2013 Is A Coming!

Not written in here for a little bit so thought I should whack something up before we make it into 2013! Can't  say it'll be anything worth reading though!

So before we start, another pet peeve of mine is certainly Twitter/FB related and it's all this bloody moaning about the past year and saying how the new one is going to be a fresh start etc. It's bollocks. I'm fairly sure you're the same people who say the same thing every year. It's ridiculous, like just because we're in a new year you get some kind of new lust for life or something. No. Nothing changes, it's just the same as it was, except maybe a few people get a bit more drive. But I'm fairly sure you'll be the same fuckers moaning again at the end of 2013 saying bring on 2014! Sort it out.

It's not just the annoying cliché which is what pisses me off, it's what actually caused you to feel so sorry for yourself. As that's what it is, self pity, however you choose to dress it up. Oh has your 2012 left you utterly penniless, with no hope, maybe some loved ones passing away, and an incurable illness? Because if it's none of the previous, then it's really not been that bad a year. You're clearly still doing well enough to fucking Tweet in the first place! Imagine being in a 3rd World Country? Imagine being genuinely less well off? Being homeless and in a shelter, or your partner of 20 years plus passing away. THAT is something you can feel hard done by about - without a doubt, and I wouldn't dream of even questioning it. But it's not that. You're spoilt, and you moan about the smallest things. It's such a shame that people don't understand how lucky they are!
One of my followers said this earlier, I won't name and shame because I think she's a lovely girl who is very upbeat usually and I enjoy her tweets but today she basically said "Apart from all the nice holidays and getting a great job 2012 has been a shit year, bring on 2013!"
That utterly sums up my point. Look at that, how lucky is that person - I didn't have any holidays this year but I've not and won't complain at all. Unemployment is a horrible issue in this country, with so many people struggling to get ANY work. By my reckoning, 2012 has been a great year.

I think you get my point. Hopefully some of you share this pet peeve also.

So New Years Resolutions, who's doing them? I've never ever even considered one because I think it's bollocks. I quit smoking when I wanted to, and weaned myself off of them over 6 months, and I did that randomly in the middle of the year. It's willpower and I don't need some bullshit resolution to make me do it! However, this year I'm going to be a hypocrite and do one!
What is it? It's actually to give more/do more for charity. I've decided simply by being able to write this blog in my flat with my lovely wi fi with my central heating watching tv etc, that I'm already so lucky that doing some more for charity isn't very tricky and won't bankrupt me!
I've already begun by changing my work salary stuff, so that I automatically donate a small amount each month to a charity of my choice AND I helped paint a youth centre climbing hall thing for disabled kids which I found hard work but really rewarding. So I'm going to do more this year, donating and volunteering when I can. If anyone else is thinking the same or maybe after reading this, feels the same, let me know! :-)

Anyway, enough of this - I'm going to stop now and wish you all a Happy New Year, a great 2013, and let's hope it's better than 2012 ;-)

Dan

Time For Something New

I'm writing this just as Ella is about to sing for her X-Factor future. In what is probably a bottom two that no one could predict, she's up against competition favourite James Arthur. Is it maybe due to low ratings that the  producers decided to make things a bit more exciting? I mean SO many people seem to be these two's biggest fans - surely they had countless votes? I doubt that most people who support these guys even bothered to vote, so to me, there anger/being upset is invalid in my opinion. But it's fine, it's typical of us as a nation. We always prefer to have a moan and point fingers from afar rather than taking action. It's how we roll.

Anyway, in what must be the millionth X-Factor, to me a show that constantly gets worse year by year, with joke or judges of worse and worse calibre. Viewings are slipping, and frankly every year is far too often. By the time it finishes in time for X-mas, it starts up again a few months later. It's like Big Brother, but shitter.

So I propose a change, something a bit different. Let's stop the same old boring shite AND remove our ability to have control yet still moan! The format is basic, a music show uncovering talent of course. I'd want it to be similar to The Voice, in that it already weeds out the shit contestants. It's a singing competition not some joke, so you only get to see the decent people.
I'd then want to actually give the public the chance to vote for what song the artist sings instead. This is in my head and probably a shit idea, but go with it for a moment. Then sometimes I can throw in a cheeky curveball of a song, a bit of banter, maybe a bit of 'Gangsta's Paradise'. Who knows. It gives the public a chance to have an input BUT the actual artists progress due to 3 impartial judges. The judges will be seasoned pro's who know talent and they decide who goes home. So no reliance on voting and people getting outraged at other members of the public - yet they get to feel a part of things still.
I probably wouldn't have any cats (groups, over 30's etc) - just one massive pool of talent. And all judge is impartial and maybe has no interaction with the people - apart from hearing them sing each week. They get tutored or mentored by some rogue perhaps.

I'd strip back all the nonsense, the madness, and the horrible obviousness about creating fake drama to generate viewers and money. It would just be music... and a fit presenter.

Love vs Money

I don't like hippy's. I don't like anything about them. To be they are basically just glorified pikeys. They 'love the world...man', they often don't have jobs or at least permanent ones that mean something. They hate any kind of corporation and authority, and feel they never need money because they have love. 

Love doesn't keep you alive though, strangely, you need money for food and water for that. You preachy fucks.

1-0 reality vs optimism 

There's a saying, and it seems to be able to switch between two key variables, pending on your views, which is:

Love Makes The World Go Round

&

Money Makes The World Go Round

Now, which one of the two are you? One is the eternal optimist, the other is the realist. I don't think it'll take much guessing to work out which side of the fence I sit in. 

The strangest thing is, that being one doesn't mean you can't be the other. They aren't opposites, one is  a feeling - and is entirely dictated by yourself. The other is a situation, it's influenced by your but not controlled. You can't just say I want to be a millionaire one day and it happens. You can fall in love alot easier than you can becoming rich. 

What I've tend to find is that people who are all about the 'love' often haven't experienced what it's like to be well off. Whilst those who are rich, have experienced love, so they've had it all, so to speak, and what do they believe? Money is more powerful than love, obviously. Only a moron would think otherwise. 

I've never been rich, I doubt I ever will be, but I still am normal enough to understand that money is more powerful than a feeling or emotion. Fine, I'm sure many of you would take being in love with someone over, say £100. Of course, that is understandable.

 But what about £5 million? Who would seriously turn that down? I think you're lying to yourself if you say you'd pass that up. Imagine the doors it would open - and it's easy to double that 5 into 10 million and so forth. Love will come back around for you, if you're smart enough to avoid the gold diggers (you don't have to tell anyone you're a millionaire do you, in fact you don't even have to change your lifestyle. That's just a choice people make).

To try and put it into even more context. What if basically you had this choice, you've found your true love and are happy, but both in pretty shit jobs, renting an average flat, but both have aspirations for something more. Anyway one day some absolute hero appears and says 'come with me, to Australia, and I'll give you £5million, but we have to leave now and you cannot tell your partner'. It's all genuine (obv, to make this example work, as whilst would be banteriffic if it was some elaborate setup, I assure you it's not). Would you go? The rule is then you have to live in Oz (or a country of your choice) and cannot take your partner, the fact I called her your true love, is obviously debatable, how do you know, have you met every woman on the planet? 

So now you can start afresh, single, but a multi millionaire, with the world as your playground. In fact after let's say 3 years you can even return home and try to track your Ex down and make it work with them again if you want.

Would you do that? ANYONE who says no. I don't believe you. We shall duel, with sticks, upon a rickety bridge, until one of us becomes the victor (I'll print you a t shirt saying 'I love...love' or something)

As usual I sort of forgot my point, I think it was inspired by overhearing someone the other day say how they'd happily be poor for all their life, as long as they were together with their true love. And that no amount of money would change that situation (i.e. they'd turn down my offer of a million quid). I think that's bollocks. They've not experienced the situation of having that money so how can they say that. I just think that people who say how love is more powerful than anything, don't live in a real world. You'd honestly rather be poor? Love is what you make it, and the funny thing is, most people end up 'loving' more than 1 person in their lifetime. Think how many bf's/gf's you have in your lifetime, how many of them you've said you love. It decreases the emotional value of 'love' everytime you say it to someone new. If you've only ever said it to one person (and you're over 30, let's give it some context at least) then fair enough to you, and maybe you can be excused from this. 

The truth is, and as shallow as it sounds, money is what makes the world go round. Having it doesn't make you a worse person, or incapable of love, it doesn't even make it harder to find - the right person is still out there - it's just how you choose to find them. I just think people should be a bit more grounded and realistic about things than have an endless optimism and trying to recreate loves young dream. It's ridiculous. 

Whilst my offer isn't of course a real thing, it was more a point to make, and if anyone would actually decline the offer, I'd like to hear about it, and why. Because I'm not sure I believe you. It may seem cold hearted and whatnot, and yes I've dropped the old L bomb before - but that's my point, it didn't change anything. I didn't just suddenly think oh well I've got that so I don't really need to work or become successful anymore.

Anyway, point made. Which is, I hate hippies. 

(This blog post is full of generalisations, sweeping statements and stereotyping. Course it is, I need to make my points valid :-) ) 

The Old Dating Game...

THE BORING EPILOGUE (skip this bit if you want the crux of the blog! It's more personal and includes at least 2 feelings!)

Ah, dating, dates, 'seeing' someone, all that stuff before you get the nitty gritty of actually becoming a couple, if you ever do of course. Some people love this, some people dislike it. I'm somewhere in the middle I guess.

The inspiration for this post is that whilst I've been single for a while now, but there was someone who I was pretty close with over the last half a year and spoke with alot, thought we were going to give things a go but she decided she didn't want to in the end. Normally that's fine, but I guess one of the downfalls of Twitter is that I had to see her flirting with other guys whilst telling everyone she was single and looking - which really started making me feel like shit, and something that happened last month sort of really made me realise she wasn't serious about me. Shame, I was incredibly fond of her, still am. Sob.

It's fine. Life goes on, I hope she doesn't get fucked over by this other guy. Being told to do one has  happened to us all I'm sure. I guess if it hasn't now is the time for you to point and laugh at me. Anyway, I'm not sure currently I can deal with seeing her get with someone else, as I'm one of those blokes who get's all a bit caught up in these things - so I have to try best to just move on and the best way by doing that is getting back into the 'dating game'!


THE MAIN BIT (all the personal rubbish shit has been said, read on for normality!)

However, times have changed - no longer can I just approach a woman in a bar and get her number to arrange a date another time. Not that I ever could do that before, I don't have the bottle/confidence/borderline arrogance, I'd need to get drunk before even beginning conversation with a complete stranger and by then I'll probably say something ridiculous as it's fair to say I'm not the best drunk.

Anyway, luckily for me I'm living in the age of THE INTERNETZ! Where actually meeting someone in person is fully discouraged and instead replaced by being an online persona where I can cower behind a computer screen whilst saying what I want to who I want and not really having to care. With this, comes something that is actually new to me, dating websites. I've never used them before, not because of the stigma linked to them, that never really bothered me, just for the principle of having to pay for essentially meeting someone. Least in person whilst it costs to buy drinks, I get drunk as well! So yeah I've decided to join one that a few people have recommended. I go into it with no real idea what to expect, but equally I'm not nervous nor should I be, as it's just a virtual reality of sorts. However I suppose the real nerves will come into play if no one is interested in me, and I'm just a massive failure, after all I'm horrifically un-photogenic and never know what the fuck to write to someone. In fact that's more than just nerves, that's massive self-pressure, if I can't do ok at this, what hope is there!

Speaking of writing, you also have to have those silly introduction bits, interests and what not. I can't write them for shit and aren't really in the mood for giving too much away. What I've noticed is most people agree and tend to just write a really generic middle of the road type thing. Almost every woman's that I've read so far has said something along the lines of "really like to go out, but equally love a night in on the sofa". Great, who the fuck doesn't. Not sure I needed you to say that as don't know who'd actually put "FUCKING HATE INTIMACY SO TRY NOT TO TOUCH ME, DON'T OWN SOFA, PREFER SITTING ON A BOX". Does it need to be said?
Then there's the whole put up a series of pics - going back to my unphotogenicness, it's just not good. I hate it. I only have about 2 pics of me (not including my Twitter one, but not sure that's a good look on a dating site!) so not much variety. Sod it.

Then as if all that isn't enough, I have to stipulate what I'm looking for! Well, I don't want to be 'funny' but I don't really care, I'm clearly single and looking, do I really need to be super picky as well!? Maybe they should just make a tickbox with options like 'fit', '6 pinter' etc? I make a few preferential choices, but really it's just guesswork, I don't have a fucking clue what I'm looking for, ex's and girls I've seen before have all been very different, for example, hair colour doesn't remotely bother me. I like blonde's, brunette's, black's, red, pink, whatever, I don't mind!

Then what the hell do you put in a message? Do you just say hi? That's pretty boring and can easily just be copy and pasted to 1 million (said in Austin Powers voice) girls. Do I write something that shows I've read their profile and maybe ask them a question about it? Or is this too invasive for a first message. WHAT DO I DO. I always do read the profile as I'm interested in them, but fuck knows. Some women will reply to different things. Though I've been told guys sending messages about wanting to sniff feet or simply sending a pic of their cock doesn't go down too well. I wonder, with the latter, if they even include a 'hi'? Or if it's simply just a cock, flopping about, and nothing else? How would a woman reply to that anyway? 'erm that's lovely, but you should see a doctor about that lump'? I've no clue.

So yeah, overall there seems a few obstacles for me to overcome, and alot of self pressure to actually try and get something from the experience. And all this happens before I even a) get a reply from someone and b) actually arrange to go out!! Then the real full on nerves kick in, fuck Dan, you're going on a fucking date! I hate the word date though, to me, it's always just drinks. No pressure, nice and relaxed, no expectations. Just a couple of drinks and take it from there. A meal is way too OTT for me on a first date, way too pressured and you're trapped there for ages - what if she eats like a fucking horse? What if she hates everything on the menu and just has water whilst I scoff 3 courses? WHAT IF SHE SAYS ITS NOT AS GOOD AS NANDOS. All reasons for me to die a little inside.
Cinema isn't great for a 1st 'date' either, it's dark, you don't speak for 2 hours - do you share the popcorn? Do I offer pick and mix but have to warn her sternly about picking up fudge (you know how heavy it is!). It's just another minefield I'd hope to avoid.
Drinks, drinks are safe, drinks are relaxed, everyone likes them and once tipsy everything becomes a little bit easier. It can range from 1 drink - half an hour, to endless drinks - closing time. It allows for lots of conversation, and if it's shit, just suggest shots, many many shots.

Well I've come to the end of another post of nonsense, so thanks for reading. My profile is done so I'm going to see how I get on - might even write about some results. But yeah, wish me luck I suppose, or that something hilarious happens and I end up married to a 50 year old box owning Nandos loving flirt!

Back In My Day...

I miss Hip-Hop.

I should probably slighter alter that. I miss MY Hip-Hop. (and I'll say from the offset I'm pretty much a commercial whore, 80% of what I listen to is mainstream hip-hop, so apologies those who despise it!)

I think it was best to put some clarity on that, as it's unfair to say something so generic when hip-hop itself is still around, and arguably as strong as ever. Whilst sales may have slumped comparitively to the late 90's and early 00's, music is still everywhere with the strength of blogs, the internet and iTunes. Good hip-hop is still in abundance and even some of the mainstays have released strong efforts in the last few years (Nas, Watch The Throne, Em to name a few).

However to me, it's just not quite the same. I've been wondering why this is, and I think I've put it down to age, laziness, and maybe even a slight arrogance I've taken with the genre. Gone are the days where between the ages of about 15-23, I would religiously check blogs/websites/XXL/Source for new music to listen to, artists to read about, and albums to emmerse myself in. Nowadays I use Twitter for alot of my music sourcing, finding out about album and mixtape releases. I've pretty much given up on tracking new songs, or being the first to listen to the newest rapper. I'll happily go to YT and listen to a new album track by track, and sometimes the odd mixtape if I'm in the mood, but I find nowadays tough for me to really get into new artists.

Is it just me?

Perhaps. But I remember when I first got into hip-hop and was actually a bit of a late bloomer, starting with what was all the rage, Biggy, Pac, Nas, Jay, Em, DMX, Ja Rule and going from there. I caught onto Royce Da 5'9 early in his career and have been a massive fan since, Big Pun and Big L were lyrical gods to me, and I remember at school when no one had heard of Gangstarr apart from me and a couple of mates. Those were the times.

In fact one of my favourite times in hip-hop, that I was a part of and can actually fully remember, was during the G-Unit breakout. I'm sure alot of you are now sighing, or closing this blog page down, but seriously those days were NUTS. It was about 8-10 years ago, and 50 Cent had released the 11million DIAMOND album, Get Rich or Die Tryin' - It was epic. It was 'hard'. It was something that had club bangers on it, songs for the ladies, yet also tough street cuts. The world went APESHIT. Eminem was also in his prime (just about), and along with Dr Dre who had not long released 2001, and wasn't a running joke about Detox - Aftermath were smashing it.

But that wasnt it. No no no. Nas might have been having a strange time of it, but he was still a Titan, and would always be simply due to Illmatic. However God's Son was a strong output that got him back in the public eye. Jay had released The Blueprint, a classic album IMO, and still was not regarded as the biggest living hip-hop artist, hell at that point he wasn't largely known outside of hip-hop circles! DMX and The Rough Ryders were in full stride with Kiss (And The Lox), Eve and Jin all doing good stuff.  Man hip-hop was great.

And that was without me having to be some underground loving fanboy either. Mainstream was accepting club bangers but also just good tracks. Fat Joe had us all Leaning Back, Lil John was all over the shop (though that wasnt a good thing), Fabolous was about to drop what would be the biggest track of his career with Breathe - I actually asked Just Blaze about that when I saw him live once down here, as rumour had it that Jay had wanted the beat but Blaze gave it to Fabolous as he saw it as a career defining moment, he was right - Fab smashed it.

This was all surrounded as I mentioned earlier by G-Unit really leading the way as well, after GRODT - Fiddy basically had a free reign in hip-hop, releasing The Massacre a couple years later and going Plat without even trying. Lloyd Banks was relevent, releasing Hunger For More and actually being a very competent rapper - releasing a slew of freestyles littered with punchlines. Seriously him and Fabolous were KILLING the punchline game, it was disgusting, and I loved it. Young Buck went Plat somehow, fuck EVEN TONY YAYO released an AWFUL album that probably went Platinum - seriously, have you ever heard Dear Suzie? I think it's the worst hip hop track I've ever heard on a mainstream album, it's so bad ITS NOT EVEN ON YOUTUBE!!!!!! Game brought the West Coast back to the masses with The Documentary. Man everything was good. God even Cassidy was doing his thing, and Roc-A-Fella had Beans/Memph/Young Gunz, good times.

I know I'm dilluting the years a bit, this all didnt happen in the space of a week! It was a good 2-3 year period but I still think it was my favourite time, a 'golden era' if you will. I sound awful I know, because after that it's not like things went downhill - with Kanye West, Lil' Wayne, Rick Ross, Drake, J Cole etc coming to the forefront. But still.

To me it's just not been the same. Nas might just have released his strongest album in a decade but to me he's on his way out, maybe one final paycheck before he looks to bow out gracefully? DMX's comeback stuff is such a low standard compared to when he was in his prime. The guy was a Top 10 MC for life, until his awful decline. Eminem and Jay are about still, but somethings not quite the same with them. And this can be applied to a million other rappers. It's weird. and the thing is I don't really even care for many new rappers who are coming out the woodwork on a daily basis.

You know, I like J Cole, alot. He's not going to be the best, or break Top 5, but he's not bad. Kendrick Lamar is getting better and better, whilst Big K.R.I.T certainly hasn't let the South down (don't be fooled, Ludacris/Scarface/UGK have held the South down for a long time now). I did like Mac Miller's K.I.D.S offering, but not really anything since. & Wiz Khalifa is my guilty pleasure, as in reality as MC's go - he's like Pac to me, all delivery but no real skill such as punchlines or wordplay. Wale I've enjoyed over the last few years, however apart from him I can't stand MMG. YMCMB really are awful.

But to me, Machine Gun Kelly, French Montana, and various others just don't do it for me. At all. Drake's already starting to bore me, after only his 2nd album. Big Sean is good, but once more - I don't love him, same goes with B.O.B. Yelawolf/Future/Meek Mill/Diggy/Lil B/Asher Roth etc. None of them do it for me - even Danny Brown I can only take in small doses.

So I think I've sort of made my point, a moan at current hip-hop and saying how back in my day it used to be good. But that wasn't really what I wanted, I just meant that I don't feel hip-hop is like it used to be, not that it's not as good, just different, very different. And I don't think I like it...


Anyway if any of the above didn't make sense, here are a couple of tracks that I used to really enjoy that might have been lost over time now!  Trying to stick away from the Em's/Jay/Nas biggest hits (1st 'club' video is COMPLETELY hypocritical of this, but fuck it, it's my blog!)


Freestyles I loved

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL6wTfTc-uA (This was INSANE)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2s2hTTqIpg (What happened Lloyd, smh)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owPiIve-2xg (Fab at his best IMO)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqtvd6MRH0o ( REAL ACTUAL FREESTYLE!!)



For the Club. (I wanted to insert videos but it was being annoying :()

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qm8PH4xAss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3Oux1lN__4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7yzEyO7Wnk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GvB9ySUJ3A


Just some other tracks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLdKmQ1g4YE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeBqAawxl1Y&playnext=1&list=PL8BE809C81CD5C775&feature=results_video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ6ZiJKGJI0&playnext=1&list=PLC46FEFDBA567B98A&feature=results_video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7isHGmwySa0 (1st verse is one of my fav ever)

Transfer Window Winners & Losers

Alright, not done one of these in a while. Immediate apologies to any ladies reading this - it's all football related! (Unless you love football, in which case, I love you).

So with the transfer window now slammed shut - which of course it never actually does, it's not a literal window which actually slams. It just closes gently, and for once there doesnt seem to have been a load of 12.01am style 'will they/wont they' sign transfers for once. Who remembers when Benjani fell asleep at the airport to almost miss his deadline signing for Man City? Always a classic in my eyes. Silly rabbit.

So bearing this mind, and assuming no new ones spring up out of nowhere, I'm going to just do a quick summery IN MY OPINION of who won and who lost during this summer transfer window. I've taken all the summer transfers below (cited ref at the bottom) and shall talk on each club briefly. God knows if you'll agree!



ARSENAL
INS: Lukas Podolski (£11m, FC Köln), Olivier Giroud (£13m, Montpellier), Santi Cazorla (£16m, Malaga).

OUTS: Rhys Murphy (free, Telstar), Jeffrey Monakana (free, Preston), Tom Cruise (free, Torquay), Joe Campbell (loan, Real Betis), Denilson (loan, Sao Paulo), Gavin Hoyte (free, Dagenham), Manuel Almunia (free, Watford), Benik Afobe (loan, Bolton), Oguzhan Ozyakup (undisclosed, Besiktas), Carlos Vela (undiscl, Real Sociedad), Ryo Miyaichi (loan, Wigan), Wellington Silva (loan, Ponferrada), Kyle Bartley (£1m, Swansea), Robin van Persie (£24m, Manchester United), Alex Song, (£15m, Barcelona), Henri Lansbury (£1m, Nottingham Forest),Ju Young Park, (loan, Celta Vigo), Nicklas Bendtner (loan, Juventus).

VERDICT: I might be a bit biased here since I'm a Gooner myself. However looking at this we've lost our captain (again!) and one of our better performers in Song last season. Glad we hung (did we hang, was he actually going to leave?) onto Walcott. And with Wilshere MAYBE one day appearing again, it'll be like a new signing (yawn I know). Overall I'd say it was average, Cazorla looks quality and we finally shifted Bendtner though it was only on loan again! Which annoys me alot. Why can't we actually sell the shit players (Denilson was another loan). I was really hoping for a last minute swoop for Essien or Tiote, or even Cabaye but it never came so I'm left a little disappointed but not unhappy. Not a bad window for us
Overall - Losers, as I was expecting one final day signing. But happy no panic buys!


ASTON VILLA 
INS: Brett Holman (free, AZ Alkmaar), Karim El Ahmadi (undiscl, Feyenoord), Matthew Lowton (undiscl., Sheffield United), Ron Vlaar (£3million, Feyenoord), Joe Bennett (undiscl, Middlesbrough), Jordan Bowery (£500,000, Chesterfield), Ashley Westwood (£2m, Crewe), Christian Benteke (£7m, Genk)

OUTS: Emile Heskey (released), Carlos Cuellar (free, Sunderland), James Collins (undiscl., West Ham), Nathan Delfouneso (loan, Blackpool)

VERDICT:  I actually think, that whilst Villa have been known to splurge in the past, and haven't looked too great, their best bit of business this summer was getting Lambert in. I think he'll make a good difference, and frankly it can't get much worse after McLeish right? I thought Vlaar looked solid in his fleeting Euro appearance, and for an original figure of £7m being quoted, that seems a good bit of business. No one major left this summer, and Westwood could turn out to be shrewd business indeed. Benteke is an unknown to me, interesting to see how that turns out!
Overall - Winners



CHELSEA
INS: Marko Marin (£6million, Werder Bremen), Eden Hazard (£32million, Lille), Thorgan Hazard (undisclosed, Lens), Oscar (£25million, Internacional), Cesar Azpilicueta (£7million, Marseille), Victor Moses (£9million, Wigan).

OUTS: Jose Bosingwa (free, QPR), Rhys Taylor (free, Southend), Didier Drogba (free, Shanghai Shenhua), Thibault Courtois (loan, Atletico Madrid), Salomon Kalou (free, Lille), Patrick van Aanholt (loan, Vitesse Arnhem), Tamas Kalas (loan, Vitesse Arnhem), Rohan Ince (loan, Yeovil), Kevin de Bruyne (loan, Werder Bremen), Ben Gordon (loan, Birmingham), Romelu Lukaku (loan, West Brom), Sam Walker (loan, Bristol Rovers), Sam Hutchinson (loan, Nottingham Forest), Conor Clifford (loan, Portsmouth), Josh McEachran (loan, Middlesbrough), Archange Nkumu (loan, Yeovil), Thorgan Hazard (loan, Zulte Waregem), Nathaniel Chalobah (loan, Watford), Gael Kakuta (loan, Vitesse Arnhem), Michael Essien (loan, Real Madrid), Yossi Benayoun (loan, West Ham).

VERDICT: I think Chelsea have done some great business, winning the highly sought after Hazard whilst acquiring a player of some talent in Oscar. Unsure why they let Bosingwa go on a free, as he was a solid player at times, and replace him with someone I know very little about. Moses baffled me considering he'll perform a similar role to Sturridge. No last minute Hulk, Cavani etc might have Chelsea fans feeling a bit peeved and letting Essien go on loan seems strange - I hate Mikel.
Overall: Torres will score, so the loss of Drogba won't be much of an issue, with Lukaku a future star for sure. Winners in the long term!



EVERTON
INS: Steven Naismith (free, Rangers), Steven Pienaar (£4.5million, Tottenham), Kevin Mirallas (£6m, Olympiakos), Bryan Oviedo (undisc, FC Copenhagen), Matthew Kennedy (nominal, Kilmarnock).

OUTS: Marcus Hahnemann, James McFadden (released), Adam Forshaw (undiscl., Brentford), James Wallace (undiscl., Tranmere), João Silva (free, Levski Sofia), Tim Cahill (nominal, New York Red Bulls), Joseph Yobo (£2.5m, Fenerbache), Connor Roberts (free, Cheltenham), Jack Rodwell (£15m, Man City), Jack Bidwell (loan, Brentford).

VERDICT: There's a transfer missing above, it's some midfielder who Vincent Kompany has already given his public backing - so if that's the case Everton have actually had a pretty solid window! Got a load of money for Rodwell who may well never live upto his early hype, and kept their star players.
Overall: Winners, and had the best window on a budget IMO



FULHAM
INS: Mladen Petric (free, Hamburg), Sascha Riether (loan, Cologne), Hugo Rodallega (free, Wigan), Kieran Richardson (£2m, Sunderland), Chris David (undisc, FC Twente), Dimitar Berbatov (£4m, Manchester United), Ashkan Dejagah (undiscl, Wolfsburg)

OUTS: Andrew Johnson (free, QPR), Danny Murphy (free, Blackburn), Pavel Pogrebnyak (free, Reading), Bjorn Helge Riise, Zdenek Grygera (released), Dickson Etuhu (£1million, Blackburn), Danny Hoesen (undiscl., Ajax), Moussa Dembele (£15m, Tottenham), Clint Dempsey (£6m, Tottenham)

VERDICT: A curious one, we all knew Dempsey was off to Liverpool (oh...) for a while, but Dembele who is a quality player surprised me by moving as well. Fulham joined the 'lost 2 best players in a window' club, but did they replace them adequately? Berbs was a great signing and will prove his worth I'm sure. Apart from that though they didnt bring in the quality they might have been aiming for.
Overall: Losers, but not by a huge amount



LIVERPOOL
INS: Fabio Borini (£7.8million, Roma), Joe Allen (£15m, Swansea), Oussama Assaidi (£3m, Heerenveen), Nuri Sahin (loan, Real Madrid), Samed Yesil (£1m, Bayer Leverkusen).

OUTS: Fabio Aurelio (free, Gremio), Dirk Kuyt (£880,000, Fenerbahce), David Amoo (free, Preston), Stephen Darby (free, Bradford), Maxi Rodriguez (undisc, Newell's Old Boys), Toni Silva (free, Barnsley), Alberto Aquilani (undiscl, Fiorentina), Henoc Mukendi (loan, Northampton), Craig Bellamy (free, Cardiff City), Jay Spearing (loan, Bolton), Andy Carroll (loan, West Ham), Charlie Adam (£4m, Stoke), Nathan Ecclestone (undiscl, Blackpool).

VERDICT: Liverpool had a pretty shit final day of the window, bringing in no one. Which I'm absolutely certain wasn't the plan! (Like us). However Rodgers had a tough job in getting rid of Comolli's and Dalglish's poor signings, with Henderson refusing to move to Fulham - meant that the Dempsey deal couldn't come off. However Allen is the driving force for this season, whilst Borini has a tough job of getting the goals which Suarez will miss.
Overall: Losers, only due to them probably banking on bringing in a goal scorer on the final day.



MAN CITY
INS: Jack Rodwell (£15m, Everton) Richard Wright (free, Preston), Scott Sinclair (£6.2m, Swansea), Maicon (£3m, Inter Milan), Matija Nastasic (£10m plus Stefan Savic, Fiorentina), Javi Garcia (£16m, Benfica)

OUTS: Owen Hargreaves (released), Gai Assulin (free, Racing Santander), Andreas Mancini (free, Real Valladolid), Joan Angel Roman (undiscl, Barcelona), Greg Cunningham (undiscl, Bristol City), Wayne Bridge (loan, Brighton), Omar Elabdellaoui (loan, Feyenoord), Vladimir Weiss (undisclosed, Pescara), Stuart Taylor (free, Reading), Emmanuel Adebayor (£5m, Tottenham), Adam Johnson (undiscl., Sunderland), Harry Bunn (loan, Crewe), Nigel de Jong (undiscl., AC Milan), Dedryck Boyata (loan, FC Twente), Roque Santa Cruz (loan, Malaga), Stefan Savic (swap deal, Fiorentina, Ryan McGivern (loan, Hibernian).

VERDICT: We all knew it would happen, those bastards pulled off some great signings on the final day. Whilst I'll never understand Sinclair (apart from English quota), which seems a Scott Parker to Chelsea type move to me. Garcia is a beast and Maicon still has alot to offer, which softens the de Jong loss (WHY DID WE NOT GO FOR HIM!).
Overall: Winners, as Mancini finally was allowed to spend, and probably got his main priority signings



MAN UNITED
INS: Shinji Kagawa (£12m, Borussia Dortmund), Nick Powell (£4m, Crewe), Robin van Persie (£24m, Arsenal), Alex Buttner (£3.9million, Vitesse Arnhem).

OUTS: Michael Owen (released), Oliver Norwood (undisclosed, Huddersfield), Matty James, Ritchie De Laet (both undisclosed to Leicester), Tomasz Kuszczak (free, Brighton), Fabio (loan, QPR). Ji-Sung Park (£2m, QPR), John Cofie (loan, Sheffield United), Ben Amos (loan, Hull), Reece Brown (loan, Coventry), Dimitar Berbatov (£4m, Fulham).

VERDICT: A solid window, with Fergie breaking his rule in signing a player with probably little sell on value in Van Persie, but he's got a proven goalscorer and Kagawa looks a great bit of business! No huge losses, whilst did Owen simply not sign with anyone?! He kept tweeting about where he might end up. He looks a bit of a bellend now.
Overall: Winners, Powell one for the future as well. Very decent window, but still no DM they so desperately require!



NEWCASTLE
INS: Romain Amalfitano (free, Reims), Gael Bigirimana (undiscl., Coventry), Curtis Good (undisc, Melbourne Heart), Vurnon Anita (undiscl., Ajax).

OUTS: Ryan Donaldson, Tamas Kadar (released), Alan Smith (free, MK Dons), Leon Best (£3m, Blackburn), Fraser Forster (Celtic), Peter Lovenkrands (free, Birmingham), Danny Guthrie (free, Reading).

VERDICT: Well they kept all their big players from last season, and they did a little bit of solidifying their squad. There's really not alot to say!
Overall: Winners simply for keeping Cabaye, Tiote and Ba



NORWICH
INS: Steven Whittaker (free, Rangers), Jacob Butterfield (tribunal, Barnsley), Robert Snodgrass (£3million, Leeds), Michael Turner (£1.5million, Sunderland), Javier Garrido (loan, Lazio), Sebastien Bassong (undiscl, Tottenham), Alexander Tettey (undiscl, Rennes), Mark Bunn (undiscl., Blackburn).

OUTS: Adam Drury (free, Leeds), Aaron Wilbraham (free, Crystal Palace), Zak Whitbread (released), Andrew Crofts (undiscl., Brighton), Daniel Ayala (loan, Nottingham Forest), James Vaughan (loan, Huddersfield), Tom Adeyemi (loan, Brentford), George Francomb (loan, AFC Wimbledon)

VERDICT: 2nd Season syndrome looms on a squad which lost it's talented manager and replaced it with another one, but is he going to keep them up? Bassong has prem experience along with Turner, but will Snodgrass be able to make the step up from the lower leagues and give them the creativity they want?
Overall: It's a tough call to me, but perhaps considering what other clubs were spending, Losers for not bringing in any "wow" names



QPR
INS: Ryan Nelsen (free, Tottenham), Andy Johnson (free, Fulham), Robert Green (free, West Ham), Samba Diakite (undisclosed, Nancy), Fabio (loan, Manchester United), Ji-Sung Park (£2m, Manchester United), Junior Hoilett (tribunal, Blackburn), Jose Bosingwa (free, Chelsea), Julio Cesar (undiscl, Inter Milan), Esteban Granero (undiscl., Real Madrid), Sam Magri (free, Portsmouth), Stephane Mbia (£5m, Marseille).

OUTS: Patrick Agyemang, Danny Gabbidon (released), Peter Ramage (free, Crystal Palace), Rowan Vine (free, St Johnston), Dan Shittu (free, Millwall) Paddy Kenny (undisclosed, Leeds), Fitz Hall (free, Watford), Matthew Connolly (undiscl., Cardiff), Lee Cook (free, Leyton Orient), Tommy Smith (undiscl, Cardiff) Jay Bothroyd (loan, Sheffield Wednesday), Joey Barton (loan, Marseille).

VERDICT: I hate clubs who suddenly get rich. They all do the same stupid things, they panic and buy a load of average players who they don't need, then 2-3 months later realise they can actually bring in some class. Rob Green won't be a happy bunny with the brilliant Champions League winning Cesar. Whilst Bosingwa was a great signing with Granero sprinkling a touch of class. Did they really need Nelsen and Johnson? No course not, neither will get a look in.
Overall: Winners, they had to be with that kind of money didn't they really!



READING
INS: Garath McCleary (free, Nottingham Forest), Pavel Pogrebnyak (free, Fulham), Danny Guthrie (free, Newcastle), Nicky Shorey (free, West Brom), Adrian Mariappa (undiscl, Watford), Chris Gunter (£2.5m, Nottingham Forest), Stuart Taylor (free, Man City).

OUTS: Brian Howard (free, Portsmouth), Tomasz Cywka (free, Barnsley), Andy Griffin, Jack Mills (all released), Joseph Mills (loan, Burnley), Michail Antonio (Undiscl, Sheffield Wednesday), Mikkel Andersen (loan, Portsmouth).

VERDICT: Considering the budget they've had, I think Pog was a great addition, already netting a couple of goals. Guthrie has experience needed whilst Mariappa was linked to a host of prem clubs last year. No big losses either, and no silly overspending.
Overall: Winners, on a super budget.



SOUTHAMPTON
INS: Jay Rodriguez (£6m, Burnley), Steven Davis (free, Rangers), Nathaniel Clyne (£2.5m, Crystal Palace), Paulo Gazzaniga (undiscl., Gillingham), Emmanuel Mayuka (Undiscl, Young Boys Berne), Maya Yoshida (undiscl, VVV Venlo) Gaston Ramirez (£12m, Bologna).

OUTS: Radhi Jaidi, David Connolly (released), Lee Holmes (free, Preston), Aaron Martin (loan, Crystal Palace), Dan Harding (undiscl. to Nottingham Forest), Lee Barnard (loan, Portsmouth), Jonathan Forte (loan, Crawley), Billy Sharp (loan, Nottingham Forest), Dean Hammond (loan, Brighton).

VERDICT: Well they have spent a shitload, the best part of £30million which for a newly promoted club seems excessive. However Ramirez was a surprise, but great signing. Rodriguez I've been told is a real talent, whilst the Japanese captain could well be a shrewd bit of business. No major losses either with Sharp mostly being a sub anyway.
Overall: Winners, but would have been different if Ramirez didn't sign.



STOKE
INS: Jamie Ness (free, Rangers), Michael Kightly (£3m, Wolves), Geoff Cameron (undisclosed, Houston Dynamo), Charlie Adam (£4m, Liverpool), Maurice Edu (undisc, Rangers), Steven Nzonzi (£3m, Blackburn).

OUTS: Danny Higginbotham, Salif Diao, Tom Soares (released), Andrew Davies (free, Bradford), Jonathan Woodgate (free, Middlesbrough), Florent Cuvelier (loan, Walsall), Ryan Brunt (loan, Leyton Orient), Danny Collins (£500,000, Nottingham Forest), Louis Moult (free, Northampton), Ricardo Fuller (free, Charlton).

VERDICT: How many midfielders do Stoke need?! Adam might have found his level after his last day signing whilst Nzonzi seems a decent bit of business considering the level of interest in him. No one major left, but did we expect them to?
Overall: Winners I suppose, but meh



SUNDERLAND
INS: Carlos Cuellar (free, Aston Villa), Louis Saha (free, Tottenham), Steven Fletcher (£14million, Wolves), Adam Johnson (undiscl., Man City), Danny Rose (loan, Tottenham).

OUTS: Craig Gordon (released), Trevor Carson (free, Bury), Jordan Cook (free, Charlton), George McCartney (undisc., West Ham), Asamoah Gyan (£6m, Al-Ain), Michael Liddle (undisc, Accrington Stanley), Ahmed Elmohamady (loan, Hull), Kieran Richardson (£2m, Fulham).

VERDICT: Fletcher is solid if unspectacular, but his fee is ridiculous. Johnson was a great signing, I think he's real quality but he needed gametime far sooner than this. Gyan finally snuck off, whilst Richardson and Gordon would have been good back ups.
Overall: I've slowly realised most are winners on this list! But Johnson and Fletcher will add much needed goals and creativity, whilst McLean will continue to develop and Sessegnon signed a new deal too.



SWANSEA
INS: Jose Manuel Flores (£2m, Genoa), Jonathan de Guzman (loan, Villarreal), Michu (£2m Rayo Vallecano), Itay Shechter (loan, Kaiserslautern), Kyle Bartley (£1m, Arsenal), Jamie Proctor (undiscl. Preston), Ki Sung-Yeung (£5.5million, Celtic), Pablo Hernandez (£5.55m, Valencia).

OUTS: Ferrie Bodde (released), Joe Allen (£15m, Liverpool), Joe Walsh (free, Crawley),Andrea Orlandi (undiscl., Brighton), Scott Sinclair (£6.2m, Man City), Federico Bessone (free, Swindon), Stephen Dobbie (undiscl, Brighton)

VERDICT: Swansea were the only promoted team to actually clearly have some stand out players. (Taraabt who?). The Allen money you couldnt turn down really and it's basically paid for the rest of the recruitment! Whilst Scott Sinclair has decided the City bench made of gold was simply too good to turn down. I've said Michu was great business (mostly from reading a load of reports on him) whilst Sung-Yeung I think will be another brilliant bit of business. They may have lost their best two players and manager, but with Laudrup I think they will really have another decent season with the new signings all being really fantastic.
Overall: Major winners, specially proving that losing Allen wasnt even a blip in their style of play.



TOTTENHAM
INS: Gylfi Sigurdsson (£8.7million, Hoffenheim), Jan Vertonghen (£8m, Ajax), Emmanuel Adebayor (£5m, Manchester City), Moussa Dembele (£15m, Fulham), Hugo Lloris (£8m, Lyon), Clint Dempsey (£6m, Fulham)..

OUTS: Ledley King (retired), Louis Saha (free, Sunderland), Ben Alnwick (free, Barnsley), Niko Kranjcar (£6m, Dynamo Kiev), Ryan Nelsen (free, QPR), Vedran Corluka (undisclosed, Lokomotiv Moscow), Massimo Luongo (loan, Ipswich), Steven Pienaar (£4.5m, Everton), Ryan Fredericks (loan, Brentford), Sebastien Bassong (undiscl, Norwich), Luka Modric (£30m, Real Madrid), David Button (undiscl, Charlton), John Bostock (loan, Swindon), Danny Rose (loan, Sunderland), Giovani dos Santos (undisc, Mallorca), Rafa van der Vaart (£10million, Hamburg).

VERDICT: So around £50mill spent, however Net wise, they made a slight profit this summer. All the signings will prove to be a hit, with Lloris a real bargain IMO. Demebele just oozes class, and Adebayor has already won most of the fans over from last season. Was Sigurdsson needed? Perhaps not but they can be sure that Modric and VDV won't be missed (ANOTHER 2 best players lost club!)
Overall: Pains me to say it, but Lloris and Dembele make them winners in my eyes



WEST BROM
INS: Ben Foster (undisclosed, Birmingham), Yassine El Ghanassy (loan, Gent), Massimo Luongo (free), Markus Rosenberg (free, Werder Bremen), Claudio Yacob (free, Racing Club), Romelu Lukaku (loan, Chelsea), Goran Popov (loan, Dynamo Kiev).

OUTS: Keith Andrews (free, Bolton), Paul Scharner (free, Hamburg), Somen Tchoyi (released), Marton Fulop (free, Asteras Tripoli), Joe Mattock (free, Sheffield Wednesday), Nicky Shorey (free, Reading), Simon Cox (£2million, Nottingham Forest).

VERDICT: Lukaku is a hero, he's going to show his class this season. Popov will be decent as well. They managed to free up some wages with fringe players as well, though I was always a Scharner fan, so he'll be missed.
Overall: It's hard to lose, Lukaku will get the goals, Winners - for now anyway.



WEST HAM
INS: Stephen Henderson (undisclosed, Portsmouth), Jussi Jaaskelainen (free, Bolton), Mohamed Diame (free, Wigan), George McCartney (undisc, Sunderland), Modibo Maiga (£4.7m, Sochaux), James Collins (undiscl., Aston Villa), Alou Diarra (undiscl., Marseille), Matt Jarvis (£10.75million, Wolves), Andy Carroll (loan, Liverpool), Yossi Benayoun (loan, Chelsea)

OUTS: Robert Green (free, QPR), Frank Nouble (free, Wolves), John Carew, Julien Faubert (free, Elazýðspor), Papa Bouba Diop, Abdoulaye Faye (free, Hull), Pablo Barrera (undisclosed, Cruz Azul), Ravel Morrison (loan, Birmingham), Cristian Montano (undiscl., Oldham), Sam Baldock (£1.2m, Bristol City), Nicky Maynard (undiscl, Cardiff).

VERDICT: West Ham always go a bit bonkers with signings. Like they just want everyone, then realise they have a huge squad and panic. Jarvis is another over priced Englishman, will he be able to supply the crosses that Carroll will lap up? Time will tell. Barrera was a huge flop, whilst Morrison is proving more trouble that he's worth, and Maynard they only signed at Xmas!
Overall: I'm saying loss, because IF they go down, they are fucked financially!



WIGAN
INS: Fraser Fyvie (£600,000, Aberdeen), Ivan Ramis (undiscl., Real Mallorca), Ryo Miyaichi (loan, Arsenal), Arouna Kone (£2.75m, Sevilla).

OUTS: Chris Kirkland (free, Sheffield Wednesday), Hugo Rodallega (free, Fulham), Mohamed Diame (free, West Ham), Steve Gohouri (released), Hendry Thomas (free, Colorado Rapids), Lee Nicholls (loan, Northampton), Ryan Watson (loan, Accrington), Nouha Dicko (loan, Blackpool), Conor Sammon (undiscl., Derby), Victor Moses (£9million, Chelsea), Roman Golobart (loan, Tranmere).

VERDICT: Well they lost Moses, which for a rather toothless team as it was is a big blow. Will Kone be able to get the goals like he did for Levante last season? Ramis looks shaky, but I hope that Miyaichi will prove his worth. 
Overall: I really think Wigan will struggle this season and those signings are not inspiring. Losers, ending in relegation.



(I used - http://www.football365.com/f365-features/7782192/All-The-Done-Deals - as a source and reference)

Something To Tell The Grand Kids...

So, as I write this up the Olympic Games have finished and we are rapidly approaching the final ceremony.

If we turn the clocks back a few weeks, from what I saw and heard, there was minimal excitement for the games itself, a bit of moaning about London dwellers having their city taken over, whilst prices for tickets seem to be escalating rapidly out of control. We were unsure if we were properly prepared, and if it would even be a success, not only on a sporting front, but a commercial side too with the eyes of the world firmly staring upon us, some already predicting failure (Cheers Mitt Romney)

The day of the opening ceremony, I remember at work we were discussing about it at work. It was something we'd watch, but nothing to be excited about - with us happy to lounge on our sofa's at home and quickly flick onto it between episodes of Come Dine With Me or suchlike. Danny Boyle was put in charge of blowing our minds, and frankly I thought it might have all just come off a bit pretentious.

How wrong was I. Brighton Beach had put up a giant 100ft screen to remain up during the Olympic Games, starting with the opening ceremony and by all accounts it was absolutely packed, with a fantastic atmosphere. Not just that but the ceremony itself was fantastic. I certainly had my doubts at the start, tweeting some kind of bored confusion, however giving it a bit more time it really started to take wonderful shape. It was fantastic, so fantastic I ended up watching it again - it was the talk everywhere, Twitter, work, Facebook, the pub, the world. London had really announced to the world that it meant business and we had no intention of letting the occasion overshadow the fact it was being held in London and we wanted to really make it one to remember.

What followed were just over 2 weeks of brilliance. Honestly I was not prepared how much I'd get sucked in. I found myself watching something every single day, flicking between what I thought was some great coverage by the BBC. That is without SKY (so just the 3 channels for me), watching an absolute multitude of sports I'd never even considered watching before, ranging from Shooting and Hockey, to Taekwondo and Sailing. It was unreal. My TV was on from as soon as I got in from work and didn't stop watching until long into the night, even at work we had TV's on from time to time, yet I never ever got bored or felt like it was too much! Whilst I was obviously supporting Great Britain and following our athletes with a keen interest, some sports just have world class athletes you just want to watch, simply because their might not be another like them for a long time. Michael Phelps in the swimming, Usain Bolt in the 100m/200m, they simply command your attention, you are drawn to them. And boy did they not disappoint, Bolt especially seeming to lull alot of people into thinking he wasn't at his best and Blake would usurp him. Though he really showed everyone what the Olympic Games meant to him blasting to gold on both his runs. Great Britain itself though really did us proud .We had expectations with people like Sir Chris Hoy, Rebecca Adlington, Tom Daley and Bradley Wiggins, but so many more stars have now stepped up to the plate and become national heroes. Mo Farrah has been fantastic, winning two golds. Jade Jones, Louis Smith, Nicola Adams and Anthony Joshua. But what I think is being so fantastic about these worthy winners is in this modern era where we are always trying to encourage the youth of today to take up sports more, these people are so strongly supported. All through the Olympics the support of our athletes was fantastic, the atmosphere was incredible, and that's just my opinion from watching it on TV. These people's lives will change forever after these games, but also hopefully they encourage more of the countries youth to want to follow in their footsteps. Considering the media are so eager to criticize rappers for setting bad examples and creating negativity with beefs and whatnot, all during the games they were constantly giving support to our athletes all through the games, and attending events, which has maybe broken a barrier between. Their support has really helped to give the Olympics and the athletes a larger fanbase and a really positive message, as well as maybe showing those who feel it's not really 'cool' or whatever to watch the games, or support them, that it's actually a good thing to get involved.

All in all this is probably going to be the biggest event that we will have on home soil in our lifetime. Fine for a few weeks the Underground may have gotten crowded, the parks may have been packed, and congestion may have been awful, but you were part of the Olympic Games, and the biggest sporting event on the planet. And it has been fantastic, with minor issues, and we've shown the world that given the chance we can put on a sporting spectacle. We should be proud of what's happened here, and it is 100% something that one day you can look back on and tell your kids or grand kids all about.

Why Oh Why Joe Allen....

I know it's been said many a time before, but it still seems to be happening. It's quite a strange thing and lessons rarely seem to be learned from it. But seriously, why do some managers have such limited vision when it comes to signing players?

The basic fundamentals are, if you are a Premier League club, when attempting to sign a player who is a regular for another Premier League club, you will get ripped off. If they are British, you will be even more ripped off. So why on earth do people keep doing it?!

My immediate feeling is because these managers have such limited vision, they don't know any better. They don't watch other leagues, they don't pay attention to much, they are old fashioned and want to keep things... British. But is that really for the best?

A prime example in recent years is from Kenny Dalglish, and to an extent, Liverpool. I know the owners/club wanted a more British base of players, but I imagine that suited Kenny perfectly. It was simple as the scouting was done pretty much for them. They went for players that knew the league, but in reality what happended was they overpaid on average players who knew the league. Don't just assume that every foreigner cannot adapt, it's a strange mentality to take.

They spent £35million on Andy Carroll as we all know, we also know that he wasn't worth that and it's not his fault they paid that. They also paid £20million for Stewart Downing, and £10million for Charlie Adam. All of these players were in the top 3 players at their previous clubs regardless of their clearly limited ability. This made them look far better than they were, they were bought rather expensively and have really not delivered as hoped/expected.

I look at Brendan Rodgers now, and it seems he has a similar philosophy which he had at Swansea, and is looking to continue at Liverpool with Joe Allen. The fee's being suggested are far overpriced for a single semi decent season in the Premiership (exactly like Charlie Adam). If it goes through, then Liverpool have overpaid once more for a solid but unspectacular midfielder. Swansea don't want to sell one of their better players but for that kind of money they might have to. 

However why don't English managers look outside the box/league a bit more and see what great value there is out there? It baffles me! Why, because they fear the player won't adapt? Because they were never a boyhood supporter (Robbie Keane syndrome) and might leave (ala Fabregas)? Or simply because they don't know these players really exist or if they are much good? Look at Laudrup, he's been in Spain managing, and is someone who is articulate, smart and well researched, his first signing for the club has been Michu - someone who scored around 15 goals in La Liga for a bargain £2million. Fine he might well flop, he might be awful - but I'm fairly certain he'll be solid, and raise a few eyebrows then in a couple of years be sold on to a bigger club for a healthy profit. 

Paul Lambert studied his coaching course in Germany (he has strong links to Dortmund), and is interested in foreign football - he's already invested in 3 players from the Dutch league with the best bargain being Vlaar for £3million, who was in the Dutch national squad and I thought looked a very good player. I think Villa have a good manager and a healthy looking squad for next season already. 

Chelsea on the other spectrum have really splashed out on big signings such as Hazard and Oscar, but even those fee's were both less than Carroll, and Oscar was £5million more than Downing, trust me you'll think he's a bargain this time next year. Marin looks a good prospect and for £6million that really seems a snip, once more showing the value outside of the Premiership - specially if you compare that to Snodgrass for Norwich who was half the price but really is probably about a quarter of the player, not too bad for Leeds but I'm fairly sure will be relatively forgettable at the club who can't go spending large sums on players all that often. 

Even United have found some good value outside of the Premiership with the signing of Kagawa for £12million - the same fee for Allen who has had a single semi-decent season in the Premiership vs someone who won the Bundasliga player of the year and who I'm fairly sure be a very good signing.

West Ham on the other hand have a complete bizarre transfer strategy, doing the traditional British signings for large sums of money on big wages who they know will do a solid job - then trying to buy outside the Premiership and generally getting their hands burned with these oddballs (Maiga, £5million, I predict will be a big flop)

It looks like I've been having a go at the managers, I haven't, it's not all their fault by any means. They don't run all aspects of the club, they rely on vast scouting networks and endless dossiers and reports on players - but they do give these scouts directions, what they are looking for, they must provide small guidance for what they want and these scouts then deliver the goods. We all look at Graham Carr of Newcastle being a prime example - with some fantastic work with Cabaye - £4million for a French international who had a brilliant season with Tiote and has surely at least trippled his value, expect a big move in the next 2 years. Tiote himself was a bargain worth about £15million now. 

I could go on and on about the good signings and bad, but the examples I have seem stupidly biased and non sequential (I was thinking of wingers, Bentley for £15million came to mind vs £11million for Podolski) or how we (Arsenal) due to having a very knowledgeable manager often find value outside of the Prem and rarely ever buy players from inside of it, certainly not for any kind of large fee. Daniel Levy generally does the same for Spurs, with the rare flop often being countered with the brilliant and great valued Modric, bargain of Bale (outside of the Prem), and value for money on Van Der Vaart. He's a money making genius (profit on Mido?!?!) and knows that real value lays away from signing big players from within the Prem.

Another factor that I must certainly give to @scottwhitto for making a great point that had totally slipped my mind but certainly adds to the ridiculous fee's for British players who are clearly not as technically gifted to players outside of the Prem but lack the experience (it's really not weighted 50:50 with ability/experience, ability is about 80:20 vs experience as adaptability will play a major part) but it's the new rules regarding squad sizes and the amount of homegrown players needed. This has led to Prem clubs looking in the lower leagues for the best talent so they can count towards this, and the fee's are relatively reasonable (Nick Powell for United is one that springs to mind). So clubs can charge more for these players knowing that the Prem clubs "need" these players to reach their criteria, but surely this just gives a bigger incentive to develop in youth academies and scouting the real youngsters who are yet to go pro.

I think my point is more this, surely it's a more valuable asset to a club hiring a manager that is open minded and understands more about European league's or just league's overseas and world football - than one who knows nothing but the Premiership and is proud of that fact. These managers bring added value in being able to send scouts based on their own knowledge and uncover these absolute gems that are all over the world. Maybe it's not just the managers who need to open their minds to global football, but the chairmen as well and stop living these expensive and often underachieving fantasies. 

We're such good friends...

Ah, I dunno how I've not even thought about this let alone blogged about one of the topics that I have certain thoughts and feelings of, have been involved with, pissed off with and ended.


Can boys and girls be friends?


Yes is the answer. Simply because the REAL question is


Can boys and girls be close friends?


Then it gets tougher to answer with multiple variables being the cause for a small debate. In fact why don't we turn it up one notch further


Can boys and girls be close friends when one of them has an other half?


Once more, it's yes and no, mostly no, but I have a couple of exceptions I shall list below.


- If you've been friends with someone of the opposite sex since you were kids, long before 'feelings' and such like existed in your brain.
- If they are family friends that you've been on holiday with and suchlike. It would just be weird. Probably
- If they are homosexual
- If they are happily in a relationship and it's literally work that's forced you to be friends. And even then you wouldn't get close, or you shouldn't, and if you do, you're a bit of a dick.
- If the other person REALLY doesn't fancy you at all, and has made it clear, maybe even been in a long term relationship, and so it's years before there's even a chance it could happen, so by then it's all sort of died down.
- If you've already been involved together. Sometimes exes can be friends as they know you well, with the caveat being you've both 100% moved on, with preferably you both being in happy relationships.


Those are MY rules and thoughts on it anyway, for the clauses that allow you to be close friends with members of the opposite sex. Many of you may not agree, or care. There are probably a couple other clauses I've not included through my awful memory.


I get VERY sceptical when girls seem to have an absolute tonne of guy friends. Often I have to bite my lip on the matter because racing through my brain are some initial thoughts


- YOU list them as a friend. They list you as an acquaintance. This is because you like to think you have more friends than you do. Being Facebook friends does not count. (This works both ways obviously!)


- Having met someone once, and then being Twitter or FB friends, then constantly referring to them as your friend. You are not friends, you know one another and that's about it.

- You play innocent (or genuinely are innocent!) and call them a friend. They just want to shag you, so call you a friend in the meantime.


- You call them a friend because you have no romantic interest in them. They call you a friend because you won't sleep with them, so it's the best of a bad situation. (How many times do people say "I'd rather be your friend than nothing at all" after a rejection or whatever... then give it a few months and they are back to fancying you)


That last point, to summarise basically said "You Friendzoned the SHIT out of them". I don't agree with being put in the Friendzone, since surely I should have to agree?! Surely both parties should mutually agree to this? What gives the female the right to do it? What gives her the right to ASSUME you need to be told you're just friends? It's patronising as fuck, and pretty insulting. Yeah just because I talk to you I must want to shag you. Sorry, I prefer a little more chemistry than you simply replying to me. I know the truth probably hurts, and it's a little ego denting, but jog on. Often when I've been 'Friendzoned' in the past by someone I've really not given a crap about, I simply don't speak to them again and delete them out my life. Simple. I bet they still refer to me as a friend though....
People will say they put someone in the Friendzone so they don't hurt the other person's feelings as they don't fancy them and feel it's a gentle letdown. It's not that, it's so you don't feel bad about being honest. So you say something to make yourself feel better, whilst still giving them a glimmer of hope, it's worse than just being honest! I know you'll often look at someone as a friend if you don't fancy them from looks, but it's usually just that when you don't even truly know the personality, which in turns just makes you look a bit shallow, specially when you probably list things you find attractive "gotte make me laugh" and suchlike.


It works with guys though. I find most of them utterly predictable, and can see through the facade's of their actions so easily. Mostly because I've been there and done it myself. I know every trick in the book, I know how easy it is to start and then to finish. It drives me mad when Girls (who I swear cannot be this dopey and must just turn a blind eye) act when some guy 'innocently' starts talking with them. 99% of the time it's not innocent, I'm sorry but it's not.


I know it's not because if you think about it, after about the age of 12-13 or whenever puberty hits, male and female then develop the attraction for the opposite sex (in most cases), therefore befriending someone is basically a very first step to ultimately mating with them. In a very raw, direct, sense. In it's most primal form that is what it is. Men look for women because naturally we are designed to spread our seed (not literally, but more to sew a seed) whilst women are instinctive to find a man who is suitable to look after her and give her children. 
Based on this, when adults, to be friends there is often some kind of mutual or at least one sided attraction. It's a pure fact, why would you become friends with someone when there are no mutual interests which in turn is a VERY minor attraction in itself? It rarely happens. There will be mutual interests or a mutual situation and friendship can blossom from that, except deep down it's more than that, it's an attraction, the basic low level form of friendship.

So that's when it annoys me when females specifically do that whole "oh we're just friends" thing, when surely they know the guy likes them and has just found some common ground to appeal to her more. Is she playing dumb? Is she simply ignoring what she knows hoping it goes away (it never goes away, attraction turns to like, like turns to lust. And that's where it stops. You wont EVER truly LOVE someone who feels no attraction back. Sorry.)


Of course basing on my 3 initial questions, you can easily be friends or mutual acquaintances through friends, you know, say hi when you see one another and prob FB friends. But you won't be close and that's that.


I guess one point I'm trying to make is for those of us who are looking for 'an other half' so to speak, perhaps we should be more sensible in who we befriend, because once that happens the next step is naturally flirting (so by now both parties should understand there is something more to things here), and then so on. It doesn't look good and I've been guilty of this myself. I've become increasingly aware of my actions from being single and "befriending" girls, when it probably makes me look a right slaggy twat. Though that was not my intention I 100% understand it, and I don't want to annoy or upset anyone who actually might like me, because hell, I need to grip onto those very few who do with everything I've got! But also likewise, think about it sometimes as it does create an impression and people do notice, and it's not always a good thing. Next time that guy innocently asks your advice on something, and you don't know him from Adam, trust me he's subconsciously got a plan in the works about how to get closer to you. It'll happen eventually and is it really what you want?


So in summary, IN MY OPINION, question 1 is Yes. Course you can be pals and have a laugh. Question 2 is rarely, it's hard to get that balance without one of you liking the other alot more, unless my clauses come into effect. Question 3 is probably not, the other half won't be pleased and I agree with that, why would you want to suddenly befriend new boys/girls when you've got someone you're with at home? It makes no sense.


Ask yourself this, and then you'll probably get an answer. You'd go out for dinner and drinks, or the cinema with a friend of the same sex (to the pub and a kebab for the lads), fine. Would you do the same with someone of the opposite sex? How would your other half react to that? Not well I imagine. Well, that's the kind of things what FRIENDS do... So if you're doubtful about either doing it, or how your other half will react, then you'll find your answer.


Hope this was alright to read.


Dan