On the brink of the title, looking back.

My affair with Chelsea began when I watched a little man who went by the name of Gianfranco Zola, a man famously described as a “clever little so-and-so”. It was either his intelligence on the pitch or his five foot five tall  stature. I’m not quite  sure. But I was infatuated at first sight.

But, what started out as an off and on thing, with me catching a couple of games now and then, heck I couldn’t name most clubs in the league in those days, turned into a more serious relationship, not with the arrival of Mourinho, but rather ironically, with the arrival of some very annoying United fans to my high school. If you’ve had the chance to read almost any football site that allows comments, you’ll know the type I’m talking about. Now, and no offence to United fans, I know a few good eggs myself, these were the type who turned up all, “Glory, Glory, Man United” after a victory, but could not name United’s starting eleven in the after math, and even worse, could not recognize a good footballing argument if it drove by in an open top Cadillac XLR and shot them in the head. So, Chelsea it was, and with quite a lot of fan fare at that. In hind sight, it seems silly to base almost my entire life as a football fan on something so petty, but everyone has a story, and this is mine. And I was in high school, so don’t judge me.

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Back from Bolton, off to Munich

Me used to be a angry young man
Me hiding me head in the sand
You gave me the word, I finally heard
I’m doing the best that I can

– Nani and Berba a la Lennon (John, not Aaron) and McCartney

Nani and Berba are simply like that Beatles song… Getting Better.

– Wiper, Canadian football pundit. And unwitting source of opening quote

Van der Sar: Making the contract extension count

 After Chelsea unexpectedly decimated Villa and Arsenal expectedly drew at Birmingham, the onus was right back on United going into Saturday’s away fixture at Bolton, one of the trickier ones in the run-in, and the first in a three-game week involving them, Bayern and Chelsea.

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B is for Bermuda(s)!

Lighter’s Note: This post has nothing to do with Ashley Cole’s private life. Not unless he has been involved with someone from the Bermudan women’s cricket team. However, given recent news reports, this remains a distinct possibility.

Ladies (and the obligatory gentlemen), we at BigFourZa are big fans of women’s sport in general and women in particular. The classes we’ve missed to watch women’s beach volleyball and figure skating alone would constitute an entire semester at most centers of learning. And so, we spent a long time contemplating what the least offensive way of writing this post would be. However, since we were unable to stop giggling like school girls, without any further ado, we bring you this.

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Just a Little Bit Special

Lighter’s Note: First of, referring to myself in the third person is massively weird. Second, BigFourZa is proud to present its first ever post that’s been distilled from 86% all-natural Mourinho extracts.

“That strapping young man’s a football coach? Blimey, I could have knighted him, if you know what I mean.”

– Queen Victoria, the 342^nd. Famous last words.

“Bitch, please.”

– Queen Victoria, the 343^rd. Clearly not a Blue’s Fan.

Jose Mario dos Santos Felix Mourinho. Mr. Mourinho to the squad, Jose to his friends, Felix to the cats back home and JMDSFM to the obsessive compulsive internet acronym fan (OCIAF), this week Chelsea meet Inter-Milan, a team managed by a man who, and I speak for all Chelsea fans, holds a special place in my heart. The Chelsea tractor has hit a sort of cabbage patch playing away from home and there is no one more capable of derailing the Chelsea Cabbage Train than this man.

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Barclays Fan of India: Redux

There are only 1411 tigers left in India. And one Tiger trying very hard to increase that number.

– Carlton Palmer, Footballing Pundit

Why is this here?

– Confused BigFourZa reader.

Answer: To ensure some of our new readers don’t take our Carlton Palmer quotes to be real, and slag us off for quoting Carlton Palmer, of all people! That is the point, see?

For sure, what has happened to Tiger in full glare of public view is deeply embarrassing to deal with, especially for a man of his standing. But it cannot compare to the utter let-down, coupled with a deep sense of embarrassment that most of us visitors on this blog have been feeling (and conveyed as well) on watching this.

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