Skip to main content

Day: 19 February 2018

Photo: soccer.ru @wikimediacommons

Why Tottenham can’t be trusted

Written by Will Baldwin-Pask on . Posted in Sport.

Someone needs to talk about Spurs. And by talking, I don’t mean chanting “we hate Tottenham, we hate Tottenham” over and over. Most people do that every day whilst they brush their teeth. What is needed is a decent discussion of the problems facing a team with so much promise and why it is so hard to trust them.

There are very few on the landscape of footballing commentary that can be arsed to talk about this team at the moment. Paul Merson certainly won’t do it. Harry Rednapp will occasionally step up if he can recharge his kneecaps for long enough and leave the local. So it falls to a frank fan like me to get something said on the matter.

The lack of enthusiasm to talk about Tottenham and their problems is indicative of their not-quite-the-same status. Years spent begging for a possible Champions League place and averaging just outside the bracket have given Spurs as much reputability as an Ironborn or a three times divorced dad. Now, after two great seasons and some teasing of trophy wins, it appears the mud-brawl of mediocrity is calling us back.

It’s been an interesting run of results. After scraping a point at Newport a few weekends ago, Spurs somehow belittled Man United in the same fashion that United have done to Spurs for decades. They then went to Anfield for a draw, which could prove valuable in the fight for fourth. And of course, beating Arsenal, who are now seven points slower than Spurs, is always nice.

But should a team that tops a Champions League group with Madrid and Dortmund be quite as uncertain of returning to the tournament next year? How do you manage to draw with West Ham and Newport when you’re defeating European chamions?

What has characterised the whole season is what one could call unprovoked bottling. And it is this bottling nature that worries me most about Spurs. The fact is that Tottenham lacks the legacy of teams like Arsenal, Liverpool and United. The histories of success that these teams bear put them under more pressure to perform than anyone else. If any of the traditional big four fail for long enough, they buy superlative players, bring in fresh managers and get distraught fans attempting to start hashtags, petitions and lynch mobs.

Not having this pressure has been to Tottenham’s advantage in recent years, having married a prodigious manager with a cheap yet talented squad, allowing them to play the way they like and to the frustration of their adversaries. Pochettino’s players have looked completely comfortable with the style they cultivated and the fans have never been so satisfied.

However, that lack of pressure — that added weight of history and legacy — felt by the other clubs, is contributing to their failure to convert anything into a trophy. They have not experienced winning a league or a cup in modern times, which stands them out from their rivals. That winning grit is not something they’ve inherited. And until they do so, their tendency to bottle might keep haunting them.

There is one thing about Tottenham that gets brought up in conversations everywhere all the time. You’re probably wondering why I’m only just mentioning him.

Kane might well be Tottenham’s very own Sword of Damocles. If Spurs were to sell Harry Kane, they would make a lot of money, but not enough to buy someone of equivalent quality. After the move of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, Spurs decided to spaff their winnings on a bunch of players ranging from decent to disastrous. Meanwhile, Daniel Levy will not dig into his pocket as deeply as owners of City, United or Chelsea, simply because the pocket ain’t that big. The better Kane gets, the greater the interest in him and the harder it will be tether him without dramatic wage increases or silverware. Holding on to him is the best hope.

It is said that Kane’s not the sort of player to leave Tottenham, that he’s loyal. Sure, Kane seems a smiley chap in that white shirt, and his heroic, home-grown status within the club is great for his image. But as Wayne Rooney pointed out, he can’t keep scoring like he does and receive so many accolades without feeling like he should be playing with the absolute best. Alli and Erikson aren’t far behind him either. It’s hard to imagine the current line-up losing none of these individuals if they sustain their quality for the next few years.

Regardless of how well they’ve proved they can play, Tottenham still can’t convert it into substantial reward. The tectonic plates of Premier League power are shifting back to Manchester and it’s hard to see Spurs lifting the trophy any time soon. The thrill of the chase will be the greatest allure to staying at the club for some of these players, especially when the fat Spanish cats come calling.

As the status quo revives and the elite reclaim their thrones, the Premier League from 2014 — 2016 may in future be regarded as a continuity blip; a bizarre counter-moment, when Leicester City could win the title and Tottenham Hotspur finished in the top 3 twice in a row. What could have been the maturation moment for one of the most improved clubs of recent years could go down as another temporary spike in a largely disappointing history. If this season ends on another underwhelming note, Tottenham fans might have a lot more to worry about than higher parking fees at the redeveloped White Hart Lane.

Photo: Ilovetheeu @ Wikimedia Commons

Brexit: not my vote

Written by Francesca McClimont on . Posted in Opinion.

The referendum result for Brexit may have taken place over a year and a half ago, but remainers still feel the bitter pang of rejection as if it were yesterday. This is true for students in particular where the remain-to-leave ratio was found to be six-to-one.

Leaving the EU will massively affect educational institutions, which fear they will lose the 15 per cent of the funding they receive from the EU as well as academics being less inclined to come to the UK due to visa issues.

These consequences were felt closer to home when the University of Manchester announced in 2017 that it would be making 171 members of staff redundant across all disciplines.

Yet it was the School of Arts, Languages, and Cultures (SALC) that was being hit the hardest — this was definitely the impression I got when speaking to both my French and English lecturers.

The anger with this decision prompted a strike on the 23rd and 24th of October. Staff dissatisfaction was only intensified by the financial stability and prosperity of the University at the time.

Consequently, management seemed to be using Brexit as an excuse to make cuts that would inevitably cause long-term damage to many departments.

SALC needs protection from the Brexit storm and the only umbrella that can protect it — the University — is refusing to open itself to them.

Speaking to a Manchester University Business Management student from France regarding her Brexit concerns, she explained that “prices and the employment sector will suffer as a result of a growing number of international companies leaving the UK due to new employment regulations.

“They fear these new Brexit-friendly rules will damage their business and their image.”

This will leave many Brits without jobs.  Such unemployment will be particularly damaging when coupled with prices of imported goods rising due to Brexit.

The effects of this surge in prices will be felt the most by low-income households and those who consider themselves working class of which 70 per cent of the former and 59 per cent of the latter voted leave according to a NatCen social research paper.

Brexit seems all the more astonishing when taking a look back at what a lack of European unity resulted in the twentieth century.

Two world wars, millions of people killed, and years of economic and infrastructural damage are within the memory of our grandparents.  Yet 64 per cent of over-65s voted leave even though they will not live to see the consequences of their vote.

Pro-EU students and young people are left with years of instability lying ahead of them and will suffer the consequences educationally and financially as they seek jobs after graduation.

Our best hope is to put pressure on the government — to the best of our ability — to implement post-EU legislations that will benefit future generations and not merely their own political agenda.

Image: DPOrman @ Commons Wikimedia

Manchester University students fined £29k by library last year

Written by Cameron Broome on . Posted in News.

Students at the University of Manchester (UoM) were issued £29, 557 in library fines during the academic year 2016-2017, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

A series of Freedom of Information requests indicated that 130 Universities and University colleges collected more than £3.5 million-worth of library fines between September 2016 to August 2017.

The University of Oxford had the highest books fines’ income over the past year, issuing £167,689 of fines, followed by King’s College London (£113,726) and the University of Cambridge (£98,487).

A University of Manchester library spokesperson said: “Fines are currently the most effective way to ensure books are returned promptly to the library and made available for other students. The library only issues fines on overdue books when they are needed — ie another student has reserved the book triggering a recall at the end of the current loan — or the book is part of the High Demand collection (items recommended as essential texts on reading lists by teaching staff).

“The vast majority of our students support the current fines policy, as it works to ensure books that are in demand are returned promptly and available to those who need them. Fines are not a financial consideration — they are an incentive to return books on time and ensure other students who need the texts are not left frustrated.”

Books can be borrowed from the main collections of the various University of Manchester libraries across campus for a full semester, while items in the High Demand collections may be borrowed for one night.

Items borrowed from the main collections of the library may be subject to early recall, if another customer wishes to borrow the item during its lease. If a standard loan is recalled, students will be notified by email and have seven days in which to return the item, unless the due date is already within 7 days.

Failure to return any books by the return date results in a temporary blocking of customers’ library accounts and a overdue fine of £2 per day, while the daily fine rate for items borrowed from the High Demand section is 50p per hour or part of an hour, not including weekends. Maximum charges per book from any section is £20.

Some institutions do not collect library fines, including the University of Bath and the University of Chichester, while others have an auto-book renewal in order to reduce students’ costs.

The UoM library spokesperson commented: “An auto-renewal policy would have no impact on fines – such a policy would not apply to recalled or high demand books, and it is only when these texts are not returned that a fine is issued. If a book is not required by another student, it can be renewed for up to 10 years – the library will issue an email reminder, and the renewal process can be completed quickly and easily on our website.”

Commenting on the revelation, Alex Tayler, General Secretary of the Students’ Union, said: “Whilst I wouldn’t want to encourage the University to take any more money off students than it already does, I think that library fines are a good way of ensuring that students share resources fairly. If you don’t give your book back in time or lose it then you are preventing another student from accessing the resource.

“Fines encourage people to look after the books properly and return them promptly. I would want to speak with the library to discuss how it fines people and how effective they think it is but I don’t have anything against the fines in principle.”

University of Manchester undergraduate and taught postgraduate students have a loan quota of up to 25 books per semester, while research postgraduate students can borrow up to 40 books per semester.

Full details on the University library’s policies regarding borrowing and returning books can be found on the library’s website.

Review: La Vina Deansgate

Written by Anokhi Shah on . Posted in Food & Drink.

This is a split review between the carnivores and a herbivore. Why would you take a vegetarian to a traditional tapas restaurant?

However, La Vina seemed to have a decent veggie selection. Unfortunately this did not live up to expectations.

Upon entry, I thought “It could do with a touch of illumination and some charming Spanish tunes.” I changed my mind after a generous helping of delightful tapas. The décor was lovely and traditional, even if the four of us were sat at a very high table with very uncomfortable chairs, not what you want when you’re about to indulge. We had a quick scan around the room to try move however all the chairs seemed very similar, a small but important grievance.

We choose to dine during their 50 per cent off food deal so went a little crazy ordering nearly everything on the menu. They suggest around three or four plates per person.

Here’s what we ordered: Gambas Pil Pil, Chorizo sautéed in garlic thyme and honey, Pollo Envuelto — chicken breast stuffed with piquilo and wrapped in serrano ham, Goats cheese, and Spinach Croquetas (On the specials board), Patatas Bravas, Berenjenas con miel y trufa — Crisp lightly battered aubergine slices stacked and drizzled with honey and truffle oil, Mushrooms in a cream sauce (On the specials board), Brocoli a la brasa — tenderstem broccoli chargrilled with garlic and chilli and a Paella Mixta.

The portion size was huge for tapas, there were at least ten prawns in the gambas pil pil, amazing value for money. The paella, chorizo, and chicken were all an absolute dream and cooked to perfection. Unfortunately there is little praise for the vegetarian selection apart from the fact that they had a substantial one.

The only thing my vegetarian friend enjoyed was the patatas bravas, fried potatoes, and garlic sauce which is quite frankly very difficult to get wrong. The aubergine was watery, the mushrooms seemed to be from a tin in the most uncreamy sauce and the broccoli was far too hard and crunchy.

Whilst we were all gorging on the wonderful meat selection my friend looked increasingly disappointed, it’s fair to say veggies should stay away from La Vina.

Photo: Hannah Suraya
Photo: Hannah Suraya
Photo: Hannah Suraya
Photo: Hannah Suraya

In terms of wine, we ordered a glass of the house rose priced at £6 per glass. Complete rip off, tasted like the £3 bottle from New Zealand wines. The food was great value under the 50 per cent off deal however I’m not sure I would pay full price.

La Vina does seem to have frequent offers so I would suggest going only when there is a deal on.

Photo: Album Artwork

Review: The Wombats – Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life

Written by Jake Oliver on . Posted in Music.

Liverpudlian rock trio The Wombats’ latest release Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life is a collection of songs that seem relatively unambitious.

The Wombats are one of those indie bands from the good old days that have managed to stick around through thick and thin. From their post-punk revival on their debut, to the synth-heavy tricky third album “Glitterbug”, they’re a band that have consistently demonstrated their ability to change with the times.

But now on Beautiful People… what made the band so innovative and exciting has been watered down to something that, although professional and polished, just isn’t that interesting.

It comes as no surprise that ‘Turn’, ‘Cheetah Tongue’, and ‘Lemon to a Knife Fight’ were the first three singles to be released from the album as they’re arguably the only songs that make any attempt to be — for lack of a better word — fun.

‘Black Flamingo’ released just days before the album dropped, runs in a similar vein to the other singles. “I wanna love you but it hurts, hurts, hurts” is a particularly potent lyric from the song that pretty much captures my feelings towards this album.

The main concern here is that for me, these singles were ‘growers’. I had to listen to them several times over before I could conclude that they weren’t that bad an ominous foreshadowing for the rest of the album.

Therein lies the issue with Beautiful People…. Nothing picks me up and shakes me about in the way that songs on their earlier projects did. There’s no ‘Moving To New York’ moment, no euphoric ‘Tokyo’ anthem, and no reflective, heart breaking ‘Greek Tragedy’.

On the first listen I didn’t find myself being wrapped up in any sort of feeling other than just “meh”. In fact, only on my third attempt braving the album could I identify a few decent non-single tracks.

‘Ice Cream’, which appears almost at the end of the album is probably the most reminiscent of what I like to call classic Wombats. With an abundance of strange metaphors and a bass line that sounds like the lovechild of The Cure and “AM” era Arctic Monkeys, it stands out effortlessly against an otherwise forgettable series of songs.

‘Black Flamingo’, with its fuzzy guitar riffs is also a redeeming feature that wouldn’t go amiss on previous projects. There’s a point in the song that seems to rediscover the soaring qualities that The Wombats are more than capable of producing but the rest of the album plateaus from there on out.

As a band with its members now in their thirties, it comes as no surprise that the once youthful frenzies have been replaced with more mature takes on themes of isolation and modern romance. This shines through, but not necessarily in a good way. What they’ve gained in maturity, they’ve seemingly lost in wit and charm that made their lyrics so interesting. Lead singer Matthew Murphy just seems tired and apathetic. Whilst band growth and maturity is unavoidable and frankly needed, it feels regressive rather than progressive.

To their credit, this isn’t a bad album. The production and overall performances are sharper than ever and there are moments that come close to rectifying the mixed bag that is the album in its entirety.

It just lacks a certain something that made the last three releases so iconic. There’s still everything that made them great, but this shift in direction may alienate some fans. I’m sure that this isn’t the last we’ll here from the trio but my goodness I hope this is the last underwhelming project they put out.

6/10

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Hylas and the Nymphs: more than meets the eye

Written by Florrie Badley on . Posted in Arts.

Manchester Art Gallery deliberately provoked discussion last week, by removing the painting Hylas and the Nymphs from their website and walls, leaving a blank space for audience debate.

The painting by Victorian Romantic John William Waterhouse was targeted for its enticing antagonists: seven naked nymphs who are seducing Hylas with their topless — yet adolescent — beauty.

The public gallery claims to have been conducting an experiment by challenging the male gaze in Victorian fantasy and the modern-day attitude towards the female nude, in light of the #metoo campaign and recent sexual harassment revelations which have shaken the culture industry and the world of politics. The painting was down for a total of seven days — one for every nymph — before it was re-hung thanks to public demand.

The youthful appearance of the mythological females depicted was the main point of contention. The general consensus so far, however, seems to be that the painting wasn’t offending anyone. In most cases, a greater contempt has been expressed towards the removal itself, branded as conservative censorship by many.

As a matter of opinion, I quite like the painting. I have seen Hylas and the Nymphs numerous times and it has never stood out to me as being offensive.

I don’t believe that it is remarkable enough to be controversial, and I don’t believe therefore that this painting would influence an audience to think differently about sexual entitlement.

What did offend me about the event is Manchester Art Gallery’s disingenuous and opportunistic co-option of a pressing social and political issue, exploited to ignite a media stunt. It saddens me to criticise one of my favourite UK galleries, but there are numerous reasons why we shouldn’t buy into this public performance.

Firstly, the project was announced “in anticipation” of the gallery’s upcoming Sonia Boyce exhibition. Manchester Art Gallery has harnessed this debate as a tool to promote the artist’s work, a fact that they have been relatively transparent about.

It is also not unreasonable to imagine how the re-opening of the Whitworth Art Galley has cast a shadow over Manchester’s trusty city gallery throughout the past three years. Without any sort of permanent collection, the Whitworth’s flexible blank-canvas layout has been able to attract increasingly impressive names such as Andy Warhol and Steve McQueen, leaving the lesser-known names and more localised narratives to its public companion.

Manchester Art Gallery’s intended display of integrity in this instance, purporting an interest in contemporary public opinions, is clearly an attempt to update itself, by engaging with current cultural affairs.

A similar event took place in the press a few months ago. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York declined to remove Therese Dreaming by Balthus from public view, despite a large petition demanding that it be taken down. The curator of the Hylas’ media circus, Clare Gannaway, likely took inspiration from the Met’s negative press, which was publicity nonetheless.

It’s not hard to sympathise with the Met’s critics, who argue that Balthus’ depiction Therese, as a highly sexualised young girl, actively promotes paedophilia.

When considered within these wider walls, the connection between Hylas and #metoo seems a little more contrived.

I would also argue that the Manchester Art Gallery never intended to permanently remove a key piece of their collection, if this had been the persuasion of the public’s verdict.

You might be interested to visit the gallery (now that they’ve swiftly re-hung Hylas) to view some of the other larger treasures they have on display. Less than a thirty-second walk from Hylas you can see Sappho, the ancient female poet, portrayed by Charles-August Mengin as stormy embodiment of busty sexual energy.

Sappho - Charles Mengin Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Sappho by Charles Mengin Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Or, you could see The Sirens and Ulysses by William Etty, a painter who’s academic obsession with the female form has long been called into question.

If you look closely at this painting, which takes up nearly an entire wall, you can see that Etty spent a vast amount of time painting the naked women. So long in fact that he ran out of time to finish the ropey background, that poorly contextualises their generous nudity within a loose mythological theme.

The Sirens and the Ulysses by William Etty Photo: The Public Catalogue Foundation
The Sirens and the Ulysses by William Etty Photo: The Public Catalogue Foundation

I don’t believe that any of these artworks should be taken down, but it seems that Manchester Art Gallery doesn’t think so either. There is a definite irony in this marketing campaign’s success. The attention Waterhouse’s painting has attracted has led to its image being circulated more than ever before. It has developed a fresh infamy.

Hylas and the Nymphs is nothing but a throw-away manifestation of an outdated Victorian imagination, a specific form of misogyny which has been regarded as problematic ever since it began. Whether or not we do continue to revise the art on display in our public collections is to be seen. This tired debate has resurfaced in the Western art world time and time again.

As a matter of urgency however, I think it should be asked “is it really fair to equate a Victorian mythological fantasy, with the living instances of sexual assault and abuse that we face today?”