My face is as red as a baboons arse and Im sweating like a terrorist in a departure lounge, except my detonator is actually the mouse to my laptop. Theres a chance that this email will end up a major embarrassment... nay... utter humiliation for me. It goes something like this:

“Dear Mr TooSerious, I think youre awesome, can I write a piece for you please?”
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The thought of a reply saying “eh, fair dinkum that is total pish” or even worse, no reply at all, has me sweating bullets!

As it happens, theyre pretty cool at TS and they replied, “Yeah dude, thats cool, send us something in.

Nice one Walesy, nice one!

So heres some background info – Im an Ayr United (who?) fan. You know Ayr. A.Y. R. The Scottish First Division - The last team that Alex Ferguson played for, the team that sold the legendary right back Stevie Nicol to the all-conquering Liverpool team of the 80s. No? Well, theyre my team and theyre absolute black and white dynamite

I suffer from an unhealthy and inexplicable man-love for Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish aka King Kenny. I watch the EPL religiously, and will mostly be writing about all things EPL. I also find rhyming slang funnier than the average bear.

Achievements to date – being a top Dad, being the first Ayr fan to write for TS, and coming in 681st in last years Supercoach

Hope you enjoy the read

Runci

Harry and Brett Come Home

Just when we thought things couldnt get any better, were told that Brett Emerton has had enough of jellied eels, morris dancing, rioting in the streets and, of course, the rain. Yes, thats right – Mosman markets, Darling Harbour, Zumbos restaurants and taking the A-League up another notch or two is the way forward.

This news, coupled with Harrys return to Oz, has me more excited than a NSW MP who realises that a particular lady of the night accepts credit card.

These two signings are massive news for the A-League and personally, I cant wait until the new season kicks off. The on-off saga of Harry signing seemed to go on longer than Cesc Fabregas transfer to Barcelona but finally a couple of weeks ago we were told by the jubilant Melbourne Victory that it was a done deal.

The response from the Melbourne public was predictable – a few thousand extra Victory memberships sold in the space of a few days. As always, the residents of the self-proclaimed sporting capital of the world (anyone care to argue? Thought not!) have come out in their numbers and no wonder. A true Aussie icon has returned home (dont worry NSW, we know hes from Sydney).

The marketing potential from this signing is something that weve never seen before in the A-League and without a doubt will add a few thousand to the gate whenever he plays. Whether its Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, or where ever, it matters not, people will come to see this Aussie phenomenon.

How often this happens, remains to be seen. Lets be honest, poor Harry has been under the knife more times than Jennifer Hawkins – but the Victory must be confident of getting him fit again otherwise they wouldnt have signed him.

As for Emerton, what the heck happened there? One minute were watching him terrorising defenders in the Premiership, the next minute hes signed for Sydney. This boy is sheer class – years of European experience, a brilliant dribbler, has got lightning pace, and a shot that can fly through the air like a missile. The best part of it is that hes still got a few years to offer. Undoubtedly he is still capable of playing every week in the EPL, he has however decided to ply his trade in the A-League.

This is what makes Emertons signing so impressive.

You can guarantee that followers of the EPL will have had their heads turned firmly in our direction. Not only that, but Emerton will have many contacts in the game that will be watching with interest to see just how strong the A-League is. So lets not talk about who is the best signing and lets just embrace the fact that two heroes of the game have come home and instantly raised the A-League to a whole new level.

These two signing are going to bring a wealth of experience and professionalism to their new clubs, theyre going to bring a new generation of “through the gates” supporters (of all ages) and theyre going to raise awareness of the A-League across the globe. Great news for the A-League and I cant wait till it all kicks off.

Runci also writes a daily-ish blog: <a href="http://tapcorner.wordpress.com/">Tap Corner [/url]