End of a Slightly Rubbish Era

And lo, it came to pass that the inscrutable Russian half-pint finally ends his distinctly odd Arsenal career. Having veered wildly from humiliating the Swedes, amongst others, in the 2008 Euros, and THOSE four goals against Liverpool, to standing on a pitch occasionally doing feck all and the rest of the time sitting on his arse in the reserves, the powers that be have decided not to renew his contract. There were many who'd assumed he'd already left an age ago, but no; he was apparently still employed by the Gunners. Farewell then, to a man who promised much and delivered....um...not sure really.
Also released, Sebastien Squillaci, another player many had thought gone already and, sadly, Sanchez Watt, hero of the iconic hit "I Waited and Waited and All I Got Was Sanchez Watt".
It remains to be seen whether anyone is going to finally take the not-so-great Dane Bendtner off our hands; one can only hope someone is daft enough. PSG, anyone?

Egg Plant Totally Skill Season 2013-2013 Is Over!!!!

WHAT A FINALE!!!! Many apologies for the delay in getting final results in; this was partly because one of our vidi-printer operators decided to feck off to cover the little watched Azorean League, and partly because of a fixture error that meant the final game, Sligo v Dundalk, only played last night.
But if you are going to drag out the tension, then this was the season to do it. All eyes were on the fight for second and after some very cagy performances over preceding weeks, Penny and Darren realised just how high the stakes were and finally went for broke. Both scored 10 points and Penny must have been sure this was enough to grab second but it was not to be. As it was, Ronan again emulated Manchester United by finishing the season with a whimper not a bang and seemed happy with 3 points. Enough to win the title but the final gap closed to just 4 points in our closest season close ever. That he again won the double by winning the Billy Bragg Cup (albeit it in a truely pathetic manner by all our competitors, it has to be said), makes him the most successful Egg Plant Totally Skiller of all time. Rumours that he is to retire during this close season are premature, however.
So many congratulations to Ronan for his historic double, to Darren for heroically avoiding the wooden spoon, and for Penny for turning up even for those rainy, cold midweek fixtures at Wigan.
All that remains to be played for is the least prestigeous of our Cups, the Contingency Cup 2013. Results to follow this Friday and dates for the season's official awards ceremony to be confirmed.

Egg Plant
2012-2013 Final Table

Ronan    375 pts
Darren    371 pts
Penny     368 pts

Unlikely Hero of the Week

The one and only Manuel Almunia (remember him?) now on loan to Watford. Leicester get a penalty in the Championship Play-off Semi Final 2nd leg which could put them on 2-2 with Watford. But after Almunia makes a double save, Watford head straight up the other end and score a third to finish the game 3-1. And all this from the man who allegedly once left training early to comfort his wife because she thought their house was haunted...

Week 39 Round Up

Well, basically, that's how Penny's feeling this Monday after a disastrous penultimate weekend. She has well and truely bottled it and scraped 1 point. ONE POINT!!!! darren has knocked her into third for the first time this season, but crucially at exactly the right time. His Christmas tree formation looks like it's going to pay off bigtime. Ronan decided to stop fannying about and finish in style but topping the week's scores with 6 to Darren's 4. At 11 points in the lead, it looks like after a disastrous start to the season, Ronan is going to retain his title. The battle for that second European place isn't over yet but it's going to be a big ask for Penny to pick herself up mentally for the big final weekend...

Week 39 Table

Ronan   372 pts
Darren  361 pts
Penny   358 pts

Week 38 Round Up

You thought it was tense last week? That was nothing, people. It's becoming a stumble to the finish for everyone and even a Totally Unskill distraction in the Billy Bragg Cup could shake things up as much as Darren and Penny might have hoped. Ronan's nerves seemed all over the place as he limped through the weekend with three single points. Penny kept her dream alive with an average 5, the Highland League getting her out of real trouble, but Darren was the week's big winner with 6 points that put him in joint second place with Penny. With Ronan's lead cut to 9 points and two weekends left, the title is ANYONE's! I'm back to watching from behind the sofa...

Week 38 Table

Ronan   366 pts
Darren   357 pts
Penny    357 pts

Week 37 Round Up

Well, this particular correspondent is going to be watching the remainder of the season through her fingers, or even from behind the sofa as it really has got unbearably tense. This week, Darren decided to channel Wigan and put in a barnstorming nine point performance to bring him within a point of Penny. Her season looks like it could well be going completely tits up as she mustered a shocking 3 single points; it was like having to live through the entire Arsenal-Everton game from the other week to be honest. Torture. There seems a distinct possibility she has let herself get distracted by thoughts of the Billy Bragg Milk Cup too early and could well pay the price. Ronan didn't exactly set the world alight with his five points but it was enough to bring his lead back to eleven. Is it now too late for the early season leaders to catch him? Or will Ronan do the league and cup double again? And will Jerome Flynn survive until the end of season 3 of Game of Thrones? (Sorry; felt Robson was getting far too much attention there for a while...)

Week 37 Table

Ronan    363 pts
Penny     352 pts
Darren    351 pts

Egg Plant Totally Skill Awards 2013

Nominations now welcome for some random Totally Skill awards. For me, man of the year has to be Edgar. What other player of his stature would decide the place to learn his new trade in management would be at relegation-threatened Barnet in League Two, and with no bells and whistles, nearly saving them from the drop to the Conference. Alas, his arrival in October was too late and Barnet were relegated yesterday, but what a dude. AND before the Barnet deal, he was managing a Sunday League team in London.
Team of the season can only be A!F!C! It proved a difficult second season in the League and they flirted with disaster, spending periods of the season rooted to the bottom of League 2, but came up trumps when it mattered, getting a 2-2 draw with champions elect Gillingham last week and, as our Dublin correspondent reported, beating Fleetwood Town yesterday to ensure survival. Next year hopefully there'll be less colly-wobbles and we can go onwards and upwards.

As to Plank of the Season, can't really think of many other candidates.... Although his performance as left-back in the first half against Arsenal a few weeks ago was a sight to behold.