Scholes Throws a Party, The Sun Throws it’s Toys.

"Lets all have a MASSIVE party!"

Reading the BBC’s Gossip Column today I saw in the “And finally” section that The Sun is reporting on Paul Scholes having spent £100,000 on his 10th wedding anniversary. Describing the event as a “100k knees-up” they positively exclaim that he has “changed the habits of a lifetime” in throwing the party. I think this sort of hysterical, over the top reporting, while completely predictable from The Sun, is completely ridiculous.

Now, although I willingly acknowledge that footballers today earn far more money than they probably know what to do with, I don’t think The Sun really needs to be picking on Paul Scholes for splashing out on his wedding anniversary. Yes, one may question his choice of entertainment, as the BBC informs us that he has hired “X-factor singer Laura White” (who?!) for the occasion, but to each their own I always say.

All quiet on the western front…

Hi everyone.

The site has been pretty quiet for the past couple of days, apologies for that but there are a couple of decent reasons. First of all I spent the majority of the weekend writing a 3500 word philosophy of language essay on Frege’s theory of meaning including an analysis of the plausibility of the existence of abstract objects and platonism. It was as bad as it sounds.

Secondly, the international break. While there are arguably still plenty of games going on, the only one I feel really informed enough to write accurately about is England and apart from the rather hysterical analysis Capello’s (and Beckham’s subsequent) comments over Rooney’s temperament, there hasn’t been too much to cover, and having already written about Gerrard being the ideal front man to partner Rooney, a response to the injuries sustained in the Slovakia match seems unnecessary. When you factor in that I wasn’t able to view any of the international matches on NZ TV, it makes even match reports or comments on the fixtures impossible.

So, rather than writing boring and pointless articles that recover old ground, I decided to have a couple of days off. Plus, having written plenty about philosophy, I was quite happy to not write for a while. I did though, create a ‘twitter’ account for this site, which is probably pointless but will see me make the odd comment about something that I see in football news. Sometimes that may be elaborated on in an article or just left as a passing mention, but either way, there is a ‘Live Commentary’ widget in the sidebar that should keep you up to date with my ‘tweets’. If you want to ‘follow’ me on twitter, my user-name is TTIAOblog. Imaginative eh?

So hopefully I will find some inspiration soon, no doubt something contraversial will happen over the next few days, but either way, expect me back sooner rather than later (probably tomorrow).

All the best,
thanks for reading.

King Tim Cahill: An Everton Legend.

Tim Cahill and a Cute Dog: restoring the faith in the Premiership-era footballer.

It’s a good time to be an Evertonian. I try not to gush too much on this blog, but sometimes, the heart will out. This, I’m afraid is one of those times. But it’s a good time to be an Evertonian, not just because we’re having another good season on the pitch (despite the torrid beginnings) but because the squad of players, the manager, and the board make me proud to be an Evertonian.

Most of football is seeing a wealth of foreign money, investors who have no emotional interest in their clubs and players who are just looking to make a quick buck and trying to snag a couple of trophies in the process. Not at Everton though. We have a Chairman who is as much of a fan as I am, a manager who is building a dynasty with charisma and dignity and a bunch of players who are genuinely honoured to pull on their jerseys each week, who we fans can actually relate to.

England Solutions: Killing Two Birds with One Stone

Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard: together at last?

Looking at Fabio Capello’s latest England squad, it is more apparent than ever that the English national side suffers very much from a lack of real firepower. Apart from Wayne Rooney, we have no real goal threat and even Rooney himself is not a prolific goalscorer, in many ways he is more valuable as a creative player than as an out and out goal poacher.

In many ways I think, given the wealth of midfield players that we are cursed blessed with, one would almost wish that we could trade in a world class midfielder for a world class striker. But hang on a second, why don’t we?

New England Kit: A Return to Glory?

The new England kit: can it spark a return to glory for the Three Lions?

For a while now English football fans have been waiting with bated breath to see the kit that our players will wear as they attempt, once more, to bring football home with an assault on South Africa in the 2010 World Cup (provided we don’t cock up qualification again).

Now it seems that pictures of the new kit have actually, legitimately leaked, and I reckon it’s not only nice, but it’s a statement about the progression (or regression) of the English national side.

Portsmouth Mercenaries: Why they deserve to be relegated.

Leighton Baines' sublime free-kick served as a stark contrast to the tragedy of football that Portsmouth inflicted upon most of today's match.

Before I begin this article proper, I will acknowledge that is likely to contain some bias. I have been inspired to write it because this morning I watched Everton lost to Portsmouth, and I’m a little bitter. Everton did not play as well as we know they can, but also the manner in which Portsmouth played the game was disappointing. So yes, this is reactionary to our loss, but I still feel it is a worthwhile article, and that the points I intend to make are worthwhile. Importantly, they are points that would hold even if Everton had comfortably beaten Portsmouth today, and so I hope you will forgive any bias that creeps in.

Let’s begin then. The match today was not a great spectacle by any means. Everton as usual in recent months were hampered by an obscene injury list, yet they started brightly, dominating Pompey and going ahead after just a couple of minutes courtesy of a Leighton Baines free kick. Then though, the game changed.

Portsmouth, after the shock of going behind and the evidence provided by the first few minutes that proved that they couldn’t match Everton in terms of quality, turned to Plan B: to bully the Everton players out of the match. They are an enormous side, seriously massive, with big, strong, tall players all over the pitch. Indeed, it is perhaps this that results in their poor performances – they’ve opted for size rather than skill.

Premiership Predictions

Portsmouth vs. Everton
Last week Portsmouth and Middlesbrough played out a draw that did neither side much good, and they’ll see it as an opportunity missed. Pompey’s game against Everton today should be much tougher, but the Toffees will not be taking their trip lightly as they know that they face a team scrapping for their survival, and that can bring out the best in some teams. Everton’s injury list continues to hamper them with Yobo the latest to squeeze into the treatment room, with Tony Hibbert and Tim Cahill also nursing knocks. Who knows how Moyes will squeeze a side together, but so far this season they have kept producing results and I believe they may repeat the trick again today. It’ll be a battle though.
Prediction: 1-2.

Blackburn Rovers vs. West Ham United
West Ham sit pretty in seventh in the Premier League and can look at Blackburn’s perilous position with smug glee all over their faces: it could so easily have been them. Zola has worked his magic, but this will be a tough trip for the little Italian’s side. They’re starting to pick up some end-of-season niggles as the season catches up with them and they may not fancy it today against a physical Rovers side. Allardyce will have his team fired up for their scrap for survival and home games will be the key. They will want to make the most of a home advantage and will probably outfight the Hammers today.
Prediction: 1-0.

Fair Play: A European Adventure

Man City: taking advantage of UEFA's stupidity.

Man City overcame AaB Aalborg on penalties yesterday after slumping to a 2-0 defeat in the second leg. The club-formerly-known as a yo-yo club and now derided for being the World’s Richest Club came very close to being Eliminated from the UEFA Cup, and indeed any travelling fans must have thought they’d blown it when Evans conceded a late penalty. But it is a wonder they are there at all, when you think about it.

Manchester City were, according to the final Premier League table, the 9th best team in English football last season. The ‘big four’ took the four Champions League places, Everton and Villa finished 5th and 6th respectively, qualifying for the UEFA Cup, and Portsmouth won the FA Cup (and finished 8th) to secure their passage in European competition. Blackburn Rovers, who finished 7th in the Premier League last season, didn’t qualify for the UEFA Cup.

Guest Blog: Seven Years in the Sun

Hi everyone,
Today I’ve written a blog over at Soccer Fan Base celebrating David Moyes’ recent seventh anniversary as manager of Everton Football Club.

Seven years is a long time both in and out of football and I believe David Moyes deserves the respect, admiration and thanks from football fans, and Everton fans in particular, for his years of service to the game of football and to Everton Football Club.

Click through (or click the header)  to read the article at Soccer Fan Base…

United’s Number Seven

The three musketeers: but can Ronaldo topple Beckham and Best?

Mauraone Fellaini unveiled a new haircut during Everton’s match against Stoke this weekend, and after the midfielder’s form had dipped of late, it seemed to give him a new lease of life, and indeed he played more like the lithe and agile Steven Pienaar who’s styling he now shares than the awkward lanky ‘fella we’d been seeing in recent weeks – he didn’t even get booked! That got me thinking about another player who has visited the barber lately, and how we might compare him to his predecessor.

I’m sure many of the female followers of the game will have noticed Cristiano Ronaldo’s questionable new hairstyle, that bears a striking resemblance to a mohawk without quite mustering the courage to go the whole hog. However, whether or not you approve of Ronaldo’s hairstyle is really rather irrelevant – for some reason I picked it up as a lead in to a comparison to the previous occupant of Manchester United’s number seven jersey, David Beckham, who of course was another ‘pretty boy’ who perhaps paid rather too much attention to his hair.