Things that make me angry Vol 3. (Road Raging!)

If you're not a driver then you're probably not going to fully appreciate this post, but keep reading on anyhow, you may learn how to avoid being unknowingly annoying!

I've often ranted at the Mrs and also on Facebook about other road users, how it seems that a lot of them must have found a drivers licence in a Cornflakes packet! I know I'm not the only one to have such thoughts, so to all the rest of you who think like me, you have my utmost sympathy!

Those of us who do a commute to work will possibly be more aware of the insane idiots on the roads than those who drive far more casually, only possibly though! Below I'm going to do a list of common moronic road behaviour:

1. Indicating

You see those little things stuck to the side of your car? They are called indicators, when activated by the stalk on the steering column they flash and let everyone around you know what you are planning to do. This sounds like common sense right? For most of us it is, because we're sensible people with no wish to make things difficult for those around us. However some folk, I'm looking at you, BMW drivers, seem to think that indicators are just a fashion accessory for the car, just a bit of bling to tart it up a bit more. So I'm going to be a good citizen here and tell you that, no they are not some useless ornament, they are vital thing on the car, learn to use them you middle-class twits!* It infuriates me no end when I'm sat at a junction patiently waiting to get on the road when the approaching Beemer suddenly slows right down and takes the corner without letting me know what the fuck he/she/it is about to do! So for fuck sake learn some common road decency!

2. Roundabouts

Now I know that when taking driving lessons roundabouts can be confusing and terrifying things. I know this because I too was once a learner and roundabouts gave me nightmares. However once I learned the basic rules for navigating them I saw them for what they truly are, places where idiots go to shit other drivers up by displaying no knowledge of lane discipline. Seriously the amount of times I've been cut up on a roundabout has now gone beyond count! They're really not all that difficult to manage. First of all get in the correct lane, if the approach to a roundabout has two lanes then the left lane serves the first exit off the roundabout, and sometimes the second depending on how large the damn thing is. Second and this is a tricky one, if you're in the right hand lane move toward the inside of the roundabout and drive clockwise around, when you're passing the exit immediately before the one you need, indicate to let other drivers know you will be changing lanes and departing the roundabout, they will appreciate you for it. Thirdly and finally, do NOT go all the way around a roundabout in the outside lane, this could possibly cause you to cut other drivers up and potentially cause you to suffer fist related injuries, use common sense!

3. The brakes

This is one that really does make my blood boil! Just imagine, you're driving along, everything on the road is moving smoothly and things are right with the world. All of a sudden you start to drop down a hill and the driver in front of you hits the brakes, now this of itself isn't a huge problem, everyone takes the edge off their speed a bit when going downhill, but some take it to extremes. Imagine you're behind someone who seems to take a perverse delight in tapping their brakes every few seconds, so that you've constantly got a red light in your eyes, just imagine how fucking maddening that can be! Seriously brake riders are amongst the worst humanity has to offer**, they tootle along, foot glued to the pedal slowing everything and everyone up, it's enough to drive a reasonable man to murder! What goes through these peoples minds? Are they aware that they're courting a horrible death by irate driver? Do they get themselves off by foot pressure? Do they think that if they remove their foot from the brake pedal on a hill their car will spectacularly explode? I think the answers to these questions will forever remain a mystery to me. All I will say to them is, please stop riding your bastard brakes, I really don't fancy jail time for mutilating you in the middle of the road!

4. Taxis

Ah taxi drivers AKA the ignorant cretins of the road! If you ever want to seriously piss off your fellow drivers, then get a job in the taxi industry. You will learn lots here, such as; how to cut people up properly, how to park on double yellow lines like a bellend, how to indicate even less than a BMW driver, how to stop abruptly while causing maximum carnage behind you and finally how to drive like an idiot the wrong way on a one way street! Taxi drivers are a menace***, I'd like to think there's a special hell set aside for these people, one with a meter running constantly that charges them for every little movement they make! Unfortunately though taxis are kind of a necessary evil in the world, because unless you are tee-total, you cannot enjoy a good night out without relying on their dodgy driving and extortionate prices. It's a cruel world isn't it?

5. Boy racers

One of the perils of being out and about in your pride and joy is a particular type of road user, specifically the "boy racer". You've all seen them in their tacky looking Vauxhall Corsa's, with shit music booming out of an even shitter stereo system. They can usually be found either parked up somewhere wearing baseball caps and looking like extra's from Shameless, or riding so far up your arse that they could probably clean your tonsils for you, just waiting for a chance to overtake you with all the speed of sluggish iceberg! Just like the above mentioned taxi drivers, these morons are dangerous, if they're not making your ears bleed with their terrible music then they're either choking you to death with the crap that blasts out of their exhaust pipes or they're jumping red lights and forcing you into the kind of reflex braking a Formula 1 driver would be proud of! How some of these kids pass their tests is a bigger mystery than the Bermuda Triangle! How they can even see through the clouds of cannabis smoke inside the car is a bigger mystery still. And how more people haven't thought to run them off the road during their torturous overtaking attempts is a mystery the likes of which no man will ever solve! Do yourself a favour, if you ever see one of these pathetic specimens on the road, turn off at the next available opportunity ... but remember to indicate!

* - Not all BMW drivers are middle class twits, nor are they all bad drivers, but there is enough to create a generalisation.

** - Obviously there are worse examples of humanity than brake riders, but I don't encounter them much, if at all, so I can make such a dramatic statement.

*** - And not all taxi drivers are complete menaces, a few I've used lately have been pretty good and safe, but again there's enough of them to make these sweeping generalisations.

This is it for tonight, thanks for reading ... if indeed anyone did!

Things that make me angry Vol 2. Lurn t speel kuhreckly!

I was reading through Facebook last night and for whatever reason I decided to click on a post and read the comments ... fuck me, a day later and my eyes are still bleeding due to the complete and utter mangling of the English language I observed! I seriously think I'm going to need therapy to cope with what I saw!

A little bit of background here; I'm an English student and a writer of (mostly unfinished) stories, I take great pride in my ability to spell, and if I don't know how to spell a particular word I'll look it up and learn how. So, as you can probably imagine, bad spelling is one of the things that can particularly annoy me. I know to some people it's not a major thing to get annoyed by, but it's my eyes that are offended by this, so I don't care about other peoples opinions!

I believe that bad spelling is down to two things, poor education and pure damn laziness, and I'm going to be offensive on both of those things!

I'll tackle laziness first. Back in the day, when mobile phones were a new toy to play with and text messaging was in its infancy, you had limits on how many characters you could fit in to a text and thus shortening words such as 'you' to 'u' became the norm. Now I could deal with that, albeit with a gritting of the teeth, but it was acceptable to a degree. But here's where I get a bit miffed, communications technology has moved on from those prehistoric times, we are no longer limited in our messages, so why is lazy spelling still so prevalent? I see some people trying to explain it away with pitiful excuses, like "it saves time to write ur instead of you're." Seriously?? It takes a few fractions of a second longer to write a word properly, just what the fuck were you planning to do with that fraction of time you saved? Solve world hunger? Cure cancer? Does it really affect your life to hit a few extra keys on the keyboard? Now in my opinion (key word to notice there is OPINION), bad spelling just makes you look like an uneducated moron, and it baffles me as to why people show themselves up to the world in this way.

Obviously all of this is just my opinion, and like someone once said, 'opinions are like arseholes, everyone has one and they all stink', so you can ignore all of what I say, but please be aware that if you write shit like "2mora", "4eva" and "h8" (yes I've seen those three used recently), then in my mind I am strangling you with acid soaked barbed wire!

Now onto poor education, and despite what I said earlier about being offensive I can be a slight bit more lenient here ... well to a degree. Not everyone is brilliant in school, some people just never grasp what it is they're being taught, they can be cut some slack because at least they do try and communicate properly, if atrociously, even if they never do get the whole 'there', 'they're' and 'their' stuff correctly. It sill makes my eyes bleed when I have to read what they're trying to say, but I don't always feel like disembowelling them and stamping on their entrails. But there are those who simply refuse to learn, they spend over a decade in school and leave less educated than when they started! Slight over-exaggeration there maybe, but you know where I am coming from. I suppose these people can be put firmly in the lazy camp. These are the people who I seem to encounter more frequently than others and thus are the people I most frequently think about visiting horrible tortures upon!

(Just a quick lesson for folks!)

I feel as though I must add an afterword here, for those who don't really know me.

This post was mainly written in jest, I don't really wish any kind of violence upon anyone. Yes bad spelling does grate on me, but not in a psychotic kind of way. A lot of good friends of mine are not great with the written word, I don't judge them on this, their overall character is far more important. So if anyone reading this is any way offended, don't be, I'm sure there is a lot about me you could all pick on!

Now go forth and eat a dictionary! 

Things that make me angry Vol 1. (There will be a Vol 2)

So just lately I've found myself climbing back on my soapbox again (I never really left it), and ranting to my soon to be wife about crap that really grinds my gears! And I thought to myself, why should the long suffering fiance have to be the only one to hear about everything I think is wrong with the world? So I've had the bright idea to share the anger among you, my devoted reader (yeah right!). As I have quite a few subjects that bring out my ire, I think this could easily become a series, and in the process revive the blog from its cyber grave.

Okies, useless introduction thing out of the way, here's part one!

Reality TV

Now I think all who know me know that I'm not exactly a fan of reality TV, you know as it's absolute fucking garbage and aimed at people who've supped too much Special Brew that they think the Jeremy Kyle show is the height of culture! Ok so I'm generalising just a bit there, I know some good people who watch this shit, but even good people can have execrable taste at times!

Anyhow the reality TV 'phenomenon' has taken over our screens, it seems to be on every channel at every time of day and its main purpose seems to be to make brain dead cretins into Z list celebrities. You know the type, those who think that showing off their abs and/or plastic tits on national TV gives them the right to turn up at trashy nightclubs and expect to be given preferential treatment, complete with the token paparazzi to photograph them falling over at the end of the night after way to many WKD's!

I'm heading off on a bit of a tangent here, so back on topic, with the next paragraph.

Actually you know, I don't think I have one specific topic here, I'm just ranting for rantings sake, it's actually quite cathartic!

I did try and watch Love Island earlier, to try and get an idea on why this crap is so popular, however I had to switch over after five minutes, the amount of preening, mooning, bitchiness and all around moronic behaviour made my eyes bleed and my brain melted down through my nostrils! I mean holy shit are these people actually real? I've been around a few places and nowhere have I encountered such pathetic examples of humanity. I could be wrong here, but I think there's only one brain cell on that island, and all the 'contestants' have shared access to it! All they seem to care about is getting a shag on live TV! Is this what the youth of today aspire to now? Or am I just turning in to a grumpy old bastard with no concept of today's new cultural landscape?

You know the worst thing about this reality television shite? It's killing off creativity! It seems to be easier nowadays for TV execs to put something like this on our screens (or anyone of the various 'talent shows'), instead of something interesting and well made that requires a bit of investment on the part of the viewer to fully appreciate it. I know there is good TV around, but how much of it is actually shown on the mainstream channels? American Gods, Game of Thrones, Lucifer, all shows that have a good idea behind them, all getting good reviews, and yet are any of them shown on the Beeb? On ITV? Of course they're not! They're all on channels that require some form of payment, which is pure bollocks!

Anyways, I'm ending this here, it's all getting a bit incoherent and my writing skills have become a bit rusty. Apologies to anyone who does suffer reading through this crap, suffice to say, my next effort shall be far better, I just wanted to do something to set the creative juices flowing again!

A long overdue update!

So I haven't updated this bloody thing in quite while, in fact I'd almost forgot about it! So it's time to rectify that!

As all my dedicated readers (all zero of you) know, this blog is just a thing I use to mess around with and generally try and fail to be funny. Well that ain't gonna change! I can hear you all sigh in relief there, or is it resignation? Anyhow I'm going to carry on writing this as I always have, only with a bit more serious stuff in it ... well serious to me! Snippets of my ongoing story writing and what not!

As I'm currently a few thousand words into what hopefully will turn out to be an Urban Fantasy novel, you're going to get bored with some of that!

Starting soon I'm going to write a little series called "what makes me angry", so keep waiting.

Just as an aside, can all who DO read this leave me a little comment, either in the comments section here or on Facebook? It would be rather kind!

Until the next time, cheers!

Premier League Season Review 2013-2014

This is brilliant and fucking totally, stupidly funny! While I'd love to take credit for it, I can't, I found it online, cluttering up a forum!

So here we go, this is a team by team season review for the entire Premier League. Enjoy and laugh as your team is ripped to shreds!

In case you missed the opening comments, this is not my work, so any complaints will be met by a raised middle finger!

20) Cardiff - I think my favourite part of Cardiff's season was Vincent Tann giving that interview to the BBC in order to try and prove he wasn't a nutcase. The same interview that convinced me beyond any doubt that he was, in fact, a nutcase. Meanwhile, about 90% of the criticism aimed at him came as a result of him sacking Mackay, for spending £15m of Vincent Tann's money, without Vincent Tann's permission. When you think about it, this actually makes it about the most non unfair sacking in the history of football management, and possibly employment in general. Mackay also bizarrely escapes without criticism for the laughably poor players he signed using this money, giving Solskjaer, and whoever replaces him, next to no chance of turning fortunes around. Tann now appears to be in some kind of spite bubble and will probably move Cardiff to Asia just to get back at the fans for daring to act like football fans. THe first of a number of clubs on this list that would probably accidentally run itself better if everyone involved went around deliberately trying to sabotage it.

Verdict - 3/10 Championship manager signs Championship players for Premiership fee, with non-existent money. Owner goes mad then claims everyone just thinks he's mad because he wears bond villain glasses and thinks the team's shirt colour harnesses some kind of mythical power.



19) Fulham - A team who started the season being managed by Mark Hughes...no wait, Martin Jol...no, er...Rene Muelestene? Anyway, now managed by soon to be sacked Felix Magath (who's one of those guys you've heard of before but aren't really sure why), Fulham have put in a feeble effort this season...Apart from that one game on Monday Night Football where they kept scoring wonder goals. Other than that, the main highlight was a draw at Old Trafford which was somehow even more embarrassing to witness than a crushing 6-0 defeat would have been. Their inevitable relegation will devastate their several fans almost as much as Nani taking his statue back did.

Verdict - 3/10 Attempted to stay up by bringing in a rejected coach from another club then letting him sign loads of rejected reserve players from the same club..then sacked him about 2 weeks later.



18) Norwich - The pitifulness of Norwich can perhaps be summed up by the performance that ultimately relegated them. A battling, deliberately achieved 0-0 draw against Chelsea, in a game they knew they needed to win in order to have any chance of staying up. After which their manager announced his pride at this achievement, as if it somehow wasn't the dumbest performance any team had produced all season. Imagine the enraged fury of watching your team play out for a draw in a game they needed at all costs to win, only to then announce they were pleased with the outcome. What on earth is going on? Norwich can also showcase a raft of players with exactly the same face. For example, Bradley Johnson, Robert Snodgrass, some guy I saw playing for their reserves, and some other players probably.

Verdict - 3/10 - They basically deliberately got themselves relegated.



17 ) West Brom - Marvel as one of the club's biggest ever name signings, Nicholas Anelka, takes several months of sulking to score 1 goal, then celebrates it by acting like a Nazi sympathising racist and getting himself banned, and sacked. Watch as Pepe Mel fails to win a game for what seems like an eternity, while the board back him by publicly admitting that they think he might be a bit rubbish. Become gradually more confused as West Brom move slowly away from the relegation zone, despite the fact you can't remember ever seeing them win a game. Then become even more confused when you try to remember how it was again that West Brom got into the premiership in the first place.

Verdict: 6/10 It's West Brom. Anything that isn't being soundly relegated is always going to have to rank as some level of achievement.



16) Hull - People have had a chance to witness as Steve Bruce not only defends, but actually finds a way to praise his players for things like spitting on people, and physically assaulting opposition managers. A team featuring one of the many trademarks of a Steve Bruce team...Steve Bruce's son, who follows Steve Bruce around being allowed to play in the first team despite clearly not being good enough. Every Steve Bruce team seems to hover around the same level of not quite being rubbish enough to be at risk of being relegated...which usually results in significant praise for Steve Bruce...for about a year, and then after that he eventually gets sacked and the team promptly get dragged into a relegation battle.

Verdict: 7/10 Significant praise for Steve Bruce



15) Aston Villa - The team who's only relevance on any season, ever, is in how their results affect other teams in the league, rather than themselves. For example, this year's most memorable Aston Villa moment; ruining Chelsea's title chances in order to gain absolutely nothing for themselves, at all. Lining up with sometimes good and sometimes completely useless Benteke, and sometimes good and sometimes replaced in the starting line up with someone you've never heard of, Adbonglahor. And Westwood, a player so unremarkably average, he's destined to sign for Aston Villa, despite already playing for them. A team capable of bursting suddenly into life and running even good opponents into the ground, such as away against Liverpool. Also capable of being so passive, you wonder what the point is in them even being on the pitch, such as at home, against Liverpool.

Verdict: 5/10 At least they didn't make a huge deal out of a League cup game against Bradford, and then lose it, this time around



14 ) Sunderland - In the absence of Wigan, someone needed to stay up by spending most of the season appearing to be completely *****, then suddenly revealing in the last two months that they merely couldn't be arsed up until that point. Featuring, a raft of unpunished dives from Adam Johnson, useless fumbling around by Emile Hesk....Altidore, and how to get sent off more times than you actually play, with Wes Brown. Once Sunderland were released from the grip of their Nazi sympathising manager who hated all of the players and everything they stood for, they brought in the slightly less insane Gus Poyet and were able to flourish...eventually, sort of. Even managing to win a penalty shootout at Old Trafford, by missing nearly every single one of their penalties, which in a way fittingly sums up Sunderland's succesful abject failure of a season.

Verdict - 5/10 Sudden, nonsensical transformation into a decent team is usually a bad sign in the long run.



13) West Ham - West Ham's season has for some reason revolved around the questionable tactic of playing Andy Carroll up front on his own, hoofing the ball up to him, and then having him head it down to no one because he's playing up front on his own. Strangely West Ham seemed to persist with the tactic of hoofing the ball to Andy Carroll, even when Andy Carroll was missing from the team with long-term injury. Less strangely, against Spurs it actually managed to work. Ravel Morrison stepped up to provide possibly the biggest highlight of West Ham's season...an uncontested backheeled volley scored on the training ground...for England U21s. Morrison was shortly after shipped out by Sam Allardyce for, allegedly, not signing a contract with a specific agent, or more likely because he's an unstable lunatic who doesn't hoof the ball enough. Still playing games at their famous Bolyen ground (which is so famous everyone calls it Upton Park, and so state of the art, it's literally been condemned as a dangerous structure), before their move into the oversized, unsuitable Olympic arena, which by becoming the home of West Ham, will ensure it has its legacy as both an Olympic, and football stadium, completely destroyed.

Verdict: 6/10 Wherever Sam Allardyce goes, he's not really welcomed to stay, which is exactly why he should remain at West Ham.



12) Swansea - A team of such astonishing relevance, I literally had to go and look at the league table to see which team it was I'd left out of this review. With a manager whose name I also can't remember, but who's basically just some guy who used to hang around at training. Mysterious disappearing players such as Mitchu, and mysteriously appearing new players such as Wilfried Bony; the latest in the list of Premier League strikers who manage to become good players by essentially being useless at everything. A Welsh team who dress up like a bunch of sheep, and then often play like a bunch of sheep, but who sometimes though increasingly rarely turn into Barcelona. Now once again the only Welsh team playing in the English Premier League.

Verdict: 5/10 The curse of the Europa League. A competition so dull, it depresses teams who compete into ruining their entire season.



11) Crystal Palace - "Crystal Pulis!" lol...good one Martin Tyler. A fantastic play on words. Well done. Arguably most notable this season for featuring some of the ugliest crowds ever televised (even the away fans seem to get noticeably more ugly when they visit Palace)...Presumably it turns out Ian Dowie's face was the result of some infectious disease that spawned from that set of violently angry home fans by the far left cornerflag. Also however notable for forcing basically everyone to eat humble pie in regards to Tony Pulis, and for making Luis Suarez cry. A team who call themselves "The Eagles", release eagles on to the pitch before every game, and have a man dressed as a giant eagle stand by the crowd cheerleading them, despite having no actual affiliation with eagles at all.

Verdict: 8/10 Relegation fodder turned into midtable stability by virtue of realising nearly every team in the league plays like a bunch of prematurely released clowns.



10) Newcastle - Newcastle have gone a bit boring this season. Spending the first part winning games by being dull and entirely unconvincing, and then the second part of the season losing games by doing exactly the same thing. Newcastle's most entertaining player is now their manager,Alan Pardew, abuser of old men, headbutter of random Irishmen, and enemy of Newcastle. Despite this, fans have once again been enthralled by Newcastle's easily most talented player, Hatem Ben Arfa, as he's excitingly spent large chunks of the season...sitting around on the bench, or being banished to the stands by Alan Pardew for being an unreliable nutcase, where he can sit in the company of people like...Alan Pardew, who's been banished to the stands by the FA for being an unreliable nutcase. Only Newcastle could somehow find a catastrophic looking way of being completely irrelevant and dull.

Verdict: 6/10 Alan Pardew is like the incredible Hulk except instead of turning green and invincible, nothing happens, and then he has to start apologising to everyone to avoid getting the crap kicked out of him.



9) Stoke -A new manager at the helm, which means Stoke fans have watched in bemusement as their team attempted to stop playing like Stoke and start playing like a real football team, only to realise they couldn't and then revert back to trying to be Stoke again. Only to realise they couldn't do that anymore either, but then realise that there's so many awful teams in the league that it doesn't really matter. Armed with the ability to play terribly, and then snatch barely deserved wins with ridiculous 30 yard shots. Boasting hideously deformed players such as Charlie Adam, and Dean Whitehead, whose face is so large, it's probably looking at you, right now. A fan base that remains comprised of people who look like they were kicked out of the West Ham supporter's club for overdoing it a bit. A ground famed for its harsh wind and weather conditions, yet when it did start raining against Manchester United, the game got stopped and all the players ran into the tunnel.

Verdict: 6/10 Stoke make me angry, and Pulis leaving has left me confused as to why, which makes me more angry.



8) Southampton - The Sunderland of the South. Boasting a team of players who nearly all look almost exactly the same as each other, and who all pass and move with the ball in almost exactly the same way as each other, and a 17-year-old left back who everyone seems to have decided will one day be the best player in the world, despite the fact almost no one's ever really watched him play more than a few times (move over Phil Jones)...and, a manager who blatantly pretends he can't speak or understand English, just so he doesn't have to put up with Geoff Shreeves. A team who've spent the season playing a more modern and attractive brand of football than the rest of the league, despite being from a part of the country where football has barely even been invented yet. The sort of team where big name misfits like Shinji Kagawa and Mezut Ozil could go, and actually look like good players. Literally the only team apart from Liverpool who can actually claim to be a better team than they were or should have been this time last year.

Verdict: 8/10 Having half a team of players being hyped above their actual ability level is a good sign that you've done well.



7) Manchester United - United fans have struck a strange kind of balance this year, in so much as that the reasonable middle ground is completely deserted while the two extremes balance off each other like two fat people sat on a seesaw. On the one hand, match going fans remained steadfast in their vocal support of David Moyes and his gang of hilariously underperforming players, regardless of the obvious shambles and stupidity unfolding in front of their eyes. While on the other, internet fans ignored the countless valid criticisms of David Moyes, in order to completely make up completely over the top criticisms to discredit him with. For example, claiming Moyes ruined United by getting rid of Phelan and Muelestene...two egotistical, resentful coaches who no one really knew anything about. One of whom has been sacked more times than David Moyes, since being sacked by David Moyes.

A club on a relentlessly determined mission to undo all of Sir Alex Ferguson's good work in as little time as possible. Like a destructive kid set loose on a city made of lego. signing players for well above their contractual buyout clause, because they didn't think the player was worth the buyout clause. Wasting an entire summer agreeing to sign players from Spanish teams, then not actually signing them, and employing a manager who

- Constantly admits he "doesn't know" what to do about things

- Disregards good performances from players yet relies unshakably on those who repeatedly perform symbolically

- Signs a player for £42m, then admits within a week that he doesn't know what position to play him in

- Makes United so bad that it's actually a surprise when they don't lose a home game.

...only to then sack him at the exact point in the season it became mathematically too late for any other manager to retrieve anything.

United, a club that, against all the odds and sheer laws of chance/probability, has managed to go an entire year without getting a single thing right. The club's brightest sparks this season are the goalkeeper and a teenage prodigy who is regularly dropped for Ashley Young.

Verdict - 2/10 Abject management. featuring a spine of players who play every week like they're hung over and have been dragged to fulfill some form of community service, and a back up pool of players who play maybe every few weeks then disappear again for no explained reason.



6 ) Spurs - I was going to put something new, then realised what I wrote earlier in the season is still exactly as applicable now and forever. So here it is: An identity crisis of a club. Splashing money and overspending on players with no second thought, but then whenever one of their players turns out to be better than the rest, selling them to a better team. Levy might dig his heels in until 1 minute before the transfer deadline, but the player always leaves. A selling club trying to buy their way to the top.

Every striker at the club is constantly marginalised to make room for the other strikers at the club…even when they only have two strikers. They play a high line with defenders who like to drop deep. They sign every available midfielder under the sun and then use as few as possible, or resort to using 18-year-old youth team players in central midfield. They specialise in pacey wingers who either can’t or refuse to cross the ball. They play a goalkeeper who goalkeeps by constantly running away from his own goal.

Sherwood is the confused befuddlement of a manager they’ve been waiting for. He’s like a fan, but not just any fan. One of those who becomes irrationally angry during games, who you can’t take to the pub with you, who loves supporting the team so much that he hates everything about it. He wants the team to show more guts. He wants players to be angry at things and each other. he wants everyone to care as much as he does….he trusts Adebayor more than any other attacking player. Presumably behind closed doors he strangles Adebayor with one hand whilst hugging him with the other.

He wants his team to wake up and believe they are good enough to beat the top sides, and he does this by publicly telling them that they’re ***** and can’t be counted on. He's everything Tottenham are in a nutshell.

Verdict: 5/10 The only plan is to relentlessly fight against the plan.



5) Everton - A half decent, barely improved team which has engulfed itself in a smug sense of self richousness that even Arsenal would struggle to rival. Everton can pass the ball now (because they never did that before apparently). They play, the "right" way. They are a real football team. They've awoken from the dark ages of the Moyes era. I mean jesus *********** christ are medals given out for this sort of self appreciating nonsense now or something?

They can also take on the top teams now we are told. As their string of hard thought battling defeats, draws and occasional home wins (i.e. exactly what they've been up to for years) proves. In truth, the sum total achievement of Everton's revolution under Martinez, can be whittled down to them moving a whole one place up the league. An achievement which when you think about why, can in fact be almost entirely accredited to David Moyes.

Exciting times also lie ahead as Everton can look forward to two of their best players, and their most talented young player, all returning to their actual clubs having spent the season on loan.

Verdict - 8/10 Everton being Everton but looking slightly more like Wigan. I'm not convinced that this bodes well for the future.



4) Arsenal - Each Arsenal season is like watching last season back again. In fact, even if I say "even in a season where every team in the league bottled it, Arsenal still managed to bottle it by comparison" it's still basically the same thing I said two years ago. Attempting to address their lack of bottle, by signing world-famous and known bottler Mezut Ozil...who then bafflingly received ALL of the blame when Arsenal bottled it. Hopes were high early on. Fans became arrogant and obnoxious. Piers Morgan resurfaced. Pundits foolishly talked of Arsenal as a genuine threat. Then they flexed their true title credentials, visiting their three main title rivals and only losing about 16-3 on aggregate, managing to concede 6 goals against a Chelsea side who were basically deliberately trying not to score, and cowering from the challenge like someone going without dinner because they're too scared to answer the door to the pizza delivery man. It's not even funny anymore. So predictable that even Paul Scholes, who never says anything, about anything, can appear on television and casually pick apart everything wrong with Arsenal, without so much as a stutter. Paul Scholes also accused Jack Wilshere of not improving at all since he first burst onto the scene, which if anything is slightly harsh on the younger Jack Wilshere, because at least no one had realised how much of a ***** he is back then.

Verdict: 7/10 At the start of the season Arsenal fans wanted Wenger out. Then he spent £40m on a player who ultimately turned out to be completely pointless, and Arsenal produced exactly the same sort of season they always do, and now they all love Wenger again.



3) Chelsea

The mighty Mourinho has returned. The man who insufferable football nerds and disgruntled United fans will hail as a managerial and charismatic god in the face of any evidence whatsoever to the contrary.

Witness as he dispels claims of him being boring with:

- Unecessarilly long post match interviews in which he recounts the entire game you've just watched, play by pay, for no reason

- Prolonged unexplained sulking

- 0-0 draws

- Especially uneventful and drab 0-0 draws, in games which both teams needed to win in order to mathematically keep their season alive

- Unprovoked, indirect digs at Arsene Wenger, which no one, including Arsene Wenger, could care less about



Gasp in awe at ingenious managerial tactics, such as:

- Falling out with his best player and selling him to a different club

- Falling out with his remaining best player and slagging him off in public

- Repeated telling everyone in public that his players are too **** to win the league

- Spending all summer trying to sign a player he had no chance of ever signing, then signing someone much less good at the last-minute, then getting caught slagging them off in public

- Stating he's going to build his team around a particular player, then dropping them halfway through the season

Mourinho has Mourinho'd Chelsea so much, that they've become the best team in the world at stopping other teams from winning, to the point that it's even extended to stopping themselves from winning. Chelsea also have so many of the same, vague type of attacking player, that they actually managed to name nearly an entire team of players against Manchester United who were playing in the same position...and yet still no one really knows exactly what that position is.

Thought: I wonder what Chelsea fans would think of their manager after this season if his name was Rafa Benitez?

Verdict: 6/10 - A trophyless season of boredom glossed over as apparently being a success because it's what Mourinho said would happen, even though it was his job to make sure it didn't.


2) Liverpool - No one will forget the galling, moving image of unapologetic racist Luis Suarez weeping uncontrollably, having failed to win a League title with the team he cares about so much, he spent all summer desperately trying to leave them. Liverpool have invented an interesting new concept this season. The concept of "deserving" to win a prize you're competing for and which there is nothing stopping you from winning, but without actually having to win it. Presumably at the next Olympics, Usain Bolt can now just stand on the starting line in the 100m final, and wait for the gold medal he deserves to run up the track to him? Most baffling about this theory (which has been rammed repeatedly down everyone's throats), is that Gerrard has been bestowed with this sense of entitlement more than anyone else...the man whose lack of non brainless leadership qualities and inability to keep his nerve, is one of the main reasons Liverpool didn't win the league.

Another thing that's been rammed repeatedly down everyone's throats, is the constant claim from Liverpool supporting people that "all the neutrals" want Liverpool to win the league. If you look up the word neutral in the dictionary, it becomes clear this is akin to claiming the Nazis were neutral during the second world war. Furthermore, this claim actually pushed me from being relatively neutral, to actively wanting Liverpool not to win it, because like most normal people, I don't like being told what I'm allowed to think...especially not when it involves cheering for Luis Suarez.

Liverpool have scored 101 goals in the league this season. An actually remarkably impressive tally, matched only by the combined number of "Spanish" dives Sturridge and Suarez manage to conjure up between them, per game.

Suarez can however take some comfort in between balling into his pillow, in knowing Liverpool are one of about two teams in the entire league who have actually improved in any significant way at all since last season.

Food for thought: Remember the time a title chasing Manchester United were awarded 3 (THREE) penalties at Anfield in one game, and cheated to get the Liverpool captain sent off, and received praise as a result instead of it initiating some mass conspiracy hysteria? No, neither do I.

Verdict: 9/10 "yeah but they didn't have the Champions League to worry about", "they got lucky with injuries"...blah blah blah. No one expected Liverpool to get into the top four, then no one expected them to stay there. Then no one expected them to be in the title race, then even when they were, no one expected them to stay there or win it, then when everyone finally started thinking they could, they immediately screwed it up. Still...



1) Manchester City - For the second time in three years, Manchester City win the league by completely bottling it like a bunch of fannies and throwing it away, only to have it handed back to them when their title rivals inexplicably do exactly the same thing. A team who could blow any side away at home...until opposition teams actually started turning up there at which point it turned out that they couldn't. A team that extracted revenge for its shock FA cup final defeat by Wigan, by going out of the FA Cup, at home, to Wigan. A team criticised for being almost completely reliant on whom pundits claimed to be its one key player....Sergio Aguero...and David Silva...and Yaya Toure...and Joe Har...whatever. Other notable players include Demichellis. A man who spent most of the season taking the blame for Vincent Kompany's constant mistakes, which would then somehow be used to praise Vincent Kompany...a man pundits claimed to be City's one key player. Witness also as Manchester City drive home their dominant local support, by failing to sell out their stadium for key title deciding games, top-tier Champions League fixtures, and generally any game that takes place at any time. Mystery remains as to what Javi Garcia actually does, whether Dzeko is amazing or really terrible, and why Pellegrini always looks like he's just stubbed cigarettes into both of his eyes.

Verdict - 7/10 Occasionally brilliant, often underwhelming, and mentally naive...but with Yaya Toure instead of Joe Allen/Mikel/injured Jack Wilshere.







Inaccurate statements:

"The closest title race in years" - You mean closer than the one two years ago, which was decided on goal difference, in injury time on the last day of the season?

All the neutrals want Liverpool to do it - " 1) Neutral (adjective) - Not supporting or helping either side in a conflict, disagreement, etc.; impartial:" "2) (noun) An impartial or unbiased state or person: "I attended the cup final as a neutral"' http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/de...nglish/neutral

"Ashley Young was signed to replace Ryan Giggs" - Sir Alex Ferguson 2014 (published)

"We do not let this *********** slip now" - Steven Gerrard/various ****take Vine videos



Special features:

- Shocking and unexplained refereeing, most notably from world cup approved referee Howard Webb, and UEFA approved referee, Mark Clattenberg

- Pointless, smalltime plane banners

- Almost no competent defending whatsoever

- Unbiased Sky commentary/punditry, from Liverpool fan Jamie Carragher, Liverpool fan Jamie Redknapp, Liverpool fan Graeme Souness, and apparent Liverpool fan Martin Tyler

- Michael Owen proving he's even more dull than you already thought he was, even though that shouldn't technically be possible.

Dogs Don't Have Souls, Do They?

This is for pet lovers everywhere. We've all experienced the pain of losing something that really is part of the family

Everything posted here in this blog post is not written by me.

I remember bringing you home. You were so small and cuddly with your tiny paws and soft fur.

You bounced around the room with eyes flashing and ears flopping.

Once in a while, you'd let out a little yelp just to let me know this was your territory.

Making a mess of the house and chewing on everything in sight became a passion, and when I scolded you, you just put your head down and looked up at me with those innocent eyes, as if to say, "I'm sorry, but I'll do it again as soon as you're not watching."

As you got older, you protected me by looking out the window and barking at everyone who walked by.

When I had a tough day at work, you would be waiting for me with your tail wagging just to say, "Welcome home. I missed you. "You never had a bad day, and I could always count on you to be there for me.

When I sat down to read the paper and watch TV, you would hop on my lap, looking for attention. You never asked for anything more than for me to pat your head so you could go to sleep with your head over my leg.

As you got older, you moved around more slowly. Then, one day, old age finally took its toll, and you couldn't stand on those wobbly legs anymore. I knelt down and patted you lying there, trying to make you young again. You just looked up at me as if to say you were old and tired and that after all these years of not asking for anything, you had to ask me for one last favor. With tears in my eyes, I drove you one last time to the vet. One last time, you were lying next to me.

For some strange reason, you were able to stand up in the animal hospital, perhaps it was your sense of pride.

As the vet led you away, you stopped for an instant, turned your head and looked at me as if to say, "Thank you for taking care of me.

I thought, "No... thank you for taking care of me."

By Chuck Wells

I AM NOT THERE

Do not stand at my grave and weep;

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn's rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush,

I am the swift uplifting rush

of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there, I did not die.

They are our friends, companions, and protectors,

They are our family members in furry coats,

They give us everything that they are and ask only to be loved.

Let us be worthy of their devotion

(author unknown)

The Last Battle

If it should be that I grow frail and weak,

And pain should keep me from my sleep,

Then will you do what must be done,

For this, the last battle, can't be won.

You will be sad I understand,

But don't let grief then stay your hand,

For on this day, more than the rest,

Your love and friendship must stand the test.

We have had so many happy years,

You wouldn't want me to suffer so.

When the time comes, please, let me go.

Take me to where to my needs they'll tend,

Only, stay with me till the end

And hold me firm and speak to me,

Until my eyes no longer see.

I know in time you will agree,

It is a kindness you do to me.

Although my tail its last has waved,

From pain and suffering I have been saved.

Don't grieve that it must be you,

Who has to decide this thing to do;

We've been so close,we two, these years,

Don't let your heart hold any tears.

Fantastical jobs.

Fresh from discovering some of the oddest and more dangerous jobs in the real world, I've turned to the worlds of fantasy to see what job opportunities might be lurking there.

Now as you may or may not know my mind is constantly dwelling in some fantasy land or other (it's certainly preferable than thinking about Bacup on a daily basis) and populating that land with characters of my own creation. To any famous fantasy authors who may somehow come across this blog, no I'm not writing fanfiction in your world, so please don't hunt me down and kill me in some horribly brutal manner!!

Ahem!

Anyhow, back on to the silly, unbelievable topic at hand.

Now obviously in Middle Earth, Midkemia, Westeros and other such places they don't have job adverts in the classified sections of newspapers. In fact they don't even have newspapers! I've always found that to be a bit regressive to be honest...

So how do they find work then? Well I don't bloody know the answer to that! I do know that they all work though, they're not lazy, dole-dossing scum like the natives here!

Since most fantasy worlds are based upon the Medieval world then it stands to reason that they're not going to have very technical jobs, or technology based workplaces. So no theme parks, Lego sculptures or train pushing will be found here.

So you must be asking yourself, what do they do for employment? Well you're probably not asking that at all, but it does my ego good to think you might be!

So I've used my vast knowledge and come up with three careers that might be available to the common, generic fantasy character and two positions of importance that should be seized if opportunity presents.

Now remember people, this is just for fun, no getting bent out of shape over it!

So here we go:

Dragon slayer

Now as everyone knows, dragon's are a bit of plague to most fantasy lands, constantly stealing gold, kidnapping virgins and killing lots of people without much warning. They're a bit of a nuisance really. So what's needed is someone who can take care of these pests on peaceful life, preferably someone who likes to wear lots of metal and is relatively skilled in the art of sword hacking. What can I say? This is a job with an excellent benefits package; fame, fortune, people everywhere wanting to have sex with you. Interested? There's not much of a retirement package to go with the job, but really is that important?

Pros: You have job security for life.

Cons: You're more than likely going to die on the job.

Adventurer

If wandering strange lands, exploring old ruins, fighting all manner of nasty beasties and finding lots of useful treasures interests you, you may want to consider a profitable career as an adventurer. Now this is a self employed position so a knowledge of taxes and accountancy could come in handy. If you're a bit fussy about wearing the latest fashions and always looking like you've just come out of the salon, then don't apply. This is a job that requires you to travel far from civilisation, be almost constantly dirty and have almost no access to local gossip at all. If that last hasn't put you off, then sign up now and have an interesting life.

Pros: Lots of job satisfaction and no deadlines to meet.

Cons: You have no fixed abode and beds in inns are usually full of bed bugs.

Bard

If you wish for a career with less danger and opportunities for dying and more luxurious surroundings, then maybe the position of bard would suit you. Whether it be a travelling bard witnessing great events and singing for your supper at the finest inns in the world or a court bard, entertaining kings and queens and having your wicked way with all the court servants, a job as a bard is fun filled and rewarding. Obviously and ear for music and a talent with instruments is quite important, so if you consider One Direction as the pinnacle of music then please don't apply.

Pros: Easy life, free room and board.

Cons: You'll never really be taken seriously.

Dark Lord

Now this is one of the most important jobs in fantasyland. Every hero needs an adversary to struggle against, how's he going to make his name otherwise? Quite understandably the position of dark lord is one that doesn't become available very often, in fact job openings are once every few hundred years or so. So if interested you have to get your application in extremely quickly once the previous occupant of the role has been horribly killed. The job role is to take over the world and crush all hope underfoot whilst cancelling public holidays. References are definitely needed for this role as the minions under your control will expect someone with experience. Despite reports to the contrary, an evil laugh is not a job requirement.

Pros: Vast armies at your control, everyone is afraid you'll come for them.

Cons: There's always some bright spark plotting your ultimate demise.

The Chosen One

Like the above role of dark lord, the role of chosen one is a rare one to come available, when it does it usually suits those from working class backgrounds who have uncertain parentage. The job requires no experience whatsoever as free on the job training will be provided by a grumpy yet mysterious teacher. It's an extremely fulfilling role and carries with it the gratitude of all non-evil people in the world. Sold on it yet? There's also the promise of fame, fortune, marriage offers and the possibility of becoming a king, or even a god. Of course like every job, getting started is a bit difficult, what with evil and insidious people and nasty beasties trying to kill you, but with the right work mates those teething problems of the job shouldn't be too much of a problem. And hey, what's a little struggle if you get to save the world and have everyone bow down to you?

Pros: Everyone's going to know your name, forever!

Cons: The Dark Lord wants to kill you in a horrible manner and use your ruined corpse as a reminder to the common people he wants to conquer.

There we go. Here's hoping that you found the above list informative (don't laugh), or at least it kept you amused for the few minutes it took to read through it.

Goodbye for now.....