The Mercy Side: Building a Dynasty

Hey there and thanks for joining me for my first football article in three and a half months. Things are a little different for this article though, I’m not going to talk about Liverpool. No I’m not talking about England either. I’m going to talk about Chelsea.

Unless you’ve lived under a rock (or, are not a football fan and if that’s the case why are you even reading this?) you might have heard that Chelsea manager Andre Villas Boas was sacked yesterday. Some have said it was justified. I mean, since Roman Abramovich has come in with his billions of pounds, no manager has had a worse percentage win rate or a worse points-per-game rate. He managed the team for 40 games, and only won half of them. Not since Glen Hoddle, sixteen years ago, has in fact done worse than Villas Boas. But they never built Rome in a day, and if Roman Abramovich wants to build a dynasty, he needs to have a long-term plan.

Villas Boas was perfect for Chelsea. It’s probably quite a controversial thing to say, but it’s my humble opinion that this was so. Why? Chelsea needed a young, fresh mind. Villas Boas was seen as a ‘new Mourinho’, a Portugese mastermind with a keen eye for tactics. He did wonders at Porto, and is an exceptionally young manager at the age of 34; Henrique Hilario is two years older, Paulo Ferreira, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, only one year younger. Some could say too young, but I’m of the opinion that it doesn’t matter how young or old a manager is, all that matters is that they’re a strong character and can back up their skills with style.

Andre Villas Boas.

And Villas Boas did just that. For a man of 34, he had balls. He did, truly. When criticised on Match of the Day, or by other pundits, he’d actually call them out and tell them where to go. He was a frank man; always spoke his mind and was vocal in a way a leader should be. I really liked Villas Boas, and I’m a Liverpool fan, as I’m sure many of you are aware. He was deep in the thick of it and while he did struggle to swim against the tide, he gave it his best shot.

As I said, he’s 34 years old, and was put in that job for one reason – long-term success. If you put a manager at a football club for long term success you have to realise that you’re going to struggle short term because of it. It’s impossible to build a house without creating your base. Andre Villas Boas was entering a Chelsea team that was in the middle of transition, a team that still IS in the middle of transition. The old guard are getting older; Petr Cech and Jose Bosingwa are 29, John Terry, and Ashley Cole are 31 and Frank Lampard is 34. And this is the most chosen starting 11 for Chelsea this season. This is the starting 11 that Villas Boas was looking to, to ‘freshen’ this aging side.

I’m not saying Villas Boas is faultless in this torrid Chelsea season. He decided to bench Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba a lot, and back instead an inconsistent Ramires and an absolutely atrocious Fernando Torres. This has been difficult for Villas Boas, I mean, it says something that 33 year old Frank Lampard has scored more goals for Chelsea than any other player this season. He is still required; it’s as simple as that. But when you have a Drogba that’s a shadow of his former self, looking backwards instead of forwards, also at the age of 33 but your £50 million striker just can’t score, what else can you do?

The 'old guard' aren't getting any younger.

The Fernando Torres situation is difficult for Chelsea and was for Villas Boas. Obviously from a biased Liverpool perspective it’s great, we got £50 million big ones and got Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll, who are looking better and better as the season is going on. But if I’m being unbiased here, Torres-gate is awful for Chelsea. To spend such a big amount of money on a player, and he just can’t score is terrible. What can you do in a situation like that? Sell him? It’s not as easy as that. With him not scoring he’s not going to be sold for a decent price. Also, we all know that Torres, when motivated, when on form, can be the deadliest striker in the world. I mean that by the way, and that’s not me being a biased fan.

Villas Boas was trying to freshen things up. He bought 20 year old Oriol Romeu, 18-year-old Romelu Lukaku and the excellent 23-year-old Juan Mata, while selling 29 year old Alex and 32-year-old Nicolas Anelka. The age of the squad was definitely getting younger. And the old guard all got a chance; they’ve all played games this season, with mixed results. It’s not as if Drogba and Petr Cech have had stellar seasons. It was a tough job for him. It’s a tough ask for anybody, you can’t inherit say that Villas Boas was the reason everything went wrong, just like you can’t say that Jose Mourinho was the main reason Chelsea did so well. Mourinho came to Chelsea in 2004 and won the title that season. Well done Mourinho. But seven of the eleven were players he inherited by Claudio Ranieri. Here’s the squad:

Cech

Ferreria

Carvalho

Terry

Gallas

Makalele

Tiago

Lampard

Cole

Duff

Gudjohnsen

There’s the 7 players inherited from the team left by Ranieri. And then Mourinho continued to lay more foundations onto this team, and they were the best team in England for a good few years. But then Manchester United, and Alex Ferguson kept renewing his squad, and took the mantle again. It’s no coincidence. If you want to look at building football dynasties all you have to do is look at Manchester United now, and Liverpool in the eighties. Year and years of one step backwards, two steps forward. But Abramovich will never let his managers take that second step forward, apart from Mourinho, who was a very special manager, and also inherited the nucleus of an excellent squad.

Kenny Dalglish and Bob Paisley are two of Liverpool’s most successful managers, but history says if it wasn’t for Bill Shankly, they wouldn’t have inherited world beating squads. Alex Ferguson has continuously shed his squad’s skin, to make them a world force for the past 25 years. His longevity as manager, as well as the patience shown by the ‘powers that be’ in the United hierarchy, gives him the patience and time to rebuild his squad again and again. United sucked at certain times in the past 25 years. In fact, they sucked in the late eighties. But Ferguson being one of the best managers in world football even 25 years ago, along with the patience and time given there, and the collapse of Liverpool, meant that Ferguson has rarely looked back since winning his first title back in 1993. United weren’t very good from 2003 to 2007. But as I said, Ferguson shed the skin of the squad, got in some fresh youth and good buys, combined that with the good of what he still had, and then became a great force again.

So, I don’t really blame Villas Boas. You have some very strong personalities in that squad, a strong set of older players who can’t take it they’re slowly starting to get past their best, and would rather they stay in that squad, with their big salaries and even bigger egos, than accept that it may be time to move on, and let the youngsters have a go. They’re too afraid of their positions in their squad, and the money they earn, that they’d rather sacrifice their manager than their positions in the team. Look at Jamie Carragher. Is he happy to be on the bench? No, but he’s not complaining about it. Frank Lampard has been scoring goals, so it is a slightly different situation, but at the same time the principle is there.

Bill Shankley built a dynasty. He'd have no chance under Abramovich.

But the person at fault the most is Roman Abramovich. How is a manager supposed to operate a team if the owner doesn’t place the trust in him, and instead of the rebellious players? The players control the dressing room, and it’s not right. And when they get taken down a notch, they complain to the owner, who takes their side. How long must the older players be selfish before the managers don’t want to take the chance and manage Chelsea? It’s pathetic.

Abramovich has quite a lot of models to take inspiration from. In the past you have Liverpool. The 1960s Shankly built the base. In the 1970s and 1980s Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish built the dynasty. In the present, you have Manchester United, and in the 1990s and 2000s Alex Ferguson has made his base, built his dynasty and maintained it.

And for the future? Well, who can predict it, but at the moment you can look at Manchester City. Yes City have more money than Chelsea do, but it’s comparing a billionaire to a billionaire in the end of the day. But under City, Roberto Mancini has built a base. If they win the league or not this season, they’re currently building their dynasty. Mancini started by taking the reins from Mark Hughes, finishing 5^th in 2010 and getting to the semi finals of the Carling Cup, then 3^rd last season and winning the FA Cup. This season at the moment they’re top of the league. As I said even if they don’t win the league chances are they’ll be mighty close to the champions, where as they finished 9 points adrift last season. Of course all of this could be pointless if the Sheiks at City sack Mancini if he ‘fails’ and doesn’t win the league, but I just feel the Sheiks seem to have more patience, much more. Mancini could have been sacked once or twice so far, so it seems like he’s given more time there than any Chelsea manager gets from Abramovich.

Like it or not, but Alex Ferguson didn't just build a dynasty, he's maintained it.

In the end, history is there to show that long term planning usually means better prospects. Newcastle sacked loads of managers and have been relegated and promoted for that. Liverpool are evidence that long term planning is usually the way, so are Manchester United. Arsenal and Everton have long term managers and have had mixed results, but mixed to exceptionally positive results at that; Arsenal were once The Invincibles, not to mention that at one point Everton got 4^th place and a Champions League spot under David Moyes. Roman Abramovich really needs to be patient. Andre Villas Boas could have been something ‘special’ at Chelsea, but he never was going to be short term, not with that dressing room. The next manager really needs to get rid of some of those troublemakers and hope to god that the signings they make are instant successes, like Mourinho’s were in 2005. Otherwise it looks like Chelsea will continue to struggle to stay at the top of the English league pyramid. Which is fine for me; as it means Liverpool have more chance of building success. But from an unbiased perspective, it’s bad for Chelsea.

Do you agree? Disagree? Should Villas Boas have been sacked? Let me know your thoughts by commenting below. Thanks for reading.

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Live Thoughts: Manchester United vs Liverpool (Premier League)

I covered this match live. Here are my unedited thoughts on the match between Liverpool and Manchester United!

Hey there, thanks for joining me for another Live Thoughts post. Big match tonight. We had a big match last week and drew against Spurs. This is a similar match in terms of importance. Big difference of course, it being in away from home to the English Premier League champions. And of course the rivalry between Liverpool and United. And even more, the racial abuse situation between Suarez and Evra. I'm not going into that situation anymore, simply because it's in the past now. We need to move on. Apparently Suarez and Evra will shake hands today and hopefully that will draw a line between the two players and we can all move on.

As for today, can we win? Sure we can. We'll need to work very hard on it though and with the United fans going to give Suarez dogs abuse today and it'd be a pretty sweet win if we can pull it off. It's not going to be easy though.

Here are the teams: 

Manchester United: De Gea, Rafael, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Valencia, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs, Rooney, Welbeck. Subs: Amos, Berbatov, Park, Hernandez, Fabio, Cleverley, Pogba.

So Evra starts today. This is a stronger United side than we beat a few weeks ago. We'll get a tough match today. Rooney is back, he's a threat we need to nullify.

Liverpool: Reina, Enrique, Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Spearing, Gerrard, Henderson, Downing, Kuyt, Suarez. Subs: Doni, Carragher, Bellamy, Carroll, Adam, Shelvey, Kelly.

Carroll on the bench is a little disappointing, he had a good game against United a few weeks ago and I wanted him, Suarez and Gerrard to start for the first time. But he and Bellamy can cause problems later on hopefully. Suarez and Gerrard start so that's fantastic. A strong side is out today, one that can win if we're tactically well set up and we make the most of the possession we'll get.

1' - No handshake today from Evra and Suarez. It looked like Suarez avoided a handshake rather than Evra avoid it. Oh well. 

2' - Apparently Ferdinand withdrew his hand as well. It's a shame we can't all let bygones be bygones and move on. 

4' - I've got to be honest, United fan's booing of Suarez is quite tame, especially in comparison to the abuse the Liverpool fans gave Evra a few weeks ago. 

6' - Jose Enrique brings Valencia down JUST outside of the penalty box on the right wing. A free kick for United in a dangerous area. Glen Johnson heads it back for a corner. Ryan Giggs takes a corner and Rooney heads a tame shot and Reina collects easily.

9' - A nice bit of movement from Gerrard and Suarez set up Glen Johnson down the right wing, he cuts into the box and takes a shot with his left foot and De Gea meets to it. It was a decent shot though, and United shouldn't have given Johnson that much space then, he can be really dangerous. 

10' - Jeez, the United fans are being out-sung by the travelling Anfield faithful. Steven Gerrard chants at the moment. United fans, where are you? 

11' - That's twice now that Johnson has had space on the right wing. We seem to be playing better than United at the moment. Only just of course. 

14' - We're dealing with United quite well at the moment. Still early days. The only danger I can see at the moment is that Enrique has struggled with Valencia a little. 

16' - United have more possession than us, as expected. It's 56%/44% at the moment.

18' - Rafael! Good shot and saved by Reina. He curled that with his left shot outside of the box and it troubled Reina a little. Welbeck was waiting for a spill but there was none thankfully. 

21' - United looking a little more dangerous at the moment, certainly more than they did 10 minutes ago. 

24' - Despite United looking better now than they did earlier on, Johnson is still getting forward down the right wing, I really hope he can score today. 

26' - Rooney has a rare shot at goal. I say rare, because he's barely been relevant so far in this match. I hope I don't eat my words later. 

29' - Credit where its due, United have dealt with Suarez comfortably so far. It's a shame. 

30' - SCHOLES! Reaction save by Reina! A lovely bit of attacking play from United and it ends with a left wing cross that Scholes heads straight at the keeper.


31' - Welbeck is free! He tries to pass to Rooney but Agger is there thankfully. United are definitely starting to creep confidence into their play now. Not good!

34' - Evra! Just over the bar. Valencia chips a lovely cross and Evra meets it well. Just over. We need to do something about this and fast. 

37' - Welbeck looking dangerous skips past a few players, stays on his feet and tries to lay the ball to Rooney but it's just a little too much. Kudos to the young Englishman. 

40' - A bit of pressure from Liverpool now. Suarez and Kuyt combine nicely but Kuyt's legs are just a little too stretched to return a one-two with Suarez. We earn a corner.


41' - Two Liverpool corners and both were dangerous. The first ends with a fizzing Gerrard cross being dealt with by Rafael, the second corner ends with a Skrtel shot that's wide.

43' - Downing goes in the book. Took a chance with that, he takes down Rafael and it was always a losing battle while Rafael was pacing forward. 


44' - Suarez goes down and the referee gives nothing. After the replay it looked like an honest tackle by Ferdinand. Right decision from the ref Phil Dowd I'd say. 

45' - One minute of added time.

45+1' - Half time.


Well it was a cagey match for a good 30 minutes, I thought in that time we were the slightly better side. After that United really piled on the pressure and looked dangerous. Towards the end of the half we looked a little better but it's still goalless. Hopefully we can make a better impact in the second half.

46' - Late coming back to the match and I find us down a goal...

47' - GOAL! Rooney scores. He volleys a cross from a corner that Liverpool frankly, don't deal with. Not good.

49' - GOAL! We're two down. Jeez. Spearing gives the ball away and Valencia takes advantage, he puts the ball square to Rooney who's free in the box and he slides it past Reina. A brace for the old Bluenose in two minutes. 

51' - Sorry I'm late coming back to this match, a personal issue has occured. Quite angry at the moment both for the match and my personal situation. Liverpool need a quick response now. 45 minutes of solid defending has just gone to waste. 

54' - Carroll is now warming up. I think we need Bellamy at the moment not Carroll. 

56' - Rooney is hungry for a hat trick. I really hope we don't give him the pleasure of one. 

59' - Rooney was close to a hat trick then, Valencia crosses square again and Rooney is free in the box, he takes a touch too much and we intercept. Very close. He's been pretty rubbish in the first half and I knew I'd eat my words later. Frustrating. 


61' - Double Liverpool Substitution: Jay Spearing and Stewart Downing and come on for Andy Carroll and Craig Bellamy. Good move if you ask me. Spearing must be distraught after being responsible for the second goal.

63' - The game is end to end at the moment, we're committed to attacking and United are counter attacking us. It feels like either we'll make a good comeback today or worse, we'll get a drubbing. Both sides are committed now.

66' - Gerrard and Rooney tussle and Gerrard ends up fowling Rooney. A decent battle from the Scouse duo.

69' - I can't see us getting anything from this game. Attacking-wise, we've not looked threatening enough. 

72' - United are playing the possession game at the moment, just pinging the ball back and forth in the middle of the pitch, while the fans are cheering every successful pass. 

75' - Liverpool Substitution: Dirk Kuyt comes off for Charlie Adam. I think this is to try and get us some possession and passing ability in the middle of the park. We have had the ball more in this half, 47%/53% so far in this half alone. That's all three subs used now for Liverpool. 

78' - Times ticking away. It feels like we've pretty much a hopeless cause now. United defending very well at the moment. 

79' - Michael Carrick is booked for a tackle on Suarez. Free kick.

80' - GOAL! SUAREZ! He quickly picks the ball up and heads for the centre of the pitch. A Charlie Adam free kick is inch perfect for the head of Suarez, Ferdinand and De Gea could do nothing. Come on Liverpool! 

82' - The complexion of the game is different now that we got a goal. We needed that. Hopefully we can get a second. 8 minutes of normal time left.

85' - Five minutes left... little showing we're going to get a second, come on...! 

88' - Same as above, nothing really showing from Liverpool that we're going to get a second. United defending well enough, delaying the play where they can. 

90' - We have three minutes to equalise. Come on Liverpool! 

90' -  JOHNSON! Great save by De Gea! Brilliant save, Johnson's shot was fierce from outside the box!

90+1' - Suarez heads and it's just over the bar! So close! He was offside anyway. 

90+4' - After about a minute of time wasting from Rooney by the corner flag it's full time.

Well, that was poor. Not our display, that wasn't poor, it wasn't great but it wasn't poor. United weren't that good either. A lapse in concentration from Liverpool let two goals in by Rooney, who in the first half was nowhere to be seen. Man of the match for me isn't Rooney, but was Valencia. In both matches against United recently he dominated the right wing. He let Jose Enrique chase shadows today and got an assist for his hard work. We weren't good enough. Simple as that. Ah well. Hopefully we can get a win next week against Brighton and move onwards and upwards from there. That's it from me today, enjoy the rest of your afternoon.

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Live Thoughts: Liverpool vs Manchester United (FA Cup)

I covered this match live. Here are my unedited thoughts on the match between Liverpool and Manchester United in the FA Cup.

Hey there. It's been a while since I covered a match on here, but it's been a very busy time personally. If you didn't know by now I was on BBC1 last week, making a fool of myself on Winter Wipeout. Click here for more details, and on the top right of this page for my clip.

Back to the football! As I didn't cover it live, I just want to say how chuffed I am with the fact that Liverpool have reached their first final in five years! It's been too long! I just hope it doesn't end in heartbreak like it did five years ago, that was one of the most horrible moments as a fan for me. The atmosphere in our house of Liverpool fans was dreadful. But we're huge favourites against Cardiff and let's hope we can put a performance a team like Liverpool are expected to put on at our first venture to Wembley in 16 years!

But today? Another important cup match against another Manchester side, this time the Red Devils. It'd be some statement if we win today, taking on and beating both the top two sides in the Premier League this season. Sure we're not topping the league this year, but it's some statement, and hopefully a preview of what's to come at this club. It's early days but if we actually go all the way in the FA Cup as well as the Carling Cup, that's some progress. We can all hope and we'll find out today how possible that is!

Here are the line-ups: 

Liverpool: Reina; Kelly, Skrtel, Carragher, Agger, Jose Enrique; Maxi, Henderson, Gerrard, Downing; Carroll. Subs: Doni, Johnson, Coates, Kuyt, Adam, Shelvey, Bellamy.

Bellamy on the bench? Are you serious bro? I suppose he needed a rest. Carroll needs to be on form today at this rate. Gerrard needs to support Carroll as much as possible to get the most out of him. I'm not sure I like that decision from King Kenny but as always I trust his judgement. At least Bellamy can come on later.

Manchester United: De Gea, Rafael, Smalling, Evans, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Park, Welbeck. Subs: Lindegaard, Ferdinand, Berbatov, Chicharito, Fabio, M.Keane, Pogba.

Similarly, United haven't really put on their best strikers. Berbatov and Hernandez on the bench though, and can cause problems later on. It's a very interesting line up from both sides, almost cautious on both sides. We'll see what happens!

3' - Evra getting booed immensely by the Anfield faithful as expected! 

4' - Maxi takes a lovely shot and it tested de Gea! Corner.The corner goes over the entire box and for a goal kick.

7' - A volley from Giggs is saved comfortably by Reina. Crossed in by Evra. 

8' - Henderson whips in a dangerous cross and it bounced awkwardly for Gerrard who didn't connect well. It was a difficult ball to deal with, if he hit that clean it would have been straight in the net. 

10' - A five man defence is also another relatively negative looking decision by Kenny. That being said we're not defensive at the moment. 

13' - Carragher is actually playing as a defensive midfielder, not a CB. Happy birthday to the Liverpool legend, 34 today. 

16' - VALENCIA! Hits the post! Reina was beat, luckily for us it hit the post! Relief! 

19' - The game is level at the moment. Both sides having good chances. 

20' - GOAL! AGGER! David de Gea had no chance with that, a huge clutter of Liverpool and United players hover for the header and Agger climbed highest!

22' - De Gea is possibly injured apparently. 

23' - Gerrard takes a shot and it's over the bar. A lovely bit of movement from Carroll and Gerrard then, combining nicely. 

25' - Excellent atmosphere today, really giving Evra some stick. Even the Evra stick aside, we're really vocal and it seems to be affecting United which is good. 

27' - Kelly clears the ball nicely against Giggs, he was hurt then but has got up like a true pro. He gets applause for his nitty gritty work. 

30' - Good match so far as I said earlier. It's quite open and hopefully we'll get a second goal if it continues this way. But United are still a threat, but we're defending quite well so far. 

33' - Not much to report at the moment, it's quite open still, but neither side are looking threatening at present. 

36' - Luis Suarez chant is started by the Kop. Excellent stuff. 

37' - Wow, possession is 38%/62% in United's favour. It doesn't look that way, we're holding our own well.

38' - GOAL! Park Ji-Sung scores. Valencia gets away from Enrique, passes to Rafael who whips the ball sharply into Ji-Sung and it's a low drive to the bottom right. Enrique should have done better there, a rare error from the Spaniard. 

41' - So far Valencia has got the better of Enrique in this match. It's a bit of a concern, Enrique has dealt with the right wingers really well this season consistently, but not today. 

44' - It just feels like we're just holding in for half time now. 

45' - One minute of added time.

45+1' - Half time. 

Well this half was a gave of two halves, the first halve we looked really good, and pinned them back a few times. We got the goal we deserved, a great header from Agger. After that United crept towards us and dominated possession, they played a good passing game and eventually got the goal to equalize. It can go either way this match, or for a draw of course. I would rather us avoid the draw personally.

48' - Nothing much is happening at the moment, it's in the balance at present, we need to change this if we want a chance of winning. 

50' - Giggs was at the centre of a strong chance for United but then we cleared the ball and made our own attack! Neither side scored though. 

53' - Bellamy is warming up, hopefully he'll be on soon, I do think we need him at the moment. 

55' - The Evra boo boys are still going strong. I'm just trying to concentrate on the football now, what's past is passed.

56' - Liverpool players and fans call for Handball against Smalling but that would have been harsh. Smalling fell on the ball and his hand touched it as he fell, how was he supposed to know where it was? It's not a penalty. 

57' - Wellbeck completely loses Martin Kelly and is through on goal! He clips the ball round Reina and thankfully Skrtel is there to clear it!

60' - The game is definitely up for grabs, both sides look dangerous on the attack. United have the possession but we're looking good when we have the ball. It can go either way. 

62' - Double Liverpool Substitution: Jamie Carragher and Maxi come off and Dirk Kuyt and Charlie Adam. I approve of these subs personally. Maxi hasn't looked that good in honesty, Kuyt can fill that gap. Charlie Adam can link further up the pitch than Carra did. All in all two positive thinking subs.

63' - De Gea has been really poor when it comes to high balls in this match. What looked like an easy claim, de Gea fumbles it for a corner. It's something we should be taking advantage of. 

64' - Rafael gets a yellow card, Downing was through down the left and Rafael blocks him off deliberately. Free kick in a relatively dangerous area. 

66' - Gerrard takes the free kick and it's a good one, but a very good save by de Gea in the end. 

66' - Michael Carrick takes a low shot and it almost crept in! Just wide. 

69' - We're playing Wolves on Tuesday but I won't be covering that match. I have a lot of site work to do and I've covered a lot of games this season already. Next season I'll be covering certain games rather than 'as many as possible', which has been the case this season.

71' - Liverpool Substitution: Steven Gerrard comes off and Bellamy comes on in his place. Stevie looks a bit gutted as he gives Reina the captains armband, but we need another striker on the pitch if we want to win today. 

74' - This game seems destined for a draw. I have to be honest. 

75' - Manchester United Substitution: Paul Scholes comes off for Javier Hernandez. Another forward thinking sub, both sides are going for it, but it just feels like it's going for a draw.

78' - A dangerous free kick for United leads to a few half chances but no goal. 

80' - A strong few minutes of pressure from Liverpool at the moment, United defending well. 

83' - If either side are to win this it's going to be because of a mistake or a quality goal. Otherwise be prepared for two visits to Old Trafford soon. 

87' - GOAL! KUYT! Kuyt runs to the Kop in celebration! And it was Evra was in error! A Reina goal kick is headed on by Carroll and Kuyt reacts quickest and shots low to the left! 2-1! 

88' - CARROLL! It hit the crossbar! Kuyt on the volley and it's wide! Brilliant stuff from Liverpool!

89' - Manchester United Substitution: Ryan Giggs come off and Dimitar Berbatov takes his place. Gung-ho for United now.

90' -  Three minutes of added time.

90+3' - Full time! 

We beat both Manchester sides in the same week! Brilliant stuff! In the 5th round of the FA Cup, the Carling Cup final, things are great at the moment at Anfield! Surely this FA Cup win means we can have the confidence to go all the way? Let's hope so! Anfield is buzzing, I am buzzing and if you're a Liverpool fan you should be buzzing too! An assured performance today from the Reds, United had the possession but what we did with ours was enough to win today. We had the passion and the maturity to make the most of what we had and it was enough!

That's it from me today, enjoy the rest of your day!

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The Mercy Side: The Language of Football

If you’ve been following me on this site for some time you should know by now that I’m a Liverpool fan. I cover Liverpool matches on this site. I’m a member of the official Liverpool FC forums. My family are Scousers and while I have a Welsh accent, I’m a Scouser too. But I’m also a football fan, and I’d like to think I’m an unbiased fan at that. If you read my Live Thoughts on the Liverpool matches I hope you would see that I try to see the game from a biased Liverpool perspective, but when incidents occur, I take off my Red glasses and see things for what they are. Penalties, controversial decisions, for or against the Reds, I give my opinion for what I see, not for what I want to see.

The reason why I’m explaining this is because of the extremely sensitive subject, which is of the racism incident from October, when Liverpool’s Luis Suarez was accused of racist remarks towards Manchester United’s Patrice Evra. Unless you don’t follow football or have been living under a rock, Suarez has been handed an 8 match ban and fined £40,000 for these remarks, an unprecedented amount in this situation. I’m giving my take on the situation here, which isn’t easy, especially as there is so much speculation and grey clouds hanging around the issue.

Evra, on a French TV station, claimed that Suarez says “a certain word” “at least 10 times”. Suarez in response told the Uruguayan media, “There is no evidence I said anything racist to him. I said nothing of the sort.” “There were two parts of the discussion - one in Spanish, one in English.” “I did not insult him. It was just a way of expressing myself. I called him something his team mates at Manchester call him, and even they were surprised by his reaction.”

The word if you didn’t know that has highly speculated to have been used is “negrito”, which is a variation of the word “negro”, which means “little black person”. The Negritos were a class of ethnic people who inhabited parts Southeast Asia. The word “negro” is used a lot more, and means any person of black ancestry. The word was never considered offensive, just like the term “black” is not often considered racist nowadays. That was until the 1950s and 60s, when the Civil Rights movement considered a word attached closely to the slavery and discrimination to black people in the past. Since then the word “negro” is more often than not considered offensive.

However, in certain Spanish cultures, including Uruguay, the word has a positive meaning. The word can be associated with “mate”, and “friend”, just like a lot of black people use the word “nigger” in a similar manner (something which frustrates me as I believe black people shouldn’t use a word used against them so disgustingly in such a harsh time in their history so freely and in a positive way, but that’s a different discussion). So from what we can tell, Suarez used the word “negrito” or “negro” at least 10 times during this match. That’s the bottom of it.

The FA’s response to this was to charge Luis Suarez of using “abusive and/or insulting words”, in “”reference to the ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race”. The hearing took place last week, and yesterday the outcome is the 8 match ban and the fine. Liverpool then said in a statement yesterday that they are completely behind Suarez, do not think of him as a racist, and are surprised at the outcome based on the fact that Patrice Evra alone, and no referee or teammate has said anything otherwise. They haven’t appealed yet, but all things point to the fact that they will.

So, my take on all of this? There’s a lot of things to say about it. Firstly, racism is a disgusting thing that unfortunately still exists in today’s modern society. If anyone is being racist, or saying things with intent to discriminate on origins of ethnicity, then it’s a shameful act and shouldn’t be tolerated. But was Luis Suarez being racist? No I don't think he was, but the argument is frustratingly justified.

On one side, you have a guy from Uruguay, who speaks Spanish, who has spent less than a year in England, learning the English language and getting used to the English culture. What we have seen from Suarez as a player in the last eleven months is someone who is extremely intelligent, both with his feet and with his tactics. We bought Suarez in January and I said it at the time – it’s all fine and dandy getting someone like him, but I still didn’t agree with his influence on the game between Uruguay and Ghana in the World Cup last year. In case you forgot, the game was level, and he intentionally handled the ball in the penalty box when the ball was shot at goal and would have gone in if it wasn’t for his hand. He got the red card that was deserved, but Ghana missed the resulting penalty. Suarez, heading towards the exit, saw the missing penalty and celebrated like he just scored the winner himself. Because, in theory, he did; Uruguay went through and Ghana lost the match in controversial circumstances. All because of this little Uruguayan menace, a menace who has since dominated English club defences like no one else. I absolutely love Suarez. He’s the most exciting player in a Liverpool shirt since Steven Gerrard at his peak three or four years ago. He does things not many people can do, his ability to play between midfield and defence, and between defenders is absolutely amazing. But then there’s the other side. Luis Suarez goes down very easily. Luis Suarez complains if any decision goes against him. He has become the new Cristiano Ronaldo of the Premier League, and we all know how annoying that was when the boot was on the other foot. But a lot of Reds tolerate it, in fact; embrace it, as he wins us penalties or free kicks in dangerous areas. It doesn’t make it right, but it’s hard to not be happy when decisions like this work for us, because when they’re against us it’s absolutely frustrating.

Suarez gets under a lot of people’s skin, both on the pitch like a professional and exceptionally skilled footballer. But he also gets under people’s skin because he’s very vocal on the pitch. From what we’ve seen, everything seems cordial, or at least standard, when it comes to the altercations between him and other players. Tensions are always high on the pitch, because footballers are usually passionate when they’re playing, and the fans help keep the intensity going with chants and in derbies, some heckling. It does get out of hand, sometimes the fans start some disgusting chants and they’re usually dealt with, just look at Celtic for evidence. But there’s an unwritten law on the pitch, one that seems universal, which is, what happens on the pitch, stays on the pitch.

It’s similar to wrestling in that respect; sorry to bring it up if you dislike the ‘fake’ sport. There are things that are said or done in wrestling matches. Sometimes wrestlers hit each other hard, it’s called a stiff shot, to demand respect and to test your nerve. All you have to do is hit them back, maybe even harder, to show them that you won’t be bullied and that you’re not going to take that type of disrespect. I’ve read about this in many autobiographies. Wrestlers don’t talk about their matches when they get back into that locker room. It’s considered disrespectful to talk about how good or bad your match was, because there are other people who have or have to wrestle before or after, and it’s not nice to brag or to have an ego (unless it’s part of a character on screen obviously).

This is similar to what happens in a football match. Certain things are said. Nasty things. Players swear at each other, they push each other, they might cross the line. But when the final whistle blows, all the players shake hands, talk about the game, and are kind and respectful to each other. It’s rare that off the pitch altercations happen between players, very rare.

And this is where I think in a certain way Patrice Evra took things a little too far. If Suarez did indeed call him a “negrito”, it was to rile him up, to put him off his game. That’s why players swear or insult each other on the pitch; it’s to get a reaction, to put the opposition off, to make it harder for them to concentrate on the task at hand. Suarez has done this all season; he’s done it his entire career. And he’s not the only one, loads of players do it. And if Suarez did call him a “negrito”, it wasn’t with intention of racism. It was with intent purely to put Evra off his game. Evra took this too far in my opinion. And there’s the argument that a “negrito” in Uruguay is your “mate”, your “brother”, or your “nigger”, in a friendly way, not in a racist or discriminatory way.

But I’m also of the opinion that maybe it is time that players stop this type of behaviour. Maybe it’s about time players should stop insulting each other, and to stop any verbal bashing. Players are passionate, I can appreciate that, but there’s no need for this language and attitude. But it does happen all the time, probably in every match across the English leagues and more than likely across the world. Football is a game played with your feet but it’s also with your head, and Luis Suarez knows how to play the game in both ways.

I do however believe the FA has taken a harsh stance on Suarez, I mean, eight games? Seriously? That’s basically 6 weeks. A red card is three games, and you get those for shattering a player’s leg in half, putting them out of action for months or maybe up to a year and opening up a ton of problems for the rest of that player’s career. That affects someone’s life for good. But saying a word that someone finds offensive gives you nearly three times the punishment. Something’s not right here. But then again, I’ve been reading what journalists have been saying on the matter. And most of them are in favour of this harsh punishment, and if anything, support the idea of increasing bans for these horrendous tackles.

And providing that the FA take this stance with all racism issues in the future, then I think long term, I’m okay with this. Seriously. Am I happy we potentially have no Suarez until February or March? Absolutely not. I’m as frustrated as any Red out there. But if it means that other players watch their tongues on the pitch, and most recently, John Terry of Chelsea gets the same punishment of a ban of 8 games for his remarks towards Anton Ferdinand of Queens Park Rangers, then I’m okay with that. The FA needs consistency. And if this is their new punishment for disgusting comments on the pitch, then fine. I’m okay with that. And I think Liverpool need to be as well. Most people who are not a Red are reading the official statement on the website as an over exaggeration, blind support of a player who like it or not has said something that can be considered racist. We are in England, not Uruguay. If a white Englishman called a black Englishman a “negrito” in a Premier League match then we’d all consider that disgusting, unacceptable and deserving of a ban. And that’s what we have to abide to, and if we don’t see it this way then we’re in denial.

It took me a lot to come to this outlook. On Tuesday night I was seething, I was angry and I was completely against this ban, or at least, the amount of games the ban is for. I saw the LFC statement and rallied behind the club, thinking they were spot on and took matters to a level required. But… I woke up yesterday morning; I looked at the headlines, looked at how things seem in other parts of the country and the newspapers and journalists, and saw things differently. I’m not saying that if Liverpool appeal and we’re successful and have Suarez back that I’m not going to be happy, of course I will be. All I want is consistency, and for racism to be taken seriously. And if the FA are to begin this clamping down on racism and unnecessary comments on the pitch, then I’m all for it. I’m annoyed it started with Suarez, but I’ll be happy if it starts with Suarez, moves on to John Terry and then on to other players who use repulsive language on the pitch. I’m all for that. And while they’re at it, they can increase bans on players who maliciously tackle people and shatter bones and tear muscle, putting the long term injuries to justice.

Saying horrible things on the pitch is something that is often considered the language of football. Something that just happens because of the passion and tension on the pitch. After the match everything’s forgotten. It shouldn’t be this way. If players say nasty things on the pitch, racism or not, they should be punished. The language of football needs to change, and if there’s one thing that should be gained from Luis Suarez’s punishment, it’s that the FA are hopefully going to clamp down on this unwritten rule once and for all.

But if I’m completely frank, I don’t think the FA will keep this consistency. I think the FA are trying to make an example out of Luis Suarez, and possibly John Terry, but in the next few weeks or months things will return to normal. I don’t think anything is going to change, which is a damn shame. I think it will start with Suarez and end with Suarez, or maybe Terry, and that’s it. As a Liverpool supporter the whole thing really annoys me but as an unbiased fan I’ll be happy if it starts with Suarez and becomes a signal of intent to stamp out racism or disgusting remarks out of football for good. We can all hope.

Do you agree? Disagree? Is the ban too harsh, or should they increase the bans on disgusting tackles? Should Liverpool appeal or not? Will the FA use this harsh stance for all occasions? Let me know your thoughts by commenting below. Thanks for reading.

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Live Thoughts: Liverpool vs Manchester United (Premier League)

I wrote this live. These are my unedited thoughts when we took on United at Anfield.
Hey everyone, welcome to another of my Live Thoughts feeds, this time I'm back with the mighty Reds, and by that I mean Liverpool obviously, when we take on The Red Devils in Manchester United. A win today would mean a lot, a win over the champions would finally give them their first defeat of the season, and would make us feel like we're closer to the top than some people think we are. That being said, a top 4 finish this season is still the target in my eyes. But that doesn't mean I want more! Let's kick the Mancs out of their stride at Anfield!

Here are teams:

Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Carragher, Skrtel, Enrique, Kuyt, Lucas, Adam, Gerrard, Downing, Suarez. Subs: Doni, Bellamy, Carroll, Henderson, Spearing, Robinson, Agger.

Gerrard starts his first game since March, seven months ago today. Hopefully some of the anxious faithful can shut up now! It's an intruiging lineup with Gerrard playing in the hole and Suarez up front on his own. It's either a piece of tactical genius or it's a big mistake. We have no height in our attack now really and if their defence wins the battle, we aren't scoring, pure and simple. But Suarez ripped their defence with his trickery last time, let's hope he has a similar game. Suarez and Gerrard combining for the first time properly is a salivating thought though.

Manchester United: De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Park, Fletcher, Giggs, Jones, Young, Welbeck. Subs: Lindegaard, Anderson, Rooney, Hernandez, Carrick, Nani, Valencia.

Wow... Rooney, Hernandez AND Nani on the bench? Are you serious bro? That's a huge gamble by Alex Ferguson, arguably his three most threatening players are on the bench. It makes a very strong bench mind. Let's hope we can put pressure on them early and make them pay for their potential mistake. Very dangerous gambling by old purple nose.

1' - Alex Ferguson says that Rooney had a bad week and that's why he's not playing. He's also playing more defensively because we took advantage of a lot of space on the pitch in the last match. Fair enough. It's still a defensive approach, one that hopefully we'll take advantage of.

4' - There's a lot of youth on both sides which is good, they just said that Phil Jones wasn't even born the last time we won the league. Ouch. We do have Martin Kelly and Suarez who are both very young. 

7' - Stewart Downing stretches into a tackle and it was slightly mistimed and it was called for a foul. I do like the crunching tackles and stuff, but we only just played Everton and in these derbies you need to be careful. 

10' - Manchester United are putting a bit of pressure on us but we're defending very well. No hoels at the moment. 

13' - Free kick for Manchester United a few yards outside the corner of the right side of the penalty area, Young takes it and it's straight to Reina's gloves.

15' - Some good attacking play from United, they're starting to get on top of us . It ends with Patrice Evra crossing from the left wing to Phil Jones who can't quite get to it. Not good.

18' - It's the one year anniversary since the new American owners took over. It's been a good year I'd say. 

20' - A small amount of pressure for us gets us a corner. A quick corner is taken and Gerrard can't quite get to it. Close though. 

23' - The game is a lot more open now, with us looking a little bit more threatening. 

26' - A huge amount of dominance now, pretty much three minutes straight of us just chipping away at them. Great stuff.

27' - The dominance halts as Lucas brings down Park Ji-Sung for a yellow card.


29' - A battle between Suarez and Ferdinand and the veteran defender falls on his arse and is made to look a fool. Excellent.

32' - The game has calmed down a bit now which is a shame. 

34' - SUAREZ! Saved by De Gea! What a shame, he should have done better. He shook the last defender loose and shoots straight at the young Spaniard. 

35' - Possession so far is 56%/44% to Liverpool, which is good. We have been better in the last quarter. 

36' - Darren Fletcher wastes a good chance as Manchester United pass smoothly around the Liverpool defence, it's cut to Fletcher who takes a shot from the corner of the right side of the penalty area with a bit of space, and it's wide to the left. 

38' - The Kop is singing "I Just Can't Get Enough", I love this chant. 

39' - Skrtel goes down the right wing like a proper winger, he beats two defenders before Ferdinand stops him. Good stuff. 

40' - Wayne Rooney goes for a job on the touchline and gets booed by the Kop. As a Liverpool fan I'm happy naturally, although as an England fan I do think a three match ban was harsh. But it's Liverpool today and with Rooney not playing I'm chuffed. 

42' - Yellow card for Ashley Young for shoulder barging Gerrard.. Free kick towards the right corner flag, Charlie Adam takes it and De Gea punches it out.

43' - Lucas and Phil Jones bang heads and Jones is out for the moment. Lucas sluggishly falls to the floor. It wasn't intentional by Lucas. I hope Jones is okay. 

44' - Phil Jones is now sitting up, that's good. It looked really nasty. 

45' - Two minutes of added time, although they may be more. Jones has gone off the pitch and Lucas is staying on. 

45+2' - Half time.

My summary of the first half was that it's been an interesting game, it's not really been outstanding as such, but there's been some half chances on both sides. The best chance was Suarez's effort that was tame and straight at De Gea. I think we had the better half, but you can't rule out Manchester United, they've had their spells as well. Let's hope we can start the second half well, as their bench is really dangerous and we don't want to leave it at 0-0 when the big guns come on. 

47' - Pepe Reina doesn't deal with an Ashley Young free kick very well. Danger is over though.

48' - Downing claims that Chris Smalling was tugging at his shirt as they battle down the left flank. The ref lets it go for a goal kick. 

50' - Suarez does his magic in a tight situation with Chris Smalling and wins a corner. Smalling is lucky it was just that as it looked like he beat him!

51' - KUYT! Hand ball! It was hand ball in the Manchester United box but Johnny Evans gets away with it! 

53' - Yellow card for Ferdinand as he brings Adam down.

54' - Suarez takes a shot and it's saved well be De Gea. It was around 20 yards out and low, but there was some space in the corner of the box when he took it. 

55' - Gerrard storms into the right side of the box and takes a shot but it was too close to the end of the pitch for him to get a good enough shot and it's saved. 

56' - Liverpool Sub: Jordan Henderson comes on for Lucas Leiva. Interesting change, I think it's considered an attacking one. 

57' - Just a little observation, Martin Skrtel plays with a lot more passion nowadays than ever before. He goes forward more and he's a lot more animate. It's good. 

57' - Suarez fouls Evra and it was a little malicious. Evra is limping off. Suarez gets away with it, it looked intentional, not too dissimilar to Rooney's sending off last week, although more discrete.

60' - We're definitely playing better than Man United now, although Nani is about to come on. He's had an excellent year. Evra is back on by the way.

62' - United start an attack but we end up counter attacking it. It's end to end at the moment, a great game to watch. 

63' - Suarez dances around the Man United players in their box but he has to drift to the left and his shot is deflected. Corner. The corner leads to a retake, which then leads to a Charlie Adam shot which is from the wide and not deep enough.

64' - Patrice Evra is booked for moaning at the referee for the tackle from Suarez earlier, and for the fact that he's basically an awesome little Uruguayan menace in their box. 

66' - FREE KICK in a dangerous area. Ferdinand clips Adam down JUST outside the box. No card though, Ferdinand could have been booked and sent off for that. 

67' - GERRARD! FUCK YES! Gerrard slams the ball low into the bottom right of the United net! 1-0! 

68' - Double Man United Substitution - Wayne Rooney and Nani come on for Park Ji-Sung and Ashley Young.

69' - People are arguing that Adam went down with minimal contact but I don't think so. It was a lazy foot that Ferdinand put out and there was enough contact. No, it wasn't a double footed challenge or anything rash, but it was enough. 

70' - Haha, when you see the replay of the goal, look at Suarez! He's in the wall with the United players and he turns around and starts dancing, taunting De Gea! Fucking legend! 

73' - More statistics for you, Man United have lost the last three visits to Anfield, this being the fourth in a row if they lose today. It doesn't feel like we've been that dominant at home against them, but it's true. Also, this is the first time United have been behind in a match this season, and if they lose, it's their first defeat. Let's hope all this continues or it all means nothing then! 

74' - One thing that frustrated me about Gerrard in the last eighteen months or so was his lack of goals from free kicks. Most of his goals were penalties last season. To see him score such a fantastic free kick is great, it's a sight I missed dearly. Steve Gerrard, Gerrard... 

75' - Nani blasts the ball well wide over the bar. 

76' - United Sub: Phil Jones comes off for Javier Hernandez. Obviously an attacking sub, and it's their last one.

77' - More stats, so far, both sides have had nine shots on goal, but six of ours have been on target. United? Only two. 

78' - Nani appeals for handball when it appears to his the lower inside arm of Jose Enrique. It looks unintentional, but it could have easily been given. 

80' - GOAL! Patrice Evra! Two United corners in succession, both taken by Nani, the second lands on Evra's head and it goes straight in. 1-1. Completely against the recent run of play. Gutted.

81' - KUYT! Great save by De Gea! A lovely cross from Downing bounces in the box and Kuyt gets to it and it looks like it's going straight in but for De Gea! 

83' - It's end to end stuff at the moment. I think we should bring Bellamy on for the last few minutes. We'll see.

85' - What passion form Jordan Henderson, the ball was loose and wild and he controls it and retreats slightly backwards and slides the ball into possession. It's hard to describe what he did but put it this way, it was appreciated by the Kop.

86' - Downing! Just wide. His shot was from the left just outside the box and he hits it just over the right side of the bar. 

88' - Free kick in relatively dangerous area for Liverpool. It's about 8 yards further back and more to the right than from the earlier one. Unfortunately it doesn't really go anywhere and it ends up leading to a goal kick for United. 

90' - HENDERSON! My goodness! That was close! Great save from De Gea in the end. Really Gerrard-esque, he who shoots from the outside of the right hand side of the box and it looks like it creeps into the top left corner, but De Gea gets a great glove to it! Three minutes of added time.

90+1' - The corner is taken and we're all over them in the box! Many near chances, the best being from Suarez who tries to head backwards into the net but it's dealt with. So close! 

90+1' - Henderson! Grr! Downing crosses from the left and Henderson is in the box and he heads it just over the bar.

90+3' - Full time. 

GAAHH!! We were so close. We beat the crap out of United in the second half. If it was a boxing match we would have won this match on points. But it's not boxing, it's football. Our free kick goal was the justification for this dominance, with Gerrard slotting it into the bottom right corner. Their goal was completely against the run of play. I genuinely believe we were the better side today. They were lucky to come away with a point. They're still undefeated but you know something? They'll go back to Manchester with their tails between their legs because they were beat on that pitch today. It's a reality check for them. And for us? A fantastic second half display against the best side in the land really will do us good. Yes it was two points dropped at home. But we played with passion and quality against a very good United side. It wasn't that United played badly today, it was that we played better than them all over the pitch. Bring on the next match! I can't wait! That's it from me today, take care and spike your hair.

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Bitesize: #7

Hey there, welcome to another edition of Bitesize. Just in case you're not too familiar, my bitesize posts are there to talk about a group of things in one go, either because a lot has happened or I haven't the time to touch on all of it in great detail. I also use Bitesize to announce site news.

Let’s start with site news. I’ve done a few Mixtapes here, paying homage to the soundtracks of two of my favourite game series, GuitarHero and Final Fantasy. Video game music is important and it was good to pay attention to the detail in which video game developers have put into their content. I don’t know how many video game related Mixtapes I’m going to do, I can’t see any happening for a while now, but it was good to do two in the last few weeks.

I haven’t been writing as much this week for two reasons, firstly as I have my sister down for the whole week, and secondly it was my daughter’s third birthday. My daughter is named Vivi by the way, after the video game character. Call me a nerd, I don’t care, I think it’s a lovely name and she suits it very well But that’s why I haven’t been writing much. I’ll be covering Liverpool vs Manchester United this weekend, so at least that’s one big piece. I also have plans to review Resident Evil 4 HD. Why? Because it’s one of my favourite games of all time, and the fact that they have ported it to the Xbox 360 in HD gives me a reason to review it.

Speaking of reviews, I am going to review older games and albums in the future. Since I’ve made this site over a year ago I’ve been trying to avoid going down that route of reviewing old material. But why not? Some of my favourite games and albums are over ten years old. And in the end, I want to draw attention to these games and these albums, just in case you haven’t played them. I hope to encourage people to give a chance on these things if they haven’t already. And if you have played them, then hopefully you’ll like the homage I pay to these great pieces of entertainment.

Wrestling now. I’ve heard overwhelmingly negative things about Monday Night Raw. I understand exactly where people are coming from. Only last week I was praising the booking team. Now it makes me look like a fool as they fucked everything up bad this week. There were plot holes everywhere, from the fact that Triple H is still COO of the company yet he has no power on Raw or from what we can tell, Smackdown!. John Laurinaitis is now running Raw while Teddy Long is still the GM of Smackdown!. But Triple H is the COO that can’t make any decisions on either show? Backwards. Also the question of who raised the cage to let The Miz and R-Truth in and then lowered it so no one else could at Hell in a Cell remains a mystery, a mystery that doesn’t look like it’s even attempted at being solved at all. In terms of matches, Raw’s main event is John Cena vs Alberto Del Rio but they barely got on TV this week. Yes I’m complaining over a lack of John Cena. But only because he’s the champ and he’s supposed to be on. Cena/Del Rio should be the main focus but it isn’t. The writing team is shoving the Triple H angle down our throats and in the end, who runs the show shouldn’t matter as much as it apparently does. What should matter is Cena vs Del Rio. It’s stupid.

That being said, I’m not going to be as critical as some people are. There is hope in this believe it or not. Yes there are plot holes, but let’s give the creative writing team the chance to fill in those holes for next week. Apparently the WWE are preparing long term now more than ever before. They are planning feuds and storylines for the future more now than before. So with that being said, let’s see what happens next week, before slamming them down to the ground completely. The Raw rating drop from the start to finish of the show is a big slap in the face of the WWE and they’ll definitely attempt to redeem themselves next week.

In music I have a few albums still lined up ready to review. I need to listen to these albums a bit more before getting to the nitty gritty. First is “Alpocalypse” by Weird Al Yankovic, and that should be up in the next fortnight I hope. After that is “Gold Cobra” by Limp Bizkit. So that’s just a taster of what albums I’ll be reviewing on the site in the next few weeks, but there won’t be anything for the moment. Also long term I will be doing my pretty big homage to Marilyn Manson that should hopefully ready before Christmas. That’s my plan anyway, but if it has to be delayed yet again that’s not a problem, the idea was for it to fit around the release of his new album, but with his plans to release the album in early 2012 the delay of that homage might be a good idea afterall.

Football now, and England qualified for Euro 2012 and Ireland made the playoffs. It was announced yesterday that Ireland will go against Estonia in the playoff finals, which is the best they could have hoped for. I’m English and support England but I want all the British Isles and Ireland to do well. I love Ireland, it’s a fantastic country and it’s one I have minor connections with in my family, and I have good friends there. So to hope that Ireland go through and join England in the Euros would be fantastic, and it would be sweet justice for their cruel exit to the World Cup two years ago when they controversially got kicked out in a similar fashion against France.

As for England, I have a poll to your right asking how far they’ll go in the Euros. My opinion? I reckon we’ll get through our group stage but advance no further. We’re not as good some fans think we are, and I don’t think we’re good enough to take on the likes of Spain, Germany and Holland. But you never know, if we beat one of the elite European sides we might gain a lot of confidence and become a big threat that way. I do believe that England’s main confidence is confidence on the pitch. We’re too afraid to lose so end up screwing up. The media influence is responsible for this, they just can’t let England play their game of football. Everything is under scrutiny, and the players don’t want to lose the match because they hate the bad press. So they screw up due to nerves. But if we work that round, and get a good result against a great team, that should hopefully put the creative spark into our play, and make us dangerous. Let’s hope so, as I would like to see England as a national football team put back on the map as one of the best sides in the world.

Well that’s me done for today. I’ll be covering the Liverpool/Manchester United match tomorrow and then I’ll be back on Monday or Tuesday with something else. Thanks for your time.

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