Why are schools suddenly becoming extremist?

Three years ago now, I left Bideford College with some promising qualifications. I admit many of us had been annoyed at the Governments syllabus for subjects, English and Maths stand out for me with their old fashioned books and trigonometry, part of Maths I don't think I will ever see the point of. I believe some people got more annoyed by the rules the headteacher had power sending out, but really the one that stands out was probably no headphone or earphone policy that was implemented, unsuccessfully at the time* in my GCSE years.

Now however I turn on BBC News to find out Islamic extremists are infiltrating our schools. And I can reveal the reason why, a thing that I have always been against in the "evolution" of schools and that is in fact academies.

Academies are negative for schooling., even if the old state schools needed a kick in the teeth, this was not the right way to do it, allowing investment into schools and a different style of curriculum that is decided by those funding it is wrong. Schools should all have the same rules for what they learn in subjects such as science and religious education to stop this, but the way academies are given a free roam means they can abuse their power. This doesn't just apply for the religion of Islam either, the religion of Christianity can do this just as bad with creationism in both religions beliefs as they share parts of the Old Testament. In fact, the religions are not all that different with their views. Maybe forms of Christianity have moved on, in fact they have, the same can go for Islam, but you can still find people from both religions who follow their religious books word by word and therefore will believe that creationism is how the world started, that men are above women and that not believing in these words will send you straight to hell when you die, regardless of what you do with your life.

It is these people that can come in and challenge the minds of our young people in this country, that can try to make them believe this, whether is be creationism or even more concerning from what I have read, that the man can have sex with his wife whenever she wants, regardless of what she says (something that was wiped out of British law only in 1992, in the case R v R at the House of Lords). Without academies and with 100% properly qualified teachers working inside of schools, sticking on the whole to a syllabus for the subject, this can be combated. The only things that have failed these last few years are the Government and Michael Gove who have failed to see this.

Despite just having finished it, education is one of the points I care most about when it comes to next years General Election, as I believe we are at a huge risk of seeing the standards of our children's education enter a decline, not because of how extremists are coming in, but how general people are able to come in and make the syllabus favour them. We need to see state regulation, even if it did need some evolving back in my day maybe to help people of different talents, but that was one of the reasons for schools specialising in a specific subjecy, something which in a City like Birmingham was brilliant as a child in the catchment area for two schools could have seen his or her choice of school picked by the specialised subject if they were stronger at one. The other reason that concerns me is the funding disparities between academies and schools as I mentioned when discussing the Route 39 Academy in North Devon.

If I am to go to a hustings in the build up for the next election, which I shall make the best efforts to attend (maybe a few in different seats I care about) then education, the NHS and Legal Aid are things I shall be wanting to ask about, with the first two taking the priority.

Modern Day Job Searching, The Multiple Choice Test

When I talk to my parents, they do express that getting a job was not the easiest thing in the world, however they also explain memories of their interviews of sometimes a panel interviewing one person to see if they came across as the right person for the job. To get to this stage they would send a CV and a cover letter that would be read and a shortlist decided. They’d hear back from these people soon afterwards to hear about whether they were accepted or rejected based on the interview.

Nowadays applying for a job has changed. From ASDA to agencies of the British Government we are subjected to tests on our computers, worse than just being a test these are multiple choice examinations asking a person what they would do in a certain situation. From here the most common thing to get back is an automated response, not even telling you where you have gone wrong or any advice to make your search for work any more successful but merely that your attempt for a job has not been successful and often that they will not accept another application for twelve months. This email can be as quick at coming through as a minute and the tests can take as long as an hour.

Obviously my issue with this is clear, I regard myself, as a hardworking, determined individual who can be trained to do a job fairly easily, regardless of what boxes I tick in a job application. I regard my achievements in my education, where I have just completed the final year of my degree in Criminology and the Criminal Justice System with Law and activities I have taken part in like the Ten Tors, various rowing races, the Crimsoc society at university and being a Youth Councillor in Bideford to say more than any multiple choice test can. Maybe I’m not the person for the job, there is a chance of that and I am aware of that chance, but this test doesn’t really prove it either way. In fact as far as I see it this test proves next to nothing.

One group I applied for a job for this summer, was a government agency. I applied for this more as a stab in the dark, not really expecting to hear anything back from it. I was actually  surprised as not once in my application for this job did it ask for my Curriculum Vitae, something I have spent a fair bit of time on improving. I did, I heard they wished me to do these tests, the first of these was a very simple mathematics exam I would say. In fact it was simple enough that I could probably have done that test when I left Primary School (admittedly I was fairly gifted at Maths), the second was a multiple choice test about situations and so on. Together I would say these tests took nearly an hour as the multiple choice test was very long with many similar scenarios and to be honest the answers were all very similar too. Within a minute of finishing this and having my brain fried by the boredom these tests put on you when they’re too easy I got an email. I opened this email to find that I had not got the job and an excuse to why they could not provide reasons to my job application being unsuccessful.

Left feeling insulted by the fact my job application had failed due to a multiple choice quiz being answered in a way their computer did not like and therefore not being asked on the reasoning’s to my answers, I decided I would reply, despite imagining the scenario other companies have done when I have emailed them in this instance, where they have refused my email and bounced it straight back at me telling me the email address is just for automated messages as this has happened with businesses including ASDA and Orange and since then the company they have become, EE.

This time I did get a reply answering telling me it was not in the groups interest to advise me where I went wrong and if I wanted to apply again, not to do so for at least twelve months. They also talked about experience which I could have believed to be a valid reason if it wasn’t for the fact they had talked about experience not being required on the jobs advertisement and not once had they mentioned experience in their process, they had based this on a few answers where the options were not too far apart in a quiz. Answers that could change with only a couple of days of training and with no means to explain an answer with a text box meant they could not see a persons reasoning, which may show them to be the appropriate person for the job with the couple of days training.

I am not saying face to face or over the phone or even a test where you actually write your answers out would change the fact I did not get the job in this case, but I am sure I would have been able to show off why I should have been considered for such a job in a far better way, through presentation, answers, passion and showing the fact that as mentioned before I am a hardworking, determind individual who would not mind being trained to do a particular job. I want to be challenged in the work place and prove myself to be a good employee, not a bad participant in a multiple choice quiz and that at the moment is more what is going on.

I am sure I am not the only person with this at mind when it comes to the process of trying to get employment, I believe myself to be one of thousands who is left frustrated by these tests. I am also sure that many times the best possible employee for a job does a test like this and is refused whilst many employees that won’t reach the same level, that lack the same drive, the same passion, the same dedication to be a success in a job pass these tests.

I am somebody who has just come out of university, I have the ambition of the sky being the limit, I have the determination to be the best I can be, the drive to make sure I can prove myself to be the ideal employee and to make an effort to make any opportunity that is made to improve my status in a job, I have developed a mind that can come to reasonable and sometimes important judgements quickly. I want to be the best person I can be in the working world and I am not the only one but the current way the job system works is negative for many people who are like this as well as myself.

Liverpool Football Club - The End Of Season Review

Before the season I recall a conversation with one of my best friends Ryan about Liverpool's hope of getting into the top four. I admitted in this conversation that Liverpool would probably fight for fourth but finish fifth or sixth and just miss out, most probably to Tottenham in the battle for fourth. So looking back on that this review is much more positive than negative.

In 2003 I remember Chelsea being taken over and spending a tonne of money, I saw this as cheating, buying the title, years later City did the same. Liverpool winning the title in the next decade looked miles off. Following this Liverpool then looked like they were heading out completely as the club were a day away from administration. A man called Roy Hodgson was the manager of Liverpool and the club were 19th in the English Premier League, with a squad including Paul Konchesky, Christian Pouslen and David N'gog. I'd have thought it more likely that in 2014 I was typing about Liverpool coming second in the English SkyBet Championship...not the Barclays Premier League. Since then Liverpool have finished 6th, 8th and 7th...so imagine my surprise with this season.

Yes, the season ultimately ended in disappointed fashion with Manchester City purchasing their second Premier League in three years and Liverpool finishing two points off, trophyless...but proud. This Liverpool team are not nearly the same team as the team Benitez had with Alonso, Masherano, Gerrard and Torres. This team is Suarez, Sturridge, Gerrard, Sterling, Coutinho, Henderson. A team built on youth, the academy with Sterling and Flanagan, the experience of Gerrard, the prowess of Suarez and Sturridge. This was Liverpool Football Club at the best I've ever seen offensively. The defence, not so much, the Benitez defence was most probably better. But this team showed more potential than that. The first positive of the season was undoubtedly that although Liverpool Football Club have not got their 19th title, despite arguably deserving it, they have a team that came so close with so much further to go in their development. Gerrard found a position he can play in effectively and brilliantly for the next three seasons too...a time giver in his bid to win the one honour that still unfortunately after today deserts him.

So what did we learn from this season? Liverpool have improved, Liverpool are on a new level, Liverpool can challenge. The only team that finished above a Liverpool thought to be distinctly average was Manchester City. Liverpool have European football next season, we have our target.

I'd therefore like to thank the players, manager and other coaching staff for allowing myself amongst others to dream again. I'd like to apologise for my initial view on Brendan Rodgers when I wanted him out for his start to his first season, I now now notice that FSG made a brilliant choice in replacing Kenny Dalglish with Brendan Rodgers. Now we have a future that unlike the team that finished above us is sustainable and will not be punished in the way other teams will be for the way they made their success. The only way is up and I for one will be counting down the days for the next season with the anticipation for the first time since the last season of the Benitez reign started that it could be a very good year in the history of Liverpool Football Club.

Finally, we have started writing our history again.

#RedOrDead
#WeAreLiverpool
#YNWA

#SaveBBCThree #SaveBBC3

I am writing this blog post on the rumours that the British Broadcasting Company are seriously considering the idea of axing the channel BBC Three (BBC3) from television that have led to #SaveBBCThree and #SaveBBC3 becoming tweeting trends as people. This tweeting surge has come mainly in the younger age bracket which the channel was actually aimed for them, however it also became the channel that new shows, personalities and careers.

The channel could soon be leaving our screens.

Since BBC Three was launched, it became a channel with personality. The show had it's own share of original content as intended. Over the years original content has included a range of genres from comedy to reality to factual, even political. Shows such as Little Britain, Gavin And Stacey and Torchwood started at BBC Three before moving to the original flagship channels at that time on analogue television whilst shows such as How Not To Live Your Life, Off The Hook, Ideal, White Van Man, Pramface, Bad Education, Two Pints Of Lager (continued on BBC Three until it's end in 2011 from the point the channel was launched), Russell Howard's Good News and Uncle have been shown on this channel. And those shows that have shown on it (other than Torchwood) are just the comedies. The channel also includes a range of factual and reality shows over the years such as Sun Sex And Suspicious Parents, The Hotel Of Mum And Dad, Young Dumb And Living Off Mum, Worlds Strictest Parents and the various documentaries which have included such things as Russell Brand on drug addiction, a look at countries in the EU regarding the economy and a documentary on payday loan companies such as Wonga (a rant best left for another post).

Cult shows such as Little Britain and comedians Matt Lucas and David Walliams owe the beginning of their success to the channel.

Comedies such as Bad Education will become harder to come by without BBC Three

Reality shows such as Sun Sex and Suspicious parents has become popular with young adults but would a show with it's twist be commissioned  on another BBC channel.

It seems obvious to me that some shows, for instance in my case Snog, Marry, Avoid aren't loved by everyone. That said, they have a decent fan base and it isn't like every show on BBC One is to every viewers taste, for instance I cannot stand The One Show (or any show Matt Baker hosts, I don't know, but I can't stand his voice, but that's my opinion, many may think he's a great host). Some will also say some shows are "trashy" on BBC Three, but when channels aimed at similar audiences show shows such as The Only Way Is Essex and Made In Chelsea you could easily argue that BBC Three has an edge of class over it's competitors. 

The most important show I would argue on BBC Three however is actually Free Speech. Neither ITV 2 or E4 give their aimed viewers, the younger adults, a chance to have a voice. BBC Three has done incredibly well with this, especially as this is a generation that includes a majority who feel they have been screwed over by the Governments throughout their lives (again another rant blog for the future). Whilst I understand the fact that some of the guests are often disappointing, for instance I don't understand why the BBC have got snob Katie Hopkins on the show, but then again, this is the company that have paid the former editor of The Sun magazine (you can't call something with no news and serial defamation a Newspaper) Kelvin McKenzie several times on the flagship political show Question Time. Both are seen by many, in the latter case, rightly with no arguments, as villains, so it isn't an issue with the BBC getting substandard guests, as it has happened to both. Either way Free Speech has seen people get into politics and current issues, it has also given a voice where young people can get their opinion over as there is always a member of the Government and opposition there regardless of the other few. Whether the show has parliament watching and paying attention is unlikely at the moment, however come the next election it may mean more young voters and a different election and all of this thanks to a show on BBC Three. 

So I'm not saying close down BBC Four or another channel, in fact in the ideal world they would both be saved, however to find the next Jack Whitehall's, for young people to get a voice or show their talents and for some dangers to the current generation to be shown BBC Three is a vital channel to keep. Arguably the most important behind the flagship channel BBC One. The people of the generation BBC Three is aimed at aren't a bad generation but a generation who have had a lot of hope stolen, probably more than the other age groups in this country from cuts over the last few years, many face unemployment after education or the end of apprenticeships if they're not already unemployed despite putting in the effort. BBC Three is aimed at them and gives a voice. Maybe what the BBC should be doing is finding more of a way to give average viewers of BBC Three a chance to show their voice, maybe with a weekly phone in show for instance as well as the current Free Speech, but getting rid of the channel is not and will never be the answer.

There are other cuts that could be made. Graham Norton is on £4.5million a year. Jeremy Clarkson got a large wage last year (although his wage is actually £1million, selling his part of the company that owns Top Gear to the BBC saw him make a lot more than that). Although I like the latter, maybe the BBC should aim to do some wage cuts. The top office sees people paid hundreds of thousands and the people at the head of Radio One aren't fit to run a bath never mind their radio station after banning Robbie Williams and Green Day as well as considering Muse, the latter two on quality of music, despite both bands selling out stadiums and Muse getting a number one album with their last, Robbie Williams was banned for having an audience that was seen as too old. So after all of this, it is easy to conclude there are many other things that the BBC could easily cut. BBC Three is a channel that needs to stay, for the next generation to come to love as the original BBC Three generation become the adults, the people, the power of today.

"That Rock 'n' Roll Will Never Die"

On Wednesday as I'm sure many of you will be aware the annual Brit Awards took place. Apparently celebrating British music the ceremony included a speech from Arctic Monkeys lead singer Alex Turner in which he declared that Rock and Roll will never die. I have included the full speech below.

Now I'm not going to write a rant about his speech or the timing of his speech, mainly because I agree with the context of what he has said, however nor am I going to tell you how the Arctic Monkeys are the greatest band at the moment etc because although I like and I listen to the Arctic Monkeys a fair bit, I believe there are many great bands from many different genres of rock and roll that deserve to be mentioned in amongst this whole claim that rock and roll will never die. Regarding the Arctic Monkeys however, I would not say they are the sole protectors of the future of rock music. Not in Britain and not in the world. 

However there are many different styles of rock bands in the world under many different terms (punk, indie, emo, glam, folk and more) and we as people grow up with different styles that our parents introduce us to, that our friends show us, that the internet gives us, that our opinions lyrically agree with. I have friends who will swear down by different rock bands and rock types. Many like myself enjoy a variation of these different styles. However a lot of these bands do get very little publicity in comparison to some of the stuff that is in our charts nowadays. 

Unfortunately for music we live in an era where talent shows produce artists generically formed so that please people when it comes to sight but really in comparison to many other artists, these people lack talent. A lot of them seem to give a perception that they lack respect regarding rock music. Whether that be their lifestyle or the image they are trying to perceive. A lot try to make rock look glamorous and the most desired profession despite the fact that they are not a rock act. Rock is not a totally glamorous profession. A lot of the rock bands we see today have not had the privillaged upbringings that many popstars have today. Popstars like Lilly Allen who grew up knowing showbiz thanks to her dad. Many didn't have a musician school like the Brit school, albeit some of the newer ones have had this. Many have started off on the underground scenes and have had to work their way up from there, some to the disappointment to many of their fans (for instance, the punk scene was not too happy when Green Day signed onto a main stream label).

Now it may seem unfair but rock is actually the purest form of chart music you can really find. Especially when they were the people who chose to pick up the guitar and learn it, wrote the words and got a few friends and made a band. It's refreshing. They also appreciate it more as they have had to rise up from playing gigs as supporting acts in halls, to playing at arenas and stadiums. They influence many people. Often a rock star has issues however and the business of rock is therefore less attractive than it seems. A lot of songs in rock are wrote about ghosts of the band members lives, they have more of a meaning than most genres and often the bands we find ourselves listening to are ones we emotionally, lyrically and musically in one form or another relate to. I find with many this happens in teenage years, as you are growing up, going through those puberty changes and the other gender comes far more important to your life. I evidence this by pointing you in the way of +Ryan Steppel who grew up loving the arctic monkeys with these factors in place, just as I did with Green Day. Sure other bands come along but the first band you connect to in that way is almost certainly a band you will listen to a fair bit from then on. Not as your only band, maybe not as your favourite, but if I'm honest I couldn't imagine having an iPod with no Green Day on it (amongst others now) and I am sure others feel the same. 

Going back to a lot of songs being wrote in the ghosts of the band members, we can be talking death, love and often at some point in a rock bands career drugs. And sometimes these are very, very dark people, yet their darkness creates incredible music. The most notable rock star who did this was Kurt Cobain, such a dark person he ended up killing himself (unless you read and believe the conspiracies), then there's the artists that have had issues that have led to rehab, the band splitting and more. Pete Doherty, Billie Joe, Chris Wolstenholme. I also regard Amy Winehouse in this section as close to the rock genre. It isn't all glam.

These people, their antics and their fashions are now highly mimicked by artists who don't have the right to relate themselves to rock music. That said, they do sell the music. By this I am on about acts I would say are generic. I am talking One Direction and the X Factor generation. This music is not as pure as rock. It also will never be as longstanding as rock. Look at rock bands we still hear of today, who made a career for 50 years, from the Rolling Stones to the surviving members of the Beatles and Queen. One Direction may be huge now but they won't leave much legacy. Then there are artists like Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus. Until recently, two innocent young adults who got lucky, one with YouTube and one with Disney. Now both are more famous for filling our papers with their wannabe controversy, some of it beyond low (I've said it before, Miley Cyrus, regardless of her music and whether you like it, is now one truly disgusting being if you look at pictures of her live shows the last 6 months. It's wrong. Drink/drug driving in Biebers case is also low). Maybe they are doing this for attention or to be "rock stars", maybe they're doing it because the fame they have managed to get has led to them cracking as people or them wanting to push boundaries that shouldn't be pushed. Many rock stars from the past show some boundaries don't need this push. 

One thing is for certain. In 50 years when bands are reflected on. It's by far the most likely that of all the award winners last week, it'll be the Arctic Monkey's, their music and the boundaries they pushed in indie rock and rock as an overall genre that'll be remembered. The rest most likely will just be other acts. 

From Awesome and Perfect to Cheap and Tacky.

This post was kinda based on a lot of incidents in the last 24 hours. And this post is gonna be disliked by many, however it is my opinion and if there is one thing I'll never do it's hide my opinion. Yes this post may have been triggered, to be honest it almost appeared yesterday but now seems a more than relevant time for me to write this. Maybe it'll spark a debate. In which case, good. Although I'm mentioning no names, I know some people will think they know who I'm talking about. You're probably right. But to be honest, I don't care, because apparently I'm an "arsehole". So to some people, I shall live up to that definition of myself from last night!

Relationships come and go. That is a reality in life. Some won't work out. That's fair enough. You tried, you gave it a go and it didn't work. And with the majority of these cases it's just that it didn't work. A lot of these it's then not that hard to gradually reform a friendship. But then there are others, ones where people don't properly respect their partner, sleep around and lose the right to have a relationship. I've seen people, who have lost trust for the opposite gender because of this sort of thing. 

I'm one of these people. I've seen the most awesome, perfect person (in my eyes) turn into the most cheap and tacky person. And how do I have time for them then? But it's not just one person. And it's not all because of what once happened when I was close to this person. But what's happened afterwards. In all honesty, for me, as a heterosexual male, it was finding out that after some of the stuff that happened the same person had now slept around far easier than anything that person was like when I knew her, that made me think cheap and tacky. The girl that I originally met respected herself and that was one of the great things about her. The girl that I get the perception of now, especially from her twitter feed, doesn't respect herself, claims guys are all the same (apparently we do all the fucking over? That's ironic...). But this post isn't about one person, that's just a personal example. 

Then these people, they then sleep around easy. I remember hearing how many a person had had since. Instantly I found that person far more unattractive. And considering where that person was once in my opinion that's saying something. It hurt to find out that they had become like that. They had made themselves what I can only describe as common. 

..

So basically the jist of this part of my post is, it isn't cool to sleep around, whatever the excuse. To look for what you once had with someone else is a common excuse, but it's still not a reason. You're never gonna find someone the same, emotionally or in bed as someone else however many people you shag, date at the same time, get with in a nightclub. I'm sure you get it.

Also all of this can gain you a reputation, regardless of if people find you attractive, if you get a reputation for being "easy" people are not going to try to get with you because you're attractive. People actually will be looking for a quick shag with no strings and see you as a perfect option. Unfortunately that's how it goes. There are people of both genders who will look for a quick shag, even if girls claim it's always men and that they're always the victim. That's another general perception. But if you make yourself seem easy, you're not gonna attract the sort of people at aren't going to "fuck you over" and that's your doing. You've made yourself seem cheap, common, tacky. You've put yourself in this situation and once you've put yourself here it's incredibly different to change the perception of yourself that you have created. Even if you make an excuse like some guy has screwed you over or something, it's not gonna work. You just have to deal with it by actually showing yourself some respect and not going for that.

So yeah, because I've wrote this in two sessions, it may not make sense and I may have to do a follow up to this. However I feel I have got most of the point about this. Be awesome and perfect to one person or wait for that person (although I'm not saying find one relationship and it'll definitely last forever, I'm saying wait for someone you want a relationship with at the time) rather than cheap and tacky and going around. In the long run, it'll be much better.

If you have an opinion with this then yeah, leave a comment below. Tell me what you think. Do you agree? Disagree? Why? 

Finally I'll admit it....Liverpool CAN win the league!

It was 8.30pm on May 25th 2005. Hope was gone, happiness seemed far away, the fear of going out in a Liverpool shirt the next day or showing my face to Chelsea and United fans had kicked in. Yep, Liverpool were on course for a record defeat in the Turkish Capital City Istanbul. My sister proceeded to do a victory dance as she found the score. We all knew it was a forgone conclusion, as I said I wanted to watch them lose the final "like a man" trying to hold back the tears of frustration, disappointment, unmet hope. AC Milan were going to win their 7th Champions League and fair play to them, they'd destroyed Liverpool. As the Liverpool fans walked out for the second half, where we all knew they'd carry on receiving a beating, on the TV set, you could only hear one set of fans and they were singing You'll Never Walk Alone, fans that had spent thousands on seeing this final, hoping for the fifth European Cup, already, at half time, facing going home seeing a record final defeat. 

But that is what it means to be a Liverpool fan. Unlike any other fan in England, the Liverpool fans will stick behind their team. The travelling kop will always try to pick that team up. And this is where it all changed. Somehow deep down, if you listen to the men that played that match, the inspiration of hearing those fans sing that song and realisation of how many people were willing them to do something in the match back at home and across the globe inspired them to at least put it all into the second half. That's when it all changed...

Nine minutes into the second half, the ball flew into the box and the greatest Liverpool player in the premier league era,Steven Gerrard, got his head to the ball, sending it past Dida. Was there hope? Probably now, but at least there was a consolation, making it easier to go to school the next day and put up with the jibes of Liverpool's defeat. But then, just as that was going through my head Smicer scored a cracker. We were back in it...We COULD win the European cup! Okay we were still outsiders but then....PENALTY. Alonso had to score for Liverpool to do it, but it was saved. But on a night where everything had gone wrong until a few minutes earlier the rebound appeared at Alonso's feet and the game was suddenly 3-3. Liverpool had come back. The rest they say is history. History that many a Liverpool fan has on DVD. History that many a Liverpool fan can use to this day when it comes to their chances this season. 

For Liverpool have been written off by many yet again. Maybe initially with good reason, the Liverpool under Roy Hodgson, Kenny Dalglish and the first months of Brendan Rodgers showed little fight, little spirit. They would go a goal down and look dejected, accepting defeat. That was not the Liverpool I fell in love with, the Liverpool I adored. It was far from it. Liverpool did their talking on the pitch, but not now as off the pitch politics such as Hicks and Gillet, Fernando Torres' sudden departure and the debacles of Luis Suarez were the main talking points. Only one man remains from those teams Liverpool fans fell in love with in 2001 and 2005. Steven Gerrard and besides from Jamie Carragher, Gerrard was the only player over those years who looked as frustrated, as disappointed with the team as I (and I'm sure many other fans) felt. But again it's changed, the old Liverpool teams spirits seems to have finally been unearthed by current manager Brendan Rodgers and his men.

On Saturday Liverpool beat Arsenal 5-1 at Anfield, but really, the result that shows how Liverpool have moved onwards from the past few years and back to a team comparable with that of the team at Istanbul that famous afternoon was the 3-2 win at Craven Cottage. That was MY Liverpool, they were back. Not because of the performance over the 90 minutes, defensively we were not at all at the races, but there was fight, and not just any fight. The fight was undying. At no point in the match did the team drop their heads and settle for a loss or a draw. And it happened. Sturridge got into the box, where he was bought down. Liverpool had a penalty to bring the win back home. Standing up, knowing what the penalty meant to the clubs chances of a top four push I could barely watch as Gerrard stood up to take it. Not willing to put my hopes up I convinced myself the great man would miss the penalty. However the net rippled! The ball was in. Liverpool had done it. Relief, excitement, joy. Feelings that sometimes only football can give you. But one that hadn't been there for a long while also came back with that goal. The feeling of belief. 

Belief that there is actually a chance this could be Liverpool's year. Why though. Surely Chelsea and City have bought (that being the chosen word) the better and stronger squads. Surely they have the better players. This is where I both agree and disagree with people who claim this. Liverpool right now have the best strike force in England and one of the best 5 in Europe. Suarez and Sturridge are comparable to strike forces like Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema, Messi, Sanchez and Pedro, Cavani and Ibra, Aguero and Negredo. They also have one of the best players to have graced the planet in my lifetime. Not just by playing but sheer presence, leadership and support. Steven Gerrard. Any team with Steven Gerrard is a better team. The spirit and passion that man can just simply inject into a team is phenomenal. He is quite simply an astonishing man when it comes to his influence even when his game is having an off day. And then there is his passing ability. The pass to Sturridge last night was just simply a world class assist. And for the first time in a long long time, you feel that Gerrard has the right team around him, the first time since at least the 2008/09 season. 

Liverpool also have another thing many teams lack. The freedom and fearlessness of youth. Players like Sterling and Flannagan right now don't fear losing, but crave winning. It comes with the age. And more players like this are being injected into the team and they're good. They're not run of the mill. Flannagan and Sterling are future England internationals, I'd go as far to say, unless something goes wrong, they're future England starters. Flannagan has looked as good as the recent England number one right back, Glen Johnson who will now struggle to get his place back. Sterling is as good as any other fast English winger right now and could easily be a wildcard for Brazil. There's also Coutinho who is a technically outstanding player and is only of the age of 21. Some people may argue that he can be played out of some games due to a lack of strength, but then there are times when he makes something remarkable happen.

But what do Liverpool need to win the league? Well they need that fight, but that fight comes with spirit. Spirit we are seeing more and more of. The teams united. There are no divides. At teams like City and Chelsea this feels less of the case. The Mata saga for instance at Chelsea. Players who feel like they should be in the first team not wanting to accept the bench as their fate. Both clubs have more big personalities. Yes Liverpool have the leader Gerrard and then Suarez. But Liverpool have worked to accustomise the personality of Luis Suarez (and to an extent Daniel Sturridge) into the whole team. There is no unrest. The players know their roles and they know they're all very important to the cause. From a player who currently more of a bench player like Aspas and Alberto to the rotation players such as Toure to the starters like Henderson, Suarez and Sturridge. They know their place, the spirit. For the first time in years I can say This Is Liverpool and boy, does it feel good to have them back! 

External factors also exclaim why Liverpool can win the league. Chelsea, City and Arsenal all have European ties, big European ties. It's a distraction from the tightest race for the league in years. Liverpool don't have that this season. So if there is a chance to knock over the big spending teams City and Chelsea maybe that time is now. One thing is sure. Chelsea and City fans will be left embarrassed if Liverpool come from here to win the league with a team including players like Jon Flannagan of the youth academy and Raheem Sterling.

Whether or not they win a trophy this season and whether or whether not they're in the Champions League next season, one thing I know is that the fans, they will sing the names of the players, the songs of the team. As a Liverpool fan, one thing you know you will do is that you will stick behind the team. And right now it's far easier as they're on the up!

So here you go, after writing Liverpool off all season, so not to get my hopes up amongst these reasons. I now will happily admit. This Liverpool team CAN win the Barclays Premier League, even if it's an outside shot, a low percentage of probability. This team can win it! This season could be that year. But even if this season isn't, this Liverpool team, they're to stay. 

If you keep an eye on this blog, the next Liverpool post will be about Brendan Rodgers. How #RodgersOut turned to #RodgersIn. Featuring a mention of David Moyes and Manchester United!

Ooops!

Hey there!

Oops, I haven't tweeted for months! Apologies.

BUT I'm back! I know it's been a while, but like I was writing posts I never finished, or became ones I didn't want to send due to what they were about and stuff. But it's been a while and I don't think I can desert this blog as I actually enjoy writing. Despite the fact I have a dissertation I should be doing right now as to be honest, it's a constant worry in life at the moment.

So I haven't posted since New Years, so maybe I should make this post about me and what has actually happened since then and stuff. Although that simply says let's talk about New Years and the fact I'm 21 (which I just accidentally wrote as 32...that was a little scary haha).

Well New Years was in Plymouth and it was awesome. Everyone got drunk, we probably made resolutions and we probably all broke them within an hour, they were probably all "I shall stop drinking"...FAIL! But so far what has this year been...

I guess in the first 5-6 weeks of the year for me it has been a bit of a mixed bag. Work is now the factor that drags me down, although towards the end of last year I was feeling possibly the happiest and most free since before the London 2012 Olympic games (not because the Olympics made me permanently moody though!), I dunno how I changed my outlook, it kinda just happened when Liverpool beat Spurs 5-0, which I think was totally unrelated, however I decided I wouldn't go back so since then it has been a move forwards only operation. Which has been good. I mean, I'm not going into detail but it doesn't feel like anything in the past is getting me down, just that dissy and the fact I lose my Uni Independence in only a few months!

And then I am 21. Well this is strange, I can now drink in America which makes any prospect of a trip over the Atlantic, way more attractive. In the UK however it feels like there is not much more I can do and stuff. It's just a number anyway. It's in your head where you're old, young, tired, fed up, optimistic, damaged goods, innocent etc. Maybe not so much a choice, maybe in a way it is, but it's how life's treated you I guess. So after hitting a new number, I've had to really get used to the idea I have to do a lot of work, most days, to get my dissertation done. So that is what I'm doing. Well aiming to do every day and then hopefully doing. So wish me luck as I write and ask questions about media piracy!

Right, I shall post about some real subjects later. I will also start making a thing of my sections on this blog more often. But for this post at least I must bow out. Thank you and goodnight!