Pardon the delay...

Firstly, apologies for the lack of, err, well pretty much anything over the last few days, but unfortunately I have been otherwise engaged in keeping my head down and my nose in the books...alas this is still the case, but to show I haven't forgotten about you all here are a few small thoughts on a number of things that I've been keeping warm in the hope of one day being able to release on the world.

• Fresh from last night...Tim Howard, discuss - Now I know in some countries this has been billed as a wondergoal, a strike from 100yrds, but as he said himself you have to feel for poor Adam Bogdan down at the other end.  That ball takes an un-godly bounce and dips in at such an angle that if he'd been on his line he might have struggled to get to it.  In any case, fair play to Tim Howard for a) having a right foot like Thor's Hammer b) for scoring a goal and c) for being grounded enough not to celebrate the misfortune of someone else like it was through his own skill.
• Luis Suarez - I'm pretty sure it will be a long long time (if ever) before anyone finds out what actually happened in the FA Inquiry into the Luis Suarez - Patrice Evra race row, and so I don't think it is right for the mass media to have either hounded or defended Suarez.  The facts, as we have been led to believe, are that Suarez has admitted to using the terms he was accused of, and that in this country those terms are unacceptable and racist.  What we have also been told (although I'm a bit wobbly on the validity of this one) is that in Uruguay its fine to use that term (which would imply that either this was the first time he's done it, or that using racist language is acceptable in Holland too).  Either way, what this all means is that he did direct racist language at Patrice Evra but he allegedly didn't mean it to be offensive because he thought he was just using an everyday Uruguayan term to wind him up.  Liverpool have now accepted the ban, he himself has apologised and has vowed now he is aware of the connotations of the word he will not use it again.
• Liverpool and those T-Shirts - There is nothing wrong with showing solidarity with a member of your team and I'm a big believer in innocent until proven guilty...but Luis Suarez had been found guilty, so to wear T-Shirts supporting him seems a little off...I bet you don't see Sunderland players warming up in Titus Bramble T-Shirts after his third arrest on suspicion of sexual assault today.
• John Terry - if he called Anton a "blind c***" and not what he has been accused of I will literally go down to the Chelsea training complex and be JT's b*tch for the day...and no-one in their right mind would want to do that.
• Demba Ba - what a player and what a season.  I don't want to go getting all misty eyed over here, but with the power, pace, movement and finishing ability is he not starting to remind anyone else of Didier Drogba?  Newcastle will definately miss him when he goes off to the African Cup of Nations.
• The African Cup of Nations - its nearly here! I'm so excited I'm like a five year old on Christmas Eve.  What the European Championships lacks, the African Cup of Nations provide and it all kicks off on the 21st January.
• Asia, the new Qatar or the new, new NASL. - There was a time when instead of retiring gracefully, old pro's would ship out to the US for a few years to pasture and fill their pockets in the sunshine.  After the collapse of the NASL they were a little stuck for places to go, until Qatar and the UAE turned up to take players like Leboeuf and Cannavaro for a season or two to once again fill their pockets.  Now it seems like the place to go is Asia, already in the summer Robbie 'God' Fowler signed for Thai Premier League side Muangthong United, now Nicolas Anelka has signed for Shanghai Shenhua with Didier Drogba tempted to follow suit...could the football world now be following the business world to China?  Anelka will be pleased to know he is following in the footballing footsteps of such greats as Carsten Jancker, Jorg Albertz and Englands own Howard Wilkinson.