With themes of love, passion and betrayal, the action in the booth resembled a Mills and Boon novel!
Goals galore, red cards and divorce threats - FanZone had it all!
It was an emotional weekend in the FanZone booth. First, on Saturday Chelsea fan Barry Cracknell appeared to bond a little too much with fellow commentator Dan Gilgan, while on Sunday Jamie Gascoigne was tearing his hair out as his beloved Spurs went down with a whimper at Stoke.
Before the game at Boro had even kicked off Bazza was fearing a defeat and bemoaning the Blues' injury crisis. Well, it just goes to show how much the FanZone pundits know!
To be fair it was only 1-0 at half-time with Salomon Kalou's strike all Chelsea had to show for an impressive opening 45 minutes. But the real talking point was Barry's show of affection as soon as the ball hit the net.
Poor Dan was subject to a smacker that almost knocked him off his seat. And sadly worse was to follow for the bemused Boro fan. As his side's defending started to resemble the Dog and Duck on a Sunday morning, each goal brought a more passionate embrace.
At one point Barry's wife sent in a text saying she was bringing in Madonna's divorce lawyers!
Unsurprisingly at the final whistle Dan left the booth rather quickly muttering something about having a train to catch. But don't worry, I passed on your number to Barry...
Panic
On Sunday there wasn't as much love in the air as panic with both Stoke and Tottenham desperate for the three points at The Britannia.
Phil Clive was making his FanZone debut for Stoke and did not have to wait long to warm up his vocal chords. With less than 20 minutes gone Tom Soares was pole-axed in the area and a penalty and red card for Gareth Bale was the obvious decision.
Well, it was for the millions watching on TV but not our Jamie who ranted and raved about a "blatant dive". After a mini hurricane had whistled through the ground, Danny Higginbotham finally had the chance to slot the ball past Heurelho Gomes and send the home fans "radio rental".
But if Phil thought he was in for a comfortable home win he was wrong. That crucial five minutes post-goal had barely passed before Darren Bent slotted home and had Jamie looking considerably more cheerful. Spurs then took the game to Stoke and even Juande Ramos managed a smile... well, it was more of a brief grin.
But it was all to change after half-time, as Stoke bombarded the Tottenham defence with their now not-so-secret weapon Rory 'the human catapult' Delap.
Roughed up
To say the visitors were being roughed up was putting it kindly, and the uncompromising tactics soon paid off. Delap drifted in at the far post and reminded everyone he can use his feet too, scoring from close range.
While Jamie hung his head in sombre silence, Phil celebrated like he had never seen Stoke score two goals at home - at least that's what he claimed afterwards.
However, the game was far from over and despite the appearance of his beloved Ricardo Fuller, Phil couldn't relax for a second. If anything, the Jamaican striker only added to the tension, as he managed to hit every part of the woodwork, first missing a penalty then almost netting a wonder goal.
And Jamie's torture wasn't over either with Michael Dawson given his marching orders for a tackle that will have Mamady Sidibe shopping for new shinpads.
At the final whistle both commentators slumped in their seats and looked more exhausted than the players. Jamie was at least magnanimous in defeat congratulating his fellow commentator on a solid debut. But don't be fooled Phil, if Tottenham's poor form continues he will be celebrating every time Stoke get beaten!
