Heros and Villains

Amateur psychologists will be having a field day today following an increase in the looting and rioting which is affecting London, and now, other parts of the Country.

There always seems to be a backlash from the black community whenever their brothers and the police are involved in arms related confrontations, particularly when one of their own ends up dead. Events in Tottenham which led to the death are still subject to the two sides of a story principal, but with the Broadwater Farm estate being a tinder box ready to ignite, it is no surprise that N1 felt the first tremors of unrest.

Should the police have seen it coming, well probably yes, and they probably did, but not to the extent that it flared up there, and then spread like wildfire through most of the deprived boroughs of London.

The looting portfolio surprised me though. Times are hard, and people in these run down areas are affected more than most, so I would have expected most of the looting to be centred on Tesco or Sainsburys to allow them to stock pile food and drink . interestingly it was the electrical stores and clothing outlets which people were filmed targeting, with JD Sports in particular being stripped of clothing fit for a riot!!

The fact that the usual suspects were listed on the news bulletins as being affected by rioting was again a sad indictment of the progress, or lack of it, being made in the inner city areas like Brixton, Toxteth, St Pauls, MossSide and the Bullring area of Birmingham in the thirty years or so since the last great uprising. It is interesting that the youths at the vanguard of those riots are now probably parents in their own right. I wonder whether they fell responsible or let down?

There seems a great will on behalf of the man and woman in the street to not allow these riots to devastate their own neighbourhood. The social networks which are thought to have allowed mobs to congregate in the first place are now being used equally effectively by the Joe Public clean up squads which are being formed in Croydon, Hackney, Bethnal Green and other areas to minimise the damage and debris.

With the police now assessing the use of rubber bullets as a deterrent, I would rather see the Cheshire Regiment or a few Para's just back from Afghanistan let loose on the so called British citizens whose freedom they have been six months protecting. That would clear the streets pretty quickly.

Come on you Greens

I am a huge Plymouth Argyle supporter, having supported them since 1962, when my dad took me to the Argyle v Spurs FA Cup 4th round tie at Home Park. How my dad got tickets I don't know, but he seemed to have the ability to magic them from somewhere, be they for England at Twickenham, Wembley or Lords. Its an ability I am pleased to have inherited, and look forward to going with my eldest son to Wembley in a few weeks time for the England v Brazil game.

I remember being devastated for a Royal Marine who offered my Dad ten bob for the two tickets, in the pub one night. i was really saddened that the poor man did not have a ticket of his own. Oh the innocence of youth.

Anyway back to Argyle. Today they broke their all time transfer record by paying £400K for a Hungarian international left winger, Peter Halmosi. Their squad now consists of three Hungarians, 3 French players, a Dutchman and an Australian, as well as several Devonians, and assorted Brits. It is certainly a sign of the times.

Given that Steven Gerrard has just been awarded £120K per week in wages though, paying £400K seems a bargain.

In the 45 years I have followed the Argyle, I have seen them win at Wembley and lose in three Cup semi-finals. In league terms they have fallen from the Second division, to the Fourth division and climbed back up to the Championship as it is now called. In all that time they have never played in a league called the First division. Next season is already being anticipated with great expectation, however, the recent slump of Nottingham Forest and 'dirty' Leeds only goes to show that expectations and achievements can be a million miles apart.