Monday, 29 September 2008

Worse than our socks


When the camera focused on Wendy and Gus at the dying stages of the Pompey game today, I was reminded of Dads Army’s Corporal Jones giving it the “don’t panic, don’t panic”. At what stage do we start to panic though? What I find the most worrying is that after about a dozen league and cup games, Ramos seems to have no idea what his preferred line-up is. After watching the last couple of games I know what my preferred line-up is, but I don’t think Hoddle, Ardiles and Chivers are eligible.

Can anyone tell me why Lennon is on the left and Dos Santos is on the right. The worst thing that could have happened to us is Lennon creating a goal from the left in mid-week. He’ll be playing out of position there for months now. With Zakora having one of his better games why the hell did he get taken off when Jenas was having one of his many shitters. If poor passes and lost tackles were air miles, JJ would have more frequent flyer miles than Biggles. When goals are required should we really be replacing Pavlyuchenko with Bent, not trying them in tandom? What does Esso-Ekoko give us, apart from palpitations. The only positives I can think of are that Woodgate, Corluka and Dawson played well and the weather in Bont was overcast so it didn’t seem a waste sitting in the house watching tv. The Spurs crowd were fantastic, out-singing the Pompey faithful from start to finish. I thought it was funny when they were singing love songs to Defoe as he lined up for the penalty, and the stick they give Campbell is relentless. The next two league games bring us Hull and Stoke, both of whom will get amongst us and see what we’re made of. Is Spurs v Hull in the beginning of October really a six-pointer? If we lose those two games we will be up shit creek without a paddle, or a boat, and I don't want to alarm folks but I don't think anyone's bought a map. But, football being football, if we win them both – we’ll forget we ever had this conversation and we’ll start thinking about how to break into the big four.

Sky Sports are bigging it up how Ramos is under fire. Sure he’s making mistakes but for the club to truly move forward they have to get rid of Comolli. He’s the muppet who buys and sells. He’s the guy who sold Berbatov, Keane, Defoe and Malbranque, and he’s also the guy who saw something in Taraabt, Tanio and Kaboul.

With the risk our underestimating our problems, could it just be the socks? Has there ever been a good side who played in hooped socks?

Wednesday, 24 September 2008

Shocker Soccer

Having just endured the Newcastle game, all i could think was, thank god I haven't got Satanta. I know I'd have watched the Krakow and Villa games and wasted another four hours of my free time. The first half of tonight's game was probably the worst game I've ever seen, and I've seen Dolgellau play Tregaron! Tottenham were so padestrian I thought for a spell the Newcastle shirts were zebra crossings. Poor old Pavlyuchenko made so many runs to no avail he must wonder what the hell he's done by signing for us. I was so happy for him to get the goal. We looked much better when Dos Santos came on and injected a bit of pace and directness. Do you watch Strictly Come Dancing when the pros are on and make it look so easy and then the celebs have a go and they look like piss-heads on the floor at a wedding - well watchuing those two teams tonight was the latter. We are miles behind Arsenal and Chelsea. They're the Anton Dubeck and we're the John Sargeant. Surely the time is right to ditch Zakora who just isn't up to it. It's great to be joyous after a victory, hey. After conceding 10 in two games I'll bet Harry Redknapp can't believe his luck he's got us next. 0-0 anyone?

Tuesday, 16 September 2008

Things can only get better....surely.

When is the best time to get a toothache - when you've just broken your leg. The pain doesn't hurt because you've got bigger things on your mind. That's probably why I wasn't that bothered last night, after another casual performance giving an almost inevitable defeat. My mates been taken into hospital and seeing him lying there sort of reminded my of Spurs at the moment. They look pitiful and you can't do anything to help them. At least my mates on a drip that keeps popping little bits of help into him, Spurs are just dying a slow, gradual process. It's our worst start for over thirty years when we managed to avoid relegation by one point at the expense of Luton!! Serriously though, I can't see us staying in the bottom half once we start to get some shape, but you wonder if Leeds fans told themselves this a few years ago. Headline of the week so far has to be the Sun who referred to the carrying on's at Newcastle as "Sid James' Park". Mind you, they're not bottom.

Monday, 15 September 2008

So long, farewell....

This week was supposed to be all about saying goodbye to heroes. Thursday 11th was the Stray Cats in Manchester. The Stray Cats were my heroes in school and my love for them has never diminished. I've supported all their solo projects and seen them live a couple of times before. This tour though is billed as their final tour and was therefore something I couldn't miss. The reviews have been great from shows acroos Europe and anticipation was high. My neice was even going, she's only 14 and loves the Cats, the future generation if you want. Then, disaster strikes, as Slim Jim falls off the stage at the end of the London show and breaks his arm in three places, causing the remainder of the tour to be cancelled. Next comes the final one-day game of my favourite cricketer of all time, Graeme Hick. I've watched him hundreds of times and he is outstanding, absolutely brialliant to watch. I've seen him punish bowlers to the point where you almost feel sorry for them - almost. Anyway, before the big day comes, Worcester is under 9 foot of water and the game gets moved to Kidderminster, which isn’t beig wnough for the members never mind the general public. I'm just glad Elvis Presley isn't alive to play Pele in a farewell game of head-tennis. I could imagine I've got front row seats and then the world ends. The pathetic old line, ah well, there's always tomorrow doesn't work with farewell shows and games. All you got left are the memories - thank God they're precious.

Thursday, 11 September 2008

Kicking off again

A Chelsea supporter who work's with me said this morning "Christ, your man Modric looked shit last night". Who gives a dman I said, he'll have a better game than Essien this weekend. Because really, as a fan, all you want during international breaks is for your players to come back unscathed. So Corluka gets roasted by England, so what, I'd rather that than he gets skinned by Villa on Monday. For what it's worth, I saw the two Wales games against Azerbizhan and Russia and we have got two quality players in Gunter and Bale. It's been obvious to everyone that Gareth Bale is going to be world-clas, but I've been so impressed by Gunter as well. On Saturday he was up and down the flank and he puts in a good cross as well. Unfortunately for Wales, ole Pav did the biz as well. I can't wait to see him behind Modric and Bentley.

Wednesday, 3 September 2008

Shut that window

So after all the hoopla, the transfer window is shut for a few months and teams have to make do with what they’ve got. Along with the shock transfer of Robinho to Man City, the two biggest transfers of the window were Keane and Berbatov going from Spurs to Liverpool and Man U respectively. We got good money for both, I was especially pleased to see us hold our nerve with Utd and get over £30million. Assessing it in the cold light of day I would say where probably stronger than we were when last season finished. Goalkeeper wise, we are looking good. Gomes looks a great capture, he’s got a great presence and looks like he’s commanding his box. Defensively we lost Kaboul, Gardner, Lee and Chimbonda which although not everyone’s cup of tea, they were certainly good cover. In place we signed Corluka and the early signs are that Gunter is stepping up to the plate. We now have more quality but a rash of injuries could put us in the shit a bit. In the midfield we are definitely looking strong. It was a shame to see Malbranque go but the introduction of Modric, Bentley and Dos Santos has more than softened the blow. Up front we lost a couple of quality strikers but signed the Russian Pavlyuchenko and got Frazier Campbell from United. I really liked what I saw of Pavlyuchenko in Euro 2008, and thought he was a better signing for us than Arshavin would have been. Arshavin is more like Modric or Dos Santos, Pav is a proper centre forward. I don’t know much about Campbell but my mate is a big Utd fan and he reckons he’s quality. So we’ll see what happens, it’s just a shame that the international break is here.