A Newcastle fans lament.

With today seeing the sacking of Newcastle boss Chris Houghton, I’ve decided to pen a letter to Mr Mike Ashley. In one of a long list of idiotic and ridiculous moves by those involved in the running of the club I’ve supported since the age of four it has made me angry and made me despair. I’m undecided as to whether or not to send it.

Dear Mr Ashley,

I am writing in response to the sacking of Mr Chris Hughton on the 6^th of December 2010. I am both appalled and angered at this decision and would like to take this opportunity to explain to you why this decision, yet another one which you have made, is so wrong.

First let me take you back to the September of 2004, fifteen days into a new Premier League season. Newcastle have made the Uefa cup semi-final only the year before and European football had become the norm at St. James’ Park, amazing for a team that a few years before had been at risk of relegation. But Sir Bobby Robson had come in and turned the club around and brought in fresh new talent. Freddy Sheppard our chairman at the time then turned round at the start of a brand new season and sacked Sir Bobby for ‘results’.

This was the first moment where I ever doubted the running of Newcastle but it was also the start of a series of decisions at board level that turned Newcastle into a national laughing stock. But then you took over and we had the chance to start again.

It got no better though and we were relegated, still a joke of a club and also pretty disliked across the country. If Newcastle needed the perfect the opportunity to truly start again. We were a club in disarray, with a small squad proven to be not up to scratch at Premier League level. And yet with all these problems, without the backing of you, without the recourses to build a decent squad Hughton was still able to get this club promoted by winning the league with two games to spare.

So why on earth have you sacked him? You’ve claimed you want a more experienced manager. Why? We currently sit 12^th with 19 points, nearly halfway to the all important 40 points total with two games to go until half way through the season. What more could an experienced manager have done? He drew with Chelsea, beat Arsenal, Villa, Sunderland and Everton those are pretty fantastic results for someone, who according to you doesn’t know what they’re doing.

Maybe it was the recent results then? The West Brom game was an awful dispay yes. But Newcastle were missing their two best midfielders, their first choice keeper and centre backs. If you had provided him with the funds to strengthen his squad then this would not have been so much of a problem. And Hughton was clearly angry, he wanted the chance to kept the team winning again and I have full faith that he would have been able to do that.

The thing that annoys me so much about this decision though is that it once again shows your complete lack of respect for this club, for its fans and for those people who work under you. First of all Hughton deserved a longer contract for the wonders he worked last year, the dignity with which he handled himself, and the way he had got the team playing. Secondly the players clearly respect him so you have alienated them, many who have been about to sign new contracts will not want to stay. What message does it send to Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton.

You’ve also alienated the fans. This rubbish in the media over the last months that we wanted Hughton is ridiculous. I was at the Fulham game and there were a number of chants of support for Hughton even again during the Brom game. That doesn’t happen if they want you to leave. You of all people should know that.

And perhaps even worse than that you have thrown away the opportunity to bring stability to this club. You have once again made this club a laughing stock, amongst the media, amongst football fans.

I’m not really sure where we go from this. You won’t bring back Hughton, though you should. You’ll claim to bring in experience but you won’t. You could put money into the club to strengthen the team but you won’t. In which case maybe you should sell the club and leave, but unsurprisingly you won’t.

University of Leeds half year sports report

As we come to the half way point of the year it would appear to be a good time to look at the progress of our Universities sports teams and to see how they have been doing and to check whether Leeds is on target to achieve its target of (14^th) in the overall BUCS table this year.

The standings overall so far show that the University of Leeds is 9^th with a total of 98.5 points, 0.5 more than Exeter who are 10^th. These have come in a variety of sports showing Leeds’ strength in depth across the board. The Hill Climb cycling event saw the Men’s Team win their event with the Women’s team coming fourth. Overall the cyclist brought back 33 points from the Hill Climb a great start for the Leeds’ teams this season.

In the Ju Jitsu competition Leeds brought back further points from some excellent performances. In the Blue belt competition Leeds one six points, in the Dark Blue belt a 3nd place earned Leeds eight points and an overall team finish of joint 4^th brought home 4.5 points, a strong total of 18.5.

In the swimming gala Leeds also won an impressive haul of BUCS points. Wins in the women’s 100m fly and women’s 50 metre free, a second place in the 50 metre fly and 3^rd in the 100 metre back meant the Leeds achieved a total of 44 points.

And with the women’s team surfing coming 6^th and winning three points Leeds have made a superb start to the BUCS season.

Results in the weekly BUCS matches have also been good with many of the universities teams competing near the top of their prospective tables. The hockey teams are doing well half way through the season, with 12 teams overall the Gryphons side are showing their strength in depth with the men’s 2nds, women’s 1sts and 5ths all leading the way at the top of their leagues. With the men’s 3rds are second in their league, and the men’s 4ths, women’s 2nds and women’s 3rds all just three points of the leaders in their divisions it is looking a potential golden season for the hockey teams.

Following on from the aquatic success of the swimmers the water polo teams have also made good starts to season with the men’s team topping their league and the women in a strong second.

After a first win for the men’s tennis 1sts last week, university tennis to be in a great place with the men’s 2nds second in their division and women’s 1sts just 3 points off the summit of their league. In table tennis the men’s 1sts are undefeated and top of the Northern Conference 1A by a staggering nine points. Meanwhile the men’s lacrosse 1sts sit atop the Northern Conference 2A, tied on points with Liverpool1sts in what is a hugely competitive division. 

The Gryphons teams continue to improve and the amount of teams who are topping their individual leagues seems to grow week on week. The men’s football 3rds are three points clear in first in the Northern Conference Men’s 5B, the men’s rugby union 3rds and 4ths are number one in their divisions. The women’s squash 1sts are top of their league while the women’s 2nds are in second. Further mid-season success is coming from the netball teams. The 2nds and 4ths are second in their leagues while the 5ths are top of the Northern Conference 7B.

So with so many Leeds teams either leading the way in their leagues or sitting a few points away from the summit of their tables all the players have earned themselves a long rest over Christmas. But with success so close all our sports men and women will no doubt come back determined to push for the league titles straight away. And if that happens, well, it could be an amazing year for sport at the University of Leeds.

To close it may be worth looking at whether Leeds is aiming at the correct target. Loughborough have so far accumulated 638.5 points, 463.5 more than Stirling who sit in second. In light of that, an eventual 10^th place for Leeds is a good target to have.

Never Let Me Go review

In short won’t make any money, will bag plenty of awards, and is simply brilliant.

Never let me go is the third screenplay from writer Alex Garland, who also wrote the novel The Beach. Adapted from the book by the author Kazuo Ishiguro and directed by Mark Romanek it is the story of three friends growing up in an English boarding school in the 1970’s and how their relationships grow and fade over the next two decades. Following so far? All sounding pretty normal at this point I grant you but here is the twist. The film genre is given as a thriller, which it is to an extent, but the real genre of the film is kept hidden to try and stop people being put off from going, because it is a science fiction film and a fantastic one at that.

The film is set in an alternate reality where there have been significant scientific breakthroughs that prolong the life expectancy of people and have all but removed terminal illnesses. Any further explanation of the plot would probably reduce the enjoyment of the film so I’ll concentrate on the reasons why the film is so superb.

First of all the plot is clever, it makes you think and leaves you with questions and ponderings long after the screening has finished. The premises is different to a lot of other science fiction films and its grounding in a reality that, although alternate, is very similar to Britain in the 1970s to 1990s gives it a realism that brings the ideas of the film home with so much extra force. Although a voiceover at the end seems to almost forget the intelligence it has assumed the audience as possessed throughout the rest of the film, it isn’t enough to stop the film being exceptional.

If the plot and central idea did not make this film stand out enough the emotion of the story certainly will. A love story but not in the normal sense, as the story reaches its climax there are more than enough touching and poignant moments.

But the main reason for watching this film is simply the three main performances. Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan are all gripping in their understatement and all will surely be tipped for awards. 

As the confident and eager to seem worldly Ruth, Knightley gives the kind of performance we know she is capable of and lead performances in larger American films such as A Dangerous Method and The Emperor’s Children will show if her career is continuing the impressive acting trend seen from Atonement onward. Garfield as the emotional and often confused Tommy announces himself as most definitely an actor to be watched. And by showing the awkwardness that is necessary for the webhead, the upcoming Spiderman reboot has made a great choice for Peter Parker. Finally as the leader of the piece Cathy, Mulligan follows up her fantastic performance in An Education with another role worthy of at least an Oscar nomination. The maturity and skill with which she handles her performance point to the simple conclusion that she is one of Britain’s best actresses.   

Easily a five star film and one that will be heavily nominated at the BAFTA’s (I’m betting 7 or 8) with 3 or 4 nominations at the Oscars with at least one for one of the leads.

Red Bull Flying Without Wings

Congratulations to Red Bull Racing who in only their seventh season have won the Formula One constructors championship. Whilst this relatively new team taking on the might of McLaren and Ferrari and leaving them in the dust, as well as the established teams of Renault, Mercedes and Williams it is hardly a shock. The Adrian Newey designed car has been the fastest in Formula One for the last two seasons. 

In 2009 they had four, one-two finishes and another two race victories. Red Bull missed out on the Constructers title last year to Brawn by 18.5 points a deficit they would have easily overcome had it not been for the five retirements and continual engine problems the cars suffered from.

This year the RB6 has been even faster, showing a level of superiority in their car over the other teams unseen in Formula One since the Ferrari cars of the early 2000s. Of the 18 races so far this season Red Bull have had pole positions in 14 of them. Only half of these pole positions have led to a Red Bull victory and it was only going to be the Red Bull’s themselves who again would prevent them winning the constructors championship. Despite the best attempts of both the drivers, the management and the tendency of the car to break Red Bull have managed to succeed this season. 

Helped by McLaren having a much slower car, that every single update it has had put on it failing to eat into the huge speed gap they have between them and the Red Bulls, and by Ferrari only allowing Alonso to score points for fear that any success for Massa would lead to the Spaniard throwing his toys out of the pram, Red Bull’s success was no surprise.

But as I watched the coverage of the aftermath of the Brazilian Grand Prix last Sunday I couldn’t shake the feeling that although the constructors is important, everyone was looking forward to this Sunday in Abu Dhabi where the drivers title will be decided. The title that everyone in Formula One wants to win regardless of whether they are actually driving the car or not and despite all their clear advantages over their rivals this season, Red Bull could still end up with neither of their drivers winning the drivers title. 

And if this happens the Constructors title will hold very little consolation in the face of the fact that either Red Bull driver should have had this title won long before Formula One touched down in the deserts of Abu Dhabi.