Eurosport will have extensive coverage of the finals on both television and their website, and you'll find any relevant news, squad announcements and match previews and reports on United Youth in due course.

"When you start, you are not as good as you think you are. When you've been writing for a bit, you [...] are probably not as bad as you fear you might be."

To be honest I prefer the film The Innocents than 'Turn of the Screw' but it's still pretty good - if a bit of a slog for modern tastes!

The other day I was wondering what has happened to James Henry, the winger we signed from Reading on loan. More specifically I was wondering why we are (presumably) paying wages for another club's player who can't get in the side.

It looks like Steve Coppell and his staff at Reading were thinking exactly the same thing, so he's gone back to the Madejski to sit in their reserves instead. Considering he was sent out to pick up valuable first team experience you can't exactly blame them can you?

When he joined with Alex Pearce a fair bit was made of the fact that the duo came as a pair. I didn't think too much of that at at the time, but in hindsight I can't help but wonder how much Glenn Roeder actually wanted Henry in the first place.

We were pretty desperate for a central defender to 'replace' Martin Taylor, and it makes you wonder if Henry was taken just to ensure we bagged Pearce doesn't it?

Unfortunately, or fortunately, we will probably be losing up to 15 players in the new season, including the six loans.

So said Glenn Roeder in the Pink'un this week. The six loan players (Alex Pearce, Mo Camara, Kieran Gibbs, James Henry, Ryan Bertrand and Ched Evans) are therefore givens but who else will be either making a hasty dash for, or bundled out of, the door marked "Exit!"?

I've had a little think, and if I was a betting man I wouldn't stray too far away from this collection of heroes and misfits (I'll leave you to do the categorising):

Dion Dublin. The veteran forward has already made his intentions to retire at the end of the season clear enabling him to spend more time practicing the saxophone and doing media work, so Dion is an obvious "lock" for one of the places.

Since returning to the club where he started his career, City's number 9 has made nearly 60 appearances, scored 10 times, and was voted second in last season's Player of the Season awards (my vote was obviously not enough).

Darren Huckerby. The two-time Player of the Season is also out of contract at the end of the current campaign, and the noises coming from his agent suggest he won't be plying his trade around here next year (although to be fair the same agent said there was no chance of him playing for the Canaries in the first place).

Judging by Roeder's previous comments you have to believe that he doesn't think Hucks will still be here either, but, as I've said in the past, I just hope he gets the chance to go out with a bang.

More...

So said Glenn Roeder in the Pink'un this week. The six loan players (Alex Pearce, Mo Camara, Kieran Gibbs, James Henry, Ryan Bertrand and Ched Evans) are therefore givens but who else will be either making a hasty dash for, or bundled out of, the door marked "Exit!"?

I've had a little think, and if I was a betting man I wouldn't stray too far away from this collection of heroes and misfits (I'll leave you to do the categorising):

Dion Dublin. The veteran forward has already made his intentions to retire at the end of the season clear enabling him to spend more time practicing the saxophone and doing media work, so Dion is an obvious "lock" for one of the places.

Since returning to the club where he started his career, City's number 9 has made nearly 60 appearances, scored 10 times, and was voted second in last season's Player of the Season awards (my vote was obviously not enough).

Darren Huckerby. The two-time Player of the Season is also out of contract at the end of the current campaign, and the noises coming from his agent suggest he won't be plying his trade around here next year (although to be fair the same agent said there was no chance of him playing for the Canaries in the first place).

Judging by Roeder's previous comments you have to believe that he doesn't think Hucks will still be here either, but, as I've said in the past, I just hope he gets the chance to go out with a bang.

Ryan Jarvis. Shipped off on loan to Notts County in League Two, Jarvis senior is another out of contract at the end of the season and few would bet on his return.

As I said a couple of weeks ago being labeled the "next big thing" probably hasn't done Ryan too many favours, but the chances are he'll have someone close to hand to comfort him in the shape of...

Rossi Jarvis. I don't anticipate it being a very happy Jarvis household this summer in the slightest.

Juan Valesco. The Spanish right-back was signed on a short-term deal recently, and is probably therefore a decent shout to fill one of the positions on the "hit list" - unless he gets a chance to shine in the meantime of course.

Simon Lappin. There aren't too many of Peter Grant's signings left, and I think that after the summer there'll be at least one less.

Matthew Halliday. Halliday signed a new one-year extension to his contract last summer, but I'm not expecting it to be renewed.

Robert Eagle. He of long, floppy blond hair fame signed a one-year extension to his contract last summer, and like Halliday, I doubt his will be renewed.

Bally Smart. Smart is another youngster who is out of contract in the summer, and since returning from his loan spell at MK Dons has never really got close to the first team.

I think it is probably fair to say only a few would be missed, and would leave us with a starting eleven probably consisting of: Marshall, Drury, Doherty, Shackell, Otsemobor, Pattison, Russell, Fotheringham, Croft, Cureton, Martin.

On the surface that doesn't seem too bad, but who would be on the bench? You can see why Roeder faces such a difficult task.

You'll also notice I've made a few presumptions in there, including the very large one that Gary Doherty and Mark Fotheringham have signed new contracts. Both have made positive statements about their desire to stay but it remains to be seen whether or not they actually sign on the dotted line.

Nugent decides not to become a temporary tractor boy.

I was surprised but not particularly disappointed to hear that Portsmouth striker David Nugent has decided to stay on the South Coast and play for Pompey's reserves rather than join Jim Magilton's promotion seeking Tractor Boys on loan.

On the surface it would seem to be yet another example of the modern Premier League footballer preferring to kick their heels in the ressies picking up their pay-cheque rather than going out and playing first-team football somewhere.

One thing that can't be denied though is Ipswich going for a player of Nugent's ilk is a definite statement of intent, and if they don't go up this year will almost certainly be there or thereabouts next term. Something for us all to look forward to then.

Play-Offs for the Canaries? Not this season I'm afraid.

You may recall that a few weeks ago I made some predictions about the rest of our games for this season, where I said that I felt as few as 68 or 69 points could be needed for a play-off place. That's looking like being nearer the normal 73-75 mark now.

Here's where we are compared to where I thought we would be:

9^th February - Cardiff City (A). My prediction: Draw. Actual result: Norwich win.

12^th February - Hull City (H). My prediction: Norwich to win. Actual result: Draw.

16^th February - Leicester City (A). My prediction: Norwich to win. Actual result: Leicester win.

23^rd February - Barnsley (H). My prediction: Norwich to win. Actual result: Norwich win.

1^st March - Blackpool (H). My prediction: Norwich to win. Actual result: Blackpool win.

4^th March - Watford (A). My prediction: Watford to win. Actual result: Draw.

According to my predictions we should be sitting on 51 points by now with ten games to go (which would put us somewhere around tenth), but we actually have 46.

It was always going to be a long-shot given our ridiculously bad start to the season, but I'd settle for a nice mid-table finish now to be perfectly honest, and then onwards and upwards to next season.

Which leads us nicely onto...

Season Ticket sales something to be proud of.

The club announced that over 18,000 season tickets have so far been sold for next season with some pride, and rightly so

Norwich City supporters are often praised for their loyalty and support by the club, but following the lacklustre last couple of years we have endured it is a real achievement to sell just 3,000 less season tickets than the average gate enjoyed by our friends down the road - and all whilst they are having a good time of it as well.

Until next week...

OTBC

Who do you think will be shown the exit door this summer? Are you on the 18,000 that have already renewed their season ticket? Can City still make the play-offs? Does it matter? Let me know what you think...

Novellas and Tales

Travel Writings

Literary Criticism

Autobiography

Plays

Biography

Visual Arts Criticism

...

American Literature - Up to 1900

Those are some pretty big numbers but does it mean that the squad stronger now than it was way back at Christmas (which feels like a lifetime ago now)?

In the goalkeeping department we've seen no new arrivals but the departures of Paul Gallacher (released) and hot-prospect Joe Lewis to Peterborough United for £400,000 have left the squad two keepers down on this time last month.

There may be a lot of potential sitting in the academy but if just for sheer numbers alone I'd say that the position has been weakened. Any injury to David Marshall or Matthew Gilks could cause some big problems.

More...

Those are some pretty big numbers but does it mean that the squad stronger now than it was way back at Christmas (which feels like a lifetime ago now)?

In the goalkeeping department we've seen no new arrivals but the departures of Paul Gallacher (released) and hot-prospect Joe Lewis  to Peterborough United for £400,000 have left the squad two keepers down on this time last month.

There may be a lot of potential sitting in the academy but if just for sheer numbers alone I'd say that the position has been weakened. Any injury to David Marshall or Matthew Gilks could cause some big problems.

The Defence has seen the biggest overhaul and has been the centre of most attention. Ian Murray was released and Simon Lappin sent on loan to Motherwell, which made room for Mo Camara to extend his stay from Derby County until the end of the season, Ryan Bertrand to come in from Chelsea and Alex Pearce from Reading, also until the end of the season.

There's also "emergency" loanee Matthew Bates from Middlesbrough who will be with the Canaries until 28th April - although Boro have a 24 hour recall option after the first month.

I think it's fair to say the biggest talking point in the window was a certain Martin Taylor. Hours of talk and thousands of words have been spent on the pursuit of "Tiny". I was still confident he would sign until the Bates signing was announced and then a few short hours later it was revealed that Bolton had won the chase for Gary Cahill's signature, leaving Alex McLeish short of defensive options of his own.

The much-improved form of Jason Shackell and Gary Doherty over the last few weeks may well have had a bearing on the final outcome, and Roeder has been quoted in the press as saying a deal could still be done in the summer. We'll have to just wait and see on that one (Anyone else getting déjà vu?).

There can be no question as far as I am concerned that the defence is stronger now than it was a month ago. There is competition for places across the back four which should keep everyone on their toes - and hopefully ensure the only thing Doherty wraps himself round is his starting place.

It's a similar story in midfield. The hapless Julien Brellier is now plying his trade elsewhere and Jimmy Smith's loan deal has come to an end (which I have included in the "going out" column but maybe that's a little unfair), but coming in is Matty Pattison from Newcastle on a permanent deal, James Henry from Reading and Kieran Gibbs from Arsenal on emergency loans until 28th April.

I spoke about Pattison in an earlier column (Guru's Goat: The January transfer window), so I won't go over old ground there.

Henry from Reading has been described on canaries.co.uk as "one of the brightest prospects to come out of the Reading academy" and is a right-winger, adding more options and giving the excellent Lee Croft something else to think about.

I see Kieran Gibbs as an ideal replacement for Smith, although according to myfootballwriter.com his best position is possibly wide left - adding yet more competition to a position where Ryan Bertrand has more often than not found himself occupying of late.

So what does that mean for Darren Huckerby? The talismanic front man has struggled to shake off a hip injury this season and coupled with a drop of form has been in and out of the team, and now has potentially three others to get passed if he is to reclaim his place in the side - assuming Roeder sticks with his "one winger" policy - and that the winger is not Croft of Henry bombing down the right hand side.

Hucks is out of contract in the summer and rumours of a move Stateside to join the MLS refuse to go away. He has been quoted in the past as saying Norwich will be his last English club, and I have no reason to doubt that. I just hope we get to see him somewhere near his best before he leaves in the summer, which I think he will.

In theory supplying chances for the front-line should no longer be a problem; however taking said chances is another story, which is why the attacking department still makes me nervous.

I think it is fair to say that we haven't lost an awful lot of goals releasing David Strihavka, loaning Ryan Jarvis to Notts County and selling Chris Brown to Preston for £400,000, but with only Ched Evans coming in - albeit until the end of the season now - I can see us continuing to struggle for goals and our over-reliance on Dion Dublin continues to be a cause for concern.

Last season's Championship top-scorer Jamie Cureton has been firing blanks as of late and like most City fans I'm hoping he can find the form he showed at the beginning of the season - and if he could stay onside a little more frequently all the better.

Overall I think the squad is stronger now than it was a month ago - however with all these emergency loanees due to return to their clubs on 28th April it does make you wonder who will actually be left to play the final game of the season against Sheffield Wednesday in the first week of May, but that's for another time.

It's also worth remembering that further emergency loans from the Premier League can be made in about another week's time, so the excitement might not be over yet. Just let me catch my breath first.

OTBC

Do you think the squad is stronger now? Are you worried about the lack of goals? Where is Darren Huckerby is going to fit in between now and the end of the season? Let me know what you think...

Numbers two and three on Roeder's list are Alex Pearce and James Henry (hands up who had them in the sweepstake).

Pearce is a 19 year-old defender described on the official site as a "dominant centre back with strong aerial presence and an eye for goal", has joined until the end of the season, and surely puts to bed any chance of Martin Taylor signing.

Henry is an 18 year-old winger, described as "one of the brightest prospects to come out of the Reading academy". He's joined on a similar deal to Matthew Bates (until 28th April with Reading having a 24 hour recall clause after the first 28 days).

So that's three signings in just under 24 hours. There's 10 hours left in the window and I've just got one question left - where's the striker?

Essentially, the novel revolves around the divorce of two people – Beale and Ida Farange – and the effects this has on their young daughter, Maisie. These two people are possibly the most terrible parents in the world. While their presence is clearly felt throughout the novel, they are almost never seen, except when they need to convince their innocent daughter that staying with them is better than staying with the other. It is up to the assortment of governesses and step-parents that Maisie acquires throughout the novel to attempt to sort this child’s life out. It is these three people – Mrs Beale (Beale’s new wife), Sir Claude (Ida’s new husband), and Mrs Wix (the governess at Ida’s house) – who, in a sense, become surrogate parents to Maisie. Since her parents almost never see her, she is shuttled between these three people, though even they are not above the politics and drama of trying to keep and raise Maisie. Once again, the characters take side in a battle for Maisie, and they are again drawn on marital lines. The final conflict takes place in France, after Maisie has been kidnapped twice – by two different people involved in this battle. It turns into a moral lesson – should Maisie go with people who will make her happy, or people who will make her morally right. It is interesting to note this, considering the time What Maisie Knew was written – a time when morals were being thrown out the window, making way for the 20th century.

The character of Maisie herself is not perhaps explored as fully as she could be. I can see why James did this, though. She is a blank slate, with no bias towards any of the people trying to get a hold of her. As such, she is easily convinced by the flimsy arguments that are presented to her about the decisions she must make, and we feel her confusion, as well as wide-eyed innocence.

While the concept itself is quite interesting – and certainly appropriate to the modern world - I’m not totally enamoured with James’ writing style. I really think that he needs to be introduced to the comma, and a lesson on how to place them. I also found it hard to keep up with his train of thought – there are pages and pages which contain but one paragraph, which is odd, considering each chapter is only a few pages long. Perhaps this is because of the original serialisation – I find it a little grating, today, however.

Perhaps What Maisie Knew is not about abortion at all. It is, however, certainly a caution to those people who are going through a divorce with children. Make sure they don’t become pawns in a massive game of one-up-man-ship. Oh, and watch out for your new spouses – you’ll never know what they might get up to.

From News12.com:

Incumbent Patrick ‘Skip’ Heaney said a number of factors complicated the outcome. One of those factors is the 500-700 absentee ballots that still need to be counted, according to Heaney.

“Even if I was going to consider a concession speech, I wouldn’t know who to concede to,” Heaney said.

The incumbent supervisor said he’ll be part of the upcoming process for determining a winner. No matter what happens, Heaney said he is grateful for his party’s support and proud of the fact he stood for his record and not promises.

With all precincts reporting, Republican Linda Kabot has 33 percent of the vote, James Henry (D, WF) has 32 percent of the vote and Heaney has 29 percent. Alexander Gregor (I) trails far behind with 6 percent of the vote.

Click here for political analysis of the Southampton Town supervisor race

Hutch:

Henry is the 11th UT player, or former player, arrested since the national championship in January 2006.

Whit: 11 different players and 13 total arrests. The Texas administration needs to do something about it.

Woodall: Either that or send all those players to a reform school, like A&M…

Hutch: The ironic part about it is the Dallas Morning News did a huge story about Mack Brown and how he just isn't getting through to the players. And literally hours after that story printed, another kid gets arrested. Pretty amazing. I made sure to send a link to Kevin Sherrington and the Morning News. Just doing my part to clean up college athletics.

New details have developed on this. Apparently, Henry's arrest is in connection to the previous arrest for Texas players Dre Jones and Robert Joseph for breaking and entering. The story is Joseph called Henry from jail where Henry proceeded to tell Joseph he went to the witness' house and told Joseph, "I went over there and whooped all them n-----s last night, fool" and proceeded to tell Joseph he had disposed of the "other backpack" which contained more stolen property from their previous robbery.

We know all this because, of course, phone calls from jail are recorded...

Do you think Texas should do something about this "problem"?  Should the NCAA step in at some point? Join in the conversation!

Leyendo un ensayo de David Lodge, supe que la novela favorita de Proust era Un par de ojos azules , de Thomas Hardy. Quiso algún Dios generoso que se produjera la feliz coincidencia de que mi hermana tuviera ese libro. Así que lo he leído.

Es un libro hermoso, y no es extraño que le gustase a Proust. Aunque siempre me ha atraído Thomas Hardy (no sé por qué), pensaba que si leía una novela suya sería Jude el oscuro. Ahora tengo más razones para leerla, pues Un par de ojos azules es su primera novela y Jude una de las últimas.

Thomas Hardy nació en 1840 y murió, si no me equivoco, hacia 1928. Escribió muchas novelas, como Lejos del mundanal ruido (Far from the Madding Crowd) o Tess de los Uberville , que es la historia en la que se basa la película Tess , con Nastassia Kinsky.

El prologuista de Un par de ojos azules (Damián Alou) dice que en The Well-beloved (1897), Hardy critica "esa tendencia tan masculina a tener modelos femeninos prefijados" y compara esa novela con El altar de los muertos y La bestia en la jungla , de Henry James. Todo esto hace que me interese mucho por The well-beloved , sobre todo porque La bestia en la jungla es quizá la novela corta o cuento largo que más me gusta de James y, creo, como Hardy, que el error de muchos hombres (tal vez también el de muchas mujeres) es que en realidad no se relacionan con la mujer que tienen junto a ellos, sino con una especie de idea de "mujer". El extremo de esa actitud es Don Juan, que sólo se relaciona con arquetipos y que seduce pero no ama. El otro extremo, el bueno, es Casanova, que seduce porque ama, no porque ame seducir. 

En Jude el oscuro , Hardy, al parecer, "critica el matrimonio y se muestra a favor de la libertad de los sentimientos". En casi todas sus obras "defiende la libertad sexual y ataca las convenciones burguesas". Más alicientes todavía para leerlo.

En los últimos treinta y tres años de su vida, Hardy dejó de escribir novelas y sólo publicó poesía, al parecer muy buena. Influyó en los poetas de la experiencia, como Phillip Larkin: "poesía desnuda, esencial, que apela a la emoción sin caer en el sentimentalismo"

Yo no sé mucho o no sé nada acerca de la poesía de la experiencia, pero sé que, al menos en España, hay dos bandos enfrentados de poetas, unos son los de la experiencia y otros no me acuerdo. La verdad es que me da igual, y lo último que haría sería meterme en una de estas guerras literarias.

Aunque sé que a menudo hay grupos y tendencias y generaciones literarias, yo intento leer a cada escritor al margen de la facción en la que combate, o a la que le suman. Seguramente hay buenos poetas en las diferentes bandas y seguramente esas disputas tan enconadas sólo sirven para alimentar prejuicios y cegueras, así que no diré si ser poeta de la experiencia es bueno o malo. Tan sólo intentaré leer a Hardy y a Larkin, y tal vez pueda decir entonces algo. Por ejemplo: "Hay dos poetas que me gustan (o no me gustan): Hardy y Larkin. Los expertos los consideran poetas de la experiencia". Poco más.

"[Para James] el mal es no ser, no aceptar los peligros y los compromisos de la condición humana".

Hacia eso es hacia lo que apunta el primer poema del Cuaderno de Brasil (Islas del trópico), al que, por tanto, le ajustaría mejor el título jamesiano.
Hay una meditación de Marco Aurelio muy semejante a este poema:

"La mejor manera de defenderte es no parecerte a ellos (VI, 6)".

Curitiba, donde escribí éste y otros poemas es la capital del estado de Paraná.

2. ¿La cualidad que deseo en un hombre?
Tranquilidad. Belleza

3. ¿La cualidad que prefiero en una mujer?
Alegría. Singularidad

4. ¿Lo que más aprecio en mis amigos?
Que no me hagan cómplice. Que me escuchen

5. ¿Mi principal defecto?
El abandono de lo mío y el no abandonarme a los demás

6. ¿Mi sueño de dicha?
Amar sin sufrir

7. ¿Mi sueño de dicha?
ver 6

8. ¿Cuál sería mi mayor desgracia?
No encontrar a nadie cuando lo necesite

9. ¿Qué quisiera ser?
Nada en especial

10. ¿Dónde desearía vivir?
En la ciudad, en una casa amplia

11. ¿El color que prefiero?
El negro

12. ¿La flor que prefiero?
Prefiero las plantas

13. ¿El pájaro que prefiero?
El cuervo

14. ¿Mis autores preferidos en prosa?
Poe, Boris Vian, Nerval, James

15. ¿Mis poetas preferidos?
Kahyam, Poe

16. ¿Mis héroes de ficción?
Melmoth, Sherlock Holmes

17. ¿Mis heroínas favoritas de ficción?
Ernestina [Sade]

18. ¿Mis compositores preferidos?
Chopin, Albinoni

19. ¿Mis pintores predilectos?
Leonardo, El Bosco, Mucha, Beardsley

20. ¿Mis héroes de la vida real?
William Beckford

21. ¿Mis heroínas históricas?
Catalina de Rusia

22. ¿Mis nombres favoritos?
Adrián

23. ¿Qué detesto más que nada?
El olvido

24. ¿Qué caracteres historicos desprecio más?
La simpleza, los simples

25. ¿Qué hecho militasr admiro más?
Las conquistas de Alejandro

26. ¿Qué reforma admiro más?
No contestada

27. ¿Qué dones naturales quisiera tener?
Seducción, encanto
28. Cómo me gustaría morir
En el momento elgido por mí. Envenenado (con rapidez)

29. ¿Estado presente de mi espíritu?
Cambiante y algo decaído

30. Hechos que me inspiran más indulgencia?
La insistencia

31. Mi lema
No recuerdo

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