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Day: 4 April 2012

Three’s a Crowd at the top of the Championship

Written by Tom Hickman on . Posted in Sport.

With only six games to go in the npower Championship the conundrum of three into two is becoming more and more apparent, as the race at the top of the table reaches its tumultuous conclusion. Behind the runaway triumvirate had sat a congestion of four teams all on 63 points, and a substantial number more within striking distance of the remaining playoff places, but Birmingham’s victory last night has seen them pull three points away from rest of the chasing pack.

Having been hotly-tipped in the pre-season, two of the early favourites fell afoul of the traditional managerial merry-go-round which saw Sven-Goran Eriksson replaced by the returning Nigel Pearson at the helm of Leicester City in November. The move didn’t prove a huge inspiration to either the Foxes or Hull City, who have nosedived of late, winning only one of their last ten. Middlesbrough’s early promise evaporated and their inability to source goals from anyone other than Marvin Emnes has been the major reason behind their stagnation. Ollie’s Tangerine Army have endured a topsy-turvy campaign, starting slowly, but now right in the mix, having swept aside Southampton in the BBC’s late kick-off last Saturday.

Talking of Southampton, that result aside, the Saints have proved the shock of the season. Their combination of fluid, passing football, the limitless stream of goals from the boot of Rickie Lambert, and the much unheralded tutelage of Nigel Adkins have seen the south-coast club sit two points clear at the top of the table, on the verge of successive promotions. Lambert himself recently applauded the work of his the left wing accomplice, Adam Lallana, after receiving the award for the Football League player of the season. A solid central defensive partnership of Jos Hooiveld and José Fonte, with the artistry of Jack Cork sat just in front of them have provided the prefect base for the bludgeoning ability of Lambert, guile of Lallana, and the occasionally mercurial talents of the enigmatic Guly Do Prado.

Indeed Southampton have been this year’s surprise package but Reading, on the other hand, have trodden this path before. Perennially there or thereabouts come the business end of the season, the recent acquisition of Premiership stalwart Jason Roberts has proven to be as shrewd as they come. The Grenadan international has not only added much needed goals, but become the all-important target man able to hold the ball up and bring flair players such as Jimmy Kébé and Jobi McAnuff to the fore; even if he has recently received a ribbing for his penalty-taking prowess. One may have thought that with the decline in interest of chairman John Madejski, coinciding with the sales of last seasons’ imperious club captain Matt Mills, and top-scorer Shane Long would bring a period of mediocrity, but Brian McDermott’s side are made of stronger stuff. Previous unsung heroes Noel Hunt, Jem Karacan, and Ian Harte, amongst others, have come together to form the nucleus of a squad rid of demonstrative egos; their togetherness displayed by the club’s recent ascent up the table, winning eight of their last ten games.

The same, however, cannot be said for the galacticos of West Ham United, whose seemingly endless run of draws was brought to an end last week with victory at Peterborough, only for the Hammers to lose ground on their close rivals once more, with a crushing home defeat at the hands of the Royals, via some less than assured work from Robert Green. Whilst so many clubs in English football’s second tier scrimp and save in prayerful hope of ‘doing a Blackpool’, the Upton Park faithful are faltering whilst having an abundance of quality to choose from. The club possess an unheralded wealth of gifted strikers in the mould of former England international Carlton Cole, proven Championship performer Nicky Maynard, young talent Sam Baldock, and the volatile but skilful Ricardo Vaz Té, with whom Allardyce has experience from his days at Bolton. That firepower alone should have been more than enough to see the club sitting pretty with six games to go.

But what of Big Sam’s budget breakers? The ubiquitous high-earner John Carew has proved less than effective, netting only twice, and more than living up to his reputation of being a regular inhabitant of the club Jacuzzi, and little else. Kevin Nolan, no longer combined with his partners in crime, messrs Carroll and Barton, but back under the wing of his old custodian, has found life in the second tier slightly tougher than his first experience, two seasons ago. Never mind Freddie Sears, Frank Nouble, and the man who had provided the goals which nearly retained the club’s premiership status last season – Frederic Piquionne – who now finds himself ostracised on loan at relegation-threatened Doncaster Rovers. This combination of West Ham’s style of play, players, and most of all, Big Sam’s inability to muster even a flicker of a smile have meant the Claret and Blues have not endeared themselves to the rest of the division. Nevertheless the burly manager is still within striking distance of an automatic promotion spot, and with Southampton and Reading due to play each other on April 13th, the old warhorse and his big-money men may yet be able to scrape through.

Neutrals may argue that the standard has not been as good this year, with no pull-away teams in the mould of Newcastle in 2009/10, but this season has been more competitive than ever. Big sides packed with stars have failed to mount a serious charge, whilst a number of the less affluent clubs are still there or thereabouts, with the race almost run, displayed by the fact that Burnley, down in 16th, are still mathematically harbouring hopes of playoff qualification. One thing’s for certain, there’s still plenty of twists and turns to come.

Dispatches from Toulouse: A reflection on the Merah attacks

Written by Jonathan Rowe on . Posted in Opinion.

Today the sun shines on Toulouse, shedding light upon a city which was darkened by more than the weather a few weeks ago. I find myself standing in the wake of two vicious of acts of terrorism, seven deaths and a 32 hour-long siege, not something I was expecting when parting for a year of studying abroad in France.

Mohamed Merah, 23, a French man of Algerian decent who had already been identified for monitoring by French Intelligence agents due to suspect terrorist activity including association with a Jihadist Salafist organization, successfully carried out 3 shootings, one of which included the deaths of two Jewish school children.

The following search for the killer was alleged to be France’s largest ever manhunt. Hundreds of armed police covered the south of France in a huge effort to find Merah, as well as armed police guarding Jewish and Muslim schools throughout the southern region. This campaign lead quickly to Merah’s location, although ultimately it succeeded by the discovery of an IP address registered to an apartment in the Croix Daurade area of Toulouse.

A stand-off between French RAID troops and Merah lasted over 24 hours and included various exchanges of gun fire, injuring two French police officers. During the night of the 21st March, whilst barricaded in his bathroom, Merah contacted news channel France24 claiming that he was responsible for the attacks, his motives being to redress the deaths of Palestinian children and retaliate against the French Army’s involvement in Afghanistan.

Towards the 32nd hour of the siege a final exchange of gunfire took place resulting in the death of Mohamed Merah. After jumping from a window still shooting, he was found dead on the ground from a bullet to the head.

With the presidential elections arriving shortly in May, candidates were quick to comment on the situation. The current president of the republic Nicholas Sarkozy was quoted calling him a ‘monster’ stating it was necessary to kill Merah because they ‘have had enough dead as it is’. Francois Hollande, the Socialist party candidate said that “the campaign against terrorism must continue without let-up”, whilst centrist Francois Bayrou said Merah’s acts were an indication of a ruptured French society where “stigmatisation” of cultures was growing as public figures exploited emotions to gain electoral votes.

The most striking aspect of the whole saga is not the unanswered questions that remain (how and where did Merah purchase military grade weapons ? Why if the French Intelligence agency were monitoring him did it take so long for them to find him? Why was there no apparent effort to take Merah alive?) but the utter indifference. This is not an indifference to the obviously tragic deaths of both soldiers and children; but an emotional indifference to violence. The young population of Toulouse when questioned, seem totally unaffected by the events of last week. Many said they ‘had not been scared at all’ very few had changed any part of their daily lives, even those living a mere five minute walk from the site of the shootings.

Toulouse is not a city unknown to violence, only in 2001 it experienced a huge explosion at the AZF chemical factory killing 29, leaving 2,500 serious wounded. Have these events led to a generation desensitized to violence? It is hard to say. Toulouse is not the only city to have ever been subject to terrorist attack or anthropogenic disaster. It is arguable that most young people living in far more dangerous communities than those of Toulouse would claim the same indifference to violence. I live on the opposite side of the river, around a fifteen minute metro journey from where the school shooting took place. At the time, I felt as far away from it all as you will feel reading this in Manchester.

Perhaps all that speculation about film, television and video games is true? Either way, I’ve got to get back to Call of Duty, those Nazi Zombies aren’t going to kill themselves.

Live: Breton @ Islington Mill

Written by Jonathon Lewis on . Posted in Music.

Breton
Islington Mill
29th March
4 ½ stars

Salford is in the grips of a crisis. If it wasn’t already bad enough with the arrival of all those London types at Media City, clogging up the roads of the North West with their Ocado deliveries and pushing up the price of previously unaffordable quay-side housing to new unaffordable levels, Salford has a new threat to deal with. Hipsters.

Tonight, Islington Mill is teeming with oversize backpacks, vintage clothing and, worst of all, Hollyoaks cast members. A lone gunman’s dream you might say, but with a free bar courtesy of Dr. Martens who are filming an advert here, my feelings towards the demographic around me are ambivalent at best and I settle down to a pint. The night wears on, the air’s thick with ‘yah’s and ‘for sure’s and eventually the filming, and free drink, comes to an end, resulting in an exodus of people from the Mill and a half empty room for Breton to play to. More fool those who left.

Half laptop experimentation, half guitar band, Breton sound like the lovechild of Tom Vek and Foals. With angular rhythms and a whole palette of fresh and exciting sounds, they deliver a set full diversity and packed with plenty of up-tempo tunes to boot. ‘Sandpaper’ is filled to the brim with dirty synth sounds and restrained vocals, while ‘15x’ is insanely danceable with a coolly delivered drumbeat propelling the song along. Even in their more downbeat, reflective moments such as ‘The Well’, Breton still manage to engage your attention and feet, the set never once dropping off or flat lining.

For the few who stayed at Islington mill, a real treat was had tonight, getting the chance to see a band up close that is on the rise and for whom the big time is calling.

Breton – Pacemaker