Jap Stam retires

Jip Jaap Stam retires
http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/european/article3109925.ece
I am not sure where i would rate him my all time list of United central defenders, Buchan and McGrath would top it, but during that treble season he was the equal of them. I will never forget the 3-3 draw with Barcelona at Old Trafford that season.
He didn't get off to the greatest of starts in a red shirt for United when we were easily beaten by Arsenal in the charity shield. Then in the first encounter with them in the league we were comfortably beaten again, with both Stam and Schmeical having poor games. We had heard great things about Stam but we hadn't seen it for ourselves yet. Then in that fabulous game of football with Barca we had twice held the lead, but now Barca had pegged it back to 3-3 with Nicky Butt sent off giving away a penalty, meaning we now had to survive for the rest of the game with ten men. And with Rivaldo having one of the best if not the best games i have ever seen from an opposition player at old trafford that was no easy task. That for me was the moment when we saw the real Jap Stam, as he saw to it almost single handedly at times that we came out of that game with at least the point. And from that moment on he never looked back, performing majestically at the back and becoming a real fans favourite. The jip jaap song has got to be one of the best united player songs ever, and it will always remind me of that night in the nou camp. It's a pity it had to end as it did for him, i never believed it was because injuries had affected his game at the time. Although i do believe he never again reached the standards he had set that season again.

A piece about the rivalry between milan and turin.
http://football.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-7037160,00.html
I know we have got fans all over the place, but thats like us having a united fan club in scouseland, it's never going to happen is it.


More about the house of Saud
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2202156,00.html
This is a proper liberal position, free speech is free speech.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/inayat_bunglawala/2007/10/if_you_are_easily_offended.html

the state of the union
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2202036,00.html

more on the pros and cons of immigration
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2202162,00.html

tax
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2202020,00.html

Scholes out for 3 months

Whilst not as disastrous as it would have been last season it's still bad news. As well as Anderson has played he's not up to the ginger prince's class yet. In fact watching them play together at Villa park was one of the highlights of the season so far. I would have not imagined them working as well as that together with neither of them being naturally defensive, but i suppose it doesn't matter if the other side can't get a sniff of the ball. At least he will be back for the knockout stages in the champions league.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/7059527.stm

And as one red legend succumbs to a lengthy period on the sidelines, another is hopefully not too far away from first team action. Fingers crossed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/7068723.stm

Just as that most backward of countries that just happens to sit upon a big chunk of the worlds oil supplies gets on the front page of most newspapers, our owners decide it would be a good idea for our team to go and play a meaningless friendly there in January, unbelievable. That debt must be getting serious.
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2201733,00.html


How can anyone justify this. Answer no one will but nothing will get done to stop it happening again.There's one law for the rich and one law for everyone else.
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2201531,00.html

The Saudis, don't you just love them. What a preposterous bunch of corrupt, incompetent god botherers.
http://news.independent.co.uk/fisk/article3109869.ece
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_tatchell/2007/10/welcoming_the_tyrant.html
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/tim_footman/2007/10/i_was_a_prowar_leftie.html

Manchester United 4-1 Middlesbrough

We are getting spoiled rotten at the moment, seeing some great football and its getting a bit blase expecting us to score four goals every game, but i have got to admit i did expect us to score four and i would have been disappointed if we hadn't got that last one. I suppose that one way or another next week will be a bit of a realty check.
What an opening goal, it looked too far out, but as soon as he hit you knew it had a chance. He is starting to look a real player, we have already seen that he has got a great shot, but the most impressive thing about his game for me is that as much as he has loads of tricks he looks to be a real team player. Ronaldo's form continues to be enigmatic, it still isn't really happening for him. But unlike last season, when if he wasn't really on his game we were bound to struggle, this season it doesn't seem to matter. With Tevez and Rooney really proving us doubters wrong in a massive way, and Tevez in particular seems to be on fire.
It was nice to see Hargreaves back in the team, he will be needed next week for sure, where more defending will be needed than we have had to do in recent games. Although i thought it probably affected our fast free flowing football of recent weeks, good as he is Hargreaves can't pass like a Scholes or a Carrick.
The big surprise yesterday was conceding a goal so soon after taking the lead, when it has to be said after scoring so early, i was wondering how many we might score. It was a pretty soft goal, and again another header, we can't afford slack defending like that next week. I have to say United didn't really respond very well to that setback, taking quite a while to get back in the groove. In fact it took a terrible mistake to give Rooney the chance to put us back in front which he did not waste giving the goalie no chance, although to be fair to Schwarzer he did get his hands to it.
So United went in at half time 2-1 up, but not having played to the standards we have seen over the last few weeks. It had to happen some time, hopefully we will be back on top form next week. United played better in the second half, although Van Der Sar did have to make one excellent save from a Cattermole strike. The third goal was another brilliant goal and another brilliant piece of inter play between Tevez and Rooney. I would be hard pressed to choose the goal of the game, Nani's was a brilliant strike but Tevez's was a brilliant bit of combination with two sublime passes before Tevez finally put the ball in the back of the net.
Ronaldo seemed to have one of those days in front of goal, he had a couple of really good chances put couldn't seem to put it away. Anderson impressed again, i know him and Nani were bought for the future and weren't meant to play that many games this season. But i think Carrick in particular has got a lot on his plate keeping Anderson out of the team.
The fourth was a bit lucky, it looked like they had managed to block it, only for the ball to just about find its way into the net. I was glad to see pique get an outing for the final 15 minutes, it would have been nice to see Simpson get a bit of a go as well, but i suppose you don't want to change the back four around too much. So four goals again, and with so many injuries, i don't think we would have coped half as well last season with the injuries we have at present. This is easily the best squad i have ever seen at United, when everyone is fit Ferguson is going to have a big job keeping every body happy.

US should host premier matches

what a joke, this is wrong on so many levels, where do you start. First, could you imagine Real Madrid or Barcelona telling their 100,000 members they will be playing one game less at home. Second who is going to lose their home advantage, because that is what would be happening. Third let's face they won't want to watch Portsmouth and Fulham, they will want United and Arsenal or United and the scouse. So lets say that the proposal gets the go ahead, who loses their home game, in what will be a game that will almost certainly have a bearing on the title race. Do we play both games over there to make it fair to both sides. What would be the point of buying a season ticket if you are going to miss one of the biggest games of the season. This is the obvious outcome of allowing our top teams to be bought by foreigners with no idea of the traditions of the sport. Sure they will probably poo poo this idea for now, but whats the betting that this does eventually happen. I for one would not bet against it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7063261.stm


A Glazer talks, hold your noses
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/10/26/sfnman126.xml
But for how long do they support the collective deal, until the debt gets too big, and a massive tv offer come in ?

A pretty depressing read, if he is really on the ball in his opinion, and i fear he might be, it looks like i won't have anybody to vote for at the next election.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/10/26/do2606.xml

As British politics veers further and further to the free market right, the real powerhouse of Europe is going the other way. And which country has a fundamentally sound economy and which has a totally unbalanced economy. We will find out in the next few years, and then it will be a race back to the left.
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article3098883.ece
Of course the free market works really, no really
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7063134.stm
At making the rich richer

Liverpool on brink

Liverpool on the brink off being knocked out of the champions league, we can only hope, but knowing their luck in this competition, i won't be jumping up and down yet.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/european_football/article2734158.ece

Bolton get their man. And it's Megson, and i can't believe it, he has a history of players not liking him and not playing for him. And this is the man they think is going to keep them up, i can see another Charlton athletic here, i wouldn't put money on them staying up anyway.
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2198594,00.html

Music
Cold war kids - Robbers and cowards : I liked this more than i was expecting to, good catchy indie rock/pop.
Explosions in the sky - All of a sudden i miss everyone :This was a slow burner for me, you would think i would love instrumentals dominated by electric guitar, but i don't always. They were compared to mogwai in the reviews i read but it's more prog rock to me, and thats not a dirty word to me.
Sean lennon - Friendly fire : There is one track that screams of his dad, but mostly he seems to have his own sound and pretty good it is too.
Lee scratch Perry and the upsetters - Super ape : excellent
Modest mouse - Good news for people who love bad news : I decided to give them a listen after johnny marr joined for their last album, but decided to listen to the album before he appeared with them first. An excellent album with some surprisingly catchy tunes on it, can't wait to listen to the next one.
Radiohead - In rainbows : I paid £3 for my download, and it was well worth it, whilst it doesn't match in bends or OK computer, what does, two of the best rock albums ever, it still delivers. It sounds like the quieter moments on the last album to me. I wonder if we will ever get back to something like OK computer from them or whether they have been there done that.

Books
Garribaldi and the thousand by GM Trevelyan
A terrific read, it's amazing how great historical events can make fiction redundant. This was a real victory or death escapade, 1000 volunteers from all over Italy versus twenty thousand Bourbon troops defending sicily, including some professional foreign legions who if they had been used in an even half competent manner would surely have destroyed the red shirts. And who knows then, would we even have a unified Italy. The one thing that appears in all the books about Italian history i have read recently are the regional differences, or should i say the way the north look down on the south. I knew that this was the case even today, but it is fascinating to see how it came about and find out that it was probably even stronger then.



A few articles on the world economy, two by Hamish McRae of the indie
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/hamish_mcrae/article3090294.ece
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/comment/article3093816.ece
an article on the reaction from financial journalists to her book on disaster capitalism by Naomi Klein
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2198483,00.html
And finally one from a liberal blog,
http://cicerossongs.blogspot.com/
The one thing i have noticed reading some of the lib dem blogs is that unfortunately they seem to have forgotten that Keynes was a Liberal, i am not saying that he is wrong though.

How long before this is made into a film, ghoulish i know, but it will be
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2198264,00.html

Changes at the observer,
http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article3093790.ece
Back to a more liberal outlook lets hope, the supplements are pretty good, but the meat of the paper has been way too Blairite.

Dynamo Kiev 2-4 Manchester United

We have waited a few years for this, a no holds barred all out attacking away performance in Europe. As admittedly bad as kiev were, it should not take anything away from uniteds performance, which was top notch. When you can score four goals away from home in Europe, and almost all the newspaper reports are saying how many it could have been, things can't be too bad.
And all this after losing Scholes in training the night before and then Evra in the warm up. Whilst Anderson had a superb game and looks like he is going to be the real deal, we have got to hope that the scan on Scholes's knee does not reveal any serious damage. Hopefully the injury to Evra is not too bad, with Gary Neville out, if Evra doesn't play we are without an attacking full back who can get up and down the flank. In fact with the opposition being a struggling Middlesbrough on Saturday, i wouldn't mind Danny Simpson getting a start on Saturday, that's if Gary Neville isn't fit, which doesn't seem likely as he still hasn't had any reserve team football.
What was good to see last night was the team pick up where it left off against villa on Saturday, attacking with great passing and movement. It certainly wasn't what Kiev were expecting, as they just couldn't cope with United right from the first whistle. They were really abysmal, a shadow of the Kiev sides who had proven to be one of the best sides in Europe at home in the past. With the players at United's disposal and the beautiful football they have been playing, it didn't really help Kiev's cause to give such a soft opening goal away. Ferdinand wont score an easier goal all season. The second was almost as easy with Kiev losing it on the half way and Ronaldo taking it forward, before giving it to Brown who had done brilliantly to overlap and he crossed the ball to Rooney for a simple tap in.
The only blot on a tremendous first half performance was the poor marking that led to their goal, fortunately it didn't matter on the night as we just went up the other end and scored again. But that was the second headed goal against us in two games, maybe something to keep an eye on. The third followed a great run and cross from Giggs down the left hand side that found Ronaldo totally unmarked in the penalty area, and he made absolutely no mistake with a header that was reminiscent of one of the heroes of my youth, big Joe Jordan.
So 3-1 at half time and things were looking very good, and whilst the second half was not quite up to the level of the first half, it was still pretty good. We didn't quite dominate possession as we had done in the first half, but i suppose that was to be expected, Kiev couldn't really be as bad again could they. As well as Anderson had played in the first half it was the second half that he really caught my eye, he has got a complete range of passing, short and long, a great engine, does more than his fair share of work, and to top it all nearly scored. When he hit the post i thought at first he hadn't quite caught it right, but on seeing the replay saw that he had side footed it aiming for the corner of the net, if that had gone in it would have been a brilliant finish. I still think he could play the position Giggs has been playing this season, but watching the last two games it looks like maybe we have found the natural replacement for Scholes in the centre of midfield. He is one very exciting talent, and that price tag could prove to be a bargain. Opinion seems to be divided over whether the penalty decision was harsh, it looked pretty blatant to me, he raised his arm in the penalty area, and it hit it, penalty. He takes a mean penalty as well, Ronaldo, run up, stop, run up again and hit it into the corner, cool as. It was a pity about the last goal, but i wouldn't blame anyone too much, i certainly didn't blame Van Der Sar for it. We were a bit guilty of trying to walk it into the net at times in the second half, but they had earned the right to show boat a bit i felt. In fact i want us to try some of the things they were trying in the second half. Let's face it, these are the type of games where they should try these things because you can't be trying them against your Arsenal's and Liverpool's.
So four goals for third time in a row, that didn't seem likely just a few weeks ago did it. And who would bet against us doing the same on Saturday in a 3 o'clock kick off.

Youngsters coming good

A great start to Frazier Campbell's loan with two goals on his home debut for Hull City in their 3-0 victory over Barnsley. With Lee Martin also scoring for his his new club during his loan period Plymouth and Darron Gibson getting a full 90 minutes in his debut for Wolves it has been a good three days for our on loan youngsters.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/10/23/sfghul123.xml

I really hope this is not serious, just when things had really started to look extremely promising too. No Scholes tonight,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/7054215.stm

Gerrard not a happy bunny,
http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/premiership/article3087233.ece

The Thais start to investigate Shinawatra
http://uk.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUKBKK9601720071022

Alex Salmond is proving to be a very shrewd politician north of the border. I know this is a minority government and they may be passing policies that in the long term may be unaffordable. But if only a few remain on the statute book when they lose power, i think the Scottish people will thank them, especially if they are as civilized as this. Of course if they prove they can afford them in the long run, i think the union that has lasted since 1707may well be on it's last legs.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/schoolmeals/story/0,,2197044,00.html

It must be an embarrassment to Muslims of either liberal or a religious conservative outlook that Mecca is administered by this corrupt and incompetent regime. It makes me puke the way western countries come out with all kinds of excuses to maintain their business ties, slush funding from British Aerospace being the obvious one, with our government turning a blind eye.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/christoph_wilcke/2007/10/time_for_britain_to_speak_up.html

I had to laugh when i read that the head honcho of northern rock was related to Nicholas Ridley, the old thatcherite minister. It is always amazing how ideologues are absolutely useless at putting their theories into practice
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2197247,00.html

Guardian Unlimited: Sport blog: United strikers find joie de vivre in unpicking Villa's best laid plans

Guardian Unlimited: Sport blog: United strikers find joie de vivre in unpicking Villa's best laid plans

A fairly good analysis of how the title race may be fought and how good uniteds performance was. Though perhaps a bit hard on england comparing this performance to last weeks in moscow, as the old song goes United are better than England. For all the recent praise of Gareth Barry and the supposed balance he brings to the England midfield, he would probably be about sixth choice for that position at United. A very good point about the full backs though, shades of what AC Milan did to us at the san siro in the semi final.

This article makes a very good point about the amount of ex united players who have made a success of their careers in management, especially compared to those from Liverpool or Arsenal.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article2709654.ece

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/10/22/villarreal_thrive_in_riquelmes.html
When we were linked with him a couple of seasons ago, i wasn't really sure about him.He can play alright, but he is also painfully slow and everything has to revolve around him so much, that if the opposition snuff him out , your team would be totally out of the game. A very good player, but not quite good enough for the very top level.

For someone whose main job is writing about music, he seems to have a decent habit for picking up on issues that matter to the ordinary man on the street that most political writers don't seem to have a clue about. If agency worker rights aren't something that the Labour party will legislate to help what is the point of it anymore.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2194742,00.html

An interview with the great American radical journalist/historian Studs Terkel in the Indie,
http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article3076965.ece
I have never really heard or read any of his work, i have read interviews and seen short clips of him on the T.V. He has always seemed like one of the good guys of American twentieth century history along with Arthur miller, Bobby Kennedy and FDR amongst others.

Kenneth O Morgan praises David Lloyd George as the wizard gets a new statue in Parliament square, though why they have got a member of the royal family to unveil it escapes me.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2196449,00.html

Anatole Kaletsky is worried about the economy
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article2709694.ece

Aston Villa 1-4 Manchester United

If the second half of the Wigan match was encouraging this was very exciting. Even if we had only won 2-1 this was the first time we had looked like the same team that had us all looking forward to every game last season. And with Ronaldo rested on the bench, it was all the more impressive. The passing and movement in the first half was almost on a par with the first half demolition of Bolton at the Reebok last season. Nani really looked like a Manchester United player for the first time yesterday, to me anyway. Anderson impressed again, although more sporadically than against Wigan. Pique looked the part once more against an attack that had far more to offer than Wigan did in his first game this season. And to cap it all it looks like i will have to eat humble pie and confess that i was wrong, it looks like Rooney and Tevez will be able to play together, although i still think there will be games where we will need Saha or someone like him. Right from the off, United seemed to have stepped up a level from what we have seen so far this season.
It has to be said when i saw the team sheet i was a bit worried about the lack of a more defensive minded player in midfield, especially as Villa seemed to have improved this season, going forward anyway. And even though we started well we did look a bit shaky at the back when they attacked, so i wasn't too amazed when we went a goal down. I don't know who went missing on the right hand side for the original cross, but the defence never really recovered from it and the return cross from Young was a beauty and it was an easy task for Agbonlahor to glance it past Van Der Sar. I thought we were going to be in for a game now, this was going to be a big test, even more so with all the new faces.
I am glad to say that they rose to it majestically, they just carried on with the impressive passing and movement that they had started the game with. If there was a huge slice of luck for the first goal, and there was, then it was totally deserved. Again there was a nice interchange between Rooney and Tevez in the build up, and eventually the ball ended up at the feet of Nani, who wasted no time in just passing the ball across the six yard box. Although it should have been dealt with, it had been placed so nicely it put such an element of doubt in Zac Knight's mind that he left it, and with Gardener totally unaware that Rooney was ghosting in behind him, it left Rooney with the simple task of side footing the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-1.
If the first goal had seen United face one of their bigger tests of the season, the equaliser now presented one for the brummie outfit, with us playing great football and ten minutes for them to try to get to half time on level terms. Unlike United though they were no where near up to it, with a combination of irresistible United attacking and keystone cop Villa defending, United added two more to make it 3-1 at half time. The second again scored by Rooney followed more sublime passing and movement from the front two with a little bit of help from Knight who didn't cover himself in glory again. The third just before half time, really was keystone cops time, a really powerful header from Pique was saved on the line and fell to Ferdinand who managed to hit it goalwards although not in the strongest of fashion, but with about three Villa players on the line, it fell to Gardener who could only manage to smash the ball onto the bar and back into his own goal.
With a 3-1 scoreline you can't automatically say game over especially away from home, but the way United came out and went straight for the jugular in the first five minutes of the second half, it didn't seem like there was much chance of United faltering. And when Reo Coker had a bit of a mad five minutes, earning himself two yellow cards and seeing villa going down to ten men, it was now a question of how many United would score. Then to add insult to injury for Villa Carson brought Tevez down as he was taking the ball round him to earn a straight red card and give away a penalty. I am afraid when i saw Rooney puff his cheeks out as he was about to take it, my confidence in him putting it away lowered a fair bit and i wasn't surprised to see him not put it away. It wasn't the worst penalty you will ever see, and it was cracking save from the goalie seeing as though it was the first thing he had to do in the match. With the game virtually over and Rooney on a hatrick, it was fair enough that he should take it, but he has never really looked like a natural penalty taker. To add to the penalty miss Rooney then saw a superb effort hit the bar, following Wes Browns only decent cross of the match. It's a bit unfair to pick on Brown, but his distribution isn't his strong point, and if we hadn't have got Kiev away on tuesday, i would have like to have seen Simpson come on for the last twenty minutes or so. But there are older legs to protect, so it was good opportunity for scholes and giggs to come off. I don't really think you can credit Giggs with the fourth, i might have crdited him with it after the first deflection, but the glance of the head that eventually took it past the goalie rules out the goal being credited to him i would have thought. then again you never know maybe they will credit him with it, if Carragher can get away with that challenge on Lescott in the last minute, you never know with the inept officialdom of this country.
It will be very interesting to see Tuesdays line up, i don't think you can really play in places like Kiev without a defensive midfield player. Though with no Hargreaves or Carrick to choose from, who will play there, if Vidic is fit i would play Pique in the holding role before O'shea, but i am presuming that it will be O'shea that is chosen. I would love to see us perform like we did on Saturday in Europe away from home this season at some stage of the season, but i can't see it happening on Tuesday.

Sammy lee bounces out

I t looks like falling out with Gary speed was the final straw for sammy lee as he finds himself out of a job. If the stories are true, that he felt undermined by speed and became paranoid, he won't be going back into football management any time soon.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/bolton_wanderers/7048701.stm

Interesting piece about Romanian football,
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/10/16/the_revenge_of_the_quiet_man.html

An on the money comment piece by John Harris bemoaning the rise of an identikit strand of party political leader that this country now seems to be producing, to be fair Gordon Brown doesn't fit the mould. Which could still prove to be a major advantage at the next election, i am hoping that Labour make a big point of exposing all those old Etonians sitting on the front bench of the Tory party. As the main thrust of the article is on the liberals, if it does come down to a straight fight between Clegg and Huhne, my preference would be strongly for Huhne. Clegg seems to me to be just another Blair or Cameron, happy to carry on the Thatcherite consensus, now prevelant in all three main political parties.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/libdems/story/0,,2192779,00.html

Not exactly what the world economy needs right now, and certainly not what the United states and the United Kingdom need.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,,2192792,00.html

A bit of a turn up, and more evidence why the death penalty is always wrong.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2192866,00.html


This sounds like a good play, i know which half of the population i belong to. http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/uk/kevinmaguire/october07/maggie.htm

Guardian Unlimited: Arts blog - music: 2007 has been a stinker for indie rock

Guardian Unlimited: Arts blog - music: 2007 has been a stinker for indie rock
Maybe a bit over the top, there was still plenty of good stuff that came out.I think it's more a case that most of the hyped bands have been very average. I don't go to gigs much any more but from what i saw of the summer festivals that were covered on th old goggle box, not too many of these bands cut the mustard live. Thats yet another reason why the arctic monkeys blow them all away. And it's great to have Radiohead back.

Immigration is good for country: report, on balance it probably is. The NHS wouldn't work without it, that's for sure. Though it's not such good news for unskilled workers, who have to compete for jobs with people willing to work any hours for low low pay.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/immigration/story/0,,2192430,00.html

I don't agree with booing players from your own team at all, but Lampard is completely up his own arse, so i can't say i feel very sorry for him.
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/10/15/lampard_falls_victim_to_the_mo.html

Making things or making money, which is the best course for an economy and for a nations people, it's a complete no brainer for me.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2191221,00.html

European social market capitalism or no holds barred free market capitalism, that is the question.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/john_schmitt_and_dean_baker/2007/10/the_real_economic_crisis.html

It had to happen i am afraid, he is just not cut out to be the leader of a political party, but he would still do a decent job on foreign affairs. Good news for centre left politics, that is as long they don't lurch further to the centre, there isn't room for three parties congregating around the centre and centre right.
http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article3061894.ece

Thaksin latest

The Thai authorities are still trying to extradite their man.
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2190292,00.html

Robert Fisk in the indie talks about Lockerbie. It sounds feasible enough, there has been enough evidence to come out over the years to have very big doubts about whether there was any Libyan involvement.
http://news.independent.co.uk/fisk/article3055834.ece

Common sense from Simon Jenkins, talking about the wests overreaction to the islamist threat.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/simon_jenkins/article2652762.ece

Will Hutton on china and reform
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2190750,00.html

Gary Neville

I am starting to think that this injury to Gary Neville might be worse than we are being led to believe. He missed quite a chunk of last season, and the way things are going it will be some time in November at the earliest that we will see him this season, and that is barring another injury recurrence . At this stage in his career this is the last thing he needs, i would have thought. We have seen how Giggs has lost the old blistering pace of his youth over the last 18 months, luckily he has managed to adapt his game brilliantly, and i would say he will still be good for one more season after this, although i should imagine he will figure less and less and may end up as more of a super sub by the end of that time. I am afraid i think it would be more to the detriment of Gary Nevilles game if when he eventually gets back to full fitness, we find he has lost a little pace, or probably an even worse scenario for him and us if he doesn't trust his body enough to burst up and down that flank at full pelt the way he could in his prime. I suppose we will find out one way or another when he finally does make a reappearance. It wasn't very encouraging he didn't make the team for last nights reserve game against Liverpool.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article331118.ece

Brian Glanville reviews Bobby Charltons new book
http://www.sportstaronnet.com/stories/20071013504103300.htm

It is looking grim for Sammy lee at Bolton, i have always believed if you appoint a manager you have to give him at least the season to show his worth. However if you have completely lost the dressing room, and perhaps more importantly they are all ex internationals and seasoned professionals that is a different a matter. It just shows what can happen when you lose an experienced manager, just like Charlton when they lost Curbishley last season http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/bolton/article2641654.ece


A couple of pieces from the guardians comment is free section about inheritance tax, home ownership and tax in general.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/david_cox/2007/10/poisonous_heritage.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2189492,00.html

5o greatest United moments from the Times

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2624171.ece

Pretty honest from Rooney http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/euro_2008/article2639410.ece

Bobby Charlton at 70 in the Telegraph, no doubt about his worth on a football pitch, but off it a man who divides opinion sharply even amongst reds, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/10/11/nosplit/scmain111.xml

Music

Klaxons - Myths of the near future : the winner of the mercury prize award, and very good too.They stand out from most of the recent indie newcomers by a far more adventurous approach to their songwriting.
Bat for lashes - Fur and gold : A nominee for the mercury prize, i wouldn't have been able to separate the two albums, both being excellent. Her music has been compared to Kate Bush, and seems a pretty good comparison for her other worldly music.
Feist - Reminder : A more conventional female singer songwriter, but she delivers the goods. Good middle of the road music.
Caribou - Andorra : I like this, though it wasn't quite what i expected. I had read that his work was electronica, but this sounds more like a group with strong electro influences, it took more listens than the rest of these albums to get into it, but it is worth it.

Books
Garibaldi and the defence of the Roman republic 1848-9 by GM Trevelyan
The first of a trilogy about Garibaldis exploits during the Risorgimento, i am amazed there has never been a big Hollywood epic, because his life is like one big adventure story. He comes over as a more principled and humane figure than the revolutionaries that came after him.

They don't seem too bothered about secrets at Chelsea, which is surprising seeing as though they are owned by somebody brought up under communism, and who made his money in the not exactly transparent post soviet era. This is the first time i have read that they interviewed Jurgen Klinsman for the top job at stamford bridge.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/matt_dickinson/article2617603.ece

A piece about the weird political times we live in by Simon Jenkins, it's a bit weird that i seem to agree with quite a bit of what he says in his columns, his economic views are way too Thatcherite for me.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2187403,00.html

More about Ashcroft using his money in the next elections marginal seats from Edward Pearce. I use to enjoy his articles, when he had a column in the Guardian years ago, obviously he must not have fit in with Rusbridgers new labour clique.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/edward_pearce/2007/10/how_money_votes.html
spin and spinners a blog by Chris Ames is usually pretty good at spotting new Labour spin in our press. When the next editor of the Guardian is chosen i hope the values of C.P Scott are more in his or her make up than they seem to be in the present incumbent.
http://chrisames.blogspot.com/

Darron Gibson and Lee Martin are the first youngsters to go out on loan
http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=477764
I liked the look of both of these in the youth team but it looks to me like Gibson has more of a chance at United, Martin didn't progress as much as we had hoped last season, saying that he has talent so if he can get a good season behind him , maybe there is still a future for him at old trafford.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/plymouth_argyle/7029837.stm


Craig Murrays blog is back online
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/


Johann Hari on our electoral system and how it can be skewered by one rich man aiming his vast wealth at the minority of seats that affect the outcome of elections under our first past the post electoral system. Maybe the events of last week will see gordon brown and the labour party bite the bullet and bring a bill in to fight the next election under a proportional representation electoral system, that's if there is still enough time to do it, before the next election.
http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/johann_hari/article3038466.ece

Manchester United 4-0 Wigan

At last the real Manchester United has turned up, exciting football, goals and all. But the most pleasing aspect of Saturdays encounter was the performances of the three youngsters Anderson, Pique and Simpson. They did brilliantly to score four goals as well considering they were playing 11 blue and white shirts and one in black in the first half. Riley is a really poor referee, and he had a terrible first half, how he missed Browns challenge on Ronaldo early doors, i can't fathom because he had a pretty good view, it was as blatant as you could get. In fact i was amazed the United players didn't really seem to protest too much.
I wasn't too surprised to see saha not in the starting line up when i got to the ground, after a pretty anonymous midweek performance, but when i heard after the game why he was left out, well what can you say. I don't know how long he has on his contract but i can't possibly see how he will be offered another unless he starts putting these injury problems behind him, that's if they really are injury problems. You can't see too many clubs queueing up to give him a contract if he did have to leave here, unless at vastly reduced wages.
The way the second half went you wonder what the score might have been if Riley had given that early penalty, but as it was Wigan defended reasonably well, and United were unable to make the breakthrough. I thought united played reasonably well in the first half though, there was good movement and the passing was better than it has been in some of our recent games. To me the problem was we were trying to walk it into the net, or they were trying to get in the perfect position to shoot and allowing Wigans defenders those extra vital seconds to get there blocks in. A prime example of that was Rooney, when he is really on his game he takes one touch and lets rip, but on Saturday he was taking two or three touches trying to get into the perfect position, and it wasn't really happening. I am not singling him out though, Tevez had a great chance to shoot at one stage but instead back heeled it out to Ronaldo who was in a less favourable position and the chance eventually came to nothing. But to be fair with all the chopping and changing that was done, first Vidic having to go off, and then O'shea, that saw Anderson coming on to partner Scholes in midfield, Pique going to centre half and Danny Simpson coming on at right back i thought it was reasonably encouraging performance.
I can't help feeling we will look back and be thankful for those injuries, for the three relative newcomers all had excellent games. I have always thought right from his youth team days that Pique had the talent to be a United player. The only doubts i had about him were over his pace, and whether he would be tough enough, because he is more of a footballing centre half. But that season in Spain has been absolutely brilliant for him, if only Rossi could have had a loan like that. He is definitely tough enough, he is excellent in the air winning almost everything, and he is plenty fast enough. He always had a great first touch and an eye for a pass as he showed with excellently weighted ball through for Rooney that led to the third goal. I knew that people in Portugal really rated Anderson, and it was regarded as something of a major scoop for United, signing a player that all the big clubs in Europe were said to be looking at. On Saturday he started to look the part. He looked almost the complete midfield player, a great engine, he can tackle, though i don't think he is ever going to be a defensive minded midfield player, but you have got to do your work there if you going to play in the middle. He has got tremendous vision and the skill and touch to bring off the passes to realise that vision. Apparently he has got a great shot but we have yet to see that. But one thing that really excited me especially late on in the second half were some of the late surging runs through the middle, we have not really had that in our game since keano in his prime and the real master of it, in my time watching United Bryan Robson. Unfortunately he never received the ball when he made these runs, probably because no one was expecting him to get up there and weren't looking for him, but the more i see of him the more he reminds me of Giggs rather than Scholes. Lastly Simpson, he was real revelation, his biggest asset has always been his pace and he seems to have a good engine. But i have never been too sure about his first touch, or whether his skill level is high enough for the top level. But it wasn't just that it was a great cross for the goal, i liked the way he took it in his stride and without panicking just delivering a super ball for Rooney to power into the net. His defending was on the money too, getting in a few good tackles and seeming to read the game reasonably well. Ronaldo seemed to enjoy having a proper overlapping full back operating with him too in the second half.
Before i get too carried away it was only Wigan, and we do seem to enjoy playing against them, but it was easily the best, and most encouraging performance so far this season. I am still not that certain about Tevez, but he took his goal brilliantly. Knowing the centre half had the legs on him the way he shielded the ball from the defender, keeping him from getting past him, and then cutting in and slotting coolly home was absolutely top notch.It was typical of this season so far though, that the game where we actually to started to look the part again, was the last game for two weeks as the latest round of internationals start. Lets hope that the momentum hasn't been lost when we get everybody back, and as usual that we don't get any injuries.

Entertaining interview with Eamon Dunphy, whose A strange kind of glory is being re released ( one of the best football books ever wrote, and definitely the best Manchester United orientated book ever wrote )
http://www.rednews.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=23470

Good interview with journalist and United fan, columnist in United we stand, he has a new book coming out, sounds interesting. I can't watch kids football, the way parents react, and it's not just men. They watch match of the day and they all think they are an expert when they probably don't know the first thing about sport, not just the sport.
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article3035937.ece


Big brother
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2185415,00.html

Let them eat cake, inheritance tax, Will Hutton argues the case for it
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2185431,00.html

Brown says no election
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article3038384.ece
What a monumental cock up, i can't get my head round the way Brown has messed this up. Mind you, it is good for democracy that there isn't going to be one. This government was elected just two years ago, even though more and more people seem to vote for party leaders instead of political parties, it is still the case that we are a parliamentary democracy, and it is parties that are voted for in general elections. So just because the labour party changes its leader, and we get a new prime minister that is no reason for another election, just two years into a five year term.

Usmanov gets the press onside

There is a big campaign amongst bloggers to expose Usmanov for the crook he is, due to the way he has had the lawyers taking craig murrays blog offline. Arsenal fans are lucky they will get to know the kind of scheister that is trying to take over there club, hopefully for them it will help them fight his unwanted attempt off.
http://b-heads.blogspot.com/2007/10/hooray-for-mainstream-media.html

Whilst i don't have much time for ex soviet citizens trying to buy our football clubs up, i have always been totally fascinated by Russian history. Winston Churchill is supposed to have said that to be born British was to win first prize in the game of life ( something like that anyway ), well to be born Russian in the twentieth century was to come last.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2184139,00.html

Order 17, a bit like catch 22
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sidney_blumenthal/2007/10/mercenaries_murder_and_mayhem.html

Control , rave reviews
http://arts.independent.co.uk/film/reviews/article3027695.ece

Not what the doctor ordered

With Hargreaves out for a month, now we have lost Carrick for a month,
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2183265,00.html

The FA : Piss up in a brewery springs to mind

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml;jsessionid=PQMNPCHLBMWWHQFIQMFCFFOAVCBQYIV0?xml=/sport/2007/10/04/sfnins104.xml


Interesting piece about Manchester by Tristram Hunt, whose BBC 4 series the protestant revolution finished yesterday. I agreed with the thesis he put forward in that series, that the reformation heralded the onset of secularism.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/britain/article/0,,2183046,00.html

An interview with Armando Ianucci in the guardian. I have usually loved the stuff he has done that he has wrote or directed, whilst the stuff he has presented has usually been ok but nothing out of the ordinary.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/comment/0,,2183127,00.html

One of the musical greats, Neil Young

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/comment/0,,2183127,00.html

Good piece by Timothy Garton Ash, taking the tories to task over there Euro sceptic hypocricy, although to be fair Gordon Brown seems to be infused with it too, in fact even the lib dems have a sprinkling now apparently. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2182978,00.html

Manchester United 1-0 Roma

Another three points, but another display that was more in keeping with Mourinhos Chelsea than the type of football Manchester United are famous the world over. I heard Ferguson say we deserved to win the game in the post match interview, i think a draw was the fairer result myself. If they had took one of the guilt edged chances they had in the last ten minutes they would have got what they deserved. I am not a fan of our tactics in Europe, they are miles too negative, and i don't think we are good enough defensively against the very best teams in Europe to be trying to win 1-0 all the time anyway. Obviously you are going to have to defend well if you are to do well in the competition, but i don't want that to be at the expense of playing the type of football that Manchester United should stand for.
After saying all that, even if our tactics were more attractive, i am not sure we would see much difference. We just are not playing very well at all, you can't fault the defence they have done their job reasonably well, though we got a bit lucky last night. But going forward it is just not happening at all, not one of our forwards is playing anywhere near to their potential. Last night we eventually got to see a proper centre forward playing up top with Rooney just behind, and not much changed i am afraid. I suppose we will have to give Saha quite a few games to recapture the form of the first half of last season. But i was still disappointed with his performance, when he had come on against Chelsea, he changed the game immediately with his pace and strength causing them problems. Yet last night he couldn't seem to impose himself on the game at all, and we looked more dangerous when Tevez came on, just to disprove my theory that Tevez and Rooney can't play together.
It was a nice goal from Rooney, to cap one of our better moves on the night, let's hope he goes on a run of scoring, because if we are to recover last seasons form we need him and Ronaldo to start scoring again. It was a fine through ball from Nani to put Rooney through, his best moment in the match. I can't say i have been very impressed with Nani so far though, i know he was bought for the future and has played more games than was intended, but i can't see anything special in him. I like the look of Anderson though, it's been said that he was bought to replace Scholes, but he looks more like a replacement for Giggs to me, especially the Giggs of the last couple of seasons playing more centrally than earlier in his career.
It's disappointing to hear that Hargreaves is now out for another three to four weeks, when he has played he has been one of the better players. I thought last night would have been a good opportunity to give Pique a game, if he is one of the players for the future, then he will have to start getting some games under his belt. O'shea didn't do anything wrong and he is a decent back up full back, but if our youngsters are to improve, then i would be picking the youngsters with the potential to be a first team regular over the squad member who had his chance, but never really took it.