Category: Uni Work

Granny boycotts Leicester games after her “Puel Out” sign is taken by steward

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An elderly lady is no longer going to Leicester games after having her homemade “Puel Out” sign taken off her by a Leicester City steward prior to kick off against Southampton.
Edith Weston, 78, of Braunstone, Leicester, said she “felt like a little school girl” when the steward told her off. “He properly scolded me and took my poster away,” she said.
This is the only time she has ever taken a poster to protest and feels that the club aren’t able to take criticism.
“Are Leicester City that sensitive to criticism that they can’t stand a grandma staging a one woman protest? What a sorry state of affairs,” she said.
Cliff Ginetta, chairman of the Leicester City Football Supporters Association, feels sorry for Edith and hopes the club will say sorry.
“It’s a free world. People are allowed to vent their frustrations – even if the club don’t agree with that,” he said.
A spokesman for the club said the incident was “regrettable” but didn’t want to comment on individual cases.
“While the club encourages the supporters to contribute positively to the match day atmosphere, we absolutely respect the right of our fans to reasonably express their views.”
They also said that the member of staff in question has “been spoken to and reminded of our policies.”
Edith has been a Leicester City fan all her life ever since her husband got them season tickets in the 1970s but now believes that the club are as bad as they were during the David Pleat era and that Puel has to go.
“I’ve given my season ticket to my neighbour although, we’re that bad at the minute, I don’t think he’ll want to keep it.”
Claude Puel has been under intense pressure from the fans due to a poor run of games including being knocked out of the FA Cup by Newport County.
Cliff said Puel and the club’s performances have split the fans right down the middle. “If you’d have asked fans before the start of the season if they’d accept eighth, they would have said yes,” he said.

Championship multi-media manager visits BCU

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A multi-media manager of a championship club spoke to journalists from BCU.
Birmingham City’s Dale Moon, 28, spoke about many different aspects of his job ranging from his day to day schedule to briefing players and managers.
Having graduated from Nottingham Trent University, Dale started work at Nottingham PR Firm Macesport. Here, he worked with many different companies including Vauxhall with national teams like Wales and England.
He didn’t think when he was at university he would have done this job but it has helped him learn things along the way.
“The annoying part of this job was having to report back your results to Vauxhall every month but it was the necessary evil to get where I am now,” he said.
He then spoke about the two different types of sports PR which are Corporate/Sponsorship and Club/Team.
“Corporate PR is all about branding for example Vauxhall with the England national team. The club PR however is how they are representing themselves to other people,” he said.
After his time at Macesport, Dale moved into the media department at Walsall FC and formed a great relationship with now Villa boss Dean Smith. He highlighted the importance of getting to know people and having the right attitude around certain people.
“Dean Smith used to make tea for all the press before every press conference. This built a mutual respect between the media and him which was also great for the club,” he said.
He explained how he makes sure managers don’t go straight into press conferences after a game as they need time to digest what has just happened. This way, they are a lot calmer and can answer questions from the press better which would help the club too.
After his spell at Walsall, Dale left for his boyhood club Birmingham City. He spoke about how you can’t just go straight into the job you want and why experience is needed, especially in journalism.
“Experience is key. After you’ve finished university, the first job you get is really important. Get yourself in the door and then go from there,” he said.

Lee Marlow Interview

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Leicester City fan and journalist Lee Marlow said that he was “genuinely moved” by the events of Saturday night.

Lee has been a Leicester fan all his life and was working at the Leicester Mercury when Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha came in and changed the club’s fortune and gave them a season they will never forget.

“The success we had was on his watch, not Milan Mandaric’s. He was not only a brilliant football chairman but was a decent, decent man,” he said.

“We need a statue of Vichai holding the trophy aloft with Caludio Ranieri, that would be fitting to show what he achieved,” he said.

 

Manchester City vs Arsenal Report

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Manchester City eased past Arsenal and moved to within two points of leaders Liverpool who play tomorrow night.
City dominated the game and scored after just 46 seconds. They could and probably should have had more goals but against the run of play Koscielny headed in from a corner to make it 1-1.
This didn’t stop Guardiola’s team though and Aguero popped up again on the stroke of half time. He then completed his hat-trick with a controversial sliding finish after good work from Raheem Sterling.
Another win for City though Guardiola looked less than impressed and knows they must continue to improve defensively and win games if they are to catch Liverpool.

Who Should hapless Villa Turn to Now?

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The search has begun to find a new manager at Aston Villa after Steve Bruce’s sacking.

Villa won just one of their 10 games under Bruce and picked up 15 points from 11 games.

The sacking came after a disappointing 3-3 draw at home to Preston, a game which they were winning 2-0.

However, this game will be remembered for only one thing, a cabbage being thrown at Bruce at the start of the game.

Asking villa fans who they think will be the new manager got mixed responses.

Jibanur Rahman, 21, Morris Road, said that he would like Thierry Henry as he is “experienced in the game and would help the younger players to shine.”

Dennis Burns, 55, IT, Myvod Road, Wednesbury said “Thierry Henry because although he isn’t experienced in the game as a manager, he will have learnt things from his time at Belgium under Martinez which would benefit him at Aston Villa. Brendan Rodgers would be good too but I don’t think he is going to leave Celtic.”

Bernie Roundhill, 60 from Handsworth said “John Terry as he has experience of being at the club and knows what needs to be done to turn things around.”

Richard Daley, 23, a nurse from Rubery said “anyone who can give them a new style of play and has the backing of the board to spend money. Probably Thierry Henry even though he has little experience.”

Samir Singh, 27, a mechanical engineer from Moseley said “I would love someone who can get teams playing at a high tempo, someone like a Jurgen Klopp. Obviously Sir Alex would be the dream but that would never happen so.”

Bernard Showell, 77, a retired pensioner from Smallheath said “John Terry as he already knows the club however it doesn’t make a difference because it was very harsh to sack Bruce. After the family problems he had, its’ disgusting how they treated him.”

What is life really like on the other side of football?

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Mat Kendrick from the Birmingham Mail came in to speak to journalism students about what happens at one of the biggest regional newspapers in the country.

Mat is a Villa fan and has worked in the industry for about 20 years. He graduated with an English degree at Wolverhampton University then went on a trainee apprenticeship at the Express and Star. He also worked for other smaller newspapers including the Shropshire Star and Kidderminster Shuttle.

He originally wanted to play for Villa but soon realised he wasn’t good enough and so decided to go into sports journalism. “I realised I wasn’t good enough when I was younger so by going into sports journalism, I can be closer to the club I love,” he said.

He spoke a lot about how the industry has changed and how he has had to adapt. “I used to death knock before when I was reporting and I have used these skills to build up a thicker skin which has helped me,” he said.

Being a Villa fan, he has had to try and not let his emotions effect the way he writes his stories. He said “There is a balance between being a fanboy and a journalist. You have to try and not be biased”.

There were a few instances where he had ruffled a few feathers amongst some former Villa managers, particularly Paul Lambert who ignored him in one of the press conferences but generally, managers were ok with him.

Mat also spoke quite openly about how his busy work life can get in the way of his family time and when he was younger he had a wake up call. “I was in the park with my son and I took a phone call, turned around and my son had climbed one of the climbing frames and nearly fell off. I realised that family is more important than work,” he said.

He also said he advises people in his office to turn their phones off so that they can separate their work life and family life and have a proper rest.

Finally, he gave the students tips on how to get into the industry. “Get yourself well known and be able to do multiple things,” he said.

 

 

England Should stick to the plan.

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England manager Gareth Southgate said that it is going to take time for England to get used to their new system after they were defeated 2-1 by Spain.

Southgate was talking after the game about how he thought it was a hard game against a really good side who keep possession of the ball extremely well. “They are a top, top side and I think, for long spells, they kept the ball incredibly well, pressed us and we didn’t keep the ball in the early part of the game well enough” he said.

However, he liked the fact that his side were in the game right until the end. He was impressed with the team as a whole.

“As a collective, they gave everything to get back into the game and I have to commend them for that. I’ve got to give the players enormous credit because it was a game where we could’ve folded and disappeared but we didn’t,” he said.

Not only was he impressed with the way his team played, he also touched on individual performances and was particularly impressed by Liverpool’s Joe Gomez. “I thought Gomez’s defending was exceptional,” he said.

The main point to this and what Gareth took away with him was to continue to keep improving and keep adapting to the new system and look forward to taking risks, unlike the old system. “We can either go back to our old style of and we’ll never be a top team, or we can keep trying to do what we do and suffer at times. I think at the moment we have to stick with the plan, stick with what we’re doing and just get better at doing it,” he said.

Fan Favourite to bring good times back to Villa?

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Former Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill was spotted last night having a secret meeting at a service station with Villa chairman Nassef Sawiris.

A spokeswoman for the Republic of Ireland team said that she did not comment on rumours however, she did confirm that O’Neill was in Birmingham last night.

This meeting only increases speculation of Steve Bruce’s sacking despite a club spokesman saying before the game away at Blackburn “He has the chairman’s 100 per cent support”.

The result, a 1-1 draw, hasn’t done Bruce any favours and Villa fans could be heard singing “We want Bruce Out” and “You’re getting sacked in the morning” after the game.

Bruce Bingley, chairman of the Aston Villa Supporters’ Club, would welcome the Irishman back with welcome arms. “Please come back Martin – we never stopped loving you.” He has seemingly ran out of patience with Bruce when he was quoted saying in the mail “He’s had plenty of chances – he’s now outstaying his welcome.”

Former Villa player Peter Withe agrees with Bingley quoted saying “He can bring the good times back to Villa Park.”

Bruce took over the midlands club in 2016. He brought in experienced defender John Terry and led them to the play off Final in 2017 where they narrowly missed out on a return to the top, losing 1-0 to Fulham.

When asked on his way into the training ground about this secret meeting and his future at the club, Bruce said “I know nothing about this. The chairman has backed me and as far as I am concerned, I am the manager of Aston Villa Football Club.”

 

They think it’s all over…

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Two late missed penalties saw Wolves gain an important victory over title rivals Cardiff City meaning they are only a few points away from securing their place back in the Premier League.

After Ruben Neves’ stunning free kick from 25 yards out had sent the Wolves fans crazy, the league leaders looked on course to stay top of the championship and book their place back in the big time after being away for far too long.
The real drama, however, would come late on. Connor Coady would be penalised and Cardiff would have the chance to stop Wolves’ winning momentum.

However, John Ruddy clearly hadn’t read the script and saved down low to deny the Cardiff city striker Gary Madine a stoppage time equaliser. Then the real moment of drama would arrive.

The ball went out for a corner which would be played short with Cardiff’s midfield maestro Aaron Gunnarson picking up the ball on the side of the box. Wolves winger Ivan Cavaleiro would then seemingly slip and wipe Gunnarson completely out. The referee had no choice but to point to the spot.

With Wolves fans hearts in their mouths and a different penalty taker, surely Junior Hoilett would punish Wolves this time?

The stadium went quiet with everyone waiting for the ref to blow his whistle. Agonisingly for the home fans, it would be the same outcome as the ball would be sent crashing onto the top right crossbar and bounce gratefully into the hands of the Wolves keeper.

Different emotions filled the stadium. Moans and groans from the home fans contrasted by the joy and jubilance from the away end would signal a lucky escape for the league leaders.

Along with the Bristol City game, this would be another defining moment in Wolverhampton Wanderers’ season. You need some luck on your way to winning a title, particularly in the championship and boy did Wolves get it in this game.