Sunday 27 October 2013

Chelsea 2- Man City 1, The Rebirth of Torres under the watch of Mourinho

Chelsea 2- Man City 1 -The Rebirth of Torres under the watch of Mourinho



Torres 1 assist, 1 sublime effort that hit the bar, 1 glorious winning goal!

Torres- now I believe that he's truly back!

This is the 'Real Dojo' , not all those 'McDojos' we've been watching since 2011

Chelsea Champions -Elect?

Who'd dare to bet against this now, with The Special One in charge of this team?

The Mongoose I want under the house, when the snake slithers by! Grrrrrrrrr

 

 

Friday 25 October 2013

Scandal Season 3. Ep 4: "Say Hello To My Little Friend"

Scandal Season 3. Ep 4: "Say Hello To My Little Friend"

Posted this originally in the Facebook Group, Hey, Don't Forget To Live! Click the link here

Spoiler Alert!!

Scroll to the next post if you don't want to know about this episode until you have watched it

It's about Operation Remington & the President's secret, Rowan Pope & B613, Huck & Jake's unlikely alliance and their effort to involve Liv ( the ultimate goal being to bring her father down) , A Senator on trial for the murder of his young consort

Check up the links here and here for more details

Y'all know I gotta leave you with some quotes :

Jake to Liv : "Your dad would slit your throat and drink

the blood if it would serve the Republic!" Eli Pope, Ha!

Senator Meyers philandering/sending photos of his ..um..wang to young ladies aka sexting

"...This party already has a Wang problem..."

Hear what a female Democratic Party Cingresswoman Josephine Marcus ( Lisa Kudrow, remember 'Friends' ? )said about President Fitz- "I think it's high time the Prez tames his 'Cobra' and put a lid on the basket! "

Wang, Cobra-.......go figure!

Marcus On Mellie's (Prez's wife) faux pas: "We all get a case of foot & mouth disease from time to time"

Mouthy Mellie started trending immediately on Twitter!

Senator Meyers' wife to Liv ( after the latter discovered that the former had played her) : "We all deserve a second chance"

Y'all know I can't do this without a Liv quote: "Quitting is not an option"

It is one of my missions in life to convert y'all to lovers of this show!

 

Thursday 24 October 2013

Of SAF, Machiavelli, Greatness and a book

Of SAF, Machiavelli, Greatness and a book


Sir Alex Ferguson's ( SAF) autobiography was released a few days ago

“Men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge.”

"the appearance of virtue" is more important than virtue itself" - Niccolo Machiavelli

"Machiavellian" -a by-word for treachery, sneakiness, ambition, and ruthlessness.

Not too many will disagree that this description fits SAF

You'd not be able to point to too many successful people in the world without some of these negative attributes. Unfortunately!

I'm not sure why the revelations in this book are surprising to some though. There have been discussions about the hypocrisy and double-standards of the great Manager on many occasions in the past

For SAF- the end justifies the means ( another Machiavellian principle)

He has a strong sense of right and wrong even in the face of overwhelming odds ( check out the link to a Guardian article on the book here and a Racehorse tiff which describes this famous sense here

I'm surprised how the title of the book escaped editing though!

My Autobiography!! ( 'My the book I wrote about my life' )

Call the redundancy police, somebody!

'Autobiography' alone should have sufficed, in my opinion

 

Saturday 19 October 2013

EPL: Chelsea 4- Cardiff City 1

EPL: Chelsea 4- Cardiff City 1

5 words to describe Chelsea today- Our Striker scored a goal!!

Starting XI today for Chelsea-(4-2-3-1):

Petr Cech, Ryan Bertrand, John Terry, David Luiz, Branislav Ivanovic, Frank Lampard, Ramires, Eden Hazard, Juan Mata, Willian, Samuel Eto'o

Story of the first half

The visitors were content for Chelsea to have most of the ball as they sat with 10 men behind the ball. Not for the first time this season, Chelsea struggled to break such opposition play down

Then 2 absolutely hilarious blunders-

The first around 10' : David Luiz's trademark 5 seconds of madness. It was a goal out of nothing for the visitors. Marshall hammers a long down field. Ramires pokes the ball back towards his own goal, Luiz leaves it (brain fart moment!! ) and the Cardiff striker, Mutch races in to dink over the onrushing Cech.

33' . Marshall, the Cardiff goalkeeper, decided to better David Luiz' gaffe.

Eto'o nicks the ball off Marshall as he bounces it. Hazard gathers and squares. Eto'o can't bundle home, but the ball breaks loose again to Hazard who can.

First half stats for Chelsea

95% possession, 12 shots at goal, 2 on target

The second half was more lively as Cardiff became bolder in their forward play. This created more space for the Chelsea attack and it was end to end stuff at some point

Oscar replaced Mata at the 59' min and Betrand made way for Torres at about the 63'

This changed the formation from 4-2-3-1 to 3-5-2. The gamble almost backfired as the Cardiff strikers had acres of space on the left of the Chelsea box around the 65' but they didn't make it count

67' Cometh the hour, cometh the man

Eto'o receives the ball to his feet in the box ( from a lovely Hazard pass)

dinks to the right, making the defender slide by, then finishes with powerful shot low into the corner. Goaaaaaaaallll!!

Mourinho, just as he did at Carrow Road a few weeks back, gambled by moving to three defenders. And, once again, the move paid off.

Mourinho moved to four at the back almost immediately following the goal ( 69') with Cesar Azpilicueta coming on for Eto'o, and the rest of the match was a coast.

70' Mourinho started raging at something and was giving Anthony Taylor ( linesman) a hard time. The referee comes across to have a word and the Chelsea boss is sent to the stands. He moves about three rows back from where he was.

He can do no wrong at Stamford Bridge though-the fans started chanting " HE SITS WHERE HE WANTS, HE SITS WHERE HE WANTS!

JOSÉ MOURINHO, HE SITS WHERE HE WANTS!"

Oscar added a stunning goal, one that shaved the crossbar as it whisked past Marshall (77') before Hazard wrapped up the day's scoring in the 82nd minute- the Cardiff goalie should've done better with the attempted save. He had a forgettable day - to be honest

He did save a tame Willian effort around the 79', this was off brilliant counter-attacking play by Hazard

Positives

Eto'o finally got that goalless monkey off his back. To be honest, he'd done pretty little wrong apart from scoring a goal since arriving. His runs, passes , link up play and defensive work are impressive. I have a feeling he'll be massive for us this season

John Terry - imperious at the back as usual. Definitely our most dependable defender. To think some were writing him off after last season

Hazard is back!! He looked sharper, fitter and hungry today

Oscar is going through a purple patch at the moment. That's his 5th goal this season

Congrats to Cech on his 300th appearance today. He pulled off a couple of Cech-esque saves to mark the occasion

Bertrand was impressive at LB. Ashley Cole better watch his back!!

Negatives

We still struggle to break down teams that play with 10 behind the ball. This is baffling - considering the kind of Gaffer we have. You'd think that wing play is the key in this situation. Unfortunately, Hazard and Willian keep on cutting in, when they have the ball, and choking the middle more

Also, Ivanovic can still not cross the ball if his life depended on it.

I wish Azpi will get more game time. So many teams will play this defensive style ( particularly at the Bridge) and we need to find the right formula to break them down

I refuse to comment on Torres' cameo today. I'm in a good mood!

We are 2nd in the League table, level with Liverpool by points but better Goals difference

...and better kits too

It can only get better with this team. This should be scary for our rivals

....like attempting the first fart after a bout of diarrhoea!

 

Friday 18 October 2013

Scandal 3x03 - "Mrs Smith Goes to Washington"

Scandal 3x03 - "Mrs Smith Goes to Washington"

It's getting more heated on Scandal!

Highlights of this week's episode:

Liv's handling of the Bomb scare scene-

Olivia Pope NEVER needs a trim. Her ends are fierce and fearless, forever!

helpingheroespr: If only Congress had Olivia Pope... Washington needs a Washington!

Mellie's drunk scene-

alphatheta87: Mellie's ( President's wife) drunk scene was a MASTERPIECE!! @BellamyYoung is AWESOME!! #Scandal

Check out part of her monologue with her husband present:

"..As long as she ( Olivia Pope) is still alive, she is your FLAW!...your Achilles' heel....which makes her my weapon.."

Watch the clip here

David Rosen's face off with Cyrus was also worthy of mention-

....and Rowan/Eli Pope (Liv's father) has his hold on everyone in this show, including Olivia

What the heck is Operation Remington?

 

Friday 11 October 2013

Scandal Season 3, Ep 2- Guess who's coming to dinner

Scandal Season 3, Ep 2- Guess who's coming to dinner
Spoiler Alert!!
Things we learnt from the latest episode:
No one is touching Olivia Pope when it comes to Twitter. She's running things! (Pix 1)
Joe Morton ( Rowan Pope, Liv's dad) is the kind of guy who make you want to send cards to your Dad at Xmas. He's cold calculating, possessive and ruthless!
He was the guy dumped by Whitley Gilbert ( Jasmine Guy) at the Wedding on the 90s sit-com, 'A Different World' Surprise, surprise! (Pix 3)
Mellie ( Bellamy Young, President's wife) is a Schemer. Would stop at nothing to protect her interest
Cyrus (Jeff Perry) to Mellie- You're Evil
Mellie to Cyrus- You're Welcome
Prez Fitz is soooo whipped by Liv
His balls are in her purse.... Figuratively!
Huck ( Guillermo Diaz) is pissed at Liv's 'betrayal' Jake Ballard ( Scott Foley) is alive and back!
Even Barack O knows the ish- Liv is Ms 'Fix It'! (Pix 4)
It's Handled!
Get with the Programme Y'all!


Thursday 3 October 2013

Scandal -Olivia Pope: "It's Handled"

Scandal -Olivia Pope: "It's Handled"

Scandal -Season 3, Episode 1: It's Handled

Scandal is back y'all

The Premiere of season 3 was filled with powerful dialogues, plots and subplots

-It's about the public knowledge of President Fitz having an affair with Olivia Pope ( Kerry Washington) and the plans for damage limitation

But the buzz all over Twitter is about everything Olivia Pope-

Her Wardrobe:

Olivia Pope's white Burberry Prorsum Spring 2013 jacket had women going oohs and aahs on Twitter all night. Her tv wardrobe is EPIC

Hear “@WendyWilliams: . @ScandalABC is INSANE! You better work Olivia Pope with that jacket and Prada purse. SERIOUS!!!!!!” Lol

Her quotes:

"It's Handled"

"I Am MANY Things... STUPID Is Not One Of Them!!!"

"In order for me to do my job effectively, I'm going to need you to refrain from calling me a whore!....at least not to my face"

#Spartan

Dad- "you're running out of options"

Olivia- "I always have options"

Yeah, she's got a cult following alright!!

Please Iyanla, fix Olivia Pope's life!! Lol

That babe can do no wrong right now. For real!

It's handled!

 

Wednesday 2 October 2013

UEFA Champions League- Chelsea routs Steaua

UEFA Champions League- Chelsea routs Steaua

Steaua Bucharest: 0 - Chelsea 4

A Chelsea fan's view


This was the Schurrle show!!

First XI on the night: Cech, Ivanovic, D Luiz, Terry (c), Cole; Ramires, Lampard; Mata, Oscar, Schurrle; Torres

Chelsea were so much better than their host in all the departments of the game that you could say the eventual scoreline flattered the home team

Torres picked up a knock to his knee around the 8th min, and was replaced by Eto'o

Schurrle had the beating of the Steaua RB , Georgievski all game. In the 19th min, after beating him for the umpteenth time, he put in a pass for Eto'o whose scuffed shot fell kindly for Ramires. The Brazilian stabbed the ball beyond the keeper and in at the far post. Deserved first goal

About the 43 mins Mata threads a cracking ball through for Eto'o ( gosh, how we have missed this kind of passes from the diminutive one! ) The striker's burst of pace got him into the box, he beat his marker with a sharp turn but his effort was parried by the Steaua goalie only to see...wait for it... Georgievski clattering into the parried ball and hurtling into the net after it. 2- nil!

Mata hit the woodwork around the 50th minute after the best play around the box by the away team- a few crisps short passes and a delightful Oscar backheel ensured Mata had a clear sight of goal. It was unfortunate that this brilliant play didn't get the goal it deserved

About the 55th minute, a fantastic show-and-go from Schurrle on the hapless Georgievski on half-way, saw him past his man The German picks out Oscar, who prods it to Ramires to hammer home his second of the night. 3- nil!

Azpilicueta replaces Oscar and Willian replaces Mata with about 10-11 mins to go

Cech hurt his back while trying to save a deft chip around the 76th minute ( he could as well have being on holiday sans this effort by the host )

Georgievski was replaced soon after ( eventually put out of his misery, really)

90th minute- The icing on the cake: Frank Lampard finishes off a swift move. Eto'o surges down the left and finds Willian, who unselfishly slots the ball back to the edge of the area. Lampard strokes the ball in off the far post. Goal!

It wasn't more than Chelsea deserved for a very dominant performance

Positives

- Schurrle was huge! I'm sure he'd wish he plays Georgievski every week!

He epitomised everything good about wing play yesterday- direct, runs at defenders, gets behind them, neat dribbling, energetic and tracks back well, good final pass

- Ramires is our new big man- he has a knack for scoring in big games now.

- Mata is a Conductor. Simple

-David Luiz rules! He is a proactive CB rather than a reactive one like Cahill

- I was happy with Eto’o’s performance even though his finishing was still not there. He seemed much more integrated into the team play and was involved in each of the goals. I hope he breaks his duck against Norwich

Negatives

Not a lot in this game, unsurprisingly.

-this team needs to kill off the opposition when they are on top. At 1-0 up, they just lacked the cutting edge in front of goal, this allowed the opposition into the game briefly until that second goal was scored. Against better opposition, Chelsea may be punished for not making this period of ascendancy count

-Torres' knee injury. Just when you think he's finding form, this happens! Rotten luck. We hope the injury isn't something major

- Oscar seemed a bit sloppy and shot happy- particularly in the first half. He did improve in the second half though

A 4-0 win was just what the doctor ordered for CL progression and general team morale. Steaua wasn't great opposition to be fair but I’m hoping this result and performance will help guide this team into our next match and beyond

Blue is the colour, football is the game, Chelsea is our name. CHELSEA!

NB- Mourinho's hugging of Schurrle was symbolic. It just shows you what he's trying to do in his second coming. He won't 'spare the rod' but you'll 'get toffees' if you're a good boy. Haters would always hate his method though. It is what it is!