There were actual Cold War spies that were punished less than this. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

I can see the proposed HS2 terminal from my office window. The whole thing was supposed to be finished this year. If delays continue there's a fair chance I'll have retired before it's done. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

What is the point of spying on football training? What could they find that they couldn't reasonably guess? Or... do Middlesbrough have WMDs? It could be that.

I doubt even Starmer's closest allies could say what his real views are. The problem is if you don't tell people what you do stand for, people can easily assume that you don't stand for them.

Just finished facilitating a session on the social impact of football @fairgameuk.bsky.social conference. Really enjoyed it. A lot of good folk here.

Initially I thought this was ludicrous but if the precedent can be applied elsewhere, there are a couple of jobs I might yet get and a couple of funding bids I might yet win. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

I hope Michael Sheen hosts House of Games in character as Brian Clough.

I wish I had been better at football as a youngster. Even a largely unimpressive career could have got me to the real summit: becoming a Sporting Director. It's the best job ever! Little accountability, decent job security, and you get to go on a shopping spree every year.

Divorced Beheaded Substituted in the opening 20 minutes?

So, the UK taxpayer is supporting thousands of Brits who didn't want to be UK taxpayers. Cool. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

How was everyone's 2025? I was fortunate enough to have two fellowships in the same Czech city, at the Universities of Brno and Brno Brookes.

A good line to remember for that tricky “do you have any flaws? question that interview panels seem keen on. www.espncricinfo.com/story/brendo...

Neser and Boland are just landing it in the right spot and letting the ball do the work. England are obsessed with 90 mph bowlers, but for this series they would have been better off getting Joe Leach out of retirement.

Australia are going to get a visit from the pitch inspectors. Eight championship points docked for a substandard deck.

I think whoever designed the new Blues ground has been listening to a lot of Pink Floyd.

There's often a chap (sometimes more than one) set up on my route to work, playing guitar. He has a mic, an amp and it seems like he has a small PA. If you are fully amplified, are you still a busker?

Time will tell but this seems like it could be the next Grand Slam Track. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-...

This is the first time I have genuinely never heard of the half time act. Not the performer's problem obviously, but a worrying development for me. This is clear a sign as any that I've crossed into middle age. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It turns out bowling ok in a novelty tournament isn’t really the prep you need for international cricket. On the plus side, quizmasters everywhere have a new question for their bank.

I was in Tesco and they were playing the Liquidator over the PA. Might be the first time I've heard it without... I'll call them embellishments.

Graduation day today, our session is in a bit. I've already dropped by the Symphony Hall to see one of my dissertation students who rearranged their ceremony, due to a clash with Oasis at Wembley. I can think of some academics who would be more sympathetic with that than others.

Now the interim leader might be good, bad or indifferent but the thing that came to mind straight away is Ice Town. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

On the face of it this is a terrible waste of time, money and resource. However, put yourself in the shoes of a lecturer who can see HS2 from his office window, and needs examples of failed government policy for lectures. Every cloud. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Doing something funny with my hands while presenting @sportanthro.bsky.social conference last week. A good event and a very welcoming crowd.

In a study of UK police sergeants, Scott Banks and @dranthonymay.bsky.social examine the impact of New Public Management strategies on policing, using semi-structured interviews to explore their managerial challenges www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Looking forward to seeing this. "Not a brand": hallelujah!

...and this one is supervised by @dranthonymay.bsky.social alongside two colleagues from Criminology and Security Studies, @euanraffle.bsky.social and Dr Ryan O'Connor. www.bcu.ac.uk/research/our...

I'm supervising a funded PhD. Nice. If you know of someone who might be a good fit for this project (link is below), feel free to pass it on to them. Euan and Ryan are both excellent, and it's a great opportunity all in all. www.bcu.ac.uk/research/our...

I'm not sure "we're going to finish 14th but look at our stadium plans" is quite the sell they think it is.

New article out in Annals of Leisure Research which could be of interest if you're into one or more of security, football fan experience, perceptions of alcohol, and Brazil. Due credit must go to co-authors & BlueSky naysayers Buso, Bason, and Owen. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Football fans will defend pretty much anything if their club does it, but it's still been a bit odd to see some people greeting the removal of free meals as some kind of management masterstroke.

Good to start the day by having an article accepted. Should hopefully be out soon, after we navigate the proofs… This is a blatant academic brag for which I will do a good deed of some sort in penance.

Que sera sera…

I was bored of the Champions League before it was cool.

I'm misrepresenting the concept for my own purposes, but I'm still happy to claim six degrees of separation from Einstein.

Chat GPT was launched in 2022. And we’re expected to believe that in three years all the problems with AI have been solved and it is now the solution to all our problems. Dogmatic ideology that has massive potential for social and environmental harm

No matter what parties people have planned later or how many fireworks they've bought, Plymouth Argyle fans are already having the best NYE.

Still need to get those gifts? You can get this done! Remember, it’s Jacques Lacan, not Jacques Lacan’t.

For years I've been wondering why all of George Michael's friends were wearing tie dyes. Worked out what the real words are today.

The Tony Blair Institute has its mouthpiece. This uncritical valorisation of something that is unproven, costly in terms of carbon emissions & jobs, & potentially destructive on political discourse, is the opposite of sensible leadership.

A 9:00 lecture isn’t for everyone but at least this is a decent sky.

I referred to this debate in a lecture earlier: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... None of the students seemed aware of Fuse ODG's "Antenna" so I checked when it came out, and now I feel rather old.

In an ideal world I'd have been on my way to Newcastle for the @footballcollective.bsky.social but it's not worked out this time. Hopefully next year. Looks like a super schedule for everyone attending.

The only merit this weather has is the opportunity to put the Ski Sunday theme tune on during the commute to work.

It feels like there should be a specific word for the wide scale migration of users from one social media platform to another.