SOUL SURMISE

STOCKI'S TOP 20 FAV ALBUMS IN 2023, SO FAR

1. BRUCE COCKBURN - O SUN O MOON

The elder statesman of the mystical, political and personal with perfect finger dancing melodies and poetry beyond the average makes a astounding piece of work.

2. JASON ISBELL & THE 400 UNITS - WEATHERVANES

Isbell lets the Units loose and without leaving what has made him crucial behind stretches the musical ambition and has me reaching for Neil Young & Crazy Horse and even Lynyrd Skynyrd.

3. ARBORIST - AN ENDLESS SEQUENCE OF DEAD ZEROS

Ballymena’s greatest conjures those atmospheres and hypnotic sounds. If Neil Young had been 50 years younger.

4. IRIS DE MENT - WORKING IN A WORLD

Iris De Ment is back with that eccentric country twang and songs that are fixed on changing the world. 

5. FERNA - UNDERSTUDY

We’ve been watching this young lady for years and the first full album doesn’t let us down. Understudy is a suite of songs that swathe and swoosh across an ocean of synth.

6. JOY OLADOKUN - PROOF OF JOY

Oladokun’s follow up to her breakthrough and that voice and those familiar songs ring true once more.

 7. DOUG GAY - ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE

My Glaswegian mate Doug’s second solo record rocks on guitar riffs and lyrics to ruffle the ripples of head, heart and soul.

8. COWBOY JUNKIES - SUCH FEROCIOUS BEAUTY

They are in a rich vein of form and this has indeed a ferocious beauty in that quiet Cowboy Junkies way.

9. INHALER - CUTS & BRUISES

Bono’s boy’s band with a more mature sophomore record.

10. U2 - SONGS OF SURRENDER

Eli Hewson’s dad’s band looking back over 45 years with 40 songs re-imagined… a grower for sure, bringing new nuances to ears and heart and soul.

 11. . STEPHEN FEARING - VEJPOESI

Live record from one of Canada’s finest, side one with the Sentimentals and side 2 all solo with introductions.

12. NOEL GALLAGHER - COUNCIL SKIES

I never liked Oasis but I love a bit of Noel and think he gets better all the time.

13. JOE HENRY - ALL THE EYE CAN SEE

Another deeply meditative work of Joe Henry’s love and revelation. Might need a little work but over time this one promises serious benefits.

14. NATALIE MERCHANT - KEEP YOUR COURAGE

That voice. Those songs. So robust in her artfulness.

15. GRAHAM NASH - NOW

Nash keeps to the formula, writes string songs and adds a few other CS&N sounds with refreshing success. 

16. PAUL SIMON - SEVEN PSALMS

Paul Simon takes on the God questions, particularly eternity in a 33 minute meditation. Is that what 6th century monks would have done had they had the technology?!

17. HAYDON SPENCELEY - RUTHLESS TRUST

Turn it up and let the guitars swirl around you as you dissect songs of a spiritual sharpness.

18. PETER CASE - DOCTOR MOAN

The amazing and often hidden Peter Case shifts guitar for piano and collates a collection of bluesy type tunes that give his voice the opportunity to shine.

 19. LUKA BLOOM - WAVE UP TO THE SHORE

Luka does 50 of his songs with just acoustic guitar. Power in his strum, pastoral care in his words.

20. FAR FROM SAINTS - FAR FROM SAINTS

Great vocals in a blend and blur of country, rock, folk and Americana from Kelly Jones of Stereophonics with Austin's Patty Lynn and Dwight Baker of The Wind and The Wave.

MY 10 GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS

My recent award made me think of what else I saw as achievements in work and sport (outside of family). They are few and far between, sprinkled over 50 years...a self indulgent blog for Caitlin and Jasmine...

 

JUNIOR BB LEAGUE 

In 1973 Harryville BB reached the final of the Junior BB League Play Off with a goal by yours truly in extra time. The final against First Ballymena with future N. Ireland captain, Nigel Worthington, at Centre Half was 0-0 with minute stop go when another future N. Irish international Stephen Penny ran on to my through pass and scored the winner. 

Football gave me a few good days. In 1974 I was a finalist in UTV’s Penalty Prize at Windsor Park but only scored 1 of 6 penalties! 

In 1980 I played for Michelin Youth in the Ballymena and District League was Player of the Match in the Cup Final at Ballymena Showgrounds in which we beat Coleraine Rangers 2-0.

 

RUNNER UP - SCHOOL 1500m

Stephen Duffy was always going to win this but me and my mates in the rest of the field were untested. Though pretty speedy off the mark when a football was in front of me I preferred a longer distance.

About 600 metres in Stephen took off and I foolishly decided to try to go with him. As he stretched out his lead I found myself alone, way behind him and a distance in front of a chasing pack. ON the last bend they caught me but as they went to go past I from somewhere found a second wind and out sprinted them. I was chuffed!  

 

WINNING YOUTH STROKE PLAY - BALLYMENA GOLF CLUB

1978 was my golfing year. Getting down to an 11 handicap I won a new Youth stroke play competition, was second in the more traditional Lee Cup and lost from 3 holes up in the final of the Youth Match Play. I also captained the East Antrim League team. 

 

MY OWN RADIO SHOW

I had dabbled with radio when I was living in Dublin in the early 90s. Around 1995 I was asked to be one in a short series called Clerical Habits about the hobbies of clergy on BBC Radio Ulster. Someone came and interviewed me about my CD collection. 

It went well and I was asked in to cover someone on sick leave on a Sunday night show called The Gospel Show. The few months became 10 years. We changed the name to Rhythm and Soul and it became a mix of contemporary Christian music and secular artists with a spiritual thread in the songs. I loved those years and gave people like Juliet Turner and Duke Special their radio debuts!

 

WALK ON; THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY OF U2 - 85,000 SALES

Getting to write a book about U2 is still a miraculous blessing to me. In 2000 I got two emails in one day. The first suggested that my website articles on U2 were nonsense and they were not in any way Christian. The other bizarrely introduced themselves as part of the new Relevant Communications explaining who they were and what was on my heart?!?!?! 

I was so annoyed with the first email that I told Janice that someone needed to write a book explaining the depth of faith in U2’s music. I started sketching chapter headings. 

I asked the Relevant guy what he meant - a book? His reply was, “Did you ever think of writing a book on U2?” What? When the book came out were the only ones who’d written one at a time when All That You Can’t leave Behind took them back to the top of the world. We made 99 on the Amazon chart and eventually Relevant presented me with an award for 85,000 sales!

 

FESTIVAL OF FAITH AND MUSIC

Walk On opened so many doors. I was most honoured to be the first Keynote speaker at The Festival of Faith and Music at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2003. This gave me fifteen years of various little speaking tours across America. I met amazing friends and had so many great times. Thank you Ken Heffner.

 

WRITER IN RESIDENCE AT REGENT COLLEGE, VANCOUVER

In 2005 I decided to do a sabbatical. I asked my friend Monty if Regent College, where he studied, would be an idea and within a few hours he had me an offer of Writer In Residence. Thank you to the trust of the late and wonderful Dal Schindell, another Walk On fan. My family had the best three months and I got to read and write. We launched the new updated Walk On there too.

 

MTh

At Regent College I resolved my enmity with academia, getting up for three hour lectures at 8am for two weeks by Charles Ringma. When I got home Prof Stephen Williams kindly supervised a part time Masters in Theology at Queens. We looked at Music in Social Transformation, looking at the theology of art and social justice. I loved it and my recurring dreams of being at school but no revision done for an exam ended here!

CIVIC LEADERSHIP AWARD 2016

It was an amazing surprise when I got a call saying that the Community Relations Council had awarded Fr Martin Magill and I the annual Civic Leadership Award in 2016. That public affirmation of what we were doing was so encouraging. 

MBE

Still partying…

PAUL MCCARTNEY: 1964; EYES OF THE STORM

I am not the biggest fan of photographic books. I prefer the story than the image. It is probably an inability to read the images but that is how it is.

1964: Eyes Of The Storm is different. I really get this one. Paul McCartney’s few months of snapping in 1964 somehow captures not only a band on the cusp of legend BUT also a culture at the fulcrum of change. 

There’s an innocence about these photos. McCartney and his three mates have only a little idea of what they have started and where this musical journey is going to take them. Haircuts, caps, bikinis and even sunglasses are hints of a fashion revolution that with its Beatles’ soundtrack will literally change the world.

Though there have been endless photographic books about The Beatles, none have been so inside. Yes, other photographers got access but not 24/7 access and that means McCartney has caught a band and their entourage as their fame soars. 

The casual shots, those no other photographer might have like shots of John and his first wife Cynthia, George Martin’s girlfriend Judy Lockhart-Smith. The band and Jane Asher, Cilla Black and other contemporary bands often caught off guard. This is a camera lens looking out when everyone else were attempting to look in.

Best of all are The Beatles shots of the fans keen to get a photograph of them. There is a shot, my very favourite and maybe as a photographer the very best, on page 253 where one girl, who has just caught on who it is in front of her, expresses in her wide eyes and awestruck face what the entirety of Beatlemania was in just one human reaction. 

Not all the shots are photographically brilliant but those that aren’t are saying something about the story. Some shots on the other hand have the deft touch of a professional photographer, some portraits, some of young English boys exploring America, buildings, the police and swimming pools! Many are very excellent. If this guy hadn’t made it in music he might have done ok as a photographer!

Which makes one wonder how a man who would marry a photographer five years later could forget about the history and artistic quality of these photos. How it has remained hidden away for almost 60 years might be hard to explain until you flick through the book and get a very graphic feel of the mad, fast moving world Paul McCartney and his three mates were living at the time.

For the fans - essential! 

I REMEMBERED THE LOST BOYS - ON NI's DAY OF REFLECTION

As I walked down to pick up my piece of cloth at the part of the liturgy called An Offering of Patches, I was thinking of Thomas Spence and John Rodgers, aged 11 and 13, who vanished at a bus stop outside St John’s Church on the Falls Road back in 1974. Lyra McKee was writing a book about them when she herself became a victim of our divisions, decades later. 

I set the patch of cloth between my hands and held it tight, thinking of parents and families and school friends who never found out what happened to Thomas and John not so much victims of paramilitaries as victims of the times they grew up in. Kidnapped during a time when the police had no time to concentrate on them with the bloody mayhem of The Troubles going on around them.

An Offering of Patches was part of a Service of Lament organised by the Corrymeela Community and hosted by St Anne’s Cathedral. Led by clergy and members of Victims Support groups the service prayed deep into the loss and brokenness of our Troubles and indeed continued divisions. Sister Geraldine Smith shared a reflection on Psalm 85 that speaks of “Mercy and Truth have met each other. Justice and peace have kissed.”

We then sought the Hope Of Lament of which the Offering of Patches was a part. We ended with a Commitment:

 

Together, we commit to a society of peace and justice

Showing the courage to reject violence

By standing with and listening to victims and survivors

And calling the Church again

To the power of love, grace and forgiveness

Which alone break our cycle of violence.

 

It was a very moving hour, stopping for silence at exactly 12 noon on the longest day of the year. To reflect.

I have been using The Longest Day as a Day of Reflection on our conflict in and about Northern Ireland since Paul Gallagher asked Fr Martin Magill and I to help with a reflection in Lenadoon in 2012. 

We need this practice known wider. We need more reflection. We need, religiously once a year, to remember the brokenness and then find hope in a God of love and justice and peace. 

If you haven’t already today I encourage you. Take 5 minutes. Reflect. Maybe read Psalm 85. Maybe find Deacon Blue’s song Take Me To The Place as a way in. I used that song’s poignancy and sense of lament back in 2012. Remember those like the lost boys that I remembered as I did my friends who lost fathers. Commit to peace. 

SURMISING MY MBE

Thank you for all your messages of congratulations. I foolishly thought I might get to Monday without many people noticing but I had underestimated the King’s Honours List.

I don’t take praise well. Oh don’t get me wrong. I need it like we all do. I crave it, maybe too much for my own mental health. Yet, when I am faced with raw congratulations I do not know what to do.

I need to learn to receive affirmation. This MBE is a perfect space for that. That wee boy from Galgorm, whose Latin teacher told that there was a pavement stone with his name on it at the dole office, who was always told to he would get nowhere until he tidied up and got his hair cut and his ripped jeans off and who moved from poster boy in Presbyterian evangelicalism to black sheep. An MBE. Mad.

I guess selfishly that was my favourite bit. To quote Frank Sinatra, maybe via Sid Vicious - “I did it my way”! The obligatory Northern Irish strain of thran in my soul has refused since I ever can remember to compromise to any cultural restraints. I have questioned and walked across every line that they tried to make me colour within.

That helped very well when I started following Jesus. I quickly came across church drawn lines that I was finding it difficult to trace back to Jesus. It took years but slowly but surely I threw off such church cultural restraints. I absolutely believe that if I hadn’t I wouldn’t have been awarded an MBE.

It was in following Jesus into peace building that has me on this King’s Honour’s List. To be fair, it was the infiltrated work of the Holy Spirit. Even before I discovered, Jesus or rather he me, I was being given a love for peace through the work of the Beatles. 

The Spirit quickly got me to link Lennon’s Give Peace A Chance and Jesus “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you”. For me that made peace building part of my every day discipleship, not some extra curricular activity. Ironically if every minister was just following Jesus I wouldn’t have stood out and wouldn’t have been given any MBEs.

Back to my inability to take praise. I am accepting this MBE as a public affirmation for all that we have been doing in peace and reconciliation particularly in this past decade. That work has at times got me the very opposite of awards which makes this even sweeter.

An Award like this is a lifetime landmark. An MBE. Glory be! I am thinking about my parents. I so wish they had been here. My aunts and uncles, so many that I have lost in the last couple of years. I wish they’d lasted a wee bit longer. All Stockmans and Kernohans. Thank you. 

As congratulations come from across every era of my life, from Primary School to the childhood neighbourhood to University days and beyond. So many people that have contributed to who I am without knowing it. To every friend who has stuck with me and encouraged me to keep colouring outside the lines. Thank you!

Fitzroy you have given me all the time, given me all the support, not only encouraged me but expected nothing less. Thank you. I am so proud to be your minister and have your name beside me on that published list of honours. I would not be there without you.

Thanks to my predecessor Rev Dr Ken Newell and the late Fr Gerry Reynolds from Clonard. You are the giants on whose shoulders I live. Fr Ciarán O’Callaghan and Ed Peterson thank you for making Clonard feel like home.

4 Corners Festival. To you guys, Directors and Planning Group, this literally is for you ALL. You guys have become my gang. We laugh together more than we plan at meetings because meetings are friends enjoying each other’s company. We have become like a spiritual support group. In what we do we energise each other. God is in the house! Thank you all so much.

To my brother, vocational partner and best buddy Fr Martin Magill. This is yours too. Borrow it until you get your own! I thank God every day for that coffee on Botanic Avenue. 

It was a beautiful morning about 5 weeks ago. Janice and I were in Donegal gazing out at beach and sea. My administrator Roberta phoned. There was a letter. The Cabinet Office. Urgent. Confidential. I wondered could I be in any kind of trouble and Roberta read out my nomination for an MBE. 

Janice and I had a fantastic couple of days laughing, celebrating and trying to come to terms. I remember so many times in those days realising that without Janice I simply wouldn’t be who I am. 

Janice and my girls. How happy am I that you guys are almost happier than me. We have our moments but what a unit. You are my very favourite band and I love being the front man (until Jazzi takes over). This is OURS. We are going to see the King!

TONY MACAULEY AND JUVENS NSABIMANA - KILL THE DEVIL

I have spent a lot of time in East Africa. Not in Rwanda but Uganda next door. I can therefore sense the beauty of the opening scenes of Kill The Devil. The edge of a lake under an African sunset, Truly beautiful.

Lake Kivu is a long way from where the first five of Tony Macauley’s books have been set, the streets of a polarised Belfast but this one is a co-write with Rwandan Juvens Nsabimana. Juvens is a script writer which explains the wider horizons. 

Those opening pages might be scenically stunning but Patricia, the novel’s leading lady leading lady has tragic intensions. The victim of 1994’s genocide in which she was lost her husband and children in the most violently horrific way she has had enough and wants to end it all. A few unwary fishermen save her and Patricia’s story of redemption begins.

Not quickly. Patricia is full of anger and revenge take time to unfold.

Alongside that Damascene is the childhood friend of her and her husband who betrayed her and became their killer. Patricia wasn’t to kill the devil, Damascene.

Damascene is all torn up in his soul because of what he has done. He yearns for forgiveness but knows he doesn’t deserve it.

Kill The Devil is a page turning story of them both. It is tough reading at times and ends up challenging, then full of hope for any of us caught up in a violent conflict and its aftermath.

Macauley as a peacemaker in Northern Ireland is obviously down to stories of reconciliation in Rwanda and the novel is made up of true stories that he has listened to in that country over recent years. These are stories that he says are filled with extreme forgiveness.

For those of us reading in Northern Ireland there are questions to ask. How can Rwandans find it in their hearts to forgive the must brutal of killings while we cannot same to make first steps. 

Off we went to Africa to show them what civilisation means. I wonder if the things of roads and government etc are as important as the things of the heart and relationship. Perhaps the Africans need to come and bring this extreme humanity to us to teach us how they can not just forgive but fall in love with those who have murdered their loved ones.

Kill The Devil is much more than a gripping novel. It is a lesson in humanity. 

Come and hear Tony read from Kill The Devil and talk to Christophe Mbonyingabo about this forgiveness at Fitzroy on Sunday June 18th at 7.00

EMPTY SHOES LOST LIVES DEMO

 

EMPTY SHOES, LOST LIVES DEMO

 

STORMONT,

 

SATURDAY, 17th JUNE@3.00PM

 

 

I have become more and more aware of our homeless in Belfast down through the years. 

 

Fitzroy have partnered with Homeplus in our local area with some of our congregation doing work on the streets.

 

Then Damian McNairney introduced me to the People's Kitchen, showing us around their new buildings in the old bank at Carlisle Circus. The 4 Corners Festival Knitters contributed hats to their work.

 

At the last 4 Corners Festival the Westcourt Centre Camera Club put on the Never In My Wildest Dreams Exhibition (see some work at the top of this blog), working alongside residents in supported accommodation in Rosemount House. It was an eye opener for me, just months after a summer when we lost too many people on our streets.

 

In Belfast for the most part it is not drug takers who are homeless. The drug dealers are infiltrating our homeless, leading them into addiction and sadly suicide. 

 

Desmund Tutu has said, "There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they are falling in."

 

For me it is easy when we pull people out to concentrate on them. When we ask why they are falling in then we find the spotlight on ourselves and the society we live in. We are complicit in the falling in before we are a help in the pulling out.

 

Jesus of course told it straight. It is those who care for the homeless who will be welcomed into eternal life. That care should never be at the point of pulling out but way further upstream. 

 

Let us ask questions of our politicians at Stormont on Saturday!

 

 

10 STOCKI RECOMMENDED HOLIDAY NOVELS 2023

Already on social media I am seeing messages asking advice on books for holiday reading. Here are ten novels that I highly recommend. All but Kill The Devil has. quote from my reviews, over this past year.

 

CLAIRE KEEGAN - SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE

“preaching from outside the walls of the church, and indeed at the hypocrisy inside it”

READ MY REVIEW

 

MICHAEL MAGEE - CLOSE TO HOME

"Michael Magee has gifted us a direct journey into the heart of a community and the soul of one young man’s attempt to get over the hurdles in his way to a life fulfilled."

READ MY REVIEW

 

MICHELLE GALLEN - FACTORY GIRLS

"Factory Girls? Where do I start? What is it? Comedy? Troubles Literature? Social commentary? Political? The truth is that it is everything and more."

READ MY REVIEW

 

JOSEPH O’CONNOR - MY FATHER’S HOUSE

"Forgiveness might be the most important word, the most vital key, to what gives us resolution, healing and peace in our personal souls and across societies. O’Connor throws in a profound tuppence worth!"

READ MY REVIEW

 

SUE DIVIN - TRUTH BE TOLD

"No spoilers but plot unfolds in the difficulties that Tara and Faith have to deal with in their own souls, their weird relationship and in their families and communities. There are revelations within that we all need to take stock of."

READ MY REVIEW

 

BOB MORTIMER - THE SATSUMA COMPLEX

"Mortimer doing the tall tale well and making it very funny is no surprise. What is more impressive is how he weaves the plot, mysteriously building, ever intriguing and, by the end, page turning gripping."

READ MY REVIEW

 

LOUISE KENNEDY - TRESPASSES

"Kennedy has arrived fully formed as a gifted writer. She sets it in 1975 with a real eye for detail. That detail is in every scene in every page of every swing and turn. There is a feeling that you are there, involved wanting to give an opinion, whisper advice, scream!"

READ MY REVIEW

 

AMOR TOWLES - THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY

"Towles is kinda an old school novelist with a modern way with his script."

READ MY REVIEW

 

TONY MACAULEY & JUVENS NSABIMANA - KILL THE DEVIL

Killing the Devil is a good thing but before you do you need to be sure who the devil is. A book about love verses revenge, universally applicable across our world.

 

RICHARD OSMAN - THE BULLET THAT MISSED

"Osman’s most ginormous genius, maybe even as huge as himself, is the way he weaves underground crimes, kidnappings, guns and death threats into a foundation of comfort, humour and warmth."

READ MY REVIEW

THE FRAMES - BOTANIC GARDENS, June 9, 2023

photo: Janice Gordon

 

My friend Ken used to interview bands at Calvin College (now University), Grand Rapids, Michigan on the afternoon of their gigs. His last question always intrigued me. “The band always have to meet expectations but what would you like out of the crowd tonight?”

Concerts are a two way thing. It is such a good question and half an hour into The Frames live in Botanic Gardens I realised that I had been a slacker in my preparation for this one. I so needed to refresh my memory of Frames songs.

Don’t get me wrong. Janice and I have been Frames fans since the get go. Our first gig was April 1991 at the Powerhaus in London. By 2005 they were my favourite band on the planet. Truth is though that once (no pun intended) Glen Hansard became Swell Season and later solo I haven’t given The Frames records as many listens.

As a result I was struggling with songs and lyrics for singing a long to. The Stars Go Underground, Angel At My Table, Dream Awake and even Friend Or Foe were rusty at best. It wasn’t that the band weren’t as top notch as ever, it was that my half of the deal was sloppy. It wasn’t until the home stretch - Pavement Tune, Fake, Revelate and Star Star - had me contributing again.

As the crowd’s part of the deal was in my mind Hansard started to compliment the Belfast audiences. It wasn’t just the obligatory charm. Glen had a thesis. He suggested that Belfast audiences were unique in going with the flow of concerts and songs. They could go with whatever direction the band went much better than any other crowd. 

This Botanic Gardens crowd didn’t let The Frames down. They sang along, danced and grooved. It was a blue skied June night in a beautiful park where the venue naturally allows easy access and great views from wherever. 

Glen Hansard has a great thing going. He uses mainly the same band but has different set lists for his solo gigs and those under The Frames moniker. That more sensitive Cohen/Morrison/Dylan under pin for his solo set is replaced by noisier Pixies/My Bloody Valentine foundations. Not that there is not sensitivity in The Frames. Take the Ukrainian song Oi u luzi chervona kalyna as a point of fact and made its point.

I genuinely thought in 2005 that The Frames were a better live band than U2. They are not quite up to their heights of match fitness in Botanic but oh my this is a wonderful night of rock music. 

Pavement Tune with its “I want my life to make more sense/I want my life to make amends” always inspires. As does Revelate with its “Sometimes I need a revelation/Sometimes it's all too hard to take” and Star Star with its need for actions to speak louder than words:

 

Star star teach me how to shine shine

Teach me so i know what's going on in your mind

Cause i don't understand these people

Who say the hill's too steep

Well they talk and talk forever

But they just never climb

 

I could lose my voice singing these songs into the Irish sky as prayers night after night. The Frames throw rock music stardust across whatever crowd is in front of them. It has a captivating positivity. 32 years after the first time… it was utter joy and as if they had forgiven my poorer contribution.

THOUGHTS ON A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL

I am up with a little excitement this morning. Champions League Final.

Now, we’ve been here before. Only two years ago. BUT the only thing I remember about that entire night is checking the team sheet and knowing that Pep’s over thinking had cost us our first Champions League. Everything else, including my pain - blank!

Pep is a genius but he had a weakness - over thinking. Gladly I think it is gone. Gone because I think he now believes in his team as they are. That first half against Real Madrid showed just how good.

So, I am excited. Maybe, if we could win this big European trinket, it would get all the “you need to win the Champions League to be great” off our backs. 

Here’s the thing. Five Premier Leagues in six years is a statement of greatness. Champions Leagues are knock out games. I have watched Liverpool win it in a year that they didn’t even finish in the top 4 of their own league. I have watched City out play Real Madrid for 180 minutes and two minutes of Madrid madness knock us out.

It can all be done on a little luck on the right night. A ball into the box that ricochets back and touches Jack Grealish’s fingertips has a chance of deciding where the cup goes. So though it is the strongest knock out cup, that is what it is. Give me the Premiership every time.

Now, there is a way for it to still be special. Not by winning it when you finish 5th in your league. The best way to win the Champions League is when you are clearly champions of your own league and throw an FA Cup in too. United have won this treble. It is an ‘icing on the top of the cake’ Cup. So, this is the year to win it.

Surely, with this team, this is our time. Let’s hope there’s no luck involved.

Some will then bring up middle eastern money and fair play rules. Oh I wish they were not always hanging over us. I could talk about how it is everywhere. Check the golf this week. Or check all our UK economic systems and Saudi money will not talk but swear as Dylan once said. Football like our western society is run with unaccountable capitalism. I wish other wise. 

Yes, I wish we were back in the innocent 60s and 70s and everybody had the same chance. We are not. These are different days. Massive investment is needed from somewhere. So, I will say yes that I struggle with the money BUT I do not believe that we have bought any trophies. Other clubs have spent billions and failed. 

I am however less exuberant about our victories. The Premiership and the FA Cup went by. Even people in Church were thrown by my not mentioning it. On social media I will not over do celebrations. I will not poke fun at other teams. A simple photo of the team with the trophy is all I have been doing. Part of that is to do with the financial tainting. Part of it is that I hate all that so called bragging fun!

So, I am never confident in a knock out match but tonight I am. We seem unbeatable just now. It is surely our time to get this one done before they say that we need five or six of them to be great. It would be that icing on another great season. 

If it is not to be I hope I lose my disappointment as quickly as 2021 and I’ll be more than happy with a fifth title in six and an FA Cup Double. 

The truth is… that Aguero moment in 2012. That was enough. The Sawdoctors have a song called To Win Just Once. It would have been enough for a team that waited so long. Ask West Ham fans! BUT… ask them if they’d like a treble and they’d not turn you down. 

Come on City!