Monthly Archives: August 2010
Barca: beware of The Transalator
A long season ahead Barca has got off to a good start this season, winning the Spanish SuperCup and beating Racing Santander 0-3 , but it would be foolish for cules to get over excited at this stage. It would be foolish in the extreme to write off Jose Mourinho on the basis of a somewhat lacklustre draw for Real Madrid in Mallorca. Mourinho has signed up an exciting crop of talented young players led by Mezut Ozila. He will be relying on the experience of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo …
A tale of Ireland in Ramadam
A young woman graduate I had the pleasure to meet over supper last night spoke with an accent I quickly recognised from my days of reporting on the Troubles n Northern Ireland. Sarah was her name. She was impressed how I managed to pinpoint her roots to ‘north of Belfast’ and well beyond the city to another town with a name that I thought might define her. “Well, its Derry, or Londonderry, isn’t it, how do you call it? “ I asked teasingly. For decades Catholics, north and south of …
A Dark Book in August
This month’s online Book Review: Berlin at War by Roger Moorhouse (Bodley Head) 432 pages August in the northern hemisphere always has always struck me as having something of a tail-end feel about it, not least in the publishing industry. Long-past are the pre-Christmas heavy-hitters with ‘star’ authors or their ‘star’ topics hogging the front-desks. Gone too is the excitement of the new titles out in spring and early summer. Many readers have taken the few good hits, in paperback, off to the beach for the last glimpse of sun …
A very English Redemption
Sadly I was unable to be in Dublin to watch how Argentina is managing without Diego. I suspect life must be less entertaining down in the dressing room and on the touchline, but a little more ordered and strategic. I did however belatedly catch some highlights of the England vs. Hungary match. That the majority of fans did not greet the team with boos as many pundits had predicted did not surprise me. Ok England’s performance in South Africa was a disgrace, as is the fact that Capello survived as …
