177. Olaf Scholz: Putin, Power, and Far-Right Populism
23 February 2026
Only one place to be tonight
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Post
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26 January 2010
Forgive me if I have only one thing on my mind today - no not that, nor even plugging Maya (out soon by the way and may I say the man from the Mirror, who gave my first novel a great write up, says he likes this one even more) so what with Time Out's Book of the Week, and 'steamy and intriguing' from the Mail on Scumday and that nice write up in Saturday's Times, Maya is shaping up nicely. I LOVE the cover.
But no, not even the excitement of a novel about to be published, nor any political event, nor even the fact that Leukaemia Research yesterday rebranded and became, enfin, Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research (makes sense all round), nor even a family event, no, nothing can get away from the fact that Bolton v Burnley matters more than anything else in the world today.
It's a big game anyway, two North West rivals in need of points to climb away from the relegation zone. But the departure of Owen Coyle from the manager's job at Burnley to the same berth at so-called 'bigger club' Bolton has added considerable spice to this fixture.
Unlike Bolton, on whom I spied at Arsenal last week, Burnley always have a pretty good away support. And Bolton having generously allocated us 4,700 tickets, all went quickly and plenty of Burnley fans are still looking. Of course Coyle will always be remembered in part because he led us to the Premier League but his departure and the manner of it left a bitter taste in a lot of Burnley mouths, and he knows he will be on the receiving end of a lot of noise tonight.
Hopefully the players will be up for it every bit as much as the fans and it promises to be a great night.
So apologies in advance to the people I have meetings with this morning. I won't be concentrating. I just want to get on the road again and hope it is a better journey than the one I made at the weekend. I had been hoping to make a little vlog about the magic of the FA Cup. Didn't quite work out like that, as you can see.
Good luck from a Charlton fan. Coyle had it all going for him at Burnley. The move has made a lot of football fans think a lot less of him. I worry for your club if you get nothing tonight
Nice to see you driving so slowly. Never seen anyone get overtaken so often in one video clip. As for your hat!
I always followed the Clarets but never thought I was a passionate fan, but when Coyle left and the manner of his leaving left me feeling betrayed. I found it very odd that actually I do care so much. We must perform well tonight to prove that the club can progress despite Coyle.
I think football is very very boring.
The Labour party should start a group for people like me.
Might have more quite a lot of members.
AC can’t believe you didn’t comment on Cameron’s meeting with the Unionists, unbelieveable, it shows what a lightweight he is.
“She grabbed at my belt, helped me open my trousers…I raised my self up so that I could keep my mouth on hers but also touch her nipples once more, than I moved down to kiss them, and as I kissed and nippped and bit…I thought the walls were going to fall down as we stroked and screamed our way through hours of pleasure to the union for which my whole life had been a preparation”.
This stuff is comedy gold. Congrats on finishing it, Al.
Alastair, I’ve just read an excerpt from Maya on Guido Fawkes blog. I’m very impressed! If you practice hard, you may get a publishing deal with Mills & Boon!
Nothing to do with the Clarets/Notlob or Maya but excellent news on the BBC local news last night. The shipyards at Cammell Lairds in Scouseland have received a £50M order to build the flight deck for HMS Queen Elizabeth.
A great result for the workforce who’ve campaigned hard to keep shipbuilding on the Mersey and hopefully more manufacturing jobs in the real economy.
Hi Alastair,
Glad your books are doing well. I can’t get my new book (Road of Bones, Simon and Schuster) any review space at all. Would you help me and say something about it (I’ll send you a copy), even if you hate it ? Of course there’s no reason on earth that you should, except to help out a fellow (but struggling in my case) writer…..
Anyway, all good wishes for show,
Jeremy Poolman