Manchester's historical traditions and the riots of 2011

Shops were looted in Manchester, police were attacked. The poor and disenfranchised were making their voices heard after years of brutal repression and intolerable living conditions. The middle classes of Manchester were hated by the workers who seethed with injustice. No, not August 2011, but 1842, when the Chartist uprisings reached a crescendo.

And as the city reflected on the very week in 1819 that 15 people were killed and hundreds injured at Peterloo, when the Manchester Yeomanry attacked a crowd of protestors, it is well to reflect on the historical parallels with today and how we interpret the riots in the city centre and Salford. Indeed, Tristram Hunt MP did just that at a sparkling lecture on Peterloo at the People's History Museum on Friday night. He concluded, rightly, briefly, that the riots were an outbreak of horrific criminality. But history never ends at a line drawn on an era. Peterloo took years, decades, to force change.

So I do think the rioting was part of a historical tradition unique to Manchester and Salford. Please bear with me. But it had absolutely nothing to do with the fine, noble and courageous sacrifices of struggles that have marked these great twin cities. They have been at the forefront of democracy, feminism and vegetarianism - and even the competing radicalisms of free trade, trade unionism and the co-operative movement.

But there has always been something murky under and often on the surface of Manchester life. Gangsterism.

Forget that buffoon David Starkey and his hopeless attempts to understand street culture, the celebration of mob rule, criminality and the gang exploded to the surface on our streets last week. And it wasn't for the first time. What was it that sounded the death knell for Madchester club culture in the 1990s? Gangsters.

This isn't a working class thing either. How many financial scandals have been rooted here? Barlowe Clowes, Lexi, VAT scammers and the wealthy gangsters who live alongside the celebrities and footballers in the Cheshire golden triangle. Gangsters.

This isn't yet another piece of punditry claiming to have the answers, but just a sad and grumpy recognition that we live amidst some horrible people who inspire some very stupid people to be like them.

PS If you want some sensible comment on the riots there's loads out there. I tip my hat in the direction of the following: Martin Bright, Simon Marcus, John Robb, Charlie Brooker, Ed Owen on Daddy Be Good, Harriet Sergeant, Peter Oborne and Polly Toynbee.

They reach different conclusions. They come from different perspectives, some of them are a bit shrill, but that is what is important for everyone who cares to do here. Think and listen. Open your mind, step out of your comfort zones and your echo chambers. Stop this pathetic descent into "he said, she said, yes but" name calling. Try and forge a solution that can save our society from barbarism. All of us.

We've come on holiday by mistake

We want the finest wines - kids Withnail tribute

Chaos behind the scenes at Blackburn Rovers

The customer-facing staff are at the frontline of any business. And at Blackburn Rovers today I spoke to enough of them to see that the organisation is utterly dysfunctional. No-one knows what is going on at the club. There is no leadership or sense of common purpose. Who's fault is that?

Customers in the corporate areas have dropped off; the Clayton Douglas lounge - which is for the shirt sponsor and the match sponsor - wasn't open today. Indeed, the match sponsor was Sportfive the sales agency tasked with selling such deals. I saw one director there today - Bob Coar. There were the executives, sure, but there is no board to host the visiting directors any more. There was no one present from India. For the opening day of the season that is disgraceful. It is a shameful facet of foreign ownership that certain owners lack sufficient interest in something so special to so many people that they don't even go to games. Who's fault is that?

On the pitch the team lost. That is bad enough, but they lost because they were a weakened team. Who's fault is that?

Kean fielded a young midfield player and a rookie at centre back and no holding midfield player. Jamie O'Hara will not dominate another midfield area as easily as he did today. Yes, injuries had a bearing on the options, but a new centre half should have been a priority since the end of last season. A good squad has players in every position and the bench today showed the weakness in the squad. The worst thing I heard today is that despite all the departures there is no money. None from Jones, none from Kalinic. It is all hand to mouth. Who's fault is that?

The answer to all of the above is "Venky's".

But it is also dawning on everyone at the club, and now amongst the supporters that the owners aren't as resourced or as committed as they claimed when the Walker Trust sold it to them. They just buy time with stunts like free pies at Wolves, charity sponsors and renaming the Blackburn End. And if they have got the club in this kind of chaotic mess so quickly and so recklessly, and are so unable to do anything about it, then the ultimate responsibility also has to be with the Walker Trustees who signed over our club to these people.

Hooray - the Premier League kicks off today

Right, back from holiday, off to the football today. We haven't bought season tickets this year for reasons I've mentioned elsewhere. Still massively underwhelmed by football as a whole. There is something even more vapid and manipulative about it. But still...

Here are my predictions for the league.

1 Chelsea
2 Manchester United
3 Manchester City
4 Liverpool
5 Arsenal
6 Tottenham
7-16 I have to say I've totally lost interest in doing this already. There is just no excitement in it. Here are the three that I think will go down:
18 Blackburn Rovers
19 Queen's Park Rangers
20 Swansea City


FA Cup: Chelsea
Champions League: Barcelona
Championship: Leicester
League One: Sheffield United
League Two: Crawley Town

Why so pessimistic about Rovers? We've lost three of the most influential players of last season - and three potentially big players for the one to come - Phil Jones, Jermaine Jones and it looks like Chris Samba will go too. I liked Kalinic, he could still be a decent Premier League player, but he's gone too. They are all big holes to plug. Who is there to replace them? Last season's pretty boys - Rochina and Formica - still have to get games under their belts and to learn. There isn't time to do that. Same with this David Goodwillie, the Scottish striker will not make it in time, the gulf in quality is a chasm. It will be Keith Andrews all over again.

There is chronic instability throughout the club, which matters. Sure the chief executive doesn't pull on a shirt and play a game, but the lack of one contributes to Steve Kean's uphill task. He will not be able to attract the game changing players that are needed and he doesn't have the network to do quick fixes.

If any of that is misplaced, offensive, or you think it is disloyal, then I'm sorry. This is one of those issues where I desperately want to be wrong.

Marple in Action

The Marple in Action website here is adding new links and lots of tools to help those of us round here who don't want the local collage to sell to a major supermarket chain. What a superb example of community spirit and action. I spoke to a couple of businesses on Saturday who seem quite resigned to the Tescoisation of Marple. It is a chance for the community to up its game. The whole place is going into a period of change - one way or another, it's vital we emerge better and stronger than before.

Pre-season excitement sadly lacking

I've been thinking about all the pre-season build ups in the past. All the simple events and happenings that got my juices flowing in anticipation of a season of thrills at Ewood Park.

On one particular occasion it was the unbelievable giddy, headswimming delight of seeing my team in the top flight with hot new signings like Alan Shearer, Stuart Ripley and Wayne Burnett (he was going to be a star, you know). But that was probably a one off. There's certainly none of that this season.

OK, new summer signings can disappoint. But there were times when you thought, 'hey, this new lad could do a job for us' - Speedie, Sutton, Santa Cruz, even Kevin Davies and George Donis. Or Bellamy and Kalinic. But Jerome Anderson's son hasn't set a pulse racing.

It was even the emotional delight of looking forward to taking the young lads to a game and giving them the same build up of excitement that I used to have - first with my nephews, then with my own first son, then as the rest joined the world, sharing the family occasion with them.

During one close season my nephew won a competition to model the smart new kit with some players. We got to hang out with Dunny, Matt Jansen and Duffer. They co-operated with the sponsors, Time, in parading the new kit. It was innocent fun. Something was stirring. Now the players advertise chicken and look like unwilling sops in a humiliating circus.

There has been anticipation of being truly part of a European adventure. Not this time.

There have been comments from the manager that the group of players could do better than 6th, or a semi-final, and add more silverware. Realistic self-improvement. No, now we get delusions and illusions befitting Comical Ali.

There has been the sense that this is my club, that I will stand by this group of players no matter what. That the club might be skint, parts of the ground condemned and the prospects poor. That the team may not be the best, but they are my club and even though we have gone down, I meant it when I stood in tears singing 'we'll support you evermore'. Maybe I've just grown up a bit.

Sometimes in the past it was even the chance to show off some new gear I'd bought or acquired through shrewd swapping - striding onto the Nuttall Street paddock in my Pringle and Fila. No, I'm way past that too.

Sometimes the previous season may have been tough, but the heartfelt efforts of the club to get the fans onside meant the discounts, the marketing, the little touches that relit the dying flame. Not this season. 

Sometimes it was because I didn't have much else going on, or it was a release from everything else. No, can't claim that now either.

So, for all of the above I have no inclination to renew our season tickets. I have no plans to organise my life, our family life, around the fixture list. There has been nothing to counter a deep rooted cynicism with football in general and Rovers in particular. Nothing at all.

The anger rises over Marple College sell off

So, the Marple Area Committee meeting has never seen anything like it. They moved it to a room that could hold 150, but there were about the same number still outside. In the end, it was taken outside into Memorial Park. The basic council line on the college land sell off, from the officials and the councillors is the same - the site of the Hibbert Lane campus will not be granted planning permission for retail.

There are, however, more questions than answers arising out of all this and people aren't happy at all.

Here are a few to start with.

Why was the MP Andrew Stunell not at the meeting tonight?

When did councillors first learn of this plan for the college to sell off land?

On what basis has "market research" of Marple residents' shopping habits been used to substantiate a business case for a retail development on the site?

What economic impact surveys have been done regarding a retail development on this site?

What conversations have the college held with housebuilders over development of the land for housing and what value has the land for residential development?

What discussions have they held with the local council, or potential partners, over the possibility of leisure developments on the site, including the closure of Marple baths and new sports facilities?

If the plan for retail is against council policy, why has it taken until now for elected officials to RESPOND to questions, let alone make public statements on the issue?

What would change the council's policy on the use of this site? If medium or large retail would be refused, what is small? And what trust can anyone in Stockport have over Tesco's interpretation of this, given their Portwood store is 15 per cent bigger than they had permission for?

And just a thought, which of the Marple councillors are up for election next year? And which of them have served as governors of the college in the recent past? Which of them were privy to meetings at which the land sale was discussed?

Supermarket on Hibbert Lane in Marple? No thanks

A huge issue has exploded locally. A local college has opted to sell one of its sites. The fear locally is that this will be to a large supermarket group - Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Waitrose have all been mentioned, but to be fair, it has been difficult to separate rumour from fact. However, there are some tenacious and resourceful people round here. As a result of Freedom of Information requests and persistent calls and letters to councillors, officials and the college, some facts have started to emerge.

The local website has a particularly useful thread, here, which deals with the facts of the issue.

On there, our local councillor, Susan Ingham, chair of the Area Committee, has confirmed to a concerned resident a few facts too.

It is true that the College intend to sell the Hibbert Lane Campus and as an independent commercial organisation they are free to do whatever they believe is in the College’s best interest and the Council has no jurisdiction in that respect.  As I understand it they have been in talks with various supermarkets and developers, but nothing has been agreed at this stage.
As far as planning permission goes, the Council Planning department is clear that the land in question is designated as housing.  No retail development would be given consent outside the District Centre. The Hibbert Lane campus falls outside the District Centre and therefore any a planning application to develop a retail site is likely to be refused.

Councillor Ingham will be chairing the Area Committe meeting this Wednesday at the Senior Citizens Hall near Marple Library. I expect the numbers attending to be bigger than usual. Our family will be represented.

I have an open mind on many things. Believe you me I've weighed up all the options on this one. Getting a cheap bottle of milk will be much easier for a start. But you have to look at the bigger picture. The local festivals, the local businesses that struggle along, the strong sense of community makes this a different and special place. And there is no way on earth that a big supermarket on Hibbert Lane would be good for Marple. In fact, it would be a disaster. This needs to be resisted all the way.

Can we please show some humanity

This sick lunatic killing kids at a youth camp in Norway is just absolutely horrific. It's beyond comprehension. He will claim it was for one reason or another, just as the nutters who blew themselves up on 7/7 in London did. Nothing can justify it. Neither can anyone rushing to pin complicity on any kind of political or religious position. Innocent people are dead. Surely it is enough to mourn them, condemn those responsible and stand in awe at the selfless bravery, once again, of people caught up in this hell on earth.

Wasn't the golf brilliant?

Really enjoyed that epic final round of the Open yesterday. Darren Clarke was an inspiration. I was particularly proud of my good pal Mike Finnigan who has been working with Darren and got a special mention in the paper here. The biggest barrier to success has been Darren himself - Finn has taught him a winning mentality - so many of the commentators and observers spotted it.

I spoke to Mike yesterday, the full story is here.

It also proves an old maxim about golf being a game played over six inches - between your ears. Inspirational.

Transmission 001 - The Flaming Lips - guest review by David Casey

Jodrell Bank isn't a total stranger to music events - the site has previously played host to a one-off performance from Doves, while Professor Brian Cox's D:REAM 'partied up the world' on the Lovell telescope way back in 1995 - but 'Transmission 001 - Live from Jodrell Bank' is the first time a mini-festival has been held at the Cheshire observatory.

The idea of Transmission is to connect the work of Jodrell Bank with new audiences - attract fans for an evening of music, but allow them to take part in space research workshops and access the new £3.5m visitor centre during the day.

Of course it's also a way of generating extra funds to help pay for the site's running costs, given the shrinking public revenue streams available, and it cashes in on the growing trend for bands to play novel venues.

The Forestry Commission has held music events at Cheshire's Delamere Forest for a number of years now, with Erasure, The Courteeners and Simple Minds on the bill this year, but Transmission's line-up was arguably the more exciting of the two.

The Flaming Lips were the main draw although support acts British Sea Power, OK Go, Wave Pictures and Alice Gold ensured the event attracted a diverse mix of people. It was an inspired choice by the organisers to get Wayne Coyne's Oklahoma psychedelic rockers to head the bill, as songs like 'What Is The Light?' and 'Observer' provided the perfect soundtrack for a gig in the shadow of the Lovell, whose dish also doubled as a huge projection screen.

And whether it's through giant balloons, confetti cannons or fancy-dress costumes, Coyne managed to elicit feelings of joy, positivity and love from the 5,000-strong crowd that is rarely present with other bands. It was hard not to bounce around with child-like glee as you were being showered with confetti, especially during 'Do You Realize?', the big sing-a-long of the night.

The event wasn't without its teething problems - taking more than one-and-a-half hours to exit the site's car park took some of the sheen off the night - but from a music and science-engagement perspective, it was a triumph.

As Coyne said: "To stand hear in the symbolic shadow of this great a achievement, I think this is the best place to be on planet earth right now, tonight, right here." I'm not sure there's many people who attended that would disagree.

Going to jail with James Timpson

This blog isn't about work, but I do want to include a link here to a piece I wrote in Insider. I went to visit Forest Bank prison in Salford with James Timpson, the managing director of his family owned shoe repair and key cutting business. It was one of the most unsettling, yet inspirational days I've ever had. It opened my eyes to life inside the prison system and to the extraordinary things that people can do to change broken lives. You can read it here.

Hope and Glory by Stuart Maconie reviewed

I haven't actually read all of Stuart Maconie's book on the history of our times. I gave my copy to a visiting American businessman I met last week in the fond hope it will inspire him to promote the North of England to his countrymen.

It's better than his last two, even though it's very similar. The format is more structured, he picks a day each decade and uses that to describe the themes that emerged, weaving a readable and modern social history. I'd just got up to 1977 and the Silver Jubilee and the birth of punk. The days themselves are interesting choices, the birth of TV, the docking of the Windrush, the World Cup final in 1966. The best, I felt, was the choice of the conquest of Everest in the 1950s.

For all that more rigid attempts at structure, anyone who enjoyed Pies and Prejudice would still recognise his penchant for rambling anecdotes and touching tangents.

Abuses of power, justice required

These are indeed extraordinary times. The events stemming from the phone hacking scandal continue to amaze. As I write Rebekah Brooks has been arrested. What is there to suggest that James Murdoch won't be next? The other newspapers and media organisations can smell blood. So too can the politicians who bowed and scraped to Murdoch for so long. And even though the public appetite for the story probably isn't as great as the media believe.

Phone hacking isn't difficult. Most people are daft enough not to have changed the pin on their mobile phone. So, by keying in the default codes when the voicemail kicks in, depending on the mobile company, it is so simple a child could do it. That it was done to hack the phone messages of a murdered child is a truly appalling example of the lack of perspective, but it was still bad form when it was a celebrity

It started as a savage verdict on media ethics. The constant crossing of the line of acceptable behaviour - phone hacking, bin dipping, bribing of police - and it has become a major debate over craven politics and abuses of power. The argument over standards shouldn't be allowed to fall by the wayside.

I don't subscribe to the "yes, but" argument. I think when it's used by News International journalists and apologists it is a weak attempt at distraction. But in questioning whether executives at Mirror Group, the Mail, the Guardian and the Telegraph should be answerable to the findings of the Information Commissioners report into the dodgy use of private detectives is a valid one. So too is the introduction into the discussion as to whether the leaking of "hacked" and "stolen" confidential data from MPs expense sheets and Wikileaks auctioning stolen military information is acceptable. You can't have it both ways.

If this debate is being broadened out, then there is another diversion yet to be addressed. That is the abuse of monopoly position, the bullying of the legal regulatory process and the crushing of smaller competitors that undermines a free market. No, not in media, but in retail. The big supermarkets have had their own way for too long too. And if a politician was in search of a just cause that others have feared, then this is it.

My mate #13 Steve Connor

There's a quote from Gore Vidal that says "whenever a friend succeeds a little piece of me dies". I feel the opposite. Today I went to see my friend Steve Connor at the ceremony to unveil a portrait of Yuri Gagarin in Manchester Town Hall to commemorate the 50th anniversay of his visit to the city. Steve's pictured here with Harry Lyons the Lord Mayor of Manchester as he's driven the project along.

When I got there Steve was speaking with the backdrop of the Russian imperial flag. Part of him will have been disappointed that it wasn't the hammer and sickle (purely for reasons of historical accuracy, of course), indeed a couple of old "tankies" made that very point. Steve spoke so well, telling the story of how Major Gagarin came to rainy Manchester to meet the workers at Metropolitan Vickers and at the foundry workers union base in Moss Side and how he met Bernard Lovell, the creator of the Jodrell Bank telescope at a reception at the Town Hall.

"He was pretty much mobbed on his arrival by a crowd that included the then ‘Mayor of Stretford’. He then drove through Moss Side to the Union’s HQ, where his car was reported showered with ‘red roses, poppies and carnations’ and, this is my favourite bit, was presented with a specially designed medal that to my eye could have been the early work of Comrade Saville, if he’d been around at the time. It included the slogan ‘Together Moulding a Better World'."

There's some coverage here and here is Steve's blog on the plans for the celebration of the anniversary of the visit today with a flavour of what he spoke about today.

I knew Steve at Manchester University in the 1980s when we both wrote for Mancunion, the student paper, and were both in the Labour Party (he's one of only two people who still call me "comrade"). It was brilliant reacquanting with him again when I came back to the city in 2000 and I've particularly enjoyed seeing his business grow. Creative Concern isn't just a PR company for good causes, it's more of a moral crusade. They burn with passion for clients and bring civic advocacy and real campaigning zeal. It's been hard through the recession, but on the evidence of work they've done for the Manchester Electric Car Company they have grasped the commercial nettle very effectively.

So, to come back to Gore Vidal's silly quote. Honestly, once in a while you look at one of your friends in a confident and happy place and you just glow. Today was one of those days. And here's a better Vidal quote: "Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say and not giving a damn." Touche, comrade?

Maple Leaf monument to Canadian air crews

Until now there has been no permanent memorial to the Royal Canadian Airforce and their extraordinary contribution to the war effort in the Second World War. As I mentioned here, this has been a work in progress, and me and my Mum were honoured to represent our family at the unveiling of a new monument at the National Arboretum in Staffordshire. My Grandfather Francis Edward O'Hare, my Mum's Dad, died aged just 24, shot down near Duisberg in Germany in April 1943. He was serving as a pilot officer with the Royal Canadian Airforce and based out of Gransden Lodge in Cambridgeshire.

The ceremony was officially hosted by the Duke of Gloucester, who spoke well. But for us the most touching contribution was made by Commodore Kelly Williams, a senior military officer from Canada who is currently serving as the military attache to the UK. He spoke of meeting a war widow and her son, now 67, who never met his father and reunited her with a ring. The full story is here. When we met him later to thank him for his oration he spoke direct words of comfort and support to my Mum that meant so much to her.

I'd never been aware of the National Arboretum either. It is a symbol of the steady and stoic support for the contribution of the armed forces in this country. I've been to Arlington in Washington and to the memorials of Canberra. I've even been to the national monument in Ankara. But wasn't even aware of this place. It seems to have been born from a movement that has genuinely come from the people, to honour fallen heroes. It is a serene and impressive place. The central obelisk and statues form the centrepiece, but much thought has gone into its ambience. As the trees bloom it will be a magnificent haven to reflect and to honour.

The only way is ethics

Even before the news broke yesterday that the News of the Screws was being shut down, I had a feeling something game changing was in the offing. It wasn't ever going to be about the government squaring up to Murdoch, he changed the debate and moved it on. And I can't recall anyone suggesting the NOTW be closed in order to atone for this nonsense.

But what are the deeper lessons and how are they going to play out? How will this impact on journalism? I had an intruiging chat to Liam Fogarty about this yesterday. He also teaches on the journalism course at UCLAN. We were both in agreement about a need to reinforce the ethical heart of journalism and storytelling. So much of the cruelty and meaness of everyday life stems from a diminishing of this. There has to be a recasting of the purpose of journalism from the ground up now. Not just the teaching of the law and the rules, but of the nobility of fairness and accuracy. 

Dr Dee at the Festival - Blackadder goes Spinal Tap

Half way through Damon Albarn's modern opera Dr Dee last night I wondered how on earth he ever came up with the idea for such a performance. It was bewildering. Part Derek Jarman, a bit of Spinal Tap and a sprinkling of Blackadder. As a spectacle it was a triumph. As a piece of theatre and performance there was much to admire. But could I follow it? Not really. I got the hang of it in the second half as I have friends who understand these things better than me and explained things at the break. The moral of the story, I suppose, is this: the Catholics might have roughed you up for your zany scientific ways, but trusting these dodgy sorcerers was only ever going to bring grief.

In a sense, it's what the Manchester International Festival is all about: challenging you to broaden your thinking and experience new cultural forms. That said, it would have been nice if Damon Albarn had dramatically ended the performance with an Elizabethan alchemist's version of Parklife.

With Downtown Frank on the radio

I did a radio programme this week with Frank McKenna of Downtown in Business. The link to the podcast of it is here, so it should be up in a day or two. It's on City Talk FM in Liverpool and we cover cruise terminals, pensions, the public sector strikes and a tiny bit of politics.

Festival in play - Sinead O'Connor

The excellent Manchester International Festival is back in town. I love the way Albert Square is transformed into a plaza type meeting place of a daytime and an evening. It just feels so civilised and convivial. Even Damon Albarn was hanging out there on Friday afternoon.

On Saturday we saw Sinead O'Connor perform a mix of old songs and new and, yes she did do THAT Prince cover. Her voice is incredible, of that there is no doubt. Some of her lyrics are breathtakingly poignant and reflect her complex and confused life - abusive mother, sexual orientation issues, bipolar, 4 x4 (kids by different Dads), an odd relationship with her faith. Such honesty - such baggage - brings its hazards - and some of the songs are a bit "sixth form poetry". As she tells her own stories between the songs she isn't trying to hide anything. It is all laid bare. But sometimes it seems like she tries to fit a bit too much into a single song.

Was it any good? Yes, of course it was. Really good. And if she's sorted herself out, to learn to appreciate the talent she has and the respect she still has, then I think on the evidence of this concert she stands on the brink of a bit of a comeback. Her band were very tight and her reggae influences show a varied musical style that nicely complemented her own powerful vocal strength.

And she looks very different now too, from when she did THAT video to THAT song. A full head of hair for a start.

One Vince Miller

Enjoyed a wonderful Radio 3 Nightwaves Podcast this morning. It was a debate on identity on the internet, how people adopt different names and personalities to blog and tweet etc (perish the very thought!). To add to the confusion one of the participants was introduced as "the sociologist Vince Power", which got me pondering about how he promotes Irish music festivals in his spare time and probably has other exotic identities. It turned out he was in fact the sociologist Vince Miller. For me though, there's only one Vince Miller, a fine man of this parish and much as I enjoyed Dr Miller's observations on authenticity, our Vince would have kept it very real indeed.

MediaCity is important, but not for regeneration

I'm very excited about MediaCity and will be seeing it for myself this week. In the meantime, there's been some rum comment here about the regenerative powers of the BBC's relocation.

On its own the BBC move won't solve inequality and deprivation in Salford. To suggest that is the purpose is to miss the point. But if the BBC has to tax each and every household in the UK for its services – not just BBC1 and BBC2, but effectively for all of it – then it is unsustainable for those services to be so metropolitan in tone, voice and location. The resettlement of a large chunk of a national corporation to the North West is not only a good thing, it is essential for a functioning national plural democracy.

To then have a private company, Peel, build the thing and to invest in the rest of the infrastructure around it – with a subsidy, just like the Dome, just like the Olympics, just like the Thames Gateway, just like the new BBC radio studio central London – is an incredible piece of good fortune.

The refuseniks who don’t want to come to live in Hale and Didsbury now are an aberration. The real story lies with the people who have a chance to work with the BBC for the next 20 years – my kids, their mates and even the sons and daughters of Nicky Campbell and others who are coming. It is the BBC after all.

Having accepted all of the above, the BBC then sought a suitable site. Salford Quays was their most cost effective solution as the landowner was prepared to build it (by unlocking subsidy, granted). Manchester’s alternative – Southern Gateway – was more costly and didn’t have the potential to attract other inward investors.

MediaCity at Salford Quays has proved attractive to SISLink, ITV, Salford University, little by little, bit by bit, a new media ecology can grow here.

It won’t provide mass employment for the yoof of Langworthy – however much they say it might – but there is much more to it than that.

Never Mind the Apprentice Here's Young Enterprise

So, to Manchester Airport's Concorde facility for the annual awards for the best group of school kids from the North West with their own business idea. The winners, left, were from Clitheroe Royal Grammar School in Lancashire with their own collection of products in a reusable bag. A very nifty gift idea. It was my honour to host these awards and I can say with some confidence that every one of the finalists was loads better than any of the muppets on the present series of the Apprentice.

Why aren't I into Doves?

Everything about Doves suggests I should like them. Triumphant expansive sound, parochial North West  references. A nod to prog in that they are technically very accomplished and experiment with different sounds. To cap it all, they seem like really nice lads. It hit me tonight on the way home on the train, the opening guitar on the opening track on Last Broadcast - Words - is a stirring anthemic intro as good as anything you could hear on a random shuffle. Then comes the voice. It just isn't strong enough, or distinctive enough. Vocals don't have to be powerful and domineering. Am I too shallow to appreciate the point of Doves enough? Is there another entry point I should try? The critics seem to universally love them, so I guess it really must be me. I read somewhere that they are friends with Guy Garvey and may work together. That has potential.

Booze, boys and kids footie

When I did my FA coaching course a couple of years ago, the course leader was an experienced coach called Bill Prendergast. A couple of us got talking to him about the end of season presentation evenings that junior football clubs do. Bill was horrified that these events are held in pubs and clubs with alcohol consumed avidly. I was also concerned that our event at Marple was taking too long with 9 age groups and hundreds of bored parents hovering at the bar creating a hum of background noise. "Ask the kids what they want," suggested Bill. Well, we did, but they just want their evening of glory, really, and you can't ask an 8 year old an open question. We put an online poll on the website which came down to a choice between 'just each age group', 'a single function', or 'two events - one for the "youths" (10-14) and one for the "juniors" (7-10)'. They went for the latter option.

We've done it all now. The older kids had an awards at Hawk Green Cricket Club last weekend. And last night we held the juniors event in Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Marple. Rachel sorted out some pop for the thirsty kids (and adults). Both were all done in an hour. Everyone went home happy.

There's a report out at the moment from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that draws a link between seeing parents drinking and how teenagers go on to behave. There are a lot of important issues running around here, but I'm very much coming around to the view that just as you wouldn't expect to get drunk at a school play it isn't too much to put off that Friday night livener for another hour.

The star turn at the Property Awards - and me and Rory

Rory Bremner was our star turn at the Insider Property Awards last week. I know what you're thinking. He's a has been. Do you know what? I thought that too. I don't know why, he's still on TV isn't he? We occasionally hire celebrities for these awards events and they do a fantastic job. And I see the odd one who betrays the central truth of these occasions: it's easy money and they hate doing it.

Rory is a very smart guy. And I think for the very reasons I outlined above, he knows that the same-old, same-old won't do. So this is what happened. I spared him the crowd control, the charity appeal and the housekeeping and hosted those bits. I tried a new technique for crowd control - and getting 900 people to stay quiet is tough. I didn't "shush" at all. It's seen as rude by some people, and so I tried pauses and extra ad libbing. No-one is listening at the very start anyway. But at 9:45 Rory bounced onto the stage and did a good half hour of comedy. Not just his impressions, which are all spot on, but a series of one-liners, quips, barbs and topical observations. This being Manchester Ryan Giggs featured heavily. He was brilliant. He exuded star quality. It was a pleasure to watch him work (for us).

When it comes to the awards themselves there's another unspoken pact between audience and presenter. He knows it's important to the winner. They know he doesn't really take it that seriously. They also know that it's important in their world and want to win. But it doesn't do to be seen to be taking it too seriously. The real skill comes in the detail and brevity of the script that the presenter works to. In this case Neil Tague, who I work with, provided a punchy and informative script that walked that line with great aplomb. If you can get to the end and a BAFTA award winning comic doesn't feel it necessary to say - "or so it says here" then you've done a first rate job.

So, we've had all kinds of people thanking us for the show. One thing that keeps coming up is how good Rory Bremner was - his jokes and his impressions, but also his research and familiarity with the North West and the property world. Well, take that as a compliment Rory, but take it as an even bigger one, Neil Tague.

Treasure Islands by Nicholas Shaxson - book review

I bought this book by way of preparation for a trip to the Isle of Man. I was interviewing government officials, tax experts, lawyers and business people who chose to operate in a low tax environment. The book doesn't really talk much about the "tax haven in the Irish Sea" but does get stuck into the morality of low tax regimes in Jersey, the Cayman Islands and Switzerland. And the City of London.
Shaxson is to be commended for a well researched and powerfully argued polemic against the offshore financial system. The history lesson is remarkable. He analyses the paradoxes of Maynard Keynes and the role of the Vestey family, a Scouse meat trading dynasty. He describes how companies operating across national jurisdictions fiddle the system by opting to be taxed in low or zero rated countries. When he describes the plundering of Africa it is a powerful tale indeed.
Where he slightly falls down is in his central thesis that offshore is at the root of all evil. When it's his life's work, he sees the tentacles of offshore banking and tax everywhere, even infecting the libel laws. I think he goes way over the top in characterising a layer of idiots in Jersey as evidence that these are all "bad guys". They might be, but he doesn't resort to that crude characterisation in the chapter on the City of London, where the evidence stacks up much better.
So, did it help me in understanding the Isle of Man? No, on the contrary. I have an instinctive hostility to offshore. It doesn't feel right. But the model of a low tax small state anything goes society isn't the case at all. The Isle of Man actually has a larger public sector and a state that meddles in all kinds of odd areas of life. Their argument for a low tax regime is that they have 80,000 people to support and a have higher costs due to their isolation.
And did it help me understand the source of the financial crisis and the problems that face the world? Yes, definitely. It's provided some uncomfortable and unconvenient truths to ponder. And is likely to provoke some soul searching over a number of fundamental business issues. 
So, is it a good book? Yes, it's well written and detailed. You also get the sense there is a whole lot more he could say, but is fearful of libel writs. A welcome contribution.

Marple store wars - a new twist

I was surprised to get a twitter update from Greater Manchester Police linking to a site here, where they have served notice that they have applied to review the licence of the Premier store run by the Raja Brothers at Rose Hill.

This is the reason given: "because the operation of these premises does not support the licensing objectives, namely the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety and the protection of children from harm. The application has been made on the grounds that the Police have been investigating these premise for underage sales and were unable to view the CCTV footage."

You have until the 5th of July to make a statement, you are reminded that to make a false statement is an offence.

The final insult

I feel pretty miffed about Phil Jones leaving Blackburn Rovers for Manchester United. It's not just because I happen to rate him very highly and that our sons are going to bed very sad tonight. That is true, by the way, but I'm annoyed because Rovers haven't had enough from him yet. He played 40 games. That's a season. One season.

I'm also miffed because he had an injury last season and was helped back from it. We even went to watch him play half a game for the reserves on his comeback. Surely another season to push forward with the club he supported as a kid - see how they trot that one out when it suits them - would not only have increased his stock as a player but he would have improved his experience and added to the number of appearances too. I don't give a stuff for his career now, or how he does for that other team, I liked him because he played for my team in the blue and white.

No, what really, really gets me, is that there doesn't seem to be anyone able to stand up for the club or to make a case for the future and for a young talent to be part of something exciting. The manager is in court on a drink driving charge. The owners are in India. The managing director has left. There is no chairman. There is only chaos.

And the season ticket packs arrived today with a Manchester postmark and from an Eccles address. Guess who's on the montage of "heroes"? Well, the worst manager the club has ever had is gurning from the back, then there is young Jones, just to the right of Terry Gennoe (289 appearances). Sorry Phil, you will never be a Blackburn Rovers hero. Not now. Your loss.

Rovers rumours

Here's what I've heard about Blackburn Rovers. It's a fairly unpleasant workplace to be behind the scenes. Tom Finn is relieved to be on his way and won't be the last of the old regime to go. Appointing Paul Hunt as a deputy chief executive to work alongside a managing director was never going to last. There is no sign of a new chairman. There is still no sponsor willing to pay the £5m they were asking. This in turn is delaying the marketing of next season's kit and the distribution of the season ticket renewal packs. A betting company was lined up (groan), but was knocked back by the Indians. No serious decision is taken without approval of the two new directors Gandhi Babu and Mahesh Gupta. They have to consult with the Rao family on everything.

On the pitch, Nicola Kalinic, Chris Samba and Phil Jones are almost certain to be sold. That's not something I've heard from the inside. It's a gut feeling.

As for Steve Kean, rumours that Rochdale have requested permission to speak to him about the vacant manager's job at Spotland are just wishful thinking on my part.

Does any of this suggest that Venky's know what they are doing?

Helping the Heroes at the Reebok

Thanks to my pal Mike Finnigan I had the opportunity this week to play football on the hallowed turf of Bolton's Reebok Stadium. It was a terrific occasion. Finn used to work with Sam Allardyce at Bolton (story here) and organised the fine details - Bolton kits, home and away dressing rooms, UEFA handshakes, music, an official greeting with the Duchess of Grimsargh. As we stepped out to play we all got the same handshake from our boss that his client David Moyes gives his players at Everton - and the same message: "look after each other out there".

The pitch was in great condition. It was like a snooker table, so smooth and the grass was at a perfect length. It was almost impossible to make a bad pass, but I'm sure we did. In time we'll have the video and some photos. There were 8 camera positions and Gary Weaver was doing the commentary. It was great having Rachel and all the lads there to watch too (above). Such a great day.

Last year I played at Ewood Park and it nearly killed me. My fitness and motivation levels must have improved ten fold, as I came through OK and had more pitch time than I did last year. The engine splutters a bit, but I didn't collapse. No-one else got badly injured either, just one lad had a bust hamstring.

We also raised some money for Help for Heroes. This is an important charity in our family. My Uncle Pete, who died in March this year, was an enthusiastic supporter. He was ex-forces and his son Danny is serving too. Pete will never be forgotten, a big guy with a loving family who miss him terribly. This was for him.

Take That and Robbie raise the bar for live music

I have seen most of my favourite bands. I have soaked up the raw energy of The Jam in their prime, the Manics at their peak of fame, the pink rabbits of the Flaming Lips and of U2's most pompous stadium best on two occasions. I enjoyed the majesty of the David Bowie Glass Spider, but the music was rubbish. But I will say this. I have never ever seen a live stage performance as dramatic, emotional and as awe inspiring as ... Take That at the City of Manchester stadium tonight.

It was so much more than a pop concert. Part Circ de Soiel, mixed with the Bolshoi Ballet, some X Factor, the Rat Pack, a smattering of soap opera drama and a boy band reunion concert. For each song to have a different stage and multiple dress changes suggests that the whole package now has been re-defined.

As if the reapperance of Robbie Williams wasn't enough - and frankly it would have been - the detail and the choreographed spectacle tonight have created a live event to change the whole game forever.

How disappointed will any one of the 400,000 people attending concerts here in Manchester be the next time they see a lame relay of hits from an old favourite? We've heard a lot of  talk about the music industry needing the live event to save the soul of music. It just won't be good enough. This was just incredible.

Footnote: The tour sold 1.1 million tickets in one day. 

More Manchester tribes

I was going to rattle something off about how annoying I found this in the Guardian. It's a guide to Manchester tribes as an intro to people from outside the city coming to the Manchester International Festival. Actually, it's quite funny and rather than being patronising, you just have to see it as a start.

Here are a couple of mine:

Heirs to Burgess: 60 something men and women, linen, tweed or cord jackets. Learned and fun loving, enjoying a second youth after kids have all grown up. Live in the city centre or Didsbury. Will go to absolutely everything.

Reluctant sponsor: 40s or 50s man, in business, usually property or the law. Jeans, shirt undone two buttons. Was never quite hip enough to be hanging out with Hacienda Man, would probably be seen checking his Blackberry at the back of Sinead O'Connor as his (younger, second) wife asks when she's going to do the Prince song where she cries.

Peak people: Bergaus and North Face fleeces, checks and denims. Stout walking boots and rucsacs. Live in somewhere like Hayfield or Mellor. Will go to everything at the festival, and especially the free events where the kids can eat organic ice cream.

My predictions summed up - rubbish

I didn't do very well in predictions this season. I gave up in the two prediction leagues I joined. My start of season punts, which I link to here, had Manchester City down to win the Premier League which topped a litany of mistakes. It's a good job I don't bet.

In my favour I, like most people had Blackpool to go down, but also West Ham. Full marks there. I had Norwich down as dark horses in the Championship, mid table for Morecambe and Accy Stanley in League Two and a rotten season for Stockport County.

Here's how the Premier League ended up:

1. Manchester United (I said 3rd)
2. Chelsea (ooh, correct!)
3. Manchester City (I said 1st)
4. Arsenal (I said 5th)
5. Spurs (I said 6th)
6. Liverpool (I said 4th) - but hey, I got the top 6 right.
7. Everton (ooh, correct!)
8. Fulham (I said 12th, underestimate Sparky at your peril)
9. Aston Villa (I said 8th)
10. Sunderland (ooh, correct!)
11. West Brom (I said 16th)
12. Newcastle United (I said 13th)
13. Stoke City (I said 17th)
14. Bolton Wanderers (I said 9th, I do rate Coyle)
15. Blackburn Rovers (I said 11th, Venky's eh?)
16. Wolverhampton Wanderers (ooh, correct!)
17. Wigan Athletic (I said 18th, sorry Mr Whelan)
18. Birmingham City (I said 14th, thought they'd do something good)
19. Blackpool (went down, correct, but better than anyone expected)
20. West Ham United (went down, correct)

In fairness, there is a predictability to the whole miserable greed league. There's nothing remotely clever about that top six prediction, or the bottom end of things. It will be the same next season.

This is how you beat Barcelona

Everyone salivated at that wonderful second half performance by Barcelona last night, and rightly so.

A few thoughts though - Ryan Giggs finally achieved the anonymity he craved all week. The number 19 also corresponded with the number of touches United players had on the ball in the last 45 minutes.

But it also brought back a memory of how Barcelona can be beaten. The report is here.

Let me tell you a story

I've been lent a terrific book today - Researching Life Stories by Dan Goodley and others - trying to reclaim story telling of a valid tradition in the field of social science. I'll delve into it this weekend.

Its appearance is timely for a few ideas I have.

But it also ties in with some terrific audio I've found lately. First is the constant joy of Radio 3 Nightwaves, especially Philip Dodd's piercing interview style. His latest was with Vidal Sassoon. But he's also sat down with Tony Blair and John Gray recently too.

Second is a regular of life's delights, the Word magazine podcast. The last two have been exceptionally good. First Neil Tenant, then songwriter Van Dyke Parks.

I'd never even heard of VDP before, which made it such a terrific discovery. His stories about The Beach Boys, and his early life were breathtaking. What a storyteller, what a life. He has a theory - there are three types of people in the world - those who can count and those who can't count.

To walk the line - Andy Cryer, Rovers and Steve Kean

It is a tough job to walk the line in journalism. The patch you cover will have moments of drama and at the heart of all drama is conflict. Over the last year Andy Cryer in the Lancashire Telegraph has walked the line between criticising the club and risking a more difficult and fractious relationship with his biggest source of stories, or appearing as a poodle and losing all credibility with his readers.

A good journalist seeks to live by fairness and accuracy. It's that simple really. I think Cryer has done pretty well. David Conn on the Guardian rates him, which is high praise. I think he's a good commentator on the club. He made the point that sacking Sam Allardyce was a mistake, that the owners had blundered and made some basic mistakes including the appointment of a manager hopelessly out of his depth. There's probably a whole load of other rumours he could have gone with too - comments from the dressing room he could have used, but he's been fair and stuck to explaining what the facts were showing - a winless run.

Now the season is over I think he makes some good, fair points here. In a nutshell he's saying Venky's have done better in the last two weeks - and the tide of opinion may have leant a little in their direction. The free pies and the cheap tickets at Wolves helped, so too have the new season ticket prices.

I think he needs to turn the gas up on Venky's now. There were 25 questions in the last issue of 4000 Holes fanzine, all of which are still valid. But a very basic question still remains - what are they doing this for?

The smell of Selfridges

For as long as it's been open I've felt slightly uneasy about something in Selfridges in Manchester city centre. At first I just thought I was being snobbish and put it down to a view expressed by one of Insider's writers that it's Debenhams under any other name. It isn't that. The men's fashion area is quality - it couldn't quite sustain some of the upmarket concessions, but it holds its own.

Then there was the cosmetics area. No, all fine. Not quite as poncey as Harvey Nichols across the way, but you could get good products for presents and the like.

I went in last week and it twigged. It was the food court in the basement. The smell of greasy food from Yo!Sushi! would rise up the store. Now that it's been closed and the lower ground is being converted to something else the smell has gone. Harvey Nics manage to have a restaurant at the top and you'd never know. It will prove to be a good idea to move any food element of the store to the top of the building.

But do you know what? The smell is now lingering in Piccadilly Station where Yo! Sushi! have opened on the mezzanine level. I can bear that though. In fact it's very, very tempting.

In praise of Andre Geim

Tonight I had the opportunity to celebrate one of Manchester's proudest and greatest achievements in the last year. Professor Andre Geim, Nobel prize winner, was delivering the Cockford-Rutherford Lecture.

It was certainly a great deal more inspiring than any physics lesson I ever had at school. The main thing I took from it was his sense of curiosity. Though he started his research career in the Soviet Union, Geim has a wonderful exploratory mind. His Friday Night Experiments are the ones that have seemed to have attracted attention and ultimately proved fruitful. One was the levitating frog - an experiment in magnetic fields. Another was seeing if you could reduce a piece of graphite, such as a pencil mark, to a single atomic depth. This led to the discovery of Graphene, for which he won the Nobel Prize.

The product has been taken up in communications by the US military. Geim is working with Samsung, but he's also been warned off patenting Graphene, as he explains here.

These are quite remarkable quick wins and major advances for science, following his discovery.

His final line was massively inspiring:  "How shockingly little we know about the world around us."

But there's also a curiosity I have - how can this city, this part of the world where we are raising our children benefit from this fabulous world changing invention? I'm not sure it will.  Science works in strange ways, it's both healthy for research and academic advancement that he works at the University of Manchester. But when these enquiries have such profound opportunities there has to be a passionate and rather bullish determination to make it work for the home team.

An act of sporting excellence that leaves me baffled

OK, I admit it. I'm a pessimist. Despite a Premier League win, three promotions, a Worthington Cup, a Full Members Cup, a decent run in Europe, some semi finals and plenty of wins over local rivals, my sense of doom about Blackburn Rovers, carved on my soul in 1981 at Eastville, and branded again 8 years later at Selhurst Park says - we're an unlucky club.

I've just got back from Wolves. Two thoughts have dominated today. The first is how pleased I was, purely for reasons of personal security, that Wolves stayed up too. I got a bit of shoeing near that subway in 1982 and didn't fancy a moody walk back to the station at my time of life.

But the main thought was about that first half performance. Rovers didn't just edge out a nervous home side, Wolves were crushed by a superior mindset, better skill, better technique and a thoroughly professional performance. Every single player did their very very best and proved their worth as top class players. You think then, why? oh why? have I spent the last week being grumpy and tetchy and worried for the future.

Had they displayed that sort of quality at home to Blackpool, Newcastle and Birmingham then there would have been a very different dimension to the run-in. So different that the magnificent support today would have stayed at home.

That leads you to the final shock of the day on checking the league table and seeing that Rovers finished 3 points behind Bolton and Stoke who have been lauded for having "excellent" seasons. Sure, they both did well in the cup and have faded towards the end, but this Rovers team was always capable of doing better than fighting for scraps. They are so much better than this. I hope that performance and the support today has convinced a lot of them to stick around.

Today isn't the day to call time on Steve Kean, to rail against Venky's, or to make demands. But it is a time to set the bar for what is acceptable. A great deal this season hasn't been good enough, in fact it's been quite disgraceful - including several dismal performances under Sam Allardyce and several under this bloke.

Today gave us all a glimpse of what we have a right to expect - even a miserable old git like me.

No-one likes us, we don't care

And so, the end is near. According to Engineering Sport, there are 81 different scenarios that could play out tomorrow. In 9 of them, Blackburn Rovers go down. In fact, it's even more complicated than that. A better goal difference could yet be our saviour.

I'll be there at Wolves enjoying my free Venky's subsidised pie and pop. I haven't got a portable radio to take and mobile 3G phones just don't work in large crowds. No doubt there will be false information floating around - there seems to be a rogue radio station that gives out incorrect football results on days like these.

I half expect Fergie to play Alan Keegan up front, Neville Neville, David Gill and a couple of the Glazer brothers. 

There was something on the radio today about who the neutral could have reasons to wish well. Mick McCarthy and the potential of the sleeping giant of Wolves, Roger Johnson and the Big Eck, Dave Whelan and Roberto Martinez and then there's plucky little Blackpool, everybody's second team. They probably have the goodwill of everyone - people have warmed to "Ollie" and Charlie Adam and their swashbuckling style that has been a "breath of fresh air" to the Premier League.

In contrast to all of that you just don't sense any goodwill towards Steve Kean, Venky's, our small support or our style of play.

No-one likes us, we don't care.  I hope it creates a powerful siege mentality amongst the players that will serve the club well on such a critical day.

Talking Telly with Tony Wood - Totally Reem

I hosted a fascinating event last week. Absolutely fascinating. Basically, I sat on a comfy chair with this really interesting bloke, watched a bit of telly and asked him some questions about his life.

I was interviewing Tony Wood, the creative director of Lime Pictures, the Liverpool-based production company responsible for making TV shows for young people. Their roster includes Hollyoaks and the highest rated kids' drama on US TV, which is a show shot in Liverpool called House of Anubis. He is also the creator of The Only Way is Essex, the reality-drama which has created such a stir in tellyland.

You can describe The Only Way is Essex as many things, but you have to agree it was a risky proposition. Filming a group of real youngsters in their natural habitats in Essex bars and salons, but creating such drama, such characters that the concept has dominated the bottom shelf magazines and the tabloids. These events, which link with social media - by providing the root of a conversation on Twitter and Facebook - become valuable properties.

But these ideas aren't handed down by broadcasters to be made in production factories, they are created by brilliant minds who understand the sweet spots of popular culture, honed while making Coronation Street and Footballer's Wives and learning from the experiences on a TV spin off of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and filming Families, an "Australian soap", in Manchester.

All told it was a fascinating and some of the acting, direction and set building was incredible. In fact, it was reem.

Pete Wylie - part time rock star, full time legend

There are plenty of song writers and musicians who have written a good crop of good songs. Not many write great songs. Those that do tend to enjoy careers and riches. Where then does that leave Pete Wylie of Wah!? I can place Sinful, Come Back and Story of the Blues in any list above the efforts of latter day pretenders. Ahead of anything by plenty of bands I really like. There's plenty more he's been involved in that's ropey, but I subscribe to the flawed genius theory of Wylie. These three songs have majesty, ambition and that overblown Scouse sense of epic entitlement.

Anyway, there was a long and thoughtful profile on him I remember reading about 20 years ago. It was by James Brown in the Guardian, one of his better efforts since Attack on Bzag (look it up). It's now slightly updated and on the excellent Sabotage Times. 

Wylie's own site has gone.

An act of sporting cowardice we will live to regret

Who else remembers West Germany and Austria playing out a tepid game at the World Cup in 1982? It ensured they both qualified for the next stage of the competition.

The last 15 minutes of the visit of Manchester United to Ewood Park today was something like that. An act of sporting cowardice that we will live to regret next Sunday. Once Wayne Rooney had converted his penalty, and the idiots in the Rovers support had hunted down the rogue United fans in their midst and pointed at them, the game was reduced to a farce. Neither side made any effort to create a chance, stretch the opposition or score a goal. Given that both Wolves and Blackpool won, this wasn't exactly the ideal result for us. What made it worse was the quality of the performance for the middle part of the game. Rovers attacked them, defended brilliantly and apart from a couple of wayward passes, we saw the best from Jermaine Jones.

In my view, the best Rovers manager in my lifetime was Mark Hughes, because no matter where we were, or who we played, Rovers always went out with a sense of professionalism and a will to win. I cannot believe the surreal events of today would have happened had Sparky been in charge. Even when Fulham were stuffed last week - 3-0 down at half time - they tried to claw something back. But Steve Kean played to the agenda set by Sir Alex, despite the fact that United were there for the taking. They scabbed a penalty, like they always seem to, but a bit of application and another goal wasn't out of the question. Why would trying to get a goal lead to them scoring? I don't get it. Even some long balls to JR and Pedersen running at them could have exposed flaky Ferdinand and the dodgy keeper. No, high fives all round and see you in San Carlo later lads. Enjoy your party.

I really worry about our football club. What is this booing of Keith Andrews all about? What is it with this timidity in the face of Manchester United? The first 20 minutes produced a limp stand-offish performance. Fair play to Martin Olsson, the Zonz and the Jones boys for playing with a bit of pride and injecting the idea that this was winnable. And as for Samba. He is a colossus.

And so we go to in-form on-fire Wolves with them thinking - "let's do these in style". Blackpool will face United's reserves and win. I guarantee it. What stands between us and a dramatic relegation is teams with nothing to play for showing some guts - hopefully we can count in that number Mark Hughes and his pride, professionalism and a desire for Fulham to finish 8th.

Blogger had a wobble

While Google were having a PR war with Facebook, their Blogger service wiped out a load of posts, including two on here. Tut.

Caught up in this big rhythm

I've blogged before on the art of a good cover version. There seems now to be a habit of artists who haven't done much for a long time to come back with a cover of a cultish and cool track. I suppose you could classify George Michael's cover of New Order's majestic True Faith in that bracket.

But what's going on with Andrea Corr's new album of covers? For a pretty woman with a coquettish and easy vocal style her appeal was never her range and power. Strange then that she's included State of Independence - a Jon & Vangelis power ballad, and this particular crime against music - her version of one of my favourite songs ever - Tinseltown in The Rain by Blue Nile. I can't add anything to what Holy Moly had to say.

"The original just had too much majestic, wasted beauty and doomed optimism about it. It lacked perkiness, and the sparse arrangement needed filling in with a generic 90s studio pop sound. And Paul Buchanan’s vocal delivery simply wasn’t sappy enough, with far too much soul and raw, abandoned emotion. And what are those lyrics about? We haven’t a clue so it’d be best if they were sung without any sense of understanding or connection. Essentially, what we’d like to hear is Tinseltown In The Rain given the same hit-making treatment The Corr’s gave to Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams. It can’t fail."

Read the whole story and the videos on Holy Moly!

Anyway, do you know what I think? She's married to the son of irish billionaire Dermot Desmond. She can do what she wants and just couldn't care less.

But anyway, all this talking, this talking, is only bravado.

The Premier League trophy at Ewood Park

Here's a dilemma. Do we go to Ewood Park on Saturday and watch the coronation of the champions? We don't go to every game, but this is one of those you look out for at the start of the season.

I can't see Rovers winning another game this season. Maybe a point at Wolves. But it should be enough. I can even see us staying up on goal difference as 39 points seems to be what a whole group of teams could finish on: Birmingham, Blackpool, Wigan and us. Unless Manchester United stick another 7 past us. I was horrified and traumatised at that awful event last year. I was also grateful no children (of mine) were harmed in its production.

In search of the truth

Talking to our lads has started to get interesting. They want to know about all kinds of things: racism, atheism, irony and justice. Their questions about mundane matters include an angle on homelessness and there is the beginning of a small interest in politics. This is, I imagine, a window of brightness before they become what Justin Moorhouse described as "a yawn with a hood".

Anyway, for posterity, and as a way of looking at the world through a different prism, here are a few recent articles I thought I'd share with them and also with you.

One is about Somali pirates by Johann Hari in The Independent, recently added to his podcast after all this time.

The other is about 9/11 conspiracy theores, by Christopher Hitchens in The Slate.

And on a lighter note, there's a compilation of hoaxes from Sabotage Times.

Dirty Leeds

Who owns Leeds United? Well, it turns out that Ken Bates does. If I was forced at gunpoint to say who I "think" really owned Leeds, then I'd offer up Ken Bates and would suggest he's owned it for the last few years. The paper trail will point to the Forward Sports Trust and some other offshore entity which he said he didn't own, and he didn't know who controlled them. Now he's bought them for an undisclosed sum from undisclosed owners.

Anyway, if you are interested in this nonsense, then have a look at this quite extraordinary interview on Yorkshire Radio, where he attacks David Conn, a journalist I've worked with and respect enormously. He refers to David throughout. First by saying he has no interest in him, then describing him as "our international enemy in the media".

Here is David's response. But don't bother reading the comments underneath. I did and I will never be able to get that time back. It's like being sober on a stag do.

That most peculiar of places - a Lib Dem stronghold

We woke this morning to find that Marple is even more of an endangered and special area than ever. The Liberal Democrats held on to both their council seats in Marple North and Marple South. Elsewhere in the borough of Stockport the party lost its overall majority on the council. However, I find it unlikely that they will be ousted from power and will have to enter into a pact with the independents from Heald Green.

But what fascinates is how and why the Lib Dems have taken such a savage kicking across the country. It stems from a lack of roots in their electoral base, and that ability to be all things to all people. I was always curious as to what the Liverpool Lib Dems stood for, for example. Mike Storey, their leader, was said to be Tony Blair's favourite council leader. They don't stand for a smaller organisation, or a targetting of resources to the poorer areas. I didn't hear any political change of direction when I heard Labour leader Joe Anderson speak earlier this year.

It all comes back to their part in the coalition government, a business arrangement that seems to suit the Conservatives more than it clearly suits them. I can now see a scenario where the detoxified Tories could win an election comfortably. Forget the polls, it's about morale. The results haven't seen anything like a bounce by Ed Milliband's party, they haven't had enough of a period of reflection (and shame) to recover from a kicking at the last election.

And round here in Marple. I think people vote Liberal Democrat because they are liberally minded, fair, public spirited and community focused. All are core LibDem values, but they also are quite close to what David Cameron has in mind for his version of Conservatism.

Deputy to what?

I don't quite understand why Blackburn Rovers have appointed Paul Hunt as a deputy chief executive, when they have no chief executive and no chairman. Tom Finn is the managing director, but he held that role in partnership with an executive chairman. I expect there are more changes on the way.

Here's a piece Insider ran on what he did at Leicester. He sent free tickets and a kit to every 7 year old in the catchment area. Canny and very much of the ethos at Rovers.

Anyway, we keep being told to trust Venky's and that they know what they are doing. Nothing so far has suggested that they do, but maybe this is a positive step in the right direction.

Short and bitter sweet; Panoptican

One of our freelance writers at Insider, David Chadwick, has contributed a couple of stories to a collection that's being launched tomorrow. It's a creative writer's collective and they've set up Pandril Press, a publishing venture to do so. The first collection is called Panopticon. So far I've read David's two stories - one about corporate lingo in a Manchester company full of full on blatherers. Then there's a touching father/son tale set in Wales. I've dipped into the other stories and one is quite bleak and gruesome.

Anyway, good luck to them all. There's a launch tomorrow night, which I can't get to, but there's a piece in the local paper, here. And a piece on a blog here.

One Day - the movie

I'm always a little dubious about how a book I've really liked gets made into a film. Here's the trailer to One Day, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. Getting excited already. Everything in the trailer is faithfully reproduced from David Nicholls' story. Or so it seems.

My mate #12 - Father Phil

OK, time to come clean. This feature where I write about a mate of mine is not entirely random. I have to be honest, especially when I'm talking about this friend this week. I tend to pick someone topical. Anyway, here I include a great friend to our family, Father Philip Egan, the parish priest of Our Lady and St Christopher Catholic Church in Romiley. Father Phil is such a lovely man. He is so full of the grace of our faith, so understanding and such a clever man too. His book, Philosophy and Catholic Theology - a Primer, is something of a triumph. He has carried through the way of explanation in his present role. Indeed, one of the most difficult jobs of being a parish priest comes from the nature of the parish itself. Communicating scripture, the calendar, the doctrine and the message to a range of ages must be so hard, but I think he does it very well.

What I like about him is that he doesn't compromise, or waiver from what is right and true. My Christian faith is rooted in love for fellow mankind and forgiveness. Sometimes it's very simple. Sometimes it's harder, deeper, more mysterious. And I'm very blessed to have someone like Father Phil with me on that journey.

We have been honoured to welcome him into our home to discuss our family, our role in the church community and how we can be better parents and Christians.

I'm particularly pleased for him at the moment as he's just been made a Monsignor and a Vicar General, a senior assistant to the Bishop. However, he still much prefers the title 'father' as it is "the most beautiful, authentic and challenging of titles." And he hopes he will prove as worthy of his new title. I'm sure he will.

Marple Bridge street party for Royal Wedding

We enjoyed the Royal Wedding. I thought it showed a very modern and inclusive side to the monarchy. But the national celebrations were great fun too. Especially that Kark Guare managed to organise the largest street party of them all, just down the hill in Marple Bridge. Some links, here, here and here.

The death of Bin Laden

It has been a momentus day. I can never celebrate the death of anyone, but I can well understand the mood in America right now.

I was last in the US on September the 11th 2001 when I flew out of Dulles Airport to Manchester. I'd spent a few days taking in the history of the nation's capital. The sympathy for and solidarity with America quickly waned for many, but never for me.

Here are a few pieces of analysis that seem particularly apt today.

Christopher Hitchens on Pakistan, even on the BBC 5Live news this morning the High Commissioner was splitting hairs over the location of Abbottabad, the military garrison and the ISI protection of Bin Laden.

More questions on What Pakistan knew? in the New Yorker.

Jason Burke - What is it with Pakistan? Book review in Observer yesterday, very timely. And his obituary for OBL.

The location of his compound in Abbottabad. If I could find it on Google Maps so easily, what took the CIA so long? (irony alert).

The New York Post news feed.

The Prime Minister on UK Forces in Afghanistan site .

And recorded for posterity, President Obama's video news announcement.

No to video technology in football

I don't favour the introduction of video technology in football. I'm sure, as in cricket and rugby, it would be straightforward enough to introduce and wouldn't disrupt games. But for me, it's not just about the impact on football at the top level, but the grass roots. There is already a shrill sense of entitlement running through football as it is. See a comment under a recent post, here, to see my point.

This evening on 606, once again, we had Robbie Savage saying a decision was "disgraceful" having had the benefit of slow motion, freeze frame and replays. The referee has to make a decision based on what he sees. In the midst of this, there are 22 professional athletes trying to con him constantly with appeals, dives, leaving a foot in, shirt tugging, nipping, spitting, or to put it mildly, cheating. That ugly Real Madrid v Barcelona game is a case in point.

The constant abuse of officials is killing football. And it is in turn fuelled by a lack of respect for their decisions. Every TV programme, every radio phone-in amplifies the injustice - "come on ref" - making it harder and harder at the grass roots. Every decision is scrutinised on TV, so the sense that you don't dust yourself down and get on with it, you jump up and down and cry like a baby if it doesn't go your way. 

The game will not benefit from a fifth official with a replay. It will make the bigger problem even worse. To me the beauty of football is how the same rules apply to every game. The Dog And Duck v the Red Lion is 11 v 11, a ref, a pitch and a ball. Liners help sometimes. Same as Real v Barca. How soon before buffoons with mobile phone cameras start offering their services?

No, what football needs is a sense of perspective and this whole debate is a symptom, once again, of a sport that has lost it completely.

Well done boys

The eldest son's Marple Athletic team won a cup final today. It was a terrific game played at Mossley AFC's Seel Park against Stalybridge Celtic Juniors who have led the league all season. A swirling wind made the conditions difficult, on top of the extra effort required of 12 year old lads playing on a full size pitch.

Watching them every week I get used to the players, their limits, their capabilities and their team dynamics. It was fascinating to get a perspective from my pal Steven Lindsay who came along to watch. I think he expected hoofball, but he was full of praise for the way both teams pass the ball, control and try and play the beautiful game. It's a cup final, so there were tense and nervous moments, but it genuinely warmed the heart to see this game.

The Ripple Effect by Dominic Holland reviewed

I tracked down this book after working with Dominic Holland at a live event we held down south. He was a very dry, but very effective comic host and I really liked him.

This book is a breezy, easy read. But it also has a savage cynical heart. It's about the rape and pillage of football clubs by property developers, corrupt councillors and assorted spivs. So much of the story - but not all - brought back memories of the trials and tribulations of Wrexham, but also there is a resonance with York, Brighton, Chesterfield and countless others. There can be a happy ending, but so often there is not. Lovely story, warm characters as well as excellent pantomime villians. Recommended. Track it down, especially for the mention of local scribes in the credits. One for Simon Binns from when he worked at Supporters Direct and for Real Journalism's David Conn, for his passionate polemics on the bad guys.

Cheerio Shelagh

The 6.30 alarm call won't be the same without Shelagh Fogarty's voice easing us into the day with news, a bit of a link to the weather, some Mickey Clarke, before the rampaging titan of the airwaves that is Nicholas Andrew Argyll Campbell crashes in to form the best double act in broadcasting at 7.

The send off on Thursday, the last day in the studio was superb. I was quite into the idea of Professor Anthony Grierson from Syracuse University and his views on DNA democratisation, political paradox, the inside of the inner tracks of the Beltway. Here is Shelagh asking him the "wrong question".

A few melancholy thoughts about Rovers

So, Rovers are still stuck in the relegation scrap after losing 1-0 at home to Manchester City. Here are a few random thoughts.

If you don't score goals, you can't win games. And we didn't have a serious threat on goal. In my heart of hearts I knew we were beaten when I saw Junior Hoilett outside the ground at 7pm. Without him, there is nothing special enough to beat a team like Manchester City.

Roberts and Benjani play to win free kicks and penalties. They go down very easily for strong men. Kalinic is similar. So, for all Steve Kean's witterings about the good work on the training ground, no-one was able to take a decent free kick. Where is the sense in that?

Phil Jones and Chris Samba are an awesome centre back pairing. They'll be off in the summer, come what may. Robinson is a great keeper too. He won't want to hang about.

David Dunn simply doesn't have 90 minutes in his engine. Rochina was a flash in the pan, a few fancy flicks, then he was chasing shadows. I can't make my mind up about Jermaine Jones. But he's like so many Rovers players - "alright". The better teams have a Silva, or a Berbatov, a ruthless assassin capable of changing a game. We haven't had such a player since Roque Santa Cruz v1.0.

Bolton Wanderers are beatable this Saturday. But so too were Blackpool, Newcastle and Birmingham.The players don't look as beaten as the 1999 team did at this stage. Or, to be fair, the 2004 team.

The  lads who were climbing on the Jack Walker statue after the match were out of order. But emotions are running high. I thought the fans were fantastic last night.

Can I have an alternative vote on AV?

"None of the above" was unlikely to have been an option on the referendum for the Alternative Vote, but it should be. The compromise on offer is far short of the fair system  of proportional representation that the country should have. And it's very short of what Nick Clegg really wanted when he struck that deal with David Cameron at the formation of the coalition.

It does give the second choices of the voters of less popular parties a say in who represents them.

I'm baffled by the argument that it will get rid of tactical voting when it will do precisely the opposite. Also, voters don't have to rank any candidates beyond 1. But to do so increases the chances of another party chalking up more on second preferences, so tactical voting is encouraged.

The "No" campaign has been dreadfully negative in the way that all "No" campaigns have to be, which leans me towards a "yes" vote. The message that democracy is expensive and wasteful is very mean spirited and wilfully dishonest.

I also get very irritated by the argument that one or other voting method is the best way of blocking out the BNP. No, the best way of doing that is the hard work of political campaigning and community activism. Attacking their lies at every turn. Not a voting system. And even if it was, then frankly, that's what democracy is meant to be: the will of the people.

So, I am all for change. I am all for plurality. But I am far from convinced about the merits of AV.