What's Wrong with Kev?

He has more goals than any other member of the England squad. He's been a consistent performer in all eleven matches in the EPL he's competed in so far. He's also proven himself capable as a provider. And he doesn't have a single England call up. So, what's wrong with Kev?

West Ham 1 Newcastle 0

Kevin Nolan's been at it again! In a game which Nolan and Andy Carroll were both having homecomings of sorts it was Nolan in the right place at the right time once again to tap in the only goal in a closely fought game. It was Joey O'Brien smashing the ball across the goal area that led to Nolan's strike, as O'Brien's blast looked to have got away from him. How Nolan has still been left out of the England squad is baffling, and Joey Barton has gone on record saying as much. Juusi Jaskelainen may have had his best game between the sticks for West Ham on Sunday, with a heart stopping clearance off the line probably the best of the bunch. The center of the park was bossed around by Momo Diame once more. The lad has tricks for days, although he was guilty of the occasional muck up throughout the course of the match. Bottom line, he's like a bulldozer once he gets possession of the ball. And with the victory we now sit above Arsenal, Liverpool and most importantly Spurs. Still early days but I don't think many, us included, that we'd be anywhere near this good at the start of the season. We also played some beautiful football at times, linking up some intricate passes from time to time. Welcome relief for those who like to moan about the long ball.

A Suedehead Manifesto

Why even bother being a suedehead? It's sure to be a question asked of anyone who decides to mark themselves with this distinction. By most accounts the cult only existed for a couple of months and then disappeared, London youths moving onto the next thing. Sure it was revived by Hoxton Tom of 4-Skins fame during the late 70's. But even then you don't hear about a massive suedehead revival the same way skinheads and mods popped up after the advent of Oi and release of Quadrophenia respectively. So why bother?

Farewell, Carmen.

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It's been a tough couple of years for boxing losing some of it's greatest ever fighters and personalities. Unfortunately we've lost yet another one, with Carmen Basilio having passed away. We've written far too many tributes and obituaries over the course of doing this site, and it's only coming up on a year since we started it. Sometimes it's nice just to remember the good times, rather than focusing on a loss. So here we have Carmen taking on world welterweight champion Tony DeMarco in their first meeting. Maybe the finest moment in Basilio's in ring career and a great fight to boot.

FNF: Joe Frazier versus Jerry Quarry I

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1969. The summer of love for many but for thousands of working class kids around England a very different time. Sometimes at For The Suits we have sudden epiphanies, where we can;t understand why we've been ignoring something for so long. This was one of them folks. The Ring Fight of the Year for 1969. Muhammad Ali was in exile, no state commission willing to give a war dissenter a boxing license and risk the wrath of the American government. Joe Frazier was one of the sports rising stars, a heavy handed cat with a hammer for a left hand. Jerry Quarry was a 198lb heavyweight afraid of no one. He had already fought some of the best in the game at this point, never afraid of a challenge. Well Frazier was the man to provide it. This is one of them phone booth fights, and it's incredible to think either man could take the punishment of it for a prolonged period of time. But you always put a little bit something special into your effort when you fight at Madison Square Garden.

First Cut: Ackee

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Well we had to make up for last weeks disappointment, now didn't we. Ackee isn't the most sought after of skinhead reggae labels although a few tunes on it, namely "Skinheads Wrecking the Town", are prized pieces for any hardcore collector. Perhaps it's because the producers weren't quite the household names that other producers were, and it's limited output during the key years of 1969 and 1970 certainly didn't help. Either way the first tune put out on the label and produced by Junior Lincoln was an absolute stormer. Skinhead reggae at it's finest here folks. Lovely instrumental and a bit of toasting throughout all combine to make "Death In The Arena" by Rupie Martin's All Stars one to seek out.

West Ham 0 Manchester City 0

How disappointing was that? On a day when many in the press, as well as fellow supporters, figured we should be happy to get any points going into the match we were blatantly robbed of a victory over the defending Premier League champions by the end of it. Kevin Nolan was at his best once again, slotting home a ball dropped in courtesy of a Mark Noble free kick only to have it ruled offside. Well Kev wasn't, and there is no debating that. West Ham played remarkably well in the first 20 minutes of the match with Momo Diame and Yossi Benayoun also coming within inches of goals of their own. Manchester City took over for much of the remainder of the game, with resolute defending being supplied by the team as a whole. James Collins turned in one of his best performances of the season, barring his re-debut against Aston Villa and Winston Reid removed any doubts in our minds over whether he or James Tomkins should be regularly starting alongside Collins. And Carlos Tevez, a cult icon at Upton Park, had another homecoming. Carlos and the love he has for the club and its fans makes one forget about all the bad things in the modern game, even if he'[s occasionally been part of the problem. Oh, and Big Andy nearly scored the goal of the season with a beautiful bicycle kick attempt. It'll come Andy, don't ya worry.