Welcome to the premiership, eagles

I know it's a tad bit late, but, Crystal palace are back in the premiership after beating the Hammers 1-0 on Saturday, courtesy of a goal by Neil Shipperly. I can still remember the last time they were plying their trade in the premiership, they had the likes of Attillio Lombardo, the "bald eagle" still playing for them! Well done, son...

Kate Beckinsale

Dont know why, but nowadays suddenly i seem to be extremely fond of Kate Beckinsale, to such an extent that on Saturday night, when i didnt really feel like going out, (since i was too tired after a good session of futsal with the mates), i decided to stay in and watch "Serendipity" on VCD at home. My god. What an extremely soppy SOPPY movie. Probably a good choice to watch with your other half in the cinema, since it is a feel good movie, with an ending which is just so predictable i could spot it at the very start of the movie (i mean, who wouldn't have?!!). But, it was interesting to see though the "signs" that they were getting and how each one of them decided to either follow them or not. Probably give "Serendipity" 2and1/2 stars out of 5, and 1 star is there just because Kate's in the movie. Ha ha ha. Terrible.

On Friday.. Time to party...

Its Friday night y'all... another end to another week. Just can't wait to leave the office and head home tonight, and then meet up with some of my mates. Too bad i have to come into the office over this weekend though.. Seems to defeat the purpose of actually waiting for friday night though, but still, it's a weekend and although i do have to be in the office, i can just be a bit more laid back and take my time and do whatever i need to do in my own time. Sweet..

Currently listening to "Craig David - Time to party".. reminds me of my "younger years" and my friday and saturday nights out at Orange Kia Peng. Ha ha ha... Those were the days..

"everybody's feeling right
coz we know it's party night
all the ladies looking tight
wether silk or satin lace or leather
ooh what a sight
here's where the party starts
things can only get better
just make your way onto the dance floor get together
it's the start of the weekend don't waste no time
for tonight is your night

on friday time to party
let me see you swing and sway
let me see you swing
tell me are you down with me
are you with me
are you with me"

Craig David - Time to party

Its Fantasia!!!

Yeah, at the end of the day, the vocal talents of one Fantasia Barrino finally came through and made her the new "American Idol". Seriously, since the first few shows, it was clear to see that it was gonna be between Latoya and Fantasia. However, i was getting a bit tired of listening to "screamers" (as i like to call them), i mean, it was just getting a bit repetitive and it was just becoming a contest to see who could reach the highest note and keep it up there longest. I mean, yeah, they do have the vocals, but i would like to think that the requirements to being called an "idol" would be more than just that. Now that this is over, we can now start to concentrate on our local flavor of idol-programming, Akademi Fantasia (?!!) which i think should be starting soon since i did notice in the papers the other day a picture of all the latest "students" of the new season.

Allez Porto!

Congratulations to the FC Porto team for showing their class and beating the crap out of Monaco last night. One of the most unexpected finals lately and i guess the better team won. Good job Mourinho, now that you have won the Champs League, quit Porto, get your ass to Anfield. Pronto!

Now for some very important news..

I mean, obviously we would have expected the result above right? It was plain for everyone to see. Ha ha ha. Check out googlewars.

I was bored at work...

Yeah, i was, with it being raining and all, and gloomy and all, just wasn't in the mood to actually do any work. Nothing "absolutely urgent" that's needed to be done and i am way ahead of some other stuff, so i thought i'd just play around with my blog template (again?!!). I wanna go home, but i have a meeting to attend at 7pm. Yeah, you heard it right. Seven bloody pm. Who on earth schedules meetings at this time? I mean, normal people should be home already, or just leaving the gym, or just heading off from a jog in the park, or.. or.. Gotta go and prepare for my meeting.

Photos photos photos

Just testing out some more pictures that i saved onto my photo album. No actual proper pictures yet though. I need to get a digital camera first for that.

I was listed on usemycomputer!

Seems that www.usemycomputer.com listed my website on it. Interesting. Explains the extra traffic of ppl i have been getting on here yesterday.

You'll Never Walk Alone Houllier

It's the end of the Houllier era. From the day Roy Evans stepped down and handed full control of the club to Houllier, it has been a great 5 1/2 years of mixed emotions with the Frenchman at the helm. Although i hate to say it, as although i have been one of Houllier's biggest critics in recent times (my normal group of ppl that i hang out with at the mamak would testify to this), i would say that i do feel pretty sad that it has come to this, sort of the same way i was sort of sad to see Heskey go. I mean, like Heskey, Houllier is a decent man who always wanted to best for the club. He is a true reds fan and it's just sometimes sad to think of the what if's and if only's.

Its hard not to see the good things he has done to the club. I mean, he has ripped out the Spice Boy image of the team, gotten rid of players such as Ince, Fowler, James and so on. And although no one would argue that he has had a LOT of dodgy dealings in the tranfer market as well, he has also been responsible of the few strokes of genius ( if only there were more!!), such as bringing in Henchoz and Hyppia (people were asking WHAT?!!), and also bringing us Gary McAllister (memories of THAT goal against Everton, and me running around the living room screaming) who almost single handedly brought us through the end of the treble (some would say plastic, but still, its a treble!!) winning season (oh the joy of jumping for joy in a pub in Bangsar full of Arsenal supporters when Owen scored the winning goal, and i have yet to see another nail biting UEFA CUP final) and into the Champions League, and also the 5 million bargain of Harry Kewell (who i think has much more to offer to us). He was also the person who is responsible for moulding the raw talent of one Steven Gerrard into the current captain of the club and future captain of England.

However, it was not all that good. We could go on and on about the failed transfers, mind numbingly boring tactics which makes watching paint dry more exciting sometimes, but i guess what's the point. In the end, what led to his departure, although we did reach the target of qualifying for the qualifying rounds of the Champs League ( i wouldn't say that we already are, since anything can happen in the qualification rounds), we were just so goddamned far off the pace of the title challenge that we were closer to the relegation battle than the title challenge! I mean, yes, i am happy that we *can* qualify to the money spinning tournament of europe next year, but the fact that we are 30, yes.. THIRTY points off Arsenal, is just not acceptable. Its good too that in the end, although i do not know what happened behind the scenes, the two companies decided to part ways in a dignified manner. Kudos to the management of Moores and Parry as well for ending the debacle of uncertainty regarding the manager of our club and just stopping all the shennanigans that were happening.

So the next question would be, who's next? Several names have already been put into the hat by the media, but the main favourites for the post are Strachan, Curbishley, Daglish, Benitez, Mourinho and O'Neill. Both Benitez and Mourinho, to tell you the truth, i have not heard of before the last few weeks. I mean, i am sure they are excellent coaches, both of them, but if you were to ask me, its not that i am one of those people who wouldnt want a foreigner to be in charge of the team, but i would want someone who has the premiership experience so that they wouldnt need time themselves to settle down to the way the game is played there. Daglish i am not too keen on either since he has been out of the management game for ages, and he is already a legend to the Liverpool supporters and i have a feeling that he just might screw up this time, and it would just taint his standing as King Kenny. Actually, for me, i would prefer someone like Curbishley to be installed as manager, since they do have the premiership experience and he would understand the necessary expectations that comes with being manager of one of the biggest clubs in the world. I also wouldn't mind O'Neill as well, being Mr Motivator himself (something we have been sorely lacking, motivation), but i just don't know about him. The way Celtic play is almost the same way we play under Houllier, and i don't know whether i can stand watching us beat opponents by boring them to death again.

Oh well, we shall see what happens. I wish Houllier all the best in his future undertakings. There has been many good and bad memories supporting the club while he was in charge, and i guess as a supporter, you just have to accept both the good and the bad, and just keep on supporting. It is the right time for a change, and for now lets just look forward to whats coming up. I'm sure it's going to be an eventful post / pre-season this next few months, and this will just add to the many heated discussions i will have at the mamak stalls, other than who we're gonna buy and sell off. Here's looking forward to next season.

"The club comes first, I'm not here for myself, I'm here for the club. The club will always come first for me"

"The club has meant six years of happiness for me. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the players who have achieved so much, and to the fans for their support."

"I arrived here six years ago as a Liverpool supporter and I leave as an even bigger supporter"

"I may have left Liverpool, but Liverpool will not leave me. I will return to watch the team as a fan."

You'll Never Walk Alone Gerard Houllier

Cisse injured

It seems Djibril Cisse has been taken off in his last game for Auxerre due to an ankle injury. Although at first it was thought to be a broken leg or some sort, it now seems not to be as bad. Hopefully he will be back to full fitness in a month, and i hope he is not the type of player that needs somewhere in the region of 2 years to recover from a goddamn injury. Actually i am still unconvinced that he will make an impact in the Premiership next season, but i am worried that if he is injured, he wont be able to make ANY sort of impression anyway, right?

It's over!! How will we survive?!!

I mean, the english football league is over. As the Milwall Lions fail to defeat the Devils last night, the sight of Roy Keane holding up the FA Cup marks the end of the English Football season. Usually on "odd numbered" years, that would mean finally having free time on weekend nights, not knowing what to do, and mindlessly going out and trying to have a life for once, since there isn't any live football matches on Saturday and Sunday nights to kill off the hours.

This year, however, being an "even numbered" year and all, means that there's at least going to be another major international football tournament to at least look forward to, and this year brings us the European Championships Euro 2004 in Portugal. I, as per normal, will be supporting my "Three Lions", all the way. And being the normal biased English football supporter that i am, i feel absolutely optimistic that this year might be the year that the English "Lions" actually have a decent chance of winning a major international trophy. However, as my more "feet on the ground" sort of mates would tell me, "There isn't a chance in HELL England are going to win this year". Oh well, we shall see.

I do agree with a lot of them that the squad does not really look too convincing. I mean, the strikers that are there aren't really banging them in on a regular basis, the central defense cover consists mainly of Jamie "Mr Versatility" Carragher, and Ledley "The next Sol Campbell" King, there STILL isn't a solution to the left hand midfield problem, we still have David "i'm losing my concentration due to excessive PS activity at night" James (Dont even get me started on the goalkeeping backups) as our first choice keeper, and Svennis has stated that he would most likely play Gerrard on the left of a diamond midfield. I mean, WTF?! What rubbish is that?

If i were the manager of the Ingerlund team ( I know, i wish, but i have successfully managed the Ingerlund team to the world cup finals in 2006 on CM4, does that count? No? ), i would scrap that diamond midfield rubbish and play with a flat midfield in a 4-4-2, with James as the keeper (best out of an bad bunch, or maybe Robinson), with Neville at right back (Gary!!!), Bridge at left back, and a central defensive pairing of Sol and Terry. In midfield, i'll kick Beckham out to the right wing where he belongs and where he can do the most damage with his crosses, Gerrard and Lampard in the center and Ashley Cole in the left wing role. Up fron, it can either be Owen and Rooney or Owen and Scholes, although i think i would prefer Rooney since Scholes has not been delivering for the English team for donkey years.

So there you have it, my England team, although knowing Sven i wouldnt be suprised if he played Heskey up front with Owen, and Butt in the "holding midfield" role in a "diamond midfield" formation. Anyway, gotta go back to work now. I need to plan my working schedule as well so that i can go home early whenever there's an England match playing. I think there are some that kick off at 5pm.

In the office on a Sunday afternoon

Yeah, suck doesn't it. Was called yesterday afternoon by an office number. Actually i wasn't particularly keen on picking up the phone, but i thought, what the hell. Now it seems that they are having some issues with the databases and needed me to come in to have a look at 'em so that it's up and ready for Monday morning. Sheesh. And i still can't figure out what on earth is wrong with this thing. Anyway, i would certainly HOPE that they are actually going to start using it tomorrow morning, but knowing the people i work with, they just ask you to get it done as soon as possible.

Like the other day, one of the managers wanted me to finish my stuff by Friday since it was "urgent" and supposedly "high priority". So there i was busting my ass working until late in the night trying to get it done. And yes, i did manage to finish it on time, and you know what happened? The fella took the stuff and put it aside and has not used it until TODAY.

These people just need a tight slap once in a while. If you know you dont REALLY need it that soon, why do you need to rush it to be done A.S.A.P?! I mean, if i knew that this would have happened i would have not pushed myself too hard and also there were some other bits and pieces that i wanted done instead. Oh well.

fotopages fotoblog

Was just surfing around the net and found this interesting fotoblog service that they are offering, so i decided to sign up and create my own fotoblog, at wsx3edc.fotopages.com. I dont know what sort of pictures ill be putting up there but i guess we'll see.

Thinking about Liverpool

OK, there are several things that i want to comment about here regarding what is currently happening to my beloved Liverpool football club.

First on the list would be the position Mr Houllier has been in for the past few days. I sometimes just feel that the management are just playing a fool with him, and also all us supporters as well by keeping us guessing on what their next step of action would be. It just disappoints me to see them treat Houllier in such a way. Some would say that they are pressuring him to resign from the club so that they would not need to pay him a whopping 1.5 million squid in compensation, and if that is indeed the case, it is just so absolutely sad that it has come down to this. What the board should do is to put us out of our misery and tell us and Houllier once and for all what their stand is on the issue. Either stand up and show your support to the manager and tell him to go on working, or just bite the bullet and give him the boot.

Second on the list would be the exit of our much maligned Emile Heskey. Although i have been one of his harshest critics these past few years, i do feel a wee bit of sadness seeing this fella leave. I mean, he is a honest guy, and he always gives his 100% whenever he is on the pitch, and on his day he can be the most dangerous striker in the premiership. But the key word here is "on his day", and for all of his quality and potential, he just hasnt been showing it consistently enough throughout a season. If only he could have recaptured the form 2-3 years ago when he was banging 'em in from left right and center. I guess, the main reason why he hasn't excelled as well, is that whenever Owen is around, he has been demoted to the secondary striker, and it just makes you think the fact that the time when he was on form coincided with the time when Owen was out injured long term, and Heskey was playing as the main target man. Oh well, all the best in your new team "Bruno" and i hope you get to play as the main target man there as "promised" by Steve Bruce, and hope to see you playing against us next year, where for some funny reason i am SURE you'll be scoring against us.

The next thing i want to comment on is the sale of shares to the Thai Prime Minister. Somehow, what he has been saying in the press lately just doesn't seem to show that he has Liverpool Football Club as the number one priority on his mind. I mean, by "threatening" the board by saying that he is also looking at other clubs as well just shows that it's not LFC that he is interested in, its "Any Premiership"FC that he wants. Also, he has the cheek to be requesting for two seats on the board, which come to think of it in business terms would be logical, but it just makes me think that they would be interfering with the handling of the club in the future. Somehow, this whole saga leaves a bit of a sour taste to me. I mean, yeah, it's good that they are offering indecent amounts of moolahs, although not "Roman-ish indecent", but still a lot, but i don't know. I just feel that it isn't the best interest of the club, i guess. Just a bit confusing.

Later

Now THIS is cool

Posting to my blog from email? Now it's getting interesting. I don't
have to log into blogger anymore and just email easily from the
comfort of my own email client on my PC. He he he. Cool.

New blogger, new template?

Well, yeah. Just another round of itchy fingers again. Trying out this new template. Just a bit disappointed though that the new program "Hello" from Picasa, which i downloaded just now, doesnt support connections from a network with a Proxy server. I mean.. what the..?!! I dont know about anyone else, but i usually surf the net from the office, and when i surf the net from the office, it means going thru a proxy server, which means "Hello" offers didly squat to me as of now. They say they are incorporating that "feature" to it now, so i'll just have to wait. But one would have thought that proxy enabling a software that connect to the internet would have been something that they would have come out with early on. Oh well. We shall wait then.

Djibril Cisse

Looks like Cisse most likely will be coming to Anfield this summer. Dont know about anyone else, but I am just not TOO convinced about him. Of course i would be glad if i am proven wrong, but somehow, Liverpool buys from the French league doesnt instill too much confidence in me. I mean, if he were really THAT good, why aren't any of the big teams even "trying" to sign him? Of course, it could be that only I have not come across any stories about that, but still.

Actually am a bit bored, so here's what i think i would want to happen in the summer. Purely my CM4 tendencies coming out here, but what the hell.

Players out
Heskey - Probably to Birm
Biscan - Probably to anyone who would accept him
Diouf - Back to the french league
Diao - French league
Traore - Nationwide
Owen - Yeah, i would hate for this to happen, but it might JUST happen. Most likely to the Spanish league, real or barcelona

Players in
Upson (Birm)
Dawson (Nott Forest)
Simon Davies (Spurs)
Robbie Keane (Spurs)
Micheal Tonge (Shef Utd)

Youth players i would like to see more of
LeTallec
Pongolle
Welsh (supposedly a good defensive midfielder, could be taking over from Hamman)
Patridge
Otsemobor

Yeah, in my dreams you say, but still.

Heskey to Owen, Owen to Gerrard,....

What an absolutely excellent game against Birm. Why on earth can't we play like that every week? And why on earth can't Heskey play like that every week?! Superb team performance and a special mention goes to the Ingerlund trio of Owen, Gerrard and Heskey who each one had outstanding games and ended up with a well deserved goal each.

One thing i noticed though that the main change made from Houllier was to take out all of his recent signings bar Kewell and Finnan (two players i still reate highly) and stick to the old heads of the team, like keeping Murphy in the team, and putting Heskey back up front ,to play as a striker and not a defensive midfielder or winger or whatever, and putting Carragher at centerback, a position i would have thought that he would be absolutely suited to.

Out the window went the usual suspects of Biscan, Diouf and Cheryou. I mean, just look at the difference in the performance today?! It just doesnt require a rocket scientist to figure out that leaving those players out, and you get a decent team that, barring any injuries, would have been expected to at least challenge for honors at the end of a season.

Just a thought though. If Gerrard can play like that in the Euro 2004 this season, i am sure that England would be somewhere up there this year, if not winning it. And I am serious.

Break ups are hard to accept

Seriously it has been a shitty shitty 1 week. Broke up with my girl friend and i am pretty much confused as to the reason why she would wanna do such a thing. Actually, even she confessed that she herself is absolutely confused with regards to the situation between us. She just says that after almost 2 years of going out with each other, she woke up one day and said "who is this person i am going out with? Do i even know him?". I admit, i havent been the best of partners but at least i was willing to try and i have given it my best. But at the end of the day, it's just a matter of what she wants. I want her to be happy always, and i also want the best for her. It is very painful to admit, that she does know what i have to offer, and if thats not what she is looking for, although realizing it after 2 years together, then there's nothing much i can do.

The brain and the heart are two very conflicting areas of one's being, and it is just so very confusing. My brain on one hand, tells me that this is the correct thing to do. I should let her decide for herself and whatever she decides, i should respect it and just accept it. However, the heart on the other hand, says Hell NO!! How very ultimately confusing and it just doesnt help that much when there is such a conflict going on in between myself.

I had two very contrasting opinions on what should my next step be, one from a guy (a very close friend of mine) and another from a girl (another good friend of mine, although an ex-gf as well, but we are on good terms). The guy's advise was to give her some time off to think about it all by herself and let her sort it out, since she is confused and only she knows what she needs and wants. And he also added htat i shouldnt contact her and life goes on, and i should let her call me, and not me call her. The girl on the other hand, told me i should go and buy flowers, call her up, shower her with gifts and chocolate to try and win her back. Now, looking from the two advices i got, i must say that i am pretty leaned towards my guy friends advise, since i tend to agree with him. I must admit though, that i was practically rolling on the floor laughing when i heard my girl friend's advice, and it did actually lighten up my day a bit and also cheered me up. I mean, probably she doesn't really understand the situation i am in so i guess i'll give her that.

Breaking up is really hard to do. It's especially difficult if you still love the person very much, and the break up wasn't your decision in the first place. But i guess, life moves on, and i am beginning to realize that the most important thing for me now is that she is happy, no matter what happens. I guess also that there shouldnt be any regrets as to what happens, as what a good friend of mine says, in life we can never predict what is gonna happen, and if we are able to, it would just not be any fun anymore. So i guess, whatever happens, happens. If we do get back together in the future, then so be it. If not, i should just enjoy the moment i am going thru now, and always reflect on the good times i have had in the past, and there has been so many good times. If you love someone, let her free, if it comes back, it's meant to be. If not, what to do? Just cherish the moments you had in the past and move on with life. You can't control whats going to happen, you can only try your best, and the rest is all up to the allmighty to decide.

Gas prices up

Darn, gas prices go up 2 sens per litre today. I would have been my normal kiasu self and filled up yesterday but alas, i didnt have a chance to since i had to rush back home from office to rush off to play futsal at summit. Man, i usually put in around 30 liters everytime i visit the gas station. That means an extra...erm... 2X30.. erm 60 sens per week, that means around 2.40 extra expenditure per month. Hmm, the joys of inflation.