Bolton v Manchester United

Five long weeks into the course and finally, my first live United game since my move to Cardiff. I glanced at the clock inside the Reebok after 20 minutes and could only look on in amazement at what I had just witnessed. Hansen claimed on MOTD the performance was the best he'd seen in 4 or 5 years. G.Nev and SAF were not far behind by saying it had been 2 or 3 years since they had played as well as that. Bolton Wanderers, trying at their best, simply did not get a kick.

My last game v Arsenal at Old Trafford was a disaster. The slender 1-0 defeat and the brilliance of the Gunners midfield slightly masked United's inept performance. On Saturday, the Red's rythmn, relentless attacking play and determination was nothing short of brilliant. And this was away to the team who hadn't conceded a goal at home and were sitting proudly in third in the Premiership table. Does this say more about United or the state of the Premiership?

Highlight of the day: Forget Rooney's hat-trick, the stylish four-nil victory or the fantastic away following from Manchester. For me, it was the unbelievable commitment of centre half Nemanja Vidic who epitomised the drive United are showing at the moment. Leaping through the air to command his defence, Rio Ferdinand should watch and admire how to defend properly. Let's hope it can last because I would like to at least see a race for the title this year rather than Chelsea predictably winning it at a canter.

Next week: Wales v Australia as the Autumn internationals begin.

*Alternative Politics

The second guest lecture came from Conservative Iain Dale, one of the founders of the Internet television show, 18 Doughty Street. The talk gave an insight into blogging interest among political parties. Mr Dale claimed only 20 politicians out of 656 are "keeping it real" and have a blog. Living in the world of new media, I predict the numbers will change dramatically within a year.

On the show, Dale and his fellow presenters have agreed that anyone who comes on and toes their party line would not reappear. Come the next general election, will this policy be maintained or will we see a drive to secure or gain votes?

Undoubtedly, the show will be controversial but needs to be respected by both its participants and audience. It will offer a refreshing and alternative viewpoint of modern-day politics. Doughty Street wants to introduce new political faces which can only be a step up in widening debate. Currently, we see the same old faces on the limited programmes we have available. Why not try something new? Or is this just a brilliant idea until the novelty element wears off?

Another positive is the station's flexible approach in its running schedule and Dale confirmed that the station will extend programming to reach a conclusion rather than cut off a speaker in their prime. This would never happen on the BBC.

Many people are opposed to change but Internet television will develop hugely in the next 3-4 years. You only need to look at the development of YouTube in the last year. Dale claimed ITV are 'shit-scared' and SKY 'worried' of the station. Will these media companies now create Internet TV of their own to combat the threat? Full marks for the imagination and creation of the station but I question the level of seriousness of the above statement. Only time will tell.

Amanda Powell

Our first guest appearance to take the Brit Acres arena stage was the editor of BBC Wales online, Amanda Powell. www.bbc.co.uk/walesnews . I was looking forward to this lecture because I am keen on the workings of online. I spend a fair amount of time surfing the BBC websites and could be a job possibility come May. Interesting aspects arose from the lecture, but overall, the content was fairly dry.

Shock horror, the average length of time spent on a BBC page was 0.82 of a minute. What would you expect to achieve in that time? Digest the major headlines? Amanda informed us of the difficulties of online journalism, with the pace being more like broadcast than print and also the tight frameworks for a headline. Each headline must consist of between 31-33 characters.

Amanda threw in several statistics regarding how many impressions the BBC receives a month. The English version of BBC Wales receives 11-12m impressions a month with the main BBC website, helped by its international readers, receiving a staggering 30m a month. But the eye-raiser for me was the Welsh speaking version which only gets 300,000 a month. This may offend people but will this version be economically worthwhile and sustainable in the long run?


We know the broadcast channel S4C receives a fixed annual grant from the UK's department of Culture, Media and Sport to the tune of 85m an annum which makes the channel one of the most subsidised in the world. The same is on-going in Scotland with the Scots Gaelic language enjoying its revival so what is the future for the Welsh speaking version on BBC Wales Online?

Blog of the week

I came across an interesting piece by Roger Mosey, director of BBC Sport. He discusses what rights BBC Sport have on the back of the recent radio and television deals which have been divided up by the Premier League. Mosey also takes the average punter behind the scenes, and analyses schedules as well as explaining the reasons as to how the programmes are made up.

You can see for yourself on:

www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/sporteditors/2006/10/football_tomorrow_and_beyond.html

Wales v Cyprus

I was fortunate enough to win a press pass ticket for the mouth-watering international tie between Wales v Cyprus. I love football and although, Wales had been pummelled five-one by the Slovaks on the previous Saturday, I was immensely looking forward to the event rather the match. I've trotted to the Millennium Stadium on numerous occasions to watch Manchester United but to be among fellow journalists in the best seats in the house for the first time was a thrill.

Law duties forced me to arrive at the stadium during the second half of the England v Croatia match. All the press in the media office had their eyes glued to events in Zagreb so any hope of blagging contacts came and went. Of course, Robinson's blooper was the main talking point.

Wales won the match 3-1 and played reasonably well considering the situation, although, it was a shame not to witness the skills of Ryan Giggs.

Immediately, after the final whistle, I tried to have a conversation with one of the Welsh press (I won't mention the paper, Newport...) but, due to his embarrassment, he wasn't having any of it, so I left it. I went to the manager's press conference where John Toshack attempted to humour his Cypriot counterpart which made the hacks laugh. All in all, the questioning was fairly straightforward with Toshack believing that Wales can still qualify. Somehow, I doubt it.

People

Welcome to my debut blog. Like Ian Brown, I've got the FEAR as I'm not sure where this new world of media will take me but feel free to come along and enjoy the ride. I'd appreciate your comments and feedback as long as they're within reason.