..bar haggis, and Kenny Dalglish
I just don't get this devolution thing.
As I see it, we in England, allow Scottish MPs to come down to Parliament and vote on all sorts of crap that affects us, especially tax, service cuts, budgets and nasty stuff like that. They then piss off to Scotland, where English MPs can't go to vote, and repeal just about every nasty thing the English parliament just agreed, so it doesn't apply to Scots.
They then allow free "everything"....(prescriptions and university spring immediately to mind), and use nationally collected (i.e. English) taxes to help fund it...and the Welsh are getting in on the act too.
Am I missing something here, or is someone taking the slap.
And, despite being in the EEC, only English students are exempt from free university places.
If you're Belgian, no worries.
There is an answer.
If every English student simply told the Scottish universities where to stick their courses, they'd only have non EEC income to help fund them.
Anyway bar St Andrews, which is very pretty, but bloody cold, the rest are dumps.....I know, I've played football at all of them...Stirling is the ugliest and Aberdeen is just effing freezing.
How about rebuilding Hadrians wall a lot bigger, and let the Scots try to fund all that by taxing just themselves. That gas won't last for ever, although Salmond seems to be a likely natural reserve for some years to come. Now there is a pillock.
Friday, 24 December 2010
Sunday, 19 December 2010
Christmas...humbug wouldn't do it justice
Times are hard. They must be because Lord Young was sacked for suggesting otherwise.
A look around our local temple to retail sitting twinkling by the iced over Ship Canal would suggest he may have had a point.
Considering we're broke, I've never seen traffic like it.
As always at some point in mid October the merchandising started, and Christmas trees appeared in mid November. Six sodding weeks of traffic congestion for yours truly, as I try to get home after eleven hours of dealing with the viral load of my punters.
Crikey, the orange skin, micro-minis and "A bit like" Uggs are well on display, as the population who are struggling to cope get stuck in to the usual Christmas excess.
The only things they seem to be struggling to cope with, are walking whilst their jean's gussets are around their knees, or speed texting whilst both hands are full of ten shopping bags from Monsoon, Hollister, Superdry and some other over-priced designer tat.
The Apple store is as busy as an Afghan soup kitchen, and Selfridges looks as though someone's announced they're giving away free money.
Old Gordo seems to have achieved something before he buggered off, he's got us trying to spend our way out of recession.
Might as well, my savings are devaluing faster than I could spend them
Problem is boys and girls, it's all made in Japan and China !!
Now, let's have a look at that Korean built Stratocaster.
Global warming
So, here we are, second winter on the trot where we get the big freeze. Football off, Scotland paralysed (do we give a crap any more after their smug approach to tuition fees......we're still paying good cash to run your country you bastards)
So, here's the rub. I'm led to understand that the fact that a polar bear would be planning on moving South if he lived in Glasgow, does not fall out with the continuing scientific belief that we're all going to be kebabed within the next two hundred years, but if that's really true, let's get on with it.
We get ten year pulses of this sort of winter apparently.....in which case it would be worth getting a bloody good fleet of snow ploughs. They can't have an operating life of much longer than that, so we could recycle them afterwards.
Here I am in Cheshire with a city full of salt three miles away, and yet the main road into town yesterday was a white out.....we only had three inches of snow for God's sake......can do attitude ?....fought and won in the Falklands?........stiff upper lip?
It may be stiff, but that's because it's minus bleedin' ten.
If global warming means I need snow chains two months a year, or have to buy a gas guzzling 4x4 (whoops !), sobeit. If it means I get two or three ski trips a year, even better...although clearly that means six plane flights (whoops)....
But and it's a big but......could someone change the timing of the football season (we don't all play at The Emirates) and get a transport system that doesn't stop when we get four inches of snow and the temp hits minus 10
...and don't get me started on bloody Christmas
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Capello, the second coming.
So, our overpaid prancing ponies have now beaten Bulgaria and Switzerland, famous for, something I'm sure and chocolate respectively. So victory in Euro 2012 is now assured !!
At least we now have proof of what we knew all along, we don't need Lampard pissing about if and when Gerrard is playing well. We also know that Barry is keeping that position warm for someone better at playing in it !!
Can't see us learning much after playing the might of Wales, so we'll qualify, turn up and be found to be just as crap as we all know we are..unless we see more youngsters coming through
Nothing changes, and playing too many of the old guard in what should be a simple group will not help us in two years time, and certainly not in 2014.
At least we now have proof of what we knew all along, we don't need Lampard pissing about if and when Gerrard is playing well. We also know that Barry is keeping that position warm for someone better at playing in it !!
Can't see us learning much after playing the might of Wales, so we'll qualify, turn up and be found to be just as crap as we all know we are..unless we see more youngsters coming through
Nothing changes, and playing too many of the old guard in what should be a simple group will not help us in two years time, and certainly not in 2014.
Monday, 26 July 2010
Jeremy Clarkson must be God
So, Top Gear is now so big, Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz wanted to be on it. Nuff said.
Christ knows how, but three petrol headed louts have become an institution.
Bloody marvellous.
Let's face it , which bloke doesn't want that gig.
Christ knows how, but three petrol headed louts have become an institution.
Bloody marvellous.
Let's face it , which bloke doesn't want that gig.
Sunday, 11 July 2010
Team Stockport
As ever Stockport FC, arrived at the 31st World Medical Games, bursting with enthusiasm, looking forward to a great week.
This year buoyed by our unbeaten run of six draws last year, we knew a few major absences from our squad would make our lives more difficult, but we were not counting on seven new teams, mostly made up of 35 years olds and/or psychotic Croatians.
Day one. (Friday)
The 10 pathfinders arrived via Venice, picking up Messy (who'd already been in Italy a week at the airport) and a lovely minibus ride followed, passing through Northern Italy, Slovenia and Croatia.
Porec proved to be as lovely as the photos suggest.
Hotel turns out to be surprisingly good for a 3 star, and our concerns about compulsory half board disappear as the evening meal is both voluminous, tasty and expansive enough for all tastes.
The bars beckoned, and Gunner, Fiasco, Suker and Necsarec staggered in at about 3 am
Day two. (Saturday)
Registration followed by a two hour training session.
We had expected heat, but not the humidity. This proved to be one of the cooler days !!
More beers but a relatively early night in anticipation of the Italians the next day.
We have drawn Napoli (a team we know), Cro Docs (a team we were kicked to death by in 1998) and our the younger team from our old Moroccan friends. A group where we might expect to pick up points.
The second wave of Babble, Van Pearcie, Verruca and Tarantini arrive via ferry that evening.
A relatively sedate evening, and we head to bed in anticipation.
Day three. (Sunday)
The sun is cracking the slates and you could wring out the air. We arrive in good time to find a Napoli team with only one familiar face. There appears to have been some sort of aggressive footballing euthanasia, with the replacements all in their mid thirties, four of whom would appear to be also able to make their living as Olympic sprinters.
Not a good day. 9-1. On balance if we had resorted to giving them a good kicking at 2-0, we might have limited the damage.
Highlights of which there were few, were Fiasco in his grass skirt, Google's excellent lobbed goal, and watching Overtan trying to keep up with the right winger.
A dose of reality. It's clear we have younger keener opposition than in the three previous over 35's tournaments.
This is confirmed by Pierre the Game's head administrator when Necsarec catches up with him that night.
Beer followed, but another relatively early night in anticipation of the next day's brawl
Necsarec is afforded the honour of reading the Games Oath at the opening ceremony
Day four. (Monday)
The Cro Docs. It's not that Croatian players are deliberatley dirty. They are simply (should be)committed, as hard as nails, and would kick their own Granny to death if she had a football at her feet. 5-0 proved to be a gutsy result, and Necsarec (your author) left the field unbowed, albeit with legs like a beaten steak. Their number nine won't have felt too comfortable that night either. Quite a nice bunch of lads as it turned out.
Sobriety hadn't seemed to help much, so we tried a later night to see what happened.
Day five (Tuesday)
Scorchio, and not a day to meet lads used to living in heat in the forties !!
We always have a close game with Morocco's two teams and the last time we had faced these chaps we had been two up, deliberately missed what we felt was an unjust penalty, and then lost 2-3. We weren't about to make the same mistake twice.
In fact the team had also changed a little, with a few young faces on show. Still, many old friends to meet again.
They always play it slow and deliberately, and went in 1-0 up slightly against the run of play.
We are playing pretty well and the defence is resolute.
Necsarec sustains a crack to the head defending a corner. Out for a second, and that eye won't look good tomorrow
Our lack of strikers and the heat sapped us in the second half and as we tried to press for an equaliser a somewhat fortuitous shot went in from somewhere outside the box.
Renewed pressure was rewarded with a corner, from which Necsarec pressure forced a poor clearance and Fiasco slotted home. 2-1 the final score. Better but not enough.
Bottom of the group meant a play off group of three, for positions 13-15.
The opposition ? The oldest of the two Moroccan teams and our old friends the Argentinians. We were not destined to meet up with our old Australian or Spanish friends who were in the group above. (It should be pointed out that the Australians were only there courtesy of being in an initial group of only three.......and they can't play cricket either)
Our five reinforcements were due to arrive that evening, but Buttons had to turn for home after receiving dreadful family news. The remaining four arrived in poor shape having had a torrid crossing on what seems to have been more like a chartered racing powerboat than a ferry. Formation sea-sickness the order of the day. Snappa, Tourismo, Snakey and Abo have not had the most restful of trips. We are all a bit low after hearing about Button's bad news.
The draw offered us Wednesday to recuperate, with a rest day, so heavy beers followed for those who weren't too green.
Day 6.(Weds)
Despite the excesses, we are in the foyer for 10:30 and get in 90 minutes training, working on short passing and two touch. It looks good, and the people who have been here a while suffer far less than the newcomers. Snakey causes concern by pulling up with an aggravation of a recent hamstring problem. Ice and drugs and we cross our fingers for him for tomorrow.
Still blisteringly hot. Somewhat early night as we have the Argentinians and a 9 o'clock start in the town's main stadium to follow.
Day 7. (Thursday)
At last a team who are unchanged. We have played this team many times and the last two occasions have been draws, followed by English wins after penalties.
Room for optimism. In fact we are very flat, and the early night, slightly cooler temperature and the fact we are playing in the stadium, fail to lift us.
No-one can doubt the strength sapping work that is being put in, (no-one's hiding out there), but we have no inspiration.
Snakey lasts ten minutes, but our fears are realised and his tournament is once again brought to a close in his first match of the trip.
Again we fail to conjure many chances and we are clearly missing the industry and ball holding skills of our absent club captain.
We concede one in each half and manufacture only a handful of half chances.
The usual shirt-fest follows and we spend a pleasant thirty minutes after the game with our old friends. We'll need the change strip tomorrow.....although we could just about rustle up an entire Argentina strip we have collected so many shirts in the past three years.
Disappointing, and we say goodbye to Overtan, Van Pearcie, Babble and Verruca who leave that afternoon.
It's clear that temperance has not helped us at all, and with a 6am start on Saturday, and a 6pm KO the following day, this will be the "last" night on tour.
A meet up for the usual group meal, this time in the hotel, and then we hit the town.
A great night in two or three great bars.
Gunner, Fiasco, Tarantini and Necsarec, arrive with the morning light and the milk delivery !!
Day 8.
A six pm KO. Couldn't be worse.
All day to recover from last night's excess, but it will mean arriving in the hotel late after the match, eating at 9pm and no opportunity for a late night as we must be up by 5am.
Still as hot as hades as we arrive at the pitch. We should have expected what we found. A Moroccan side that had graduated from the open age competition, and not one of our old Moroccan friends in sight. The culling had been even more effective than the Italian job on Napoli.
Three of the Moroccans prayed before the match. Necsarec pondered on his own lack of faith, but concluded that even devine intervention might not be enough here.
Again a gutsy performance followed. By now down to a squad of 14, with three of those well below par, only 1-0 at half time. A typical Moroccan team, patient slow build ups ending with typical darting one-two's, looking for space or a foot to fall over.
We were having none of it, and disciplined defence with a good off-side line kept things tight, with only one defensive lapse being punished.
We weren't creating too much though. Second half, the last match. We had to push.
A bit more space for the Moroccans, a bit more ball for us. Still no more goals.
Twenty to go and the fatigue cut in and a switch in Moroccan tactics.
Two strikers seemingly not worrying about the off side.
We step up, catch three in fact, but the ball goes to an untracked whippet of a midfielder making a run from deeper. Of course those three were interfering with play. Bloody stupid rule...
Clever stuff and we can't combat it from midfield, as we have little left in the tank.
It is repeated two more times.
Finally weariness gifts a fifth from a defensive blunder.
We don't give up and throwing caution to the winds, we press on.
It is rewarded with a goal, and in fact two more good chances are spurned before the final whistle. 5-1.
It's over.
Back to the hotel for final speeches and as many beers as we think we can get away with and still get in a bus by 6am.
We emerge at 5:30am, to find the organisers of the Games in the foyer, having just got back from an all nighter
We are given a guard of honour as we leave, an honorary gold medal and discover we have won the Fair Play Trophy.
The club has always been held in great affection, we play hard, party hard and conduct ourselves with dignity
What have we learned ?
Well, this group of lads gets on well. The camerarderie is unparalleled and every player has given all he could.
Against teams on average ten or more years younger, and with several key players missing, we have probably played as well as we could, especially in the sapping humidity. In 13 years of touring the author thinks these were the toughest conditions he has faced.
Given the results, and the clear tendency for 35-40 yr old teams to now enter, what has for its first three years been an 8 team tournament of older teams (all of who have become friends), what should we do? We talked about that.
It would appear, that in the words of Bernard Hills King Theoden, when accepting that he cannot overcome the Orc Hordes at Minas Tirith, "We will meet them on the field of battle nonetheless"
Bring on 2011.
This year buoyed by our unbeaten run of six draws last year, we knew a few major absences from our squad would make our lives more difficult, but we were not counting on seven new teams, mostly made up of 35 years olds and/or psychotic Croatians.
Day one. (Friday)
The 10 pathfinders arrived via Venice, picking up Messy (who'd already been in Italy a week at the airport) and a lovely minibus ride followed, passing through Northern Italy, Slovenia and Croatia.
Porec proved to be as lovely as the photos suggest.
Hotel turns out to be surprisingly good for a 3 star, and our concerns about compulsory half board disappear as the evening meal is both voluminous, tasty and expansive enough for all tastes.
The bars beckoned, and Gunner, Fiasco, Suker and Necsarec staggered in at about 3 am
Day two. (Saturday)
Registration followed by a two hour training session.
We had expected heat, but not the humidity. This proved to be one of the cooler days !!
More beers but a relatively early night in anticipation of the Italians the next day.
We have drawn Napoli (a team we know), Cro Docs (a team we were kicked to death by in 1998) and our the younger team from our old Moroccan friends. A group where we might expect to pick up points.
The second wave of Babble, Van Pearcie, Verruca and Tarantini arrive via ferry that evening.
A relatively sedate evening, and we head to bed in anticipation.
Day three. (Sunday)
The sun is cracking the slates and you could wring out the air. We arrive in good time to find a Napoli team with only one familiar face. There appears to have been some sort of aggressive footballing euthanasia, with the replacements all in their mid thirties, four of whom would appear to be also able to make their living as Olympic sprinters.
Not a good day. 9-1. On balance if we had resorted to giving them a good kicking at 2-0, we might have limited the damage.
Highlights of which there were few, were Fiasco in his grass skirt, Google's excellent lobbed goal, and watching Overtan trying to keep up with the right winger.
A dose of reality. It's clear we have younger keener opposition than in the three previous over 35's tournaments.
This is confirmed by Pierre the Game's head administrator when Necsarec catches up with him that night.
Beer followed, but another relatively early night in anticipation of the next day's brawl
Necsarec is afforded the honour of reading the Games Oath at the opening ceremony
Day four. (Monday)
The Cro Docs. It's not that Croatian players are deliberatley dirty. They are simply (should be)committed, as hard as nails, and would kick their own Granny to death if she had a football at her feet. 5-0 proved to be a gutsy result, and Necsarec (your author) left the field unbowed, albeit with legs like a beaten steak. Their number nine won't have felt too comfortable that night either. Quite a nice bunch of lads as it turned out.
Sobriety hadn't seemed to help much, so we tried a later night to see what happened.
Day five (Tuesday)
Scorchio, and not a day to meet lads used to living in heat in the forties !!
We always have a close game with Morocco's two teams and the last time we had faced these chaps we had been two up, deliberately missed what we felt was an unjust penalty, and then lost 2-3. We weren't about to make the same mistake twice.
In fact the team had also changed a little, with a few young faces on show. Still, many old friends to meet again.
They always play it slow and deliberately, and went in 1-0 up slightly against the run of play.
We are playing pretty well and the defence is resolute.
Necsarec sustains a crack to the head defending a corner. Out for a second, and that eye won't look good tomorrow
Our lack of strikers and the heat sapped us in the second half and as we tried to press for an equaliser a somewhat fortuitous shot went in from somewhere outside the box.
Renewed pressure was rewarded with a corner, from which Necsarec pressure forced a poor clearance and Fiasco slotted home. 2-1 the final score. Better but not enough.
Bottom of the group meant a play off group of three, for positions 13-15.
The opposition ? The oldest of the two Moroccan teams and our old friends the Argentinians. We were not destined to meet up with our old Australian or Spanish friends who were in the group above. (It should be pointed out that the Australians were only there courtesy of being in an initial group of only three.......and they can't play cricket either)
Our five reinforcements were due to arrive that evening, but Buttons had to turn for home after receiving dreadful family news. The remaining four arrived in poor shape having had a torrid crossing on what seems to have been more like a chartered racing powerboat than a ferry. Formation sea-sickness the order of the day. Snappa, Tourismo, Snakey and Abo have not had the most restful of trips. We are all a bit low after hearing about Button's bad news.
The draw offered us Wednesday to recuperate, with a rest day, so heavy beers followed for those who weren't too green.
Day 6.(Weds)
Despite the excesses, we are in the foyer for 10:30 and get in 90 minutes training, working on short passing and two touch. It looks good, and the people who have been here a while suffer far less than the newcomers. Snakey causes concern by pulling up with an aggravation of a recent hamstring problem. Ice and drugs and we cross our fingers for him for tomorrow.
Still blisteringly hot. Somewhat early night as we have the Argentinians and a 9 o'clock start in the town's main stadium to follow.
Day 7. (Thursday)
At last a team who are unchanged. We have played this team many times and the last two occasions have been draws, followed by English wins after penalties.
Room for optimism. In fact we are very flat, and the early night, slightly cooler temperature and the fact we are playing in the stadium, fail to lift us.
No-one can doubt the strength sapping work that is being put in, (no-one's hiding out there), but we have no inspiration.
Snakey lasts ten minutes, but our fears are realised and his tournament is once again brought to a close in his first match of the trip.
Again we fail to conjure many chances and we are clearly missing the industry and ball holding skills of our absent club captain.
We concede one in each half and manufacture only a handful of half chances.
The usual shirt-fest follows and we spend a pleasant thirty minutes after the game with our old friends. We'll need the change strip tomorrow.....although we could just about rustle up an entire Argentina strip we have collected so many shirts in the past three years.
Disappointing, and we say goodbye to Overtan, Van Pearcie, Babble and Verruca who leave that afternoon.
It's clear that temperance has not helped us at all, and with a 6am start on Saturday, and a 6pm KO the following day, this will be the "last" night on tour.
A meet up for the usual group meal, this time in the hotel, and then we hit the town.
A great night in two or three great bars.
Gunner, Fiasco, Tarantini and Necsarec, arrive with the morning light and the milk delivery !!
Day 8.
A six pm KO. Couldn't be worse.
All day to recover from last night's excess, but it will mean arriving in the hotel late after the match, eating at 9pm and no opportunity for a late night as we must be up by 5am.
Still as hot as hades as we arrive at the pitch. We should have expected what we found. A Moroccan side that had graduated from the open age competition, and not one of our old Moroccan friends in sight. The culling had been even more effective than the Italian job on Napoli.
Three of the Moroccans prayed before the match. Necsarec pondered on his own lack of faith, but concluded that even devine intervention might not be enough here.
Again a gutsy performance followed. By now down to a squad of 14, with three of those well below par, only 1-0 at half time. A typical Moroccan team, patient slow build ups ending with typical darting one-two's, looking for space or a foot to fall over.
We were having none of it, and disciplined defence with a good off-side line kept things tight, with only one defensive lapse being punished.
We weren't creating too much though. Second half, the last match. We had to push.
A bit more space for the Moroccans, a bit more ball for us. Still no more goals.
Twenty to go and the fatigue cut in and a switch in Moroccan tactics.
Two strikers seemingly not worrying about the off side.
We step up, catch three in fact, but the ball goes to an untracked whippet of a midfielder making a run from deeper. Of course those three were interfering with play. Bloody stupid rule...
Clever stuff and we can't combat it from midfield, as we have little left in the tank.
It is repeated two more times.
Finally weariness gifts a fifth from a defensive blunder.
We don't give up and throwing caution to the winds, we press on.
It is rewarded with a goal, and in fact two more good chances are spurned before the final whistle. 5-1.
It's over.
Back to the hotel for final speeches and as many beers as we think we can get away with and still get in a bus by 6am.
We emerge at 5:30am, to find the organisers of the Games in the foyer, having just got back from an all nighter
We are given a guard of honour as we leave, an honorary gold medal and discover we have won the Fair Play Trophy.
The club has always been held in great affection, we play hard, party hard and conduct ourselves with dignity
What have we learned ?
Well, this group of lads gets on well. The camerarderie is unparalleled and every player has given all he could.
Against teams on average ten or more years younger, and with several key players missing, we have probably played as well as we could, especially in the sapping humidity. In 13 years of touring the author thinks these were the toughest conditions he has faced.
Given the results, and the clear tendency for 35-40 yr old teams to now enter, what has for its first three years been an 8 team tournament of older teams (all of who have become friends), what should we do? We talked about that.
It would appear, that in the words of Bernard Hills King Theoden, when accepting that he cannot overcome the Orc Hordes at Minas Tirith, "We will meet them on the field of battle nonetheless"
Bring on 2011.
Monday, 28 June 2010
Team England
Oh my God.
We keep being told that our Premier League is the best in the world
We can take that with a huge pinch of salt, but even if it's true, one thing's for sure..it ain't because of all the English players in it.
Are Liverpool Steve Gerrard....not this year
Are Chelsea Lampard, a stronger argument but I think Drogba may have a stronger case
Wazza dragged United through a season on his own, and look what that did to him.
Thereafter...no-one.
Feeble.
Blame Capello ?. I don't think so. Could he have found any better players in this so called "Golden generation". I'd have left Carrick at home and taken Parker. I'd have left Wright-Phillips and taken Johnson, but essentially what we took was what we had.
Overpaid and not hungry enough
David James can stand tall. Ashley Cole at least did his job. The rest useless. Rooney was I assume still unfit, Gerrard was simply ineffective, and Lampard even worse.
MOM match one. Can't think of one (? Glen Johnson ?)
MOM match two. Definitely no-one
MOM Match three. Milner ?
MOM match four David James
Horrendous.
So when will it dawn on the bozos at Lancater Gate that we need to produce and regularly play home grown players. That means play 8 Englishmen in Premier and Europe, week in week out.
We see teams like Korea and Japan, even Switzerland, playing reasonable football, well above their alleged (by English sportswriters) abilities.
The reason, they're a team, technically proficient, and not up their own individual arses.
Blackpool would have put on a better show last night, because they'd have gone out and died for the team, and they'd have wanted it more
Capello is a decent man and will probably resign. It will be a shame, but we can put the best coaching staff in the world with this bunch of prima-donnas and achieve nothing.
Most of our players are technically not good enough......., and the few good players are either burnt out, or unable to raise themselves for the good of the team.
Could you imagine ever seeing Terry Butcher, Stuart Pearce or Tony Adamsa (Let's face it, none of them great footballers) going out and playing like that.
Nuff said.
We keep being told that our Premier League is the best in the world
We can take that with a huge pinch of salt, but even if it's true, one thing's for sure..it ain't because of all the English players in it.
Are Liverpool Steve Gerrard....not this year
Are Chelsea Lampard, a stronger argument but I think Drogba may have a stronger case
Wazza dragged United through a season on his own, and look what that did to him.
Thereafter...no-one.
Feeble.
Blame Capello ?. I don't think so. Could he have found any better players in this so called "Golden generation". I'd have left Carrick at home and taken Parker. I'd have left Wright-Phillips and taken Johnson, but essentially what we took was what we had.
Overpaid and not hungry enough
David James can stand tall. Ashley Cole at least did his job. The rest useless. Rooney was I assume still unfit, Gerrard was simply ineffective, and Lampard even worse.
MOM match one. Can't think of one (? Glen Johnson ?)
MOM match two. Definitely no-one
MOM Match three. Milner ?
MOM match four David James
Horrendous.
So when will it dawn on the bozos at Lancater Gate that we need to produce and regularly play home grown players. That means play 8 Englishmen in Premier and Europe, week in week out.
We see teams like Korea and Japan, even Switzerland, playing reasonable football, well above their alleged (by English sportswriters) abilities.
The reason, they're a team, technically proficient, and not up their own individual arses.
Blackpool would have put on a better show last night, because they'd have gone out and died for the team, and they'd have wanted it more
Capello is a decent man and will probably resign. It will be a shame, but we can put the best coaching staff in the world with this bunch of prima-donnas and achieve nothing.
Most of our players are technically not good enough......., and the few good players are either burnt out, or unable to raise themselves for the good of the team.
Could you imagine ever seeing Terry Butcher, Stuart Pearce or Tony Adamsa (Let's face it, none of them great footballers) going out and playing like that.
Nuff said.
Saturday, 5 June 2010
Honeymoon over
A long month in politics.
So our coalition Health Minister wanabees have sat down and decided they need to do something different.
So, first scrap plans for revalidation. Something that has been needed for ages and the proposed system sorta made sense..well obviously not to them, or the BMA either it would seem, (who couldn't sort out their own breakfast.)
They still think they can manage to save money without cutting services, which demonstrates that they haven't understood anything at all about the massive waste involved in delivering unnecessary super shiny 24/7 access.
GP contracts will be changed to ensure that they have to undertake 95% of the current commissioning work done by PCT's. This will be made to happen by cutting the money in the current contract and only paying it back if the commissioning is done.
Exactly during what time in our 7:30am to 6:30pm, already full, working day do they think we'll be doing all this managing ?
They have at least realised that Darzi's solution to GP access, world poverty, sorting out nuclear fusion and discovering free energy was a total load of misinformed cost ineffective bollocks..
a description that pretty effectively covers 70% of DOH policy for the past ten years.
As usual we can expect them to totally avoid any dialogue with those of us who over 20 years have developed an understanding of what works and what doesn't.
Choose and Book will be great when it allows choice !!
A central patient record will be a good idea if we had any confidence it was secure or would actually work 95% of the time...and if someone could deliver it for the quoted cost, not eighty times the quoted cost.
Can we give everybody cancer drugs for everything..no we obviously can't.
Why are we concentrating on pouring ever increasing billions into expensive treatments for diabetes, vascular and respiraory disease, when we should be spending similar massive amounts in stopping the diseases developing in the first place, by doing Public Health properly.
Prediction.
If this direction of travel continues, within 5-10 years, primary care will be like a supermarket, staffed by salaried Drs with no incentive to improve or develop patient care, continuity will have disappeared, quality will be no better and it will certainly cost a whole lot more.
My generation will have retired, or like the Elves of Midle Earth, we'll have caught the last few boats to the USA/Australia whilst they still need to import experienced cost effective Primary Care Physicians
I'll be back...for the time being.
So our coalition Health Minister wanabees have sat down and decided they need to do something different.
So, first scrap plans for revalidation. Something that has been needed for ages and the proposed system sorta made sense..well obviously not to them, or the BMA either it would seem, (who couldn't sort out their own breakfast.)
They still think they can manage to save money without cutting services, which demonstrates that they haven't understood anything at all about the massive waste involved in delivering unnecessary super shiny 24/7 access.
GP contracts will be changed to ensure that they have to undertake 95% of the current commissioning work done by PCT's. This will be made to happen by cutting the money in the current contract and only paying it back if the commissioning is done.
Exactly during what time in our 7:30am to 6:30pm, already full, working day do they think we'll be doing all this managing ?
They have at least realised that Darzi's solution to GP access, world poverty, sorting out nuclear fusion and discovering free energy was a total load of misinformed cost ineffective bollocks..
a description that pretty effectively covers 70% of DOH policy for the past ten years.
As usual we can expect them to totally avoid any dialogue with those of us who over 20 years have developed an understanding of what works and what doesn't.
Choose and Book will be great when it allows choice !!
A central patient record will be a good idea if we had any confidence it was secure or would actually work 95% of the time...and if someone could deliver it for the quoted cost, not eighty times the quoted cost.
Can we give everybody cancer drugs for everything..no we obviously can't.
Why are we concentrating on pouring ever increasing billions into expensive treatments for diabetes, vascular and respiraory disease, when we should be spending similar massive amounts in stopping the diseases developing in the first place, by doing Public Health properly.
Prediction.
If this direction of travel continues, within 5-10 years, primary care will be like a supermarket, staffed by salaried Drs with no incentive to improve or develop patient care, continuity will have disappeared, quality will be no better and it will certainly cost a whole lot more.
My generation will have retired, or like the Elves of Midle Earth, we'll have caught the last few boats to the USA/Australia whilst they still need to import experienced cost effective Primary Care Physicians
I'll be back...for the time being.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Politics, what is it good for ?
Now as a Health Service employee, I'm informed that Purdah applies at present.
Now there's a fascinating concept.
No-one in the Health Service is supposed to make any comments that might influence voters.
Surely this is the one time that we should be able to speak up to tell the voters what the hell is going on and what needs to be changed.
Three sodding debates later and all we know is that Gordo's not great on the TV but at least knows what his policies are (You may disagree with him..and I do, but at least you know what you're gonna get).
As for the Teflon brothers, I have absolutely no idea what the hell they're offering apart from "change". Mealy mouthed half soundbites with a load of fluff and no substance. Really depressing. Apart from Clegg scrapping Trident, which ain't as daft as it sounds, I haven't heard anything of substance at all.
Cameron will fund all cancer drugs...Oh will he. And has he costed that. Has he hell as like, because if he had, he'd now be crapping himself.
So, Trident.
A good idea if you've got cash, but since we seem intent on being the world's Policeman it may be a better idea to spend those billions on conventional arms, because at present we're spending nearly as much blowing up Afghans as we are on the NHS..and we're paying for Trident too. We might as well decide to use one or the other.
I mean why not just nuke the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Back to the NHS.
Hmm.
Once again they're all saying they'll cut no front line services.
And they'll maintain and improve all the access
And they'll ensure lower waiting times, including Gordon's 2 week wait promise (A policy which many units are stating has actually worsened pick up times)
Let's be honest here there are some pretty fundamental problems to address
1) The NHS is bust
2) We have a gazillion managers, which are needed to deliver all the pointless bloody stats and outcomes the Govt has implemented
3) If you sack them, you'll need to stop measuring all this bloody pointless stuff.
4) Drugs are too expensive to fund everybody irresepctive of price
5) NICE is hamstrung by pressure groups and then politicians, every time it's brave enough to try to ration a drug
6) We can't promise access to healthcare like we can to Tesco, or you'll go bust.....oh, we are.
7) You really don't need to see your own GP on a Saturday or a Sunday, Dave.
8) If it's that important make employers allow staff time off to see the GP, like they get for the Dentist, the gasman, hospital appointments or a million other things.
9) Oh, and we already have local out of hours GP services they can contact 24/7.
10 ) I can't help the fact that they're crap because they're now managed by non-GPs, and staffed by cheap Germans.
11) Your idea Gordon, not ours
12) I don't include NHS Direct, because that's total crap.
13) Private companies exist to make profit....they will therefore never be more cost effective than a well run nationalised service......note the well run bit.
14) And a final bit of wisdom for the morons at the DOH............If you have a system whereby hospitals make money out of being full to the rafters with patients, whether they need to be there or not.........you will find admission rates go up. Tough concept to handle I know.
15) Hospitals are not full because GPs send patients to them, they're full because a HOSPITAL Doctor decides to admit them...a hospital Dr, following protocols written by hospital Doctors with input from management, accountants and risk assessors
Penny dropping yet Gordon, Dave, Nick...
No I thought not.
We're screwed.
Now there's a fascinating concept.
No-one in the Health Service is supposed to make any comments that might influence voters.
Surely this is the one time that we should be able to speak up to tell the voters what the hell is going on and what needs to be changed.
Three sodding debates later and all we know is that Gordo's not great on the TV but at least knows what his policies are (You may disagree with him..and I do, but at least you know what you're gonna get).
As for the Teflon brothers, I have absolutely no idea what the hell they're offering apart from "change". Mealy mouthed half soundbites with a load of fluff and no substance. Really depressing. Apart from Clegg scrapping Trident, which ain't as daft as it sounds, I haven't heard anything of substance at all.
Cameron will fund all cancer drugs...Oh will he. And has he costed that. Has he hell as like, because if he had, he'd now be crapping himself.
So, Trident.
A good idea if you've got cash, but since we seem intent on being the world's Policeman it may be a better idea to spend those billions on conventional arms, because at present we're spending nearly as much blowing up Afghans as we are on the NHS..and we're paying for Trident too. We might as well decide to use one or the other.
I mean why not just nuke the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Back to the NHS.
Hmm.
Once again they're all saying they'll cut no front line services.
And they'll maintain and improve all the access
And they'll ensure lower waiting times, including Gordon's 2 week wait promise (A policy which many units are stating has actually worsened pick up times)
Let's be honest here there are some pretty fundamental problems to address
1) The NHS is bust
2) We have a gazillion managers, which are needed to deliver all the pointless bloody stats and outcomes the Govt has implemented
3) If you sack them, you'll need to stop measuring all this bloody pointless stuff.
4) Drugs are too expensive to fund everybody irresepctive of price
5) NICE is hamstrung by pressure groups and then politicians, every time it's brave enough to try to ration a drug
6) We can't promise access to healthcare like we can to Tesco, or you'll go bust.....oh, we are.
7) You really don't need to see your own GP on a Saturday or a Sunday, Dave.
8) If it's that important make employers allow staff time off to see the GP, like they get for the Dentist, the gasman, hospital appointments or a million other things.
9) Oh, and we already have local out of hours GP services they can contact 24/7.
10 ) I can't help the fact that they're crap because they're now managed by non-GPs, and staffed by cheap Germans.
11) Your idea Gordon, not ours
12) I don't include NHS Direct, because that's total crap.
13) Private companies exist to make profit....they will therefore never be more cost effective than a well run nationalised service......note the well run bit.
14) And a final bit of wisdom for the morons at the DOH............If you have a system whereby hospitals make money out of being full to the rafters with patients, whether they need to be there or not.........you will find admission rates go up. Tough concept to handle I know.
15) Hospitals are not full because GPs send patients to them, they're full because a HOSPITAL Doctor decides to admit them...a hospital Dr, following protocols written by hospital Doctors with input from management, accountants and risk assessors
Penny dropping yet Gordon, Dave, Nick...
No I thought not.
We're screwed.
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Obama might be onto something...
As we recline in our armchairs in the evenings, with our bottle of stella and a kebab, safe in the knowledge that should we suffer indigestion, the NHS will respond within a very short space of time, even if it is simply some (rarely provided) sage advice about getting off our arse and buying some Gaviscon from the all night chemist (They do exist, albeit twenty miles away from said armchair....), we should give some thought to the USA
The US system is not very clever, it's very expensive, it treats the well off, well, and the poor terribly.
It is very very expensive because Primary Care is inexorably linked with Health Care Organisations, who own the Hospitals. The sytem exists to produce bills. Lots of bills. These go to Insurance companies.
If you have no health care you live in the ER. No cash and no investigation
Unlike the UK, because you don't need any cash. In general now, the more you get done to you, the more the hospital earns !!
Sadly in the UK, it ain't the Insurance companies who get the bill..it's you !!
Obama knows that the system is expensive and rubbish. The Americans have long looked at British Primary Care and liked what they see. Even the hospitals know that GPs can control cost where it matters. Many states now actively recruit British GPs......I have noted this.
So bearing that in mind, if you were in charge of British Health Care, would you recreate that model...... err no.
Oh, but yes you would, it appears.
Firstly offer a GP £6000 a year for 24/7 responsibility for 2000 patients, and then act surprised when he suggests you might like to try doing it for that money yourself.
Then spend about £18,000 delivering it and still make a dog's dinner of it.
Finally blame the GPs for giving it up in the first place
Then, having emasculated Primary Care by setting up a system that encourages salaried employment, not partnerships, introduce private competition, which requires splitting of block contracts and results in duplication and loss of economies of scale.
Demonstrate very little evidence of improvement in care, but as waiting times do come down though, this makes positive headlines for the Govt.
Drive up public expectation, force throough a culture of instant access, thus filling GP surgeries, walk in centres and A+E with stuff that previously wouldn't even have eased itself off the couch.
Allow large local hospitals to become self governing (Foundation Trusts), allow them to invoice Primary Care Organisations with far smaller accounting departments, for just about everything they do.
For example. Standard Gynaecology appointments apparently do not have an examination factored into the price. So if the Doctor actually examines the patient, that's an extra charge !!!
If a blood test is taken there's another..£150 !!
This produces massive expensive administration, loads of gaming, massively inflated running costs and sets the PCOs up to fail as they cannot hope to challenge the avalanche of imaginative billing that arrives. Foundation Trusts make loads of money and build nicer and bigger hospitals with lots of glass. PCO's run at a loss. Primary Care budgets go bust, and you can then state that Foundation Trusts are obviously by far the best people to run all that inefficient primary care........Oh bugger me, we seem to be in Massachusetts.
The US system is not very clever, it's very expensive, it treats the well off, well, and the poor terribly.
It is very very expensive because Primary Care is inexorably linked with Health Care Organisations, who own the Hospitals. The sytem exists to produce bills. Lots of bills. These go to Insurance companies.
If you have no health care you live in the ER. No cash and no investigation
Unlike the UK, because you don't need any cash. In general now, the more you get done to you, the more the hospital earns !!
Sadly in the UK, it ain't the Insurance companies who get the bill..it's you !!
Obama knows that the system is expensive and rubbish. The Americans have long looked at British Primary Care and liked what they see. Even the hospitals know that GPs can control cost where it matters. Many states now actively recruit British GPs......I have noted this.
So bearing that in mind, if you were in charge of British Health Care, would you recreate that model...... err no.
Oh, but yes you would, it appears.
Firstly offer a GP £6000 a year for 24/7 responsibility for 2000 patients, and then act surprised when he suggests you might like to try doing it for that money yourself.
Then spend about £18,000 delivering it and still make a dog's dinner of it.
Finally blame the GPs for giving it up in the first place
Then, having emasculated Primary Care by setting up a system that encourages salaried employment, not partnerships, introduce private competition, which requires splitting of block contracts and results in duplication and loss of economies of scale.
Demonstrate very little evidence of improvement in care, but as waiting times do come down though, this makes positive headlines for the Govt.
Drive up public expectation, force throough a culture of instant access, thus filling GP surgeries, walk in centres and A+E with stuff that previously wouldn't even have eased itself off the couch.
Allow large local hospitals to become self governing (Foundation Trusts), allow them to invoice Primary Care Organisations with far smaller accounting departments, for just about everything they do.
For example. Standard Gynaecology appointments apparently do not have an examination factored into the price. So if the Doctor actually examines the patient, that's an extra charge !!!
If a blood test is taken there's another..£150 !!
This produces massive expensive administration, loads of gaming, massively inflated running costs and sets the PCOs up to fail as they cannot hope to challenge the avalanche of imaginative billing that arrives. Foundation Trusts make loads of money and build nicer and bigger hospitals with lots of glass. PCO's run at a loss. Primary Care budgets go bust, and you can then state that Foundation Trusts are obviously by far the best people to run all that inefficient primary care........Oh bugger me, we seem to be in Massachusetts.
Friday, 5 February 2010
Swine Flu...
Hmm. Several rants ago, I was giving off about the new Black Death that we were in the midst of.
You will recall that I was somewhat underwhelmed by it all.
So here we are some months later. Admittedly we have had some deaths, as we do when we see flu outbreaks. It would appear that we could even identify an at risk group, namely the usual suspects plus under 5s and pregnant ladies..
And so we leapt (?) into action. Millions of doses of Tamiflu given to millions of people who probably didn't have it..and even if they did, had not much more than a bad cold. Of those, how many courses were taken, either at all or partly...
"Tell you what Doc, I had two whole days off work and I only took one of those tablets, cos they made me feel terrible."
Could we give the vaccine away...er no. I could have walked around my patch with a sandwich board and it would have made no difference..our vaccination clinics...wastelands !!
And as for the vaccine. "Its just like normal vaccine and made in the same way..."
Rubbish. It comes in one vial, has to be made up, it's bloody white for God's sake..and your arm aches like buggery for two days afterwards..
"It's been tested"..Yeah, on tens of thousands of NHS front line staff !
And so it went on. Total hysteria and totally overblown
A Liverpool study of 30 pts given Tamiflu by the Flu "no bloody" help line, discovered that only three actually had swine flu. Of the patients given Tamiflu, who weren't in hospital (One with Malaria and two with meningitis..I kid you not), only half had bothered taking it.
At the height of this, prior to the nirvana that was some untrained bloke on a phone in Stevenage, my partners and I were only fielding about five extra calls a day each.
I didn't need a multi-million pound waste of time, and my patients would have been managed better if I'd got on with it.
The result..loads of Tamiflu used when not needed, more of it lying around expiring and Christ knows how much vaccine will be lost.
Apologists state that I'd have been looking pretty foolish if there had been a genuine epidemic that needed all this...........not convinced, and frankly if there had been, secondary care would have been swamped anyway..look what happens on a bank holiday during a cold snap !!
Any wonder we're bankrupt as a country..
I'll start on Foundation Trusts, PBC and Payment by results next time
You will recall that I was somewhat underwhelmed by it all.
So here we are some months later. Admittedly we have had some deaths, as we do when we see flu outbreaks. It would appear that we could even identify an at risk group, namely the usual suspects plus under 5s and pregnant ladies..
And so we leapt (?) into action. Millions of doses of Tamiflu given to millions of people who probably didn't have it..and even if they did, had not much more than a bad cold. Of those, how many courses were taken, either at all or partly...
"Tell you what Doc, I had two whole days off work and I only took one of those tablets, cos they made me feel terrible."
Could we give the vaccine away...er no. I could have walked around my patch with a sandwich board and it would have made no difference..our vaccination clinics...wastelands !!
And as for the vaccine. "Its just like normal vaccine and made in the same way..."
Rubbish. It comes in one vial, has to be made up, it's bloody white for God's sake..and your arm aches like buggery for two days afterwards..
"It's been tested"..Yeah, on tens of thousands of NHS front line staff !
And so it went on. Total hysteria and totally overblown
A Liverpool study of 30 pts given Tamiflu by the Flu "no bloody" help line, discovered that only three actually had swine flu. Of the patients given Tamiflu, who weren't in hospital (One with Malaria and two with meningitis..I kid you not), only half had bothered taking it.
At the height of this, prior to the nirvana that was some untrained bloke on a phone in Stevenage, my partners and I were only fielding about five extra calls a day each.
I didn't need a multi-million pound waste of time, and my patients would have been managed better if I'd got on with it.
The result..loads of Tamiflu used when not needed, more of it lying around expiring and Christ knows how much vaccine will be lost.
Apologists state that I'd have been looking pretty foolish if there had been a genuine epidemic that needed all this...........not convinced, and frankly if there had been, secondary care would have been swamped anyway..look what happens on a bank holiday during a cold snap !!
Any wonder we're bankrupt as a country..
I'll start on Foundation Trusts, PBC and Payment by results next time
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