Stick or Twist?

Following a stunning win at Stamford Bridge eight days ago Sunderland boss Steve Bruce faces arguably his biggest selection dilema in the year and a half he's been managing the club.

In top scorer and Wearside talisman, Darren Bent's abscence Sunderland ran out 3-0 winners against Chelsea handing the Premier League leaders there biggest home defeat since Russian owner Roman Abramovic has been at the club.

The strikers selected by Bruce for the game: Asamoah Gyan and Danny Welbeck were integeral in this victory; harrassing Chelsea's makeshift back four and scoring Sunderland's second and third goal respectively.

After working effectively as a partnership Bruce must decide whether to keep faith this pair or bring back Bent.

I feel Bruce should show faith in the pair; while Bent has been side-lined Sunderland's record signing, Gyan has scored four goals for the club and looked like money well spent.

While Danny Welbeck was arguably the stand-out player in a magnificent Sunderland performance at the Bridge and probably ought to be rewarded with a chance to prove he can perform like that on a regular basis.

Welbeck's form has been erratic at the club but much of that might have to do with Bruce using the striker as a left-winger which his not best role, given a run in the side up front Bruce may get the best out of the young talented Englishman.

While it is hard on Sunderland's best player over the past 15 months to have to sit on the bench it would be even more unfair in my opinion for him to walk back into the team ahead of players who haven't put a foot wrong whilst the England International has been missing.

Picking the right team for tonight's game is especially important as Everton are possibly one of the team's best placed to derail Sunderland's momentum.

The Merseyside club contain some of the best midfielder's in the Premier League outside of the supposed 'top four' and will come to Sunderland looking to take 3 points from the Stadium of Light.

With both teams looking to win the game tonight's contest could be something to savour.

Data Skills Test

For a assignment I was required to pick a piece of data from the Guardian Data Store, at http://www.guardian.co.uk/data-store and put it into a spreadsheet on google docs.
Following this I placed the information into a chart.
I looked at the information regarding British casualties in Afghanistan between 2003 and 2010. My data covers the total number of combat field hopspital admissions between 2003-2010.
I chose this information as the Uk's involvement in Afghanistan is something which most people have an opinion on and therefore these statistics are likely to provoke a emotional reaction from some people as well as a variety of opinions.
Here is my chart bellow:

Video skills test

For an assignement I was required to submit a interview of roughly 30 seconds to a video sharing site.
Here I have interviewed Manchester United fan Mike Boon discussing Manchester United's chances of winning this season's Premier League.
Here is the video I posted on Youtube:

Map Skills Test

A task for an assignment required me to upload a map showing areas which four stories from an edition of the Lancashire Evening Post covered.
The locations for the four stories are all from the Preston area and are shown in the map bellow.
The map also contains links to the LEP website showing the online article on each story. 



View maps skills test in a larger map

Image skills test

The picture above is the original photograph.

The task was to take a picture of the university campus and then crop it into three different sizes this blog will show the original picture and it cropped at three different sizes.
I chose this picture because I liked the symbol and UCLan icon which you can see clearly in the picture.

Here is my picture cropped to 100 by 100px.

Here is the same picture cropped by 200px by 500px

Finally here is the image cropped at 400px by 300px

Cherries back in League 1!

One of the great success story's in English football this year has been AFC Bournemouth who earned promotion back to league one yesterday with a 2-0 win away at Burton Albion.

The South West club secured the third and final automatic promotion place in the division, and are set to join already promoted Notts County and Rochdale in English football's third tier next year.

Bournemouth's promotion has come despite a crippling financial situation. The club have faced a fourteen month transfer embargo leaving the club unable to sign new players.

The Cherries were also given a colossal 17-point deduction the previous year leaving the club stuck in a year long fight to retain their football league status something the club has had for 86 years. Bournemouth managed to survive this relegation scrap, eventually finishing nine points clear of Luton Town and Chester City.

Most of the credit for Bournemouth's resilient turn around has rightfully gone to their 32 year old manager Eddie Howe.

The fresh faced ex Bournemouth centre half became full-time manager of the club on January 20th 2009 with the club ten points from safety in league two. And since steering them to safety that season has helped inspire the club to promotion, in spite of the burden of being unable to sign players.

One of Howe's most crucial decisions was to bring Bournemouth legend Steve Fletcher back to the club. The forward who is five years older than his gaffer goal's last season and this year have proved vital to the club.

The 37 year old managed just under 500 appearances at the club during his first spell and after returning and helping the club avoid relegation now has the North Stand at Bournemouth's home ground, Dean Court named after him.

Fletcher a big physical forward has often been used as a foil for more prolific forwards. In his first spell at the club he formed successful partnerships with the likes of James Hayter, Jermain Defoe and Jack Lester. This year the big man has often been partnered with the in form Brett Pitman.

Pitman, has managed 27 goals this season with the latest coming yesterday in the promotion sealing win against Burton Albion. The striker lies in third place in the list of top goalscorers in league two this year with Notts County's Lee Hughes leading the way on 28 goals 3 more than Pitman has managed. Cherries fans will be hopeful the 22 year old can carry his goal scoring form into League 1 next year to give Bournemouth a fighting chance of surviving in the division.

Bournemouth's success story is a remarkable one which in my opinion deserves as much coverage as the soap opera that has been Notts County football club this year and Rochdale's 41 first promotion in 41 years.

From a personal point of view the success of Bournemouth has pleased me as my friend Jonny McIver has followed the club through this tumultuous five year period for the club and now can look forward to seeing his club back in League two and potentially facing fallen giants Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United.

Crucial Game in the North East

Following two thrilling UEFA Champions League ties involving English sides this weekend we could see an equally exciting weekend in England's top domestic league with the sides occupying first and second in the league facing each other.

Chelsea currently sitting second in the Premier League travel to Old Trafford to take on league leaders and reigning Champions Manchester United. With one point currently separating the two clubs the weekends result is likely to have a massive bearing on who wins the title.

However in spite of the significance of this monumental fixture I have chosen to concentrate on arguably an equally significant game: Sunderland v Tottenham.

Tottenham Hotspur's visit to the Stadium of Light on Saturday could define their season.

The North London club currently sit fourth in the Premier League which crucially gives them the last position that offers a English club an opportunity to qualify for the champions league.

Spurs are two points clear of nearest rivals Manchester City with Liverpool a further two points off Tottenham having played an extra game; Aston Villa also have an outside chance of finishing forth with their current total of 51 points being seven points of the pace.

Whilst to those who do not follow English football forth may seem a weird milestone it is of great importance to the club's chasing it.

For the past four seasons the same teams have occupied the Champions League qualifying positions: Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool. This domination at the top of the league has proved frustrating for the division's other sixteen competitors.

Television and competition bonuses offered to Champions league competitors gives these clubs often referred to as the 'big four' a financial advantage over their domestic rivals and the lure of playing in the top competition in Europe often attracts players to the 'big four' and away from the other teams in the Premier League.

This years competition could signal the end of this hierarchy; Liverpool have struggled to look like one of the four best clubs in the league all season and Tottenham's squad now looks like a match for the Merseyside club following manager Harry Redknapp's extensive spending. The big four's financial advantage has also been shattered due to the riches of Manchester City's new owners. In September 2008 City were taken over by an Abu Dhabi based investment group who brought unrivalled spending power to the club. The club spent £118million this summer almost £75million more than the next biggest spenders Manchester City. The club have also offered huge contracts in attempts to tempt World-class stars Kaka and John Terry to the club whilst both attempts were unsuccessful it highlighted the intent of the club.

With Tottenham only having seven league games remaining every Premier League game bears huge importance but considering the quality of the teams that Tottenham face following the game against Sunderland winning this weekend may be considered a must. Harry Redknapp's side play Arsenal after Sunderland in the league on Wednesday April 14th; they then most host Chelsea that weekend followed by a daunting trip old Trafford to take on Manchester United.

While Tottenham need to take some points from the Stadium of Light they cannot take Sunderland lightly. Spurs have not won at the Stadium of Light since Sunerland's return to the Premier League in 2007. And in Darren Bent Sunderland posses one of the most potent forwards in the division and he will have a point to prove going up against his former club where he was often over-looked.

Sunderland have also proved formidable at times at home this season the only teams to have beaten Sunderland on home soil are Chelsea and Aston Villa with both Liverpool and Arsenal losing to the North East club. One issue for Sunderland has been drawing too many games at home.

While Sunderland have proved hard to beat they have also struggled to win games at points this season they have drawn to Wigan, Portsmouth and Stoke at home all games the Wearsiders would have expected to win. Dropping points late in games is also an issue for the side they have dropped ten points in the last ten minutes of games this season something which has left the club still needing one win in before the end of the season before the club can be confident of holding onto their Premier League status.

Sunderland are possibly the best club to judge club's top four calibre against today's game will mean Sunderland have faced the four clubs challenging each other to finish fourth in recent weeks.

A draw at home against Manchester City following City's win at Stamford Bridge highlighted how erratic the Manchester club have been. A draw at Villa Park typified a frustrating March for the Birmingham club. Whilst last weekend a demolition of Sunderland at the hands of Liverpool suggested the Merseyside club may be about to hit form at the end of the season like they did in the previous season.

Who will take Beckham's place at the World Cup?

Before last weekend David Beckham looked a certainty to go to the World Cup in South Africa.

The 34 year old's dream of becoming the first England player to play at four World Cups is no longer possible as a ruptured achiles tendon means the England legend faces 6 months on the sideline and will not be fit for the world Cup which commences in June.

Whilst Beckham's age dictated he was likely to be used as a substitute in South Africa his ability to pick a pass, his first rate crossing and masterly at set pieces meant he could be a vital addition to the squad.

Beckham would also have brought experience and leadership; Beckham captained England in their two previous World Cup campaigns and passion for England is respected throughout the game.

His absence offers someone a great opportunity to play in the greatest tournament in sport yet as with England's problems at right back none of the contenders seem worthy.

Aaron Lennon in my opinion is the stand out candidate. His early form for Tottenham this season was outstanding, he was going past players with ease and creating many chances for his teammates. Lennon also seems to have improved his weaknesses previously the 22 year old had been condemned by pundits for his poor quality of final ball but this season he has delivered the end product on a much more regular basis.

Another thing which has impressed me about Lennon is how crucial he has become for his club. Until recently Spurs have looked a less threatening team without him. I remember watching Liverpool play Tottenham at Anfield in January and Tottenham had large spells of possession yet rarely looked threatening this game came at a time when Lennon was injured.Tottenham manager Redknapp deployed Niko Kranjcar and Luca Modoric as his wingers for this game whilst both of them are very talented players who have both put in a handful of great performances this season for Tottenham on this day neither of them were at their best. Modoric and Kranjcar are both very similar players in many ways. Both are Croatian can be deployed in the centre of midfield as well as out wide and both differ from Lennon in the way they're more likely to use skill rather than blistering pace to get past a player. Lennon could have offered his side something different in this game as both Croats were well marshaled in the game and Lennon's pace would have given Liverpool a different problem.

Lennon faces a problem which is becoming a worry now for many of England's players, fitness. Lennon has been out of action for two months with tears in his groin muscles and does not expect to return to from injury til April 17th, giving him at most five competitive league games to prove his fitness.

Theo Walcott occupied the right midfield position for England's last fixture a friendly against Egypt. The Arsenal player has been in and around the England set up ever since his stunning hatrick against Croatia in Zagreb. Yet following appearances have been much more mundane as he struggled to produce another memorable performance.

Walcott like a lot of England has also spent time injured this season and even with his impressive recent form for Arsenal he is not guaranteed to start for his club as Arsenal posses a number of talented players who can occupy his role on the right wing.

Shaun Wright Phillips is another player in with a shout of going to World Cup as a replacement for Beckham. Wright Phillip's form has been allover the place this season with occasional excellence being followed up with poor performances where he fails to impose himself on the game his last appearance for City against Sunderland fell into the second category with Adam Johnson doing more in 18 minutes than Wright Phillips did in 72. This was particularly disappointing considering he was up against Anton Ferdinand a talented yet error prone defender playing out of position at left back.

What counts in Wright Phillip's favour is international experience the 28 year old has played 30 times for his country manging six goals. Being used to representing his country and having the ability to score at international level could make Wright Phillips a valuable impact substitute like Walcott and Lennon Wright Phillips also has explosive pace which could be used effectively to terrorise tired defenders. My main issue with Wright Phillips is that I just don't rate him that highly, this season he has rarely played well for his club and Bellamy and Petrov have both been more effective on the flanks for City I think Wright Phillips is a good Premier League player but I do not think he is good enough for international football.

One issue with potentially taking the three candidates I've mentioned they are all very similar, all three possess an outstanding amount of pace and are quality when running and dribbling with the ball but none of them can cross a ball be counted on to keep the ball in the way Beckham does.

One player who is more similar in style to David Beckham is man who shares his initials, David Bentley the Tottenham winger. Bentley is another flawed choice as he has spent long periods this season on the bench for Tottenham and Han struggled to replicate the form he showed at Blackburn since moving to Tottenham at the start of the 2008 season.

He is however a genuine talent and prior to his move to Tottenham he was a player capable of scoring excellent goals taking a decent freekick and delivering a first class cross. The fact he is a different type of winger to Wright Phillips, Walcott and Lennon could see him gain a surprise call up.

Stuart Downing and Adam Johnson to left footed wingers I would not have initially considered for the World Cup squad may also benefit from Beckham's injury. Johnson caused Anton Ferdinand all sorts of problems when introduced by Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini at the weekend and Downing has been in great form since his return from injury playing for Aston Villa.

I would take (if fit) Aaron Lennon because of the quality of his early season form and Theo Walcott as back up as he produced 1 phenomenal performance for England I don't think any of the other candidates are capable of.

Brittish tennis is on its knees Draper must go!

British tennis continues its slip into obscurity after last weekend's events.

Britain suffered embarrassing 3-2 defeat at the hands of a Lithuania; who had only one player with a top 500 ATP ranking.

Britain now face a relegation match against Turkey in June a loss would see them fall into Europe/Africa group 4 the bottom tier of the Davis Cup competition.
Nations competing in this bottom tier of International competition include: Armenia and San Marino.

The important questions are why has Britain's standing in men's tennis been allowed to reach this low? And who is responsible?

Former Davis cup captain, David Lloyd has placed the blame at the doorstep of the head of the Lawn Tennis Association, Roger Draper.

Draper has been in charge of Lawn Tennis Association who have the responsibility to ensure Britain produce top-class tennis players.

Lloyd argues under Draper this has not happened: 'Where are the male players the LTA has actually produced? Zero'.

Whilst Britain possess a world-class tennis player and likely future Grand Slam champion in Andy Murray Lloyd believes the LTA are not responsible for his development. 'Murray didn't come through the system his Mum was brave enough to take him out of it'. Murray left Britain as a teenager to further develop as a player and therefore was not trained under the LTA.

Lloyd was also critical of Draper for defending Murray's decision to not play in Britain's Davis Cup tie against Lithuania.

The Scot decided to rule himself out of selection last weekend's Davis Cup fixture suggesting the tie would be a good opportunity for young players to gain Davis Cup experience; the decision back-fired as Britain lost the tie. Lloyd said: 'Roger is wrong endorsing the fact Andy shouldn't have played. That was a bad call'.

Whilst Lloyd's attack on Draper may be biased as his brother John is Britain's current Davis Cup captain and is also under-fire as under his stewardship Britain have gone five ties without a win which is the worst they have performed for 110 years. He certainly brings up some interesting points. Men's tennis is going through a vintage patch Federer and Nadal's Wimbledon final in 2008 may well be the greatest game of tennis the world has ever seen. Federer is also one of the greatest players ever to play the game and an opportunity to watch a sporting legend before he is past his prime has kept. British interest in tennis is also at a high some of Andy Murray's recent Wimbledon matches have pulled in over ten million viewers.

With the current popularity of tennis the LTA should be doing more to ensure people are playing what I consider to be a brilliant game.

With the LTA's budget being so high (it was reported that last year that they had a budget of £59.7 million). I don't see why the LTA cannot do more to try and offer tennis for free to the British public; the government is offered a huge budget to try and improve the standard of tennis surely if less courts were privatised more people would play the sport.

Whilst I don't ever see tennis becoming Britain's main sport or replacing the passion people have for football and both types of rugby in some areas of the UK; I believe tennis should be more accessible to everyone and not a sport you often need membership to play on a proper court. Football will often be the sport young people look to play when they have free time as you can have a kick about anywhere whilst when people may fancy a game of tennis the costs to become a member of a tennis club will often put people off. The failure of the LTA to increase participation at grass roots level is my main issue with Draper's leadership.

Draper has also failed to embrace campaigns suggesting and promoting the idea of 'tennis for free; Tony Hawk (a comedian and author and not the famous skateboarder) has a campaign called 'tennis for free' and has felt Draper has not been cooperative with him. Hawks claimed that in a 2008 meeting with Draper the LTA boss ended the meeting abruptly telling Hawks 'get out of my office now'.

Whilst Draper's failures at grassroots level infuriate me; I feel he has been no more successful in dealing with current British professionals. Draper appointed the well-respected American coach Brad Gilbert in 2006 in attempt to offer Andy Murray the World-class coach he needed to pursue Grand Slams, this deal proved unsuccessful as Murray did not enjoy working with Gilbert and the two split after 16 months. Whilst Gilbert helped Murray secure a top ten ATP World ranking for the first time it is under current coach, Miles Maclagan that the British number 1 has looked most happy reaching a career high ranking of World number 2 and reaching two Grand Slam finals.

Gilbert's other work with the LTA proved unsuccessful he worked with the talented yet mentally frail Alex Bogdanovic but couldn't inspire the Briton to break the top 100 in the ATP rankings or finally win a first round match at Wimbledon.

Sunderland to Solve England's problems!

Following another impressive yet workman like England win, I am still apprehensive about my Country's World Cup chances.

England fell behind to a decent Egypt side, but a brace from super-sub Peter Crouch and a Shawn Wright-Phillips goal kept Fabio Capello's preparations for South Africa on track.

This performance typified England under Capello as England refused to panic after falling a goal behind kept the ball in a way they never looked capable of doing under McClaren and in my opinion Erickson.

Whilst all seems well in the England camp again following the Terry and Bridge scandal which whipped up a media frenzy a win seems to have calmed everyone however I believe England need that little bit extra to beat the top teams... Sunderland players!

Whilst Sunderland's shocking current form which has seen them go fourteen games without victory suggests the Stadium of light is not hiding a great deal of English talent I believe my club has the answer to Fabio's World Cup woes.

Darren Bent has been one of the most prolific forwards in the Premier League this year in spite of this he did not make Capello's most recent squad.

Bent has managed 15 goals in England's top division this year in one of the least creative sides in the Premier League. The only English forwards who have bettered this statistic are the peerless Wayne Rooney and Jermain Defoe who have scored 23 and 16 goals respectively.

Wayne Rooney on current form can be considered comfortably one of the best five players in the world so to consider selecting Bent ahead of him would be ridiculous I think there is an argument to suggest he should be selected ahead of Defoe who performed poorly against Egypt last night. Whilst the Tottenham player has scored one more premier league goal than Bent, Defoe has been playing in a side that create many chances whilst Bent has continued his fine form in a struggling side.

Defoe has also lacked Darren's consistency half his Premier League goals have come in just two games. The 27 year old scored a hatrick early in the season against Hull and also added 5 goals to his season's total in 9-1 thrashing of Hull, suggesting he has been more erratic than the Sunderland marksman.

Lee Cattermole's under-21 experience would hold him in good stead were he to be called up to England's senior squad. The 21 year old originally from Stockton on Tees starred in the under-21 side's run through to the final of the 2009 championships in Sweden.

Cattermole also started the current Premier League season superbly. His partnership in Central midfield with Lorik Cana was cited as a big reason as to why Sunderland started the season so well, his three month lay-off with injury also coincided with Sunderland's loss of from and started the current rot the club are still in.

Whilst the high amount of players in England's top division that play centre midfield means Cattermole remains a long shot to make the World Cup squad England's lack of genuine left wingers could offer Kieran Richardson a fantastic opportunity to go to sport's premier event.

The winger has not had the best of seasons often being used out of position at left back; injuries have also meant he hasn't played much football in 2010. Yet one thing which can't be questioned with Richardson is his ability. The former Manchester united player is in my opinion Sunderland's most talented player. He has everything pace, a great touch, the ability to cross or strike a ball and the ability to pass short or long.

Whilst from a Sunderland supporters point of view his failure to play well consistently has been one of the most frustrating things about following the club since they've returned to England's top flight; the glimpses of the player he could become have been special. His two goals in a 2-0 victory over Portsmouth at the Stadium of Light in the 2007/2008 season screamed quality and his thunderbolt of a free kick which won proved a winner in last season's Tyne-Wear derby is one of the greatest sporting moments I've been privileged to witness live at the venue.

Finally Richardson has made a outstanding impact in his only full-international start. He scored two excellent goals in a victory of USA.