EFC - the life and times of

Well below(right at the bottom - quoted) - you will find a draft blog post from ages ago (just after i got back to university if i remember correctly - and reading it i thought it was amazing how much things can change in a football season

At the start of the season there was a lot of pessimistic feelings with regards to everton (i was one of the more optimistic from the looks of things)

Its nice to see how much things have changed for the better recently in EFC's world, a Cup semi-final, and the trip to wembley that brings with it. A manager now with a long term contract, some good buys( no matter how bad they seemed at the time), and as i was going to move on to talk about (before i nearly forgot about my blog forever), a big turnaround in the performances we have had this season:

Fellaini has turned out to be a god of a signing - some people will deride him for being lazy and having shit hair. However i think his hair is the best hair ever(or was till he braided it) , and has an immense work rate 90% of the time. For a young lad (20 i believe) he is an immense prospect for the future of the football club

My worries about the loss of Carsley have been well abated, Phil Neville has slotted in brilliantly well to his role, and our midfield is a force to be reckoned with when fully fit. Neville, cahill, fellaini, osman, arteta, peinaar, gosling, rodwell, Van De Meyde???. Hopefully losing one or ten of them due to injury wont have too big an impact on the final standings this season.
Our on field performance has had a dramatic turnaround - 6th in the table, and despite a mini slump of late, we have a fairly nice run in, and a decent amount of points are all easily obtainable.
new stadium troubles - no decision till november - no fun!!! and no developments on the buy-out - all just rumours post Manchester Abu Dhabi City's buyout!!

The other thing i mentioned was Moyes' contract which is all done and dusted now.

So an interesting change of hearts for everton fans over this season, perhaps looking back over blogs like this a few months later is something i should consider doing again. Definitely an interesting possibility id like to try in the future. Though hopefully next time it will be replying to a blog i actually post!!!

Well, as you may know if you are reading this (seeing as none of you are it doesnt matter too much, I am quite a loyal everton fan, and as you may have seen recently, we have been getting quite a lot of press coverage, whether it be our on field performance, new stadium troubles, possible buy-outs, or just moyes' new contract. so i thought i should have my say on what i think about everything that is being reported/happening

1. The Summer.
Personally I think one of the main causes of our down turn this season has been the loss of a key player over summer. Lee Carsley. He may have been an older, and less well known player within our team, but he was somewhat of a lynch pin within the team, and he did his job better than anyone, with minimal fuss about him as well. This was a big loss for us, but there was nothing we could do really to prevent it, as he wanted to move nearer his family in the midlands, and we have to respect such wishes.
Andy Johnson was our only other loss of the summer. This although a loss as a back up striker, as i would no longer put him in my starting XI, was definitely a tidy bit of business on our part. To make £2m profit on a player who is not only getting older, but no longer looks the player he did when we bought him and also who reputedly failed his fulham medical before they signed him is an outstanding bit of business on our part in my opinion.

In terms of players in, Summer was definitely a dissapointing one. The failure to get Joao Mutinho from porto was definitely a big loss, and the lack of any other significant signings until the last day also dissapointed. Felliani has looked distinctly average so far this season, and we have barely seen Segundo Castillo, or Jacobsen, both international players. Louis Saha could turn out to be an inspired signing, as there is no doubting his absolute quality if he can stay fit.

So that sums up the summer transfer situation, which all round was dissapointing to say the least.

Leeds Festival Lineup (or reading for you southern fairys)

So leeds Festival, one of the biggest music festivals in England, has just announced its 2009 lineup - and having been in 2001 for a day, and then for the weekend every year since 2003, including 2009, i thought i would give my comments on the line up so far for this year (see the blog title - tis a link)

Well, a lot of people have commented saying that this years line up is "shit" and "awful"
I would be the first to admit that this years line up is not as good as last years, at least in my opinion, Metallica and Rage against the Machine was always going to be a very difficult act to follow! However, i do believe some of the criticisms of this years line up are entirely unjust. so now you get my opinions on all of the bands!!! Lucky you

WARNING I AM OPINIONATED - DO NOT TAKE OFFENCE IF I DISS YOUR FAVE BAND

First the three headliners, are in my opinion mostly good, Kings of Leon, are undeniably awesome live, and the recent mainstream success (that song about STD's) makes them a prime candidate for headlining, even if i do prefer their old stuffs (That song off FIFA 2004)
Next for my praise as a headliner is Radiohead. So i probably won't watch all of them, but as much as Q over-rates them (best album of all time - i think not) OK Computer, and The Bends are two brilliant albums, and those two alone, and the fact MTV2 heralded them as the second best live band around at the moment (behind muse if you were wondering) make them fully deserving of a headline slot.
Finaly Arctic Monkeys - admittedly i am a big fan of both there albums, much more so the first one, however, i do not believe that they are (yet) headlining material for a festival this big. Some may say they have proved themselves by playing second below muse a few years ago, but personally i believe they seemed out of there depth. Time will tell, and the new Josh Homme(LEGEND) produced album should hopefully make up for a slightly dissapointing second album, especially after the hype surrounding them pre and post first album

The Other Bands -
The prodigy - legends, even if there new single is basically them trying to be Pendulum. Second on the bill = huge rave times with them playing
Bloc Party - A few good songs, but massively over rated, I'll probably be giving these guys a miss
Kaiser Chiefs - Yay for Festival happy music, if not particularly great!!! definitely suit the festival atmosphere with there sing-a-long happyness (ruby ruby ruby ruby) even if it does make me want to lobotomise myself if i hear it too much
Maximo Park - Legends, awesome live, excited bout new album, end.
Yeah Yeah Yeah's - Awesome live, always good music, and the new album is getting rave reviews everywhere (love the new single)
Placebo - not the biggest fan, but no denying their longevity, that they have written some absolute tunes in their time
Ian Brown - Ok so its no fun knowing he isn't the stone roses anymore, but he is an indie legend so cant knock him too much
Vampire Weekend - Possibly one of the coolest bands of the moment (read: one of the bands being bummed most by NME at the moment) and some awesome tunes - the video forCape cod Kwassa Kwassa is also brilliant for the dig at those who said their name sounded a bit more ramones punk esque than hip indie kids
Fall Out Boy are shit (except reinventing the wheel to run yourself over - off burnout 3 soundtrack)
the Courteneers - what ive heard is good - although admittedly this is two or three songs
Brand new - Lots of my friends love them - not really listened to full albums, but the singles and particualrly Sic Transit Gloria... Glory fades are awesome (awesome video as well)
Deftones -long standing nu-metallists (as they were branded at the time) Schools Out and the song from the matrix soundtrack are awesome, but other than that ive never been overly into them
enter Shikari - awesome live, saw them in a room about half as big as Trevs Bar/Study 19 (that should encompass everyone and anyone who reads it - if not - it was small!!!)
Eagles of Death Metal - what ive heard is good, and one of my housemate loves them, well worth a check to see Josh Homme on Drums
Funeral For a Friend - first album (Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation) was amazing, since then downhill IMO, but still a band i need to listen to more, and a force to be reckoned with live!!!

NME STAGE
Normally One of the strongest stages indie wise, and this year appears to be no different
Gossip - undeniably a big indie band (in more ways than one), standing in the way of control is still one of the biggest indie songs (thanks to skins)
Glasvegas - another - NME loved band - yet to get into these guys, but my dad and brother are both fans, and my dad has fairly good music taste on the whole (my brother is a different matter)
Jamie T - Brings something different to the music seen, and i do very much like what he is trying to achieve - even if im not that big a fan of his music
AFI - One of the less indie bands on this stage, but definitely worthy of there place, and a few TUNES (girls not grey and miss murder spring immediately to mind)
White Lies Coolest indie band of the moment?? With tunes to match - which always helps - yes i am listening to them right now - would possibly suit low on the main stage well, due to the ferris wheel being nearby(Fairwell to the Fairground as a last song would be awesome)
Friendly Fires - not heard much - but what i have is absolutely insanely awesome!!
win
Maccabees - cool genius music - loved there first album, and the new single is better
gallows - famed for a MENTAL live show - get ready for shit to happen yeah!!!
Florence and The Machine - although there song itself annoys me - very catchy and a hot prospect for this year
Gaslight Anthem Hi we are the gaslight anthem, we are bruce springsteen but twenty years later - and slightly punkier, this makes us awesome


SO so far the line up looks awesome, Personally i've always loved the smaller (carling and lock up) stages anyway, much more intimate, and the line ups for these always has somebody you want to see

Roll on August!!!

peace out!!

My First Blog Post

Hello All,

So like the big geek that I am, i decided to start a blog, because i am cool like that!!!
yeah

Welcome to what, hopefully, will become a fairly epic collection of ramblings (expect lots of these), musings (probably less so), rants (probably lots), and hopefully some album and film reviews if i ever get round to any!!

The name of this blog, is a pun on my surname, and a nod to a column my dad used to write for his work magazine, which i remember being epically awesome, and similar in content to what i intend for this blog.

For now however farewell, Expect more content soon!!!!

Matt