Del

Chris Hughton has been sacked by Newcastle United. Absolutely ridiculous decision, a young manager has got you through a huge upheaval with no money, stabilised them in the PL, has a win percentage of over 55% and you sack him. Mike Ashley, you are an idiot.

What's interesting to me is that the Dutch/Belgian bid got four votes in R1 but only two in R2. Which suggests (to me) that two votes went to them in R1 simply to shaft England.

Yeah, B Team...the same B Team that's won the thing for the last two years And a B Team with an average of 175 first-team appearances. Hammers with six changes from Saturday, no Parker, no Noble, a midfielder (Spector) who's not been in the first team since August, a starting eleven with two goals between them so far this season (before Tues) and a back four of three centre-halves and a right-winger. And an average of 174 first-team appearances. 9/2? Should have gone for the 4-0 (200-1) and Spector first scorer (50-1). Although I've heard a story of a guy who got 550-1 for 4-0 and Cole last scorer. Got drunk and put a score on it

No mention of the Hammers demolition of Man. Utd on Tuesday?

I think I might take the 'Angerstein' branch behind the shed (still hidden), so it forms a passing loop. I can foresee reversing loop issues if I keep it as it is at the moment.

You may remember that I was considering Charlton in South-East London as a prototype, but felt it needed to be reversed to fit my space. Further investigation shows that's not necessary, all I need to do is re-orientate it, so that the station is along the short wall of the room. I've roughed it out in XtrkCad: Of course, Charlton doesn't have an EMU shed but I like them, so my version will have one! The four-road traverser at the bottom is four feet long, enough for 2 x 4-VEP in N-gauge. My only real concern is the amount of space between the rear of the EMU shed and the rear 'rat-run'. I'm also wondering if I should go back in time and have a triangle at the Angerstein junction. What are your thoughts? Does it work? Is there too much off stage trackage? I'd be interested in your views.

They can't say much at the moment because Zola is taking advice from the League Manager's Association: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/8675429.stm However, as I said up there, it's still the wrong decision.

I'm disappointed by the decision to sack Zola but I'm not surprised. I never wanted the Davids in charge, and the feeling ona number of WHU message boards is that as part of the deal when they bought in to the club, they had to keep Zola on this season. Who will come in? Not McLaren, he's gone to Wolfsburg, so I would like to see Martin Jol take over.

Bonkers! But I think I want them!

Hi George, you can see Minories here: http://www.carendt.us/scrapbook/page85b/index.html

We were unlucky yesterday, but also Burnley have been *very* good at home so far this season. I'm not panicking *just* yet. They've done some decent business in the window, no-one out being more important than who's come in, but at least two of the new strikers look hungry and Carlton's back too. I'll reserve judgement until the end of this month. Home to Brum & Hull are both eminently winnable, and we have been known to give ManU a bloody nose at OT before now...

For Christmas, I got the second edition of Joe Brown's London Railway Atlas and it's already heavily thumbed. Whilst browsing it recently, I cam across Charlton station. At first glance, it doesn't look particularly interesting, but cross-referencing with my copy of Quail, suggests there's much more than meets the eye. I've sketched a simple plan of the area: It has a perfect scenic break at the Woolwich end and also on the Blackheath leg *and* it has the bonus of a junction to the freight-only Angerstein Wharf branch. At the Westcombe Park end, the line goes over the A102, but I'm sure there's a way to disguise that. However, it doesn't fit my space very well. So, I've reversed it: That would fit my space much better, and it's a prototype I certainly intend to investigate further. I think I could 'bend' the Angerstein branch and the main line behind some scenery, so there can be one fiddleyard for them and the Blackheath line. As for the Westcombe end, I have a plan to actually run it as a terminus. My rationale is that there's engineering work so trains have to terminate and reverse. Another idea is to have the platforms 'offstage' and use that space as a fiddle yard. That's something that needs some more sketching to make clear though!

If you thought West Ham v Millwall was a bit naughty, Saints v Pompey will make it look like Dominoes Night down at the Legion.

I suppose I should explain why I'm intent on modelling part of the Southern's 3rd-rail system, when it'd be far simpler to model something where all the motive power and consist were available off the shelf. I think that most of us realise that we are influenced in our modelling by what we are familiar with, whether that's from childhood, adolescence or adulthood. I've been interested in railways since I was small, thanks to Dad who is Great Eastern to the bone. When I was very young, we were living in Woodford Green, on the outskirts of London. We didn't travel by train very much and when we did, it was either the Tube, or we'd change and see my Nan at Ilford, using the electrics from Liverpool Street. In those days, the very early '70s, I'm sure it was Class 307s that we used. Then we moved to Hucknall, just north of Nottingham, a pit town that in days gone by had had three stations (MR, GNR & GCR) but by 1975 had none, although it now has a tram stop and a heavy rail station on the re-opened Robin Hood line. I *think* that the only time I travelled by train at that time was a school trip to London, with what I now know was a Peak (but then, thought was a Deltic) and a train of Mk1s. After my parents divorced, we moved back to London briefly, to Walthamstow this time and a brief experience of Class 308/3s. About the only time I travelled on these was from school at Wood Street to the dentists next to St James Street station on the Liverpool Street to Chingford line. Then we moved again to Kent, just outside Maidstone and by this time I was old enough to be allowed out on my own, so I would go up to London and got my first taste of regular train travel. At this time (1984/5), it was mainly 4-VEPs or 2-EPBs/2-HAPs. A 4-CEP would sometimes appear and very rarely a 4-CIG. At this time, I didn't know what all these different types were called, just that they all looked different to each other. Then the Jaffa Cake and NSE liveries started to appear, along with the famous red station furniture, and I got my first job, as a Trainee Technician with the S&T at Clapham Junction, meaning that I was a commuter now, using the system every day and becoming more and more familiar with it. It's this time that started me thinking about becoming a modeller (I'd been buying magazines for a couple of years by then) and thought I'd like to a. build something urban and b. build something 3rd-rail. So, I've had very little exposure to loco-hauled trains, as far as I'm concerned (to misquote a well-known food company) 'Trainz Meanz Unitz'. Even now, I use units all the time, living in East London, using the GEML or the GOBLin. So many ideas appeal to me for layouts, but I keep coming back to the Southern. I prefer the SE division, as that's what I used most often. I used the SC a bit, when I lived near Brighton and travelled to work at Gatwick, and also the SW when living in Windsor and working in Camberley. I could research something hundreds of miles away but I think having the 3rd-rail system just down the road means it's what I'll stick with. If I think I can do it, of course...

Thanks Alcazar. I only decided on OO very recently, because it would be easier and quicker to build a reasonable layout with RTR units, and I wasn't sure of my kit-building abilities. So the recent plans (pretty much until Hornby announced the VEP) had all been devised with N in mind. As I say, I'll see if I can do it in N. If I can, great. If not, we'll see then.

Well, not exactly despair, but definitely an air of 'Oh damn...' After planning everything out yesterday, with the bookcases etc, I finished off by mentioning that I was going to definitely model in OO. But I don't think it's going to work. This is a plan of the room in Sketchup: As you can probably work out from the dimensions, to fit a workable 4mm SR layout in that space is not impossible (Paul A. Lunn has published a plan that proves it) but it won't be the kind of layout that I want. And the main reason is train length. I have no problem with 2-car and 4-car EMUs, for an off-peak service they are practically de rigeur, but for freights, a train the same length, whilst not unknown, would certainly be the exception rather than the rule. So, I'm thinking of N (which had been the intention before the announcement of the Hornby VEP). And that means kits. And that means the worry I had before about my abilities. I think I will invest in a BHE 2-EPB or 2-HAP kit with some of Adam Warr's Electra Railway Graphics sides and see if I can make a decent fist of it. If it turns out OK, then it's the first item of stock for the new layout. If not, I've not wasted too much money and I know for sure I'll have to rethink the whole idea.

I created a thread recently about whether I was cut out for modelling. After some very valuable responses, I think I know what my problem is. And that is that everything is a mess, from my plans to my modelling room. I am quite lucky that I have a spare room I can use for my modelling. However, it is a tip. I keep meaning to sort it out but there never seems to be the time or money. And I've had various ideas about how to tidy it up and how to sort out some baseboards. At first, I thought about using 8no. 800mm wide IKEA 'Billy' white bookcases (??20 each), around the edge of the room, and then putting the baseboards on top. The problem is that the bookcases are less than a foot wide, so some extra 'building on' would be needed to give me a decent baseboard width. Then I considered using their 'Faktum' kitchen carcases. These have an open top, so I can just add my baseboard on the top, but they are almost 600mm wide. Putting these around the perimeter of the room would leave very little space in the middle of the floor. Then I thought about maybe making my own units. Now I am useless at woodwork, but if I can get the panels cut square (and I have a builder's merchant at the bottom of the road), I'm sure I can glue & screw them together. A bit of a play around in Sketchup came up with this plan: It has two sides (obviously), a plinth at the base, two internal shelves and a baseboard on top. Still 800mm wide, but 450mm deep and 1m high. A bit like this: The two lines around the inside are where the shelves will be, and then I can fix 2"x1" across the top and fix the last piece onto that as a baseboard surface. A sheet of 18mm chipboard is about ??10, some hardboard for the back and a big box of fixings is pretty cheap, so I'm sure this is a much more viable option (financially) than buying flat-pack bookcases and then extra for baseboards on top. And what about my modelling plans? Well, I will be sorting out my 4mm Light Railway terminus for the 2010 Challenge, which is about 6' long and built with a couple of very strong cardboard fruit boxes as the baseboard. There will also be a small US 'N'-gauge Inglenook. But I've decided that the main layout, the one that will need all those shelves and baseboards, is going to be SR (SE Division) 3rd rail, 'OO' gauge using the Bachmann 4-CEP and upcoming 2-EPB and the recently announced Hornby 4-VEP. It'll probably be somewhere in Kent or SE London (not sure on that bit yet!), and with these models being the basis of the fleet, it'll be set firmly in the BR banger blue/BR blue & grey era.

I don't think Zola will be pushed (although he might jump), only because I can't think of anyone who'd be daft enough to try and take the job on just now!

Three points for the Irons makes for a very Happy Christmas Now to repeat the trick against Spurs on Monday

Forest didn't buy Francis until they had won the League and League Cup in 1978. He was ineligible for the 1979 European Cup campaign until the semis.

This link gives the bulk of a letter sent by the PL to all member clubs: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-455348/Premier-League-letter-states-case-clubs-Tevez-affair.html

Tevez was *never* ineligible. The argument was that Kia Joorabchian could, if he wished, withdraw Tevez from West Ham at any time and this constituted third-party influence. West Ham told the PL that this agreement was now withdrawn, when in fact it wasn't. That was whythey got fined ??5.5m, for basically lying to the PL & the FA. But when Sheffield United sold Steve Kabba to Watford and then told them as part of the deal that he wouldn't be allowed to play against United, that apparently wasn't third-party influence... Consistency in football?

Almunia qualifies under residence rules, having never been capped for any other country. The goalposts keep moving for international players, to the point where there's now a player for Scotland, who isn't Scottish, has no Scottish parents or grandparents but has lived there since he was five.

Just wanted to add in here my thoughts about the retirement of Dean Ashton. Obviously, as a Hammers fan, I'm gutted especially for the fella himself but also for West Ham and England. I really think that if he'd got a good run, he would have been England's first-choice centre-forward and would have been fantastic up front with Rooney.