…sorry…? He’s what… Landon…? I’ve been calling him Brandon all this time and nobody said.
Well no wonder he didn’t respond to my tweat.

As you’ve probably seen reported last week (yes yes I am a bit slow to react) young Bran…Landon there made some remarks which appeared in a book in which he accused Derek of being “unprofessional” amongst other things.

This little outburst began in part when the LA Galaxy team were on the road – Beckham’s first away game – and they all went to a restaurant a day before the match. At the end of the meal and because of who he was and how much he was earning, the others were looking, nay expecting old Goldenballs to pick up the tab. But he didn’t.

This apparently was the last straw for Jason Donovan who a few weeks before was the star player in the Galaxy and captain to boot. But then he arrived and in one fell swoop was suddenly shoved out of the spotlight and lost the captains armband to boot.

Then even with Derek in the ranks, they had a disappointing season which AEG and the naïve Alexi Lalas (LA Galaxy’s GM) decided to try an instant fix by throwing money at it in the form of Ruud Gullit (who we all remember for his spectacular time managing Newcastle. Suffice to say it was a unmitigated disaster and eventually both Lalas and Gullit were shown the door.
Viewing all of this and frustrated by the lower quality and very short MLS season in America. Plus with the fear of not being picked for the England team if he wasn’t playing regulary and at a higher standard, it was arranged that Beckham go play for AC Milan in the off season.

Terence Donovan himself tried to engineer a move to a better team when in January 2009 he went to Bayern Munich, but for the second time in his career Landon had failed to make it in the Bundesliga.

With his tail between his legs Donovan McNabb returned to the MLS and prepared and started the new season and then halfway through was included in the (mostly non-MLS playing) USA team for the Confederations Cup in South Africa.

At the beginning of the tournament the United States team performed poorly, but then one day they remembered how to play as a team and got themselves into the semi-final and then beat the previously unbeaten (but very tired) Spain team.

Then in the final the previously misaligned and ignored Donovan Leitch grabbed the world’s…well all right the footballing world’s…. attention again with a stunning goal against Brazil.

Sadly after this the U.S team capitulated and they lost, which didn’t help when Brendan Landon returned home expecting the American media to be all abuzz with his performance. There was some coverage, but still not the headline grabbing sort of thing we see in Blighty.

Only a few weeks later he was pushed back into the shadows again with the return of Beckham and the bad timing of the Beckham Experiment book being published.

Donovan’s own comments are slightly ironic and in itself a bit “unprofessional” too. This little jealous outburst isn’t going to help matters with the team and the teammates. It will be interesting to watch their performance and LA Galaxy’s overall performance over the next few weeks.

This is turning a bit political and moving away from what the objective was – to shower some attention onto the once again ignored Donovan and to let him know that he is still the soccer superstar. That’s what you are. Honestly.

If you follow F&M you know what is coming next...

The singer in one cheezetastic Jess Conrad.   » He has a pink Rolls you know.
Familiar to your parent or grandparents if they’ve been on a cruise. The man who puts the ow ! into lounge singer.

This song was done when Landon was still in shorts… (I mean the junior school-type, not the footballing one) but I believe that if Jess hadn’t created it back then he would have been inspired upon witnessing Donovan and the Galaxy team. It’s as if they were made for each other:

[See post to listen to audio] » Jess Conrad and Tanya Tenola – Soccer Superstar

That orange skin...those teeth.... I can see them from the other side of the room...

For those of you who’ve just joined us:

The light entertainment legend above is the captain and manager of the Showbiz XI soccer team, who you can hire here for your charidee or appeal. Jess has thoughtfully added his mobile number there, so give him a ring.

In 1989/1990 he was responsible for the writing, recording and releasing of not one, but two Showbiz XI albums. First posted by WFMU’s Beware Of The Blog (a very recommended), you can find more about it here. The above song was included on the album.

You are asking yourself now: Why would anybody write and record anything so bad ?
Well you see Jess started out bad and just… stayed there…

In what would be considered to be his “peak” period, Jess released 14 singles between 1960 & 69 with only three of them charting. The biggest hit was his third reaching number 18. All the others failed. » More info.

On the radio in the 70′s the late great Kenny Everett did the “Worlds Worst Record Show” and Jess had the considerable “honour” of being featured three times.

Edit: And I’m glad that someone has carried on the tradition with this blog.

The following example (from 1961) will prove that the above song wasn’t a pisstake or a one off :
[See post to listen to audio] » Jess Conrad – My Pullover

EXTRA TIME:
He’s got a weird clothing (Seriously, What is with all the pink ?) obsession as well as a bit creepy one. – Have a listen to “Black Stockings” on the WFMU’s Beware Of The Blog post.

What colour socks – aka stockings does Landon and his team wear….?

Honestly when you have nearly all the attention because of the uncertainty of where you will be kicking a ball next season, going to the center of all the world’s media is a bit of a silly move. (Like the one he will probably make in a couple of weeks). Or maybe he did it on purpose…

Judging by the what is reported I think Ronaldo likes, even loves the attention and wants more. MORE !

Maybe he wants to be bigger than Derek. He wants to have all the newspaper gossip. Not just on the back pages, but all the pages. He’s lining himself up, media and financially-wise, to be the next Beckham.

But is he there yet ?

Do you think that Ronaldo is now the football star or does Derek still hold that crown ?

- Have a listen to the related music first and then afterwards take the vote…

The track is short and sweet and comes via a Swedish artist who performs under the name of Strawberry Fair.

Strawberry Fair is the stage name of Swedish soul/pop musician Jenny Franzén. Inspired by bands such as The Aislers Set, Shop Assistants and Television Personalities she began writing her own material in the early part of the 21st century. 2003 saw the release of her first two self financed CD-R singles: “Empty Wallets and Greedy Companies” and “Strawberry Fair”. That same year her song “Don’t Take Everything So Seriously” was featured on “Picknick Picks!”, a cassette compilation put together by the Swedish fanzine Picknick and the California based record company Popgun.

» We Heart Music profile
» Last.FM page

[See post to listen to audio]
» Strawberry Fair – Football Star

Poll:

http://www.footballandmusic.co.uk/the-trouble-with-frank/ http://www.footballandmusic.co.uk/the-trouble-with-frank/#comments Sun, 26 Aug 2007 20:17:24 +0000 Webbie - Footie And Music http://footballandmusic.co.uk/the-trouble-with-frank/
So despite Derek flying himself ragged to play in last Thursday’s game for LA Galaxy, they still lost the match and lost it badly.

I know one man doesn’t make a team, but it would be good for the Galaxy to actually have a decent team to play with that one man.

So far since DB23′s arrival they have only won once – and that was thanks to a certain Englishman’s ability to bend one in.

LA Galaxy have to show that they have bought in this one player not just to put bums on seats/sell lots of replica shirts, but to be the ones that help raise awareness for footie in the USA and to do that they have to sack the 2nd Division standard coach.

Get someone in that as well as the Becks, will also raise the form level and will show the rest of the world that the septics are serious about this soccerball game.

Frank Yallop was an average player in his old 1st Division playing days (expecting an email from mickmills to discuss this any second now…) and in my opin, is an average soccerkickball coach too.
Alright he managed the Canadian national side, but that was the Canadian national side, not exactly a high in the FIFA rankings team.

There are (using the American spelling) rumors though, that the LA Galaxy’s Technical Advisor might be moving over to another position in the franchise.
From MLS Rumors:

As the search for a replacement for Frank Yallop proceeds, MLSR sources report that Jurgen Klinsmann has formally been offered the job of LA Galaxy coach/manager.Sources say Klinsmann has been seen touring the Home Depot Center facilities. Jurgen Klinsmann does not live far from Carson, CA and would a natural choice for a high level coach with international experience.

Update: An article in the Times online about the same

Yes I know that California Klinsmann hasn’t exactly got a long coaching history behind him either, but he has played at the highest level and managed the German national team in the World Cup where they were only 1 match away from the Final.
As the quote above says he doesn’t live that far from the ground and I think he would be intrigued by this new and different sort of challenge…

]]> http://www.footballandmusic.co.uk/the-trouble-with-frank/feed/ 2 http://www.footballandmusic.co.uk/the-shot-seen-around-the-world/ http://www.footballandmusic.co.uk/the-shot-seen-around-the-world/#comments Fri, 17 Aug 2007 04:11:36 +0000 Webbie - Footie And Music http://footballandmusic.co.uk/the-shot-seen-around-the-world/ Here you go:

That’ll be $250 Million please.

Derek was so excited by that goal that the first thing he did after he was subbed was to post an update on his blog:

“Hello everypeeps,

I know, another blog so soon, but after me match t’other day I couldn’t wait to let you know howz I feels.

It was funny to start the darts match against D.C. (Didcot Council) United but to actually bend one in on me first propa home game was more than I could have hoped for, an intensely moment for me. On top of that I was handed Capstan Full Strenth (which I fought they didn’t make anymore, but anyways…) at the start of the game and I felt like me lungs were going to blow after a few puffs of that. I definitely hope there are a few more of those!

Ize real fit, (hanging round too much with me mate Ali G too much me finks. Starting to talk likes him now) so that was very goodz. I was well pleased to pull a good hour after the lock-in, but ‘specially pleased that we won and we’re in the final of the South Oxford Darts SuperLiga. The fags were superb all night and I thought we deserved to get some more, even though Didcot Council gave us a few probs and had a strong beer.

I’m now looking forward to our next round away at Red Bull Arms, Near Yeading, and hope to play a part in that. Hopefully, we can build on last night’s result.

Speaks soon
Derek”

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