Villa for the Title?? Footballers with morals and hitting the Piste!!

And wouldn't it be great? Not since the heady days of Keegan at Newcastle, and of course Blackburn as well, have a club managed to disturb the "Top Four", and in my book it's time for a change!

Sure Man Utd have the experience, and a world class team, and ominously they are winning loads of games while not playing well, but after Villa's 5th away win in a row on Saturday, and what a turnaround they achieved as well, confidence is high at Villa Park, something you can feel just from hanging around the training ground at Bodymoor Heath.............and no I'm not a stalker, I just get to go there for the press conferences every week.........honest!

Something else quite remarkably happened this week, a footballer turned down a mega money deal to stay with the club he loves............................yes you heard right..........suddenly out of nowhere morals seem to be sneaking into football dagnabbit!!

I mean the cynics amongst us would say if the cash had been put up from the red side of Manchester, Kaka's presence in Milan would simply be a cloud of dust he would have been on the plane so fast, as they could offer the title challenge and Champions League football a world class player craves (it's like crack to them!).

Yes I was as surprised as everyone else when he decided to stay put to the club and fans who love him so much, but I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Does this mean an end to this kind of crazy money being thrown about in football??

Course not, expect Man City to test his resolve again in the summer with a £1 trillion pound bid, and half of the North East thrown in for good measure, but at least for now, it seems that the heart rules over the wallet in football and that not a bad thing.

Unless of course you're every other club in England as now City will turn its evil, all seeing Sauron like eye to the rest of the Premiership stars, with Villa's Ashley Young, Wigan's Antonio Valencia and Arsenals Fabregas all likely purchases for a club whose purse strings know no limits. Let's just hope other footballers feel as deeply for their club as Kaka did...........yeah right!

Ps they could have Eboue for free, while watching the Arsenal Hull game on Saturday with my Hull supporting friend, he just showed what a god awful player he is, yes he has pace, and skill, but my god he has less passion than a sloth on Beta Blockers and I can't remember the last time he actually produced any end product!

Let's hope Theo gets fit ASAP, because I can't stand him as a player, he dives, is selfish, and should not be in an Arsenal team that has youngster like Wilshere and Ramsey on the bench.

Rant over, this week I am mostly pumped about taking my first snowboarding lesson at the Tamworth Snowdome tonight, as I have played many sports, but anything "Extreme" like boarding, skiing, or Sasquatch hunting has always passed me by!

But no longer for having seen the fun my colleagues at Kerrang such as Tim Warwood (pro Boarder) and Christian Stevenson (Snowboard film Director) have had over the years, its time I turned this run of the mill sportsmen who has spent his life playing rugby, cricket, football etc into something a wee bit more "RAD"! See I have even got the lingo!

I am also glad to report that I have actually managed to find a time slot to fit in my guitar practice, and that during the time I normally called the "Brain Dead" hour of Hollyoaks and Eastenders on telly. And in just one night I have managed to pick up a few chords, string them together and actually play a few songs! It's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it, and funnily I feel better for not watching that addictive but rubbish TV period!

I can also report that my first night back at Kitsch at Gatecrasher on Wednesday was immense, we had about 3,000 people in, and not only did I get to play the best in rock, electro and general scuzzyness, I was pleased and surprised to see an hour drum and bass set go down so well!

One final thing to mention, two great albums out this week include the debut effort from White Lies - To Lose My Life, which has the big sound of bands like The Verve and Arcade Fire, mixed with the downright electro rock sound of the Editors, just stripped back a bit.

And if you just want some decent Hard rock/metal, look no further than The Way of the Fist from Los Angeles nutter's Five Finger Death Punch (Best band name ever?), which while not reinventing the genre, does a damn fine job of dragging heavy metal into a new era!

Catch me at Gatecrasher this week from 10pm as always on Wednesday in the Fizzy Pop room, and on Kerrang spinning the best in new tunes with some classics thrown in Mon-Fri 3-5am, plus of course there is the best darn sports show on the radio, Offside on Saturday from 1-5pm, and Sunday breakfast from 6-10am!

PS I can now update the blog more than once a week, so check back for updates on my snowboarding adventures, and to find out my latest thoughts on the breaking stories in Sport!