Portugal did good :)

Scandalous Weekend: Not only Liverpool, Bristol (WHO???) and Lazio too!

The clouds hovering over Old Trafford this week

as many hope for a Scouse helping hand

When you need a favour from an arch rival

Oh yes, Super Sunday, the weekend when the home of the BPL trophy will be decided for the next year. As much as it seems, it might be a straightforward tug-of-war between Manchester United and Chelsea, but when you throw in some red scouse scum from Merseyside, it is not as straightforward as it seem :)

The Scouse-ManC rivalry

Other than the fact they are both dressed in Red and are the top 2 English team in the domestic and European scene, 18 v. 19 English trophies, 3 v. 5 European Cups, but the differences between Manchester United and Liverpool goes way beyond the trophy cabinet.

The seed of rivalry goes back to the industrial revolution, when Liverpool were top dog. They had their ports and warehouses and even till this day, Liverpool Warehouse Co. still has it presence in Manchester. But their dominance in the economy were very much like their football dominance scuppered by the ManCs who decided they too could have their own ports, in came the dredging machines and waterways were crafted inland to Manchester. So yeah, the ManCs dug into the rice bowl of the Scouse and it was never gonna be the same again.

To make matters worse, one daring Son of Govan, not knighted then uttered the now infamous "knock them off their ****ing perch" and maybe now with hindsight might have a little sense of regret since Manchester United now needs Liverpool to not lose against Chelsea, as they say, karma does comes back and bite, and how true it is in this case :)

Outcome: Liverpool puts professionalism above personal sentiments. Manchester United beats Sunderland and Liverpool holds Chelsea to a draw, handing pole position to Manchester United in their quest for the 19th Title.

Bristol City (WHO???)-Cardiff City Rivalry

When in Rome, do as the Romans do is the saying :) As I am now in Cardiff, I started to indulge a little with the local football club, Cardiff City. They flirted with the play-offs last year, missing out by only ONE GOAL CONCEDED!!!

Bristol is a city just across the river Savern which separates England from Wales and being neighbours and colleagues in the Championship, naturally there would some form of rivalry.

Bristol is safe in the Championship for another season, with nothing to play, but they play Blackpool, vying for the final play-off spot and here's where it gets complicated, with Swansea, Cardiff's sworn enemy! If Bristol do not lose against Blackpool, and Swansea wins at home against Doncaster Rovers, then Swansea goes into the play-off which Cardiff has already secured! Terrific? No, Bloody is a more appropriate description.

Outcome: Bristol attempts to keep their neighbour in the Championship. Bristol beats Blackpool, Swansea and City makes it to the play-off final in Wembley which is a guaranteed bloodbath, what a treat for Bristol City fans :)

Roma-Lazio Rivalry

The Eternal City derby. Where 2 sets of Ultra fans notoriously known for their detest for each other.

Lazio entertains Inter Milan tomorrow, with 3 games to play, Lazio is 6 points clear of the relegation zone and still need points from this game to secure another season in Serie A. However, winning or even drawing, would sent the title swinging into the arms of Roma.

So much so, certain Lazio fans are supporting Inter this weekend and hope their team lose as reported here.

Outcome: Conspiracy at it's best. Lazio lose against Inter, Inter clinches the title ahead of Roma :)

Regards,

Ben Lai

Arsenal's defeat: Icelandic Volcano Eruptions = Cancellation of flights = Train Travels = Longer hours = Bad performance???

Image above from monstersandcritics.com

As much as I love travelling, I hate long overland journeys (3 1/2 hours to Manchester). I would prefer the plane, but being a student, I can't afford it :(

My longest on land journey to date is the Beijing-Haerbin-Beijng trip, 12 hours each way!

A case of travel lag?

Professional footballers nowadays are quite spoiled I must say, flying to their games and then flying back. It is not only in the BPL that this happen, but certain clubs in the Championship does too (couldn't name the club since I couldn't verify this info).

It make sense, shorter travel hours, more comfy and of course, being part of the BPL gravy train, they could afford it.

However, with the now well publicized flying ban, these little pampered pooches must now travel via coach (bus in our language) or train and it seems one of two players/team were quite affected by this.

Arsenal's destruction

Mr. Wenger puts it down to 'lack of discipline and focus', you can read the article here. But my opinion is the players were rattled by the sudden change of travel arrangements. It's kinda like being used to driving an imported car but suddenly being given a Proton, or worse still a Perodua.

Make no mistake, the coaches they travel in are quite comfy I am sure, but the journey would of course be much more bumpier (coach) and less peaceful (coach and train). Someone might have missed that all important nap maybe?

Proof is in the next game

Nope, not Arsenal's next game against City (if this attempt fails, then Eastland/Blackburn game will be my other chances, also the Chelsea Stoke/Pool game if the flying ban is still imposed then) but a less publicized game in the Championship between Plymouth Argyle and Newcastle.

Here's some interesting facts: Newcastle is way way way up north, they border Scotland while Plymouth is way down south, even further than Portsmouth! That's 740 miles apart, 10 hours by coach or 6 hours by train! Oh yes...

The game would be played tonight, thus let's see the manner the results were achieved.

What I am looking for are:

1. Sloppy goals.

2. Destruction in the closing minutes

3. Beautiful goals, but Newcastle lose

To add a little bit of spice, Plymouth are 23rd, 2nd from bottom, while Newcastle are top of the Championship. This game still hold plenty of significance, if Newcastle wins or draw, they will be confirmed Champions, while at the other end, if Plymouth lose or draw, they will be relegated.

Pretty much the scenario with Arsenal and Wigan, title chaser v. relegation fodder, let's see if my hypothesis would be proven true: Footballers are too pampered to take any change in their travel arrangements, in short, they are pooches :)

Regards,
Ben Lai

Will it be the case of Spurs the King Maker or would Chelsea gallop away with the title?

Wenger was not the only Frenchmen to think Spurs

needs to prove themselves, Patrice thinks so too :)

Those who read my previous post would know what I mean. If you have not, here's the link.

Another weekend of football, a promise of excitement in the BPL (BPL is the proper name, not the EPL ;) ) with the title very much in the hand of Chelsea, but it is far from done and dusted. Any slip ups, and it will again open up. Judging from the already roller coaster ride of this season, I would not rule that out.

Spurs to earn their spurs?

Forgive me for the pun and cliche. But I am not the only one who thinks so. One very irritated winging Wenger agreed as reported here in his post match comment subsequent to his side's lethargic performance at White Hart Lane.

From a neutral perspective, the defeat of Arsenal was quite a performance from a club which invested so much but with very little to show, save for having a decent run in Cup competitions and their customary annual participation in Europe (albeit the 2nd-tier and less coveted UEFA Cup/Europa League). For a mid table club, that's quite an accomplishment.

Wind of change - new (ex)players, new manager

They were the largest spender outside the top-4 (and City) in the previous 3 seasons (signing plenty of ex-players) and the closest they got to breaking the dominance of the big-4 was in the 05/06 season where some dodgy lasagna denied them their 4th place finish and more crucially, handed the said spot to their hated neighbours. Would the defeat of Arsenal be the cornerstone of better things to come?

The goal scorers themselves were novice cowboys with a lot to prove. A first start, a stunning goal, Danny Rose's strike was indeed top-draw, so much so, he was as suprised as the shell-shocked-static Arsenal defence when it flew in. As for Gareth Bale, an unlikely goalscorer but more astonishing was the fact that throughout the earlier part of this season his name on the starting lineup was a bad omen to some quarters - Spurs did not win a single match in which he started. A goal for the critics perhaps?

Q&A time!!!

1. Was the performance just a one-off North London derby performance? Or;
2. Was it to gate crash Sol Campbell's return? Or;
3. Was it the most obvious question - bouncing back from the FA Cup defeat to Pompey?

I would answer NO to all the above. They are currently 5th in the League, just a point behind 4th spot City, with plenty to play for. Champions League is what they want and if anything, their gritty defending in the 2nd half against Arsenal showed how determined they are to take the final berth.

Now then, let's look at Spurs's remaining games: Chelsea (H) - Manchester United (A) - Bolton (H) - City (A) - Burnley (A).

As compared to City's: Manchester United (H) - Arsenal (A) - Villa (H) - Spurs (H) - West Ham (A)

Both team would be playing against title contenders tomorrow afternoon which could very well influence not only their own destiny, but also the BPL crown. Tasty encounters indeed, fireworks and seeing red, the card and maybe even blood is quite a possibility. The same goes for the following match for both teams, with Arsenal and Manchester United as opponents, notwithstanding this weekend's results, playing a Big-4 team would always be tricky.

City seems to have the upper hand thereon, with both team playing home matches in the 3rd game, it would be the penultimate game when they meet at the Eastlands which would ultimately decide the 4th place if they match each other's (or +/- 2) points in the first 3 games. I am quite sure it would not go to the wire and be decided in the final game or at least City would aim to put some space between them and Spurs by then.

My prediction for the week

Spurs to beat Chelsea at White Hart Lane with City at most taking a point (a very unlikely scenario) against their Red city rivals. Biased? No. Spurs are well known weak travellers, and if they do not take full points this weekend, it would take quite an effort to take full points when they visit Old Trafford next week. As for United's game against City, it would be tough no doubt, but with the recent lacklustre displays, I think they player themselves know that the finish line is near and it's all or nothing for the final push and I expect a slim win for United.

Manchester United has blown it...

Dear all,

First and foremost, the last week has been one of the toughest week being a Mancunian. Europe, then domestic, then the European exit was quite a week.

I am however, not disheartened, there are plenty of positives to be taken from this season, the most important of all is that we are still pretty much coping with the loss of one CF7 (CR9 is his new moniker).

Title race all over???

Oh, forgive the negative title. It's a marketing ploy to attract viewers to read this post :)

Let me make it clear, the defeat against Chelsea and the less than commendable draw at Blackburn has of course put Chelsea in pole position, but I am still hopeful as my analysis would reveal below. Never give up till the fat lady sings as they say, come on you DEVILLLLSSS!!! :)

Remaining Games

Manchester United - M. City (A) - Spurs (H) - Sunderland (A) - Stoke (H)

Arsenal - Spurs (A) - Wigan (A) - M. City (H) - Blackburn (A) - Fulham (H)

Chelsea - Spurs (A) - Stoke (H) - Liverpool (A) - Wigan (H)

So, with a 4 point lead, with just 4 games to go, it seems like Chelsea would win it with a game to spare. Pretty simple, just 3 wins and a draw from the remaining 4 would win the the league. Stoke and Wigan should be walkovers, while 4 points from Spurs and Pool should be a little tricky given they are both vying for the 4th Champions League spot.

Arsenal meanwhile, easy wins against Wigan and Blackburn, but they will face stiffer competition from firstly Spurs, then City, who are currently looking the more likely duo to battle it out for the coveted 4th UCL spot. Fulham too should be a test, if the places for the Europa League is still up for grabs come the final game.

As for Manchester United, City away is always daunting as shown by our first leg defeat in the Eastlands. We scored first through Good Ol' Giggsy, but Twat-vez came back with replies and almost twat-ed our Carling Cup push. But I still see us nicking a slim win from it, hopefully with Rooney leading the line. Spurs at home should be less daunting (I hope), with the Chelsea defeat and European exit of the past week, I am pretty sure the players need not any reminder from the Stretford End that they owe them a performance! Sunderland and Stoke should be 6 points in the bag, no disrespect, but let's just assume that for now since I do not have a magic ball in hand.

Pretty boring analysis, very balanced view, stating the obvious, bla bla bla... Continue reading and you be bored no longer :)

King Maker - Spurs

Yes. Spurs to decide the title. Bold prediction indeed. But having spent most of the weekends of my life watching the English game, I must admit for once, Spurs look right to break the Big 4 and stake their claim at being taken seriously. Having invested heavily every season and having changed more managers than Britney Spears changes costumes in a show, two critical factors missing in the previous seasons are now in place: a manager who's a wheeler dealer and some decent players showing their worth week in week out (the FA Cup exit was a surprise).

No other team in the run up could have more impact on the outcome of this year's title race - Spurs will play all 3 teams!!!

So yeah, whoever they beat or nick a 2 points from in the upcoming games is yet to be seen, but with M. City breathing down their necks, themselves with 2 top 3 clashes, the incentive is there to be party poppers whichever top 3 team they play. Parking the bus tactics? Or would the infamous poisoned lasagna come back to haunt Spurs? Only time will tell, so let's see :)

Remember, you read it here first :)

Regards,

Ben Lai

LV gave me a FREE Gift!!!! - Part 2 ;)

As promised, here's part 2 ;) Read Part 1 here

LV - Epitome of class, Zenith of Customer Relations Management

Culprit 2 - Louis Vuitton, Luxury retailer, operating in a highly competitive market where brand loyalty is paramount, depending on situations, buyer might not be end user (*hint hint*), demanded by those who aspire to climb the echelon of status or reward themselves or others for reaching certain milestones, customer focused.

Scenario - I made an online purchase of a significant amount. However, a day after making the purchase and well aware that there is a full refund policy in place, I called 4 times to cancel the order before the delivery was made. However, I was told each time by the customer service personnel that there is no way to cancel the order. The item was then delivered to my house and I made another call with regards to the refund process, I was then told I could have refused to accept the item when DHL delivers it, however, this was made known to me after my housemate has signed for the item.

Facts - I proceeded to open the box, the bag was lovely, it came in a very nice gift box and had a complimentary card too, for you to write something for the final recipient, impressive.

Also included in the package was the Term of Sale, having time to burn, I thus read it, and was astonished that although 4 (YES, FOUR!!!) CSP told me that there is NO WAY the sale and delivery could be cancelled, there was indeed a clause to allow for that!!!

Enraged, as I will be leaving in a day for Malaysia, I first went to the post office to send the box back to LV and then proceeded with a very carefully worded and time stamped email to LV.

I even went as far as including the said Clause which gave me the right to cancel the transaction and of course, the infamous Ben's use of words (One Ms. Tee would agree, read her blog here), quite sharply worded, but not rude or in any way too direct. Also, the most important fact that I will be away and uncontactable from the period 8 - 20th Feb :)

Surprise, Surprise :)

Recourse - I got a pleasant surprise in my e-mail last week - sitting in my Inbox was a confirmation of purchase from LV and that my item has been dispatched! Hmmm... I was sure I did not make subsequent purchases other than THAT purchase which has been returned. Weird...

I then checked my LV account (there's another story behind this, wait for Part 3) and there it was, my 'order' with a GBP0.00 value. Nice, something free from LV to it's members perhaps?

The package arrived that same afternoon I received the above email. I opened it, and I reached for the very nicely folded envelope with the words "Louis Vuitton" nicely embossed and lacquered on the bottom right, there it was, a letter with my name, addressed in full (not with the annoying European manner of initialing your first name), and signed off by the Manager of European Customer Service! Nice touch.

The gist of the letter was a very direct apology, no beating around the bush, just a straightforward apology and an assurance that the CSP has been briefed about the existence of such clause to prevent future occurrence of a similar event. It kinda makes me feel like making another purchase and then calling to cancel the transaction and see if indeed the above is true. Should I? ;)

Further, a reservation with regards to my account (Coming in Part 3) was also addressed in the same letter and of course the mention of the FREE GIFT :)

A tale of being class apart

So there, 2 very different approach by 2 very different companies in dealing with customer complains. One hid behind clauses and ridiculed it's customers and the other was embracing complains and rewarding it's customers. LV, epitome of class? Not only that, zenith of Customer Relations Management! :)

Royal Mail's attitude kinda reminds me of Malaysia in general, particularly when dealing with government agencies, the tidak apa attitude, being lackadaisical for the foreign readers and just ignoring customer's views and take for granted their importance. I guess the grass is not always greener on the other side eh? Same s*it even when oceans apart ;)

Lastly, the letter did thank me for my custom with LV and indeed I will return to LV for some future purchases, not anytime soon, but surely, sometime in the future :D

Regards,

Ben Lai

LV gave me a FREE GIFT!!!

Suprising, yes, unprecedented, no :)

Free for sure?

Yes, no strings attached and with an accompanying letter too.

You see, my rights as a consumer was in a way infringed upon and I wrote to LV with regards to the matter.

This was 2 weeks ago, and I thought that my concerns will never be address, unknown to me, my seemingly harmless e-mail was circulated to someone who was in quite a high position in LV and the letter was dated 9th Feb which was 2 days after my e-mail. Pretty efficient indeed.

Customer Relations Management - a tale of two companies

It was not the only report that I lodged on that fateful day, there was another report under very similar circumstances but with a very different outcome! The details are as below:

Culprit 1 - Royal Mail, State owned, major player in oligopolistic market, high barrier to entry and very well protected view statutes and legislation.

Scenario - Item purchased was never delivered. The delivery person never attempted delivery, even when it was stated clearly on the parcel that the item was to be left safe with a neighbour in the even that receipent was not in.

Facts - I was awake since 8 a.m. awaiting the parcel. At approximately 8.55 a.m. I heard some voice outside my door, a voice of someone unknown and one which I could clearly make out which was that of the nosy neighbour from the accross the road. I then proceeded to grab my keys and was on the way down the stairs when I saw the "While you were out" slip being pushed through my letter-flap. By the time I opened my door, they were gone! There was no knock on the door and that was really appalling. FYI the postman had the time to talk about footie games from the previous day with my nosy neighbour, nice touch, but not for my liking as my awaited package did not arrive. Called customer care and was assured item would be at the central post office by 11, was there at 12 pm and still it wasnt there. Lodged a complain and wanted compensation or fee waiver to redirect parcel to Malaysia, was not granted. Proceeded then to call legal dept to clarify if there is indeed no recourse for mis-deed of employees - WAS LAUGHED AT BY STAFFS!!!!

Recourse: Just a letter saying sorry, no compensation, no fee waiver, NOTHING!

____________________________________________________________________

Culprit 2 - To be continued in next thread ;) Do check back!

Regards,

Ben Lai

When emotions gets the better of you... A football fan killed in the aftermath of the game, and sadly so hooligans are back...

Dear all,

**** This blog would be better understood if you read this previous blog of mine in friendster and the points made are consistent with it****

When the past comes back and haunt you

It is unbelievable that even in this age where human were supposed to be at the pinnacle of civilisation, some of us, still live in the age where reasoning and being in control of our emotions was never the case. The case in point was when just yesterday (7/2/10) that a football fan never arrived home after a game! He was killed, killed is the right word to use here as he was indeed attacked and lost his life. God bless his soul and may he R.I.P.... Them hooligans are back and they are NOT welcomed!!! Read about it here.

Passion and Emotion

It is of paramount importance for football fans to have emotions. Football is like being in a relationship with a significant other, if you do notrisk it all, there's no passion, but if you do, then it might come back and hurt you.

Being a Mancunian ever since I knew how to spell Cantona and Kanchelskis, I have attended a few fiery matches myself, but I luckily for me, I have yet to encounter any problems, YET!

The games in question are, Manchester United v. Leeds (The battle of the Roses as it is know, rivalry extends beyond football. Read about it here.) and Manchester United v. Man City which I need not explain:)

The crowds were controlled, no thanks to the additional police personnel employed during the game and at the end of the game all was good as I made my way home other than the occasional snigger and taunt from the opposing team.

Of course when the game was on, chants of utter filth were bellowing from both sets of supporters. Every tackle warranted a booking or a sending off, legitimate or not and players received lots of stick whenever they near the touchline. Just to let you know how serious it was in Old Trafford on both occasion, I have never in my life, seen ladieS, yes plural, ladies old enough to be my grandma (Nan in this part of the world) utter so much filth in such a short period of time! Yeah, even the ladies are part of it, so you know how much passion there is :)

Emotions on the other hand however could prove make or undo a person. Zidane's headbutt was one, Rooney's sending off was one. I have blogged before about this here, but more recent examples could be seen from Carlos Tevez's celebration after scoring against Manchester United after the first leg of the Carling Cup Semi-finals.

Had he kept to his promise of not celebrating when he scored, without any doubt, he would have been given a standing ovation by both set of fans. As much as he is now a Citizen, he gave all when he was a Red Devil and we United supporters are not an ungrateful lot.

That was the IF, but being the emotionally charged idiot he was, he chose to taunt not only Gary Neville, the current United captain (He is the official captain although he doesn't get much of a game nowadays) and also the United fans. From then on, he's Judas, the one who shall never be forgiven and true enough he was taunted and booed every time he touched the ball in the return leg.

From the prospect of being still supported by the same fans who were chanting "Sign him up, sign him up, Fergie, Fergie sign him up" to being jeered by the chants of "Who's that T*** from Argentina, Who's that money grabbing W****, Carlos Tevez is his name, And he doesn't have a game, And he won't be winning trophies anymore!!!" (the later chant which could be viewed and heard here. )

So, Zidane, Rooney and now Tevez, players of undoubted abilities, silky skill, tenacity and terrier-like, talented and share a common trait of being worshiped by many, however they too share the unenviable spot light of losing their temper, letting emotions get the better of them and throwing all away when a moment of calm and suppressing their emotions could have done them much good. As it is, NO, they caved in, the devil within took over and they paid the ultimate price.

What actually happened???

As of now, details are pretty sketchy, I dare not suggest any more than it is reported, however, I could be pretty sure, someone lost their cool. Whether it was the deceased who struck the first blow or his would be killer is irrelevant now. What is relevant is a life was loss so pitifully, just because emotions clouded their judgment.

If indeed the culprit is found guilty, he would have just thrown his life away because of a spur of a moment, he lost his cool and caused a loss of life. In this country, that's manslaughter, and the penalty should be nothing less than a number of years or even decade behind bars.

I am not propagating corporal punishment, but in this case, an example should be made of someone that losing your cool does not pay and I feel it is now right to drive the message to would be offenders, lose your cool and you will be put behind bars.

Again, R.I.P to the deceased, it is unfortunate that the beautiful game should be scarred by another loss of life.

Regards,
Ben Lai

Happy Birthday Facebook!!!

A rude awakening

As with any other day, I start my morning via logging on to (in no particular order) facebook, yahoomail, cnn.com, time.com, soccernet.com and malaysiakini.com to get my morning news and updates.

It now a routine, and I have been doing this (facebook excluded) for the past 6 years or more. So yeah, if I don't do it, my day just started on the backfoot and you better not step on my tail today or you shall be facing a very agitated Ben ;)

And today was one of those day you wouldn't want to meet me. OH YES.... one of the above website is guilty of vioalating the sanctity of my morning ritual and no other than FACEBOOK!!!

WHAT THE HECK???

As I am currently in a different time zone ( -8 hours compared to Malaysia) I would usually log onto my account and then click the "Older Posts" button on the bottom left of the page. This is to catch up with the comings and goings in the life of family and friends at home and of course to post some comments on these photo/status/relationship updates.

However, that wasn't the case for today!

I clicked and clicked but the message "No more updates to be displayed" and the last update on show was last updated 4 hours ago which means all updates from the time I went to bed to 4 hours ago mysteriously went missing!

Logging off didn't help, nor did clearing my cookies and by this point I was quite irritated by this. I decided to proceed with viewing the other websites and it was at cnn.com which I finally found out why. Read all about it here.

So what has changed???

1. Instead of having your request tab on the top right corner, it is now on the top left corner, right under the facebook logo. A smart move from the point of a marketer, but in their defence (facebook has been under heavy criticism for being over marketing their user info in the past) I am glad that I no longer see the adverts being displayed quite prominently on my page.

2. All your apps are now also on the top left side of the page instead of the bottom left, which makes sense but again it has drawn certain criticism of trying to hawk it's games and apps. Again, in facebook's defence, you are using the service for free, so bear with whatever they try to sell to you to make more advertising revenue. If you are not interested, just remove these apps, or block it from appearing on your notification. Unless you are willing to pay, stop whinning! :P

3. The privacy and account setting is now prominently displayed on the top right hand side instead of previously hidden. Makes not much of a difference to me, but with the privacy hoo-ha nowadays, it's a pretty CYA step from facebook.

4. The observant ones might notice there is no No. 4 in the accompanying photo :) However there is another change which was not mentioned, the requirement of a "Photo plug-in" to upload photos. This however would not be discussed here and will be in my next thread tomorrow :)

Conclusion

I am not affected at all at the cosmetic improvements of facebook, but more for the delays and interuptions it causes whenever one of these 'upgrades' take place. I have yet to hear about it on facebook, but from experience, when I used to upgrade my MSN, the cotact list disappears! Even then, I just go to my hotmail address book and recover everything and I am still a loyal MSN (now Window Live) user and until that happens to facebook (which I do not have a contacts backup!) I am more than willing to put up with the niggles and glitch once in a while.

And oh ya, Happy Birthday FACEBOOK!

Regards,

Ben Lai

Giving is caring: Hand-ry gives a helping hand to Haiti

The sinner attempts to redeem himself

A fallen angel of the football world, that's how I would describer Messr. Hand-ry. His mesmerising pace, quick feet and undoubted talent endeared him to the hearts of many football fans, Arsenal or otherwise, the French or the English.

However, it would be his hand-control rather than close-control with his neat footwork which he would always be remembered for.

IF France wins the World Cup, a huge IF, the holy grail of the football world would be forever tainted by those same hands which on a day, many moons ago, when the they eyes of the world was focused on two teams vying to be the final team to reach the World Cup Finals, a player of great gift, used those same hands to cheat!

Forgiven, never forgotten, and never doubt a person's love for life

And now, a helping hand (pun intended) from the same Hand-ry which made the headlines for the wrong reasons a few months back.

Read it here.

I give him the benefit of the doubt, that this donation of his was indeed done in good faith, but I know of some who would say otherwise, that all he is doing now is trying to reverse the damage done. Sincere or with hidden intentions, it is good to see the saints and the devils of the soccerfields did not forget Haiti.

For one, I do believe it's a sincere gift from someone who I will always remember for speed and grace on the field, Thiery Henry, handball or not :)

Regards,

Ben Lai

FOOTBALLERS!!! Come on guys! You can spare 1 day's wages for Haiti!!!

Haiti a tragedy

Not one, but two major quakes to hit such an improvished country. Lying just 700 miles off the US mainland, however the gap in income disparity is way way larger than the water which separates the two land.

There have been a lot of calls to help, with the US leading the way and not suprising, twitter and facebook.

And it is nice to see that plenty of idols helping out, with White Cleft Jean being the most prominent.

Footballers are rising to the call

Sometime last week, the Germans took the first initiative. The national team, the GBL teams and even Audi & Volkswagen chipped in. Read more of it here .

It is heartwarming to see such a gesture, moreover since footballers are usually branded as nice cribs-flashy cars-spoilled brats. And guess what, not only the footballers are getting involved. Fan initiatives are urging these footballers too.

Diego "Forlone" Forlan

Forgive me for the title above.

In no way I am taking a dig at Forlan himself, but to those detractors who wrote him off when he was offloaded from MU. I like him, he reminds me of Tevez, willing to run, scores an occasional goal and being South American, has flair in his blood.

Forlone no longer, with a European Golden Boot in hand (which he shares with one very prominent Samuel E'to) and with apparently Barca looking at him, I guess a change of climate did make him a better player.

What more suprising is this: HE WAS THE FIRST TO RESPOND TO FANS CALLS TO DONATE A DAY'S WAGE TO ASSIST HAITI! YES HE DID!!!

Read more about it here.

Forlan, as ever, you amaze others around you, humble, never one for the spotlight and an honest, hard working model professional. Kudos to you, and to those who used to call you Forlone, I guess they must be choking themselves now ;)

Regards,

Ben Lai

RESIGN SIR ALEX: Would Sir Alex lead us us to victory?

This morning while getting my daily dose of football updates I was taken aback by an article calling for Sir Alex to resign!

To common football fans or non-football fans, just reading the title of the said article alone might be a little misleading. Read further and you will see why.

Football clubs are more than profit!

A club of Manchester United (even Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal) is more than a profit making machine. It's a revered as a religion, it's something that connect with the fans and it was put into its current zenith standing by the fans.

Ever since these major buy-outs by foreign owners, experts in the football and business world alike have given their own views about the intentions and viability of such purchases. Not only the top-4 and BPL clubs were subject of these LBO (Leveraged Buy-Out), QPR, Notts County, Newcastle, West Ham, Man City and Pompey and more recently the buzz is even BPL chaser, Cardiff might soon be in private ownership.

The success of these takeover varied, of course, with a change of owner, the fans would be reasonable to expect that these new owners would pump in money, invest in infrastructures, get new players (even managers) and hopefully propel these clubs into greater heights. This is true to some extent for Chelsea and Arsenal, with new training facility (Chelsea) and a new stadia (Arsenal) and a lot of coming and goings in the playing staffs (turnstile managers and countless big name signings for Chelsea and Man City).

On the other end, you have basket cases like Newcastle, West Ham, Pompey and the worse of the lot Notts County.

Basket cases - Who's to blame (Or rather WHO THE HELL ARE YOU???)?

There's lots of finger pointing, the blame game, or passing the buck(et) as they call it in the US - the League admin, the previous owners and of course the new owners themselves, 3 different parties but at the center of this blame game is the issue of transparency of ownership. Take Notts, with Qabak investment listed as their owners, no one knows where the funding comes from nor the ultimate identity of the shareholders of this investment vehicle (an accounting term). Also, the merry go round of owners for Portsmouth, what a pity that a club which as recent as 2 seasons ago lifted the FA Cup only to see it now languishing at the bottom of the table with 7/8th of its Cup winning squad now plying their trade elsewhere!

Let's see what each of the 3 accused above could have done more to avert the current agony:

The League

There is so called 'fit an proper test' which applies to directors of clubs and since owners appoint directors it would be fair to assume that the owner themselves are subjected to such a test. I am not saying that the League failed in applying this rule, but the process could be done in a more transparent manner, with the outcome (not the details) of the assesment to be made public to assure the fans that indeed the owners are reputable and are indeed 'fit and proper'.

The previous owners

They form part of the transaction and to a certain extent should be hold a certain level of responsibility if the club fails after the takeover. Did they dispose off the club to the highest bidder? Or did they dispose the club to the party which serves the best interest of the club? Were there proposals tabled by these parties? Secured financing? I am pretty very sure these were in place when Ken Bates (now at Leeds United) divested his stake in Chelsea to Czar Roman, but what about Notts, Newcastle, West Ham and Pompey?

New owners

You came, you bought and you think you have conquered, but it is far from job done once the ink on the agreement dries. There's still plenty to do, and lets start by revealing who the heck you are and the plans for the club! More often than not, huge promises were made by these owners which they fail to follow up, and when there's trouble, the *poof* and just vanish into thin air (Pompey, West Ham, Notts County and to a certain extent Newcastle)!

Manchester United: What next???

I must applaud the Americans (Notice that I never once call them by name, I shall NOT!) for being transparent, however, loading the club with so much debt will hamper our growth and is no way to run a club. You are basically taking hard earn money, monies paid throughout these honest, hard working fans lives to support a team they love and finance the purchase of the club! The move should have been blocked, just like when Sky tried to purchase us many years ago. NO WAY it should remain in private hands, we were self sufficient, we have success and there was no need for any change, not least to be used as a mortage to finance some silly American dream!

I have a gut feeling that Sir Alex would love to have Tevez in red rather than the blue of the other half of Manchester. I believe the lack of funding was the key issue. Here's how I arrive at my conclusion: Although he tried his best to support the owners and with the the 3 stooges themselves coming out and openly declaring that the 80 million received for the sale of CR7 is still there if Fergie needs it, the recent financial statements of the club reveals otherwise. A loss of 49 million before taking into account the Ronaldo windfall is surely a course of concern. The timing of the restructuring exercise, which is supposed to release funds to Fergie further contradicts the availability of the 80 million war chest. As much as we hate to be compared with Liverfool (intended) we are indeed in a simillar position as they are, chocked out of the transfer market because of some stupid American who came with a LBO (Loads of Bullshit Offer).

United was built by the fans and of course a great manager, we dont need no YANKS to screw us up and impeed our growth now. As a Knight, and a person of which the fans would always associate with United, be it now, be it 100 years to come, I too plead for Sir Alex to resign just like Kevin Keegan did at Newcastle. Let the club take a fall if that is what is needed to drive those profiteering Americans out of Old Trafford.

We could have done it without you Sir Alex, please do not let our dreams fizzle, please lead us to victory over them YANKS!!!

Regards,

Ben Lai

When the inevitable finally came true, how shall I respond?

***This post shall be read with my previous post as when read as a standalone, it might project a different meaning than it was intended to. For the aforementioned post, please click here***

















The bitter-sweet pill

A change in 'Relationship Status' on facebook was how the devine power above sunk my heart. From "Being in a relationship with" it now states "Engaged to". I made a promise to myself, and I shall keep it, just as I had kept my previous promise of not objecting the split. The promise was, I shall move on as and when she is engaged.

I made 2 promises on Sept 16, 2008, the day she left, the first was as above, and the second, that from that day on, I shall look back to the days we spent as an item with a smile, with no regret, no pain, just a sense of greatfullness that at least we did spend those precious time together, I shall not again shed a sorrow tear for the relationship.

I must admit, being with her is still the happiest days of my life, period. I know, I used IS in the previous sentence. Yes it was intended and no I am not a stalker nor am I in denial.

Just the 2 of us

Now for the mushy part - days spent just with her and when nothing else mattered. Missing flights, driving around KL and Putrajaya, taking in the KL skyline at Luna Bar and the 2 week road trip from Malacca all the way to Langkawi, memories which until today still lingers on fresh, just like it was yesterday.

Those around me knew that whenever she was in town, not even an earthquake could separate us. She being quite possesive made sure of this, and on my part, knowing that these few days she is in town would mean that when she departs, it would be another 6 months or so before seeing each other and this made me cheerish every second with her.

At times we would just sit in front of the idiot-box and just watch chick-flicks together, catch a standup comedy or two and just order room service so we could have time to ourselves, just the 2 of us and no one else.

At other times, when I was at work, she would keep calling once it is 5.30, pestering me to leave work and be with her, once, she even showed up at my office door!

A scar worth the pain

Infatuation, lust, like two rabbits, call it what you may, I still call it love.

A tough guy I might be, but when it comes to love, I am hopeless, not in the sense that I get all weak-knees or sweaty-palmed, but rather, I do tend to throw caution at the wind and go with my heart instead.

I do believe that the mind could do wonderful things, but it is the heart which is true.

To say that I am not feeling the pain all again would be a lie, an insult to the relationship.

However, I know the pain is just temporary, the wound would heal, time will one day patch it up, the scar would remain, a reminder that cupid indeed strucked me and I was indeed in love.

Another chapter begins, on what might be another beautiful, bitter-sweet relationship ;)

Again, thanks for the sweet memories Lin :)

Regards,
Ben Lai