bkkjames

refereeing standards do seem to be dropping on the whole, i agree. though yesterday i don't think it particularly changed the game. if anything chelsea played better after lampard went off.

correct, they conceded two goals.

That's it for this season,as far as winning the Premier League is concerned.Too drop that many points against Liverpool,Man. Utd. and Arsenal is not champion winning form.At the moment, we have an ageing ponderous midfield who were always a yard off the pace.Are Ballack,Deco and Lampard as good now as they were three years ago?The answer is no.(Essien has been badly missed). A toothless attack with Anelka just a shadow of the player he was at the start of the season.The defence,with the exception of Bosingwa who is an inept tackler,is very good although Terry isn't getting any younger and it shows sometimes with a quicksilver forward like Torres.Liverpool were quicker to the ball and without some great defence from Alex,would have been away and gone well before the Lampard dismissal, a terrible decision by Riley.The art of tackling will be a thing of the past if the F.A. don't address this.

Scolari has learned some harsh lessons this season,one of which is you do not sign players who are incapable of adapting to the pace of the Premier League.Of all the players that were supposedly available from Barcelona,Deco was the one player I did not want due to his age and lack of pace.Scolari's inactivity in the January window,tells me that all is not well at boardroom level.Abramovich has been conspicuous by his absence at games.

I would like to see some of the younger generation start games.Mancienne,Stoch and Di Santo should be given a chance to play a full match and Sinclair needs to be given a chance.We must add some speed into the set up.I apologise to other Chelsea fans on the Forum if I appear negative,but,until we face some hard facts about our team,we will continue to be in the shadow of Northern Domination.

I still have you for second place come the end of the year. Also, anything can happen in the Champions League.

Struggling with the flu and missed the game, saw the highlights this am, nice first goal.

Hi there,

my Thai girlfriend and me are crazy about Vinegar + Salt Chips from Pringles and Lay. Unfortunately, we can not find the chips in Bangkok.

We all the time have to bring them from the USA / Germany to Thailand. Any suggestions or ideas where to buy the chips in Bangkok.

THANKS A LOT FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS

At Villa, Tops or Foodland you can find salt and vinegar (Kettle Brand - small blue bags). At Villa, you can also find a brand imported from Australia (big bag - like lays). Forget about the local brand (pink / purple bag) as it has zero flavour.

If someone particularly likes Cheap Charlies, more power to you, but I have to agree with the above posters that 'cheap' is effectively stricken from the name. Spice Girls in Cowboy offers Chang bottles for 40 bt until 8:30, free nam khaeng, and you can order six+ beers at 8:29 and they don't care. I'm not even attracted to Thai women (no offence, just not my thing), but I still go there for the deal! I always sit outside. Wouldn't it be funny if 'normal' expats (as opposed to sexpats) took over a raunchy bar in Cowboy to capitalize on the Happy Hour?

at 40 baht a bottle, not much to capitalise on unless 10 baht a bottle profit is your idea of lucrative business

Was at the baby show on the weekend at QNCC and noticed the opposite reaction to the op. The mrs is showing (5.5 months now) and noticed alot more politeness actually compared to when she wasnt prego. Citibank had a booth there and on two occasions asked me if I / we wanted to apply for credit card - sign of the times I guess - farang can get a credit card

But in general, the mood in Thailand ( I suspect globally) is a bit more stressed these days with the uncertainty.

Spurs clinch £15m deal for Keane

By Sam Wallace and Ian Herbert

Monday, 2 February 2009

Tottenham Hotspur last night clinched the £15m deal for Robbie Keane to return to White Hart Lane. Negotiations with Liverpool concluded around 11pm with Spurs confident that their former striker will sign today before the 5pm transfer deadline.

In a remarkable turnaround, the Spurs chairman Daniel Levy appeared to have sealed the deal with Liverpool in talks after the club’s 2-0 victory over Chelsea. Spurs had made the £15m bid earlier in the day in a final attempt to get Keane who was left out of Rafael Benitez’s squad for the game at Anfield.

Having told Spurs that they were only interested in a deal that involved cash plus a player – preferably Aaron Lennon – Liverpool are understood to have relented last night and agreed to sell a player who cost them £20.3m last summer. The club's owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks were at the game yesterday and met with chief executive Rick Parry and Benitez after the match.

It is understood that Spurs will sign the Internazionale striker Mario Balotelli, who has fallen out with Jose Mourinho, on loan. Benitez is hopeful that Real Madrid will release the Argentina striker Javier Saviola on loan.

Spurs renewed their efforts for Keane after learning on Friday that Jermain Defoe had suffered a broken metatarsal. The club have optimistically said that they believe the player could return in four weeks but in private they are worried that the recovery could take a lot longer.

Benitez’s decision to drop Keane, who was at Anfield yesterday, from his squad for the game against Chelsea were the first signs that his short Liverpool career was over, as did the Spaniard's faltering answers after the match to questions about the future if Keane, a life-long Liverpool fan.

Would Keane see out the season at Anfield? Benitez was asked. “I think so,” he said. “[Keane] was there [at the ground today],” he said. “He was OK. We didn’t say anything [about the offer]. We were just talking about the game. I will not talk about ‘if’, ‘if’. ‘if’. He is our player. That’s it.” Asked would Keane been in Liverpool ’s Champions League squad for the knock-out phase, Benitez mumbled: “Yes, I think so.”

Chargers, and those who stop for 10 seconds in front of escalator trying to decide when is good time to hop on or should it be left or right foot first !

I've mentioned this once before on here, but these are my two. I really appreciate having the BTS and MRT and these are small prices to pay, but they just drive me up the wall some days. The chargers are more irritating, but I'm 6'3" and pretty broad, so while I'm normally incredibly courteous and polite in Thailand in this situation I just take the people down by walking straight into them. That's easily solved. The escalator people are the ones that absolutely baffle me. What is the big mystery - why do they need to stop and stare at the thing and then wait and put their foot down? Sidewalk behavior is always bizarre in Bangkok, but this one absolutely vexes me. I'm sure someone can explain what's going on, but I haven't found an answer yet. Is there a pervasive fear that the escalator is going to eat one's shoe or foot? Are people afraid of losing their balance if they step on a joint?

I'll add a wrinkle too - as insane as these people are at getting on the escalator, they're equally insane at getting off. They'll wait until the absolute last second when the stair is disappearing for good before they step off and then, because of the awkwardness involved in that motion, they'll stop momentarily and just stand there before walking again. How the hel_l is any of this hard? I just don't get it. Walk onto the dam_n thing and walk off. Honest to God I'm a really happy and nice guy, but for some reason sidewalk and BTS behavior here just gnaws at my otherwise angelic nature.

The original post missed one of the more glaring recurring problems, by the way. The lady (it's always a woman, I think it's because of the purse) who gets to the automated gate and realizes she hasn't pulled out her BTS card and who then, instead of moving aside to look for it, stands inside the gate patiently digging in the purse for the BTS card for 5, 10, sometimes up to 30 seconds or more while everyone else in line waits and gets backed up.

Great post!

Is it time of the month or are you usually this difficult?

My comment that you questioned was concerning the number of years you've been in the shadow of some other big clubs. Had i been talking number of years since you won the title then your pedantic reply might have been justified.

One person's shade might be another person's light. Just give me a figure fcol!

i'm always difficult towards mancs wherever possible, yeah.

we've not been the preeminent club in english football for 19 years. which isn't 'a few decades'. the 80s saw us waltz away with trophy after trophy.

ah the 80's - boy george, madonna and LP

Here are my picks for the weekend. My locks are in bold

Arsenal 2 v West Ham 1,

Aston Villa 2 v Wigan 0,

Bolton 0 v Tottenham 1,

Fulham 1 v Portsmouth 1,

Hull 2 v West Brom 1,

Man Utd 2 v Everton 0,

Middlesbrough 0 v Blackburn 1,

Stoke 1 v Man City 1,

Liverpool 1 v Chelsea 2,

Newcastle 0 v Sunderland 1,

Don't know where you were looking, it was on Channel 63, just where they said it would be.

Hey Delboy look in your true visions guide it says true sport 1 Chelsea v Boro !

If you think i sit in all day waiting for notifications on changed programmes think again.

But like was mentioned before, those guides are put together a least a month in advance and because of the nature of live sports, can change.

Choice picks for tonight and tomorrow night.... my locks are bolded another late night tonight, oh well.

Let's review - not bad overall, especially my "locks"

Portsmouth 1 v Aston Villa 1, wrong

Sunderland 0 v Fulham 1, wrong

Tottenham 2 v Stoke 1, Very Close

West Brom 0 v Man Utd 2, Close

Blackburn 1 v Bolton 0, wrong

Chelsea 3 v Middlesbrough 0, Very Close

Everton 1 v Arsenal 1, SPOT ON

Man City 2 v Newcastle 1, SPOT ON

West Ham 2 v Hull 1, Very Close

Wigan 1 v Liverpool 1 SPOT ON

We went to Phuket couple weeks ago for 4 days. It started with disappointment but it finally turned out ok.

First, we book Patong Swiss Hotel through internet through Agoda web side. It had said it is 3.5 star hotel with very nice pictures. When we got there, woo what a dump. At best it would be 1 star .

I asked about the information on the web, they said the data was not updated.

Any way we never stayed there and after dinned and 2 hr later we found a very nice hotel Asperi, which I highly recommend.

Other disappointment was FantaSea show, it is very old show never updated. The food is very bad and all they try to do is to sell more of their sh…..t by making you wait in the different areas.

If you must go there just go for the show and show up right before the show starts.

But do go to Phuket, and visit all the islands if you can

Well, Agoda should take some responsibility for the content on their website, nothing beats fa*** advertising

As for Fantasea, most people only go once so not much need to update it. Agree with you about the food, didn't buy stuff while waiting but overall i thought P fantasea was / is one of the better man made attractions in Thailand actually.

at the hotel we checked into on the weekend 4 star, near soi 16 in naklua, i estimate 20% occupancy. russians and a few chinese, thais.

interesting stats there teach. I guess all the smokers left town.

It's been wonderful, really. People who really need to smoke can usually still do so outdoors (at a table there continuously if they like). I'd say business has gone up in many of the establishments I frequent.

Recently a city in the states that imposed a no-smoking ordinance demonstrated that compared to nearby cities which hadn't the incidence of heart attacks (for non-smokers as well as smokers) dropped over 25%!!!!

so are you saying that because the city passed the ordinance banning smoking in-door, heart attacks dropped by 25%?

Manchester City

M Petrov Knee Injury 4 Weeks

V Bojinov Calf/Shin Injury 3 Weeks

Don't know how much i would rely on those stats. Petrov has been out for 4 months already and Bojinov has been out for about a year and a half.

i left out the header that said anticipated lenght (from day).

No smoking in A/C areas. Some enforce it some don't. Most do.

Common sense usually prevails.

yes its a strange one, some pubs / bars allow it (aircon or not) while if you go to Pattaya, you can't have a smoke in the outdoor portion of a restaurant but can in bars from what i hear.

speaking of stats, was wondering if any of you lads had the same feeling as I am (and no, I don't need to take a turd), but anyone have stats on goal scoring per game this year vs years past?

I know we are down but how is the league as whole? If my suspicions are true, I reckon it's down to the fact that teams are / have splashed out on defensive minded players and are lining up more conservatively.

And Brown Sugar sucks a big one.

In what respect ?

I've heard some nice jazz and blues there over the years, although I am no Jack DeJohnette calibre critic...food is ok...atmospheric little place....historic night spot.

My only gripe is that it is quite small so can get packed out quickly, and the layout of the place doesn't make for the best acoustics.

Well, when i moved down to BK I was pretty excited to hit Brown Sugar. However, surly staff, overpriced drinks (it really is pretty expensive), very average food and bland bands turned me off after a few trips. Maybe I was unlucky, but it has that atmosphere of a place that has had a good reputation for so long it really couldn't give a toss anymore.

Saxophone is alright, except it is an awful layout for a live venue.

Ad Makers is cool for "Cover Band Bingo" - everybody starts with Hotel California and Zombie. Yawn.

Cafe Democ I have never seen with more than a handful in. Nice joint but no atmosphere when empty. (Not that it's a live venue).

Rock Pub at Ratchathewi is a great looking bar/stage but has too many teenage thrash-fan bands for my liking.

I'll have to check out Lullabar - had never heard of it.

PC, I take back everything I ever wrote about you, you are way cooler than I thought. Rock on

I post this in "our" forum because I don't want to upset the LP fans...

Premiership - Current Injuries

Manchester United

12

D Welbeck Ankle/Foot Injury no date

Fabio Calf Muscle Strain no date

Rafael Hamstring Injury 4 Weeks

P Ji-Sung Hamstring Injury 1 week

Nani Groin Strain 1 week

Anderson Ankle/Foot Injury 4 Weeks

J Evans Ankle/Foot Injury 4 Weeks

W Rooney Hamstring Injury 1 week

P Evra Ankle/Foot Injury 1 week

R Ferdinand Back Injury 1 week

W Brown Sprained Ankle 1 week

O Hargreaves Jumpers Knee 4 Months

Newcastle United 9

T Kadar Broken Leg 5 Months

D Guthrie Hamstring Injury no date

Cacapa Knee Injury 1 week

S Ameobi Sprained Ankle 2 Days

M Viduka Groin Strain 1 week

H Beye Knee Injury no date

O Martins Gilmores Groin 1 week

I Gonzalez Achilles Tendinopathy 7 Weeks

A Smith Achilles Tendinopathy 2 Days

West Bromwich Albion 9

J Greening MCL Knee Ligament Injury no date

R Donk Groin Strain no date

L Moore Hamstring Injury no date

L Barnett Hamstring Injury 2 Weeks

J Olsson Knee Injury 2 Weeks

J Morrison Hamstring Injury 1 day

A Meite Hamstring Injury 2 Weeks

I Miller MCL Knee Ligament Injury 5 Months

N Clement Knee Injury 5 Months

Bolton Wanderers 6

J Elmander Hamstring Injury 5 Days

N Hunt Thigh Muscle Strain 2 Days

G McCann Ankle/Foot Injury no date

T Cohen Hamstring Injury 2 Days

J O'Brien Thigh Muscle Strain 2 Days

R Vaz Te Knee Injury 5 Months

Everton 6

M Arteta Rib Injury no date

J Yobo Hamstring Injury 2 Days

A Yakubu Calf/Shin Injury 5 Months

L Saha Hamstring Injury 1 week

J Vaughan Knee Injury 7 Weeks

N Valente Knee Injury 2 Days

Tottenham Hotspur 6

M Dawson Calf/Shin Injury 1 day

J Woodgate Back Injury 1 day

J O'Hara Groin Strain no date

Gomes Thigh Muscle Strain 1 day

L King Hamstring Injury no date

A Hutton Metatarsal Fracture 3 Months

Manchester City 5

D Hamann Ankle/Foot Injury 2 Months

B Mwaruwari Groin Strain 2 Days

M Petrov Knee Injury 4 Weeks

M Johnson Groin Strain no date

V Bojinov Calf/Shin Injury 3 Weeks

Arsenal 4

M Silvestre Thigh Muscle Strain 5 Days

C Fabregas MCL Knee Ligament Injury 3 Months

T Walcott Dislocated Shoulder 4 Weeks

T Rosicky Hamstring Injury 6 Weeks

Chelsea 4

R Carvalho Hamstring Injury no date

A Deco Calf Muscle Strain no date

J Cole ACL Knee Injury 6 Months

M Essien ACL Knee Injury 7 Weeks

Sunderland 4

N Nosworthy Hamstring Injury 5 Weeks

G McCartney Ankle/Foot Injury 4 Weeks

C Gordon Ankle/Foot Injury 4 Weeks

D Ward Back Injury no date

Middlesbrough 3

J Walker Ankle/Foot Injury 5 Weeks

J Aliadiere Ankle/Foot Injury 5 Weeks

J Hoyte Knee Injury 2 Days

Portsmouth 3

J Thomas Back Injury no date

R Hughes Groin Strain no date

P Bouba Diop PCL Tear 2 Months

Stoke City 3

D Higginbotham Calf Muscle Strain no date

L Cort Groin Strain 1 day

M Sidibe Knee Injury 1 day

Aston Villa 2

M Laursen Knee Injury 8 Weeks

W Bouma Ankle/Foot Injury 5 Days

Blackburn Rovers 2

C Samba Eye Injury no date

S Reid Knee Injury 5 Months

Liverpool 2

D Agger Calf Muscle Strain no date

P Degen Metatarsal Fracture no date

West Ham United 2

D Ashton Os Trigonum Syndrome no date

D Gabbidon Groin/Pelvis Injury no date

Fulham 1

D Kamara Knee Injury 3 Weeks

Hull City 1

G Boateng MCL Knee Ligament Injury 3 Months

Wigan Athletic 0

i used to really enjoy reading james lawton but he's become a bit of a pompous wally in the past year or so. keane's stunk the place out this season both in terms of application and attitude, and the best defence lawton can make for him is that rafa's a big bully?

I would only say that it appears keane misses berba more than berba misses keane

and that's rubbish and irrelevant to this thread.

robbie keane's a senior experienced pro who has shown that he's not actually good enough for the very top level. he's been a huge disappointment and i don't expect him to be at the club next season. that we're joint top having carried him, been without torres and are still run off the pitch like a sunday school jumble sale is nothing short of incredible.

hilarious, a few injuries have ya had? nothing compared to chelsea or us...grasp away.

what are you talking about? i said that berbatov was irrelevant to a liverpool thread. are you trolling or just spamming?

actually it was in reference to keane as that was / is what is being discussed. The one thing you need to get your head around is the fact that if you are gonna hope for your team to play with the big boys, a little banter will naturally follow your team stevie. But I know that you are not used to it. Lighten up.

one guy that has quietly surprised is Pavelechenko (sp), I think he has 12 or 13 goals in 24 odd games.

i used to really enjoy reading james lawton but he's become a bit of a pompous wally in the past year or so. keane's stunk the place out this season both in terms of application and attitude, and the best defence lawton can make for him is that rafa's a big bully?

I would only say that it appears keane misses berba more than berba misses keane

and that's rubbish and irrelevant to this thread.

robbie keane's a senior experienced pro who has shown that he's not actually good enough for the very top level. he's been a huge disappointment and i don't expect him to be at the club next season. that we're joint top having carried him, been without torres and are still run off the pitch like a sunday school jumble sale is nothing short of incredible.

hilarious, a few injuries have ya had? nothing compared to chelsea or us...grasp away.

Sounds VERY good to me James... When you inviting me over for dinner???

I like my ribeye done medium rare... light butter on the spuds... but a generous dollop of sour cream... and a healthy dose of cracked black pepper...

Well JFC, I like the french butter for the spuds. But no seasoning on the steaks except freshly ground (cracked) peppercorn (tri-colour) and sea salt from france.

Another nice condiment is you take red, green and yellow bell peppers and slice em up thin but to remain the shape of pepper and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over top with a touch of paprika - mixed up gently in bowl and grill till slightly charred on both sides.

Needless to say, my Thai neighbors are either 1) pissed off at the smell of my bbq habits (grouper fillets, salmon steaks) or 2) are waiting to be invited over. Seeing as one of them is a general, I think he will get priority seating.