History tells us this is a blip.

It has been over a month since my last blog and this has been mainly due to a lack of interesting events to comment upon. However, in this last week, Manchester has felt a seismic shift. For Sir Alex Ferguson's Man Utd, crashing out of the Champions' League at the group stage for only the second time in their history was something the media was incredibly shocked by. Those of us with an actual knowledge of the modern game were not.

Yesterday it didn't take long for the Wolves fans to start the chant of 'Thursday night, channel 5'. Something usually sung by a gleeful Stretford end and reserved for the Liverpool contingent. That has certainly come back to bite them (myself included) in their extremely large posterior. What is interesting though is that Channel 5 have already chosen the games they want to show in the Europa League and that will be the matches involving Tottenham. ITV4 and ESPN have second and third choice so the 2 Manchester clubs will be relegated even further down the bill and could be forced to play earlier e.g. 3.26am to suit the Hawaiian audience or something equally ridiculous. With Tottenham's status in the competition looking precarious this could all change.

The Champions' League debacle has thrown up an interesting conundrum for the Glazers (Man Utd's putrid owners). Usually European competition is classified as part of the much maligned ACS (automatic cup scheme) where season ticket holders are forced to buy tickets for all home matches that Utd are involved in. Well it has been announced that Europa League matches will not be part of the ACS. That tells it's own story.

The sad news of Nemanja Vidic's cruciate ligament injury will have a huge effect on United's season as his return to the team after 10 games out contributed to 4 clean sheets in 5 games. The 1 game they did concede was against Newcastle and we all know what controversial decision led to Newcastle's equaliser. Then yesterday we received even worse news, Darren Fletcher is to take an indefinite break from football. This is a devastating blow to an already depleted central midfield with Tom Cleverley and Anderson sidelined until January and February respectively. However, football takes a back seat as far as Fletcher is concerned. Our thoughts are with him and his family and for a speedy recovery. It is a disease that can lead to cancer so hopefully he can now manage it and will go into remission.

On the subject of sad news and football taking a back seat, Gary Speed. I cannot blog without paying a huge tribute to the former, Leeds, Everton, Newcastle, Bolton and Sheffield United winger, striker and central midfielder. He was one of football's good guys, rarely in trouble on or off the field and was unlucky to end his career without the medals his talent, determination and rectitude deserved. It came as quite a shock to everyone what happened and of course our hearts go out to his family.

Back to the football, Abu Dhabi Oil's defeat to Russian Oil means United are within 2 points of the leaders, considering how 'poor' United have been this is quite remarkable.  What is also quite astounding is that Carlos Tevez is STILL AWOL. City must be resigned to losing their cult hero and former talisman with AC Milan showing the most interest. Of course this is a fantastic move for Tevez, he will be 19 miles closer to his family in Buenos Aries and maybe there are 3 restaurants in Milan compared to the paltry 2 in Manchester. He is not the only City player to be grabbing the headlines off the field, Mario Balotelli is in a league of his own when it comes to embarrassing his club and manager. His latest misdemeanor, breaking curfew to grab a midnight curry less than 48 hours before an important match at Stamford Bridge is stunning. If you were to break curfew, you would imagine one would try to keep a low profile. Not Mario. After dining at Zouk, the media were alerted to Balotelli's presence as he was having a mock sword fight with rolling pins he had taken from the kitchen. You could not make this up. Mario obviously wasn't happy with the diminutive coverage last week's calamity received. This time he was stopped by police for driving with boxing gloves on?! You have to admit, he's value for money.

I now have a number of other topics to cover, the imminent arrival of the Suarez-Evra racism verdict is one. I will not go into detail until we receive details on Tuesday but the impression I get is that if the verdict is delayed, this is because they are deciding on the length of punishment to issue to Suarez. As always we will see! This is a nice segue to the John Terry case, all the furore has died down now but the story rumbles on. Personally I cannot stand the guy but I don't think he's a racist, a quick resolution is needed but I don't think the FA are in any way capable of doing something in the right way. Speculation ensues.....

Barcelona, the greatest team ever? United's spending? The Europa League? Rooney's International ban reduced? These are all topics I wish to cover but I will save that for next time my self-indulgent, egotistical sports fans.

Q1 Season Review

It's been quite a season already, highly exhilarating, goals galore, horrific defending and controversy never far away.

I must first start by congratulating Man City; in 22 years of watching Utd at Old Trafford I have only seen one other team make such good use of the extra man. The way they clinically punished Utd in the final 4 minutes of injury time was quite astonishing and what dreams are made of......for some. However, as fulgent as City were, Utd were dire in equal measure. The game changed on the Jonny Evans sending off, up until then Utd were the better team but after that, City taught them a lesson. This was the day when an incredibly strong statement was laid out, City are the real deal. 10 wins and 1 draw from 11 league games speaks for itself.

So for the surprise package of the season, Newcastle! No one would have expected after such a turbulent pre-season that they would be third after 11 matches. Ironically the players they lost; Barton, Nolan and Enrique are currently with teams below Newcastle in the table. Not something that great philosopher Barton chooses to tweet about, he much prefers to take cheap shots at The Only Way Is Essex ‘stars’. Just when you thought he couldn’t be more of an obnoxious thug, he outdoes himself yet again. The table never lies as that old cliché goes but their fixture list paints a more appropriate answer. They have not beaten any team from the top half and of the fixtures with teams in the top half, Tottenham and Aston Villa, matches have ended in draws. Let’s not take anything away from Alan Pardew though, he’s done a brilliant job and they boast the league’s meanest defence with only 8 goals conceded. I may point out that had it not been for Utd’s 6-1 thrashing, they would have the most stubborn defence. Not bad considering the negative attention, Ferdinand, Evra and De Gea have been subjected to.

Unfortunately for Wigan and the very amiable Roberto Martinez, it has been an arduous couple of months. 8 straight defeats and no win since August 1954, times are tough for the Wigan faithful. Dave Whelan has recently said that he would never sack the incumbent Wigan head coach, not the wisest statement to make. A quick look at the half time league table tells a sorry story, if games had finished at half time, Wigan would be 16^th. Mr Martinez’s half time team talks aren’t looking too great now eh Dave? They even have a decent clean sheet record, they sit a comfortable 13^th but the most glaring statistic is the goals scored column. 7 and bottom of the table. So it’s going to be a long and exigent season for the Latics but I hope they pull through, mainly as they have managed to take the princely sum of 0 points off Utd in the Premier League since it’s inception.

We’ve covered the ‘Derby’, the surprise package, the precarious, what’s left is mid-table obscurity (There’s actually plenty more but this is all for now). These places are currently occupied by Norwich, Swansea and QPR, the three promoted clubs. Now anyone who has been watching football for more than 5 minutes will know that traditionally, the newly promoted clubs adapt to life in the Premier League extremely well in the first quarter of the season. It is only the so-called ‘expert’ pundits that pick the obvious same three that came up to struggle and eventually go straight back down. So I am not surprised by this but what is unexpected is that the Swans have the best home defensive record in the Premier League with only 1 goal conceded, something the next visitors (Man Utd) to the Liberty Stadium should bear in mind.

At the time of writing, Carlos Tevez has gone AWOL and the chances of him pulling on the laser blue of Manchester City any time soon look remote. However, I have already dedicated far too much of this blog to that mercenary and this saga is far from over so there will be more to follow. I will leave you with a quote from SAF that perked me up after that Derby debacle, "There is no progress in life without failure".

Every note, key, tune, song, riff, drum beat, chord, scream, shout out, encore I've ever listened to.........live.

This blog is usually reserved for all things football but after acquiring tickets for the Stone Roses next year, it got me thinking. How many bands/amazing artists have I ever seen? So I decided to compile a list of every band that I have ever had the privilege of enjoying live at least once. The copious volume even surprised myself. This is correct as at  22nd October 2011 and the count stands at 134. So I invite you to compile a list of your own, I feel it's a fantastic way to reflect on your musical taste. The list is as follows:

+44		Coldplay		Happy Mondays
3 Colours Red		Coral		Hockey
40 Seconds		Darkness		Hot Hot Heat
52 Teenagers		David Guetta		Ida Maria
Alkaline Trio		Dead Mau5		Idlewild
All American Rejects		Delays		Jessy J
Angels & Airwaves		Digweed		Jimmy Eat World
Arctic Monkeys		Dizzee Rascal		Joshua Radin
Arman Van Heldan		Drums		Joy Formidable
Armin Van Buuren		Ed Sheeran		Kasabian
Ash		Editors		Killers
Athlete		Elbow		Krysko
Badly Drawn Boy		Electric 6		KT Tunstall
Beyonce		Ellie Goulding		Ladyhawke
Biffy Clyro		Eric Prydz		Liam Frost
Big Pink		Eskimo Cowboy		Libertines
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club		Faithless		Linkin Park
Blink 182		Fedde Le Grand		Lost Prophets
Blur		Feeder		Maccabees
Bombay Bicycle Club		Flogging Molly		Millencolin
Bowling For Soup		Foo Fighters		Mumford & Sons
Caesars		Franz Ferdinand		Mylo
Calvin Harris		Futureheads		N.E.R.D.
Capdown		Gaslight Anthem		Naked & Famous
Cara Dillon		Go! Team		Nero
Carl Cox		Goo Goo Dolls		New Order
Cee Lo Green		Good Charlotte		Newton Faulkner
Chase & Status		Green Day		Noah & The Whale
Cherry Ghost		Groove Armada		Oasis
Chicane		Guillemots		Ocean Colour Scene
OK Go		Sum 41
Paolo Nutini		Supergrass
Pendulum		Terrorvision
Pete Tong		Thrills
Pidgeon Detectives		Tiesto
Pixies		Train
Placebo		U2
Primal Scream		Vaccines
Queens Of The Stone Age		Virgins
Rage Against The Machine		Wolf Gang
Razorlight		Wombats
Red Light Company		Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Reel Big Fish		Yuck
REM		Zero 7
Rilo Kiley
Sasha
Sander Kleinenberg
Saturdays
Scissor Sisters
Scouting For Girls
Scratch Perverts
Script
Simian Mobile Disco
Simple Plan
Sounds
Staind
Strokes
Sub Focus
Subways
Sugarcult

Good Evening Sports Fans???

Hey y'all and welcome to over-time in the Pre-meer Cup Sem-eye final. OK enough soccer talk, we've had an extremely eventful couple of weeks on and off the football pitch.

Tevez was 'punished' by Man City by being suspended for 2 weeks. In this time he remained on full pay and was allowed to return to his native Buenos Aries to visit what he cherishes most in his life, Kia Joorabchian (his 'adviser'). After allegedly refusing to come on against Bayern Munich, Tevez is given a holiday. Didn't work out too badly for El Apache did it? He has now returned from 'suspension' but we have yet to see him in either of Man City's latest squads. Bizarrely, before Mancini's press conference, journalists were told they were not allowed to ask about Carlito. Hmm, team news for Aston Villa is what we're all relishing isn't it? What else is there to talk about but the soap opera that is TEVEZ: A true hero's story.

Now this is just a minor observation of what has been an otherwise equally absorbing couple of weeks in the world of Wayne 'Wazza' Rooney. When news broke that Rooney senior had been arrested on suspicion of playing a role in an illegal Scottish betting ring, we all breathed a collective sigh. While the tabloid hacks sharpened their pencils or maybe more appropriately upgraded their 'BS' software on their Ipads but that doesn't quite have the same ring to it. Anyone waking up to find out their dad had been arrested couldn't have enjoyed their cornflakes that morning or in Wayne's case, his daily maraud for flesh. He clearly wasn't in the right mind to play for England that evening against Montenegro. And it showed, it took just 1.26 seconds for him to return to the Wayne Rooney of old and petulantly kick out in frustration at his opponent. OK, it wasn't exatly assault but in the international game these days it is a sending off. And a 3 match ban? Now this is where I disagree with Uefa. In England, if you get sent off for violent conduct, you receive a 3 match domestic ban. That is fair enough but how many games are encompassed in an English league season. 38 plus a possible 12 games in the FA Cup and Worthless Cup if you weren't sure. The ban to total available games ratio is inconsistent and unfair when compared to how many possible games there are in the international calendar. On average, 10 per year. So the equivalent domestic ban would be 15 matches?! Completely ridiculous but Uefa epitomise the kind of idiots running football today. This is before I even mention such profanity as Sepp and Blatter but that is for another blog, we don't have time for that can of worms and the insipid vitriol that comes with it. So Rooney's ban should be 2 games at most, banning him for the entire group stage of Euro 2012 is ludicrous. However, the irony of all this will be when Roo breaks another metatarsal and will miss the tournament anyway.

Now to the most worrying developement of the past couple of weeks and the title story to this blog. The LMA have raised concerns that the Premier League may only need 4 or 5 more 'foreign' owners to push through an agreement to abolish relegation from the Premiership to the Championship. In essence an untouchable break-away bottomless pit of money. A closed league is not unheard of around the world but the idea of this in England doesn't translate. Such fantastic institutions that are ingrained in English football such as the Sheffields, United and Wednesday, Leeds, Nottingham Forest, Matt Le Tissier's Southampton, Blackpool, Hull, Ipswich would be lost. The list doesn't end there either. All the top teams have foreign owners, Man Utd (US, Glazer), LFC (US, FWS), Chelski (RUS, Roman), Man City (ABU, Mansour). These teams have no great worry about relegation so why would they be in favour of it? Relegation is none of their concern. So realisitically the notion is unlikely to come to fruition, although the number of foreign owners is growing to alarming levels. The threat of the '39th game' is very real. Until then we have a Manchester derby to contend with, maybe one day this could be played in Malaysia? One can dream....

The Tevaz saga continues....

The media are having a field day with this but the tabloids can't resist a bit of mischief making. The story featured this morning is that Mancini's own son, Fillipo, also refused to come on as substitute. This must be extremely embarrassing for Mancini senior. However, I can't help but feel sorry for him regarding this insipid piece from the Daily Mrror (mistake is deliberate as not sure if I can be done for libel).

The incident with Fillipo Mancini occurred six weeks ago in a match in Hyde for Man City reserves against Liverpool reserves. 20 year old Fillipo doesn't actually have a contract with Man City and was only involved as part of a pre-season warm up to aid his fitness. He played in the Italian fourth tier last season and the only association with Man City is that his father is the head coach. He was due to be brought on after 80 minutes and he refused. Considering this was a match to improve his fitness and would have zero benefit to Man City it is hardly relevant to the Tevez saga. The only objective is to weaken Mancini's position. Maybe as Richard Keys famously said, "There are some dark forces at work".

This kind of so-called journalism really annoys me as people will only read the headlines and the tabloids prey on this. Their mind is made up and the whole thing becomes a PR disaster for the innocent party. Enough moaning, it's the beginning of a great football weekend. Check back here for my views on what promises to be another very exciting program with the Merseyside and North London derbies the pick of the bunch.

My First Blog!

Hello and welcome to my blog.

Over the coming weeks and months I will be posting my observations on the, always emotive, world of football. English football teams have already served up some quite astonishing events this season and last night was no exception. Man Utd's highly entertaining capitulation at the hands of Champions' League also-rans FC Basel and Carlos Tevez's alleged refusal to come off the bench for Man City in their 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich to name a couple.

We'll begin with Man Utd's somewhat embarrassing match against FC Basel. In most seasons this would be the most bewildering game to date but the total humiliation of Arsenal over the August bank holiday weekend claims that accolade. Man Utd almost stumbled into a 2-0 lead thanks to the ever growing in stature and confidence of Danny Welbeck. Unfortunately this was not the tonic they needed as chances continued to arrive for the visitors. The hosts became complacent and in the end were fighting to save their unbeaten Champions' League home record, which has stood since November 2009. Plucky Man Utd earn a point against the mighty FC Basel.

This is a wake up call for United, they have been poor in defence and midfield in the last 3 games, their passing has been sloppy and they have lacked concentration at times. Luckily they have been irresistible in attack and in Ashley Young, a real star in the making. Against Chelsea, they were poor in the first half but were somehow 3-0 up. This was mainly thanks to the brilliance of David De Gea. This was a fantastic performance from the 20 year old Spaniard after the battering he has taken by the British media. They ground out the result against Chelsea though as all good champions do and even afforded Fernando Torres the freedom of the box to put forward his contender for miss of the decade.

In United's defence, they have been ravaged by injury, with Vidic missing since the opening day of the season, Rafael out all season and Rio in an out of the team with a hamstring strain. Hardly the bedrock for which to build the confidence of a young goalkeeper. Phil Jones, Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling have all been magnificent in filling in for their more experienced counterparts and until recently, United's results have not suffered. Consistency is what United need now and with the international break looming, a chance for Fergie to patch up his squad in preparation for one of the most difficult games of the season, the visit to Anfield.

Now onto Tevez's alleged refusal to come off the bench for Man City. Mancini's interview afterwards was sensational, to come out and say that he's finished and that he will never play for him again beggared belief. Tevez is now saying it was a miscommunication and not a refusal to play, I find it hard to believe that a 27 year old professional footballer was suddenly unaware of what his job consisted of. What did he think Mancini wanted him to do, it was farcical and so are Tevez's post match comments.

Tevez has been widely lambasted by several sections of the media and quite rightly so, it is only a few who are privileged enough to play the beautiful game at the highest level. City must have seen this coming though, he handed in a transfer request in December of last year and again this Summer. It says a lot about the man that he has lived in England for 5 years now and still cannot speak English. Controversy is something he courts and one could argue, he even craves it. Picture the scene, the last game of the Argentine 2003-04 season, River Plate vs Boca Juniors for the title. A riot is sparked by a goal celebration from a 20 year old Boca Juniors' player......Tevez has come a long way since then but as we know now, controversy is never far behind.

So what now for the £250,000 a week man? Well City have suspended him for 2 weeks while they work out how they can get rid of him, without losing a potential £40m transfer fee and suffering the ignominy of having to pay out the rest of poor little "Carlito's" ridiculous contract. It is certainly proving a very expensive way of giving the red half of Manchester the proverbial finger. To some Blues fans though, I imagine they will think it was well worth it.