The End of the Season

A week ago the Dons ended their first season back in the Football League. The bare fact is we finished 16th, and if you'd offered me that last August I'd have bitten your hand off. Survival was all I care about. However the problem with the season was the start exceeded all expectation, during September some supremely optimistic supporters were talking about our play offs chance. Of course it couldn't last and it didn't. A month away in Australia, ensured that we missed a number of truly mediocre performances, and by January we were heading down the table rapidly. A few loan signings steadied the ship, but clearly are not a long term solution. It was not until mid April that supporters could relax in the knowledge that our league place was secure.
It was no surprise to hear that managerTerry Brown had released 13 players at the end of the season. At the beginning of the season Brown had talked of developing a young squad and giving the players who had secured promotion "a chance" to play league football. Of course he was not helped by the departures of Kedwell and Gregory, however their replacements Jack Midson and the restored to fitness Sammy Moore have been the two shining lights. Brown obviously felt that most of the players released could not take the Club any further than midtable league 2, and therefore it will be a summer of seeking replacements.

Meanwhile on Sunday in brilliant sunshine the Premiership season came to a close. It will surely go down as one of the most memorable as it was finally decided in the last two minutes of "time added on" with Manchester City finally defeating 10 men QPR to secure the points necessary to secure their first championship since 1968. Of course Sky and the media in the rush to jettison any football prior to the creation of the premiership in 1992, have decided to largely ignore Arsenal last minute victory at Liverpool in 1989.

For me my main interest on Sunday was Arsenal's game at West Bromwich Albion. The situation was that Arsenal had to better the result of Spurs to nail down 3rd place and  secure a place in the Champions League for next season. Within 2 minutes a lead had been established only to then fall behind to two goals that both exposure holes in the defence. Fortunately the stand in keeper for West Brom had a 'mare and he largelt gifted Arsenal two goals to allow the Gunners to hang on for a 3-2 victory.

Significantly Arsenal have finished above Spurs  yet again, and have qualified for the Champions League for the 15th consequtive season, something only accomplished by 3 clubs in Europe. As the curtain falls all talk is whether Robin Van Persie golden boot winner and Arsenal captain will commit his long term future to the club. He has one year left on his contract, and Arsenal again find themselves in the situation of trying to keep a player much in demand, with clubs such as Manchester City hovvering overhead like vultures waiting to pounce. Talks are scheduled for later this week, so I'm sure that this is a topic that will be revisited soon.

Election Day in Norwich

I'm sitting on a train moving steadily through rural Norfolk and Suffolk. I'm heading back to Essex after spending election day in Norwich. Having voted at home at 7am (no queues in Ingatestone), I got an early train arriving in Norwich just before 10am. With the help of a trusty map I found my way to the Committee Room. in Thorpe Hamlet Ward. I'm not sure I knew what to expect as I made way conbbled streets in the medieval section of the city.

Committee Room organisation, the crossing off of those who'd voted etc took me back to an earlier period of my life. There was a time when we lived in Ilford when our home would have been taken over during election campaigns, but I reflect that that was now over 20 years ago and much has changed.

After leaving the Labour Party in 2009, I helped the Green Party candidate in Brentwood in the General Election. In truth it had little significance as our area is one of the safest parliamentary seats in the country. Today, however, is the first time I have campaigned for the Greens where the main opposition is the Labour Party.

Norwich is a city where the two main forces are Labour and Green. Before today's results the spllit on the Council was 18/15. It is conceivable that the Tories and the Lib Dems could be wiped out at local government level. How ironic given that coalition parties have both of the city's MPs.

This morning I expected to spend my day engaged in polling duty and perhaps some "knocking up". However by the end of the day I had done three sessions of knocking up in Thorpe Hamlet, one spell of leafletting in a neighbouring ward and finally some last minute telephone canvassing.

Norwich is a mixed city wonderfully illustrated by the comparison between the tower block where I started off in late morning and the close behind Norwich's wonderful cathedral where I spent tea time encouraging home owners to make their way to a local hotel to vote.

I sense that turnout will be low, but hopefully the Greens will retain the six seats that they are defending. As the train makes its way south, I listen to the radio. The station focuses on the London Mayor contest, but for once my thoughts are on the city I have left behind. It seems that the results will not be announced until after 3am and my feet are telling me that I should sleep rather than sit up waiting. It's been a long but rewarding day.


This was written on the 10pm train out of Norwich. When I got home a mug of tea and my feet soon recovered. By 1.45am the Norwich results were out. Thorpe Hamlet returned , Ben Price, the Green Candidate. All other seats were defended, although Labour gained overall control of the council. The Tories lost their remaing 2 seats while the lib Dems hung on by a thread to their 1 council seat. The turnout was as I expected low at around 32%.

London Mayor

This week it's local elections day. Over the past few weeks the media  has focussed almost exclusively on the race to be London Mayor. Sadly this contest has shown the worst of personality politics. From day one, the media decided that it was Ken v Boris. Both candidates have to a greater or lesser extent chosen to "go it alone", much of their material ignores the party label. In Boris Johnson's case for good reason, it seems he has a higher level of popularity than his party and its government. He has, to my surprise, managed to separate himself in the mind of the public from his "posh boy" chums. It's amazing what appearances on TV Quiz shows will do.

Johnson is helped by a pliable media headed by the Standard, a free paper that has become his marketting agent. Stridently anti-Livingstone, its extolls Johnson's virtues on a daily basis. In comparison this has not been a good campaign for Ken Livingstone, he above any other politician, would not have expected fair treatment from a Conservative weighted press. However to his detriment, he has scored a number of own goals, especially regarding his tax affairs that leave him appearing like damaged goods. His message that "you're better off with Ken" has struggled to get across.

Other candidates have been desparate to get a moment in the spotlight. Lib Dem Brian Paddick has been the ultimate one trick pony, telling anyone who'd listen, that he once was in the Metropolitan Police. Meanwhile Jenny Jones, the Green candidate, found it difficult at first to project herself during televised debates largely because these debates were poorly chaired and allowed Johnson and Livingstone to talk over each other, and ignore time restrictions. To Jenny Jones credit, she is the one candidate who has injected policy into the campaign, and has forced  cycling and air pollution onto the agenda.

The press have made scant regard to the candidates of the far right, and have in fairness been more interested in the presence of an independent candidate, who offers a resting place for those who are inclined to tar all parties with the same brush. The fact that she is openly campaigning for a third runway at Heathrow, is a pill hard to swallow for me and I assume many residents of South and West London.

In addition to the Mayor, the London Assembly is also being elected. Voters will get three ballot papers which I suspect will lead to some confusion. For mayor voters get two choices, and if no candidate gets 50%+1 on the first ballot, all but the top two candidates are eliminated and their votes are redistributed according to their second preferences.

The Greens are asking supporters to vote 1 Jen 2 Ken, which reinforces that this is all about second preferences. With the Lib Dem if freefall, the second preference aspect is hard to predict. The gap between Boris and Ken appears to be narrowing, but approaching election day, the bookies make Johnson 1-5 favourite, which is not a prediction that I find at all amusing or appealing.

May Day its Jason Isbell

Trips to North London are a bit special, it's so cosmopolitan, compared to home. I get off the Underground at Highgate, and I'm surrounded by shops that you sadly don't see in my part of Essex. I look at a vegetarian cafe that doubles as a bar and music venue, and I think I'm in paradise. Actually I'm heading across the road to the Boogaloo. In fairness it's a pub,a small bar, a collection of small tables and stools and a small stage. At 9pm, onto the stage walks Jason Isbell, for the next 1 hour 40 minutes we are transported from London to Alabama.

I've had the pleasure of seeing Jason Isbell in concert twice before, but this is the first time I've seen him play a solo acoustic set. I'm familiar with all the material, he chooses songs from his three solo albums plus a sprinkling of his tracks from DBT albums.

His latest album, Here we rest" was released last year, and it's been a firm favourite of him since it's release. I voted it's opening tracks Alabama Pines as my song of 2011. It's that good.  Jason opens up with " Tour of Duty", it's clear that war has made an impact on both the songwriter and the community where he lives. He focuses upon the personal impact and it touches base.

He's quickly establishes easy communication with the audience of around 150 who are silent through each number. The Truckers numbers are clearly his Decoration Day, Goddam lonely love and especially Outfit, that so perfectly explores the relationship of father and son.

After 90 minutes, he returns for an encore and to my delight plays Alabama Pines , finally he leaves with a song that he dedicates to Levon Helm , its Danko/Manuel from the Dirty South. Jason Isbell , is just a fantastic songwriter,with a voice that brings emotion to his songs, this was one of the best solo sets I've seen. The small venue, the audience, only added to the occasion.

Ryan Adams at London Palladium

I've seen Ryan Adams in concert on a number of occasions in recent years. I think it's fair to say that on the first couple of occasions, the performance did not match the quality of his albums. Ryan seemed fragile, ill at ease, and lacking in focus.

In the last couple of years without doubt he has tackled a number of issues and his shows have been quality performances.  A few months back I saw him perform a solo set in London. I seriously doubt whether he would have coped with that type of performance a couple of years earlier.

On Monday 23rd April Ryan performed the first of two concerts at the London Palladium. The Palladium is not a usual venue ,customarily used for stage shows, tonight the cast of the Wizard of Oz gets the night off as Ryan took to the stage equipped with a piano, a stool,table and mike, plus a separate microphone in case he chose to do some songs in a standing position.

The set list merged material from across his backcatalogue, including his most recent album Ashes and Fire. He opened with Oh my sweet  Carolina and ended with Come pick me up. Between we witnessed a truly inspiring performance by  a talented songwriter. Looking back ten days later, I'm aware of certain songs that didn't feature,"Let it Ride" springs to mind, but I'm also left with memories of a set filled with richness, that has encouraged me to go back to albums such as Cold Roses, with tracks such as "If I'm a stranger to you" which Ryan performed to perfection.

He appeared at ease on stage, the accompaniment stripped down, he was both assured yet self deprecating, as when he introduced "Please don't let me go" with here's "another basket of fucking sunshine".

I particularly enjoyed English Girls Approximately from Love is Hell. An album undervalued by critics, the track in question offers so much, that I was singing it as I got off the train an hour or so later.

English girls are pretty when they play guitar
Crazy like a day just breaking I ain't sure what for
Ain't got a mother or a father or a place to fall
She's got a brother in the blues,
But he doesn't know the blues at all
You said you didn't love me, it was right on time
I was just about to tell you, but ok, alright
Said you didn't love me, you didn't want a thing
English girls can be so mean

She's got pretty eyes as a pair of jewels
Falling down the Camden
Like a couple drunken criminals
She had a messy bedroom on the edge of town
I had never been good enough
To ever keep around
You said you didn't love me, it was right on time
I was just about to tell you, but ok, alright
Said you didn't love me, it didn't mean a thing
English girls can be so mean
But, oh, look at you now
Oh, look at you now
Mmm, best I've ever seen
Just a tall drink of water
Just pourin' down the sink

Tall drink of water, she's a Norfolk waterfall
Little daybreaker, she's shooting like a cannon ball
Crazy like a rocket when
You're coming through my radio,
Kept me in your bed till the winter time
Through the fall
Fall time come, and I guess my little bird can sing
Come on Elizabeth, come on Bethany
Come on forever, I'm tired and I want to sleep
My little dove flew away, and I'm guessing
She was done with me
You said you didn't love me, it was right on time
I was just about to tell you, but ok, alright
Said you didn't love me,
That you didn't want a thing
English girls can be so mean
But, oh, look at you now
Oh, look at you now
Mmm, best I've ever seen
Just a tall drink of water
Just pourin' down the sink

Kissed me on the lips but my heart just slept it off
Words may move,
But they're never movin' fast enough
Celebrate the differences
I'll celebrate the songs you sing
Just three words, my love
You meant everything
You meant everything
You meant everything
You meant everything
---
"English Girls Approximately" as written by Ryan Adams

Set List
Oh my Sweet Carolina
Ashes and Fire
If I am a stranger now
Dirty Rain
My Winding Wheel
The Rescue Blues
Please do not let me go
Do I wait
Firecracker
Everybody Knows
Sweet Lil'Gal
Why do they leave
English Girls Approximately
Chains of Love
16 Days
New York,
When will you come back home
Lucky Now
Come Pick me up
Encore: Black Sheets of Rain
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Last weekend in Manchester

Last weekend in Manchester, Leopards Basketball Club completed an amazing treble. Having already secured the league championship to add to the National Cup won earlier, the Leopards sought to add the end of season Championship Play Off.

Leaving Barking at 8am on Saturday morning, players, club officials and fans travelled by coach, dropping off at hotels in Cheadle, before going on to the Amaechi Basketball Centre. The afternoon saw Leopards in semi final action against Leicester Warriors. The Warriors rotated to allow them a chance to press the Leopards and in particular apply pressure to guard Vernon Teal. However gradually the Leopards wore their opponents down and came through to victory. The second semi final pitted Bristol Flyers , who Leopards had defeated in the Cup Final, with Derby Trailblazers. Derby, featured Dave Attwell, who was a firm favourite with Leopards fans when he played in Brentwood earlier in his career. Bristol froze on the day, and Derby ran out convincing winners.

Saturday night was a night for fans, officials and players to gather to chew over the season, as well as prepare for the final scheduled for Sunday afternoon. Leopards made a reticent start but gradually clawed their way back into the game. As Derby began to acquire team fouls, Leopards surged ahead, leading by 5pts at half time.

The second half was more of the same, and the game was best summed up by a characteristic slam by Leopards captain Ousman Krubally. As the clock ran down, it became obvious that Leopards had achieved, what seemed a distant dream at the start of the season. Yet in a way victory was tinged with sadness. I doubt there will ever be a season like this. A number of us said, it can't get any better. Moreover there was the knowledge that at least two of the Leopards American players, Ousman and Vernon, will not be returning. They deserve to play at a higher level than the EBL, and hopefully they can use the success they have achieved this season as a springboard to further their careers.

As for the journey back, much is best unsaid. Getting back at close to 1am when you've left Manchester at 7pm, takes some doing.

Leopards win the League

Back in 2004 I was one of a group of basketball fans who had a dream, that we could run a fans owned basketball club that would be able to survive at least in the English Basketball League. In truth there was not enough of us who cared whether the Leopards lived or died, and ultimately the broad based fan ownership model was viable. There's no doubt that this rather tempered my enthusiasm, both for the Leopards and in some part for the game itself.

My interest in the game itself also took a knock when I gave up coaching. I began to realise that I could no longer work full time and commit to the level of voluntary activity it took to coach a success programme. I knew the level of commitment needed, and frankly I was no longer prepared to commit to that level.

The Leopards at best limped along, they won the National Cup in 2005-06 but on what should have been a day of great joy, I found myself recovering after being hospitalised with concussion. In subsequent seasons I began to doubt whether we had a future. At what level does a sport have to sink to prove to be no longer viable as spectator sport ? At times I felt Leopards were perilously close to that level.

Last season things began to change in no small part to to the arrival of Ousman Krubally, an American forward who had played college hoops at Georgia State University. Hiring Americans is a risky business, will they deliver the goods both on and off the court. In the past the Club had been stung by players ill prepared to go into schools to coach basic basketball.

This season Ousman has been joined by American guard Vernon Teel and between them they have been tearing up the League. As well as winning the National Cup, the Leopards had put together a seventeen game winning streek, meaning that a victory at Reading on Saturday night (31st March) would secure the League Championship.

So Saturday it was a trip to the west of London (and beyond) to see Leopards take on the Reading Rockets. The management of the Rockets were very helpful to us years before when we were setting up. In truth the result was never in doubt, although on the night the stand out performer was David Buchberger who nailed 3 point shot after 3 point short. At the end of the game, party poppers exploded, and although there was no league trophy, nevertheless there was the deep satisfaction of knowing that the Leopards were back.