The jury in the Redknapp trial have retired to consider their verdict. I believe this means we can now speculate wildly about the likely outcome without fear of being found in contempt of court!

Personally, I think the Revenue have got him bang-to-rights, but the jury might just have fallen for his cockney-geezer schtick and give him a pass. It wouldn't be huge shock if he's spending the next few weeks behind bars, though.

(So overall I'm sitting on the fence, just like a good pundit should!)

Forgive me starting 2 football threads in a row, but this little collection from the Guardian marking the 20th anniversary of the decision to form the Premier League is interesting reading/viewing.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/from-the-archive-blog/2012/feb/02/20-...

I particularly like the original Sky Sports ad, which I remember well:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2009/feb/05/sky-sports-football

although, I now find it hilarious that we were asked to believe that Peter Reid sent his team out to play with the words "All the very best, boys"!

I think it is also a real marker of how much the money has distorted the competitiveness of the league that a team (Norwich) that one of the country's top football writers predicted would finish bottom of the table in the first pre-season review, actually went on to come third (and were realistic title contenders for a while). Can't see that happening again any time soon.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/feb/03/john-terry-stripped-engla...

I find it hard to be fair to John Terry because, to be honest, I hate him, but does anyone think he's been hard done by?

Personally, I think his 'defence' to the racism charge is a farce, but it's not up to me to decide his guilt on that and, as a liberal with a law degree, I am strongly wedded to the principle of innocent until proven guilty.

That said, the England captain should arguably be beyond reproach and it would greatly weaken the FA's stance on racism if they do nothing and he is later convicted. So, overall, I think they've done what had to be done.

It has also solved a dilemma for me as I would genuinely rather England not win a tournament than see John Terry receive the trophy and be immortalised alongside Bobby Moore. (I know this is a highly unlikely scenario in any case, but we do have as much of a chance as Greece in 2004 or Denmark in 1992!)

Mexican paramedics drop organ in front of photographers after it was rushed to hospital by police helicopter for transplant

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/12/heart-transport-mexico-medic...

We can laugh at this, as there was no harm done in the end. Must have been a horrific moment for the two guys carrying the box, though!

An interesting short piece in the Guardian on Monday explains how daft-sounding terms such as 'Hey Jude Hitmakers' both serve a journalistic purpose and have a 'technical' name!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/25/rebekah-brooks-flame-headed?...

The salient paragraph, for those that don't want to click the link, is:

Synonymous phrases bordering on the absurd, povs are often used by writers to avoid the repetition of nouns. Lexicographer HW Fowler called such a device an attempt to introduce "elegant variation" into text. The original pov came in a story about the health benefits of eating carrots, which indeed referred to them as "the popular orange vegetables" in a bid to avoid repetition.

"I get it. People in the recent past dressed very well and that nearly makes up for their Bernard Manning outlook on life. Funny for about 20 mins then just a bit bleak."

He and I tend to agree on most things when it comes to popular culture, and I think he's pretty much hit the nail on the head there!

My little girl turns one at the end of next week. As I am sure any other parents here will know, this first year has been completely amazing and has shot by at the speed of light. I know I have occasionally spoken in gushing terms about her on this blog before, but my daughter is just totally awesome and I love her to bits!

We had some professional shots taken a few weeks ago and this is one of me carrying out my favourite fatherly duty - the bedtime story.

I know we've done parenthood threads before, and I've not really got anything to add to the thoughts and wisdom expressed therein, I just wanted to share this because it makes me very very happy.

I'm really looking forward to hearing Build A Rocket Boys and I can't believe it's not on the torrents yet. I've pre-ordered the 'deluxe' version online and paid to download the first single off of iTunes, by the way, so it's not like I'm trying to take food from their mouths, I'm just amazed it's not yet available in some form or another.

I don't actively dislike him - he's just the 'other one' (i.e. not the strangley likeable gobshite, or the funny little guy who had brain damage but is OK now) from That Car Show that I don't really watch - but I've never really had any time for anything he's done.

However, I like what he's saying here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/31/james-may-diy

and particularly liked this quote:

"I don't entirely know what OCD is, but I know it's very fashionable to accuse people of having it if they try and do something properly."

It is interesting how the DIY skills he talks about do seem to be in decline. We have a toasted sandwich maker in the kitchen at work and someone got the power cable caught in the heating elements and caused a short circuit. Everyone was amazed when I tok it home and fixed it, when all I did was cut out the melted bit of cable and re-fit the plug!

From The Grauniad's daily football email:

It's not only tax-dodging students who are struggling to find jobs in Britain. Unemployed Argentinian Diego Maradona wants one too. "The only problem is all the teams I like in England have good coaches," he sobbed. "If any important job comes along I will accept it."

Maradona in charge of a Premiership team would be awesome. I really want it to happen!

Chance of a lifetime, surely!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mad-Men-Joan-Harris-Dress-/180546246615?pt=LH_Defaul...

I'm not normally one to get het up about this sort of thing, but this is in poor taste, isn't it?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/switzerland/7863557/Tit...

...is a call from your employers asking why you bought $520 million of oil futures on your laptop last night!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7862246...

Something has just occurred to me about this. I might be slightly misremembering, but when Lampard's free-kick hit the wall I am sure he immediately turned to the referee and appealed for something. Why? They didn't encroach and I am pretty sure it wasn't even close to handball. If he had instead focussed on the fact that England had lost possession and Germany were about to break with pace, maybe he would have tracked back and been able to help prevent the goal.

I'd like to think that there's a lesson there, but I bet it won't be learned.

Damn his eyes! Until that goal went in, I was looking forward to a winnable next game against Ghana with a not-too-unreasonable 6.30am start on Sunday morning (NZ time). Now, we've got Germany at 2am on Monday morning and I just KNOW that if I get up for it, it'll be the usual story of brief hope and an eventual exit on penalties, but if I don't it will probably be the best England WC performance in a generation!

I can at least record it on the Sky box and watch it in the morning, but then I won't know whether I need to get up 90 minutes early for work or two hours plus!

Should I get up for it? It'd be nice to see it live and the eternal optimist in me is trying to press the argument that England might actually perform better against a team that won't regard a draw with them as one of the best results in their history. I'd be gutted to miss what would be a fine win (however it might be achieved), but equally gutted to give up 2 and half hours sleep for a wimpering surrender.