There are two things that really get on my nerves at work: over-noisy people and arse-lickers.
Unfortunately, in my office, I have one of each.
Firstly, we have a chap, lets call him D. He will laugh hysterically at everything he says, no matter whether it is remotely funny or not. Not only that, but his laugh is very annoying and loud - you know the type of laugh I'm talking about - the kind of laugh so loud and irritating you can hear it throughout the office. It's got the point where conversations with him don't last very long because the other person simply gets drowned out by his inane cackle.
Even as a write this, he's chuntering away, finding everything funny - god knows what he'd be like in a comedy club, they'd probably have to get a paramedic because he'd certainly get over excited and start hyperventilating.
Whatsmore, D is quite arrogant, big headed and not-at-all sensitive to people around him, so I don't think he's aware of the annoyance he causes to people. Trouble is, D's boss is a similar kind of guy. D and his boss can pointlessly rattle on for hours, neither listening to what the other says, both laughing at every single gap or pause in the conversation, both acting like arrogant dickheads.
Moving on, the 2nd most annoying office habit I currently suffer is arse-licking or brown-nosing. Now I think we're all a little guilty of this - aren't we? Everyone does (or should) treat their superiors with the relevant level of respect, and by definition, you probably don't apply that level of respect to your colleagues of the same importance as you.
However, there are some who take this to a new level. L works in my office and she is a master brown-noser, she must have studied it at uni she's so accomplished. She takes ignorance to a new level also, blanking people like me, yet whenever there is a manager (or higher) in the office for the day, she will always ask them if they're going to breakfast, going for lunch, if they want a coffee.
I dont mind L being friendly like this with her superiors if she shows a little respect and a similar level of respect to those around her, but she doesn't. Although I dont deal with L directly, I'm sure she'd be the type who would hesitate to step on you on her way up the ladder.
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Walsall F.C, 20 years from now
I was going to write a blog solely about my thoughts on the future of Walsall F.C, then we went and thrashed Bristol Rovers 6-1, so I thought that deserved a bit of a mention too.
We absolutely destroyed Rovers, partly because we played really well, partly because they looked a poor side and allowed our midfield to dominate. Strangely enough, Walsall could easily have scored another 2 or 3, alas they didn't.
It's not the highest score I've seen as a Walsall fan - we had a couple of 5-0's under Richard Money and one under Mullen I think, but I also remember seeing the Saddlers beat Torquay 8-4 in a Johnston's-Paint-LDV-AutoWindscreens-League-trophy match - I think it was during the Graydon era, but it might have been earlier than that.
Anyway, thrashing Bristol Rovers was a fantastic result and the combined effect of Chris Nicholl and the players having a bit of confidence seems to be paying dividends, lets hope they can get a result at Notts County tonight.
And now, back to the original idea for today's blog.
I took a friend along to the Oldham game, he's a Villa fan, a referee and a keen footballer himself, he's been a few times to Walsall down the years, but it was his comments during the Oldham match that really got me thinking.
Over the past few years, the attendances at Walsall have dipped, some would say alarmingly so. I think the average attendance this season is 3,700ish, down from 4000ish last season, and down from a peak of 7,800ish in 2003/4.
Looking around at the sparsely populated Bescot Stadium during the Oldham match, my friend turned to me and said "there aint many here are there?", I shrugged and grunted "nah" in reply. He then said "you wont be playing here in 20 years", I turned to him and asked him to elaborate, and he went on to explain that he couldn't see how a club like Walsall could survive in their current state with such dwindling and disenfranchised support base.
In all honesty, it's not something I'd thought about, I'd never really imagined where we would be 20 years from now, but my friend seemed to have a point.
As a Villa fan, you could easily dismiss him as one of the 'premier league generation' of fans who have lost touch with the real game and it's values - but he's a fully qualified referee who officiates all around the Midlands at varying levels, a resident in Walsall borough and he works in the town. Furthermore, he's mostly unaware of the financial situation of Walsall F.C, nor the rental arrangement by which Walsall use Bescot Stadium.
So he'd got me thinking - Will WFC be playing at Bescot in 20 years? Will WFC still be in existence? Will WFC still be in the league?
I guess this is a question that goes beyond Walsall F.C, there are after all other lower league clubs with dwindling attendances in sparsely populated stadia. Will League 2 exist in 20 years? With all the money sloshing about in the Premier League, will we see the demise of lower-league football in this country? I don't think so - there are enough success stories in the Conference and League 2 to suggest that lower-league football in this country is still in a healthy state.
However, when it comes to Walsall F.C, I fear the worst. The current state of affairs is bad enough - the club are heavily in debt, they rent the stadium and the owner wants out. Couple this with the proximity of other, much more successful clubs and you really do being to question whether Walsall F.C really have a long term future at Bescot Stadium? I'm sure that there will always been a football club in Walsall in one form or another, but is the current club sustainable?
I would argue that it isn't, and that's what makes me worry for the next 20 years.
We absolutely destroyed Rovers, partly because we played really well, partly because they looked a poor side and allowed our midfield to dominate. Strangely enough, Walsall could easily have scored another 2 or 3, alas they didn't.
It's not the highest score I've seen as a Walsall fan - we had a couple of 5-0's under Richard Money and one under Mullen I think, but I also remember seeing the Saddlers beat Torquay 8-4 in a Johnston's-Paint-LDV-AutoWindscreens-League-trophy match - I think it was during the Graydon era, but it might have been earlier than that.
Anyway, thrashing Bristol Rovers was a fantastic result and the combined effect of Chris Nicholl and the players having a bit of confidence seems to be paying dividends, lets hope they can get a result at Notts County tonight.
And now, back to the original idea for today's blog.
I took a friend along to the Oldham game, he's a Villa fan, a referee and a keen footballer himself, he's been a few times to Walsall down the years, but it was his comments during the Oldham match that really got me thinking.
Over the past few years, the attendances at Walsall have dipped, some would say alarmingly so. I think the average attendance this season is 3,700ish, down from 4000ish last season, and down from a peak of 7,800ish in 2003/4.
Looking around at the sparsely populated Bescot Stadium during the Oldham match, my friend turned to me and said "there aint many here are there?", I shrugged and grunted "nah" in reply. He then said "you wont be playing here in 20 years", I turned to him and asked him to elaborate, and he went on to explain that he couldn't see how a club like Walsall could survive in their current state with such dwindling and disenfranchised support base.
In all honesty, it's not something I'd thought about, I'd never really imagined where we would be 20 years from now, but my friend seemed to have a point.
As a Villa fan, you could easily dismiss him as one of the 'premier league generation' of fans who have lost touch with the real game and it's values - but he's a fully qualified referee who officiates all around the Midlands at varying levels, a resident in Walsall borough and he works in the town. Furthermore, he's mostly unaware of the financial situation of Walsall F.C, nor the rental arrangement by which Walsall use Bescot Stadium.
So he'd got me thinking - Will WFC be playing at Bescot in 20 years? Will WFC still be in existence? Will WFC still be in the league?
I guess this is a question that goes beyond Walsall F.C, there are after all other lower league clubs with dwindling attendances in sparsely populated stadia. Will League 2 exist in 20 years? With all the money sloshing about in the Premier League, will we see the demise of lower-league football in this country? I don't think so - there are enough success stories in the Conference and League 2 to suggest that lower-league football in this country is still in a healthy state.
However, when it comes to Walsall F.C, I fear the worst. The current state of affairs is bad enough - the club are heavily in debt, they rent the stadium and the owner wants out. Couple this with the proximity of other, much more successful clubs and you really do being to question whether Walsall F.C really have a long term future at Bescot Stadium? I'm sure that there will always been a football club in Walsall in one form or another, but is the current club sustainable?
I would argue that it isn't, and that's what makes me worry for the next 20 years.
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