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well the league kicks off on Saturday and I might actually be able to go! My dad is very keen to go to the game so he’s going to drive. I’m still knackered and can’t drive. By the time Saturday comes I’ll have visited the chiropractor a whopping 21 times since the 2nd of July, had 8 sports massages and an MRI scan. I’ve missed all the friendlies and Betfred cup games. I should be ok to travel, I’ll see a bit later in the week. I can manage sitting down now for a few hours so being in the car should be ok. To think it all started with a small pain in my leg walking up from Spittal to old Shielfield to watch Tweedmouth Rangers play. A game in which they got hammered as I recall... I’m really hoping for a win here for Berwick over Stirling to kick start the season. The friendlies and cup games are no real judge given the level of opposition with the exception of Annan. Annan was a heavy defeat but I’m hoping that was teething problems. It’s going to be a rough season that’s for sure. The turmoil in the boardroom doesn’t help. I’m hoping that doesn’t spill onto the park and impact on the players and management. Ladbrokes have Berwick at the longer odds in the league to win it. Perhaps a bit mean but to be fair to Robbie and the boys there no chance that’s going to happen. As sad as it makes me to say this staying in the league is a realistic target. Berwick need a serious cash injection and more ways to generate revenue. We are actually being beaten to players from junior teams who pay more. One thing Berwick has over these teams is the fact that we are in the “proper leagues” and that may be an attraction. A nice bonus that we may be able to use to capture a few loan players is the rapid progress of the loan players from last season into their parent clubs. I guess we will find out when Saturday comes.........     I’m very slowly getting better although you wouldn’t think so if you saw me right now. I’ve been seeing a private Chiropractor at least 4 times a week to speed the process along. (Doctor more than happy for me to do this and said the guy in St Andrews is very good). I had a MRI scan just over a week ago but the results are still not back. I can hobble about but can’t stand up for long (I can’t stand up straight at all right now). In the last couple of days my right leg now also cramps up very quickly when I lie down so I’ve not be able to sleep at all. Just sitting out time on the end of the bed leaning against the wall. Everything that could potentially happen has happened to me. For example a particular nerve may get trapped, hamstring tearing etc. I’m currently on Tramadol (7 a day), amitriptyline (for the nerve pain) and some other thing I can’t remember. I’ve also been on diazepam and morphine for a week (a couple of weeks ago). So as you can imagine I’m up and down just now. I can’t believe how quickly it’s escalated. This of course means I’ve missed all the friendlies and will miss all of the Betfred cup games. I did manage to give an interview to BBC North over Skype about the shirt sponsorship. I was quite sedated at the time but thankfully they only used a snippet. Still a good bit of promotion for Northen Soul Kitchen and Berwick Rangers. I’ll probably won’t be able to get to the first game of the season either, but I’m aiming to get there.  Photo courtesy of Ian Beresford’s Facebook page........
Well the season starts in July with 3 decent friendlies lined up and the betfred cup. It’s not shaping up to be the July I had planned that’s for sure. I had popped down to Berwick with my dad to have a look at the pre season training. I was carrying a bit of a limp but had been to the doctors and was told all would be fine. Well it’s not turned out that way. I’ve been diagnosed with piriformis syndrome! a condition which is believed to result from compression of the sciatic nerve around the piriformis muscle. And it’s blinking sore! I’ve been hardly able to walk in the past couple of weeks. I even collapsed in the hallway at home at one point as I was getting ready to visit the chiropractor. I’m on a cocktail of drugs too so I’m a bit dopey at times. Regular visits for a sports massage, trips to the Chiropractor and an mri Scan (just been told it’s the 14th of July) are my foreseeable future. So that’s July knackered then. The first week of July I had off for a holiday in Berwick too. I was planning on taking in the Berwick Hibs game and the Berwick Raith Rovers game. It was also the first week of the month so Bear Claw brewery tap day was on the cards too. A couple of visits to Northern Soul Kitchen would also be on the list and Northern edge coffee. But alas none of this transpired. I will still have a Skype interview with the BBC about donating the front of the Berwick Rangers home shirt to Northern Soul Kitchen. Hopefully I won’t make a dogs dinner of it. And on the plus side if we had gone away Ruth’s new car would have been flooded as the water main outside our house burst and flooded the road.    the friendlies.i said I would help out on the door for the hibs game but of course that didn’t happen. I was looking forward to it too. Still beaten 6-0 I didn’t miss. The next game against Raith was an odd one. As it was cancelled! FURTHER STATEMENT FROM RRFC: Both Berwick Rangers and ourselves wanted the game to go ahead. On Friday we were contacted by Northumbria Police who told us they had “high level intelligence” that the game was being targeted by right wing extremists out to cause trouble and that there was a safety issue for fans. They advised that the safest action was to cancel the match. Reluctantly we have done so - given what the police have told us there was no alternative decision possible. Fans' safety comes first. The replacement game was away to Alloa, 3-1. St Johnstone up next and I imagine another’s defeat will be on the cards, still it’s all character building and 3 decent teams to play for friendlies.    The Betfred Cup.Next up is the Betfred cup. I’m still very much in doubt about making any of these. I’ll need to see how my recovery goes. I’ll be gutted to miss these as I really enjoy this cup and taking my dad to them too. The Livingston game in particular I’m looking forward to, it’s where I grew up and went to school and it’s a couple of days before my birthday. Still I’ll need to see how it goes. Hopefully I’ll be fit for the start of the season.     |
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