Birmingham city 0-1 Mnachester United

Yet another lacklustre 1-0 win, and another disjointed frustrating performance. Full marks to Birmingham for being brave enough to have a real go at us, especially in the first half, if we keep on playing like this if teams are prepared to be brave against us, somebody is going to get their just rewards,if they are similarly brave.
It's broken record time again i am afraid, all our problems, lack of form, lack of creativity and the sparse amount of chances we are creating is down to the lack of a proper centre forward. Rooney and Tevez were tripping up over each other for the first seventy minutes until Saha came on and stretched the play out for us. I believe that Rooney and Tevez can possibly play in the same team, but definitely not when they are they are both playing the central forward positions. There was one occasion in the second half that sums up what is happening when they play together, they both ended up around the centre circle and played a nice one two, the only problem being, the Birmingham centre halves were stood at the edge of their own penalty box, and when carrick or scholes then received it, there was no one up front to pass to so the ball just got passed sideways yet again. When there is a lack of chances you generally look to your central midfield to make things happen, but when there is no one up front, and no one running into the channels to make room for midfielders to run into the gap left in the middle, it's hard to blame Carrick or Scholes. Even though Scholes didn't have a great game yesterday his form has been pretty good generally, but Carrick has been a a fair way off the pace so far this season. But i would say he is suffering more than most, whilst we play without a recognised centre forward. His game last season was about making probing balls through the middle for players running from deep or long raking balls either to the wings or over the top for Saha or Rooney to run onto. With the formations we are playing, it's not giving him much outlet for his passing skills, the same goes for Scholes but it has affected Carrick more.
Our defence has been much lauded of late, but it has to be said they have had mostly pretty easy rides this season. When Birmingham had a real go at us in the first half, it didn't look quite as impressive. I wouldn't say we were found wanting but we were definitely a bit too complacent in the first half, let's hope that was a wake up call for the games ahead. Yesterday was a game where it would have been nice to have had Hargreaves available. It will be very handy to have him and Gary Neville back, whenever that is, it seems to have gone very quiet about Gary Neville returning now.
I know Ronaldo scored yesterday, but i still am not seeing the player that we saw last season, and the absence of Gary Neville is, i am sure one of the reasons. How we and Ronaldo are missing those trademark overlapping runs, they give ronaldo far more options and are a major headaches for defences as they then find it hard to double mark Ronaldo out of the game. We keep hearing Ferguson and the players saying that it is only a matter of time before we find our form, and then watch us fly, but with the players available at the moment and the tactics we are employing i can't see that being any day soon. I hate writing this, but i watched City stuff the geordies in the morning, and they played miles more exciting football than we have seen all season so far. If you would have told me i would be saying that, before the season started, i would have laughed you out of town.
As for the goal what a mistake, i couldn't believe it when i was watching it, it was schoolboy stuff. But for that i think a point would have been all we would have come away with yesterday.

More about the Coventry match, and the automatic cup ticket scheme
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/sport/story/0,,2180180,00.html
Whilst Will Hutton writes about the greed in football
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2180337,00.html
Interesting French interview with Wenger
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2180175,00.html

An honest piece about Burma, you hear politicians calling for sanctions, and calling for a peaceful solution to be found to the problem. But in these situations history shows the reality is people have to be brave enough and want freedom enough to risk their own lives in order to secure the right result for their country. And at the end of the day, none of us in our comfortable western lifestyles, politicians can tell people to go and die for this cause, it has to come from within them. It is a brutal world at times.
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/3889/

Latest tunes

A good point about Abramovitch by Martin Samuels in the times

http://www.joinmust.org/forum/showthread.php?t=40480

1 - Manic street preachers - send away the tigers : I've never been a huge fan, though i love everything must go. But i really got into this, there are no average tracks, which is usually my problem with them.
2 - Grinderman - Grinderman : I absolutely love this, top notch.
3 - Noisettes - What's the time mr wolf : pretty good, a bit more varied than i expected, i thought it was going to be a bit of a noisefest.
4 - Good shoes - Think before you speak : It took a couple of listens, but it was rewarding. Echoes of Television and maybe gang of four
5 - Squarepusher - Hello everything :I have only discovered him in the last year, but i am really into this. Techno, drum and bass and jazz, he really throws the kitchen sink in.
6 - Peter,Bjorn and John - writers block : Another cracker, i don't know how to categorise it, it's got elements of 60's pop, early eighties Human league type synth pop and New order.

Usmanov buys more Arsenal shares
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7017710.stm
Will the government lie on it's hands again, it's starting to look pretty grim for the Arse.

More on the automatic cup scheme from this mornings papers, first a reasonable piece in the sun,
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390000-2007450130,00.html
and a more eloquent version of what i was trying to say yesterday, about blooding the youngsters of the future
http://www.imusa.org/newsarticle.php?id=87
There are plenty making comparisons between our youngsters and Arsenals, most a bit unfair in not recognising our superior record at youth level to Arsenal or anybody else for that matter. Who won the under 19 cup in Malaysia against the best young players in the world at that level. Our problem seems to be getting young players to make the big step up to the first team. One of the big factors, i think, is the amount of very average buys we made three or four years ago that deprived first team opportunities to our youngsters. The likes of Bellion, Kleberson and Djemba Djemba were no better than some of the youngsters on the books, but because of the wages they were on, and the reputations of those who bought them, they were always preferred. It's maybe true that none of the youngsters would have made the grade, but from what i saw , some of them had as much chance as the aforementioned players. I still can't get my head around the fact that we sold Rossi, who we had schooled through the youth and reserve teams, and all who watched him and a lot of people at the club thought was at the very least going to be a good squad player. And then we go and buy someone on loan, who presumably will earn a lot more than Rossi would have, who to my eyes is not only a player we don't really need, but i don't think is that much a better player, if he is even better at all.
It is all very well saying they will get their chance, but if that is the only chance Pique and Evans get for the first half of this season, then then that is four months of their career wasted. And in the case of Pique, if he doesn't start figuring in first team games, i would imagine he will end up wanting to jump ship like Rossi has. It sounds to me like Rossi didn't believe Ferguson when he told him he would get a certain amount of games this season, and that is why he got his move. It looks like he is bedding down now at Villareal and has started to score the goals we knew he was capable of.


It's all in the stars: what the brave Burmese people are fighting
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/ben_macintyre/article2547120.ece
It's a mad, mad,mad world.

Manchester United 0-2 Coventry City

I didn't go, so i can't comment on the match, so this is the Indies take on it,
http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/news/article3001681.ece
One in the eye for the Glazers automatic ticket cup scheme, lets face it the FA cup and Champions league virtually sell out anyway, so all the bad publicity they have gained for this odious measure was for one game. Was it really worth it from their point of view, it's not turned out to be has it.
The league cup is a perfect opportunity, to blood new young fans, and give them a sniff of what it's like to be a red. Instead you get thirty, forty thousand regulars who are pretty annoyed that they have had to turn up and pay for, a game most of us know, Ferguson is not really that interested in, whatever he says to the press. So for the short term aim of trying to pay the debt of, and we all know that's not going to happen, our gimp owners who really know how to run a franchise, yeah, are seriously alienating their present fanbase ( sorry customer ), whilst depriving fans of the future from getting a glimpse of the old trafford atmosphere, and wanting to come back for some more. And that's how to run a football club is it.
It wasn't exactly the best atmosphere for the youngsters to go out and try and prove they are good enough to play for United. As for the game, i can't believe he picked Dong in front of Campbell. Febian Brandy or Welbeck have both got miles more chance of making it than he has. I hope Ferguson hasn't been told he must play, for selling shirt purposes. It is fast becoming a big joke with people who have been going years, because he is absolutely light years away from being a Manchester United player. My other thought from last night is, that this was no surprise. Since about 2003 United have produced some pretty good young players, some who have gone on to have careers in football if not at United. Yet when they are picked en masse for either league cup or FA cup matches, they unfailingly disappoint. That team last night should have been good enough to have beaten Coventry, although playing with Dong up front is a pretty big handicap. As far as the youth cup goes United have a far better record than Arsenal over the timespan i am talking about, yet when Wenger picks his youngsters for the league cup or fa cup they fare far far better. Your guess is as good as mine why this should be.
There are some talented youngsters coming through, some of whom should have some kind of career at united. I can't say i am very convinced that many will though, United seem to have lost the art of giving youngsters enough first team chances to keep their careers progressing the right way. If pique, Evans, Simpson, Gibson or Campbell aren't going to get many games, they would have been better out on loan, for the first half of the season anyway.

Becks dad in hospital
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2541962.ece
Let's hope he recovers, a proper Manchester United fan. Old school cockney red.

Interesting article about about US internet journalist Matt Drudge
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2489217.ece

Ruud - yesterdays news

Ruud - United wanted me out

I am not sure why this old news is still relevant, i don't think anybody doubted this was the case anyway.
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2177262,00.html

Arsenal not selling any time soon

David Dein is one unpopular man at the Emirates still, i wonder what Wenger thinks of him nowadays, seeing as though they were suppose to be so close. Nice to see Craig Murray's article about Usmanov getting more publicity.
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/09/26/if_dein_loves_the_club_so_much.html

I am not a fan of French and Saunders, but i liked absolutely fabulous. Her next project which is coming to our screens soon looks interesting. There is an awful lot to satirise amongst the garbage that is daytime TV
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,2177281,00.html

Football: 'Tears, hugs and two icy handshakes' | News | Guardian Unlimited Football

Football: 'Tears, hugs and two icy handshakes' | News | Guardian Unlimited Football
How not to run a football club part ?. Seriously though if any more of this kind of stuff gets out into the wider world, filthy rich or not, Abramovitch is going to struggle to attract any more big names to the club.

I know all the football journalists sit in the south stand, and so are nearer the away fans than most of the rest of us that watch United, but some of the reporting was just wishful thinking, when they wrote that the Chelsea fans were singing Mourinho name throughout the game. From where i am in the north stand you can hear the away fans, and i heard more chants about Mourinho coming from United's support than the rent boys support. It must be hard to be a Chelsea fan at the moment, because if they sing too much for the special one, the filthy rich one might say sod that lot of ungrateful bastards and get rid of his toy, leaving them well and truly in the shite.
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/09/25/a_few_chelsea_fans_with_a_bann.html

Louis Saha, the truth is out there somewhere
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/09/25/ferguson_plays_the_rehabilitat.html
Let's hope we do see more of him, because we are a miles better team with him in it, than when his is sat in the stands or on the bench.

The prisoner !
http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article2996652.ece

Craig Murray v Usmanov
I enjoy reading Craig Murrays blog, it's brilliant for giving you a little glimpse of what is really going on the world of foreign affairs. It is coming to something when a foreign bully, thug, threatens freedom of speech in our country, Russia, Uzbekistan yes regrettably understandable, but here it should be unthinkable. But that's what happening at the moment.
http://www.newstatesman.com/200709210004
 His book Murder in Samarkand is an excellent read

Manchester United 2-0 Chelsea

Three points against one of our main rivals for the title, and yet i came away from the match feeling we had missed a trick. With them down to ten men and us scoring in first half injury time, i really thought , or should that be hoped, we would really go for the jugular in the second half and really rub it in. But in a bizarre second half we sat back and just passed it around, obviously quite content with the one goal, unfortunately it looked to me, that with everything that's happened to them recently they were quite content themselves to play the rest of the match out and settle for a one nil defeat. It didn't make for great viewing. If we had brought Saha on earlier, i would have brought him on at half time, there were goals there for the taking in the second half, look what happened in the short time he was on. I would love to know why he didn't start, if Ferguson has a problem with him, then what is the point of him being here. He does my head in also, with all his injuries but if he is fit, then he should be starting, because we are a miles better team going forward when he is the side.
I know Tevez scored yesterday, but for me that was his one meaningful contribution to the match. Rooney and Tevez up front just doesn't work, they are too similar, i think Tevez is a reasonable player but he is nowhere near the same level as Rooney. So when everybody is fit he would be on the bench for me, i don't mind him being rotated with Rooney as long as he doesn't play up front on his own, it's pretty obvious to me Tevez needs either a big forward in front of him or someone with speed. Saha obviously possessing both, maybe even Ronaldo playing in front of him would work, although he is another who still doesn't seemed to have recaptured his form of last season. It is getting monotonous, but i will say it again, we have won but we still are playing nowhere near as well as we can. We were spoilt rotten last season with the quality and quantity of the superb attacking football we saw, so far this season, it's got to be said we haven't seen anything approaching last seasons standards. Still, we are right up there without playing well, it would be nice to see some excitement though.
What can you say about Chelsea though, they are in trouble, even with eleven men they hardly posed a threat. Without Drogba up front, they are going to struggle against mid table teams never mind the rest of the big four. It has been said to death, but it's still got to be said £30 million for Schevchenko, that must be as good a bit of business as any transfer in the game. Let's hope Abramovitch really is going to be picking the side, because if he is going to be a more regular starter for them, they may end up struggling to come in the top four never mind, fighting for the championship. To state the obvious, there are some seriously unhappy campers there, the body language wasn't the best. I think we will really see how bad it is when they play the likes of Newcastle and Everton away, teams going for a UEFA cup place will definitely think they can beat them at the moment. They are still a good team, but they miss Drogba terribly, and you have got to wonder, after what's gone on, how keen he is to regain his fitness and get back in the team alongside Schevchenko.

Chelsea, not a big club, http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2007/09/the-debate-are-.html
correct.

An article in the Indie about the Rooney Tevez pairing yesterday
http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/comment/article2993370.ece

As Fabregas says his team mates feel liberated, now Henry is not there intimidating everybody, apparently Henry has had a stuttering start to his Barca career.
http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/european/article2993349.ece

Brilliant game, when Misbah hit that six in the last over i thought Pakistan were going to win.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/7009035.stm

It just gets better

Yet another twist to the saga that is mourinho's exit from the bridge. If this is really true, chelsea's brief glory era is already over. lovely jubbly.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/sport/story/0,,2175106,00.html
There is so much detail in that, it must have come from the dressing room. It's fun time at the bridge.

An article about a country i despise above any other, despite the article being wote by a supporter of the neocon mission.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2175213,00.html

Over the top

Talk about over the top, he will have a hard enough job following the special one, and trying to get a methodical dour footballing outfit playing like a footballing version of the Harlem Globetrotters without taking on his shoulders the weight of the Jewish diaspora.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/alex_stein/2007/09/yes_but_is_it_kosher.html

The press conference to announce Grant as the new manager of Chelsea was an absolute hoot, what a shambles. I almost managed to feel sorry for Kenyon when he was asked how long Grant's contract was for, as he sat there open mouthed, unable to respond until he was saved by bucks answer that the events of the week had been so quick that they hadn't had time to negotiate it. He is really in charge isn't he, of course he is.

I am getting more and more concerned about this injury of Hargreaves, tomorrow was the type of game we really bought him for. Fortunately with Chelsea probably being without Drogba, it is not as much of a blow as it might of been. I would like to see him play four or five consecutive games for us though, i hope his season is not going to be as stop start as it has been so far. He was our most important signing of the summer, Nani and Anderson being for the future. I am still not too sure why we bought Tevez too be honest.

GUTTED
Absolutely gutted, to get so close to scoring 489 to win in the last innings, one day it will happen for Lancy. Rightly or wrongly, Lancy have gained a reputation for being bottlers on the big occasion, but i don't think that can be levelled at them today, because that was a magnificent effort. If only Mark Chilton had won the toss on Wednesday,
if only.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/7007937.stm

GIANTS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7008217.stm

AND PYGMIES
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2987780.ece
I mean all of them, don't get me wrong i have got no time for that monster Mugabe, but with the British empire's treatment of the indigenous peoples of Africa when we ruled there, we are probably the last people to be lecturing them. And i am afraid it just looks like a cynical attempt to make brown look better than brown on the foreign affairs front, as if Brown hadn't sat in the same government that decided to back Blair in his decision to back the neocons come what may in Iraq. They really take people for idiots don't they if they think we won't see through this.

Kosher ?

A totally different slant on things by Tony Cascarino, but pretty persuasive. It won't sit too well with the old style neanderthal Chelsea fans though, the ones that hate Spurs.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/chelsea/article2500624.ece

It's looking horribly like what happened at United before the Glazers finally took over
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7006617.stm

MUSIC
1 - Super furry animals - Hey venus : One of my favourite groups of the last decade, they should be a lot bigger than they are. When i see some of the average to crap bands headlining the summer festivals, it would seem there is no justice that the super furries seem to be perennial middle of the bill regulars. As usual they deliver the goods, not one of their very best but better than most of the hotly tipped new young things, that the NME gets in a lather about.
2 - The Coral - Roots and echoes : another of the better groups of the last decade, good but not quite as eclectic as usual.
3 - UNKLE - War stories : Anything with Josh Homme involved has got to be worth listening to, and this is. I read one review say that it doesn't really hang together as an album due to the various contributors but the more i listened to it the more it did hang together for me, though i have to admit the Josh Homme tracks do stand out for me.
4 - The broken family band - Hello love : I didn't know anything about these before i read a review of this album in mojo, but i am glad i gave it a go. It reminds me strongly of Belle and Sebastien at times
5 - Cherry ghost - Thirst for romance : I decided to listen to this after hearing People help the people which i really liked. I am glad to say most of the rest of the album lives up to the promise of that. Although the music isn't groundbreaking, i think he has a great voice.

WATCHED
1 - The shield - Although it is still better than almost anything else on tv at present, i have to say i thought this was the weakest series so far. Maybe it is a good thing that the next series will also be the last. My problem with this series was the story line involving shane and the Armenian mob, i just couldn't believe in it at all. Nothing wrong with the rest of it though.
2 - Saxondale - Whilst i liked the first series, i couldn't pretend it was up there with Coogan's best work. But this second series, so far anyway is definitely up there. At least two of the episodes have been up there on a level with Alan Partridge for me. Another brilliant Steve Coogan creation.
3 - Kath n' Kim - I am not too sure how popular this is but i think it's great. I don't know how many quality Aussie programs there are, but i know we don't see too many of them over here.
4 - Tribe - Another top series
5 - The story of india - A fascinating series, although it has meandered a bit at times
6 - The sopranos - The first three episodes of the last series have been as good as anything we have seen in the preceeding five and a half series, it probably helps knowing that each episode must be contributing something towards the grand finale ( somehow, i have managed to remain totally unaware of how it ends ).

Blumenthal on George w.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sidney_blumenthal/2007/09/decadent_perversity.html

William dalrymple writes how the west's policies are achieving the opposite of those intended.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2173919,00.html

Brave people ten times more worthy of a place in history than the ape in charge of the white house ( or is that Cheney? )
http://www.guardian.co.uk/burma/story/0,,2174128,00.html

Sporting Lisbon 0-1 Manchester United

Another 1-0 boreathon i am afraid. I do not look forward to European away games any more, the tactics are awful and the performances are usually not much better. I was hoping the acquisition of Hargreaves would help to liberate our performances away from home in Europe. So it was disappointing that he wasn't fit to play, hopefully that will be the case when he is fit. I have got to say this as much as it hurts, but if that would have been Liverpool or Chelsea last night we would have been scoffing at their negativity. Our tactics in Europe at the moment it seems to me are first and foremost to not concede, and then if we can nick a goal , great, if not we will come away with a point. It is not exactly the Manchester United way is it, and i don't accept we have to be as negative as this. Alright when you go away in Europe you are usually playing against better teams than you face week in week out in the premier league, so a degree of caution is understandable and acceptable. But over the last couple of years the balance between defence and attack in Europe has swung far too far to defence. I mean when it comes to the knockout phase the onus is on away sides to go out and get those away goals that can prove crucial. So in the knockout phase we are not even rehearsing for what we will need to do if we get through to the knockout stage. So it makes even less sense to me.
Although we managed to restrict Sporting to long range shots in the first half, we still needed van Der Sar at his best to produce one brilliant save to keep out a great shot from just outside the D by Liedson. Van Der Sar started last season in tremendous form and fortunately he seems to be in fine form at the beginning of this season, let's hope he can keep it going until the end of the season this time. Unfortunately we didn't really manage to produce much going forward, a decent shot from Ronaldo that was probably going wide that the goalie pushed wide anyway, was about our most noteworthy effort.
I wouldn't exactly say we slipped into gear in the second half, but the passing did become that bit better and we started to build some decent possession for the first time in the game. we still weren't creating chances, but it looked like if any team might create a decent chance it would be us. One grumble i have had about the beginning of the season has been the selection of Wes Brown at right back. It is obvious he is not really that comfortable there, he does the defensive part reliably enough, but when United are on fire and playing the football we are capable of, the full backs bombing forward are a big part of our game. Nobody can pretend that this comes naturally to Wes, obviously we haven't got a replacement that is going to be anywhere near as good as Gary Neville at this, but i have thought we have got better options than Wes. Although i have to concede that he did put in a great cross for the goal, how many times did he not really do anything with the possession that he had. Apparently the two players who i would have preferred to play this role, Pique or Johnny Evans have been injured until recently. It is unfortunate that just when Gary Neville looks like he is going to back playing soon, two of our up and coming stars who might have got some valuable first team experience will be back too. I do wonder where the youngster that we have kept are going to get the first team football that they need to keep their footballing progression going forward.
As i said it was a great cross from Wes for the goal following one of the best moves of the match, and it was great to see Ronaldo busting a gut to get on the end of it. I thought he showed some signs of recapturing his dazzling form of last season last night. To be honest i have not been that impressed by his start to the season, i know the suspension won't have helped him getting his season going. But if truth be told he hasn't really got going this season at all, the ability to go past ordinary players at will, whether by trickery or pace, that he showed last season seems to have been conspicuous by it's absence so far this season. I don't know whether it is the case, but he hasn't really looked 100% fit to me so far this season. I still think our pre-season didn't do us any favours, and we have been lucky so far that our defence seems to be in top form.
Rooney looked in need of the game to me, and i am not that sure he will start on Sunday, but i am fairly certain that Saha will be, well i can't think why else he didn't start last night.
My last word will have to be on Michael Carrick, i heard Andy Gray on sky, saying before the game that he felt he needed to have a big game, as he felt he hadn't really proved his worth in Europe so far. That might be a bit unfair he had two outstanding games against Roma last season and played pretty well at home to Milan. but with Hargreaves now in the fold, and an almost certain starter on the European stage when he is fit, he looks the one midfield player who's position would be most under threat, so i did agree that he needed to have a decent game. Unfortunately he didn't have it, he didn't have a mare, but he didn't give a performance that made me feel he will get in the team in front of Giggs when Hargreaves is fit, so if i was him i would be looking to buck my ideas up.
Anyway three away points, and an away win is something to be celebrated over recent years, and we are up and running in Europe.

DON'T CRY




INEVITABLE
So it comes to pass, no more Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, it's not exactly a big shock is it. I am still amazed this didn't happen in the summer. It has been handled in a pretty cack handed way as far as i can see, the same week as that cringeworthy Chelsea the movie that had Kenyons paws all over it. And after all the guff Kenyon has suppose to have come out with about Mourinho being a winner in it, oh dear. I hope Arsenal fans are watching this and seeing what happens when you become the plaything of corrupt Russian billionaires. To be fair to Abramovitch i don't like Mourinho's style of football either, but there is a classy way to do things and then there is this way of doing things, but who ever said Chelsea could be mentioned in the same sentence as class.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/7004780.stm
Not bad if you can get it.

Moe about the financial doings, don't you know.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2172716,00.html

Do gooders, do good?


http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/conor_foley/2007/09/humanitarian_errors.html

Hargreaves out, Rooney in

For tomorrow nights champions league opener in Lisbon. I don't think anybody really expected Neville to be fit, but i was expecting Hargreaves to play as this was what we really bought him for. I hope this injury is not going to drag on and on until finally he has to have an operation.
http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=471935

Crooks bearing roubles threatens The Arsenal
This is starting to look a bit ominous for Arsenal, and English football for that matter.
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2171745,00.html

One of the comments on the comment is free section of the guardian was having a go at the BBC for helping to produce the crisis around northern rock last week and then helping it to spread to the sell off of shares of other firms including the Alliance and Leicester. As far as i am concerned if anything they have erred on the side of caution, always pointing out establishment view that there is no need to panic, when the truth is no one really knows how bad things really are or how bad they might get. I think this piece in the Indie is a lot more on the money than having a pop at the beeb.
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/comment/article2973601.ece
Though i wouldn't mind a bit more regulation myself, he obviously thinks the big bang in the 80's was a good thing.

David Lloyd George


There was piece by Roy Hattersley about politicians writing their memoirs in the hope of salvaging their reputations yesterday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2170745,00.html
I agreed with the general thrust, that they don't and that sometimes they can make it worse. But in it he mentioned his admiration for the great David Lloyd George. Having read his great war memoirs, i have to agree.I read every thing i can about the man who was as Hattersley says of him, one of the great radicals of British history. But for me what makes him stick out is, he was a radical who got things done. Churchill is regarded as the greatest politician/prime minister by most, but it would have to be Lloyd George for me. Where as Churchill inspired and represented us, as we wanted to see ourselves, heroically fighting to the last man, Lloyd George was the man who led, innovated and made things happen. Churchill would have been just another failed politician but for the second world war,he had one brief successful period in the great liberal government of Asquith. Where as Lloyd George, as chancellor brought in old age pensions, the first health insurance bill and of course put before parliament the great peoples budget that eventually led to the lords losing any veto over financial bills, helping to curb the power of the aristocracy. Then during the terrible first world war, first as chancellor he helped to stave off a financial crisis. Then as minister of munitions he helped us modernise our artillery, and helped us to start producing the munitions to fight a modern industrial war, putting us into an almost total war economy. His final great innovative act of that war was to force the navy to start the convoy system. Which went a big way to staving off the U - Boat threat, that was threatening to lose us the war.
All these innovations would be picked up again in the second world war, but they were all instigated originally by Lloyd George. After the war he partially solved the Irish problem ( not for the Irish themselves unfortunately, for whom it led to civil war ), surrounded by unionist Tories he did as much as he could. He helped start the construction of reasonable housing for ordinary people. As usual when the depression came he was prepared to think out of the loop and embraced what would become Keynes ideas, and who knows if we had had proportional representation, even though he didn't really have a party by then, the liberals having imploded, maybe he would have found his way back into a progressive government to help implement them. Instead we got MacDonald panicking, running back into the establishments arm and a national coalition that was just a front for the orthodox establishment. And hence a lot of poverty and misery for millions of people with no end in sight.
We have not had a politician who the Tories and the establishment were as scared of since. And where was he born?
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRgeorge.htm

Putin

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2171416,00.html

Silvestre out for season

Well it looked bad and it was, thats our left back cover gone. It looks like John O'shea might get a few starts there again at some stage this season.
http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=471467

The good news is it looks like Hargreaves is going to be fit, maybe even Rooney, although i think they will save him for sunday' clash with the rent boys.
http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=471668

Everton 0-1 Manchester United

Everton 0-1 Manchester United
Well you shouldn't moan at coming away from Goodison points with all the points, and i am not going to. But i am also not going to pretend it was a good performance either. We just have not got going at all this season, we seem to be passing it around nicely enough in midfield, but it is just not happening up front. Of course the lack of Rooney, Saha and latterly Ronaldo through suspension haven't helped much.
The first half was a bit of a non event really, both goalies having barely a save to make between them. I wasn't mad at the starting line up, Evra lining in front of Silvestre. Neither did anything wrong, but surely we have got enough players in the squad to not play two full backs on the left hand side. Silvestre has not had any luck with injuries over the last couple of seasons, and i am afraid the injury that saw him leave the pitch on a stretcher looked pretty nasty. It looked like the kind of injury that puts you out for the season, but the only news on it so far is he is being sent for a scan. Of course after that Evra reverted to left back as Nani came on to play on the left.
The second half was barely more entertaining, even after Saha came on for Giggs we didn't really look like we would be able to nick a goal. We did create one really good chance following probably the best move of the match, that saw Scholes eventually ghost his way into the box. Unfortunately and unusually for Scholes he missed the target, not even forcing the goalie into a save. Everton's best chance predictably enough came from a set piece that saw Johnson get in front of Ronaldo to head towards goal only to see the ginger prince doing his defensive duties and clear off the line.
It was fitting for United that the goal came from our best player on the day, Vidic, and not too much surprise the goal came from a defender from a set piece, if either team was going to score that seemed the most likely route. Ferdinand must be credited with a great block after Van Der Sar could only parry McFadden's left footed strike and the ball fell at the feet of Yobo, but alert reactions from Ferdinand snuffed out the chance and the three points were virtually secure.
Bar the Arsenal result it was a pretty good day with Liverpool and Chelsea both only managing to draw. Who would have thought after we lost at the boo camp three games later we would be entering the rent boy match above them in the table, admittedly only on goal difference. I suppose it just shows that nobody is really on fire at the moment, Chelsea's form seems to be as poor as ours at the moment. Arsenal seem to have made the best start and that was a really good performance and result against their old enemies, but i am still not totally convinced they have improved that much. The one time they have played in the type of game they don't usually like, against Blackburn, they still looked like it was the kind of game they don't really relish.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/sport/story/0,,2170116,00.html
Lets not start hearing about the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster and the champions league campaign about to start. It was bad enough when the final was in Glasgow and we heard it was our destiny to get to the final.


Review of The shock doctrine : The rise of disaster capitalism
http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/politicsphilosophyandsociety/0,,2169298,00.html


Don't panic, don't panic. Northern rock
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2169906,00.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6997264.stm

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/analysis_and_features/article2966848.ece

It may well be right that there is no reason to panic, but seeing as though it is in their interests to say that, i don't blame anybody for erring on the side of caution.
Will Hutton writes sense as usual, although some of the comments are a joke

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2170439,00.html

Greenspan : Iraq invaded for oil
A statement of the bleeding obvious for anyone with eyes to see, but there are plenty without, so it's glad to hear such a staunch establishment conservative stating the real reason for the invasion. Of course it is also the reason for the sabre rattling with Iran. The part about Bush's incompetence is a bit rich coming from him though. What is happening now is at least partly down to decisions he made as chairman of the fed.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2461415.ece
Control
Paul Morley writes in the observer about the forthcoming film control about Ian Curtis,
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,2167397,00.html

I don't know about anybody else but i can't read enough of all our pundits getting so exited over two wins. One against an Isreali team that were an absolute embarrasment and the other against a decent Russian team that at times during the game managed to open England up alarmingly but then proceeded to let in three goals due to rank bad defending. So now Heskey should be left in the team in place of Rooney and all of a sudden Gareth Barry is an international class footballer. As usual a complete over reaction by our ludicrous press, but an even worse reaction by most of those pundits that use to play. When they lose they are all over paid prima donnas, and when they win they are Brazil 1970 reincarnate. What a joke.
Lets hope we read more articles about not changing a winning side and how Heskey is a better partner for own than Rooney. Because there is one thing for sure, you can bet your life that Rooney will now come back into the United side play out of his skin and ram those words down everybody's throats. It's a win win situation for us.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6992305.stm

A reaction to naomi kleins book in the guardian. I would go along with that, most of the cases she puts forward are convincing enough, but then she has to put them all in one big conspiracy theory that doesn't really stand up, thus belittling the shocking cases she has set out.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/conor_foley/2007/09/striking_parallels.html

BBC NEWS | England | London | Man guilty of assaulting Sir Alex

BBC NEWS | England | London | Man guilty of assaulting Sir Alex
Most unexpected news story of the day, i can't understand why he had a couple of digs and then ran away, good job he did though.

Dein
More from David Conn about Dein and how he and others have made a killing from football.Mind you, the thing about himis for me anyway, nobody else has have sold out to such a completely unfit person before, Thaksin included.
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/09/12/how_deins_dead_money_helped_ki.html

Lancs
What a first day for the red rose county, to get them out for 106 has kept them well and truly in the title race. Lets hope Durham can get a good score in the first innings reply to Sussex.
http://www.lccc.co.uk/index.php?p=news&id=1621

I am not that keen on Michael Moore myself, there are enough things to expose legitimately, without misrepresenting people and staging things. But his latest film seems like it might be a bit more honest, how yanks don't make a bigger fuss over the scandal that is their health system, when you have got such a poor country on their doorstep doing so much better, i can't fathom. A good article in the guardian takes a look at Cuba's health system without being rosy eyed about the country as a whole.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/cuba/story/0,,2167200,00.html

Another gloomy prognosis on the world economy.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ann_pettifor/2007/09/careful_what_you_wish_for.html

Talking sense

From a gooner unfortunately, I like the cut of his jib though
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/6987893.stm
And he is obviously right, I never had much time for Dein, it's a bit of a suprise he doesn't either though.

Great news about Rooney, he looks like he will definitely be fit for the Chelski game at least. For all those that criticised him last season, we have seen, that we are nowhere near the same team without him since he got injured, and that's even when he is not at his best.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/6987893.stm
And if this report is right we will get Gary Neville back shortly, more good news, we have missed his surging runs at right back. I would love him to be fit for the rent boy game, though I suppose we don't want too many players coming back from injury for such an important game.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/6988686.stm

Lancs v Warwickshire
Big game for Lancs as they try yet again to win that elusive county championship. All they can do is win the two remaining games and hope other results go for them. Knowing the luck they have in this competition they probably will, but will still end up not winning it. I wouldn't have thought they would be in with a chance of winning it, after the semi final defeat in the 20 20 semi final. So you have to give them credit to them for coming back strongly after that big disappointment. And they have beaten teams competing with them for the trophy, convincing wins at that against Yorkshire and Durham. It looks likely for once the weather is going to stay alright for them, this week anyway. How many times has our Mancunian weather killed what has seemed like a great chance before.

Michael Palin - the New Europe
Sounds like a must watch programme, i love programmes like this where you see a bit and hopefully learn a bit about countries you don't know much about. And this programme will have the added bonus for me that there is a load of history, old and new, surrounding most of these countries.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/sep/11/1

Naomi Klein
More exerpts from Naomi Kleins new book in the guardian
http://books.guardian.co.uk/shockdoctrine/story/0,,2166586,00.html

It's not true because i say it's not

That just about sums up the pathetic response by that ridiculous family, rightly they have been challenged by MUST this morning to supply the evidence to show MUST where they were wrong. The silence will be deafening.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/6986096.stm


McCanns
I am not one for watching the main news bulletins on the TV, newsnight and channel 4 news are the only news that i watch really, and this is one of the reasons why,
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/martin_bell/2007/09/media_madness.html
of course the reason the tabloids go big on this is because it helps them sell more papers, hence more profit, but i don't know the reason for the main news bulletins stooping so low.

Disaster capitalism part 2
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2165954,00.html
scary article, i don't buy into her arguments totally though, apparently there must be a piece in the book about the Chinese rush to embrace capitalism, and this writer thinks she is well off the mark in her interpretation of events of tianamen square and after,
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jonathan_fenby/2007/09/the_tiananmen_square_peg.html
I would have to agree with one of the comments on that piece ridiculing the idea that the Falklands war was fought with the idea of using the victory to embrace the disaster capitalism theory. To my mind the real right wing, free market, privatisation agenda didn't really get going until her last couple of years in office, and then the six years of john major. All that went before was a softening up period getting the nation ready for such ideas. If she had really had tried to do the things that happened from 1988 onwards in 1983 the Tories would have got rid of her before the country would have got the chance to, as the country was nowhere near ready for any of that.

" liquidity " just a posh way of saying give me a hand out
http://business.guardian.co.uk/economy/story/0,,2165944,00.html
Great line, it all sounds convincing to me, but i agree that only a full blown recession will make people see that the way the world is being run is all wrong and should be changed so that it works for all of, us not just those with more money than sense. Sense that is of a common good as opposed to a sense of how to make even more money and pay even less tax.

TICKING TIME BOMB
It's good to see one newspaper ( well rag ) that seems to be unconvinced by the Glazers statement that United are not for sale. Top marks to MUST for getting themselves into the news too.
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/0909_man_united_debt.shtml
FC United appear to have hit the big time, appearing in the Washington post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR2007090300656.html

Happy families : rent boy style
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/sport/story/0,,2165535,00.html
I agree with most of that, although Abramovich looked happy enough with the dull football his team played, for the two seasons previous, when his teams were winning. So i wouldn't totally discard the rich spoilt brat angle. What still amazes me though, is that Mourinho didn't leave last summer. I was going to say one one or the other didn't leave, but it is Abramovich's club, and the only thing i can see that would entice him to get rid of Chelsea are events in Russia. I can't see Mourinho being there next year though, even if they won the champions league. In fact maybe that is what Mourinho is hoping for, so he can then stick two fingers up at Abramovich and Kenyon as he walks off into the distance.

Essential reading in the indie : for chelski fans anyway
http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article2937024.ece
Seriously though, i don't know if we should be afraid of him, but we should definitely be wary of him. And should not cosy up to him, as some western politicians have. What Schroder the former chancellor of Germany has done, was unbelievable really.

We are the knights who say.......

I had never heard of this before, i know python fans from all round the world visit the castle, it is on one of the extras on the holy grail DVD. What a brilliant film that is, only to be surpassed by the next, life of Brian, the pythons finest moment and probably British comedy's finest moment.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/6981367.stm

Got a chance
I saw Cathcart play for the youth team a few times last season and he looks like a real prospect, it's funny how we seem to be producing a lot of quality defenders at the moment. Cathcart, Pique, Evans and Simpson all have a real chance of having some kind of career at united over the next four to five years.
http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid=%7BB4CEE8FA%2D9A47%2D47BC%2DB069%2D3F7A2F35DB70%7D&newsid=469375
I wouldn't be surprised to see Cathcart play for Northern Ireland before this season is out, and that would be good for him and for Manchester United.


Atheism, the proof
As a fully paid up atheist, here is yet more proof there can be no god,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070907/ap_on_fe_st/odd_lucky_congressman
who needs Richard Dawkins to argue the case when shitty things like this happen. What is a millionaire doing playing the state lottery anyway, They never seem to have enough do they the rich, greedy ungrateful bastards.

An extract from what sounds like an interesting book in the guardian this morning,
http://books.guardian.co.uk/shockdoctrine/story/0,,2165053,00.html
Also a video clip, http://books.guardian.co.uk/video/2007/sep/07/naomiklein

Is there anything a Mediterranean diet isn't good for,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070907/hl_nm/diet_dc

Transfer latest: Giddyness moves from City to Arsenal

Giddy
Martin Keown was today exposed as the illegitimate love child of Peter Swales. Well what else can you say about a statement like Wengers job is now to make Arsenal bigger than Manchester United and Real Madrid. Is he really saying that they are already as big as Barcelona, AC Milan, Bayern Munich and Juvents, in your dreams.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/6982126.stm
It is great news if you are an arsenal fan though, they will be in the same boat as us when Fergie finishes, when he does go. Not knowing what the future holds. As us older heads have seen, having money does not guarantee you anything if you haven't got the right man at the helm. Never mind winning things, i mean watching great entertaining football. Wengers Arse have always played great football, where he doesn't match up to Fergie though is translating that into silverware. I may be wrong but i can't see them winning either league or champions league this year, even if they have made a better start than us and Chelsea.



. Music
1 - Simian mobile disco -Attack, decay, sustain, release : a bit more commercial than the techno i usually like, but it's pretty good
2 - Charlotte Hatherley - The deep blue : You can see why she left Ash, not much sounds like Ash here, saying that i like it. She seems to have stuck with ash's poppier moments, but got rid of most of the hard rock elements.
3 - Kings of leon - Because of the times :This would have to be my favourite of the three, in fact i think this is the best album they have done so far. They seem to have been listening to a lot more groups, you can definitely hear the Pixies in a couple of songs ( one of my favourite groups ). I can imagine them being a top live act playing this stuff.

Books
Cavour by Denis Mack Smith : Interesting book about the man who more than most was responsible for the unification of Italy in the last century. According to the author he was more a man who took advantages of the diplomatic shenanigans of the 1840's and 1850's to advance the state of Piedmont's cause, mainly at the expense of the Hapsburg empire rather than a patriotic visionary who saw the unification of Italy as his main goal. Fascinating stuff, i am now going to read a trilogy of books about the other hero of the Risorgimento, Garibaldi. Whilst Cavour was the diplomat, Garibaldi was the soldier, and most think more honourable man. It is amazing how you can be reading about a subject like this, when somebody who you didn't think figured that greatly in events, you suddenly find out did, and subsequently you find you want to find out more about him. In this instance it was Napoleon 111, i do have a biography of him and so at some stage will have to read it. It is a fascinating period of history 1848 to say 1871, it is when Europe as we roughly know it now really took shape.

Liverpool's proposed debts may spark alarm - Telegraph

Liverpool's proposed debts may spark alarm - Telegraph

You could nearly feel sorry for them, well maybe not. Maybe next time we go to Anfield we should sing USA and wave the stars and stripes at them. If the price rises hurt us what are they going to do there.


Fergie has another pop at the BBC,
http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/news/article2934280.ece
I don't think bringing that lying toe rag Alistair Campbell into the argument exactly helps his case, dodgy dossier anyone. He may be right about the BBC'S sports department being arrogant, their coverage is too cosy and smug for my tastes, but they were obviously right to look at the links between managers, family members and agents, even if the way they went about it wasn't very grown up( that clown in Cardiff )

Away from football, Simon Heffer makes me laugh as usual with an article slagging off Cameron for not liking fellow tories. Oh dear what he means is that Cameron doesn't like unreconstructed uber thatcherites like himself and actually wants the tories to have a chance of being re-elected ( lets hope not ). Oh dear i can't find the article now, it was in the telegraph, well here is one reason i'd never touch the tories with a barge pole. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/conservatives/story/0,,2163511,00.html
saying that, thats just the kind of garbage you could see new labour coming out with. Anything with the word patriotic in, usually makes me cringe
I have voted lib dem for the last few elections, but have to say i have been pretty disenchanted with them, since the last election, so lets hope something comes of this
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/libdems/story/0,,2163788,00.html
seeing as though we have one right wing party, one centre, verging on centre right http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/simon_jenkins/2007/09/brown_a_true_son_of_thatcher.html , i think there might be room in the political landscape for a centre left party again. During my adult lifetime it is amazing how far the political pendulum has swung from left to right.

Glazer and the Chinese hackers

Good article that seems to hit the nail on the head for me about the recent comings and goings and the recent speculation in the press about our odious owners.
http://www.fight-for-united.com/frontpage/static/dubai-or-not-dubai,-that-is-the-question-20070902276.html
The piece about the sale of rossi, and the explanation for why we ended up with tevez sound exactly right to me, because neither made much sense football wise. The one thing for certain is we won't know we are for sale until we have actually been sold.

What a way to run a football club, 2, incompetent as well
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/09/05/leaving_out_ballack_just_doesn.htm

Supposedly somebody from here wants to buy Manchester United, the mind boggles, maybe we will be another "pressure point warfare " target.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/sep/04/news.internet

The private finance initiative, you know it makes sense. More short term financial jigerry pokery. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2161963,00.html

smith gets letter from fergie

Nice to see Smith getting a letter from Fergie thanking him for what he did at United, i bet Ruud didn't get one, sad really. http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390000-2007410075,00.html

This is a bizzare story if he has sunk that low in the estimation of Mourinho why didn't he sell him, the russian must still rate him i suppose. What a way to run a club.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390000-2007410102,00.html

More bad news for Mourinho as Robben sticks his boot into his old paymasters at Moscow on thames ( Chelski that is ). I don't blame him either.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390000-2007410067,00.html

A piece from Craig Murrays blog about the man that David Dein has just sold his share to and thus introduced into Arsenal football club, can it get any worse. Yes it could be us, and eventually who knows it could be.
http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/archives/2007/09/alisher_usmanov.html
The site hosts have now taken this piece off, after warnings from lawyers.

A recent goal from Ronaldo for Portugal
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=MYPCQOCQ

Manchester United 1-0 Sunderland

A win is a win, but we were far from convincing again, especially in the first half. I know we are without our best two forwards, but the way we are playing at the moment, it's as if last year never happened, and we have regressed back to the football that we played for the majority of the three years between titles.
I could not believe the starting line up, fancy playing Anderson centre forward on his home debut, that showed how desperate we are up front at the moment, but it was totally unfair to the player on his home debut. I know it is early days, but this is based on seeing him play for Argentina and West Ham as well, but when everybody is fit, I can't see Tevez forcing his way into the starting line up when the big matches come along.
The first half was pretty abysmal really, there was just nothing at all, and a Sunderland team that have been struggling were very comfortable. The difference between the two halves was unbelievable, I wouldn't say we were anything like being back to our best, but it was a hell of a lot more like a an acceptable performance. And there was one reason and one man, step forward Louis Saha. I know I have been critical, and indeed I still am critical, I still think if there was a chance of selling him we should have. But I have never doubted him as a player, if he was on the pitch, instead of on the treatment table all the time, he would start the vast majority of games and would be a certain starter in the big games for me. I had thought that even when he did get back into the team, that we wouldn't see the best of him straight away because he has been out for so long. But to be fair to him he slotted in straight away and looked like he had never been away. Having seen the highlights now, I didn't realise at the time how direct we went at times when he came on. But that made us less predictable to defend against. Lets hope he stays fit long enough to allow Rooney and Ronaldo to ease their way back into things.
I suppose if you were a mackem you would be disappointed to come to united and end up getting beaten by the odd goal, especially it being a header from a corner. But for us it helps us in our quest for some momentum, and helps scrape some points together whilst we struggle to recapture the form that made us such worthy champs last season.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6975609.stm
It looks like the Thai authorities really want Thaksin big time, I suppose the more warrants they put out for him the more chance they will have in extraditing him from the UK. I would think that early elections and an free and fairly elected government would vastly improve the chances of getting their man.


http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/story_pages/sport/sport2.shtml
Not exactly a reputable source I know, but it's only a matter of time before they sell up. I can't say I like the prospect at us being sold on again to foreign owners, but I suppose there would be upsides for us. One we will be free from that massive debt that is still hovering over us and I would presume a new owner would like to keep his new customers onside by not hammering us in our pockets, and with no debt ( hopefully ) they wouldn't have as much need. I still wouldn't like it, the way Barcelona are run is the nearest thing to the ideal way to run a football club. But I can't deny it would be better than being run by these useless greedy bastards