It wasn't a pretty win, but a win nevertheless.
Come to think of it, it was a historic win.
Xabi Alonso scored the only goal that mattered to end Chelsea's 86-game unbeaten home league record and put Liverpool as the sole leader in the English Premier League. It was also Chelsea's first defeat under new boss Luiz Felipe Scolari, who took charge of the team at the start of the season.
Liverpool so far has signalled out their title intentions, by beating Manchester United, and now Chelsea in what might be a very close race to be the champion of England. Even Hull City is in the running at the moment, but it is still too early in the season, as Jamie Carragher puts it.
But to break Chelsea's long standing record, and at the same time to score your first goal at Stamford Bridge eversince Rafa Benitez is in charge, that must be something.
I hope it's a sign for more good things to come.
Sunday, October 26
Saturday, October 25
Hull on cloud nine
A year ago, Hull City was playing in the English League Championship. Today, they are joint top in the English Premier League, albeit temporarily. Their bubble might burst anytime soon, but for now, they have won four straight game, and sit snugly at third with 20 points.
They are practically halfway to securing their top flight status with only 9 games played. 40 points are normally needed to be safe. With 29 more games to be played, it's considerably safe to say that Hull City will still be in the Premier League next season.
Nobody predicted that Hull will be doing so well so early in the season. Well, nobody also predicted that Spurs will be rooted at the bottom of the league searching for their first win too, but look at where they are right now. Until Juande Ramos gets the boot, Spurs will continue to struggle and might be in for a long hard battle of avoiding relegation. But that is another tale to tell.
Hull City meanwhile, keep on defying the odds and performing well playing away from home. So far they have chalked up wins against Newcastle, Arsenal, Spurs and their latest away win were against WBA. Their only blot so far were to concede 5 goals at home against Wigan.
The best part is, it's not that Hull played a totally defensive game. They do defend deep, but are also adventurous and can hold the ball for a long period of time. Their counter attacks are dangerous, and they have good players who are unselfish and pass the ball around really well. They also have a very good goalkeeper, Boaz Myhill, who made several good saves against WBA and has so far kept 3 clean sheets.
They will be entertaining Chelsea at home next Wednesday, and come Saturday, will be away at Manchester United. Most probably, they will lose both games, but my bet is, it won't be without a fight.
The tigers number one fan! How ironic!
They are practically halfway to securing their top flight status with only 9 games played. 40 points are normally needed to be safe. With 29 more games to be played, it's considerably safe to say that Hull City will still be in the Premier League next season.
Nobody predicted that Hull will be doing so well so early in the season. Well, nobody also predicted that Spurs will be rooted at the bottom of the league searching for their first win too, but look at where they are right now. Until Juande Ramos gets the boot, Spurs will continue to struggle and might be in for a long hard battle of avoiding relegation. But that is another tale to tell.
Hull City meanwhile, keep on defying the odds and performing well playing away from home. So far they have chalked up wins against Newcastle, Arsenal, Spurs and their latest away win were against WBA. Their only blot so far were to concede 5 goals at home against Wigan.
The best part is, it's not that Hull played a totally defensive game. They do defend deep, but are also adventurous and can hold the ball for a long period of time. Their counter attacks are dangerous, and they have good players who are unselfish and pass the ball around really well. They also have a very good goalkeeper, Boaz Myhill, who made several good saves against WBA and has so far kept 3 clean sheets.
They will be entertaining Chelsea at home next Wednesday, and come Saturday, will be away at Manchester United. Most probably, they will lose both games, but my bet is, it won't be without a fight.
The tigers number one fan! How ironic!Friday, October 24
Sorry ass Spurs
Yet another defeat, and rooted at the bottom of the league with just two points to show out of 8 games.
How worse can it get?
With a modest 4th place finish set for the year, the Spurs are surely not heading that way. They started the season on a losing end, and only got their first point away at Chelsea. After that game, manager Juande Ramos was still optimistic. The worst has passed, and it is time to move up the table. And so he thought.
A draw and 5 more losses followed, and to compound the misery, Spurs were outplayed and lost to Udinese in the UEFA Cup last night.
It doesn't take a genius to predict Spurs downfall. The arrival of Juande Ramos was thought to be a good sign to come. After all, he was the architect of Sevilla revival, and under his guidance, Sevilla went and win the UEFA Cup twice and did fairly well in the competitive Spanish La Liga. He also won his first silverware with Spurs when they beat Chelsea in the League Cup finals last year.
So it was understandable when Ramos predicted a top four finish. He has a good squad at his disposal, plenty of money to spend on new players, and the backing of the board. That's when everything starts tumbling down.
First of all, you don't sell your top strikers. Not only he sold off Robbie Keane, who with 15 league goals last season became the first Spurs player to score double figures in the Premier League in six consecutive seasons, Dimitar Berbatov also left for a greener pasture. Not that they could do anything about that, since Berbatov was really keen on a move to Manchester United. To fill in the void, Spurs bring in Darren Bent and Roman Pavlyuchenko, and both of them have yet to click playing together. Spurs spent £47.9 million on players like Luka Modric, Giovani do Santos, Heureolho Gomes and David Bentley combined. With that much money spent, it's amazing they are still rooted at the bottom when clubs like Hull City are flourishing well without spending half that much.
Players morale must be at a high time low in the dressing room. Recently David Bently vented out his frustration, with the result of him being omitted from yesterday's game. Jonathan Woodgate meanwhile warned his teammates not to repeat what Leeds United did in 2003.
Spurs are up against Bolton next, and their next two games will be against Arsenal and Liverpool. For now, their future look very bleak. Shebby Singh, a self-confessed Spurs fan, must be cursing in his sleep.
For once, I think he might fancy his chances of being the next manager of Tottenham Hotspurs.
How worse can it get?
With a modest 4th place finish set for the year, the Spurs are surely not heading that way. They started the season on a losing end, and only got their first point away at Chelsea. After that game, manager Juande Ramos was still optimistic. The worst has passed, and it is time to move up the table. And so he thought.
A draw and 5 more losses followed, and to compound the misery, Spurs were outplayed and lost to Udinese in the UEFA Cup last night.
It doesn't take a genius to predict Spurs downfall. The arrival of Juande Ramos was thought to be a good sign to come. After all, he was the architect of Sevilla revival, and under his guidance, Sevilla went and win the UEFA Cup twice and did fairly well in the competitive Spanish La Liga. He also won his first silverware with Spurs when they beat Chelsea in the League Cup finals last year.
So it was understandable when Ramos predicted a top four finish. He has a good squad at his disposal, plenty of money to spend on new players, and the backing of the board. That's when everything starts tumbling down.
First of all, you don't sell your top strikers. Not only he sold off Robbie Keane, who with 15 league goals last season became the first Spurs player to score double figures in the Premier League in six consecutive seasons, Dimitar Berbatov also left for a greener pasture. Not that they could do anything about that, since Berbatov was really keen on a move to Manchester United. To fill in the void, Spurs bring in Darren Bent and Roman Pavlyuchenko, and both of them have yet to click playing together. Spurs spent £47.9 million on players like Luka Modric, Giovani do Santos, Heureolho Gomes and David Bentley combined. With that much money spent, it's amazing they are still rooted at the bottom when clubs like Hull City are flourishing well without spending half that much.
Players morale must be at a high time low in the dressing room. Recently David Bently vented out his frustration, with the result of him being omitted from yesterday's game. Jonathan Woodgate meanwhile warned his teammates not to repeat what Leeds United did in 2003.
Spurs are up against Bolton next, and their next two games will be against Arsenal and Liverpool. For now, their future look very bleak. Shebby Singh, a self-confessed Spurs fan, must be cursing in his sleep.
For once, I think he might fancy his chances of being the next manager of Tottenham Hotspurs.
Friday, October 17
Only in Ampang
I was unfortunate enough to be home on a Thursday night and spent my time in front of the TV. And since there was nothing much to watch, I switched to NTV7 and saw Ampang Medikal for the first time.
A lot have been said about the show. Critics have been harsh, with no mercy spared. And I can't really blame them. The show simply lacked a lot of things. It's like it's been done for the sake of making a series about a bunch of medical interns living their lives. Something out of the ordinary, something new in the local scene.
The only thing new is how suck they can be.
The main character, Dr Siti, is the Meredith Grey of Grey's Anatomy. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm simply saying she is Grey because she narrates at the start and at the end of the show. Just like Grey. But that's the only similarities they have. Yes, Siti might have plenty of problems, especially when it comes to love, but her problems exist because men tends to fall in love with her.
And what's up with that? Everybody seems to be in love with her. Married men flocked to her like sheeps flock to grass. They know it's forbidden, they know they can't have her, yet they are still chasing her. I think in the hospital itself, there are more than two men vying for her love. And oh, she is engaged, if you're wondering.
Another noticeable bit about the show is the bad editing. One thing I cannot tolerate is the fact that I have to increase the volume of the TV to maximum to hear what the heck they are talking about. And to think that I have not gone deaf yet. It's bad enough that the acting sucks, there are noises in the background and at times, it is very hard to hear what they are saying.
And what's with the camera angle. Some of the scenes were shot haphazardly that you can't help but wonder if the cameramen were high on glue while filming.
The only thing I like about the show is the underlying theme, But the message come across badly. Yesterday's episode was about parents-children relationship. In one end, you have a mother who was about to give birth to twins. But due to complications, she has to choose one twin, while the other one will die.
Then there was Dr Maznah and her fight for custody for her son. Apparently her ex-husband is getting married again and moving to Australia and planning to take the son with him. And we also found out that the ex gave her something more than just the title janda. Apparently, he also left her a souvenir in the form of some disease.
Then there was Dr. Siti's father who was hospitalised in the ward. From what I can fathom, he is separated from the wife (most probably divorced) and Dr Siti never knew that he kept in touch with her mother. I don't think Siti has a relationship with her mother. From the looks of it, she hates her mother. And so she was angry when she found out that her father is on talking terms with her mother.
In the end, it's all about choices. See the similarities with Grey's Anatomy? I won't be highlighting that now, since this is only my first time watching.
More reason to make plans on Thursday nights now.
A lot have been said about the show. Critics have been harsh, with no mercy spared. And I can't really blame them. The show simply lacked a lot of things. It's like it's been done for the sake of making a series about a bunch of medical interns living their lives. Something out of the ordinary, something new in the local scene.
The only thing new is how suck they can be.
The main character, Dr Siti, is the Meredith Grey of Grey's Anatomy. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm simply saying she is Grey because she narrates at the start and at the end of the show. Just like Grey. But that's the only similarities they have. Yes, Siti might have plenty of problems, especially when it comes to love, but her problems exist because men tends to fall in love with her.
And what's up with that? Everybody seems to be in love with her. Married men flocked to her like sheeps flock to grass. They know it's forbidden, they know they can't have her, yet they are still chasing her. I think in the hospital itself, there are more than two men vying for her love. And oh, she is engaged, if you're wondering.
Another noticeable bit about the show is the bad editing. One thing I cannot tolerate is the fact that I have to increase the volume of the TV to maximum to hear what the heck they are talking about. And to think that I have not gone deaf yet. It's bad enough that the acting sucks, there are noises in the background and at times, it is very hard to hear what they are saying.
And what's with the camera angle. Some of the scenes were shot haphazardly that you can't help but wonder if the cameramen were high on glue while filming.
The only thing I like about the show is the underlying theme, But the message come across badly. Yesterday's episode was about parents-children relationship. In one end, you have a mother who was about to give birth to twins. But due to complications, she has to choose one twin, while the other one will die.
Then there was Dr Maznah and her fight for custody for her son. Apparently her ex-husband is getting married again and moving to Australia and planning to take the son with him. And we also found out that the ex gave her something more than just the title janda. Apparently, he also left her a souvenir in the form of some disease.
Then there was Dr. Siti's father who was hospitalised in the ward. From what I can fathom, he is separated from the wife (most probably divorced) and Dr Siti never knew that he kept in touch with her mother. I don't think Siti has a relationship with her mother. From the looks of it, she hates her mother. And so she was angry when she found out that her father is on talking terms with her mother.
In the end, it's all about choices. See the similarities with Grey's Anatomy? I won't be highlighting that now, since this is only my first time watching.
More reason to make plans on Thursday nights now.
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