Hi All,
Our latest podcast is online now.
We discuss:
Results from the FA Cup, Premier League, Champions league & UEFA Cup (phew) and we preview the games over the coming week
Pub Talk - All the news - Lampard, Bradley Wright-Philips, Gillet, Lehmann, Roger Johnson, Defections and more
Featured Section - we discuss the players who were supposed to be the next big thing, containing many 'wing wonders' and a few 'fox in the box's....
Comments from the Blog
Hope you enjoy the show,
Mark & JJ
Download it or Subscribe to the feed
Friday, 14 March 2008
Thursday, 13 March 2008
Lampard Is Good!
Oh-Oh Frank Lampard, Oh-Oh.
Ah, old Frankie boy, a member of our hate section (and rightly so) but maybe, just maybe, we've all been giving him a hard time over the past few years for his performances on the pitch.
First, remember all those years ago when he was a fresh faced young (chubby) footballer meandering around the West ham midfield? He was pretty good then. His £11m transfer to Chelsea in 2001 put him further in the media spotlight but his good performances and great breaks into the box endeared him to the fans and even to me.
His performances since then have gone from strength to strength, scoring 20 goals a season from midfield, creating numerous goals and leading Chelsea to trophies.
So we all know why we hate him (buffoonery, pompousness, deluded) but, in light of his 4 goals against Derby, can we not just say "he's not bad, that Lampard, fella"?
Is it because he is so bad for England that people claim he's shit? That he nearly won European Footballer of the Year? That his father is Frank Snr, his uncle Harry Redknapp, his cousin Jamie Redknapp? That Stevie G is a media darling? That Frankie makes unfortunate comments to the media? That he gets paid too much money?
yes, to all those things but I say to one and all - lay off Frank. He may be a utter tool, but he's a good footballer.
Mark
P.S. Podcast is back tonight folks, and apologies for our failings in the past few weeks, which were unavoidable, it will be online tomorrow morning....
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
Guinness Piss Take
A piss-take of the horrendously expensive Guinness ad.
Created for St. Patrick's day, a gritty British take on the Guinness Tipping Point ads... the Tipping Pot
Created for St. Patrick's day, a gritty British take on the Guinness Tipping Point ads... the Tipping Pot
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
The End is Nigh... enjoy it
Emerson Boyce not only has one humdinger of a name but he’s also become another one of those key cogs that made the Premier League, and indeed the end of this season as a whole, turn into the best we’ve witnessed in years. His steadfast defence, along with the rest of the Wigan side on Sunday means that Arsenal and United will now continue their scrap for the title for the next two months and that can’t be a bad thing.
Even though I generally hate the pair of them, like everyone else I want to be entertained by a title race and Liverpool’s annual late season surge to halt the mighty Everton just don’t cut it for me. I hope Chelsea piss their next few games and get involved too. The more the merrier.
Elsewhere, fuck romance in the FA Cup, it’s not romance it’s just old fashioned big clubs being shocked by smaller sides who outplay them or just plain well get lucky. It’s happened for generations; even back when TV companies didn’t need to rely on saccharine ideas to sell the competition, instead they just had simple entertaining football to edify the masses.
It is indeed entertaining so why be greedy and ask for magic and all that rubbish. BBC hang your head in shame. When Mick McCarthy is the most coherent voice on your panel of experts there is something very, very wrong.
Now the end of season barrage of football continues with the Champions League tonight and due to the fact that the tie is nearly dead, and papers need to sell, several tabloid hacks have concerned themselves with reports that Xabi Alonso is to leave Liverpool. Reason? Because he stayed away from Milan to be with his missus while she’s having a baby. Okay, Benitez seemed a tad peeved but hardly enough to throw the Spaniard, at last in good form after 18 months of injuries and misplaced passes, out of the club.
Maybe Alonso will go in the summer but it won’t be because he stayed to watch his nipper being born, how many times is this used as an excuse by footballers throughout the season? Plenty if memory serves correct. But rumours this morning that Alonso would be booted out of Anfield for such ‘insolence’ still covered plenty of the red tops’ back pages. Proof positive that even in a week when there’s plenty on the pitch to keep you entertained, these guys still look for a non story to fill a few more pages.
I can’t see Liverpool not scoring tonight, what with Inter missing both first choice centre backs and Torres playing with such confidence. The chances of Inter scoring four are remote but not impossible. They have a strong frontline and are certainly not “crap” as Eamonn Dunphy said during one of his increasingly regular rants after the first leg. Prediction – 2-1.
What does seem clear in the Champions league, and is something that Mark pointed out last week, is that an English side or Barcelona are commonly accepted as the eventual winners of this year’s competition. Not many would bet against that but it’s interesting that the English sides left in the Uefa Cup – Bolton, Spurs and Everton – all head into their second legs needing some special performances to get through.
It has been the case for some time that English sides without regular experience in Europe tend to struggle when they come up against any decent side who can keep the ball. In the Champions League, Liverpool and Chelsea have enough practice in bludgeoning defences and draining decent football from a match in order to beat classier opposition, but this trick still eludes sides like the three mentioned (though Spurs are heading in the right direction).
As these teams, though maybe not Bolton, get more experience in the coming seasons in Europe, be it Champions League or more Uefa Cup action, it may well be that another age of English dominance in Europe is upon us. Once Spurs and Everton’s players learn how to win, or grind out draws, in places like Florence or Eindhoven they will be dangerous opposition to anyone in Europe.
Whether it’s a good thing or not, European competitions may soon be a playground for English sides, with the odd rude interruption of past superpowers and proud clubs that could once compete on the same financial level as their English counterparts.
Even though I generally hate the pair of them, like everyone else I want to be entertained by a title race and Liverpool’s annual late season surge to halt the mighty Everton just don’t cut it for me. I hope Chelsea piss their next few games and get involved too. The more the merrier.
Elsewhere, fuck romance in the FA Cup, it’s not romance it’s just old fashioned big clubs being shocked by smaller sides who outplay them or just plain well get lucky. It’s happened for generations; even back when TV companies didn’t need to rely on saccharine ideas to sell the competition, instead they just had simple entertaining football to edify the masses.
It is indeed entertaining so why be greedy and ask for magic and all that rubbish. BBC hang your head in shame. When Mick McCarthy is the most coherent voice on your panel of experts there is something very, very wrong.
Now the end of season barrage of football continues with the Champions League tonight and due to the fact that the tie is nearly dead, and papers need to sell, several tabloid hacks have concerned themselves with reports that Xabi Alonso is to leave Liverpool. Reason? Because he stayed away from Milan to be with his missus while she’s having a baby. Okay, Benitez seemed a tad peeved but hardly enough to throw the Spaniard, at last in good form after 18 months of injuries and misplaced passes, out of the club.
Maybe Alonso will go in the summer but it won’t be because he stayed to watch his nipper being born, how many times is this used as an excuse by footballers throughout the season? Plenty if memory serves correct. But rumours this morning that Alonso would be booted out of Anfield for such ‘insolence’ still covered plenty of the red tops’ back pages. Proof positive that even in a week when there’s plenty on the pitch to keep you entertained, these guys still look for a non story to fill a few more pages.
I can’t see Liverpool not scoring tonight, what with Inter missing both first choice centre backs and Torres playing with such confidence. The chances of Inter scoring four are remote but not impossible. They have a strong frontline and are certainly not “crap” as Eamonn Dunphy said during one of his increasingly regular rants after the first leg. Prediction – 2-1.
What does seem clear in the Champions league, and is something that Mark pointed out last week, is that an English side or Barcelona are commonly accepted as the eventual winners of this year’s competition. Not many would bet against that but it’s interesting that the English sides left in the Uefa Cup – Bolton, Spurs and Everton – all head into their second legs needing some special performances to get through.
It has been the case for some time that English sides without regular experience in Europe tend to struggle when they come up against any decent side who can keep the ball. In the Champions League, Liverpool and Chelsea have enough practice in bludgeoning defences and draining decent football from a match in order to beat classier opposition, but this trick still eludes sides like the three mentioned (though Spurs are heading in the right direction).
As these teams, though maybe not Bolton, get more experience in the coming seasons in Europe, be it Champions League or more Uefa Cup action, it may well be that another age of English dominance in Europe is upon us. Once Spurs and Everton’s players learn how to win, or grind out draws, in places like Florence or Eindhoven they will be dangerous opposition to anyone in Europe.
Whether it’s a good thing or not, European competitions may soon be a playground for English sides, with the odd rude interruption of past superpowers and proud clubs that could once compete on the same financial level as their English counterparts.
Later, JJ
Thursday, 6 March 2008
Only Barca Stand In Way
So, 3 of the English clubs are through to the Champions League Quarter Finals, and Liverpool will surely follow next week once they put in any sort of a good performance against Inter in the San Siro.
So will we have an English winner? The last 16 ties through up a number of illuminating facts.
Manchester United: Every year they seem to have the squad to win it, but fall down in some department. They laboured to a 1-0 win over Lyon, but while I don't believe they will win it, a final berth is the least they should be aiming for. They have a massive squad and have no excuses.
Arsenal: a great performance against Milan has Arsenal firing on all cylinders once again. As they proved 2 years ago, they can be dangerous against the best in Europe, and had Lehmann not foolishly got himself sent off against Barcelona, they may already have a CL in the bag. Question remain about their squad depth.
Chelsea: as expected, the Greeks were put to the sword. Had Mourinho still been in charge, I would fancy Chelsea as a winner. Avram Grant's performance against big teams has been poor in the League so far. However, as Liverpool and Milan have proven, league performance matters little in big games.
However the CL draw for the quarter finals pans out, it seems destined that there will be an English club in the final. Fenerbahce, Schalke and Roma should hold no fears for any elite club. Roma can have their days but overall their team seems lacking in real class.
So, the only team left standing in the way is Barcelona and their attacking quadrant of Messi (injured for 6 weeks), Henry (poor this season), Ronaldinho (rubbish) and Eto'o, who seems as good as ever. They have big names all over the pitch, such as Puyol, Xavi and Iniesta but they have proved very brittle in the league so far. And, lets face it, Liverpool can beat them 9 times out of 10....
So while England will be sitting at home watching the Euro Championships, they will have the consolation of being European Champions, albeit in the wrong competition,
Mark
So will we have an English winner? The last 16 ties through up a number of illuminating facts.
Manchester United: Every year they seem to have the squad to win it, but fall down in some department. They laboured to a 1-0 win over Lyon, but while I don't believe they will win it, a final berth is the least they should be aiming for. They have a massive squad and have no excuses.
Arsenal: a great performance against Milan has Arsenal firing on all cylinders once again. As they proved 2 years ago, they can be dangerous against the best in Europe, and had Lehmann not foolishly got himself sent off against Barcelona, they may already have a CL in the bag. Question remain about their squad depth.
Chelsea: as expected, the Greeks were put to the sword. Had Mourinho still been in charge, I would fancy Chelsea as a winner. Avram Grant's performance against big teams has been poor in the League so far. However, as Liverpool and Milan have proven, league performance matters little in big games.
However the CL draw for the quarter finals pans out, it seems destined that there will be an English club in the final. Fenerbahce, Schalke and Roma should hold no fears for any elite club. Roma can have their days but overall their team seems lacking in real class.
So, the only team left standing in the way is Barcelona and their attacking quadrant of Messi (injured for 6 weeks), Henry (poor this season), Ronaldinho (rubbish) and Eto'o, who seems as good as ever. They have big names all over the pitch, such as Puyol, Xavi and Iniesta but they have proved very brittle in the league so far. And, lets face it, Liverpool can beat them 9 times out of 10....
So while England will be sitting at home watching the Euro Championships, they will have the consolation of being European Champions, albeit in the wrong competition,
Mark
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Champions League Preview
AC Milan vs Arsenal (Agg 0-0)
Arsenal go into this game with some injury worries, notably upfront, but I think a good bet is for Arsenal to get a score draw here, with Adebayor to make up for his injury time, open goal miss.
Gallas and Toure need to be on form to keep it tight at the back. Wenger and beautiful football? Not this time. 4-5-1 with increasing counter attacks as the game wears on. Arsenal's tempo and speed could hurt Milan's aging legs.
prediction: 1-1
Barcelona Vs Celtic (Agg 3-2)
Well, it's really all over bar the shouting for Celtic. They have done brilliantly to get this far but even a terrible Barca performance should see them through. Hell, even Henry looked good against them 2 weeks ago.
Prediction 2-0
Man Utd Vs Lyon (Agg 1-1)
As I said on the podcast, this looks like a routine 2-0 win for United. They should beware Benzema & Ben Arfa on the counter but there is a big difference in class between the 2 sides (which was strangely not evident in the first leg). Also, a great chance for Ronaldo and Tevez to prove themselves in a big game
Prediction 2-0
Sevilla v Fenerbahce (Agg 2-3)
Has the makings of a rip-roaring European tie. Sevilla are dodgy in defense and good in attack, and you'd have to imagine the Turks will need to score at some point. End to end stuff.
Prediction 2-1
Enjoy the night,
Mark
Arsenal go into this game with some injury worries, notably upfront, but I think a good bet is for Arsenal to get a score draw here, with Adebayor to make up for his injury time, open goal miss.
Gallas and Toure need to be on form to keep it tight at the back. Wenger and beautiful football? Not this time. 4-5-1 with increasing counter attacks as the game wears on. Arsenal's tempo and speed could hurt Milan's aging legs.
prediction: 1-1
Barcelona Vs Celtic (Agg 3-2)
Well, it's really all over bar the shouting for Celtic. They have done brilliantly to get this far but even a terrible Barca performance should see them through. Hell, even Henry looked good against them 2 weeks ago.
Prediction 2-0
Man Utd Vs Lyon (Agg 1-1)
As I said on the podcast, this looks like a routine 2-0 win for United. They should beware Benzema & Ben Arfa on the counter but there is a big difference in class between the 2 sides (which was strangely not evident in the first leg). Also, a great chance for Ronaldo and Tevez to prove themselves in a big game
Prediction 2-0
Sevilla v Fenerbahce (Agg 2-3)
Has the makings of a rip-roaring European tie. Sevilla are dodgy in defense and good in attack, and you'd have to imagine the Turks will need to score at some point. End to end stuff.
Prediction 2-1
Enjoy the night,
Mark
Bizarro team of the season….
Considering the fact that the PFA tend to ballot their members in November over who should get player of the season, I don’t feel too much guilt the idea of giving out a preliminary bizarro team of the season. The bizarro concept comes originally from Superman, became a brilliant idea on Seinfeld and is far more fun than picking a team of the season so far.
In bizarro world people say goodbye when they greet someone and hello when they leave; so you can pretty much guess I’m going for the side that will be so far away from the team of the season that it’ll be a surprise if they’re still professional footballers come June, never mind winning accolades and shiny new contracts.
1. Steven Bywater: Derby are an awful side but they were never helped by a truly brutal keeper. Will be remembered with the same awe and respect as that Swindon keeper I can’t remember from a decade ago. So, not remembered then. Brutal.
2. Stephen Carr: Grumpy, out of form, overrated for a good five years now and no longer playing for Ireland. Not a good man in a scrap these days Keggy.
3. John Arne Riise: A truly poor season thus far for the Norwegian who used up all his decent goals this year in the pre-season friendlies. Not the worst left back in the league, but certainly the one who has underperformed more than any other.
4. Martin Taylor: The Brum defender will be the subject of plenty of ‘where are they now’ articles in the coming years. He was a journey man up until this season and will go back to that soon enough you’d have to think.
5. Darren Leacock. For this headband alone. Eric Young would turn in his grave were he actually dead and not merely on ebay.
6. Joey Barton (captain): The fulcrum of the side, Barton would hold this motley crew together were it not for a few court dates getting in the way of team bonding. He will never win any awards voted for by other players, the general public or in fact any popularity contest whatsoever. Newcastle of course will make sure he never wins an actual trophy as well
7. Stilian Petrov: One of the few blemishes within Villa’s frankly annoying rise up the table. Generally, he looks like a timid music prodigy thrown into a game being played at a home for young offenders.
8. Steve Sidwell: Money grabbing ginge. Hello West Ham next season then. “I just wanted regular football… and eh, the signing on fee as well obviously.”
9. Anthony Stokes: Partyboy himself. Banned from a local nightclub to ensure he stayed a good boy, he’s been stuck on the left wing for most of the season looking fierce bitter altogether. Accusations of pampered Irish stars aren’t just in our heads people.
10. Diomansy Kamara: One of Lawrie Sanchez’s luxury buys in the summer has done nothing for his new side and is greeted with moans of derision whenever introduced at Craven Cottage. A Championship striker for a Championship club, so next season at Fulham will suit him just fine.
11. Antonio Valencia: Continually lauded by Paul Jewell, this fella obviously has talent but doesn’t seem to fancy showing it off at Wigan. Though, yeah trying to show class at Wigan is a tad difficult. Just look at Steve Bruce’s shirts.
1. Steven Bywater: Derby are an awful side but they were never helped by a truly brutal keeper. Will be remembered with the same awe and respect as that Swindon keeper I can’t remember from a decade ago. So, not remembered then. Brutal.
2. Stephen Carr: Grumpy, out of form, overrated for a good five years now and no longer playing for Ireland. Not a good man in a scrap these days Keggy.
3. John Arne Riise: A truly poor season thus far for the Norwegian who used up all his decent goals this year in the pre-season friendlies. Not the worst left back in the league, but certainly the one who has underperformed more than any other.
4. Martin Taylor: The Brum defender will be the subject of plenty of ‘where are they now’ articles in the coming years. He was a journey man up until this season and will go back to that soon enough you’d have to think.
5. Darren Leacock. For this headband alone. Eric Young would turn in his grave were he actually dead and not merely on ebay.
6. Joey Barton (captain): The fulcrum of the side, Barton would hold this motley crew together were it not for a few court dates getting in the way of team bonding. He will never win any awards voted for by other players, the general public or in fact any popularity contest whatsoever. Newcastle of course will make sure he never wins an actual trophy as well
7. Stilian Petrov: One of the few blemishes within Villa’s frankly annoying rise up the table. Generally, he looks like a timid music prodigy thrown into a game being played at a home for young offenders.
8. Steve Sidwell: Money grabbing ginge. Hello West Ham next season then. “I just wanted regular football… and eh, the signing on fee as well obviously.”
9. Anthony Stokes: Partyboy himself. Banned from a local nightclub to ensure he stayed a good boy, he’s been stuck on the left wing for most of the season looking fierce bitter altogether. Accusations of pampered Irish stars aren’t just in our heads people.
10. Diomansy Kamara: One of Lawrie Sanchez’s luxury buys in the summer has done nothing for his new side and is greeted with moans of derision whenever introduced at Craven Cottage. A Championship striker for a Championship club, so next season at Fulham will suit him just fine.
11. Antonio Valencia: Continually lauded by Paul Jewell, this fella obviously has talent but doesn’t seem to fancy showing it off at Wigan. Though, yeah trying to show class at Wigan is a tad difficult. Just look at Steve Bruce’s shirts.
Later, JJ
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