Thursday 26 February 2009

Monday 23 February 2009

Champions League tests for English teams

Well, I don't know about anyone else among the football fraternity, but for me, the Champions League really comes alive when the knockout stage arrives. The group phase is a necessary evil I suppose and it sorts the men from the boys, but very rarely does it produce really memorable matches and usually the qualifiers from each group runs in accordance to the script.

Once the knockout phase begins though, every game counts. OK, so the matches up until the final are over two legs, but with away goals coming into play, every stage of every match makes for an absorbing encounter. While the Premier League's frenetic pace makes for plenty of thrills and spills and edge of the seat action, the Champions League produces the champagne football with the technical excellence of all the world's great players on show allied with the tactical nous of the world's top coaches.

And so the action re-commences this week with the last 16 matches first leg ties. For the four English clubs left in the competition, there are 4 intriguing ties in prospect which should promise close fought contests. Sir Alex Ferguson renews his friendly rivalry with Jose Mourinho as Manchester United travel to reigning Italian champions Inter Milan. Meanwhile, Mourinho's old club Chelsea come face to face with their former manager Claudio Ranieri who brings his Juventus team to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night. Liverpool are also in action on Wednesday night and Rafael Benitez will be returning to his homeland to Real Madrid's Bernabeu Stadium, hoping to improve on their recent stuttering league performances. Completing the English quartet are an Arsenal team likely to field an entirely non-English line-up in their clash at the Emirates Stadium against Roma.

All four of these matches look like being on a knife-edge and for the English teams starting up away from home, Manchester United and Liverpool, their main priority will be to avoid defeat whilst also scoring an away goal. A goalless draw for either team would not be a disaster but it could be a dangerous score because of the away goal rule. A deficit wiith an away goal would not be the worst case scenario, but it would nonetheless be a difficult situation to achieve in the second leg. For Arsenal and Chelsea, their primary objectives should be to keep a clean sheet while getting a win. If Arsenal and Chelsea can win their matches 1-0 or 2-0 it will make it very difficult for their opponents to turn things around in the 2nd leg, especially given that both teams possess players who are perfectly capable of scoring on the counter attack.

Manchester United's battle with Inter Milan promises to be an intriguing match. United have been in excellent form in the Premier League, having won all 8 of their league matches in 2009 and having only conceded one goal in the league since early November. However, Jose Mourinho has an excellent track record in previous matches against Manchester United, having lost just one competitive match in 10 previous encounters against United, including a 3-2 aggregate victory in the last 16 of the competition in 2004 while managing Porto, which saw Mourinho dance down the touchline before going on to win the competition and provide him with his ticket to South West London.

Man for man, there is no question that United have the stronger players and certainly their attacking flair will provide a stern test of Inter's resolve. Inter have struggled to transfer their dominance of Italian football into European competition in recent years and succumbed to Liverpool at this stage of the competition last season. Previous history suggests that when things start to conspire against Inter in Europe, they lose their discipline. Mourinho's arrival is sure, however, to have stiffened things up and he is the master at getting teams up for one-off matches. He also has an astonishing managerial record as a "home" manager having not lost a league match at home since 2002 for either Porto, Chelsea or Inter. Admittedly, he did see Chelsea lose to Barcelona at Stamford Bridge in this competition three years ago, but even so, that is a remarkable record.

Mourinho's teams focus on being well organised, powerful and having a collective work ethic. Inter will certainly need to display all of these attributes against Manchester United if they are to eliminate the reigning champions. They will also need their star man Zlatan Ibrahimovic to come to the party. Ibrahimovic is regarded by some as an enigma and a player who goes missing when it really matters, but his detractors would be extremely myopic to ignore his threat. When he is in the mood, he is a player of outstanding technical quality and Mourinho was no fool in talking up his star striker recently in advance of the United clash. Saying Ibrahimovic was better than Cristiano Ronaldo was an outrageous comment, but you can see the method in Mourinho's madness. He makes Ibrahimovic feel important and at the same time it is reminding that Ibrahimovic that he needs to live up to the billing if his team are going to get through.

As I said earlier, all being equal, United should expect to win this tie over two legs because pound for pound they have better players across the pitch compared to Inter. However, if there is one weakness for United where they could be exposed in the first leg, it could be in defence, strangely enough. United's central defensive partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic is a big reason for their success of recent times and Vidic has to many observers been the Player of the Year so far this season and the fundamental reason for United's excellent clean sheet run. Vidic, however, will be suspended against Inter due to his red card in the World Club Championship final in December. Meanwhile, his understudy Jonny Evans picked up an injury playing against Blackburn at the weekend and is unlikely to recover in time, while another possible replacement Wes Brown is also currently on the treatment table. This will mean possibly having to play John O' Shea at centre back. This is not an ideal situation at the best of times, but least of all in an important Champions League away match against opponents who are such difficult propositions in their own backyard.

As if Vidic's absence was not enough, United are also likely to miss Gary Neville who is also currently struggling with an injury. This will mean having to play young Brazilian right back Rafael in his place. The young right back is undoubtedly a talent, as demonstrated by his goal against Arsenal in the Premier League earlier in the season, but as with many Brazilian full backs, his instincts are to get forward and sometimes his positional play can be naive when in his own half and he can take the odd risk. Fortunately for Rafael, Inter do not possess a lot of natural width because if they did, you would imagine Mourinho targeting Rafael as the player to test out. On the plus side, United do have Patrice Evra back on the left flank and it will be interesting to see how his contest against Inter's veteran Argentinian right back Javier Zanetti shapes up. Zanetti signed for Inter in 1996, when Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney would still have been at junior school! Goodness knows how many Inter managers Zanetti has seen off during that time.

As important as it is for United's defence to perform and not make any individual errors, I think the midfield battle will play a big part in affecting the outcome of this tie. Inter will play a narrow midfield and will look to congest the centre of the field and deny United the space and time to play their natural passing game. They will also do their best to slow the tempo of the game down, starving United of their oxygen. United play best in Europe when they keep a quick tempo to their game, when opponents successfully slow them down and play the game at their preferred pace, United find it much harder to impose themselves. Mourinho will be all too aware of this and you would expect him to try and double up on Cristiano Ronaldo. But what United need to be wary of is the possibility of Inter playing through them when United lose possession. Michael Carrick has been in excellent form for Manchester United this season and he will need to carry over that level of performance in order to ensure United come out on top in midfield. I expect Ferguson to opt for experience alongside him in the middle of the park with one of Paul Scholes or Ryan Giggs to play alongside him, with either Wayne Rooney or Park Ji-Sung coming deep to give the midfield added support to negate the numbers Inter throw into the middle of the pitch.

The key to this match is that United do not take any kind of deficit into the second leg. If they can get a score draw from the first leg, that would be a satisfactory outcome as Inter are not normally good travellers in European football and I would fully expect United to finish the job at Old Trafford. Give Inter any kind of advantage in the first leg, even a slender one such as a 2-1 win and it plays into Mourinho's hands. He sets his teams up to be counter attacking sides and he will be fully aware that United then need to go chasing goals in the second leg and could leave them exposed to the counter whenever their attacks break down. Nonetheless, I think United's quality should just get them through this tie, although I expect Inter to be a far sterner proposition this time compared to their previous campaigns because Mourinho will squeeze every last drop out of his players and will demand a team performance. I expect United to get through with a one goal aggregate victory.

The pick of the Wednesday night matches comes in the Bernabeu Stadium where Liverpool visit Real Madrid. Real Madrid are having a poor campaign by their own high standards, but they did have the ideal preparation for this match by thrashing Real Betis 6-1 in the Spanish League at weekend, a match in which club legend Raul broke the club's goalscoring record by scoring twice. By contrast, Liverpool approached this match by drawing 1-1 at home to Manchester City, their fourth draw in six league matches. Since Rafael Benitez read out his dossier of Sir Alex Ferguson's outbursts and Manchester United's perceived fortunate decisions, Liverpool's form has taken a hit, although Benitez's own unresolved future must also be a factor as well.

The decision to sell Robbie Keane back to Tottenham in January will also be scrutinised, not least because it has left Liverpool drastically short of experienced forwards. If Fernando Torres is injured for any length of time, Liverpool are short of adequate replacements. They also currently find themselves without Steven Gerrard, although his participation in Madrid is a possibility as he has travelled with the squad. In the past, Liverpool's other players have taken more responsibility when Gerrard has not been available and it is high time those players did so again. Players such as Alonso, Kuyt, Babel and Riera all have their strengths and are capable of affecting a match, but all too often Liverpool are left to rely on Torres and Gerrard's contributions and Jamie Carragher's solidity at the back.

If Benitez and Liverpool's heart is in it though, they are perfectly capable of progressing against Real Madrid. They won in the Nou Camp against Barcelona two seasons ago before Torres had joined Liverpool and the Barcelona side back then was a stronger outfit than the Real Madrid outfit now. The absence of Ruud Van Nistelrooy for the rest of the season also denies Real the services of their most bankable goalscorer and their talisman. Without him, although Real have other players who can hurt Liverpool, I do feel that they will find it hard to establish much of a lead, if any, going into the second leg. Perhaps the one area of danger for Liverpool could be down the flanks where Liverpool's full backs can be caught out of position and the quick feet of Arjen Robben on the left will provide a stiff test.

My main concern if I was in the Liverpool camp would be their ability to score an away goal in the Bernabeu, owing to their current reliance on Fernando Torres. But Liverpool have set themselves up right in away matches in Europe before and although there have been games where they have had few chances, they have been good at taking the chances that fall their way. So long as Real do not score a very early goal, I cannot see them running away with the first leg and I think Liverpool will be in a position where if they are trailing heading into the second leg, they would still fancy their chances of turning things round at Anfield where the home crowd gives them added impetus and where an early Liverpool goal has so often turned the tide. This is not Real's strongest ever team and although they will be keen to take something from a disappointing season, I simply think they are short of the players needed to go any further this year.

Chelsea's recent managerial manoeuvrings have been well documented but the appointment of Guus Hiddink until the end of the season was made to knock a few underperforming players back into shape. And on the evidence of their first match of Hiddink's tenure, this strategy had the desired effect as Chelsea earned a well deserved 1-0 win at in-form Aston Villa, whose Villa Park ground has been something of a bogey ground for the Blues in the past decade. Hiddink has bags of experience and in fact won this competition prior to its Champions League re-branding back in 1988 when he was manager of PSV Eindhoven.

Hiddink has been renowned in both club and international football for his ability to build a team ethic and get teams to function as a collective unit far beyond the value of the sum of the team's parts. Hiddink should not have so much of a problem in this respect when managing Chelsea, as the talents of his players are not so much in doubt as the desire of the experienced, decorated players to achieve more. It was noticeable from watching the Aston Villa-Chelsea match how Chelsea's players showed much more determination and worked that much harder than had been seen throughout Luiz Felipe Scolari's time as Chelsea manager. Didier Drogba was back to his combative best while Nicolas Anelka, often an invisible figure under Scolari, not only expertly took the only goal of the game but worked incredibly hard for his team.

It was also noticeable how much the victory meant to Chelsea's players on Saturday. There had been question marks about the unity in Chelsea's dressing room but the jubilant scenes at the end of the match were shared by everyone, as were the celebrations in the aftermath of Anelka's goals. Scolari's departure and Hiddink's subsequent arrival have certainly instigated this apparent return of a united front within the Chelsea dressing room, but I think the media's writing off of Chelsea has bruised a few fragile egos in the dressing rooms. There are plenty of winners in the Chelsea dressing room and you can only imagine how angry some of the players feel about their regression in the past 17 months since Jose Mourinho left, and particularly since the start of this season. Admittedly, Chelsea's chances of winning the Premier League this season are matchstick thin, but they remain in this competition and the FA Cup and memories of their heartache in the Moscow rain last May will serve as a poignant motivating factor in driving this team onwards and upwards again.

Whether Chelsea can ever expect to hit the heights they did under Jose Mourinho is very questionable, but they certainly have experienced campaigners still at their disposal who with some fire in their belly can be a force to be reckoned with in European football. To prevail against Juventus though, they have to take a first leg advantage to Turin for the second leg and preferably without conceding a goal. Chelsea have lost their air of invincibility at Stamford Bridge and their lack of width has meant that they have struggled to deal with opponents who visit the Bridge, pack midfield and park the bus. In the interim period, I don't think Hiddink has any quick fix solutions to Chelsea's lack of options in wide areas, other than to play Anelka out wide, with Kalou stationed on the right. In time though, an alternative could be to play a more narrow midfield in a diamond formation, once the much missed Michael Essien returns from injury.

Juventus should not be under-estimated, as they are after all a team that won home and away against Real Madrid in the group phase and also removed the reigning UEFA Cup holders Zenit St Petersburg from this competition. Claudio Ranieri's return to Stamford Bridge is sure to be emotional as the Italian is a man who wears his heart on his sleeve and he will also be keen to prove his managerial credentials are worthy. The "Grand Old Lady" of Italian football are still finding their feet again after their demotion to Serie B in 2006 for their part in the match fixing scandal that swept Italy, but they have retained the services of the world's top goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and also their veteran playmakers/forwards Pavel Nedved and Alessandro Del Piero. Much like Ryan Giggs, these two players have kept themselves in good shape and have enjoyed a fine Indian summer to their career over the past year. If Chelsea can keep these stalwarts quiet though, I think that is half the battle negotiated.

Hiddink is renowned as a master of tacticians while Ranieri's "Tinkerman" continues to haunt him and so if the match gets bogged down into a tight, tactical affair then you would expect Hiddink's nous to shade things in his favour. Chelsea may need to be patient in breaking Juventus down at Stamford Bridge and must be careful not to panic if they don't score early on and must guard against giving Juventus set pieces, as this has been a situation where Chelsea have been particularly vulnerable this season. However, if Chelsea keep a clean sheet at the Bridge, I think they will be in the driving seat in the second leg, even allowing for Chelsea's recent patchy away form in Champions League combat. I expect a narrow Chelsea victory on aggregate.

Arsenal's task against Roma has been made harder in recent times due to a series of injuries to key players, not least the prolonged absence of Cesc Fabregas. Eduardo recently returned from his long lay-off after his leg break at Birmingham last season, only to then pull a hamstring in his first game back where he scored twice and now is on the sidelines again, while the mercurial Emmanuel Adebayor also finds himself on the sidelines. They did sign Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin during the January transfer window but he will be ineligible for Champions League participation due to his appearances for Zenit St Petersburg during the group phase.

Because of the depleted nature of the Arsenal team and because they have some inexperienced players in defensive and midfield positions, it is difficult to gauge quite how Arsenal will play against Roma. Arsenal have had the better of a number of their recent encounters in the league but have been profligate in front of goal. Such wastefulness will be punished by Roma, who having made a dreadful start to the season, have picked up well in the last three months. They ended up winning up their Champions League group ahead of Chelsea, and have also climbed the table in Serie A since Christmas. Their coach Spaletti has a well established system of play and the nucleus of his team has been at the club for a few seasons now, with long serving forward Francesco Totti remaining as important to his team as he ever was.

As well as defeating Chelsea in the group stage, Roma have had several encounters against Manchester United in the past couple of seasons. They were defeated 3-0 on aggregate in the quarter-finals by the Red Devils last season and memorably lost 7-1 at Old Trafford the previous season. Arsenal will need to be particularly mindful of the threat that eminates from Roma's midfield runners. They are a team that use possession well and who also have plenty of balance in midfield. Roma's system generally sees Totti as the player who plays furthest forward with support then coming from deep from Roma's midfielders. Arsenal's lack of an established holding midfielder could be a problem when Roma find themselves breaking with possession.

Arsenal did win in Italy at this corresponding stage last season with a famous victory in the San Siro against AC Milan, having drawn 0-0 in the first leg. A 0-0 draw in the first leg this time would not be a disaster, but a win by one or two would certainly be significantly more preferable. Arsenal are capable of winning at the Emirates and if they score early and then dominate, a win by 2 or 3 goals is not out of the question, as Roma have been known to capitulate before. But Arsenal's problem is going to be preventing a Roma away goal. Roma had opportunities to score at Old Trafford last season and didn't take them and also missed a penalty, but Arsenal's defence is nowhere near as settled as United's. Arsene Wenger is still trying to find the right defensive combination and his defence can be susceptible to powerful players. Roma's Vucinic could make an impact in this respect. I expect Roma to score at the Emirates and it is for this reason that I expect Roma to advance against an Arsenal team shy of some of its star players. The absence of Fabregas and Adebayor will be noticeable, even allowing for Adebayor's poor attitude this season. Adebayor's physical play would have asked questions of Roma's centre backs, whereas I feel Nicklas Bendtner is less likely to. I see an aggregate victory for Roma.

In the other Champions League ties, I expect Barcelona to see off a talented Lyon side. Lyon are difficult to beat in their own backyard and Karim Benzema is a real star in the making, but I expect Barcelona's all-stars to get a draw at least in France and finish the job with aplomb in Catalonia. I expect Barcelona to be joined by fellow Spaniards Atletico Madrid in the last 8, who should establish enough of a lead at home to see off the 2004 winners Porto. Completing the Spanish contingent should be Villarreal, whose defensive solidity should prove too strong for Panathinaikos to break down. Completing the quarter final line-up, in my humble opinion, will be Bayern Munich in what should be a close tie against Cristiano Ronaldo's former employers, Sporting Lisbon. Lisbon might take a slender lead into the second leg but with Bayern's forwards, I always fancy them to score a goal and I expect them to complete victory in Bavaria.

MY TIPS FOR THE QUARTER-FINALS
Manchester United
Liverpool
Chelsea
Roma
Barcelona
Atletico Madrid
Villarreal
Bayern Munich


Top 10 U2 tracks

Next week U2 release their latest studio album, No Line On The Horizon, some four years after the last album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb was released.

I am a huge fan of the Irish veteran rockers. I take my hat off to the band for staying at the top of their game after 30 years of recording and touring together and given the tensions that must arise in a band, it is quite incredible that their original line-up still remains intact after 30 years together.

I am looking forward to hearing their latest album, although I must confess I am a little disappointed by the first singles cut from the album, Get On Your Boots, which the band performed at the Brits last week. As with their last album, I think the band, or maybe their record company, have decided to go with the most commercial sounding, radio friendly track. This is probably especially so given U2's promotional arrangement with iTunes, but just as I felt Vertigo was one of the weaker tracks on their last album, I am doubtful that this track is one of the stronger offerings on this album. At least I hope it isn't.

By way of whetting the appetite for the imminent release of their new album which hits the shops a week today, I thought I would compile my personal list of top 10 U2 songs to date, stretching back over their 30 years of recording. It is quite disturbing to think that when their first top 75 hit I Will Follow was released in 1980, I wasn't even 2 years old! As ever with these kinds of lists I appreciate they are subjective and purely a matter of personal opinion and as such there are some notable omissions which would not only be in many people's lists, but would head them. But these are my calls.

10. Two Hearts Beat As One
This song was originally released in 1983 and featured on the political album War which also featured New Year's Day and Sunday Bloody Sunday. Unlike those two tracks though which are both very much political in tone, this track would seem to be more of a romantic song, even if it retains the edgy sound of U2's other signature tracks from that time. Bono's vocals particularly hit the spot on this track and it is just a general all-round rockout track. Because of U2's vast back catalogue, you don't tend to hear this song played on the radio often and it seldom features on music TV. But it is a very good track, and, at least in my view, ranks as one of U2's most underrated songs.

9. Even Better Than The Real Thing
Just as I have with other bands like Oasis, Coldplay and even Queen, I have tended to go through different phases of my life where I had a particular favourite song by those bands and back when I was in my early 20s, this song ranked as my favourite U2 song. It was very much a song of its time, part of U2's Achtung Baby album which was released in 1992 which then spawned a world tour that saw U2 concerts with big TV screens above the stage showing images of giant lemons and the like. Achtung Baby is largely seen as one of U2's most commercial albums and this is certainly a track that sets out to be commercial and in some ways, overblown. For a little while, I went off this track and thought it had not aged that well, but hearing it again in recent times, I have realised that while the track is not one of U2's most thought provoking, it is not intended to be and instead it is one of those tracks with plenty of get-up-and-go about it, a hedonistic pleasure.

8. With Or Without You
This is another U2 song which at one point in my life I regarded as my favourite and it is testament to the strength of the songs they have released that this only polls at number 8. The Joshua Tree is regarded by many as the best album of all time and although I would not go that far, it certainly ranks as U2's strongest. This track features on the album and even now, 22 years after its release, it sounds as haunting as it ever did. Bono's vocals really suit the mood of this song, which is one of the band's more mellow offerings. The Joshua Tree is generally an album of political overtones but this track seems to be more about affairs of the heart, although it is not a love song in the simple sense. For me, it is a beautiful song and is definitely one of those tracks that makes the hairs on the back of the neck stand on end when it comes on the radio or I chilling out to it on a CD.

7. Where The Streets Have No Name
Again, another offering from The Joshua Tree and once again, a song that was my favourite of theirs when I was a bit younger. Musically, this song is a masterpiece and it was the perfect choice to open The Joshua Tree album. I recall the video of the song which was shot on the roof of a building in New York and that was very much in keeping with this album being the one that cracked America for U2. Even so, the Americans who loved this song might not quite appreciate the meaning behind the song, which I have always interpreted as being about poverty and Western civilisation's part in allowing it to continue. Whether my interpretation is right or not, this is just a fantastic composition and the intro and ending to the song with guitar steadily fading in and fading out just sounds brilliant. To fully appreciate this though, you need to listen to The Joshua Tree version, rather than the version on U2's Greatest Hits which cuts both the intro and the ending short.

6. Running To Stand Still
This is the third consecutive song which is taken from The Joshua Tree, although unlike the previous two, it was never released as a single and so consequently, it is not as widely known. That could change, however, owing to the song currently featuring on the latest War Child album, where Brit Award winners Elbow have recorded an excellent cover version of this song. This is not a typical U2 song, it is not a hard rock, punchy guitar based song and it is certainly not a commercial pop track. Instead, it is just a gentle ballad which largely centres around Bono's vocals although there is a gentle background to the song. The lyrics are beautiful and I think this song lent Snow Patrol some inspiration when they recorded How To Be Dead on their album Final Straw, which incidentally, I opine is one of their finest songs. Because this song is not really a radio friendly song unless some leftfield DJ plays in the chill-out zone late at night, people who are not that familiar with U2's album tracks have quite possibly never heard it. It's a pity, because it really is a hidden gem tucked away on U2's most well known album.

5. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
It was a close call, but this track ranks the highest out of the tracks from The Joshua Tree. It had to be really, as it simply is a classic U2 song with what on the surface seems a relatively straightforward concept and meaning, but which in fact may be a very deep song. Bono really lays bare his tortured soul on this track which seems to examine his belief in his religious faith and his inability to experience what he is looking for, despite his greatest efforts. This torture is conveyed tremendously in Bono's vocal levels on this song, while the opening section to the song and the middle section with the gentle guitar chords really add to what makes this track a masterpiece. Some people might interpret it as a complex love song, and although I don't, I think what stands out about U2's best work is that the meanings of the songs can be interpreted in a number of ways. This is definitely a classic example and I think this will be regarded as one of U2's signature songs long after they have taken to the stage for the final time.

4. One
I never used to like this song that much, although I did like the video for the single which involved two Trabant cars crashing in to one another. As I've got older though, I've grown to appreciate just what a beautiful song this track really is. The story goes that this is the song that saved U2 from splitting up, such was the impact it had on the band at a time when tensions between the band members had reached boiling point. But the opening strains of acoustic guitar by The Edge and Bono's beautiful delivery of such poetic lyrics convinced the band they were on to a sure fire hit and although this song did not reach number 1, it was a song that was critically acclaimed. I've heard this song compared to Imagine by John Lennon and I can understand the comparison given that both songs are beautiful in their simplicity. I think there are similarities in the concepts of the songs too, although I think the beauty of One is that while musically it seems quite a straightforward composition, the lyrics point to several possible meanings. Some of the songs on Achtung Baby have not aged that well, but this track is assured of having stood the test of time.

3. Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
U2's 2001 album All That You Can't Leave Behind signalled a spectacular return to form for U2 after the band lost its way for a few years in the commercial bubble it had entered in the aftermath of Achtung Baby. Tracks like Beautiful Day and Wild Honey could very easily have made the higher echelons of this list, but it is this song which is the solitary entry from that album on this shortlist. It is a special song and it is supposedly a song that Bono wrote about the former INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence who had taken his own life just a few months before U2 first started to record this album. Bono and Hutchence were friends and Bono had seen Hutchence not long before Hutchence had died. If, however, you are expecting this song to be a eulogy from Bono to his old friend, think again. It is very much a song of tough love, advising the subject of the song to face up to their problems rather than allowing them to fester and creating a rut they cannot get out of, which sadly it appears happened to Hutchence. The sentiment behind the song is well captured by Bono's vocals and it ranks as one of the band's more mellow offerings. Again, because it is not regularly played on the radio, it is perhaps not as widely known as some of U2's other songs, although it did reach number 2 when released as a single in the spring of 2001.

2. Angel Of Harlem
This song featured on U2's 1988 album Rattle and Hum which paid homage to blues and jazz music from a bygone age and also included U2's first UK number 1 hit Desire and their recording with BB King, When Love Comes To Town. The song is a tribute to Billie Holiday, whose music seems to have provided some inspiration to some of the female throwback singers of recent times, such as Duffy and Amy Winehouse. Because of the imagery of Christmas trees that are referenced in the song, you tend to hear this song more in the winter months than during the summer and it was released as a single in December 1988, although it is not a Christmas song and does in fact sound good at any time of the year. In keeping with U2's other songs of that period, it shows influences from blues and jazz music and the saxophone solo that features in the mid-point of the song is a particular highlight. All in all, it is just such a pleasant piece of music and has always been a track which I have held in high esteem and the great thing about it is that it is perfect listening just as much on a warm summer's day just as much as it was initially intended to be on a cold, wet December afternoon.

1. The Unforgettable Fire
Compiling this list was very tough, but choosing the number 1 was in fact a comparatively easy decision. That is not to detract from the other fine songs in the top 10 and indeed several other fantastic tracks that did not even make the cut, but it serves to demonstrate just how great a track this is. There are certain songs that when they come on the radio just draw you in and make you realise you are about to hear something great. Whole Of The Moon by The Waterboys always does that for me, as does True Faith by New Order and Hotel California by The Eagles. Well, this is U2's moment of musical perfection as far as I am concerned.

I have mentioned before how I feel U2 have been quite an influential band to Coldplay and that is evident if you listen to some of Coldplay's recent singles releases. Well, I would say that this song was a source of influence to one of my favourite Coldplay songs, White Shadows, which is off of the X&Y album. Both tracks feature the singer performing in a falsetto voice and both are roughly five minutes in length. The similarities extend beyond those points of detail though, because what makes both songs the great tracks that they are is the all-round package. U2 have done songs with better lyrics and they have produced songs with heavier, rockier riffs. But it is the music as a composition which makes this track so memorable and makes it stand out from the crowd.

That is not to say that Bono's vocals on this track are irrelevant or just a sideshow. That would be incorrect, because his vocals in fact are delivered perfectly for the song, but it is just that the instrumental components to the song are what make it particularly sound like the masterpiece it is. In some ways, Bono's falsetto strains just provide the backdrop to the song but his contribution is essential in making the song a timeless classic.

This is more than just a bog standard song. It does feel like a modern piece of classical music in some respects that could be performed in a concert hall, given how strings sections feature strongly throughout the track. The instrumental section in the middle of the track is masterful, as are the closing sections of the track which fades out to the sound of a violin.

There are some songs and pieces of music that sound at their best if you do not hear them often and you do not press the repeat button. I would put The Unforgettable Fire in that category but that should not deter you from downloading it. After all these years, I still have not quite worked out what this song is about. The 1985 album that it was taken from of the same name supposedly got its name after the band had visited an exhibition to do with the Hiroshima bombings, but that does not mean necessarily that this song is about nuclear war. In fact I think it is one of those U2 songs with several possible meanings. The imagery that the lyrics throw up suggest it is about a one night stand or a short lived affair and the realisation that the liaison is coming to an end, but I am sure there are other possible interpretations. Whatever the song is about, I would argue that this is U2's finest all-round musical composition to date in 30 years of trying.


So that's the top 10 list completed. It was a wrench narrowing the list down to 10 and had the list been extended to 20 then Electrical Storm, New Year's Day, When Love Comes To Town, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, Bad, Walk On and Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own would have been certain to make the cut. But even then, I still wouldn't have found a place for U2's number 1 hit singles Desire, The Fly or Beautiful Day, while two of their signature songs Pride (In The Name Of Love) and Sunday Bloody Sunday would still have been excluded. That only serves to show what an extensive back catalogue the band have and how subjective opinion is in terms of deciding what songs are their finest moments. Hopefully their upcoming album will throw up some other future candidates for revised shortlists in a year or two's time.


Sunday 22 February 2009

Low flying Seagulls can soar again

Hello again everyone. Hope those of you reading this blog have had yourselves a good few days since I last posted and that you have been making the most of the milder weather we have had here in Blighty in the last week or so.

Well, I suppose the big news around these parts in the last day or so has been the unceremonious departure of Micky Adams as manager of Brighton & Hove Albion FC. Adams was in his second spell as manager of the Seagulls and he was re-introduced as the prodigal son before the start of the season having secured promotion for Brighton in his first spell as manager of the club between 1998 and 2000.

As you may have picked up, I am not a supporter of Brighton as such, but being a life long inhabitant of the city and with me having plenty of friends and acquaintances who do support the club, I obviously take a keen interest in the club's fortunes and certainly do not wish any ill will on the club. Through speaking to people I know and from reading press reports, Adams's departure as manager was not a surprise and it has been evident for a few weeks that it was only a matter of time before Adams left the scene, either voluntarily or with the board's intervention. In the end, it would appear that it was Adams's superiors who took the decision.

They say you should never go back and I think that applies in any profession. How many of us would ever consider returning to an old employer, as it very rarely offers the progression and development opportunities to provide job satisfaction and things just are unlikely to be the same second time around. Adams was a hero in his first spell as Brighton manager, but it is worth remembering that his first spell came after Brighton had hit rock bottom having come within 20 minutes of relegation out of the Football League just a year or two before. The club that Adams came back to was no longer in need of "saving", and therefore the managerial approach he applied first time around was no longer relevant.

It is not the first time that Brighton have re-appointed a manager. Back in the 1980s, Alan Mullery managed Brighton in two separate spells, either side of the club marking their greatest achievement to date, to reach an FA Cup final in 1983. In Mullery's first spell, the club were promoted to the top flight of English football, where they stayed for four seasons. Mullery undid the good work in his second spell though, as the ageing team he presided over dropped into the third tier of English football and Mullery was promptly sacked with his reputation tarnished. The same is now of true of Adams. His place in history would have been secure had he not returned to Brighton, but now for many, he is going to be remembered as the man that took Brighton backwards rather than the man who pushed them forwards at the turn of the millennium.

Back last summer when Adams was re-appointed, it seemed as though the club made the decision with a degree of nostalgia in mind. The club's chairman Dick Knight and the rest of the board seemed to have their heads turned by the notion of Adams being in charge for when Brighton played its first game at the new Falmer Stadium, which is scheduled to happen some time in 2011. Knight was also keen to ensure that Brighton would be back in the Championship by the time Falmer opens for business and with a hint of cold heartedness seemed to think that the previous manager Dean Wilkins wasn't capable of getting Brighton promoted, but thought the greater experience of Micky Adams could make the difference.

On the surface, you can see some logic in this thinking. But scratch beneath the surface a bit and that decision was just a tad impetuous. Wilkins had just led Brighton to seventh place in League One, one place off the play-offs. Which was actually a fine achievement, if perhaps, a slightly flattering one. There was no real expectation that Brighton would challenge for promotion at the start of the campaign but a strong finish to the season saw Brighton climb up to seventh as other teams' campaigns tailed off. The mistake that the board made was to assume that the club would automatically challenge for promotion the following season and that Adams would make the difference between making the top half and making at least the play-offs. Knight got a bit ahead of himself and in getting rid of Wilkins, he got rid of the man who had mentored many of the young players who were the spine of the team.

Wilkins's style of football was also different to Adams's preferred methods. Wilkins encouraged his players to play a passing game, whereas Adams, a student of Dave Bassett's long ball game from his time at Sheffield United, preferred to play a more direct game, making the most of aerial play. This approach suited Brighton in Adams's first spell when he inherited players with a limited footballing ability but who had a physical presence, but it was unsuitable on his return as Brighton had a coherent style of play and Adams's preferred approach was not compatible in a team which did not have 6 foot 3 giants in every position and which was more lightweight than his previous team.

From looking on from the outside, I did feel that Brighton would find it hard to match their seventh place finish of last season, regardless of who managed the team. I did not expect the team to deteriorate as much as it has this season, however, with the team currently finding itself in the League One relegation zone. At the start of the season, I would have probably predicted that Brighton would end the season around about halfway up the table. The reasons I would have given for Brighton being unlikely to improve on last season's finish would primarily have been because of their susceptibility playing at home, the strength of the promoted and relegated teams joining the division and the comparative lack of resources to strengthen the quality of the squad.

With the benefit of hindsight, I would say all of these factors I thought would present a barrier have indeed played a part to some degree or another. Brighton's home form has been appalling, but they have got themselves into a vicious circle. Having watched Brighton at the Withdean Stadium once or twice, I can understand how it must be quite disconcerting to be the home team playing there. Home crowds can often energise players where there is a cauldron of noise, but there just isn't a proper atmosphere at Withdean with the crowd so far away from the pitch and with a hammer cage behind one of the goals. Rather than be inspired by playing at home, I think Brighton's players have grown to relish doing so less and less and I think it is no surprise that their performances have generally been better away from home where they get good travelling support and the visiting fans are less likely to get on the players' backs.

There's no doubt that the quality of the teams entering the division has played a part in Brighton dropping down the division, with three of the promoted teams to the division currently being in the top 7, while of the teams relegated from the Championship at the end of last season, 2 also find themselves in the top 7. Where perhaps there has been some difference in line with my expectations has been with regards to strengthening the squad. Under Micky Adams, Brighton did plenty of business in the transfer market, but due to the financial restrictions they had, Adams opted to bring several players on loan and this seemed to contribute to the team getting disjointed.

I watched Brighton's Johnstone's Paint Trophy exit to Luton on television earlier in the week and although the result was affected in no small part by the red card for David Livermore for an awful tackle, it could not mask certain deficiencies in Brighton's play. Defensively, Brighton have been making far too many individual errors over the course of the season and they made a costly mistake just a minute into the match which led to Luton taking the lead. It was also noticeable how little cohesion there was in Brighton's passing, even allowing for the mitigating circumstances of a quagmire of a pitch. Brighton looked like a team lacking direction and confidence, and you would have to say that this confidence was drained under Adams's tenure. I would also question Brighton's strategy in the penalty shoot-out. They had won 3 previous shoot-outs this season but their last 2 penalty takers in the shoot-out at Luton had not participated in any of these. These players both missed when others on the pitch would have had more confidence had they been called upon.

Adams's departure in the aftermath of this defeat, therefore, looked nailed on. The Johnstone's Paint Trophy did at least offer Brighton supporters with a distraction from their relegation battle and the chance of a trip to Wembley for the first time in eighteen years. With that opportunity gone and only a fight for survival left to play for, and given the vociferous level of opinion against Adams that had grown amongst Brighton supporters via various media, the board members in possession of the power at Brighton were unlikely to grant Adams with more time to get things right, particularly as he was widely viewed as being part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

While I think there are certainly occasions where chairmen get an itchy trigger finger too soon when results go against their team and the manager collects their P45 prematurely, I think in this instance, Brighton's board took the correct course of action in relieving Adams of his duties. For a board to retain faith in its manager, there needs to be some signs of progress, however small, in order for them to persevere with the man in charge. I don't think you can really argue that Adams was demonstrating any signs of progress and given that Brighton had recorded just three league victories in Adams's last four months in charge, there were clear signs of regression rather than progression and there was a danger this regression would have grown deeper without immediate action, to a point where Brighton's season was irretrievable.

There is a school of thought to say that Adams in fact had been given a stay of execution for longer than he had merited, particularly as Brighton made a few transfer dealings in January which he will have instigated. So, whoever the next incumbent is in the Albion manager's hotseat will find themselves having to get points on the board with the previous manager's signings. This is unfortunate in a way andit is perhaps surprising that Adams was allowed to bring in his transfer targets at a time when his own future was clouded in doubt. But such was Brighton's need to inject new life into their season, I think they were just looking at getting points on the board quickly rather than thinking about the bigger picture.

I do think that Brighton will stay in League One come the end of the season. Although I would not put them among the stronger teams in the division, they do have a number of players at their disposal who have proven themselves at League One level. The experience and goals of Nicky Forster will be key to their chances and they could also do with the return of Glenn Murray from his various injury niggles very soon. There is often little difference in the quality of teams in lower divisions, but what ultimately determines who gets promoted and relegated are who has a regular goalscorer. Leicester City have Matty Fryatt and Steven Howard, which is why they are top of the league. Peterborough have done well because of Craig McKail-Smith and Aaron McLean, Millwall have generally won when Neil Harris has found the back of the net, while it is noticeable that Leeds's poor run of form this season coincided with Jermain Beckford's absence from the team. At Brighton's end of the division, Leyton Orient's chances of survival will be helped by them having a proven goalscorer in Adam Boyd available to them. Forster and Murray between them are capable of registering 30 goals for the season, a figure which would go a long way to keeping Brighton up if it is reached.

When I was talking to a friend yesterday, I said that for Brighton to start picking up, they needed to win 2 or 3 matches in a row by the odd goal without necessarily playing well. Brighton have conceded far too many goals this season and players have been making individual errors. After the run they have had, Brighton need to focus firstly on keeping things solid defensively. A run of 2 or 3 games with 1-0 wins will breed confidence however those results are achieved and gradually 2 or 3 wins can become 4 or 5 wins and as the confidence grows, so too will the players' belief in trying things which they might not have done when all the while they were losing. From this end, Brighton made the perfect start post-Micky Adams by winning 1-0 at Millwall, a team in the play-off places and always an intimidating place to go to.

The thing about winning at Millwall was that there was no expectation on the players to get a victory there and with the dismissal of Adams earlier in the day, that removed a weight from the players' shoulders. The contrast with Brighton's next match at home to Northampton on Tuesday night will be stark. This has the feel of a relegation six-pointer given how the Cobblers have dropped like a stone over the past few weeks. If Brighton can take the 3 points in this encounter, they will make their predicament more healthy whilst plunging Northampton into real trouble. Should Northampton take the 3 points though, then it would leave Brighton in a very precarious position in the drop zone. Whereas Brighton had no expectation against Millwall, there is real expectation on them against Northampton and it will be interesting to see how they handle the pressure, will their quality tell or will they buckle under the pressure? If Brighton can cut out the sloppiness, I expect them to win the game, but it is difficult to trust Brighton at Withdean for the moment.

There are four teams who will drop into League Two come the end of the season and from what I can see, three of them look guaranteed already. Cheltenham are getting cast adrift at the bottom and look like dead certs for relegation, while the occasional shock victory aside, Hereford do not have the quality needed to reel off enough wins to stay up. Crewe have improved a little since the turn of the year, but again, I question whether they are capable of getting enough wins to get out of trouble. So that leaves one remaining relegation spot which at the moment looks like being between Brighton, Leyton Orient, Swindon and Northampton, although I wouldn't rule Hartlepool or Yeovil out of the equation yet.

I've already said that I feel Brighton will retain their place in the division, but I also expect Leyton Orient to do so. Orient have had a poor season this campaign but they have several players who are more than capable of playing at this level and of producing when it really matters. Like Brighton, they have struggled at home this season, but with a new man in charge, I very much doubt they will be in the bottom four at the end of the season. I also think Swindon will get out of trouble. Their results have picked up of late since former Brighton player Danny Wilson took over as their manager and Swindon tend to be awkward to beat in front of their home fans. The team I expect to drop into trouble are Northampton, who have been in very poor form of late and are struggling for goals. That is why I feel it is imperative that Brighton defeat them on Tuesday night.

Brighton did bring in some players during January and I would expect some of these players to come to the fore between now and the end of the season. McNulty should give some stability at left back while the return of Seb Carole on loan will help to provide more service for the attacking players. It is defensively where Brighton have the biggest question marks but I think in the most part, their faltering displays at the back have been the result of a lack of confidence and belief. With a change of manager and a change of approach, some of these deficiencies could well be overcome.

So, who will be the new manager then? There have been a number of names put forward by Brighton supporters and amateur recruiters and I suppose there is a natural temptation to suggest the possibility of Dean Wilkins returning. But, just as Micky Adams was not the right choice at the right time because Brighton's circumstances had changed since he first managed the club, I would also advise caution in going back to Dean Wilkins. Wilkins's managerial experience is limited and whereas he left a club that was just short of the play-offs, he would be returning to a club in a relegation battle, something which he had not presided over in his career to date. Wilkins's style of management and his firm principles of playing passing football would also need to be tailored somewhat to the task in hand of getting victories however they happen to come in order to stay up.

It would appear that Brighton will be looking to make a quick appointment, and given their current predicament, I think that is a sensible decision. One name supposedly on the shortlist will be Paul Ince, and there would be some logic in that appointment should it happen, although given that Ince managed in the Premier League earlier in the season, I wonder whether he might hold out for a Championship job. There are several out of work managers with lower league experience of various calibres who would be available and I would expect some of these names to materialise. Personally though, I think Dick Knight should go knocking at the door of Aidy Boothroyd.

Boothroyd until earlier this season was the manager of Watford and he did a wonderful job as manager of the Hornets, taking them from the relegation zone in the Championship to promotion the following season. Staying in the Premier League was always going to be a struggle because of the lack of resources Boothroyd had available, but nonetheless, he guided Watford to an FA Cup semi-final and his Watford side set the early pace in their first season back in the Championship before the loss of players in order to raise much needed revenue curtailed their challenge and they ended up missing out in the play-offs. A poor start to this season saw Boothroyd sacked, somewhat harshly in my view, as I felt Watford would get out of the position they were in, as they subsequently have under their new manager.

Boothroyd is comparatively young at just 37 years of age and it is true that he has not previously managed at this level. Nonetheless, Boothroyd's strength at Watford was getting the best out of a limited group of players and getting them to play to their strengths. Some Brighton supporters might be reluctant to take on to Boothroyd because, like Micky Adams, he has had a reputation for favouring a more direct brand of football. This argument has some validity, but Boothroyd has always struck me as somebody who ultimately will get his team to play in accordance with its strengths. It just so happened at Watford that he had players at his disposal who were more suited to a direct game because of their physical attributes and powerful play. I would expect that if Boothroyd took the reins at Withdean, his approach would alter because of the players he had available to him, although I would expect Boothroyd to toughen up some of the players.

The board need to be realistic in terms of who they can get, but they should show some ambition too, which admittedly sounds like a difficult act to balance. In the here and now, obviously the goal is simply to stay in League One, but they should not lose sight of the destination they want to head towards. Knight's motivation in appointing Micky Adams in the first place was that he wanted him to lead Brighton out at the first game at Falmer in 2011 with Brighton being a Championship outfit. That ambition is still attainable, albeit it is a mission that has been set back rather than moved forwards during Adams's tenure. But, Brighton only need to look at Millwall who are contenders for promotion this season to realise just how quickly things can change. Last season, the Lions narrowly avoided relegation having been bottom of the table for much of the first part of last season. Therefore, if Brighton want to be in the Championship by 2011 and generally believe they have the infrastructure in place that will enable them to do more than survive at that level, then their next managerial appointment needs to be one which is in Brighton for the long haul and who will be able to cope with the step up to managing in the second tier.

The template for Brighton is Reading FC. Both clubs have the distinction of representing an entire county (in Brighton's case, they represent nearly 2 counties) and have competed against one another in the lower divisions many times over the years. I recall that when Brighton won League One back in the 2000/01 season, it was Reading who finished runners-up to them. Since then, Reading have played in the Premier League and despite a recent blip, stand a good chance of returning there next season and like Brighton are about to, they have moved to a new stadium with community benefits and are a well run football club from top to bottom, with a good youth setup and sound financial management. Brighton should look to follow Reading's example by putting a manager in place who can focus on building a team ethos where the collective whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

League One survival at the end of the season is of paramount importance to Brighton. I expect them to achieve this objective a little more easily than those with a vested interest perhaps feel they will and I see them ending the campaign in around sixteenth place. But the important thing is that they take some impetus into next season in what will be Brighton's final full campaign at Withdean, to the great relief of all the supporters exposed to the elements on a cold, wet winter's night. Their next managerial appointment is going to be vital because it is to be hoped that the same manager will be in the dug out for that first game at Falmer in the autumn of 2011.

Whether Dick Knight takes my advice and appoints Aidy Boothroyd or not, I just hope the man they do appoint fits the club's ethos well and points them in the right direction. At this time, I actually think Brighton would do better to appoint someone detached from the club, rather than a previous Albion player or manager, so that they bring in their own ideas and principles which are not clouded by sentiment or the pressures of previous failures. Get the right man, then there's no reason why the Seagulls cannot soar again in the near future.


Sunday 15 February 2009

Brit Awards predictions

Well, it is the Brit Awards next Wednesday night, with those idiots out of Gavin & Stacey presenting it this year, along with Kylie. And as promised in my last blog post, I am previewing the Brit Awards and making my predictions on who will win, as well as saying who I would vote for if I was canvassed for my vote. So here's my rundown in each of the award categories.

As ever, these are purely my own thoughts and wherever any of you reading this blog have any disagreements, I will be very interested to hear your take on things. So here goes then.

BEST MALE SOLO ARTIST (Ian Brown, James Morrison, Paul Weller, Streets, Will Young)
With no Robbie Williams material these days, there is no longer a monopoly in this category. I didn't even know Ian Brown had released anything in the last year. I've never really enjoyed his solo stuff as much as his work with the Stone Roses in any event. Paul Weller last released a good song about 10 years ago and surely is just paying for his retirement fund these days. Streets misses out simply because how can you take the man seriously when a) he calls himself Streets and b) his songs come up with the kind of rhyming scheme that a 6 year old would be embarrassed by. There are 2 contenders for this award, Will Young and James Morrison, and although I wouldn't profess to being a huge fan of his, James Morrison's recent duet with Nelly Furtado was pleasant enough (although I think Nelly is the main reason for that) and with that song riding high in the charts, I think Morrison shades this award because he is currently in people's consciousness.
MY PREDICTION: James Morrison MY SELECTION: James Morrison

BEST FEMALE SOLO ARTIST (Duffy, Adele, Beth Rowley, Estelle, MIA)
Well, Estelle is by far and away the most aesthetically pleasing of these artists, but sadly I don't think this is going to be the judging panel's criteria for picking the winner. Can't say I know anything about Beth Rowley and I thought MIA was some dodgy action movie starring Chuck Norris and while I'm sure they both have their followers, I don't think they have the mainstream support required to win this award. Estelle had one of the big hits of last summer with "American Boy" which I liked when it came out, but got bored with by the time the radio played it for the 10,000th time. Adele and Duffy sold bucketloads last year so they are the two real contenders, although I can't stand Adele and "Warwick Avenue" aside, Duffy's voice is the kind to shatter glass from ten paces. Rockferry was the best selling album of 2008 though and so on that basis, I see this award heading over the Severn Bridge, although I would have liked to have seen Sharleen Spiteri nominated for this award after her impressive debut album was released in 2008.
MY PREDICTION: Duffy MY SELECTION: Estelle

BEST BREAKTHROUGH ACT (Adele, Duffy, Last Shadow Puppets, Scouting For Girls, Ting Tings)
This is rather an uninspiring list, I have to say. I would have said that the Ting Tings were the most annoying act to emerge last year until I saw the presence of Scouting For Girls among the nominees. I'm sure most of their songs came out the year before last anyway, although it is so hard to tell with Scouting For Girls as all of their songs sound the same. The Last Shadow Puppets are basically the lead singer out of the Arctic Monkeys' side project and I always thought they were overrated anyway. That just leaves us with Adele and Duffy again and although it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the judges might come over corinthian and split the awards between Adele and Duffy, I expect the Welsh songstress to win this award too.
MY PREDICTION: Duffy MY SELECTION: Duffy (by default!)

BEST BRITISH GROUP (Coldplay, Elbow, Radiohead, Girls Aloud, Take That)
The Brit Awards are the only music awards where you'd see this shortlist of nominations slugging it out for Best British Group, aren't they? I doubt Girls Aloud or Take That would feature in the Q Awards, nor would I expect Elbow or Radiohead to feature in the Smash Hits Awards (not least because Smash Hits doesn't exist any more!). Girls Aloud and Take That continue to churn out songs that appeal to their audience and sell well, so they are not without a chance, especially given how Take That tickets sold like hot cake last year. Elbow's album Seldom Seen Kid was fantastic and fully deserved to win the Mercury Music Prize last year but I don't think they are mainstream enough to get the vote in this award. That just leaves Coldplay and given that in the last year they have released 4 great singles, 2 fine albums and currently have genuine claims to being the biggest band in the world, I expect them to wipe the floor in this category.
MY PREDICTION: Coldplay MY SELECTION: Coldplay

BEST BRITISH LIVE ACT (Coldplay, Iron Maiden, Elbow, Scouting For Girls, The Verve)
Some rather odd nominees for this award. Iron Maiden have been performing for 30 years now, so why have they suddenly been nominated this year? I didn't even realise The Verve had performed together on tour since they reformed other than at Glastonbury, but I've never really regarded them as a great live act and have been disappointed with their material since their surprise comeback. Scouting For Girls's inclusion here is surely a joke, especially when there are some notable absentees, such as Razorlight, Keane and Kaiser Chiefs, who were all active in 2008. I enjoyed Elbow's sessions at Abbey Road on the red button the other week and they are a good live act, but Coldplay are up there with the best stadium bands in the world right now, so again this is another award in the bag for them.
MY PREDICTION: Coldplay MY SELECTION: Coldplay

BEST BRITISH SINGLE (Coldplay - Viva La Vida, Duffy - Mercy, Girls Aloud - The Promise, Leona Lewis - Better In Time, Scouting For Girls - Heartbeat)
I would really question whether these are the best five songs of the past year. Mercy wasn't even the best song that Duffy released last year, if Warwick Avenue was nominated then I would agree. Equally, as much as I think Viva La Vida is an epic tune, I'd have put Violet Hill ahead of it out of Coldplay's singles released in the past year because, just in my personal opinion, I think Violet Hill is the best song they have ever recorded. They are some fine tunes from different genres that are strangely absent and yet that dreary glass shatterer Leona Lewis gets nominated along with those talentless idiots Scouting For Girls. Viva La Vida is head and shoulders above the other nominated songs, but pop oriented songs often win the best single award which is why I have a hunch this award will end up in the Cole household.
MY PREDICTION: Girls Aloud MY SELECTION: Coldplay

BEST BRITISH ALBUM (Coldplay - Viva La Vida, Duffy - Rockferry, Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid, Radiohead - In Rainbows, Ting Tings - We Started Nothing)
What on earth would possess someone to buy an entire album of Ting Tings songs? The only reason they are so popular are because there's a real shortage of guitar bands with a female lead singer now. If Sleeper and Garbage were still around they would show just how ordinary the Ting Tings are. I notice Sharleen Spiteri's Melody album was cruelly overlooked, which is a pity as it is a mighty fine album. I haven't heard Radiohead's album although I predict it was just the usual cure for sleep deprivation, while Rockferry has a lot of filler on it outside of the singles. The 2 albums I own are Viva La Vida and Seldom Seen Kid and both are fantastic albums in their own way, although they are very different. My slight gripe with Viva La Vida is that I feel it was a half finished album in as much as some more songs appeared on an 8 track EP just a few months later with Life In Technicolor being much better for having words in it rather than the instrumental that is track 1 on Viva La Vida and Lovers In Japan sounding better as a standalone track on the EP rather than one half of a track on Viva La Vida. I'm nitpicking really though because it is a really polished album where each track fits with the next one, and although Seldom Seen Kid is very, very good, I think Viva La Vida edges it. Radio 2 listeners pick this award I think and so because I expect more 30 and 40-somethings to listen to Coldplay rather than Duffy, I think they will win.
MY PREDICTION: Coldplay MY SELECTION: Coldplay (although it's very close between them and Elbow)

BEST INTERNATIONAL ALBUM (AC/DC - Black Ice, Killers - Day and Age, Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night, MGMT - Orancular Spectacular, Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes)
The international group and album categories look far stronger than the British equivalent categories this year. All five of these nominees have got some valid claim for winning this award. AC/DC came back after a long hiatus and hit number 1 with this album and with them you always know what you are getting and they do what they do very well. MGMT have had a couple of quite funky tunes out in recent months and look like they could be a band to follow in the next couple of years. I would also draw your attention to Fleet Foxes (as I did in my last blog), who are probably less known than the other bands nominated, but whose album is a lovely composition. If you like late 60s music like the Beach Boys, Mamas & The Papas and Simon & Garfunkel, you will probably quite like their mellow harmonies. Nonetheless, I think this award is a straight battle between the 2 Ks. The Killers's latest album is a better all-round album than their previous two efforts. Whereas after a while, I grew to just like repeating certain songs on their first 2 albums, there are several mighty fine tracks on their 3rd album. In any other year, they would clean up this award, but the Kings of Leon are huge right now and 2008 was their breakthrough year. I can't see past them winning this award.
MY PREDICTION: Kings of Leon MY SELECTION: The Killers

BEST MALE INTERNATIONAL SOLO ARTIST (Beck, Neil Diamond, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Seasick Steve)
This album should be sponsored by Stannah Stairlifts given how old a couple of the nominees are. Blues singer Seasick Steve must be about 70 and Neil Diamond can't be far off it either. I didn't know who Seasick Steve was until I saw him on GMTV the other morning and I think if I heard him perform for long, I'd start feeling nauseous. I didn't know that Beck had released anything this side of the millennium so not quite sure what he's doing here and Neil Diamond is surely just nominated to remind people that he is still alive and well. Although I'm not a great fan of the rap genre, Jay-Z and Kanye West have been by far and away the most active acts during the past year and so it would be somewhat surprising if these 2 were not contesting the award. Jay-Z has been busy collaborating on other artists' work as well and I think that is what just edges this award in his favour.
MY PREDICTION: Jay-Z MY SELECTION: Er, Jay-Z I suppose, don't really like any of their stuff

BEST FEMALE INTERNATIONAL SOLO ARTIST (Beyonce, Gabriella Cilmi, Katy Perry, Pink, Santogold)
This looks quite a tough category to call with all of these artists having had their moments in the sun during the past year. I must confess to a guilty pleasure where Gabriella Cilmi is concerned as not only is she a good looking girl, but I thought that "Sweet About Me" was one of the best pop songs from last summer. That said, I do wonder whether she will end up being a one hit wonder who gets picked out of the Buzzcocks ID parade in 10 years time. Pink continues to churn out hit after hit although I haven't really liked the music she has released since the "Misundazstood" album. I'm not all that familiar with Santogold's music, although I would say that Ladyhawke is conspicuous by her absence from the nominees. Katy Perry was one of the more irritating personalities from last year but she is performing live on the night and I'm sure that having got her to come all that way to perform, the organisers will ensure she has something to put in her luggage for the flight home, however much we all like a bit of Beyonce.
MY PREDICTION: Katy Perry MY SELECTION: Beyonce

BEST INTERNATIONAL GROUP (AC/DC, Fleet Foxes, MGMT, Killers, Kings Of Leon)
The line-up here is identical to the line-up for best international album and that reflects the popularity of these acts over the past year. I think with both MGMT and Fleet Foxes, they are bands who probably have not been discovered enough by the wider public for them to win this award just yet, although their time could come. There would be a minor earth tremor in central London if AC/DC managed to win the award after all these years, but they don't realistically stand a chance of winning this accolade. It comes down to the 2 Ks again who are both at the top of their game at the moment, both had worldwide smashes in 2008 and both have genuine claims to being the biggest band on the planet right now. It's a close call, but once again I think the sheer volume of copies and downloads that have been shifted of Kings of Leon's last 2 singles demonstrate just how popular they are at the moment and I expect that to be the determining factor.
MY PREDICTION: Kings Of Leon MY SELECTION: The Killers

CRITICS' CHOICE (Florence & The Machine)
The winner saw off Little Boots and White Lies to win this award, although I would expect in the long run that the White Lies will be the act that go on to have the most amount of success and longevity. If the White Lies had released their album a couple of months earlier, I think this award would have gone to them but as it only came out at the start of this month when the award had already been decided, they missed out. If you like The Killers, chances are you will quite like the White Lies, as their music is quite new wave influenced and has quite dark, edgy lyrics. I am really enjoying their album at the moment. I've only heard one of Florence's songs and it seemed alright, but I think she just happened to be flavour of the month when the music execs were deciding this award.
MY PREDICTION: Florence & The Machine (not difficult given the result has already been announced) MY SELECTION: White Lies

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO MUSIC (Pet Shop Boys)
Did anyone suppress a laugh when reading that sentence back? Quite apart from being responsible for covering that song that gets used at football matches for "Stand up if you hate Man U" they also were responsible for releasing a cover version of "Where The Streets Have No Name" by U2 which has to be up there with Leona Lewis's version of "Run" as one of the worst cover versions of all time. It's A Sin and West End Girls were good I suppose but they were released 20 odd years ago and I can't recall them releasing anything in the last 10 years or so. I think they have a new album out this year, but then so too do Simple Minds and so have The Cure, so if you are giving out lifetime awards to bands who have been around a long time and released some good songs, they have as much right to win this as the Pet Shop Boys.
MY PREDICTION: Pet Shop Boys (obviously) MY SELECTION: Simple Minds or The Cure


Friday 13 February 2009

Current musical pleasures

I have been listening to a few good albums and tunes of late to unwind after a hard day's work, or to get me going during the weekend. Below are the pick of some of the albums on my current "listening to" pile.

White Lies - To Lose My Life
This band are from London and this new wave influenced album hit number 1 in its first week, helped by the constant radio airplay for the title track with rather dark lyrics. I would say the title track is the pick of the songs on the album, but there is plenty more to keep you listening. The overall theme of the album appears to be one of death, but not necessarily in a morose way. Some of the tracks on the album are dark in theme and tone and the new wave sound to this album goes well with the dark lyrics. The band have drawn comparisons with the likes of Talking Heads and Echo & The Bunnymen and I can see that bands from that era are certainly influential, but I would say there is more of a similarity to The Killers, who have also borrowed heavily from the early 80s new wave/synth pop scene.

Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke
Ladyhawke is a solo singer from New Zealand whose style of music could be best described as dance/pop. Again, much as with the White Lies, there are some overtones from the 1980s that are present on the album, with the likes of Blondie and Cyndi Lauper being obvious influences. Best track on the album is "My Delirium", which sounds a little bit like Martha & The Muffins's 1980 hit "Echobeach" in places, which is no bad thing. It is a good, bouncy album which is a good one to stick on when you are needing to energise yourself. Not bad at all.

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
This band come from Seattle, which has long been renowned as being the home to the USA's grunge music scene, with the likes of Nirvana and Pearl Jam hailing from this city on America's west coast. If you are expecting loud riffs and edgy lyrics from this band, however, you will be sorely disappointed. That's not because they are bad, but because their music is far more soothing. This is an album full of chilling harmonies, much in the mould of late 60s/early 70s music from the likes of the Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel or the Mamas and the Papas. If you like their latest release Mykonos which isn't on this album, you should nonetheless enjoy this album, which is suitable for those chilled out evenings with a glass of something.

Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns
Album number 5 from the Northern Irish/Scottish combo and they stick to the tried and tested formula of gentle guitar based ballads. For my money, they have become the new version of Travis, a solid and consistent band who rarely release a poor song but who fall into the solid and unspectacular category. Their third album which brought them to the attention of the mainstream remains their best album overall and there is nothing on this album which compares to "Run" or "How To Be Dead". It is a pleasant enough listen though and there are a few songs which I would describe as growers. I don't think they have quite kicked on though in the way I hoped and expected they would when they released Final Straw.

Thursday 12 February 2009

Coming up soon

Hi folks.

Just a quick post to say that I will be posting some more blog articles over the next week or so. Next week sees the annual fun and games of the Brit Awards and over the weekend I will be casting my eye over this year's nominees and trying to pick the wheat from the chafe. I will be predicting who I think will win each award, as well as saying who I would vote for if I had the choice. Leading the way will be Duffy and Coldplay, who are each up for 4 awards, while extraordinarily, Scouting For Girls are nominated for 3. Not so good for those stalwarts of Britpop, Oasis, however, as despite the release of "Dig Out Your Soul" last summer, they have accrued no nominations. Somehow I can't imagine the Brothers Gallagher losing too much sleep over this snub.

I will also be writing a couple of sports related pieces in the near future. The managerial merry go-round in football is quite a topical issue at the moment and I will be looking to cover this in more detail. For the Brighton & Hove Albion supporters among my blogging brethren, of which I know there are a few, I will talk about the Seagulls' prospects of surviving in League One come the end of the season and whether Micky Adams is the right man to take Brighton forward and to lead them out at the Falmer Stadium, as was Dick Knight's vision. In addition to this, I will talk about England's current cricketing malaise and discuss Andy Murray's chances of winning one of tennis's Slams, as well as examining Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer's respective chances of breaking Pete Sampras's Grand Slam record come the end of their careers.

And of course, there will be a few other blogs on the subjects of the day, the stuff in the news with hopefully an injection of humour along the way. Everyone needs a good laugh after all, don't they? Stay tuned for these future developments.

Saturday 7 February 2009

A blizzard of thoughts

Hello again, faithful readers of my blog. As ever, I apologise for the interval since I last shared my thoughts and opinions with you all. Much travelling and working and a distinct lack of time in front of a PC.

So, I suppose the story of the week has been the snow. Anyone would think this fair isle had never seen a covering of the white stuff before given the blanket coverage given to the disruption it had caused on the television news programmes. Living as I do in Brighton and working in Croydon, the wintry weather did impact on my working arrangements given that trains from Brighton to the capital were suspended when the snow was at its heaviest on Monday. Fortunately, my employers have an office just 10 minutes from where I live in central Brighton and so I was able to work in Brighton on Monday and Tuesday this week, albeit my walk to work look twice as long and walking downhill was ill advised wherever the snow was particularly thick. One wrong footstep and it was like going down an Olympic ski jump ramp. I do know several people though who were snowed in and couldn't make it to work, even where their workplace was relatively local.

One of the common complaints that I heard in the aftermath of the snow was that Britain was ill prepared and badly resourced for the snowfall, especially as the snow had been forecast for a couple of weeks before it arrived. This is quite a natural reaction from people who were affected by the adverse weather. Nonetheless, I think there is only so much preparation and resource you can have in reserve for a meterological phenomenon, which, generally speaking, is only this bad once every ten years or so. I will discuss this subject further among the items below.

I had some good feedback when I did the last two blogs as kind of a "news wrap" with different sections, so I thought I would approach this blog in much the same way. Please feel free to pass on any feedback about the structure of this blog, and indeed, the content within it.

1. It's snow joke
So, as I was touching upon above, this past week has seen significant snowfall in Britain which has placed a real drain on resources. Local councils have run out of gritting salt, A&E departments have been worked off their feet as a result of adults' delusions of grandeur that they could have been a champion skeleton bobsleigh champion in another life. Meanwhile Britain's businesses count the cost of lost revenue as a result of the failure of their employees to make it into work, either because of the deficiencies of the transport infrastructure that the snow brought about, or because of the many school closures that meant working parents had to stay at home and find some alpine based entertainment for their children, most of whom would never have witnessed snow like this in their lives hitherto.

We all like a good moan at the best of times, but there are two things in particular that are bound to get citizens of this mad and crazy isle incensed. First of all, the weather itself and the sheer unpredictability of it. Secondly, being inconvenienced in any way, shape or form is a surefire trigger for a whinge. Therefore, it was little surprise to hear the amateur Transport Secretaries bemoaning the disruption on the transport network and criticising the lack of resources available to prevent the snow setting. One cap wearing member of the brethren I recall speaking on the news saying "Britain shouldn't be like this. We're not a third world country". Hmm, because snowfall really cripples Burkina Faso, Swaziland, Chad and Gabon, doesn't it? I suggest this pent-up correspondent swots up on his CIA World Factbook.

Let's look at the evidence as Loyd Grossman used to say. We are reliably informed by the Met Office that Britain has not experienced snowfall like this for eighteen years. I have no reason to doubt this fact. Quite apart from the fact that I do not believe the Met Office's press statements are prepared by the Iraqi Minister of Information, it sounds about right to me. The last time I remember snow like this, I would have been about 13 and I remember having the radio on first thing in the morning, eager to hear whether my school had closed, much as I imagine many children and parents around the land did this past week. Well, I said I was 13 then and I'm 31 later this year, so the 18 years adds up.

So bearing in mind that snowfall like this has not happened for 18 years, is it realistic to expect for councils to stock up on gritting salt and a variety of mechanical tools to clean up the snow on the roads and the pavements for the possibility of the items being needed on some snowy day several years down the line. This is especially the case in these times of financial prudence and belt tightening, where councils are making cut backs and making staff redundant.

Also, because such a fall of snow had not occurred for nearly two decades, this meant that people themselves were not prepared for the eventuality. The big difference between Britain and countries where snow is a far more regular part of people's lives, such as Russia, Finland or Canada, is that the citizens of all these countries are adequately prepared for the snowfall because they experience snow every year. Drivers in Finland and Russia carry around their own kit of supplies for such circumstances, while the Russian government invests in almost military style vehicles which perform the job of making the road surfaces safer to drive on. These are countries that are subject to a polar climate every year, due to their proximity to the Arctic Circle, whereas however much we complain about the cold weather in the UK, the fact of the matter is that we live in a temperate climate in this country.

What did not help in terms of dealing with the snowfall was that the initial winter storms fell on Sunday afternoon and evening. Of all the days in the week, this was the worst because of the difficulty in getting people on the scene in good time either because of staff not working in the first place, or because of the challenge of staff getting to the hot spots (well, cold spots really!) and taking the necessary action. This became a chicken and egg situation by Monday because by then, the snow had set in and the transport networks had stopped running altogether and yet still, those staff whose job it was to get the networks running again with their hard work had to find a way of getting to the roads or railway lines where urgent work needed to take place. Had the snow not fallen until Monday or Tuesday, I am sure that much action would have been taken more swiftly and the chaos that ensued would have been reduced, and with it, the supply of gritting salt would have largely remained intact.

In the aftermath of the country being brought to a standstill, it is likely that there will be enquiries about what could be done better the next time. Well, I suppose the main thing is an attitude of mind. Councils need to be proactive rather than reactive. Investing heavily in anti-snow devices is probably not realistic, Britain is not Russia or Finland, it does not have heavy snowfall year on year and I am sure a few years will pass before we see snow of this volume falling again over such a vast area of this country, so spending a fortune on contingency planning around adverse weather is probably not the best use of money.

Nonetheless, as I said earlier, people were informed that this snow was coming a good fortnight before it arrived. Weather forecasting is never going to be 100 per cent accurate because of how the wind can suddenly change direction contrary to previous predictions. The BBC 5 day forecast on its website is testament to this. One day, it will say that rain is expected in your postcode area on Thursday, but by the time you get to Thursday, you discover that you did not need your raincoat.

However, breakthroughs in technology have come a long way since Michael Fish told the people of Sevenoaks that they would not be experiencing a hurricane the following night, as he put a magnetic sunny spells sign on the weather map over London in October 1987. The people of West Kent went to bed with seven oak trees nearby and were woken up by howling winds which left just one oak tree. These days, meterological patterns can be tracked live, so that the progress of a shower, storm or whatever other phenomenon can be seen across its every move. The organisers of the Wimbledon tennis tournament know when the Centre Court will need covering before the spectators feel the raindrops falling on their heads, due to a sophisticated computer system. A similar sort of system for councils across the country will help to have people on stand-by in the future, as and when the weather is a risk to public safety or is a risk to the running of an efficient transport network.

Other than that, there is only so much that can be done, especially given that so many people commute many miles to their place of work and so, short of working from home, would have few options available once transport links were no longer accessible.

2. British jobs for ignorant people
In the current economic climate, it is quite natural that people become more anxious about their own job security, especially within some of the traditional refining and manufacturing industries where people lack the requisite skills and quite possibly sufficient inclination to be trained for working in the ever-expanding service sector.

However, I must confess that my supply of sympathy for the protesters at the oil refineries over the use of foreign workers is somewhat limited. First of all, in case people haven't noticed, Britain is signed up to the European Union, and as part of that membership, love it or hate it, it agreed the Maastricht Treaty and the freedom of movement of labour throughout EU member states. At the time of its inception, there were 12 member states and I think it has snowballed now (snowballed, did you see what I did there?!) to about 27 or 28, meaning that nationals of any EU country is free to seek work in any of the other member states provided they are working and they have a passport.

Now, I realise that over half the population of this wonderful, insular island of ours are against European integration and would like us to rule our own waves and taken on the world all by ourselves, but the fact of the matter is, we are signed up to a club. The rules have been passed and we have approved those rules by virtue of signing up to them. Short of withdrawing from the EU, those requirements are binding and so however much those of a certain age don't like it, we have to play by the rules. So all this protesting and jingoistic behaviour is actually completely pointless.

I also think there is more to this than just people objecting to foreigners taking their jobs. What it actually boils down to are inflexible workers who will not tolerate working with foreign people. This was witnessed on the news the other night where one such protester was seen to say "I just can't work with those greasy Eye-ties". His words, as the inverted commas indicate, not mine. Such inflexible and xenophobic attitudes are sadly not surprising and just as racist behaviour was rife in the late 1970s when there was a recession occurring, so it appears to be rearing its ugly head again among the uneducated, The Sun Says reading brigade with this kind of intolerant behaviour and also the disturbing trend of the BNP gaining support among protest voters who have grown disillusioned with the three main political parties.

You have to look at why people employ foreign workers in the first place. Often it is because they can bring particular skills, certainly in manual related work, which British workers either do not possess or are unwilling to work towards, because they are comfortable with their lot, it's too much hassle. They also can be paid less than what British counterparts quite possibly would be in many instances. Workers who have come over from Eastern European countries for example, will still be earning more for a menial job in Britain than they would have done back home when they left Poland and Bulgaria. This might be different now that these economies have grown as a result of their membership in the EU and so in some cases, Poles and Bulgarians are heading home, cue panic in the British building industry. But because of the minimum wage, British workers are required to be paid a greater amount in many cases for doing a similar job, and employers question the value for money. This is also why more and more British corporates are placing their call centres in Mumbai or Bangalore, rather than having them in Maidenhead or Basildon.

People in more industrialised sectors of work have been in their jobs sometimes for 15 to 20 years. They lack the skills needed to learn another trade, do not have the inclination and through working in one place for such a long time, they have become very regimented and set in their ways. They work with other people who have worked for a similar length of time and who have similar prospects and consequently, this results in that ever dangerous word, the clique. With the service sector forever more swallowing up more traditional sectors so far as opportunities go, particularly with the increase in technologies markets, these workers are becoming more concerned about their future prospects and going on the scrapheap. Foreign workers so happen to be a convenient threat, but the fact is that it is a competitive world.

The ideal of British workers getting employment in this country is an ideal that I am sure everyone would be happy to see come to fruition. But there is a principle in recruitment and selection that I approve of far more, namely that the employer appoints the best person for the job, regardless of their race, gender, creed, nationality, age or shoe size. If that person so happens to be a foreign national residing in the UK but who has the requisite skills to bring to the job to add value to their employer, then so be it. Competition should at least remove complacency. The world does not owe anybody a living and this self-pity culture that rears its head when the country is struggling is not helpful to anybody.

Foreign people go about their jobs in different ways to Brits and I think there is a lot to be said from working alongside people of other nationalities, it helps encourage people to be more rounded individuals and to be educated. I think there should be more done in fact to make sure every British citizen gets to sample working and living abroad for a spell in their life because I think it will encourage people to be more flexible and less set in their ways.

It was unwise for Gordon Brown to coin the phrase "British jobs for British people" because that was always a slogan that could be taken on and used for more sinister connotations. In these times of uncertainty, I do hope however, that people's individual insecurities will not result in a significant upturn in xenophobic behaviour. We live in a flexible, fast moving society and change whilst not being universally embraced is however an irresistible force. It is, of course, the people who cannot handle these changes who are the most vocal and in doing this, it only proves to their employers that they are right to cast their net out further to people who are not so regimented and who have such inflexible skills sets.

3. Clarke's return is a sign of the times
I was pleased to see the return of Kenneth Clarke to the front bench of the Conservative shadow cabinet recently. In times of financial difficulty, it makes complete sense for a real political heavyweight in all senses of the word to return to a position of influence, particularly given that he was a very good Chancellor of the Exchequer, having taken over in the aftermath of the previous economic recession in the early 1990s. I am someone who holds the opinion that where a pressing issue like the failing world economy is concerned, political manoeuvrings should be set aside and an all-party coalition should be convened where experts on the economy from all parties should make the decisions on how to take the country forward. Clarke's expertise, along with that of the Lib Dems's Treasury Spokesman, Vince Cable, should be tapped into just as much as the thinkers within the Labour Government.

Clarke's return as Shadow Business Secretary puts him in direct competition with Labour's Prince of Darkness, Lord Mandelson, but unfortunately political debate between these counterparts will be restricted due to them not sitting in the same chamber. While Clarke has returned to the front row of the green benches in the Commons, Mandelson's speaking is confined to rising from the red seats of the House of Lords.

It is rather symptomatic of the malaise in British politics at the moment that there are very few recognisable politicians sitting on any side of the political fence. Go back to the 1990s and I could probably have named you the vast majority of the Conservative cabinet of the time and their respective job roles and also been able to name their shadow counterparts in the Labour Party. I would find that an impossible task now, without resorting to cheating by looking up the details on Wikipedia.

Clarke is undoubtedly a politician is substance, intelligence and charisma. The public identify with him because of his common sense speaking and his slightly roguish behaviour. He is a man who enjoys a pint, a cigar and some jazz. He also happens to be 68 years old. some 25 years older than the current Conservative leader and was elected an MP when the said leader was still in short trousers. Clarke's age should not hinder his ability to do the job, but it does say much about the faceless band of toffs that the Conservative Party have among their younger politicians that Cameron has decided to turn to an old hand for advice and to make an impact.

It is also well known that Clarke is passionately pro-European, something that is at odds with the Tories' official party line on the subject. This means he will not be universally greeted with open arms by some of his colleagues. This will not worry Clarke in the slightest though. He is very much his own man and I doubt he will rock the boat. Apart from the fact that Clarke talks a lot of sense on Europe, which some of his more ignorant colleagues would do well to listen to, his experience and knowledge on the economy will be invaluable, but more than that, at a time when floating voters wonder if the Conservatives are a viable alternative to the Labour Government, they now at least can see a politician in opposition who commands respect and there are very few of those around at the moment.

4. Cameron's maths studies don't add up
Staying with the shadow Government, it was reported this week that the Conservatives are producing a study to show that the standard of maths in schools is getting worse and that exams are in fact getting easier. To throw some weight behind his latest bandwagon, sorry, campaign, Cameron has enlisted the support of Carol Vorderman. Well I suppose it gives her something to do in the day now.

From what I can see, this whole study centres around some findings that someone with a certain level of ability could get a grade B now, where 20 years ago they would have got a grade E. Well, I'm not sure whether this actually means that exams are getting easier or that examiners have just got used to the marking criteria now. Let's bear in mind that GCSEs were introduced in 1988 and so people from around 20 years ago would have been the guinea pigs for the new way of testing children. I'm sure there were some examiners who were too strict when GCSEs first came into being and so this might well be the reason for what the Tories see as a perceived disparity between then and now.

I don't really see the point in comparing tests then to tests now anyway. Children are going to be tested on different things because times have changed and the skills that need to be demonstrated have changed also because the world of work has dictated that these skills are required when those being tested take their first steps out into the big wide world.

Education in schools in this country isn't perfect and there is always going to be a chasm between the achievements of children who have parents who can afford the privilege of their children being educated privately, and those who can only put their children in a state school, and often due to the postcode lottery that exists in certain local boroughs, find that their children do not get to go to their first choice of secondary school anyway. But I do not feel that this type of study is actually of great value or help as all it does is gives amunition to those know-it-alls who surface every summer when the exam results come out and say "exams are getting easier, blah blah blah".

Personally, as someone who had a chequered record in exams throughout my academic life, both sitting my GCSEs and latterly at university, I would like to see more done to make coursework an essential part of people's overall grade. Far too much weighting is placed on exams because it is seen as a way of replicating a "real life" pressurised situation and involves working against the clock. Plus, the more resourceful teenager has been known to plagiarise other people's assignments off the Internet and pass it off as their own.

This is a problem, I agree, but it is not a reason to turn away from coursework. Coursework tests people's ability to carry out research, it tests logic, it can test verbal and written communication skills, the very skills that employers say are lacking in school leavers taking up jobs. Above all, it tests people's ability to present a coherent argument and it tests people's ability to work to a deadline and therefore plan their time and project management.

Instead of wasting time trying to cast doubt over children's achievements, the Tories should look at coming up with a sensible manifesto for improving education in state schools. But considering most Tory politicians send their children to private schools and also considering that David Cameron's attitude to improving the economy will be to cut back on investment in education, I very much doubt this strategy will be in keeping with their agenda. So people will continue to diminish children's academic achievements because they presumably did not have any themselves.

5. A rocky model
News that Northern Rock managers had recently agreed to pay 10 per cent bonuses to their staff was greeted with consternation and disgust. After all, this is an organisation that still owes millions of pounds of debt and which had been an failing organisation before the Government stepped in and nationalised it.

I have some sympathy for Northern Rock staff because this is not a typical case of greedy bankers being paid obscene bonuses. We are talking here about your average cashier number 4 or the woman advising on mortgages or PEPs who works hard and does their job in awkward circumstances. It is not their fault that they are working for an organisation in financial trouble, but they are damned by association.

Nonetheless, the managerial decision to reward their hard working staff with bonuses was misguided not just because of the connotations in the present climate, but also because on a more practical level, it is money that they do not have. Or to put it another way, it is money we do not have, because after all, this is now a nationalised bank. That is why I found Gordon Brown's reaction that "it was a decision for Northern Rock to make" hard to fathom. No it wasn't Gordon, the moment they became nationalised, the Government had the power of veto.

When Northern Rock's travails became public consumption and resulted in queues of elderly people forming a line with their savings books stretching from Croydon to Coulsdon, it produced the inevitable response from experts that the only way to deal with the problem was for the Government to intervene and take control of the bank and bail it out financially. Maybe that was the right approach at the time, but nationalisation is a flawed business approach because it just gives failing business managers a get out of jail card and they somehow feel they are no longer accountable for their actions.

The decision to award bonuses to the staff I guarantee would not have happened if Northern Rock was still a privately owned business free of Government hand outs because how could they justify it to their shareholders or directors at a time when their financial position was so grave? Now that the Rock is nationalised, the Government needs to take a firm hand and not tolerate any future decision making of this kind. Nationalisation to me is an escape clause for a failing business and unless it is in the nation's interest to preserve the business, then the Government should let the business stand and die by its own successes or failings. I also find it remarkable that all through its financial problems, the Government have not seen fit to ask why Northern Rock is still sponsoring Newcastle United's football shirts, at what presumably, is some cost.

As I said at the beginning, I do sympathise with staff working at Northern Rock and they do not deserve to be regarded as pariahs for being paid a bonus at the discretion of their bosses. I am sure they have good work in testing circumstances and none of us would turn down a bonus. I expect this is a decision the managers made with pressure having been applied by the trade union for staff to be paid for their loyalty and efforts in bad times as an exercise to foster good employee relations. But the fact remains, it was not the right time or right measure to adopt to thank staff for their support because of the obvious connotations and the financial implications too. It is up for the Government to be tougher on failing businesses it rescues in the future. Perhaps they need to enlist the services of Sir Alan Sugar as a troubleshooter!


In the words of Bugs Bunny, that's all folks for tonight. I hope not to leave it so long next time. Adios amigos, as they say in Portslade!