shurlock

Alps is an utter, knee jerk bore but raises some very legitimate concerns in this case.

It obviously depends on context: if kids are getting the basics at home -e.g parents reading to them- then they need less structure at school. Indeed this is the most desirable scenario. But it is not always the case -what do you do if a parent is illiterate? In these circumstances, nurseries and schools arguably have to carry the load and be more prescriptive, especially given what neuroscience tells about the early years. China's a different matter - rote-learning is institutionalised and incentivised at so many different levels -partly reflecting history and it's level of development. The UK is thankfully more pluralistic such that introducing more structure along one small part of the pipeline is unlikely to make much difference -let alone transform the population into mindless factory fodder.

None of this can be divorced from the wider environment - for instance, why are professionals trusted in Scandinavia whereas they are more tightly regulated in the UK. One possibility is that this is due to a more consensual political culture which benefits from Scandinavian countries being more egalitarian and homogenous. It is also arguable that schools in the UK and US have to play a larger role in formal learning to offset socioeconomic disadvantages at home, especially at an early age - hence the motivation for some of the classic interventions in this area such as the Perry Preschool Program. It would take a statistical miracle to show that the different status of early years workers caused improved educational outcomes at 11, 16, 18 etc given that they are so many confounding variables. I'm sure it plays some role but so do lots of other things - from the number of books at home to the composition of peer groups such that it's difficult to know where to start, what gives the biggest bang for the buck and how policies should be sequenced.

If only Nora Batty had a photocopier or some printer cartridges, she could give him a copy of the statute book.

In lalaland perhaps. Next time anyone invokes the magical scandis and their social democratic nirvana based on high levels of equality, mobility, trust and homogeneity, do enlighten us how that model applies to the very different conditions of the UK. Perhaps early schooling is a way to compensate for the things that the UK lacks but the Scandis have - or perhaps the positive outcomes you mention have nothing to do with the age kids start school but the wider socioeconomic environment.

Who knows pal he might even change his location.

Can't see the big picture or the small details it seems. Of course, remember that the mongboard brains trust doesn't think MP is any better than Adkins - just that he has better players at his disposal.

Are they 8th? More importantly are they playing the quality of football that has been rewarded with four full England call ups - only bettered in the last squad by Man U and Liverpool? Nope, I didn't think so.

Last time I checked we were 8th in the prem with four full England internationals - not bobbing along in the championship. No other team in England has risen so high and so quickly in the last four to five years as us. FACT If you believe that the top four or six are a closed shop, we are effectively best of the rest.

Small Fry doesnt do big picture.

Dicky - fair play for your demented determination.

Let's keep some sense of proportion when measuring Cortese's record - compared to TV revenues and other income streams, the sponsorship 'debacle' is a drop in the ocean. Agreed the overspend on the training ground is more concerning; but without more info, it is hard to disentangle how much was pure, irrecoverable waste from how much had some financial rationale.

It's a joke fella -hence the facepalm- a reference to a Glasgow mare on here. Not to worry - I guess we've stopped paying attention to those On the difference between gross and net spend, I've been attempting to educate small Fry and the tinpot salesmen for months -alas it still seems to have been in vain.

And we spent £150m in the process

Agree he's more than a gritty, mr dependable. It was his ball that put Lambert through for our first goal - indeed he put him clean through earlier on. Has an excellent eye for a ball and is very assured in tight spaces.

Not saying anything of the sort, though have any of the papers claimed Shaw wants to leave in the summer - as opposed to just suggesting that clubs are lining up bids? Quite different things.

He's played around 335 minutes for them -started 4 games and come on as sub in 4, though often in the last min. Been starting a few more league games of late.

Others such as Jackanory have made similar points, citing playing staff.

The irony is that if he had stayed with us, he could have played sh*te and would have still been picked by the national side (as he had been). Its only now that he's back in Italy and is much more under the microscope that there are question marks.

Don't doubt it but when was MP last asked about Davis by Blackmore or any of the other media who follow us closely whenever they single out performances? Rarely if ever.

MP gets asked questions by Solent about individual player performances in postmatch interviews all the time but rarely, if ever is Davis name brought up.

I see them reverting back to where they generally were under Moyes - closer to 8th than 4th.

Fellaini apart, all those players were deadwood -or at least were bit-part players in Everton's progress. And with Fellaini, they were able to reinvest funds (i.e. McCarthy) - very different from the situation in which they now find themselves. If they want to keep Barry, Lukaku. Deulofeu etc, they're going to have to cough up and pay which isnt in keeping with their transfer history and will, at any rate, limit their ability to strengthen in other areas. Forget the fact that there's very little chance that they'll keep Lukaku.

Another thread on Poch on Redcafe http://www.redcafe.net/threads/the-mauricio-pochettino-thread.387582/ Bless the morons on here and their cute little 'myths'.