Sunday 18 November 2012

Football, the game we love



It gives the highest highs and the lowest of lows,
It can bring us up, only to let us down,
The team you support, the shirt you just bought,
The renwed hope, the managerial tight rope,
The title race, the final relegation place,
The look on your face, that wingers pace,
From espn & itv to sky and the bbc, From super sundays to motd,
Football is the sport for me,
As I live and breathe, sometimes I can't believe,
Just what this game can do to me,
It makes me scream and shout, even when my team is down and out,
Clear the schedule at weekends, my week begins as some come to an end,
Whether playing, watching or talking about it,
Straight Shootin' LJA can never doubt it, football is the sport for me,
It unites he, she and we, as a footballing family,
Sometimes it's like a gift from above,
Whether it's called soccer or football,
It's simply the game we love.

I’m Straight Shootin’ LJA & that’s my opinion.


Follow me on Twitter @sslja
I am One 3rd of Monday night Football Talk Show Pitch Talk who you can follow on twitter @pitchtalk
Join us LIVE Every Monday Night from 8pm (UK Time) @ http://www.youtube.com/pitch-talk
For information on how to interact Live during the show check out this video - http://youtu.be/QPm_loxtq7E
Our podcast (updated weekly) -
http://ow.ly/7SStU (podomatic)

For more information about Pitch Talk visit:
http://Facebook.com/pitchtalk (Become a fan, friend & member of our Facebook group)
http://Twitter.com/pitchtalk - (Tweet with us & follow us)
http://Youtube.com/pitchtalk - (view our videos)
http://Pitchtalk.blogspot.com – (View our blogs in full)
http://Myspace.com/pitchtalk - (Our myspace page)
For Enquiries – Email: pitchtalk@gmail.com

Wednesday 18 April 2012

The English FA, UEFA & FIFA – The Moronic Trinity

Those of you who listen to Pitch Talk shows from 8pm (UK) LIVE every Monday night you’ll be used to hearing my voice in terms of Rants & tirades about the state of football but for this week I’ve got my ammunition. Straight Shootin’ doesn’t generally relate to guns in anyway but for this blog entry I’ll have to make an exception and point my guns firmly at the powers that be in domestic, European & world football.

Let’s take FIFA first and the fact they are run by a corrupt moron called Sepp Blatter, the man who in 2011 had a coronation, not an election (because an election has more than 1 person running for office by definition) to remain in power at FIFA as the president, the man who thinks Racism isn’t a problem in football, a man who if he had a brain he’d be out playing with it, as he’s borderline retarded. Apologies for going slightly off point but as I type my blood is boiling on this cold Tuesday evening, but it’s not Blatter I have my problem with today.

So, let’s move on to UEFA and Michel Platini, the man who can see football is crying out for video technology but this idiot doesn’t want to bring it in because he doesn’t want the game to become ‘Playstation football’. This is the same idiot who wants to bring down England’s champions league places down to 3, apparently so that ‘smaller teams’ can get some European revenue, but he hasn’t heard my idea of just bringing back the damn European Cup Winners cup, but anyway, my venom isn’t aimed at the man trying to battle Blatter for the biggest moron in football aka Michel Platini.

My venom is aimed squarely at our very own English FA and my reasons are plentiful and I will call their decisions, ‘mong moves’ for the sake of this blog. My first reason, the rule that dictates that taking your shirt off is a booking, what an utterly stupid rule, you’ve got dangerous tackles and shirt pulling that are bookings most of the time but I take my shirt off in celebration and I get booked...mong move no.1 by our FA.
Mong move no.2, undermining your own manager (Fabio Capello) to the point where he walks out on you when you’re trying to prepare for a major tournament, well done FA, another mong move successfully executed. If you’ve got someone managing your national football team it would be wise to let the man actually manage the team instead of making decisions and not even consulting him first before you go to the media and tell them the news.
Mong move no.3, going to bat for Wayne Rooney. The way the FA went to bat for Rooney was embarrassing on many levels, the shameless brownnosing of UEFA to get his ban reduced from 3 to 2 matches was an abomination, when Rooney clearly deliberately kicked a Montenegro player, but another successful mong move made.

Mong move no.4 is more recent, Shaun Derry of QPR having his red card that shouldn’t have even been a red card upheld along with a 1 match ban. Let’s set the scene, well, actually, the scene was set on the Pitch Talk LIVE show from April 9th 2012 (jump to http://ow.ly/a37JZ (itunes) for the podcast, You can also hear the podcast on podomatic – http://ow.ly/a37MG & mixcloud – http://ow.ly/a37MH ), but basically, Derry got a straight red card for pulling Ashley Young who dove to the ground like he’d been shot, even though Young was clearly offside when it happened, the Linesman was looking right at the incident at Old Trafford (of all places) but didn’t flag. Anyway, the reason this qualifies as a mong move, the FA have seen the footage, QPR appealed the red card and somehow in their infinite idiocy the FA uphold Derry’s red card so he serves a 1 match ban because of a red card that should never have been. 
But anyway as my blood boils I have a final mong move, or a moron move, as it relates to the man I like to call ‘Moron’ Mario Balotelli. The reason I cite this is because Balotelli almost looked like he was trying to get himself sent off in the Arsenal v Manchester City match on Sunday April 8th 2012 with a catalogue of stupid and atrocious tackles, the least dangerous of which he got sent off for, and the worst of which went completely unpunished, referee Martin Atkinson deserves a moron of the week award along with Balotelli for not punishing the tackle. The FA take this as a mong move because it was a leg breaker tackle in which Alex Song was extremely lucky not to have his leg snapped in the 1st half v Manchester City, that the FA looked at & reviewed the footage, but because of this stupid ‘retrospective punishment’ thing where if the referee or an official sees an incident but does nothing about it the FA won’t take any further action, apparently because if they do take action it will undermine the referee’s authority. Pardon me for trying to understand these morons, but how can the ref/linesman/official see a leg breaker challenge and do nothing about it? That’s bad enough but the FA not taking any action is even more of a disgrace.

The FA need a wakeup call and the powers that be in football need to be ousted and soon, because their moronic mentalities, disgraceful decisions and good old boy network ways of working are ruining a game that we love. I would like to put myself Straight Shootin’ LJA (Twitter - @sslja ) and my Pitch Talk co-hosts – Da Gman (Twitter - @dagman84 ) & Gezzie Fizzle (Twitter - @apparentlyrich ) forward to run world football because I think the moron that was Jade Goody & the moron that is Katie Price (who if they had a brain between them they’d be out playing with it) could do a better job of running football than the borderline retarded Blatter, the idiotic Michel Platini and our own joke of an FA. Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups, because these are the kind of people who seem to be the powers that be in football.

I’m Straight Shootin’ LJA & that’s my opinion.


Follow me on Twitter @sslja
I am One 3rd of Monday night Football Talk Show Pitch Talk who you can follow on twitter @pitchtalk
Join us Live Every Monday Night from 8pm-10pm (UK Time) @ http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pitch-talk
For information on how to interact Live during the show check out this video - http://youtu.be/QPm_loxtq7E
Our podcast (updated weekly) -
http://ow.ly/7SStU (podomatic)

For more information about Pitch Talk visit:
http://Facebook.com/pitchtalk (Become a fan, friend & member of our Facebook group)
http://Twitter.com/pitchtalk - (Tweet with us & follow us)
http://Youtube.com/pitchtalk - (view our videos)
http://Pitchtalk.blogspot.com – (View our blogs in full)
http://Myspace.com/pitchtalk - (Our myspace page)
For Enquiries – Email: pitchtalk@gmail.com


Wednesday 11 April 2012

Moron Mario, has his Blue bubble burst?


Mario Balotelli has confused, amused, bemused but not abused me, but all of the previous things he's done for me in equal measure. As said I've been confused by him, especially recently in Man City's game against Arsenal because similar to Matthew Brown of Leeds United 2 days before against Reading, 'moron' Mario (as I like to call him on Pitch Talk shows) seemed to be trying to get himself sent off with 2 stupid challenges on Bacary Sagna and an absolutely disgraceful challenge on Alexandre Song which somehow the officials missed (how they did I don't know but I may have to blog about officials and peculiar decisions). Now, back to senor Balotelli, another thing that left me confused was in the game before against Sunderland where at one point he was arguing with Kolarov about taking a free kick, Kolarov had taken every other free kick so Mario, you should have left him to it. Now, some say Balotelli is a 'firework'/firecracker of a player, which he is, his 2 goals v Sunderland prove that, but for me I think the dream is almost over for Mario and he seems to be burning bridges intentionally. As I said to Da Gman @dagman84 & Gezzie Fizzle  @apparentlyrich and our other fans on the Live Pitch Talk show on April 9th 2012, Balotelli isn't playing in the shop window, because I personally would be like how Gary Glitter should be when he's near a playground...stay away from the kids & stay away from Mario in this case. Alan Hansen said after the Sunderland match he's a magnet for the media & a divisive character, which he is and to me he's definitely a character. Now, in football we need characters but if i had a team that needed to focus when going head to head with a team like Manchester United for the title the one kind of person I wouldn't want in my side is a Mario Balotelli. As a manager it must be hard to control him & as a teammate he must be more frustrating than not being able to please your wife because you can't 'rise to the occasion'. Imagine having a teammate as unpredictable and reckless as Mario Balotelli, you'd always be on edge thinking 'is he going to let us down, is he going to do something dumb?' and more often than not the answer to both of those questions is a resounding YES! Now, with a dark cloud like that hanging over you it does distract you and with Man City needing wins and their bigger players not performing well you'd need someone like Mario to step up, instead of stepping into more controversy but Mario does as Mario will and for me he's burning bridges daily not just at Man City, but in the Premier League, as it almost seems Mario can't help himself with doing silly things off the pitch as well as on it, sharing a hooker with Wayne Rooney, going to a strip club/titty bar the night before a game (which i still find hilarious) as well as his other misdemeanors just in 2012! Mancini in my view hasn't helped at times because like a flirty woman who doesn't really fancy you he's been sending out mixed signals, one minute Mancini is saying things like 'I don't trust him' & 'i wanted to take him off after 5 minutes' after him scoring twice and repeatedly starting him in games like he believes in him. But I digress, and the only 'Super' Mario these days is the Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez as moron Mario edges closer to his self created exit door at the Etihad stadium. Balotelli is a character and a hilarious figure who does at times get a hard time, but to me most of it is self-inflicted and on this April 9th when I'm writing this blog, I think Mario's career at Manchester City is done, his blue bubble has burst & he's been the architecht of his own demise, which leads me to ask the question, when the sheikh's shake down City, will Mancini be following Moron Mario to the unemployment line? Moron Mario, we’ll miss your antics, but it seems like even after your apology for the red card against Arsenal, for City that enough is enough and it’s time for a change & with that obligatory wrestling reference i’d like to send a R.I.P to former WWF/WWE Tag Team, European & Intercontinental champion Owen Hart and a thank you to Mario Balotelli for contributing so much to the Pitch Talk show in terms of entertainment.
I’m Straight Shootin' LJA & that’s my opinion

Follow me on Twitter @sslja

I am One 3rd of Monday night Football Talk Show Pitch Talk who you can follow on twitter @pitchtalk
Join us Live Every Monday Night from 8pm-10pm (UK Time) @ http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pitch-talk
For information on how to interact Live during the show check out this video - http://youtu.be/QPm_loxtq7E
Our podcast (updated weekly) -
http://ow.ly/7SStU (podomatic)

For more information about Pitch Talk visit:
http://Facebook.com/pitchtalk (Become a fan, friend & member of our Facebook group)
http://Twitter.com/pitchtalk - (Tweet with us & follow us)
http://Youtube.com/pitchtalk - (view our videos)
http://Pitchtalk.blogspot.com – (View our blogs in full)
http://Myspace.com/pitchtalk - (Our myspace page)
For Enquiries – Email: pitchtalk@gmail.com

Tuesday 3 April 2012

Are the 'Kenny Out' brigade morons?


The short version would lean towards not entirely, but my opinion is yes they are, but lets go through the reasons for & against.
Now, the 1st reason for, is Carroll, Henderson & Downing. These guys did cost a staggering £75m or thereabouts combined and in terms of end result there hasn't been much, yes Downing was MOTM in the Carling Cup Final against Championship Cardiff City, but let's move on before I digress too much. All 3 of these players some would say are NOT Liverpool players and will do nothing but castigate their every move on the pitch during every second of a game and yes I do admit they all need to do better, but, Henderson generally plays out of position in a packed midfield, which some have asked, why sign him for £20m in the first place, but I’ll come back to that. Carroll, in the same way as Henderson isn't really being utilized in the best way, sometimes as an impact sub, & we're not getting enough crosses into him to use his aerial prowess to its fullest, but sometimes the phrase 'when in Rome applies and as Vince McMahon said on WWF Raw in 1998 to Stone Cold Steve Austin 'adaptation is key in life' (Obligatory wrestling reference no.1) and that segues nicely into Downing, who on a general basis needs to take a page out of WWE superstar The Rock's play book and start beating 'jabroni's' on the wing (another obligatory wrestling reference) to supply those crosses not just for Carroll, but Suarez to with greater regularity. The money we paid for each of these guys, was inflated to say the least, and I've often said that especially with Carroll we got raped on price, but considering all 3 are English that was always going to be the case due to Englishmen being technically inferior to most of their foreign counterparts, but grossly superior (partly due to the 6 + 5 rule) when it comes to commanding transfer fees & wages. Forgetting transfer fees for a minute these 3 men haven't delivered, but whereas players always need a season (in my opinion) to settle in, look at Drogba for Chelsea for instance or Ronaldo at Man United, most people expected brilliance from these 3 men straight away, and I've said on numerous occasions that this would be a building season after last years salvage job where a cup would be nice as a bonus but 4th place should be the focus.
Now, those 3 players the price wasn't their fault but at least with Carroll & Hendo you can say they are young, 23 & 21 respectively (or thereabouts) so they've got time to mature & develop and only a really special breed of player such as a Lionel Messi can be a world class player at 24, so to all the haters, i say give Carroll & Henderson time, and by time i don't mean a year or 1 season, i mean potentially 3-4 years. Anyway, coming back to the Kenny out brigade, for some reason even though Kenny has only been in charge just over a year and bear in mind he's won a trophy, it may not be the trophy we all want, but everyone starts from humble beginnings. As someone mentioned on our Carling Cup Final video when we were on Wembley way (which can be viewed here - http://youtu.be/VcN9-DQIblU ) Gerard Houllier started his trophy laden run in 2001 with the then Worthington Cup Final win, also on penalties, against Division one side at the time Birmingham City. This season we've still got the FA Cup to play for so we could still end up with a cup double, which wouldn't be too bad, winning both the cups we could, but if we do that, next season has to see a consistent league push & more players stepping up to the plate.
2nd reason, In recent games against Wigan Athletic (the 2-1 defeat at Anfield) & especially against QPR (the defeat at Loftus road) we've stagnated and defended horribly at times (Da Gman @dagman84 , Gezzie Fizzle @apparentlyrich & many of our Pitch Talk listeners will regularly hear me castigating defenders on shows as i am an Amateur league defender myself for IBIS FC www.ibisfc.co.uk for more info on them), with the latter we dominated a game for 75 minutes but came out losers (which was embarrassing to say the least considering we were 2-0 up!!! And the Wigan defeat rubbed it in even more!!!), and it is after the final score the points get dished out to the winners, not at 75 minutes and as I've said on many a pitch talk match update 'possession is nothing without penetration', so instead of fiddling with the bra, we need to be moving those panties to the side and aiming for penetration without mercy (and yes I am ready for the #ssljaisawrongun hash tag to be trending on twitter courtesy of my Pitch Talk co-hosts Da Gman @dagman84 on twitter & Gezzie Fizzle @apparentlyrich on twitter) but the fact remains that penetration is the key to success just like in a titty bar where money is the key to success.
Anyway, to me the Kenny out brigade needs to take a chill pill, shut the f*ck up and stop getting fished in to the media hype as the media would love to get another manager sacked, like Simon Grayson at Leeds or Lee Clark at Huddersfield Town, of Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea (which i still think was a moron move) or Mick McCarthy at Wolves, but remember boo boys, Rome wasn't built in a day and as much as football is a short term sport for some, especially greedy owners such as Roman Abramovic, remember, we are a club that built a dynasty, we are not short term thinkers like Chelsea who now have succeeded Real Madrid in terms of a revolving door of management where you pay millions of pounds to get a manager out of a contract and then they get told like AVB did that 'we have a 3 year plan for you' then a month later you get sacked after only being in charge for 8 months, we are a club that apart from Roy Hodgson (who had us in the relegation zone just over a year ago) generally gives managers at least 3 years to do what they need to do. Not everything falls into place straight away and yes Kenny isn't perfect, some say he's misguided trying to build a British looking core to the team, but i say, give a manager time to do what he needs to do as a long-term project takes a lot of the worlds greatest commodity, and remember this, mediocrity isn't excellence and time is what everyone wants more of, but everyone is so unwilling to give it in this 'microwave' age where yesterday is when everything is expected.
The Carling Cup was a start & could have been a springboard, but remember, the players need to pick up the slack first, because like with England's footballing underachievement, the manager & his tactics can only do so much, then it's the players that have do go out there and do the job.

Passion, pride, pass & move, it's not the Liverpool groove (cos I'm not singing), it's the Liverpool way, and instead of just ripping at our boyz, get behind them, not like you’re in a club and trying to grind on a lady kind of behind, but support them like a bra supports breasts, with positive reinforcement things can get better and with penetration and a couple of better players here and there (most notably on the wings for us) success isn't far away, let the parasitic media say what they will say & look long term, instead of short term like them & let the King do his ting!!!

I’m Straight Shootin' LJA & that’s my opinion


Follow me on Twitter @sslja



I am One 3rd of Monday night Football Talk Show Pitch Talk who you can follow on twitter @pitchtalk
Join us Live Every Monday Night from 8pm-10pm (UK Time) @ http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pitch-talk
For information on how to interact Live during the show check out this video - http://youtu.be/QPm_loxtq7E
Our podcast (updated weekly) -
http://ow.ly/7SStS (itunes)
http://ow.ly/7SStU (podomatic)
http://www.mixcloud.com/pitchtalk/ - (mixcloud)

For more information about Pitch Talk visit:
http://Facebook.com/pitchtalk (Become a fan, friend & member of our Facebook group)
http://Twitter.com/pitchtalk - (Tweet with us & follow us)
http://Youtube.com/pitchtalk - (view our videos)
http://Pitchtalk.blogspot.com – (View our blogs in full)
http://Myspace.com/pitchtalk - (Our myspace page)
For Enquiries – Email: pitchtalk@gmail.com

Thursday 29 March 2012


Is Messi really a Worldwide Legend or an Overhyped Domestic Super Hero?

When Lionel Messi shattered Cesar Rodriguez of spain 60 year old goal scoring record against Granada last week I had to ask myself once again, “IS MESSI REALLY A LEGEND?” Now I’ve had this argument countless times with many people, especially my pitchtalk co-hosts @sslja and @apparentlyrich (add them on twitter if you don't know about them) and admittedly my views change each time. "Of course he's a legend!"; "How can he be a legend?";  "Look at what he's done for Barcelona!";  "Look at what he hasn't done for Argentina!"; "Nah!!! Don't be stupid he's a midget!"; "Come on, he has to be he's a super midget!" All of the above statements have formulated certain views of mine in the past.

Now I know there are those of you reading this today thinking dam @dagman84 “What's up with you dude? You must be on crack, cracks one hell of a drug! (Rick James voice) or he's one crazy son of a football!! How can you even muster up an argument denying Messi as a living legend? In 7 years at only the age of 24 Messi has one thing that past legends/gods/heroes still dream about. He has broken Barcelonas all time goal scoring record of 232 goals plus to his name he has 3 champions league titles, 5 La Liga titles, 2 Fifa Ballon d’Or and a Fifa world player of the year. So then how can he not be considered as a legend?

 But as always my reply to this is and will always be "Why not?" Why can his supposed legendary status not be questioned? Maybe for Barcelona he is their player of the moment, no one can deny that true. The worldwide media love him; fans adore him; football needs him; he’s the current darling of football. Yet for me these praises can only pay tribute to what Messi has done domestically with one team that being the GREAT! Barcelona (Not AVERAGE but GREAT) because on the international stage the Messi  we have come to know throughout his week to week exploits in the La Liga and Champions League is merely a shadow of himself on the world’s biggest  stage.

This Blog was bought to you by

Yours truly

@DaGman84 aka Gavin Henry

Add me on twitter


I am One 3rd of Monday night Football Talk Show Pitch Talk who you can follow on twitter @pitchtalk
Join us Live Every Monday Night from 8pm-10pm (UK Time) @ http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pitch-talk
For information on how to interact Live during the show check out this video - http://youtu.be/QPm_loxtq7E
Our podcast (updated weekly) -
http://ow.ly/7SStS (itunes)
http://ow.ly/7SStU (podomatic)
http://www.mixcloud.com/pitchtalk/ - (mixcloud)

For more information about Pitch Talk visit:
http://Facebook.com/pitchtalk (Become a fan, friend & member of our Facebook group)
http://Twitter.com/pitchtalk - (Tweet with us & follow us)
http://Youtube.com/pitchtalk - (view our videos)
http://Pitchtalk.blogspot.com – (View our blogs in full)
http://Myspace.com/pitchtalk - (Our myspace page)
For Enquiries – Email: pitchtalk@gmail.com

Monday 12 March 2012


A Letter To Carlos Tevez

Dear Carlos,

I just thought I’d write you once again, unfortunately the last two letters I sent you didn't write back but that's cool, this time I just wanted to let you know I'm glad your back! The Premiership has been missing you and I consider you to be one of my favourite premiership players of all time. If you’re wondering what the purpose of this letter is, well I just wanted you to know I fully back you and forever will. I have been extremely incensed by the way Manchester City, the media and FA have been treating you. How dare they...! How bloody dare they treat a prolific journey man like yourself as if you’re some sort of dog! There is no loyalty in football no more!!! Doesn't a FA cup and 56 goals in 83 games mean anything these days? It's totally diabolical, if a player of your calibre wishes not to play then you shouldn't need to; even if your names on the team sheet and your sitting on the bench at the time, it’s not like your getting paid to play football is it?

I was deeply saddened when you were fined and suspended by Man City, I haven't felt this down since Adrian Mutu and Mark Bosnich were sacked by Chelsea for failing a DRUGS test and by the way who ever said a little Charlie done anyone any harm ?  Football is losing its soul, you must have heard about Luis Suarez right? He was suspended for 9 games by the FA for using racially friendly language towards that lying, physcopath Patrice Evra, also JT in court for repeating racist language that he was trying to explain he didn’t use!!! This is totally ridiculous, football has become an extremely fickle sport where it seems the footballers are being victimised for their success and lavish wealth; after all look at all you do for the sport. You turn up week in and week out to perform for your Team, Boss and Fans, I absolutely feel sorry for you guys I really do. The pressure that you’re under to be role models for millions & millions of little children around the world. Come on It’s not like when were a little lad your dreams were of becoming a highly paid footballer with influence of a president? I'm pretty sure if you knew how much pressure came with being a millionaire you would have done a normal 9-5 like me right?? Plus is anyone actually thinking about the next generation of future ungrateful stars that look up to guys like you week in week out, with the likes of you being out the game for 5 months can ruin these fragile souls development. Is anyone thinking about how badly these kids are missing out on the important lessons you share on how to be a disrespectful pampered pre-madonna? No of course not, every ones fixed on morals and good deeds! Not me sir Tevez I salute you and your fight against goodwill and decency.

Life as a premiership star must be so hard to deal with? Again i have to express how sorry for you I feel! It must get ever so taxing, some see it as a labour of love but not I, and I understand how much it can be hell. Biggie Smalls always used to say 'Mo money mo problems'... And i have to say i agree totally, the more money you have the harder it must be to make crucial decisions like should i buy a Ferrari or should i buy a Chrysler? Gucci or Ralph Lauren Glasses? Gold or Platinum watch? God knows how you do Tevez.

I couldn't you imagine a life where you are paid excessive amounts of money to kick around inflatable object for 90 minutes on a Saturday or Sunday; or having the opportunity to train with the world’s best players, coaches and sporting management staff around the world. Dam just talking about it makes me want to pass out... Getting paid to remain healthy is definitely not a lifestyle for me, I’d rather work in a coalmine; on a farm; fu@* it send me to Baghdad!  My o my so much stress and for what? Even worse god forbid you get injured and twist a knee or rupture a knee ligament it would be so annoying if you had the aid of a highly decorated private doctor or the best surgeons in the world to fix you up. Isn't life a bi@*#!

Football is losing its soul and your one of the last true footballers I definitely wouldn't want to live your life Tev! But if there was ever a day you needed some one step in for you, “I’D TAKE ONE FOR THE TEAM!”

Yours Truly
@DaGman84

Follow Me on Twitter: @DaGman84


I am One 3rd of Monday night Football Talk Show Pitch Talk who you can follow on twitter @pitchtalk
Join us Live Every Monday Night from 8pm-10pm (UK Time) @ http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pitch-talk
For information on how to interact Live during the show check out this video - http://youtu.be/QPm_loxtq7E
Our podcast (updated weekly) -
http://ow.ly/7SStS (itunes)
http://ow.ly/7SStU (podomatic)
http://www.mixcloud.com/pitchtalk/ - (mixcloud)

For more information about Pitch Talk visit:
http://Facebook.com/pitchtalk (Become a fan, friend & member of our Facebook group)
http://Twitter.com/pitchtalk - (Tweet with us & follow us)
http://Youtube.com/pitchtalk - (view our videos)
http://Pitchtalk.blogspot.com – (View our blogs in full)
http://Myspace.com/pitchtalk - (Our myspace page)
For Enquiries – Email: pitchtalk@gmail.com

Thursday 1 March 2012

Patrice Evra And Luis Suarez Have Unfinished Business

Given the lack of Luis Suarez's handshake and the subsequent lack of an apology to Patrice Evra from Suarez; I have to say that for me, the Suarez/Evra issue isn't settled.

I'm not saying this because I'm a perpetuator of hate between Liverpool and United fans, I'm quite the opposite. Some of closest and longest friends are Liverpool fans and I have a few cousins, begrudgingly, that also support Liverpool.

I RESPECTED Liverpool Football Club's history in the game of football and wider society but please don't ignore the past tense. The reason why I don't respect Liverpool Football Club any more is because I detest the way that Liverpool have carried themselves throughout the incident.

Their blind loyalty to their player was understandable yet terribly misguided and their characterisation of Patrice Evra is as laughable as it is defaming of Evra's character.
Worse than all of this however is the complete and total lack of an apology.

Before you start, I'm well aware of the apologies of King Kenny and even Suarez himself so those aren't the ones I mean, those were for the fans, the media and the Liverpool board.

The apologies I mean the apology to Patrice Evra. Liverpool Football Club haven't apologised, Kenny Dalglish hasn't apologised and Luis Suarez hasn't apologised either.

Even Prime Minister David Cameron has waded in, taking time away from running the country to say that football needs to do more to stamp out racism. Personally, I think he should be doing more to stimulate the economy but he has a valid point. It's something for the FA to do.

The FA need to intervene once again. They intervened in the curious case of Wayne Rooney and for all intents and purposes looked to have assisted in the delay of John Terry's trial but I feel that they need to intervene in the fallout of Suarez/Evra.

For me and for a lot of fans and analysts, the lack of a formal apology to Evra has tarnished Liverpool's image and legacy. A lot of other analysts and even former players who were victims of racism themselves say that this issue is over and should be swept under the carpet.

Unfortunately it doesn't solve the problem. For me and probably for Patrice Evra and his friends and family, the only thing that really resolves the issue are apologies from Liverpool Football Club and Luis Suarez.

If an apology doesn't come Patrice Evra will be well within his rights to sue Luis Suarez and Liverpool Football Club for defamation of character and psychological damages.

If the FA doesn't intervene and let's face it, it's a bit after the fact for them to be bothered and they're clearly more worried about the outcome of the John Terry trial, I think Patrice Evra should offer him out for a UFC fight under PRIDE rules.

Evra would make him tap out!


Entry by Pitch Talk Co-host Gezzie Fizzle

I am One 3rd of Monday night Football Talk Show Pitch Talk who you can follow on twitter @pitchtalk
Join us Live Every Monday Night from 8pm-10pm (UK Time) @ http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pitch-talk
For information on how to interact Live during the show check out this video - http://youtu.be/QPm_loxtq7E
Our podcast (updated weekly) -
http://ow.ly/7SStS (itunes)
http://ow.ly/7SStU (podomatic)
http://www.mixcloud.com/pitchtalk/ - (mixcloud)

For more information about Pitch Talk visit:
http://Facebook.com/pitchtalk (Become a fan, friend & member of our Facebook group)
http://Twitter.com/pitchtalk - (Tweet with us & follow us)
http://Youtube.com/pitchtalk - (view our videos)
http://Pitchtalk.blogspot.com – (View our blogs in full)
http://Myspace.com/pitchtalk - (Our myspace page)
For Enquiries – Email: pitchtalk@gmail.com

Tuesday 21 February 2012

The Carling Cup, a legacy restored?


The Carling Cup for me has often been derided (even by me) as a second rate, mickey mouse trophy which is only any good for smaller sides who want silverware & bigger teams to give their kids a run out, but this year (2011/2012) it seems different. I’m not just saying this as the team I love (Liverpool FC for suckas who want to know) are preparing to contest a Final with Championship side Cardiff City, but I say this in the aftermath of what has been a great week for Liverpool FC considering the week looked potentially gloomy to some after we lost to Bolton in the way we did, not so much in terms of the 3-1 score line at the Reebok, but the limp, lifeless and defensively inept performance that the world saw on a Saturday evening, which I had a pleasure of spending the rest of with my team mates at the Amateur league side I play for Ibis FC after our 4th league win in a row (at the time). But I digress, and as previously stated, for me the mood has changed in relation to the Carling cup. Via my personal twitter account @sslja (feel free to follow me) & the @pitchtalk twitter account me & my Pitch Talk show co-hosts (@dagman84 & @apparentlyrich) jump on to do our match updates etc, I saw not laughter or derision of the Carling Cup, but a pride in getting to the Final of the competition after a hard fought 2 legged tie with Manchester City. The reason why I feel the mood has changed & the Carling Cup seems to have got a lot of credibility back is largely down to the manner in which the Semi-Finals were played. Both Semi’s had intrigue & passion laced into a must-win attitude that not only permeated the psyche of the fans, but also the mentalities of the players, especially in the case of Liverpool & Manchester City who both put out their strongest teams available over both legs, thus showing their intent & signalling that the Carling Cup matters again. Both teams could easily have put out shadow teams but both clubs chose to play their strongest teams possible. There could be many reasons why it mattered so much to both teams, Man City wanting to win every trophy & do an unprecedented Quadruple, Liverpool wanting to try & guarantee European football next season (even if it is Europa League), King Kenny wanting to win another trophy for a club he so dearly loves, whilst interrupting a six year gap of no trophies. It’s also interesting considering last year’s final that it’s a Championship side, Cardiff City this time (as opposed to Birmingham City last year) versus a Premier League side again in the form of my beloved Liverpool fc, as opposed to serial capitulators Arsenal, (Gman if you read this, I had to take the swipe) but the Championship v Premiership final does give a bit more intrigue to it and the potential of an upset will be an interesting reason to watch the game. The motives/reasons for teams wanting to win the Carling Cup in 2011/2012 could be and probably are numerous but one thing’s for sure, in my mind & maybe many others, the Carling Cup may have its credibility back, or at least some of it.


I’ve been Straight Shootin’ LJA & that’s my opinion

Follow me on twitter @sslja
I am also One 3rd of Monday night Football Talk Show Pitch Talk who you can follow on twitter @pitchtalk

Join us Live Every Monday Night from 8pm-10pm (UK Time) @ http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pitch-talk
For information on how to interact Live during the show check out this video - http://youtu.be/QPm_loxtq7E
Our podcast (updated weekly) -
http://ow.ly/7SStS (itunes)
http://ow.ly/7SStU (podomatic)
http://www.mixcloud.com/pitchtalk/ - (mixcloud)

For more information about Pitch Talk visit:
http://Facebook.com/pitchtalk (Become a fan, friend & member of our Facebook group)
http://Twitter.com/pitchtalk - (Tweet with us & follow us)
http://Youtube.com/pitchtalk - (view our videos)
http://Pitchtalk.blogspot.com – (View our blogs in full)
http://Myspace.com/pitchtalk - (Our myspace page)
For Enquiries – Email: pitchtalk@gmail.com

Tuesday 14 February 2012

The England managers job, a tremendous opportunity or the FA’s poisoned chalice?


Some say when a manager abdicates his role as the manager of a club it’s an easy way out but for the sake of this blog entry i’ll disagree. The reason being is because of the way football clubs are run nowadays, like businesses, extremely badly run businesses. Now, a lot of people have differing views on Fabio Capello but I for one thought he did well. The stats are on his side as he had a 67% win ratio but as has been the case with a lot of England teams his team stood on ceremony in the 2010 World Cup, which left some England fans (including yours truly) disappointed again, but to me it’s one of them ones whereby the players have to pull their socks up and perform on the pitch, the manager can only do so much with what he’s got & then it’s the players duty to fulfil their potential. England generally remind me of pre-Abramovic Chelsea fc, gifted individuals but not a team who could succeed when it mattered (in the premier league in Chelsea’s case at that time). The England captaincy is the hot topic that was apparently the reason for Fabio Capello’s shock resignation, some say it was because Fabio was backing John Terry, but the more logical reason is the fact that Capello probably felt disrespected more than anything. Imagine being in his position and having a bunch of morons like the English FA taking decisions out of your hands, which directly impact on your job. I don’t advocate Capello abdicating his post, but I can understand why he did it, every heard the phrase ‘too many directors on a movie?’
I’ve called the FA, FIFA & UEFA morons & borderline retarded many times in casual conversation & on our Pitch Talk Live show because of the way they do things & this to me might be another situation where I can use that sort of verbiage. The reason why I call the FA morons in this instance is because of the way they handled the stripping of John Terry’s captaincy. If you are going to make a decision of that gravity surely you have to consult the man running your team aka your manager? Nope, in the FA’s case you don’t have to as David Bernstein & Alex Horne & the other band of morons have made a job that already was a poison chalice even more unattractive to any prospective manager. Now, that brings me neatly to my next points, who should be the next England boss & captain? To me Joe Hart gets my vote, as a Liverpool supporter i’d love to see Steven Gerrard get the nod but if England are going to take a step into the future then for me it has to be the Manchester City stopper leading England for at least the next couple of years, with Jack Wilshire (if he stays on the path he is now) being the next captain after Hart. Simple question, simple answer from me because as an Amateur league left back myself I am a firm advocate of leadership from the back, as well as leadership by example. Now, the second question, who should be the next England manager? I have said and will say again that Harry Redknapp looks like he’ll get it & I am inclined to believe he is the best man for the job but whoever succeeds Mr Capello should be allowed to do what they need to do to make England winners, without the prying and pressure of the media & without the constant interference of the morons at the FA. If any manager is to succeed, he needs a degree of control over what happens at the club/team & the players. Just like in wrestling where a booker would need total control over what talent is placed where on the card and how much they are pushed other wise that booker is hamstrung, so, with my obligatory wrestling reference out of the way I leave you with this question on this Wednesday 8th February night at 23.08, Harry Redknapp may be the favourite for the England job, but with the FA constantly meddling, an English media who do nothing but try to sabotage and bring people down & fans who expect the world, why would any manager want to take it?

I’m Straight Shootin’ LJA & thats my opinion


Join us Live Every Monday Night from 8pm-10pm (UK Time) @ http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pitch-talk
For information on how to interact Live during the show check out this video - http://youtu.be/QPm_loxtq7E
Our podcast (updated weekly) - http://ow.ly/7SStS (itunes) and http://ow.ly/7SStU (podomatic)

For more information about Pitch Talk visit:
http://Facebook.com/pitchtalk (Become a fan, friend & member of our Facebook group)
http://Twitter.com/pitchtalk - (Tweet with us & follow us)
http://Youtube.com/pitchtalk - (view our videos)
http://Pitchtalk.blogspot.com – (View our blogs in full)
http://Myspace.com/pitchtalk - (Our myspace page)
For Enquiries – Email: pitchtalk@gmail.com