hypochondriac

Anyone got the stats of when we start with Alcaraz versus not starting with him? My sense is it's not good when he doesn't start.

That's one of our weakest starting lineups of the season for me...

I'm at qpr and I'm bringing my face paints and jester hat so you should see a marked improvement in a couple of weeks.

It was a good save but it's not exactly Niemi level where you watch open mouthed that he managed to pull off a stop.

The entire thing is absolutely ridiculous. Even those who would like to see significant action taken over illegal immigration will surely admit that this is not the way to do anything.

Do asset management firms like Blackrock have an influence over companies, messaging they push and marketing decisions?

They would have been aware but the rules have always been a bit grey about who you can tell and when which is part of the problem. Like I said though, I don't think Ofsted is solely to blame but the way that Ofsted operates and the whole manner of the inspection framework have negatively impacted the mental health of a large number of teachers and senior teams who work with children. On top of that there is a retention and recruitment crisis which again Ofsted and the culture they foster have a significant role in. The Ruth Perry suicide is thankfully a rare occurrence but the circumstances and treatment she received is not rare at all. Of course some can get a bad Ofsted result and survive or improve but that doesn't make the current situation right.

I don't think you can say that with certainty.

I think Joey was mostly referring to Amazon Prime coverage where it is getting out of control. It would be lovely if you had a choice of commentary and punditry on the equivalent of the red button which would be nice but I doubt they would ever allow that because then they'd see a clear preference for one over the other and the pretence would be over.

Seems that for most it's not female pundits that are the issue, it's shit female pundits.

She's a presenter and a pundit though not brain of Britain or a journalist. She's paid to be authentic and knowledgeable on the telly and seem like a bit of a laugh with a sense of humour and she accomplishes that well. She could be absolutely awful in her personal life but that's not really important to do the job.

Eni eluko is absolutely horrendous though it must be said.

Agree to disagree. I've always thought she was decent. Saw her in the boxing the other week and she was great on that too.

I can't say I've ever considered them left wing, just inconsistent and often led by an inspector with a particular agenda with the days going how they decide rather than how it's been laid out by ofsted.

Also worth pointing out in my article above that she did seek help, was supported by her loved ones, went to mental health support and saw her GP so it's not correct to say she didn't have support. The brutality of the one word judgement, the feeling that house prices would be affected so she'd be hated by the local community, the fallacy about not being able to discuss the impending inadequate judgement to the degree that she didn't feel she could discuss it even with her doctors were significant contributory factors to her suicide.

The best pundits are the ones you watch and most of the time forget what sex they are. If they fit in seamlessly enough then it's not an issue. Bbc and itv especially have a load of shite women on though who are awful and detract from the experience. You're also right that there's some awful male pundits too but that's rather a different issue, they'd still be more qualified to discuss football from their experience had they had a top flight career.

Mostly agree with that. Laura woods also excellent. I think the problem is the poor female pundits they get in for box ticking reasons rather than the good ones you mention. Barton is correct when female footballers are employed to talk about mens football by relating it to their female football experience because as he says its not remotely similar no problem with a female presenter in a Laura woods role though, she's great.

The coroner explained clearly that she had no prior mental health issues before this inspection and that the inspection was a significant reason for her suicide. Looking wider than this particular case though, some of the conduct of Ofsted - particularly the inconsistency of their inspections and their appeals process - is absolutely appaling and not insignificant numbers of heads and teachers have spoken about the toll they have taken on their mental health. I think I've been involved with at least 20 inspections so I have a fair bit of experience of them. Many have been absolutely fine but a couple have been an absolute disgrace and I can quite see why they could potentially lead to very serious consequences. Both the ones I'm talking about eventually resulted in a good rating by the way but the ultimate grade didn't make the experience any less unpleasant.

In times past, inspections were done but as a partnership with the local authority who knows the school and it's history and the school itself. I agree that standards need to be checked but personally I think this approach is superior to what we have now where ofsted judgements really aren't worth the paper they are written on. Schools jump through a load of hoops simply to do things to satisfy ofsted (I know there have been changes in recent years to combat this but it still happens.) and in my experience, the least well adjusted children often come from so called outstanding schools where they have been pushed so hard and end up like robots reciting mantras with little time for creativity or time for childhood. Best school I ever worked at had never had an outstanding grade but undeniably put the children first, prioritised staff wellbeing and gave the impression that they liked young people. Sadly Ofsted guidance changes over the last decade mean that these are rarer occurances than ever before.

I think in this particular instance it would be difficult to argue that ofsted wrre if not solely responsible then need to take the vast majority of the blame. The report is utterly damming.

100% agree. I sent my children to a local school that never got outstanding but I'd spoken to teachers and LSAs so I knew it was the best school to send them to. I worked in an outstanding school and it was horrendous for children.

I don't think they have ever been seen as solely to blame and the coroners report mentions the local authority. The disputed issue is that Amanda Spielman claimed that Ofsted could not take any of the blame and that the way they inspected was not a contributing factor in her death. This has now been contradicted by the coroner. The big problem is the format of the inspection and the attitude of many of the inspectors along with their training. Ruth perry is very much not an isolated incident and if you listen to teachers everyone knows a story of ruined lives due to Ofsted.

Has anyone been following this saga? As someone who has worked in schools as a teacher and in Early Years, I can't deny that I shed a tear as I read this report and how Ofsted has contributed to Ruth Perry's death. I know many many people who have similar stories to tell. I have seen so many excellent colleagues absolutely burn out due to stress of inspections even if they've got an outstanding grading. I do understand the need to protect children and to keep standards high, but surely now there needs to be some sort of systemic change before we see more of this. Ofsted badly needs some humanity, empathy and a change to the adversarial nature of inspections. Some people have suggested filming inspections which I would support or generally a more supportive approach that assumes positive intent from the majority of schools. I.N.A.D.E.Q.U.A.T.E - Ruth Perry’s despair in handwritten notes - BBC News

With asset management firms like Blackrock providing finance that they need to exist to corporations who sign up to DEI initiatives, there's an argument to be made that the most important thing at present is not to sell stuff but to satisfy their inclusion and diversity requirements.

Ultimately that's the goal yes. I'm not sure that's always the motivation for many companies. Look at Disney currently crashing and burning for trying to push agendas in their films (something their CEO has been explicit about changing course on last week.) It seems that in that case at least, selling stuff isn't the only motivation.