The True Meaning of Winterval

Sometimes, the People's Republic gets it wrong. One of these times, and the one that has caused the most damaged to my beloved Birmingham, is a tongue-in-cheek write-up about the politically correct Brummie creation (myth) that is known as Winterval. Back when I started this blog in 2005, I pointed out that if we were to set aside a day for Winterval, it should be the 28th December, which was in 1998 a Bank Holiday Monday in place of the Boxing Day which fell over the weekend, and was based on an Ed Doolan show joke back then where people were moaning about their bins not being collected. Sadly, I have to report that some people have quoted this post (on a forum no less!) as proof that Birmingham did abolish Christmas back in 1998 and replaced it with a Winter Festival - Winterval if you like - so as not to offend the Brummie ethnic minorities (of which I am one). Repeat after me:

Birmingham City Council never - I repeat never - abolished Christmas in favour of a new festival called Winterval in an act of political correctness gone mad.

Here are some posts testifying to this truth:

http://pigsonthewing.wordpress.com/2008/10/30/winterval-the-truth/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winterval
http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/2008/12/28/debunking-the-winterval-myth-a-creed-for-christmas/
http://humanistsforlabour.typepad.com/labour_humanists/2007/10/its-early-octob.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/dec/08/religion.communities

Happy belated Winterval everyone!

'Pool Romp to Title Win

It remains to be seen whether Manchester United's World Club Cup jolly will end up costing them the Premier League, but it certainly ended their Promroiship chances as they failed to play and take advantage of Liverpool's below average 32 point haul yesterday, handing the Reds the Promroiship title for 08/09 (for the rules and the reason we finish at Christmas, see here). Every winner of the Promroiship so far has gone on to win the Premier League in the same season. Will Liverpool's 18 year title famine come to an end with a Premier League and Promroiship double?

If so, the signs may not be so good for Arsenal's Champions League quest, as they blew a top four Promroiship finish on the final day after their one-nil win over Portsmouth featured as the penultimate match last night. Will the Promroiship table top five be indicative of their final Premier League positions this season?

With Liverpool and Manchester United finishing in the top two in the Promroiship this season, it looks like the Beeb, like the ITV Champions League crew, have lost their camera crews somewhere around the M62. Everton and Manchester City finished 10th and 11th respectively, although the latter's position may be undermined by the fact that in 20 rounds they only appeared on MOTD seven times - my instinct is that their needs to be at least 10 appearances on Match of the Day to be confident about the position of the team in the table, as it was generally after this number of games that the table tended to settle down.

At the bottom Steve Bruce made a prophetic comment about being last on Match of the Day last night (or was it a self-fulfilling prophecy?) which was apt as Wigan ended bottom of the Promroiship by a clear three points. In fact Wigan were in the bottom two for the entire season, and were placed bottom of the Promroiship table in 16 weeks out of the 20. The teams beginning with W took three of the bottom four places this season, with Middlesbrough ending second bottom for the second season running. Of course, as Motty might say, 'M' is a 'W' upside down, so it may not be unrelated.

There will be a full analysis of these results later in the week, but ProBrum congratulates the scousers on their maiden Promroiship win. Go out and paint the town red Stevie G... oh sorry, I see you already did.

Promroiship Results December 28th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Newcastle v Liverpool.......32
Fulham v Chelsea............40
West Brom v Tottenham.......48
Blackburn v Manchester City.24
West Ham v Stoke ...........24
Everton v Sunderland........16
Arsenal v Portsmouth........24
Bolton v Wigan..............16

The Promroiship - FINAL TABLE 08/09

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............667.....15....44.5
Manchester United......484.....13....37.2
Chelsea................371.....10....37.1
Aston Villa............363.....10....36.3
Arsenal................614.....17....36.1
Tottenham Hotspur......309......9....34.3
Hull City..............493.....15....32.9
Portsmouth.............327.....11....29.7
Stoke City.............455.....16....28.4
Everton................331.....12....27.6
Manchester City........193......7....27.6
Fulham.................463.....17....27.2
Sunderland.............454.....17....26.7
Bolton Wanderers.......448.....17....26.4
Newcastle United.......334.....13....25.7
Blackburn Rovers.......420.....17....24.7
West Bromwich Albion...416.....17....24.5
West Ham United........278.....12....23.2
Middlesbrough..........381.....17....22.4
Wigan Athletic.........271.....14....19.4

Liverpool Lead with One Round to Go

Tonight we will find out who will win the 2008/9 Promroiship title after a full fixture list on Boxing day sorted the men from the boys. Manchester United closed the gap slightly on leaders Liverpool but it looks as if the scousers have sown up the Promroiship title, remaining over seven points ahead of their North West rivals. The week's big movers were Manchester City, who moved up four places after appearing first in only their sixth Match of the Day appearance of the season, although being involved in a six goal match meant they only bagged 40 points. Chelsea and West Brom picked up a huge 60 points each after appearing third on MOTD, moving Chelsea into the top four and West Brom up a place to 18th. Arsenal and Aston Villa consolidated their top five positions after appearing second on the Beebs flagship footie show, capturing 50 points in their exciting 2-2 draw. Tottenham dropped three places to seventh after their goalless draw against Fulham appeared last on Match of the Day, netting only 10 points. Wigan remain bottom after their 2-1 win over Newcastle appeared fourth-last on the Beebs flagship footie show, after two matches where less goals were scored, and bagging the teams only 10 points each. Surprisingly given a full fixture list, all teams managed to gain a positive number of points this weekend.

Promroiship Results December 26th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Manchester City v Hull City....40
Aston Vila v Arsenal...........50
Chelsea v West Bromwich Albion.60
Liverpool v Bolton Wanderers...40
Portsmouth v West Ham United...10
Stoke City v Manchester United.40
Wigan Athletic v Newcastle.....10
Middlesbrough v Everton........20
Sunderland v Blackburn Rovers..20
Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham.....10

The Promroiship Table after Round 19 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............635.....14....45.4
Manchester United......484.....13....37.2
Arsenal................590.....16....36.9
Chelsea................331......9....36.8
Aston Villa............363.....10....36.3
Hull City..............493.....15....32.9
Tottenham Hotspur......261......8....32.6
Portsmouth.............303.....10....30.3
Stoke City.............431.....15....28.7
Everton................315.....11....28.6
Manchester City........169......6....28.2
Sunderland.............438.....16....27.4
Bolton Wanderers.......432.....16....27.0
Fulham.................423.....16....26.4
Newcastle United.......302.....12....25.2
Blackburn Rovers.......396.....16....24.8
West Ham United........254.....11....23.1
West Bromwich Albion...368.....16....23.0
Middlesbrough..........381.....17....22.4
Wigan Athletic.........255.....13....19.6

Play it Again, Sam

With only two rounds of the Promroiship to go with one tonight and one on Sunday, I can barely contain my excitement. Just like Kevin Keegan last year, big Sam made an immediate impact in the Promroiship as well as the Premier League with Blackburn's match against Stoke City featuring first and bagging joint maximum points. It did not raise them from fifth bottom, however, unlike Stoke who were the weeks big movers up two to tenth. The Claret and Blue derby solidified both Villa and West Ham's fifth and fourth bottom places respectively, but failed to move them up. Fulham dropped two places after their 2-1 victory over Boro was deemed worthy of last on Match of the Day. With all 20 teams playing on Boxing day, and 16 in Sunday, Promroiship-wise, there is still plenty to play for over the Christmas break.

Promroiship Results December 20th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Blackburn Rovers v Stoke City...35
Hull City v Sunderland..........20
West Ham United v Aston Villa...35
Bolton Wanderers v Portsmouth...20
Fulham v Middlesbrough..........15

The Promroiship Table after Round 18 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............595.....13....45.8
Manchester United......444.....12....37.0
Arsenal................540.....15....36.0
Tottenham Hotspur......251......7....35.9
Aston Villa............313......9....34.8
Chelsea................271......8....33.9
Portsmouth.............293......9....32.6
Hull City..............453.....14....32.4
Everton................295.....10....29.5
Stoke City.............391.....14....27.9
Sunderland.............418.....15....27.9
Fulham.................413.....15....27.5
Newcastle United.......292.....11....26.5
Bolton Wanderers.......392.....15....26.1
Manchester City........129......5....25.8
Blackburn Rovers.......376.....15....25.1
West Ham United........244.....10....24.4
Middlesbrough..........361.....16....22.6
West Bromwich Albion...308.....15....20.5
Wigan Athletic.........245.....12....20.4

Merry Christmas 2008

ProBrum wishes all his readers a very happy Christmas. Enjoy yourselves!

Incredible Hull Boost Reds Title Chances

Liverpool extended their lead at the top of the Promroiship thanks to a thrilling four goal draw with Hull City that was deemed worthy of featuring first of Match of the Day. Rafa Benitez believes Liverpool have an 80% chance of winning the Premier League if they are top after Christmas; ProBrum gives the Reds a 95% chance of winning the Promroiship given how far they are ahead now. Manchester United had an entertaining no score draw with Harry Redknapp's new club Tottenham which only featured fifth but bagged the same amount of points, lifting the Red Devils into second and Tottenham up three places to fifth. At the bottom, Blackburn's result may have threatened their Premier League survival hopes, but losing 3-0 to relegation rivals Wigan gave them more exposure on Match of the Day and lifted them above West Ham who did not play. The result was not enough to lift Wigan of the bottom, however, but they did close the gap to West Brom to 0.1 points.

Promroiship Results December 13th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)
Liverpool v Hull City.........48
Aston Villa v Bolton .........24
Wigan v Blackburn Rovers......40
Sunderland v West Brom........24
Tottenham v Manchester United.48
Middlesbrough v Arsenal.......24
Manchester City v Everton.....24
Stoke City v Fulham...........14

The Promroiship Table after Round 17 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............595.....13....45.8
Manchester United......444.....12....37.0
Arsenal................540.....15....36.0
Tottenham Hotspur......251......7....35.9
Aston Villa............278......8....34.8
Portsmouth.............273......8....34.1
Chelsea................271......8....33.9
Hull City..............433.....13....33.3
Everton................295.....10....29.5
Fulham.................398.....14....28.4
Sunderland.............398.....14....28.4
Stoke City.............356.....13....27.4
Bolton Wanderers.......372.....14....26.6
Newcastle United.......292.....11....26.5
Manchester City........129......5....25.8
Blackburn Rovers.......341.....14....24.4
West Ham United........209......9....23.2
Middlesbrough..........346.....15....23.1
West Bromwich Albion...308.....15....20.5
Wigan Athletic.........245.....12....20.4

Rovers Return for Reds

Have Liverpool effectively won the Promroiship? Although with the scoring system we use and the fact that it is averages rather than total points we rank by, the Reds have been leading since Round 7 up to a lead of just over 10 points in week 12 and while the gap has narrowed somewhat recently they have been leading by around 5 points (and usually significantly more) since Round 9. Another first on Match of the Day saw them extend their lead at the top, although Manchester United and Sunderland received the most points this week after featuring second with a one goal match, a result that sees the Red Devils move up two places and Sunderland four. The big losers were Manchester City, whose fourth appearance on Match of the Day saw them feature last and resulted in them dropping six places to 15th.

Promroiship Results December 6th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)
Blackburn Rovers v Liverpool....42
Manchester United v Sunderland..56
Hull City v Middlesbrough.......35
Newcastle United v Stoke City...21
Bolton Wanderers v Chelsea......28
Arsenal v Wigan Athletic........28
Fulham v Manchester City........14

The Promroiship Table after Round 16 (08/9)
Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............547.....12....45.6
Arsenal................516.....14....36.9
Aston Villa............254......7....36.3
Manchester United......396.....11....36.0
Portsmouth.............273......8....34.1
Chelsea................271......8....33.9
Tottenham Hotspur......203......6....33.8
Hull City..............385.....12....32.1
Everton................271......9....30.1
Fulham.................374.....13....28.8
Sunderland.............374.....13....28.8
Stoke City.............332.....12....27.7
Bolton Wanderers.......348.....13....26.8
Newcastle United.......292.....11....26.5
Manchester City........105......4....26.3
West Ham United........209......9....23.2
Blackburn Rovers.......301.....13....23.2
Middlesbrough..........322.....14....23.0
West Bromwich Albion...284.....14....20.3
Wigan Athletic.........205.....11....18.6

The Thatcher-Blair Endgame?

The government owns 58% of RBS, and 100% of Northern Rock, both previously private banks.

Meanwhile, we pay water rates to a private monopoly. Six private energy firms control the market for gas and electricity. The railways are run as essentially private monopoly enterprises. Air Traffic control and defence research is part privatised. There has been increasing privatisation of schools and the NHS, including PFI where money for capital projects is borrowed from the private sector (at rates higher than we would have been able to borrow from the government). The telecommunication industry is completely in private hands, despite BT's dominance stifling competition.

It's a funny old world.

Tiresome-Tees Derby

There were some signs that the Promroiship was settling down this week. The only two teams to climb a place were Middlesbrough and Newcastle, who played out a gormless bore draw of such tiring proportions that the commentator on Football Focus claimed they did not even deserve to feature last on Match of the Day. Feature last they did, however, and gained the second highest number of points this week after Aston Villa and Fulham's goalless draw featured second in the running order. The Beeb really could not win this week as fate conspired to prove the Promroiship scoring system is far from perfect.

Promroiship Results November 28th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Sunderland v Bolton ........25
Aston Villa v Fulham........45
Wigan Athletic v West Brom..25
Stoke City v Hull City......25
Middlesbrough v Newcastle...30

The Promroiship Table after Round 15 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............505.....11....45.9
Arsenal................488.....13....37.5
Aston Villa............254......7....36.3
Chelsea................243......7....34.7
Portsmouth.............273......8....34.1
Manchester United......340.....10....34.0
Tottenham Hotspur......203......6....33.8
Hull City..............350.....11....31.8
Manchester City........ 91......3....30.3
Everton................271......9....30.1
Fulham.................360.....12....30.0
Stoke City.............311.....11....28.3
Newcastle United.......271.....10....27.1
Bolton Wanderers.......320.....12....26.7
Sunderland.............318.....12....26.5
West Ham United........209......9....23.2
Middlesbrough..........287.....13....22.1
Blackburn Rovers.......259.....12....21.6
West Bromwich Albion...284.....14....20.3
Wigan Athletic.........177.....10....17.7

Bore Draws, Higher Scores

Manchester City may have appeared in only their third MOTD this season, but they rose 9 places this week and got a massive boost to their Promroiship hopes after featuring first in the running order. Their opponents, Arsenal, featured first for the fourth time in five weeks and narrowed the gap on title rivals Liverpool, who featured in the penultimate match after taking part in a no score draw. Taking part in a no score draw was not a problem for Aston Villa and Chelsea, who rose 4 and 5 places respectively, the latter after gaining a massive 63 points for appearing second. Middlesbrough can feel the most aggrieved after appearing fifth on Match of the Day despite taking part in a four-goal match in a low scoring week, a result that sees them drop into the bottom three.

Promroiship Results November 21st 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Manchester City v Arsenal...49
Chelsea v Newcastle United..63
Portsmouth v Hull City .....28
Aston Villa v Man United....49
Middlesbrough v Bolton......14
Liverpool v Fulham..........35
Stoke City v West Brom......21

The Promroiship Table after Round 14 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............505.....11....45.9
Arsenal................488.....13....37.5
Aston Villa............209......6....34.8
Chelsea................243......7....34.7
Portsmouth.............273......8....34.1
Manchester United......340.....10....34.0
Tottenham Hotspur......203......6....33.8
Hull City..............325.....10....32.5
Manchester City........ 91......3....30.3
Everton................271......9....30.1
Fulham.................315.....11....28.6
Stoke City.............286.....10....28.6
Bolton Wanderers.......295.....11....26.8
Newcastle United.......241......9....26.8
Sunderland.............293.....11....26.6
West Ham United........209......9....23.2
Blackburn Rovers.......259.....12....21.6
Middlesbrough..........257.....12....21.4
West Bromwich Albion...259.....13....19.9
Wigan Athletic.........152......9....16.9

United Thump Stoke, Bore Beeb

Arsenal's great Promroiship run continues after their defeat to Aston Villa ensured they topped the Match of the Day Running Order and jumped into second place in the overall competition. Villa rise 7 places as a result. Fellow North London rivals Tottenham's resurgence under Harry Redknapp continued as they climbed to fourth this week after their loss to fellow Londoners Fulham was deemed to be worthy of second place on MOTD. United will be disappointed with being shown fifth despite thumping Stoke 5-0. It appears their inaugural Promroiship title is slipping away to North-West rivals Liverpool who featured third. Newcastle and Wigan played out a 4 goal draw that achieved no points after ending up as the penultimate match on MOTD; a result that sees Wigan drop to the bottom and gives some credence to the theory that MOTD running order can be influenced by alphabetical order. They would have done better if they had lost 3 - 0 to a team like Chelsea, as West Brom will testify.

Rumours have it Manchester City might play on Saturday next week... have their owners finally realised they are Muslims and not Seventh Day Adventists?

Promroiship Results November 15th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Arsenal v Aston Villa............64
Fulham v Tottenham Hotspur.......48
Bolton Wanderers v Liverpool.....48
West Bromwich Albion v Chelsea...32
Manchester United v Stoke City....8
Blackburn Rovers v Sunderland....16
Newcastle United v Wigan Athletic.0
West Ham United v Portsmouth.....24

The Promroiship Table after Round 13 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............470.....10....47.0
Arsenal................439.....12....36.6
Portsmouth.............245......7....35.0
Tottenham Hotspur......203......6....33.8
Hull City..............297......9....33.0
Manchester United......291......9....32.3
Aston Villa............160......5....32.0
Everton................271......9....30.1
Chelsea................180......6....30.0
Stoke City.............265......9....29.4
Bolton Wanderers.......281.....10....28.1
Fulham.................280.....10....28.0
Sunderland.............293.....11....26.6
West Ham United........209......9....23.2
Newcastle United.......178......8....22.3
Middlesbrough..........243.....11....22.1
Blackburn Rovers.......259.....12....21.6
Manchester City........ 42......2....21.0
West Bromwich Albion...238.....12....19.8
Wigan Athletic.........152......9....16.9

Baggies Bottom After Saturday Fixtures

Round 12 of the Promroiship saw third place Manchester United regain some ground on leaders Liverpool after losing to Arsenal in the first match. Second-placed Portsmouth slipped slightly after appearing as the last match containing three goals, and ending up with the lowest points haul this week along their opponents Sunderland. Wigan and West Brom swap places at the bottom despite getting thirty points each this week by virtue of West Brom having played more matches: 30/11 leaves less than 30/8. It would be simpler if everyone played on Saturday like they used to. After 11 round (excluding 1 midweek MOTD) Manchester City have only played on Saturday once.

Promroiship Results November 8th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Arsenal v Manchester United.......42
West Ham United v Everton.........30
Liverpool v West Bromwich Albion..30
Sunderland v Portsmouth...........24
Hull City v Bolton Wanderers......30
Wigan Athletic v Stoke City.......30

The Promroiship Table after Round 12 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............422......9....46.9
Portsmouth.............221......6....36.8
Manchester United......283......8....35.4
Arsenal................375.....11....34.1
Hull City..............297......9....33.0
Stoke City.............257......8....32.1
Tottenham Hotspur......155......5....31.0
Everton................271......9....30.1
Chelsea................148......5....29.6
Sunderland.............277.....10....27.7
Bolton Wanderers.......233......9....25.9
Fulham.................232......9....25.8
Newcastle United.......178......7....25.4
Aston Villa............ 96......4....24.0
West Ham United........185......8....23.1
Blackburn Rovers.......243.....11....22.1
Middlesbrough..........243.....11....22.1
Manchester City........ 42......2....21.0
Wigan Athletic.........152......8....19.0
West Bromwich Albion...206.....11....18.7

Liverpool Concede Late, Go Top

Apologies for the delay in last weeks Promroiship update, I have been rather snowed under recently.

Liverpool may have blown their lead at White Hart Lane, but an exciting finish meant they appeared first on Match of The Day and extended their lead over second place Pompey in Round 11 of the Promroiship. Tottenham also climbed six places as a result, narrowing the gap on North London rivals Arsenal whose shock defeat at Stoke improved their Promroiship position. Man Utd and Chelsea lost ground with high scoring matches, despite featuring third and fourth respectively, with the Blues dropping four places. Everton were the days other big losers, as they dropped two places after featuring last on Match of the Day following their 1-0 victory over Fulham.

Promroiship Results November 1st 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool....56
Stoke City v Arsenal.............48
Manchester United v Hull City.... 8
Chelsea v Sunderland.............16
Portsmouth v Wigan Athletic......24
West Brom v Blackburn Rovers..... 8
Middlesbrough v West Ham United..16
Everton v Fulham.................16

The Promroiship Table after Round 11 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............392......8....49.0
Portsmouth.............197......5....39.4
Manchester United......241......7....34.4
Hull City..............267......8....33.4
Arsenal................333.....10....33.3
Stoke City.............227......7....32.4
Tottenham Hotspur......155......5....31.0
Everton................241......8....30.1
Chelsea................148......5....29.6
Sunderland.............253......9....28.1
Fulham.................232......9....25.8
Newcastle United.......178......7....25.4
Bolton Wanderers.......203......8....25.4
Aston Villa............ 96......4....24.0
West Ham United........155......7....22.1
Blackburn Rovers.......243.....11....22.1
Middlesbrough..........243.....11....22.1
Manchester City........ 42......2....21.0
West Bromwich Albion...176.....10....17.6
Wigan Athletic.........122......7....17.4

Yes We Can

The term historic has been bandied about too much over the past few years. I am off the opinion that something can only be historic once it has happened and we understand the full impact of the event. The election of the first African American to the position of US present may well be an historic event and it is interesting to note down our feeling while it is happening, but history will often portray a different version to what actually happened.

I have had to read an awful amount of nonsense from Conservatives and Liberal hawks over the past few months telling me that McCain, and not Obama will win the election (although to be fair both backtracked before election day). Let this be a lesson to everyone who blogs! It is easy to give glib partisan statements about current events and they can come back to haunt you.

Commiserations to John McCain. The guy is a true gentlemen who also deserved to be president and would have been better placed to lead the country after the 9/11 attacks. Unfortunately, he was not able to be himself during this campaign after taking some very bad advice from his campaign manager. If he had the result would have been closer.

I believe Obama's election, despite his inexperience and liberal voting record, is a direct consequence of George W Bush's failures. Finally we have something to thank him for. I do have one worry though. The expectations of the Obama presidency are now so high it may be impossible to meet them, particularly as the previous incumbent has left the country in such a mess. In 1997, I remember such a mood of optimism pervading Britain after Blair routed the Tory government of 18 years. This was eventually to be dissipated over ten wasted years as Blair held the mandate but failed to deliver, culminating in him bombing a defenceless third world country so his rich American friends could appropriate its economic wealth. I hope when Obama met Blair earlier this year he did not take his advice to seriously. If he did, he could put Americans off politics forever.

High Draw Lowers Score

The mid-week round of Premier League fixtures gave us a rare Match Of the Day which featured every team in the division for the first time this season. This meant those at the top of the running order had the potential for big points provided that they did not get involved in a high scoring match and those last on Match of the Day needed a no-score draw to avoid losing points overall.

As it turned out Arsenal and Tottenham blew their chance to improve their Promroiship position with a 4-4 draw which, while appearing first on Match of the Day, only netted the teams 20 points. Compare that to Liverpool and Portsmouth who scored 80 points after the 1-0 victory for the Reds appeared second on MOTD, catapulting Portsmouth into second from eighth and slightly reducing Liverpool's gap at the top mainly due to the fact Pompey have only appeared four times on Match of the Day this season thanks to European commitments. West Ham climbed off the bottom by virture of playing Manchester United and netting 60 points this week. Steve Bruce's problems were magnified as Wigan replaced them at the bottom. Manchester City dropped a massive eleven places after only their second Promroiship appearance this season.

Newcastle and West Brom were last on Match of the Day and got negative points because they played the day before. Detractors of the Promroiship may claim this makes it unfair but I am sure matches on previous days have been intermingled in the past (althought they are very unlikely to appear first). Consider the following: would Manchester United have appeared last if they had played in the only match on the night before?

Promroiship Results October 29th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur......20
Liverpool v Portsmouth...........80
Manchester United v West Ham.....60
Hull City v Chelsea..............40
Aston Villa v Blackburn Rovers...10
Stoke City v Sunderland..........40
Bolton Wanderers v Everton.......30
Middlesbrough v Manchester City..10
Fulham v Wigan Athletic.......... 0
Newcastle United v West Brom....-20

The Promroiship Table after Round 10 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............336......7....48.0
Portsmouth.............173......4....43.3
Manchester United......233......6....38.8
Hull City..............259......7....37.0
Chelsea................132......4....33.0
Everton................225......7....32.1
Arsenal................285......9....31.7
Stoke City.............179......6....29.8
Sunderland.............237......8....29.6
Fulham.................216......8....27.0
Newcastle United.......178......7....25.4
Bolton Wanderers.......203......8....25.4
Tottenham Hotspur...... 99......4....24.8
Aston Villa............ 96......4....24.0
Blackburn Rovers.......235.....10....23.5
West Ham United........139......6....23.2
Middlesbrough..........227.....10....22.7
Manchester City........ 42......2....21.0
West Bromwich Albion...168......9....18.7
Wigan Athletic......... 98......6....16.3

Hull, United Lose Ground on Leaders

I don't think there could be too many complaints about the Match of the Day Running Order last night. Hull's amazing rise to joint top in the Premier League was followed by title rivals Manchester United dropping points at Everton. The Tyne-Wear derby featured third, which no doubt infuriated those from the North East (except those of course from Hull), with the other match appearing last. Thanks to Europe only four matches participated in the Promroiship this week, undermining the competition as most clubs (except for West Brom) lost points on their average as a result of the low scoring week.

The changes are of course temporary as there are a midweek round of fixtures this week which will feature on a special Wednesday Match of the Day.

Promroiship Results October 26th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

West Bromwich Albion v Hull City...28
Everton v Manchester United........28
Sunderland v Newcastle United......20
Blackburn Rovers v Middlesbrough...20

The Promroiship Table after Round 9 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............256......6....42.7
Hull City..............219......6....36.5
Manchester United......173......5....34.6
Arsenal................265......8....33.1
Newcastle United.......198......6....33.0
Everton................195......6....32.5
Manchester City........ 32......1....32.0
Portsmouth............. 93......3....31.0
Fulham.................216......7....30.9
Chelsea................ 92......3....30.7
Aston Villa............ 86......3....28.7
Sunderland.............197......7....28.1
Stoke City.............139......5....27.8
Tottenham Hotspur...... 79......3....26.3
Blackburn Rovers.......225......9....25.0
Bolton Wanderers.......173......7....24.7
Middlesbrough..........217......9....24.1
West Bromwich Albion...188......8....23.5
Wigan Athletic......... 98......5....19.6
West Ham United........ 79......5....15.8

Fight Night

It seems local MP John Hemming and my former local councillor Martin Mullaney are having some trouble with the BNP.

Promroiship Scoring System Vindicated

We have had to wait 27 rounds, but finally we get a week where it is justified to show the top four in the first four matches on the BBC's flagship footie programme - according to the Promroiship scoring system that is.

With the big four being involved in matches containing 4 to 5 goals each, and the rest being goalless draws, all the teams involved in the Promroiship this week got a comparable number of points and the highest scoring match was the first no score draw shown between Fulham and Sunderland. I have said previously that if the big four were as entertaining as the hype that surrounds them (by the objective measurement of number of goals in matches they are involved in), the Promroiship would take this into account and they would be fighting it out with the rest in an open competition (unlike the Premier League). Manchester United dropped a place after their four goal match only featured fourth on MOTD, with Arsenal and Chelsea also losing ground. Wigan managed to get themselves of the bottom leaving West Ham nearly four points adrift. Liverpool continue to lead the table justifiably given their rather exciting comebacks this season. Will this be the year Liverpool win their first Premier League (and Promroiship) title?

Promroiship Results October 18th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Liverpool v Wigan Athletic...35
Middlesbrough v Chelsea......28
Arsenal v Everton............28
Manchester Utd v West Brom...21
Fulham v Sunderland..........42
Aston Villa v Portsmouth.....35
Blackburn v Bolton...........28

The Promroiship Table after Round 8 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............256......6....42.7
Hull City..............191......5....38.2
Manchester United......145......4....36.3
Newcastle United.......178......5....35.6
Everton................167......5....33.4
Arsenal................265......8....33.1
Manchester City........ 32......1....32.0
Portsmouth............. 93......3....31.0
Fulham.................216......7....30.9
Chelsea................ 92......3....30.7
Sunderland.............177......6....29.5
Aston Villa............ 86......3....28.7
Stoke City.............139......5....27.8
Tottenham Hotspur...... 79......3....26.3
Blackburn Rovers.......205......8....25.6
Bolton Wanderers.......173......7....24.7
Middlesbrough..........197......8....24.6
West Bromwich Albion...160......7....22.9
Wigan Athletic......... 98......5....19.6
West Ham United........ 79......5....15.8

The Theory of Relativity

When I found out that the topic for Blog Action Day this year was Poverty, I simply could not get out of my mind the debate between relative and absolute poverty.

In politics there are two types of poverty; absolute poverty, the kind preferred by the right, and relative poverty, the kind feted by the left. Absolute poverty is poverty as most people understand the word; starvation, lack of housing and other basic amenities. Basically being classically poor, similar to the characters in the novels Dickens writes. Relative poverty is based on having household earnings of 60% of the median. In Britain, thanks to socialism and the welfare state, absolute poverty of the kind seen in Charles Dickens novels generally does not exist anymore. Leftists now concentrate on alleviating relative poverty by good old fashioned mechanisms like taxing the rich to give to the poor. In other words, wealth redistribution.

The right-wing have a lot of problems with this. Firstly, taxing the rich (productive) to give to the poor (lazy) means there is no incentive to work. They point to all those single mothers who live in council houses provided by the state producing babies the rest of them support while a wailout of bankers (that is the official collective term) create wealth in the city funding it (until that is they get greedy for short term game and the state has to bail them out before western civilisation collapses). Secondly, they object to the term poverty. The poor are not starving like the good old days of unregulated Victorian capitalism, they own many mobile phones and wear designer clothes. They are actually rich thanks to western capitalism. The fact that a the child of working class parents has a 1 in 10 chance of getting to University compared to the 8 out of 10 children born to middle-class parents getting to University passes them by. Thirdly, the definition of relative poverty means that if a lot of rich people come to the country, the number of people suffering relative poverty can go up. I have always had a slight problem with this, because I was under the impression that rich people leave this country to live as tax exiles elsewhere, and that the majority of immigrants coming here could not speak English and leeched of the state. If this is true, immigration would reduce relative poverty, not make it worse.

I have mellowed a bit over the years and am not as left-wing as I was in a previous incarnation. I understand the ideas of modern right-wing politics, the theory of incentives and how a well meaning government can actually make things worse. For example, there is an interesting theory that Gordon Brown's disastrous abolition of the 10p tax rate was actually a measure designed to target child poverty. After all, if you raise taxes for the poor, and give money back to those with families, those with children will end up relatively better off than those without. Maybe relative poverty is not such a good definition after all.

It used to infuriate me when the right belittled the idea of relative poverty. After all, most of them had never experienced it. It got me thinking: what is the key problem behind poverty in this country. I decided the problem was the lack of social mobility. It is more true today than any time in post-war Britain that a child will end up in a similar position in society to that of their parents. That is real poverty. The poverty of aspirations amongst the relatively poor.

Of course, we should be glad that we do not suffer the old-fashioned type of poverty much anymore in the West, and that many people in the world famously live on less than one dollar a day (cost of living differences aside). I am proud to live in a city which pioneered the Drop the Debt campaign 10 years ago when the G8 summit came to town.

I hope one day I will see a world with no absolute poverty, and a Birmingham with none, relatively speaking.

Liverpool Top as United Drop

Only four games featured on Match of the Day in the week before the international weekend causing some real problems for the big guns in the Promroiship as a multiplier of 4 leads to weekly points scores well below the season average. As a result, Manchester United relinquish top spot to Liverpool who did not play, and despite featuring first Arsenal's average decreased slightly as well. It was not all bad news though, as Sunderland's appearance in the first match, along with West Brom and Wigan all improved their season averages, presumably because they feature so low on Match of the Day when the fixture list on Saturday is fuller.

Worth pointing out is that after seven rounds of the Promroiship, Manchester City have only featured on Match of the Day once. Unbelievable.

Promroiship Results October 5th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Sunderland v Arsenal...........32
Blackburn v Manchester United..28
West Brom v Fulham.............28
Wigan v Middlesbrough..........24

The Promroiship Table after Round 7 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............221......5....44.2
Manchester United......124......3....41.3
Hull City..............191......5....38.2
Newcastle United.......178......5....35.6
Everton................139......4....34.8
Arsenal................237......7....33.9
Chelsea................ 64......2....32.0
Manchester City........ 32......1....32.0
Fulham.................174......6....29.0
Portsmouth............. 58......2....29.0
Stoke City.............139......5....27.8
Sunderland.............135......5....27.0
Tottenham Hotspur...... 79......3....26.3
Aston Villa............ 51......2....25.5
Blackburn Rovers.......177......7....25.3
Bolton Wanderers.......145......6....24.2
Middlesbrough..........169......7....24.1
West Bromwich Albion...139......6....23.2
West Ham United........ 79......5....15.8
Wigan Athletic......... 63......4....15.8