2010 Turkish Grand Prix - Turkish Delight For McLaren As The Bull Dismantle

A satisfied Lewis Hamilton cashed in on an early Bank Holiday present from Milton Keynes, as he led team-mate Jenson Button home to a McLaren Mercedes 1-2 at today’s Turkish Grand Prix.  The two British drivers took full advantage of Red Bull’s latest and most essential cock-up, to establish a lead in the constructor’s championship.

As in Barcelona and Monte Carlo, Red Bull Racing looked to have the race in the bag, when on Lap 41, their drivers entered suicide mode, is dismantling fashion.  Leading from pole, Australian Mark Webber was leading throughout, but was coming under intense pressure from his team-mate, Sebastian Vettel, with Hamilton and Button keeping an ominous watching brief throughout.  In a brief rain shower, Webber appeared to miss a gear on the backstraight, approaching Turn 12, allowing Vettel alongside and the chance to take the lead.  What happened next was quite unbelievable, as Vettel turned right, caught Webber and the pair collided down the escape road.  Damage to the rear of Vettel’s car, left the German spinning into retirement, whilst Mark was forced in for front wing repairs, gamely battling onto a podium finish, and an extension of his championship lead.  However, team boss Christian Horner must be thinking, what he does now, with the relationship between his two drivers surely well and truly destroyed beyond repair.

So, as in Australia and China, McLaren benefited from Red Bull’s mistakes, with a fair racing battle themselves soon after the ‘Bull’ nightmare.  Button outbraked Hamilton into Turn 12 with ten laps to go and gained the lead.  Hamilton quickly dived back underneath the world champion, slid up the inside into Turn 1, and despite a brushing of tyres, won back his hard-fought advantage, which he kept to the chequered flag.  Although the team had to save critical fuel levels in the closing stages, Hamilton held on to claim his first win since Singapore in September 2009, and pushes him up to 3^rd in the championship standings. 

Michael Schumacher’s rehabilitation in 2010 continued, with a strong run to 4^th place in his Mercedes, equalling his best result of the season.  Though he never looked like challenging the podium runners, Michael’s pace throughout was consistent, and he beat Nico Rosberg again, as the seven-time world champion starts to earn the upper hand in the team.  Rosberg was 5^th, despite tyre concerns, holding off a long race challenge from Robert Kubica, who continued his strong run of points finishes, 6^th in the Renault.

It may have been their 800^th Formula One event this weekend, but it was a miserable party for Ferrari.  Having started a dismal 12^th on the grid, Fernando Alonso could only manage 8^th, in a car that looked evil to drive all event.  He needed a forceful move on Renault rookie Vitaly Petrov to even get him 8^th spot, which left the Russian with a puncture and a cruel drop out of the points, after a fine weekend.  Former three-time winner at the Istanbul Park, Felipe Massa could only muster 7^th place and the Scuderia must be praying for a massive change in fortunes from their new development package in Canada and Valencia, or they face being written out of the championship battle before halfway.  There were more points for the consistent Adrian Sutil, with 9^th and Japan’s finest; Kamur Kobayashi earned Sauber’s first point of a depressing season so far, winding up 10^th.  Team-mate Pedro de la Rosa finished directly behind Kobayashi, marking the team’s first double-car finish of the campaign.

The first golden rule of Grand Prix racing is not to run into your team-mate.  Today, Red Bull cracked under the pressure, and forgot this rule, leaving them red-faced and McLaren celebrating an unexpected bonus as F1 heads back to Montreal in a fortnight’s time, after a one-year sabbatical.  What will happen next in this season of twists and turns remains to be seen….

U2 Out, Gorillaz In At Glastonbury 2010

The organisers of the Glastonbury Festival received a massive blow to their preparations for the 2010 event last Tuesday, when it was announced that Irish rock band, U2 have been forced to pull-out of their headline performance act.  Animated-band the Gorillaz, will step into their shoes for the top billing on Friday 25^th June.

U2’s front singer, charity campaigner Bono has just undergone back surgery for temporary paralysis and consequently, needs to rest for upto two months, meaning performing at Glastonbury was simply never going to happen.  Sixteen tour dates in the US and in Canada – scheduled for July have also been postponed, because of the recovery process.  Bono has admitted his heartbreak, as he was keen to see U2 put on a show for the crowds on opening night.  Behind such classic songs such as ‘Elevation,’ ‘Beautiful Day,’ and ‘Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me,’ U2 were due to share the headlining at the 2010 extraganvanza with Stevie Wonder and Muse. 

Glastonbury boss and founder Michael Eavis disappointment at seeing this dent in his line-up was cleared slightly by the quick announcement of the Gorillaz replacing U2 on the Pyramid Stage on June 25^th.  He said this of the announcement:

"This is going to be Gorilllaz's only UK festival appearance, and it'll be a massive audio visual spectacle which will really ignite the Pyramid on the Friday night, with Muse, then Stevie Wonder to follow.
"I'm very excited about Gorillaz's show coming here because they're so open to guests and collaborations. The alchemy of Friday's show is going to be astonishing, a perfect, contemporary way to kick off the 40th anniversary celebrations."

Despite the adequate replacement, there is no doubt that Glastonbury’s preparation for this celebration year has been badly hit.  Everyone wishes Bono a speedy recovery from his prognosis and hope he and U2 will be back touring soon, and the group’s fans will be devastated by this blow.  Let’s hope Gorillaz can step-up to the mark, because they no doubt have big shoes now to fill.   

Skins Movie Is Confirmed - Will It Work Out?

Yesterday saw the new that all fans of E4’s teen-hit drama Skins had been waiting for, official confirmation of the production for Skins: The Movie.  Since the fourth series of the teenage drama concluded in the middle of March, full of sex, drugs and breakdowns, there have been growing rumours that a movie was being planned for the future.  Now, it will finally happen.  Production on the film will be based in the Isle of Man and the traditional home of the show, Bristol and starts this September.  The planned launch date is Summer 2011.

The popularity of Skins is huge, with more than 1.5million tuning into the opening episode of the last series.  The show has made big stars out of Dev Patel, star of Slumdog Millionaire and Nicholas Hoult, both actors as part of the first generation.  Generation two’s cast are already getting starring offers to feature in other primetime shows and movies.  Kaya Scodelario (Effy Stonem) has already brokethrough into the box office, with successful movies, while Luke Pasqualino (Freddie McClair) has already been working on a feature-length which is due for a summer release.  The popular lesbian couple on the show, Emily Fitch and Naomi Campbell, played by gorgeous actresses Kathryn Prescott and Lily Loveless are set to star in new shows over the coming months, whilst Jack O’Connell (James Cook) is rumoured to be cast in BBC’s school drama, Waterloo Road.

It is unclear how many of the former characters will return for the movie, though hints suggest it will be based more around the second generation.  However, there will be parts in the movie for the third generation of Skins.  Already, auditions for Series five and six have taken place, with a new cast to be selected in the summer.  The fifth TV series of Skins will burst onto our screens next January.  The movie is to be made by Company Pictures, the makers of the E4 show.

The transfer to the big screen from a TV show is always a challenge and it remains to be seen whether it can work.  Both Pokémon and Power Rangers failed to complete the transformation successfully, so it remains to be seen whether Skins will buckle the trend.  No doubt it is a gamble, but Jack Thorne, the well-respected scriptwriter and regular writer of Skins and the creator of the show, Bryan Elsley will put their hardest efforts into this ambitious project and give the fans what they want, an unforgettable movie to go alongside the successful TV series.  As an avid fan of the TV series, I personally can’t wait for this to hit the cinemas.  Let’s hope it’s going to be a massive success.   

England 3-1 Mexico - More Work To Do....

For Fabio Capello, Monday night’s 3-1 win against Mexico at Wembley must have felt like more questions had been posed than answers.  Remarkably, despite Wembley’s awful pitch, all English players came through the game unscathed without any further injury scares, as the Three Lions bid farewell to their boisterous fans on a winning note.  However, it was far from plain-sailing.

With the opening match of the World Cup just over a fortnight away against the USA in Rustenberg, Capello used the chance to experiment with a new formation, as all of Chelsea’s winning FA Cup stars sat this friendly out due to mutual agreement with the Stamford Bridge club.  James Milner and Michael Carrick played as two holding players, with Steven Gerrard out wide.  This didn’t work, as the talented Mexicans took command of a positive first 45 minutes.  Time and again, they threatened the English goal, with PSV Eindhoven left-back Carlos Salcido producing the closest effort, brushing the post with a bending curling shot.  However, Mexico’s ineptitude at defending set-pieces cost them, as they were 2-0 down by this point.

Fifteen minutes in and Gerrard’s corner was flicked on at the back post by Peter Crouch, and played into the path of fellow Tottenham colleague, Ledley King, who was given the freedom of the penalty area to score only his second international goal.  For King, this was his first start for England since June 2007, and everyone will be pleased to see him come through the game and the aftermath with no problem.  Despite a few shaky moments at the back, alongside the out-of-form captain, Rio Ferdinand, King’s place in the final 23 looks secure now.  Crouch continued his remarkable scoring record, by handling in England’s second goal from one yard out, after Wayne Rooney’s header was tipped onto the crossbar by the Mexican goalkeeper.  With the last kick of the first half, ex-West Ham striker Guillermo Franco almost embarrassingly got the North Americans their deserved registration on the scoreboard, tapping home after Leighton Baines had failed to deal convincingly with a Rafael Marquez goal bound header.

The second half was far more pedestrian, with only one moment of real significance.  Liverpool right-back Glen Johnson’s first international goal, straight after the interval was a beauty.  On his weaker left foot, Johnson combined well with Theo Walcott to produce a stunning effort into the top corner.  He won’t score many better.

So, the positives were no injuries, the result, Johnson’s excellent performance, Crouch continuing his scoring run for England, which might have put him in pole position to be Rooney’s strike partner at the finals, instead of the bumbling Emile Heskey and the brief impacts by Aaron Lennon and debutant Adam Johnson, which showed with pace and freshness, they could be major impact players off the bench.

Negatives was the performance of Baines, who got skinned almost everytime and looked lost on the pitch.  As Stephen Warnock has not player under Capello, Baines probably will go to South Africa, but we must hope that Ashley Cole stays fit all summer.  Another one to struggle was Carrick, who has had a poor season for Manchester United and now is carrying that form into international level.  Unless Gareth Barry is eventually declared unfit, Carrick might not make the final cut, especially with the promising Tom Huddlestone and more consistent Scott Parker on his tail for his place in the squad.

Sunday’s warm-up, at high altitude in Graz against Japan might tell us some more about England’s chances for the forthcoming finals, but after this performance, Fabio Capello will have plenty of food for thought, despite the pleasing final scoreline.

Five Years On From One Unbelievable Night In Istanbul

It is five years on today, from one of the greatest nights ever in the prestigious history of Liverpool Football club.  No Liverpool fan present in the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul, nor the millions listening on radios and watching on giant TV’s across the city, in bars and clubs and in home throughout the country will ever forget the night Rafa Benitez’s Mighty Reds became European Champions in the most unbelievable manner.  It is time to reminisce the over-riding joy of such an epic night full of emotions.

It is Wednesday 25^th May 2005, and it is a beautiful summer’s day across the country, whilst in Turkey, Liverpool’s date in Istanbul in the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final, against the mighty Serie A giants, AC Milan.

The 2004/05 domestic season for Liverpool had been a struggle.  Crippling injuries and a dire away record left Liverpool finishing the season a disappointing 5^th beaten in the final table by our domestic neighbours from Stanley Park, Everton.  This meant a season of UEFA Cup football was set to follow at Anfield, toppled with the fact that we finished nearly 40 points behind the new champions, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.  Our best form had been saved for the Champions League.  

Who could forget Steven Gerrard’s stunning strike against Olympiakos in the group stages, which kept us in the competition by the skin of our teeth, the slaying of Italian champions Juventus, then the controversial ‘goal’ that shattered Chelsea’s treble dream and loosened Mourinho’s grip on the European Cup during a nail-biting early May night at Anfield.  For the first time in twenty years, Liverpool were heading to a European Cup final, could we pull out one more historic performance and complete the most unlikely of triumphs.

The first half was forgettable, not because we were so bad, more the case of Milan playing football out of this world, that no-one could live with.  Milan skipper Paolo Maldini volleyed his side infront inside of 50 seconds, and then Chelsea loanee Hernan Crespo scored a quick fire double to leave Reds fan devastated.  With a dejected Harry Kewell limping off before half-time and Steve Finnan forced off at the interval, everything seemed to be going against Liverpool.  In six crazy minutes, Liverpool roared back into the final, with quite probably, the greatest ever sporting comeback ever seen.

Ten minutes into the second half, Steven Gerrard headed in a deep John Arne Riise cross and pulled the scoreline back to 3-1.  Suddenly, doubts crept into the back of AC Milan minds; manager Carlo Ancelotti was chewing his gum far harder than he had just two minutes earlier.  Moments later, substitute Dietmar Hamann found Vladimir Smicer and in his final Reds appearance, the Czech hit an optimistic shot which the unconvincing Dida spilt through his grasp and into the net.  Now, the comeback was well and truly on, miracles are well and truly possible!  Then, Gerrard links up with the frustrating Milan Baros and is tripped by Gennaro Gattuso.  No doubts from the Spanish referee Gonzalez, who points to the spot, Gattuso lucky to stay on the pitch.  Step up Xabi Alonso, with a chance to equalise for Liverpool.  The penalty was pretty tame and Dida saved it, but Alonso snapped up the rebound and lofted the ball into the top of the net.  Mission impossible had been accomplished.  Five minutes earlier, Liverpool had been 3-0 down – now they were on level terms.

For the rest of the game, Milan looked shell-shocked, but started to gain a sense of control again.  With the match edging closer towards penalty, Brazilian Serginho whips a dangerous ball into the penalty area, which is met by Ukraine goal machine Andrei Shevchenko.  Surely, he must score!  However, he didn’t as somehow, Jerzy Dudek denied him twice.  Even now, Dudek probably doesn’t know how he kept Shevchenko now, and quite probably, neither does Sheva himself.

Into the drama and tension of a penalty shootout, and its Milan who go first.  Serginho’s first penalty belonged in the ‘House of Horrors!’ It was a shocking kick, and Andrea Pirlo’s lame effort was stopped heroically by Dudek.  Dietmar Hamann banged his kick home, as did super sub Djibril Cisse.  Liverpool, 2-0 up, now the dream was looking like a real reality.  Jon Dahl Tomasson made no mistake, and nor did Kaka for the Italians, despite Dudek’s best attempts to put the kickers off by copying the ‘wobbly legs’ format that Bruce Grobbelaar had successfully achieved in the 1984 final.  In between this, Dida did enough to push Riise’s effort around the post.  Still, Liverpool were in control and Smicer made it match point, dispatching his penalty with efficient calm.  What it meant now was that Shevchenko, who had scored the winning penalty in the diabolical 2003 final at Old Trafford, had to score.  The weight of the world was firmly on his shoulders, and his kick wasn’t the best.  Dudek pulled off a terrific stop and the European Cup was returning to England, and to Anfield.  LIVERPOOL ARE CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE AGAIN!!

The most extraordinary final, had a most incredible final twist.  Liverpool had their hands on the European Cup again, and this time, it was for keeps.  Their fifth success meant that this version of ‘Old Big Ears’ was going to have a permanent storage in the Anfield trophy cabinet.  Liverpool had won the European Cup back in the most unbelievable manner.  It is a night that no-one will ever forget, one of those ‘Where was I’ moments in history.

Five years on, and the fire of this success still burns strongly and deeply with everyone connected with Liverpool Football Club, ‘One Unbelievable Night in Istanbul.’

More BA Strikes - When Will The Dispute End?

The bitter dispute between the Unite Union and British Airways has rumbled on even further, as BA cabin crew are about to start the second day of a five-day strike.  The staff walked out at midnight last night, after constant negotiations between the two parties failed to reach any kind of settlement. 

With more strikes on the way next week, travel plans for hundreds of thousands of passengers are set to be ruined again, with the half-term school holidays on the way, students breaking up for University hoping for a cheap break, and passionate England fans, hoping to get to South Africa in time for the World Cup finals.  With England’s first match against the USA on 12^th June, many fans face heartbreak of being stuck inside a stuffy airport terminal, rather than rooting on their heroes in Rustenberg.

On Monday, BA said it was operating 60% of its long-haul flights out of Heathrow and 50% of short-haul.  They also claimed that Gatwick airport was unaffected by the strikes, and many cabin crew were not supporting the strike and still working, as some need the income to keep family/independent support going.  The latest dispute is over pay demands and terms & conditions within of the agreement.  British Airways has also accused Unite of failing to take up offers of further late-night negotiations and it was disappointed that the union had restored to “negotiation through the media.” 

The boss of BA, Willie Walsh is coming under intense pressure to relinquish his role as head of the company.  It seems that Unite are firmly putting the blame firmly on his doors, rather than on British Airways the company.  Despite recording record losses last Friday, Walsh told ITN that he was determined to fight on and not give in to Unite’s latest demands, as well as putting pressure on the government to give out compensation for last month’s chaotic airline disruption, due to the volcanic ash in Iceland. 

The last stoppages, which took place just on the dawn of the Easter holidays and cabin crew who went on strike back then were not paid.  Unite’s problem is not with this formality, but with the travel concessions towards staff who took part.  They are demanding for these concessions to be restored, otherwise all of the latest strikes will take place.  Latest talks were brought to a standstill on Saturday evening, when union protestors stormed into the venue where negotiations were being held.  Allegedly, they were given the venue’s description by a Union leader via his updates on the social networking site, Twitter. 

Last week, British Airways was granted an injunction to prevent the strikes in the High Court, as they ruled that the Unite union had not reported the results of its strike ballot correctly to its members.  Three days later, an appeal by the union overturned the decision.  Along with this strike, two further five-day walkouts are scheduled to begin on May 30^th and June 5^th.

The dispute, which has dragged on for months between BA and Unite has involved clashes on significant job cuts, working conditions and pay decreases.  Tony Woodley and Willie Walsh are both as bad as one another and one wonders to think when this dispute will actually come to an end.  To be honest, it has brought British Airways reputation to its knees and if someone doesn’t give in and budge soon, it won’t be long before ‘The World’s Favourite Airline,’ may end up facing total extinction.  

UEFA Champions League Final - Magic In Madrid For Mourinho

Last night, the city of magnificent Madrid belonged to the magic that is Jose Mourinho.  And it probably will for a good time to come, if the rumours are to be believed that he is destined for future management at the Bernabeau. 

His Inter Milan side coasted to a solid and impressive 2-0 success in the UEFA Champions League final, against a limp Bayern Munich side.  Inter didn’t need to be spectacular to seal their success, but their strengths in Jose’s tactical gameplay saw him overcome his mentor at Barcelona at the beginning of the century, Louis van Gaal.  Argentine Diego Milito, who has scored thirty goals in Serie A this season was the natural difference between the two sides, who two quality finishes that will have an on looking Diego Maradona licking his lips in anticipation with the World Cup just three weeks later.  Milito’s deadly finishing will have the likes of Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero worried over a first-team place ahead of the Argies opening group game against Nigeria on June 12^th.

After a bright opening, Inter faded badly, but against the run of play, took the crucial advantage ten minutes before half-time.  Julio Cesar’s hopeful kick up field found Milito, who combined brilliantly with the Inter playmaker, Wesley Snejider.  An interchange of passes followed, and Milito left his national countryman Martin Demichellis for dead, before coolly dispatching his effort past the advancing Hans-Jorg Butt.  After the break, Bayern attempted to get back into the game and their young German striker Thomas Muller came close, thwarted by the excellent Cesar, whose goalkeeping seems to get better with every passing match.  With twenty minutes to go and the dynamic Miroslav Klose on the pitch, Munich was ready to throw everything at the Italian defence, notably without a single Italian in the starting eleven.  However, just as they attempted this tactic, Inter produced another of those traditional breakaways, sealing the match in clinical fashion.

Snejider was fouled in the build-up, but English referee Howard Webb, who had a faultless game played on and the ball eventually reached Milito, who once again had the firm measure of Demichellis and his centre-back partner, Daniel Van Buyten.  Once again, his finish was emphatic, leaving Butt without a hope and Bayern without a prayer.  Van Gaal’s side looked inept of ideas, with Franck Ribery suspended and Arjen Robben man-marked by the experienced duo of Christian Chivu and Javier Zanetti. 

So, it was Mourinho’s night as he wrapped up a historic treble for Inter and their first European Cup in over forty years.  Time and again, they have flattered to deceive in this competition, as the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United have brushed them aside with apparent ease.  It took the ‘Special One’ to unlock the cherished grail as he became only the third coach to win the European Cup with two different clubs.  Both Chelsea and Barcelona tumbled out to the Italians, who have firmly established themselves as a real leading powerhouse in European football.  However, whether the magic that Mourinho has will be passed onto his successor remains to be seen.  Jose Mourinho’s mission was for Inter Milan to become Champions of Europe, and this he had achieved.  Next destination surely is to tackle Barcelona’s dominance of La Liga with the underachieving stars that are Real Madrid.   

Excellent Enders Storm The Soap Awards

      

On Wednesday night, ITV screened the annual 12^th British Soap Awards bash, held at BBC Television Centre on May 7^th.  The night was dominated by the stars of BBC’s EastEnders, which scooped a staggering ten awards, the highest for any soap in any given year.

EastEnders, celebrating its 25^th anniversary this year was a class above the rest from the competitors this year, Coronation Street, Doctors, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks.  It scooped all of the key awards, including Best British Soap for a third consecutive year.  Its spectacular live episode, as part of the anniversary celebration in February, which featured Stacey Slater being revealed as Archie Mitchell’s killer was the clear winner of Best Single Episode.  Lacey Turner, who is leaving the show later in the year, scooped the double for Best Actress and Best Dramatic Performance.  Also collected a duo of awards was Scott Maslen.  The former star of The Bill, who plays the dynamic Jack Branning won the Best Actor category and was voted Sexiest Male for the second consecutive year.  Charlie Clements, whose character Bradley Branning, fell to his shocking death in the live episode won Best Exit, holding off stiff competition from Jamie Lomas demise in Hollyoaks.  Finally, the evil Archie Mitchell, played by the distinguished Larry Lamb won Best Villain.

With EastEnders storming away with all the key awards, it left the rest fighting over the minor crumbs and comforts.  Like Hollyoaks last year, Emmerdale was nominated in every single category, yet failed to pick up an award.  That was apart from established writer Bill Lyons, who won the Special Achievement Award.  Lyons has been part of the writing team since 1984, and was behind the brains of the dramatic Emmerdale Plane Crash storyline in December 1993, which turned the show’s fortunes around.  For the second consecutive year, Hollyoaks had a tough time of things, as their domination of the 2008 ceremony seems a distant memory.  However, they did win the Most Spectacular Scene award, for the parachute skydiving stunt during its Hollyoaks Later show last October and saw Sarah Barnes (Loui Batley) plunge to her death. 

BBC daytime show Doctors did well again, collecting two awards, for Best Dramatic Performance from a Young Actor/Actress and Best On-Screen Partnership, which left Coronation Street, normally a traditional frontrunner with a tame three winners.  Michelle Keegan won Sexiest Female and there was a deserved Lifetime Achievement Award for Betty Driver, who is famous for Betty’s hotpots in the Rovers Return.  The most emotional part of the how evening was the fitting tribute to the dearly missed Maggie Jones.  Maggie, who played the hilarious Blanche Hunt, Deirdre Barlow’s mum in Coronation Street passed away last Christmas.  As the VT finished of her video tribute, the whole auditorium stood up in appreciation and applause, with many tears shed for a fantastic icon of Weatherfield.

However, the night firmly belonged as expected to EastEnders.  The other soaps have a lot to do over the next twelve months, to avoid this kind of whitewash from the Walford stars again.   

   

Graceful Grant Exits Pompey, Next Destination Will Be Upton Park

It didn’t come to many people’s surprise last night, when news broke of Avram Grant’s decision to step-down as manager of crisis-hit club Portsmouth.  The Israeli, who took over the Championship bound side at the end of November 2009, following Paul Hart’s dismissal oversaw a fairytale run to this season’s FA Cup final, which sadly ended in defeat against his former employers, Chelsea last Saturday.

The match at Wembley turned out to be Avram’s final game in charge of Portsmouth, with the club having dropped out of the Premier League, entered administration and docked nine points and record even higher debts than were initially feared.  The way he spoke to journalists after the final last week suggested that he was set to go, but not without a heavy heart.  This was further proven by his emotional letter to the beloved South Coast fans, posted on Portsmouth’s website last night.

GRANT’S LETTER TO THE PORTSMOUTH FANS

This was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to take in my football career.

After a lot of soul searching and under the circumstances I’m taking a different direction.

It’s been both a difficult and complex year for us at the club, but at the same time, it’s been a wonderful and uplifting professional and personal experience.  

I have been inundated with letters and emails from fans. Many have brought tears to my eyes and take it from me; it takes a lot to do that.

I will never forget you; the loyal fans of Pompey who, without a doubt, helped me protect the team under such complex circumstances. There are very few teams in the world that have fans as passionate and devoted as you are.

Seeing you all so proud with your heads held up high is the best reward I can receive.

It has been a great experience to be part of one of the most wonderful occurrences that has happened in the history of British football and also shows that even in the most desperate times, loyalty, devotion, professionalism and passion can be demonstrated.

I wish you all the possible success which you genuinely deserve.

Portsmouth has given me a feeling of home away from home. I might be leaving Portsmouth physically, but you cannot take Portsmouth away from me and my heart.

I have informed Andrew the administrator that if and when the need arises, I will be at his disposal to assist in any way I possibly can.

At this point I would like to mention the good job the administrator is doing, under very difficult circumstances after he received the club from Mr. Chainrai and Mr. Levy which they had saved from liquidation. Thank you for that.

I can never fully repay the faith and backing I got from the fans, players and staff who gave a hundred per cent. I truly thank you all for granting me the opportunity and the privilege to be part of your special city and unique club.

Grant, who took Chelsea to within one spot kick of winning the 2008 UEFA Champions League has had successful spells in Israel and only narrowly missed out on getting the national team into the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany, despite finishing unbeaten in a group containing Switzerland and France.  He returned to Portsmouth as director to football at the beginning of last season, stepping up after Hart was sacked following a 1-0 loss at Stoke City on November 22^nd 2009.  Grant won ten games in charge, the most memorable success being a 3-2 comeback result against Hull City in March, a stunning 2-0 success over shambolic Liverpool before Christmas and in that amazing FA Cup run, the dramatic and well-deserved semi-final glory at Wembley against Tottenham.

It remains unclear who will take over at Pompey, though England goalkeeper David James has expressed an interest in taking over the reins.  For Grant, his next destination appears to be the vacant manager’s seat at West Ham.  The Hammers sacked Gianfranco Zola ten days ago after a dismal season that saw them finish 17^th in the Premiership.  It would make sense for Avram to go there, as he would team up again with his former assistant at Chelsea, Steve Clarke. 

He may have gone for pastures new in the Premiership, but his reputation has been enhanced even further, and he has also won a soft spot in the hearts of many neutral observers.  Avram Grant is a man with two hearts, and for whatever success he may achieve in the future, whether that is at West Ham or somewhere else, he will always carry an undying love for Portsmouth FC.  I wish him all the best in his soon-to-be appointed new role.

Theresa Pulls The Trigger - Calvin's Killer Is Finally Revealed

Push came to shove and once again, a TV show has produced the total unpredictable when it comes to solving the famous ‘Whodunit!’ mysteries.  Tonight (or last night, if you watched First Look on E4) saw Hollyoaks conclude their latest storyline, which saw the ex-bent copper, Calvin Valentine murdered on his wedding day.

Valentine, played by Ricky Whittle, has been jerking everyone off of recent, which meant he has as many suspects who wanted to do away with him, as a typical ASDA shopping list.  

As he enjoyed his first dance with his new wife, Carmel, the unidentified assailant shoots Calvin down to an expected demise, though shock death in Carmel’s eyes.  After months of speculation and intrigue as the big day approached, as a ‘Flash-forward’ episode was shown before Christmas, tonight the identity of the killer was revealed as the gorgeous Theresa McQueen (Jorgie Porter).

Other suspects had their motives, stronger than Theresa’s.  Jake Dean for a chequered history with Calvin, stringing back four years and Jacqui McQueen after finding out the kind of person Calvin was on his wedding day.  Sasha Valentine has a stronger motive than many, having discovered that her brother had left her lover, Warren Fox to die in the Loft explosion last May.  Of course, Malachy Fisher has a big incentive, as he had known for months about Calvin’s steamy affair with his cheating wife, Mercedes.  However, all these would probably have ended up being too obvious, and a weak reputation, possibly to do with biological genes, or character personality.

However, Theresa is made of stronger stuff, as she now proven by pulling the trigger and giving Carmel (Gemma Merna) the most unpleasant wedding present of all-time.  Viewers may have seen Theresa and Calvin enjoy a passionate night in The Loft before Easter.  In this cliffhanging episode, Calvin meets Theresa in the nail salon, Evissa, where she confesses to him that she is pregnant, with his baby.  Unsurprisingly, Calvin doesn’t take the news very well, and offers Theresa money to abort the baby, which makes her very angry.  When Carmel comes into the salon, and starts interrogating the pair, Theresa reveals her pregnancy, but Calvin covers up who the father is, saying it was ‘a random stranger she met at a club.’  The final curtain is when Theresa finds out from Mercedes that she had an affair with Calvin. 

As Calvin and Carmel dance the night away, infront of many angry wedding guests, the gun which Malachy had been carrying almost goes on a pass-the-parcel routine.  Just when Mercedes considers doing away with her former lover, Theresa snatches the gun out of her hand and almost instantly pulls it, with a stunned Mercedes and Jacqui by her side. 

The repercussions for this story are set to be huge.  The McQueen family is what is keeping Hollyoaks alive, after too many far-fetched storylines of recent months.  Fortunately, new executive producer Paul Marquess has kept the family together, so there are no plans for this crazy bunch to be among the 10-15 characters that have already been given the chop by Marquess.  So, expect a lot more secrets, lies and deceit from the McQueen sisters, and Theresa now has a dark secret to hide.  I wouldn’t want to be her when Carmel eventually discovers the truth.

As for Ricky Whittle, his death marks the end of four years on the Channel 4 show.  Last year’s Strictly Come Dancing runner-up has the potential to go many places now his Hollyoaks career is over.  Calvin may have gone, but Ricky hasn’t for sure.  Like Gemma Atkinson, Gary Lucy, Elize du Toit, Chris Fountain and Darren Jefferies before him, he should be able to carve out a very successful acting career for the future….

Always expect the unexpected…..

2010 Monaco Grand Prix - The Conclusions

In this piece, I will be assessing ten key features from each Grand Prix weekend from the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.  Just seven short days from the return to Europe, F1 moved to its more glamorous venue, the style and class of the principality that is Monte Carlo.  This race provided the typical Monaco, drama full of thrills and spills, despite a frontline procession and many talking points afterwards.  So, this is race six of 2010, which drivers need to improve with 33% of the season complete, and who is on top of their game so far.

Mark Webber – What a Difference a Fortnight Makes

Two weeks ago, Mark Webber was languishing in 8^th place in the drivers’ championship, having produced some very erratic performances, and his position at Red Bull Racing was looking under severe scrutiny.  Two races later, he has an equal share for the lead in the world championship, with two absolute masterful performances in Spain and then again, in Monaco.  Red Bull would now be making a severe error of judgement if they allowed this experienced Aussie out of their grasp.  Not only has Webber been impressive, he has dismantled the highly-rated Sebastian Vettel in the past fortnight, not bad going against the young German, who many people’s tip to become world champion this season.  Mark has looked so in control with his car throughout these races, he never put a foot and didn’t look it either.  You can’t ask more for two dominant back-to-back successes can you?  Mark Webber is now a serious championship player and momentum in Formula One is a big imperative to have, something which he currently has in abundance. 

Damon & Michael Clash Again – Fair Or Foul!

When BRDC president Damon Hill was confirmed as the expert steward for the Monaco Grand Prix, I was concerned of his appointment, largely because of his possible bias towards the British drivers, and the hatred with the great Michael Schumacher.  Sure enough, with the latter, I was sadly proven right.  Schumacher was punished after the race with a ridiculous 20-second penalty for overtaking Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari on the last corner of the race, under a Safety Car.  Now, in 2009 regulations, that is totally illegal, but the rules have changed for 2010, which allow drivers to start overtaking after the final white line before the start-finish straight.  However, article 40.3 in the complex rules state that doesn’t happen on the last lap of the race.  With two differing viewpoints from Mercedes and Ferrari, plus two such fiery characters in Alonso and Schumacher, this one was always bound to cause controversy.  Ferrari believed the rulebook, Ross Brawn was convinced we were racing, as backed up by green flags, no Safety Car boards and messages from race control ‘Safety Car in this Lap.’  Mercedes have chosen not to appeal, probably best for the interests of the sport, but urgent clarification is required to stop this from happening again.  As for Damon, swapping back the positions would have been seen as a fairer viewing, but a penalty that drops Schumacher out of the points is incredibly harsh.  The bitter enemies from 1994 and 1995 have clashed again, and Hill has done no favours for his integrity on this one.  Mercedes and Michael Schumacher have a firm right to be aggrieved about this questionable steward and his decision-making.

Robert Kubica – Is A Drive With The Scuderia Beckoning?

Robert Kubica is one of the star drivers of 2010 so far, and his performance around the streets of Monte Carlo was absolutely sensational.  Renault is steadily improving, but are still no better than scraping their cars into Q3.  So, Kubica, normally starting around 7^th-9^th, produced an incredible qualifying performance to bang his car on the front row.  An aggressive thought on trying to pass Webber off the line failed, as he was gazumped by Vettel and almost by Felipe Massa, but Robert dug in and kept Vettel firmly honest all afternoon.  A 3^rd place finish was a brilliant result, and points to the fact how much the Pole has been getting the maximum out of this chassis.  Actually, he looked a bit disappointed on the rostrum, which suggests he felt he could have done even better.  Team-mate Vitaly Petrov had another accident this weekend, and is struggling to keep up with Kubica, despite his flashes of speed and talent.  With Massa still not in the groove at Maranello and performances like this from Robert, these constant rumours about him moving to Ferrari are only going to get stronger with each race.

Fernando Alonso – A Costly Error

He admitted it on Saturday morning; Fernando Alonso made a costly error that could have severe implications for his world championship bid.  Having dominated Thursday practice, the Spaniard was early favourite to take the top step of the podium, until he locked up, ran wide and found the magnetic attraction of the Monaco barriers at Massenet.  It looked a slow crash, but the damage was very bad, so much so that he had to sit out qualifying with a cracked chassis.  Once again on Sunday, as in Australia and China, Fernando showed his class to fight through from a pitlane start to an eventual 6^th place finish, despite the final lap controversy with Michael Schumacher.  He was aided by the Safety Car and clever tactics more than demon overtaking for this result, but it is more essential points.  However, if Alonso loses the title by less than ten points, he will look back on this grave error on Saturday morning as the death knell in his championship charge.

Mercedes GP - Too Many Mistakes Are Hurting Them

Once again, it was a hard luck story for Mercedes GP in Monaco, with traffic errors in qualifying ruining their race prospects.  Nico Rosberg was quickest by some margin in Q2, but inadvertently blocked his team-mate Michael Schumacher on his best lap, and then lost the tyre temperature on his final run to launch a significant challenge.  Instead of giving Red Bull headaches for the front row, the German challenge wound up back in 6^th and 7^th.  Schumacher was highly critical of Rosberg, and Rosberg looked incredibly frustrated by another missed opportunity.  On raceday, Rubens Barrichello jumped them both off the line, finishing off any outside hopes of a podium challenge.  A meagre 7^th placed finish for Rosberg must be seen to the team as really disappointing.  Too many mistakes are hurting Mercedes and I now can’t see them launching any significant championship bid in either title battle.  Monaco could have been a turning point in their season, but instead it was just another backwards step from last year’s champions, in their Brawn GP guise.

Rubens Barrichello - How Not To Lose Your Cool!

In an F1 career, spanning nearly 300 races, Rubens Barrichello has been a lucky boy down the years, as apart from his horror shunt on the nightmare Imola weekend of 1994, he hasn’t had many brutal smashes down the years.  Sunday’s shunt in Monaco therefore must be seen as one of his biggest.  Barrichello was in top-form this weekend, doing well to make Q3 in the underperforming Williams, then rising up to 6^th with a great start.  Though he dropped behind the Mercedes pair after the pitstops, solid points were up for grabs until Lap 29, when a sudden failure of his right-rear tyre, saw the disintegrating wheel buckle underneath his car, and send him into two hard smashes with the guardrail on the run up to Massenet.  It was lucky that no cameramen, photographers or the closing cars, Vitantonio Liuzzi or Sebastian Buemi were struck by any debris from the Brazilian’s out-of-control Williams.  However, his next action was petulant and unnecessary.  Rubens tossed out his steering wheel, which was later run over by both Hispania F1 entries, which could have had worse consequences.  The stewards didn’t penalise Barrichello for this, which shows what a rubbish day they had, as he had no regard for anyone else’s safety.  A fine and slap on the wrist should have been fully merited.  This was the perfect way not to lose your cool.

Jarno Trulli - Retirement Beckons?

The two Lotus drivers are a total different breed at the moment, and for Jarno Trulli, he looks like he doesn’t want to be driving such a slow machine anymore.  Heikki Kovalainen is driving out of his skin at the moment, always with a smile on his face and very optimistic with the future, totally understanding that the Lotus plan is a long-term venture.  Quite clearly, Trulli wants instant progress and that doesn’t happen overnight.  An absolutely daft attempt to pass Karun Chandok’s Hispania into Rascasse with four laps to go showed he might have been thinking about growing more wine in his vineyard over in Italy.  It could have had terrible outcomes for Chandok, with Trulli’s errant chassis nearly striking the poor Indian on the head.  This incident sums up Jarno’s season, and if he doesn’t want to be in the circus anymore, he should walk before he takes Lotus’s promising morale with him.  I can’t see him lining up on the grid much sooner if he continues to put in these clumsy overtaking attempts and sleepy performances.

Sticky Airguns and a Near Fatal Outcome - A Weekend to Forget For The New Boys

For the new boys, Monaco just showed how far they are off the pace in what is turning out to be a trying season.  Having shown some improvements in the early flyaway races, Hispania have gone miles off the pace.  In fact, some GP2 cars were lapping faster around the streets than Karun Chandok and Bruno Senna, which must question the wisdom why, are they in the sport?  Virgin’s ridiculous season continued, with both Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi drowning at sea, in a car that is handling ugly and quite frankly, a tortoise has more chance of finishing a race at the moment.  Lotus has shown gradual improvement, especially with Heikki Kovalainen at the wheel, but they haven’t made the steps they were hoping for, both in reliability and speed.  None of the six drivers in the new teams finished, due to a catalogue of problems, including wonky suspensions, sticky airguns and outrageous overtaking passes.  Although I feel sorry for some of these drivers, namely Chandok and di Grassi for the equipment they have, these teams must buck up their ideas now; otherwise the 107% regulation needs to make an urgent return.  Only Kovalainen is giving them any valuable credit so far this season, which is disappointing to say.

Force India - Quiet, But Staying Out Of Trouble

Force India haven’t made a dramatic impact on the 2010 Formula One season so far, but they are staying out of trouble and consequently, are regular points scorers.  Only in China they haven’t registered a point so far this season and their first double points finish of the campaign will give the Silverstone-based team some more confidence of greater improvements.  Adrian Sutil is a changed man from last season.  Sutil has always been fast, but had a massive tendency to get involved in stupid accidents/collisions.  This year, he has calmed down, matured more and the results are starting to deliver.  Had it not been for a poor qualifying session, Adrian might have well been fighting for the top six in the race.  By contrast, Vitantonio Liuzzi has been coming under stern pressure from the Scot test driver Paul di Resta for his drive.  Following two excellent points showings early on, Liuzzi’s form has taken a major nosedive, with forgettable weekends in Shanghai and Barcelona.  However, the Italian reminded us what he could do in Monte Carlo, by outqualifying Sutil, making the top ten and finishing 9^th, having matched Sutil all weekend.  This was a very quiet, but encouraging weekend for Force India.  Watch them fly on the lower-downforce circuits such as Montreal, Spa and Monza later in the season; they could be serious podium contenders very soon. 

Six Races In - What Have We Learned So Far & What's To Come!

So, with one-third of the season complete, what have we learned so far?  Well, Red Bull are miles infront of the rest of the competition and have set some worryingly alarm bells off at many of their rival factories.  After a brilliant start in Bahrain, Ferrari has gone steadily backwards, and only luck is keeping them right in the thick of the title battle.  McLaren had a weekend to forget in Monte Carlo, and still need better qualifying pace.  However, their race pace is still a strong note, and they could well turn into McLaren’s closest challengers.  Renault, Force India and Toro Rosso have been surprises, whilst Williams and particularly Sauber need serious improvements fast, otherwise they will be cut off completely from the midfield group.  Webber, Vettel, Kubica, Rosberg and Kovalainen are the star drivers so far in 2010, whilst the likes of Schumacher, Hulkenberg, Massa, Kobayashi and Buemi need to up their game.  Istanbul is next, one of Tilke’s best tracks, and then comes a welcome return to Montreal, which always provides classic events.  There is a load more to come in F1 2010, it has been a encouraging start to the new formula.