Pompeii was an ancient Roman-era town near the city of Naples. Naples has been a city cursed with the Mafia. The Mafia originated on the island of Sicily. The main city on Sicily is Palermo, whose football team’s home shirt is pink. Another football team to play in pink (albeit their away kit) are Wexford Youths. They were founded by Mick Wallace, a TD and developer. Wallace is known for his casual dress sense and his pretty dire haircut. Another politician with a bad haircut is Angela Merkel. Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany. A previous holder of this job was Gustav Stresemann (who incidentally had a better haircut than Merkel.) He was chancellor in 1923, but was the Foreign Minister until his death in 1929. 1929 was also the year of the Wall Street Crash. This economic crash brought down almost all the economies in the world. However, the economy of the Soviet Union survived this pretty well, due to its anti-capitalist stance. The Soviet Union collapsed between the years 1989 and 1991, and Russia was trying to find its feet as a new democratic country. The book Archangel was written about this period by Robert Harris, who also wrote a book about an ancient town called...

So, David Moyes has been sacked by the Glazers – a disappointing season, which sees Manchester United incapable of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in about twenty years. Radio interviews with United fans have been aired, expressing hope for a “proven” manager, and that United “deserve the best.” It is important for us to remember Alex Ferguson’s early years at the club. His first match was a loss to Oxford United. It took him years to secure any piece of silverware. Yet there was a level of tolerance, which was rewarded with Ferguson’s first league triumph in 1993, having capitalised on Norwich’s late-season collapse to pinch the title from them. Whilst it’s true that there wasn’t the same level of expectation placed on Ferguson, it should be remembered here that the Scotsman had a pretty successful stay in Aberdeen, evening winning the European Cup Winner’s Cup in dramatic fashion against Real Madrid. Ferguson’s twenty-seven years was never going to be easy to follow, but Moyes should’ve been given more time. It is all too eerily reminiscent of Brian Clough’s brief tenure in charge of Leeds...