Well now, when it comes to football, one man has for many years been the most noticeable, the most controversial, and occasionally the most successful blogger this country has ever produced. His pithy words and abrasive style make him as famous off the pitch as he is on it. This man is Escapini. "I love football. Football she's a cruel mistress. She's, she's more than a mistress. She's a wife, she's a mother, she's a daughter, she's an errant child. She's a… she's a… she can make you laugh, she make you cry. She can bring tears me eyes. She can bring blood to me shoulders. She can bring a kettle to the boil." "Cause football is about nothing, unless it's about something and what it is about, is football."

1 min readPublished 28 May 2010, 12:06

Aston Villa

‘Sorry My Dad’s Not In, You’ll Have To Ring Back Later’

This beggars belief.

The Birmingham Mail are running a tale relating to Aston Villa’s transfer wheeling and dealing acumen. Or lack thereof.

“Aston Villa made a late bid to trump Birmingham City for new £6 million signing Nikola Zigic.

According to football agent Milan Calasan, Aston Villa ‘begged’ Zigic to hold off committing himself until he had met with Martin O’Neill.

“We were contacted by Aston Villa on the day that we had already arrived in Birmingham and were talking to them,” Calasan said.

“They begged us to wait a while. Without Martin O’Neill no decision can be taken, and he’s on holiday. In that case, there was nothing more logical than to finish a job with the club where all the doors were open.”

If this is true and there seems to be little reason to fabricate such a tale, it sounds like the agent was fortunate to not just get an answer phone message.