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

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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

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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

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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 4^th 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

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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 8^th 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

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What a Strange Trip it’s been...Part 3

Well, I did say I may have to write this and low and behold, here I am. So, what’s happened since I last blogged about the weirdest season I’ve ever seen? Well, since Newcastle’s astonishing 4-4 draw with Arsenal at St. James Park there has been catastrophe, calamity and everything in between and it’s not just been limited to the premier league, the Champions League has caught the fever as well. Tottenham Hotspur coming back from 3-0 down to get a 3-3 draw with Inter Milan at the San Siro was absolutely insane to say the least, but even more insane is that the Champions league Quarter finals rolled around in April and made that result look like just a harbinger of things to come rather than an astonishing aberration, but more on that later. The premier league started to heat up with strange results almost on a weekly basis. I’ll condense this part slightly because there is so much that could be said, Wolves beating Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield was a shock to me, in the same way that getting your todger caught in your zip after using the lavatory is and it was that result which ended Roy Hodgson’s brief and without being disrespectful, poor tenure at my beloved LFC. Chris Hughton was shown the door after Newcastle were turned over by Bolton 5-1 and then Roberto Di Matteo’s West brom added to the humiliation by beating the Geordies as well, not without the help of some hilariously poor defending by Newcastle. So, 2 managerial casualties, and it didn’t stop there, Sam Allardyce was shown the door at Blackburn for somewhat inexplicable reasons, although the official reason was that Big Sam didn’t ‘match the ambitions’ that Venkys had for Blackburn Rovers, so Mr Allardyce became dead meat. Blackburn’s ambition was later rebuffed in January with a failed bid for Brazillian super star Ronaldinho but more on January later. So, Alan Pardew had taken over at Newcastle, Steve Kean got a promotion to the Blackburn hot seat, King Kenny Dalglish had been installed at Liverpool until the end of the season, if you are keeping up, get your head around another twist. Roy Hodgson, mastermind behind Fulham going to the Europa league final and their upper mid table existence was out of work and West Bromwich Albion were in a nosedive towards the bottom of the Premier League so they made a bold move (one that West Ham should have taken notice of) and they sacked Roberto Di Matteo. Now, this was a surprise because Di Matteo had WBA playing good football, but their defensive frailties at this point were inescapable so enough was enough and a change had to be made, so Roy was hired, and Di Matteo got fired. Let’s move and groove onto more of the rollercoaster ride that has been the 2010/2011 season. West Ham beating Manchester United in the Carling Cup 4-0 was a surprise to say the least with Carlton Cole and United old boy Jonathon Spector getting on the scoresheet at a snowy Upton Park. As West Ham’s season played out it turned out that and a win against Liverpool were to be two of very few faint glimmers of light in what was a gloomy season filled with more waste than a dustbin. Now, West Brom had made a change and it paid off for them as they started to climb the table with Peter Odemwingie putting teams to the sword but near the top it was heating up. Arsenal had been electrifying for the most part, but injuries were about to take their toll on their title challenge. The Carling cup Final was in hindsight a curse for both teams involved, forget Arsenal’s mistake/proverbial ‘dropping’ of the ball, but Arsenal after the comical defeat they suffered at Wembley to Birmingham City in the last few minutes of that game began to capitulate. A home win against Barcelona in the Champions league was put in the shade by a somewhat controversial 2nd leg at the Nou Camp where questionable decisions and goalkeeping injuries robbed Arsenal of any potential upset, but then days later Old Trafford in the FA cup another cup elimination occurred and Arsenal were truly on the ropes. Couple that with defensive deficiencies and you can see why Arsenal ended up 4th with no trophies, the Stoke match at the Britannia was hilarious for the fact that goals were coming from set pieces and a lack of steel centrally at the back and their match against my beloved Liverpool was hilarious partially because of the last minute penalty Arsenal gave us, but also because me & Da Gman were doing live commentary on that match and we went mad when our teams scored (highlights of that can be found at youtube.com/pitchtalk). West Brom v Arsenal was another hilarious one as before that match we saw the return of Mad Jens (Lehmann) due to Arsenal’s goalkeeper shortage. It gets more mad, Spurs beating AC Milan was a great achievement for them but what wasn’t so great was Joe Jordan being head butted by Gennaro Gattusso, but as if that wasn’t crazy enough in the quarter finals Spurs had a man sent off in the 1st leg within the 1st 15 minutes (Peter Crouch) and went on to lose 5-0 at the Bernabeau. Keeping up? Tremendous because the January Transfer window had madness to rival what was happening on the pitch. Darren Bent jumped from Sunderland to Aston Villa for £18m and if that wasn’t enough, for about £27m Edin Dzeko moved to Manchester City, but that was only part of the madness. Fernando Torres, Andy Carroll, David Luiz and Luis Suarez, 4 of the names that were on everyone’s lips during January and into very Early February, 3 more names, Charlotte Jackson, Andy Gray and Richard Keys are 3 other names who were on everyone’s lips but that was off the pitch and remember, the pitch is where we eat, sleep and talk so I’ll get back to matters relating to it. Torres, Carroll & Suarez, for detailed opinions on this jump over to youtube.com/pitchtalk and see myself and Da Gman talking through it but the reason i mention it here is because it was madness. Final day of the January 2011 transfer window saw Luis Suarez move to Liverpool for £22.5m, Fernando Torres move to Chelsea from Liverpool for £50m, Andy Carroll move to Liverpool for £35m and David Luis leave Benfica to join Torres at Chelsea for £25m. I was personally in denial about the Torres deal in the afternoon of the deal and we had to do the show LIVE at 8pm on Deadline Day which was madness in itself because it wasn’t until I got home that I saw the news of the Carroll and Torres deals being confirmed, a crazy day for me personally! So, we move and groove on again, My boyz Liverpool were dumped out of the FA Cup by Manchester United but I won’t dwell on that, as the FA Cup delivered its customary upsets with Everton dumping Chelsea out of the FA Cup on penalties, Stoke beating Bolton 5-1 in the semi final to reach their 1st ever FA Cup final and Manchester City beat their Manchester neighbours by a goal from Yaya Toure to reach their 1st final in 34 years, which they went on to win. The season was coming towards a dramatic end and Arsenal were nailing the coffin in their own title charge but Chelsea were doing something similar as well and their loss at Old Trafford basically signed, sealed and delivered a 19th Premier League title for Manchester United overtaking the standards of excellence set by the team I proudly call my own...LIVERPOOL FC. In all honesty I’d like to congratulate Manchester United, they’ve been the better team over the last 9 months and deserve the title, but I was angry enough not to want to watch the trophy presentation. Still, the last day of the season provided some serious drama, and that is a gross understatement. On the final day I had both my computers on and on one computer 2 of those screens were taken up by online feeds of Liverpool v Aston Villa & Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers, and my XBOX 360 provided assistance with Manchester United v Blackpool taking that screen and my other screen hooked to my pc had match casts of Spurs v Birmingham & Stoke City v Wigan Athletic. The madness of the swinging pendulum on the last day epitomized the season, 2 teams were to be relegated out of 5 potentials and the tension was truly tangible. Wolves going 3-0 down was crazy but Blackpool leading at Old Trafford 2-1. Blackpool ended up losing 4-2 but at one point Blackpool were safe with a point to spare, Wolves were in the bottom 3 and Birmingham were safe. Then it went upside down again with Wigan scoring at the Britannia & Wolves scoring twice meaning they stayed up on goals scored. Birmingham conceded, then equalized so they were teetering on the brink, then they fell off the cliff by conceding a second goal and joined Blackpool by dropping into the Championship for the 3rd time in 6 years and worse still, after winning the Carling Cup. Spurs beat Birmingham and got 5th place meaning a Europa league berth, but Arsenal’s 2-2 draw on the final day capped off a run of capitulation which even saw Manchester City pip them to third place, but, Sunderland, with no strikers put a dismal season for West Ham United to bed with a 3-0 defeat inflicted on the future inhabitants of the Olympic stadium in Stratford, London. West Ham United, rock bottom and humiliated, 2-0 up at Wigan with a chance of being safe at half time, to losing 3-2 and taking Avram Grant out back like an old horse and putting a bullet right between his eyes, come to think of it that analogy would suffice for Carlo Ancelotti as well, who was given his marching orders at the end of a trophy less season for deposed champions Chelsea, by the way the bullet in Avram’s head was only metaphorical as i wouldn’t say that he’s a horse, partially due to the fact that most have likened him to a frog. It’s a shame Blackpool have gone down, they have been a fantastic addition to the premier league and they’ve contributed every bit as much as the other 19 teams in the league, who will ever forget their 5-3 defeat at Everton which almost epitomized their season.
The Champions league final was a lot of fun, speaking as a Liverpool supporter, seeing Manchester United get their backsides played off the park by Barcelona was personally satisfying, but also it was fantastic to be down on Wembley Way again with Da Gman filming another piece of Pitch Talk history. 3 cup finals, 3 Pitch Talk videos and Pitch Talk has been a blast over the last year.

But, as the managerial merry go round continued, results have been mad, off the pitch has been crazy, upsets have happened and it has been fantastic. Even a game like Newcastle v West Brom that meant nothing on the final day still produced a 3-3 draw where the baggies came back from 3-0 down Even though Liverrpool only finished 6th, it’s been a fantastic season of ups and downs, 2010/2011 season, Straight Shootin’ LJA bids you a fond farewell, I’ve loved every second, next season...BRING IT! Football... BRING IT!

On behalf of myself (Straight Shootin’ LJA) I’d like to say a big thank you to all of our fans and supporters/listeners, thank you for being a huge part of what has been a fantastic journey during the 2010/2011 season.

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

What A Strange Trip it's been...So far (Part 2)

At this rate I may have to write a part 3 before long but the madness of this Premier League season has continued and seems to know no limits. Let me start with Sunderland v Chelsea at Stamford Bridge as that’s pretty much where I left off with ‘What a strange trip it’s been... so far (part 1), that 3-0 was crazy especially with Nedham Onuha tip toeing his way through the middle of the Chelsea defence and scoring but it's got even more insane. Liverpool being beaten convincingly at home by Wolves, which ended up costing Roy Hodgson his job, but the madness doesn't stop there. The January transfer window came in and caused some craziness but i'll stay on the pitch for now and come back to the window later.

My beloved Liverpool got Manchester United in the FA cup 3rd round which I was personally livid about, but when it came to the match itself, an extremely questionable penalty and our captain Stevie G getting sent off didn't help matters for King Kenny Dalglish's 1st game in his 2nd spell in charge of Liverpool, but Sunderland being knocked out by Burton Albion, Crawley Town proving that the magic of the FA cup is alive and very very well considering they've got into the 5th round of the FA cup and go to Old Trafford and Paul Ince's Notts County went close to knocking Manchester City out at the 1st time of asking. But going back to the Premier league Manchester United at Bloomfield road, 2-0 down at half time and playing poorly but ending up getting a 3-2 win after a fantastic performance from Charlie Adam.

Now, onto the transfers, Let's start with Darren Bent to Aston Villa for £18m, that sounds crazy right? It get's crazier, Arsenal again didn't buy any defensive reinforcements, but i guess that was to be expected, but deadline day deals went absolutely insane!!! just over £200m was spent in the January 2011 transfer window and let me break down most of how that money was spent. David Luiz finally went to Chelsea for £21m and Luis Suarez went to Liverpool for £22.8m, factor in Darren Bent to Aston Villa and that was still only part of the fun, but the biggest deals were Andy Carroll to Liverpool for £35m & Fernando Torres leaving Liverpool to go to Chelsea for £50m!!! We were fortunate enough to do our show on deadline day which was a lot of fun, i personally have never had so much fun on deadline day just trying to keep up with everything that went down, and by the time our show went live @www.playvybz.com there were still a lot of things that were unsure including the destination of Blackpool's Charlie Adam who was linked with Liverpool and Spurs even made a late bid for him and apparently Diego Forlan, and earlier in the day rumours were that they tried for Sergio 'Kun' Aguero for £38.5m!!!

Still with me? Catch your breath, there's more madness! Now, apart from Chelsea v Liverpool having the Torres back story, the Saturday before was madness (Saturday 5th February 2011), Stoke beating Sunderland 3-2 with a stoppage time goal after equalizing twice set the table for a crazy day, Everton beating Blackpool 5-3 and Louis Saha scoring 4 goals was mad enough, Spurs v Bolton had goals scored, penalties given, scored & retaken, but Arsenal, oh Arsenal, and Da Gman may not forgive me for saying it but Arsenal messed up monumentally at St. James' park on February 5th 2010!!!

Arsenal went 3-0 up within 10 minutes of the match and after 26 minutes they were 4-0 up, all of us thought...done deal, especially after 3-0, but in the second half Newcastle staged a come back that can only be encapsulated in 1 word 'ASTONISHING'!!! To cut a long story short, the game ended 4-4 and for the 1st time in the Premier League for any team, we saw a 4 goal lead surrendered in one game, let alone in 45 minutes!!! Saturday was another record breaker, for the 2nd time this season, as the weekend Man United obliterated Blackburn Rovers 7-1 where Pascal Chimbonda was molested worse than a Gary Glitter victim and that game ended up causing his contract to be terminated in January, but still, i digress.

Manchester United on the same day as Arsenal's 4-4 draw losing 2-1 to Wolves at Molineux, just another complete surprise of a result, which was even more surprising after United opened the scoring after 3 minutes!!! The day after threw up another surprise, my boyz Liverpool beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to earn our 1st double over Chelsea in the Premier League and our 1st back to back away wins in 17 months, but even more surprising, we nullified the £50m mans chances almost totally and after all the hype around him scoring on his debut he was subbed for Kalou after about an hour or so!!! The madness this season so far has been a joy to watch, as well as being frustrating as a Liverpool fan at times but with the managerial merry go round spinning constantly (Di Matteo got sacked literally on the day I finished this blog) Newcastle v Arsenal 4-4 draw inspired me to write this blog entry which I hope you've enjoyed and if this madness continues, there WILL be a part 3.

I'm The Straight Shootin' One, And thats my opinion!!!

Liam Angell aka Straight Shootin' LJA