Wouldn't say "Eboue" to a goose

It was horrible watching Emmanuel Eboue get jeered so venomously on Saturday, save the vitriol for shouting at the opposition please. It would be good if these 'fans' could channel some of their passion into creating a decent atmosphere at the Emirates instead of barracking one of our own players. Poor ol' Eboue, I know just how he feels. Once, at primary school (think I was about 7 or 8), we were kicking a ball around in the playground and I happened to launch a howitzer straight at Sarah Rees, who toppled over like any other 6 year old would have after being struck in the knees by a Frans Thijssen unburstable ball at high speed. Unfortunately, said girl cried and the playground monitor (a ginger woman who also doubled up as a dinner lady) decided that the ball should be confiscated. Cheers for that, love, I obviously got the blame, which meant a baying mob of kids surrounding me continuously shouting "Can't control a ball" (this scene still haunts me today), with only my dear sister defending me. I couldn't really get a word in edgeways with the gathered throng's unrelenting chanting drowning out my cries of "technically my control was perfect, the girl just ran across the path of the ball as it was headed towards Mathew Bull". This was one occasion when the bell saved me from more chanting, thankfully the prospect of an afternoon on the BBC micro meant that everyone had forgotten the incident by teatime, except me, who is kept awake every night by that relentless chant...

Lovely weekend with Kris and Ange, my God did my liver take a battering, the recycle bin was emptied on Thursday but full of empty booze bottles by Saturday morning. Conversation inevitably turned to the Boxing Day encounter; when asked if Vintage Garage XI would adopt a physical approach to the game, the elder Hasler brother sneered: "We'll play to our strengths". Vintage's captain is still bitter about having to work on the Saturday morning, denying him valuable time with the rest of his squad at the team hotel on the morning of the game. Mocha Juniors brushed aside the alleged inconvenience, with committed midfielder Richard "Killer" Fitzsimmons hollering "I couldn't give a rat's @rse what that bunch get up to before the match. We're concentrating on our own game; our mantra is "No defeat. No surrender"; let's see how they like them apples.". A gangster rapper in his spare time, Killer usuually does his talking on the stage, not the football pitch. However, he was kind enough to give Funk Pie access to some exclusive footage of his latest freestyle battle, filmed in the projects, near Hinxworth; you can see the vid at the bottom of this post

Nearly as exciting as the Boxing Day match is the upcoming Barca-Real Madrid game this weekend, although Barca look certainties, with good ol' Thierry grabbing a hat-trick against Valencia at the Camp Nou. Even the Madrid coach looks to have given up already; Schuster said "winning at the Camp Nou is impossible. Barcelona are flattening everyone. It's their year. The state we're in, all we can do is put in a decent performance. We can't ask for more." well confidence will be soaring through the Madrid players' veins now, won't it? Expect those white hankies to be waved with gusto during the next game at Santiago Bernabeu. *OK, it's now the evening and they've gone and sacked him.

Had a rare trip to the cinema to finally watch 'Quantum of Solace', or 'Something of Wotsit as Adam & Joe put it. Not bad, but inferior to Casino Royale. Interesting to see where Bond will go next, as at the moment, he's seems to be turning into Jack Bauer. There are 4 Bond stories left to turn into films, these include Risico and The Hildebrand Rarity.

Best of luck to El Wristo starring Dave Boardman, who are in this years Battle of the Band Final at Moles (remember when we won that, la?) this Wednesday evening.

Finally, a big shout out to Marcus who finally hands in his last price of work for his Music Therapy course this week, after 3 years of real hard yakka. Good on you, dude, be good to see more of you from now on.