Sunday 9 October 2011

And it's goodbye from me

Right, this is it. It's been an emotional journey and we have made fun of a lot of people who deserve it, whilst suffered Forest's heartbreak together. But today marks my last weekly blog. For both my readers I know this will be a sad moment, although I'm sure everyone else will be glad to have less spam on their walls on a Sunday night.

The reason for such a drastic decision comes after being made online sports editor for Redbrick, most probably the finest student newspaper about (in my unbiased opinion). This great priviledge will take up the number of hours needed to keep you all entertained every Sunday evening, so unfortunately, the blog had to give way.

However, there is no need to mourn Sporting Underachiever just yet. During holidays, such as reading week in a few weeks time, I will try my best to bring out a one-off edition. Moreover, the weekly contest between the Tipster and the Selly Oak Tramp will continue and I still can't wait to see who comes out on top of our season predictions (more on that later).

And as for the spam? Well, you can probably expect me to keep on putting stuff on Facebook, but it will pretty much all be Redbrick related (also, feel free to check out my brief interview with the women's rugby captain on the newspaper's website).

Ideally, I would have liked to have gone out on a bang, but due to being at home most of the weekend for unavoidable committments and an already growing amount of reading, it has been more difficult than I thought. And add into the fact that I only bought Fifa 12 today. Still, I hope you enjoy my thoughts and ramblings for the last time in my permanent Sunday slot.

Que pasa Carlos?
Carlos Tevez said his quotes after the Bayern Munich match, where he admitted to not coming on, were misquoted. Well, he didn't actually say that, because his English isn't good enough. His adviser, Kia Picanto, or whatever his name is, had to tell us. So maybe when Carlitos was told by Roberto Mancini to go on to the pitch, he had no idea what he was telling him. And maybe when Carlos said he hated Manchester and wanted to leave, he was misquoted again. I suppose that's all plausible. And in other news, Sepp Blatter really wants to reform Fifa and Arsenal win the Premier League.

Adios big Dilley
We can all remember the infamous, "the bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey." So in a week where Ashes hero Graham Dilley died, it's only right to re-live another bit of commentary magic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh4iF_Si_2E

Carragher doesn't know the meaning of cheating
Apparently, having a foreign coach is 'cheating.' This the supposed wisdom from Jamie Carragher, who had no qualms returning from international retirement at the last World Cup under a certain Italian manager. It's funny, because at cricket, England are the dominant force in the longest form of the game and are led by a Zimbabwean. India are led by a South African and in recent years Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have had foreign coaches. So if Andy Flower being coach of England is cheating, then I hope we continue to cheat. It's about time we dominated a sport.

And speaking of cheating, the trial of the Pakistanis accused of match-fixing began this week. I would never want to second-guess a verdict, but if you saw the video evidence last year then they are going to need a stunning lawyor to get an acquittal. Now that is cheating.

Rooney see red
I get slated every time I tell people that Wayne Rooney should not go to the Euros, but I think, for once, that I've been proved right. I hope he's banned for three matches and Fabio Capello doesn't take him to the tournament. What we don't need is a circus about when he will get back into the team, who he will replace, what formation will bring the best out of him etc. Take Welbeck, Agbonlahor, Defoe, Bent and pick one or two out of those.

Also, isn't it slightly coincidental that the surge of betting on a red card for that Motherwell game came from loads of people from Liverpool. Where's Rooney from again? (I don't generally think there is a betting scam here, but these days anything is possible).

Rugby hell
I hate the French... pricks.

Muzza on fire
Andy Murray beat Rafa Nadal in three sets, which included a bagel in the final set. He only lost four points in that set as well. Am I only the one who thinks back to Wimbledon where he was a set up and blew it? So don't expect to see me putting any of my money on him to win a Grand Slam next year. Novak Djokovic on the other hand...

Season predos
 Let's have a look whose predictions are looking a decent shout so far this season.

Premier League winner:JL: Man U
FK: Man U
RA: Man U
Current result: Umm, you guessed it

Rest of top 4:JL: Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool
FK: Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal
RA: Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal
Current result: Man City, Chelsea, Newcastle (I'm sorry what?)

Relegated teams:JL: Norwich, Wigan, Swansea
FK: Norwich, Wigan, Swansea
RA: Norwich, Wigan, Swansea
Current result: Wigan, Blackburn, Bolton

Top goal-scorer:JL: Rooney
FK: Rooney
RA: Rooney
Current result: Wazza

Number of Fernando Torres goals:JL: 10
FK: 15
RA: 10
Current result: 2

Number of Mario Balotelli goals:JL: 12
FK: 10
RA: 6
Current result: 2

Number of Emile Heskey goals:JL: 4
FK: 1
RA: 3
Current result: 1

Number of games Arsenal let a lead slip:
JL: 6
FK: 4
RA: 6
Current result: 1

Norwich overall goal-difference:
JL: -15
FK: -28
RA: -21
Current result: -3

First managerial casualty:JL: Alex McLeish
FK: Neil Warnock (JL - hope he's right)
RA: Steve Kean
Current result - Nobody

FA Cup winner:JL: Spurs
FK: Chelsea
RA: Chelsea
Current result - No idea

League Cup winner:
JL: Liverpool
FK: Man U
RA: Man City
Current result - all three are still in

Champions League winner:
JL: Real Madrid
FK: Barcelona
RA: Barcelona
Current result - Both have started well

Europa League winner:JL: PSG

FK: Liverpool (JL - should be docked a point for being ignorant)
RA: Sevilla

Current result - Not looking good for Fraser here...

Top 2 in Championship:JL: West Ham, Leicester
FK: West Ham, Leicester
RA: West Ham, Leicester

Current result: Southampton, Middlesbrough

Forest overall position:JL: 5th
FK: 5th
RA: 4th

Current result: Umm... 21st

Forest top scorer:JL: Lewis McGugan
FK: Marcus Tudgay
RA: Robbie Findley

Current result: Ishmael Miller with 3

Dele Adebola goals:JL: 3
FK: 1
RA: 3

Current result: 0

Nathan Tyson goals:JL: 10 (I'm relying on him playing 30 games otherwise this will be wrong)
FK: 4
RA: 2

Current result: 0

League 1 winner:JL: Huddersfield
FK: Carlisle (JL - who were beaten 3-0 at home by Notts County. Fraser should definitely be docked a point now)
RA: Huddersfield

Current result: Charlton

League 2 winner:JL: Shrewsbury
FK: Northampton
RA: Crawley

Current result: Southend

Blue Square Prem winner:JL: Luton
FK: Cambridge (JL - Cramp would be happy)
RA: Luton

Current result: Wrexham

And on that bombshell
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Fulham-boss-Martin-Jol-has-fined-HIMSELF-over-Chelsea-Carling-Cup-penalty-kick-row-EXCLUSIVE-article808141.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEUS5xLTPoQ

And two stories which sum everything up:http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_7225914,00.html?utm_source=twitterfeed_Football_twitter&utm_medium=twitter

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=ap-goal-linetechnology

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