Everton clinch Premier League 2 title

A big club with rich history should not go over 20 years without silverware, hopefully this will be just the start of our journey back to the big time!

Well done to Rhino and his young chargers!

I think the role of Unsworth in instilling this mentality in his young charges can not be overstated.

Those who excel in pre season will get a shot next year I'm sure.

Would be great to see a few of them before the season ends. Well done, ye blues.

Not only does he have bags of talent but a (not overly humble) attitude that I love.

A sort of 'I should have been here months ago - what took you?' attitude.

Liam Walsh for me!

The beeb are running a piece which is simply Puel saying his player Romeu is just like Kante. Everybody is banging on about Kante now.

I prefer our Idrissa Gueye and think if we are going to make lofty comparisons for young Beni Baningime it should be with Idrissa as they both provide great cover in tackling and intercepting.

This is no mean feat when you consider what Chelsea and Man City have invested in their academies.

Let's hope this is just the start of big things at the club.

I watched a great documentary about Arsenal's fledglings like Adams, Rocastle and Keown making the grade and as they said we were determined to push the old boys out and had that arrogance of youth.

Unsey might want to try his hand at first team management soon and come back to be a proper Everton manager, who clearly understands the fans and their passion for the club. WELL DONE Blues Now go and hammer the shite.

The extent and manner in which they do will work itself out in coming seasons but it can only be good that we're in the position we are at this stage.

Up the Blues!!

Hopefully the step up can be bridged by a few of these lads.

Is it time for Unsworth to go out to see what he can do with a Championship side and earn his stripes?

Clubs like Man City and Chelsea may start to expect more than they currently are from their academies, but they will still have enough revenue outside of TV to buy big.

Odds are that some of these guys will go on to make a good career with us, others will make a living somewhere. Kenny, Baningime, Walsh, Williams seem to be on their way.

Plenty of credit to Unsworth who has kept them focused throughout the campaign even through the occasional wobble.

Hope so because he has had a sustained run in a Preston team that has been playing well. A young Everton player that has gotten great experience if it is him and will give us an option at left back.

Now let's see some of them getting first team game time especially as most of the remaining games are practically dead rubbers. We don't want more leaving like Ledson and Holland.

It is also encouraging and augurs well for the future, that we have a few talented lads with us.

Koeman should play a few of them before the end of the season... I doubt very much he will do it on Sunday. I hope he does in the other games.

Come on, Ronnie, be as ambitious as your young players.

A terrific achievement by David Unsworth and his team and all the squad.

The feeling of being winners can only benefit them (and hopefully us).

Enjoy the derby, should be some crowd.

We all crave to see these young men coming through into the first team and demonstrating their skills, but ability counts for little if not matched with grit and determination on the pitch, and humility off it.

It seems he is moulding them in his own likeness.

We truly have some wonderful young talent. The future's bright, the future's blue.

It's even more impressive given the vast sums of money pumped into some of the academies we are in competition with.

Side issue about Unsworth he is the second highest scoring defender in Premier League history; Baines is third.

Congratulations Rhino.

I think if we are to try and compete for a top 4 spot in the coming seasons, it's important that we produce our own players as we can't compete financially with some of the top 4 teams. To be able to beat Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd and Arsenal for the title given the money they spend on young players is great.

The other plus is that Koeman isn't scared of giving youth a go, I think at other clubs young players don't get the chance to progress into the first team. I think as fans we also have to be patient with young players, as they won't have the consistency of the older players. Tom Davies has been terrific but he will need to be taken out from time to time.

I know the U23s are well supported on here but what is the local Merseyside vibe and interest like. I imagine it's pretty good but have no clue how many fans actually turn out to watch. I know it may be like asking for next week's lottery numbers but are we likely to see 10,000? 5,000? More or fewer for this game.

Any ideas?

Southampton was free to all (as the Red Shite game is) – one of stewards told me they were expecting 7,000 (Upper Bullens and Park End open) but in the event I think about 4,500 turned up.

For the Spurs game (free to season ticket holders, ٣/3 to adults/juniors), only Upper Bullens was open – I'd guess maybe 3000 at that.

Given the occasion, opposition and free entry, I wouldn't be surprised if 10,000 attend. Tickets are available from usual outlets from tomorrow – for Southamton game, you could pick them up on the night.

So let's not forget the coaching skills of Kevin Sheedy, Phil Jevons, John Ebbrell etc, and of course Big Joe Royle – not only a experienced coach but a fantastic motivator. Well done to all!

Who would have thought that the Red Shite would do us a favour like that!

Has a nice ring to it... pity our first team play so average at home & piss-poor away.

Well done to Rhino & his staff for all their hard work, we may have some future stars in the making!

Well played, lads. COYBB

It's free entry at the gate, isn't it? Who could resist that if you can get to the ground?

Add a few to the gate if Dave Abrahams and his drinking mates forego their Monday night session and head off to Goodison instead.

Go on Dave. You know you want to.

I expect they are saving themselves for a massive feature on our future stars of English football once the trophy is presented.

Don't think it'll be a full house but I wouldn't be surprised if it was 30k + that turns up.

Let's hope they're presented to the crowd on Sunday.

Jay (#59), three of my mates are Reds, they will not be interested, they haven't seen the first team since St John and Roger Hunt retired, but I am seriously thinking of going and then getting a bus into town and meeting up with my mates, but it will be hard work listening to four drunken auld arses when the other auld arse is sober, plus I'm not carrying my rattle around town all night.

First, enormous credit must go to David Unwsorth and his team. It's not just him and John Ebbrell. This, to me, adds to the significance of the achievement rather than diminishes it.

The achievement is even more praiseworthy given the promotion of players from the squad to the first team, use of them as subs with the first team squad, injuries and loans.

When we won the FA Youth Cup in 1965 the home leg against Arsenal was attended by over 23,000 – and you paid to get in, so we have a lot to aim at on 8 May, get there blues, see the future. Incidentally, four of those players, Geoff Barnett, (who subsequently played for Arsenal) Frank D'Arcy, John Hurst and Jimmy Husband featured in the first team significantly, John and Jimmy to enormous effect in the years that followed.

The 1998 FA Cup Winners included Franny Jeffers, Leon Osman and Danny Cadamarteri in the team that beat Blackburn.

I'd rank winning the Premier League 2 as an achievement at least as significant as the Youth Cup. The lesson to be drawn from these victories is that 3/4 players making it in the first team is about tops. Given that we have already seen Tom Davies and Mason Holgate make the step up, we would be pushing it to think of more than another one or two.

The club list 40 players in the U23 squad (including Oumar Niasse).

Of those, Tyias Browning, Brendan Galloway, Dominic Calvert Lewin and Matthew Pennington have all had more than a glimpse of the first team as well as Mason and Tom.

I like what I have seen from this team in terms of the way they play the game. Those that stand out at this level include Bassala Sambou (I agree with Eugene regarding attitude), Jonjoe Kenny, Antonee Robinson, Liam Walsh, Joe Williams and Benin Baningime.

Yes, I know I've named a full team in that lot so, to narrow it down and stick my neck out, here goes.

Of the two full-backs I think that Antoine Robinson is the more likely to make it. He is well behind Jonjoe Kenny in many ways but he has the pace and physical presence that managers seem to look for in full-backs these days. His defensive capabilities need development.

Beni Baningime is a powerful, though in-and-out, presence in midfield and sitting deeper than he does currently I can see him develop. I would love to see Bassala Sambou develop into a monster; I think he can, provided the attitude is channelled into self-criticism and improvement.

Lastly in judgement of the players, I'm crossing everything in the hope that Liam Walsh develops the fantastic talent that he has already shown. His range of passing is incredible, he takes a great free kick and he has presence on the field. At this level, he can afford to show that little bit of indiscipline positionally that he occasionally does but he could be the magician behind our front players in the future.

Finally, I understand why posters are suggesting that the manager should give the youngsters a go in what they call dead rubbers. But look at Arsenal's fixture list. It is busy and challenging. We need to go hard at every point whilst it is still mathematically possible to do them for sixth. The difference between Europa League qualifying in July and going straight into the group stage is immense.

Realistically, we are not going to start the season with half-a-dozen of these lads as starters in the first team and a couple of good games by any of them in the next few weeks won't change that.

That's the spirit! I know you take a keen interest in the young 'uns and this is too good an occasion to pass up.

As for walking around with yer rattle all night (circa 1960 model? Heavyweight wood number, painted in the club colours?) Persuade Tony to go the match with you and entrust it to him at the final whistle before meeting up with yer mates, rattle-free.

Or... wouldn't you trust Tony with a baby rattle, never mind such a precious family heirloom?

I'd put a couple of these young players in for these games, preferably Walsh and Kenny, they will give the team some energy and attitude that goes missing with quite a few stars (?) when we play away.

Personally I suspect that, by the time we face Swansea we will be pretty entrenched in 7th place, and I think its well worth giving these lads some Premier League time. Some experience of the first team as reward for their achievements makes alot of sense and will give them a lot to build upon this Summer. In some ways better if the games are not dead rubbers, let's see how they perform under a bit of pressure.

I'd be delighted to see something like this team against Swansea:

Robles
Kenny Holgate Williams (or Jagielka) Robinson
Walsh Schneiderlin (or Gana) Davies
Barkley Lukaku Sambou

Perhaps too many changes in the back 4 but these lads deserve a shot, plus it's important for Koeman to get a better idea of who might really handle the step up before he gets the chequebook out this Summer.

I hope the performances of the U23s will also serve to keep the First Team coaching and playing staff on their toes.

Koeman will hopefully propel us to breaking the glass ceiling and laying the foundations from which we can kick on – but I don't see him being here beyond the next 3 years.

Although this is an excellent achievement, in the great scheme of things, success at this level will not get him a job at a top Premier League club.

I really do hope that these lads realise what fame and fortunes lie before them, conduct themselves properly and professionally and go on to become Everton's class of '17.

We are always too stretched between front and back but at home Schneiderlin and Gueye playing pushed up do not get pressed as much. This gives a better contact with Lukaku et al. Away, they do get pushed back but they get caught too far forward anyway. The back four is left firefighting as a result and when the two of them do intervene they are often tackling facing towards our goal. Look at the bookings they have had you'll see that more often than not. Against Spurs and Liverpool, Gueye got caught the wrong side of Kane and Mane for the first goal in each case, game over.

I would sooner see us play with them in closer contact with the back four and with Lukaku shorter and width between the two and Lukaku.

We can't compete away, particularly against the stronger sides, without a genuine holding midfield player.

People compare Gueye with Kante. Not valid but could be if Gueye sat in more. That neither of them do so is down to the manager's tactics. It was disingenuous of him to blame the players for doing as they were told last Saturday.

You may be correct in describing the way we play away from Goodison Park but the big difference is we seldom look like we are going all out to win, seldom win and seldom put any attacks in that look like ending in a shot at goal. Mind you, the first half versus Burnley and again versus Southampton and Hull all at home were the same so there might be something in what you say regarding the manager's tactics.

Even at home, when the opposition will typically try and close us down vigorously at the outset, it often takes 30 minutes or more before we prevail.

I've said before that you must credit the manager for addressing the fitness issue. Few teams are fitter; Tottenham is one, and at home, particularly, this shows in the last 15 or 20 minutes, hence the goals tally in that period of play. The main reason for the improved home form from Christmas may well be an increase in fitness levels.

If we are to challenge for trophies next season, we have to change the structure of the team. We need to be more compact and we need 3 or 4 better, preferably quicker, players. And we have to play with a more defensive midfield player in front of the back four. No change in approach will leave us short away and probably more challenged at home as other coaches will have adjusted to what we currently do.

Them wanting him might smooth the way for McGuire to come here (if you believe the media speculation on us being interested in him).

I think we have improved under Koeman and he has been here less than a season. I just hope he is not as cautious as he has been if we get the players he wants... or maybe 'cautious' is the nature of the manager.

Peter (#64), I still see Dave Pearson from the 65 team in Southport, he came to Southport and played in the successful Southport team of the time. Also winning Wales U23 caps. It certainly had a fair few stars in that team.

Gutted really... but I've never seen the legend play live before because I was hoping to hire him for my campfire when I win the lottery... but I've got good seats and hopefully for Everton, the times they are a changin'!

We've got some terrific players in midfield and defence, a little less so in attack. Henen, Dyson and Duffus haven't really caught fire. Sambou has more promise, though he's still a bit raw. Compare him to the Chelsea lad of the same age who scored a couple of goals against us the other night.

Anyway, it's all very promising.

Further to previous posts about fielding a "weakened" team at the end of the season if our league position is unchangeable, aren't all our squad players eligible to play? If not, why are we paying them to be in the squad?

What was worse though was the behaviour of the crowd. Imagine all those pillocks who stand up and block your view in Gwladys St to go for a pie 10 minutes before half time well they were all at that gig that night.

Really hope you have a better experience but I'll not set foot in there again. Feckin piss heads!

I'm not a total killjoy... went to see Ry Cooder at Phil a few weeks later. Proper audience. Proper gig. No ale allowed in the theatre itself. Great night.

I agree totally.

And, if it happens, you will have said it first!

Spot on mate with the beautiful Blue puppies.

"Means nothing. Davies is the only one who will make a Premier League player."

Have you watched them often this season?

The Legend that is Dylan, or our newly crowned champions?

Tough call!

Caught him in his prime way back yonder. I hope you have better luck than Alan @85, but a couple of mates who have seen Dylan in recent years rather echo Alan's experience, I'm afraid to say.

We will probably finish in the qualifying rounds of the Europa so give this to the lads as a reward. Lets see what they can do against some of the full strength 'minnows' who will enter at the stage. More experience and against different playing styles.

Plus we don't need most of the senior players in competitive games in July.

I see that the team's Reserve's page on Wiki has already been updated. I know it is a voluntary website and it takes time to update things but it would be nice to read more about it as Wiki only keeps stats on "Senior Careers"
If you look at Sambou's page as an example it reads that he joined us from Coventry and has done nothing. Whereas Soccerway's says he's scored 5 in 9.

It's tough though for managers of most, if not all Premier League clubs to play the young players – there's so much at stake nowadays.

I see Private Frazer is back... We're all doomed! Especially the Under-23s... all in a Scottish accent.

"Means nothing".

Word's fail.

I do though wonder what the plan for Jose Baxter is, who comes into the fold for this team next year. Will he rediscover something and get us a fee come January '18?

I know it does occasionally but cannot find any of the last two games there. Given the interest in and success of the team this season, you'd have thought they might manage to show us a bit more...

I wouldn't be surprised if the bigger clubs have youth match highlights up every day after their matches. This is the sort of thing we should be doing now.

It's very early to start discounting others besides Davies. They show potential, the Under-23s are supposed to be 'first team ready' in Unsy's words, and how those who find first team spots progress is a matter of time and trial.

I've never wanted to see Dylan, unless as I said it was own little intimate bonfire party, although I bet you that gig in 67, would have been great.

It would be lovely if a couple of these kids proved "Mr Grumpy" wrong and went on to become real Everton legends, as Jay says, and I wonder what price Phillip would give me on that?

Guys, forgive me if my memory plays tricks but I am sure for 7/6 we saw Hendrix, The Nice, Pink Floyd and a host of others on the same bill.

Ruined for me as I still had a titty lip thanks to Ian Storey feckin Moore...

He was as non-communicative and dismissive of the audience as he was dismissive of his own back catalogue. Imagine being ignored by Bob and Van the Man in the same show!

His attitude to the audience appears to have its roots in the treatment he got after he went electric in '65, when he and his band got a dogs abuse across three continents every night for months. Apparently it had a profound effect on him and the likes of Robbie Robertson.

There are some great books now chronicling those experiences, which of course led on to his extended holiday with the Band in Woodstock where they reinvented Rock Music and Americana as we now must call it.

I've got a couple of tracks on my iPod from it.

Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues .
Help Me Momma.

Probably loads more given the number of Bootlegs Dylan authorises these days, some of which are superb.

I'll be buying that mate. Cheers.

Sorry folks, currently got me music head on!

The Everton YouTube channel used to be very good at uploading all the U23 highlights but has become really lax of late, nothing since the 3-2 win against Derby about a month ago. Obviously a lot has happened since.

You might be able to see more on the channels 'Everton show' but you'll probably have to do some scanning to avoid listening to the (and I hate to disparage a fellow bluenose) piss-poor host.

A reward for our faith as a club in developing young talent for the first team... Congratulations to Unsy et al.

Like Everton, Bob has dragged me over the coals emotionally for many many years only to keep my faith and appreciate the wonderful times/ the legacy and the inspiration of greatness and the continued hope of more better things to come out of darkness and despair. Does that ring a bell as to our love and longevity supporting the Blues, anyone??

Do touch on his lack of communication it's a common moan that he never says much on stage. Fact is he never really has/did. There are the Don't Look Back bits with odd comments but he's never been a chatterer really way back to now.

Yesterday I was listening to a pristine recording of his Festival Hall 1964 concert – first UK concert – and there was hardly a word throughout which certainly does not detract from what's been offered.

The only two constant things in my life... EFC and Bob. Long may I stay Tangled Up In Blue.

I'm looking forward to a listen myself. There's a lot of her stuff on there including some later gospel albums.

Beware some of the live concert stuff though because judging by some of the comments the sound quality is a bit dodgy.

The one I'm getting is the first one on her page, a collection of 8 classic albums. Remarkable value with great reviews.

I met an old colleague yesterday who is working with one of the big Yorkshire clubs' academy and he talked about a different culture at Everton's Under-23s. A culture and approach which he suggests is going to mean a higher proportion of that team make it through to first team football.

Nice way to link Bob and the Blues, 'Tangled up in blue'.

I'm currently reading a biography of John Hammond who was the Producer of Bobs first two albums, and it makes clear that even in Greenwich Village clubs when he was 20/21, he would tend to ignore or even antagonise his audience so as to cause a creative tension to feed off.

These days though, it's become a habit that can be a bit disconcerting to people who aren't used to it.

Never particularly bothered me though but some of the performances did. I still get all his albums though and love the official bootleg stuff.

Only went because my ex loved Petty, who I was indifferent to, while thinking I should see Dylan sometime in my life.

Great show. First, watching the crowd file in, given the performers. Swarms of girls for Petty and for Dylan... hippies! Quite a mix.

Had no idea Petty and his crew were such a great rock and roll band. They smoked it. Then Dylan came on for an electric guitar set with Petty, then Dylan acoustic guitar and harmonica under a spotlight, then all for the encores.

Only time I saw Dylan live. Don't remember if he talked to the audience. Is it a staple that he doesn't?

Finally saw Van Morrison at the Garden in NYC in 09. His rep for not talking to the audience was lived up to. I didn't care. 90 minutes of constant, great music. Was worried that perfect voice might not be the same, given his age. Turned out I worried for nothing.

Used to go to a ton of shows and we always have music playing in the house. Morrison is the only singer I've heard who can take folk, blues, rhythm and blues, country, jazz, spoken word, straight-up rock and roll, poetry, traditional Irish, and sing it all effortless and his.

Chris (#120)... the gospel shows were probably the last sustained of inspiration Dylan... totally full of fire and energy. In October, the next installment of The Bootleg Series cover those years with some amazing audio and I believe, film evidence that will re-evaluate these years 79-83.

I feel, Incidentally audio Dylan shows to download from various download sites sine late 80s of a great sound standard. Especially 2000 onwards you'd think some of the shows were officially recorded/released, such is the wonderful sound. One of the best being the 2001 Liverpool Summer Pops appearance with a fabulous audience film to go with it. Good hunting!!!

Van can sing all that and play about six different instruments in the one show. Both him and Dylan had old voices in their twenties so no real change there.

Petty is one of those, like Elvis Costello, who started in post punk but have matured fantastically into great singers, songwriters and all-round musicians. But they both clearly were stand-outs from the early days.

You can get a lot of those Petty/Dylan concerts on CD now and the quality is brilliant. And the Rolling Thunder concerts too.

Doesn't make sense.

Some of the comments from people who have bought her albums put her alongside Sarah Vaughan which is one hell of a compliment.

Looking forward to it.

Early one morning the Sun was lyin'
As I was layin' in bed
Wonderin' why they ain't changed at all
From offendin' blue to red.
Its boss said that their sales forever
Sure was gonna be tough
Cos they never did like
Honest Scouse or Ross,
And Blue Bill's pocket wasn't big enough.
And we will stand right behind our boys
All of us die-hard Blues
Heading on up to Champions League
Lord knows we've paid our dues
Gettin' through
Tangled Up In Blue.

Like another great black female singer, Billie Holiday, and the beauty of Billie's recordings is the introduction music and in between verses is just as entertaining as Billie's voice.

They are all nearly as good as Everton, except THEY never let you down.

The first track I heard by Billie was Strange Fruit, which was controversial in America. I know what you mean about the strains and experience in her voice.

If Della lives up to these standards, and I take your word for it, I'm in for a treat .

Strange Fruit is a song about black men being lynched by the Ku Klux Clan, shameful days, and although there are no lynchings now, there is still plenty of racial hatred and not just in America.

Music can be a bridge to bring people together, of all races.

Strange Fruit was like that as was early Dylan along with Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie all those years ago and all of it done with great artistry.

These days I feel we miss some artistry and a lot of conscience in our music. But I'm knocking on now.

Can you recall the name of the play you saw?

He made a few films with a white guy, both of them pretty famous, maybe his second name was Priors, anyway the play the play got a standing ovation that night, but I'm not sure of the title of the play, so much for my 'great memory'.

I think the great Artie Shaw was mentioned in the play, don't know if he had any connections to Billie,

I've rambled a bit here Chris, don't know if I've been any help to your question.

Was it Richard Pryor?

Having been reading about her this last week, amongst others, it makes you think about her and her life and music.

Not being obsessive you understand!

I understand about trying to realise how people you read about lived their lives, the troubles they went through, it's not being obsessive it's being very interested in the subject you are reading about, and Billie Holliday was a most interesting person.

I like reading biographies, not so much when written by the person themselves. I thought Kirk Douglas was a very good actor, read his biography written by himself, I got to page 64, had to stop reading it, the man was an egomaniac in love with himself.

I got one by Groucho Marx... I was genuinely sorry when I got to the last page; I didn't want the book to end.

Autobiographies can be self serving for sure, but there are some exceptions.

Apart from Everton, and I have loads of books and biographies about them and their history, my great loves are music and film, so the vast majority of reading covers those, or related topics.

The people who are interesting in those fields are often deeply flawed individuals who have a great gift for something. The flaws are an integral part of what makes them them I guess. And they make them interesting.

People like John Ford or John Lennon. The most unflattering biography I ever read was about P.G. Wodehouse of all people.

Now I still read but it takes me longer and once what took three or four days takes well over a week, but I think I still learn from every book I read.

I was born with a fairly decent willful streak and my response was always to think 'no I fucking won't and I can take all the punishment to can dish out.'

So I left school having read virtually nothing (Skinhead and couple of Sven Hassels) and regarded books as something to be avoided/feared/boring

However about 3 days after leaving, my bezzie mate (important - not a teacher) gave me a big fat paperback and said "This is fucking boss" (or whatever we used to say back then for excellent).

It was called Ringolevio (by Emmett Grogan) and it was like unlocking... um... something.

"There are books like THIS!?" I thought. "This is genius!" (it wasn't, I tried reading it years later – never go back).

The important thing is as soon as it clicked that nobody could ever force me to read this/that book and I got to choose, I've never been without a book (2,3) 'on the go' from that day to this.

Books are everything, information, entertainment, language and it truly scares me to think kids could be put off by how teachers/parents approach the whole thing.

A couple of years back, I was sitting in the garden of a (rented) house in Aix-en-Provence.

The sun was beating down and I sat in the shade with a beer and my ciggies (e-ciggies now) and was reading Max Hastings 'All Hell Let Loose'.

Despite Hastings being a prick, he's a good historian and the book was an incredible (single volume story of WWII) read.

I can remember thinking that if I won the euromillions (not much chance as I don't do it) I'd be doing this permanently (different books 'obvs').

By the way 'permanently' means during the week; at weekends I'd be jetting back to Goodison or off to see title fights around the world.

My experiences exactly. I did A-Level English Lit and most of it I did because I had to. With one exception which was Grapes of Wrath which coloured my views than and still does now.

Then I read Catch-22 and stuff like On the Road and caught the bug big time. I found I liked Charles Dickens when I was about 40 having been force fed for years and have since read most of his stuff.

I read a biography about Hemingway, called Hemingway's Boat, which remains the best biography I've ever read and I read his novels voluntarily for the first time and loved them.

Schools have much to answer for or did in my case. A great song by Harry Chaplin called 'Flowers are Red' covers this well.

Finished my John Hammond book now so now looking for something about Billie Holiday and Jerry Wexler...

I found this out with a book I read in my twenties 'No Mean City' which was about Glasgow before the second world war, I thought it was brilliant. I saw it in the library a few years ago and got it out. I was left very disappointed.

Then again, I have read 'The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists' three times, which mirrors the struggle of working people of the early 1900s and find that, although things have changed, the order of working people stays much the same, and the book is a great read.

A real favourite of mine too - John Astin superb (and Dick Shawn).

Couple of years before Blazing Saddles as well.

"Roy, someone's coming!"

"Shoot him!"

"It's a woman"

"Wound her."

Yep, he was evil alright.

And you're in luck, entire film on YouTube...

Enjoy! Link

Or

Here good boots, give me money.

Another thing he did apart from writing Strange Fruit was to take in and bring up the kids of the Rosenbergs after their execution.

Can't agree with you about The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists, Dave, and I never even finished the book.

I've just had a flier posted through my front door yesterday, and there is actually a play on tomorrow night in Liverpool Library, as part of the Bob Tressell Festival 2017. He's actually buried in the Rice Lane City Farm, and is probably why this was posted in our street...

I think Tressell was a very clever perceptive man, but his portrayal of the working man made me sick to be honest. Maybe I misread or misunderstood it, because it seems to me like the working man is usually fucked by the working man?

Now as for Bob Dylan.

As Alan (#155) says, it is a brilliant but gloomy book, depressing even, but they were very depressing times.

Tony, I have been to the grave Robert Tressell is buried in along with quite a few more people – is it 27 of them? They were taken from paupers graves and buried to together. This was paid for, along with a large gravestone, by the trade union movement; Idon't have the full details.

Enjoy the film, don't wake the twins up – if Joseph sees that Teddy Bear at the beginning of the film he'll want to see the rest of it.

Respect to you sir.

Will we hear from George this weekend do you think?

George wouldn't know me but I remember him from a Blue Union meeting at the Casa in Hope Street a couple of years ago, I got the impression then that he was a very genuine man with no ego, gave a little speech about the work he does for young men who have been forgotten and left behind, so to speak. The speech wasn't to praise himself in way but a brief outline of what the work consisted of.

Anyway, Chris, I'll look forward to Sunday for the game and to see if George starts our day with a smile.

His work gives a real (personal) insight into the lives of the extremely poor in Liverpool in the early part of the 20th century.

I've heard him described as 'the writer Orwell wanted to be.'

Orwell's Road to Wigan Pier was a worthy social document, but his personal background was very comfortable and he was writing very much as an outsider.

Garrett was 'the real thing' so to speak and there are short stories of his I've read that I'll never forget.

News from Nowhere in Bold Street is where I found him.

This link will give you a flavour - Link

An Awfully Big Adventure is just brilliant.

Er... no, I actually said the opposite, I said Orwell was the outsider looking in; Garrett was living the real thing (not to denounce Orwell out of hand, just saying Garrett's insights were possibly more valid/accurate).

Never comfortable with all that "voice of a generation" stuff and does anything to debunk it.