Blackpool get 4 points out of 6.

The Seasiders last two games have been played at home, which has been a rare occurance so far this season. Last Monday evening we welcomed

West Bromwich Albion (the Baggies) to Bloomfield Rd and what was anticipated as an entertaining game turned out to be the opposite. They had two players sent off, which reduced their options and resulted in a very strange game. The first sending off was followed by referee Michael Oliver awarding us a penalty, which Charlie Adam converted, although Carson the baggies goalie nearly saved it. The second sending off, a reckless lunge by Gonzalo Jara on Luke Varney was well deserved and was a result of him being annoyed by the first sending off. What that did made the remainder of the game an unbalanced affair. The home crowd were getting more and more restless at the team's inability to capitalise on their two player advantage, which seem to add to the player's nervousness.  Although we went 1-0 up through the penalty, it took until the 62 minute for us to make it 2-0 when Luke Varney scored. This seemed to give us the impetus to go forward more and we had a number of chances to improve our goal difference, but to no avail because of poor finishing. This poor finishing nearly resulted in the nine men of West Brom getting something out of the game when they pulled a goal back through a great individual effort by Mulumbu to make it 2-1. Thank goodness we managed to hold on and register our first home win since returning to the Premiership and a valuable 3 points.

In contrast, the game yesterday against Everton had everything the Baggies game didn't have. It was entertaining, end to end stuff, full of good football. The Toffee's start to the season has been a slow  one. They have struggled to get going, but recent results have improved to such an extent that they have gone on an unbeaten run. Their team included internationals from all parts of the world unlike their hosts. That said, the game was a close affair. It was also good to see Seamus Coleman return albeit in a blue shirt rather than a tangerine one. He had a superb match topped off with a second equalising goal. 16,000 fans packed Bloomfield Rd and created a fantastic atmosphere, which encouraged both teams to produce a nail-biting game. We took the lead through a superb Neil Eardley free-kick on the edge of their box. Unfortunately our lead only lasted two minutes before Tim Cahill headed in an equaliser from a Yakubu cross. Both sides went into half time level at 1-1. Ollie had given Keith Southern a start, mainly because Everton was his first club and David Moyes was and still is the manager there. Unfortunately Keith struggled to make a mark and was substituted shortly after the restart. On came Phillips, Grandin and Harewood, which gave us the impetus we lacked earlier. The changes resulted in us taking the lead again through man of the match, David Vaughan. But yet again our lead only lasted a couple of minutes before Seamus levelled. Opinion was that Matt Gilks could have done a lot better by keeping the shot out but let it squirm under his body. Everton had a couple of chances to win the game after that as did the Pool, with Marlon Harewood scoring what looked like our winner, only for referee Andre Marriner to disallow it for a very innocuous "push" by Marlon on Jagielka. On reflection I think a draw was a fair result and a great advertisement for entertainment.

Wayne Rooney et deux.

Well, 24 hours on, the the Rooneygate saga takes an unexpected turn. After harping on about wanting to leave, critizing the club about lacking ambition, disrespecting his manager by putting out a statement saying he wasn't injured when Fergie said he was and disrespecting his fellow players by intimating they aren't up to his standard, he has decided to sign a new 5-year deal. Rooney might think he has managed to get what he was hoping for i.e. better wage deal, longer contract and a commitment by the club to ship out players no longer needed and replace them with new quality players. This is where I think Sir Alex and the United board have pulled off a better deal for themselves than Rooney has. I say this because Fergie is not in the habit of forgiving players who step out of line and Rooney has done that big time. United now have the upper hand. If Rooney had been allowed to go in the transfer window or in the summer, United would have got peanuts or nothing for him. Now they can put him up for sale and demand a sum equivalent to what they value him at. It would not surprise me if they did eventually sell him because like I said earlier Fergie is not the type of manager who likes to be upstaged by a player, especially  one as young and immature as Rooney. After all, Rooney's form has been very poor since he broke his foot last season and his confidence is shot at too. It would be ironical if one of the new players who eventually arrive at United in the new year displaces Rooney. You should always be wary of what you wish for Wayne, because life sometimes has a habit of coming back and bite you on the bum.

Wayne Rooney.

I think Wayne Rooney has embarked on that slippery downward spiral, which always seems to affect individuals, who on the surface have everything. He is well paid, plays at the top level for one of the biggest clubs in the world, has a loyal wife and young child, lives in a house that he could only have dreamed of owning whilst growing up in Liverpool as a child. He has a natural footballing ability, which has earned him a regular England place and praise throughout the football world and yet he is on the verge of throwing it all away. We have seen over the years sportsmen with undoubted natural ability like Rooney waste their talent. I have noticed since his move from Everton to Manchester United he appearances have not been as consistent as when he played for the Toffees. His form for England too have been very inconsistent of late, which was highlighted even more during the disappointing England performances during the last World Cup. He seemed to be at odds with everything including the English fans, who he thought had no right to show their disapproval at him or his team mates, even though they thoroughly deserved to be booed off at the time. His comments levelled at the fans at the end of the game did nothing to enhanced his reputation with them, but simply made matters worse, culminating in him issuing a begrudging apology through the appropriate official channels. The fans including myself knew there was something not quite right about Rooney, which was clearly affecting his game? Since then his reputation has been tarnished even further with revelations about him having alleged illicit affairs with prostitutes and paying for their services in hotel rooms. He was also alleged to have paid £200 for a pack of Marlboro cigarettes for one of the prostitutes. This in itself proves he has lost the value of money and he doesn’t need to work as hard with his game as he once did. Not being a fan of Manchester United, mainly because their manager thinks they have a God given right to win every game and referees should not have the audacity to penalise him or his team. Apparently Rooney told Sir Alex that he no longer wanted to stay at Old Trafford last August, his reasons being that he thought United lacked the ambition of winning trophies. Since then the saga has become more public with statements being issued by Rooney, Ferguson and United trying to put their individual cases over. I have got to say Rooney has managed to alienate himself further and has come across as a greedy mercenary along with his agent. I personally think Rooney will never be able to emulate his earlier success irrespective of where he finally ends up. If he stays in the UK, I can only see Chelsea or Manchester City matching his wage demands, with Chelsea being the slight favourites to sign him. He could go to Italy or Spain, but with his wife indicating that she would not consider moving away because she doesn’t wish to leave her sick sister means his already shaky marriage to finally hit the divorce buffers sooner rather than later should he decide to go. I also think he would not settle abroad, because I do not think he would be capable of mastering a foreign language. So, from going from an exciting young talent at Everton to an over paid, ungrateful individual at United, Rooney has managed to destroy all the hard work he has achieved in a very short time. If his long suffering wife decides to call an end to their marriage, which could still be a possibility, then it wouldn’t matter where he went he would never have the same financial independence as he enjoys now. He also has to prove to prospective buyers he is fit enough to match his and his agent’s overpriced valuation. My advice to him would be, think how lucky you are and appreciate what you’ve already got because you won't get another chance.

Seasider's progress report.

Well it's been a few months since I last "put pen to paper", so I just thought I would share a few things with you. The Mighty Seasiders have made an impact on the Premiership already. Currently lying 10th, having played 8 games, winning three, drawing one and losing four so far. Having been beaten by Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Blackburn, apart from Rovers the defeats were to be expected considering the money these clubs have spent on international players. But when you've got a charismatic manager like Ian Holloway and a team of determined players, as we have, money means nothing. The game against City was televised and brought with it plenty of exposure and compliments from football fans worldwide. We were extremely unlucky not to get at least a point from the game, because we dominated the majority of the game. Our plight wasn't helped by some dubious refereeing decisions, which made the 2-3 scoreline all the more hard to take. The present off-side law is a complete farce. We were denied a perfectly good goal by Gary Taylor-Fletcher(GTF), who was clearly on-side because the referee's assistant flagged Elliot Grandin off-side even though he failed to touch the ball en-route to GTF. Whereas City had a goal by Carlos Tevez allowed even though the cameras clearly showed him to be off-side. Blackpool have had their fair share of bad refereeing decisions over the last few seasons, which makes premiership survival all the more difficult. I just wish we could revert to the old off-side rules, whereby if you were stood in an off-side position irrespective of whether you were interfering with play, you were deemed off-side, end off. Despite the defeats, Blackpool have managed to accrue more points so far than a lot of so called expert pundits thought we would achieve. Our victory at Anfield last week proved we are capable of beating any team on our day. We're selling out our homes games and using all our full away allocations on a regular basis, which is fantastic. The support generated by the fans is one of the best in the country with over 16,000 packing into Bloomfield Rd on Sunday. I am hoping to see all home and away games myself this season. The best ground I've visited so far for fan's accommodation and price of tickets goes to Arsenal. Their team were a pleasure to watch, inflicting the biggest defeat on us so far when we got beat 6-0. Their fans were brilliant too. Our next game is away against Birmingham City, which we are looking forward to very much. If you want to watch free-flowing, entertaining football, watching the Seasiders is the answer.

Oyston quits.

There's never a dull moment when you follow a team like Blackpool. No sooner have we gained promotion to the Premiership and won our first game, we are informed by the club's chairman, Karl Oyston, that he is stepping down as from yesterday. He's been in charge for the last 11 years, during which time we have managed to move the club from oblivion to where we are today. It's not been an easy ride for him, because not being a football fan he ran the club from a business perspective, which alienated him from a lot fans. He ran the club successfully, albeit on a very tight budget, which caused managers under him problems in attracting and recruiting good players to the club. He alone introduced a wage capping system whereby the maximum wage payable to players was in the region of £10k during the playing season and £90 per week out of season. He also stalled with the modernisation of the ground, which made the club a bit of a joke with other clubs, especially when away supporters were housed in a temporary "golf like" stand without a roof, affectionally known as the "Gene Kelly stand" by the home fans  because it left the away supporters out in inclement weather "singing in the rain". So, his epitaph will read, "Good businessman but never truly won the fans over". Very recently he has been stating the reason for considering stepping down was because of his dislike in how agents and players negotiate deals. He alone tried to convince other chairmen to follow his example, but came across a stubborn refusal to entertain his ideas. People felt there were other reasons for him wanting to step down and it now appears that he is facing bankruptcy, which under Premiership rules would disallow him being chairman or a director of the club under "the fit and proper rule". This latest disclosure will add to the distrust a lot of fans have towards the Oystons. Like I said earlier, there is never a dull moment when you follow the Seasiders. Let's hope Ollie sticks to his promise of staying with the club and not do an "Owen Coyle" on us like what at happened at Burnley last season.

Brilliant Blackpool

What a brilliant start to our Premiership campaign. Instead of playing Wigan at home, the game was transferred to the DW stadium because Bloomfield Rd's ground improvements would not be ready in time for the start of the season. So today's 4-0 away victory was all the more sweeter. I was hoping for a least a draw before the start of the game, but to have such an emphatic win was just the start we've dreamed about. In fact we could have scored more goals if we had converted all our chances. Considering the away following of 4,200 were outnumbered three times over by the Wigan supporters the noise generated by us made a mockery of the crowd difference. We sang, clapped and cheered our boys from start to finish. Ollie stuck to his promise of playing attacking football with four forwards up front. This paid dividens for the Seasiders because by half-time we were 3-0 up with goals from Gary Taylor-Fletcher and two from debutant Marlon Harewood. Ollie bloodied other new signings throughout the game. Elliot Grandin was my Man of the Match with a very polished performance. Considering these players only signed for the club this week  is credit to their professionalism. At least we have managed to get a first win under our belt very early on and without conceding a goal. Next up are Arsenal at the Emirates stadium, which will be a true test of our character and one we will be ready for.

House for Sale

It has been six months since we first put our house on the market and after first trying out an on-line estate agent without success, we went with a traditional high street estate agent, again without any success. I have to say both firms have proved to me how inept estate agents are when it comes to selling your most valuable asset. What they are all good at is promoting themselves. They produce all the glossy promotional bumph together with all the  supporting statistical information, comments from their Managing Directors, the success stories and the recommendations from "satisfied" customers. As far as we are concerned, what they say and what they do are miles apart. They all seem to have this third rate approach to "Customer Service", if that? Considering high street agents charge between 1.25% to 2% for selling your property, on average this amounts to between £3k to £5k, depending on what type of property you have. Now, if you were to pay for something costing these amounts for e.g. holiday, furniture etc, you would expect the company providing the goods to treat you with some respect and in the majority of cases this would be true. Not so with estate agents. Oh yes they offer insincere apologies if you point out their shortcomings, but don't expect them to do much more. It's 15 years since we last sold a property and we can honestly say estate agents in our opinion are no better now that they were then. Quick to sign you up and tie you up with a meaningless contract, but for a quick sale, forget it. Ok, I know other people have had success with them and we wish we could say the same, but the service we have received from both sources have been extremely poor. So, having tried the traditional approach we will try and do it ourselves. This is what we are offering any prospective buyers.

This is a genuine opportunity to buy an immaculate detached, three doubled bedroomed house situated in a popular area of Preston. The property has excellent transport links to the City centre and is close to the main Motorway network. There are a wide selection of schools covering all ages, with access to GP and dental surgeries, shops, library, churches, Post Office and a leisure centre nearby. The property has further potential to increase the internal structure to accommodate extra living/bedroom space by utilising the integral garage, something which other owners have done. The outside area has manageable gardens and ample off-street parking for several vehicles. We will consider offers over £165,000 from prospective buyers.

If you are interested just add your comments and we will get back to you. Thanks for looking.

Embarrassing World Cup exit....

I've never witnessed such an abject, embarrassing performance in my life as the one dished up by the England side today. Frankly the 4-1 defeat at the hands of Germany was flattering to us to say the least. The Germans could have scored double that if they had put away all their chances. OK, we had a goal that wasn't allowed and shame on the officials for not spotting it and Lampard hit the crossbar with one of the few efforts we had on goal, but over all we were a disgrace. I have never seen an England side roll over and surrender a game in the fashion this lot did. Whatever has gone on behind the scenes with the squad over the last few weeks was shown up today. They played like a Sunday league side totally bereft of any ideas and gave the Germans the space and time to exploit all our deficiences. Capello's inability to respond to the way we were playing highlights the need for a complete change from top to bottom. He must resign forthwith and a clear-out of the under performers should take place straightaway. Why Capello continued playing the out of form Rooney, when he soon ditched Green because of one poor save is beyond me. So too was his choice of playing Heskey (who's goal scoring record for England is terrible) instead of Crouch up front is beyond me. And why bring on the headless chicken in the guise of Wright-Phillips, who up until now has had the impact of a deflated tyre. I could go through all the team today and one word would describe their collective performance and that is EMBARRASSING. They and the manager should hang their heads in shame and apologise to the country for what they did today.

England go through.

Well, our World Cup campaign continues after a much improved performance against Slovenia. Although the score suggested a close run game, England had enough chances to make it a more comfortable ride. Capello made three changes bringing in Upson, Defoe and Milner and it was the latter two who created and finished the deciding goal. The only disappointing thing about the game was the performance of Wayne Rooney. Again it looked a shadow of the player he was a couple of months ago. I think his form peaked too soon and when he picked up an injury in the Premiership he's not been able  to replicate the form he had then. He looks nervous on the ball and when an opportunity came his way he scuffed his shot, which allowed the Slovenian goalie to get his fingers to the ball and onto the post. Instead of chasing up the rebound, he just held his head in his hands and gave up. This has been a common theme with him so far. I was glad to see him substituted during the second half, but his replacement Joe Cole, did not live up to the hype given to him by his admirers. In fact he too had a disappointing game, but it might be a bit harsh to critisize him too much given the lack of match play he's had so far. Our next opponents on Sunday will be our old adverseries, Germany, who also finally booked their place in the last sixteen tonight by beating Ghana 1-0. For once I do not fear this current German team. They appear to be an ordinary looking set of players compared to previous German sides, but nevertheless they will still be  formidable opponents. Personally I would have been more worried  playing the unpredictable Ghana  than Germany. Come on England let's win it in style without it going to extra time or penalties.

England expects.....

By tomorrow evening  we will know if our World Cup hopes are still alive? We go into the last game knowing that only a win will guarantee a place in the knock-out stages. Up until now our performances have left a lot to be desired, but on a positive note we are still unbeaten. So, even though we are told that there is no rift in the camp, we get John Terry thinking he is still the voice of authority in the team giving a press conference questionning the manager's omission of Joe Cole in the team. So if there is no rift, why give the conference without the manager's knowledge. He then puts both of his flat feet in it further by saying only Rooney and Cole are capable of opening teams up. Not only has he upset the manager with his comments but his team mates as well. My advice to Terry is leave the intelligent bits to people with intelligence.  I hope we do manage to get the win and progress to the final stages. Come on England.

World Cup yawn.....

Well, if our result against the USA was poor, this performance against Algeria was abysmal. I don't even take solace from the fact that France, Spain and Germany have been beaten. This is not about other national sides, it's about England. Unlike a lot of pundits who have played up the possibilities of us winning the World Cup I have always had my doubts. Our results prior to the competition have been on the whole very positive. My impression of Fabio Capello was also positive. He brought along a more discipline style of management to the job, which had been missing for a long time. Unfortunately, despite this new stricter regime too many of his first team players not only let themselves down with their off-field antics but the manager too. I think this helped to undermine the workings of the whole squad. In particular the Terry / Bridge debacle, which caused Terry to be dropped as England captain. Tonight's game was a disjointed affair. Too many established players were collectively poor. Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Johnson, Terry, Cole, Wright-Phillips  and Lennon were just not good enough and I think Rooney was the worst of the lot and should have been subbed. I am sorry to say this but I fear Capello has too many favourites who he will not drop irrespective of how they perform. He seems to prefer Heskey to Crouch, and yet Crouch's goal to appearance ratio is second to none, whereas Heskey's is next to nothing. We now go into our last game against Slovenia looking for nothing short of a victory to guarantee a place in the knock-out stages. I must admit I am not feeling as positive as I should be, but if we do not make it then the manager and players must take the blame.

England 1 USA 1

I apologise for not writing recently, this has been due to me being extremely busy and not having time to put “pen to paper”. I am still in a state of euphoria following the Mighty Seasiders success in the play-off at Wembley. So much so, England's World Cup preparation has taken a back seat for me. Nevertheless, there I was tonight with my England shirt on looking forward to the boys beating the American lads. Before going into what I thought about our performance tonight I have got to say how much I dislike ITV's coverage compared to the BBC's. I find the constant commercial breaks just disrupts the flow and your enjoyment. To make matters worse I watched the game on their HD channel and guess what happened? They had a technical problem and lost the picture and when it returned we were 1-nil up, they missed Gerrard's goal. That should have acted as a warning to how the game would go. Even though we led for most of the first half we never quite controlled the game enough. So when Robert Green dropped his almighty clanger the Americans couldn't believe their luck. But for me he wasn't the only one who flopped on the night. Despite what the so called TV pundit experts say I cannot think of one English player who stood out. Rooney was never in it, in fact I thought he was a liability and I would have taken him off. Lennon was a joke. His final pass was just as bad as Walcott's, who failed to make the squad. Wright-Phillips is another who's final pass leaves a lot to be desired. I could go through all the team and be critical of them, but credit has to go to the Americans for the way they played and how they restricted us to very few chances. Are we good enough to win the World Cup? After tonight's performance I think it's going to be very difficult. Perhaps our expectations have been too high and we'll end up disappointed again. OK, I might be over reacting especially after just one game, but performances like this don't leave you feeling very up-beat. Still I live in hope.

Blackpool FC...the boys have done it!!

Not to tempt fate I have purposely  delayed writing anything further about the Mighty Seasiders until the outcome of the play-off final was known. After a deliriously happy weekend visiting Wembley to support Ollie and the boys I can now put pen to paper. I still have to pinch myself when I think about us playing in the Premiership next season. Who cares about the World Cup preparations when you've got the Mighty Seasiders turning the football world on its head. This is what football is all about. It's what modern dreams are made off. It's about a club, manager and a squad of players who have shown that success is not all down to how much money you have (although a massive advantage), it's about a desire to succeed and prove all the doubters wrong through a combination of hard work and great team spirit. The wind of change started to sweep through the club when Simon Grayson took us up to the Championship, with Tony Parkes managing to keep us there and with Ian Holloway's vision and ideas of how the team should play making the dream of playing Premiership football possible. Let's not forget Steve Thompson's contribution too, he has been the constant throughout the whole time. The tangerine colour is unique and witnessing Wembley and its surroundings bathed in its hue was breathtaking, but what was more breathtaking was the manner in which the Seasiders came from behind twice and once in the lead managing to stay in control right to the end. Credit must go to both teams for producing end to end attacking football, which is both exciting and entertaining. I tried to keep my expectations under control before the game, so that if the worst happened I would console myself with the knowledge that this season has been the best I've seen for years. That went all out the window when the final whistle went and all the pent-up emotion kicked-in, a mixture of tears, cheers and hugs. I hope Ollie will see the challenge of the premiership through with us because we've proved the experts wrong in the past, so let's do it again. Ian Holloway is a LEGEND.

The Mighty Seasiders.....

What a result, the boys have booked their trip to Wembley in spectacular fashion by beating Nottingham Forest at the City Ground 4-3. DJ Campbell scored three goals with Stephen Dobbie getting the other. The Pool have won 6-4 on aggregate. It's a pity both Blackpool and Forest couldn't  get promoted because they are both good attacking sides. Ian Holloway deserves all the credit for the way he has transformed the squad players into a team of self-believers. I cannot wait for the final on May 22nd, this is history in the making. COME ON AND SUPPORT THE BOYS IN TANGERINE.

Who won the General Election?

Well it appears that no single party managed to convince the electorate that they were the party to lead the country for the next five years. Although the Tories won more seats than the other two main parties, they fell short of the 326 seats needed for an overall majority to govern. Labour did far better than most of us suspected, but lagged behind the Tories. The Lib Dems had the most disappointing turn-out with just 56 seats, this despite a promising start by Nick Clegg in the live Prime Ministerial debate. Not since 1974 has there been a hung parliament. So now we see all three parties ditching their tribal allegiances for a period of compromise in order to get a working pact between themselves. For the last few days the Tories have been locked into coalition talks with the Lib Dems. In the meantime Lord Mandelson and David Millibrand have had secret talks with the Lib Dems too. To add to all this subtifuge  Gordon Brown has announced within the last couple of hours that he will resign as Labour party leader and therefore will no longer be Prime Minister when the coalition agreement has been reached. This is something that would meet one of the conditions the Lib Dems would want before agreeing to any form power sharing. So, Nick Clegg seems to have a hold on what happens next. Events seem to be changing by the minute, with the Tories finally agreeing that they will hold a referendum on Alternative Voting (AV) a form of Proportional Representation(RP) if the Lib Dems do agree to join them, whereas Labour has gone further by agreeing fully to RP. So despite losing seats rather than gaining them, which looked likely before the election the Lib Dems are now in a position to realise their long held dream of replacing the present "first past the post" system with at least some form of RP. In answer to the question of "Who won the General Election" it's obvious no one did. No doubt there will be a re-run later in the year, possibly in October. Let's hope the polling stations are geared up for it better than this time. Although I have little sympathy for anyone who complains about being turned away at 10pm and not being allowed to register their vote because they were too late. The stations are open from 7am until 10pm and if people cannot get there between these times then TOUGH. It is clearly your responsibility to get there in plenty of time and no one else.

The Seasider's are nearly there.

What a season this is turning out to be. Not many people gave us much of a chance of staying in the Championship at the start, never mind vying for a place in the Premiership. Last week's Seasider's victory against already relegated Peterboro and Swansea's defeat against Sheffield Utd, ensured that we occupied the last play-off position at their expense. It now means we go into the last game against Bristol City at Bloomfield Rd on Sunday a point better off than the Swans. All the tickets for the game have been sold and a crowd of 12,000 is expected. It is also being televised live by Sky Sports ( better late than never). Although Bristol City have nothing to play for after finishing a disappointing season for them in mid table, they will be out to spoil our chances of making it to the play-offs. Why? Well, Ollie started his football career playing for their arch rivals, Bristol Rovers and they have also recently appointed Steve Coppull as their new manager, so they will be out to impress him. Ollie won't allow the players to get complacent and he will gee them up ready for the final push. If we managed to get into the play-offs I fancy our chances against any of the other teams and can see us go all the way to the final at Wembley. Whatever happens this season has been a pleasure to watch. If there are any neutrals out there, throw your weight behind the boys in Tangerine.

Election vote.

I have finally decided who I am going to vote for in the forthcoming election. My decision is based on my desire to see a difference in the way this country is governed. I am fed up with just having either a Conservative or Labour government. They have monopolised British politics for years and have shared power for all this time. Each blames the other for the ills of the country and use this as an excuse for their own shortcomings. We drastically need a complete revamp of our political system and that is why I am going to support the Lib Dems. Hopefully then we can look forward to seeing Proportional Representation being introduced, which should help to do away with the current two party state.

Volcano and the aftermath.

It's only when a natural disaster occurs that we realise how fragile our existence on earth is and how it doesn't matter how big we think we are because nature is a great leveller. The Icelandic volcano has had a massive impact on our way of life in a very short time. We sometimes think these disasters happen elsewhere in the world but not here. Even as I write this blog we still do not know how long the present situation will last? The last time it erupted, it continued to do so for a further two years. Yesterday (19/4/2010), the volcano was becoming more stronger rather than weakening and with the wind direction changing it was expected to disrupt the UK and Europe airspace even more. I think we all know of somebody stranded away from home, waiting for the situation to improve. Everyday we are hearing shocking stories of people having to pay over the odds either to stay where they are or to get home by whatever means necessary. The chances of claiming compensation are practically nil, because this disaster is classed as an "act of God". Some airline companies believe the EU have over re-acted by banning all flights and say as long as aircraft do not fly directly through the cloud planes should be ok. Apparently British Airways are losing £20m per day. One other problem the eruption is causing, is the impact it is having on imports and exports and is highlighting the difficulties some countries with fragile economies are having. It should be interesting to see how things develope in the next few weeks. Anyway, to lighten the mood here's some thoughts local wags have come up with....

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  I think it’s too soon to make jokes about the Icelandic volcano…we should at least wait until the dust settles.
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  Volcano in Iceland…What next Earthquake in Asda?
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  What do Cheryl Cole and the Iceland volcano have in common? They both chucked out ash.
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  It was the last wish of the Icelandic economy that its ashes were spread all over Europe.
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  There’s no pleasing the English. The last time they got the Ashes they were over the moon.
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  Went outside today and got hit by a bag of frozen sausages, a chocolate gateau and some fish fingers. Someone said it's a fallout from Iceland.

Conservative, Labour, Lib Dems, A N Other?

With the election gloves well and truly off we are starting to see politicians everywhere. It's amazing what they all come up with prior to an election to secure your vote. Where is all the money coming from to finance the promises they are making. After all, we are currently supposedly in the middle of the worst financial crisis for decades. I still say, it will only be after the election that we will find out the true price of what each of us will have to pay as a consequence of the worldwide crisis. Unfortunately, without Proportional Representation (RP), the winner will be either Labour or the Conservative and each will blame the other for the plight we are in. No matter how hard the Lib Dems shout, the best they can hope for is third place. What hope therefore are there for the minor participants, such as UKIP, The Greens, SNP, Plaid Cymru, Independents, The Jury Team and the extreme political parties. The extremists deserve all they get, a BIG NOTHING, because all they want is a world suited only for themselves. The big parties like to  toy with the idea of RP especially at election time, but let's face it they're not going to change the political voting system for one that would make it harder for them to win. I truly hope the electorate give both major parties the proverbial "kick up the backside", because I for one, would like to see a big fundamental change in the way our votes are counted. I also hope the corrupt expenses, lobbying and more than one job MP's are shown the door too. How can some MP's have time for other jobs if they are truly doing what they were elected for. Surely a second or third job would compromise their government work or is that me being too naive?

Is South Africa heading towards further violence?

Anyone outside the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) can have little sympathy following the death of it's controversial leader Eugene Terre'Blanche, who's name seems to have been concocted to mirror his style of politics. At one time he wielded a great deal of power and influence in South Africa, especially at his home base in Ventersdorp situated 100 miles west of Johannesburg. He founded the AWB  in Heidelberg back in 1973 after he became disillusioned with other political parties. At the height of his popularity he claimed the AWB had a membership in excess of 70,000. He was known as the Leader to his followers and surrounded himself with the black clad bodyguards known as the Iron Guard. He was known for his oratory, which was likened to that of Hitler. Terre'Blanche's thunderous voice and magnificent style of delivery - alternating between roar and husky whisper, with gestures to match - helped to disguise the complete meaninglessness of what he was saying. His oratory would sweep from the plight of white farmers, to ancient Greek philosophy, to the state of the Soviet Union, without any apparent logic. He seemed to walk a tightrope between racist menace and national joke. He strongly opposed and never really accepted the end of Apartheid, which put him at loggerheads with the more progressive conservative politicians. His death, allegedly at the hands of two of his farm workers, have opened up all the divisions that have been just below the surface. With the football World Cup due to open in the next couple of months fears are growing that the violence could cause serious trouble. Let's hope things don't get out of hand and things start to calm down in what is a very volatile part of the world.

2010 UK General Election.

I suppose like many other voters, this year's forthcoming General Election has left me in a bit of a quandary. It is the first time in all the years I have casted my vote that I am unable to decide who to support. Ok, lets not kid ourselves, the outcome will be between Labour and the Conservatives. No matter how much the Lib Dems huff and puff, there is no way they will form a new government. The best they can hope for is a hung parliament and they are asked to back up either of the other two big boys. This is because our constitution does not allow for Proportional Representation (PR), which would give the Lib Dems a better chance of getting more of their MP's elected. The general public (I include myself) are still angry about the whole "MP expenses scandal" in which many of our elected members have been found with their "snouts in the trough". There has been a procession of MP's declaring that they will not stand at the election,  deciding it is better to go before they are thrown out by their constituents.

I think we will see the biggest election boycott in living memory, because the majority of people cannot see things getting any better whoever wins. This could leave the door open to extremist parties  getting a bigger foothold in the country. The trouble with extremist parties is they do not have any workable policies. They rely on lynch-mob  ideas where they tend to blame all the ills of the country on immigrants, saying they come over here and pinch all our jobs. What they don't say is, that a lot of the jobs taken are one's that no one wants to do because of the money offered.

I have come across a new group (pictured opposite)  called the "Jury Team", http://www.juryteam.org/. Launched in mid March 2009, the Jury Team they say "is for people who believe in democracy but who have seen how the current party political system has turned the United Kingdom's Parliament and Government into the creatures of a small and increasingly distant group of self-serving politicians". They also state, "The Jury Team will ensure that the electorate have the ultimate power and that Parliament and Government are both run for the benefit of the country and not for those who work in these organisations. We need to give back to people their pride in their country and its institutions and to let them become the ultimate jury". Strong sentiments and when you read their manifesto, their thirty proposals are worthy reading. I don't propose to copy them down on here, but recommend you go to their site and peruse them yourself. I think the big parties should take note and adopt some of the Jury Team's proposals, because to ignore them could come back to haunt them. At least they seem to take politics more seriously than some of the fringe parties, especially extremist ones.

Tattoos.

We have seen in the last couple of years how tattoos have become more popular and  acceptable. This is due in the main by high profile "celebrities" adorning various parts of their bodies with all manner of messages, designs and images. I read a good article in today's Express by Simon Edge who describes tattoos as "fashion's ugly accessories". I could not agree more. When you get the likes of David Beckham and his wife, Robbie Williams and numerous others sporting tattoos, you will always get an army of followers doing the same. I always remember my dad saying to me when I was young, whatever you do don't ever get a tattoo. He always regretted getting some in his youth, because he said "what might look good now, will look stupid when you get older". The trouble with tattoos, despite what some people say, is that you cannot get rid of them. Laser treatment is expensive and will leave you with scars. That is why I cannot understand anybody having tattoos on their face. In the Express article, fashion expert Hannah Sandling said ­“Tattoos are like bad clothes and having a tattoo stuck to my body for the rest of my life is like going round with the same jumper on for ever. What looks good on one person may not ­necessarily look good on another. Some rock stars may pull them off with style but for others that same tattoo may end up looking like a bad-taste Seventies carpet and what happens when your skin loses its youth? Do you honestly think the grubby-looking carpet you’ve been carrying around for the past 40 years is going to look any better?” What I want to know is, what happens when tattoos lose their appeal and become a fashion faux pas. Are we going to see masses of people bombarding their GP's or local NHS hospitals demanding that their body markings be removed at tax-payers expense? Unlike the celebrities, who no doubt will be able to afford to make their own arrangements, whereas the ordinary punter will have to put up with it. The tattoo artists should make the most of their current popularity, because I can see in the not to far distant future, the emergence of the "no win, no fee" personal injury lawyers championing their client's claims that they were drunk or drugged and not in control of their senses, as an excuse to claim compensation. They will argue that their client's have suffered emotional and psychological damage as a result of having their bodies desecrated. I say, if you chose to have one/some done, then you have no one else to blame but yourself. End of.

Short of something to do this Bank Holiday weekend?

If you are I have got the perfect solution. On Good Friday, Blackpool are playing Scunthorpe United at Glanford Park, kick off 3pm. Then on Easter Monday, the Seasiders will be at home to near rivals Doncaster Rovers, kick-off again is 3pm. With only six matches remaining this season, with a possible 18 points up for grabs, it could turn out to be one of the best ends to the season Blackpool have experienced since promotion to the Championship. Scunthorpe are still not safe from relegation and so will be fighting for their Championship lives. On the other hand, Doncaster like Blackpool are pushing hard for an outside chance of a play-off place. They are currently one place behind us with two points less than us. They also have Billy Sharp, ex Scunthorpe, ex Sheffield Utd, playing on-loan to them, who always manages to score against us. They also have Jay Emmanuel-Thomas on-loan from Arsenal, who we had on-loan here at the start of the season. For us he was a bit hit and miss and split the fans opinions of him right down the middle. I think this was the main factor he did not return to us after Christmas but chose to go to Doncaster instead. He has certainly been one of their better players and one we will have to keep an eye on. We have sold all out ticket allocation for the Scunthorpe match, but you can pay on the gate on the day of the match. I should expect there to be a bumper crowd at Bloomfield Rd on Monday, so get down if you can, it should be a cracking match. COME ON YOU POOL.

Trial without jury. Right or wrong?

For the first time in 350 years Britain had a trial without a jury. The case involved 4 men accused along with others of the £1.75m armed robbery, at the Menzies World Cargo warehouse at Heathrow in February 2004. Three previous trials collapsed due to a number of reasons, including alleged jury tampering. The prosecution, fearing the same might happen in the next trial, successfully appealed to the Court of Appeal to allow an unprecedented trial without a jury in England and Wales. The Appeal Court agreed there was a "real and present" danger of jury tampering, and considered that even a £6m package of protective measures by the police would not prevent it. Despite defence objections that they had not been provided with any evidence of jury interference, the first jury-less trial went ahead. Trial number four started in January 2010 at the Royal Courts of Justice with Mr Justice Treacy in charge.  

At the end of the trial Mr Justice Treacy did not give the usual summing up as there was no jury present to remind of the facts.
"The time has come for me to consider my verdicts and deliver a reasoned judgement," he simply said - and left court for an undisclosed period.
With no days lost due to jury sickness the whole trial had taken place in less than half the time of the previous trials - just three months rather than six.

But the costs of this series of trials is said to have risen to more than £20m. In the end Mr Justice Treacy found all four men guilty of the charges and would pass sentences later.

With jury tampering being a major problem with cases like this or for the more complicated fraud cases where jurors are expected to sit through months of legal and intricate submissions, surely trial without juries must be welcomed?

But could this set a precedent, whereby defendents could automatically be convicted of a crime? The legal right for trial by jury was a hard fought one and one which should not be given up lightly, but do we need to make exceptions with certain types of crime?

Redemption charges.

What is the justification of Banks and Building Societies  slapping a redemption charge on you if you choose to settle a mortgage or loan  before the end of agreed period? Even more so if the financial institution has been taken into public ownership. I ask this, because I recently requested a settlement figure from  my building society (who had millions of taxpayers money pumped into it to stop it collapsing)  so that I would know exactly how much equity I would be left with once my house has been sold. Imagine my disappointment when I received a letter stating that besides an early redemption charge, I would also have to pay 3 months interest and a Discharge of Mortgage fee. Once they had all been totalled up the figure came to an extra £5,000. Sickening, when you consider they charge you interest for everyday the mortgage is outstanding.  Are these charges justified or not? What do you think?

Prisoner compensation.

Apparently the child killer Ian Huntley, who was allegedly attacked by  fellow inmate Damien Fowkes in Frankland prison last Sunday, could be entitled to compensation. Huntley's lawyer has indicated that his client could sue the Ministry of Justice for up to £20,000 for not protecting him whilst in their "care". This is not the first time Huntley has been attacked in prison and not the first time he has sought compensation. The previous occasion was when he scalded by hot water in 2005. The present Justice Secretary Jack Straw answering a Parliamentary question about the latest attack was quoted as saying "I can say to this House as an absolute fact that it would be robustly, vigorously resisted by this government, and we have absolutely no intention of making such compensation payments." Let's hope he does just that. The idea of Huntley, or any convicted criminal being able to get any form of compensation whilst in prison does not deserve to be given any thought whatsoever. First of all, any form of financial gain is an insult to the victim's families. Secondly, if claims were to become successful what's to stop inmates conspiring together to stage a mock  attack so that they can go down the compensation route. After all prisoners have plenty of time to plan what to do, especially if they have nothing to lose. The majority would be entitled to Legal Aid, paid for by hard working tax-payers. Imagine this type of thing happening elsewhere in the world, where human life is less important. I am not saying that we should go down the flogging, decapitating, capital punishment route, but I do think that once you have been convicted of a crime that justifies a prison sentence, you fore-go any rights you are entitled to on the outside. The general public are sick of hearing about prisoner's rights and not enough about the victim's rights. Let's hope the judiciary and politicians remember this.

Blackpool v Crystal Palace

Following on from the midweek reserve game, Blackpool were host to Paul Hart's Crystal Palace yesterday. Hopes were high with the home fans of a far better display against a side currently fighting relegation, following a 10 point deduction after going into administration. The Jimmy Armfield south stand was officially opened by club President, Valery Belekon, Owen Oyston and Chairman Karl Oyston prior to the kick-off. The game attracted 9,702 fans including 631 Palace fans. Manager Holloway made several changes from the side beaten by Sheffield United earlier in the week. In came on-loan Everton defender Seamus Coleman, Dobbie, Husband for the injured Vaughan, along with Clarke and Bannan. Out went Campbell, Ormerod, Eardley and Edwards. Ollie has not been frightened of ringing the changes in the past if he thought players were underperforming and on the whole it's worked out right for him. Unfortunately, Saturday's game back-fired on him very quickly. The numerous changes seemed to disrupt Pool's composure. Similar to the Blades game the Seasiders again got off to the worst possible start, with Palace scoring within 3 minutes, through a scrappy goal from Nick Carle. The ball seemed to take an age to dribble past an uncharacteristically flat-footed Baptiste who was positioned on the goal line. This gave Palace the confidence to take the game to the home side. It seemed to get worse for the Seasiders as the first half went on, the players looked at sixes and sevens not knowing how to break down the visitors. We were getting more and more frustrated watching a truly awful performance, which it got worse on the 33rd minute when Darren Ambrose made it 2-nil. He managed to control a bouncing ball and knocked it through Matt Gilks' legs. Palace were getting more dangerous and Alan Lee went close to making it 3-0. Holloway decided a change was needed and brought on Ben Burgess for the disappointing Stephen Husband. Burgess gave the attack an option they lacked with the height he gave. It came as no surprise when the home crowd showed their displeasure by booing their side off at half time. Obviously reeling from an Ollie half time team talk, the Seasiders took the initiative and got an early goal back through good work by Billy Clarke who passed to Dobbie, who in turn laid it off for Charlie Adam to hammer home. A massive sigh of relief was felt all around the home crowd, including the players. They began to relax more and started to control the game. Ollie introduced the hard working Brett Ormerod, who in my opinion should never have been left out of the team. This guy gives 100% every game and at 32 shows a lot of the younger players up. He also brought on Gary Taylor-Fletcher, which was his first game since coming back from injury. But despite Pool's dominance an equaliser was proving illusive. It finally came in 89th minute when Ian Evatt headed the ball into Burgess's path who scrambled the ball over the line at the second attempt. This caused the home crowd to erupt into unashamed euphoria. The referee allowed 4 extra minutes, which saw efforts by Dobbie and Ormerod being cleared off the line by a desperate and shocked Palace side. It ended 2-2, which at half time looked impossible. Did we deserve to win? I think not, because of a very poor first half. The referee was Phil Gibbs, who I have to say was far too fussy and pedantic and along with the condition of the ground made the game hard work. I think Saturday's result proved we are too inconsistent to get promoted this season, but credit should be given to the manager and players for the progress we have made. with seven more games to go, a top ten position is well within our reach. Let's hope we finish above our arch enemy PNE, because that alone will be such a sweet feeling.

Are there any good estate agents out there??

I ask this question because I am currently trying to sell my house via an on-line estate agent, which is far cheaper than the high street version. The conventional estate agents all say theirs are the best and provide statistical charts to back their claims up. Unfortunately past experience in selling my homes have disproved their fanciful claims. So if there is an estate agent out there who can prove to me they have the capabilities to successfully sell my house, let them get in touch and I will gladly pass over my business to them. I await to hear from you.

The Jimmy Armfield stand opens.

The long awaited Jimmy Armfield South Stand was unveiled last night for the Seasiders reserve team's game against Rochdale reserves. This was because the local Council's Licensing Authority would not allow the stand to be officially open this coming Saturday unless the stand's safety issues were tested. The club anounced that it needed at least 500 fans to turn up last night so that they could meet the council's request. As a good will gesture the club made the admission free of charge. It also gave the fans the opportunity to see for themselves what the new facilities would be like. In response to the club's request more than 1600 fans turned up, which must have had the right effect, because the Pool's second string ran out 8-1 winners. The scorers were Dobbie 3, Demontagnac, Clarke, Bangura, Evatt and Bannan. It was also good to see the return of referee Mark Halsey, who returned to officiating after successful throat cancer surgery. Although the atmosphere is more subdued at reserve games the fans showed their appreciation throughout the game. At least now the south stand is in operation the away fans will be housed in the North Stand, with any overspill fans using the current "Gene Kelly" east stand. It was nicknamed after the famous song and dance star, because with it having no roof the away fans had to resort to " singing in the rain". Also, with the away fans being housed under cover the noise they make should increase the atmosphere even more. Let's hope Ollie and the boys make Saturday's game against Crystal Palace one to remember, for all the right reasons and that we can make a late surge into the play-off positions.

Is 2010 a good time to buy a house?

Well, with house price values slowing down you would think there's never been a better time to buy. So, what is stopping people buying? The biggest obstacle is the availability of adquate funds i.e. affordable sizable mortgages. First time buyers are the lifeblood of any housing market, but getting onto the property ladder for them is proving too difficult. Lenders are now being ultra-cautious after years of mortgage give-aways. Gone are the days when Banks, Building Societies and other financial institutions would bombard you with unlimited offers. Everyday you would receive advertisements offering fix-rate mortgages, 100% loans, 4 to 6 times your annual salary, that is until the US market blew its financial gasket and the repercussions were felt worldwide. Toxic debt suddenly became a problem for all governments. Perhaps this finally made everyone come to their senses and made people think that the boom in property prices were more harmful than good. The downside to this is of course is a stagnation of the sale of properties. Yes, houses are still being bought, but not at the levels needed to stimulate the market. We are experiencing the difficulty first hand of our daughter trying to get onto the property ladder. She needs to be able to produce a minimum deposit of between £7k to £10k to even get started. That takes a great deal of time and effort to achieve. Even then her salary has to be around the £25k per annum mark to be able to meet her monthly repayments. Unfortunately, she meets neither criteria at the present time. So our idea is to try and sell our current property enabling us to downsize and  so hopefully be able to release some funding for her. But like a lot of sellers, we cannot move forward until a buyer is found and so the process slows even further. I think a lot will hinge on who forms the next government and what their policies will be and what further impact it will have on the housing market. Will the Bank of England keep interests low, because fear of any increase will further slow down the housing market? Stamp duty tax is another thing that stunts house sales going forward and which is hated by everyone except the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Nobody wants to pay over inflated prices for property, which has happened in the past, what we want is sensible pricing being achieved, which should help things to get moving. People should also take more responsibility about how much they can realistically afford to borrow. That way confidence should slowly return and  repossessions be reduced. Have you any ideas of what the government can do to improve the housing market, if anything?

Children's Commissioner's comments.

It seems Maggie Atkinson, the new Children's Commissioner, has added fuel to the fire, regarding the Jon Venables affair. She is quoted as saying that "The age of criminal responsibility in this country is ten - that's too low, it should certainly be moved up to 12. In some European countries it is 14." She also claimed we are in "danger of criminalising too many children and young people by locking them up for committing far less serious crimes". Little did she know what a furore her comments would make. Why she chose now to come out with her remarks can only be described as insensitive. Time and time again the general public hear stories about kids seemingly getting away with all kinds of anti-social behaviour. So raising the age of responsibility from 10 to 12 years of age just adds to public concern. Following the backlash her comments caused, Dr.Atkinson tried to distance herself by saying "I wish to be clear and to put into context my views on such terrible atrocities. Some children and young people do commit terrible crimes and are a danger to themselves and to others". She added "It is right, therefore, that these children are contained in secure settings as in the case of James Bulger's killers and more recently the horrific case in Edlington. I empathise with the pain and anguish felt by all the families of the victims involved.Children who carry out such atrocities and other serious offences need to understand the severity of their actions. They should undertake intense programmes appropriate to their age in secure facilities where they are helped to make positive and lasting changes to their behaviour". Not matter how well meaning she thought she was being, her comments have increased the anxiety many people feel about youngsters rights being more important than their own. On a final note, children are aware from a very early age of what is right and wrong, even in the most dysfunctional households.

Music is ageless.

I think most people have an eclectic choice of music. That's why I think music is ageless and  why each type of music has its own attraction. My biggest influences have been Black Soul music, particularly Tamla Motown,  Rythmn and Blues and Rock. I loved listening to Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Sam Cooke, The Temptations, The Supremes before Diana Ross took over the lead mantle. For me the Rolling Stones stand out miles ahead of the field in rythmn & blues. Status Quo also rank highly in my list of great groups. Eric Clapton is also highly thought of too, as is Oasis (sadly no longer, but never say never), the Kings of Leon, Coldplay, Chilli Peppers, The Killers. Solo singers include Robbie Williams, who always manages to come back with a different style. Even Tom Jones is an exceptional soul singer and can easily blast out the old soul classics. All time favourite females include Tina Turner, Elke Brookes and Areatha Franklyn. This list, as they say is not exhaustive and by no means includes everyone who I like, because there are far too many, including a whole host of classical artists and composers. Long live the variety of music.

Responsibility is a long word, but too often forgotten.

What a sad indictment of society in Britain today, which allows groups of feral youths to harass and torment defenceless people without restraint. The case of David Askew, a 64 year old man with the mental age of 10, highlights how he and his family have been let down by the authorities. Apparently they have been victims of abuse by gangs in the area for the last 10 years culminating in the tragic death of Mr Askew on Wednesday. Gang culture is not solely a British problem, but a worldwide one. Being a member of a gang might give a person a sense of belonging, but with that comes an expectation to prove you are worthy of inclusion to the gang. That usually means a constant "highering of the bar" as far as proof is needed of your capability. There is a pressure put onto youths to be part of a "clique or gang" and to ignore the offer is seen as a insult and so you become a gang victim. Gangs who carry out campaigns of terror, usually pick on the most vulnerable, as in the case of Mr Askew. They know they are unable to fight back and are an easy target and so the reign of terror continues unabated until a tragedy occurs. There is no easy solution to this problem, which is made worse when we are constantly being told that the police are too overstretched to cope and that our prisons are overflowing. Judges and Magistrates are being urged not to send non-violent offenders to prison because they are full. Society will only change if the people take ownership of their RESPONSIBILTIES. Until then, society will not be able to change. Have we all become a nation of bystanders, watching crime take place and not helping to stop it? For a children's sake, let's hope not.

That's golf for you.

"Why don't you play golf with Jim any more?", Fred's wife asked. "Well would you play with someone who moves his ball to a better position when you're not looking, who deliberately coughs half-way through your back-swing and who lies about their handicap?" " Well, no I wouldn't" said his wife. "Neither will Jim".

Why do we British struggle at world sport?

It's a question I constantly ask myself. Take the Davis Cup for instance. Despite millions of pounds being pumped into tennis development in the UK, our Davis Cup squad, minus Andy Murray have slumped down the world ratings following our recent defeat by Lithuania. We are now in danger of playing our tennis at a level equivalent to  what could only described as the non-league standard of football. But tennis is not the only sport we struggle at. The summer and winter Olympic games are at times embarrassing for our teams, although we did better than we have ever done at the last summer games, which is encouraging. Is our lack of success down to lack of talent or lack of proper funding? The United States, Australia, Germany all have a winning mentality and yet we, despite plenty of effort fall way short of their endeavours. We have the football World Cup finals coming up this year in South Africa and our hopes of progressing to the latter stages of the competition are better than usual. That is unless we fall foul (pardon the pun) to the dreaded penalty shoot-out competition, of which we are notoriously bad at, going out of competitions on more than one occasion. Should we provide adequate funding for up and coming British athletes of all sports with a scholarship similar to other countries or is the money spent on such things a vote killer for politicians? I would like to see  sport being actively encouraged and promoted more in schools. I saw the demise of these types of activities when I was at school years ago, whereby you would have a Headteacher with no sporting interests, running down (again pardon the pun) sports facilities. I think sporting activities in schools is essential for the well being and development of children, but competition seems to be a no-go area for some authorities these days. Still, I will try to remain optimist and look forward to the day when the UK start leading the field (oops, there I go again) in every sport they enter or am I being delusional? Anybody agree or disagree or got any ideas how we can improve?

Joke.

The Prison Governor was doing his daily morning rounds of the hospital ward, when he came across an inmate sitting on the floor sawing an imaginary piece of wood, while another inmate was dangling from the ceiling by his feet. "What are you doing?" the Governor asked the first inmate. "Can't you see, I'm sawing this piece of wood in half" he replied. "So what's he doing dangling from the ceiling?"  asked the Governor. "Oh he's barmy, he thinks he's a light bulb" said the inmate. "Well he's going red in the face hanging there, don't you think you should tell him to get down before he hurts himself?" replied the Governor. "What and work in the dark?"

Free speech?

There was me thinking that free speech was alive and well in the UK. That was until I decided to contribute to the BBC's Have your Say column, which had the title  "Should the public be told why Jon Venables has been recalled to prison?" I gave what I thought to be a balanced account on why I thought that the information about his recall should not be released into the public domain. Here is the exact copy of what I posted.

Venables has obviously done something serious enough for him to be recalled back to prison. If so, there is a very good chance he will have to face another trial. If the public are told the reasons for his recall any future trial would be compromised. I personally do not see why the exact details of his recall should be made available. If he was stupid enough to breach his bail conditions then he should be prepared to serve a longer sentence. What worries me is the frenzy the media can whip up with cases like this, which in turn brings out the very worst in human nature. You get the vigilanties, hell bent on reeking revenge on anyone they think is responsible, this could include family, partners or friends. Venables and Thompson served 8 years for their crime, which in Venables case was not enough. To any parent what they did was one of the worst types of crime imaginable, so releasing details of his recall would only make the matter worse.

I was warned that my comments could be classed as "Breach Contempt of Court laws" and because of this my comments were removed. What makes me laugh, is the fact that Jack Straw said when interviewed on television that Venables had done something serious for him to be recalled. So my faith in the BBC has been shaken by their over zealous reaction. Their reputation as being a soundboard for the ordinary man in the street has been damaged as far as I am concerned. I have therefore now removed my details from their records and in future will give their sites the widest of berths possible.