Lambs to the slaughter

The London Goonery ... 5
(Ade 25th, 49th pen, 80th; Diaby 9th, Fab Cesc 70th)


A Flock of Sheep ... 0

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There's more than two weeks to go till Id and a couple of months before the Great Sacrifice of Bairam (Id ul-Adha) that traditionally marks the culmination of the annual Haj in Mecca.

But it looks like Bairam has come early in the UK, courtesy of the flock of sheep from Derbyshire that is currently making its round of the EPL venues.

The Spuds culled four while greedy Scousers pounced on a half-dozen in previous weeks before our beloved borstal boys nonchalantly feasted on five out of what looked like fattened stock.

It's a bit painful to see because the Rams have a proud history - they were champions twice in 1971-72 and 1974-75 and had a good number of notable players.

Roy McFarland (27 caps) was a midfield mainstay of the England squad filled with the likes of Gordon Banks, Bobby Charlton, Alan Ball and Emlyn Hughes together with team-mates Colin Todd (27) and David Nish (5).

Others include Peter Shilton, Charlie George, Archie Gemmill, Leighton James and many more.

Heck, they even have a hooligan firm, called the Derby Lunatic Fringe.

But they were never in the game last night; we were obviously playing at a controlled half-pace yet managed to score five - giving the impression of vicious predators circling and picking off a bleating pack.

Diaby scored a top-corner gem and the Absolutely Fab Cesc ran riot in the midfield like a priapic in a harem.

It looked like overkill at first glance.

But it's obvious that the Godfather has been listening to Macca on Football Focus.

So it will always be making safe the three points first before tinkering with the team.

And me praying hard that we'd be feasting on lamb chops all the way till May next year.