Month: February 2013

Science has made philosophy redundant – ho hum. Seen Wolpert talk on this before.

Need to view, digest and respond later.

Interesting watching the management manoeuvres at Reading FC since Brian became manager and Anton became owner, whilst Sir John and Nicky continue as chair and director. Definite signs of teamwork, compared to the usual knee-jerk headless-chickens at most clubs. Last mentioned here the equally encouraging signs of man-management, but many references to the “quality” of football decisions not to mention management gurus and motivation throughout this blog.

Sure enough, Times journalist Roger Alton, here writing in the Spectator, being impressed when meeting Brian. A cut above the rest.

Far more interesting [than talking with Steven Gerrard (*)] was the opportunity to chew the fat, or at least the sushi and avocado, with the admirable Brian McDermott, manager of beleaguered — or resurgent, depending where you’re standing — Reading FC. McDermott is a Heston Blumenthal lookalike with the easy manner of the bloke you like to meet down the pub. But what he’s achieved along the M4 is remarkable, and not just because he must have quadrupled his Russian owner’s £30-odd million investment. He is a real self-improver and a brilliant man manager. The books he reads are management books, not football ones, and that’s the ethos he’s brought into Reading.

That’s why he doesn’t seem intimidated by the challenge of surviving in the top flight even though the odds — and the wage bills, a fraction of most Premier League clubs’ — are so stacked against him. There is a culture there of hard work and improvement, so that he can be satisfied with his work even if it doesn’t keep his team up. When we spoke Reading had just beaten Newcastle away after being 1-0 down at half time. So no wonder when you ask, ‘How do you persuade players to come to Reading?’ McDermott says, ‘I don’t. They have to want to join and to learn.’ If there were more men like Brian McDermott in English football, then it might attract the Pep Guardiolas of this world.

‘There are really two different ways to look at the world,’ he says. ‘When you realise that success is in your own hands, rather than something that happens to you by way of talent, a light goes on in your mind. We never use words like “talent” here. We focus on hard work; how players and staff can grow over time. We may not become Premier League champions, but we will reach our potential.’ Well said, and come on you Royals.

Pep Guardiola and Brian McDermott in the same breath, notice. And of course Premier League manager of the month for January (and ALF Player of the month) !!!!

Excellent piece in GetReading too, of Jonny Fordham’s interview with Anton – management-wise, these guys know what they’re doing, blazing a distinctive trail in (football) management. Trust in people.

(Also interesting because Anton Zingarevic is much more like the Russians I’ve actually met and worked with, than the stereotypical villains typified by Roman Abramovic.)

(*) PS Love Stevie, but he’s never gonna set the world alight as a thinker and speaker.

Values – his words.

One for future interest.

When did “existential threat” come to mean “a threat that exists”?

Heard it twice recently – Cameron describing Islamists in Saharan Africa, Copson describing extremists in general.

We do care about the beautiful game of football, but this piece by Seth Godin is about some other televised sport, played with the hands whilst wearing full body armour, weirdly called “football” in just one country in the world.

The tribal culture is a common theme, sure, but I disagree on several points.

• The tribe can be, and is, much wider, more positive, than any one team / club against another. The allegiance is to football.
• TV suits real and fake football because it provides multi-angle replays – but this feature is common to any televised sport or any other event. Games that take place in smaller spaces, or where the action is highly static or localised benefit even more.
• TV being asynchronous, of course you can see multiple games, including those you are unable to get to live (see live below).
• The TV advertising model does NOT suit real football timing-wise, and that’s because:
• TV beats live football, only if you can’t get to the game. You can’t be at two games at once. It is difficult, inconvenient and time-consuming and expensive travel-wise to get to multiple-games in any one day / week. Otherwise live beats TV – see tribal culture above. With real football, TV is no substitute for the real thing.

Yet real football does benefit enormously from TV investment, for the quantitative, multi-game, multi-angle, non-real-time benefits – even though the real thing is infinitely, qualitatively, better. Wonder which is actually the bigger business – the real thing or the fake version?

Now there’s a turn up for the BHA.

Hopefully enough to make the BHA think about its position.
Hopefully we’re beyond this being “just a bit of fun”.

[Video Here. No time to watch the whole right now, but after Copson vs the outgoing Archbishop, you can already see where the more subtle argument lies. Organized churches as agencies of communal humanity and tradition, BHA same as CofE in this respect. Immediate unmediated communities – social media etc –  allow freedom of communication and thought, but they bring no “conservative” narrative to the whole (*). Social, cultural and intellectual evolution without conservatism cannot progress, any more than biological evolution, merely change and repeat errors. The “aim” – purpose and meaning – needs to be enshrined “metaphysically”  (or maybe “transcendentally”) beyond the current process and content – even the concept of humanity beyond individuals – “bigger than themselves”. BHA is currently too naive and “scientistic” about where that value is maintained. Dawkinzzzzz …. when will he let go of childish things …. sarcastic, arrogant, ignorant, dogmatist and childish. How could this debate go any other way? As a humanist I’m embarrassed by the BHA.]

[Having listened on, Copson loses it at 1:07 by saying in his very own words that he is NOT actually for the motion as stated. Hope for him. Unmitigated disaster for the BHA. Tariq Ramadan and most of the students all very impressive. (*) As Douglas Murray says – we’d find ourselves living “The Only Way is Essex”. The opposition wins hands down – anyone know the actual voting numbers?]