Soccer 24-7 Blog

Member Interviews: grobbelaargate

Tell us a bit about yourself...
I'm Sean Facer. Aged 25. 6ft tall and weighing in tonight at 14st. Live with my mother, but looking to change that within the next year. I work for plastic moulding company which is a shithole and I've been wanting out for a while but sadly in this day and age, it's not a choice so work my way up the ladder I try until something better comes along. I don't get up to much in the week besides work. I love music, reading football autobiographies on a rare day and I'm developing skill in Italian cuisine. At the weekend, it's time with my girlfriend, who I've been with for 19 months and counting.

My first Wolves game I went to see was against Notts County in December 1994. We won 1-0, Bully was the scorer and it was John De Wolf's debut that day too. I've been a regular season ticket holder for fifteen seasons and I'm considering it making it the final season seeing as we're at the top.

If you could sign anyone for Wolves, who would it be?
Michael Essien (not Mancienne for you dyslexics out there). He can do almost anything with great efficiency. Defend, tackle, pass, attack, score, run from box-to-box and he has a great physical conditioning. More valuable than Drogba, Lampard and Terry combined. Closest player to resemble Duncan Edwards.

So, its snowing. Do you want to come and make a snowman and some snow angels with me? It would be pretty cool.
Why not? Love snow angels. Love making huge snowballs as well. Would be cool indeed.

What's your political views?
Labour through and through. Even though I'm slightly disillusioned by this government restricting our freedom of choice. Still better than having the Tories and that phonie David Cameron in though. So in a nutshell, I'm left-wing.

Have you even been arrested?
No. Had aspirations to be arrested for being too merry though.

Why is Craddock your favourite player?
He's been a sensational performer over the last few seasons and I dread to think where we would be without him. Last season - for me - emphasised his importance to the team. We had Neill Collins in the team and we just brought in Christophe Berra and we leaking goals for fun and then we dropped Collins and Craddock stepped in and we've been keeping clean sheets or conceded just the one goal every game. If wasn't for him, we would be stuck in the CCC, or worst, be the whipping boys of the Premiership. I wasn't expecting him to be a starting regular this season but was expecting a new contract as 'thank you'. And he's a top fella too. Does a lot of charity and community stuff. A club legend in my eyes

What wrong with your club's badge, it looks like a disney icon.
Disney icon? You think so? I always thought it looked like one of those blocks you see on that old quiz show Blockbusters. I must say, it does look minimalist, looking at it. My good friend Nes does some great artwork. Ask upon request and I reckon he'll display

I was at the game where the woman got hit by a firework, I'm convinced it was an assassination attempt on the Premiership's greatest ever striker, why do Wolves dislike Shearer so much and are there any plans to greet Craig Bellamy in the same manner?
I think the fans dislike Shearer because of what happened in that game. Shearer lunged in with two feet on Lee Naylor and referee Steve Bennett gave him a talking to whereas minutes later, Naylor was pulling Shearer's shirt, nowhere to go anyway, Bennett books Naylor. It's either that reason or that Lescott had Shearer in his pocket in that great FA Cup tie the season before.

I think the fans hate Bellamy a bit more just for the fact that he's had a bit of a ill-disciplined past. A good seeing to from Kevin Muscat when Bellamy was at Norwich won't forgotten easily.

Who was your idol as a child and why?
Peter Schmeichel. I was inspired by him to play goalkeeper and tried to emulate him in every single way but dye my hair blonde and have a red nose. A lot of kids mocked my shouting and my way of spreading my body out. **** them. I stopped them from scoring.

What's your favourite holiday destination?
I love to go back to Barcelona again. Beautiful weather, great football, beautiful sites and views to see. I wanted to stop forever rather than just the week.

Are you aware of the past of the Wolves fans on this forum and the association of madness?
Nes mentioned this forum to me and he does tell me of the nutters that were on here, past and present. Some like Woof and Norwolf remain thank goodness.

How do you rate England’s chances in the World Cup?
A better chance than last time, and the only two things that's changed since 2006 is the management and discipline. Very highly just by looking at how the tournament has panned out, we should make the semis with ease, permitting we're at full strength. Got one or two weak links in the team but I'm confident that we can overcome this to stand a good chance.

Shag, marry, kill? Shakira, Rihanna, Cheryl Cole.
Rihanna - kill - I can't be dealing with someone/something that says the last two syllables of every single sentence.

Shakira - shag - But she's gott a shut the **** up though.

Cheryl Cole - marry - She deserves better. I am better.

Have you ever broke a bone?
Nope. Had a curly wurly finger for a week though. Why it didn't break is beyond me.

Do you like sombreros?
I love them. I went to Madrid and Barcelona but I never had the chance to go out and buy one. Next time, eh? And a moustache to boot, yah?

Whats your alcoholic weapon of choice?
Can of Budweiser. It tastes better of the can than the bottle. First choice every time I'm out on the tiles.

Do you like Cheesy Wotsits?
Nah. Space Raiders FTW!

Are there any users you just simply think are idiots?
Upon my short time here, I haven't had much time to judge who's an idiot to be honest. But two names springs to mind are Akira and Calean. OTID and Sniper were tools too. Good calls on getting rid.

Give me your 5 track album of 2009
Grizzly Bear - Fine For Now
John Frusciante - Dark/Light
The Decemberists - The Rake's Song
The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea
**** Buttons - Surf Solar

A curry and a pint of ice cold lager....heaven eh?
Oh yes! Chicken jalfrezi, peshwari naan, can of Bud. MWAH!

You’ve become quite a popular member in a short space of time, how are you finding your new found fame?
I'm handling it alright. Bit overwhelmed when I looked that MvM results and see that I've beaten someone like Foley who is a decent bloke and has been on this forum for years. To be honest, I couldn't imagine myself having such status once I joined but there's some great people on this forum and there's been so many great threads that it's made me stick around here for much longer.

We've all seen your penis, does this embarrass you?
Not really. It's all about efficiency over size for me. It's like comparing Maradona to Heskey. Which is the more effective? I'll leave it for you to decide.

What's your idea of a culinary treat?
Post-match pakoras and samosas

Even though West Brom yoyo, would it be right to say they're a better side than Wolves?
To be honest sometimes I watch West Brom in the CCC and wished we could play that kind of attacking football. But to answer to the question, they have had the upper hand on us in recent years and why not as they've got a good group of players themselves

January. One in, one out … Name them.
Out - Wayne Hennessey - cash him in for big money before he exposes himself as an average keeper.

In - Benni McCarthy - We don't have time for SEB getting there and if Doyle gets crocked, we're doomed. Proven goalscorer at this level is sorely needed.

Is Calean an idiot or misunderstood?
Idiot. From what I've seen, the boy is not right in the head. The power of Christ has corrupted him.

If you could kill anyone and get away with it who would it be?
Simon Cowell. He's made millions by making karaoke singers look like superstars before spitting the flavour out of them. Since when was singing for 2 minutes for once a week live with all the poxy choreography in the world made an artist great? Plus if I kill him, ITV won't have a leg to stand on. I'll kill him by having him and myself with a baseball bat in my hand so he won't know what's coming.

Same question but say if it was a 24-7 member.
Akira. His knowledge of football is poor. And I'd kill him the same way as Cowell.

Do you remember your "first time"? Was it special?
Christmas Eve last year. I'd say it was. We've been wanting to do it for a bit but something always had to crop up. So glad we did and glad it was with someone I had feelings for.

So you support Wolves, what I want to ask you is, which type is your favourite. Is it Grey Wolf, Tundra Wolf, Arctic Wolf?
Grey Wolf. Scary as hell.

What is your greatest Wolves' memory?
Beating Charlton 3-2 two seasons ago. I watched it on the big screen in a pub in town. The atmosphere was awesome and when SEB scored that amazing goal to make 2-1, the place erupted but when Karl Henry made it 3-2 in the 94th minute, the city could hear the pub scream from the rooftops and I was buzzing so much I felt like a kid at Christmas. I stopped in town afterwards, got pissed, yet I was still buzzing. Got home at 3am and still buzzing, didn't go to sleep until 8am.

If you had the chance to go into space, would you?
If you guarantee my return, then yes. Going into space isn't a big deal as much as it was years ago.

What runs but never walks, has a mouth but never talks?
An Ethopian athlete.

What’s your best podcast on your iTunes?
Don't do podcasts. Don't have the time for them.

What's your favourite smiley? Share it with us.


So we’re halfway through the season (almost), how do you fancy your chances of staying up?
Very likely, we've finally got a team that's playing week in, week out and getting used to each other's game. I think another striker is sorely needed. Without Doyle, we won't look like scoring.

If your a wolves fan.. why the name grobbelaargate?
At the time prior to joining I was a bit fixated with the matchfixing scandal back in the 1990s, particularly with Bruce Grobbelaar's case as he sued The Sun and was awarded compensation only to be counter-sued and left bankrupt. And I was struggling for a name at the time too. I love to change it now but I'm known by it by a lot of people now so I'm sticking with it.

Tell us about your career. What do you do? What does your job role include?
Career? What career? I did rotten in school so I went straight to college and did NVQs in Business Administration. Managed to get Level 2 but could not get a job in the office/admin field so I'm sticking it out in a factory for the time being. I seem to have lost my career drive over the last few years.

I've been doing a variety of roles over the last few months. Been toolsetting on laser-marking machines, been doing some material handling and I've been packing mouldings, which is boring. Dunno whether I wanna stick it out here and try moving up the ladder or look elsewhere.

What do you want for Christmas?
Peace on earth and a jazzmaster.

Is the Molineux ever gonna have the corners filled in?
Steve Morgan has mentioned doing the stadium as a whole ie getting the fans closer to the action, filling in corners etc. I think he'll get around to doing it as soon as our Premiership status is stable.

Sith or Jedi?
Chewie. I don't follow Star Wars, but Chewie looks awesome.

Have you ever needed stitches?
Once back in 2003. I was walking - sorry, staggering - back from a notorious pub that has since seen a few friends of mine get glassed or the **** kicked out of them. A bunch of guys got out of a car and beat me down. Luckily enough, instinct got me to put my hands over my head and I got kicked in the ribs, hands and fingers, all bruised at the end of the beating, fingers and hands more so. Still managed to have a few nasty blows to the head. I required 12 stitches in the back of the head.

What’s your views/opinions of the females on the forum?
Yiddo - Top lass of the class. Friendly, talks a really good game, gets along with everyone.

Barcelinha - Decent poster when she pops in the EPL section. Great taste in music.

Ruudlover - United through and through. Don't see her much outside the United forum but she's alright.

In all honesty they're stark contrast to the females who I talk to about football. They can't talk a good game to save their lives.

That's all the females I know of on here so if I missed you out, I apologise, unless your name is Clare Balding.

Are you travelling home and away with Wolves whilst they play their football in the Premier League?
I can't be arsed to travel away to be honest. I'm taking a page out of Geesus' book not deciding not to bother after he went to watch us get demoralised 5-1 against Blackburn when we were in the Premiership first time around.

What's your biggest fear?
Although I'm slowly overcoming it, it's heights. My girlfriend dragged me to Pleasure Beach a few weeks ago. Good money to hear me scream my ass off on the Pepsi Max. Lost my voice halfway through.

Are you a Facebook kinda person or is it Twitter for you?
Facebook. I do my best to have time for Twitter though.

Have you bought your tissues for after you get knocked out the FA Cup against Tranmere?
I have indeed Scoot. I'll be needing them whilst I'm eating my curry whilst watching us stuff the jingle bells out of your lot.

Do you play football if so, what position and what’s on your pre-match iPod selection?
I do, though it's just a big kickabout with the lads if it's all arranged. I play goalkeeper, but recently have been trying my luck in a number of positions.
As for a pre-match playlist it's very much the same as what I play before I go out on a matchday...

Jeff Wayne - Eve of the War
Talking Heads - Crosseyed And Painless
Jorge Ben - Ponta De Lança Africano (Umbabarauma)
Liars - Plaster Casts Of Everything
Radiohead - The National Anthem

How many fingers am I holding up?
Orange?

The day Wolves got promoted, how did you feel?
Not as ecstatic as most fans as sensed it was gonna happen weeks prior to the QPR game. Still very chuffed though.

Who do you think will finish in the top 4?
Right now Man Utd and Chelsea are shoe-ins. It's up in the air for the two spots. I reckon Villa will have the mileage and the squad this time around. Arsenal will be there and abouts with or without Van Persie. Liverpool seem to have a habit of finishing seasons strongly over the years but their squad has weakened for the losses of Arbeloa, Hyypia and Alonso, despite the arrivals. Spurs are a good side who will be lurking around but they need to start beating big scalps to be certain of a place. Man City has the advantage of having the resources on their side, but whether it'll be used wisely remains to be seen. But if Mancini identifies the problem behind the leaky defence, they're a serious contender.

Who do you think will get relegated?
At this point and time...

Pompey - they have a chancer for an owner and have spent nothing on players and it wouldn't surprise me if the last of their star players left.

Hull - A sitting duck without Jimmy Bullard and Geovanni looks like a different player from the one that wooed me.

Third spot can be anyone from 12th downwards. Hard to tell.

Thank you and Merry Christmas!

Interview compiled by Lil Yiddo with questions submitted by members of Soccer 24-7.