Hull City - keeping a team together.

So, the final curtain has fallen on the Premier League season for 2014-15. Hull City’s 2 year tenure in top flight football has come to an end. Not for a want of trying today against Manchester United, but perhaps for a lack that certain something during the course of the season.

Steve Bruce, I’m sure, will let the dust settle on this season’s campaign before he makes any decisions about the future of his squad.

For me, as a non-Hull City supporter, the reason that they went down is due to the players on the pitch. Steve Bruce has proved that he can manage at this level. What has been sadly apparent this season is that there are too many players who are only out for themselves. Most notably, this has been seen in Jake Livermore’s alleged use of cocaine.

The crux of what Hull do next boils down to this: Too many players have underperformed this season for Hull. Assuming that Dr Allam will continue to bank roll a team in the Championship, then these players need to stay with Hull for a season and pay back the fans and the club for their support. The failure of too many players to play at an acceptable standard has cost the club, and the city, Premier League football.

Some players would be expected to leave. Hernandez hasn’t justified the fee they paid to Palermo, Ramirez has shown why Southampton were willing to let him go out on loan, Sagbo has a first touch that goes further than a lot of passes. Rosenior is a good full back but doesn’t seem to fit Steve Bruce’s plans. You would expect that Andy Robertson would be on a lot of shopping lists as well.

If Hull can keep its squad together for one season, players like Meyler, Elmohammady, Quinn, McShane, Dawson, Huddlestone, Jelavic and N’Doye will, I’m sure, get Hull back into the Premier League. Add players like Harry Morgan and Tom Ince back into the picture, and you would have to back Hull to win the Championship.

Perhaps the biggest test of Steve Bruce’s managerial career is ahead of him. Can he keep the players together and get Hull back into the top flight? With the squad he has, you wouldn’t bet against him.

Hull - City of Culture 2017

If you’d asked me 12 years ago what I knew about Hull, the honest answer would have been “not very much”. The city which was only 35 miles down the road from where I had lived for the past 15+ years might as well have been on the moon, or in deepest Peru. My only encounters with it had been travelling along the A63 to the ferry port.

In the summer of 2002, I was invited to a wedding reception of two friends of mine that I played in a brass band with. The band was based in Leeds, but they lived just outside Hull, and so, for the first time, I found myself heading to Hull as a destination. At the reception, I met Sarah and we've been together ever since. Sarah is Hull born and bred, and defiantly proud of her city. I quickly learnt that this is something that she shares in common with so many people in the city. Hull born, Hull bred and proud of their roots.

I moved here in 2006 and over the past few years, I have found myself growing increasingly protective of my adopted home. When I heard Phil Spencer and Kirsty Allsop on Location, Location declare Hull to be the Worst Place to Live, I sprang to its defence. When it was declared Britain’s Crappest Town, I decried the book from the rooftops. Like so many migrants to the city, I found myself more vocal than so many people from Hull. Maybe this was because Hull has been the butt of so many jokes that people stopped paying attention, or stopped caring.

When it was announced that Hull was bidding to be City of Culture, people said “Well, we won’t get shortlisted”. When it made the shortlist “We won’t win, we never do”. Now, Hull is to be the City of Culture for 2017. It will show case it’s talent to the world. Sadly, I've heard people questioning the decision today, including  the Leader of Swansea City Council who has shown less grace in defeat than the manager of Swansea City Football Club. The perception seems to be that Hull is famous for Phillip Larkin. Like so many other perceptions of Hull which have been formed by people in haste, this is wide of the mark. Hull has been home to playwrights such as John Godber and Alan Plater, actors such as Sir Tom Courtenay, Maureen Lipman and Reece Shearsmith, musicians, poets, architects, scientists, sportsmen and politicians. Hull’s sons and daughters have made a contribution not only to the contemporary world but have changed the face of the world. William Wilberforce, instrumental in the abolition of slavery was born in the city in 1759 and represented the city for 4 years before becoming MP for Yorkshire.

Hull has the chance to alter people’s perception of it, to raise its profile and to showcase itself. I hope it seizes the chance with both hands.

I'm excited to see what will happen to the city over the next 4 years and what the end result will be. I truly believe it will be spectacular, having seen the Freedom Festival grow over the past 5 years. As Larkin wrote ""Hull has its own sudden elegancies. People are slow to leave it, quick to return. And there are others who come, as they think, for a year or two, and stay a lifetime, sensing that they have found a city that is in the world yet sufficiently on the edge of it to have a different resonance."If you get the chance in 2017, swing by and you'll find he was right.

South Shields or bust

Well, here we are again. It's the eve of the Great North Run and people all over the country are getting ready to converge on Newcastle to take part in what is, for some at least, an annual pilgramage from the city centre to the coast at South Shields. I'd probably include myself in that list.

This will be my 6th time and although I'm not going to be challenging Mo Farah, I will be hoping to set a new PB (and hopefully not getting too wet). Sure, there are bits of the race that are frustrating, such as standing around for 40 minutes after the gun goes, or waiting for the bus at the end. There are also bits which are sapping such as the long drag up John Reid Road towards the 9 mile mark. However, all of this is outweighed by the feeling of achievement, the sense of camaraderie and most importantly the feeling of being alive, especially when you hit the Coast Road around the 12 mile mark, knowing you're nearly home.

It's also a testament to people in general and the people of Tyneside specifically that there are so many people along the route cheering us on. Even on a wet Sunday last year, they were there cheering and willing us on. We may love the underdog in this country but we also love a trier.

Sure, the questions are ringing around my head know. Have I done enough training? Can I run as well as I know I can? What if, what if, what if.....? However, come 10.20 tomorrow, I'll have to put those out of my head and focus on the next 13.1 miles.

Tomorrow's race is made more special because Dad is running it too. I promise not to flood the sodialmediasphere with photos but maybe the odd one.

Anyway if you see a overweight red-faced man in a blue running top and a pink number on your TV screen or even live, cheer him on. It might just be me.

England - just like schoolboys!

The recent behaviour of the England rugby union team at the Rugby World Cup has left me for one feeling more than a little embarrased, and that was just their performances on the pitch.

Here are a group of elite athletes at the top of their game who are brought together to give their all for their country. Instead of giving their all, however, they proceed to make the papers for all the wrongs reasons whilst their manager appears to say "Well, boys will be boys".

The behaviour of Messrs Tindall, Ashton, Haskell et al has been disgraceful at times. Personally, if they want to jump off a bridge, with a cord around their legs, so be it, but how is it acceptable to behave as they have done? Here is a group of men who should be so proud to represent England, and should be willing to give their all. Instead we see a group of petulant boys who are on a school trip. Sadly, this school trip is in full view of the world's media.

I'm not saying that Martin Johnson should resign. In fact, I think he probably deserves to stay in the job, at least for another 18 months. However, there are some players who need to leave stage left now and never darken the England shirt again.

I think I'd be slightly more forgiving if the performances on the pitch had been half decent. However, there was so much that was bad, it was almost laughable. The team never seemed to get out of first gear, with tactics which seemed to be nearly 10 years out of date. It's time for a change, and that needs to include the senior management of the RFU (yes, and you Mr Andrew) who have mismanaged the farce which is England rugby for so long. No fuss, no recriminations, just go.

Let it Snow

As I write this, we're under 2 feet of snow in Hoylake Close. The path and the drive have decided that they will merge with the road, and the backgarden seems to be one level.

I can't remember a time when we had as much snow as this. It started out as quite festive and pretty but by yesterday it was more than a little irritating. The biggest irritant is the people who feel the need to clear their drives by digging out the snow and piling it onto the path on either side of the drive, which means that you have to climb a little mountain every time you cross one of these paths. I've been so tempted to return to the scene of the crime in each case with a snow blower just to negate all their efforts.

It does make me laugh every time we get snow with how much the country shuts down. I've seen buses stuck in snow this week, with the drivers revving their engines trying to get out. If we'd got snow in June, I would have some sympathy and understanding, but we now we have a temperate climate and that we have every chance of getting a decent snowfall every winter (OK, technically it's still autumn, but you know what I mean).

The weather forecast here in East Yorkshire is for sub zero temperatures today followed by more snow tonight and clear but cold over the weekend. We get more of the white stuff on Monday and another clear and cold day on Tuesday. Sounds like a fun few days ahead.

Police, Camera, Action

I watched the end of this programme last night, and caught the piece about poor little Cerys Edwards. Words can't describe the anger I felt / feel towards Antonio Boparan and his parents. Here is a spoilt little rich boy, driving his mummy's Range Rover at over twice the speed limit (71mph+ in a 30mph zone). He overtakes a car on the wrong side of the road and ploughs into an oncoming car which Cerys Edwards was travelling in.

That she is still alive is a testament to her parent's perseverance. That Boparan received a 21 month sentence and was out in 6 is a testament to the stupidity of the judge and the British legal system.

He has taken a life, in all but deed, and should have paid a far more severe price. On top of that, there has been precious little financial support for the Edwards family from this family of multi-millionaires (daddy owns Harry Ramsdens).

Boparan sat on TV an acted contritely for the cameras. Do I believe for a minute that he feels sorry, or that he has learnt from this? Not for a second. Do I believe that when he gets his licence back, he won't speed again. Ha!

Jack Straw increased the maximum sentence to 5 years for people, like Boparan, who cause serious injury when speeding. That isn't enough. They should have their licences revoked, permanently. There should be no second chances here. Cerys Edwards won't get a second chance, and neither will the people killed every year on British roads because of reckless speeding.

Don't even start me on the "I'm a good driver, I've never had a crash" crap. Simple physics says that if you travel faster, you take longer to stop.

What can we do? We can petition our MP, calling for stricter sentences for drivers who cause serious injuries as a result of speeding and we can boycott Harry Ramsden's products.

A tragedy like this happening once is just that, a tragedy. When it happens a second time, it's a crime that we are all complicit in.

Peter Rabbit

I've got this song floating around in my head now (should that be rattling around?) Thea has learnt the song "Peter Rabbit has a fly upon his nose" which is sung to the tune of Battle Hymn of the Republic. In a nutshell it goes:

Peter Rabbit has a fly upon his nose
Peter Rabbit has a fly upon his nose
Peter Rabbit has a fly upon his nose
And he flipped it and he flapped it till the fly flew away.

Floppy ears and curly whiskers
Floppy ears and curly whiskers
Floppy ears and curly whiskers
And he flipped it and he flapped it till the fly flew away.

She runs around the living room singing selected words from the song (e.g "Peter Rabbit...fly....nose."), and I know I'm biased, but it is one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

The song is also terribly addictive which is why it's now stuck in my head.

Thea knows quite a lot of songs now, and sings them with the most infectious smile on her face. Even George has been known to join in, especially with the songs from Handy Manny and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Altogether now... "Uno, dos, tres......"

Still, I suppose it could be worse. I've woken up the last few mornings with bars from "English Heritage" by George Lloyd stuck in my head. This is the test piece for the North of England Area Finals which the band is competing in in 3 weeks time up in Darlington. We are the current North of England champions, and we'll be doing our damnedest to retain that title. The piece is a classic, but it's still not healthy to have it stuck in your head at 5.40am!

I will admit to listening to Duran Duran on the way home from work last night. Somehow, my MP3 player flipped over onto Rio and I was taken back to 1984 when I was first introduced to Simon Le Bon and the boys by Lynne Rodley. Let's face it, back then, if you were 11, it was either Wham or Duran Duran.

I must be having a little retro spell, because I also retrieved The Hunt for Red October out of the loft last night. I've just finished Patriot Games, and I had started reading Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett, but I've had to find the next Jack Ryan novel as well, so now I have 2 books on the go (3 if you count The Murder of Napoleon).

Anyway, Peter Rabbit still has a fly upon his nose, and the Good Fairy is cross with Little Rabbit Foo-Foo. Oh to be a parent!