The Credit Crunch With Jolean Lescott 1

He's better known for landing crunching tackles on his opponents, but every week, Everton centre half Jolean Lescott will be picking out bargains from club shops across the country. He is dedicated to helping you; the consumer with your day to day shopping. With Valentine's Day fast approaching Jolean has set his sights on gifts that are bound to make your loved one's day. What better to put a smile on their face than with a thoughtful piece of jewellery?

Available now from the Derby County FC club shop, these watches are the ideal gift. Made by Sekonda and branded by the Rams they are the ultimate in luxury. The women's option in particular is encrusted with enough diamantes to make any girl swoon. Jolean said; "I'm going all out to get my girlfriend one of these watches this year. I might even splash out on the men's one too, but only because I'm a professional footballer. I wouldn't advise members of the public to adopt this reckless approach."

These timeless time-pieces retail at £34.26 for the women's and £39.15 for the men's. Available from http://www.dcfc.premiumtv.co.uk/ now.

Mystic Wes 4

Surprise Surprise. Mystic Wes was right yet again. Last week Wes predicted that the blues would have an easy win at the weekend. He had turned his thoughts to Everton who banged three past Bolton at Goodison Park on Saturday. Two goals from the Toffees new boy Jo, and one from the mighty Arteta was enough to seal a convincing win.

This week he has set his sights further afield. We were chatting about the major players in European football and Wes thinks there will be a surprise in one particular fixture. He said "yeah they'll definitely produce a turn up for the books."

For Sale - Item of the week

Why not treat yourself to these fanatastic Norwich City Salt and Pepper Pots? They are ergonomically designed to allow easy dispensation of salt, pepper or even sand if you fancy.
These ceramic, hand painted Beauties are yours for only £2.50, available exclusively from the Canaries club shop.
The shakers are also endorsed by Norwich Legend, Darren Huckerby who had this to say. "I really like salt and pepper, and to be able to pour it while thinking about my team is a great honour. The shakers are really easy to use, just lift and tip, and even better they are light so even my children can use them."

Hurry, order your NCFC Salt and Pepper Pots while stocks Last!!!

http://www.canariesretail.talent-sport.co.uk/PagesPublic/ProductBrowse/product.aspx?group1=S&group2=HOUS&group3=CERA&group4=*EMPTY&product=1731

Dave Bracegirdle - Man, Legend, Inspiration

Dave Bracegirdle. You will all be very familiar with his voice; providing summaries and occasional part-commentary on Championship and league games on Sky Sports news. He is well loved. But who is the real Dave Bracegirdle? And what is he like?

In a unique one to one, we met Dave at the recently refurbished Little Chef at Poppon. It was close to capacity - the place is still buzzing from the coverage it received on the Channel 4 show 'Big Chef Takes on Little Chef', where the menu was revitalised by Gastric-hero Heston Blumenthal.

We treated ourselves to a blueberry muffin and an Americano, while Dave piled into a Little Chef cooked breakfast - probably because we were paying. For the next hour and forty minutes we were enlightened this heroic, dedicated and intensely complex man.

Dave's childhood isn't something he wanted to talk about. And to be fair we were only asking out of courtesy so it suited us both.

He got into football at a late age. A twisted tale of betrayal between him and his ex-best friend, Brent Davis who is now on the Asset Management and Strategic Development committee at Nuneaton and Bedworth council. They had been on a joint family holiday in Aberdeen in the Summer of 82. They were both too old to be on such a jaunt but were dragged along anyway. They were at Codona's at Aberdeen Fun Beach. Dave had just won a make-shift GI Joe by playing 'bash the ferret'. He'd collected 14 tokens, which is no mean feat. Brent was the jealous type and had only managed to collect 6 tokens because of his "pathetic hand-eye coordination". When the eyes of the parents were diverted, Brent stole the GI Joe from David and claimed it as his own. Dave didn't tell on him though. He's always been the bigger man. They never spoke again though. And so began Dave's fanatical support of Nottingham Forest.

Dave has gone on to do many things in his life, mainly revolving around football. He has written about the game for newspapers, fanzines and magazines, but feels that at home on Sky Sports. He refers to the Sky team with warm regard, calling them, amongst other things "brothers and comrades". He lives in Newark with his partner Karen and is a loving father to two children.

His love of Forest is also something that cannot be denied. He started going to the City Ground after the unfortunate incident with Brent. He fell in love with the team and feels at home in the Main Stand. He fondly remembers going with his father, the Bovril and pie at half time. He suggests that Forest set the standard for modern football by being the first team to break the £1million mark for a player when the legendary Brian Clough brought Trevor Francis to the City Ground from Birmingham City. "Man City and the like are just following on from what we started. It was our ideal. Our vision. Paying ridiculous prices for average players - that's the Forest mentality", he said.

Dave attributes his lack of ability as a footballer to his late coming to the game. He wasn't particularly interested as a child, which is of course when the greats hone their skills. Instead his "gift of the gab" and knowledge of football has led him into a career as a journalist. A path that has lead to him earning widespread respect from his peers and footballers alike. "Les Reid once said I was the best journalist he had ever read" he quips, and without being big-headed "Adrian Chiles calls me phenom - because I'm phenomenal". As he tells this story his phone went off to the tune of Mull of Kintyre by Paul McCartney and Wings, which is of course tune to one of the Red's songs City Ground. He took the call and we took some time to reflect on what was happening.

Dave Bracegirdle. A great man. A highly intelligent and well respected football commentator. He has gone through some hard times but I think he'd agree; it has only made him stronger.

Unfortunately our time was cut short. Ian Payne had been on the phone to tell Dave his car had broken down on the way to the studio and he might get to go live on a Soccer Special. He's just bought a BMW 5series and Dave reckons "it serves him right". We couldn't blame him for leaving. We were just grateful that we had been blessed with his valuable time.

Dave Bracegirdle is the author of three fantastic books on the legends of Nottingham Forest, Notts County and Mansfield Town. All are available from www.amazon.com.


Unfortunately on this occasion Dave didn't get to go live. Ian is a member of the RAC and they were out to him in a flash. His time will come though. Just you wait and see.

Q&A - Anderson

Each week we put a top flight player or manager on the spot to find out a bit more about the nation's favourite faces. This week we managed to track down Manchester United's Brazilian midfielder Anderson. We caught up with him in the Trafford Centre, where he was on the hunt for a new T-Shirt. We walked round with him on his quest through River Island and Burton (He's very fussy when it comes to his "threads").

1. You’re becoming increasingly well known for being a bit of a joker around Old Trafford. What’s that all about?

Yeah that’s true. I think before I arrived Rio was the one who played the jokes but I like to think I’ve taken it to the next level. I like to have fun in training and even in games I like to add an extra element to proceedings.

What’s your trademark?

I’m a fan of the classics. Sometimes I’ll run up behind Johno (O’Shea) and duck down. Then Rafael, Fabio or Ronnie (Ronaldo) will push him over. It’s pretty easy for us to get away with things because we all speak Portuguese.

2. I head that you once put a live mouse in Gary Neville’s locker at Carrington. True or False?

Yeah that’s true. Basically everyone in the team looks up to Gary. He’s achieved so much in his career but he wasn’t very nice to me in my first few weeks. He’d tie my socks in knots and hide my shorts etc. All harmless but when I heard he has a chronic fear of mice I was determined to get my own back.

How did he react?

He totally freaked out. I thought he was going to kill it with one of his boots. It’s OK though. Fabio took it home as a pet. I think Rafael was a bit jealous. I’ll buy him one after payday.

3. You haven’t scored yet for United. Is that something that plays on your mind?

Yeah I suppose it does. I mean it’s no big deal. Gary Neville’s only got five in his united career and I reckon I’ll have that sewn up by the end of the season.

Aren’t you injured though?

I am at the moment but I’ll be back. We still have to play Newcastle and their defense is horrific – I could get 6 against them alone.

Good point but I’m not going to hold my breath.

4. Who would you most like to play with?

Bullard. Next!?

5. What do you like doing in your spare time?

I enjoy music. I’m a big fan of Radiohead and Sigur Ros.

Really?

Yeah. Why?

You just don’t seem like you’d be into them. Can you name any of their albums?

Radiohead – Pablo Honey, The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac, I might be Wrong, Hail to the Thief, In Rainbows and The Best Of.
Sigur Ros – Von, Agaetis Byrjun, (), Takk, Hlemmur, Hvarf/Heim and Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust.

Happy?

Yeah OK – point taken……… What else do you like?

I like playing my Xbox. PES09 is my favourite game of the moment although I don’t like how bad they have made my character. I changed my stats on the edit mode so I’m better than Ronaldo. I haven’t told anyone so the lads just think I’m amazing at it. The PES developers need to get the game back to its roots. PES5 was by far the best installment!

I have also started collecting classic systems and games – my most recent purchases were Duck Hunt for the NES and Biggles for the Spectrum ZX.

6. If you didn’t play football what would you be doing?

I’d probably be on TV. I’d quite like a job as a pundit after I retire from playing. My English isn’t too good though, so I’d likely have to go on ITV so no-one would notice.

Either that or I’d like to do a wind-up show like Rio’s. It was genius. To be honest he is my idol.

7. Finally – describe your perfect Thursday.

Ideally I’d have a lie in. We often have games mid-week and I much prefer them to be on a Tuesday. That means I can watch any Wednesday night games on my BT Vision set-up. I’d have a lie in on the Thursday morning. Maybe have a couple of games of PES on Xbox Live then have some Shredded Wheat for breakfast. I’d head to training and pull of the best joke ever. Even Rio would be in awe.

In the afternoon I’d just chill out with the lads. Maybe have a couple of juices and listen to ‘Kid A’. Then an early night in front of the TV. With any luck Blackadder would be on g.o.l.d. Otherwise I’d just shove on one of the OC box-sets.

Sounds divine. Thank you for taking the time out from your busy footballing life to have this chat with us. We really appreciate it. All the best for the rest of the season. I hope the goal tally improves – or rather gets going.

Thanks guys.

Proud Sponsors?

When the season kicked off on the 16th August 2008, it was a big day for a number of clubs - particularly the new boys Hull, Stoke and West Brom. Pitches had been watered, tickets sold and new shirts bought in the anticipation of their arrival to the top tier of English league football. There was only one thing missing - A sponsor for the black and white of the Baggies strips. Having split with their sponsor T-Mobile, the hunt was on for a new shirt sponsor and fans buying the new top were told that a deal was close and that the new sponsor logo would be added free of charge to tops when secured. They were in talks with a number of possible sponsors and a deal was almost done.

That was 6 months ago and still the shirts remain plain. Surely a club firmly rooted to the bottom of the league could do with the extra income that a sponsor would offer? Even if the deal was worth £500k then it would have stretched to another cheeky loan to boost the cause. International teams are the only tops that don't look ridiculous without sponsors on them. It's a key part of the modern game and only the biggest of the biggest could even consider going without one. In a perfect world every club would donate £1million to charity in a Barca-esque style. That's not the case though and the Baggies need a sponsor asap!

Here we have thought of some sponsors that might suit West Bromwich Albion.

Mystic Wes 3

Wes Brown, our very own psychic right back correctly predicted that the score would be 3v0 last weekend. He was of course referring to the East Fife v Peterhead game in the Scottish second division. Stuart McKay scored two before half-time and then set up a third for Graeme Sharp to complete an easy away win. That keeps Peterhead in 6th in the league; just a point behind Stirling in 3rd.

This week Wes thinks it will be an easy win for the boys in blue. He said "oh yeah definitely; easy win for them this week".