Headlines

This is becoming a bit of a familiar pattern for Andy Murray. He starts off really strong, then blows out. All eyes were on Murray after he plastered Swiss Roger Federer at the Dubai Open, expectations were high, then he flunked against Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, more beatings were to follow from the racket of RussianNikolay Davydenko. Finally German Tommy Haas got his revenge on Andy Murray at the Pacific Life Open.

So for us to hear that Murray is winning means nothing because he has more ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ than a manic depressive on a roller coaster ride. What we mean to say is - it means nothing to us until the fiery young Scot lifts a trophy and shakes it …

continue reading

Once upon a time… strolling beside a river on a medieval French mystery tour in the Loire region I came across one of those ducking stools they used to dip prospective witches into the water.

Barbaric invention they were – unless of course you had someone suitable in mind you wanted to put through the “floatation test”.

For the ducking stool operators it was a simple methodology. If the woman sinks she’s not a witch, if she floats she is a witch.

Hmmm. I’m not sure what I’d want to be. Because as sure as newts eggs are newts eggs the witch that floats is going to get heaved back into the water anyway.

continue reading

So, it’s Liverpool v Chelsea in the Champions League semi-finals again! Yes, this will be the third time in four seasons that these two English powerhouses have slugged it out for a place in the final of Europe’s most glamorous club competition. Question is, will it be third time lucky for Chelsea, who have lost the previous two?

Well, the answer is, it could be. Perhaps crucially this time around, Chelsea have home advantage in the second leg, so sparing them the daunting task of facing a full-on Anfield crowd in the all-important decider. Chelsea lost to a ‘phantom’ goal by Luis Garcia in 2005 (no-one can tell, even now, whether it really crossed the line), and then on penalties last …

continue reading

It’s the ‘morning after’ feeling today for Birmingham City fans. Yep, try as you might to rid yourselves of the awful hangover-type effects, Blues fans, the truth is the truth, however hard to swallow it might be. You were absolutely, totally, comprehensively routed by your cross-city rivals Villa on Sunday, and your football club is heading for relegation. Time for a super-strong coffee and a fry-up and a reflection of how things have gone so wrong.

Birmingham-Villa matches are usually nothing if not tight and tense affair. But Villa won the game yesterday at a stroll. They won 5-1, but could have scored double figures. Blues were awful, apart from a decent opening ten minute spell, and the defeat now leaves …

continue reading