Woopidy Diddly Doo - The Ashes have returned

Yep, sometime yesterday afternoon (Melbourne time) Australia won back the Ashes after beating England in the third test in my old home town of Perth.

The good thing about the victory is that I can give my cousin and uncle in England a hard time and meke comments like:

"Can I tell you a joke???"....."The English cricket team!"

"Mate, the cricket team makes your football team look like superstars"

and jokes like:

"What do you call an Englishmen with a hundred runs next to his name?"...."A bowler"

Good times!!

Now that is done I read the local Australian papers about how great this Australian team is etc etc. How England stuffed up and how we deserve it.

Goodc god, the papers sometimes are so full of it. Take the victory with some sense of sportsmanship and grace. Please.

they are mentioning how good Shame Warne and what a sportsmen he is. PULEEAZZE, he is such an arrogant twat. Watching his appealing was just plain embarrassing and h showed what a spoilt brat he is.

why he is not reported and fined by the authorities shows how gutless they are sometimes. He is such a baby if he does not get his way and i can not stand that arrogance. I rather be tied to a chair and watch 3 hindi love movies in a row that watch his crap.

oh well...at elast Monty got selected and took a bag of wickets (just shows one major flaw the selectors got wrong there). Good to see a brother do his magic!

* * * * * * *

Liverpool 3 and the Djimi Traore recital 0

We probably should have scored more goals but looks like the team is on goal scoring fire!! Good to see and we even moved into third spot. Liking this outfit now but alas....too late now innit!!

BARGGER!!

Still at least we are winning and the aim is to maximise points over the xmas/new years break where there is an orgasm of football. so many matches over so many days. Lets hope ManUre and Cheqski get a few losses along with the Arses, Bolted and Boredsmouth.

But good to see Djimi Traore repay us for giving him a Champions League and FA cup trophy by kung fu kicking Jermaine Pennant head and thereby, giving away a penalty. Good work, no wonder we sold you!

That is my xmas wish!

Also how di MU get the easiest team in the chamops league draw and we draw Barcelona? How?? The draw was made by MU right?

PS. This is my 99th entry. Guess the next one better be a good one!

Friends

A old friend of mine from university was in town the past week and the weekend was spent entertaining him and reminiscing about the old days.

I have to really thank Metria for letting me hang out with my friend and not do a lot of things that I should have done. Guess that is my Xmas present - not that we really celebrate.

Amongst the activities we partook in was a BBQ in my back yard where he enjoyed some lamb chops i concocted and some veru spicy sausages I bought, watching the cricket, drinking, watching football, drinking and talking about the old days.

He happens to be an Arsenal loony, i mean fan so there is a bit of verbal sparring going on between us about who is the better team. I believe I should win that argument as we won a trophy last year!

There was also some frequent gossiping and yes, us guys do gossip here and there. In our case we discussed some old "friends" outlining their obscure good points while analysing (bitching) their flaws and negatives. There were a lot of laughs in the latter.

The interesting thing to note is how we have changed over the last 9 years. We are both married and well into our careers. We have a lot more responsibility on our lives now but somehow, when we are together things seems to regress to being 20 something fools again.

Above all that, the bonds of friendship will forever remain and it is good to catch up. This kind of friendship shall remain long lasting between us as we just have that kind of relationship I guess.

Good times

An enjoyable weekend for me but I feel guilty about the lack of time I spent with the missus. Still the long weekend will allow me the opportunity to make it up to her. :-)

One person's freedom fighter is another person's terrorist

The Australian media has been taking up the case of freeing David Hicks from Guantanamo bay where he is being held as a prisoner of war by the USA of A. Particularly they have made an issue that his human rights have been violated and he should be treated like an Australian.

Mr Hicks is in this predicament after being caught with fighting for the Taliban army which was engaging American forces shortly after the 9/11 attack.

I have to clarify that he was fighting for the Taliban army NOT against them.

The media says that he should be brought back here to face an Australian court. While these sentiments are noble, they have the wrong person.

While I am not a fan of the US/Australian/British war of terror on Iraq, David Hicks does not deserve to be brought back. That is my opinion on this matter.

After all, he went to fight with the bad guys. He is the mercenary who decided to ply his trade for the Taliban and he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Remember he was out there looking to kill and hurt people. His bad call so he has to live with the decision and not hope for someone to fly in and save him. He lost his right to be an Australian when he decided to fight against his fellow countrymen.

However, one thing I do wholeheartedly oppose is the abuse and inhumane treatment of prisoners. Sure they have done the wrong thing but to treat them worse than animals is uncalled for and indecent.

I think the media’s intentions are in the right place but they have focused on the wrong person. There are other people in the world which deserved to be freed from incarceration and the focus should be put on them. People like the Dalai Lama, children who are used as slaves to facilitate the mega corporations, and women abused by scared, small minded and insecure men deserve this type of focus and attention.

Many years ago, the worldwide media focussed their attention towards Robben Island which held a great man unjustly. After years of ignoring his plight, the international family (finally) focussed its attention towards this backward hole and this occupant. Eventually this worldwide pressure forced the South African government to free this man.

Eventually, it was acknowledged that he was being unjustly imprisoned for being an alleged terrorist when all that he wanted (or was fighting for) was for all South Africans to be afforded the same opportunities, the rights to the basic nees, education and the right to vote . This person was Nelson Mandela, a hero of mine who greatly helped the process of righting the wrongs of South Africa.

But sadly, with David Hicks this story has been picked up for the wrong reasons by the media and politicians, once again they are making a big deal of the wrong thing.

My first time

I have been published!!

WOO HOO!!!

click on this to go to the article

Thank god it is FRIDAY

Upon reflection I must say that this year is moving faster than a contestant on "The Biggest Loser" to a Krispy Kreme store. I can not believe it is already 1 December 2006!

With this date, comes an exciting time. The introduction of the SCI FI channel on the local cable network. WOO HOO for me, Boo Hoo for Metria.

This means I can get my overfill of Star Trek, Stargate, X-Files, Battlestar Galactica, basically anything with a "star" in the title can be viewed. Along with the explosion of sport that will be available I will be really making my mark to enter the couch potato hall of fame!

Of course, I wait until this paragraph to bitch about the pathetic display by the Pool last day. A 0-0 draw against a depleted Portsmouth at Anfield. What makes this worse is that a win would have pushed us up to 3/4 with the other results. DAMM!!! But I shall bit about it later.

Today is Friday and as Austin would say "YEAH BABY"!

The weekend is upon us and all that. 2 days no work except for the work at home!

Have a good one peeps

The Impotence of being Liverpool

OK, I have to ask a question that is on the minds of many Liverpudlian's and their supporters.

What is the problem with the Reds?

What has happened when they leave Anfield? What' the deal? To quote Marvin Gaye: "What's goin' on?"

It like Spears and Federline, for what has happened to Liverpool between last season and this season.

7 away matches for 2 draws, 5 losses and 1 goal.

That goal came from a lucky (others would say dubious) penalty to the new kids of the block - Sheffield Whonited which resulted in us snatching a draw. The other draw came last night against a Middlesboro team that we outplayed. 16-1 shots at goal, 10-2 corners, 60% possession.

Liverpool we supposed to come to this season and challenge Chelsea for the title ahead of MU and Arsenal. They would defend wholeheartedly and keep the ball limiting opportunities for their opponents to score goals. They were going to play hard and play tough.

A lot of people picked them to challenge for #1 and finish in the top 3 easily. A lot of people.

So what has happened?

Some have said that the away record is a result of having to play some of the biggest teams in the EPL. Against Chelsea we played well and thanks to a superb bit of skill from Didier Drogba they got the 3 points. We were unlucky we kept on hitting the woodwork.

Suffice to say when playing at Old Trafford, Emirates and the Toffees we were outplayed and outclassed. There was the game at the Reebok where a bunch of old guys scored against us one dubiously and the other shamed last years defensive warriors. They are 3 tough venues to go and play against (not so Everton but we should have played better).

Yet when Liverpool play at home they are a different team. 6 matches for 5 wins and a draw. Most wins came from some superb play where the goals came.

This is Jekyll and Hyde-esque.

Is this an aberration or an indication for the season? Is this a serious situation that needs to be addressed.

So what is wrong?

• Steven Gerrard is definitely not 100%. Mentally and physically. If you look at what he has done the last 2 years you can see there are signs of mental exhaustion. The previous season he started in august and finished with lifting the Champs League trophy in May. However due to the poor local form Liverpool had to start in July 2005 and he played in the world cup finishing in July 2006. one month later he was back at training. So in the space of 2 years he has had about 6 weeks off.
  

• A few of his team mates are also in the same situation. So physically they are exhausted.

• There are a number of new players so time is needed for players to establish their roles. Usually a team with a number of players at each position results in competitiveness for spots, like Chelsea. Yet this does not seem to be transposed on to the pitch. Are the players trying too hard at training to get a game yet when it comes to the match, hey are too tired of god forbid, to lazy to play as hard!

• Rotation works but it does not help with the chemistry in some instances. As a football manager I am loathe to change the defensive structure and players a lot because a goalkeeper develops an understanding with his back men and chopping and changing can have bad effects.
  

• Collectively, they are playing without pride and therein, I believe likes the issue. NO PRIDE in the jersey!

See they have allowed a lot of goals this season. A lot more than this time last year. At least this time last year we were either drawing with nil all scores or losing against good teams by a goal. No pride!

Could it be that things are bigger than that. When breaking things down further, it is not really pride. Maybe its fate. I look at teams in other sports where this has happened like Sydney FC in the A-League here are struggling now after being last seasons champs and may miss the final series this year. The Chicago White Sox who won the world series in 2005 yet failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2006. The Miami Heat, won the NBA title last year and are now winning as much as they are losing, their latest defeat coming at the hands on the inept and overpaid New York Knicks.

Is this a case of teams being supreme one season only to fall into a level of mediocrity the following season? Are the players getting ahead of themselves, feeling that the effort they put in last season will cut it this year?

See Liverpool are now in need to be panicked over, they were a team touted to finally make the challenge to finally win the EPL title, what all Red supporters want, the holy grail! Some people are not panicking like Rafa and, in Rafa I trust, but I am worried now. It does not look too promising.

So the question is what can save Liverpool? I trust Rafa as he has delivered and will give him time but he can only do so much. A manager can give his team the tools to succeed but the players have to execute the plan and that is what is missing. The guys just do not seem to execute well.

So who will save them? I think it has to be Jamie Carragher. He knows of Liverpool and their history and he knows how much it means to put on that red jersey and play in front of the Kop, as much as Stevvie or Robbie.

I do not mean give him the ball and all that, I am talking about his soul. He has to become the soul of Liverpool FC.

Stevvie G is the leader, best player and heart of the team. Lord knows he has proven it a lot in the past. But he is going though a slump and time will bring him back.

But right now the team needs someone to inject the passion and desire when playing for Liverpool. That man is Carra. He can give his team mates a sense of what it means to be in Liverpool and keep them in check. Stevvie did a lot and drove them to work well. But now to take the net step they need the soul!

They need someone who will make sure the team this good, this talented will not go on losing and not scoring away from home. A person who will pull the lever when the noose has been placed over the opposition neck.

Someone has to give the players faith in themselves, someone on the pitch not on the sidelines because a manager can only get you so far.

Some have said to give them time and that Liverpool are out of whack. But there is a difference being out of whack and being straight whack.

Not another crappy monday

3 - 0…..that signifies a lot. It says how many games we have played against the big guns (3), how many times we have lost (3), how many goals we scored (0) and how many points we have gotten(do the math!)

Suffice to say I am not a happy chappy this morning. Luckily I was tired enough to not get up at 3am to watch the game. I got up at 4.30. Saw that in the 67th minute we were down 2-0 and went back to bed.

Getting up this morning was a struggle. I tried to get up but did not want to. I knew we had lost and did not want to see the final score. I had taped the game and the self sadistic-footballist part of me will watch it later.

Just to see how bad we played.

So while we played well against Chelsea we lost because of a fantastic goal – I can take that.

But against Manure and A$$-An@l we played terrible, I mean we made defenders look like woprld class strikers (it is worse when one of them is so dumb he forgets to take a p!ss and pass to a gent in a white coat from the FA)

Now we shall await the stuff about how Rafa got it wrong by playing Zenden in the middle instead of Stevvie (I have to also question this), the players not being up to it, Stevvie wanting to leave etc etc. Someone in fleet street will come up with some rubbish, just like the talk of Rafa wanting to leave.

My team could have put more effort in a match and we played yesterday (a highlight o the weekend for me!).

Disappointed….yet we have Rafa a good man to bring us out.