Thursday 18 December 2014

Dirty Football & Recommendation of the Year Awards

Our penultimate edition of the year sees us bring tales of smut in the football world; a rather unorthodox method of groundskeeping; and Jaffa Cakes. We also feature our Recommendation of the Year Awards this week. So without beating around the bush, let's get down to business...




Football Circus Clown Quote of the Week

"Good morning Yes bad result on Sat. Read your messages reflecting over weekend. Embracing challenge to turn it around. WE can do it together".

- Nigel Adkins via Twitter on Sunday evening. He was sacked as Reading manager on Monday.


Dirty Football

It's been a rather odd week on the old smut front. Be it one too many mulled wine's or the imminent arrival of mistletoe, fans and players alike seem to be getting a little carried away. Our first case in point is a footballer in Kuwait who stuck his finger up the rear end of an opposition player this week to get a reaction, then held his own face to make it look as if he was the victim of foul play...



Further smutty behaviour could be seen in Guingamp this week as a middle aged man at the Guingamp - PSG match held aloft one of the most bizarre banners we've ever come across. The banner read: "ZLATAN YOUR FANS ARE HERE! YOUR SWEAT OR YOUR PANTIES, PLEASE". We're failry certain even the outspoken Ibra himself would have been lost for words over this one.


Lastly, a 'lady' caught on camera at the Mestella during Valencia's 3-0 defeat of Rayo Vallecano was witnessed waving a dildo around. We can only imagine how this came about. "Betty do you have your scarf or flag for the match?"; "No, it's fine dear, I have the dildo".



Bunch of Spongers!

A rather farcical attempt to rectify a waterlogged pitch was witnessed at the weekend in Morocco, at the World Club Championships no less. The quarter final game between Cruz Azul and Western Sydney Wanderers looked like it wouldn't be played, such was the state of the waterlogged pitch following some severe weather conditions. However thanks to the groundsmen and what could only be described as giant sponges, the water was, in the eyes of FIFA officials at least, sufficiently absorbed for the match to go ahead.

Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic was left disillusioned by the decision for the game to go ahead in spite of the poor conditions. His side lost 3-1 and after the match he stated:

"You can’t control nature but if the pitch was up to standard in the first place then the rain wouldn’t have mattered.

"I sit here really disappointed, because this is the pinnacle of the game but I’m left with a sour taste in my mouth. We never got the chance to show how good we are. We’ll never know now, due to the pitch. I never felt we were in any danger, we were two minutes away from a dream date with Real Madrid and showed we can compete with Cruz Azul".

Although Cruz Azul managed to conquer the Australians, they went on to lose out 4-0 to Real Madrid in the semi-final.




Chester Manager Takes the Biscuit by Throwing Jaffa Cakes onto Pitch during Match

It may be the season of good will but Keith Hill, the referee for the Chester-Barnsley Carling Cup fixture on Tuesday, was nonetheless unimpressed with Chester manager Steve Burr's decision to throw Jaffa Cakes onto the pitch for his tiring players.

Chester defender Gareth Roberts was quick to react once Burr threw the Jaffa Cakes onto the field at the Deva Stadium and immediately picked them up and began munching away. Not wanting to seem greedy, the generous 36 year old made sure to offer not only his teammates but also opposition players some of his snacks.

However referee Hill was unphased by the act of generosity and hurriedly ordered the biscuits (yeah, we said it) to be removed from the field of play. In spite of Roberts' feast, his team's defence appeared as weak as a Digestive dipped in a cuppa, going down 3-0 on the night.




What's Mad Mario Upto this Week?

Good news is in short supply for Mario Balotelli this season. This week is no different, as his Liverpool team were on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline against bitter rivals Manchester United on Sunday. Balo did not start the match, though he did look lively after coming on as a second half substitute. Alas, he failed to find the net once again for the Merseysiders.

That will come as no surprise to QPR midfielder Adel Taarabt however. Balo's former AC Milan teammate this week told Italian television what he thought of Super Mario:

"Balotelli? Everybody told me he was amazing. I played with him and I can confirm he’s good, but he didn’t seem like a world-class player to me.

"He is an ordinary player, not a phenomenon.

"He is someone who has a strong shot but he doesn’t play for the team. Or if he does, then he doesn’t score which is the case now with Liverpool.

"He had a lot of chances, from Manchester City to Milan, and he threw them all away".


Italian Football Story of the Week

- Parma Sold to New Owners

Struggling Parma this week confirmed via their website that they have new owners. A Russian-Cypriot conglomerate will take over from the outgoing Tommaso Ghirardi. On Tuesday, a statement on fcparma.com read:

"Following the press release on 11.12.2014, Parma now announces the new organisation.

"President - Doctor Pietro Doca; Vice President - lawyer Fabio Giordano; general manager - Pietro Leonardi.

"Details of the transaction and the new corporate structure will be presented by the new shareholders in a Press conference on December 19 at 18.00 in the Stadio Ennio Tardini press room".

The aforementioned Dr. Doca (teehee) then made his first announcement as Parma president:

"I'm thrilled to finally announce to Parma fans that after a lot of hard work, the purchase has been completed successfully.

"Myself and my colleagues want to work to ensure this glorious company a solid future.

"I Thank Tommaso Ghirardi for his commitment and dedication in recent years for the good of Parma".

The new owners will have their work cut out for them as the club have already been deducted a point in Serie A and fined €5,000 for missing tax payments.


Artist's Impression of the Week

- 'H2O-No!'; Moroccan pitch deemed playable despite being waterlogged.



Recommendation of the Year Awards 2014

As per last year, we have once again undertaken the thankless task of compiling each of our football and non-football recommendations of the week for the past year. At the end of it, we'll list our top three of each and crown the winners, our recommendations for the year. Simple as that. So, let's recap on the year that was:


Football Recommendations:

January
The Class of 92 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3311384/
Sofa Score http://www.sofascore.com/
Fantasy Premier League Community http://fantasyplcommunity.wordpress.com/
Daniel Nyari Match of the Day collection http://iamdany.com/MATCH-OF-THE-DAY

February

March

April

May
Ceasefire Massacre http://espn.go.com/30for30/film?page=ceasefiremassacre
Andrea Pirlo: I Think Therefore I Play http://www.amazon.com/Andrea-Pirlo-Think-Therefore-Play/dp/1909430161
1000 Football Shirts; The Colours of the Beautiful Game (Bernard Lions, Carlo Ancelotti)
http://www.amazon.com/1000-Football-Shirts-Colours-Beautiful/dp/0789327309
And Gazza Misses The Final http://www.amazon.co.uk/And-Gazza-Misses-The-Final/dp/1472111036
ESPN World Cup Posters by Cristiano Siqueira http://www.espnfc.com/blog/_/name/worldcupcentral/id/4593?cc=5739

June

July

August

September

October
In Bed With Maradona http://inbedwithmaradona.com/
Finished Players https://twitter.com/FinishedPlayers
Timber Joey: America's Best Mascot? (VICE) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po_9wS9FMhc
Next Goal Wins | Polynesian Everything https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aO-otCsa_M#t=1260

November
Football Manager 2015 http://www.footballmanager.com/
AndyTateEdits https://twitter.com/AndyTateEdits
Adrian Doherty: the lost star of Manchester United’s class of 92 (Daniel Taylor, the Guardian); 
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/nov/15/adrian-doherty-manchester-united-class-of-92
Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning (Guillem Balague) http://www.amazon.com/Pep-Guardiola-Another-Way-Winning/dp/1409129462

December


Phew...And now onto the Non Football Recommendations:

January

February

March
A Visual Feast http://www.avisualfeast.ie/
The Story of the Web http://www.storyoftheweb.org.uk/
GeoGuessr; Google Maps based game http://geoguessr.com/
Google Chromecast http://www.google.ie/intl/en/chrome/devices/chromecast/

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December


Our top three football recommendations this year are:

3. Andrea Pirlo: I Think Therefore I Play http://www.amazon.com/Andrea-Pirlo-Think-Therefore-Play/dp/1909430161 ; This is probably the best autobiography we've encountered this year and indeed for many years. 
2. In Bed With Maradona http://inbedwithmaradona.com/ ; As we noted back in October, "Probably the sexiest football blog you'll ever see. Simple. Aesthetically pleasing. Just ruddy brilliant all round".


And the winner is...

1. LFC Day Trippers http://www.lfcdaytrippers.com/ ; A mighty fine podcast and indeed website. LFC Day Trippers is an impressive operation all round and though it is Liverpool-centric, the podcast proves entertaining even for the neutral fan.


Our top three non-football recommendations this year are:

3. Simpsons pictures that I gone and done https://www.facebook.com/TheSimpsonsArt ; As beautiful as it is bizarre, 'Simpsons pictures that I gone and done' may just be the most entertaining Facebook page you will ever encounter.
2. 22 Jump Street http://www.22jumpstreetmovie.com/site/ ; One of the most entertaining films of the year. Though there will certainly have been more hard-hitting and serious films that were worth a watch this year, 22 Jump Street is a film you're unlikely to regret paying to see.


And the winner is...

1. 'Ceannt Fort' (Wicker Bones) http://wickerbones.com/track/ceannt-fort ; Great music from a great band that you should really check out. A deserving winner of our Non-Football Recommenction of the Year Award 2014.


So that's your lot. Congratulations to LFC Day Trippers and Wicker Bones on being our recommendations of 2014! We hope both keep up the good work in 2015.

Next week will be our last edition of the year before our return in January 2015 (Yes, we are advocates of a mid-season winter break). As it is the last edition of the year, we'll bring you our now annual 'Golden Clown Shoe' award, where we crown the biggest clown in the world of football for the year that has been.

Don’t forget you can follow us on Twitter @footballcircus or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Football-Circus/418804204906352

You can also contact us at footballcircus@gmail.com
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