Success! Apologies for the scruffy hob.

I looked at that picture for far too long, that looks absolutely delicious.

I have always preferred my Yorkshires a bit doughy. Perhaps that's just because my Mum always does them like that.

you still think we are in a relegation battle Mark?

i am confident we can make the top 10 and should be putting out a full team for the cup

Yea I didn't see that one coming. We have played very well but that was next level. Pressing them right to the last minute, confidence and quality from front to back. It's not that long ago that I couldn't picture 3 worse teams, things change so quickly.

Leicester playing the 9 goals with commentary in the warm up looks pretty stupid with hindsight.

I got to meet Ralph at a fan forum in the week. What a guy.

Went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the league and got the deserved win.

What a transformation.

The only historical fiction I have ever read is a book called Treachery.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Treachery-Giordano-Bruno-Book-4/dp/0007481225/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3FO4PIFPOGV1S&keywords=treachery&qid=1578400535&smid=A1G3UP32AZJ14F&sprefix=treacher%2Caps%2C424&sr=8-1

It didn't stick in the memory.

Have added The Last Kingdom to my wishlist. Looks interesting. 12 books in the series is a bit intimidating though!

[Shine: Rediscovering your Energy, Happiness and Purpose]

Shine: Rediscovering your Energy, Happiness and Purpose

In my mid twenties I used to be a bit of a self-help junkie. 7 steps, 5 habits, etc. etc.

As I have got older, my appetite for self improvement has waned but I do like to come back to a couple every now and then - usually when I am feeling especially glum or something is going on at work.

Shine is a really easy read, written in a relaxed conversational style without prescriptive lists to follow. The book does a good job of getting right to the point of self improvement, changing the way you perceive yourself. It is funny all the way through and doesn't take itself too seriously whilst still getting across some genuinely interesting ideas. This is a pleasant change compared to most in this genre which seem to be either too convoluted (The Chimp Paradox) or just plain dumb (The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**K).

It includes lots of profanities and some nice doodles but does lack depth. It has a "go and explore this yourself" type feel in parts and I would have appreciated a tad more guidance.  In general it is pretty good for getting a swift jolt of chutzpah to kick off a new year but don't expect it to turn you into a new man.

"You shine brightest when you're being your best self. Indeed, the quality of the relationship with yourself determines the quality of your relationship with everyone else."

6.5/10

Anyway, no more self help for a while. Up next, I have a couple of highly rated chunky novels that should keep me busy - A Gentleman in Moscow and The Poisonwood Bible.

I read just two books last year.

This year, I am going to read more. Perhaps one a month, will see how we go. I have a few lined up and holding myself accountable, will post them here with a few thoughts after reading.

Would be good to see some others do the same.

What a brilliant Christmas period that was.

I don't remember seeing a player as confident as Danny Ings is at the moment. His goals are great but his link up play is excellent, the best striker we have had at St Mary's since Lambert & Pelle.

Hassenhuttl is doing wonders and reminds me of Poch a lot. Will surely go on to great things one day.

I think we are still in a relegation battle. The next 4-5 games are really important and the squad still has some big gaps. Feeling far more positive though, the atmosphere at home games is good again and we are a fun team to watch.

I find it amazing that Labour lost Kensington to the Tories, a constituency that was 70% remain and the home of Grenfell Tower.

I think this quote is a pretty good summary of feeling:-

“Ultimately I felt like I had to travel less distance to the right of my political spectrum to meet Boris Johnson (who I believe Boris Johnson is when he doesn’t have to pander to the ERG and what he would be with a larger majority) than I had to travel left to meet Jeremy Corbyn,"

New record set for me, first time I have ever left a game before half time.

Great Canal Journeys on Channel 4 strikes me as your sort of thing Tikay.

Last nights episode was an absolute tear jerker. Prunella Scales is succumbing to dementia whilst her husband (Timothy West) takes her on their final boating trips.

What a great episode it was and real picture postcard view of the British countryside.

So, we are led to believe that the Earth is round but some of my childhood heroes are offering some different opinions.

Carl Froch - "The Earth is flat, 100%. There's no proof of the curvature and this fake space agency Nasa use CGI images and everyone is different. I'm looking at them thinking: "Hang on a minute, they're like cartoons. When someone like Richard Branson goes up there and starts doing chartered flights and you can look back on Earth and see the Earth's curvature, I'll believe the earth is a globe.'

Freddie Flintoff - If you’re in a helicopter and you hover why does the Earth not come to you if it’s round? 'Why, if we’re hurtling through space, why would water stay still? Why is it not wobbling? Also if you fire a laser about 16 miles, if the world was curved, you shouldn’t be able to see it but you can.'The middle is the North Pole, around the outside is the South Pole which is like a big wall of ice. This is why all governments now have bases on the South Pole.'

Glad that someone is finally speaking up and asking why water is not wobbling given we are flying through space.

Who knows what to believe any more.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Imagine how great it would feel to pick stuff up with this crane. Enormous. Carl seems like the perfect name for a crane too.

In two minds about It Chapter 2.

It is too long. 2 hours and fifty minutes is a long time.

It suffers as following a group of kids getting scared is way more interesting than following a group of adults. The kid actors are great too so all the flashback scenes are A+.

I generally liked the new cast albeit with a few bland performances. Pennywise is obv the star of the show.

It doesn't come together very easily as we spend a lot of time with individual characters rather than as a group.

That being said, it does well at being scary and more than just jump scares. I like the overall tone and I wasn't bored. It's a solid 7/10. Not as tight as the first film but perfectly fine.

Really looking forward to Joker. Trailer gave me the chills and it's getting critical acclaim.

For anyone that subscribes to The Athletic, here is an extraordinary interview with ex chairman Rupert Lowe posted yesterday. He is now an MEP for the Brexit party.

https://theathletic.co.uk/1179554/2019/09/06/rupert-lowe-interview-england-has-strong-bloodstock/

An extract:-

He says: “The key to club and to English football is to improve the quality and structure of our coaching. If we get the right people instilling not only the right skills but also the right moral basis into these people, then I think we really have got the ability to win World Cups. Because I am absolutely convinced, having looked at it, that we have the best raw material.”

What do you mean by raw material?

“The best players. Our stock of players. Our people from the north east, Yorkshire; our strong bloodstock. You shouldn’t really call people bloodstock but that’s what you’re talking about because you’re talking about an industry.

“Bloodstock” is a term from breeding race horses, meaning the original ancestors of a bloodline. We get back to this later.

“If you studied football in France, you’d tend to find that a lot of the best French players come from the Camargue. It’s a region of France, you’ve got very tough, mentally strong people, physically strong people. It’s quite similar here.

But don’t France’s best players come from the multicultural Paris suburbs, like Paul Pogba?

“Pogba’s originally not from France, is he? He would be from Africa.”

Pogba, the Manchester United midfielder and France’s World Cup-winning star was born in Lagny-sur-Marne — an eastern suburb of Paris.