The Spizz Forever blog wishes Happy New Year!!

I suppose I suffered from a troubled performance over the season. In some games I did not pass the half-way line while I also spent an inordinate time in goal. However, Spizz has been playing well and leading the attack. He has often been getting a brace of goals. Spizz has also been looking trimmer, which has made him more mobile. However, he is still partial to the odd Stella and is over the moon about the performance of his team Aston Villa.
Probably, the player of the year is Big Dave, who often displays a few of the "Dark Arts" of defending. He is also a good exponent of how to play the long-range shot, especially when I am in goal.
One of my New Year's resolutions is to shed a few pounds and play a more box-to-box game, which will increase my enjoyment of the match. This is sometimes negatively affected by my over-long stints in goal (and I am pretty rubbish in goal). I don't think Gashead will give me a vets discount for me being over 50 but I might try and cut down the expenditure in the pub afterwards.

Spizz hit the post with a long-range effort!

It happened while I was in goal. Spizz suddenly launched himself towards the ball and the result was a surprising shot, which hit the post. Usually, the pop star is quite close to the goal so that he can stroke the ball in. It was the sheer distance, which confused me.
Luckily, I ended up on the winning side. Big Dave and Boro Dave gave our team the edge although Big Dave, an expert in the black arts of defending, somehow crashed into the Somali lad Nani and said play on. Also, there was almost a bit of afters between Big Dave and his brother Steve.
As for any trips to foreign climes, it has gone a bit quiet at the moment. I think we have been credit crunched and Mick has been suffering from a hamstring problem, so we have missed his cultured play. Plus, Mick is the only sensible one among us to organise a trip. I think it was Germany. The collapse of sterling against the euro seems to have affected future sporting relations between our two great countries.

I missed last week and I am feeling stiff this week.

Last Friday I went to a quiz night and this week I am feeling a bit sore.
It is on my side and I don't know why it is tender. Hopefully, I will pass
the fitness test this Friday. I fancy linking up with Spizz up front since the young lad
specialises in leading the attack. I realise that in six-a-side terms this
is close to goal hanging.
Anyway, I hope to be more effective than recently when I have been really
hit by my lack of pace. I also need to get into the spaces, which hurt the
opposition, rather than trundle up and down the right. There has been a slight
tendency for some of the younger players not to pass to me. Hopefully, they
will pass to me in the end.

I did'nt spend too long in goal last Friday!!

We missed Spizz's silky skills last week but we got up to twelve. Kevin turned up after a long spell away and produced his typical powerhouse performance. Big Ian said he was getting slow and old but I am giving Kevin over 20 years.
I played a steady game as right back and the final score was 2-2. Alan said they had the stronger side but Big Sam also hit the post for us. We let in the equaliser right
at the end, which gave us no time to come back into it. For their side Tony played really well and Steve had a strong game.

I had a bit of a boring game last week.

For the past couple of weeks we have been struggling to get numbers.
Thankfully, we have been helped by a few ringers. However, the problem of playing with youngters is that they show you up without trying. For instance, Sam is a midfield dynamo. Nani and Mohammed have got that skill, which we have long forgotten, of keeping the ball down when shooting from long distance. So, we have to balance the sides between the old croaks and the young blades.

On Friday, the sides were fine tuned a couple of times and I ended up in goal for a long time. I could have come out but it is not really fair for the youngsters, who are helping us out, to go in goal. Hopefully, better luck this Friday.

Spizz could not make it but the last game he played I think he got three or four goals. He is a real goalmouth predator.

Spizzenergi is to play on Thursday, October 16th.

With special guests The Priscillas, Spizzenergi is play at Inn on the Green, 3-5 Thorpe Close, London, W10 5X. The date is Thursday, October 16th, from 7.30pm. Spizz is looking forward to the date. He has not been playing football recently due to a broken finger and a very sore foot, which left him with crutches. This followed an injury playing football in August. Spizz sent me an e-mail but I did not pick it up.

For the Friday night game itself my side was always struggling after we let Tony score from a long-range shot. Big Dave was solid in their defence and we just could not put any goals in. This was despite Steve's best efforts. We went down four-nil, which included an unlucky own goal. Maybe better luck next time. I did not play particularly well, so I am just looking forward to the next match.

Spizz missed out on last Friday's free-flowing game.

Last Friday we had a free-flowing game although my team went down 4-2. We had one goal disallowed although we thought it crossed the line. Unfortunately, Spizz was unable to play. They opened the scoring with a terrific goal from Tony. The opposition steadily moved up to take up a three-nil advantage. One of the goals was a terrific drive by Mick K. and we just could not make up any headwway up front. I was ploughing a lonely furrow down the right.
I think Boro Dave got one goal and then Big Sam scored a quick one after that. Then, we got pegged back to four-two. However, there was some controversy near the end. We suffer a bit from not playing with a referee and their side seemed to have three of them. Gashead Simon is nominally the ref and the decisions are statistically 60-40 rather than 50-50. I have offered to wear a black outfit next Friday with a whistle provided by Gashead.

Spizz is playing Brighton!!

Spizz has been keeping trim with some summer footie. I wish I was in the
loop!! Mind you the old boy is playing Brighton in November, which should be
a real hoot. He is also doing an art exhibition in Milan. I don't know how this
is helping his football, although he was a mean performer last season.

SPIZZENERGI + The DATES, Brighton Sat Nov 15 £10
PRINCE ALBERT 48 Trafalgar St, Brighton, BN1 4ED

http://www.myspace.com/theprincealbert
http://www.wegottickets.com/location/649

I can't make the start of the season!!

I can't make the start of the season tonight. I am absolutely gutted. I also can't
understand why Curbs walked the plank at West Ham. It is better to be in the
Premier League rather than playing pretty, passing football in the Championship. Apparently, it is going to go all Italian on us.
As for Spizz I hope he has kept to his fitness regime, which does include a few Stella Artois. His team Villa seems to be
building up a strong squad.
I wish I was playing tonight.

I have e-mailed Spizz for some personal info!!

I have e-mailed Spizz for some personal info since I only see him during the footie season. I said the opening sequence of his site looks good. (too crawly?) Anyway, one picture of Spizz from the old days shows the problem of tempus fugit. He does not look as svelte as that nowadays. However, Spizz has got back into shape and is playing quite well with the old football.
I am getting very limited feedback about the tour, which is pencilled in for locations such as Dortmund or Essen. Maybe not very salabrious places but apparently
Mick, who is one of the few players of our lot who can actually play, can get a team mad enough to play us. No need to worry the FX brokers yet about our euros requirement just yet.

No news about the football tour yet!!

No news about the football tour yet although it is dastardly how Liverpool are playing fast and loose with Spizz's team Aston Villa. After saying they have not got
the dough for Gareth Barry, Liverpool made a very rich bid of £19m for Robbie Keane.
The bid was sown up very quickly. I don't think Spurs could believe their luck. The
next job is to sign off the sale of Berbatov to Man United. If the Bulgarian does not
want to play for you then you might as well take the money. I think the player is a bit of a petulant prima donna but Berbatov can make and score goals. When the
flicks come off he is a joy to watch.

I am bored by the Ronaldo affair!!

I am getting bored by the Ronaldo. Obviously,
I prefer the Portuguese star diving for the Reds rather than for Real Madrid, but
great players like Best, Charlton, Law and Cantona left and the club continued.
Ronaldo's season last year was a stunning achievement and gained Manchester United the Premiership and the
Champions League. Even if Ronaldo was staying, this would be difficult to repeat.
Gallas would not be the captain of Arsenal while Chelsea would not throw away so many games.
As for Spizz's team, Aston Villa, the Barry affair is embarrassing all round.
I don't know why he wants to go to Liverpool and get rotated. Benitez seems to need
a massive squad while he should pick his best eleven players. Apparently, Arsenal are interested in Barry as well.

Mid-season training: what a joke!!

I was perusing my gut this morning and I think it needs some serious mid-season training. Spizz has been doing well toning his body, although he still likes to quaff a few Stellas. His mate Mick K. has quite a likening for Paulaners. Foreign muck if you ask me. Me and Spizz are just good friends despite the rumours!! Although I had the pleasure of seeing him naked in the showers a few times. Obviously, he was surrounded by chaperones.

I have got a good personal trainer but it was working out at £150 a month and I did not think he was sculpting my body so I stopped it. I am going to Spain for the hols in August and it is usually a complete debacle, food and drink wise. So I must get into some shape pronto. Did you, dear Reader, like how I introduced a Spanish word into the text?

It looks like an injured Ronaldo will not be going to Real Madrid for £80m quid, which is probably a shame after all the hype. I suppose I can handle seeing the Portuguese superstar diving for Man Utd.

Arsenal Simon, the one and only!!

I thought I would devote this blog to profiling Arsenal Simon. We also have another
Simon playing with us, who actually arranges the booking on Friday nights and who I call for the purpose of the blog Gashead Simon, because he is a Gashead (Rovers!!).
Apparently, the Cheltenham groundshare has collapsed and it is back to Bristle.

At the last pub meet before our midsummer meet, Arsenal Simon seemed slightly perplexed that I wrote a blog about the Friday night game and about the performance
(football wise) of Mr Spizz. So I thought
I would share my thoughts about Arsenal Simon with all my readers. I know you are out there because the Google report shows some hits.

The very positive atributes:
1) Arsenal Simon is prepared to buy you a drink in the pub when the round system has collapsed/or you have run out of money. So he is a true gentleman.
2) Arsenal Simon plays the game how it should be played. Triangles, push and move are not alien to him unlike the other bastards. OK, he passes even to me, even though
I am well-known for falling over or for passing it back to the opposition.
3) Arsenal Simon wears an away kit of those money grubbing crew, which I can just about tolerate, rather than the home kit. This is since I am a part time Spurs supporter, even though I might have a mindset of just remembering Pat Jennings,
Sol Campbell (why did they go to Arsenal?)
4) I have never seen Arsenal Simon foul anybody. This is unlike some who specialise in the black arts (step forward Big Dave and Boro Dave!!)

The very negative attributes
1) Arsenal Simon should score more goals. He hits the post alot. I think he has watched the Gunners too many times. At our level you don't have to place the ball an inch inside the post. You can poke it towards the goalie, who percentage wise is likely to either miss the ball completely or help it on its way. Especially, if I am
in goal. One of my unforced errors led to Boro Dave, letting loose some invective.
Big Dave said during the post-mortem in the pub aftewards it was the moment when our
team imploded.
2)I would be happier if Arsenal Simon did not wear the away shirt (which looks two or three years old). Obviously, that is a personal opinion.
Changing the subject Spizz was very pleased about his Milan trip while his mate Mick K, (they are both Aston Villa fans) says we could get a game. So the foreign footie tour might be back on!!

Sorry I got the wrong link for Aston Villa on last story.

Sorry I got the wrong link for Aston Villa on the last story and it is
www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Welcome. The latest news from the Birmingham-based club is that O'Neill has admitted it is being hard to bolster the team. It is a shame that Barry wants to go to Liverpool as it makes it more difficult for teams to challenge for the top four places.
Last week I was on the losing side again going down 3-2 but Spizz got a nice goal. In the pub the old rocker was looking forward to another Milan trip. He has been commissioned to produce some art work from a Milanese client, who had seen Spizz Energi in the
1980s.
I had declared a boycott on watching any of the Euro games but this was broken in the pub when we watched the Dutch against the French. I shudder to think what the Dutch would do to our lads, so we are probably best out of it.
On the 3-2 drubbing, Big Sam got our two goals including a rare penalty, which sent Spizz the wrong way. Usually, penalties are not given but when they are, they can often be missed.

Last Friday saw Mick K. at his very best.

Last Friday saw Mick K. at his very best as he marshalled the defence during a three-one win. Amazingly I was on the winning side. Mick made sure that I did not stray too far from a focussed right back role. He also ensured that his fellow Aston Villa mate Spizz did not get a sniff in front of goal.
We were thirteen so to make the numbers up Gashead Simon invited one of the lads watching the game to play. Luckily, the Somali lad played for us and had incredible balance. He slotted in two of our three goals and managed to ride a sliding tackle from Big Sam, where amazingly everyone agreed that it was a foul.
So on side A we had me, Mick K., the Somali lad, Tony, Gashead Simon, Steve and Ian. They had James, Russ, Big Dave, Big Sam, Boro Dave, Spizz and Jeff. Our third goal was scored by Ian,
who always makes me ponder the fine line between leading the attack and goalhanging.
Last Friday Ian had a fine game and nearly scored another goal. Gashead Simon had a subdued match.
However, at least I was on the winning side for once, which galvanises my OPTA ranking.

Just going for lunch but will be back soon!!

Spizz has even given me some code to add to the blog, so we will see what happens!

Last Friday we lost four-two!!

Last Friday, we lost four-two on a six-a-side basis. Team A was Gashead, Big Dave, Simon the
Arsenal fan, Big Sam, another Sam, who helped us out and Andy. Team B was the Guvnor, Boro Dave, medium sized Ian, James, Joe and Ross. I let in a soft goal from Big Sam, who completed a
hat trick in 12 minutes. We did not have much of a defence and were a bit unlucky in front of
goal when Boro Dave hit the bar.
In the post-match analysis at the pub, Big Dave noted that the
key moment in the game was when we imploded. Unfortunately, the Guvnor let himself down and had a spat with Boro Dave about tactics.
Spizz was otherwise engaged preparing for the Milan gig while Mick could not play because something turned up. Next Saturday, May 24th, Spizz is playing at Filthy's. By then I should know the result of the Chelsea-Man Utd game in Moscow. I suppose it will be like the Community Shield game and will go to penalties.

We are thinking of collating OPTA results for the games.

We are considering that we should move to a collation of OPTA data for the matches played on Friday night. Spizz made the saner suggestion that we should just keep a list of the various teams and see who plays more on the winning side than not. So here goes, last Friday we had five a side and team A won 2-1 with Gashead, Andy, Sam, Ian and Mick. On team B was the Guvnor, Spizz,
Tony (after a five year lay-off according to him), Steve and Big Dave. It was a very
tight game.

Spizz is playing Milan this weekend, I think. It's the group's first continental gig for some time and is delayed from last time following problems with licences. I hope it goes well.

Spizz told me to highlight a new web address!!

On Friday, Spizz told me to highlight a new web address www.spizz.eu which he has. The old
rocker still has www.spizzenergi.com as well. Somehow he got to reminiscing about the Clash,
who he put up posters for. Spizz and young Simon started to swap notes about the Mescaleros
as well. I was a bit out of the loop since I have only got two or three albums, although I
really like "London Calling".
Both Spizz and young Simon discussed the impending demise of the Astoria and the dearth
of live venues in central London. I remember going to the Astoria once and thought it was a
great concert although I can't remember the band. Crossrail is going to cost so much money
adding in a few bob to build a new concert hall does not seem much.

Sorry guys I missed out on last Friday!!

Sorry guys I missed out on last Friday!! I wanted to talk to Spizz and
find out how the Italian gig went. Talking European, I am looking forward
to the footie games. I have got a sneaky feeling that Roma might glide past
Man Utd but there is a chance that Totti might be injured. It is bad luck
that Arsenal have to face Liverpool because the Scousers (all two of them)
have the European pedigree.

Apologies for delayed post!!

Sorry for the delayed post. Spizz has been very busy. I think the band went to Milan for a gig and he has'nt been playing football recently. We miss his weaving runs and spectacular performances in goal. As for my overall play, I could do better. I am getting very slow and
I need to do more speedwork in the gym.

I thought Spurs did well to get back into the game last night with Chelsea. Mr Grant is probably looking for another job. Taking off Joe Cole did not seem a bright thing to do. It looks like a
two horse race for the Championship between Man Utd and Arsenal, although both have to
go to Stamford Bridge.

We won an amazing 2-0 last Friday.

We won an amazing 2-0 last Friday. Spizz could'nt play but fellow Aston Villa fan Mick did, playing a sterling role at the back. However, Mick was on the losing side courtesy of a couple of
goals from Charlie and some defensive organisation carried out by Big Dave. I played (albeit slowly) on the right. I think I am just playing out the last few games of my career since the
pace has completely gone. I suppose I just have to wait and see.

We won four-three on Friday although there was a disputed goal.

There was a disputed goal when the opposition stopped for a possible handball and we played on.
We eventually won four three, which included quite a soft goal. There was still argument in the pub afterwards about the disputed goal. When this died down, Spizz outlined his lack of religious beliefs. He examined all the religions and even went to a Buddhist ceremony, which he enjoyed but did not alter the belief that when we have gone then that is it.

The football tour might go to Duesseldorf (Germany) instead. However, there was a lukewarm reception to this idea. I suppose we don't want to be whipped by foreign opposition!!

Spizz has asked me to concentrate on green issues.

Spizz has asked me to concentrate on green issues from an atheistic point of view. This is response to a missive I sent him moaning about the lack of hits this blog is getting. I have not
heart to tell Spizz that I am a practising Catholic and as for green issues, the main differences
will or will not be made in the United States, Russia, Brazil, India and China. Some Chinese cities
are already choking on their pollution and considering that the Amazon rainforest is disappearing at a rate of knots and there is not a lot I can do about it. However, here goes.

As many UK electricity consumers should switch to Ecotricity, which claims that it invests more
in green electricity that all the other electricity companies put together.

On the atheistic side I have to read Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion" but I am going to get a copy. I suppose I am agnostic about Fabio Capello but at least his side beat the mighty Swiss last night. I thought it was a neat goal by Jermaine Jenas, which helped calm the nerves. Capello is a
pretty tough customer.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/06/sports/EU-SPT-SOC-England-Capello.php

I think Spizz scored a hat trick last Friday!!

On Friday night we tasted bitter defeat as Spizz swept through for a hat trick. He seemed to exploit holes in our defence. I played quite well on the right although I was the victim of some non-passing. We lost five-three and that included two own goals, one conceded by our goalkeeper. I thought we were going to win because we were playing some decent football.

Sorry to get it wrong for readers, but Spizz told me later that he only got two goals. We still lost
though.

Everton's Moyes proposes break for Africa Cup.

I don't why Moyes has proposed a Premier League break for the Africa Cup. A sign of respect?
Old-fashioned virtues such as respect don't really exist in modern-day football. Or are managers
miffed about losing players? I have'nt seen Avram Grant complain about losing Drogba, Mikel and Essien (very fine players), Chelsea have just gone on with it.

As for Spizz's poor old team, Aston Villa, it doesn't look good losing their commercial manager
after 13 months.

I am blowing hot and cold on the foreign footie tour.

I am blowing hot and cold on the foreign footie tour but we will see how we will go.
I do fancy going to Gibraltar or Tenerife but I don't think get much approval on the home front.
Obviously, we would need Spizz's leadership up front. There is also a lot of faffing about organising a tour.

I am looking forward to Spizz's warm-up gig!

I am looking forward to Spizz's warm-up gig before the gang makes a triumphal appearance in Milan in March. He says this is the first continental concert since Germany in the 1980s. Spizz
is also talking about the possibility of some U.S dates.

Perhaps more importantly Spizz says he gave the mince pies at Christmas and has a more svelte
figure. This seems to have coincided with some improved football performances. On Friday night
he got a poacher's goal by teasing the ball into the net when the goalie tried to throw it out.
It was'nt quite George Best v Gordon Banks but it was pretty close.