A trip to the cinema

I'm hoping to get in two films this week as I am on leave. Details on my movie blog here.

Harbour Lights in Southampton's Ocean Village is the place to be. I go there whenever possible to support the great job they do. Friendly and knowledgeable people who are passionate about building community around film-going. Check it out.

Quick trip to Zurich

Managed a quick trip to visit the in-laws at the end of November.

As you can see there was plenty of snow there too - and sub-zero temperatures. South-East Switzerland was experiencing night-time lows of -22C!

The view over the city was amazing:

 

Walking on the Uetliberg was treacherous with very icy conditions underfoot, but it did look like something out of Narnia.

The restaurant at the summit gave stunning views - it's unusual to see the Alps from Zurich - usually a bad weather sign!

A very enjoyable trip. Nearly didn't make it back as the plane had technical problems in Gatwick and was more than 2 hours late arriving in Zurich! We made take-off with 1 minute to go before the 23:50 noise curfew came into force. It meant we didn't get home until 02:30 the next morning.

The Saints are marching!

I haven't mentioned footie lately! Southampton have take 10 from the last 12 points available and are now only 2 points off the play-off places. Early days yet but the new manager has got the team playing a different style of football. I'm not exaggerating when I say that watching them yesterday was like watching Arsenal at their passing best. No more long balls - everything played across the back four with full-backs and wide mid-fielders hugging the touch line.

Richard Chaplow's arrival on loan has given a different attacking option from mid-field. Guly looks to have the making of a really great player. The defence looks solid and again we kept a clean sheet.

I think we had the biggest crowd of the day yesterday - just over 19,000 including a couple of hundred of Tranmere's faithful. Last Saturday we had the 4th biggest crowd - including Premier League games!

The Saints are definitely marching. Good times.

COYR

The Social Network - At Cinemas October 15

The Social Network - At Cinemas October 15

Here's my review from the Sony Pictures site. a full review will be posted on my movie blog.

Gripping and compelling narrative with convincing characterisation. The way the film is shot cutting between the two legal depositions and the ongoing story is masterfully done.

A great piece of PR for Harvard - who wouldn't want to study there?

the film depict Zuckerberg's genius brilliantly. His struggle to relate to people appropriately is brilliantly portrayed. The moral messiness of creativity at work is captured in the disputes and relationships that wax and wane. It's great that Zuckerberg retains a grip of his humanity and the films ends in the way it does. there is hope!

A frustrating evening!

Tonight's judge was without doubt a competent photographer and many of his comments were very helpful. However, as an ARPS he is no doubt used to moving in higher circles than our humble little club. He spent most of the first half of the evening critiquing the quality of the mounts people had chosen or the quality of the mounting itself. It would have been so much more helpful if he'd spent as much time sharing his undoubted wisdom about the actual photos!

I was quite perturbed by many of his comments so when he came to comment on my single entry I was braced for a full onslaught! True to form, he did not like the colour of the mount I had chosen. The truth is, when I hurriedly came to select and print off a photo last night for the competition, it was the only colour of mount I had! I know that I also rushed the cutting of the aperture and parts of it are not acceptable - but he had obviously detected we were all getting a bit fed up with comments about mounts and he didn't mention it!

Instead, he waxed lyrical about the compositional qualities of my entry and ended up giving it 2nd place! Wow. It's a good feeling. Afterwards, some other club members were quick to come up and say how much they liked the colour of the mount and how they felt that anything different would have negatively impacted its presentation. There you go. What do I know?

Here's the photo:

At anchor

Pictures at an exhibition

For the first time ever, one of my photos is being exhibited! Feels good. The exhibition is on for this week only at the Winchester Discovery Centre hanging on the way by the IT suites. The exhibition is of work by members of the Wonston and Worthies Camera Club.

Mine is the second one from the left - a stylish shot of a TGV in Zurich station. Tonight just happens to be camera club evening and I hope to enter 2 pictures in a competition. It's just for fun - I'm not expecting to win anything! I'll let you know.

I should feel better than I do

The last week has been a difficult week for Southampton Football Club. I have resisted blogging about every game - I am still a Season Ticket holder - but this week's events demand a comment.

A week ago we beat Bristol Rovers emphatically 0-4. Apparently Saints dominated the entire game and could have scored more. On Monday at 08:21, a Press Release was circulated stating that the Manager, Alan Pardew and virtually all of the coaching staff had been sacked for failing to meet the targets set. Whilst there had been much speculation for some months that this was on the cards, the reality of it actually happening was a hammer-blow.

On Tuesday night, Saints began defence of the Johnston's Paints Trophy and lost 0-2 at home to Swindon Town. Hopeful that the defeat had allowed all reaction to Pardew's departure to be expressed, the faithful turned up again at St Mary's yesterday hopeful of a good result against lowly Rochdale. It was not so much the fact that Saints lost again by a 0-2 margin, it was more the manner of the defeat, some inconsistent refereeing and a shockingly poor Saints performance that rubbed salt into the wounds of Liebherr's untimely death and Pardew's brutal sacking.

Saints best player was the just 17 year-old Alex Chamberlain. He has skill, speed, strength and a desire to score that was lacking in his colleagues (except perhaps for Schneiderlin - the next youngest). Why then was he substituted? I have never been a fan of Jason Puncheon, but his performance yesterday was woefully poor - yet he stayed on for the whole 90 minutes. Jose Fonte was out-muscled for much of the game by Rochdale's hulking forward and it was a spat with him that allowed the second goal to be scored - an extremely well-taken shot.

I left with 10 minutes to go - I couldn't bear to watch. It was like seeing a maimed animal staggering around that should have been put out out of its misery. I was half-way up The Avenue when the final whistle went and the boos resounded from the radio commentary. A sad day.

Rumour has it that a new, high profile, Manager will be announced soon. Let's hope we can regain some stability, some notion of where we are trying to go and a freedom from 'targets' so that we can once again enjoy supporting our team.

COYR

Markus Liebherr 1948 - 2010

It was announced on Wednesday that Markus Liebherr, Southampton's owner, had died at the age of 63.

No death is timely. This is without doubt a cruel blow. His family will be shocked and saddened at his passing. The Southampton Football Club family is also saddened and shocked. There are many hundreds of tributes that have been placed outside St Mary's Stadium and a book of condolence had has been opened.

It is a cruel twist in the story of Saints rescue from Administration. There are lots of questions about what the future holds for the club. There seems to be a Trust Fund in place to cope with just such an eventuality and his daughter Katharina who now assumes the mantle of his business interests says she wants to perpetuate the direction Markus was pursuing. Another sign of this man and his family's generosity.

Markus Liebherr was not just a sugar-daddy. He was a true fan of the club and that shone through in his infectious smile. The pride on his face was evident when Saints won the Johnstone's Paints Trophy. Southampton Football Club, the city and the fans owe a great deal to Markus Liebherr. Let us all ensure his legacy is a lasting one so that his name and memory will live on.

Sad days.

New or rediscovering the old?

I value the rich traditions and heritage that safeguarded the Christian faith and generously allowed it to pass on to this generation. I also recognise that through necessity this process is backward looking and conservative. Consequently it is centred on how faith used to be and not on what life in today's world is like. How can we effectively bridge the two and ensure we hold these integrities with equal honour?

That is why I am so committed to Emerging Church and in particular Alternative Worship which seeks to create a safe-space in which to worship while nurturing faith and providing challenge to mature discipleship. It seems the whole emerging church thing is going off the boil. That might be a good thing in that it allows the focus to be firmly on local worshipping communities rather than the distraction of trying to be a part of something bigger. But what characterises these communities? I remain convinced that in searching for an adequate response to this question we must rise to the challenge of rediscovering a more authentic and engaging way of being church.


I came across this summary from Australian Paul Baggas which to me seemed to get things pretty well in perspective"

• 1. A renewed emphasis on Jesus’ teachings and ethics aka the sermon on the mount
• 2. Breaking down the false secular/spiritual dichotomy
• 3. Believe in community more than in church
• 4. Give space to outsiders and focus on similarities and relationship rather than differences
• 5. Hospitality becomes central practice of the church
• 6. Emphasis on creativity as an expression of worship to God, giving honor to the Creator by creating.
• 7. Leading is not fixed around the single leader — leaders lead, but the single leader leading all things is anathema.
• 8. The spiritual has to do with all of life and not simply with acts of devotion. Thus, there is an embrace of those pre-modern and pre-Reformation practices that recognize God’s work everywhere, not simply in the quiet time or worship service.

Seems like a call to return to Gospel principles to me. What think you?

Some new pictures on flickr

I've been away a lot recently without web access so I have not been able to post - apologies.

I've just put some new photos on Flickr from my trip to Jersey last week (I had a couple of free hours). The weather and scenery were beautiful - I never tire of the sea. The quality of light is phenomenal - great for photography.

The rain in Switzerland stays everywhere all the time!

As we left the Channel coast behind us and drove across Belgium so we drove into cloudier conditions. For our two days in Germany it was cloudy - no rain, no sun, just cloud. Then we moved into Switzerland and it rained and rained and rained and the clouds never lifted - until the day we drove home 12 days later!

We were limited to shopping centres for photo outlets. This one is Sihl City in Zurich and architecturally I like it.

One day, umbrellas in the car, we headed East and into the cantons Appenzell. When we arrived at Schwagalp, it looked as though the cloud was clearing and so I took a picture to demonstrate the before and after:

We went into the hotel for a coffee and 30 minutes later the weather had changed...

... it was not the after I had been anticipating! And that was the end of that. Cloud and drizzle for the rest of the day - and every day after that.

We got so fed up that we decided to head South into the canton of Ticino - the Italian speaking part of Switzerland South of the Alps. As we entered the Gotthard Tunnel it was 15 degrees and very cloudy. As we emerged almost half an hour later on the other side it was a wall-to-wall sunshine, 28 degrees and everything summer should be! We headed down to Locarno:

and enjoyed a walk along the lake-side promenade:

We then took the 'Feniculare' up the hillside for lunch on a terrace over-looking Locarno and Lago Maggiore. Magnificent:

After lunch we explored Val Verzasca and arrived at the wonderful village of Lavertezzo

with it's wonderful double-arched bridge over the river:

And yes, the water really is that colour!

If you need a guide to Switzerland in the rain, hire me - I've done it.

We only had a holiday inconvenienced. The weather system dumping rain on Switzerland was the same one that brought catastrophic flooding to the South of France. There people died and lost homes and livelihoods.

Next year, I will be able to visit Switzerland again.

BP, pollution and greed

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is without doubt a major catastrophe which ever way you choose to analyse it. It has been established that oil companies have been cutting the margin for error to such an extent that any disaster was likely to be on a mega scale rather than a local spill (which is bad enough). This is bad news for everyone - for all stake-holders involved:

• Those who lost a loved one in the original explosion
• The residents of the Gulf coast
• The fishermen and tourism people whose livelihoods are threatened
• BP share holders
• BP
• Tony Hayward - BP CEO
• Barack Obama
• You and me

This spill has been, and still is, out of control. The best minds in the business have been applying themselves to finding a solution and they're still working on it. This is clearly a complex situation with complex outcomes in a host of arenas.

Amidst the uncertainty, there are some things we can say and ask for sure:

• We can ask is it purely profitability that pushes oil companies to tender for bids with low production costs or do the developers drive these prices down too?
• Who is demanding cheaper oil? You and me - the consumers.
• In a global business, do you hire a CEO with a track record and potential to deliver sustained growth and development for your company or, on the off-chance that something catastrophic goes wrong, someone who is media savvy and will present well?
• Obama can sack Generals, but he can't stop a natural resource from flowing. How powerful is the President of the USA? No amount of rhetoric or Congressional hearings can stop one drop of oil from bursting into the sea.
• BP might be a British company, but weren't they using local sub-contractors?
• Does anyone really think BP wants this to continue?

There are undoubtedly technical reasons for this mess. Someone made a wrong judgement on safety margins, there may even have been incompetence. That does not change the fact that these processes are governed by the mantra - maximum exploitation of natural resources at the lowest cost. However, what the media have failed to report is that that mantra is being chanted by you and me - every hour of every day.

Myth, metaphor, symbol and uncertainty.

A couple of weeks ago, I was preparing some stuff and got hooked by the ideas of Joseph Campbell. He was heavily into myth and strongly influenced by Freud and in turn Jung. Here's a bit from that great authority Wikipedia

"A fundamental belief of Campbell's was that all spirituality is a search for the same basic, unknown force from which everything came, within which everything currently exists, and into which everything will return. This elemental force is ultimately “unknowable” because it exists before words and knowledge. Although this basic driving force cannot be expressed in words, spiritual rituals and stories refer to the force through the use of "metaphors"—these metaphors being the various stories, deities, and objects of spirituality we see in the world. For example, the Genesis myth in the Bible ought not be taken as a literal description of actual events, but rather its poetic, metaphorical meaning should be examined for clues concerning the fundamental truths of the world and our existence."

 This is heavy stuff if you start your mind running on the possible outcomes. I was blown away by the concept that words have no meaning until you read and understand them. Reading is an interpretative act. Okay, it's within a framework, but not everyone shares the same hermeneutic.

When you ally that to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle which says you can either know the position or the speed of something but not both at the same time - and it's difficult to be certain about even that, the whole thing becomes an invitation to provisionality and ushers in the great post-modern bogeyman of relativity.

No wonder fundamentalism is becoming popular!

I need to lie down and listen to Pink Floyd at high volume!!!

Because you're worth it

I have just returned from co-leading a residential weekend for the curates in our Diocese - the Anglican diocese of Winchester. Curates are recently ordained ministers who are still in the initial phase of their training and formation which lasts for four years after ordination.

We took the L'Oreal tag-line as our theme for the weekend and set it beside Psalm 8 which contains these words:

³

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
   the moon and the stars that you have established;
⁴what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
   mortals^* that you care for them?

⁵Yet you have made them a little lower than God,^*
   and crowned them with glory and honour.
⁶You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
   you have put all things under their feet,

We spent the weekend exploring the question "what is the worth of a human being" resisting the temptation to carry out a chemical analysis or explore the Greek notion of a soul weighing 21 grams! It was an enjoyable weekend and the 42 participants all made a really useful contribution. We set out a framework and invited folk to participate by bringing their own experience and questions to provide the material. It worked very well. Each session borrowed a tag-line from the world of advertising.

We began on Friday evening:

Session #1 Fanatical about film (Borrowed from Odeon cinemas) in which we watched Crimes and Misdemeanors together.

Saturday

Session #2 Prepare to want one (Borrowed from Hyundai) In which we shared reflections on the film related to our theme and then explored some recent newspaper headlines and tried to get inside the story from our own perspective through considering how the headline appeared, or not, to value the people the story was about.

Session #3  Challenge everything (Borrowed from EA Games) in which folk were split into small groups to work through a passage of the Bible together and some quotations to continue our reflection on the central theme.

Session #4 Life is random (Borrowed from ipod nano) in which we invited folk into 'open-space' conversations about any subject they were prepared to host that touched on our theme.

Session #5 Wassssssssup? (Borrowed from Budweiser) explored how notions of the individual and their worth are portrayed through advertising. Plenty to reflect there.

Sunday

Session #6 It's good to talk (Borrowed from BT) in which folk were invited to reflect on their priestly vocation in the light of the ministries of hospitality and reconciliation God calls us towards. Participants were then invited to dream what their ultimate church community might be like if there were no resource constraints. Then into groups to discuss the outcomes.

Pentecost Eucharist in which we celebrated the coming and empowering of The Comforter - God's Holy Spirit.

All in all an excellent weekend. thanks to everyone involved.

'yearn' - further reflection

I had the chance of discussing with a colleague training for ordination, my take on Saturday's grace and the inclusion of the f word in the Eucharistic liturgy. It was an insightful conversation in which he observed that the word 'sin' has so much baggage attached to it that induces guilt which therefore invites divine judgement and retribution. All pretty negative really. F**k on the other hand is a descriptive term for getting things wrong and as a consequence putting distance between ourselves and God and others.

I much prefer the intentionality of the latter as it more quickly opens up a way to seek healing, wholeness, forgiveness and restoration. All pretty positive really.

I will keep reflecting.

Grace - 'yearn'

Based on the story of The Prodigal Son from Luke and using poems and songs by the Irish poet Pádraig Ó Tuama we explored themes of yearning for home and identifying with different characters in the story. It began by asking what/where do we consider home to be? Today I saw the answer:

Which pretty much accorded with my response - it's a relationship not a place.

The service included rapping, chanting, rituals, visuals and prayers - all good stuff. It also included communion with a very profound and theologically rich Eucharistic prayer. The prayer included the expletive f**k, in terms of describing how we get things wrong repeatedly, the use of which was at first jarring in that context. I have been reflecting on this and wondered if it was a case of the Church taking communion to the world or whether it was bringing the world - my world - to the brokenness of communion.

In any case a good time of fellowship and worship.

Thank you Sue, Dean and Jonny.

Saints 3 Southend United 1

On a bitterly cold and damp Saturday afternoon the season ended with Saints on 73 points secure in 7th place. It might all have been very different!

It was at one stage possible that the club would go into liquidation. Had we been taken over by a consortium bidding at the upper end of their budget, no money for development would have been available. The assets such as the training ground and the farm may have been sold off.

As it is, we finish with a points tally that in any other season would have given us a place in the play-offs - never mind the 10 points we were docked! The training facility at Staplewood is receiving a major redevelopment, the squad is strong, we have an excellent Manager and the team running the business know what they are doing and have the resources to back it up. As I said it could all look very different to the reality we now face.

The game was even in the first half. Southend play good football on the ground with good moving and passing. Aaron Martin was handed his second consecutive start in central defence alongside Jaidi and both looked assured and were pretty efficient at cutting out any attacks. As a team, we sometimes still become mesmerised when players are dribbling towards the penalty area - we back off and back off and fail to make a challenge thereby inviting a shot on goal. Same again yesterday as Moussa scored a good goal.

As is usually the case, conceding galvanises the team into making a response and Rickie Lambert took his tally for the season to 36 just 3 minutes later. He then scored again from the penalty spot - although Lallana wanted to take it to give him a tally of 20 for the season. He needn't have worried as he scored in the 91st minute by waltzing through the Southend defence.

There were repeated notices on the big screens and over the PA telling fans not to invade the pitch afterwards, otherwise the players wouldn't come out for a lap of appreciation. This was repeated ad-nauseam which really raised the fans ire - with due provocation. There were so many police and stewards around the perimeter of the pitch by the end. that it would have been virtually impossible to invade in any case.

A good end to a very good season.

Thank you Markus Liebherr, Nicola Cortese, Alan Pardew and the rest of the Saints team - on and off the pitch. A great effort.

Looking forward to next season already. Apparently we have signed Calderon from Brighton so it seems the commitment to build and develop is being manifested in real terms. Onward and upward.

COYR

Gillingham 2 Saints 1

By all accounts we were caught by the pace and power of a desperate team playing five strikers and running the game at 100 mph. Gillingham have a very strong home record and have already beaten most of the top sides in the division. It was of little surprise that Saints lost knowing there was nothing but pride to play for. A couple of changes in the side allowed a different formation to be tried and I'm sure Pardew found it a valuable lesson.

It was a dogged performance from Saints who only managed 42% of the possession and in the pouring rain struggled to match Gillingham's work-rate. Connelly managed to pull one back for Saints but it was not enough and Saints suffered a rare defeat.

Well done guys and well done Saints fans with a total gate of 9,504 which included 2,176 Saints fans - more than 20%!

COYR

The Lightning Seeds - Basingstoke

Caught the Lightning Seeds at The Anvil in Basingstoke at the end of their UK tour - good gig. The music was very good with interesting interpretations and variations on the recorded form. Ian Broudie is so laid back and/or painfully shy that he never quite manages to whip even a willing crowd into a frenzy of adulation and 'lostness' within the music. He did manage to get us on our feet bopping along and the final finale song - Three Lions - got a very enthusiastic response in this World Cup year (dream on England!).

It was odd in that the band were not introduced. They provided a very tight and rhythmically pounding foundation for Broudie's guitar picking and syrupy vocal style. The girl playing keyboards - and much more besides - was amazing and has a great voice. Who was she, where else does she play?

There was a good-sized crowd there who were appreciative of what was performed. Looking forward to getting the new album.

Saints 3 Carlisle United 2

The dream has gone!

This was a much better Saints performance than Tuesday night - once we got going. Carlisle were a different side from the one we beat at Wembley. They defended strongly, showed imagination and guile going forward and were up for it. Full credit to them in a game that largely meant nothing in terms of league position - but meant everything in terms of pride. Well done to the away fans - all 411 of them. A long way to come.

Our first goal came a minute or so before half-time. It was odd as the cross went in was headed on and then out of nowhere was lashed into the back of the net. I hadn't seen Antonio, he was obscured behind a clump of players. Literally a minute later we gave away a needless free kick. When you have someone of the calibre of Ian Harte in your team, it is always risky to give away free-kicks on the edge of the area. He struck it brilliantly and at half time it was 1-1.

In the 46th minute, Rickie Lambert slotted home from a narrow angle and 10 minutes later Antonio got his second. There followed a series of substitutions that saw McNish make his league début. Then the comedy five minutes.  Fonte, under pressure, flipped a looping back-pass to Davis who had to struggle to reach it. It was going to go in so he had to catch it high off the ground. An instant free-kick on the six yard line for Carlisle. Only Davis wisely sought to delay the taking of the free-kick and fell on the gathered ball. The Carlisle striker Price, tried to wrestle Davis and kneed him in the ribs. A general scuffle ensued. Davis was booked and Price - sporting a trendy birds nest of hair, got off scot-free! The resulting free kick was a farce with 11 Saints players on the line and the entire Carlisle team more or less over the ball. The ball eventually cannoned into the wall and all was well. Carlisle scored a consolation goal three minutes into injury time. Final result 3-2.

On a day when we needed Huddersfield to lose they won 0-6 away at Stockport. End of the dream. Colchester drew and that enabled Saints to rise to 7th place. A tremendous effort given where we were in September. If the last 75% of the season determined the table, this is what it would like - bear in mind Saints had a -10 points starting position:

Norwich 79
Saints 71
Millwall 71
Swindon 64
Huddersfield 62
Leeds 57
Charlton 55
Colchester 51

Well done Alan Pardew and the whole management team - and especially the players. Let the pre-season preparations begin here and now. Let's win this league next season!

COYR

Saints 0 Oldham Athletic 0

The dream has gone. A frustrating evening game which saw a battling and committed Saints denied victory by a dogged Oldham side who played for the draw from the outset and a Referee who was several leagues above his competence level.

With Wotton in for Spiderman, the mid-field was never going to set the game on fire - especially with Oldham playing five across the middle. Wotton is a capable enough stopper but his distribution is always suspect and last night particularly so. Puncheon kept him company on this occasion. Barnard, Lambert and Lallana kept running for as long as they were on the park. Lloyd James was introduced at half time but withdrawn 25 minutes later after a wonderful impersonation of a head-less chicken!

The crowd was disappointing (18,366) given the importance of the game, but the fans were deafeningly loud for most of the game - spurred on by the inept and inadequate Referee Mr Wright who proved on the night to be more a Mr Wrong. The stats show what a spoiling game Oldham played:

There are some aspects of the Saints game that need to change:

• Hurried and wasted free kicks
• Short corners that come to nothing
• Corners and crosses that are gently lofted to give the keeper catching practice rather than allow a glancing header on target.

Our defence is looking very good - I was at last impressed with Otsemobor. The mid-field lacked fluidity and class without Spiderman. Well done Saints for the effort - disappointing result. Appalling Referee.

It is now virtually inconceivable that we will make the play-offs. That will allow Pardew to plan a pre-season programme that will set us well for the next season. It will be difficult coping with the clubs coming down from the Championship, but we must battle and be there or there-abouts for the entire season if our dream of promotion is to be realised.

Enjoy the remaining three games. have a well-deserved rest and win the division next season.

COYR

Yeovil Town 0 Saints 1

What a nail-biter this was! A difficult away game with hostile home fans and a poor playing surface meant that the home side were favourites to win. This was a dogged performance and although Saints dominated the first half-an-hour, they were not able to score.

Clearly the tension and high level of expectation were ever-present with the players - a projection from the fans. Mid-way through the second half, Spiderman hit out at a Yeovil player and was given a straight red card. On one level it's good that the youngster has such passion and cares so much, but on another he needs to learn lessons from these occasions as he will be missing for the next three critical games.

In the third minute of injury time Lee Barnard headed home the only goal of the game. What a marvellous result. Well done Saints. With Colchester losing and Saints still having a game in hand over them and Huddersfield, the dream is still alive. It continues tomorrow evening at St Mary's - bring on Oldham Athletic.

COYR

Bristol Rovers 1 Saints 5

Well, it was a tense affair watching the BBC live text - at least for the first half. Having seen the goals on TV since, I can think 'what's the problem?'. Rovers scored first - a soft penalty really, but well put away. Then Rickie Lambert got into his stride and banged in two in quick succession just before the break. The second half saw Spiderman score a contender for goal of the season and this was followed by two more from Lallana and Puncheon. Job done.

It was encouraging to see that nearly 25% of the fans were Saints fans - well done everyone. The victory was brilliant but the edge was taken off the evening by two late goals from Huddersfield Town against Walsall. If Walsall had managed to hang on to their lead, the prospect of the play-offs would be closer to be being realised. Let's hope we can win again on Saturday at Yeovil.

COYR

Kali Mirchi - fine Indian cuisine

A borrowed photo from a review

I have now eaten here 5 times and each time it simply gets better. The menu has a tremendous range from across the sub-continent. The food is never produced quickly and it really does taste like every dish is cooked to order rather than a variation on 3 or 4 stock sauces as is the case in too many Indian restaurants. Here it tastes like they have a range of palettes from which the spices are freshly prepared. All of the spices blend in subtle combinations that excite the taste buds. I am even salivating writing this!

The Naan bread is the best I've tasted this side of Delhi (with the possibly exception of a dodgy back-street cafe in Rawlpindi). I would particularly recommend the Lamb Nihari which presents a marinated and slow cooked Lamb Shank in a mouth-watering tomato and spice gravy. The King Prawn Balchio, a Goan dish, is also excellent and highly recommended. The Combo Starter is excellent value for money and while you wait for that the poppadoms are refreshingly non-greasy and fresh. The pickle accompaniment - especially their home-made apple Chutney is excellent.

I live 20 miles away and drive past dozens of Indian restaurants to get there - but it's worth the effort. The evening a la carte is to be preferred to the lunch-time buffet. The Head waiter is good fun and the service is attentive and pleasing. If you have any special dietary requirements, they will adjust recipes to accommodate you.

I would encourage everyone within striking distance of this restaurant to visit one evening.

Kali Mirchi

98 Shirley High Street

Southampton

SO16 4FB

023 8070 1038

Saints 1 Charlton Athletic 0

It was a lovely warm and sunny spring day in Southampton yesterday where over 23,000 fans watched a tense and entertaining display from a rugged Saints against top-class opposition. Charlton are virtually guaranteed a play-off place, we need to win every game and rely on Huddersfield and Colchester slipping up to allow us into the pay-off's.

Charlton were well disciplined and organised. They had a strong physical presence which a Saints team of old would have been crushed by - but not this current squad. At then end, Charlton were playing with three strikers who were extremely physical and bruising. Overall, Saints had 56% of possession and made it tell. One or two players were still in 'let's pass the ball to the opposition' mode and Puncheon was challenged by playing in a new role playing through the middle up front just behind Rickie Lambert. The two centre backs, Fonte and Seaborne were immense and for the first time seemed to gel as a pair. Harding was his usual 100% reliable and Lallana's endless running gave Charlton plenty of headaches.

For me the enjoyability of the games was spoilt by Mr Hegley the referee. He blew his whistle like at tin-pot dictator for a thousand minor offences whilst allowing much bigger crimes to go completely unpunished. The game was never allowed to flow and when 23,000 with one voice tell the ref "you don't know what you're doing" - well they can't all be mistaken can they? The number of clear handballs was well into double figures - but he gave none of them. We were lucky to escape one mad passage of play when the ball pinged abound like a pin-ball and twice struck a Saints arm - neither were given as penalties for Charlton. It is also clear that League One teams have watched each other and learned how to minimise Rickie Lambert's threat in the air from the long ball. They position one player in front and another behind and they jump towards each other squeezing out Rickie. Time after time, game after game this tactic is employed. At best it's obstruction, at worst sometimes it's violent conduct, but if the whistle blows it's always for the defending side.

Saints scored on 34 minutes - ironically as I was berating the ref for not giving a foul on Rickie Lambert. The ball squirted free to Puncheon who passed sideways to Antonio who dribbled around two players and rifled home his shot. A good goal, well taken.

Charlton caused Saints lots of headaches in the second half, but the defence stayed firm and Kelvin Davis made some excellent saves when it was breached. Charlton would have felt they deserved more from the game, but that's the second time we've beaten them this season and our march upwards continues.

Tuesday night sees a very difficult game against high flying Bristol Rovers - another must win game.

COYR

Roger Waters 2010 The Wall Tour

Apparently, the tour dates for his tour will be announced tomorrow at 2 pm EST on his new website.

There will no doubt to a huge demand for these and they will be costly I'm sure.

I remember buying The Wall 30 years ago and being underwhelmed. As each year has passed, the profound nature of Water's lyrics and the transcendent quality of the music has grown and now it occupies a place very much at the centre of Pink Floyd's canon of creativity.

Saints 2 Leyton Orient 1

It seems that Saints are falling into a pattern of not waking up until about 15 minutes into the game! Again we succumbed to a sucker punch with Orient scoring in the second minute which was possibly their only serious attack of the first half. Today Southampton had 11 players on the pitch - nothing strange in that, except today they were 11 individuals and they did not play as a team. They made extremely hard work of playing a game of football against opposition that didn't look a threat and who struggled to challenge for victory.

Lee Barnard was excellent with his energy, running and willingness to defend from the front. Rickie Lambert looked a bit off colour - but not as off colour as Jon Otsemobor and Morgan Schneiderlin! These two repeatedly gave the ball away to the opposition when they were in possession. Jaidi went off injured in the fourth minute and Seaborne his replacement seemed to unsettle the usually solid Jose Fonte, his partner.

Saints first goal came towards the end of the second half and it was a piece of individual skill from Adam Lallana who ran the ball across the edge of the penalty area from left to right and then shaped his body to curl a shot into the top right-hand corner. Class. His second goal came mid-way through the second half and I'm not sure what happened - too far away in a penalty area filled with bodies, I think it was a header. Orient lost Jonathan Téhoué as he was stretchered off with a hamstring injury.

We are now closing on the pack above. If we our game in hand, we are only 5 points off the play-offs!

COYR

New pictures on flickr

One of the photo magazines I subscribe to had an article sent in by a reader of photos he took at this location. As it's only 5 miles down the road, I decided to check it out this morning. This and some others are on my Flickr photostream - follow the link to the right.

Brighton & Hove Albion 2 Saints 2

It depends on which account of the game you read as to how well Saints played. I guess it's all too easy to lose concentration after the grandeur of Wembley and a Cup Final, but those privileges are only earned if you are able to keep focussed on the day job. The Brighton pitch is not the best and this may have again contributed to a poor Saints performance. Brighton have always a bogey team and it was good that we did not lose.

One point is better than no points, but three would have been ideal - even necessary if we are going to maintain a serious attempt to get into the play-off places. On Monday we entertain Leyton Orient - every game is now a must win game. with more home than away games, it is a tantalising possibility.

COYR

JPT Final Carlisle United 1 Saints 4

Dean Hammond and Kelvin Davis lifting the Johnstone's Paints Trophy earlier this afternoon at Wembley! Well done Southampton - it is great to have won something - it's been a grim 5 years before this season.

Pyrotechnics as the teams were presented

An occasion for all ages to celebrate.

The beautiful game.

Impressive architecture - this was my first visit to the 'new' Wembley.

Everyone was up for it - a true red and white army!

It was a great day out - not just because we won. There were 45,000 Saints fans in the stadium and 30,000 Carlisle fans - we didn't hear much from them.

It was very much a workman-like performance from Saints - nothing flash, they were there to do a job and they did it. Next Saturday and it's back to the grind with an away match at Brighton. If Saints win all remaining games and teams above us slip up, there is a chance we will make it to the play-offs. In which case, it will be back to Wembley.

Well done Southampton Football Club. Grateful thanks to Markus Leibherr, Nicola Cortese and Alan Pardew.

COYR

Saints 3 Hartlepool United 2

It wasn't only the weather that made it hard going for Saints tonight! The inclusion of Papa Waigo for the absent Lallana (injured?) saw Saints in a new formation with Papa 'in the hole' behind Lambert and Barnard. It didn't work. Saints were out of shape and no-one seemed to know what they were meant to do. Once we went back to 4-4-2 it all began to fall into place - except for Hartlepool taking the lead! Jason Puncheon had a terrible game and seemed intent on only passing to people in blue!

In the second half Schneiderlin was taken off - I hope only as a precaution, and replaced by Wotton. At that point Saints lost control of the mid-field and with that the game. We went 3-1 up but Austin scored with a well-placed shot from 30 yards to bring it back to 3-2 - a great goal.

Hartlepool were supported by about 100 travelling fans - well done them.

Everyone was a little pre-occupied with Sunday. See you at Wembley?

COYR

We're on our way to Wembley!

My tickets finally arrived yesterday - a whole 7 days before the game! Amazing.

Looking forward to tonight's warm-up against Hartlepool United and then it's all eyes on Wembley.

COYR

Chris Rea at the The New Theatre Oxford

Firstly an admission that this is a pic I borrowed from a web search.

Secondly, let me begin by mentioning the support act Paul Casey from Derry in Northern Ireland. A singer songwriter of some ability. I particularly enjoyed the way in which he was able to coax a range of sound that was akin to an orchestra in its breadth, from his acoustic steel-stringed guitar. It was only a 25 minute set, but it was a strong performance and he deserves to do well. His self-deprecating patter between songs was an act of entertainment in its own right.

Paul Casey performing in Derry (with another borrowed pic!)

Now, back to the main act.

This is the first time I had seen Chris Rea live. I have owned a couple of his albums for a number of years. I am a natural fan of blues of rock so I guess it's easy to see that I would like this stuff. He didn't disappoint. What was refreshing was that he was accompanied by an additional five musicians that meant the sound-scape was rich and vibrant, full of detail and power - which was restrained more than uncontrolled. With two additional guitars, it was a full-on sound. what is more is the bass was allowed to be way forward in the mix which gave the whole thing  a driving urgency that demanded emotional engagement.

It is a matter of taste whether you prefer the slide guitar that Rea has become an acknowledged master of, or something more 'pure' like David Gilmour's Pink Floyd style (yes I know he plays slide very well too!). What is beyond doubt is Rea's vocal style which is forceful and gravelly.

The set was 1 hour 40 minutes to the second, including encore - extremely energising and enjoyable. A new studio album is due out in June once he has completed this marathon tour. Check it out.

La Belle France

As I'm on holiday this week I made another quick raid on the French with a friend yesterday. After the obligatory quick shop in Calais, we ventured inland to St Omer where we enjoyed a very good lunch in a small cafe called Le Zinc in Place Foch. I would particularly recommend the crab salad entree.

After lunch we made for the Office De Tourisime to seek directions to the 'anciens port' only to be told "there is nothing there - only 'ouses"! Nevertheless we made our way to the 'ouses and enjoyed the old canal waterfront of St Omer.

Just north of the town, on the same canal, we were surprised to see quite large boats and barges plying their trade. From there we followed the canal to the sea and enjoyed a brisk walk along the endless expanse of flat sand - not far from the beaches of Dunkirk.

By chance we made it back on a earlier than booked ferry which meant that we home at a reasonable hour. What added to the value was the fact that there is stiff competition amongst the three ferry operators sailing out of Dover. I was able to book the return day-trip for £20 with P&O. When we checked in I received a voucher for a by-one-get-one-free breakfast offer and also a voucher for a free half-case of Californian wine - no strings attached, simply £18.54 of wine for free! That meant we had in excess of £26 of freebies and so were £6 up even before we reached France. An exhaustive price comparison showed that the ferry prices for spirits were cheaper than Tesco Vins and Auchan, so a good day for P&O. Also, we have decided that Monday's represent the best opportunity to miss the crowds as both he ferry and the shops were almost empty.

A very good day out.