beach ball mayhem

Well Pepe Reina and Liverpool were undone once again this season, for the fourth time infact. This time by a physical, powerful Sunderland side who got the rub of the green in their favour.

The beachball that could of cost Liverpool the title? Well thats a dreamland excuse for a poor performance. Without Gerrard and Torres, Rafael Benitez cannot get it right. If you look through their squad I'm not entirely suprised, poor signings at a high transfer cost is really putting the pressure on Rafa. Look at the amount hes spent and the quality hes brought in. It doesn't add up at all.

update

With the release of Ulduar our guild has steadily began progressing through the content that awaits us in the titan city. We have already faced numerous challenges clearing eight bosses in our first two raids. So far these bosses have been designed quite well by Blizzard, as they have reinvented some of the mechanics used in other fights and adapted them to the ones inside Ulduar. Along with some relatively new creations like the Flame Leviathan event, Ignis and the toy pet of Mimiron known as XT-002 Decronstructor is a particular highlight. From our perspective so far we are pleased with the layout of the instance, with the clever use of teleporter's to add to the navigation of the raid instance and the overall presentation is a very simple yet effective one.

Therefore, the storyline of Ulduar bases itself around the Old God of Death Yogg-Saron, as this titan forged city is actually his prison. His corruption has seaped throughout Northrend, even challenging the Lich King's domination over the frozen wastes. With the Alliance and the Horde seemingly destined to go back to war, the Kirin Tor and its leader's pleaded with Thrall and Variann to go war with the greater enemy...being the Old God. With the factions divided, it seems that is left towards the people of the magical city of Dalaran. Unless we can provide the battle against Yogg-Saron's will, all of Azeroth's sanity will surely be lost.

WoW!

After recently using Blizzard's free character migration tool to Neptulon, we've found a new lease of life once more. Motivation has risen and progression is getting back on track to where we want to be. The aim is to progress to challenge for realm firsts here and so far it seems like a positive step. And with a guild name revert to "The Untouchables" things seem to be back in order.

There hasn't been as much trouble with delay or lag, more friendly players and a welcoming environment, recruitment has actually improved and the only downside is the horde side's economy. Which is lets face it, horrendous. But other than that minor problem the server has really surged us on towards our goals. Currently setting up two groups to challenge nearly every 10 man possible including hard modes, so overall the transfer has done us well. Especially as we haven't lost many people along the way either.

With anub'arak soon to be down (probobly tonight) in ToGC 10, the only remaining issue is for us to maximise our DPS. The skill level, concentration and execution required for Trial of the Grand Crusader 25 is a big step up. No complaints. It's made the majority of our team really begin enjoying WoW once more, it was going downhill but now there is a challenging aspect of the game brought back to its rightful place.

Now the main topic of conversation and the whole reason why we came here was to achieve realm firsts. The determination and leadership is improving, now were learning how to best co-ordinate our DPS into beating the timers on these encounters. We lacked around 40% DPS the first time we tried the encounter and since we transferred haven't tried again, instead we've focused on gearing up new recruits and all the members to push our DPS through the roof. As it seems to be a main requirement now, healing seems to be less of a concern compared to the damage output of our group, positive signs have come from our ranged now keeping up with the melee.

Look whose back!

A suprise return to the big screen for Oscar winner Heath Ledger. After his shock death nearly two years ago few expected to see anymore of the man that made the latest Batman film a real success. His performance for upcoming 'The imaginarum of Dr Parnassus' will re-unite fans of the star actor for one last hurrah. As Ledger's sudden death came midway into the production of the new hit film it was almost inevitable that the crew would have to give up, yet director Terry Gilliam and the cast carried on in a new direction. Any Oscar's winner would of got a worthy reception but with this young star's tragic death came a new level of sympathy.

With Ledger's death came tributes from his peers, such stars as Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Collin Farrell all sung his praise. This triangle of amazing actors signed up to finish the film Ledger started, the three had to take separate roles of varied characters who Ledger's role will morph into at stages during the film. It may sound confusing and possibly even not very good, yet so far previews are soaring not only for the man who stole the show as the 'Joker' but for a film which could so easily of been missing from the big screen this fall.

Title race heats up

After super Sunday's key clash between Liverpool and Chelsea the title race has once again gone back to a two horse race. Didier Drogba was a constant nuisance for the Liverpool central pair, he tussled and fought with Carragher until finally he broke the deadlock. A dull stalemate has been a problem with this fixture in recent years and this weekend could of been similar based on the team sheets.

Not only did Ancelotti pick a masterful lineup but his tactics were spot on, Deco and Lampard consistently combined to keep possession which was vital. Essien and Ballack ran the show by putting Gerrard on a tight leash, they worked tirelessly and got their just rewards. Anelka twisted and turned Skrtel whenever he got the chance, the Liverpool defender was always on the backfoot and keppt getting dragged out wide. Leaving a big hole in the middle of the park for chelsea's creative foursome to spark life into the game, it was always going to take a touch of class to get the win and thats just what Abramovich's Chelsea did.

Now it's surely down to just United and the blues. United didn't turn up on the day and practically let Sunderland upstage the red devils. Only a late goal could save our blushes, a poor performance topped it off so luck must of been on our side. This makes Chelsea and Man United both on level losses, it may just come down to November 8th to see who will go into the Christmas period on the top of the table. With the battle of Stamford Bridge closing in, both sides will need to keep a solid record in the buildup to this highly anticipated match

manchester citys millions wasted

After a tightly contested match with aston villa tonight it looks like the cracks could well be forming in city's team. The summer signings have paid off in some regard, as the defence really does look promising especially with young starlet Micah Richards certain to learn from his new teammates, with both full backs certain to make an impression this season the centre halfs need to find a partnership quickly. Kolo Toure's leadership skills are questionnable, and I highly doubt he can compete to the highest level in europe, whilst Lescott is far to inconsistent.

Hughes has bought well until the key signings, their midfield is weak. Besides Wright-Phillips, they lack pace and creativity in the centre of the park. Barry is too slow, his vision and passing variety aren't anything close to the other top midfielders in the league. I'm suprised the Sheikh owners didn't push for a big name signing or flair coated winger like Ashley Young of Villa. After his performance today, I feel like I wish we had him at united. Valencia isn't really shaping up into a Man Utd type of player, he refuses to beat a defender or even have a shot at goal. Yet Young has blistering pace, vision and creativity and doesn't shy away from hitting attempts goal bound.