Gutted

Tuesday 10th August 2010

Bit of local birding around Merevale, Holly Lane, Grendon this morning in case any migrants were around after the overnight rain and then some BTO survey work around Nuneaton in the afternoon. Fair bit of walking involved but the purpose of doing the BTO stuff around where I live was that I didnt have to use the car at all. Which is fine but surveying urban areas and adjacent farmland doesn't produce a great variety of species. In fact I did log a single Tree Sparrow near Weddington which was good for the area but not a lot else. The most interesting creature found in the morning was a Toadlet in the middle of a Wheat field !

And then there's Football:

Gutted, not a term I use readily but on this occasion it perfectly describes how I and doubtless thousands of others Villa supporters feel about the resignation of Martin O'Neill. It was a shock, although there have been indications that he was not prepared to totally commit himself to the club. I was born to be a Villa supporter, a family tradition and it was the local team but I have to say I havent been to a match at Villa Park for years but as a kid I went as regularly as I could until I started playing club Rugby for Sutton Coldfield R.F.C. I think Martin O'Neill is a good man as well as a good manager, he was loyal to his players, perhaps, some would say, too loyal and he expected loyalty in return. Perhaps thats too much to expect in the present climate of over inflated wages and over inflated egos. The other problem is that managers are expected to be ambitious, managerial skills will take you so far but then you have to have the financial support to get the next level. In Villa's case, the top. If you have to sell your best players to the top clubs you have to be able to replace them. It appears that in this case the cash from the sale of James Milner was not going to be made available. The Villa will survive but I fear that having got so close so to achieving major success in the last 4 years they may take a few steps back.