Over and Out

Where to begin describing the weekend just gone. On a personal level, I should start with the death of my aunt. Having visited her last week, I can't say I was either shocked or surprised, but she was the oldest living member of my family at 93 years of age. Her final years have demonstrated to me that there comes a point where you cease to live and start to simply exist.

Anyway the next day or so will be busy arranging a funeral and dealing with her financial affairs.

On Friday night we made our annual pilgrimage to Chelmsford to watch Surrey take on Essex in T20. In the past we have not come close, but on Friday night we witnessed an amazing game of cricket which I still believed we would win till the final ball was bowled. Surrey batted first and behind an excellent innings from Steven Davies and decent knocks from Ramps and Jason Roy we reached 186. On most pitches a decent total and as events proved gettable at the County Ground.

Essex started slowly, Tremlett even bowled a maiden., and at the midstage they needed more than 13 runs an over. Scott Styris changed the game launching himself at Tremletts third over, and Essex needed 22 off the last over, surely this was routine. Andrew Symonds bowled it and Styris scored the runs in 5 balls. Its hard to explain the feeling of disbelieve as all around us celebrated.

The sell out crowd will surely come back for more, T20 cricket is probably being over egged this season but there is little doubt that Friday night games pack in a crowd across the country.

A quiet Saturday, breaking the back of my marking and the chance to spend a couple of hours watching Ingatestone and particularly Graham play cricket. On a summers day this is a great place to live. A hour spent watering the allotment and picking the blackcurrants from the bushes we have nurtured over the past year made a pleasant early evening.

Sunday meant just one thing the World Cup showdown between England and Germany. England's midweek 1-0 victory, had once again sowed seeds of hope in the media and amongst the population. Capello kept the same side, the weaknesses were only too obvious, a lack of pace both in the middle of the defence and in wide areas. A midfield without a truly creative player and an erratic keeper . The Germans exposed all these faults and were soon 2-0 ahead. Upson's excellent header from a free kick gave false hope. Although Lampard's long range shot cannoned off the cross bar and clearly crossed the line, none of the officials apparently saw it and so 2-1 was the half time score, a scoreline that probably flattered England on chances.

The second half went from bad to worse as Germany hit England twice on the break , defenders unable or unwilling to foul in order to prevent fast break play. 4-1 was England's worst World Cup result and our tournament was over.

In the days ahead what will the reaction be ? Will the media focus on the deficiencies in the squad, the picking of players on reputation rather than form, or as a suspect attention will focus on the lack of goal line technology that "cheated England out of an equaliser. It will be typical if we adopt at 2-2 we could have gone on to win the game approach rather than to consider our performances across all 4 games.

My mum went to tell the neighbours of my aunt's death shortly after the England game ended. She told them that my aunt had died just before 2pm, to which came the response "well at least she didn't have to suffer watching that." When Shankley said football wasn't a matter of life and death, it was more important than that, perhaps he had a point.

Work

Work , or rather when to stop is the top of the political agenda today. The Tories made it clear during the election campaign that they planned to raise male retirement age to 66 in 2016 (estimated cost to me in excess of £5000. Now they re looking at scraping the fixed retirement age and talking to gradually raising the age when an individual will receive a state pension to 70. Seventy was of course the age that people retired when Lloyd George set up the scheme in 1908. Ironically in France there was a general strike because their government proposes to raise retirement age to 61 !

Sadly there is little discussion of relating retirement to employment, a judge may be physically able to work at 70, I'm not so sure about a bricklayer or a gymnastic coach. Flexible working has to be the way ahead, allowing people to ease into retirement over a number of years. I'm beginning to realise that I am both fortunate and far sighted to have been able to do this.

Meanwhile in the world Cup Italy have been knocked out, yes they won four years ago, and England now lead Australia 2-0 in the ODI series. While I want England to win every game, the series may be all over by the time I see the sides play at the Oval next Wednesday.

Finally a new album or download, American Slang by Gaslight Anthem. I was attracted by the publicity that they are heavily Springsteen influenced, but in fairness while they hail from Jersey the similarities are not overpowering, and the album has even quality to stand on its own.

1-0 to the Engerland

England crept into the knock out stages of the World Cup with a Jermain Defoe first half goal. Our opponents Slovenia I was told as yet unconfirmed have a population the size of Norfolk's and a semi professional football league perhaps that puts into into perspective. Relief rather than joy ! On Sunday we face the old enemy , Germany. I suppose there is an element of fate here.

Maybe the England team will perform better against opposition that will test them fully. Hopefully the printed media can resist the temptation to visit past battles !

The evening was spent at our local NUT meeting and a discussion on the CON DEm governments proposal for Academies and Free Schools. At present there is rumour and conjecture about what schools might jump ship and strive for academy status.The Grammar Schools in Chelmsford seem prime candidates to become what will become, state funded independent schools.

Surrey secured their second victory in two days, defeating Kent. Jason Roy, a nineteen year old batsman, who was coached through his time at Whitgift School, became the first Surrey player to score a T20 century. How ironic that Roy should come into the side because Mark Ramprakash has been given a bmid tournament break.

Decision Day

The last 48 hours I've felt less than 100%, sinus pain,hearing loss and general fatigue. To spend two days housebound is not an usual state for me. On Monday having received Fathers Day gifts I pdownloaded the new Crowded House and Gaslight Anthem albums, it all still seems a bit strange, buying music without having the comfort of the album cover or CD case. Anyway having been bought an itunes voucher the experiment is underway. I also received David Lloyd's book "Start the Car" which will be saved for when the exam marking ends and the Arsenal DVD from last season, which will be viewed post world cup.

Tuesday was Budget Day, and as expected its cuts today, and cuts tomorrow. No one will convince me, that the Tories and their partners in crime , the Lib Dems, aren't getting some deep seated pleasure in attacking the public sector. All those speeches about the private sector have suffered and it's only fair etc. What rot ! How started the fire ? It wasn't the nurses, teachers or social workers. When the Tories say we're in it together, run a mile.

Last night I was unable to get to the Oval to see Surrey's victory over Hampshire, but the compensation was an excellent performance from England's ODI team against Australia. A sparkling century from Eoin Morgan saw England home. I might have doubts about Morgan the test match batsman but as a one day/T20 player he is a huge find and great entertainer.

Back to work, and wait for England's performance this afternoon. Anything short of an emphatic victory will bring forward a national crisis, of mammoth proportions.

Aftermath

The weekend in many ways focussed on England's inept performance on Friday night. Saturday's news was dominated by a fan who got into the changing area and had an "apparent" polite conversation with David Beckham and explained just how let down the fans felt, to say nothing of the £4000 the fan had spent getting to Cape town to witness such a shambles.

However with England laments, France implodes. Nicholas Anelka, who can sulk like a real professional has been sent home after calling the French manager, "the bastard son of a whore". I'm sure it sounds better in french. Actually he could have just said that the french manager was barking mad, because that seems beyond doubt.

Sunday belongs to Shane Smeltz, Shane once of AFC Wimbledon scored the opening goal in New Zealand's remarkable 1-1 draw against World Champions Italy. Smeltz who now plays in the A League for Gold Coast United, becomes the first player to have donned the shirt of AFC Wimbledon to have scored at the World Cup finals, quite an achievement.

While Shane was making headlines, we were at the Oval watching Surrey v Sussex. A household of divided loyalties. The Sharks reached a respectable 158 and Surrey never looked like getting close once Ramprakash and Symonds fell in quick succession. Younis Khan may be an accomplished test cricketer but T20 player he is not, the tail put up little resistance, and in the end the visitors won quite easily. At least the beer and pastie was good, and in buying the new England ODI cricket shirt, I was given two complementary tickets for further T20 games.

To quote The Independent cheer up there's a budget on Tuesday. For a couple of days, sport will have to share the nation's thoughts with talk of economic crisis and cuts in public spending. Frankly the country is being softened up to take the hit. It should be plain to all that we are not all in this together, however much the coalition tells us. The focus will be on hitting those least able to bear the brunt. The only fightback has once again come from the Green Party, where Caroline Lucas is spelling out that the attacks on public spending are being launched through ideological choice rather than necessity.

http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2010-06-19-callous-cuts-report.html

Back Home

After three days away at Stoke Rochford Hall in Lincolnshire, I've got back home. The course of handling Grievance and Disciplinary procedures was excellent but intensive and ultimately very tiring. When the NUt bought Stoke Rochford around 30 years ago I, for one, had my doubts, but I must admit it is an excellent facility, and Grantham being just over a hour from Kings Cross is an additional bonus. The countryside around the Hall looked fabulous and we are now planning to take a three day break there over the summer.

It's a difficult time to be involved with teaching unions, the Con Dem government are planning more academies, the introduction of "free schools" while at the same time we all suspect that there will be a campaign launched against public sector pay and particularly pensions in the next few days.

On Thursday, the Surrey Lions won at Middlesex so it was good to drop in at the Oval on the way home. Wanting to get home to watch England's next World Cup game, I stayed for just the Surrey innings. After losing quick wickets a partnership from Stuart Walters and Andrew Symonds changed the game. Symonds hit seven 6s in a innings of 62. Some were blow of awesome power, one onto the balcony of the OCS stand being particularly memorable. The Kent reply was soon in tatters before rain came, and Surrey were awarded the points on the Duckworth-Lewis method, which in truth is not designed for T20 cricket. All of a sudden back to back victories have propelled Surrey up the table and it is set up nicely for the visit of Sussex on Sunday.

And so to the World Cup. England were dire. It was a limp, disjointed performance, by players many of whom perform heroics for their clubs in the Premiership. In terms of the competition the 0-0 draw isn't disasterous, however the impact that it will have on morale both of players and fans is more worrying. The fans not surprisingly booed the team off at the end. A World Cup in South Africa would stretch the financial resources of many, and to witness a performance where the Algerian keeper was never unduly troubled, was simply not bareable. The England flags up the street look decidedly more droopy this mornin

Vuvuzelas

Its been a low key start to the World Cup , the opening games have read like binary formula. The media are fixated on the long plastic horns , the vuvuzela,being blown by many fans. This fact alone should indicate that the tournament has not yet caught fire. As far as the press go this must be a poor week for news.

A week so far where examination marking and a pensions meeting have been the main focal points. At the pensions meeting, the advisor said ask yourself "what do you want to do with the rest of your life ?" Big question indeed. At present I can barely see past the next batch of exam papers.

Tomorrow I'm off to Lincolnshire for a trade union officials course. Its close to 30 years since I attended my last one. The years as a NUT Divisional Secretary seem a very long time ago. None as a negotiator and grievance handler, I enter as the experienced old hand. Anyway some time to read on the train journeys and back in time to get to Surrey v Kent on Friday, before England's next game in the World Cup on Friday night.

England expects !

For weeks flags have flown on buildings and cars. Pubs are bedecked in them. The cross of St George adorns T shirts, mugs and every form of memorabilia. Pictures of Fabio Capello have appeared appeared with the caption "The Godfather". 44 years of hurt, once more the press and the bookmakers build up England's chance of success in the World Cup.

On Saturday 12th England's WC campaign kicked off against the USA. Some hours before the news of the team leaked out. The strengths and weaknesses were only too apparent. Off the pitch the Back 4 of Johnson ( shop lifting) , King ( drunk and disorderly), Terry ( scumbag and del boy impersonator) and Cole ( love cheat and greedy disloyal bastard) are hardly role models, but could they work as a unit on the pitch. Behind them West Ham's Robert Green was preferred to in -form Joe Hart and experienced if accident prone David James. The selection of Emile Heskey as strike partner to Rooney, raised eye brows as Heskey is to say the least "not a prolific goalscorer"

The perfect start when Heskey (a national hero for a hour) slipped the ball to Steve Gerrard who slipped the ball beyond America's keeper Tim Howard. Across the country, wild celebration as the pints flowed. We should have known it was too good to last. Cometh the hour, cometh the Clown - in the shape of Robert Green. A fairly harmless shot, swirmed from his grasp and in slow motion trickled across the goal line. It was a goal more in keeping with a Sunday morning pub side than the nation's elite.

Into the second half , the half crocked King was replaced with the barely efficient Carragher, yet still England had more chances, Heskey found himself one on one with Howard. You guessed it , he hit the ball straight at him. Now no longer a national hero. The game eventually petered out, a 1-1 draw, something that many Americans in the ground found hard to grasp . "Isn't there going to be overtime."

Once again the national side fail to reach the heights. The team failing to equal the sum of the parts. The USA are not a bad side, one questions whether a centre back who plies his trade at Watford should be able to shackle England's best striker.

After the game Gerrard said that the whole England team is behind Green. With hindsight that's just a good idea, because they could clear the ball off the line. Whether Capello is as forgiving only time will tell.

World Cup

The World Cup began today. As is the normal the hosts South Africa kicked off the tournament with a game against perennial qualifiers, Mexico. I listened on the car radio as the pressure built on the home defence, however as if in the script the South Africand went ahead in the second half, before Mexico equalised.

In many ways this tournament should open Africa to the world. Hopefully the revenue generated will benefit the people of South Africa, from the outside it looks like a society where inequality of wealth hangs over society.

The opening games were played to the sound of African horns that sound like a swarm of bees on a F1 circuit. In the evening, my team in the work sweepstake, France, played out a goalless draw, with the masters of 0-0 football, Uruguay.

The tournament has somehow ceased to be about football, it is in fact a huge commercial venture. Sport is used simply to sell product to the mass of the population. I wonder if in other countries, flags on houses and cars festoon the streets. Do the supermarkets sell world cup dog bowls and baby's nappies !

In less than 24 hours England play the USA. The backcloth to this game is less about the rematch of 1950, when the part-time Americans huniliated England, but more about the oil that have spewed into the Gulf of Mexico in recent weeks. While Obama has to bolster his sagging ratings by rightly holding BP responsible for the environmental disaster that it has caused, the British media have picked up on the president's use of British Petroleum and his call to "kick ass". As BP shares go into freefall who really is to blame ? The President for saying that BP has been slow to compensate, solve the problem and clean up the mess ( can it /), BP for appalling public relations or our society forbecoming so dependent on a fossil fuel that necessitates drilling deep into the sea and ocean floor.

Finally finished Andy Beckett's "When the lights went out" today, unfortunately I knew the ending, the victory of Mrs Thatcher. Nevertheless it was a good read, and going back into the 70s was a worthwhile journey that allowed me to think about how Britain has changed during my adult life.

Next Up : Caroline Lucas' book on Green Alternatives to Globalisation. Yesterday she won the Observer's "Ethical Politician of the Year", I was highly amused by her remark that while being delighted to receive the award, she was concerned that there was so little competition.

Floodlit Cricket

The big question of the day was would the rain wreck the floodlit cricket at the Oval. It was raining at 4.30pm in Essex but it was worth a gamble, and for the second time this week I made my way to see the "Surrey Lions" I must admit that I was very critical of the new Surrey shirts for the T20 series, fluoro green has nothing to do with Surrey, and in truth I was disappointed to see the chocolate brown disappear. However under lights the luminous green looked very effective.

After the purchase of a pastie, a pint and a new England cricket cap, I settled down to watch the Lions take on my county of residence, the Essex Eagles. Unlike Tuesday, Surrey elected to field and tremlett and Nel soon had Essex in trouble, the crowd of 11,000 witnessed Essex struggle to 88 for 7 off 17 overs however the last three overs carried the visitors to 121.

The target looked achieveable as Hamilton-Brown and davies made their way to the wicket and although the openers didn't last long, with Ramps at the crease the scoreboard kept moving effortlessly. However one over changed the game,Bopara captured Symonds and Khan in consequtive balls, and when Ramps was run out, sliupping as he turned shortly after the game hung in the balance.

Matt Spriegel hung around and took singles and twos but Surrey had no one who could hit the needed boundaries and Essex achieved what seemed for so long an unlikely victory. At the end of the game an unsavory incident between some members in the pavilion and Essex batsman Ravi Bopara. Regardless Surrey now have played two,lost two, and the players signed up for the competition have brought little to the team at the moment.

Hopefully things will improve before the next home game next Friday, against the Kent Spitfires.

Cuts and Wickets

The last 48 hours has been dominated by the world of A level examining, keeping a team of 7 examiners on the road, three new to the job. The problems of online standardisation continues. The only question is whether this development is being driven by technology or economics, either way many are struggling with it.

Every paper and news programme is dominated by the talk of "cuts". There no doubt that Cameron and Osbourne are playing the old game of softening up the public for the hit that's in store next week. The tories will always hit those on benefits rather than look at taxes, but I sense there are a few more shocks in store. Worryingly public sector pensions are in the firing line. Should we be surprised when the Daily mail and its like have launched tirade upon tirade against the "protected public sector" over the last couple of years.

To escape work and exams, I made my way to the Oval for the first T20 home game of the season v Gloucestershire Gladiators. On a day when rain never seemed far away it was a very pleasant evening weather wise. On arrival I bought my vegetable pastie and pint of Pedigree and settled to watch Surrey featuring new imports Andrew Symonds and Younis Khan. Within minutes the Rey were 17 for 5. We limped to short of a 100 and the Gladiators knocked off the runs in less than ten overs. Humiliating and for the first time in my memory a Surrey team was booed off at the end. Much work to be done before Essex visit on Thursday.

As the clock ticks down to the World Cup, the news is of Rooney getting booked in a friendly for foul and abusive language. Top marks to the referee, in the premiership, Rooney is treated as a special case, he is indulged by officials who accept his outbursts as if he suffered from tourettes syndrome. In fact what we have is someone with a very limited range of adjectives who seems to find it difficult to express his frustration and anger without hurling abuse at officials.

Finally goodbye Philippe Senderos. He was once named "Swiss Tony" but soon Wenger realised that the errors were not just slips that could be corrected, but in fact fundamental to his game. Perhaps he'll flourish at Fulham where the expectation level and scrutiny may be less.

Reading the Script

Well the weekend was dominated by my work as a team leader, reading exam papers, marking papers and reviewing others marking . Hours spent on the telephone reassuring and explaining, not a role I'd naturally embrace with open arms.

When time allowed I managed to break away to watch bits of the Test Match and the UK Open Darts. England completed what ultimately seemed like a routine victory over Bangladesh. Some commentators have qustioned the value of such games, I'd disagree its just two tests and its given the selectors the opportunity to see young players like Steven Finn; also its allowed the players who were not selected for the T20 World Cup the chance to reestablish themselves before the main series of the summer against Pakistan. For the players of Bangladesh, its given them an opportunity to play at Lords, and for Tamim the scorer of two test centuries in consequtive tests, the chance to project himself as a test player who will undoubtedly be sought after by county sides looking for an overseas player.

Onto the darts, Sunday night, a couple of glasses of red wine and the chance to see the master at work. Phil Taylor marches on, he secueed the UK Open title after breaking the world record for a match average of 118.6. I've discovered that PDC darts is coming to Crondon Park later in the year, a dart definately to put on the sporting calendar.

Finally after what will be a long summer, the need for a break. Its looks like it will be October before we can get a break, and I've been researching holiday places. Greece looks good at the moment. Off to get some brochures.

Two days locked away !

An early morning drive to Guildford and the start of two days work as a Team Leader examining Modern British Government. Intense work, requiring thought and concentration. Sadly it also meant being locked in a room without natural light , the evening spent at the hotel involved more marking with some time for reading gratefully accepted.

So at the end of two days the need to catch up on the news. It seems ridiculous to focus on sport when the country's attention has been focussed on events in West Cumbria where a gunman went on the rampage killing 12 people. In the aftermath rather than centreing on the how the event unfolded it seems far more relevant to focus on the reasons why one person would want to destroy so many lives, before as is usual in these killing sprees turning the gun upon himself. I'm left pondering whether the taking away of life is the ultimate abuse of power, and how an individual starts with those to whom he holds a grudge and ends up killing indiscriminately.Perhaps this is just an extension of the psychology of the hunter, armed with a rifle, the hunter looks down the sight and knows he will deprive the animal of life. At that moment he either, sadly in my mind, glories in that power, or hopefully rejects that desire believing that he has no right to take life away from another creature.

T20 cricket has started for the 2010 season, there's more of it but judging from the early attendances the public's enthusiasm is holding up. On Thursday evening over 17000 spectators watched Middlesex featuring Adam Gilchrist lose to the Sussex Sharks.

Meanwhile the 23man England squad have headed to South Africa significantly without Arsenal's Theo Walcott. Two years ago Walcott set England on its way in the qualifying round by scoring a hat trick against England's main challenger Croatia. The last two years have seen Walcott suffer a number of injuries and he's only fleetingly shown that level of performance for Arsenal. However in the home tie against Barcelona, Walcott came on as substitute and made an immediate impact, with his blistering pace. I'm left wondering if England were losing 2-1 with ten minutes to go, isn't Walcott exactly the type of impact substitute that you'd want.

Arsenal announced that Barcelona had made a written offer of £33 million for Cesc Fabregas and the Arsenal board issued a strongly worded statement making clear that they had no desire to sell Cesc, who is under contract for a number of further seasons. Happier news is that Aaron Ramsey, who is recovering from a double leg break, has signed a contract extension. Ramsey

was beginning to make a real impact in matches before the injury, it seems he won't return to the close of the year.

The main news from AFC Wimbledon is the acquisition on long term loan of Vinnie Jones FA Cup winners medal. Jones had seemed to be less than convinced by the rise of AFC Wimbledon, and rumours periodically circled that Vinnie had gone over to the other side. Clearly his gesture in loaning the Club his medal to put on display, suggests that Vinnie Jones remains a womble at heart.

I'll conclude with two pieces of political news that have made me rejoice in the last twenty four hours. Firstly Ken Livingstone has announced that he will seek the Labour nomination for the London Mayor election scheduled for 2012. Ken is very much the embodiment of London Labour and has a great record on a number of environmental issues, and is very much "green on red". He offers something different to Oona King who I sense may be the choice of the New Labour establishment. Ken's record on London's public transport and his opposition to the Iraq War mark him out, as a cut above those like King.

Finally its not often that I'll congratulate the Con Dem government however its decision to scrap the General Teaching Council should be applauded. Never has an organisation done so little to enhance and develop the teaching profession. I'm so glad that we haven't paid this years compulsory subscription, let's face it few would pay the subs voluntarily.

At the end of two days I'm back home, the sun's shining and there's a chance to enjoy the last days of our half term break.

Green Politics - the day after the night before

Tuesday night and we were invited to the local Green party meeting. The mood was one of electoral defeatism. The Party had fought all three local parliamentary seats and had made little impact. Having said that the candidatures in Chelmsford and Safron Waldon were purely paper candidatures and in Brentwood we did little other than one Saturday morning street stall. The long term members who obviously had raised the money for the deposits were deflated , yet from what was said there had been inquiries regarding membership during the campaign.


It was obviously just a business meeting but there was a real need to engender such enthusiasm and activity. No one came forward for next years local elections and the meeting came to an abrupt halt when the main organiser said she couldn't see the point of holding another meeting. To say we went home in a deflated state would be no exaggeration, neither of us expected a robust campaigning political unit, but to see an organisation so close to stagnation and collapse was a shock.


Thankfully early the next morning the Green Party sent me a link to follow following article published in The Guardian written by Caroline Lucas. The thrust of the article was that there is an alternative to the policies being pushed by the three main parties , the Green alternative would create rather than destroy jobs and begin to tackle climate change. Just what I needed to read:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/jun/01/green-new-deal-economy

June will soon be here

Personally a quiet couple of days, where the two most memorable events were constructing the cage for the strawberries at the allotment, and burying Marmite the Cat's ashes and planting the shrub in his memory in the garden.

I thought it would be a quiet weekend for political news, but you can always count on Israel. The decision to launch a commando attack on a humanitarian ship heading to Gaza that was in international waters would be judged piracy if it was not carried out by a nation state. It clearly contravenes any form of international law, and rightly has drawn widespread condemnation. In the past Israel has largely ignored international opinion, only time will tell if that response suffices this time. Most of those killed during the night raid were Turkish and indeed the ship was Turkish too, in the past turkey has been Israel's only ally in the middle east, that's about to change for sure.

England completed a satisfactory win over Bangladesh in conditions that in no way could be described as summery. Finn took 9 wickets in the game, and a fast bowler who stands 6ft 8ins tall obviously needs nurturing ahead of the Ashes series next winter. Lords allowed children and pensioners in for free on the last day, and as a result over 9000 turned up , many of whom might have otherwise been priced out of test cricket.

Congratulations to Dagenham & Redbridge on gaining promotion to League 1. It seems many years since I watched their forefathers Leytonstone/Ilford and Redbridge Forest. In John Still they have a manager who has not and will not sacrifice the existence of the club for short term success. His principles and financial discipline have taken the club this far. One of the D&R sub plots regards Paul Benson who moved from White Ensign in the Essex Intermediate League to now Division 1 via Wembley success and a well taken goal.

Watched the Damned United over the weekend, I had the DVD for a while, but having read several biographies of Brian Clough, who I held in high regard as a manager, I was reluctant to commit to the biopic treatment of his 44 days at Leeds United. Clough remains a legend and possibly England's finest manager, what he achieved in the late 70s -early 80s at Nottingham Forest may never be repeated.

Reading : Sections from "When the lights went out" about the Gay Liberation Movement and the Womens' Movement during the 1970s and remembering my own political journey as a student during 1971-74.

Listening to: High Violet by The National, now firmly fixed as a favourite.