Over a year since I posted on here, in the year of someone’s lord Two Thousand And Nine, proclaiming the new US President and promising to update this blog on a regular basis. Mmmm… fat chance.

So what’s happened in the last 13 months?

Now President Obama has stuffed his first year, doing a Bill & Hillary with his healthcare reform and allowing the Republicans to dominate with their 40-seat (now 41-seat) majority (?!) in the Senate.

Tranmere Rovers failed to reach the Play-Offs by 90 seconds (on the last game of the season at Play-Off rivals Scunthorpe), sacked Ronnie Moore (due to falling attendances) and installed John Barnes & Jason McAteer as the new management dream team. Some dream… crowds continued to fall, as did the performances and position, and ultimately Dumb & Dumber were asked to fall too. Physy Physy Physio, Physio Les Parry has done a grand job halting the slide, but with no money and limited time, Rovers could end up back in the fourth tier of English football for the first time since 1989.

As for Ebbsfleet United… I seem to have been (unfortunately) rather prophetic. The Fleet stayed up but the members ran to the hills, valleys, towns and cities, and indeed anywhere not known as Ebbsfleet. The membership dropped from 32,000 to 9,000 and so did the coffers in the Society’s and the Club’s bank account.

MyFC slashed the playing budget in half, and watched on their laptops as virtually the whole squad left as the Club couldn’t renew contracts. Those that remained – and there were five under contract (two of them recently promoted kids) when pre-season started – were quickly stuck on the market, including Michael Gash, bought by the fans in a landmark deal just a year before.

The team which had won the FA Trophy just 14 months previously had been chopped up into little pieces and sent to higher and, in some cases, lower places. And in most cases for no cash, reward or even a wave goodbye. Decimated.

Things look slightly brighter now. Liam Daish did a fantastic job assembling a squad to start the season, and has been tinkering with it ever since. A run of 8 games in October/November without even a goal, and just one point, threatened to finish the season before the festive one began, but gradually the players started to gel as a team and squad, and the Fleet now have a chance to avoid relegation once more.

Except that the annual membership renewal round is upon MyFC once again. Membership fees have become two-tiered but early indications show a further reduction in people willing to stick around for another 12 months of forum bitching and back-stabbing.

A minimum of £500k is required to secure Ebbsfleet United FC through to May 2011, both through MyFC contributions and income through the Club itself. A tall order indeed…

7/20 The first ‘global’ television event as millions worldwide gather around screens to watch live as Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to set foot on the moon.

9/11 The first major global event of the ‘rolling news’ age as millions around the world – at home, at work, in hotels and the gym – watch live pictures from US broadcaster CNN as hijacked passenger planes crash into the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

1/20 The first global event of the ‘multi-platform’ media age as close to one billion people watch the inauguration of US President Barack Obama through streaming coverage on tv and online via computers and mobile phones.

Three extraordinary events, three defining moments and three events which brought the planet together in a single moment. In many cases, and many places, people set aside national, religious and personal differences to come together as one to witness good, and bad.

So what does today bring us? Apart from many of us watching the same speech, wherever we were and whatever media platform we were using…

Obama becomes the self-proclaimed leader of the free world in a frightening time. A global recession, economies deviating from any previous models, continued deep-set conflict in the Middle East, human rights abuses exacted by corrupt leaders and further hostilities in too many places to mention.

So how did Obama begin? Well, he got through the Chief Justice stuffing the oath of office, and then delivered a speech which has laid down the next four years, both as a map of his administration but also an outline of policies against which he will be judged.

First he thanked Now-Not-President Bush for his service to his country. And then, for the remaining 17 minutes of his speech, President Obama drew a thick line under the past eight years and reached out to Americans and people throughout the world to embrace a new dawn.

“Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America – they will be met.

“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

“On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled out politics.”

Strong words. Serious words. Inspirational words. Words to come back and haunt him? Possibly.

There is a danger of giddiness, of becoming enveloped by the moment of the first African-American to be elected President of a country where less than 60 years ago they didn’t share the rights of White Americans. But I feel there is substance to Obama, a man who has a personal belief in his rhetoric and a determination to deliver his vision.

I am led to compare this day to 5/1, or 1 May 1997 as I would write it, and the landslide victory by Tony Blair to end 18 years of right-wing rule in Britain. But only through the giddiness and the wonderful memories of that day. What followed – influenced of course by 9/11 and his friendship with Now-Not-President Bush – takes the shine off the memory.

Will my memory of today go the same way? Obama has ended 8 years of right-wing rule in the US and, one could argue, in British foreign policy too. He has made promises to extend the hand of friendship to those countries Bush decried under his Axis of Evil, and he has promised to stabilise the economy and return prosperity to America.

Only time will tell whether his strong and brave words of today will stand true four, or eight, years later. I, and millions of others around the world, sincerely hope that they do.

Every news channel, from the BBC and CNN through to NBC and Fox, has wall-to-wall coverage of Israel’s assault of the Gaza Strip. Well, those walls that are still standing.

Now I know the basic facts but, as I said at the top, I know I don’t know enough. What I do know, though, is that hundreds of Palestian men, women and children are being randomly murdered by Israel in yet another all-out attack. And what does the world do? Sit at home like I do and watch it all on tv.

Still President Bush blames Hamas whilst Israel can do no wrong. Soon-to-be-President, the Blessed Barack, won’t say a word about it because “at this time, there should only be one [President and one] voice from the United States”. Meanwhile, Still PM Brown stays holed up in No.10 more concerned about the lack of a British High Street by the end of the month, and the UN presumably is still on Winterville vacation.

Hamas shouldn’t be firing rockets into Israel. But in the 1970s & 80s the IRA shouldn’t've been bombing London. If Heath, Wilson, Callaghan and Thatcher had reacted as Israel does now, Britain woul’d've responded to the IRA’s attacks by carpet-bombing Armagh and Dublin. I realise that is a very simplistic analagy, but HELLO WORLD?

Isn’t it about time that you stood up and stopped Israel bombing the crap out of innocent people? Or are you waiting for the death toll to reach 9/11 proportions before you act?

What a fine way to start 2009… with blood on everyone’s hands.

You spend around £14m on a brand new stadium and you can’t shell out an additional £100k on a set of covers which would’ve covered the entire pitch and enabled Saturday’s  Colchester vs Tranmere game to go-ahead.

And what makes it worse was that, after pressing the referee to postpone the game, Colchester held a bloody training session on the fucking pitch at 3.30pm. Unplayable my arse!!

Surely Colchester weren’t scared about playing the mighty Tranmere Rovers…

Tomorrow also sees Rovers visit Cuckoo Farm for the first time or, as it’s now called, the Weston Homes Community Stadium. Very natty name. Not! It’s the new home of Colchester United in case you’re still lost or mildly confused. A word of warning, though, to those considering going along tomorrow who like to see goals scored during football matches. This season, Colchester have scored only 11 goals at home in 12 matches, and Tranmere have scored only 11 goals away in 11 games. However, when the teams met earlier this season, the visitors ran out 4-3 winners after leading 4-1 with ten minutes to go. So who knows what’ll happen tomorrow… more than likely called off due to a frozen pitch?!?

Now those who know who I am will testify that I’m not the most optimistic when it comes to the fortunes of Wirral’s finest. However, four good results in January could give d’Rovers a real shot at the Play-Offs come May. After tomorrow, the Posh travel to Prenton Park next Saturday, and then the following weekend, Rovers go to Milwah. The month ends with Carlisle on the Wirral. Should Rovers get 8 points or more, then there’s the chance that we could be involved in the end-of-season lottery. Should we get nowt, then the other end of the table may start to beckon…

Initially, the venture was a triumph. The club had a strong squad for the Football Conference (or Blue Square Premier as it calls itself – delusions of grandour me thinks) and went all the way to Wembley, winning the FA Trophy (the non-league equivalent of the FA Cup) in front of over 40,000 fans.

But simmering away under all the excitement was a failure to deliver on one of the key components of the MyFC concept – picking the team (PTT). The MyFC mantra is “Own the Club, Pick the Team” and this is what attracted many to join – to play a real version of Championship Manager. For a mere £35, you could contribute to complete control of a football club in the same way as a £30 piece of software. As an idea, it was genius.

However, by taking control of an existing football club with a history, its own fans and more importantly, a manager already in place, it wasn’t that simple. Liam Daish, the coach in charge of team affairs, made known very early on his opposition to a bunch, albeit large bunch, of internet-based owners doing his job. Fair enough. Except he knew what MyFC stood for when the takeover discussions commenced and, ultimately, he supported the purchase of the Fleet by MyFC.

Why? Because Ebbsfleet were in financial meltdown and the MyFC takeover was the only way to keep the club full time and retain the squad which were doing so well. Without the MyFC takeover, it is unlikely that Ebbsfleet United would be current holders of the FA Trophy.

Fast forward to the present day, and the Fleet are heading for ruin. Despite being given an increased playing budget of £10,000 per week by the MyFC members for season 2008/9, Daish was unable to prevent two of the stars of the Trophy-winning side, Chris McPhee and Michael Bostwick, from leaving and in the August 2008 transfer window he recommended to the members that young John Akinde, striker and focal point of the forward line, be sold to Bristol City for £150,000. Over 75% went with the recommendation, making Akinde the first player to be sold by online vote.

Since the end of September, and an excellent 3-0 win at Barrow, the Fleet have struggled and their record in the past three months, including today’s 3-1 defeat at Grays, reads Pld:15 W:3 D:1 L:11 GF:9 GA:26. In seven of those games, the Fleet failed to trouble the scorers and two of the three victories were sealed with goals in the last five minutes.

The loss of key defenders such as Paul McCarthy and Darius Charles has not helped, but suddenly the silver coating from last season has been stripped away to leave a rather brown and soggy mess. The team is playing without any confidence, Daish is locking them in the dressing room for an hour after each match, presumably to shout at them, and the anger within the MyFC has grown about the lack of PTT.

But this is not the major trauma surrounding the club. The slippery slope to relegation is always tough for any club and its supporters to witness, and the feeling that nothing can stop it can be overwhelming, but there is a greater crisis looming which will come crashing down on Stonebridge Road much earlier than any relegation in April.

The MyFC business model is based upon the involvement of its members, with or without PTT, and their cash. Without the maintenance and increase in member numbers, and the associated annual injection of the £35-each membership fee, the model collapses unless the football club MyFC own is profitable. Ebbsfleet United, like so many football clubs outside the riches of the Premier League (the Barclays version rather than the Blue Square version) does not make a profit.

Its £1.5m operating budget laid down for the 2008/9 season is based upon a modest increase in gate receipts and associated matchday income, but crucially the renewal membership fees of the current 30,000 MyFC members. If all current members did indeed renew, MyFC would be looking at receiving just over £1m by the end of next month in fresh capital investment. Pretty impressive in the current financial climate.

However, with members angry about the lack of PTT, combined with the poor on-pitch performances and off-pitch communication, it is feared that less than 25% will renew their membership. This will result in a £750,000 loss of anticipated income to the MyFC coffers and could bring about a rather swift end to what some are calling a computer experiment. And possibly a failed one at that.

I, for one, will be extremely disappointed to see MyFC fail. I was never that interested in PTT but more in the overall involvement in a football club, and I have particularly enjoyed that experience. And I feel particularly sorry for the long-standing fans of the club, who knew it as Gravesend & Northfleet until Eurostar came calling 18 months ago with a sponsorship opportunity too good to miss by the previous owners.

My solution? MyFC should try and get as many current members as possible to renew their membership now rather than wait until February. And concerted efforts should be made to try and attract new members, although this won’t be that easy given the current run of results. Finally, MyFC should take this as a warning shot across the bows and should it continue, it must do the following:

1. Move the renewal date from the end of February to the end of June.

2. Abandon PTT.

3. Restructure the MyFC website to ensure open communication channels between the MyFC members, the MyFC Board, Club Board and the coaching/playing staff.

My New Year wish is that MyFC continues, it continues to own the majority of Ebbsfleet United, that the Fleet retain their place in the top-tier of non-league football and that everyone takes a step back and learns from the mistakes of the past year. But I’m not holding my breath…

So, a new year [Ed. It's 1 Jan 2009] {I know it is Ed, it says so at the top} brings a resolution of sorts – I don’t do New Year Resolutions so I don’t disappoint myself by the end of February. And the sort of resolution is that I’ll actually bother to write here and possibly say the odd thing or two of interest, provocation and even mild amusement.

Of course, I’m not actually going to write anything of importance now – it’s lunchtime and I’m starving. But fear not, for comments will hence forth be regular in their serving… probably… hopefully… maybe. Mmmm, that sounds like a Tranmere promotion push.

Laters…

3MIAB will be mainly football-based and cover my thoughts on Tranmere Rovers, Ebbsfleet United (I’m one of the 30,000 owners of 75% of The Fleet) and no doubt Liverpool, plus there may be other parts of my life which may get a mention. Proper British beer being one of them.

So here we go…