Friday 2nd July 2010

I must apologise for my terrible neglect of this blog, its been a very hectic few weeks, the job hunting is taking up much of my time and the last couple of days have been made all the more complicated by making the move from Southampton back to Kintbury, my home village in Berkshire. So where to start on the events of the last three weeks?

The political scene has been dominated by the Coalition's Emergency Budget, announced last week and grim reading for most of us. I found myself outside the Downing Street gates when George Osborne posed with the battered Gladstone box last Tuesday, observing the Right to Work protest organised by the Socialist Workers Party, who attempted to make their feelings known to the Chancellor of the Exchequer with chants such as "NO IFS, NO BUTS, NO PUBLIC SECTOR CUTS" and "WHEN THEY SAY CUTBACK WE SAY FIGHTBACK". There were plenty of armed police there to ensure the situation didn't get out of hand and the protesters were left disappointed that Osborne had to be sneaked out a back entrance, so they then took their rally to the Treasury. He's only been in the job for less than two months, but already Osborne seems to be the most unpopular Chancellor since the Thatcher years and over the next few years I expect to see more uglier scenes as jobs are lost and the cuts properly kick in. One area Cameron and co won't be cutting back on is their personal security, that's for sure.
I'm no economic expert, but since the financial collapse in 2008 I have relied on the wisdom of respected economics professor David Blanchflower to help understand the situation. The Guardian and New Statesman columnist has put his reputation on the line by saying he is convinced that the Budget will lead to a double dip recession. We probably won't know until next year if he is right, but with slow growth in GDP in the first quarter of 2010 its easy to understand his claim that drastic cuts such as the ones being put forward by this government will damage our fragile economy.

With such gloomy ecomonic forecasts for the future it would have been nice if the national football team could have given the country a bit of a lift this summer, but Sunday's dismal 4-1 defeat to Germany in the last 16 of the World Cup put an abrupt end to that much needed escape from reality. In terms of England's performance this has been the worst World Cup in my memory; at least when Argentina knocked out Glenn Hoddle's men at the same stage in 1998 the Lions went down with a fight, eventually losing on penalties. Watching the Germans destroy England in the second half on Sunday brought back memories of sitting deflated with my head down and arms crossed watching Southampton getting turned over most weeks when they were relegated from the Championship in the 2008-2009 season. Fabio Capello wasn't always spot on with his tactics, but I think the reason the team did so badly was because they didn't respect the hierarchy enough, John Terry's press conference a couple of days after the Algeria game is evidence of this. If Capello, a very succesful manager who has won six league titles and the Champions League can't manage England, then who can? I personally think the only man who can command the respect of the players and get them playing with pride again is Sir Alex Ferguson, but at 40/1 the chances of the Scot taking over the English team are slim to none.

At least the anticipation of the new domestic football season will help us forget about a dreadful World Cup. Southampton are huge favorites to win promotion from League One and having spent a fortune manager Alan Pardew knows he has to deliver or he will have to go. Unfortunately I won't be able to renew my season ticket at St Marys this year, but this may be a blessing, as of the six home games I've missed over the last three years Saints have won all of them. Going by this form, they should win every home game this season!