While the World Cup has somewhat eclipsed the transfer window, planning for the new season is still being orchestrated.
This was captured by a big breakthrough for Manchester United, who continued their rebuild by all-but signing Southampton full-back Luke Shaw and purchasing Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera.
Other rumours and transfers are happening at all levels, as teams prepare for the new season. So what exactly are Newcastle United doing?
Well, so far, there has been some permanent signings, with Spanish striker Ayoze Perez and Sunderland midfielder Jack Colback moving to Tyneside, while Shola Ameobi, Luuk de Jong and Loic Remy are among those to have already left.
Its clear Newcastle need strikers, not to mention a winger and in most likelihood, a new full-back given Mathieu Debuchy is unlikely to stay on Tyneside. After all, Debuchy has complained he feels his game his inhibited by Pardew's negative tactics and says he misses playing the Champions League. If he stays, its nothing short of astonishing.
All the talk, however, has been of outs. As well the departed trio up-front, there's been several links for the exit door for Tim Krul, Debuchy, Steven Taylor, Davide Santon, Hatem Ben Arfa, Sylvain Marveuax and Gabriel Obertan, as well as for youngsters James Tavernier and Mehdi Abeid, despite them impressing while on loan last season.
Its questionable if Alan Pardew knows what he's doing on letting such a big change in numbers happen so quickly. Not all of these players are capable but squad depth would be nice, particularly given it regularly seems to be an alien concept to Newcastle managers. Most of these players have also been ruined by his poor management, which has turned Ben Arfa and Marveuax from promising prospects to fat men who can't even get a game behind wingers that aren't wingers.
Also, trying to change too quickly can have repercussions. A very quickfire turnaround in players can lead to an unsettled difference in trying to adapt a new team, and it means that it can take far too long to have the formula figured out.
Saying that, much work is needed on the playing squad even with these players staying. But so far, the indication has been that it will be a summer of cheapskate signings. The club are refusing to pay the valuation of Montpellier winger Remy Cabella - who is currently with Debuchy on World Cup duty - and is equally unwilling to meet the valuation of highly rated German striker Pierre Michel Lassoga.
Somebody has to tell Mike Ashley that assuming the football world can function on cheap signings is no longer possible. It was very impressive when in 2011 we constructed a fanttastic CM of Yohan Cabaye and Cheick Tiote for less than £8M. By contrast, of course, Norwich spent £8M on Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who netted one goal in the 2013-14 season.
But that was then. Nowadays, with Premier League teams earning a minimum of £60M just for taking part, the economics are different. On top that, the team earned a further £20M for finishing in the top half, and a further £15M in player transfer profit thanks to the sale of Cabaye to PSG in January.
With the club having made £95M in total from these ventures even before matchday, merchandise and corporate revenue is thrown into the pile, it brings to mind that the Newcastle accountants could do a passable Scrooge McDuck impersonation on this cash. But other clubs also see this cash and think that if Newcastle have this much, they can afford to splash it.
Truthfully, we also can. But this reluctance to do so is a huge problem, because it fuels the lack of investment in the playing squad that has already alienated key squad members, and could allow us to drift further.
2013-14 was already an irritating year for Newcastle fans, with the tentative progress of the first half of the campaign thrown away in a depressing end of season run-in that would have seen Alan Pardew fired if it wasn't for his stupidly long contract.
In 2012-13 and 2013-14, Newcastle have lost 38 Premier League games in all, split evenly between each one. This depressing statistic includes a number of 3 goals or more pastings, and cannot be allowed to continue, but it feels like it is by a boardroom underestimating how shaky the ground beneath their feet is.
Its also now 65 years since Newcastle won a major trophy (the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, now known as the UEFA Europa League), and the board have indicated they don't care for glory. They just care for a healthy balance sheet, and apparently going for glory would ruin that, even though sport is mainly about the glory rather than the middling dullness of mid-table campaigns. Its amazing some of our more top-end players haven't moved already considering this restraint on even attempting success exists.
Any lack of investment this summer - and from the looks of it, he is refusing to spend on a loss again - will be a huge problem, as it will leave us ill-equipped for the new season and facing a depressing campaign.
Ashley also has to be told more people will want to sponsor his sporting product if its successful, and hopefully we could get a more credible face than Wonga.com, who were this week fined for appalling practices in their loan-sharking operation. But this willful sabotage hidden under cover of World Cup darkness is causing a huge problem, and with no end in sight, this messy summer could once again lead to a rough campaign.
Friday, 27 June 2014
Wednesday, 18 June 2014
Kasabian at Shepherd's Bush Empire - Live Review
It's safe to say the expectations for Kasabian as a live act are getting quite big.
Their albums maybe frustratingly inconsistent, but as a live act, they certainly have the chops.After all, they are now big enough for the headline slot at Glastonbury Festival - not only that but closing the festival as well, to boot - and will be preceding it with a 50,000-capacity outdoor homecoming show in Leicester.
Before that is a more smaller affair, in the grand surroundings of the Shepherd's Bush Empire theatre for War Child, who have made the Leicester band this year's charity gig after previous events involving Muse, Coldplay and The Killers. The efforts here have certainly helped raise cash for the charity, while members for charities associated with War Child and people they rescued are also in attendance.
This show is also the London launch party for 5th album 48:13, and there may have been a temptation to play the whole thing, not least given it currently tops the UK album chart.
However, they don't do that. After the raucous opener Bumblebee, Kasabian instead dip back into the hit parade. A snippet of Kanye West's Black Skinhead is a perfectly weighted introduction to the classic snarler Shoot the Runner, before the one-two of Underdog and Where Did All The Love Go continues the party.
Co-frontmen Tom Meighan and Sergio Pizzorno are in typically buoyant mood, barking out lyrics and commands to go nuts that the masses in front of them respond to with gusto. The moshpit is a sea of limbs bouncing in time to the strain of the works, and there isn't a single song in the entire set that they stay still for.
There are indeed moments when it seems the crowd is bouncing in time to the crack of drummer Ian Matthews' snare drum, which the crowd moshes heavily no matter which members of the large rotating cast are on stage at once.
In all, some 14 members are on stage during the headliner's set - the 4 main members, plus de-facto members on keyboard, trumpet and lead guitar, along with a 4 piece string section and 3 female backing vocalists who dip in and out of proceedings. You don't get the sense, however, that they don't want to be there. All of them approach their roles with gusto, with Meighan and Pizzorno in particular bundles of energy on a stage much smaller to those they have played in recent years.
This good mood and mixture of players allows a variety of pleasing textures to seep out of the stage. The contrast is certainly felt between string-led tracks that pepper the set, the classic electro-indie-styled tunes and the 48:13 material. This includes one-two of lead single Eez-eh and likely future single Stevie appears a few songs down the line, with the former much than recordings from live shows suggested, while the latter is an improvement of the inconsistent album version.
Later down the line, the band also dispatched the sprawling Treat - an almost seven minute mishmash of indie, rap, electronica, psychedelic rock and everything inbetween. On record, its an entertaining mess, but here, with Pizzorno bouncing around the stage wielding maracas and heavy duty strobe lights bathing the venue, its a highlight.
This series of new material also fit in with the hit parade Kasabian have cultivated. A heady rush of Days are Forgotten and Processed Beats keeps the crowd singing and dancing, while there's also diversions into electro (the spindly yet supple ID) and mariachi (Take Aim, which is delightful but ruined by a far-too-teasing snippet of Empire closer The Doberman as an intro).
One early quibble was the bass being nothing more than a series of faint rumbles, although its mercifully resolved for the snappy, snarling Club Foot, which sees Chris Edwards' 4-string fill the room with that monstrous riff.
The main set concludes with Kasabian's best-known tune in the form of Fire, where it feels that the entire room is in a frenzied delirium, singing and dancing like its life depends on it.
But its not done yet, and if Switchblade Smiles is a decent start to the encore, Vlad the Impaler - dedicated to the late Rik Mayall, who died last week - is astonishing. The bass and guitar riffs are loud enough to start earthquakes, while the crowd reponse - despite everything - is possibly the best of the night so far.
And there's still time for the crowd to go even more mad, as a cover of Praise You gives way to L.S.F. - a final run-through of the classic song that used to close all the gigs.
It says a lot about how much they've improved live that Kasabian can afford to leave out their best song in the form of Fast Fuse, plus similarly impressive material like Cutt Off, Stuntman, Thick as Thieves and many more, and yet the gig does not suffer. Its an effortless snapshot of the band's 10 years in pop culture, that is almost effortless at exciting the impressive crowd.
Its not a perfect night, but very close to it. They may still be indecisive on record, but the live arena is where Kasabian made their name, and shows like this prove exactly why.
Leicester and Glastonbury will be in for some exciting treats.
4/5
Opening proceedings were Merseyside-based 5-piece The Sundowners, who even had a Miles Kane/Alex Turner lookalike on lead guitar. The band's twin female vocalists do provide a nice verve to proceedings, which divots over a variety of sounds even despite the suspicion the guitars have been either turned off or very low. Final song Medicine does hint at promise that they could be bigger, and there is certainly enough to entertain before proceedings get underway.
Their albums maybe frustratingly inconsistent, but as a live act, they certainly have the chops.After all, they are now big enough for the headline slot at Glastonbury Festival - not only that but closing the festival as well, to boot - and will be preceding it with a 50,000-capacity outdoor homecoming show in Leicester.
Before that is a more smaller affair, in the grand surroundings of the Shepherd's Bush Empire theatre for War Child, who have made the Leicester band this year's charity gig after previous events involving Muse, Coldplay and The Killers. The efforts here have certainly helped raise cash for the charity, while members for charities associated with War Child and people they rescued are also in attendance.
This show is also the London launch party for 5th album 48:13, and there may have been a temptation to play the whole thing, not least given it currently tops the UK album chart.
However, they don't do that. After the raucous opener Bumblebee, Kasabian instead dip back into the hit parade. A snippet of Kanye West's Black Skinhead is a perfectly weighted introduction to the classic snarler Shoot the Runner, before the one-two of Underdog and Where Did All The Love Go continues the party.
Co-frontmen Tom Meighan and Sergio Pizzorno are in typically buoyant mood, barking out lyrics and commands to go nuts that the masses in front of them respond to with gusto. The moshpit is a sea of limbs bouncing in time to the strain of the works, and there isn't a single song in the entire set that they stay still for.
There are indeed moments when it seems the crowd is bouncing in time to the crack of drummer Ian Matthews' snare drum, which the crowd moshes heavily no matter which members of the large rotating cast are on stage at once.
In all, some 14 members are on stage during the headliner's set - the 4 main members, plus de-facto members on keyboard, trumpet and lead guitar, along with a 4 piece string section and 3 female backing vocalists who dip in and out of proceedings. You don't get the sense, however, that they don't want to be there. All of them approach their roles with gusto, with Meighan and Pizzorno in particular bundles of energy on a stage much smaller to those they have played in recent years.
This good mood and mixture of players allows a variety of pleasing textures to seep out of the stage. The contrast is certainly felt between string-led tracks that pepper the set, the classic electro-indie-styled tunes and the 48:13 material. This includes one-two of lead single Eez-eh and likely future single Stevie appears a few songs down the line, with the former much than recordings from live shows suggested, while the latter is an improvement of the inconsistent album version.
Later down the line, the band also dispatched the sprawling Treat - an almost seven minute mishmash of indie, rap, electronica, psychedelic rock and everything inbetween. On record, its an entertaining mess, but here, with Pizzorno bouncing around the stage wielding maracas and heavy duty strobe lights bathing the venue, its a highlight.
This series of new material also fit in with the hit parade Kasabian have cultivated. A heady rush of Days are Forgotten and Processed Beats keeps the crowd singing and dancing, while there's also diversions into electro (the spindly yet supple ID) and mariachi (Take Aim, which is delightful but ruined by a far-too-teasing snippet of Empire closer The Doberman as an intro).
One early quibble was the bass being nothing more than a series of faint rumbles, although its mercifully resolved for the snappy, snarling Club Foot, which sees Chris Edwards' 4-string fill the room with that monstrous riff.
The main set concludes with Kasabian's best-known tune in the form of Fire, where it feels that the entire room is in a frenzied delirium, singing and dancing like its life depends on it.
But its not done yet, and if Switchblade Smiles is a decent start to the encore, Vlad the Impaler - dedicated to the late Rik Mayall, who died last week - is astonishing. The bass and guitar riffs are loud enough to start earthquakes, while the crowd reponse - despite everything - is possibly the best of the night so far.
And there's still time for the crowd to go even more mad, as a cover of Praise You gives way to L.S.F. - a final run-through of the classic song that used to close all the gigs.
It says a lot about how much they've improved live that Kasabian can afford to leave out their best song in the form of Fast Fuse, plus similarly impressive material like Cutt Off, Stuntman, Thick as Thieves and many more, and yet the gig does not suffer. Its an effortless snapshot of the band's 10 years in pop culture, that is almost effortless at exciting the impressive crowd.
Its not a perfect night, but very close to it. They may still be indecisive on record, but the live arena is where Kasabian made their name, and shows like this prove exactly why.
Leicester and Glastonbury will be in for some exciting treats.
4/5
Opening proceedings were Merseyside-based 5-piece The Sundowners, who even had a Miles Kane/Alex Turner lookalike on lead guitar. The band's twin female vocalists do provide a nice verve to proceedings, which divots over a variety of sounds even despite the suspicion the guitars have been either turned off or very low. Final song Medicine does hint at promise that they could be bigger, and there is certainly enough to entertain before proceedings get underway.
Wednesday, 4 June 2014
A Million Ways To Die In The West - Film Review
It seems naturally fitting that having attempted everything else in Hollywood, Seth MacFarlane would fancy being the leading man in his own movie.
Having already been a cartoonist, voiceover artist, director, writer, producer and voice actor in his own animated movie, it appears the live-action star in his own movie - his acting debut, no less - was his next step to attempting some kind of beserk cultural domination. He even released a novel version of this movie two months ago.
Reportedly, he may not have engaged in this move, with Paul Rudd apparently approached over the role before MacFarlane decided to step into the breach himself.
Nevertheless, you would be forgiven for hoping for something special - MacFarlane has created some hilarious comedy moments with his previous TV and film work, there's an impressive looking cast - both on the bill and with cameos - and it looked good in the trailers.
This, however, does have the hallmark of a vanity project. Despite the impressive looking roster, the insane hands-on approach MacFarlane takes to this is absurd, and its safe to say he's found his own inspiration for this in his obsession for Western movies and in his own personal life.
MacFarlane has said in interviews he has been dumped by girls for being too nice. Naturally, inside the opening five minutes, his cowardly sheep farmer character Albert Stark is dumped by his girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) after skedaddling on the standard Western showdown.
Albert essentially opens as a function to slag off the Western Frontier of America as a place to live, citing dozens upon dozens of reasons to his only friends Edward (Giovanni Ribisi) and his prostitute fiancee Ruth (Sarah Silverman).
Edward and Ruth are Christians withholding sex from one another until marriage, despite Ruth doing everything with everyone around town. Its a mildly amusing gag at first, but despite one or two other moments, it gets old staggeringly quickly.
Repetition becomes a problem - its not enough to have one joke, as it has to be repeated, and given its use in the trailer, its stale quickly.
A lot of the jokes are, naturally, so worn out from the trailer that they fail to resonate so well. There is some withheld stuff that, mercifully, adds something to the table. Particularly amusing is Albert's father George (Christopher Hagen), who is gloriously profane in the classic crochety old man role.
Also working well with a magnificent amount of scenery-chewing, if a little underused, is Louise's new lover Foy (Neil Patrick Harris), and his fabulously ornate moustache. He and Albert do not get on well, with Foy being a particularly devious man - like Patrick Harris' How I Met Your Mother show-stealer Barney Stinson, only somehow even more of an ass.
Considering both Patrick Harris and MacFarlane are renowned for their singing abilities, it feels odd neither gets a change to show off their vocals, with the - admittedly impressive - solo song performed by country singer Amick Byram.
The song in MacFarlane's character's heart is certainly minute, as he struggles to blend in amidst the fights. Bizarrely, though, heart-tugging rom-coms seem to be the aim for his character's arc when Anna (Charlize Theron) strolls into town.
She is married to infamous outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Neeson), but naturally keeps it a secret long enough for Albert to fall in love with her.
In truth, the rom-com aspect is extremely basic, although MacFarlane does seem like he has the potential for such work. His acting beyond classic voice work does need work, but there is some promise lurking there.
He does, however, at time reminds you of Brian Griffin in a bolo tie and Stetson. In truth, its kind of a curse MacFarlane and his co-writers in Family Guy have been involved, as it reminds a lot of one of the recent lackluster recent works put out by the Fox animated staple.
That's not to say everything fails to hit the mark. There are amusing lines dotted hither and thither, some provoke a smirk and there are one or two guffaws. Some amusing lines drop in and out, and there is an amusing cameo from American talk show host Bill Maher. But there is also a heavy reliance of sex, race and scatological jokes, and while some are amusing, and there is one jaw-droppingly offensive joke later somehow made even more weird with a late cameo for Django (Jamie Foxx)
There's also a bizarre on-drugs sequence near the end when Albert is taken in by some friendly Indians.
While its been trailed as mocking the Old West for being a truly detestable place to live, this is in many ways its own love letter to the genre of Western films. The piece as a whole looks beautiful, and has cinematography very well in keeping with the world of a Western movie. A Western-aping soundtrack is also very nicely set to the piece.
But at almost 2 hours, it is at least half an hour too long, and feels like it stretches things a bit thin at times. MacFarlane's previous comedy project Ted may only have been 15 minutes shorter, but was a leaner piece with evolution in the style and strategy.
This, by contrast, has a fairly basic plot on which hangs a range of hit-and-miss jokes, while some characters impress more than others.
In short, it is like watching a live-action Family Guy set in 1882 Arizona. There's even a cameo role for Alex Borstein - better known as Lois Griffin - and the odd pop culture reference too.
The frustrating element is that there was much promise, ranging from its cast and pedigree to its beautiful setting. But while the films look was certainly up to scratch, it would've been better if the jokes were consistently up to scratch.
2.75/5
Having already been a cartoonist, voiceover artist, director, writer, producer and voice actor in his own animated movie, it appears the live-action star in his own movie - his acting debut, no less - was his next step to attempting some kind of beserk cultural domination. He even released a novel version of this movie two months ago.
Reportedly, he may not have engaged in this move, with Paul Rudd apparently approached over the role before MacFarlane decided to step into the breach himself.
Nevertheless, you would be forgiven for hoping for something special - MacFarlane has created some hilarious comedy moments with his previous TV and film work, there's an impressive looking cast - both on the bill and with cameos - and it looked good in the trailers.
This, however, does have the hallmark of a vanity project. Despite the impressive looking roster, the insane hands-on approach MacFarlane takes to this is absurd, and its safe to say he's found his own inspiration for this in his obsession for Western movies and in his own personal life.
MacFarlane has said in interviews he has been dumped by girls for being too nice. Naturally, inside the opening five minutes, his cowardly sheep farmer character Albert Stark is dumped by his girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) after skedaddling on the standard Western showdown.
Albert essentially opens as a function to slag off the Western Frontier of America as a place to live, citing dozens upon dozens of reasons to his only friends Edward (Giovanni Ribisi) and his prostitute fiancee Ruth (Sarah Silverman).
Edward and Ruth are Christians withholding sex from one another until marriage, despite Ruth doing everything with everyone around town. Its a mildly amusing gag at first, but despite one or two other moments, it gets old staggeringly quickly.
Repetition becomes a problem - its not enough to have one joke, as it has to be repeated, and given its use in the trailer, its stale quickly.
A lot of the jokes are, naturally, so worn out from the trailer that they fail to resonate so well. There is some withheld stuff that, mercifully, adds something to the table. Particularly amusing is Albert's father George (Christopher Hagen), who is gloriously profane in the classic crochety old man role.
Also working well with a magnificent amount of scenery-chewing, if a little underused, is Louise's new lover Foy (Neil Patrick Harris), and his fabulously ornate moustache. He and Albert do not get on well, with Foy being a particularly devious man - like Patrick Harris' How I Met Your Mother show-stealer Barney Stinson, only somehow even more of an ass.
Considering both Patrick Harris and MacFarlane are renowned for their singing abilities, it feels odd neither gets a change to show off their vocals, with the - admittedly impressive - solo song performed by country singer Amick Byram.
The song in MacFarlane's character's heart is certainly minute, as he struggles to blend in amidst the fights. Bizarrely, though, heart-tugging rom-coms seem to be the aim for his character's arc when Anna (Charlize Theron) strolls into town.
She is married to infamous outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Neeson), but naturally keeps it a secret long enough for Albert to fall in love with her.
In truth, the rom-com aspect is extremely basic, although MacFarlane does seem like he has the potential for such work. His acting beyond classic voice work does need work, but there is some promise lurking there.
He does, however, at time reminds you of Brian Griffin in a bolo tie and Stetson. In truth, its kind of a curse MacFarlane and his co-writers in Family Guy have been involved, as it reminds a lot of one of the recent lackluster recent works put out by the Fox animated staple.
That's not to say everything fails to hit the mark. There are amusing lines dotted hither and thither, some provoke a smirk and there are one or two guffaws. Some amusing lines drop in and out, and there is an amusing cameo from American talk show host Bill Maher. But there is also a heavy reliance of sex, race and scatological jokes, and while some are amusing, and there is one jaw-droppingly offensive joke later somehow made even more weird with a late cameo for Django (Jamie Foxx)
There's also a bizarre on-drugs sequence near the end when Albert is taken in by some friendly Indians.
While its been trailed as mocking the Old West for being a truly detestable place to live, this is in many ways its own love letter to the genre of Western films. The piece as a whole looks beautiful, and has cinematography very well in keeping with the world of a Western movie. A Western-aping soundtrack is also very nicely set to the piece.
But at almost 2 hours, it is at least half an hour too long, and feels like it stretches things a bit thin at times. MacFarlane's previous comedy project Ted may only have been 15 minutes shorter, but was a leaner piece with evolution in the style and strategy.
This, by contrast, has a fairly basic plot on which hangs a range of hit-and-miss jokes, while some characters impress more than others.
In short, it is like watching a live-action Family Guy set in 1882 Arizona. There's even a cameo role for Alex Borstein - better known as Lois Griffin - and the odd pop culture reference too.
The frustrating element is that there was much promise, ranging from its cast and pedigree to its beautiful setting. But while the films look was certainly up to scratch, it would've been better if the jokes were consistently up to scratch.
2.75/5
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