Daily Diary (DD) - Day 97 of 2024

1848hrs:

Slept at c. 0230hrs and then got up for Suhoor at 0330hrs. Drifted back to sleep at c. 0600hrs but didn't get up until 12 hours later and just about half an hour before Iftaar. A total of 13 hours of rest for today. It is devastating and all I can think of is how to make amends for the country that is usually described as a territory!

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Our daily financial statement:

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A major turnaround in fortune for Luton Town who have struggled much of late, obtaining their first win (Match 32) since the 30th of January 2024 (Match 21). Overall, they have pleasantly surprised the football world with their determination, grit, guile & specially for going toe-to-toe with teams possessing far more expensive individual talent.

Of course, there is much to potentially link our unresolved 'national question' with the 'soft power' potential offered by professional football in particular. More on that in due course. 

I have made a point of closely following my 'home' team as it were and clearly remember their heady days in the old incarnation of the Premier League (Division 1) when I was at High School (1986-88). It is amazing that despite the lapse of 36 years there still isn't (and to my knowledge) and hasn't been an 'Asian' (as Indians, Pakistanis, Kashmiris & other such like communities were referred to as in the UK) footballer from the local community surrounding Luton's ground 'Kenilworth Road', coming through the ranks. 

I might even suggest (though I am open to being proved wrong) that the 14 year old 'me' playing for Challney Boys High School against Ashcroft High School as an attacking midfielder one sunny afternoon - being watched on the touchline by John Moore (the then Luton Town Manager) - congratulating me on my well-taken goal, was probably the closest any 'Asian'  has come. Again, more on such details in due course. Meanwhile, I hope our Sports Chief in Challney Boys' at the time Mr. Howells is still alive & well. He would be the perfect witness to my abilities & prowess at the time. 

Coming back to Luton Town FC (Football Club) I have made a point of putting together some screenshots from today's brilliant fightback against AFC Bournemouth courtesy BBC Sport's website. It is followed by 3 tables that I've put together to identify where Luton Town can improve, to ensure they remain in the 'top flight' for many years & decades to come:

Note: All times shown are in AJK time (currently 4 hours ahead of UK time) 

God bless the BBC for usually printing my comments, although I do write Tanveer Ahmed - AJK whenever I do text in. However, they usually write 'Tanveer Ahmed' but never my place 'AJK'. It's almost as if they sense the controversy in the name. Though they do usually write the name of the place of others who comment.

That grit and never-say-die determination of Luton Town can be sensed from the comment above.

So, that rounds up an interesting second-half for Luton. 

Reference: BBC

It is a game of 2 halves as the cliche goes and for the past couple of weeks in particular, I have been wondering how different the points table and goal difference would look if we measured Luton's performances over the season so far, in terms of scores at half-time and separately for the 2nd half. We do suspect that Luton concedes far more goals in the 2nd half than in the first. Let's see:

Actual full time results

Half time (HT) scores

2nd half scores

Reference: lutontown.co.uk

I'll end this marathon coverage of Luton Town on this weblog with a list of remaining fixtures for each of the 5 teams (Crystal Palace, Everton, Brentford, Nottingham Forest & of course Luton Town) trying to avoid slipping into the single place left for relegation, along with Burnley and Sheffield United whom I think have already sealed their fate: 

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