Red White Germany

Twitter test

2012-01-25T11:19:00.000+01:00

@ArenaFlowers I've yet to cry from laughter when reading a joke but everything you've tweeted today has pushed the boundary. Bravo.
— Thomas King (@thomjking) January 4, 2012

Watching Liverpool in Berlin

2010-08-22T21:07:00.000+02:00

It's taken me nearly two years but I think I have found a decent place to watch Liverpool FC in Berlin. The Irish Inn Damaschkestrasse have just had Sky installed (after a bit of persausion so that will be where I will watch the games on Sky.

Previously I had been going to the touristy Irish pub in the Europa centre but the prices are a rip off, the food is tastless and the service poor. Try changing a dodgy beer in there and they get offended and give you the same one back.

Add that to the fact you can't smoke (except in a dingy, badly ventilated smoking room), the badly positioned screens and the fact they have live bands and karoke going on during the games then I'm glad I have found my Liverpool oasis.

They also have free wi-fi, a big screen and did I mention the cheap beer?

World Cup Website

2010-03-15T00:23:00.000+01:00

Well, I'm back. Just to tell you I have the old World Cup site up and running. It's nothing too exciting but we have some better writers than myself working there.

We ask important questions like "What time do England play USA?" or "What to do with Gazza" and more insidpidly "Have the press ruined England's chances?" (Crap story...not worth a link!

Anyway, have a look and see what you think. I believe this IS England's World Cup year. I have waited too long....though sadly my passion is starting to run out. Football is not the same.

Boo Hoo.

November Nine Odds

2009-10-09T14:00:00.000+02:00

The Queen at the WSOPE

2009-09-16T00:20:00.001+02:00

Easyjet Liverpool Berlin Fiasco

2009-08-08T10:48:00.005+02:00

I always knew the only good thing about Easyjet was their cheap prices. I've never expected great service, good food and short queues. However, I have always expected to actually get on a flight I booked...until last week.

Flying back from Liverpool Airport to Berlin, I arrived at the airport around half an hour before the final check-in time. Massive queues. Standard.

I went to the Easyjet service desk and asked what was the best thing to do as this queue was going to take more than half an hour to receed. "Start queuing up and all Berlin passengers will be called forward." I was told. A Thai woman in the adjacent queue was asking the same question and we spoke briefly about how worrying it was the the queue was so long.

I made my way to the back of the queue but noticed this woman was a bit further ahead of me standing with her son. Never one to miss an opportunity to push past people (Germany has taught me this -the Germans hate queuing), I moved up ten or fifteen places to stand with this woman.

It turned out she used to live in Berlin and I chatted with her and her son just to take my mind off the queuing. It transpired that she was not travelling but had just brought her son to the airport. I soon realised all was not right with her sixteen-year-old son. Not in an obvious way as he was a pleasant and cheerful young man but I suspected he may of had learning difficulties and his manner was more of a ten-year-old than a person on the verge of adulthood.....saying that, he was bi-lingual so I could be totally wrong!

He lived in Dresden with his father and had been visiting his mother and her new family in Southport. His father would be picking him at the airport in Berlin.

As the time approached for last check-in time, I began to get nervous but a group not too far in front of us (also travelling to Berlin) went to the desk and were told not to worry as the flight had been delayed slightly.

The mother drew me to one side and asked me if I would keep and eye on her son and make sure he got the flight as she had to leave to go to work. She said he would be OK but just in case etc. I agreed thinking nothing could go wrong and to be honest I was enjoying chatting and joking with him...him laughing at my lack of German vocab despite living in Germany for three years.

We were eventually called out of the queue to check-in and after doing so we sprinted/jogged to the security area.

Again massive queues. Determined not to miss the flight, I pushed my way through the crowds with my new friend in tow. We reached the front and explained to the security guy our situation i.e. the flight would be leaving soon and we needed to get through as soon as possible. The bloke was having none of it explaining that letting us through would cause fights. He said if it was urgent then he would have been told and there would have been an announcement. He asked his supervisor who said they could not let us through. We went back and pushed in fairly close to the front and waited.

Ten minutes later we were through security and once again sprinted heading to the boarding gate.

The plane had gone.

Not to worry, I thought. We did nothing wrong. We were in the airport in good time. We ran every chance we got. They have messed up and will need to find a way to get us to Berlin....maybe late but they will get us to Berlin today!

But then the lies started from the girl at Easyjet obviously determined to cover up the fact they had made a total fuck up of thing.

"We made two annoucements" LIE

"We sent a person to bring people through security" LIE

"75 people checked-in after you and managed to board the flight" LIE.

These lies meant Easyjet were blaming us for missing the flight.

These lies meant Easyjet were not taking any responsibility for making us miss the flight.

These lies meant they would not pay a train fare or taxi fare to Gatwick were there was a flight leaving in five hours time.

These lies meant Easyjet would charge me £38 if I wanted to travel the next day or if I wanted to fly from Gatwick that day.

I wasn't sure what to do and my newly acquired travelling companion did not have his mother's number to tell her what had happened and his father who was picking him up at Berlin Airport was non-contactable.

After much thinking and working out connecting flights, trains etc, I realised there was no way to get to Berlin before 2am and not without a lot of expense.

My idea of asking Easyjet to contact Easyjet at Berlin Airport to explain to the father the situation once he realised his son was not on the flight and perhaps had gone to the Berlin Easyjet desk was thwarted when told they were not allowed to do this.

To cut a long story short, Easyjet tracked down my new friend's step-father who came to the airport to pick him up but not before I had to pay £38 to get on the following day's flight.

Obviously, Easyjet make it as difficult as possible to complain by email and charge premium rate to complain by phone. I'd almost given up until I used Twitter to voice my anger.

I quickly received a message to email a customer service guy and within a couple of hours they agreed to repay my money.

A very messy day and incident caused by incompetence by Easyjet staff at Liverpool and though it's easy to blame individuals the blame lies squarely at Easyjet's penny pinching management who did not provide enough staff or adequate training for their staff. They admitted this in their email to me.

Still, they should have organised for me to get to Berlin that day. I wonder what David Dimberley would have done.

I was concerned to read about the problems you experienced at Liverpool airport and would like to apologise for the inconvenience and the frustration that this will have caused you.

There are procedures in place to ensure that regular and correct information is forwarded to our passengers as soon as we receive it ourselves. It seems from your comments that you did not receive this level of service and for this I sincerely apologise.

We are aware of the fact that at certain airports level of service is not the one we would like to see. We have already taken certain steps in order to change this. We are gathering feedback that we receive from our customers and our Executives have already visited some selected airports and retrained the staff.

Your feedback also confirms that we still need to improve a lot in terms of the customer experience we offer at the airports. Having checked your reservation I decided to refund the rescue fee that was charged at the airport (£38). It will be returned back to the card used for making your easyJet booking within 5-10 working days.

Once again I would like to thank you for taking time to pass your comments to Paul and please accept my apologies for the inconvenience you experienced at Liverpool airport. This feedback will definitely help us to improve the level of service delivered to our customers. I do hope this will not stop you from flying with easyJet again.

Graham Cunningham on Hills and Ladbrokes

2009-08-07T19:36:00.002+02:00

Below is piece by Graham Cunningham (my favourite racing broadcaster despite him refusing to print off my racing figures at Pontefract one day...claiming there was no printer in there) which was buried in a recent Betfair piece.

If I ever end up on Mastermind then you can bet 1.01 with confidence that racing politics will not be my specialist subject.
However, the news that William Hill and Ladbrokes are taking their internet betting operations abroad in order to minimise their tax burden really began to grate on me as this week has worn on.

It wasn't so much the fact that big businesses want to find ways to make more money that grated - more the brazen way in which Hills chief executive Ralph Topping seemed intent on blaming everyone bar himself for the decision to head offshore.

Topping probably has a point in describing racing's leadership as "a rabble," but he is well wide of the mark when calling the move to stage the Derby on Saturday "a numpty decision" and really showed his true colours when insisting that racing should realise it is a mere betting product rather than a true sport to rival the likes of the Ashes and the FA Cup.

It's hard to envisage anyone with such a view going out of his way to help racing to any real extent, but what should the sport do in response to the projected loss of around £5m in Levy payments?

Better brains than mine need to provide the answer to that, but it wouldn't do any harm for newspapers and television channels to start restricting the amount of print and airtime given to the omnipresent PR representatives of firms who head offshore.

For example, the Racing Post devoted the first three pages of its Friday edition to the news that Ladbrokes are heading offshore but sugared the pill to one of its biggest advertisers with an adjacent and blatant puff piece about a punter who could win £1m if Red Merlin wins the Ebor to complete his £250 ante post treble.

"Both we and the punter are set for a fortnight of sleepless nights," said Ladbrokes' incorrigible PR spokesman David Williams.
I don't know about the punter, but I've often wondered how Williams, Topping and the rest of their merry gang sleep at night.

Out Takes from Compare the Meercat

2009-07-24T13:21:00.000+02:00

God Save The Queens

2009-07-12T21:02:00.002+02:00

Cricket, the Family Allan and Hot Chocolate

2009-06-18T00:40:00.006+02:00

Having not seen much British TV over the past three years and never having Sky Sports in England, it's been great recently to watch Twenty/20 cricket on BBCiplayer. ...well until England got knocked out.

I was only able to see the highlights package but that did for me as it brought back some good memories. Cricket was an important part of my culture for a long time. From fighting with my brother and sister because I was scoring a Gillette Cup match between Gloucester and Somerset while they wanted to watch Rainbow to playing well into my 20s every Saturday and Sunday during the summer.

Despite the early spats with my brother and sister, cricket became the main sport that would see four out of the five kids in our family sitting down peacefully, talking and communicating with each other. There was something magical about the first session of a day's play in a Test match betwen 11am and 1pm.

The video below is totally off topic . Hot Chocolate's Brother Louie. You just would not be allowed to get away with the following line..."Man, let me tell you, I don't want no honky in my family...you dig! No honky in my family."

Mixed bands like Hot Chocolate and The Specials played a part in me not being racist.

Luck and the World Cup

2009-06-04T00:21:00.006+02:00

I was offered a job the other day in a 'hot' country. A few years ago I would have jumped at the chance but as I already live in a foreign country and have no desire to leave here, I turned it down.

The main reason was the person I am with has a job here which they enjoy and it is refreshing not to hear somebody moan every evening about their job. I sometimes don't think they realise how lucky they are to be happy in work because my experience in the last twenty years is of work not being great.

I really have had some shit jobs in my 'career' - cleaner, barman, temping, betting shop manager. The list is long and varied. Most of the time, it was looking forward to a beer and a laugh at the end of the day they kept me going.....there was little reward in actually working...apart from the money - which was generally low if I didn't do overtime.

After quitting my betting shop manager job before getting fired, I got a lucky break after being given an opportunity to work on the horse racing desk of a sports news website. I only got the job through an old friend and not through any talent. The first few weeks I just intelligently kept my head down and looked keen and eager.

I knew I was safe in that job when they started hiring people with less knowledge than me...you know who you are Anne Marie McTigeague! - she was actually a lovely girl and probably doing well for herself.

Anyhow, I luckily managed to get out of the hose racing desk work to work in a horse racing spin off department that the company had just bought.

The boss there gave me so much confidence in myself -despite not being the best worker - it was unreal and I can't thank him enough. We are still friends now and although he will hate me for it I see him as a bit of a father figure.

He ended up buying back the company he had sold to the sports news website and I was out of a job. I wasn't that bothered as I got some redundancy money and ended up working freelance for the horse racing desk for a year or so.

Fast forward a year and I'm skint again and have no work. I end up going back to working as a betting shop manager for a terrible independent company. Commuting an hour a day and working 12 hour shifts. It was not much fun.

After my ringtone website started interesting the search engines, I gave up that job and lived on the proceeds for a while (six months) until I had to look for work.

Luckily, I was able to get some shifts writing about horse racing but various reasons meant I was always struggling for money...and shifts.

I bit the bullet (probably never became a great writer due to overusing and wrongly using cliches) and worked for 500 quid a month on a World Cup website. It failed when England went out to Portugal (fucking Ronaldo) and actually made a loss.

I trundled along with the horse racing writing and picked up some poker and casino writing along the way as well other bits and pieces but I was always struggling for money and struggling for money is shit.

By 2008, I was surviving/struggling on 360 quid a month when the horse racing writing stopped until another lucky break and I ended up (after a bleak probationary period) on a half decent wage.

Moral of the story....it's all luck.

Time for Proportional Representation

2009-05-26T02:05:00.005+02:00

I've always wanted proportional repesentation for the UK government ever since realising how the first past the post system was bordering on the corrupt.

I was told years ago that it would never happen because the political parties in charge would not change the system that guaranteed them continuing power.

It is funny how panicky David Cameron has become lately. He knows PR is the best system but instead he talks about changes to the process of picking MPs and putting stuff on Youtube...he hasn't got the confidence in his own party to campaign for PR because he knows his party will end up having less power.

There are no logical arguments for keeping the present system other than Labour and the Conservatives knowing how important it is for themselves.

Germany is a country with PR and it gets along quite nicely and so are many other stable and well run countries in Europe. It's time for a change but, once again,like the smoking ban, I can see Englanders in their pathetic little gardens rolling over as usual....or rather too happy to spend their time in front of the soap operas to actually care what is happening in their own country.

Long live Germany..the home of the free (smokers).

Happy Families

2009-04-27T00:29:00.004+02:00

Since my last blog entry I have become an uncle twice. My youngest brother Philip whose wedding I very nearly didn't go to became a father - a boy called Jack while my sister has just delivered a baby boy who will be called James.

My brother's wife had a relatively easy (if there is such a thing) birth but my sister had all sorts of complications with the cord being wrapped around James' head and they eventually had to cut the baby out.

Apparently she is on the mend now and according to a friend looks very 'mumsy and cute'.

Both babies look like me...though I think all babies look like me...must be the bald head and round head. In fact a lot of babies are fascinated by me when they see me. My theory is that they they think I must be the baby king as I look like them but am just huge.

Babies have been figuring everywhere recently. Pud wrote a good piece about his girlfriend giving birth on his poker blog.

Grand National Bets

2009-03-31T22:50:00.002+02:00

It is so hard getting back into horse racing after being out of it for so long. I had planned to write a big preview of the Grand National with of course links to Grand National free bets.

Took me ages to write the following and I've done less than one fifth of the field and the winner is not even there! More tomorrow I think. The figure after the horse is it's chance in poker terms:)

Cloudy Lane

Has been punished by the handicapper for winning the Peter Marsh at Haydock earlier this year. Has proved he is capable around this course (6th last season) but will struggle off this weight and would need to be huge price even to consider him an each-way prospect. J10o

Chelsea Harbour

Another who finished the course last season but another who has been clobbered by the handicapper. No reason to see him improving on his 10th place in 2008 and long price reflects his huge price 95hh

Snowy Morning

Third last season and had been quietly backed that day having been given a decent weight based on his proven ability. Has raced with enthusiasm this season but is another looks weighted out of it and better each way value can be found elsewhere. 76o

Knowhere

Generally consistent, the 11-year-old has been lightly raced this season and despite failing to sparkle last time out, this gelding holds every chance based on his form from a great performance at Cheltenham in January 2008 as well as his effort at this course in October, albeit over a much shorter trip. 1010

Comply or Die

Has been brought back quietly after his fine victory in this race last year and put in a good effort on his latest appearance at Cheltenham. Always hard for a horse to win this race twice and with the extra weight burden here he may even struggle to make the places. a10o

Ollie Magern

Another who looks badly handicapped. Fairly consistent though and represents good each-way claims if putting his best foot forward. Chance will be compromised by any further rain. J10o

Champions League Betting

2009-03-24T13:42:00.001+01:00

Cheltenham Supreme Novices' Free bet and analysis

2009-03-09T21:30:00.007+01:00

Believe it or not, I used to be a horse racing writer and with Cheltenham starting on March 10 I thought I'd get back into it despite not having written about the noble beasts for nearly two years.

Horses come and go, the names change but the form figures remain the same. I have used John Whitley's excellent figures ever since I was able to get them free when I worked on the Teamtalk Racing Desk.

I subsequently went to work with John...though purely in an admin role...my O Level maths not enough to even discuss the mechanics of his methodology.

So, I'm previewing here the first race at Cheltenham and anyone foolish enough to follow my selection can negate the loss by getting a Cheltenham free bet - worth about twenty five quid - by clicking the link above.

So here goes...might be a bit rusty but one thing, I won't be is influenced by the racing media because I've not read anything about this year's Festival.

"Alan King's Medermit has an excellent chance of rewarding backers in the opening race of the 2009 Cheltenham Festival (13:30 - Supreme Novices' Hurdle) with the gelding boasting the best UK form over hurdles this season - achieved when winning at Ascot on his latest start.

I'm finding this really difficult...having not done it for so long...and WTF have they done with the reliable old Racing Post site??!...thank god, Whitley's figures never change.

The lightly raced ex-french gelding look set to be suited by the likely strong pace of this novice contest and although some of the lesser exposed types could well progress past him, the five-year-old holds solid place claims at the very least if reproducing that Ascot form. More rain would be a slight concern but if it stays dry then a price around 4/1 a place or 16/1 for the win looks tempting.

If Medermit is close up, then not far behind him will be the consist Golan Way trained by Sheena West. Following three excellent performances at minor tracks, the novice put up a fantastic performance in a valuable contest at Cheltenham - a race where the form has worked out very well before finishing behind the selection in that race at Ascot. His Cheltenham effort proved he was a gelding with a future and lost nothing in defeat to the gutsy Medermit. Golan Way has an improving profile and could run a big race.

Cousin Vinny is a little over-hyped on what he has achieved..is he written about so much because he won a race sponsored by the Irish horse race writers on his penultimate start? His price though is nothing short of shocking and although he ran well at Cheltenham in the bumper last season, this front running sort may find himself burnt out as they turn for home and at the end of the day be over-hyped.....watch out for another Irish entrant...perhaps Kempes or Go Nativ**I think I don't like Cousin Vinny because the film took the piss out of stutters--of whom I am a (proud) member.

That was harder than I thought...will stick to poker in the future.

Betfair Lego video for WSOPE 2008

2009-03-08T17:57:00.000+01:00

Alcohol ruining my poker game

2009-01-25T22:03:00.003+01:00

Have been playing my worst poker for a long time this week because I've been off the booze.

I don't drink that much but had got into the habit of drinking a coule of bottles of lovely German beer in the evenings after work and while and during playing poker. My last post about improving at poker suggested I was moving in the right direction but it seems this week I have been falling backwards.

At my stakes (around $5 a game) I've not lost that much and really I don't play for the money, I play for the challenge. My mind is annoyed!

So back to the non-drinking. I think my game failed this week was because I felt too confident while off the ale. It was almost as though I thought to myself that my hand was stronger because I was playing it without alcohol. Almost as though the gods would smile kindly on me when I shoved with A10 out of position and was called by AK. I messed up the Brit Bloggerment by playing like a twat and lasted only a few orbits, have not reached any final tables (previously, I was reaching them wih regularity - I almost expected to reach them).

Anyway, I had a few pints today watching the football in the local bar so may report back later with stories of my success.

Congratulations to Girlie Poker who had a fine finish the other day winning over $1000. I read her blog occasionally and found her recent entry about prejudice against female poker players quite interesting. Well done to her.

**Update**

Played a game tonight. Lost but came second for $35. Faith restored.....

Improving at poker

2009-01-20T02:29:00.004+01:00

I've finally started to make some in roads into my poker game and while not winning huge amounts, I feel I'm making progress.

I've won about $300 this past week playing either tournaments on Betfair Poker or on Stars. I never play higher than $10 sngs or tournaments and will not play higher until I'm consistently winning or cashing at these levels.

My game has improved for a number of reasons.

1) Raise The River Forum. I'm not really a forum person (I'm too shy really) but find the advice on that site invaluable. I've only ever posted a few questions about particular hands but always get genuine advice and answers. I also started playing in their League Games and although I started badly and felt intimidated at first I've found playing against good players has really improved my game.

2) Marcus Bateman. Although I'm biased because he works for the site I do some freelance work on, I genuinely feel his clear concise articles have improved my game. Although, I hate it when he start to talk about cash games...cos I have zero interest. Check him out through the link above.

3) Yorkshire Pudding. Matthew Pitt is a great writer who is only going to get better and I read his stuff carefully - if not edit it carefully enough:) I watched him play a tournament on Team Viewer where I could access his computer and obviously see his hole cards in a game of poker. Watching him play really helped me learn how to get through the early stages of a MTT. It sounds stupid now but I was sat there thinking "Why has he folded KJo under the gun - they are both picture cards."

4) Volume. I play around about 15 hours per week. This is not a lot but it mounts up over the month. The more poker tournaments I play, the better I become just through experience of certain situations.

The level I play at means I have to understand bad players and this is something I am getting better at.

So, boring post over and as proper poker bloggers say...best of luck at the tables.

New York City Plane Crash - Live pictures

2009-01-15T22:14:00.002+01:00

Just heard about the New York plane crash and was seeing if these live pictures of the Hudson River crash would appear on this blog. Luckily no-one died in the plane crash.

Update - have removed the TV pictures as now all you get is local New York news...which is of no interest....to anyone.

A year in Berlin

2008-12-19T08:32:00.005+01:00

Besides the shrinking pound and the shrinking bone in my jaw I've had a pretty good year -my first in Berlin - and feel quite a lucky person.

On a personal level I have strengthened my relationship with the amazing K while workwise it has never been better for me given I am enjoying what I'm doing, am pretty much my own boss and have been in contact with some decent people throughout the year.

It still seems slightly bizarre to be living in the capital of Germany though I don't get out that much. I suppose I just feel happy that there is stuff on I could be doing. So at times I'm happy to be choosing not to do things - a choice I would not have if I lived in Basingstoke or somewhere (never actually been to Basingstoke -but it sounds pretty grim).

I don't actually know anybody in Berlin. That seems kind of strange as I have always had a good set of friends whereever I have lived. Although some people comment on this, it does not really bother me. I have spent the last twenty odd years (since turning 18) socialising, probably drinking too much and generally living it up and I think I'm glad now I can slow down a little.

I still drink a fair bit but I don't have so many drinking binges and have wasted days with a hangover. I feel healthier and it has certainly helped my work situation.

On the work front I am lucky to work for a great guy - the best boss since John Whitley - who lets me get on with stuff and is appreciative and knowledgeable about what I do and what I have achieved. My one worry is that the global credit crisis might put a squeeze on the company I work for and my role maybe surplus to requirements. Ah well, I can always fall back on the ringtone money:) That's not so much of a joke as I am well placed in the search engine ranking for terms like free ringtones -just a shame people don't buy as many these days!

Annette's free poker training video

2008-12-11T16:50:00.003+01:00

Annette Obrestad (or Annette_15) as she is known in the online poker world produced a video for the poker training site PokerVT a few months ago and it has recently surfaced on the internet. Marvellous.

I've watched it a few times myself and learned some interesting stuff. It's well worth an hour of any poker player's time. If you have ever seen Annettte interviewed then prepare to be shocked as she comes across on this training video and relaxed, calm and assured and plenty of top notch advice.

Here's the link - Annette training video

Hamburg Blues Band Berlin November 2008 Chris Farlowe & Clem Clempson

2008-11-21T21:06:00.002+01:00

Farlowe live on Berlin

2008-11-18T16:03:00.008+01:00

For years I have felt slightly old at any music concert I have attended but last week I had the pleaseant surprise of appearing to be one of the youngest at the gig.

I went to see Chris Farlowe who I had been introduced to (musically not personally) by a friend in Leeds who had gone through an Atomic Rooster phase.

I decided to go once I heard the band had a Hammond organ player and watched a few clips of Farlowe on Youtube. Was half expecting it to be half empty but was pleased to see it was close to a sell-out as I wondered into the cellar bar a few minutes before the scheduled start.

I made/pushed my way past some people after getting a drink and stood waiting near the front of the stage. I then experienced something, I'd not had happen to me for years. I had a 'leaner'!

A 'leaner' is a man (women don't lean) who, at a social function where space is at a premium, (though not always) will lean their back into you with the aim of forcing you to move or provoke a fight.

Considering I have not had the slightest trouble in Germany I was quite shocked at he leaner and at first thought it might have been someone who was pissed. However it continued as we waited for the band to appear. he managed to push me into people walking past with drink so I turned around and asked what his problem was.

"Oh, English," he said and his friend mumbled something. The 'leaning' stopped and was shocked to see the guitar player was Paul Thompson (Tommo) who seed to work at Teamtalk. OK, it wasn't Tommo but I spent the first few songs imagining it was and how good he was on guitar.

At half-time it was a refreshing site to see nearly as many people outside smoking as was left inside. Got chatting to a German and an annoying black bloke who dominated the conversation. I hate conversation dominators especially when the other two people are too polite to tell the idiot to shut up. I think these type of people know that.

Anyway, Farlowe was good value though his band were better -the Hamburg Blues Band...though not enough Hammond organ. Decided to smoke during the second half of the gig...no-one complained and no-one leaned into me.

Came home drunk and for the first time in my life played poker drunk. Obviously I lost. Good night though.

Here's a clip of Chris Farlowe from Berlin - not much hammond organ though...well nice break in the middle.

And then there were two

2008-11-10T20:37:00.002+01:00

The poker world has been waiting for 117 days for the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event to get underway and for the players, I am sure every one of them has had thoughts of taking home the gold bracelet and the huge pot of $9.1m.

So for those that have fallen by the wayside as the ‘November Nine’ has been whittled down to the final two, to speak of their disappointment would be a massive understatement.

Most observers would have expected Kelly Kim to bust out first, given the fact he started play as the short stack by some margin, but it was Craig Marquis who was the first to go, despite flopping a set.

“When you flop a set, you expect to win the hand,” said Marquis afterwards. “That was certainly unfortunate for me, but that’s why we play this game.”
Unfortunately for Marquis, Scott Montgomery hit a runner-runner straight to knock him out with nothing to show for the delay, while Kim managed to hang around long enough to boost his pay-off by a further $388,000 or so.
He had to make his move sooner rather than later but he was next to go when his pocket 4s ran into a pair of 9s, although he received a standing ovation for his perseverance.
David ‘Chino’ Rheem was arguably the most disappointed after dominating Darus Suharto pre-flop. Chino moved all-in with A-K and would have been pleased to see the Canadian turn over A-Q.

However, that joy would prove to be short-lived as a Q landed on the flop and there was no help for Rheem on the turn or river, sending him home in seventh place, with the consolation of $1.7m.

“How do you think I feel right now? Seriously, not to be rude, I put my heart into it,” Rheem said when asked to describe his mood. “My heart is broken right now. I feel like shit. You can quote me on that. I feel like shit.”
The pair of Canadians were the next to be sent to the rail with Montgomery (AQ) knocking out compatriot Suharto (A8) who was sad to depart the arena, saying: “I can’t lie. I feel pretty disappointed.”

Montgomery though was next to go and to a one-outer as well. He hit an ace on the flop to put him ahead of Peter Eastgate’s pocket 6s and after the tournament director announced Dennis Phillips had mucked a six, he must have been devastated to see a 6 come on the river – although he hid his emotions pretty well to be fair.

“I was behind when I got it all-in, so I don’t consider that a bad beat,” Montgomery said. “I certainly wanted to finish better that fifth.”
Ylon Schwartz did not hang around for long after Eastgate’s pocket 5’s beat his A10 – maybe he wanted to get a jump on his tequila binge with his $3.7m winnings – and Dennis Phillips, who had started play as the big stack, was the last man to go, collecting $4.5m, leaving the two Europeans to fight it out for the bracelet – Ivan Demidov and Peter Eastgate.

Cool about Iceland

2008-10-12T02:27:00.003+02:00

Imagine you put $20,000 in a bank then the bank refused to give it back. Well that's what's happened to a friend of mine.

In August they put the money into an Icelandic Bank called Kaupthing. If only they had read this article written in March 2008 about the relative dangers of investing in certain banks though that is not want I'm on about.

I was inspired by the reaction of this person who rather than getting angry and panicky about the situation just rationalised it in their head. They felt the money had been accumulated over the years didn't make them a better or wiser person but rather their circumstances/family upbringing/whatever had made them into a 'savings' person. They had saved their birthday money from an early age/spent wisely/whatever.

The amazing thing is the reaction and the great thing is that they realisied that money does not bring happiness.

Scotland's open goal miss v Norway

2008-10-11T20:35:00.002+02:00

Feel bad putting this up but it is wonderful in its ineptitude and kind of sums up the fortunes of Scottish football in recent years. Chris Iwelumo.

Baldy bloke makes WSOPE History...

2008-09-23T01:40:00.005+02:00

24-year-old Denmark's Jesper Hougaard made poker history by taking down the first event (£1500 buy-in No Limit Texas Hold 'Em) at this year's Betfair World Series of Poker Europe event The bracelet is his second this year and makes him the first person bald player to win one at both the WSOP in Vegas and WSOPE.

Innkeepers Lodge Chester Breakfast Scam

2008-09-14T20:05:00.005+02:00

I don't stay in hotels very often but when I do I look forward to a decent cooked English breakfast. However, if you are planning on a stay at the Innkeepers Lodge Chester then don't expect a decent breakfast because the hotel is running an excellent scam.

They advertise a free breakfast but all they provide is a couple of cereals, white bread a few coissants (cold), fruit juice and coffeee.

They do officially call it a continental breakfast but living on the continent I know full well that little bits of cheese in plastic packets with sliced white bread does not constitute a proper continental breakfast.

Shame on you Innkeepers Lodge and the one rude member of staff who said "take it or leave it" when I questioned the ridiculousness of their offering.

Check out the pictures. One is a picture of a proper English breakfast (which obviously you won't be getting) and the other a proper continental breakfast very much unlike the rubbish served at this chain Chester hotel/lodge.

End of rant and just a warning so you won't be disappointed like I was.

Nicholls 'incredibly fat' - Denman

2008-09-09T17:31:00.003+02:00

Trainer Paul Nicholls is still "incredibly fat" after his summer break according to Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Denman.

The Champion trainer winner returned to work between 7st or 8st above his ideal fighting weight.

And Denman says the trainer they call 'The Tank' is having a tough time shedding the excess pounds.

He told The Racing Post: "Nicholls has always been a hard man to get fit, but this year it's worse than ever.

"The problem started when he had a month off after the Gold Cup, and then he got very fat over the summer. Despite being back in work six weeks, he's still incredibly fat.

"We've got plenty of time before his reappearance on the Morning Line but, to be honest, he wouldn't be ready to be seen in public before then."

More rants and raves ..including Chester

2008-08-12T01:28:00.004+02:00

The Hairy Gymnast has listed the things he finds funny about life in a quite refreshing way in this bitter life.

So I thought I'd bring in my top ten to compliment/complement (?!) his excellent list. Be warned, it might turn into a rant rather than comedy.... and remember I live in a world of my own/Germany

1) People who stand up as soon as they hear boarding has commenced on an Easyjet flight - indeed any flight. Why the panic, people? It's the same idiots who stand up as soon as the flight has landed to claim there their overhead luggage.

2) In the old days, old men would wear cloth caps or something else. Now alot of them wear baseball caps.

3) Poker players have bankrolls. In my day gamblers just spent their wages - they did not have bankrolls. You never heard 'Oh I can't bet in this race, I've just lost two buy-ins'

4) Old men in jeans! How old should you be before you stop wearing blue denim? Aged-45 I say. Otherwise it just looks silly.

5)Insincere aunts - they only send you a card because they have been told to by your mum.

6) Parents who don't let their kids out to the local shop (7+). Knobheads...get a grip of society.

7) Non-smokers. Enough said.

8) Innkeepers Lodge Chester and their breakfast scam.

9) Stag do's - always a disappointment, always a chore.

First poker forum league game

2008-08-04T20:16:00.003+02:00

Played in my first Raise The River Premier League game last night and although was a bit intimidated firstly by the new site (had to play on Stars) and because I do not know the lads and ladies from the site that well.

If anyone is looking for a friendly poker community (more...) then hop right over there. They all seem genuine people and I'm sure they will make you feel welcome.

In the league match itself I only managed to finish 10th out of 14. I started OK but I dribbled away chips and although not in a totally hopeless position I made an error when thinking someone was bluffing and my pair of kings was not strong enough for a set of Jacks (King paired on the flop). I don't think I would have played it in a normal tournament.

My poker has been going well and have recently won two nine-man $10 sng's on Betfair -twice knocking out some player called Vespat5 (more...) who played in the World Series of Poker Europe 2008 (more...). I thought I played good strong poker in both events and am just pleased my game is heading in the right direction.

I was actually more pleased to finish third in a similar tournament when I was down to just 70 chips! (out of 1,5000). I got very lucky when going all in with my 70 chips with 76o. Remarkably I only got one caller who also had 76o!! KK helped me to a half decent total and at one point I was leading the tournament. I quite enjoy playing short-stacked and trying to work out which players I can attack. However, I won't let it go to my head I just think I got lucky. Pud (more...) wrote a piece about a similar situation in a Chip and a Chair (more...) but that was in a slightly better event.

WSOPE venue details and November Nine attendance

2008-08-04T16:20:00.005+02:00

The 2008 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE (more...) have just announced that it will be hosting its event under one roof in the Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square London. The event which starts on the 19th September will feature four bracelet events, and begins with a new three-day long £1,500 No-Limit event.

September 19th , 2008 - Event #1 - £1,500 – No-Limit Hold’em Day 1A (3-day event)

September 22nd , 2008 - Event #2 - £2,500 – H.O.R.S.E. (3-day event)

September 24th , 2008 - Event #3 - £5,000 – Pot Limit Omaha (2-day event)

September 27th , 2008 - Event #4 - £10,000 – World Championship No-Limit Hold’em (6-day event)

Betfair Poker (more...) seems to be the only place to qualify online (more...). There are plenty of ways to qualify for this poker event in September. As well as having daily free rolls (more...) on the site there are also numerous satellites (more...) to suit both small and large stake players.

Professional poker players have already started to buy in directly including the final table participants from the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas held earlier this month. The November Nine (more...) participants, whose fate will be decided a month after WSOP Europe, are scheduled to participate, including Ivan Demidov (more...), Peter Eastgate (more...) and David Rheem (more...). The November Nine participants will be seeking the ultimate double of two Main Event Bracelets in one year.

I went to 'barrack' Obama in Berlin

2008-07-27T12:40:00.002+02:00

Last Thursday I took a trip out the Tiergarten with K to watch US Presidential candidate Barack Obama deliver a speech to the German public in front of the Siegessäule (he wasn't important enough to speak in fron t of the Brandenburg Gates).

I do like good public speaking and was not let down by Obama who gave an excellent performance technically though he did not really say anything very earth shattering.

We couldn't get any nearer than about 300m away, so never actually saw him. However, there was a huge screen less than 15 metres away and the sound and pictue was excellent. The first thing I realised was that here was a person speaking a foreign language - using complicated language and ideas and expecting to be understood. Hardly any German (due to false pride) would admit they could not understand him and that is possiblly why his speech did not go down as well as he might have liked. There were a few ripples of applause when he mentioned key phrases but it was not spontaneous.

It seemed to me he had come to get Germany to send more troops to Afghanistan and attempted to use the Berlin airlifts to engender some guilt. The crowd was mostly apathetic and drifted off at the end a little confused. Nobody was really talking about it and it appeared many people were there just for the curiosity factor.

Anyway, there was plenty of booze and cheap food for sale as there always is for any public gathering in Germany. I didn't barrack him during the speech but shouted my annoyance (much to the confusion of peope) that he turned up late.

Carlos Queiroz and getting the big decisions right

2008-07-14T12:29:00.001+02:00

I think they will be in trouble next season without him.

read more | digg story

Digg the new scene

2008-07-03T02:45:00.001+02:00

Anton Talks About The Digg Recommendation Engine from Kevin Rose on Vimeo.

When not to play Q3 offsuit

2008-06-16T22:29:00.004+02:00

I've never had the confidence to write about my poker playing before. Any success I have had I have put down to luck and my opponents being fairly poor but I think I'm ready to start saying something

My level is either $5 or $10 mtts on Betfair Poker. I have occasionally moved up to $20 mtt and faired ok but I have yet to win a tournament at that level. So far I have played just one $40 tourney but was a little out of my depth.

The main problem with thse Mtt's is the length of time they take. On average 3-4hrs if you reach the final table. I really enjoy playing. Love bluffing and bullying and strangely get a kick out of playing short-stacked. It's just a bit of fun. But, as I said, it takes so long to play.

Therefore it will take me a long time to improve because I just don't have the time to play. I'm fairly busy with work and I like to spend time with K in the evenings. So, I'm limited to playing maybe one or two per week - more if I get knocked out early.

So, onto my first bit of analysis (if it can be called that).

Q3 offsuit is obviously not the best starting hand but in certain situations I will play it. At this stage of the tournament I needed chips to make a serious challenge on the lead and felt that if I could see the flop for $400 it may have been a risk worth taking with plenty of money already in the pot.

In the end I decided against it but flinched in horror when the flop gave me a full house.

***** Betfair Poker Hand History for Game 371086415 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $5 Buy-in + $0.50 Entry Fee, Level:6 Blinds(100/200-(no ante)) - Sunday, June 15, 22:59:38 GMT 2008
$400 GTD Regular $5+$0.50 NLH #150459
Table 2 9-max (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of active players : 9
Seat 1: eddiepack ( 8,185.25 )
Seat 2: the catcher ( 27,793 )
Seat 3: Vicedice ( 6,508 )
Seat 4: davidoff280 ( 3,675 )
Seat 5: teacup77 ( 1,960 )
Seat 6: cod4 4eva ( 7,532.50 )
Seat 7: freevalue ( 4,015 )
Seat 8: Kirk2 ( 1,585 )
Seat 9: Quarty ( 5,342 )
Tourney Level:6 Blinds(100/200-(no ante))
Kirk2 posts small blind [100]
Quarty posts big blind [200]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to freevalue [ Qh, 3d ]
eddiepack folds
the catcher raises to [400]
Vicedice calls [400]
davidoff280 calls [400]
teacup77 folds
cod4 4eva calls [400]
freevalue folds
Kirk2 folds
Quarty calls [200]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qd, Qs, 3h ]
Quarty checks
the catcher bets [800]
Vicedice calls [800]
davidoff280 calls [800]
cod4 4eva folds
Quarty folds
** Dealing Turn ** [ Kd ]
the catcher checks
Vicedice checks
davidoff280 goes all-in
davidoff280 bets [2,475]
the catcher calls [2,475]
Vicedice goes all-in
Vicedice raises to [5,308]
the catcher calls [2,833]
** Showdown **
the catcher shows [ As, Ac ]
Vicedice shows [ Qc, Kh ]
davidoff280 shows [ 8h, 8c ]
** Dealing River ** [ 6h ]
** Hand Conclusion **
Vicedice wins 5,666 from side pot #1 with full house, Queens full of Kings
Vicedice wins 11,925 from main pot with full house, Queens full of Kings
************ Game 371086415 ends ************

I'm lucky at times.

Down in the football dumps

2008-06-07T10:45:00.005+02:00

So, I have managed to witness Rot Weiss Essen being relegated twice in two seasons, since I started supporting them in October 2006, I feel slightly guilty. It's obviously not my fault but I can't help thinking that my intrusion into the world of lower league German football was in some way to blame.

It had all started so promisingly with a 4-4 draw which I mentioned in a comment on the excellent Bundesbag although that game should have hinted about what supporting Rot Weiss Essen is about - the equaliser for the opponents came in the very last minute.

This season, having looked dead and buried, RWE came with a storming late run to put the issue in their own hands on the final day. Victory at Magdeburg meant they just had to win the final game against lowly Lübeck. Despite dominating the game and having many chances, Lübeck survived (and played well despite having nothing to play for) and won the game late on as Essen pressed forward.

The fans did not know what to do at the end of the game. Some wanted to attack the Lübeck fans, others wanted to attack the players while they should really have been attacking themselves because I partly hold their complacency partly responsible.

With debts of around 11 million Euros there is a possibility that the 1955 German Champions will not survive in their presnet form. Certainly the new stadium project will be put on hold and with the prospect of having to pay up to nine reserve sides in the Division 4 (North) next season there are not going to be many days at the Hafenstraße next season full of atmosphere.

I have avoided looking for another team to watch since moving to Berlin in December. I went to watch Union twice but was put off by them serving non-alcoholic beer and a general lack of atmosphere depite them having everything to play for. Other options for next season include Babelsberg, Tennis Borussia and possibly Hertha Berlin.

I'm not really looking forward to Euro 2008 with England not being in it. I may have a bet on the championships and become another nationality for a few weeks.

No booze and you lose

2008-05-23T13:35:00.003+02:00

A fine win on Saturday gives Rot Weiss Essen a great chance to qualify for Bundesliga 3 next season but a win for Magdeburg at Union Berlin (which I attended) makes it more difficult.

Magdeburg currently lie in the coveted 10th place on 50 points. RWE are in 11th on 48 points, level on points with with Dortmunnd Reserves.

It's all in the mathematics (as Sir Mark Prescott would say) and it leaves Essen basically needing six points from their last two games. The crunch game is against Magdeburg next Saturday 24 May and I hope to be attending my first match since nearly missing my brother's wedding to watch the cup defeat against Hamburg in January.

It was my second time at Union but the experience was disappointing due to them selling non-alcoholic lager. WTF (I've learned that recently). Yet another human rights abuse. It was all a bit shady because they advertised it as 'Leicht' and the signs were not clear. The colour just didn't look right.

I can imagine them selling non-alcoholic beer at a Who concert but not a football match. Therefore, the crowd were a bit subdued. It's all wrong. The good thing to come out of the day was that Magdeburg were pretty poor.

So anything less than a victory, like the one we secured against Magdeburg in November, will make it a very long 1hr 40 mins journey back to Berlin on Saturday evening especially with the non-alco piss water swilling through my body and the likelihood the toilets on the regional German trains will be out of order. Wasserlassen ist verboten!

Rot Weiss top of the league

2008-05-06T14:00:00.005+02:00

Yes, Rot Weiss are top of Regionalliga 3 (Nord) however it is not Rot Weiss Essen but rather Rot Weiss Ahlen. Second place is filled by Rot Weiss Oberhausen and it would have been a near clean sweep if Rot Weiss Erfurt had not conceded a late equaliser against Dynamo Dresden last Saturday.

Rot Weiss Essen scored an important away victory the same day to give them a slight chance of reaching 10th place and the soon to be formed Bundesliga 3. They now trail the team in 10th place by six points with five games remaining.

Results needed this week are for RWE to beat the struggling Hamburger SV II at home on Wednesday, Braunschweig to lose at home to the struggling Lübeck, Wuppertaler also to lose at home to the struggling Cottbus and Madgeburg to be beaten away at struggling Babelsburg.

If these unlikely events take place, I may go and watch Union Berlin play Dynamo Dresden on Thursday evening.

**UPDATE** Struggling Lübeck managed a 3-3 draw with Braunschweig on Tuesday evening.

Pay for poker with Paypal, pal?

2008-05-02T18:40:00.003+02:00

Well you can buy stuff on Ebay, pay for subscriptions and even by someone a drink but I never knew you could pay for playing poker with Paypal but you can!

I've heard some horror stories about the company but I've never had a problem with them. A colleague of mine will tell you, as often as you want to hear, how somebody tried to steal $600 from his account and how it's still limited and how fucking useless their support is but he's Scottish and is always complaining about something.

I'm surprised more sites don't use it because once a person has caught the ebay bug, bought a couple of items and realised how convenient Paypal is then there is no reason not to use it for having a bet or indeed a game of poker.

Once thing that concerned me from the link above is the picture used. Have a close look and it is a picture of a wallet with playing cards inside them. Seems like cheating to me....

Wetten, dass..?

2008-04-30T02:39:00.001+02:00

Wetten, dass..? (German for "Wanna Bet..?") is a German language game and entertainment TV show. It is the most successful television show in Europe.

The shows are broadcast live six to seven times a year from different cities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and can easily attract 50% and more of all German speaking viewers on that evening. It's rubbish.

Snooker 147 Ronnie O'Sullivan

2008-04-28T21:01:00.001+02:00

Ronnie O'Sullivan completes his third Crucible break at the 888.com World Championship on April 28 2008. Read more about Ronnie at Betfair Snooker.

Referee cost Arsenal a place in the next round

2008-04-09T12:27:00.003+02:00

I wouldn't normally quote from the Times with Murdoch primarily being responsible for the death of English football (from a working class spectating point of view) but I found the following comment left on one of their stories highly quotable.

Arsene Wenger (The Goat) and multitudes of Arsenal fans have been complaining about the penalty decision. They fail to see important stuff like Liverpool totally dominated their team in the second half and that a 2-2 result would have been a travesty.

Anyway, here is a comment left after a biased Times article.

I totally agree that the referee cost Arsenal a place in the next round because :
a. He should have done a better job marking Hyppia for the first goal
b. He gave Torres too much time and space for the second goal
c. He got nowhere near the penalty strike from Gerrard
d. Showed no bottle in holding off Babel ( who apparently falls over easily ! ) for the fourth

Don't get me started on his team selection (especially at he heart of Arsenal's defense) or his inability to beat Reina from point blank range.

With referees like this, no wonder the game is going to the dogs

P.S. While I am at it, I would also like to pin the lack of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, the Credit Crisis on Wall Street and the oppression of Tibetan monks on the bloody referee.

P.P.S. Is it ironic that the same people crying about the "better" team going out are also complaining about Liverpool's automatic right to win the CL?

P.P.P.S. The best team DID progress to the next round... 5-3 over 2 legs says so!

4. Liga, Essen ist dabei!

2008-04-07T13:49:00.003+02:00

It showed how much attention I've been paying to Rot Weiss Essen when I discovered they had sacked their trainer a couple of wekks ago and I did not even notice.

The change has not had the expected positive effect. First a 4-0 defeat against Rot Weiss Erfurt and then a 3-0 home defeat - ironically against Union Berlin (the team I should be watching now I'm in the German capital).

The depressing thing for fans of the club is that the result leaves them seven points adrift from 10th position. Finishing 10th would mean Essen would play in the new Bundesliga 3. A finish outside the top ten would mean a season in the regional 4th division -and with only one team per season getting promotion from that league it is a very dangerous position for the club. Sponsors will leave and it is possible it could be the start of the end for the former German Champions.

It's all very depressing and I'll do anything to change things around.

The capital of Liverpool culture

2008-03-20T01:19:00.003+01:00

Rot Weiss Essen are stuttering again (like myself) having won one, drawn one, lost one and had one game called off since the return from the winter break. I think they will still make the tenth place cut-off but some momentum may have been lost on Saturday -conceding two late goals to lose 2-1. Could have gone to the match in Braunschweig but it would have involved a three and a half hour train journey there and back. If I had gone it would have been there, watch the match and come back again. What's the fun in that?

Liverpool have improved as I expected. The end of the season should be interesting anyway.

Anyway, here's a poem from Emma. While Essen 'celebrates' it next year, Liverpool has the 'honour' in 2008.

You've never sung it like that before

2008-02-22T13:39:00.004+01:00

It's possible that the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" was getting a bit stale at Anfield. It used to bring goose bums (die Gänsehaut in German) to my skin when I was younger and standing on the Kop.

But its effect declined over the years.

My last burst of going to match regularly was back in 2001 and great days they were. Meeting in the Birkey a few hours before the match, buying bottles or cans to drink in Bernard's people carrier; into the Albert to laugh at the miniature Ron Yeats before scurrying across Stanley Park with a take-out trying to walk quickly and drink at the same time.

We rarely got in for the You Never Walk Alone and I didn't miss it.

A few times they would play it at Rot Weiss before the game and it got just as good a reaction as it would at Anfield and I had a bit of nostalgic Gänsehaut.

Before the Inter Milan match (only the new middle class wanker supporters just call them 'Inter' cos they've read a book on football history) there was the longest rendition I have ever known. It usually fades out shortly after Gerry Marsden (over the Tannoy) has sung the last line followed by a self-congratulary round of applause. However, this version on the video here carries on for ages and must have had an effect on the Milan players because they were shit and we won 2-0. Roll on Moscow.

Weight lifting Olympics

2008-02-22T13:15:00.005+01:00

This, to my mind, is the perfect sporting/comedy Youtube clip -basically because it's less than 30 secs long and made me laugh out loud.

Viral marketing at its best...and I've fallen for it.

Variable rate

2008-02-21T16:39:00.000+01:00

A trainer you can trust

2008-02-08T19:09:00.000+01:00

This is Michael Wigham esquire. One of Newmarket's finest upstanding licensed trainers and always suitably attired for a day at the races. Yet incredibly Mr Wigham faces a record fine of up to £30k for breaking the non-triers rule for the second time in the past six months. Where's the justice?

Sons of Shankly

2008-02-07T17:32:00.002+01:00

From the Sons of Shankly - Well my mate Mike sent it to me so I stuck it on the blog.

You may or may not have heard of us. But here’s a little bit about who we are.

To do exactly as it says on the tin. A Union for all Liverpool Supporters.

A voice that represents us all. A platform for us all to stand together and fight for what we believe in.

It is early days, and more details of how the organisation will grow will appear over the next few weeks and months. But the catalyst for our formation…..

We want Tom Hicks and George Gillett out of our club - why?

THEY LIED & HAVE JEOPARDISED OUR CLUB FOR THEIR PERSONAL GAIN

They promised that all loans would be would be secured against their own personal assets.

THEY LIED

They have taken out a loan of £350m. £105m has been secured against the club and £245m against Kop Holdings - which owns 100% of Liverpool Football Club and has only one source of revenue: The Club.

So, regardless of the smoke and mirrors, Liverpool Football Club has to pay all of the interest on all of the £350m.

The interest payments alone for this debt will be around £30m each year. All of which will be payable by Liverpool FC - more than enough to wipe out the club’s operating profit.

Gillett and Hicks have only taken out this new loan over an 18 month contract. This is very unusual for a deal of this size; three years is the usual minimum term. Wall Street analysts believe that this is because they had difficulty in getting the banks to lend them the money. Which raises questions about:

THE STADIUM

£60m of that loan has been earmarked for starting construction of the new ground.

There is no funding yet in place to complete the stadium, nor has planning permission been granted for a 71,000 capacity. Existing consent is for 60,000, with any increase depending upon improvements to transport and car parking. With no underground car park, the new plans have less car parking than the original 60,000 design!

If they can’t borrow again in 18 months then they cannot complete the stadium. How can they pledge now that the stadium will be built? In the same way they pledged it would be well on its way to completion twelve months ago - by misleading us.

So do they actually intend to complete the building of the new stadium?

Should Hicks & Gillett get the loan to actually build the new ground, the additional interest payments will be £25m per year.

This will leave Liverpool Football Club to shoulder annual payments of £55m in interest alone. Which begs the question:

WHERE WILL THE FUNDS COME FROM FOR TRANSFERS?

When they took over, Hicks & Gillett promised to back the manager in the transfer market.

From the two transfer windows Hicks and Gillett have owned the club for, Benitez has spent £48.5m on players, and recouped £33.5m in player sales. A net spend of £15m. This is the up-to-date figure that includes the purchase of Skrtel and the sale of Sissoko.

The club brought in around £30m from the run to the Champions League Final last season alone. On top of this there is the increased TV money the club has received.

Where is the money Gillett and Hicks have backed the manager with? They’ve lied to us, they’ve manipulated the press, and some people have believed the spin. We won’t.

In reality, after all the talk about money and Snoogy Doogy, the manager has spent £15m in the last two transfer windows. How is that backing him in the transfer market?

It is about time the real picture was painted for all Liverpool fans out there.

They promised to respect the club’s heritage, history and traditions.

THEY HAVE LIED AND LIED.

They asked to be judged on what their actions. Well they have failed to make a start or produce the funding on the stadium, the major reason why David Moores looked for investment, they have failed to back the manager in the transfer market. They have not put one single cent of their own money into this club and they have undermined the traditions of the football club and the office of manager.

They have, however, managed to create huge debt for LFC to pay off without any end product.

How, exactly, is the football club in a better position now than it was twelve months ago under David Moores?

After the Sunderland game, we staged a 15 minutes stay behind protest at the end of the game. We intend to do the same again.

During the protest, Steve McManaman commented on Setanta that the Americans had backed the manager in the transfer market, secured their new loan bringing money into the club, and we should all forget about it and move on. We don’t blame McManaman, a fair number of good Reds have been won over by their spin, so why shouldn’t a blue?

So it’s time to spread the message and get the real goings on from within Anfield to a wider audience.

It’s about time the truth was exposed.

Hicks and Gillett have to be forced out of Anfield before they wreak more havoc.

Keep a look out for sonsofshankly.com which will be going live in the next few days. We’ll be handing out flyers at the match with details of any future events.

We’ll announce any future meetings on our website, everyone invited, all opinions welcomed.

Please send this announcement on to everyone you know. And keep an eye on our website for further updates and how to get involved.

The next meeting is scheduled for The Olympia at 12pm on Saturday 16th February - before the Barnsley game.

The Olympia
99 West Derby Road
Liverpool
L6 2AF

Everybody welcome - See you all there.

“Liverpool Football Club, Is In The Wrong Hands”

“The socialism I believe in is everyone working for each other, everyone having a share of the rewards. It’s the way I see football, the way I see life”

LIVERPOOL SUPPORTERS UNION
“Sons of Shankly”

Munich, Munich 58

2008-02-05T12:58:00.000+01:00

"Eight of them died so they charged them five grand in the Munich TV rip-off" to badly paraphrase a Liverpool song sung in the days before it was bad form to taunt the opposition in such a vulgar way.

The story that is emerging is that Manchester United tried to charge the BBC 5,000 to show pictures of a Munich Air Disaster Tribute to be held at Old Trafford on February 10 in honour of the players who died in the fateful crash in 1958.

The club had already come under criticism for allowing a memorial mural to be sullied by the inclusion of their kit sponsors on the artwork and while the fee for the TV coverage is a piddling amount both decisions appear to suggest the club is quite happy to get some commercial leverage out of the tragedy.

Personally I don't really care about the disaster. It happened ten years before I was born and affected families of people I will probably never know. There are similar tragedies (wasteful deaths) happening every day of the year around the globe which fail to get the publicity they deserve and none will receive the media coverage of this event.

It would be interesting to know whether part of Man United's kit sponsorship deal included a clause stating the commercial logo should be part of any commemorative mural.

I have to admit to two anti-Manchester United events in my life. Confessing to them now does not feel to bad in the light of the club's effort to cash in on the disaster themselves.

When I worked as a betting shop manager in Huddersfield part of the job was to mark up the prices for any football match taking place that evening - correct score, half-time/full-time result and match odds, that type of thing. United were playing 1860 Munich in a European game but I could not help myself writing '1958 Munich'. Nobody noticed, by the way, but they were never the brightest bunch in Sheepridge. It was still wrong.

Anyhoo, (as my favourite blogger says) the next occasion came a couple of years later. After the independent company I worked for in Liverpool was taken over by Stanley Racing, I found myself confronted for the first time in my managerial career (managerial obviously used loosely) by a security manager.

To an honest lad like myself a security manager was just an annoyance and basically only gave me more paperwork to fill in and this particular bloke was a patronising, overweight ex-policeman who treated everyone as though they were a criminal and more to the point probably paid more than me for doing fuck all. To make matters worse he was a Man United fan.

He turned up one day to show me how to operate the new combination safe. It was hardly a difficult task to spin the wheel on the safe to one number between 1 and 100, twist it to another in the opposite direction and then back to a third chosen combination but he felt he had to pratonisingly show me.

"Right David," he said. "Give me a number between 1 and a hundred."

"Nineteen," I said.

"Great and another,"

"Fifty-eight"

"Well done and just one more"

"Eighteen."

Perhaps only Liverpool fans will get the last reference.

Bored by score at Essen

2008-01-31T22:42:00.000+01:00

Goals at the start of each half put paid to Rot Weiss Essen's Cup bid in what proved to be a disappointing evening at the Hafenstraße. The first sell-out crowd of around 21,000 were unable to help their team but RWE were not outplayed by any means and can be proud of their performance considering they had so many first team players out injured.

With a bit of luck things could have been different but the two goals followed by a third with half an hour to play spoilt the game as a spectacle. All credit to Hamburg who put in a professional performance and rarely stepped out of second gear.

A scoreboard appeared for the first time that I can remember at the end where there is no stand. Never really liked them myself. If you are at a game you should at least know the score unless perhaps it was against Cologne last season.

For those in the slightest bit interested I can be seen on the picture above. If you can spot me then you are a better man than me.

Anyway, had a few beers after the game in the club bar and it proved a good night but was totally knackered after my travels to England to see some friends in Leeds and for my brother's wedding. He upset K by thanking people who had travelled from various parts of the world but not us. I couldn't really care.

Good news for smokers

2008-01-11T15:11:00.000+01:00

It's not often someone has the balls to stand up for smokers' rights these days so it was heart-warming to read this story here about a German employer who sacked three of his non-smoking employees for threatening to kick up a fuss if smoking was not banned in the office.

"I can't be bothered with trouble-makers," the employer said. "We're on the phone all the time and it's just easier to work while smoking.

"Everyone picks on smokers these days. It's time for revenge. I'm only going to hire smokers from now on."

Germany banned smoking from most public places including bars and restaurants on January 1 but businesses with less than 10 employees can allow smoking in the office.

I find anti-smokers as detestable as racists running around, as they do, on their high horses on their moral high ground.

Smoking is disease which many people want to be cured from. Instead of getting all high and mighty non-smokers should be quietly trying to help people give up.

Most smokers want to give up and they need encouragement and help - not aggression and surrogate racism.

Check out the following for a better picture of the smoking ban sweeping Europe and beyond.

National search confusion

2008-01-08T20:28:00.001+01:00

I've given up trying to work out the way search engines operate after checking a piece I wrote about Grand National betting last year to see if it could be found with a search for "Grand National".

Now it was hardly a Pulitzer prize piece but it was short and straight to the point about the race and how people bet on it. Now, I didn't expect to be number one or indeed on the first page and some would be happy to be on page three but I feel a little aggrieved because of the irrelevance of some pages ahead of me.

The official site is in there which is, of course, fair enough and with the race being centred on betting there are a couple of Grand National free betting offers sites in the list. Some other websites are selling tickets and with Aintree being sold out recently this once again this is once again fair enough. There is a band called Grand national who, I suppose, deserve to be on the list though I've not heard any of their tracks while some national newspapers also make the top 20.

There are some rogue entries like the National Archery Society and some far from natural looking horse racing sites though I most most annoyed to finish the Grand National search engine horse race behind the Scottish National and the insignificant version from the Isle of Wight!

Anyway, who am I to wonder? I've been paid for the work so whether it's number one or number 100 why should I care! Just boredom I think. When do Rot Weiss Essen play next? The winter break in German football is far too long.

Poker tourism

2008-01-04T01:22:00.000+01:00

Up to 250,000 German poker players are set to land on English shores this summer following Germany's decision to ban all forms of online gambling.

Armed with laptops and their cashcards these 'poker tourists' will spend up to six weeks at various UK destinations playing online ......and winning.

Although angered and shocked by the government decision made just before Christmas, poker player such as Didi_bvb now intend to spend the bulk of his summer holidays playing online - in England!

"I've booked into a B+B on the south coast," said the Rot Weiss Essen fan.

"It didn't matter where just as long as the place has Wireless LAN. I only have to play a few hours per day to cover the costs and then start making some profits.

"Once in England I will just use my laptop to join a site like Betfair.

"The English guys who play online are pretty poor and most of them seem to be drunk."

"I'm hoping to make about 10,000 Euros per month off the English suckers and still have some time to do some sightseeing and perhaps find myself an English girl.

Many south coast hoteliers will be dusting off their No Vacancies' signs come summer for the first time since the mods and rockers riots in the late sixties and it's all been made possible by the laptop, wireless Internet connections and the German ban on online gambling.

"I'm fully booked up until October," said Bet Smith, owner of the Sun View Hotel in Margate.

"Ninety per cent of the bookings are from German clients - both male and female - but I have no problems with that.

"They are clean, well mannered, speak better English than most of the English and don't get so drunk."

Why have a go at Liverpool's greatest manager?

2007-12-11T10:56:00.000+01:00

Betfair may have revamped their betting news site (the design actually looks quite cool) but once again their journalists have fallen into a common trap. Following a defeat or a poor performance by and Liverpool the knives are out for poor Rafa Benitez!

I can't work out whether the two recent attempts were written from pure spite, pure jealously or pure laziness. First up was " Does Reading betting coup leave Rafa on the brink" which I can only put down to someone being keen to get to the pub the evening it was written. In the piece (piece of shit) the writer suggests with some confidence that "....much of the blame for Liverpool's defeat will be laid at the feet of Rafael Benitez for his controversial team selection." Liverpool fans are tired of this type of nonsense and I'm sure other fans can't care less. Rafa's the manager, the fans love him, he's brought success and he won't be leaving.

The second article entitled Benitez is taking a huge gamble on Champions League glory goes even further with the writer confidently believing Benitez has given up on the league and is so scared of losing his job that he will do anything (including taking off his three best players on Saturday).

To be fair (or Betfair!), it's not just this particular site but many of the London-based media outlets who, whenever short of a story, decide to go for Liverpool as a target. I genuinely believe that jealousy is a the route of it. Many of these journalists will be Arsenal or Chelsea supporters who both have bottled it in the Champions League while some will be Manchester United fans who have just one lucky Champions League final appearance in the whole of Alex Ferguson's time in charge.

Perhaps I should lighten up but I think it should be the journalists who should keep their own petty jealousies to themselves and get on with writing more balanced pieces

Torlos in final game

2007-12-09T13:59:00.000+01:00

Considering my first RWE match was a pulsating 4-4 draw, I suppose it was some sort of karma that the final match was a 0-0.

It was far from a disappointing match with Essen dominating a very poor (though good defensively) Dusseldorf. We had plenty of chances, hit the post and the bar a couple of times and I think I am leaving a healthy club. Although only 10th in the table, Rot Weiss are just five points behind the leaders and if I was a betting man I would be tempted to back them to get automatic promotion.

On Wednesday I will be moving to Berlin. Mixed feelings about going - will miss certain people and obviously the football. I have always enjoyed going to watch football where ever I have lived. The ticket prices in England made going less enjoyable so in the past few years in England I have only tended to go when the tickets were free and spent many enjoyable days at the likes of Man City, Crewe, Huddersfield, occasionally Newcastle and embarrassingly Everton.

German soccer was a bit of a culture shock for me and it has reminded me of going to watch Liverpool in the mid-1980's when we could stand! The crowds are alot better here - more vibrant and real. It feels slightly more dangerous. English football has been taken over by the middle classes. I expect German football will go the same way but for time being it's the best place in Europe to watch soccer. imho.

'Dead' poker player hid in couple's home

2007-12-08T11:15:00.000+01:00

The wife of back-from-the-dead poker player 'Wild' Bill Hickok has said he was living in their family home for over fifty years after he was declared dead.

Lily Hickok, who is expected back in the US this weekend, told reporters her husband hid in another part of the couple's house when their sons and daughters visited as he did not want them to know the truth.

"For five decades, while virtually everyone close to us believed Bill was missing presumed dead, he was actually at home with me playing online poker," she said.

Hickok is currently in police custody after he was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of fraud.

He disappeared from the couple's home in Las Vegas in 1955 and was presumed dead. That was until he walked into a New York police station last Saturday.

She told reporters her husband had talked about faking his own death to escape debts.

"We had a lot of debt, in the tens of thousands because he had become a pretty rubbish poker player. He couldn't cope with the new kids on the block like Annette Obrestad. He said there was only one way out of the situation and that was to fake his death," she said.

But Mrs Hickok insisted she did not know he had gone ahead with the scam until he turned up on her doorstep one decade after he went missing.

Fury as 'sick' poker TV show axed

2007-12-06T19:03:00.000+01:00

In the week Beverley Allitt heard the news she may never be released from prison, TV bosses have shelved plans for a controversial poker programme after a string of complaints to the UK television watchdog Ofcom.

The independently produced 'Prison Poker' would have seen some of Britain's most notorious criminals sat round a table playing Texas Hold 'Em in an especially adapted TV cell at Marshworth Prison, London.

Among those believed to have been touted to appear in the 12-part series were serial killer nurse Beverly 'All-in' Allitt, psychopath Ian Huntley and road rage lifer Kenneth Noye.

Series producer Bet Hatton was disappointed by the decision not to commission the series.

"We have put a lot of time and effort into this project and to say I'm annoyed is an understatement," she said.

"It's another example of the nanny-state gone mad. Poker playing has long been associated with criminal activity and the show was just an extension of that.

"All the contestants are accomplished players in their own right and for some their murdering ways proved how good they were at bluffing."

The decision means Hatton will have to put another project on the back burner.

"I'd received some encouraging feedback for 'International Prison Poker' and there had been interest shown by both Timothy McVeigh and the Unabomber."

Barton is no Dick

2007-12-01T16:14:00.000+01:00

I've never had much time for Joey Barton but his recent outburst against Newcastle fans struck a chord with me as it is something I have felt for a long time. It's the theory that the fans play a greater part in a team's success and, of course, failure than people think.

So threre are some questions that need to be addressed. Is it a coincidence that Newcastle have failed to win a major trophy for nearly 40 years despite having useful teams and plenty of money over that period? Who are these 'Geordie faithful'? And most importantly, do they actually understand football?

Their attitude was summed up by Frank Gilmour, the chairman of the Independent Newcastle United Supporters' Association.

"If Barton says we don't have the right to criticise, then he wants to learn," said Gilmour.

"He obviously knows nothing about the north east and its passion for football."

Frank has obviously misplaced 'passion' for booing and hounding certain players mercilessly.

He soon reverts to type and in a veiled threat suggests that Barton will himself come in for a torrent of abuse the next time he plays.

"For him to then turn around and criticise the fans is totally wrong. He should have kept his mouth shut.

"He will learn what happens after you criticise Newcastle fans. It takes a long, long time for us to forgive. I would be very, very surprised if he doesn't get a reaction at Blackburn today."

So it seems Frank is allowed to criticise Newcastle players but Newcastle players are not allowed to criticise the fans.

It is this attitude that makes Barton's comments all the more laudable.....and believable.

Three points from top two points from safety

2007-11-29T17:17:00.000+01:00

A comfortable home win over 1974 European Cup Winner's Cup winners Magdeburg (2-0) was followed by a last minute victory away to Lubeck (2-1) which leaves Essen just three points behind automatic promotion. However the league is so tight that despite being so close to the top they are also only two points off position 11 (from where they will not automatically be in the new Bundesliga 3).

Close by Oberhausen is likely top be swamped with Rot Weiss fans on Sunday and hopefully I will be among them. They beat us 4-1 at home on the opening day of the Rot Weiss season and it will be nice to get revenge. From what I remember of that game we played fairly well and they had two chances and scored four goals.

With the move to Berlin impending the game against Düsseldorf on Saturday December 8th could be my last for a long while.

On a brighter note my football ringtones website has started to pick up again slightly after spending far too long in the doldrums. It's just a shame no-one buys ringtones any more.

Went to see Brian Auger earlier this week in Duisburg - though he is probably only known to people who love the hammond organ.

Essen's first away defeat of the season

2007-11-11T20:41:00.000+01:00

Rot Weiss lost their first game of the season - away from home on Saturday losing 1-0 in a scrappy game against Verl. For pictures and stuff check out the link on the left hand side "excellent RWE site".

So away draws against Dusseldorf, Dortmund and Union Berlin were bettered on the road with victories at Bremen, Hamburg, Babelsburg and Wolfsburg optimism was high and more than half the supporters at Verl were Essen fans.

However, a goal midway through the second half ended that record and by all accounts it was a game no worth dwelling upon.

Not sure what the knife is about in the picture but some mother is short of something to cut the Sunday roast with now.

Got a decent response on the RWE forum about my wedding dilemma with some of the answers to sensible for my linking. Thanks to anyone who who contributed. It seems a well populated and well run forum - though a fight did break out halfway through the thread.

So the threat of not making it to the Bundesliga 3 remains. The main problem with not making it is that the promotion issue will see it very hard for relegated clubs to return.

Magdeburg next week at home who have achieved something Liverpool never did -they won the (now defunct) Cup Winners Cup doing so in 1974 beating AC Milan in the final 2-0. Liverpool famously lost to Dortmund in the 1966 Europapokal der Pokalsieger beaten after extra-time in a game played at Hampden Park in Glasgow.

Electric Essen held by Dynamo

2007-11-04T12:16:00.000+01:00

To further strengthen the case for missing my brother's wedding, Rot Weiss Essen played their best match of the season on Saturday though could only manage a 1-1 draw against Dynamo Dresden.

Poor finishing ultimately cost them in a match that had almost everything - a missed penalty (Dynamo), a disallowed goal (Rot Weiss), a sending off (Dynamo) and bad refereeing. The crowd loved it and so did I. It is what football is about and I'm pretty hopeful for the rest of the season if the team can reach similar levels.

The day had started badly when the bottle opener I'd 'borrowed' off a friend a few weeks earlier was confiscated by the security guards on the way in. I tried to keep the incident quiet but the bloke holds it aloft and makes a scene about this very recognisable opener not being allowed in. I'd only brought it along to give it back to him as he was having a party that night but I'm sure he thought I'd nicked it off him.

The game would have been so different had the penalty gone in to make it 2-1. It seemed a little harsh and justice was done. Those with long memories will remember Ray Clemence saved a penalty against Dynamo Dresden in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1976 so Daniel Masuch's save provides a very tenuous Liverpool link.

Talking of German goalkeepers, there is a discussion going on about Jens Lehmann joining Man City. Don't really care whether he does but here is for a fantastic clip of him playing in goal for Schalke against Rot Weiss many years ago.

Tempted to go to the game against Verl next week but, although it is close, public transport issues could be a problem.

Rot Weiss or my brother's wedding?

2007-11-01T22:28:00.000+01:00

"Rot Weiss oder die Hochzeit meines Bruders"

Essen's victory over Kaiserslautern in the German Cup has left me with a difficult decision to make.

With the next round of the cup taking place on the last weekend in January - should I go to the game or attend my brother's wedding back in England scheduled for January 29th?

I'll let you decide so please add your thoughts in the comment section. If we had been playing Schalke the decision would have been alot easier.

One point in my favour about staying for the game against Hamburger SV is that technically it is not his wedding. He married last week in California or somewhere and this day at Blackpool is just a place for him to celebrate with family and friends. 1-0.

The celebration takes place in Blackpool. Not the most glamorous of locations and I always thought the place smelt of chips (Pommes). 2-0.

He's my brother. 2-1

I don't really like weddings. I usually get put on a boring table and end up discussing insurance while the evening function is normally a banal affair accompanied by dreadful cheesy disco music. 3-1

My brother will no doubt do his 'breakdance' routine. 5-1.

Another away win for the 1955 Champions

2007-10-28T14:12:00.000+01:00

After a dire loss at home to bottom-placed Cottbus II (couldn't bring myself to blog about it), Rot Weiss recorded a splendid 3-0 away victory against Hamburg II to maintain their position in the top half of the table and are not too many points behind the surprise leaders Emden

"The team has returned impressively," said RWE-Trainer Heiko Bonan with his Google translate English improving slightly: "The boys have shown that the defeat against Cottbus is a setback, but not a total knockdown. We are now back in the right lane."

Just over 80 watched the game which is fairly sad and is another reasdon why these reserve teams should not be playing in this league at all. The picture tells its own story and after watching RWE play against Dusseldorf and Dortmund in souless big stadiums, I'll make a point of not doing it again despite both those games being well attended.

Liverpool or Red White

2007-10-18T21:17:00.000+02:00

I'm actually thinking about giving Rot Weiss Essen a miss on Saturday and watching Liverpool - a big club against Everton in the Merseyside derby. Alan Stubbs' comments were quite pathetically picked up by the newspapers in an attempt to stoke things up but it's the derby so things like this aren't needed.

So Essen are playing Cottbus reserves. OK, a win would be great to maintain the promotion bid but it's hard to get worked up for these sort of games and with it clashing with the game at Anfield. I know what I will be doing. Just hope there are no bluenoses in the pub. Last season I had to watch the game with some horrible Everton fans (I don't mind good ones) and that was in Manchester.

Not sure about watching Johnny Wilkinson and the Rugby World Cup Final. We shall see.

Lorenz out for season

2007-10-11T14:08:00.000+02:00

RWE did not escape relegation last season but the following clip is of one team who does and the reaction of one fan watching at home on TV. If you have five minutes to spare it s worth a watch and anyone whose team has been close to relegation may understand the mentalism of it all.

Found the clip on the US soccer website so can't claim it as a great find of my own.

Bad news for Essen this week was reports that club captain (and the slightly balding) Stefan Lorenz will be out for the season with cruciate knee damage. Got a text message while at the language course which just said "S.Lorenz mit Kreuzbandriss". I didn't know what it meant but feared the worst.

I thought he was one of the most consistent players last season and it could spell the end of any promotion thoughts.

The next game is on October 20 against FC Energie Cottbus II whose first eleven we beat to reach the second round of the German Cup. The date has been announced for that second round match and we will play FC Kaiserslautern on October 31 (kick off at 7:00pm).

Werder best

2007-10-08T12:52:00.000+02:00

While the fortunes of Liverpool continue to stutter the mighty Rot Weiss Essen have gone from strength to strength winning their latest game 4-0 away to Werder Bremen.

OK, it was only their reserve side but a clean clinical 4-0 victory is nothing to be sniffed at and Rot Weiss now lie in sixth place with their eyes on an automatic relegation spot.

"That was a strong appearance of the entire crew", coach Heiko Bonan said after the game in Google translate English - and announced confidently: "We will work in the next weeks and months to climb in the table still further upward."

The man's a genius.

The team still lies in only third place, however, in my fictitious RED WHITE league behind Rot Weiss Erfurt and Rot Weiss Oberhausen but above Rot Weiss Ahlen.

With the next two games against reserve sides Cottbus on October 20 and Hamburg the following week there is every chance of Essen being in a challenging position for the top two places when Dynamo Dresden visit on November 3 -which promises to be one of the best games of the season.

Spent a few days in Berlin (the Stasi Museum is worth a thought provoking visit) last week as K had a job interview. It's entirely possible we could be moving there as soon as early November and could see me spending my Saturday afternoons at Union Berlin.

Not good really.

Marseilles Liverpool games was fixed?

2007-10-04T20:27:00.000+02:00

I love conspiracy theories and was interested by the following Marseilles betting thread about the game on Wednesday evening. I love stuff like this because it totally negates the fact that Liverpool were atrocious against the French side.

Although I missed the game I'm looking forward to seeing just how the referee influenced proceedings. However, I doubt it is right to trust an official who has created his own website for himself.

I'm beginning to get suspicious about all those bad results for Rot Weiss Essen both last season and this.

Hair we go again, Darrell

2007-10-02T18:33:00.000+02:00

It's great fun making headlines when the star of a particular news story such as Umpire Darrell Hair has a great name and although this has nothing to do with my usual posts I'll add it anyway.

Umpire Hair is suing the ICC for unfair dismissal and is claiming racist discrimination after being relieved of his umpiring duties after his role in the infamous 4th Test Match at the Oval in 2006 when declaring England the winners after the Pakistan players refused to take the pitch in protest at being accused of ball tampering.

It is alleged that there is an Asian plot against the Australian and his case rests with the fact that his co-umpire Billy Doctrove was not suspended.

He then allegedly wrote an e-mail to the cricket authorities demanding money for basically keeping quiet.

It's all come to a head and I await the decision from the court with interest. Most of the blog commentary seem to suggest that the Asians have too much influence in world cricket.

UPDATE

Well, the ICC must have bottled out because Darrell Hair dropped the case and an out of court settlement has been reached. The best opinion about the Hair story is here and it makes sensible reading.

A proper game of football - at last!

2007-10-01T14:27:00.000+02:00

I always like watching football when there is a light drizzle and when your team plays well, wins and the referee has a good game then it is almost the perfect day. Rot Weiss Essen 1 Wuppertaler 0.

This is possibly the first match of the season I have really enjoyed with good football being played throughout, both teams trying to win and the fans in good voice. A few beers and the right to smoke on the terraces helps as well.

There was a decent size crowd (probably smaller because of the rain) and plenty of away supporters though that is not surprising seeing as the opponents were top of the league.

Strange scenes after the game with the players celebrating as though they had won the league. Lining up hand in hand in front of the north stand they received the applause of the crowd before going down to the Kop equivalent and all sitting down.

Seated patiently, they was some sort of strange ritual shouting performed by the crowd then the players left the pitch. Quite strange but Germany is a strange place at times.

Premiership ticket prices

2007-09-27T02:56:00.000+02:00

Expensive tickets prices are what really puts me off English Premiership football so I have been happily surprised with how cheap football is in Germany.

An English football blog dared to critisise Arsenal's high ticket prices with the amusing part being the comments section. The little fat Gunner fans are seen to be condoning the prices - some even suggesting that they get value for money!

Some bloke calling himself Gazzup is first up "I sit in an average seat, which costs about $75 per game. Given some of the ridiculous incomes of Londoners the price is a fair one, as proven by the 40,000 on the season ticket waiting list"

Just because there are 40,000 other mugs waiting in the wings to be mugged by leeching capitalists doesn't make it a fair price for 90 minutes entertainmentt. No wonder the minicriminlast Alisher Usmanov is attempting to squeeze into the club.

Cliff then chips in with "If there was not a sense of "value-for-money" the stadium would not be full for every game." Hmmm

"Arsenal playing entertaining football whether they win, lose or draw makes me happy to pay top whack for a ticket." Did I read that right?

It gets worse. "I think paying £38 a time to sit in a beautiful stadium to watch beautiful football is, if I'm honest, verging on what I would call 'a bargain' "

How have we, as fans, allowed such a situation to develop? Could we and should we have stopped it?

The best post was the final post.

I think you Gooners are all missing his point... that it's too expensive for a middle-class family of four to go to the games on a consistent basis, and that's a shame.

It IS an issue of supply and demand, and according to the laws of economics, yes- they could charge even more and continue to fill the stadium. But that doesn't make it right.

Unfortunately, the club has gone the way of our own American pro sports teams- jacking up the price almost as high as the market will bear. That's great for revenues, but results in the exclusion of your most dedicated fans- the working class.

I went to Pro football games a lot as a kid, as it only cost $20 to $30 to get a decent ticket and I'd go with my father. We had a great time...

Now, 20 years later, I'm lucky enough to be making more than my father ever did, but I still can't justify buying season tickets for my family at $80+ per seat, per game.

The net result is a stadium full of distracted, affluent people talking on cell phones throughout the match...

Though I've never been to a Premiership game, I can see the difference in atmosphere on the television...

One last thing... the Gunners suck anyway! You'll come crashing back to 3rd place soon enough.

More goals in Berlin

2007-09-23T23:05:00.000+02:00

After a torrid start to the season, things seem to be stabilising with Rot Weiss Essen currently sitting mid table on an unbeaten run of five games. On Friday they drew 2-2 with Union Berlin after twice leading in the match.

Frustratingly had to listen to it on the radio which is a torturous experience as any football fan knows. We can take heart from twice being in front - thanks to an own goal and one from the substitute Rafael Kazior.

After the match coach Heiko Bonan said in google translate English “For us was here more in it due to the better chances we would have had to decide the play for us,

"After our hit to 2:1 - guidance we did not employ ourselves more clever enough.”

The return of club captain Stefan Lorenz is a boost and should Rot Weiss Essen continue playing in a similar way they should make it to the third Bundesliga this season (need to finish in the top 11).

Still not sorted my tooth out but on a brighter note secured some more work this week.

Have been trawling around some Liverpool blogs this week and found some of the work put into them nothing short of incredible. Have you ever been to Liverpool is a good read while plenty of work has gone into this Liverpool blog named after my favourite position.

Rot Weiss rising

2007-09-17T12:28:00.000+02:00

Three things on Saturday at Hafenstraße made me think about Liverpool. Firstly, they once again played You'll Never Walk Alone immediately before the teams came out. Secondly they decided to attack the Kop End (Öst Tribune) in the second half and finally they nearly succumbed to an almighty comeback after being 3-0 up at half-time (Istanbul 2005 in reverse).

Thankfully the game finished 3-2 but there were a few scary moments late on to remind any overconfident fan that they were really watching the strange phenomenom that is Rot Weiss Essen.

This was the best performance of the season with the team looking strong throughout and creating many chances. A penalty half way through the first half got us off to a good start and just before half-time the wonderfully named Rolf-Christel Guié-Mie completed his hat-trick.

The victory gives the season a wonderful symmetry with RWE having won 3 drawn 3 and lost 3. They have scored 10 and conceded 10. They now lie second only to the team we beat on Saturday (Rot Weiss Erfurt) in the mini Rot Wiess Liga. The mini Rot Weiss Liga is my own imaginary league fought out by Essen, Oberhausen, Erfurt and Ahlen.

The new sponsors Evonic blasted a couple of hundred free footballs into the crowd for the kids at the end of the game. Toby, who I see at the match, remarkably caught two balls (not bad for a fat heffer). Instead of giving them to some children he marched around the stadium with the two trophies under his arms. He is 30 and has no kids. He was finally persuaded to give one of them to Ollie who has some kids. Ollie strangely was crying like a baby at 3-2. Obviously an emotional man.

Th evictory makes up for a depressing week in the life of Dave Allan having lost a tooth on Monday. "It just fell out of my mouth and nearly landed in me muesli"

New sponsor for RWE

2007-09-13T22:12:00.000+02:00

Rot Weiss have got a new sponsor. Well, not a new sponsor, the company has just re-branded. Fan's shirts had been sold without a logo despite the team still playing under the old sponsor Steag. I used to be amused when the company was name was announced over the PA - in English.. 'Steag -the power company'. Will see what it changes to at the next home game on Saturday. So the new sponsor is...Evonic. Must of taken those marketing boys a long while to come up with that and I imagine they got paid very well for it.

So Saturday's game is an end to the Rot Weiss trilogy and hopefully things won't be as bad as losing 4-1 to Rot Weiss Oberhausen before losing 2-0 to Rot Weiss Ahlen when we play Rot Weiss Erfurt.

New sponsor, new start and maybe a first league victory.

Essen surprisingly win again

2007-09-09T17:51:00.001+02:00

Rot Weiss Essen finished "englische Woche" with four points thanks to a 3-1 away victory on Sunday against SV Babelsberg 03. It is called 'English week' because of the midweek fixture (0-0 against Braunschwieg). Losing at half-time, they equalised from a penalty (elfmeter) and within ten minutes they had wrapped the game up.

Listened to the match on local radio who had a reporter at the ground. They cut across regularly to him from the studio but his emotionless voice gave me little indication of the score. I wish my German was better.

Went out last night in Dortmund after watching England beat Israel 3-0. It's not often you get a chance to be anti-semitic but for 90 minutes I was.

So Rot Weiss are in 13th place in the league with 9 points from 8 games played. They need to finish in the top ten to qualify for Bundesliga 3 next season. They are 10 points off automatic promotion.

God knows how they managed to score three goals. Will read about it tomorrow.

First point at Hafenstrasse

2007-09-06T15:36:00.000+02:00

I suppose I should be happy with RWE's first home point of the season but for a game between the two best supported teams in the division the game was a disappointment. It was a game of few chances spoilt by a poor referee and plenty of offside decisions going against the home team. It finished 0-0 at the Hafenstraße.

As usual the team were booed off after the game though this was a little unfair as Eintracht Braunschweig had come to defend and that is what they did very well. There was little to get the fans excited, not even a sending off or a brutal tackle. A most disappointing night for the 10,000 who attended.

The new Rot Weiss Essen striker Markus Kurth looked OK but he lacked service while the rest of the team gave the ball away too often.

On a brighter note, the team have finally seemed to work out that it is better to attack the goal where your fans are standing in the second half (Osttribüne). It is legendary practice at Anfield that if Liverpool win the toss then they elect to attack the Kop in the second half. I think it is a huge advantage but I fear it was luck rather than design which saw it happen last night.

On a more worrying note, I have noticed more and more young fans are sporting mullet haircuts.

Celebrating Szepan's birthday

2007-09-03T18:59:00.000+02:00

Rot Weiss Essen were German Champions for the only time in 1955. The man who coached that side Fritz Szepan would have celebrated his 100th birthday yesterday - had he been alive.

Despite being the trainer in charge of RWE in 1955 he has no real affection with the fans because he was basically Schalke through and through and and nobody really knows who he was.

I am supposed to hate Schalke being a Rot Weiss fan but as I have only just arrived in the country I have not developed it yet. Schalke are hated by Dortmund as well and it was interesting going out last season to watch Schalke lose the title on the last day of the season. The Dortmund fans celebrated as though they had won the title.

Fritz Szepan also had a bit of a shady past and benefited financially in the 1930's when allowed to buy a Jewish-run business very cheaply. Many fans are quick to point out that Schalke have only won the German Championship once (1958) outside the Nazi era

Still, the anniversary of Fritz's birthday deserves to be remembered despite his shortcomings and despite being a legend in his birthplace Gelsenkirchen. Szepan is pictured here (nearest) looking fit and healthy - no wonder Schalke won all those titles under Hitler).

Rot Weiss sign new striker

2007-09-03T14:05:00.000+02:00

RWE signed a new striker just before the transfer deadline with Markus Kurth joining on a two-year contract from Duisburg. The 34-year-old could start his first game against Eintracht Braunschweig on Wednesday.

A regular in the side last season that won promotion into the Bundesliga, Kurth had fallen down the pecking order at Duisburg after the signings of Manasseh Ishiaku and Ailton.

The experienced Kurth has also played at Köln, Leverkusen and Nürnburg.

"I have had four good years at Duisburg but I want to be playing football and I'm looking forward to playing with a young team at Essen." said Kurth.

Rot Weiss Essen needed a striker following the saga with the Danish forward Karsten Jensen who signed for us during the summer but then decided not to come because his wife didn't fancy moving to Essen. More fool her. He did, however, score a hat-trick for his team last week.

First league victory for Rot Weiss Essen

2007-09-01T21:55:00.000+02:00

Rot Weiss Essen finally managed to win their first league match of the season when beating Wolfsburg reserves 3-0 away from home. Got a text last night saying a couple of the lads were going but had to do some work so gave it a miss.

It was no surprise when I got a another text this morning saying D had been arrested - especially considering he was travelling with the (don't click on the websites) Chaos Boys and the Ultras. Not sure what actually happened though it wouldn't surprise me if he had got arrested last night even before he embarked on the long train journey to Wolfsburg.

I'm never too interested in the statistics about games I don't go to, but being 3-0 up at half-time was quite good. I followed the game on kicker.de with live updates. They said live updates but it was just the goals really...and I should have been working.

German inefficiency

2007-08-31T00:30:00.000+02:00

Had a nightmare queuing experience at the Volkshochschule today. Got shouted at by some foreigners (!?) for jumping the line but the system was all wrong and these people were just sat round on their comfy seats with their asbo kids while I started an orderly queue outside the door. It was the fault of the school seeing as they had no signs up explaining what was going on. It is hard enough trying to learn a new language without having to deal with incompetent, inefficient German bureaucracy. To be honest the staff were all a bit lazy and disinterested in signing people up. The Civil Servants are the same over here.

Anyway, got a bargain. Thirty lessons (three hours each) of German for 100 euros. The course sounds quite intensive and I was told there was plenty of homework to do. Shit.

The TV writing work already feels like homework so I'm not looking forward to more.

RWE Arena

Rot Weiss Essen were relegated last season when beaten by Duisburg on the last day of the season. Their ground is soon to be renamed with a new sponsor - along the lines of the Emirates Stadium at Arsenal. It looks likely that the main power company will take the sponsor rights. The company is called RWE. Marvellous - the RWE Arena.

It serves them right for the way they firstly made us queue up for hours to get in (purely out of spite) and secondly for serving alkoholfrei beer.

Trouble at (die) Fabrik

2007-08-29T17:12:00.000+02:00

Apparently there were near violent scenes after the game on Friday evening when a hoard of disgruntled fans went down to see the chairman. The poor bloke needed police protection but to be fair to him he stood his ground and answered the questions of the Rot Weiß Essen fans.

Not sure what was said but I expect it was along the lines of why are we so shit. One of the lads managed to speak to one of the players who suggested that the team had lost faith in the manager/coach/trainer Heiko Bonan.

The fans frustration is heightened by one important fact. After this season, the two third divisions will merge to form a Bundesliga 3 for the first time. Discounting relegation, the top 10 sides in each division will form the new league. It is possible RWE will not even make the top 10 meaning automatic relegation to the regional 4th division. With just one side getting promotion from the 4th tier each season it could be a struggle for RWE ever to return to anything like top flight football.

On the bright side though we may not get the new arena like the one planned.

German vocab

Der Fabrik - factory (here meaning mill)
Der Schutz - protection
die Enttäuschung - disappointment

No love parade in Essen

2007-08-25T11:14:00.000+02:00

It's the love parade in Essen today and hopefully it will take my mind off another home defeat for Rot Weiss Essen. A first half goal from a corner settled the match although Rot Weiss did have a goal harshly disallowed in the second half.

Beaten by a team that comes from a vilage with more cows than people is quite embarrassing (einem Dorf das mehr Kühe als Einwohner hatt).

They also had the captain sent off but it was no great loss at I believe Michael Lorenz could be the underlying problem with the team. He seems to believe himself to be some exceptional talent but merely stand in the middle of the pitch (rarely straying from the centre circle) passing the ball sidewards. But what do I know.

It is times like this when the captain should be taking responsibility but Lorenz simply hides.

It was not a bad game and the sendings off and the disallowed goal sparked the crowd into life. After the deary draw in Dortmund this was much more enjoyable despite the loss.

Went in the wrong gate when arriving and got charged student rates to get in ( five euros) and as most people know I don't look like a student.

Had to pick up an English girl from the station who is over for the Love Parade. Managed to get myself lost coming home and had to spend the money I saved from the reduced ticket on a taxi.

Having missed the cup game I have only seen one goal from Essen in five games - and that was when they were 3-0 down.

Playing Wolfsburg reserve team away next week where there will be less atmosphere than on the moon. I won't be going.

The next home game is a midweek evening kick-off against Eintracht Braunschweig who, like Essen, were relegated last season and have had an equally disastrous start to the season.

die Mannschaft - the team
der Schiedsrichter - referee
der Kopfball - header

England's Wembley result does not matter

2007-08-22T17:19:00.000+02:00

It wasn't until I arrived in Germany that I discovered they are disinterested in their national team and could care less if they ever beat England.

All those times over the years when they beat us on penalties in major championships or spoilt the last game at Wembley by beating us on that wet day in October 2000 they were not watching in pubs up and down the land - they just didn't care.

Only the World Cup last year brought back a bit of national pride and some felt they were at last proud to be Germans. From the German people I have met they should have been proud a long time ago.

Incidentally, if you look at the team that lost at Wembley that day you may see the reason why Kevin Keegan resigned after the game.

Seaman, G Neville, Keown, Adams, Le Saux, Beckham, Southgate, Scholes, Barmby, Owen, Cole. Subs: Martyn, Barry, Parlour, Dyer, Heskey, Wise, Phillips.

As it as the final game at Wembley I convinced a friend that the Germans would allow us to kick-off - as a mark of respect that type of thing - so we both backed the 'England kick off' heavily (heavy in those days). However, the visitors won the toss and kicked off themselves! So much for repect or tradition.

I'm tempted to back England to kick-off tonight. Will the Germans show some respect for tradition?

England team

England: Robinson, Richards, Ferdinand, Terry, Shorey, Beckham, Carrick, Lampard, J, Cole, Smith, Owen

Subs: James, Brown, Taylor, Barry, Neville, Dyer, Wright-Phillips, Downing, Defoe, Crouch, Carson

Final Score 2-1...to Germany

Everton to blood Wessels

2007-08-22T00:05:00.001+02:00

It's not often I have had good news this season but I was pleased when I heard Everton had signed Stefan Wessels from Köln as he was the poor keeper who conceded five goals against Rot Weiss Essen last season.

After watching it again I can't believe that side got relegated. To be fair to Wessels he didn't have a bad game.

There is a little bit more about Wessel's current form and a bit more about German football here.

For a classic goalkeeping blunder (not from Wessels) try here

Dire draw in Dortmund

2007-08-20T11:08:00.000+02:00

The problem with relegation last season should have been that Rot Weiss Essen would be playing in smaller stadiums against small town teams. However, the first two games away from Georg-Melches-Stadion have seen Essen facing Düsseldorf in a 50,000 seat arena and on Sunday against Dortmund II in the 80,000 Westfalonstadion.

Both games ended in goalless draws and while the atmosphere in Dusseldorf was vibrant, the 4,000 crowd on Sunday was subdued and they found it difficult to drum up any enthusiasm playing against the reserve team of the Bundesliga club.

I was actually tempted to leave at half-time - annoyed at the game, the atmosphere and the beer prices. The second half was marginally better but with no clear cuts chances for either team a 0-0 scoreline always looked on the cards. The team were booed off the pitch - even when they came to clap the away support (3,000 out of the 4,00o at the game).

The reality of relegation is slowly sinking in. A new team full of poor players who rarely look like scoring.

Went back to the place I used to stay to watch the Liverpool Chelsea game on TV. Until the penalty it was a satisfying performance and they showed the highlights of Manchester United's derby defeat during the half-time break. The sight of Alex Ferguson celebrating a non-goal was quite amusing.

die Schlachtgesänge - football songs
betrunkenen - drunken

Sack the board

2007-08-12T11:52:00.000+02:00

They played "You'll Never Walk Alone" straight after the final whistle on Saturday at the Georg-Melches-Stadion following Rot Weiss Essen's 2-0 defeat to Rot-Weiss Ahlen. It served more to drown out the boos rather than a celebration of the team's fantastic supporters who were calling for the head of the director of football Olaf Janßen

Despite dominating for long periods there were few chances for RWE with the opposition happy to soak up the pressure from a series of long ball threats.

The game had started in bizarre fashion with defender David Czyszczon (pictured) being played as a centre forward - he may have been man of the match against Düsseldorf but surely he was not allowed to choose his own starting position!

Once the away team had scored he was quickly returned to the defence though, if anything, the side were less effectual in attack without him.

All the more frustrating for the fans was the lack of creativity up front and the continual 'giving the ball away'. Tactically they were poor and more should have been expected given that coach Heiko Bonan was in charge of RW Ahlen last season.

The lack of teamwork may have something to do with the fact that this team is unrecognisable from the side that was relegated last season. Indeed this point was proved before kick-off. The stadium announcer will reveal the starting line-up to the fans by just saying the player's first name with the crowd shouting back the surname. There was an embarrassing silence as most of the players names were called out.

Dortmund away next Sunday though not at the Westfalenstadion but at the Stadion Rote Erde -an athletics stadium next door.

100 Jahre Rot-Weiss Essen Ultras Essen

2007-08-09T09:49:00.003+02:00

Great song and good video celebrating 100 years of Rot Weiss (Click on it again to be sent to the right Youtube page). Nice bit of bagpipes at the start though where the Scottish connection is I don't know. Always brings goose pimples (not to be confused with 'goose steps') when I hear the opening bars. However, the bastards sometimes take it off the site so it might be Liverpool's greatest band - Shack.

2007 was the 100 years anniversary of the club - though embarrassingly they got relegated.

Quick history

German Champions 1955
First German team to qualify for European Cup
First German team to have floodlights

die Gänsehaut - goose pimples
der Dudelsack - bagpipes
der Abstieg - relegation

Torlos

2007-08-08T08:42:00.000+02:00

An attendance of 27,000 was very respectable for a Third Division (Regionalliga Nord) game though the stadium (LTU Arena) was only half full/half empty. The kick-off was delayed as over 10,000 Essen fans travelled the short distance to the game and the organisation was a amateur. More of a disgrace was the bar facilities which saw only non-alcoholic beer being served.

These new arenas (impressive as they may look at first glance) are souless, corporate/family places which, ultimately, may lead to the extinction of football. Still, it was cheap to get in (10 Euros), train and U-Bahn travel was included in the price of the ticket and the lack of alcohol meant I did not spend that much.

The game itself was OK (that's an English OK not a German OK) despite ending 0-0. After their exhausting game at the weekend, Rot Weiss seemed happy to play for a draw and fully deserved their first point of the season. Düsseldorf, one of the favourites for promotion, were disappointing.

After the match two people greeted me as though they knew me well though I struggled to recognise either of them. Both had spoken to me on previous away trip with Rot Weiss (Fürth and Koblenz respectively) but drink had obviously got the better of me on those days.

Torlos - Goalless
alkoholfrei - Alcohol-free
Der Trainer - Coach/Manager
das Auswärtsspiel - away game

Up for the Cup

2007-08-06T21:10:00.000+02:00

The German FA Cup is a little strange. Basically, the lower league sides are drawn against Bundersliga teams with the smaller team playing at home. The early season starts means there are usually some shocks and trust Rot-Weiss Essen to spring such a surprise when I did not go to the match. Having just returned from a short break in Trier (oldest city in Germany and birthplace of Karl Marx) and some other stops in the Mosel Valley, I decided to give the game a miss as I couldn't trust myself to stay sober.

2-2 after extra-time, we should have won easily by all accounts against the glamour (?!) team from the Bundersliga FC Energie Cottbus. Penalties saw Cottbus given a chance to win the game after one of our players had missed but he fluffed it and Essen won 6-5.

Planning on going to Düsseldorf away tomorrow night and thankfully someone else has decided to go. Wouldn't have minded it by myself but its always better if there is another body there.

First game of season

2007-08-05T12:54:00.000+02:00

A new season in the German third division (north) for Rot-Weiss Essen. Virtually a whole new team and it was hard to recognise any of the players who started the first game against local rivals Rot-Weiss Oberhausen. A terrible game which the home side dominated but fail to make any chances. The away team created two chances and scored four goals in a 4-1 defeat for the mighty Rot-Weiss. Crowd of 15,000.

Disappointed and a little drunk I returned home for free (transport to and from the ground is included in your match ticket in German football) and after sobering up had to go to Hellweg to buy a jalousie (Venetian blind) and other odds and sods for the new apartment.

die Niederlage - defeat
Billig - cheap
die Saison - season

Below should be a quite good quality video of another famous team on their first day of the season at Villa Park.