Everything Comes To Him Who Waits
In all this fuss about the new England manager, nothing has been heard from Stuart Pearce. Although, Harry Redknapp has almost ruled himself out. As have a few other candidates like Alan Pardew.
So does this leave the field clear for Stuart Pearce to be caretaker manager for the match against the Netherlands. We might find out in a few minutes. I suspect we will hear he’s got the job, as who else knows their way around the FA offices, boardroom and politics? If they pick somone for one match, even if he was of the status of say Arsene Wenger, he would be unable to do anything in a couple of weeks.
So could the reason, Pearce has been quiet, is that he knows more than anybody else and doesn’t want to overturn the pile of unstable bricks? Remember as assistant coach to the England team, he will have detailed dossiers on all the England players and because of his job as Under-21 coach, he’ll know the players coming through.
The pundits all say we won’t win Euro-2012 or the football at the Olympics, so if he performs well in the Netherlands game, his coaching team could be given the responsibility for Euro-2012 in addition to the Olympics. In fact, as the Olympics tournament is not many games, handling two teams might not be much more difficult, especially as he’ll probably have Beckham in the Olympic team, to help and act as a conduit for the media.
The permutations are endless.
They have just announced Stuart Pearce will be manager for the match against the Netherlands.
Do I think they’ll take it away from him for Euro-2012? No! Unless we get beaten seriously by The Netherlands. After all he’d be some elephant to have in the room next door.
The Wisdom of Stuart Pearce
Ask a tabloid journalist and they’ll tell you that Stuart Pearce’s philosophy is summed up by his nickname; Psycho.
But look him up on Brainy Quote and you get a totally different view.
Here’s a couple of examples of quotes from Stuart Pearce.
But to me the bottom line is the more education you can give yourself, and the more preparation you can do, the less chance of failing.
I am one of those people who quite enjoys responsibility.
If my results are not good I will lose my job.
There are no quotes of any sort for Harry Redknapp.
Psycho or Harry?
At present they are the only two candidates for the job of England coach, if you assume that the coach must be English; Stuart Pearce and Harry Redknapp.
For Euro-2012, both would have other duties, with Harry at Tottenham and Pearce involved with Team GB at the Olympics.
So if one of them get the England job part-time, it wouldn’t be good for England in Euro-2012.
In my view, Pearce is better qualified, as the England team for the next few years, will be players he’s brought through the Under-21s. He also knows the various factions in the FA and how they operate. He would have handled the Terry situation very differently to Capello.
Also read, Pearce’s biography in Wikipedia. He’s made the odd mistake, but he’s never been involved in any scandal. And he learns from his mistakes. Does Harry?
But don’t forget that Pearce was playing on the day of the Hillsborough tragedy and I suspect, that deep down he wants to avenge it. He will some way some time, even if he doesn’t get the England job.
Also what happens, if he’s caretaker manager for the Holland match, sends out his team, and wins handsomely. Could he be overlooked for England manager? If he doesn’t win, looking as his record, he would probably put up a good showing at the Olympics.
Ariverderci Fabio
I don’t think anybody in England will miss you, except possibly your favourite restaurant.
Let’s hope the FA take their lead from the RFU, who chose Stuart Lancaster from within.
Step forward Psycho!
Rocking Back to the Past
Last night, I went to the theatre to see the stage version of the film, Backbeat, at the Duke of York’s theatre.
It was well-worth the ticket price and I haven’t enjoyed a musical play so much in years.
The only problem is it closes next Friday, so if you want to see it, you haven’t much time.
The play is mainly about how the Beatles formed into the four musicians we know so well and a fair proportion covers the story of their trips to Hamburg, where Stuart Suttcliffe left the band to continue his artistic career under Eduardo Paolozzi. Sadly, Sutcliffe died in April 1962 at just 21. I know little of art, but I have friends who do, and Sutcliffe’s early death may have been a bigger tragedy than we think.
The play catches the mood of Liverpool in the sixties well, although I arrived in the city, after the Beatles had left and they play a lot of the songs that have been handed down from that time.
I did see the Beatles once though, that was at the Hammersmith Odeon after Christmas in 1964. Sadly, I never saw them again. There’s more detsils of that here.
I often wonder what the world would be like, if the Beatles hadn’t happened. I’d probably lose at least a laugh a week, as somewhere I’ll hear strains of their music and it will bring a smile to my face.
I think the saddest thing is probably the death of John Lennon and what would the world be like if he hadn’t have been shot? He might have been the one figure who could have helped stop the disastrous interventions into Iraq and Afghanistan.
But to return to last night. As I walked home after dancing in the aisles of the theatre to the tunes of the Beatles, I almost wouldn’t have minded having a serious heart attack and going then. I’ve seen two of my nearest and dearest have long drawn out deaths, so something fast, when I’m in a happy mood might do for me. But it will have to be medical, as I’m going to reach the span that my body will set for me.
Risk Assessment – Japanese Style
Obviously, the nation that gave the world, that amazing game called Endurance, the method of risk assessment at Tokyo Zoo will be different to anywhere else in the world. This video shows them dealing with a rhino,that has been assumed to have escaped.
This scene is doubly funny for me, as C always laughed like a drain, when Clive James showed the clips of Endurance.
Transparency International and the Blackrock Sovereign Risk Index
I’d never heard of Transparency International until yesterday, when it was interviewed about corruption in Moscow and the problems of investing there on the BBC.
They publish a Corruption Perception Index for around 180 countries world-wide. The link points to their data for 2010. It is interesting reading.
The Blackrock Sovereign Risk Index does what it says on the tin and says how dodgy it is to deal in sovereign risk for various countries.
I wonder if the two are related, in that is a country low on the Country Perception Index, high on the Blackrock Sovereign Risk Index?
I shall be doing some investigating.
Spam in Blogs
Every morning, I empty the spam out of my blog. usually, it’s a dozen or so messages and I’ve commemted about it before.
It seems to have changed since that last comment, in that now a lot seems to be trying to sell me virus protection programs, with a rather verbose script, that only deserves one action; to be trashed.
You’d think people had better things to do with their time.
Especially, as the spam filter used by WordPress seems to be as reliable and accurate as an SAS-trained marksman.
A Video of the Thames Tunnel
I went back to the Thames Tunnel on the East London line and took a video of an approaching train.
The video was taken from the same place where I took the still images in Wapping station.
Confusing Bath Taps
This video shows my bath taps.
I thought it was just me, but then my lady who does finds them just as confusing.
i suspect Jerry, picked them up cheap in a car boot sale. The bath is bad too as getting in and out isn’t easy.
The Anonymous Widower 