Manchester City

This is something I started writing after the City Liverpool match. It’s not completed.

When I watched the match between Manchester city and Liverpool yesterday, I couldn’t help but admire Manchester City. With Sheikh Mansoor, the owner, watching Manchester City put on a convincing display against the most successful team in English football. The 3-0 victory could be considered an ample return for the 130 million investments the Sheikh has made.

I believe Manchester City can put up a serious challenge for this year’s English premier league. Yes, the victory came against a Liverpool team who are looking more and more mediocre as time passes, but the victory against a team still which is still considered one of the power houses of English football will give them a huge morale boost and will push their campaign forward. Liverpool doesn’t look like a team who can challenge for the title anymore. Only Gerrard, Kuyt and Torres looks like players who can mount a serious challenge. And with Torres out of touch and Mascherano leaving, I believe the same fate as last year for Liverpool, a sixth or seventh place finish.

Manchester City’s crazy buying (Which I think is the reason for the last rise in petrol prices) was criticized by many including Sir Alex Ferguson. They spent over 130 million pounds for bringing in new players this summer. When Chelsea did the same some 6-7 years ago, when the Russian oligarch came and invested a huge 91 million in a single transfer season, I was really furious and joined everyone in slamming the ‘money football’. But this time around, I don’t feel there is anything wrong with city spending this money. The reason for that the same reason for which I watch BPL, to see a really competitive league. The more clubs stepping up to the so called ‘top 4’ the more competition there will be in the league and the more we will be able to enjoy good football. That is what we all want in the end, right? Just because a spending like this hampers the chances of our favorite team winning trophies, we shouldn’t detest it right? I can see why the traditional fans (the people from England, who support their home town clubs) being furious about the spending, but us who are thousands of miles away from there and supports the team we support because that was the team who were winning everything when we started to watch the league (or in the case of some because, the team was very good to play in FIFA ’09) should be happy that the league is becoming more competitive.

One more reason why I don’t hate City’s buying spree is because of the players they bought. Except David Silva, no other players can be called as a real superstar, the kind of which Real Madrid buy. The players they bought are really good footballers, like Milner, Tevez and Barry who always seem to give a 100% to the cause of the team. They have bought only players they require, unlike Real Madrid, who usually just buys the costliest player in the world, irrespective of whether they need him or not.

The lighter side of football... Is Berbatov a ghost?

Dimitar Berbatov, the 30 million Purchase of Sir Alex Ferguson, his costliest ever, has received a lot of criticism since he moved to Manchester United from the capital city, where he enjoyed a really good 2 seasons at Tottenham. The former Bayern Leverkusen man has been subject to a lot of insult from the United fans who have called him lazy and does not deserve to wear a United shirt. Although some of his recent performances have improved his status with the fans and critics, much more will have to be accomplished for him to be considered as a success at Old Trafford.

A lot of reasons have been given for why Berbatov hasn’t been able to replicate his wonderful goal scoring form he had at Leverkusen and Spurs at United. I think it is because Berbatov is a ghost. Here is my proof

Similarities between Dimitar Berbatov and a Ghost

1. Both seem to be invisible most of the time.
2. They seem to prefer gliding past people than walking or running.
3. Both seem to be scary in white. (Tottenham colours in case of Berbatov)
4. Only some old people(Read Alex Ferguson) tend to believe in them.
5. However long you think about it, you can never make up your mind whether they are real or not.

WHAT ADMINISTRATION WOULD MEAN FOR LIVERPOOL?

The most widely discussed topic in English football now is about the future of Liverpool, the most successful club in the history of English football. The club with 18 league titles and 8 European trophies, is currently sitting in the relegation zone and facing a 9 point deduction which will put them at -3 points, 21 points adrift of leaders Chelsea, 14 and 12 points away from 4th placed Arsenal and 10th placed Fulham respectively. So let’s now see how one of the ‘Top 4’ Clubs reached a position of such bother and what lies in store for them.

So how exactly did Liverpool reach the brink of Administration?

Administration is faced by a Football club when they are unable to pay their outstanding debts. The club can notify the court of its inability to pay their debts and they will be declared ‘in administration’ whereby all the activities of club will fall under the court. The first English club to enter administration was Charlton Athletic in 1984, although they were not reduced any points then. The system of reducing points for a club entering administration only started about 6 years ago with Wrexham being the first club to be reduced 10 points which resulted in their relegation from League 1 to League 2.

Liverpool’s debts are due to the fact that current owners Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillette were unable to pay back the money they borrowed from the Royal Bank of Scotland for purchasing the club. If the RBS goes to the court for the money that is owed to them then Liverpool will be put in administration and will be docked 9 points.

Who is responsible for the current state of Liverpool?

The easiest answer to this question will be to point towards the two American owners whose debt has now been transferred into the club. But are they the only reason why Liverpool is in such a pitiable state? I don’t think so. One point to note here is that Manchester United who is also currently owned by an American has a debt which is much higher than that of the Liverpool owners, but Manchester United is generating enough income so that Malcolm Glazer is finding no problems in paying his loans.

So why hasn’t Liverpool been able to generate the kind of income that Manchester united has. The reason for this is that Liverpool’s dominance of the English football was steadily declining for the last 20 years, ever since the premiership began. Their last English league title came in the 1989-90 season. This was a period when the Premier league clubs were starting to build a huge fan base in Asia. Liverpool as a result of their fading off and the emergence of Arsenal and Chelsea in the league hasn’t been able to generate a fan base as large as the other 3 clubs from the Top 4 and are subsequently losing out on the huge source of income that is Asia.

Another person to blame is their previous manager Rafael Benitez. The Spaniard never got a full understanding of the English game and although he can boast of some successes in the European stage he has not done justice to a club of the stature of Liverpool. His activities in the transfer market rarely proved successful. He failed to bring in good backups for the two top players in the team Gerrard and Torres, as a result of which Liverpool really suffered if one of the were injured or was not in form. One of his worst moments as a manager would be when he failed to sign Gareth Barry from Aston Villa. Barry who was eager to leave Villa for some Champions League action didn’t want to join Liverpool because of Benitez and his style of play. He also couldn’t stop the exodus of star Liverpool players to other big clubs like Riise going to Roma and Alonso going to Real. His failure to sign good replacements for these departed players aided in the fall of Liverpool.

In the 2008-09 season Liverpool finished 2nd behind Manchester United in the premier league with a rare double in the Red derby. Everyone predicted the 2009-10 was going to be the season of Liverpool and they would finally regain the title. But the season didn’t go well at all for Liverpool. It all started when they lost one of their best players Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid. The replacement signed Alberto Aquilani from Roma couldn’t adjust to English football at all. All this resulted in Liverpool finishing a disappointing 7th in the league and getting knocked out in the first round in the Champions league.

As a result of the poor season Benitez was sacked and he was replaced by Roy Hodgson who had just led a mediocre Fulham team to the Europa League final. Hodgson’s season started positively when he successfully completed his preseason challenge of keeping Gerrard and Torres in Liverpool. He also signed experienced Christian Poulsen and Joe Cole who was supposed to be ‘the savior’ of the Kop. He lost Javier Mascherano to Barcelona but signed Raul Meirless from Porto to replace him. But when the season started Liverpool were worse than their last season, with Torres out of form they were finding really hard to score goals as a result of which they are now have only 6 points from 7 games and in the relegation zone. They were also knocked out of the League cup by league two side Northampton. Because of the lack of success, Liverpool were not getting as much money and sponsorship as their 'Top 4' compatriots. Meanwhile the Club was put up for sale by their American owners but there were not many suitors because of the high asking price.

Liverpool, which was once a dream club for English players, are now finding it hard to sign players. They found it very hard to get a left back to replace Insua. Even Luke Young, who is only a half decent player didn’t want to join Liverpool. They finally settled for Paul Konchesky, who also doesn’t have the standard for a team with Champion’s league aspirations. Hodgson found it difficult to bring two of the stars from his Fulham team, Breda Hangeland and Bobby Zamora, to Liverpool because of lack of funds.

What would happen if Liverpool are put in Administration?

In addition to the reduction of 9 points, John Henry the owner of Boston Red Sox has told that he will back out from buying Liverpool if they go into administration.
In the last 2 clubs to go into Administration in England, Portsmouth was relegated from the Premier league to the Championship and now finds themselves at the bottom of the Championship and Crystal palace escaped relegation from the Championship with just one point.

Although a nine point reduction may not result in Liverpool being relegated, it will kill their chances of getting in to even one of the top 10 positions and it would prove very difficult to keep their star players if they don’t finish in the top 10. Glen Johnson has already started to take Spanish lessons in anticipation of a move to Real Madrid. And if they are indeed relegated, all the top players have relegation clauses written into their contracts, which allow them to leave the club without finishing their contracts.

So the situation is not looking good for Liverpool. Let’s hope that they can find some way to climb out of all this mess. We don’t want another Leeds. The people at Liverpool, the old or the new one should come up with big changes if they have to turn around the fortunes of the club. Maybe wearing a bright pink kit like their neighbors’ would help.

Manchester United Sign Indian Prodigy

Manchester United yesterday announced they have agreed a deal for 2 month old Indian football starlet.

Chairman David Fishbodypart said about the boy “He is a very interesting talent. We have been tracking him for some time. He has shown immense potential from a very young age. He has a good background in sports. He was born on a table tennis table and started kicking around just minutes after his birth. His Grandfather Mr. Viru Sahsrabudhe noted this and wanted to make him a footballer. “

Sir Alex Fergusson added about the player “I am very excited about this lad. He has a good head on his shoulders and also has many special skills, like being able to kick hard when you say the words ‘All his well’. We will train him well and like every other Manchester united youngster he will have loan spells in Royal Screwup and the stupid Championship club which my son is managing at that time. The owners were also very supportive of the move. They had no problems in giving me the 100 rupees which was required for the transfer of this player.”

Manchester United owner Malcolm Debter said “I still don’t understand this game very much. Still don’t know why only one player touches the ball with hand. But everyone is telling me he the new boy is a very good talent. Maybe he will grow up to be really good and we can sell to that club nearby who keeps buying everything or that real mad peoples club for some 200mil. That will reduce my debts a little.”

This hitherto unknown player was recommended to Manu by their scout in India, Kishore A. Manu had to beat strong competition from big teams like Mohan bagan, East Bengal and viva Kerala to sign this players.

Kishore told about the player “I discovered the player while I was touring Himalayas alone. When I reached Ladakh I met Mr. Phunsukh Wangdu, who was the person who delivered this boy. He told me about the special skills this boy possessed and I wasted no time in recommending him. I am very excited about this boy, Please check out some of his videos at foss_mandanmarude_site.com .”

When Manchester City heard that Manu is bidding for a player, they also approached the player’s grandfather with a bid of 100 million. But the grandfather Mr. Viru Sahsrabudhe rejected the saying this “You did not each first. Only if you reach first will you be able to able to get things. Since you came second you get nothing”.

COMMENTS
Nipun_hilter_fan said
He is not a very good player. They should have signed Ballack’s daughter instead.

Jman Manallu vikkal Said
Alla, ariyan vayanjitu chodikuva, evan aara?

Pulimon and Manjeri Said
Berabtov is a good footballer. He can teach this boy. Both of us love berbatov very much and both of us would like to marry him.

My Trips!!!!

Hi everyone
I am just back from Gokarna, a beach town in Karnataka, fondly called 'poor man's Goa'. This was my 4th trip of the semester and the 7th of the year. So I am starting a series of posts where I will describe my travels and also the mistakes we made when we went there so that u guys out there who want to go to these places can learn from them.

Homosexuality Observed In Amphibians

Tuesday, 27th October, NIT Calicut:
Homosexuality in amphibians was confirmed in the early hours of today by a scientist Dr Potatomacius Brickster, known in social circles affectionately as Potato Brick.

The confirmation was reached on a special species of frog scientific name Rana thallukolina. Dr. Brick said that the confirmation is based on conclusive evidence.

Dr Brick in the press conference described the event like this.

“I have been observing this species of frog for some time now. I was observing if the frog would be any help in my research for eradicating baldness in males. The frog usually is active for only about 3 days in a month and that too at dusk only. But during the past one week the frog seemed very excited and there was a notable increase in activity levels of the animal. Monday night was a pretty busy one for me. I was experimenting with version 4.1 of my equipment and also later talked to my doctor for about an hour. I was in deep sleep when my touch operated PDA reported some activity with the frog. It seems that the frog was sending out special signals, 3 in a row. “

It was later confirmed that these signals are the signals that the princess originally transmitted so that the frog got transformed into a prince.

Dr. Brick also added that this was a very curious observation. When asked if he would apply for a Nobel prize for his findings the doctor replied “OH, vayya” and went back to sleep.

The Tale of an Apology

This is the true story of an apology made by a boy to his heartthrob. For convenience let us call the boy Mr. K and the girl Ms. D or Ms. P (yeah, P would be better).The story goes on like this…

Mr. K’s side of the story

On a lazy Friday night our hero Mr. K and his friend ‘The Ball’ were sitting in their room. As usual
Mr. K was talking about the greenery in his life,
Mr. K : Eda, avale venamengil njan propose cheyyam, pakshe line adichu nadakkan onnum enne kitilla.

The Ball: Oh, sari.

A change in the scene. The very next day. Mr. K and Ms. P have a special class even though it is Saturday. (Btw, Mr. K and Ms. P study in the same class)

The cunning Mr.Ball doesn’t have a class. So he takes Mr. K mobile and sends an SMS to Ms. P. He sends the very same dialogue from the last night “thanne venamengil njan propose cheyyam, pakshe line adichu nadakkan onnum enne kitilla.” Ms. P receives the SMS and replies, “You are so mean, I hate you.”

Mr. K was very sad. He looked on the verge of tears. The roommates run around hiding sharp things like blades and Penknives and removed all bits of rope from that place. He goes to class with a heavy heart with his friend Mr. Shradha.

In the class Mr. Shradha tells Mr. K that he should go and apologize to Ms. P and tell her that he didn’t sent the message. Mongan irruna nayayude thalayil thenga veenu ennu paranja polle keta pathi kelkatha pathi Mr. K Ms. P ude aduthu poyi paranju….Little did he realise he was digging his own grave.

Mr. K to Ms. P: Innoru message ayachille athu njan ayirunilla, I am very sorry.
Ms. P looks very surprised and says : Sari.
Mr. K : Oru message thirichu ayachille athu arannu ayachathu?
Ms. P : Njan thane ayirunu ayachathu.
Mr. K condition becomes more horrible. He thinks of leaping from the second floor of the building were his class is. Suddenly he sees Mr. Shradha laughing his *** off.

Poor Mr. K, who had always been skeptical of the ability of the brains in the Ball to pull off a coup was done in by his own complacency.

The Ball’s side of the story

This begins about an hour before Mr. K says his (to be) historic dialogue of “avale vennamengil njan propose cheyyam, pakshe line adichu nadakkan onnum enne kitilla.”

Mr. K and the Ball were having a fight about who the lady representative of their year was. The ball was saying that is was Ms. MR but Mr. K who supposedly knows everything happening in the Ladies Hostel didn’t agree with the Ball. So they decided to ask Ms. P. The Ball took Mr. K’s phone and messaged Ms. P to ask who the lady rep was. The reply took a long time to come.(It wasn’t a surprise considering that it was 2.30 in the night) She replied in the morning that it was indeed Ms. MR. So it was proven that Mr. K doesn’t know about everything in the LH.

After this came the statement which became history.

Now let us fast forward a little. The next day. Mr. K is getting ready to go to his class. The Ball takes Mr. K’s phone and edits his own number to the name Ms. P and sends the message and replies from his phone. He also asks Mr. Shradha to urge Mr. K to apologize to Ms. P. The Ball thus set the ball rolling for Mr. K’s fall from cloud nine to ground zero.

Mr. K, unaware of all these, went to Ms.P and popped the question in part 1. Ms. P, in all innocence, replied that she herself had made the reply.(NB….Ms P thinks this is the one with the lady rep…Mr K thinks this is the one with the “hate you.”)

Epilogue

Mr K did not commit suicide. His Mr. Shradha pulled him back just in time and said, “Thou shalt not kill thyself”.

Ms P is unaware of the scenes behind the scene, until she reads this :P, which the writer is sure she will, (or the writer will make sure she will!)

Once More!!!!!

I have yet again decided to start blogging. Hope i sustain it for a decent period this time. I am posting the only two things i completed writing in the last two years. And I have also decided to change the tittle of the blog. But I got no good tittles. So tell me if you have any good tittles.