events here and there

So it's been a pretty busy week here in Forest Hill land.

My parents moved house on Monday. They moved to a little place north of Mansfield called Lima East. The house is pretty cool - 6 acres worth - and doesn't need much maintenance. They have been back and forth between the house since then, and are here for the weekend. But by the weekend of Australia Day they should be up in the country for good. Which means Leigh and I scored big time!

Anyway, I will update this blog a little further with details and photos of the move, the day I found gold (and a few other things) behind my bed in the clean up process, as well as our day of trawling the eastern suburbs op shops in hope of a decent lounge suite and some furniture. We did find something actually - $130 for a half decent lounge suite and some couches...Croydon Salvos all the way. Many photos and stories to come...

But in the meantime, Liverpool look like they will unfortunately be going without Lucas Neill now after West Ham offered him a $125,000 AU a week deal with an "escape" clause where he is free to leave should they be relegated. It's an enticing offer, and makes the situation more intriguing.

Given Neill is under contract, Rovers still hold all the cards and are free to deal with anyone.

This West Ham offer appears to be Neill's number 1 preference, however Blackburn look like they will push for a replacement defender to cover Neill. And this is where West Ham may fail, and where Liverpool hold their chance to sign him - The Reds have already have offered bench defender Stephen Warnock for Neill, and if West Ham can't produce a player for the Rovers, the deal will fall through and he'll end up at Anfield.

For my team's sake (and Australian football in general), I'd love to see him at Liverpool. However the Reds have played hard ball with Blackburn and their offer is realistically a joke. For Blackburn's sake I hope West Ham come up with a decent offer.

In other football news, one of my favourite EPL players Lee McCulloch has asked to move on from Wigan. It's a similar situation to Neill in that the player wants out and the deals coming forward are ridiculous and insulting. It is good to see a club like Wigan and a young manager like Paul Jewell standing up to powers like Rangers. £700,000 is way too small a price for a man who is regularly on the scoresheet and a Wigan stalwart since they promoted two seasons ago.

Liverpool v Chelsea tonight...looking like it'll be a cracker!