Paul Scholes- The Legend

I remember when I first saw Scholes play, it was in the 95/96 season against Chelsea. I wanted to see Giggs and Cantona, but Scholes really stole the show;  scoring two well taken goals in a 4-1 win. If you look closely you can probably see me celerbrating behind the goal (I will never forget the amount of abuse I got from Chelsea fans, I was only 10 for fucks sake!)  But from then on Scholes was one of my favourite United players. He could do it all. It was like he had a sniper rifle in his boots,decapitating defences with his accurate through balls. He wasn't particularly tall but he had great heading ability. He wasn't particularly quick either, but he timed his runs into the box with stealth. Give him a chance in the 18 yard box and he would usually take it, he really was the silent assassin. 

To me it always felt like Scholes was really underrated. Maybe it's because he was so shy and quiet and kept himself to himself. He rarely gave interviews, I've only seen a couple myself. But when I read some articles with foreign players and managers, they always mention Scholes as one of the best English midfielders. Zidane said he was one of his hardest opponents. Xavi, Iniesta and Fabgreas have been quoted saying how much they admire Scholes. Apparently after the final on the Saturday just gone, FIVE Barca players were all trying to get his shirt. (Iniesta ended up with it). That really does say a lot!  It just makes you think though......if he was 'Scholesinho' and was from Brazil maybe he would have got more praise. But all United fans recognise the genius that Scholes was and we certainly saw the best of him. England saw some glimpses of his skill; probably his best moment when he scored a hat trick against Poland. But the England team never used him to his full potential. How are you going to play the most creative player you have on the left side of midfield?  I really don't blame him for retiring after Euro 2004. It was United gain anyway, he gave 7 more years of great service giving fans loads of great memories. 

Over the years many great players have come and gone at United. Charlton, Best, Robson, Cantona, Beckham and Ronaldo. Scholes will be added to that list. It's nearly impossible to replace such players. All teams evolve and move on, and this team will do exactly that. It's really sad to see Scholes retire, he probably could have played on another season but he just thought it was right. He's retired on his terms and in doing so he's one of the greats. 

Manchester United- We will never die!

On Saturday night I had a great night despite us losing to Barcelona. MUST put on a great night down at Fabric. I've been there many times as a raver, so to see the place brimming with United fans was a sight to see. The singing was passionate. I must have arrived around 5pm and it didn't stop till the game was over. It left me voiceless. The drink made me merry. I went from belief to disappointment, to relief and joy and back to disappointment again. That's the type of night it was, a night that I will always remember. When Rooney scored the place erupted, it was like someone dropped a nuclear bomb on Fabric. I was pumping my fists, hugging random people, shouting at the top of my voice. It was organised chaos at it's very best. That proved to be the highlight of the night, but despite us going 3-1 down we still sang and we still believed. 

There is no shame in our loss on Saturday. Jealous fans point and laugh at our defeat at the weekend, so obsessed with United because of their teams short comings. We have managed to reach three finals in four years, only to be met by a Barcelona team that will go down in legend. We secured a 19th league title despite being written off throughout the season. I know it's a cliche, but if you said that we would reach the final of the Champions League I wouldn't have believed you. We've discovered Chicarito, Smalling and the Da Silva twins. Nani has drastically improved, Anderson has started to score goals. Although Valencia had a bad game at the weekend, he was important in the later stages of the season. Rooney is Rooney, powerful and eager as ever. All of those players are 20-25 years old and will mature together over a period of time. The youth team won the F.A cup. I'm sure some of those players will start pushing for the first team squad.  Fergie is already plotting for next season. He loves a challenge, he's so bloody minded he won't stop till he succeeds. Part of being great champions is being humble in defeat. But being great champions also means that will rise up and challenge again. It will be difficult, but we're United we've done it over the years when we've had humbling experiences in Europe.

 This summer will be interesting too. Will Scholes retire? Will Berbatov go? Will Fergie bring in some creative players for midfield. Modric? Sniejder? Will we get a holding midfielder? Schweinsteiger? (We can dream!) What will De Gea be like? We won't know the answer to these questions for a few weeks yet. What we do know is this.  The Catalan crown jewels were flawless in London,  playing a brand of football that we've never seen before. However, United will be back, our achievements this season suggests that. This squad will continue to grow, and I'm sure with a few jewels of his own, Fergie will be able to polish the rough edges. 

'We keep the red flag flying high, 'cause Man United will never die'.

Elzhi- Elmatic (Review)

Following his departure from Slum Village, supporters of Elzhi have been wondering. Wondering what the future holds. What direction will his music go? Who will he collaborate with? After a lot of anticipation,  he finally dropped 'Elmatic', an ode to Nas' 1994 classic 'Illmatic'; at the beginning of May. Will Sessions, a live band from from Detroit have given new life to the original production; allowing  Elzhi to once again showcase his flawless rhyming skills. Wordplay, patterns, story telling or just straight rhyming, Elzhi shows why he is considered one of the most underrated emcees out right now. 'When I write cigars flare again, the bars buried in the song are about as strong as barbarians'. Elmatic is heat, get downloading. 5/5

www.elzhi.com

Placements

So that time has come...we've completed 8 weeks(!) of Catch and the time has certainly flown by. Our attentions have now been turned to our potential placements and given time to think about which ones to choose is difficult. My interests are diverse, but if i had to choose 3 partners it would have to be Bauer Media, Trinity Mirror PLC and Haymarket Media Groups.  Why? Well just continue reading..

Bauer Media

Under their umbrella they have a wide range of magazines, from sports to entertainment. Publications such as 'Q' would be ideal to have a possible placement with. Although the music may not be to my immediate taste, I would say that I am open minded and I'm always looking for new music and bands no matter what the genre is. I'd also consider FHM, it would be great to see how they put that magazine together. I know some people give it a lot of flack ts a lot but from what I've read it has some good features. Recent developments at Bauer dropping Big City Network shows their desire to expand and be readily able to compete with and beat their competitors. http://www.thedrum.co.uk/news/2011/04/14/20728-bauer-media-to-drop-big-city-network-brand/


Trinity Mirror PLC

I've been reading the Mirror for a number of years, it has the ability to deal with serious stories, quirky stories and has top notch sports coverage. I know the chances of me going on a placement there would be very slim as I would need an NCTJ to even be considered. If I did go there though, I'd like to work on the sports pages and news and possibly meet some columnists such as Brian Reade and Tony Parsons (as it goes, Parsons follows me on Twitter). Recent changes to the editorial team still makes the Mirror one of the front runners in mainstream print. Peter Willis takes over the post which shows Mirror's willingness to promote from within. Here's the link for more information http://www.trinitymirror.com/2010/11/peter-willis-appointed-deputy-editor-of-the-mirror.html


Haymarket Media Group

Another partner that interests me is Haymarket Media Group who publish the official Manchester United mag, Inside United, Four Four Two and Sky Sports magazine just to mention a few. Some of the publications have been nominated for the Periodical Publishers Associationfor magazine excellence with 11 magazines up for awards. http://www.haymarket.com/newsarticle.aspx?news=980


I'll add one more too because it was too hard to whittle it down. We had a talk from two writers from the Metro and what impressed me both about them was how passionate they were about their job. They appeared to be around the average age of the cohorts which made it easier to relate to them. The deadlines they worked to are different to a conventional paper, so it would be interesting to see how they worked things round and how they pick out what is newsworthy.

It's so hard to pick one that I would outright want to do. But to be honest, I'd be grateful for any chance that I would be given because a lot of people aren't even in the position that I'm in. The most likely would be at Bauer Media, working with 'Q' where I could hone and develop my knowledge of music just a bit further. If the Mirror wavered the NCTJ requirement I would jump at the chance to go down there.

Guilty as charged!

So I was trying to think of something interesting to blog, I want to keep this thing ticking over. Then I thought about my 'guilty pleasures'..everyone has them............right?  Whether it's something on television, eating habits, weird fetishes or songs you like when you shouldn't. most people these days are sucked into these shit programs on TV. The following shows in my (humble although superior) opinion are SHIT: Eastenders, Britain's got (no) Talent, X factor, any of those dancing programs, Hollyoaks, The Only way is Essex, anything with Jordan in it, most things on ITV 2 and any form of reality show. I admit to laughing till my sides hurt watching the 'actors' in Hollyoaks, but real talk, soaps do nothing for me at all.

Most of my family watch these shows which annoys me but it's cool, each to their own innit?! I like my sports, news, documentaries, movies; that's me ALL day long. But what I've noticed recently is that I've been sucked back into a show that I shouldn't watch. But I keep on watching. What is wrong with me?!?

I'm ready to admit that I still watch wrestling. Big ol' man like man like me and I still watch it! I know the results are predetermined but I can't help it. It's like class A's to a junkie I need my fix! Don't get it twisted..I don't get the pay-per-views or anything like that..but I try and watch Raw when I can. Maybe it's because The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin came back...I dunno what it is. The characters aren't even as good as they were back in the late 90's! That's when I used to watch it all the time but I lost interest when I discovered raves and girls when I was in college (lol). But still, should I be worried about my wrestling fetish on the weekends? If I get in a ruckus will I start doing suplexes, figure four leg locks and tombstones to gain an advantage? I'd love to but I'd probably hurt myself more than my them hahaha! Most guys still watch it but they just don't admit to it. I know that most started watching UFC/boxing when the chair shots to the head were banned and the PG rating came in. But as soon as a pay-per-view comes on everyone watches trust! 

WWE  seems to be improving, John Cena vs The Rock at Wrestlemania 28 will keep me interested for the next few months at least. The Miz has good mic skills, new signings to the roster, Sin Cara and Alberto Del Rio are good in the ring. Sure some of the legends are retiring and getting older but that's life...I think there are signs of it returning to it's late 90's pomp. Only time will tell. 

So there you have it, I still watch wrestling. I feel less ashamed now that I've blogged about it. That's my own guilty pleasure. You can judge me all you want, that's the only blot on my television viewing, everything else stimulates the mind...Honest!  I think I'll sign off with some 'sweet chin music' courtesy of Shawn Michaels on Triple H at the Royal Rumble.  Peace!

If Laura was to talk about Tesco sandwiches..

So I'm on a lunch break from Catch. my time here has been great so far.  It's so different from my town in Gloucester.  The people, the smells, the city, the tube. But I love it! Plus the added joys of freedom, I can't complain!

What sandwich should I have? I know I'm from Gloucester, but I can't stand cheese. Hmm..probably just chicken today I'll keep it simple. Then I'll go and meet with the others, chill out, take in what they say. Just because I don't say much doesn't mean I'm not interested, I just like to listen to people talk I guess...there's more to me but in time they'll see my true self.

30 seconds in the mind of..... Beth Williams

I took a little time out from my busy schedule and interviewed Beth Williams. Beth graduated in 2010 from Cambridge University having studied English Literature. Originally from Leicester, Beth now resides in Wood Green, working part time in a hotel whilst spending two days a week as a Catch 22 cohort.

1. What makes you happiest in your life?

Something I can be involved in that I can be proud of.

2. What is your greatest fear?

Loneliness and not achieving things I want to in my life.

3. If you could have any superpower what would it be?

I would be able to fly. I've always wanted to do that.

4. What was the most embarrassing  moment of your life?

Probably doing an internship at this festival, I had to look after the guys from top gear and I had no idea who the were!

5. Picture this, you're stranded on a luxury Island. What 3 possessions would you have with you?

I'd have a photo album, notebook (pen should be included!) and a coat in case I get a bit cold!

Beth said her favourite track now is the latest track from UK sensation Adele. She also said she's watched Cher Lloyd's video too many times but still finds it hilarious. 
Do you want to know more about Beth? Follow her on twitter.com/beth_uk

www.moneysavingexpert.com