Bootle (NWCFL Premier Division)

“When's the right time to judge David Moyes? Now? Three months ago? End of the season? End of next season I think...”

Abbey gaffer Luke Gibson’s tweet on Wednesday night was extremely telling. He of all people knows first hand what is involved in following in the managerial footsteps of a club legend. When Sir Alex Ferguson called time on his Manchester United career last May so did successful Abbey boss Barrie Walker. Both men left on a relative high. Fergie by winning his club a record 20th league title and Walker leading his team to a well deserved promotion and a cup final.   
Manchester United and Abbey Hey may be a million miles away from each other in football terms but with both clubs having replaced successful retiring managers with younger candidates there are a few parallels that can be drawn between Gibson and Moyes at the minute. 
First off it is fair to say that the two men received something of a hospital ball when taking up the reins. In Moyes’ case he inherited a squad that had overachieved under Ferguson and was in need of some major surgery. In Gibson’s it was the vultures of the North West Counties Football League that posed a problem. By waving wads of cash at Gibbo’s star men, paying clubs scuppered any chance of Abbey’s talented team of youngsters from realising their potential. In just a matter of weeks the dynamic class of 2013 side that Barrie Walker had nurtured and moulded was unfairly torn apart. 
Secondly both managers have approached their new positions with a long term view in mind and a commitment to continue to place trust in young talent. At Old Trafford Moyes has thrown Belgian starlet Adnan Januzaj into the action at every opportunity. His faith has been repaid as among his side’s up-and-down performances, Januzaj’s have been the ones that have consistently stood out. At the AbbeyStad too we have seen Gibson give the nod to up to three or four home grown players at a time in an attempt to acclimatise them to life in the Premier Division. 
Results so far have been mixed for both bosses with each recording slightly more defeats than they would have liked. But to suggest either man is any where close to being on the ropes at this stage is utter lunacy. The hierarchy and fans at both clubs recognise the size of the task that lies ahead and have given the pair a solid platform on which to work their magic.
The problem is that we live in an impatient world where instant success and fame is expected without realising that sometimes things just take time. Luckily in the cases of Gibson and Moyes that is exactly what they have. I wish them well.

Wigan Robin Park (NWCFL Premier Division)

Just behind the clubhouse side of this ground is a cycle path. I’m sure many of you are familiar with it. The lad who sometimes cycles to the match with his missus almost certainly is. I’ve become very familiar with it of late as I’ve developed a completely unexpected love of life on two wheels. Let me tell you how it started.
We were visiting friends in Dalston, north London, a few weeks ago. We’d been on the beer all day and had had a nice curry to round things off. At about 1am we were sitting about with a few can of Red Stripe listening to music when one bright spark came up with an idea. A bike ride. Now. Around London. 
We thought he was joking but as others piped up and voiced their enthusiasm the absurd proposal suddenly became very real. Three slightly worse-for-wear lads on the wrong side of 30 were soon pulling bikes out of a shed and heading out onto the road without helmets or lights.
I went mental quoting alarming statistics of London cycling casualties but my warning fell on deaf ears. Two hours later they returned having covered some 30-odd kilometeres and visited all the main tourist spots. Photographs of the pissed up trio on London Bridge confirmed this. I was livid but also a tiny bit jealous. 
Relaying this tale to my old man a few weeks later he pointed out that he had a bike that was gathering dust in his garage. It was a Peugeot racer that hadn’t been out in ten years. I was welcome to borrow it. Having not been out on a bike myself in over 20 years I was apprehensive. But after some careful planning and the purchase of a few cheap cycling accessories I set out on the aforementioned cycle path also known as The Fallowfield Loop.

And what a ride it is. A thin eight-mile linier park stretching from Gorton in the east all the way to Chorlton in the west. The gateway to south Manchester if you will and a leafy world away from red brick madness. I find myself on it most weekends and by the time you read this I’ll have probably already done a good 30km.

If you’ve access to a bike then why not give it a go. I recommend getting on at either Abbey Hey or Ryder Brow and heading west towards Fallowfield. Come off at St Werburgh’s Road Metrolink station in Chorlton and head through the four banks in central Chorlton onto Manchester Road, down Kensington Road towards Stretford.

From there you’re in easy reach of cycle-friendly Old Trafford and Manchester’s stunning waterfront at Salford Quays with all its attractions. Last week’s ride took me to the Imperial War Museum North. A world class museum that costs nothing, save for a donation, to visit.

With parts of this year’s Tour de France taking in the north of England there’s never been a better time to be showing an interest in pedal pushing. I draw the line though at wraparound sunglasses.