The Football Blog

Made In Sheffield. And proud...

Random Wiki-fact about Sheffield band The Hours, "Their single Ali in the Jungle is featured in the EA Sports FIFA 08 football game. People Say has twice been used in the opening scenes of British soap opera Hollyoaks." And they've got a new album out soon, so singer Antony Genn gave us a bell to talk touring, DVD documentaries and Bryan Robson....

How are things?

I'm good. We've just finished the record and we're just about to get on the old promotion train and do all that stuff so I'm feeling good about it all.

Ready for a big tour? Is it a big of a slog?

Course it's a big slog, but it could be worse, I could be carrying bricks. I could be a butcher like my dad getting up at six in the morning to cut up cows and pigs!

Fair point. Happy with the new album then?

Yeah, I mean it's hard, when you make a new record and you work on it all that time you get a bit detached from it. And often it can take so long that by the time you've finished it you feel like you want to get on to the next thing. But we mean every note and every beat and I love it.

Is there anywhere in particular you're really looking forward to playing?

I'm looking forward to playing the Royal Albert Hall, I’ve seen some incredible gigs there a couple of years, it'll be nice to get my aunty Margaret down, she's 76 next month! It'll be nice for her to see her rag-arsed, trampy little nephew walking on stage and saying good evening Royal Albert Hall. Plus it'll be just after her birthday so I might get everyone to sing Happy Birthday to her.

How about places you don't like playing?

Listen I look forward to playing anywhere where there is one human who is vaguely interested in listening to us. That's the truth.

What do you do to keep entertained on tour?

It can be very boring. Gritty documentaries I like to watch. Like Biggy and Tupac! Or When We Were kings, I can never watch that enough, about the Rumble In The Jungle.

So it's a case of stocking up on DVDs...

Yeah. Well I used to get out of my mind on drink and drugs but I gave it all up what seems like a long time ago now, eight years this year. So nowadays you have to amuse yourselves in different ways, you have to actually converse with other human beings, find a common interest! There are plenty of things to do and take an interest in in life.

Is one of those interests football by any chance?

Absolutely! The beautiful game, the way Gods intended it to be played.

And as a Sheffield United, are they playing it the way God intended?

No they are playing it the way of a one-legged midget. They're shit! I went to watch us play Sheffield Wednesday the other week at Bramall Lane and it was an absolute disgrace. It's one thing to lose to Sheffield Wednesday, but to lose to Sheffield Wednesday with no dignity, no idea and no commitment is a disgrace, and I'm appalled by Sheffield United to be totally honest with you.

How long have you been a fan?

My Dad was born and raised in the butcher's shop on Shoreham Street, opposite the Kop. So it's ingrained, as Sean Bean says "my blood is red, white and black."

Do you get to many games?

I don't get to that many games anymore, I've only been to two games this season in recent weeks, I went to Watford where we won 2-0, which was nice to see. And the derby, which was absolutely appalling. Obviously living down in London and being busy makes it a big commitment to go to a game. Maybe if we played the game as God intended it I might go and watch it a bit more!

How do you rate your play off chances this season?

That's the thing with this division, it's a lottery, everybody beats everybody and even Wolves, who seemed invincible a few weeks ago now seem to be faltering a little bit and it's not that many points. All it takes is a run of good results and it's all changed around the top. It would be fantastic for us to get back in the Premier League especially as we were expelled in such a terrible manner by that young lad Carlos Tevez.

So you're still bitter about it?

Well the truth of the matter is the reason we weren't in the Premier League is because we're shit! And because we didn't play the football. But the other truth of it is that West Ham had a player illegally who's world class, they got him on illegal pretenses and he scored seven goals in the last eight games, one of which was away at Old Trafford against Man Utd which sent us down. Apart from the fact we sent ourselves down with our own result against Wigan but the truth is that you can't moan about the past, all we can do is live in the present and change the future.

How big a miss is James Beattie?

It's a terrible miss! It's a disgrace what's happened. Obviously it's a decision that's come from Kevin McCabe the chairman and the board but any club that sells their best player whilst he's scoring goals, we should've been in revolt! It seems to me no one believes in anything anymore, nobody rebels. There should've been five thousand people outside the club going mental! We did it a couple of seasons ago with Michael Brown, we sold him to Spurs for a tenner or something.

What do you make of Kevin Blackwell?

I think he's a bit arrogant and a bit stupid.

Don't mince your words...

Well one thing, he just doesn't seem to be able to get the team to play football. I'm annoyed with him.

Is he as bad as Bryan Robson?

No way, Bryan Robson is like a waxwork dummy. I've seen more personality in a dead budgie. It's hard to fathom how a man who had such influence on a pitch, can have such little influence in the dressing room. I mean you wouldn't want to go out with him for a drink would you?

Who's your favourite ever player?

Listen mate, I'm a Sheffield United fan, we've been going since 1889, and we've only ever had one good player. That's a fact! Tony Currie! He’s the only world-class player we've ever had, the only player who could truly play the beautiful game, the only player who could change a game. He was a truly brilliant player.

Was there no one else?

Obviously we've had other players, players that I liked when I was a kid. It was great watching Keith Edwards score in the fourth division! Or we all loved Brian Deane and Tony Agana, heading the ball in! I was even partial to Vinnie Jones' throw-ins from the halfway line that hit the penalty spot! But let's not get carried away I'm a man who loves real football! I like to watch football, it's unfortunate I was born a United fan!

It's not that bad surely?

No I'm proud to be a Sheffield United fan, we're a working man's team and we believe in putting the effort in. We might be shit but over the years we've consistently worked hard and achieved things beyond our footballing prowess, even if that's only beating Arsenal or Tottenham every now and then.