From time to time, as I mentioned the other day, I will use this blog page to let you know of my top 10 songs by a particular artist/band, explaining my choice behind shortlisting the tracks that I have. To kick this off, it seemed appropriate to consider my favourite 10 Coldplay tracks to date, given that I have just reviewed their latest EP. I realise that music is very subjective, one man's meat is another man's Marmite, to coin a phrase, so no doubt those of you reading this blog will disagree with my choices and will be outraged at some of the tracks which are absent from the shortlist. That is fine, it was in fact quite a difficult process narrowing this list down to 10 tracks given that Coldplay have released a back catalogue of tracks from their four albums and one EP to date and so it is only natural that some songs which others will view as a classic have been left off the final cut. Anyway, here is the magic dectet (if such a word exists), in reverse order:
10. Lovers In Japan
I already mentioned this track in my review of Prospekts March and I think already this has grown on me to the point of me believing this belongs amongst Coldplay's classic pantheon of songs. It seems like a U2 influenced song and the best compliment I can pay is that it would not be out of place on one of their albums.
9. Shiver
This track comes from Coldplay's first album Parachutes from back in 2000. Yellow and Trouble tend to be the tracks that have largely retained the classic status from that album, but this track, which I think I am right in saying was Coldplay's first ever singles release is a mighty fine song in its own right. Chris Martin's vocals capture the vulnerability that the lyrics of the song are trying to convey while the change of moods is equally well captured by there being quieter moments followed by a burst of guitar. A very good song.
8. Trouble
We stay on the Parachutes album and for this track to only poll eighth in my list is some testament to the tracks above it. The haunting piano solo segments are matched only by Chris Martin's haunting vocals on the record. This was iconic at the time it was released and I think it has aged quite well, it still sounds good to hear some eight years after its release.
7. Talk
Again, it is no slight on this track to only poll seventh. Of the singles that Coldplay released from their X&Y album, this was quite clearly their best. Chris Martin's falsetto vocals are at their best on this track and a burst of guitar in the middle of the track are particular highlights. Some see this as quite a sad song, but I actually regard it as more of a hopeful song, an olive branch.
6. Viva La Vida
I must admit this was a song that I did not immediately take to, but over the past few months with more listens, I have realised it is a masterpiece. Thoughtful, clever lyrics which seem be based around how one is judged when their time is up, the great thing about this track is the fusion of instruments that are used in putting the track together. In particular, the strings and the gospel style backing singing go together well and it almost gives this song a religious feel, perhaps in keeping with what the song is about. It is an ambitious composition but it works brilliantly and I imagine it is a marvel to behold when performed live.
5. Life In Technicolor II
It might seem controversial to include this song so high in the list when it is a new track, but I instantly took to this track. It just sounds like a Coldplay signature tune. It starts out with quite an Eastern feel to the track, with instruments that sound from that part of the world. As the track progresses though it feels more and more like a punchy Coldplay track and both the background and Martin's vocals capture extremely well the building of tension that the song seems to be pointing to. If this gets released as a single, I think it could well be remembered as one of Coldplay's finest moments.
4. Green Eyes
This is perhaps something of a curveball, but this was always a particular favourite when Rush Of Blood To The Head. It is just a simple love song, but Martin's vocals are delivered in such a way that he really gets the message across. A lot of the tracks were much edgier and had riffs that people remember and so this song has fallen off the radar. But this is the type of love song that Snow Patrol have been yearning to write for the past three albums and not pulled off. The beauty of this song is in the simplicity of its message and its delivery.
3. White Shadows
Another song from X&Y and I never understood why this was not released as a single in this country. I think it was released as a single in Australia and other parts of the world, but strangely not in Britain. I can only think this was because perhaps at over five minutes long, commercial radio might have been put off. Whatever the reason, it is a great shame. The way the song starts out and the way in which Martin delivers his falsetto vocals, this reminds me a little of The Unforgettable Fire by U2 which is certainly one of that band's finest moments. Martin's vocals on this record are fantastic, but this is a track that is recommended for far more than the vocal or the lyrics, as a musical composition it just sounds so great to listen to.
2. The Scientist
If you don't like Coldplay, you are likely to loathe this song because you will likely see it as depressing. I think that is misleading. I think the message in the song is actually far less morose and more about the concept of going back and correcting past mistakes, at least that is my personal interpretation of the song. Whatever the song actually does mean or is about, Martin's vocals are at their most haunting and the use of the piano on this song is an artform.
1. Violet Hill
The opening to this track sounds a little akin to Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits. Fortunately that is the only element of the track that is in any way reminiscent to the 80s dad rockers. The song is essentially an anti-war song but which sees things from the perspective of a soldier returning home. The piano and guitar are both used to great effect in the song and for a track that lasts less than 4 minutes, so much seems to happen in that time. It has been out for less than a year and already it seems like an epic. This is certain to be on the shortlist at the Brit Awards and quite rightly so, for this listener at least, it is Coldplay's finest work to date.
So there you are. That is my list and there are some very notable absentees from the shortlist, including Speed Of Sound, Fix You, Yellow and Clocks. 42 and Daylight were my eleventh and twelfth choices incidentally and these would have been followed by Square One, Rush Of Blood To The Head and Speed Of Sound had I extended the list further. It was a tough call narrowing this down to 10 tracks though and I know that there are some obvious favourites that would have been top of other people's lists. But, hey, it's my blog!
Saturday 29 November 2008
Prospekts March review
As I mentioned a few days ago, I have recently purchased Coldplay's new EP, Prospekts March. The EP is essentially an extension of the Viva La Vida album that they released earlier in the year. The band's press people say that the EP's material includes tracks that Coldplay had not recorded in time for Viva La Vida's release date, hence the release of this EP. The more cynical side of me leads me to believe that releasing this EP so close to Christmas has something to do with record company executives hearing the sound of ringing cash registers (do you get those any more?) in their ears. The parallels between Viva La Vida and Prospekts March do not just begin and end with the identical album sleeve covers, but in terms of the music too.
The EP consists of eight tracks in total, although of the eight, two of the tracks, Lovers In Japan and Lost feature on Viva La Vida, while track 2 entitled Postcards From Far Away at just 48 seconds long, is essentially an interlude.
So let's start at the beginning. The first track is called Life In Technicolor II. If you are wondering what happened to Life In Technicolor I, this was track 1 on Coldplay's Viva La Vida album and was an instrumental track which contained the background music to Life In Technicolor II as part of that composition. Whatever the reason for this track appearing at this time, you would like to think that it was not an after thought as it is a fantastic track. It sounds like an iconic Coldplay track which should transfer well to a live audience and because of its radio friendly manner, it has to be a strong candidate to be Coldplay's next single. It can sometimes be a cliche when Coldplay are compared to U2, but on listening to the construction of this track and Chris Martin's vocals, there are certainly noticeable parallels to be drawn with U2's work, particularly from around U2's Joshua Tree period. These parallels are not confined to this track, as I will elaborate on later. This is the stand out song on the EP and I think in time it will be established as one of Coldplay's signature tracks.
The next track is Postcards From Far Away, which as I have mentioned, is just a short piano instrumental. This sounds like the kind of gentle sound to have on in the background when you are chilling out after a hard day at work or after a long run to help you drop off to sleep. Apart from that, it is safe to say that this is not one of the major highlights of the EP. Maybe if the piano solo was longer, it would stand out more as a masterpiece of its type.
Next up comes a rather up tempo sounding Glass Of Water. In many ways this is something the black sheep of the EP. It is a rockier, more energising track than the majority of the tracks on the album and whereas I would say some of the tracks borrow from U2, this sounds more like it is paying homage to the likes of Ash, Embrace or maybe even Muse. It is a rousing track with a fast tempo which you can see being a good track to play early on in a live set in order to get the crowd buzzing.
Track 4 is called Rainy Day and this has a more gentle beat to it. I have been trying to put my finger on what influences have been drawn upon with this track. The track has a poppier, more chilled out, feelgood factor about it and particularly makes use of strings. Some of the mellower parts of the track are the kind of thing that Portishead would have released in their heyday and it also reminds me a bit of a band called Kings Of Convenience who released an album called Riots On An Empty Street a couple of years ago which was full of clever lyrics put to harmonies. Whatever influences Coldplay actually did draw upon, this is a pleasant and mellow song.
Next up comes two tracks for the price of one. This is something that Coldplay did on Viva La Vida where they merged Lovers In Japan into one track with Reign Of Love and which Green Day previously did on their American Idiot album. The first of the two tracks is the title track Prospekts March (not sure why this has been spelt in this way). This is a gentle, vocal based track which would work well in an audience setting where it could be played on acoustic guitar. Again, I can see some similarities with U2 and Joshua Tree which contains a couple of mellow album tracks of this ilk. The second part of the track is called Poppyfields and this is just a 30 second instrumental which does not seem out of place with the track that went before.
Track six is Lost! which has recently been released as a single with three different versions. This track originally featured on Viva La Vida and its original version was among the best tracks on the album. The only difference between the Viva La Vida version and the incarnation on Prospekts March is that it contains Jay-Z does some rapping in the middle part of the song, as indeed he does on one of the versions on the single. This is the only difference between the original version and this version, so whether you like it will depend on whether you appreciate rap music. Personally, as I have generally always held the opinion that rap contains a silent C at the beginning of the word, I do not feel that Jay-Z's contribution adds anything to the song, especially as the track does not differ in any other way from the original.
The next track is Lovers In Japan which the sleeve notes say is the Osaka Sun mix. Not quite sure what the significance of this is because this track was also on Viva La Vida and having played it a few times, it is identical to the track on Viva La Vida, except that it is a standalone track this time around rather than part of a double track. If you think I am about to criticise the track, however, you would be much mistaken. I think it is a great track, and I think it is all the better for being a track on its own. Of all the tracks on the album, I think this one borrows most heavily from U2 and I don't think that is a bad thing. In the same way that The Beatles have always been the template to Oasis's music (although certainly far from being their only influence), then I think U2's political, double edged meaning songs and Bono's vocals have long formed the influential template to Coldplay's songwriting and musical performance. Listening carefully to this song and there is definitely a hint of With Or Without You and Where The Streets Have No Name in the background beat to this track. The track combines piano and guitar and Martin's vocals are at their most powerful. If Life In Technicolor II is not Coldplay's next single, then this should be.
The final track of the EP is called Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground. This is an interesting song title given that a very similar lyric also features in Life In Technicolor II. In some ways I was expecting fireworks with this track and I thought it would tie in with the mood of much of the EP and of Viva La Vida, being quite dark and having a theme around protestation. Yet for all that, it is actually quite a typical final track of an album, in fact it almost feels like a bonus track because it is a just a gentle acoustic guitar track which lasts for two and a half minutes which by the end sounds like it would make a good theme tune for Last Of The Summer Wine. It is a pleasant enough track but I somehow was expecting more from the last track of the album.
All in all, I am not entirely sure of the reasons for being for this EP if it is not just a commercial exercise, which given that the band have always been major opponents of corporate culture would seem hypocritical. That is not to say that there are not good tracks on the EP, far from it. But I see this album as an extension of Viva La Vida, which I suppose in a way, it is. Tracks like Life In Technicolor II and Glass Of Water could very easily have been on the original album, while Lovers In Japan was on the original album but sounds all the better for being an independent track.
The EP very much expands on the themes and influences that were prevalent on Viva La Vida. That album particularly focused on the subjects of protesting, injustice and religion. These overtones do seem to feature on Prospekts March as well and I think is where Coldplay have particularly been influenced by U2. Their sound as I have mentioned is not dissimilar to U2's Joshua Tree period on a few of the tracks here and given that this was one of U2's most political records, it is not unfair to draw the conclusion that they have drawn from the U2 of that era. The other thing is that Joshua Tree was the album that cracked America for the Irishmen and Coldplay are now at the stage where they have global exposure. Tracks like Violet Hill, 42 and Viva La Vida will translate well to an American audience, even if not all Americans will appreciate Violet Hill's anti-war message. Of the tracks on this EP, Life In Technicolor II and Lovers In Japan at least should be received well by the record buying public over the pond.
If you are a fan of Coldplay, then I would say go and buy the EP as there are enough tracks on the album to keep you captivated and the way the EP is structured will be of interest. For those people who are more casual Coldplay fans, or who perhaps just like the odd song by them or regard them as a "singles" band, my advice to you would be not to go out and get the EP but to download the best songs that feature and stick them on your iTunes. Life In Technicolor II is definitely the standout track, but Lovers In Japan, Glass Of Water and Rainy Day are all fine tracks in their own right and those that like a good piano solo will no doubt admire Postcards From Far Away, although perhaps it needed to be a bit longer.
The EP consists of eight tracks in total, although of the eight, two of the tracks, Lovers In Japan and Lost feature on Viva La Vida, while track 2 entitled Postcards From Far Away at just 48 seconds long, is essentially an interlude.
So let's start at the beginning. The first track is called Life In Technicolor II. If you are wondering what happened to Life In Technicolor I, this was track 1 on Coldplay's Viva La Vida album and was an instrumental track which contained the background music to Life In Technicolor II as part of that composition. Whatever the reason for this track appearing at this time, you would like to think that it was not an after thought as it is a fantastic track. It sounds like an iconic Coldplay track which should transfer well to a live audience and because of its radio friendly manner, it has to be a strong candidate to be Coldplay's next single. It can sometimes be a cliche when Coldplay are compared to U2, but on listening to the construction of this track and Chris Martin's vocals, there are certainly noticeable parallels to be drawn with U2's work, particularly from around U2's Joshua Tree period. These parallels are not confined to this track, as I will elaborate on later. This is the stand out song on the EP and I think in time it will be established as one of Coldplay's signature tracks.
The next track is Postcards From Far Away, which as I have mentioned, is just a short piano instrumental. This sounds like the kind of gentle sound to have on in the background when you are chilling out after a hard day at work or after a long run to help you drop off to sleep. Apart from that, it is safe to say that this is not one of the major highlights of the EP. Maybe if the piano solo was longer, it would stand out more as a masterpiece of its type.
Next up comes a rather up tempo sounding Glass Of Water. In many ways this is something the black sheep of the EP. It is a rockier, more energising track than the majority of the tracks on the album and whereas I would say some of the tracks borrow from U2, this sounds more like it is paying homage to the likes of Ash, Embrace or maybe even Muse. It is a rousing track with a fast tempo which you can see being a good track to play early on in a live set in order to get the crowd buzzing.
Track 4 is called Rainy Day and this has a more gentle beat to it. I have been trying to put my finger on what influences have been drawn upon with this track. The track has a poppier, more chilled out, feelgood factor about it and particularly makes use of strings. Some of the mellower parts of the track are the kind of thing that Portishead would have released in their heyday and it also reminds me a bit of a band called Kings Of Convenience who released an album called Riots On An Empty Street a couple of years ago which was full of clever lyrics put to harmonies. Whatever influences Coldplay actually did draw upon, this is a pleasant and mellow song.
Next up comes two tracks for the price of one. This is something that Coldplay did on Viva La Vida where they merged Lovers In Japan into one track with Reign Of Love and which Green Day previously did on their American Idiot album. The first of the two tracks is the title track Prospekts March (not sure why this has been spelt in this way). This is a gentle, vocal based track which would work well in an audience setting where it could be played on acoustic guitar. Again, I can see some similarities with U2 and Joshua Tree which contains a couple of mellow album tracks of this ilk. The second part of the track is called Poppyfields and this is just a 30 second instrumental which does not seem out of place with the track that went before.
Track six is Lost! which has recently been released as a single with three different versions. This track originally featured on Viva La Vida and its original version was among the best tracks on the album. The only difference between the Viva La Vida version and the incarnation on Prospekts March is that it contains Jay-Z does some rapping in the middle part of the song, as indeed he does on one of the versions on the single. This is the only difference between the original version and this version, so whether you like it will depend on whether you appreciate rap music. Personally, as I have generally always held the opinion that rap contains a silent C at the beginning of the word, I do not feel that Jay-Z's contribution adds anything to the song, especially as the track does not differ in any other way from the original.
The next track is Lovers In Japan which the sleeve notes say is the Osaka Sun mix. Not quite sure what the significance of this is because this track was also on Viva La Vida and having played it a few times, it is identical to the track on Viva La Vida, except that it is a standalone track this time around rather than part of a double track. If you think I am about to criticise the track, however, you would be much mistaken. I think it is a great track, and I think it is all the better for being a track on its own. Of all the tracks on the album, I think this one borrows most heavily from U2 and I don't think that is a bad thing. In the same way that The Beatles have always been the template to Oasis's music (although certainly far from being their only influence), then I think U2's political, double edged meaning songs and Bono's vocals have long formed the influential template to Coldplay's songwriting and musical performance. Listening carefully to this song and there is definitely a hint of With Or Without You and Where The Streets Have No Name in the background beat to this track. The track combines piano and guitar and Martin's vocals are at their most powerful. If Life In Technicolor II is not Coldplay's next single, then this should be.
The final track of the EP is called Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground. This is an interesting song title given that a very similar lyric also features in Life In Technicolor II. In some ways I was expecting fireworks with this track and I thought it would tie in with the mood of much of the EP and of Viva La Vida, being quite dark and having a theme around protestation. Yet for all that, it is actually quite a typical final track of an album, in fact it almost feels like a bonus track because it is a just a gentle acoustic guitar track which lasts for two and a half minutes which by the end sounds like it would make a good theme tune for Last Of The Summer Wine. It is a pleasant enough track but I somehow was expecting more from the last track of the album.
All in all, I am not entirely sure of the reasons for being for this EP if it is not just a commercial exercise, which given that the band have always been major opponents of corporate culture would seem hypocritical. That is not to say that there are not good tracks on the EP, far from it. But I see this album as an extension of Viva La Vida, which I suppose in a way, it is. Tracks like Life In Technicolor II and Glass Of Water could very easily have been on the original album, while Lovers In Japan was on the original album but sounds all the better for being an independent track.
The EP very much expands on the themes and influences that were prevalent on Viva La Vida. That album particularly focused on the subjects of protesting, injustice and religion. These overtones do seem to feature on Prospekts March as well and I think is where Coldplay have particularly been influenced by U2. Their sound as I have mentioned is not dissimilar to U2's Joshua Tree period on a few of the tracks here and given that this was one of U2's most political records, it is not unfair to draw the conclusion that they have drawn from the U2 of that era. The other thing is that Joshua Tree was the album that cracked America for the Irishmen and Coldplay are now at the stage where they have global exposure. Tracks like Violet Hill, 42 and Viva La Vida will translate well to an American audience, even if not all Americans will appreciate Violet Hill's anti-war message. Of the tracks on this EP, Life In Technicolor II and Lovers In Japan at least should be received well by the record buying public over the pond.
If you are a fan of Coldplay, then I would say go and buy the EP as there are enough tracks on the album to keep you captivated and the way the EP is structured will be of interest. For those people who are more casual Coldplay fans, or who perhaps just like the odd song by them or regard them as a "singles" band, my advice to you would be not to go out and get the EP but to download the best songs that feature and stick them on your iTunes. Life In Technicolor II is definitely the standout track, but Lovers In Japan, Glass Of Water and Rainy Day are all fine tracks in their own right and those that like a good piano solo will no doubt admire Postcards From Far Away, although perhaps it needed to be a bit longer.
Derby day awaits
Hello again. First of all, thank you to the people who have commented on my blog so far via Facebook or e-mail. It is always nice to hear what people think of what I write, after all I have taken the time to do it, so it is good to realise that I am not talking to myself. So keep the comments coming, be they positive, negative or indifferent and also let me know if there is anything you would like me to talk about in one of my future blogs, or if you have any questions would like me to answer.
So, we made it through the week and so for myself, and hopefully a good majority of the readers of this blog, some time to enjoy some leisure and relaxation for a couple of days. My Sunday afternoon will be spent down the pub enjoying a combination that was a pleasurable norm for me for much of my twenties, namely Guinness and football. A chance to catch up with a few friends while hoping for the right result.
As you may recall from my question and answer blog from last weekend, my team of choice is Manchester United. At some point in the next few weeks I will explain how this 30 year old born and bred Brightonian has been a supporter of a team more than 200 miles away since the age of seven, rather than supporting the team in the Tesco bag shirt from his home town.
But I digress, for now. Tomorrow's live football fix involves two mouth watering matches in the Premier League with my particular vested interest coming in the first match, where it is derby day as Manchester United travel across the city to play Manchester City. This is always a big match and in recent seasons, City have been a source of irritation. Last season they did the double over United in the league, including being the only visiting team to win at Old Trafford in the league all season. That match was played a few days after the fiftieth anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster with both teams wearing 1950s retro style kits. The burden of the occasion got to United that day and City fully capitalised.
Since then, a change of ownership with a Bahraini prince having taken over from shamed former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra at Eastlands has resulted in City being one of the few businesses looking upwards in these times of economic uncertainty. City now have designs on being a major force in English and European football and pulled off their first major coup when they signed Brazilian winger/forward Robinho for £30 million from Real Madrid on transfer deadline day in August, from under the noses of Chelsea. Even so, City's designs on breaking into the "elite" of English football is premature. As things stand, City are eleventh in the Premier League table and are still several players away from having the kind of squad required to challenge for major honours and it is unlikely they will finish in the Premier League's top six this season.
You may be surprised to learn that I do not have any particularly dislike of Man City. Sure, I hate it when they beat us and because of their recent results against us, I really hope we serve up a cold dish of revenge tomorrow afternoon. But I think the rivalry with City is something that is more important to people that live in Manchester. City have not ever been a threat so far as competing for honours in the time I have supported United and so for the most part, I am indifferent to them and am quite happy when they pull off a result against one of our title rivals like Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal. When City dropped down to what is now League One a few years ago, I was quite pleased when they got promoted and latterly made it back into the Premier League. I came to regret that a little when City then preceded to beat United two seasons running after their return, but on the whole, there are other teams who I like us to beat more. Liverpool being the main one, then Arsenal and then Chelsea. And even though they no longer remain in the same division, I am always pleased to see Leeds United lose.
There are other reasons why I have a bit of time for Man City these days as well. First of all, they are managed by Mark "Sparky" Hughes, who may manage City but as a player was a fantastic servant to United in two spells as a player. The time I started getting into football and supporting United, I had just missed Sparky's first spell at United when he left for a couple of years and played for Barcelona along with Gary Lineker and then had a brief time at Bayern Munich. But I do remember Sparky's second spell at United and he was one of my favourite players when I was growing up and an important part of Manchester United's first Premier League winning team. He was always my kind of footballer, strong, aggressive but also very skillful. If you kicked him, he'd kick you back harder. And he also had the knack of scoring important goals. Two matches in particular spring to mind. One was in the European Cup Winners' Cup final in 1991 when he scored both goals to defeat his old club, Barcelona, his second goal in that match was a gem. Then in 1994, United played Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup semi-final and were losing 1-0 with 30 seconds of extra time left. The ball was knocked to the edge of the penalty area where Hughes blasted a trademark volley into the top corner. United won the replay and went on to win the league and cup double that season.
I can remember the day Mark Hughes left United as a player to join Chelsea. It was the hot summer of 1995 and a few weeks earlier, this then 17 year old author had bought a T-shirt with the great man's image on the front of it. And then a month later, Sparky had left to sign for Chelsea. It is a sign of the esteem I held Sparky in though that I still wore the T-shirt even after he had stopped playing for us. And to be fair, there are more painful examples of football supporters showing their devotion to players only for them to up sticks. The best one I can think of was the Newcastle supporter who had the image of Andy Cole tattooed on his leg only for Cole to be sold to Manchester United a few days later. There's one Geordie who I imagine never wears shorts!
Hughes is a lot greyer now than he was when he played but he has transferred the competitiveness and fight he had as a player into being a manager really well. I remember a couple of seasons ago when Hughes was manager of Blackburn and his team played against Arsenal and there was an incident where Arsene Wenger was trying to waste some time in order to issue some instructions to his players and was holding on to the ball. Hughes came racing out of his position to take the ball off him and throw it back on the field. That summed Hughes up, no respecter of reputations and he possesses a "doer's" attitude.
The other reason I have some time for City is that they have some players who are worth watching. I mentioned Robinho earlier, and he has been a good signing so far for City, as he proved with his goal in City's win over Arsenal last weekend. Some Brazilian players in the past have struggled to adapt to the physical nature of the Premier League and also the biting cold of the English winter, but the signs are that Robinho is adjusting well.
But the player who I particularly think is worthy of mention is Stephen Ireland. The City midfielder has, for my money, all 75 pence tucked in my back pocket, been City's best player of the season so far and one of the top performers in the Premier League this season. And for all of City's riches that I have spoken about, Ireland did not cost City a penny as he came through their academy. Ireland reminds me in the way that he plays of one of Man United's recent greats, Paul Scholes, in that both players like to break from deep positions in midfield to burst into the box and score goals, and both players possess good touch and vision. The similarities between Ireland and Scholes are not just confined to their on-field performances. Ireland, like Scholes, has retired from playing for his country, in his case the country of his surname, at the tender age of 22. Press reports will have you believe that Ireland's retirement from playing for the Emerald Isle was because his team-mates ribbed him out about his premature loss of hair. Whatever reason, the Republic of Ireland's loss is certainly Manchester City's gain as he has been terrific for them this season and I hope he continues his good form, but happens to abandon it tomorrow.
Manchester United have had a reasonable season to date, but I think our best football is yet to come. When the fixtures came out at the start of the season, I fully expected United to be trailing in the title race by Christmas. There were two reasons for this. Firstly, there are two rounds of matches where United are inactive because of their commitments in the European Super Cup and World Club Championship, by virtue of them winning the Champions League last season. Secondly, the fixture computer handed United all their tough away matches in the first half of the season. United have already gone to Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, from which they took the grand sum of one point, and the first half of the season has also taken in fixtures at Portsmouth, Aston Villa and Everton, with Manchester City next and their following away match at White Hart Lane against in-form Tottenham. The good thing is that if United can get to the New Year in contention, all the top teams still have to visit Old Trafford and United's away matches in the second half of the season will mainly be against teams in the lower end of the Premier League.
The uncertainty over Cristiano Ronaldo's future I think has played a role too. Ronaldo has agreed to stay at United for now, but I am not sure whether there is a piece of his heart that remains in Madrid. Portugal and Spain as countries are the greatest of rivals and for a Portuguese footballer, the opportunity of playing for the biggest club in Spain and proving he is the best player around is probably the ultimate ambition. Ronaldo is a very driven and determined player and I would imagine this mirrors his characteristics as a person, so if he really wants to go to Madrid, I imagine he will eventually. His form this season has not hit the heights he found last season when he was the catalyst in United winning both the Premier League and Champions League, scoring over 40 goals in the process. He has also found himself even more of a marked man this season, quite literally in the match against Villarreal. A series of fouls on him by the Spanish team in the 0-0 draw on Tuesday night left Ronaldo with plenty of bruises on his legs.
In recent weeks, United have played some decent football but have lacked a bit of cutting edge in the final third of the pitch. Their build-up play has often been neat and their pace and movement has continued to cause teams problems. But their play in the last third of the pitch has often not matched the quality that has gone before and that is why United have struggled a bit for goals in their recent matches. I think one reason for this has been the absence of Dimitar Berbatov to injury. United's summer signing had just been beginning to find good form and was forging a good partnership with Wayne Rooney when he picked up his injury. Rooney himself has seen his form dip in the past few games having been in such fantastic form for club and country earlier on in the season. Rooney does have a very good goalscoring record against Manchester City though, so hopefully he will keep this up tomorrow.
I think that United have the right type of game to defeat Manchester City tomorrow. City are an attack minded team and they play an open, expansive game. They will take the game to United more than City's team did under Sven Goran Eriksson did last season. But while City are good when they are in possession, they are susceptible to teams who counter attack them and sometimes can be imbalanced. United certainly have the players to exploit counter attack situations and if the game becomes open, the chances should present themselves for United, particularly in view of the fact that City's central defensive pairing of Richard Dunne and Micah Richards have both struggled for form this season.
There are perhaps 2 particular areas and players that United need to be mindful of. Robinho is likely to patrol Man City's left hand flank and then cut inside. This is a problem area of the pitch for United at the moment with Wes Brown currently injured and Gary Neville having also had one or two niggles of late. This leaves United with a choice of Rafael Da Silva, who is a great prospect and good at going forward, but who is still naive positionally when it comes to defending, or John O' Shea whose distribution is often disappointing and equally so is his crossing. The thought of O' Shea being up against Robinho is a slightly scary thought and so I hope that if Gary Neville is not fit in time that Rafael gets the call.
The other battle I think that will go a long way to determining who comes out on top is between Stephen Ireland and Michael Carrick. I mentioned earlier how Ireland has played tremendously well for City of late, well Carrick has performed very well for United since he came back from injury. Carrick is not what you would term an all-action midfielder and so sometimes he does have his detractors and does not get the credit he deserves. The fact is that he is a deep lying midfielder who carries out his defensive duties well. Even though he does not go flying in and make crunching tackles, he reads play well and makes a lot of vital interceptions that turn a defensive situation into an attacking one and he is capable of driving runs forward from midfield into the penalty box and he uses the ball tidily and intelligently. My one criticism of Carrick is that I think he should score more goals than he does from midfield, he strikes the ball cleanly and takes up good positions, so really a midfielder of his kind should be getting 8-10 goals a season.
I think Carrick being on the pitch could restrict Stephen Ireland's effectiveness tomorrow though. Ireland often comes from very deep positions to bomb forward into attacking positions but I think because Carrick poses a threat also in coming forward, this will constrain Ireland's bursts forward and peg him back into his own half. If Carrick can keep Ireland in check this will deny City of one of their most potent supply lines to their attacking players. City's striker Benjani has scored a couple of goals against United in the past and can be quite a handful, so if by keeping Ireland quiet it also keeps Benjani quiet then that will be a bonus.
It promises to be a good match and I am optimistic that United will get back on track with a win. I feel that United need to win every league match they play up until they play Chelsea in early January in order to stand a real chance of clawing back the deficit in the New Year. City's style of play will provide United with gaps to exploit as the game gets stretched and after some very stoic defending by City in recent derby matches, I think they must be due a match where they make some mistakes and gift United a chance or two, especially given that City have been conceding plenty of goals. So I am going to call United to win this match 3-1, although, be warned, my predicting has been terrible this season. Hopefully I will be toasting a red victory this time tomorrow. Sorry Sparky.
So, we made it through the week and so for myself, and hopefully a good majority of the readers of this blog, some time to enjoy some leisure and relaxation for a couple of days. My Sunday afternoon will be spent down the pub enjoying a combination that was a pleasurable norm for me for much of my twenties, namely Guinness and football. A chance to catch up with a few friends while hoping for the right result.
As you may recall from my question and answer blog from last weekend, my team of choice is Manchester United. At some point in the next few weeks I will explain how this 30 year old born and bred Brightonian has been a supporter of a team more than 200 miles away since the age of seven, rather than supporting the team in the Tesco bag shirt from his home town.
But I digress, for now. Tomorrow's live football fix involves two mouth watering matches in the Premier League with my particular vested interest coming in the first match, where it is derby day as Manchester United travel across the city to play Manchester City. This is always a big match and in recent seasons, City have been a source of irritation. Last season they did the double over United in the league, including being the only visiting team to win at Old Trafford in the league all season. That match was played a few days after the fiftieth anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster with both teams wearing 1950s retro style kits. The burden of the occasion got to United that day and City fully capitalised.
Since then, a change of ownership with a Bahraini prince having taken over from shamed former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra at Eastlands has resulted in City being one of the few businesses looking upwards in these times of economic uncertainty. City now have designs on being a major force in English and European football and pulled off their first major coup when they signed Brazilian winger/forward Robinho for £30 million from Real Madrid on transfer deadline day in August, from under the noses of Chelsea. Even so, City's designs on breaking into the "elite" of English football is premature. As things stand, City are eleventh in the Premier League table and are still several players away from having the kind of squad required to challenge for major honours and it is unlikely they will finish in the Premier League's top six this season.
You may be surprised to learn that I do not have any particularly dislike of Man City. Sure, I hate it when they beat us and because of their recent results against us, I really hope we serve up a cold dish of revenge tomorrow afternoon. But I think the rivalry with City is something that is more important to people that live in Manchester. City have not ever been a threat so far as competing for honours in the time I have supported United and so for the most part, I am indifferent to them and am quite happy when they pull off a result against one of our title rivals like Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal. When City dropped down to what is now League One a few years ago, I was quite pleased when they got promoted and latterly made it back into the Premier League. I came to regret that a little when City then preceded to beat United two seasons running after their return, but on the whole, there are other teams who I like us to beat more. Liverpool being the main one, then Arsenal and then Chelsea. And even though they no longer remain in the same division, I am always pleased to see Leeds United lose.
There are other reasons why I have a bit of time for Man City these days as well. First of all, they are managed by Mark "Sparky" Hughes, who may manage City but as a player was a fantastic servant to United in two spells as a player. The time I started getting into football and supporting United, I had just missed Sparky's first spell at United when he left for a couple of years and played for Barcelona along with Gary Lineker and then had a brief time at Bayern Munich. But I do remember Sparky's second spell at United and he was one of my favourite players when I was growing up and an important part of Manchester United's first Premier League winning team. He was always my kind of footballer, strong, aggressive but also very skillful. If you kicked him, he'd kick you back harder. And he also had the knack of scoring important goals. Two matches in particular spring to mind. One was in the European Cup Winners' Cup final in 1991 when he scored both goals to defeat his old club, Barcelona, his second goal in that match was a gem. Then in 1994, United played Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup semi-final and were losing 1-0 with 30 seconds of extra time left. The ball was knocked to the edge of the penalty area where Hughes blasted a trademark volley into the top corner. United won the replay and went on to win the league and cup double that season.
I can remember the day Mark Hughes left United as a player to join Chelsea. It was the hot summer of 1995 and a few weeks earlier, this then 17 year old author had bought a T-shirt with the great man's image on the front of it. And then a month later, Sparky had left to sign for Chelsea. It is a sign of the esteem I held Sparky in though that I still wore the T-shirt even after he had stopped playing for us. And to be fair, there are more painful examples of football supporters showing their devotion to players only for them to up sticks. The best one I can think of was the Newcastle supporter who had the image of Andy Cole tattooed on his leg only for Cole to be sold to Manchester United a few days later. There's one Geordie who I imagine never wears shorts!
Hughes is a lot greyer now than he was when he played but he has transferred the competitiveness and fight he had as a player into being a manager really well. I remember a couple of seasons ago when Hughes was manager of Blackburn and his team played against Arsenal and there was an incident where Arsene Wenger was trying to waste some time in order to issue some instructions to his players and was holding on to the ball. Hughes came racing out of his position to take the ball off him and throw it back on the field. That summed Hughes up, no respecter of reputations and he possesses a "doer's" attitude.
The other reason I have some time for City is that they have some players who are worth watching. I mentioned Robinho earlier, and he has been a good signing so far for City, as he proved with his goal in City's win over Arsenal last weekend. Some Brazilian players in the past have struggled to adapt to the physical nature of the Premier League and also the biting cold of the English winter, but the signs are that Robinho is adjusting well.
But the player who I particularly think is worthy of mention is Stephen Ireland. The City midfielder has, for my money, all 75 pence tucked in my back pocket, been City's best player of the season so far and one of the top performers in the Premier League this season. And for all of City's riches that I have spoken about, Ireland did not cost City a penny as he came through their academy. Ireland reminds me in the way that he plays of one of Man United's recent greats, Paul Scholes, in that both players like to break from deep positions in midfield to burst into the box and score goals, and both players possess good touch and vision. The similarities between Ireland and Scholes are not just confined to their on-field performances. Ireland, like Scholes, has retired from playing for his country, in his case the country of his surname, at the tender age of 22. Press reports will have you believe that Ireland's retirement from playing for the Emerald Isle was because his team-mates ribbed him out about his premature loss of hair. Whatever reason, the Republic of Ireland's loss is certainly Manchester City's gain as he has been terrific for them this season and I hope he continues his good form, but happens to abandon it tomorrow.
Manchester United have had a reasonable season to date, but I think our best football is yet to come. When the fixtures came out at the start of the season, I fully expected United to be trailing in the title race by Christmas. There were two reasons for this. Firstly, there are two rounds of matches where United are inactive because of their commitments in the European Super Cup and World Club Championship, by virtue of them winning the Champions League last season. Secondly, the fixture computer handed United all their tough away matches in the first half of the season. United have already gone to Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, from which they took the grand sum of one point, and the first half of the season has also taken in fixtures at Portsmouth, Aston Villa and Everton, with Manchester City next and their following away match at White Hart Lane against in-form Tottenham. The good thing is that if United can get to the New Year in contention, all the top teams still have to visit Old Trafford and United's away matches in the second half of the season will mainly be against teams in the lower end of the Premier League.
The uncertainty over Cristiano Ronaldo's future I think has played a role too. Ronaldo has agreed to stay at United for now, but I am not sure whether there is a piece of his heart that remains in Madrid. Portugal and Spain as countries are the greatest of rivals and for a Portuguese footballer, the opportunity of playing for the biggest club in Spain and proving he is the best player around is probably the ultimate ambition. Ronaldo is a very driven and determined player and I would imagine this mirrors his characteristics as a person, so if he really wants to go to Madrid, I imagine he will eventually. His form this season has not hit the heights he found last season when he was the catalyst in United winning both the Premier League and Champions League, scoring over 40 goals in the process. He has also found himself even more of a marked man this season, quite literally in the match against Villarreal. A series of fouls on him by the Spanish team in the 0-0 draw on Tuesday night left Ronaldo with plenty of bruises on his legs.
In recent weeks, United have played some decent football but have lacked a bit of cutting edge in the final third of the pitch. Their build-up play has often been neat and their pace and movement has continued to cause teams problems. But their play in the last third of the pitch has often not matched the quality that has gone before and that is why United have struggled a bit for goals in their recent matches. I think one reason for this has been the absence of Dimitar Berbatov to injury. United's summer signing had just been beginning to find good form and was forging a good partnership with Wayne Rooney when he picked up his injury. Rooney himself has seen his form dip in the past few games having been in such fantastic form for club and country earlier on in the season. Rooney does have a very good goalscoring record against Manchester City though, so hopefully he will keep this up tomorrow.
I think that United have the right type of game to defeat Manchester City tomorrow. City are an attack minded team and they play an open, expansive game. They will take the game to United more than City's team did under Sven Goran Eriksson did last season. But while City are good when they are in possession, they are susceptible to teams who counter attack them and sometimes can be imbalanced. United certainly have the players to exploit counter attack situations and if the game becomes open, the chances should present themselves for United, particularly in view of the fact that City's central defensive pairing of Richard Dunne and Micah Richards have both struggled for form this season.
There are perhaps 2 particular areas and players that United need to be mindful of. Robinho is likely to patrol Man City's left hand flank and then cut inside. This is a problem area of the pitch for United at the moment with Wes Brown currently injured and Gary Neville having also had one or two niggles of late. This leaves United with a choice of Rafael Da Silva, who is a great prospect and good at going forward, but who is still naive positionally when it comes to defending, or John O' Shea whose distribution is often disappointing and equally so is his crossing. The thought of O' Shea being up against Robinho is a slightly scary thought and so I hope that if Gary Neville is not fit in time that Rafael gets the call.
The other battle I think that will go a long way to determining who comes out on top is between Stephen Ireland and Michael Carrick. I mentioned earlier how Ireland has played tremendously well for City of late, well Carrick has performed very well for United since he came back from injury. Carrick is not what you would term an all-action midfielder and so sometimes he does have his detractors and does not get the credit he deserves. The fact is that he is a deep lying midfielder who carries out his defensive duties well. Even though he does not go flying in and make crunching tackles, he reads play well and makes a lot of vital interceptions that turn a defensive situation into an attacking one and he is capable of driving runs forward from midfield into the penalty box and he uses the ball tidily and intelligently. My one criticism of Carrick is that I think he should score more goals than he does from midfield, he strikes the ball cleanly and takes up good positions, so really a midfielder of his kind should be getting 8-10 goals a season.
I think Carrick being on the pitch could restrict Stephen Ireland's effectiveness tomorrow though. Ireland often comes from very deep positions to bomb forward into attacking positions but I think because Carrick poses a threat also in coming forward, this will constrain Ireland's bursts forward and peg him back into his own half. If Carrick can keep Ireland in check this will deny City of one of their most potent supply lines to their attacking players. City's striker Benjani has scored a couple of goals against United in the past and can be quite a handful, so if by keeping Ireland quiet it also keeps Benjani quiet then that will be a bonus.
It promises to be a good match and I am optimistic that United will get back on track with a win. I feel that United need to win every league match they play up until they play Chelsea in early January in order to stand a real chance of clawing back the deficit in the New Year. City's style of play will provide United with gaps to exploit as the game gets stretched and after some very stoic defending by City in recent derby matches, I think they must be due a match where they make some mistakes and gift United a chance or two, especially given that City have been conceding plenty of goals. So I am going to call United to win this match 3-1, although, be warned, my predicting has been terrible this season. Hopefully I will be toasting a red victory this time tomorrow. Sorry Sparky.
Wednesday 26 November 2008
Listening pleasures
In my introductory blog, you may have noticed that I said that from time to time I will use this blog space as an opportunity to review new albums that I have listened to, as well as occasionally reviewing any books I read while I am doing my daily commute and any films that caught my eye at the cinema or on TV.
This is a feature of the blog that I hope to demonstrate over the coming weeks. And to get the ball rolling, I will review two albums that I have purchased this week. The first is the new Coldplay EP "Prospekts March", which features tracks that supposedly were not recorded in time to make the Viva La Vida album that Chris Martin and friends released in early summer. Or, call me a cynic, tracks which their record company cunningly kept back from the album to release just in time for the Christmas purchasing run. Nonetheless, as an ardent Coldplay fan I felt compelled to buy this EP and it doesn't disappoint, as I will reveal when I review the EP in full this weekend.
The other album I will be reviewing is the third studio album by Las Vegas's finest export since tennis legend Andre Agassi, namely The Killers. Their third album is entitled "Day and Age" and you may well have heard the band's first singles cut from the album, "Human", which keeps to the band's winning formula of dark lyrics and an edgy synth based sound, that pays homage to 1980s new wave alternative music, borrowing particularly from bands like Joy Division, New Order, Talking Heads and The Cure. The rest of the album by and large sticks to these parameters but with some other newer influences being apparent as well.
These albums are both worth a listen but I will provide an in-depth review of both during this coming weekend. In the coming weeks, I also hope to provide my critical delectation of Razorlight's new album and even more exciting than that, Guns N' Roses's first studio album in over fifteen years. Slash may have gone and now forms part of Velvet Revolver, but Axl Rose remains and G n R's long awaited new album "Chinese Democracy" was released on Monday. I hope to give both of these a listen in the next few weeks, or certainly download a few tracks from the respective albums. Otherwise, they will definitely being going on my list to Mr Claus this Christmas!
As well as album reviews, from time to time, I might well post up my current music playlists and maybe some top 10 lists. You know the sort of thing, top 10 Beatles songs, or Stones, or Queen, the kind of debate you might have in the pub after one too many Guinnesses/Stars/Stellas/insert your own poison here. All I can say is, watch this space and feel free to join the debate.
This is a feature of the blog that I hope to demonstrate over the coming weeks. And to get the ball rolling, I will review two albums that I have purchased this week. The first is the new Coldplay EP "Prospekts March", which features tracks that supposedly were not recorded in time to make the Viva La Vida album that Chris Martin and friends released in early summer. Or, call me a cynic, tracks which their record company cunningly kept back from the album to release just in time for the Christmas purchasing run. Nonetheless, as an ardent Coldplay fan I felt compelled to buy this EP and it doesn't disappoint, as I will reveal when I review the EP in full this weekend.
The other album I will be reviewing is the third studio album by Las Vegas's finest export since tennis legend Andre Agassi, namely The Killers. Their third album is entitled "Day and Age" and you may well have heard the band's first singles cut from the album, "Human", which keeps to the band's winning formula of dark lyrics and an edgy synth based sound, that pays homage to 1980s new wave alternative music, borrowing particularly from bands like Joy Division, New Order, Talking Heads and The Cure. The rest of the album by and large sticks to these parameters but with some other newer influences being apparent as well.
These albums are both worth a listen but I will provide an in-depth review of both during this coming weekend. In the coming weeks, I also hope to provide my critical delectation of Razorlight's new album and even more exciting than that, Guns N' Roses's first studio album in over fifteen years. Slash may have gone and now forms part of Velvet Revolver, but Axl Rose remains and G n R's long awaited new album "Chinese Democracy" was released on Monday. I hope to give both of these a listen in the next few weeks, or certainly download a few tracks from the respective albums. Otherwise, they will definitely being going on my list to Mr Claus this Christmas!
As well as album reviews, from time to time, I might well post up my current music playlists and maybe some top 10 lists. You know the sort of thing, top 10 Beatles songs, or Stones, or Queen, the kind of debate you might have in the pub after one too many Guinnesses/Stars/Stellas/insert your own poison here. All I can say is, watch this space and feel free to join the debate.
Woolies have pick & mixed too much
Hello again to the readers of this blog. Hope everyone is having a good week so far. I had a rare day off from work today and while I was catching up on a few chores at home, I happened to have the news on and heard that Woolworth's appear to be the latest victim of the current economic crisis with the administrators likely to be called in.
My initial reaction to hearing of Woolworth's plight was to feel a little sad, for nostalgia purposes mainly. Probably in common with a lot of people around my age, I can recall the early years of my childhood being trawled around Woolies with my parents, particularly when it came to Christmas and the late night shopping. Fast forward a few years to my teens and when I first started buying music, I quite often bought it from Woolies. In fact if my memory serves me right, I think the first album I recall buying was purchased from Woolworth's in Brighton in 1995. The album in question was "What's The Story Morning Glory" by Oasis, purchased on tape as I didn't have a CD player at the time! If I kept the receipt, it might fetch a few quid on the Antiques Roadshow in 30 years time.
Nostalgia aside though, I cannot say that I am hugely surprised to hear of Woolworth's demise. The retail market has changed massively in the last 5-10 years, particularly with the advent of online buying taking away a lot of customers in what were traditionally Woolies' core product areas, namely CDs, books and DVDs (or VHS previously), while other items that they sell can just as easily be bought elsewhere on the High Street, often for greater value for money, such as greetings cards, children's toys and kitchen utensils.
Woolworth's as far as I am aware has never had an online presence, or if they have, they certainly haven't publicised it. They may feel that they didn't need one, but when you look around, many of the products they sell are often easily available via the Internet. "Clicks and mortar" businesses like Amazon and Play.com are now well established and there is no longer a prevalent stigma attached to ordering online, as there are now far more secure transaction sites and the "Watchdog stories" of consumers ordering goods online and them never turning up are few and far between, even if I do have an amusing experience to recall of a botched delivery of fancy dress goods. I'll elaborate on that another time. Back on topic though, not only do these goods get despatched swiftly, but they also are invariably cheaper to purchase online rather than buying in the High Street. Unless a customer wants to have the product instantaneously, they are prepared to wait 2-3 days given that they will save a pound or two in the process.
Because people as a rule lead more hectic and pressurised schedules now compared to, say, 15-20 years ago and so many striving to find that elusive work-life balance, convenience becomes more important when it comes to making purchasing decisions. This is where supermarkets have been particularly savvy in the last few years. Tesco's, Sainsbury's and ASDA have all realised that they can stock a selection of other products that they haven't traditionally sold in their supermarkets as an added extra to their core products. So, when people go to Tesco's or Sainsbury's to do their weekly or twice weekly shop, they can load their trolley with all the groceries as per usual, but can also grab a new paperback, a DVD of a film they have been meaning to buy for ages or a chart CD from the bargain bucket. Supermarkets usually have a car park and so the heavy bags can be deposited in the boot of the car, rather than carry a bulky bag around the shopping centre.
The thing is that all of these supermarkets realise what their core product is, namely groceries, but they have carefully chosen the product lines to go down. So Tesco's, Sainsbury's etc. will have in stock the current chart CDs and DVDs as well as a selection of discount CDs for popular artists. This is not far removed from Woolworth's original line of thinking so far as product lines go, but from what I have observed of their retail outlets in the past few years, their product and brand positioning has become more and more confused, so that their customers don't really know what to expect. The shop that has always been known for its Pick & Mix confectionery has pick and mixed rather too much with its other products.
If you were to ask 100 people in the street what WH Smith primarily sold, although it sells stationery, magazines, greetings cards and CDs, most people I would expect will identify it as a book shop. Ask 100 people in the street what Boots primarily sold, although it sells items for the home, photography material and DVDs, most people are going to identify it as a chemist/toiletry seller. Ask 100 people in the street what Woolworth's primarily sells and I think you would get a mix of answers. Some would say CDs, some confectionery, others might say toys.
This I think is symptomatic of the difficulty Woolworth's has now got itself into. People don't quite know what Woolworth's sell, they believe they can get the products for a better price elsewhere and often for better quality and so people either buy these products online, from specialist chains, or as mentioned a couple of paragraphs up, they buy them when doing the weekly supermarket shop.
I recently visited the Woolworth's store in Croydon while on my lunch break. I did not go in for any particular purpose other than to browse the CDs, just to kill a few minutes time before walking back down to the office. That few minutes had been pretty much killed just trying to find the location of the CDs. They were right at the back of the shop and the store had no signs up saying where anything was.
I've heard it said that there is a saying in retail that "placement is everything" and this particularly relates to where items are located within a shop. What struck me about the Woolworth's I visited in Croydon was how shoddy the layout was and also how narrow the gangways were. Although the shop was not overly busy when I was there, it was noticeable that quite a few people who were in the shop at the time were mothers who were pushing buggies or who were accompanied by young children. It can't be a lot of fun for them having to negotiate the tight aisles around Woolworth's in search of what they went in for. It would make sense for Woolworth's to put items such as toys and children's clothes near the front of the shop so that there is less distance for parents and their children to travel, yet these items are often towards the back of the shops.
The layout in Woolworth's is a nightmare, possibly only Boots and Superdrug can compare for their dishevelled layouts. I think much of this is down to their overinflated product range, meaning that shelf space is at a premium and also the placement strategies get rather blurred. Woolworth's have a whole section of their stores devoted to crockery and home/garden equipment and tools, yet these do not seem to sell well. They take up a lot of space and do not generate much revenue. It is true that places like Next and TK Maxx have sections that sell similar products but they take up a relatively small amount of the store and really they are novelty products at those stores. Ultimately, they both know that their stores are clothing outlets and so the clothes take up the lion's share of the store. People go into Woolworth's to get something relatively simple, say a pack of batteries, but by the time they have found them, they have forgotten what they went in for.
Then there's the staff. I remember Jasper Carrott once remarked in one of his live stand-up shows that people working in Woolworth's were "people who had failed the Argos test". Obviously, you can generalise too much and there are plenty of staff who work for them who are very good. But I can recall certainly a couple of occasions where I've shopped at one of their stores and found their staff unhelpful either in their manner or by virtue of the fact they didn't seem to have a clue about what they were selling. On one occasion, I went to the counter to buy a new CD. After several minutes of the checkout staff person opening and closing every drawer behind the counter I presumed in search of the elusive CD and them ringing the bell for another staff member to go and look out the back, I was informed that I could not buy the item I wanted because "they had run out of display cases". Way to go Woolies, I just went down the road and bought the same CD from HMV for the same price. On at least one other occasion, I've been to buy goods from their shop, got to the counter and been told they have sold out, with no-one having put up a sign to say they are temporarily out of stock.
While other shops have adopted a more professional manner to dealing with their customers, Woolworth's have not moved with the times. Those DVD/CD drawers behind the counter are a classic example. Do you ever get the impression that there isn't exactly a semblance of organisation to what items are likely to be in what drawer? You would think that if you are going to stop people from buying the items that are on the display shelves, the replica items that could be bought would be catalogued by some reasonable means of organisation, such as alphabetical order of artist/movie etc. Yet, given the way that shop assistants go tearing through the drawers when they are serving you, that would suggest that such a filing system is not widely used.
It is also noticeable how few tills seem to be in operation in their stores. Back in the days, they would have tills for the CDs/DVDs, a till for lottery tickets, a till for the stationery and confectionery and then another till for toys, clothing and books etc. Now, you are likely to have one set of tills in the store which has a queuing system much like the one in a bank or post office, which is fair enough if all the tills are manned, but often I've noticed there can be only 2 or 3 tills open at any one time.
Times have changed so far as retail and business goes and Woolworth's seemingly have not adjusted to this, they have not been proactive to the market and their consumer's needs. Consequently, consumers are taking their custom elsewhere where they can buy any of the products they are likely to find in Woolworth's, they are likely to find them quicker because the shop signs are better, and they are likely to get better customer service. Everyone else has moved on but Woolies have not done so, meaning they get plenty of window shoppers but plenty of people leaving their shops empty handed.
So while it will be sad to see a major name disappear from the High Street, the powers that be at Woolworth's only have themselves to blame for their plight. I cannot see anyone stepping in to save the organisation because it is a business model that is going to be nigh impossible to turn around. It would require almost a complete brand and product overhaul and for any potential investor, it is hard to see what the return on their investment would be for the significant amount of work they would need to bring about. So get in quick because the days of Pick & Mix are going to be numbered.
My initial reaction to hearing of Woolworth's plight was to feel a little sad, for nostalgia purposes mainly. Probably in common with a lot of people around my age, I can recall the early years of my childhood being trawled around Woolies with my parents, particularly when it came to Christmas and the late night shopping. Fast forward a few years to my teens and when I first started buying music, I quite often bought it from Woolies. In fact if my memory serves me right, I think the first album I recall buying was purchased from Woolworth's in Brighton in 1995. The album in question was "What's The Story Morning Glory" by Oasis, purchased on tape as I didn't have a CD player at the time! If I kept the receipt, it might fetch a few quid on the Antiques Roadshow in 30 years time.
Nostalgia aside though, I cannot say that I am hugely surprised to hear of Woolworth's demise. The retail market has changed massively in the last 5-10 years, particularly with the advent of online buying taking away a lot of customers in what were traditionally Woolies' core product areas, namely CDs, books and DVDs (or VHS previously), while other items that they sell can just as easily be bought elsewhere on the High Street, often for greater value for money, such as greetings cards, children's toys and kitchen utensils.
Woolworth's as far as I am aware has never had an online presence, or if they have, they certainly haven't publicised it. They may feel that they didn't need one, but when you look around, many of the products they sell are often easily available via the Internet. "Clicks and mortar" businesses like Amazon and Play.com are now well established and there is no longer a prevalent stigma attached to ordering online, as there are now far more secure transaction sites and the "Watchdog stories" of consumers ordering goods online and them never turning up are few and far between, even if I do have an amusing experience to recall of a botched delivery of fancy dress goods. I'll elaborate on that another time. Back on topic though, not only do these goods get despatched swiftly, but they also are invariably cheaper to purchase online rather than buying in the High Street. Unless a customer wants to have the product instantaneously, they are prepared to wait 2-3 days given that they will save a pound or two in the process.
Because people as a rule lead more hectic and pressurised schedules now compared to, say, 15-20 years ago and so many striving to find that elusive work-life balance, convenience becomes more important when it comes to making purchasing decisions. This is where supermarkets have been particularly savvy in the last few years. Tesco's, Sainsbury's and ASDA have all realised that they can stock a selection of other products that they haven't traditionally sold in their supermarkets as an added extra to their core products. So, when people go to Tesco's or Sainsbury's to do their weekly or twice weekly shop, they can load their trolley with all the groceries as per usual, but can also grab a new paperback, a DVD of a film they have been meaning to buy for ages or a chart CD from the bargain bucket. Supermarkets usually have a car park and so the heavy bags can be deposited in the boot of the car, rather than carry a bulky bag around the shopping centre.
The thing is that all of these supermarkets realise what their core product is, namely groceries, but they have carefully chosen the product lines to go down. So Tesco's, Sainsbury's etc. will have in stock the current chart CDs and DVDs as well as a selection of discount CDs for popular artists. This is not far removed from Woolworth's original line of thinking so far as product lines go, but from what I have observed of their retail outlets in the past few years, their product and brand positioning has become more and more confused, so that their customers don't really know what to expect. The shop that has always been known for its Pick & Mix confectionery has pick and mixed rather too much with its other products.
If you were to ask 100 people in the street what WH Smith primarily sold, although it sells stationery, magazines, greetings cards and CDs, most people I would expect will identify it as a book shop. Ask 100 people in the street what Boots primarily sold, although it sells items for the home, photography material and DVDs, most people are going to identify it as a chemist/toiletry seller. Ask 100 people in the street what Woolworth's primarily sells and I think you would get a mix of answers. Some would say CDs, some confectionery, others might say toys.
This I think is symptomatic of the difficulty Woolworth's has now got itself into. People don't quite know what Woolworth's sell, they believe they can get the products for a better price elsewhere and often for better quality and so people either buy these products online, from specialist chains, or as mentioned a couple of paragraphs up, they buy them when doing the weekly supermarket shop.
I recently visited the Woolworth's store in Croydon while on my lunch break. I did not go in for any particular purpose other than to browse the CDs, just to kill a few minutes time before walking back down to the office. That few minutes had been pretty much killed just trying to find the location of the CDs. They were right at the back of the shop and the store had no signs up saying where anything was.
I've heard it said that there is a saying in retail that "placement is everything" and this particularly relates to where items are located within a shop. What struck me about the Woolworth's I visited in Croydon was how shoddy the layout was and also how narrow the gangways were. Although the shop was not overly busy when I was there, it was noticeable that quite a few people who were in the shop at the time were mothers who were pushing buggies or who were accompanied by young children. It can't be a lot of fun for them having to negotiate the tight aisles around Woolworth's in search of what they went in for. It would make sense for Woolworth's to put items such as toys and children's clothes near the front of the shop so that there is less distance for parents and their children to travel, yet these items are often towards the back of the shops.
The layout in Woolworth's is a nightmare, possibly only Boots and Superdrug can compare for their dishevelled layouts. I think much of this is down to their overinflated product range, meaning that shelf space is at a premium and also the placement strategies get rather blurred. Woolworth's have a whole section of their stores devoted to crockery and home/garden equipment and tools, yet these do not seem to sell well. They take up a lot of space and do not generate much revenue. It is true that places like Next and TK Maxx have sections that sell similar products but they take up a relatively small amount of the store and really they are novelty products at those stores. Ultimately, they both know that their stores are clothing outlets and so the clothes take up the lion's share of the store. People go into Woolworth's to get something relatively simple, say a pack of batteries, but by the time they have found them, they have forgotten what they went in for.
Then there's the staff. I remember Jasper Carrott once remarked in one of his live stand-up shows that people working in Woolworth's were "people who had failed the Argos test". Obviously, you can generalise too much and there are plenty of staff who work for them who are very good. But I can recall certainly a couple of occasions where I've shopped at one of their stores and found their staff unhelpful either in their manner or by virtue of the fact they didn't seem to have a clue about what they were selling. On one occasion, I went to the counter to buy a new CD. After several minutes of the checkout staff person opening and closing every drawer behind the counter I presumed in search of the elusive CD and them ringing the bell for another staff member to go and look out the back, I was informed that I could not buy the item I wanted because "they had run out of display cases". Way to go Woolies, I just went down the road and bought the same CD from HMV for the same price. On at least one other occasion, I've been to buy goods from their shop, got to the counter and been told they have sold out, with no-one having put up a sign to say they are temporarily out of stock.
While other shops have adopted a more professional manner to dealing with their customers, Woolworth's have not moved with the times. Those DVD/CD drawers behind the counter are a classic example. Do you ever get the impression that there isn't exactly a semblance of organisation to what items are likely to be in what drawer? You would think that if you are going to stop people from buying the items that are on the display shelves, the replica items that could be bought would be catalogued by some reasonable means of organisation, such as alphabetical order of artist/movie etc. Yet, given the way that shop assistants go tearing through the drawers when they are serving you, that would suggest that such a filing system is not widely used.
It is also noticeable how few tills seem to be in operation in their stores. Back in the days, they would have tills for the CDs/DVDs, a till for lottery tickets, a till for the stationery and confectionery and then another till for toys, clothing and books etc. Now, you are likely to have one set of tills in the store which has a queuing system much like the one in a bank or post office, which is fair enough if all the tills are manned, but often I've noticed there can be only 2 or 3 tills open at any one time.
Times have changed so far as retail and business goes and Woolworth's seemingly have not adjusted to this, they have not been proactive to the market and their consumer's needs. Consequently, consumers are taking their custom elsewhere where they can buy any of the products they are likely to find in Woolworth's, they are likely to find them quicker because the shop signs are better, and they are likely to get better customer service. Everyone else has moved on but Woolies have not done so, meaning they get plenty of window shoppers but plenty of people leaving their shops empty handed.
So while it will be sad to see a major name disappear from the High Street, the powers that be at Woolworth's only have themselves to blame for their plight. I cannot see anyone stepping in to save the organisation because it is a business model that is going to be nigh impossible to turn around. It would require almost a complete brand and product overhaul and for any potential investor, it is hard to see what the return on their investment would be for the significant amount of work they would need to bring about. So get in quick because the days of Pick & Mix are going to be numbered.
Sunday 23 November 2008
Ice breaking
I thought by way of an ice breaker, I would start by providing a small insight into my character by providing a series of Q&As, much like in the style of a teen magazine interview with some boy band hunk or girl band babe. I promise that the journalistic content of my blog will be a little more high brow from here on in, but just for starters, here's me in the comfy chair.
Name
Joe Ashdown
Age
30
Birthday
1 August
Star sign
Leo
Place of birth
Brighton
Place of residence
Brighton
Occupation
Business Support Officer for a charity/housing association in Croydon
Marital status
Unmarried but dating
Education
Second class degree in Business Studies at Brighton University. 9 GCSEs back in the days including a spectacular grade E for German, which unfortunately didn't stand for excellent!
First job
Vocational work placement when I was about 17-18, working in the Social Services Training department's office in Hove. Basically was an office hand.
First car
I haven't had a first car on account of the fact that even now at the age of 30, I've never taken lessons. What's surprising is that I know a few people the same age as me who haven't either.
Best/worst subjects at school/college
English was definitely my best subject throughout school. I wasn't too bad at Maths except my brain never quite got the hang of Pythagoras' Theorem. I enjoyed History and although I was never much good at PE, I usually enjoyed giving it a go. Worst subjects would have been anything that remotely required co-ordination, Home Economics, CDT, that sort of thing.
Favourite colour
Green
Favourite pets
I don't have any pets, but if I had a dog, I think I'd go for a Labrador or a Golden Retriever. Always found cats a bit quirky.
Proudest moment
Hmm, I'd have to say graduating. Hopefully one day when I get married, have children, that sort of thing, I can rewrite the answer to this question.
First holiday abroad
It took me until I was 24 to leave the country when I went to Ireland. A lovely place, which I have been back to a couple of times since.
Best thing about home town
I'm a born and bred Brightonian. I keep being told there's not many of us about, although I think that is not entirely true. The best thing about Brighton, I'd say the Lanes, they really encapsulate the character of the place.
Worst thing about home town
With my sincerest apologies to anyone that is attached to them, seagulls. Not the local football team, but the overweight feathered creatures that like nothing more than to empty the contents of your rubbish for a tasty early morning snack.
Worst hangover
You will have to ask one of my oldest friends for the full details of this but it basically involved me getting rather worse for wear on his stag weekend in Madrid earlier this year. I didn't get up very early the next morning and spent most of the day with a hammering in my head, being reminded of things I did the night before which I couldn't remember.
Favourite alcoholic beverage
I'm most likely to order Guinness if I'm in the pub. Not a great fan of lager, but if I'm somewhere that serves Staropramen, I might give it a go. Czech lager is much better than most of the gassy stuff you normally get. I tend to save wine for meals and special occasions, but I prefer red to white and particularly enjoy the fruity flavoured ones from South America. When I go clubbing (hardly ever these days then) I tend to move on to vodka and cokes when I'm too full for beer.
Favourite non-alcoholic beverage
When I'm at work, I tend to drink a lot of coffee during the course of the week, as my colleagues will testify to. Don't really drink much caffeine at home, but tend to drink water or orange juice. If I'm going round to friends/family, I'll mainly drink tea. Haven't really answered the question, have I? Oh well, coffee just shades it.
Favourite food/meals
Again, I like different food at different times but I would say that anything that involves chicken and pasta will feature quite high on meals I enjoy.
Irrational food intolerances
I suppose the main one would be apples. I've hated them ever since someone handed me one in the reception class at school when I was only about 4 and it tasted horrible. I've never eaten one since.
Musical/artistic talents
Sadly, none. I was in the school recorder class and nearly got slung out for being out of tune! I think artistic talent is something you either have or you don't, and it bypassed me. I would love to learn to play the piano one day, although it is obviously a difficult instrument to master, there is something quite graceful about it which appeals to me.
Foreign languages spoken
Again, none too well. I haven't dabbled in French since I gave it up at 14 years old and my aforementioned grade E in German has not stood me in good stead since! I know a few useful phrases in Czech, Spanish and Swedish, but that's about the height of it.
Favourite musical genres/pleasures
My musical taste is reasonably diverse. I suppose I have particular leanings towards indie/rock type music and there is a reasonable chance that anything from that kind of genre that was released between 1994 and 2001 will be residing on my iTunes. I would count Oasis, Coldplay, Razorlight and The Killers among the bands I like from recent times. I do like older music as well though, both rock and more smoother sounds. I like a lot of U2's back catalogue and have got into the Rolling Stones quite a bit in the last year or two.
Favourite song
Narrowing this down to the choice of one song is hard as there are about 5 or 6 that I could name which have long been among my favourites. If I had to pick one though it would be 'Whole Of The Moon' by The Waterboys. I saw them live about 5 or 6 years ago and when they played that song it brought the house down. A brilliantly written and constructed song which still sounds fresh when it comes on the radio.
Favourite actor/actress
I'd have no hesitation in choosing Robert De Niro as my favourite actor, although Jack Nicholson and Denzel Washington both get honourable mentions. Favourite actress is trickier and without going down the route of picking an actress who I find attractive but whose acting I find consistently good that means a choice of two, Cate Blanchett or Jodie Foster. Blanchett just edges it for me.
Favourite movies
I'd find it harder to name one film that stands out above the crowd, so I will give you a shortlist. Forrest Gump, The Shawshank Redemption, Raging Bull, The Hurricane, 48 Hours.
Favourite TV
Not really a great watcher of soaps any more. I tend to enjoy comedy and documentary style programmes the most. Stuff like Have I Got News For You, Mock The Week, Dragons' Den, travelog style programmes with Paul Merton/Stephen Fry/Michael Palin, Coast, those are the programmes I'll make an effort to watch. I enjoy watching quiz programmes to test that my grey matter is still intact. And I shamelessly admit that I enjoy watching Top Gear.
Newspapers read
Mainly the Metro on the train to work, as it is free! The Times on a Monday is good for the sports section and for much the same reason I enjoy The Independent on a Saturday. Both have comprehensive news sections and as they are compact, they don't take up the whole table when you read them.
Favourite sports
I don't really play much sport other than the occasional game of badminton. To watch, football is my first love and I'm a lifelong supporter of Manchester United. Other than football, I also enjoy most mainstream sports, but particularly cricket, tennis, F1, athletics and snooker.
Favourite comedians
Any of the following usually raise a laugh - Frankie Boyle, Russell Howard, Dara O' Briain, Jack Dee, Steve Coogan (when he's playing Alan Partridge), Bill Bailey, Lucy Porter, Jasper Carrott.
Places to visit
So many places to go to that I haven't been to already. Within Europe, would like to check out Germany and Italy. Further afield, would particularly like to visit Japan, Cuba and Australia. Those are just for starters though, there are plenty of other places I would really relish visiting one day.
Hidden talents
I think they may be hidden to me too! I do a line in pretty bad impressions of people which occasionally come to the fore after a few drinks.
Things to do before I'm 40
This is basically an extension of the places to visit response, plenty of travelling. I'd quite like to write a book as well as the more obvious settle down, have a family etc.
So, this is just a short insight into who I am and what I am about. If anyone reading this blog has anything else they wish to ask about my likes/dislikes/ways of being, feel free to ask away and I will do my best to respond as honestly and as humourously as I can.
Name
Joe Ashdown
Age
30
Birthday
1 August
Star sign
Leo
Place of birth
Brighton
Place of residence
Brighton
Occupation
Business Support Officer for a charity/housing association in Croydon
Marital status
Unmarried but dating
Education
Second class degree in Business Studies at Brighton University. 9 GCSEs back in the days including a spectacular grade E for German, which unfortunately didn't stand for excellent!
First job
Vocational work placement when I was about 17-18, working in the Social Services Training department's office in Hove. Basically was an office hand.
First car
I haven't had a first car on account of the fact that even now at the age of 30, I've never taken lessons. What's surprising is that I know a few people the same age as me who haven't either.
Best/worst subjects at school/college
English was definitely my best subject throughout school. I wasn't too bad at Maths except my brain never quite got the hang of Pythagoras' Theorem. I enjoyed History and although I was never much good at PE, I usually enjoyed giving it a go. Worst subjects would have been anything that remotely required co-ordination, Home Economics, CDT, that sort of thing.
Favourite colour
Green
Favourite pets
I don't have any pets, but if I had a dog, I think I'd go for a Labrador or a Golden Retriever. Always found cats a bit quirky.
Proudest moment
Hmm, I'd have to say graduating. Hopefully one day when I get married, have children, that sort of thing, I can rewrite the answer to this question.
First holiday abroad
It took me until I was 24 to leave the country when I went to Ireland. A lovely place, which I have been back to a couple of times since.
Best thing about home town
I'm a born and bred Brightonian. I keep being told there's not many of us about, although I think that is not entirely true. The best thing about Brighton, I'd say the Lanes, they really encapsulate the character of the place.
Worst thing about home town
With my sincerest apologies to anyone that is attached to them, seagulls. Not the local football team, but the overweight feathered creatures that like nothing more than to empty the contents of your rubbish for a tasty early morning snack.
Worst hangover
You will have to ask one of my oldest friends for the full details of this but it basically involved me getting rather worse for wear on his stag weekend in Madrid earlier this year. I didn't get up very early the next morning and spent most of the day with a hammering in my head, being reminded of things I did the night before which I couldn't remember.
Favourite alcoholic beverage
I'm most likely to order Guinness if I'm in the pub. Not a great fan of lager, but if I'm somewhere that serves Staropramen, I might give it a go. Czech lager is much better than most of the gassy stuff you normally get. I tend to save wine for meals and special occasions, but I prefer red to white and particularly enjoy the fruity flavoured ones from South America. When I go clubbing (hardly ever these days then) I tend to move on to vodka and cokes when I'm too full for beer.
Favourite non-alcoholic beverage
When I'm at work, I tend to drink a lot of coffee during the course of the week, as my colleagues will testify to. Don't really drink much caffeine at home, but tend to drink water or orange juice. If I'm going round to friends/family, I'll mainly drink tea. Haven't really answered the question, have I? Oh well, coffee just shades it.
Favourite food/meals
Again, I like different food at different times but I would say that anything that involves chicken and pasta will feature quite high on meals I enjoy.
Irrational food intolerances
I suppose the main one would be apples. I've hated them ever since someone handed me one in the reception class at school when I was only about 4 and it tasted horrible. I've never eaten one since.
Musical/artistic talents
Sadly, none. I was in the school recorder class and nearly got slung out for being out of tune! I think artistic talent is something you either have or you don't, and it bypassed me. I would love to learn to play the piano one day, although it is obviously a difficult instrument to master, there is something quite graceful about it which appeals to me.
Foreign languages spoken
Again, none too well. I haven't dabbled in French since I gave it up at 14 years old and my aforementioned grade E in German has not stood me in good stead since! I know a few useful phrases in Czech, Spanish and Swedish, but that's about the height of it.
Favourite musical genres/pleasures
My musical taste is reasonably diverse. I suppose I have particular leanings towards indie/rock type music and there is a reasonable chance that anything from that kind of genre that was released between 1994 and 2001 will be residing on my iTunes. I would count Oasis, Coldplay, Razorlight and The Killers among the bands I like from recent times. I do like older music as well though, both rock and more smoother sounds. I like a lot of U2's back catalogue and have got into the Rolling Stones quite a bit in the last year or two.
Favourite song
Narrowing this down to the choice of one song is hard as there are about 5 or 6 that I could name which have long been among my favourites. If I had to pick one though it would be 'Whole Of The Moon' by The Waterboys. I saw them live about 5 or 6 years ago and when they played that song it brought the house down. A brilliantly written and constructed song which still sounds fresh when it comes on the radio.
Favourite actor/actress
I'd have no hesitation in choosing Robert De Niro as my favourite actor, although Jack Nicholson and Denzel Washington both get honourable mentions. Favourite actress is trickier and without going down the route of picking an actress who I find attractive but whose acting I find consistently good that means a choice of two, Cate Blanchett or Jodie Foster. Blanchett just edges it for me.
Favourite movies
I'd find it harder to name one film that stands out above the crowd, so I will give you a shortlist. Forrest Gump, The Shawshank Redemption, Raging Bull, The Hurricane, 48 Hours.
Favourite TV
Not really a great watcher of soaps any more. I tend to enjoy comedy and documentary style programmes the most. Stuff like Have I Got News For You, Mock The Week, Dragons' Den, travelog style programmes with Paul Merton/Stephen Fry/Michael Palin, Coast, those are the programmes I'll make an effort to watch. I enjoy watching quiz programmes to test that my grey matter is still intact. And I shamelessly admit that I enjoy watching Top Gear.
Newspapers read
Mainly the Metro on the train to work, as it is free! The Times on a Monday is good for the sports section and for much the same reason I enjoy The Independent on a Saturday. Both have comprehensive news sections and as they are compact, they don't take up the whole table when you read them.
Favourite sports
I don't really play much sport other than the occasional game of badminton. To watch, football is my first love and I'm a lifelong supporter of Manchester United. Other than football, I also enjoy most mainstream sports, but particularly cricket, tennis, F1, athletics and snooker.
Favourite comedians
Any of the following usually raise a laugh - Frankie Boyle, Russell Howard, Dara O' Briain, Jack Dee, Steve Coogan (when he's playing Alan Partridge), Bill Bailey, Lucy Porter, Jasper Carrott.
Places to visit
So many places to go to that I haven't been to already. Within Europe, would like to check out Germany and Italy. Further afield, would particularly like to visit Japan, Cuba and Australia. Those are just for starters though, there are plenty of other places I would really relish visiting one day.
Hidden talents
I think they may be hidden to me too! I do a line in pretty bad impressions of people which occasionally come to the fore after a few drinks.
Things to do before I'm 40
This is basically an extension of the places to visit response, plenty of travelling. I'd quite like to write a book as well as the more obvious settle down, have a family etc.
So, this is just a short insight into who I am and what I am about. If anyone reading this blog has anything else they wish to ask about my likes/dislikes/ways of being, feel free to ask away and I will do my best to respond as honestly and as humourously as I can.
Hello
Hi everyone.
Well, welcome along to my new blog. I thought it was about time I set up my own little blog space as plenty of my friends have said to me previously that it would make for a good read. Oh well, no pressure or anything...
My name is Joe, as the title of this blog would indicate. Apologies for the rather predictable choice of blog title, but I thought it had to be done.
Over the coming weeks and months I intend to share with you an insight into my own life, as well as provide some opinion and wit on what is in the news or in the papers. As well as that, I will provide the occasional review of any films I go and see, new albums I listen to or TV programmes I catch.
That's just for starters. Thanks for reading my first blog and I will be back soon with some more idle ramblings.
Well, welcome along to my new blog. I thought it was about time I set up my own little blog space as plenty of my friends have said to me previously that it would make for a good read. Oh well, no pressure or anything...
My name is Joe, as the title of this blog would indicate. Apologies for the rather predictable choice of blog title, but I thought it had to be done.
Over the coming weeks and months I intend to share with you an insight into my own life, as well as provide some opinion and wit on what is in the news or in the papers. As well as that, I will provide the occasional review of any films I go and see, new albums I listen to or TV programmes I catch.
That's just for starters. Thanks for reading my first blog and I will be back soon with some more idle ramblings.
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