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Up From The Back will not only be bringing you the best new music but we'll also be bringing you world class football chat, with the bands themselves. Basically it's radio for men. Music and football, what more do you want???
West Ham: Forever blowing bubbles... and throwing stones from their big glass house.
From 7th April 2010
If you were convicted of fly tipping, would you then call the rozzers every time you saw a child drop an empty crisp packet, and then demand that child should be punished by death? I only ask because if you're a member of the West Ham board you probably would.
West Ham, unbelievably, have reported Fulham to the Premier League for fielding a weakened side at Hull a couple of weeks ago. Their petulant, arrogant attitude is really starting to hack me off. This is a crying shame because I use to be fond of the Hammers. I love Zola as a manager and really admired the way he got them playing last season, despite the disruptions of the Icelandic clowns in the board room. He's the first manager to get Carlton Cole firing and has developed the likes of Mark Noble, James Tomkins and Jack Collison into fine young footballers. Scott Parker returned to the wonderful player he was at Charlton all those years ago and the future was looking bright at Upton Park.
And then... exit the clowns, enter the full blown, big tent, circus. Gold and Sullivan didn't so much walk into the club, they crashed through the roof and sent everything around them tumbling down. First up was the "everyone here is s**t" speech, then came the call for players to accept pay cuts of up to 25% (which is illegal by the way). The players then had to suffer the indignity of seeing Benni "workhorse" McCarthy and lard arse Mido join, after being called s**t only days earlier. Sullivan was very keen to stress that Mido is only on a grand a week and was quoted, and this genuinely true, with saying "This is one of the most amazing deals of all time!!!" That's like buying a Razorlight album for 17p and playing it on repeat, even though you know, you will develop ear cancer as a punishment for listening to such drivel. Mido is cheap for a reason Mr Sullivan. If you just wanted a fat bloke for a grand a week, Barry from Eastenders isn't doing much now-a-days, why not draft him in, at least he'll act like he cares.
Anyway, did they stop there, no, no, no. The dreaded vote of confidence for Zola was announced from Gold. Sullivan then announced that if they were to get relegated it would be Armageddon (a bit of an overreaction that one, I may be wrong, but I doubt the demise of all mankind will be caused solely by West Ham going down. Again). Just when you thought they couldn't cock it up anymore, they then try to cancel the contracts of Kieran Dyer and Callum Davenport (he who is just beginning his recovery from being knifed in the leg by a psycho).
If there's one man you want around when the chips are down its David Sullivan, his one man crusade for tit of the decade continued. After the defeat to Wolves he called West Ham players "Fat, lazy and useless".
All this was annoying/amusing, but the straw that broke this particular camel's back, was the attack on Fulham. What right does a porn mogul have to suggest that Roy Hodgson is picking a weakened team? I doubt a respectable man like Woy would ever contemplate advising this vile slug on his dildo selection. Although I bet I know where he'd like him to stick it.
By Shaun Owen
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The opinions of this article aren't necessarily those of KICFM
It's like nothing ever happened (when will the Toon Army ever learn)
From 7th April 2010
So the "Toon" has made an immediate return to the Premier League, well done. Who would have thought that? I mean they only went down with one of the most talented squads that have fallen through the trapdoor and their wage bill is still more expensive than our national debt. Many predicted the Geordies were about to do a "Leeds".
Let's get the facts right, that was never going to happen. When Leeds dropped, no player stayed aboard that sinking ship, Alan Smith, Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka et al, all ran like rats. All the second rate loan players that Peter Reid bought in crawled back to reserve team football, and Leeds were left with a few kids and has-beens.
Newcastle on the other hand lost Michael Owen and his 120 grand a week, Sebastian Bassong, who they somehow managed to get 8 million quid for from Tottenham (I can only assume this deal happened due to Harry Redknapp's worrying fetish for overpriced French centre backs). Added to this they also lost Fatty Viduka (when he left, he had the movement of a tortoise pushing John McCririck in a wheelbarrow) that alone must have saved them several thousands of pounds a week in canteen costs. Oba Martins who must be at least 54 despite his insistence on being in his early twenty's, left for Wolfsburg for another five million.
This business was a blessing, without relegation these overpriced donkeys would still be there. They still had the nucleus of a mid table Premier League side. Kevin Nolan has recaptured the form that had him knocking on the door of the national side (his words not mine- I know he's a bit crap really). The two Argies will probably go to the World Cup. Ryan Taylor would get a game at most bottom ten Premier League teams and so would Joey Barton, Andy Carroll, Steven Taylor, Steve Harper, Nicky Butt and Jose Enrique.
The fact is they were probably too good to go down, but they did so because in-between hiring messiahs instead of managers, they appointed Joe Kinnear. Who was neither messiah nor manager, just a strange man in a tracksuit who looked like a cat lady and swore a fair bit. This year Mike Ashley has got it right, he's given Chris Houghton time and backed him properly and prudently. No silly transfer fees, no silly wages. Dare I say that Mike Ashley might actually know how to run a football club now? He's learned the hard way, but he's got it spot on this season. All last season the poor bloke had fans twisting his balls about appointing "Wor" Shearer and he caved in. It appears his biggest mistake was assembling a boardroom full of southerners, and that kind of thing doesn't go down too well up there. No doubt they would have preferred Jimmy Nail and Sting on the board.
Their fans have an obsession with appointing "one of their own", and until they get over that the club cannot move forward. Football is a continental game now and their supporters should not be blinkered into thinking locally. Granted Keegan had an affiliation with the club before he took charge, and he did a good job, but that was achieved off the back of splashing a serious amount of cash. They still won nothing. Bobby Robson did a fantastic job but that was because he was a fantastic man and a world class manager.
What is beginning to worry me is watching the reaction of the Toon Army after Monday's promotion. Nearly every fan on the phone-ins and on Sky Sports News is already talking about how much money they need to spend. Have they not learnt their lesson! If Mike Ashley doesn't throw money into the fire again, the fans will be on his back before the season starts and we come full circle again. Ashley should stick to his guns.
Wolves haven't broken the bank and it looks like they're staying up, the same applies to Birmingham City. You don't NEED to throw cash around to stay in the Premier League, the right management and a good spirit around the football club is enough; just ask a Stoke fan, or a Blackburn fan, or a Fulham fan. This will come if the fans remain patient and let Houghton and Ashley build the club properly. We all know you're a big club, with fantastic support, blardy blardy blarh, but so are Leeds, so are Forest, so are Sheffield Wednesday. Don't feel so hard done by all the time, because you've only got yourselves to blame if it all goes wrong again.
By Shaun Owen
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The opinions of this article aren't necessarily those of KICFM
A weeks a long time in football! What we did last week [16/03/10]
From 25th March 2010
Up From The Back won't only be bringing you the best new music but we will also be bringing you world class football chat, with the bands themselves. Basically it's radio for men. Music and football, what more do you want??? If you missed last week's show, hang your head in shame, because you missed Exit Calm manager John Dawkin's talking everything from new music to Cov legend Brian Kilcline's suspected gypsy lifestyle. We also had an exclusive first radio airing of "Hearts and Minds", Exit Calms excellent new single. Did the show stop there? No it didn't. We also gave the first airing of "Dancing Feet" by the Rebellious Jukebox, which was bloody good too! As for footy chat, we were blessed with views of Wednesday fan Jon Turner, who talked 30 yard screamers and sausage sandwiches. Other discussion points on the show included: Does Dave Whelan (Wigan Chairman) name everything after himself, does he for example eat a Dave Whelan dinner? Does he plant Dave Whelan Daffs in his Dave Whelan lady garden? Should AC Milan now do the decent thing and send their squad to a care home, where Paolo Maldini is waiting for them with a magic sponge and tear in his eye? Is Roberto Mancini Man City's canary down the mine? On this week's show we will be talking all things Blades with Carl from the Rebellious Jukebox as well asking the important questions in life, such as: Will Phil Brown now set up the sun bed empire he has always dreamed of now he has more time on his hands? If Scottish football was a pop star, would it be Chico? All this and much, much more. Friday 3.00 pm. Anyway, if you would like to join us on the show next week, drop us a message, let us know what team you support and send us a track to play. Music and football isn't it wonderful!!!!! To Find Out More: http://upfromtheback.wordpress.com/
