Today's Tour stage was interesting with that German/Aussie guy going way out the front and weeping as he crossed the line in first.
Further back down, Lance looked very strong in a reasonably-mountainous stage, but in the green jersey fight the battle seems to be twofold: one battle between Cavendish and Hushovd, and a secondary battle for the definition of the green jersey - is it for the "best sprinter" or "most consistent daily finisher"?
Back when I started following the race, there was a red jersey more purely for the sprinters, and the green jersey would usually be won by Sean Kelly. Since 1989, there's been no red jersey, and they upped the points in the flat stages and intermediate sprints for the green jersey. So it's a battle of definitions...
So today, up in the mountains, we saw that Hushovd is strong enough to remain there or thereabouts, at least when there aren't the absolute toughest mountains. Today he finished in the first main bunch (alongside Lance, Contador and the rest) and takes the green jersey back off Cavendish by five points. Tomorrow is flat-ish again, and Cavendish might take it back again. Sunday we're in the mountains, so...
There's no question that Cavendish is the fastest man in the race. But Hushovd is probably the most consistent sprint-and-hang in there guy. So which category will win green when it comes to Paris?
Hard to say, but with more mountains than flat stages left, the smart money might just have to be on Hushovd, even if Cavendish wins on the Champs-Elysees in nine days' time.
Friday, July 17, 2009
17 July 2009: Pardew
As McDougal reported, Alan Pardew is confirmed as Saints manager.
Fair enough. Good manager for this level of football (third tier in the English game). Unexciting. Will probably get promotion with some good investment.
Means I can stop talking about Saints on this blog since they now seem to be a little more stable than back on April Fool's Day, when the whole thing kicked off. There'll be a few signings before the transfer window closes at the end of August, some of which may be surprising and exciting, and Plymouth Argyle will also look to put some serious moves together as part of their newly-expressed five-year plan to get to the Premiership.
So, what else to talk about? Sausages? Scottish castles? Le Tour? The Semantic Web??
That last one is what this blog was supposed to be about in the first place. Ironic that now, over five years after starting this blog, the blog has developed more than the Semantic Web...
Or has it?
Addendum: Bradley Wright-Phillips has left Saints to join Argyle, news largely buried by the ongoing managerial turmoil and the fact that he's generally regarded as being a rubbish player. Saints fans opined that he'd been seen attempting to take the train down to Plymouth. Apparently he was right there with plenty of time to spare but still somehow managed to miss it.
Fair enough. Good manager for this level of football (third tier in the English game). Unexciting. Will probably get promotion with some good investment.
Means I can stop talking about Saints on this blog since they now seem to be a little more stable than back on April Fool's Day, when the whole thing kicked off. There'll be a few signings before the transfer window closes at the end of August, some of which may be surprising and exciting, and Plymouth Argyle will also look to put some serious moves together as part of their newly-expressed five-year plan to get to the Premiership.
So, what else to talk about? Sausages? Scottish castles? Le Tour? The Semantic Web??
That last one is what this blog was supposed to be about in the first place. Ironic that now, over five years after starting this blog, the blog has developed more than the Semantic Web...
Or has it?
Addendum: Bradley Wright-Phillips has left Saints to join Argyle, news largely buried by the ongoing managerial turmoil and the fact that he's generally regarded as being a rubbish player. Saints fans opined that he'd been seen attempting to take the train down to Plymouth. Apparently he was right there with plenty of time to spare but still somehow managed to miss it.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
16 July 2009: Mundane
Next Saints manager? Hot tip today seems to be Alan Pardew.
Which seems very mundane after all the Strachan talk, but there we are. Strachan rumours continue, as do Dennis Wise rumours and 'Director of Football' rumours, but Pardew seems to have come from nowhere yesterday to being odds-on favourite today.
Rumours continue to suggest a Saturday announcement of the new manager, although the new man won't take charge of the team until next week. Assuming, of course, that it is a man...
Now there's a thought. Anyone remember 'The Manageress'?
Update 8.09pm eastern: BBC website now reporting Pardew is to be appointed.
Which seems very mundane after all the Strachan talk, but there we are. Strachan rumours continue, as do Dennis Wise rumours and 'Director of Football' rumours, but Pardew seems to have come from nowhere yesterday to being odds-on favourite today.
Rumours continue to suggest a Saturday announcement of the new manager, although the new man won't take charge of the team until next week. Assuming, of course, that it is a man...
Now there's a thought. Anyone remember 'The Manageress'?
Update 8.09pm eastern: BBC website now reporting Pardew is to be appointed.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
15 July 2009: Cavendish
Update to earlier post: Cavendish fought very hard on an uphill finish, and yet again beat all the rest. Hushovd finished about fifth, meaning Cav gets the Green Jersey back again.
But does he care?
"There's only one thing that matters now," he said in the immediate post-race interview, still out of breath and revealing what seems an increasingly strong scouse accent, "and Paris is in sight."
He wants to win on the Champs Elysees. The Green Jersey is just decoration.
But does he care?
"There's only one thing that matters now," he said in the immediate post-race interview, still out of breath and revealing what seems an increasingly strong scouse accent, "and Paris is in sight."
He wants to win on the Champs Elysees. The Green Jersey is just decoration.
15 July 2009: Versus
Speculation mounts that the new Saints manager (along with the new owner and possibly a new player or two, although that seems less likely given the lack of managerial appointment yet) will be revealed at or immediately before the pre-season friendly against Ajax on Saturday.
Rumours continue to circulate that the man in question is none other than Gordon Strachan, and that the reason there have been far fewer leaks than previous appointments is that the new regime is smaller, tighter and far less prone to give information away. Secondary rumours point to Dennis Wise, and Tony Adams refuses to go away (no jokes here about "going away" and his prison term in 1989 please), and in fact remains the current bookie favourite.
Meantime life outside the Saints bubble continues with the Tour De France and "Versus" (US TV network formally known as OLN) giving not only audio but low-bandwidth video (not sure how that link renders outside the US); alongside that the BBC Sport website are providing Simon Brotherton's live commentary on the final hour or so of the stages and of course they're doing live text commentary too. Very exciting, especially compared to previous years in the UK.
As for the race itself, Mr Lance is going ok - third, eight seconds back - with Contador his team "mate" (like they're friends, right?) two seconds ahead in second place. Alps to come this weekend, which should determine who wins. Of at least as much interest to me is Mark Cavendish, who keeps winning stages but still bizarrely is struggling to get hold of the Green Jersey due to Thor Hushovd's tactical planning and marginally better ability to get over the mountains. Cavendish is comfortably the best sprinter in the field - McDougal tells me it's due to aerodynamics trumping sheer strength at high sprint speeds - so we'll keep an eye on that. As I write this, Cavendish is six points behind so if yesterday's result is repeated (Cavendish first, Hushovd second) then Cav will be just one point behind. But... the Alps still to come... along with the usual British sporting tactic of blowing a great opportunity...
Postscript: Nostalgic YouTube link for those in the UK who remember Stephen Roche, Malcolm Elliot and the Tours of the late 1980s.
Rumours continue to circulate that the man in question is none other than Gordon Strachan, and that the reason there have been far fewer leaks than previous appointments is that the new regime is smaller, tighter and far less prone to give information away. Secondary rumours point to Dennis Wise, and Tony Adams refuses to go away (no jokes here about "going away" and his prison term in 1989 please), and in fact remains the current bookie favourite.
Meantime life outside the Saints bubble continues with the Tour De France and "Versus" (US TV network formally known as OLN) giving not only audio but low-bandwidth video (not sure how that link renders outside the US); alongside that the BBC Sport website are providing Simon Brotherton's live commentary on the final hour or so of the stages and of course they're doing live text commentary too. Very exciting, especially compared to previous years in the UK.
As for the race itself, Mr Lance is going ok - third, eight seconds back - with Contador his team "mate" (like they're friends, right?) two seconds ahead in second place. Alps to come this weekend, which should determine who wins. Of at least as much interest to me is Mark Cavendish, who keeps winning stages but still bizarrely is struggling to get hold of the Green Jersey due to Thor Hushovd's tactical planning and marginally better ability to get over the mountains. Cavendish is comfortably the best sprinter in the field - McDougal tells me it's due to aerodynamics trumping sheer strength at high sprint speeds - so we'll keep an eye on that. As I write this, Cavendish is six points behind so if yesterday's result is repeated (Cavendish first, Hushovd second) then Cav will be just one point behind. But... the Alps still to come... along with the usual British sporting tactic of blowing a great opportunity...
Postscript: Nostalgic YouTube link for those in the UK who remember Stephen Roche, Malcolm Elliot and the Tours of the late 1980s.
Monday, July 13, 2009
13 July 2009: Managers
Some things never change with Saints, such as the constant need to change managers.
I mean, I go away to Texas for a few days with next-to-no internet and bam, Saints new owners sack the manager. So the next appointment will be the eighteenth manager in fifteeen years, and the eleventh in the last five-and-a-bit years (Strachan (left early 2004), Sturrock, Wigley, Redknapp, Bassett/Wise, Burley, Gorman/Dodd, Pearson, Poortvliet, Wotte and New Manager).
The weird thing is, three hours prior to being dismissed, Mark Wotte was talking to the media about how positive he's feeling about the new owners.
Next thing he knows, "Here's your P45. Is that job in Egypt still open for you?"
So, rumours abound as to the next manager. Early favourite (by a country mile) was Gordon Strachan, who was a fantastic manager while at Saints who left essentially because of Rupert Lowe. Except he's since been a very successful manager at Celtic and could probably get any job he wants right now, so he probably won't be back.
More recent rumours focus heavily on Nigel Pearson, who had a brief but relatively successful stint at Saints a little over a year ago (ie, he kept Saints from relegation in the Championship). Rumour is he's unhappy with former Pompey bailer Milan Mandarin at Leicester, and might be willing to do something with Saints.
Further rumours suggest a Director-of-Football and Team Manager combination, possibly even bringing back Strachan, Le Tiss or Keegan as DoF with Pearson, Tony Adams or Micky Adams as team manager. A little far-fetched perhaps, but not as far-fetched as Saints being taken over by a Swiss billionaire.
Incidentally, the Echo has published a full and frank interview with the Administrator, Mark Fry, about the whole process. Very revealing stuff, and shows just how on-the-brink Saints really were.
I mean, I go away to Texas for a few days with next-to-no internet and bam, Saints new owners sack the manager. So the next appointment will be the eighteenth manager in fifteeen years, and the eleventh in the last five-and-a-bit years (Strachan (left early 2004), Sturrock, Wigley, Redknapp, Bassett/Wise, Burley, Gorman/Dodd, Pearson, Poortvliet, Wotte and New Manager).
The weird thing is, three hours prior to being dismissed, Mark Wotte was talking to the media about how positive he's feeling about the new owners.
Next thing he knows, "Here's your P45. Is that job in Egypt still open for you?"
So, rumours abound as to the next manager. Early favourite (by a country mile) was Gordon Strachan, who was a fantastic manager while at Saints who left essentially because of Rupert Lowe. Except he's since been a very successful manager at Celtic and could probably get any job he wants right now, so he probably won't be back.
More recent rumours focus heavily on Nigel Pearson, who had a brief but relatively successful stint at Saints a little over a year ago (ie, he kept Saints from relegation in the Championship). Rumour is he's unhappy with former Pompey bailer Milan Mandarin at Leicester, and might be willing to do something with Saints.
Further rumours suggest a Director-of-Football and Team Manager combination, possibly even bringing back Strachan, Le Tiss or Keegan as DoF with Pearson, Tony Adams or Micky Adams as team manager. A little far-fetched perhaps, but not as far-fetched as Saints being taken over by a Swiss billionaire.
Incidentally, the Echo has published a full and frank interview with the Administrator, Mark Fry, about the whole process. Very revealing stuff, and shows just how on-the-brink Saints really were.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
8 July 2009: Complete
As reported on this blog yesterday, the deal is now complete.
Sky Sports, the Echo, Solent and the rest are now carrying official statements from the Administrator and the club, which includes the following interesting statement:
Markus Liebherr was attracted to Southampton by a number of qualities which include the Club's rich sporting heritage, loyal fan base, first class stadium and training facilities and the potential for the Saints to regain their rightful place at the higher echelons of English football.
Maybe he thinks he's buying someone else? Anyway, the money is currently being transferred and rumours that he asked to pay for the club using Tesco vouchers are completely unfounded: he's paying in cash money. The only problem might be actually getting the dosh up from the docks to the bank...
Anyway, time to break out the Toblerone. Saints are saved!
Footnote: "Markus Liebherr" count on Google news was up to seven by earlier this morning. As I write this, we're up to forty-one.
Sky Sports, the Echo, Solent and the rest are now carrying official statements from the Administrator and the club, which includes the following interesting statement:
Markus Liebherr was attracted to Southampton by a number of qualities which include the Club's rich sporting heritage, loyal fan base, first class stadium and training facilities and the potential for the Saints to regain their rightful place at the higher echelons of English football.
Maybe he thinks he's buying someone else? Anyway, the money is currently being transferred and rumours that he asked to pay for the club using Tesco vouchers are completely unfounded: he's paying in cash money. The only problem might be actually getting the dosh up from the docks to the bank...
Anyway, time to break out the Toblerone. Saints are saved!
Footnote: "Markus Liebherr" count on Google news was up to seven by earlier this morning. As I write this, we're up to forty-one.
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