Greatest 100 bands ever is definitely pushing it, but you can't deny Doherty is an immensely talented individual, even if he doesn't always show it.

The fact he went on it in the first place says everything. The man might have been punk back in 1977 but he's been nowhere near for a long time since.

Fair play. I only half caught a story the other day about the Sex Pistols minder beating up the lad from the Bloc Party - does anyone know what all that was about?

Kele says it was racism, Lydon denied it but other bands have come out since backing up Kele's story. Doesn't surprise me one bit - Never Mind the ###### is a classic, but Lydon is a (please dont use that word again) of the highest order and they're one of the biggest embarassments in music these days.

Yeah but the Stone Roses were clearly good.

So were the Libs, I agree Stone Roses were better though. I couldn't stand the Libs when they first came out, it all sounded like tuneless rambling rubbish and the usual NME hype put me off aswell, but when you sit down and take the time with Up the Bracket there's a lot of depth to it. Definitely worth revisiting if you didn't give them much of a chance as I know quite a few people who hated them at first too but came back to really like them.

I'm a sucker for great lyrics too, and while you might have your own personal opinion of Pete Doherty, the man is a brilliant lyricist - he got sent to Russia by the British Council when he was an innocent 16 year old to read out some of his poetry. More talent in his little finger than any of these new bands mentioned before have between them, shame he's thrown it away a bit and Babyshambles have been rank average for the most part.

I agree. I never take to much interest of the 'TOP 100 BANDS EVER' polls that the magasines always run when they have nothing to fill pages but I am always amazed that the Libertines are always high up in them with quotes like 'one of the most important bands ever' next to their picture - hang on, didnt they have something like 2 albums? Pathetic

I agree that calling them 'one of the most important bands ever' is much too excessive, but the Stone Roses only had two albums too and theyre still (rightly) regarded as legendary. Up the Bracket was a fantastic album, especially lyrically.

Libertines were great to be fair, or at least Up the Bracket was. But the movement they kicked off spawned so many awful imitations which we're still having to put up with...

I felt it was the right time for Mark Hughes to go - he has done a good job, although he still didnt win any cups or anything, but I felt things were becoming abit stale and his moaning was becoming more and more frequent.

Yes we finished on more points last season, but we were terrible in the cups & Europe as a result of it! 2 of our main problems have been for the past few seasons - Pace & Creativity - On the attack we are so predictable and it gives teams a head start when trying to defend against us. Hopefully Ince will crack that, if he does then we have a great chance of improving further.

Pace and creativity need money to buy. Both the players we're buying so far firstly cost more than any player than Hughes bought bar Bellamy (if and when we buy them) and together will have cost more than Hughes ever had to spend in a summer during his time here. Secondly, they're not proven talent, and they've done it in inferior leagues. And lastly, only Villaneuva really has pace and creativity and even Tim Vickery says hes not exactly certain to be a success here.

If you can show me great players with pace and creativity with the money Hughes had to spend every summer then be my guest. There was so many clubs around us - Newcastle being a prime example - who would spunk lots of money on exciting looking players with flair, the sort of players who looked amazing on video. However they flopped when it came to dealing with the Premiership. Hughes went for players who didnt excite as much, didnt have that much pace of flair, but who had excellent technique (RSC, Bentley being prime examples) and that's why we were successful despite not playing brilliant football.

If Ince can produce pretty football and similar results, then he will have done a pretty amazing job.

Was it just me that had become a little bit fed up under Hughes?

I really thought he hit his peak in the Bellamy year. We played some great stuff and even in March had a genuine shout at a top 4 spot. But then we stopped being the fittest team, in fact I don't think we were as such, we just had some very fit players who then moved on. And far too much ref baiting and blaming. Plus tactically very poor. I couldn;t believe how many games, when he has had all week to plot and plan, that the first half would prove embarrassingly inept.

Time was up in my opinion.

I think it was just as much a case of peoples' expectations being raised too high. And one can just as easily interpret that last bit as Hughes' half time tactics being spot on with the amount of times we managed to claw back from behind. The fact we were a consistently top 10 side on his resources shows how good his achievements were, and many people who were moaning last season ignored the fact we finished with more points and in a better position than the previous season, despite the League arguably getting tougher each season with the teams around us spending big.

If Ince can build his own team and succeed with a new generation then I'll hold him in very high regard too, but we shall see what happens.

Must-read article:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertai...and-870520.html

This describes perfectly my frustrations with the indie 'scene' right now.

Very surprised as the food has always been excellent when I have been, but I think you have hit the nail on the head with your assessment of what the place has become.

Sadly (or not for the muppets that keep forking out) the kind of people who go there will continue to go there to be seen adn eat the food whether it is good or not.

And you are right, good, bad or indifferent, £180 is just nuts...

I've been there a few times when I've been to visit my family and that's a really crass generalisation. People go because the food is excellent and they don't mind forking out a bit more for it, not because they're "muppets" or because they want to be seen there. Maybe there's one or two like that but I'm sure theyre in the minority.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=120M6CB4

Chemical Brothers remix of a new Oasis song, Falling Down.

Sounds pretty good. Haven't heard the original one as yet, so not sure how much of this is the Chemical's input. If the actual song is fairly similar to this then it could bode pretty well, as its pretty new territory for them. However if the actual song is just the same old same old guitars only stuff then it wont be too exciting really.

Great Chinese place around Blackburn is Yu and You, been there a few times when I've been to visit my parents. Not cheap but you get what you pay for..

SS Cosmos - Lorenzo Amoruso.

Anyone seeing My Bloody Valentine in the next couple of weeks?

" to hell with the man as far as i'm concerened, he's no better than Neill or Bellamy"

grow up!

If you're going to make statements like that at least make some justification for them.

Like I said, I would have applauded him for a job well done if he joined Chelsea. Maybe not wished him all the best - but thats only because of my feelings for Chelsea.

He's just as bad as the others who've left us. He was game for the Newcastle job and would've left us then if they'd come in for him.

If he joined Chelsea we could have no complaints - the prospects there are so much better that we don't compare. But to join City really does leave a bitter taste in the mouth.

To hell with the man as far as I'm concerned, he's no better than Neill or Bellamy.

I thought Kenyon was a big Hughes supporter?

Can't see Roman being one. At all.

That explains why you don't like the Wombats!

Indeed....I can't say identikit indie is really my bag.

MGMT were interesting, the set was both excellent and pretty awful in places, although the good moments definitely outnumbered the bad. The album stuff all sounded good but at times they veered towards prog rock a little too much and that 14 minute non-album song/jam towards the end was excruciating. Still, they are a very good live act and there were a lot of highlights in the set. Good to see a band getting up there and having a good time. Just need to rein in certain tendencies...

I think I'm one of the few who finds the Wombats truly awful.

Off to see MGMT on Tuesday, should be good.

Used to love Oasis but just couldnt get excited about these new tracks I gotta say.

Bentley was okay, no worse than Beckham.

We need Micah Richards back, Johnson is as diabolical as Brown

Wes Brown off too, another insipid performance.

Rooney, Gerrard, Terry and Joe Cole coming off

Crouch, Downing, Owen and Lescott

This is ridiculous.