Connor's Blog

Wolves v Crystal Palace Both of these teams like to play free-flowing, attacking football, so this should be a decent watch. Wolves were flat last weekend, but should still have beaten Newcastle. Palace have been reliant on Wilfred Zaha this season. When he plays well, Palace tend to win. Having said that, I think this one is too close to call. Prediction 1-1 Sheffield United v Manchester City The Blades really are up against it already this season with just a single point from their opening 6 games. They are in danger of being cut adrift and left with a mountain to climb. City themselves have not got going yet this season, and the news that Sergio Aguero has another injury is a huge blow for them. They will have too much this weekend though. Prediction 0-2 Burnley v Chelsea Burnley are another of those teams who seem to be really struggling. They are always difficult to break down, but this is at the cost of them creating chances and scoring goals. Chelsea are beginning to look like a...

Good afternoon and welcome back to this afternoon's blog. As we are entering Halloween week I thought this was the perfect time to delve into the background and the history of the occasion. Sadly there will be no Halloween parties this weekend due to the current pandemic. However, there are still many ways that we can enjoy and celebrate the occasion. So without any further ado, let's jump straight in Halloween - Trick or Treat? Now I'm sure we all have our favourite Halloween snacks - marshmallows, candy and anything else sweet related you can think of. Well in some countries their menu options might surprise you. Here are just a few that stood out to me: Raisin bread and colcannon (mashed potatoes and cabbage) - Ireland Peanuts in the shell - Scotland Toffee - Great Britain Soul cakes - Portugal Roasted sweet corn - Mexico As well as the need to eat culinary classics, did you know that worldwide this is one of the most popular and most celebrated holidays. It ranks signif...

Aston Villa v Leeds I am genuinely shocked that Villa have won all 4 games in the league so far. They have looked very balanced all round and have been keeping clean sheets, something they did not do last season. Leeds in their own way have started well but I do not expect the home side's bubble to burst this weekend. Prediction 2-1 West Ham v Manchester City The Hammers were excellent against Spurs last week and thoroughly deserved their late equaliser. It was important for them to maintain the momentum they built before the international break. City were very lucky last time out and owe VAR a lot. However, it does show they can win without a number of key players. I think City will be too strong this time. Prediction 1-2 Fulham v Crystal Palace Where do I even begin with Fulham. Yes they have a point now but they look like passengers every time they concede the first goal in a game. On top of that, they are playing against a team in Palace who are playing well and scoring goals. ...

Good afternoon and welcome back to this afternoon's blog. Winter is well and truly approaching with the changing of the clocks less than a week away, and the darkness will descend while many of us are still at work. It is important to remember that there is light at the end of every tunnel - from the 21st December the light will remain with us for longer and longer each night until the 21st June (from happy to depressing well done Connor). I have been desperately trying to avoid this particular topic but I am at the stage where I am so confused and frustrated that I had to find someone to rant to (you lucky people). Disclaimer - this is an opinion blog and not a factual blog! I would welcome you to disagree with me and leave your thoughts in the comments (be nice though I'm a sensitive soul). So here we go then, Covid-19 are us! The first thing I want to do is address a couple of terms which I absolutely despise of. The first of these is 'social distancing' which we hav...

Everton v Liverpool Who would have thought that the home side would be top of the tree heading into this game? They have been simply superb so far. As had Liverpool until they shipped 7 at Villa Park. The one thing this game should have is goals, but I'm not so sure. I am going for a tight and cagey game, with another defeat for the champions. Prediction 2-1 Chelsea v Southampton Everything about this fixture points towards a home win. Chelsea, while still looking far from their best, are showing signs of improvement. Kai Havertz and Timo Werner look to be finding their feet which is something the Saints are yet to do this season. It would be result of the season so far if Southampton got the points here. Prediction 3-0 Manchester City v Arsenal Manchester City should have Raheem Sterling back after injury, and they need him because they are already well off the pace. Unfortunately for them Kevin De Bruyne will miss the game. Losing a player of that quality is always a huge loss. A...

Good afternoon and welcome back to this afternoon's blog. Here we are, another Monday, after another week of confusion and mixed messages regarding the current pandemic we are in. I have stopped watching the news and reading the papers and I am sure a lot of you will have done the same. We seem to be going round in circles with the tightening and relaxing of local lockdowns. However, this is not going to become a Covid rant. As you know if you read Friday's blog, today I want to discuss change. There are 3 main areas of change which affect us; should we embrace it or be afraid of it, will the change be good or bad and do we always need to make a change? Change is an unknown entity to all of us and until it happens we have no way of knowing what it is going to include. We all fall into the trap of becoming too comfortable with what we know. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - we get used to something and if it works well for us then surely there is no reason to do anything ...

Good afternoon and welcome back to this afternoon's blog. Some of you might have been expecting a football blog today, however, due to the international break, I thought I would give you something with a bit more substance. Before I begin, I want to thank Shan for her incredible article on Monday about mental wellbeing during the current pandemic. There were some highly inspirational words that we can all live by during these difficult times. If you show it enough support then I might even ask Shan to come back for a part 2? For today's topic, I wanted to do a follow-up to Chloe Johnson's amazing guest article which she wrote about how the impact of social media affects the way we all see ourselves, and the way we all strive to match the 'perfection' of models with the help of Instagram filters. As Chloe made the point of saying, these are not real. But our mind does not know this and always tells us that we must improve, even when there is nothing wrong with us. So...

First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Shan.  I ’m 29 years old living in Warwickshire.       When I was approached by Connor to do a guest post on his blog, at first I was unsure on what to write about, until one afternoon I was sitting in work and it came to me.  Mental health a nd wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic.  It has been  a difficult time for us all, especially with the UK lockdown.  I  work on a reception desk within mental health services and I am quite often first point of contact for people who are struggling. Nobody is alone in this. No matter how small you may think your problems are your mental health and wellbeing is so important, especially in current circumstances.    As you may have read previously in Connor’s blog posts. Some of us, at the beginning of the pandemic were lucky enough to find each other and form a group based on our mutual love of Taylor Swift.  That for me has been my m...

Chelsea v Crystal Palace Chelsea have been very unpredictable so far, and were well and truly outplayed by West Brom in the first half last week. Palace have started well but I expect Chelsea to bounce back with a good performance and result. Chelsea's new signings are beginning to settle in, which will only help them for the season ahead. Prediction 2-0 Everton v Brighton The Toffees are absolutely flying at the moment and that is largely down to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who seems to be scoring for fun at the moment. Brighton have played well but have been very unlucky in recent weeks - that 100th minute penalty they conceded last week was farcical on so many levels. Even with a change in fortune, I think Everton will make it 4 wins from 4 games. Prediction 2-0 Leeds v Manchester City Leeds are still very much building a squad capable of competing in the Premier League, but one thing I can guarantee is they will not sit back and respect Manchester City like most teams do. Pep Guardi...