weeks. although based on experience, shit happens, and I need to find a shovel handy to clear that because no one else in the company is capable or has the means to do so.

Back to this evening's run. I decided to forgo my weekly karate session, as I am waiting for the 14 days lapse after my 2nd Sinovac vaccination before I can be certified fully vaccinated. This means, that I can afford to go out and dine at restaurants, malls, everywhere where there is covered or airconditioned dining. Such is the tough regulations meant to control the spread of the dreaded COVID 19 Delta Variant. Everyone needs to play his or her part.

I started at the Ski360 roundabout and went about at a  hard clip of 6.45 min / km. I pushed all the way, as it was a cool evening with few walkers, strollers,cyclists or other joggers. Just my perfect run environment !

At the 4 km mark, I decided to stop for a pitstop (near the Singapore Sailing Centre). After catching my breath, I continued again at roughly the same pace as the first 4 km.

At around the 7.2 km mark, I detected a twinge on my left hamstring and decided that was the end of the run. I was hoping to hit 8km but 7.2 km was acceptable, given that I was still recovering from a ITBL ligament injury which affected my mood somewhat.

The stats :

Average pace : 6 :43 min per km

Maximum pace : 5 :25 min per km

Duration : 48 mins. 15 seconds

Distance : 7.2 km.

I am enjoying the endorphine rush which comes from having partaken in a hard run to end the week, and having run fast enough to convince me that I can still run at a reasonable speed.

Carpe Diem my friends.