Stupid Greece Blow Opportunity To Save Themselves!

What the hell? So here was the opportunity for Greece to climb out of the grave and to save themselves. One nil up against the Russians and what did the idiots do? They only went and won the bloody game!

As Benjamin says in Animal Farm when Boxer is carted away in the van, supposedly heading for the doctors, "Fools, fools, fools! Can't you see what's written on the side of that van? They are taking Greece to the knackers!"

All it needed was one phone call through to Russian President Putin. "Hello, it is the Finance Minister of Greece here. Okay, when you've finished laughing, have you realised that now the Czech Republic have scored, Russia are heading out of the European Championship? Now I have a little proposition for you. Fifty five billion and we will let you equalise."

Hang on, I've just found out that they tried, but nobody in Greece could cobble together enough Euros to pay for the bloody phone call!

Diame a Heartbeat Away?

If the reports are true, we are closing in on Diame after he has passed a cardiac medical. If true, that's great news. He will sit and hold, enabling Noble and Nolan to press and play higher up the pitch and the two wide men, Vaz Te and A N Other, to support the striker. If we can capture Collins and Yukubu too, we will have the basis of a team capable of surviving in the Prem without yet shelling out any significant sums of money!

Birmingham Keen on Keane

Why? Why on earth would any club WANT to employ Roy Keane as manager?

Listen, I'm telling you the guy would upset any dressing room in five minutes flat. Listen, I'm telling you he would undermine players' confidence left, right and centre. Listen, Keane is so far up his own Irish arse it can't be true. Listen, he thinks its clever to play the hard man. Listen, he thinks you can bully players into playing for you. Listen, he is a dinosaur, a legend in his own mind, a one man ego.

Lee Clark or Roy Keane? No contest. In fact I would go for Steve Kean before I'd consider the failed Ipswich manager.

Sweden 2 England 3 - Simply Epic!

OK, there will be the complainers who will tell us that Sweden are an average team and that defensively we were awful for the two goals that we conceded but that would miss the point completely. This was a superb game of football and England scored two truly brilliant goals and, going forward, were a delight on the eye at times.

The Carroll header was little short of breathtaking, one of the best goals of its type you will ever see. Gerrard's cross, for the second game in succession, was perfect and the power of the header was nothing short of awesome. Brilliant and one of the goals of the tournament so far.

But it got better. I will say now that no other team in the competition could recover and win from going ahead and then conceding two goals to find themselves in arrears. Every other team would have been so psychologically scarred that, after pulling level, they would have played for the draw. But not England!

And who was responsible for triggering the recovery? Most would say Walcott, but in truth it was the much maligned John Terry. True his header was brilliantly saved, but the fact that he forced that save sent the adrenaline pumping and put the fear of God into the Swedes. Hope surged through the veins and England never looked back from that point.

True Walcott's goal was lucky - the keeper should have saved it - but Sweden's first was luckier. Our third goal was, in contrast, simply sublime. The move started deep in out half. We passed the ball superbly and Walcott's burst beyond the last defender and cross were breathtaking. And Welbeck's finish? Well if Zola meant his back heeled goal, then Welbeck meant this one! A truly brilliant goal and the best of the competition so far in my book.

There was still time, of course, for Gerrard to miss a sitter!

So, draw with the Ukraine and we are through. But we need to beat them and pray for Sweden to draw with France - the key now is to avoid Spain in the next round. Well done Woy!

Leeds Manager Warnock Resigned

Interesting to note that rumours were circulating yesterday about Warnock quitting and that he flew out to Monaco to stroke 'Arry's dog on Wednesday. As I warned a couple of weeks back, Warnock doesn't want to be fcuked about by Master Bates and will walk rather than be labelled a failure because his Chairman won't fund new recruits.

It is also interesting to hear how Warnock has already revised his own expectations, no longer talking about challenging for promotion and instead setting the target of "finishing as high as we can". That covers a multitude of sins of course: twenty-fourth could be as high as Leeds can finish!

The Yorkshire Post is trying to sound upbeat, talking abut how silence can sometimes be golden, but the only thing golden in Leeds at the moment are the showers, because Master Bates is taking the piss!

Allardyce Planning to turn West Ham into the New Chelsea

The new Chelsea Pensioners that is! We already have the 37 year old Jussi, now we are being linked with the 35 year old Guti!  Yakubu is approaching 30, Collins looks as if he's in his forties...

Never mind the Academy, we will be the Hospice of Football at this rate!

Tottenham Want AVB to Pick Up Where Oneday Ramos Left Off!

They never learn do they? So what that AVB failed at Chelsea with a squad good enough to win the Champions League, his record was so impressive in Portugal that he is obviously perfect to manage Tottenham Hotspurs in the EPL isn't he? Let's face it, Portugal is the ideal schooling ground for the Prem isn't it?

Of course, the AVB fans will cite Mourinho, failing to understand that Jose is a complete one off whereas the latest former Chelsea manager threatens to be a complete Oneday Ramos instead. All Redknapp's hard work could be undone in a trice, and the shedding of experienced players like Saha, King, Nelson and Kranjcar has the stamp of AVB doesn't it? The bigger boys bullied him at Chelsea so he doesn't want them hanging around the playground at Spurs when he joins!

Here's a thought - Avram Grant had a better record at Chelsea than AVB!

JC to join JT at WHU - TGGC Ahead Of The Game Again!

You heard it here first folks. Back in early May I flagged up the possibility of a return of James Collins to West Ham, and now the story is all over the papers and boards.

I can't see us paying the reported £3m though. He only has a year left on his contract so I suspect a figure of £1.5m is much more likely.

I would be delighted to see JC teamed up with JT in the heart of our defence. Tomkins would offer the brains and guile, the officer on deck, and Collins would be the buccaneer at the back, throwing himself in front of shots and meeting crosses with that rock hard forehead of his.

Mind you, some Villa fans don't fancy him because of his tendency to play the long ball so perhaps that will put Allardyce off!

http://thegamesgonecrazy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/former-hammer-james-collins-in-club.html

Tottenham HAVE Ripped the Stuffing out of Bagpuss!

What a bunch of ungrateful bastards! Poor old 'Arry has done a brilliant job at Tottenham, taking over a team bottom of the Prem and turning them, fleetingly, into a major force in the Prem. 'Arry should have been given the freedom of the city of Jerusalem, not nailed to a cross outside White Hart Lane!

How dare they? This man was the Messiah, he walked upon the waters of the Banbury Reservoir! Who will be his replacement for  'Arry's sake? Barabbas?

Let's hope Levy now gets his come-uppence. We all know what happened to Pontius Pilot don't we? We all know what happened to Judas, don't we? Of course we do, he left West Ham for Spurs!

Of course, I predicted all this ahead of the newspapers!

http://thegamesgonecrazy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/tottenham-about-to-rip-stuffing-out-of.html

Will Southampton's Amazing Statement of Intent Backfire?

Well full marks for bravery! Southampton haven't hung around have they, shelling out a mind boggling £7m for Burnley hotshot Jay Rodriguez. To think, not so long ago the club was on his uppers, now they are punching in the middle division of the Prem it seems.

It's brave but is it wise? Are the Saints planning to play two up top, or are Lambert's days numbered? The trouble is, as promising as Rodriguez may be, he has yet to prove himself at the highest level so he is carrying one hell of a price tag! His goal per games ratio is 1 to 3, which in the Championship isn't earth shattering. West Ham fans were critical of Cole last season and he managed 14 goals from 40 appearances, 12 of which were from the bench. That's a better goals per game ratio than Rodriguez has managed over his career to date! Of course Southampton's new recruit has been maturing and improving, whereas Cole has hit a plateau so the comparison is not one hundred percent fair. But Lambert outscored Rodriguez last season didn't he?

So, it is an amazing statement of intent but I'm not convinced it was the right move. Yakubu for £1m or Rodriguez for £7m? I would take the guy with a proven track record in the Prem personally.

Time to Shoot the Messenger at Leeds United

Who the hell is in charge of the Leeds Official Site? Is Master Bates knocking off articles whilst sitting on his crapper perhaps? The English errors sum up the club at the moment - they are a complete shambles!

Today two articles have headlined with a capital S for the apostrophe s. Earlier a post ran with a small r employed for Elland Road. The apostrophe problem was evident again yesterday and most criminal of all, Dominic Poleon's name was spelt incorrectly in the article announcing that the kid had signed a contract.

If Ken Bates would like to get in touch, I will happily take over the duties. And I promise the articles would be much more cutting than the anodyne nonsense currently being dribbled out!

Giving It Lars At Euros!

Another game, another impressive Jacobsen performance. The mean spirited overlooked the fact that Denmark kept a clean sheet against the Dutch, with danger man Robben kept quiet, and instead complained about Jacobsen's crossing. Well today he made those snipers look like mugs as he delivered the perfect cross for Bendtner's second goal.

True Lars finished up on the losing side but he made a fantastic challenge to block off Ronaldo when the Real Madrid man looked clean through on goal and, for the most part, handled the second best player in the world well.

Others might not appreciate you Lars, but again I was proud to say you once wore Claret & Blue!

Not quite a Nolan style announcement but...

This time last year we all got very excited after the surprise capture of Captain Kev from Newcastle and today's announcement that Jussi Jaaskelainen has at last signed - 12 or so hours later than I predicted - hardly compares, but sometimes a tug boat is more useful than a show boat.

There's nothing glamourous about Jussi Jaaskelainen, he's the Ken Barlow of football, been there for ever and rarely been in the spotlight. But the point is, you can rely upon him. At 37, he may not have too many seasons left at the top, but we have only given him a one year contract anyway, so that doesn't matter.

Green or Jaaskelainen? Personally, I would rather have Jussi!

And Jussi is rare because his first and surname start with the same letter. How many West Ham players down the years can you name with this unusual alliterative quality? Your starter for ten - Kevin Keen!

Krasic Turns Down Tottenham To Join West Ham

Sounds good in the headline doesn't it? According to the Mail, and we all know how reliable a source that is, Milos Krasic of Juventus has put two fingers up to Tottenham Hotspurs and, if he comes to England, will link up with Sam Allardyce and West Ham instead.

It's easy to see Krasic's thinking. Tottenham peaked last season and, even then, couldn't qualify for the Champions League. There's only one direction in which Tottenham are heading, and that's backwards. Key members of the squad have left, others seem sure to follow, and 'Arry's tenure at the club may be coming to an end.

Meanwhile, West Ham are on a roll, seem certain to be playing in the best club stadium in London in a couple of years time and, in Allardyce, have a manager with the knack of reviving flagging careers. Some are talking of a season of struggle next year, but if Allardyce gets the pieces of the jigsaw that he is seeking, the Hammers could be the surprise package of 2012-13.

Redknapp Resign From Tottenham? No Chance!

'Arry resign from Spurs? No chance. To quote Pulp Fiction, that would be pride fcucking with him.

OK Levy is thinking of replacing him. OK Modric seems almost certain to leave this summer. OK Adebayoor is likely to leave. OK King has gone and so has Kranjcar. And Corluka will follow. But 'Arry resign? Why would he?

There's a nice fat pay off coming his way if Tottenham sack him!

West Ham To Dazzle Liverpool In Race For Diamend Geezer?

Let's not get too cocky, but how remarkable would it be if we beat Liverpool to the signing of Mohamed Diame? Make no mistake, this would be a superb signing especially as there is no Africa Cup of Nations this season. I identified Diame as a top target last week (http://thegamesgonecrazy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/freebie-eleven-surviving-in-prem-on.html) and he would be the perfect base for a midfield five, freeing Nolan and Noble to play and press higher up the pitch.

Liverpool definitely fancied Diame at one point and both QPR and Sunderland have been strongly linked with him. But he is an Allardyce type player and with rumours that we are in to a second round of talks with him, things are looking very promising, unless 'Arry "I 'aven't resigned!" Redknapp steps in at the last moment of course!

Cech Donation Not Enough To Prevent Greek Bale Out From Euros

Just wanted to be the first to use that headline!

Finders Keepers Losers Weepers For West Ham, QPR, Leeds, Bolton, Birmingham, West Brom and Blackburn

Well it's all a story of keepers at the moment and, like London buses, you wait all summer then five come along all at once. Will Green join QPR or Southampton? Will Kenny move to Leeds? Can Leeds afford Kenny even on a free? What about Ben Foster? Birmingham can't afford to keep him but will anybody meet his valuation when Green is available on a free? Has Jussi pledged his troth to West Ham? What about Robinson, is he bound for Upton Park as well?

It's a veritable merry go round of keepers, only none of them are moving just yet. Contracts run until the end of this month, of course, but Green may be the bung in the pipe. Until he makes up his mind up for sure what he is doing, the rest are held in limbo: West Ham certainly don't need three keepers on top of Henderson; QPR may well be thinking, Green for free is a better deal than Foster for £4m; West Brom may have similar thoughts; Bolton have a top notch keeper anyway; and Birmingham and Leeds are probably hoping to sign that guy off the Mars ad!

Good Result? Competent Performance? Depressing Over All!

How negative were England in the second half and how second rate were we made to look? True France created very few chances and had Milner shown more composure after rounding the keeper, we could have won the game, but we clearly played for the draw and were petrified of France.

Who played well? Well Parker did for the most part, though he and Gerrard got it wrong between them for the Nasri goal - both dropped deep and one needed to hold the line on the edge of the box. Lescott scored but had a couple of all too typical defensive aberrations. Welbeck was good first half. And?

Gerrard is now a yard too slow and he gives away the ball far too often. Young, that slipped pass to Milner apart, was poor. Oxlade-Chamberlain made a number of bad decisions. Milner was crap. Johnson was poorer. Terry was Terry. Cole was isolated too often. Hart missed a cross badly and was arguably slow to react to Nasri's goal.

In a way it was a good result but, looked at another way, if either the Ukraine or Sweden win, we are up against it as the winners of that fixture will be in the box seat. I don't fancy us to win both of the remaining fixtures; in fact I wouldn't be surprised if we drew both. Should we draw against Sweden, surely the favourite bet, it could come down to having to beat the Ukraine on their own radio active dung heap. Even with Rooney, that would be a big ask.

Leeds Announce Two Major Signings

And there we all were thinking Leeds were struggling without two black puddings to their name. What nonsense! With Captain Snakeinthegrass muttering discontent, White of the Whites planning to defect, and transfer targets being missed left, right and centre because Master Bates has refused to stump up the necessary cash, the club has made all us critics look utter mugs by announcing the capture of two stars.

Yes, ladies and gentleman, Leeds United, once proud beaten finalists in the European Cup, have captured the signing of Dominic Poleon and Ross Killock. Who? Well might you ask!

There's huge potential for a spoonerism there of course, with Ross Pillock tripping nicely off the tongue for some reason, but happily the Leeds United Official Site avoided that trap, although they did spell Poleon's first name Dominc in the press release. Easy mistake to make, I'm sure, although I trust it will not be repeated when the lad leads the line for Leeds in the absence of anybody else!

These are not the only signings of the summer of course. Leeds have already landed Simon Lenighan, Sam Byram, the terrible twins Nathan and Lewis Turner and the gloriously named Charlie Clamp. Presumably he plays in one big yellow boot!

But the award for the most excitingly named Leeds recruit goes to Monty Gimpel. Trouble with that dastardly Desert Fox Rommel? Bring out the Gimp!