Sunday Times exposure
Category: UK
Tucked in behind the leaders
After a 4- nil win away from home against Bristol City the league table looks wild:
In the news- such a big club-
from the Guardian
French market trips can propel Frank’s Brentford to new heights
The Bees hope shrewd recruitment can fire a Premier League promotion push after ditching their academy
Wed 18 Dec 2019 11.00 GMTLast modified on Wed 18 Dec 2019 11.22 GMT
“The BMW is still running fast,” said Thomas Frank, the Brentford head coach, referring to Saïd Benrahma, Bryan Mbeumo and Ollie Watkins after watching his three-pronged attack combine to devastating effect against Fulham at Griffin Park on Saturday. Watkins carried the ball to the edge of the box, where Benrahma took over, buying a yard of space before scooping a cross towards the back post for Mbeumo to fire the only goal of the game, his eighth of the campaign. Brentford will leave their 115-year-old stadium at the end of this season and have designs of going out with a bang.
Mbeumo, a £5.5m club-record signing, has scored in Brentford’s past four matches, including a 7-0 demolition of Luton. The 20-year-old winger is the latest Brentford player to make a seamless transition from Ligue 2 to the Championship after joining from Troyes in the summer, following in the footsteps of Benrahma and Neal Maupay, the striker who moved to Brighton in August for £16m after two prolific seasons.
Benrahma was a £2.7m signing from Nice after impressing on loan at Châteauroux, and Maupay a £1.6m arrival from Saint-Étienne after shining at Brest. The defender Julian Jeanvier, in effect John Egan’s replacement 18 months ago, joined from Reims, while Maxime Colin, now of Birmingham, piqued Brentford’s interest at Troyes. Yoann Barbet, now of Queens Park Rangers, joined in 2015 after a season at Chamois Niortais.
It is not only in the French market where Brentford have found joy; Watkins was a £1.8m buy from Exeter City in 2017, and in the summer they paid Barnsley £3m for Ethan Pinnock, who was playing for Dulwich Hamlet three years ago. Pinnock has been paired in central defence with Pontus Jansson, who was made captain after arriving from Leeds United in July. The pair in effect replaced Ezri Konsa and Chris Mepham, who this year sealed Premier League moves to Aston Villa and Bournemouth respectively, bringing in £27m.
Brentford have sold almost £100m of talent since 2014 and sales are vital to countering the club’s £10m-£20m annual operating loss. At 28, Jansson represented a noticeable shift, being the oldest outfield player to join since Lasse Vibe four years ago, but strengthening the defence was a priority.
Election result- Tories win big
Not exactly the result I wanted or indeed I think will be fruitful. Brexit will now happen as I am sure the negotiated withdrawal agreement will pass by the January 31 deadline. The format of the future after that is unclear and within the hands of Johnson. He will no longer be beholden to the DUP or the European Research Group cabal so maybe there will be something more integrated with the EU. Who knows as Johnson is a slippery character who has no problem with changing his mind when it suits his purpose.
A big loss for Labour which has already been met with ‘it was all to do with Brexit’ ( and not Corbyn or his project) versus ‘Corbyn is toxic and he must go’. Plenty of infighting to come and to be drawn out for a long time.
Day before election
Election time
Just announced that there will be an election on December 12th. First December election for nearly 100 years.
BJ does not want parliamentary scrutiny of his agreement so an election instead. Tories confident of a win given their lead in the polls but that was the case last time!
Nearly a deal with NI separated?
Fiddler on the Roof
A lovely idea by the boys to treat me to a trip to the theatre for Father’s day. Four months after the event but so what. I was partly to blame as we are on holiday too often!
From the Guardian:
Fiddler on the Roof review – Trevor Nunn’s magnificent revival
Menier Chocolate Factory, London
With antisemitism on the rise, Tevye’s struggles with the tsar’s thugs are powerfully topical in this note-perfect production
Thu 6 Dec 2018 13.53 GMTLast modified on Thu 6 Dec 2018 15.40 GMT
Although much-loved and often revived, Fiddler on the Roof has been charged with excessive sentimentality and piety. As the poor Russian-Jewish milkman Tevye attempts to marry off five daughters, several of the songs have the form of prayers, and a startling percentage of the dialogue is delivered upwards.
We saw the performance at the Playhouse Theatre as the production had transferred for a limited run. I did my preparation by reading the synopsis and listening to the songs. Some were familiar and the story is easy to follow. The show was very good though the duration of sitting in the hot cheap seats with restricted leg room made a difference.
A great night out with the boys who also enjoyed the show. So all were getting out there to enjoy something new.
Current ambience
The political division continues with the right wing finding a plot under every bed.
The country is going to the dogs as they say with the lies and brutality of politics reaching fever pitch.
Conservative party conference is on at the moment so the intensity has been ramped up.
‘Get Brexit done’ is the rallying call. Whatever that is meant to mean. As ever as complex reality translated into a simple but meaningless buzz phrase.
Depressing
Caledonian Canal
