Hello people. I trust all is well out there. I got a letter last week. It was a rather angry one. Thankfully I don't get too many furious letters but this was a good one. It was from a Blackpool fan who was a little bit miffed that I said on Focus that his team played in orange.
In truth I should have known better. I used to work in the north-west of England and I am well aware that a) they play in tangerine and b) their supporters get very moody if you describe it as "orange".
The letter was about 7/10 on the rage scale - sections of capital letters also take you into the 7-10 bracket. The phrase "HAVE YOU GOT IT?" was repeated several times and the answer is, yes, I have got it and I aim to avoid any colour-based confusion over the rest of the season.
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The Professional Footballers' Association's comprehensive list of free agents is as lengthy as it is depressing.
It took me ages to plough through the 31-page list of players who are out of contract. I was driven on by an almost morbid fascination to see who is suddenly facing an uncertain future.
There are the hundreds of players who are still in their teens - footballers I have never heard of but ones whose professional careers could be set to end in their infancy.
Then there are the likes of Liam Rosenior, Jeremie Aliadiere, Lee Hendrie, Francis Jeffers, Keith Gillespie, Russell Hoult, Gavin Mahon, Jay DeMerit, Barry Hayles - all experienced performers at a variety of levels, all united by the fact they are without a club.
But what also unites them all is that they can still be signed by clubs even though the transfer window has now closed.
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I wonder what Rafa Benitez is thinking at this moment. Could it even be: "I wish I was back at Anfield?"
You never know. The English media gave him a tough time during his last six months on Merseyside, some would say deservedly so, but the Italian media have quickly picked up where their counterparts on the other side of Europe have left off.
The headline in Gazzetta dello Sport after their flaccid 2-0 loss in the UEFA Super Cup to Atletico Madrid was not the most vicious but perhaps was the most telling, 'InterRotta' - interrupted.
It was a nice play on words which suggested that the expectations that Benitez would carry straight on from where Jose Mourinho had left off a few months before, when Inter beat Bayern 2-0 in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium to lift Europe's top prize after a 45 year wait, had been cruelly dashed.
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