The Respect Bobby Zamora Campaign

The Fulham fans (the ones that blog, evil lot they are) might not appreciate him but there is no denying Bobby Zamora is the real deal. He's the original Carlton Cole prototype. Clumsy? Sure, but undeniable and unplayable also. The clumsy stuff, that disguises the skill and intent. But unlike Cole, he's also got another devastating ingredient. Anger. A ton of anger. Plenty of fiery in your face have some of that anger. Bob has been inspiring for Fulham, taking himself to the next level of strikership. His goals are created purely from his presence in and around the box as though he wills the ball into an area where he can simply smack it in. He's practically telepathic. Brilliant player, has to travel to South Africa with England and without a doubt the most naturally gifted English forward from England currently playing in England.

The only way for Dawson and Bassong to stop this man is to shot him in the arse with a tranquilliser gun then drop a piano on him then dig a hole 100 feet deep and push him in and bury him in cement and then have Tony Soprano and his mob to crack open the cement, remove the body and then whack him with two bullets in the back of the head, dismember him into fifty different parts mailing them to fifty different countries around the world with instructions to boil the parts and then feed the soup to pigs. Wait for the pigs to digest the soup, slaughter the pigs and then turn them into bacon and serve the bacon as part of an all-English breakfast, with eggs beans, all that stuff, you know the drill, to Only Fools and Horses loving ex-pats who then go out on a bender and vomit their breakfast out into whatever street they're standing in and then let the rain wash it away into the drains where the rats then feed on the remaining chunks.

That won't stop Bob scoring a brace, but he'll probably fall short of notching up a hat-trick. Probably. Not guaranteed. It's Zamora. Who am I kidding? He'll endeavour and he'll come through the other side, letting you - yes you the ones who bemoan him behind the goal - exactly what he thinks. When you sit in row Z and the ball hits your head it's Zamora, and he meant it, because he was aiming for you, you mouthy over-critical Fulham blogging gits.

Respect him. Applaud him. The Z Man is back.


Fulham v Spurs match preview on its way (tomorrow probably).

Berbatov: Worth a cheeky bid?

Something tells me Utd fans aren’t happy (praise from Reds fans over at Redcafe.net):

"Veron mark II. That is all"

"Lazy, unprofessional, infuriating"

"Didnt think he would bottle it to be honest. Too cool for his own good"

 "Hey, Howard! Don't cheat! You're not meant to move for the ball"

"Frustrating, I saw alot of determination from Rafael, Fabio, Gibson, Welbeck and Macheda and then Berbatov shows nothing"

"Can someone print his pass completion rate and his ground covered compared to other players. I'm sure another lesson in how great berbatov appears to be for us on paper would go a long distance to making us feel better about his pathetic contribution when we needed him today"

"Summed up everything about him in two seconds"

"Possibly the worst penalty I've ever seen"

"How can you take such a lazy, nonchalant penalty at a time of such importance"

"If Howard went the wrong way then he could have probably got up gone and collected the ball considering how crap the shot was"

"Wish we had never bought him"

£15M should do the trick then.

You can't blame a player for wanting to better himself by moving from a team stuck in the stasis of transition to one that wins silverware season in, season out. And more importantly, one that plays Champions League football - as a player with ambition would inherently lust for the centre stage of European football. But the fact is that not all players make that cross-over from being a key player at a smaller club and just another superstar at a bigger one.

We all know Dimitar well. We all know he has great vision and effortless ability. His swagger is sometimes deceptive and often mistaken for being lazy. At Spurs he was mostly sublime and it was almost forgivable when he was a little slow to get stuck in. At United he hasn't quite made the grade because the expectation from fans and manager alike is that every player - no matter their squad status - pulls the same amount of weight. I guess it's the reason why they are successful and we still struggle to be.

This isn't just about the penalty miss. It's his overall (lack of) effort that has made him the £30M bane of Old Trafford.

So was it worth it Dimi in the end? Your dream move? Maybe he's better suited for Serie A. Or maybe he'll suddenly come to life and lead Utd to a domestic league and Champions League double, and all the abuse will be replaced by 'Cantona Mk II' plaudits.

Guess there's nothing more to say here. Happy to have Modric in our side as the new creative spark of WHL, and as far as I know he doesn't have a squirrel fetish - so we can rest easy for now.

Terry Dixon in astonishing comeback

Remember Terry Dixon? Very highly rated youngster on the books at Spurs a few years back who without making a league appearance (or a reserve one at that), managed to win a call-up to the Republic of Ireland squad for a friendly match against Russia back in 2006. Dixon (probably because of his physical stature and shaved head) was being touted as the Irish Wayne Rooney. Superficial comparisons aside, the kid was a precocious talent and in fact had plenty in common with Rooney. Those who witnessed him in full flight saw a strong, confident young lad with bundles of skill. Irish Rooney? Perhaps. Way ahead in terms of ability of all the other 16 year old players at the time. Which is probably why Ireland took a cheeky look at him.

But, alas, we never got to see him beyond the academy team.

The club released him back in March 2008 (cancelling his contract) due a couple of very serious knee injuries (he managed to repeatedly dislocate his right knee). Once is bad enough, twice is pretty devastating. Several operations and failed comebacks meant Dixon was let go. The suggestion (according to medical staff) was he'd never be able to play top flight football, at least at the competitive level required to make the grade in a first team squad in the Premier League. Which is why he's signed for West Ham.

Sorry, that joke would have worked better if we were ABOVE the Hammers.

In all seriousness, I'm chuffed to bits he is back at a professional level. Shocked, but chuffed. This is a young lad who's dream was retired after almost an age was spent attempting to get him fit and primed for a fulfilling career. Seems a stint in Belgium with a knee-specialist along with further rehabilitation at West Ham has worked a treat. Obviously. Otherwise why would West Ham sign him on a three year contract?

Prodigy (not Carr, he's just a git)

Two years out with a serious injury at a critical stage of his development along with disciplinary issues (mostly off the field) along with the fact that Spurs were amazingly patient for a very lengthy time, working to get him back to fitness - makes it an astonishing comeback. Its a bit unexpected.

I wish him all the best at West Ham and hope he makes a full recovery, as unbelievable as it might have seemed had we discussed the possibility 5 months back. Even if he scores a cracker against us, I'd applaud (quietly in my mind).

If he doesn't make the grade at West Ham, I hope he makes it somewhere else. The lad obviously has a never say die attitude and wants football in his life, regardless of the odds stacked against him.