The best football stuff this month... |
The Real Betis-Sevilla Copa del Rey derby ends in disgrace after a Betis 'fan' throws a bottle
during the game and knocks Sevilla coach Juande Ramos out cold. Ramos is taken to hospital and
kept in overnight but released the next day. To his credit Ramos attempts to defuse an
increasingly bitter rivalry by pointing the finger solely at the person responsible rather than
Real as a whole.
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Reading 2:3 Man Utd. Superb FA Cup replay, with Utd taking a three goal lead after only 6 minutes,
only for Steve Coppell's men to fightback and so nearly take the game to extra time after
hitting the woodwork in the closing moments. Football like it used to be.
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Despite dominating the Madrid derby at the Vicente Calderon, Atletico somehow manage to only
draw the game with Capello's lucky Real. A tremendous atmosphere and performance from the mattresses
ends in glorious failure, with the local media left pondering that "God must be Italian".
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Its all smiles again between Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise after the pair both score goals in
Liverpool's amazing 2:1 win at Barcelona. Bellamy celebrates his goal with an impromptu golf
swing aimed at the watching media. Riise just jumps up, and smiles.
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Ex-Barca boy Mark van Bommell celebrates his late goal against Real Madrid with a few obscene
gestures to the Bernabeu. In same game David Beckham celebrates his recall to the side with
a surprise man-of-the-match performance.
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Celtic 0:0 AC Milan That dive by Gilardino ! Disgraceful ? Pure comedy ?
Click here
to see the clown in all his glory.
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Lille 0:1 Man Utd Terrible game. Until the goal. And then it was absolutely mint. Hats off to
Giggs: it was a cheeky goal but he took advantage in fine style. I mean come on, the Lille
players were just too busy lozzing around, have a fag, drinking wine, and being French. What
followed afterwards made for great entertainment, the sight of that Lille coach with the ball,
beckoning them all off - fantastic stuff. And then Fergie bellowing away at Gary Neville for
getting involved. The most overlooked part of this game was the amount of objects thrown onto
the pitch afterwards, it was like a car-booters dream as all sorts rained down from the stands.
Now if that had happened in England you can bet your bottom dollar that new UEFA supremo Michel
Platini wouldn't have been as quiet.
Click here
to see the goal and walk-off.
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Hearts overlord Vladimir Romanov finally loses it, addressing the Scottish media via the club's
website with the opening line...
Dear Monkeys, Today I will not be showing your portrait to you.
Mad as cheese.
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Real Betis 0:0 Sevilla. What should have been all about a game between 2 of La Liga's most attack
minded teams ends in farce as rival owners Jose Maria Del Nido and Manuel Ruiz de Lopera
nearly end up having a punch up. The fans aren't much better either - showering the pitch
with objects and racist chanting directed towards Sevilla's Freddie Kanoute.
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Expect Samuel Eto'o to be linked with a whole host of clubs following a lovers tiff with fellow
star Ronaldinho. Cracks also emerge in the Eto'o/Rijkaard relationship with Eto'o mouthing
off in public about it to all sundry.
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The British media reports that Craig Bellamy threatened John Arne Riise with a golf club for
not taking part in a Karaoke session.
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A group of London-based chavs, known apparently as the QPR team, decide on a spot of
happy slapping with some young Chinese tourists.
Footage here
for anyone interested. The only good thing about this is the resulting headline:
"The Great Brawl of China". A cup of tea please and a slice of cake for whoever thought that
one up. Marvellous.
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Real Madrid top last years
club rich list with Man Utd slipping to 4th place.
For more details,
click here .
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The games best playmaker, Juan Roman Riquelme, returns to Boca on loan for the remainder of the
Spanish season. Incredible that no European sides attempt to take him.
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Expect much mocking and chants of "U-S-A" from visiting Everton fans after Liverpool are bought out
by a couple of good old boys from Stateside. Liverpool fans cringe behind their sofas and hope
nobody else is listening as their new owners repeatedly use the phrase "franchise" during their
press conference.
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Steve McLaren is roundly boo'ed after another abject performance, this time in a defeat to Spain.
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Bundesliga strugglers Hamburg discover a potential reason for their low-scoring - their goals
are 6cm too small. Which is great news for Thomas Doll, sacked by the club before the height-related
error was discovered. "I was surprised when we hit the bar 9 times during the last game"
he didn't say yesterday.
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Games are suspended in Italy following major trouble at the Sicilian derby between Catania and
Palermo. Rioting outside the stadium was going on whilst the game was being played and a police
officer died after an explosive was thrown into his car.
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Reading 3:2 Wigan Game - was it just us or did that feature some of the worst goalkeeping ever ?
Particularly from 'flapper' Kirkland. A future England no. 1 ? Hmmm.
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What we've listened to... |
| The Good, The Bad & The Queen: The Good, The Bad & The Queen (Album) |
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This is about as different to Damon Albarn's other projects (Blur, Gorillaz) as you can get.
Its all a bit strange, very atmospheric, and to be honest pretty good. Dont even consider it
if you're fancying a cockney-style knees up a la Parklife. This is more like a soul record.
Standout track: History Song.
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| Little Man Tate: What? What You Got, The Agent, House Party at Boothys (Singles) |
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In a sea of mediocrity, these boys should be huge. Another quality Sheffield band hot on the
heels of the Arctics. Check out their website
(www.littlemantate.co.uk)
for videos to the above.
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TV stuff... |
| Life on Mars (TV) |
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The retro-cop show is just about the best thing on tv.
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| Top Gear (TV) |
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A welcome return for Clarkson, Hammond et al, but a bit hit and miss (ahem) so far compared to the
last series. However, the episode in America was top notch - one of the best things they've done,
as was the rocket-powered Robin Reliant.
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| Hancock's Half-Time (TV) |
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One of this month's shows, with Rodney Marsh and Stan Collymore as the guests was an
absolute belter. Our opinion of Marsh has now totally changed. The guy at least tells it like
it is.
Considering the blandness of some of these so-called pundits we're definitely starting to
warm to him.
There was a great quote from him when discussing Craig Bellamy: "you know that when you sign
him you're signing a little toe-rag". Quality stuff. And the bit where he relayed a question
from Daley Thompson to Stan Collymore "Do you think you wasted your career?" deserves a mention
as well.
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Films we've watched... |
| Hot Fuzz (Cinema) |
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Written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright (the guys behind Shaun of the Dead), its basically a British
comedy/action movie. Got plenty of laughs at the start, which is always a good sign, as Pegg's
cop character is booted out of London for being too good at his job. He turns up in a sleepy
south-west town and is left despairing at the lack of action and his un-professional new
colleagues. Pegg, as ever, is mint, and their are plenty of laughs from Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent
and, best of all, ex-Bond Timothy Dalton, brilliant as the local Supermarket owner.
It tends to swap the comedy for action towards the end, but its still a fine watch.
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Books read... |
| David Conn: The Beautiful Game? Searching for the Heart and Soul of Football |
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A classic. For a full review
click here .
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Previous month's stuff... |
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| January |
| December 2006 |
| November 2006 |
| October 2006 |
| September 2006 |
| August 2006 |
| July 2006 |
| June 2006 |
| May 2006 |
| April 2006 |
| March 2006 |
| February 2006 |
| January 2006 |
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| From the International Leagues |
| Name: | Alexandre Pato |
| Country: | Brazil |
| Club: | Internacional (Brazil) |
| Age: | 17 (02-09-1989) |
| Position: | Forward |
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The star of the South American youth championships in January, Internacional have been trying to
play down any hype surrounding the young forward for fear of losing him to the big European clubs.
His style of play has been described as a cross between Kaka and Ronaldinho, with lightening fast
feet, good passing and finishing ability, and surprisingly good in the air.
He played in last years FIFA World Club Cup, and scored in their opening game, but he struggled
against Barcelona in the final and looked generally tired.
Internacional have managed to tie him down contractually until 2009, but don't expect that to mean
anything if the top La Liga or Serie A clubs start wafting chequebooks in their direction.
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| From the British Leagues |
| Name: | Ishmael Miller |
| Country: | England |
| Club: | Manchester City |
| Age: | 19 (05-03-1987) |
| Position: | Striker |
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Another product of City's academy, Miller's a big, powerful 6 foot 3 forward who has been
prolific at junior and reserve level. Handed his first team debut last spring, manager Stuart
Pearce has played him several times this season but these have also included midfield and wide
roles. With Corradi, Samaras and Vasell all struggling to make a consistent impact up front,
he may yet get a chance of a prolonged spell up front towards the end of the 06-07 season.
Great nickname too - 'the Moston Menace'.
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