Brushing it under the carpet

The papers today will be full of the usual "sky four" fodder
according to them Man United have won the league, Chelsea are re-born and Rafa has cocked up again(all have a modicum of truth),meanwhile Arsenal are a long distant memory and media darlings Aston Villa have started to stumble...all of this has overshadowed one of the most horrific tackles(if you can call common assault a tackle) to be seen in the Premiership in quite some time.Kevin Nolan's two footed lunge was nothing short of stomach churning and due to the fact that his victim Victor Anichebe stood up and has not been seriously injured has allowed it to be glossed over by most of the mainstream press.In the month that Eduardo returned from his lengthy absence,why has Nolan's brutal challenge not been so highly reported?
After all the crunching tackle on the Arsenal hitman is still being talked about with so much venom.
Maybe its because Anichebe hasn't been left with a vomit inducing injury,or maybe its just because it was a tackle on a Everton player of no real profile?
Whatever the reason is it's wrong!
This is the sort of tackle that we are meant to be banishing from the game,and just because its committed by a player who "isn't that type of player" why should it be so overlooked?
My passion may have been accentuated by the fact that it's a blue blooded fellow toffee that has been clattered but even if this had been the other way round I would be calling for Big Vic to be heavily punished(three games just isn't long enough)
In a game that was disappointing in many ways,this was a true low light and I for one will hate Nolan from this day onward..I'm not buying his apology or remorse.
If only we could have stuck a few goals past 'em to lighten our heavy hearted mood as we waited for the bad news about both Vic and Mikky...
And as it gets brushed under the carpet for news on the Champions League I hope its binds us together for our now even tougher run in...
COYB

Negotiating the Maze

Being married has many upsides, but apart from the obvious love,care and regular wotnot...

The main upside of meeting my good lady wife has been the way she has expanded my palate...
When we met I was a cul -de -sac of nutrition by Iceland,but in the years we have been hitched I have blossomed into a gastro ponce of the highest calibre.
Along with my taste buds being led down a culinary path and my stomach discovering all manner a new joys a terrors...I now love to eat out....It's has become a genuine passion.
So last night to celebrate the 4th year of our union we went to Maze Grill a Grosvenor Square based eatery that comes under the Gordon Ramsey umbrella.
With Jason Atherton at the helm this is a chic and understated establishment,In the main restaurant the food nods to the head chef's time at El Bulli,but in the grill you can expect fabulous meat and delectable sides.We opted for the grill,we were led to our olive green leather C-shaped seating by our attentive waiter, being allowed to settle before being asked what liquid pleasures we fancied I choose the classic Ricard and Nix had an apple and sage martini.The martini had that dangerous "I could drink that all night" vibe about it,and the Ricard...well you can't bugger that up,so onto the menu.
We were then shown the goods,our waiter brought over the slabs of varyingly aged and priced beef like a drug dealer with his best stash,he told us all about the texture,taste and history of the delicious looking flesh and then scurried off to get our starters.The menu allows you to mix 'n' match in a tapas stylee,so that's what we did, ordering- soft shell crab,beef and pimento peppers,salt and pepper squid and last but not least pigs on toast(bone marrow served on small toasts with Parmesan and rocket).
All were good with the soft shell crab rising to the top,it was a deep fried wonder, crunching first then bursting with ozone, a sweet seafood treat.
The sommelier then helped us pick out a well priced Alamos Bondara(big Argentinian red) to accompany our eagerly anticipated steaks,my wife went for the Hereford grass fed 25 day aged sirloin,I opted for the Casterbridge grain fed 21 day rib eye.To truly bust the belt buckle we added fries,and gratin to go with it,after all what is steak without frite?
The beautifully seared meat was presented on wooden boards along with the sides and a hand mixed at the table steak sauce ,which was sweet,tangy and with a little background heat.Mine was a perfect woosie medium and my cave women wife had hers blue.The chatter stopped and into the quiet world of masticating we sank,only breaking the silence to remark on how much we were both enjoying ourselves.The boards were wiped clean and the debris was cleared by the well drilled staff,then came the desert.........
A bitter chocolate brownie and selection of cheese,job done....
Just to add a little fuzz to my now pleasure engulfed body I had a 12year old Rosebank.
The combo of the decadent dark chocolate and tart cheeses washed down with the heady water of life really ended this experience on the right note.
Then came the bill.............
£170 notes, that included a pretty healthy tip..not bad at all.
To sum it up-
Nice atmos,great staff,great grub and not to steep a mark up on the booze...
Also this place does a very reasonable set lunch,well worth a look....
So on with the coats and off into the drizzle to hail a cab to speed us northward to change into
elasticated trousers.....
Maze Negotiated

606,108 and 2nil

Lastnight saw me huddled around the glow of my laptop cursing my broadband speed due to the fact my wife wanted to watch Masterchef(It doesn't get tougher than this!).So onto the ITV website I went and the buffering commenced...This was a night for a great moment in one players career a one off mistake in an others and countless bleating and the bog standard par for the course bilge from Joe Public.

So the match in short from a English point of view was a hotch potch of clumsy play, disjointed tactics and due to cup involvements and title chases abit lacking in real effort.....

But really what did we really expect?

Well according to the average moron that rings up the dick personified that is Alan Green we expected us to maul the best passing side in the world of course!

Whether you like Becks or not to compare him to the sentimental vision of Bobby Moore is ridiculous beyond belief...Moore never won a European cup,league championship,and F.A cup treble or played for the biggest clubs in the world.But Becks never lifted the World Cup and never will,Moore also has what I like to call the Lennon affect.....

We all know that on the back of Beatles records it says Lennon/McCartney but its called John Lennon Airport....and so Moore has the advantage of dying tragically...this ups the tinted specs and rosey filter.

I never saw Moore play live or met him so I don't know if he was a "true gent" and a giant on the green stuff...and Becks persona is probably why people don't like him,lets face it us British hate success, good looks and pride in your country....That's why I think that Bobby would have welcomed Becks achievement 'cos after all successful,good looking and proud of his country were all things he was...

So back to the game...

After a encouraging first 20minutes we started to look ragged,the midfield clearly weren't doing a good enough job they were neither creating or defending...and the front two were a target that couldn't be reached,then one of the best defenders in the country made a rare error.

Phil Jagielka had made it look easy up to this point saving calamity James's blushes and tracking Torres manfully but with the midfield standing round looking at the majestic Xavi and Iniesta Jags tried to pick out a pass to someone who wasn't there,seconds later both him and John Terry looked like dizzy children as David Villa slalomed round them and coolly slotted home past James.

The first half eventually ground to a halt and then came the even more painful viewing of ITV's punditry.Tea was brewed and a jimmy was taken......

The start of second half brought five changes and a 108th cap for David Beckham,England continued to look clueless and my interest wained.I flicked between the live feed and the BBC's 606 but little did I know what horror was on the horizon.....Carlton Cole came on and they scored,a good delivery a towering header and some poor defending so nothing new there then...off went the lappy.On went the kettle and the radio...What a schoolboy error!
It wasn't long til my limbs were tense and my mouth full of expletives just bursting to come out,the people that ring in to just mock,complain and deride get on my tits...Green helps wind them up naturally...but I don't get their problem?
Yes we didn't play well,but Spain were at home and bang up for it...and if you watch footy regularly you will know occasionally your domestic team does the same as England did they go missing,and are you telling me that all of the moaners that complain about prima Donna's and other cliches go into their dead end jobs and bust the humps everyday regardless...Bullshit..
Its another example of this countries problem with success...if you make pots of dough it wont be long til some div questions your integrity or if you are worth your fortune..They will no doubt see it as fluke or corrupt..You cant win...They build you up and then knock you down twice.
I know it sounds foolishly optimistic but I believe that had lastnight been in a competitive environment with the full squad it would have been alot different...3nil perhaps!!!!
Seriously.. I'm a half full kind of bloke,maybe that's why I will never ring 606...Maybe that's why I support Everton and maybe that's why the Becks/Moore debate makes no sense to me..
Because surely instead of playing the two off against each other shouldn't we be swollen with pride that they both had the 3 lions across their chests.

meme the results......

1.MC5-I want you right now
2.The Cribs-Things you should be knowing
3.Ray Charles-I found my baby there
4.The stone roses-Going down
5.Marion-Vanessa
6.Mudhoney-The money will roll write in
7.Lambchop-A day without glasses
8.Flight of the concords-Think about it
9.Scott Walker-Next
10.Gene-Cast out the seventies
11.Tchaikovsky-Nut cracker
12.Walker Brothers-First love never dies
13.Suede-High Rising
14.Marion-Lets all go together
15.Ike and Tina Turner-I cant believe what you say.
16.Dee Clark-Nobody but you
17.Bauhaus-Dancing
18.MSP-PCP
19.The Smiths-Some girls are bigger than others
20.SFA-(A) Touch sensitive

Sort that one out STAXX....

I take it all back......Well not all of it...

In a earlier post I made one of my classic sweeping statements which I've decided to amend,having just watched Dead Set,all five episodes back to back(yes it's a slow day)
I must say someone did give a chance to someone and that person was Mr Charlie Brooker
and he came up trumps.....
Dead Set was something I missed first time around and thanks to the on demand revolution
I've now feel enlightened...It is brilliant.
Flesh eating Zombie madness of the highest order...
As for the Death of TV...
The monitor has started beeping again and we have white eyed skin rippers to thank for it....

I'm alright Jack...actually I'm better than alright...

As the euphoria of the derby win dissipates and the groggy feeling that a few light and lagers tends to cause eases, there is a glowing blue aura the has emanated from me like the Readybrek man ever since.Of course it's due to the victory over the team from across the park,and in part it's due to the manner of the victory(deep in extra time) but the main reason for this royal blue haze is the performance of one player in particular......

Jack Rodwell.

While 19 year old Dan Gosling will take the plaudits and headlines and rightly so, his teammate and fellow teen Jack Rodwell for me was the true joy to watch.At 17 he really is a great prospect but even though his star is most definitely in the ascendancy to Everton fans its comes as no surprise.He was the under 16 England captain,he scored the first winning goal at the new Wembley and has been highly regarded in blue nose circles for a couple of years now....

But the other night he took the pitch in the 59th minute and even though it was a derby, a replay and a cauldron of a atmosphere he made it look like he had made 100 appearances plus...
His composure, class and physical presence were something to make even the most hardened toffee get all misty eyed.You can spend all the money in the world but seeing a local lad don the shirt and develop into a true gem is the greatest feeling a fan can have....ask Liverpool fans..Gerrard is a talisman to them,it's the same with Noble at West Ham and Downing at the Boro...
These local born lads know what it is to love the club that neutered them and play with every ounce of their being to emulate their heroes.
Rodwell is the kind of player that the likes of Chelsea would love to have and who knows for a colossal fee(around 30mil would be about right) they probably could have.But for now he is a Evertonian and I for one will hope that's how it stays because he truly is an England star in the making and a very rare thing in this day and age....he's a homegrown talent, not a foreign foetus smuggled in from a feeder club that negates a loop hole in FIFA's hole ridden structure.
He's homegrown,one of ours, a toffee, a royal blue rough diamond just waiting to be cut and polished....and with master jewellers Moyes and Co at the tools all being well Goodison Park could soon be garnished with another 24carat sparkler...