How do you solve a problem like NUFC???

How do you catch a (black) cloud and pin it down? Well, quite!
Don't ask me what is going on at my beloved Newcastle United as I, together with my fellow fans; the players, the media, and indeed the management, have little clue. Personally, in summary, I DON'T think that:
1) Kevin Keegan ever was, or is, the 'Messiah'. He's not a very naughty boy either but he is a good motivator.
2) Dennis Wise is the devil incarnate although the description of him as a poisoned dwarf does appeal. I would love to know though (just love it!) what exactly he does do to warrant a place on our payroll and what exactly his role entails.
3) Mike Ashley is an evil 'cockney'. I think he's a football fan who has arguably bitten off more than he can chew and who has made some rather glaring mistakes in a) not communicating with the fans or his team fully b) not conducting due diligence c) being rather rash and prone to knee - jerk reactions and short term business solutions.
4) The Toon Army en masse hate Mike Ashley and would inflict harm on him or his kids if we were to see him. Yes a lot of people are understandably very annoyed with him and feel that we were misled about the direction and ambitions of the club. See point above about communication. A lot of people also want to see Mike Ashley sell Newcastle Utd because of those very reasons. We also do not understand the management structure but how can we, when no one within management appears to understand it either?
However, we don't all hate 'cockneys', we don't all scrawl on bedsheets, or go to marches or think that we are the 'The special ones' or that Kevin Keegan is the only manager who can manage Newcastle Utd. We do however passionately love our club as it is a very part of our soul and our identity, especially given that we are a one club city.
5) The vast majority of the Toon Army enjoy any of this media attention or repeated guesses and supposition as to what we will do next. Trust me, we don't want your pie in the sky media theories and we (excepting a few with spare bedsheets and aerosols who love to get on TV) are also rather tired of the whole circus, so please, journalists, give it a rest. We won't miss the coverage, honest!

What I DO think is that:
1) Ashley's 'Arsenal Model' in the face of it, made a lot of sense. Long term planning, going for younger, less well known players with talent. Unfortunately the detail of the Ashley model did not reflect the actual Arsenal Model and hence, the mess we're in now.
2) That if you invest large sums of money in anything you really, really must conduct due diligence!
3) That Newcastle can be a great club and that it does have great support.
4) That we need an organised, experienced owner with a long term vision and the courage and the tenacity to see it through.
5) We need a long term manager, someone who will drive and direct the club. I know we all get sick of hearing it but Wenger and Ferguson are the prime examples of success.
6) That a mega bucks buy-out is not necessarily the way to go. I still want to be able to afford to support my team and I'd like to think that the owner kind of understood the Toon Army. They don;t need to be a Geordie, just to understand our passion.
7) I don't want big name signings at the expense of: a) team stability b) ramped up ticket prices c) a 'my bank account is bigger than your bank account' competition d) the development and maintenance of a youth team and structure.
8) That for once, we get an owner who doesn't treat Newcastle Utd as a personal status symbol, plaything, or means to a supposed quick buck. Someone with a bit of professional kudos please, an understanding of the beautiful game and a skill at effectively running an organisation will suffice!

Is all this too much to ask?

Dissertation all done and handed in

Well that's it, the end of an era! My dissertation has now been completed and I handed it in just over 3 weeks ago.

So, what have I learnt? Well I think my lessons learned are best produced in the form of a few bullet points:

1. Just like the boy scouts 'be prepared' is a great motto to have, especially when dealing with NHS and University ethics procedures
2. Allow yourself as much time as you can, as things will always take a lot longer than you think
3. Have a plan B. Or in the case of Gordon Strachan, Plan Z. This is particularly useful for 'interactive' activities such as interviews or questionnaires. You would be amazed how much time and effort it took me to arrange and attend 8 interviews, simply because people are so busy. Having a Plan B (or Z) will afford you some flexibility in case things don't work as you had planned. Sometimes the best laid plans....
   
4. ALWAYS back-up your data
5. Don't get hung up on getting to grips with fancy qualitative data analysis software. I ended up mainly using Excel in the end.
   
6. COMMUNICATE with your tutor regularly. My tutor was fantastic and we got into a really good regular habit of communicating and reviewing my work as I went along.
   
7. Try to do little and often. This method suits me anyway and it kept me focused too.
   
8. ALLOW PLENTY OF TIME for your write up, presentation of data, and review. You just know that a particular Excel Chart just won't print out as it appears on the screen..... I allowed about 3 weeks and even then I had to take study leave to finish it.
   
9. If you have spare time at the beginning of your dissertation, familiarise yourself with some of the lesser known features of Word and Excel which could help save you time during write up, such as how to add an Excel chart to Word, how to create a TOC etc as it will save you time at the end.
   

Presenting data - incorporating MS Excel charts

Apologies to anyone who may read this blog, I haven't updated it for absolutely ages!

During my hiatus, I have not only been to Glastonbury and had a marvellous time, but I have also been busy writing up my MSc dissertation (honest).

Now as most people probably do, I am using MS Word (for OS X) to write up my findings and a lot of the data that I have collected has been input into MS Excel. From that data I managed to create some very pretty charts, of the bar and pie variety. Whey hey!

I have 2 problems using MS Excel. One is that I find the Help rather unhelpful. The other issue is that I find interaction between 2 Office products to be less than intuitive at times. I spent ages saving my charts and cutting and pasting them into my Word doc but this did not work as the images were all wrong and you couldn't read the data.
I then thought 'ah ha, you have to insert an Object! ' Lo and behold there was indeed an option to insert an Excel Chart. Did this work then? Well no. I concede that I may have done this all wrong but the only thing I managed to do was create an Excel icon that linked to the entire Excel file. It did not insert the individual chart that I needed.

It turns out that what you need to do (having created and saved your chart in Excel) is to Copy it and then use Paste Special in Word. This then gives you a load of useful options such as linking to the originating chart so that when data is updated in Excel, it automatically updates in Word too. The chart will then be pasted where you need it and it renders much more clearly doing it this way.
So please, if you are trying to insert a chart or a table of data into Word from Excel, use Paste Special!
I found this rather marvellous advice by searching on Google and following some search results to a couple of training tips from academic institutions on how to do this.

Benefits of tai chi

I have recently started to go to tai chi classes and I have to say that I really enjoy it and and I feel that it has great benefits.
My class is made up of a small mixed bunch of people of all different ages and backgrounds and it has a very amicable, relaxed atmosphere.
Tai Chi is a very gentle form of exercise which is beneficial even for people suffering from chronic conditions such as heart disease and arthritis, however you do feel after a class that you have strengthened and stretched the old muscles and the breathing technique is great not only for relaxing, but I have found it useful for other sports too such as swimming.
Aside from the physical benefits, I find the Qi Gong very relaxing indeed and I always come out of a class feeling both very relaxed and like I have really toned up!

Eeey Aye, Eey Aye, Eey Aye Oh.....

... up the Premier League we go (and not before time!)
I don't know how or why things have just clicked in place with Newcastle United since my last blog entry about them (despite my friend, a Fulham fan, claiming lucky charm status after seeing Birmingham City v NUFC) , but we are now playing some good, solid, attractive football which has been a pleasure to watch. Obafemi Martins has been so fast, composed, and threatening; Michael Owen has been back to his old form and Viduka has made some great contributions. One of my most impressive players this season though has been Habib Beye, a very solid, pacy defender who can pass a ball very well and isn't scared to have a pop. I never thought I'd say this, but thank you, Sam Allardyce.
Long may our current good form continue, especially against the great Unwashed in Sunday's derby game.
Howay the Lads!

To Glastonbury or not to Glastonbury? That is the question

And the answer from my point of view is 'of course I'm still going!'
Don't get me wrong, I can see people's reason's for not going, such as they can't face that much mud again, the headliners are at best uninspired, the ticket system is a mess and it is expensive, BUT I love Glastonbury for all the other mad smaller stages and the overall creativity of the place.
My 2 favourite gigs last year were Neville Staple in the Dance tent and Dreadzone in the Glade. Oh and Iggy and the Stooges were just brilliant on the Other Stage. Combine this with the Greenfields, a laid back and happy atmosphere, bumping into someone you haven't seen for 15 years in a tea tent, and having a tequila slammer served by a full-on Moulin Rouge tart, and I'll be back again. Well that and the fact that we get to spend a whole 5 days with a large Geordie encampment. We're up to 44 in numbers this year. Yep, 44 AND pear cider!

benefits of seeing your dissertation tutor

As I'm sure I have already mentioned, it can be a rather lonely process doing your Masters degree dissertation by distance learning. It is also hard to keep up momentum sometimes, so I found it really beneficial going to see my tutor last week.
We discussed my dissertation in general and talked through a particular issue that I have at the moment. I came out of our meeting feeling confident and in full control of my dissertation again, with a good plan of action.
Thank you!