Getting Litt up in the newsroom

I'm not going to lie, it's been emotional. Being a trainee news reporter after 22 years of following and covering sport is a bit like sitting in GCSE chemistry lessons. You finally think you've got the hang of it then something else comes along and suddenly it feels like one of those horrible dreams where you've had your pants pulled down in front of a large group of people. And it's really cold.

Or maybe as Matt Dawson was saying on the radio earlier, it's like having your bare bum spanked with a cactus (good to hear what rugby players get up to on tour).

To be honest, I had no absolutely no idea what to expect when I made the move to Peterborough to embark on my new glamorous life (ahem).

Dictaphone in one hand, notepad in the other, a brand new suit and shoes to show off, a Don Bradman biography on my bedside table and the joys of a League One football side not far from my front door, I honestly assumed this is how Matthew McConaughey must feel on the red carpet. How could it get any better unless Taylor Swift knocked on my front door one night seeking a place to stay?

Sure, I had moved to a new city which I knew nothing about and would be covering stories I had never even thought about writing before.

But I was fully trained up, eager to make a good impression and would surely uncover some huge scandal in my first month which would lead to me being hailed as the greatest trainee journalist in the history of local newspapers and being coveted by the big beasts in the media. And The Guardian.

This wasn't because I was arrogant. I mean, I make Ed Miliband look confident and assured. I just figured my time as an Inbetweeners lookalike was over and that this was my moment to shine. 

Considering that in my last job I used to fumble about for an hour with a massive hot dog (not a euphemism) before serving it to customers (definitely not a euphemism - please don't report me) I figured being paid to write would be fairly straight-forward.

Yeah, about that.

It didn't help that the only thing I knew about Peterborough was the football team. It was suggested to me before moving by other people with a similar knowledge of Peterborough that I would be interviewing their chairman Darragh MacAnthony every week because, let's face it, who else was there? Nevermind that I wasn't actually covering sport.

Having found a flat, moved my stuff across, reluctantly splashed out on expanding my wardrobe and began sorting out the 3,000 different bills and taxes which would be coming out of my account, it was time to actually see whether the years of research, unpaid internships, fairly expensive (albeit worthwhile) training and fruitless job applications would not be a complete waste of time and money.

The experience has certainly lived up to my hope that journalism would keep life interesting. I've covered big stories on crime, the NHS and the council's budget.

I've had people in tears after hearing how their son died, been threatened after knocking on doors and spoken to people who were expected to die very soon yet were still doing their best to raise money for charity.

And not to mention a Pizza Express review in the newspaper going viral which was beyond surreal. "Hello I'm calling from the Mirror," was the first call as fellow news-hungry journalists tried to get hold of the work experience girl who had written the review.

Then it was the Sunday Times, followed by a call from the Radio 4 Today programme. Surprisingly, they were not interested in my thoughts on European Tour golf or cricketers of the 1930s (not sure why I bought that Bradman book now) but wanted to know more about Pizza Express.

To be honest, I would be lying to say I didn't feel like David Moyes at Manchester United at times.

Everything I had done previously had been geared towards sport. Ever since I used to watch every Forest home game and attempt to take them to Premier League glory on Championship Manager as it called was back then. And of course the many hours with bat and ball at the glorious Trent Bridge, the home of cricket.

Now I go to planning meetings and write about fly-tipping. And weirdly, I even have my own work Twitter handle although I still have about 20 followers. Justin Bieber better watch out, I'll be overtaking him soon.

For people interested in what it's like in the newsroom and writing for a living, it is rarely boring. You can be trying to balance several stories at the same time, you're on the phone trying to take down quotes with shorthand from people speaking at what feels like 300 words per minute and you're always dealing with media officers. Every company, no matter how small, uses at least one.

But more importantly, I get to suit up every day and dress like my hero Louis Litt.

All I would say to people who think newspapers just make things up or hack people's phones, we are the ones who stand up for the public, ask the questions they cannot and make sure they are informed.

You really witness all the emotions in this job. You see so many great charity acts which inspire you then you hear about such despicable crime which leaves you cold.

You really have to try and be an expert on all matters, be comfortable adapting between print and online, and find time to get your stories written in between answering long phone calls, wading through emails, checking Twitter and eating, which for me is a constant event.

But at the end of the day, it doesn't get much better than seeing your byline on a Thursday throughout the paper. And if you've got the splash on the front page it's even better. Now it's all about working my way on to Question Time.

Anyway, that's enough of the whistle-stop description on what I'm sure you've decided is my extremely exciting life. 

What can I say, I didn't choose the thug life, it chose me.

All I would say is I've learnt how important it is to enjoy your time off as much as possible and how I pay far too many bills. Which is why I have spent most of this week watching cricket, listening to Taylor Swift and sending lots of snapchats. 

But seriously, when I check my bank balance a few days before pay day it's not a pretty site.

Still, having slunked back into my flat on many evenings wondering when someone will politely tell me that this job is not for me and that I've wasted the last five years of my life trying to get into this industry, you realise you enjoy the unpredictability of the work, the pressure and, fortunately for me, the colleagues. 

It all means it's not normally too difficult to force myself into the office on a Monday morning and often I've found myself excited to get in there and see what's kicking off whilst enjoying some top, top banter. Naturally.

On top of that, being able to freelance on Saturdays at football grounds is a very good way to earn a few extra quid. And hearing some of the dull quotes managers at times come out with makes you realise that filling in the back pages might not be as good as getting stuck into the front. 

Oh well, big up the Peterborough massive, and if you're reading this Fraser Kesteven (Kimsteven)

New dawn or emperor's new clothes?

Six matches against Sri Lanka have seen two wins and four defeats. It appears that when it comes to England's limited-overs teams, it's more of the same from Peter Moores.

Still, a chance to level the scores will come over the next fortnight in the two-Test series. And to quote Frozen, for the first time in forever, nobody in April could have predicted with any certainty the 12 names selected to travel to Lord's for the first five-day affair since Sydney in January.

Below, I give the England team I would have liked to have seen picked and give my thoughts on the other names who were included in the squad.

My England XI

1. Alastair Cook - Needs runs in all formats, but his place in the Test side is not under threat. Fortunate to remain captain.

2. Sam Robson - Scored heavily last season and in the winter. Should have come into the side at Adelaide during the winter when Jonathan Trott went home.

3. Nick Compton - Would not make for the most exciting top three, but could mirror the Strauss-Cook-Trott axis which set-up many series wins. With Trott unavailable, Compton is the best replacement and has an appetite for batting long.

4. Ian Bell - In my view, he should be captain. Wants to bat at 4 and will look to continue his excellent early-season form.

5. Gary Ballance - ODI struggles aside, his first-class record in the last 12 months means he deserves his place.

6. Ben Stokes - Just back from injury, but if he's fit then he should be in. Just like Prior and Broad who have been fast-tracked back in.

7. Matt Prior - A difficult 2013 but he still maintains an average of 40 in the longer format and is a normally reliable keeper. Possibly under-estimated just how important he is to England.

8. Chris Jordan - Has proved himself to be ready for international cricket and has shown the necessary red-ball form as well. Important to have bowlers who can bat.

9. Stuart Broad - Did not receive enough credit for his Ashes performance and has outshone Anderson for the past year.

10. James Anderson - A few mutterings that Jimmy was no longer undroppable. With few stand-out alternatives to come in, and a strong start to the season, let's hope an Easter break will see him back to top form.

11. Simon Kerrigan - With Monty Panesar clearly out of favour, Kerrigan is England's best spinner and deserves another go.

The Rest

Chris Woakes - Another who has suffered the Kerrigan treatment of being judged from one Test match. Consistently one of the best bowlers in the country and a very good bat. Deserves his place in the side even if it is just for one Test.

Jos Buttler - I'm not a fan of using ODI performances when it comes to picking the Test team. The benefit of bringing players like Buttler, Jordan and Stokes into the limited-overs side is to see if they have the bottle for international cricket. All three have proven that they do. Now, it is time for Buttler to take a step away from the limelight and work on his first-class batting and wicket-keeping. That way, should Prior suffer injury or another loss of form, he will be ready for the challenge.

Moeen Ali - Has played well and deserved his place, but too much of a bits-and-pieces cricketer for my liking. Appears to be a second spinner and decent batsman, but long-term England will be better off with a man who can consistently dismiss international players. Will be interesting to see how Moeen bowls should he be picked.

Liam Plunkett - Apparently picking former England wicket-keepers is going back in time, but picking a seamer who has not played a Test for seven years is ok. Plunkett has been possibly the stand-out pace bowler in county cricket this season. He was bowling late-80s in a televised game against Durham and is getting his wickets through hostile bowling in a manner reminiscent of a certain left-handed Australian.

Still, I would like to see Plunkett given another month of county cricket to see if he can retain this form and allow Broad to be England's enforcer. If Plunkett can continue the way he is playing then unleashing him on the Indian batsmen could be fun to watch.

Joe Root - Australia clearly fancied their chances against Root, who struggled for the majority of the two Ashes series. Shunted around the order, he deserves sympathy. But watching him tell himself against Sri Lanka to get his front-foot forward, and having seen him trapped lbw for Yorkshire on at least a couple of occasions this season, it appears that he is not fully at ease with his game.

That is no surprise, as few Test batsmen have a perfect technique, but with few early season runs to go by, it might be wise to see him work on these issues in a confident Yorkshire side. There's no point scoring well against two of the weaker attacks in world cricket this summer only to suffer the same issues when he faces New Zealand and Australia in 2015.

One thing to beware

Stuart Broad plays in all formats. He bowls, bats and captains the Twenty20 team. He proved in the winter that, aged 27, he has reached his prime with the ball and could one day captain England in more than one format.

It is a worry, therefore, that he has suffered with tendonitis in his right knee and will most likely need surgery at the end of the season. His county coach (and England selector) Mick Newell believes he should give up the 20-over game to protect himself from injury.

The worry with Broad is that he has played international cricket since 2006, which for bowlers on that never-ending treadmill is a long-time. In that period he has played 231 international matches.

His body has broken down before, and with England playing five Tests against India inside six weeks over July and August, he will face a huge physical challenge.

Broad grew up idolising Glenn McGrath and struggled to know how he should bowl in the Test side. Originally billed as a McGrath clone who could bowl a consistent line and length, his pace and aggression often saw him bowl too short a length, before making the necessary changes later on in his career.

In the week that Andrew Flintoff announced his return to competitive cricket, it's important to make sure the man who was billed as Freddie's heir following the 2009 Ashes does not fade so badly through the strain on his body.

Flintoff was famed for his huge bowling efforts; five times he bowled 50 overs or more in a Test match. Against Sri Lanka as captain, he ploughed through 51 in a single innings, such was his desire to win.

Broad, by contrast, has only reached that number of overs twice, both times coming in 2012. However, based in a four-man attack for the vast majority of his 67 Tests, he has had to bowl a large amount of overs.

With Ben Stokes' emergence allowing for five bowlers, it is time to let someone else put in the long overs. Broad can bowl a similar pace to Mitchell Johnson and from a good height. He has an ability to run through a team in a session and change the course of a match.

At an age where he is at his peak, when England need its senior players to lead, with an injury that needs managing, and with a schedule that will punish his body, it's time to make Broad our strike bowler.

And finally...

Cook, Bell, Root, Ballance. England's top four in ODIs. It was Peter Moores' first series so let's call it a watch-and-learn period. But as everyone in the media is telling him, things have to change.

Forget the cup, Arsenal blew it

128 days Arsenal led in the Premier League, yet still they came nowhere near to winning it. They had the perfect chance as well. Chelsea, Manchester City and, of course, Manchester United, changed their managers, while Liverpool finished the season before in 7th place, 12 points behind the Gunners and 28 points off top.

Chelsea spent the entire season without a world-class striker and sold Juan Mata, their player of the years for the past two years, in January. City took four points from their first five away matches and were eighth after the first 11 games of the season.

United, well, there is nothing to say there that hasn't been pointed out all season.

Arsene Wenger had as long as he wanted to plan for this season. He didn't come in during the summer and have to find his feet under the table. He knew which players were good enough, which were not, and where he needed to strengthen. He did not have a new chief executive to work with.

Yet, while Manchester City moved quickly to secure their targets and have a settled squad, he waited until after an opening day defeat at home to Aston Villa to make his move and buy Mesut Ozil. For whatever reason (supposedly Real Madrid raising the cost) Arsenal did not sign Gonzalo Higuain and they did not follow through on trying to sign Luis Suarez, a world class player with Premier League pedigree who sounded unsettled at his club.

Ozil did, however, boost the side and lifted them to the top of the table. Going into the New Year, every team had played half their fixtures and Arsenal were top. Admittedly, they were only one point above City and two above Chelsea, but they were there and ready for a title challenge.

But that charge never came. It was common knowledge that they had a horror run of fixtures coming up in February, with Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Liverpool in the FA Cup and several top six sides in the Premier League.

I know everyone thinks they could manage a football side, but there was a reason Wenger was urged to spend some money. He had one main striker in Olivier Giroud, who is good but not great, and very little else. Aaron Ramsey injured himself on Boxing Day against West Ham and was not set for an immediate return. But as is common at the Emirates, the cheque book stayed shut and only Kim Kallstrom came in on loan, before promptly injuring himself.

As expected, Arsenal floundered. In a run of 11 games starting away at Southampton on January 28 and ending at Everton on April 6, they won three and took just 13 points. They conceded four against Everton, five against Liverpool and six against Chelsea.

When the tough run ended, they won their final five matches to seal fourth place, but all that means is another nervy Champions League qualifier soon after the World Cup ends.

The FA Cup is a great competition and one which all clubs should target. Personally, I prefer it to the Champions League even though that puts in me a vast minority. Arsenal fans should celebrate their side's achievement and bask in Wembley success.

But a domestic cup win is not what sets Arsenal apart from the rest. It doesn't set them apart from Swansea and Birmingham in recent years. They are meant to be an elite club, winners of the Premier League and Champions League which differentiates the brilliant sides from those in the aspiring tier just below (think Tottenham and Everton) and of course all others below them in the football pyramid.

If Arsenal are part of the elite, then they need to start becoming realistic challenges for the top two prizes and not a side content with third/fourth in the league (where they have been in the last nine seasons) or last 16/quarter-finals of the Champions League (where they have been knocked out in the seven of the least eight seasons).

Wenger has seen Liverpool overtake his side. He has seen his gifts of moulding a winning outfit without recourse to heavy spending usurped by Jurgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund and Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid.

It shows that top dollar doesn't always need to be spent to become winners, but quality needs to be brought into the club. This summer will prove if Arsenal will do a City and use a cup win to propel them to league glory. It's hard to escape the feeling, though, that this year was their great chance and they have blown it.

Still, the FA Cup is a worthy prize and one to be savoured over the summer.


Cup never lost its magic

The suggestion that the FA Cup has lost/regained its magic is up there with Golden Generation and Special Relationship as one of the most frustrating catchphrases.

The cup never lost its magic in the first place. Sure, it is not the grand event it used to be when cup final day was a huge event with the build-up beginning in the morning. It's lost some lustre due to managers prioritising Premier League riches and the Champions League which is fine, as both provide rich entertainment.

But it still remains massively relevant to the supporters. Whether it's a non-league side taking on a vastly superior team on their boggy pitch with the fans practically on top of the players, third round day where upsets appear to be happening everywhere, or your side charging towards a date with Wembley, there is something special about it.

Some clubs will send out fringe players for the early rounds, and low-key matches will be poorly attended, but these can be ignored.

Every year brings great stories, memorable matches where both teams throw hell to leather, upsets, surprise runs, big clashes, and just occasionally you have a Havant and Waterlooville moment where they twice take the lead at Anfield.

Even stupid decisions like playing the semi-finals at Wembley and moving the kick-off to 5pm can't knock the FA Cup off its pedestal.

Roy's mistake

I know it was a one-off game - albeit a huge one - but Curtis Davies made the decision to take both Phil Jones and Chris Smalling to the World Cup seem a daft one. From what I've seen this season, which will not be as much as many others, both have been terrible. Every time I've seen Jones play, I wonder how this is the same player likened to Franco Baresi and Duncan Edwards, which is disappointing as he and Smalling were excellent in a central defensive partnership at the 2011 European Under-21 Championships.

I'm not saying Davies deserves to go instead, but to take both Jones and Smalling only confirms many people's thoughts that players from big clubs are automatically picked over better rivals. Let's hope if either features in the World Cup, they show their undoubted potential and leave their club form at home.

World Cup woes

The deadline for hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games passed in March this year, and for a long time it appeared that there no city would put itself forward. In the end, Canadian city Edmonton and Durban in South Africa both registered late interest, but the episode proved a point.

With the cost of hosting any big global event now sky-rocketing, it's becoming less enticing for governments to put their countries forward.

They will see that the Sochi Winter Olympics this year cost $51 billion and wonder whether it was worth it.

The World Cup is threatening to go the same way as the Commonwealths, with nobody wanting to touch it. Fifa want to take it around the globe, but the need to spend heavy on new stadiums which will become desolate afterwards is not appealing.

Even a country like Brazil, which takes its football incredibly seriously, is protesting at the cost at a time when corruption and poor living standards are of far bigger concern. Legendary striker Romario, now a politician in his home country, has heavily criticised the cost of hosting the tournament with Brazil struggling to get its infrastructure in place for the opening kick-off.

Meanwhile, the controversy over Qatar hosting the 2022 version continues to rumble. Allegations of corruption have dogged the decision since it was made and there is anger at the late call to switch the World Cup from the summer to the winter.

The government, obviously seeking to boost Qatar's profile, must be dismayed at the negative publicity. The reports of shoddy labour laws in the country by The Guardian have even forced them to make a change, although the final result may not be much of an improvement.

With Fifa showing an aversion to the UK and other well-established sporting nations, they might find at some point that nobody will be willing to host the greatest sporting event on the planet.

Privacy should be respected

Richard Scudamore is under increasing pressure to step down as Premier League chief executive after emails were released which showed a number of derogatory terms used about women.

These emails were crude, but importantly, they were not meant for public consumption. In public, Scudamore has, as far as I'm aware, said nothing derogatory about the women's game. In fact, even in his emails there is no suggestion of female inferiority in football.

This is not to defend what Scudamore said, but I think in the majority of cases it is wrong to take someone's private conversations and use them against that person. Obviously, there are times where it is necessary. The News of the World's Fake Sheikh was the perfect example of investigative journalism, and Vince Cable's assertion that he had 'declared war' on Rupert Murdoch's attempted takeover of BSkyB was highly relevant to report as he was in charge of whether the decision could be approved or not.

This is not the same, though. People are completely different in private to what they show in public. Professionals have to portray a scandal-free image of themselves, which is why anything controversial written on social media gets leaped upon so quickly.

The context is important as well. What you say to your friends you wouldn't say to a stranger. Scudamore is the top man at the Premier League and as such has to be careful with everything he says and does. But that does not mean he cannot speak freely when away from his job, just like everyone else does. Most people's texts and private messages would probably reveal information which, if made public, would cause huge embarrassment. But they say these things anyway because they expect them to remain hidden.

The way things are going, we will soon live in a police state like in North Korea where any dissent from accepted comment makes you an enemy. So, unless Scudamore says something which directly contradicts his role within football, then his private comments should stay where they belong.

Complacent parties caught kipping

It continually feels like British politics is its very own Game of Thrones. Except without soldiers and war, we have pollsters and spin doctors.

Sometimes, though, it’s more like The Hunger Games, where the Westminster elite feast in excess while the rest of us are left to look on and despair.

Ok, that’s enough of my love of fantasy – of the film and TV variety that is, not whips and chains – but there was a point in there.

You only have to look at last week’s episode of Question Time to see the point. On the panel was Conservative party chairman Grant Shapps who I’m sure by accident carries an air of superiority over those around him.

Accompanying him was Labour’s shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna, a man who is baby-bottom smooth but also someone who appears to have no problem with allowing his Wikipedia page to be changed so that it compares him to Barack Obama.

These well-spoken Westminster politicians were fronted by an audience who live in the real world. For years they have been patronised by ministers and MPs who do not believe they can handle strong opinion or honest debate.

The centre ground is the safe ground where David Cameron and Tony Blair hid out. Anyone who dares to act outside this safe ground is deemed dangerous. Cuts, by their very nature, are automatically swingeing. It is often remarked that even Maggie Thatcher had never gone so far as this coalition government.

Commons’ debates descend into pissing contests and a stage to see which leader has the best gag writer. It’s cheap politics, full of gimmicks and petty points-scoring as both sides trade childish insults and triumphantly declare victory over their opposite numbers. In terms of relevance, these trade-offs must rank alongside the Anglo-Italian cup.

These are the same people, remember, who stole from us through expenses. Many of those at the top are the ones who play the Game of Thrones the best, sucking up to the party hierarchy to earn promotion and failing to offer any thought which does not feel like it has been vetted by legal minds in case it might somehow cause an unflattering headline.

You only have to read any political journalist to hear of the squabbling, back-stabbing, power struggles and leaks between rival factions to wonder how any policies ever get put forward.

Meanwhile, the rest of us get on with our lives. The hard-working poor suffer through inadequate wages and live in fear that bad health or legal difficulties could cripple them financially.

They suffer through the very real cost of living difficulties (not that Labour can say much with their record in government) and have to watch the rich and privileged Cameron and George Osborne triumphantly taunt their opposite numbers over the fact the economy isn’t quite as crap as it was a few months earlier.

So it’s no wonder that many turn to Ukip. A country which resisted turning to fascism or communism in the 30s, unlike many in Europe, is looking to stick the knife into the three main parties.

Ukip is a phenomenon, although whether it continues to be relevant will be a tough test of the leadership when it comes to writing its manifesto for next year’s general election.

Ukip is not some right-wing, anti-government party like the Tea Party in America. Defining Ukip is difficult, but one moment offers a clue as to why its popularity continues to grow.

A recent Guardian article was put up documenting 10 reasons not to vote Ukip. It was terrifically researched and I was sure the commenters would be joining the writer in abusing those hapless, out-of-touch racists.

But to my surprise they instead turned their ire on the writer. Back off Ukip was the cry, just as it was on the comments sections on the Mail, Express, Times and Independent websites.

One of its candidates wants Lenny Henry to leave the country. So what? Who cares? I’m voting Ukip anyway.

One of its candidates defends slavery. No matter, I’ll still vote Ukip.

The people are fed up. They are fed up of being treated as kids. They are at their teenage rebellion stage and they are enjoying watching the grown-up parties squirm.

Cameron in particular is feeling the heat. Handicapped by election boundaries and necessary cuts which extend Labour a huge advantage, he has been bullied into negotiating a tougher position on Europe and promising a referendum in 2017. Although since the chances of the Conservatives winning a majority is slim, he will either not be afforded the chance or will do little in terms of renegotiating the UK’s continued membership.

A week ago I put together an article on the EU, using conversations with Jackie Minor – the EU’s representative to the UK – and Gawain Towler, a Ukip MEP candidate and party spokesman.

Both were interesting for different reasons. Minor calmly and assuredly put forward many reasons why the UK benefitted from EU membership, including: increased trade, research funding and reduced roaming charges.

Towler, who had no idea of my name and had no inclination he would be meeting me, gave 30 minutes of impassioned, quote-worthy material before walking off and half-joking that he had probably said something really controversial.

He said he grew up in Germany, his parents lived in France and he liked Europe, but he wanted to be governed at home. He lambasted media coverage on Ukip. He talked enthusiastically of the differences in campaigning now compared to the same election five years ago. 

He laughed at mention of his party’s 2010 manifesto and said it should be kept as an historical monument to be enjoyed in many years’ time. He even candidly stated that now they were much more in the public spotlight, Ukip would engage more thoroughly in the policy-making process in Europe.

Towler was loving life. He was glad to see racists exposed and kicked-out, but he didn’t want his candidates censured. If the public don’t like that person then they won’t vote for him or her was his verdict.

Ukip might have the appearance of a working men’s club, but the unpopularity of the main parties means they have time to reform. Young and minority candidates are being integrated. The next general election manifesto is being taken deadly seriously with auditors brought in to make sure it adds up properly.

In the meantime, their European prospects continue to grow and the anti-establishment crowd loves it. They see broken promises, gimmicks like all-women shortlists or friends of the party leadership pushed into safe seats nowhere near where they live. Then they see Ukip and people who speak the same way as they do and without fear of political correctness.

The fact they seem to have fewer policies than racist members is not an issue. Just as long as they can vote for the party of Nigel Farage and not the one of Cameron or Ed Miliband whose every movements appear stage-managed to garner votes.

Farage is, remember, the man promising a referendum. Ever since I can remember we have been demanding a say on our EU membership, but politicians seem to think they know better. Sovereignty has ebbed away, budgets continually expanded and our borders thrown open, but we are always better in we are told. Westminster knows best after all.

An economic market has evolved into a super state where power lies in the unaccountable and expensive politicians. And it is only thanks to Ukip’s pressure that we are learning more about what EU membership means. It turns out that there are many benefits, but the effect of uncontrolled immigration brings many sets of problems.

Boris Johnson said that more than 42,000 homes need to be built in London every year for the next 20 years. Social housing waiting lists are long and the number of households living in temporary accommodation is rising.

The argument of foreigners coming in and taking our jobs – a line cynically taken by Ukip – is partly true, but most are skilled workers or taking jobs we would not do ourselves. Regardless, the strain on resources is not going to get better any time soon.

Europe is an extremely complex topic to get your head around and the exaggerated claims, overuse of statistics and misleading comments brought out in the debates between Farage and Nick Clegg does not help to clarify how it operates.

We will find out in a few weeks whether the Ukip bubble will burst or not. A win in the European polls, gains in local elections and a sitting MP in Newark are all goals and each would continue the momentum.

Stutter now, though, and the chance of causing Cameron a bloody nose in 12 months’ time looks unrealistic.

Nevertheless, Ukip’s rise has stirred something in the political ocean. It’s asked questions, focussed minds and made some raise their game. Farage may not deserve a full platform in next year’s debates, but he has earned his moment in the sun.

And, you know what, I know Ukip are a populist party with few policies and too many candidates holding questionable and at times awful views. I know they resemble a pub team who have suddenly had to play in the professional ranks and are not ready for their new, elevated level.

Yes, they are the laziest MEPs in the European Parliament.

I’m sure there are hundreds of other reasons people could throw at me for ignoring Ukip and in the time you've read this something else has kicked off. But I don’t care. I have no faith in the main parties and it’s only when facing intense media scrutiny that they tend to act on any wrong-doing.

I am suitably annoyed and fed up in the system we have now, and so unimpressed with what we are being offered, that I have no shame in admitting that I want to see what the alternative has to offer. When it comes to Europe, I will be voting Ukip.

I want a say on our relationship with Europe and if that makes me a fruitcake, loony or racist then so be it.

None of those would be the worst thing I’ve been called…

Greed is not good

If there's one quote from the film Wall Street that we all remember it's from the Gekko himself. "Greed is good." It's the same point made in probably my favourite film of all time, The Other Guys. The difference is, hearing Steve Coogan tell a conference full of wanabee businessmen that he lives for excess doesn't have quite the same impact as Oliver Stone's lead character who is meant to symbolise everything that is wrong with the capitalist system.

Another quote which came to mind recently was: "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." The reason it came to mind was from watching the Euro 2016 qualifying draw last week. In fact, all I saw was 20 seconds and coincidentally that happened to be the part where Uefa's new 'week of football' concept was being spelt out. This takes the sensible solution of playing international matches on a Friday and Tuesday and changing it so that matches now take place every day from Thursday to Tuesday.

So what were the reasons behind this change? The clue was in a comment made by Uefa General Secretary Gianni Infantino. "Supporters will get the chance to attend and watch more national team matches than ever before. Broadcasters will get more games and more appointments to view. National associations will get a consistent schedule and stable revenue."

Realistically, I should have kept in the word 'broadcasters' and removed the rest. This moves does nothing for supporters or national associations. Roy Hodgson has already made the point that playing on a Thursday will hamper his preparations with his best players likely to be in action on the Sunday before and possibly even the Sunday after.

This suggestion, remember, comes from a body who decided the Europa League should start in June and matches played on Thursdays. It's so bad that teams actively try and avoid it. It's like Uefa have been watching The Producers and are actually trying to make their competition a flop.

Of course, Uefa insist that they are changing the schedule to make international football more appealing, but if we are to take that suggestion seriously then why have they done their best to ruin the Euros, a competition which has worked so well in the past. By increasing the number of teams who qualify from 16 to 24 they have immediately saturated the quality and made the qualifying process something of a farce. It couldn't be because Michel Platini wants to sure up the European votes for a potential run as Fifa President could it?

He'd fit in there brilliantly. This is an organisation that handed out the World Cup to Russia - where clubs think nothing of racially abusing their own players - and Qatar, which has no footballing pedigree whatsoever. And both countries' stance on homosexuality looks as credible as the Royal and Ancient's policy to hand the Open to men only clubs.

Platini - who has admitted to voting for Qatar - had to deny anything sinister in a meeting with then French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the crown prince of Qatar and a representative of the investment fund which owned Paris Saint-Germain. This meeting at the Elysée Palace took place 10 days before the World Cup.

There is no evidence that Platini did anything wrong, but he admits that pressure was put on him by Sarkozy to vote for Qatar and it was only the following year that an investment arm of the Qatar government bought PSG, the club who Sarkozy supports. Either way, holding such a meeting so close to the vote was a poor show of judgement.

The promises of air-conditioned stadiums never materialised and now the World Cup will be held in the winter. The people who make these decisions, remember, are meant to be the best in their field.

Qatar hit the news for the treatment of their workers, but still Fifa don't care. 185 Nepalese workers died in 2013, making the total 382 over two years. These labourers are forced to work for 12 hours a day to fulfil the wishes of filthy rich men and money-hungry executives. And it's not like you work up much of a sweat in Qatar...

So what about Russia, hosts of the 2018 World Cup? In the 2013 edition of the democracy ranking by the website of the same name, Russia came 95 out of 115 countries. This put them one place below Uganda who have since banned homosexuality.

True, democracy and intolerance are not the same, but it doesn't say much for Russia who are following Uganda's lead with their own - slightly watered-down - bill which caused huge headlines in the build-up to the Winter Olympics and led to suggestions of a boycott.

According to Freedom House, on a scale of 1-7 for freedom (with 7 being the worst), Russia's score is 5.5. Ever the diplomat, President Vladimir Putin has tried to defuse criticism of his country by releasing and pardoning businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky and two Pussy Riot performers, but his recent belligerence surrounding Crimea has revealed his true colours.

Despite impersonating a corrupt third-world country, Russia have been awarded a World Cup, an Olympics and a grand-prix. The Sochi Games cost $50billion, compared to the $7billion spent in Vancouver four years earlier. To put that into context, London 2012 cost £9billion (note the change in currency).

Unsurprisingly, Putin's cronies did well from the contracts handed out for the games.

Russia, remember, support those bastions of liberality Iran and Syria. It's no surprise that an organisation like Fifa - which has seen most of its main executives quit over corruption scandals - saw it is an ideal host for a World Cup. It is even less surprising that its president was pictured warmly greeting Robert Mugabe. It's just hard not to feel sick when you consider this disgusting cycle. And good luck breaking it, because the levels of corruption and power-wielding are so  ingrained and so many countries are not willing to risk be ostracised, that nothing will ever change.

Continuing with the Olympics, it's easy to see how money is corrupting this supposedly Corinthian event. Sponsorship now dictates everything and even the world's most prominent athletic event can shamelessly brand Coca-Cola and McDonalds, with the latter even getting a store inside London's Olympic stadium.

Of course, consumers have a free choice. But just as sport teams have no shame in promoting highly criticised pay day loan companies or smoking and drinking brands, would it not be worth the Olympics to shun unhealthy products even if it would hit their pockets?

No tournament highlights the selling of the soul more than cricket's Indian Premier League where fielders take a Karbonn Kamal catch and batsmen hit a DLF maximum. It is no surprise that the IPL and it's equivalent tournament in Bangladesh have been riddled with corruption. In the case of the IPL, the spectre of back-handed player payments could end a number of careers both in the Indian team and cricket board should the truth not be smothered as it is threatened to be at the moment.

Cricket, lest we not forget, has undergone momentous changes with the the Indian, Australian and English boards trying to bully the other nations into ceding complete power into their hands. India, who almost single-handedly bankroll the sport, have no shame in manipulating some of the poorer Test-playing countries and have been allowed to act in brazen fashion by its Ashes allies.

The power of money is not just an international matter but one which can be felt closer to home. Whether it be Arsenal charging obscene amounts for a match, a chicken-owning company trashing the name of an established Premier League outfit, or a series of showmen running their club into the ground, it appears that money does talk.

Sport has undoubtedly seen many improvements from the influx of big money, but it has sold its soul. We watch sport for the event itself, but the surrounding circus is now so inseparable from the main act that its rare we can enjoy the spectacle on its own.

The answer, in my eyes, is to vote for our leaders. Let's mirror the Electoral College system in America where each state allocates the share of their votes with the final totals added up to select a winner. That way, representatives of official supporters' clubs around the world could decide who their country vote for rather than a faceless suit.

Perhaps those brown envelopes which turn up at election time would be much harder to distribute to millions of people rather than those unaccountable executives.

And maybe the next World Cups will go to countries who have more than just a limitless cheque book.

Fab Feb

Being single on Valentine's Day is like being a Jew on Christmas day. Fortunately, both of those are out the way for another 10 months and attention can now be put on important matters like non-stop sport.

"Football. FOOTBALL!" I hear you cry like the mad Italian from that advert, although I can't think of any big club competition which restarts this week. Ah wait, the Europa League that's it, the pinnacle of European football where teams actively try and avoid being forced to enter.

Although cup football has betrayed me today (kimmed by the referee) there is always the excitement of the Shampions League as Schteve McClaren christened it, before he messed up Forest and turned Derby into contenders for automatic promotion to the Premier League. I'm not sure what's worse: the prospect of Leicester and Derby getting promotion ahead of Forest or Derby knocking us out of the play-offs with McClaren (brolly in hand) doing a Mourinho-esque touchline slide and unveiling a t-shirt with the names of all the players he bought in his time at the City Ground who were given enormous wages and couldn't be forced out once he buggered off.

Still, at least we have recollections of Derby's last stint in the Premier League to cheer us up when things go tits up in the near future. I'm desperately hoping Taylor Swift has a new album out in the next couple of months for when the inevitable season-ending failure comes about.

Anyway, enough of that, let's take a look at the events coming in the next few weeks which will keep us salivating well into the night:

Shampions League

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so after a three-month hiatus football fans will be pining for the return of the Champions League like a celibate Charlie Sheen walking into the playboy mansion. Although it should be pointed out Sheen recently became engaged to a pornstar so that scenario is unlikely to happen.

The fixtures do not disappoint, with Manchester City-Barcelona a welcome start. With Sergio Aguero fit I would have heavily tipped City, but even without him I would just lean towards them to progress. Barcelona look defensively vulnerable like they did last season and a powerful team like City can bully them like Bayern did so brutally last season.

Jack Rodwell has clearly been rested all season to save him for these games so he will be primed, and James Milner will take time out from his exhilarating Twitter account to put in a big shift as Mick McCarthy would say.

Rumours are abounding that City have asked Manchester United to send Ashley Young over for training in preparation for facing Pedro, Neymar, Busquets and Dani Alves.

Overall, the eight ties are like a box of Celebrations. Without wishing to go all Forrest Gump, you have the Galaxy of the tie at the Etihad and, say, the Galaxy Caramel at the Emirates (sorry but I love Galaxy).

The Leverkusen-PSG match-up is perhaps the Bounty of the line-up - nothing wrong with it, but pales into comparison with the alternatives out there.

Speaking of the Emirates, having put on hold their seemingly inevitable collapse, Arsenal will welcome back Olivier Giroud who ITV helpfully pointed out on Twitter enjoys playing away from home. They come up against Thiago who recently had the most touches in a Bundesliga match since records began. Not to mention the terrifically named Lahm and a few other average players who would crap their pants on a Tuesday night in Stoke. Nevermind their record of played 21, won 19, drawn 2 this season.

As someone who has always liked Arsenal there are conflicting emotions. There is the hope that they can win something, but at the same there is great joy in watching another collapse after Wenger refused to spend in January.

On a similar theme, watching United fans who have had 20+ years of continued success moan after one bad season is even more enjoyable. As someone who respects David Moyes, I'm hoping they knock out Olympiakos so they have some credibility in this year's competition, but nothing moe.

Perversely, a Didier Drogba winner for Galatasaray against Chelsea would be greatly appreciated. Just to get Jose off his high horse (sorry).

A potential quarter-final line-up of: Madrid, Bayern, PSG, Dortmund, United, Chelsea, City/Barca, Atletico would have me moister than Mitchell Johnson at the sight of a tail-ender walking out to bat.

Cricket

Speaking of Mitch, even though I want to see Australia struggle it's hard to begrudge him his success after all the abuse and toil he suffered. Sporting redemption is a powerful draw and what Mitch is doing is bordering on the ridiculous.

As for South Africa, their team selection was all wrong in the first Test. Robin Peterson and Ryan McClaren were never going to do much against a team as buoyant as the Aussies. Dean Elgar and Kyle Abbott have to come in. The same Abbott who had match figures of 9/68 on his only Test and averages 22 in first-class cricket.

In New Zealand, a cracking series is going on between the hosts and India. The ebb and flow has been ridiculous, with huge momentum switches taking place. New Zealand have the better bowlers and India the better batsmen, so a good battle is guaranteed each innings.

New Zealand have so far hit scores of 503, 105, 192 and are currently 252/5 having been 94/5. India nearly overcame a 300-run deficit to win the first Test and with a lead of over 240 this time around there is a chance they can lose. Good pitches, good weather, two evenly-matches teams. What a contest.

6 Nations

The only sport which seems harder to win away from home than cricket is rugby union. Teams reach new levels at their own grounds and can smash the opposition to pieces. England against New Zealand and Wales against England come to mind, but Ireland can race through the gears when they want to.

The next month should offer some close-fought contests and hopefully more Paul Hayward-inspired articles that they should consider throwing Scotland out of the competition.

Elsewhere

Matchplay golf in America, Premier League darts and Forest getting nobbed by the Championship's top-two. I hope to be proved very wrong.

And it's not like Leeds are on TV next two weekends, making the season's tally about 20. You'd think they were a top-two side...

Ditching KP the way to go

Cricket is a funny sport. It's a team game but played by individuals. An individual might be dropped for a lesser player for the sake of the team balance. Graham Onions was the top wicket taker in the County Championship but instead the ECB decided to send players on tour with worse records.

It's hard to see how one person's behaviour could affect the batting performance of all others. Unless Kevin Pietersen was spiking Alastair Cook's drink or threatening Ian Bell if he did not hit Steve Smith to mid-on, then it's unlikely he is to blame for England's Ashes drubbing.

But it can't be coincidence that after every major English defeat there is talk about Pietersen being a disruptive influence. The information coming through the media might be wrong, but if there was nothing going on then there would be no story. Clearly, the England management are fed up with Pietersen and have decided that now is the time to make a clean break.

That's fair enough. As Ed Smith pointed out, captain Alastair Cook, limited overs coach Ashley Giles (who needs good results) and the new managing director Paul Downton have decided they don't want Pietersen in the set-up. These are people who will be out of a job if England keep losing, so to discard arguably their best batsman can only have come about if there was a strong case for his removal.

Their mistake is allowing legal issues to prevent them from stating what these reasons are. It seems incredibly bizarre that a player can be dropped but no-one knows why. It wouldn't happen in any other sport.

Some will say that Pietersen has been made a scapegoat, but when you have a history as a disruptive figure then you need to keep justifying your place with runs. The reason Cook can keep his place after two bad series is because he doesn't seem to cause problems. When you're a player who has seen a coach let-go because of you and who was dropped for sending provocative texts, then you have to prove you are worth the hassle. Taking into account recent injury problems, a desire to cash in on Twenty20 cricket and few runs in home and away Ashes, then suddenly you are vulnerable.

Whatever the reason for his removal, it's only fair to thank Pietersen for his international career. The stats say it was very good, but they don't tell the whole story - one of outlandish innings and a talent which was never completely fulfilled. A player who can whack Shane Warne and Dale Steyn (this stats article is excellent in its detail http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/716969.html) should have scored more runs and averaged comfortably over 50. Pietersen may have a top-10 of centuries to rival any other batsman in history, but for each 186 in the dustbowl of Mumbai, there were five horrible dismissals. As Geoffrey Boycott said, how can you teach the young players how to play when they see their senior batsman play a daft shot then shrug it off?

Flower nipped in the bud

On reflection, it's right that Andy Flower is no longer England's head coach. If politics has taught us anything it's that there is a shelf-life for each method. It's for that reason I was so confident that the left-wing Ed Miliband would become Labour leader, coming on the back of New Labour (which admittedly he was part of). The Conservatives saw failure in their right-wing leaders and opted for the moderniser David Cameron. The country gets fed up of one-set of policies than craves a completely different approach.

In football, England realised Steve McClaren was too pally, so they went for the disciplinarian Fabio Capello who turned out to be too hard-line.

The same thing happened to Australia: Micky Arthur was strangling the life out of the team, but the fun Darren Lehmann has allowed for greater enjoyment and better results. Clearly, Flower's methods had gone on for too long. England's batsmen struggled against New Zealand and Australia, often crawling along at two runs an over. For whatever reason, the life had been strangled from them apart from them for the most part and they were sitting targets for a hungry Australian attack. Proof came with the emergence of Ben Stokes who was new to the set-up and batted with a freedom which none of his team-mates could muster.

Now, it's time for England to usher in a more relaxed approach and allow a new team to emerge from the wreckage without fear of failure.

My team for the summer

With two limited overs World Cups in the space of 12 months, the Test side can use this chance to re-build for the future. This is the squad of players who should be featuring regularly this summer:

Openers - Alastair Cook, Michael Carberry

Middle order - Ian Bell, Sam Robson, Gary Ballance, Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes

Wicket-keeper - Matt Prior, Jos Buttler

Seam bowlers - James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan, Graham Onions and hopefully Steven Finn

Spinner - Simon Kerrigan

Young players like Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Scott Borthwick should get themselves ready in county cricket. Fast-tracking players in very rarely works.

ODI team

1. Cook
2. Bell
3. Stokes
4. Morgan
5. Ballance
6. Buttler
7. Bopara
8. Borthwick
9. Woakes/Bresnan
10. Jordan
11. Broad
12. Hales

Twenty20 team

1. Hales
2. Lumb
3. Wright
4. Morgan
5. Buttler
6. Bopara
7. Patel (should have been picked. Maybe Moeen now)
8. Woakes
9. Borthwick
10. Jordan
11. Broad