http://football2.resultsvault.com/menu.aspx?entityid=31055&width=800&showname=1%22%3E
This morning a 0-0 draw against second placed Brindabella Blues B, was enough for the Old Boys to finish top of the table in the home and away series. Now I am well aware that finishing top of the table in Australia counts for very little, but where I come from finishing top means your team are the champions, so tonight we are claiming that honour and bugger off to anyone who disagrees, cos I don’t care. We deserve to proclaim ourselves ‘Champions”, we scored more goals than any one else, and Colin Tulley was the leagues top goal scorer with 25 from 21 games. Hands off Celtic!!!!

For the benefit of my UK friends, all the football codes here in Australia, consider finishing first, as a minor honour, hence the title of ‘minor premiers’  That is because despite proving yourselves to be the best over the season, it ain’t over until the top four or five play-off in a confusing series of semi-finals and finals before two teams are left to contest the grand final.

In our case, we now play the team that have finished fourth, while the team we beat into second place, play off against the third placed side. So our reward for being the best is that we could get knocked out by a team who finished with significantly less points.
I’m not complaining, we all know the rules before we start, and over the years some of my teams have benefited from these bizarre rules. I’m just expressing my views on the difference between the European system and the Australian system.

Anyway, about the game this morning.  Well for a start I wasn’t playing again as injury has taken it’s toll and I won’t be there for the semi or the final if we get there. The guys put in a calm and composed performance throughout and hardly allowed Brindabella a chance on goal throughout, apart from a penalty conceded 20 minutes from the end. With the chance to overtake the Old Boys and claim the title, the Blues striker’s nerves got the better of him and he pushed his shot wide of Herdy’s right hand post. What a bloody shame!!!!!!!

Other than that, they had nothing, and although we were happy to let them have plenty of possession our midfield and defence didn’t let them do anything with it. On the other hand, the Old Boys have had trouble creating chances lately, and are without a goal for the last three games. It was counter attack stuff this morning and apart from Kenny hitting the post in the second half, there were just one or two half chances that we couldn’t quite take.
That’s ok, we’ve had our run of patchy form, and today’s improved effort should be enough to boost our confidence going into next week’s crucial game.

Special thanks to Colin & Michelle Tulley who laid on a fantastic end-of -season BBQ for the players after the game. A great way to celebrate with a few beers, and it gave the lads the chance to give me a bit of stick over West Ham’s shocking start to the season.

Thanks Old Boys for another fantastic season, and good luck against Canberra FC at University of Canberra, we deserve to do the double

To find out more visit their website http://www.wisdomlearning.com.au/ and make sure you get in contact with them before September 2 2010

WISDOM is planning to apply for funding for a range of training programs under the Productivity Places Program (PPP), a joint initiative by the Commonwealth and ACT Government as part of the Commonwealth Government’s Skilling Australia for the Future Initiative.

WISDOM plans to offer the following qualifications with a commencement date of December 2010 with the majority of the program presented in 2011. If we are successful in gaining this funding, it will enable them to offer these courses at a very attractive fee of $800 per eligible participant:

• Advanced Diploma of Management

• Diploma of Business

• Diploma of Property Services (Agency Management)

WISDOM is currently inviting ACT small business owners, managers and staff to register their interest for participation in these training programs.

To register your interest contact WISDOM by Thursday 2 September 2010 on 62578588 or email info@wisdomlearning.com.au . Eligibility criteria apply.

To support Mark, you can make a donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Send a cheque to PO Box 482, Willoughby, NSW 2068. For more details or to follow progress, go to http://www.sydneytoperth.com/

Ash lifting the FA Cup at Wembley

Ok so my plan to blog each day, didn’t quite work out, hence why I am summarising the whole trip in this one post.
It’s day 14 in London, and I’ve had an unbelievable time visiting friends and family back here.
Started off with two days in Worksop, Nottinghamshire with my good mates Bill & Dick.  A good old BBQ on the Sunday followed by a few beers down the pub on the Monday evening.
Tuesday a two hour drive to Leamington Spa, Warwickshire where I met up with another old mate. I did get to sample a bit of British culture when we visited Warwick, a beautiful little city near Leamington, but from there it was all downhill when we got back to London with day after day of parties and pub crawls.
I have eaten too many full English breakfasts, Fish & Chips, and pints of Fosters, that I feel my stomach is bulging. Am looking forward to getting on the plane tomorrow so I can have a rest.

One of the highlights of the trip was doing the guided tour of the new Wembley Stadium, where we got to sit in the dressing room and walk out through the players tunnel pitch side and into the stadium. I even got to lift the FA Cup in the Royal Box, and let me tell you that is something I dreamed of when I was a kid. A great experience and one to remember. You never know it might come in handy for later in the season if the Old Boys make it to the Masters Grand Final.
Talking of the Old Boys, I have been following their progress while I’ve been away, where they beat Woden 4-1 and then drew 1-1 with Brindabella A. With only four games to go, we are seven points clear, so if we can maintain our form, there is no reason why we can’t go all the way.

Good luck guys against Canberra FC on Sunday, I’ll be in the air at the time, somewhere in Asia probably, but I’ll be thinking of you.

Of course this does put me out of contention for selection in the Old Boys match against Woden Valley on Sunday. Froudy pulled me to one side after last weeks game and broke the disappointing news that he would have to leave me off the team sheet for the next three weeks, which means I will have to work real hard to get back into this team of superstars.

Colin Tulley-ready to pounce

Our match against Lanyon, was just as tight as the two previous encounters, which both finished up 1-0, and this was no different. Yet another gutsy performance by the Old Boys, who were again missing key players, Bill Hardie, Branko, Wally , Mark, Angelo and Greg. However Woody, Perry and Valery all returned and made a great contribution. Chances for either side were almost non-existent, except for a first half header that I managed to steer wide of the mark.  Everyone in the Old Boys team played their part, however Woody was the stand out in defence on his return from injury. It looked like honours would be shared, that is until Froudy hit one from the edge of the box.  The keeper got his hand to the Jabulani, but could only palm it into the corner, thus giving us the winner, with only five minutes left on the clock.
A vital win that keeps us six points clear at the top of the table, ahead of Brindabella B who lost 1-0 to UC Pumas.

Popped in to see Paul Carter in Canberra hospital on Monday, he’s feeling a little better, so hopefully he will be out of there a darn site quicker than the Old Boys sprint relay team. On behalf of the Old Boys, I wish you well Paul. Good luck without me guys, see you for the game on August 15.  Cheers

ladder

Too often I find myself interacting with people who do not understand this simple concept. They are often young people, with a touch of attitude, who have never been given any customer service training or even an explanation on how various customer  types should be handled.

Sometimes however, I come across more mature men and women, who ought to know better. The problem is that they think I have to appreciate how they are feeling, how difficult this is for them . “What you have to appreciate is”….. I’m really busy…. this is our policy, etc etc.

Not so long ago, I had an interaction with a so called ‘customer service representative’ from a prominent telecommunication company. The service level was so poor,  that I had informed the company I would cancel my contract if they didn’t improve. The ‘customer service representative told me he would  “hit with an ETC charge” if I did that.

Note, his choice of words,  ‘hit me with an ‘ETC charge’, why is he gonna hit me with it?  Hardly the terminology to use with a customer don’t you think?

When I asked him what an ETC was, he didn’t know, he had just read it from the textbook. Astonishing!!  Eventually he got his supervisor who found out from her supervisor that an ETC is an ‘early termination charge’.

Have you ever been to a restaurant and been patronised by the Chef who tells you your steak should be cooked virtually raw?  Try asking a French Chef you want your steak ‘well-done’ and see what sort of reaction you get? Not that I like it well-done, but I ask for it this way, because medium to a Frenchman is still a lot rarer than I care for.

I have on more than one occasion, been called an un-educated diner. Hey, I’m English, of course I am, everyone knows the English are philistines when it comes to food. Who are you to tell me it should be any other way? That is how I like my steak cooked, because it does something erotic to my taste buds, not because it satisfies the chef’s artistic flair.

I am the paying customer and for that reason, I reserve the right to have my steak cooked the way I like it, not the way the chef wants to cook it. Different maybe if the chef is knocking up an exotic creation, but a steak? Come on.

Over time I have refined my palette somewhat, and nowadays I do have a better appreciation for good food, but it has to taste great, I’m still not into poncey food.

Take a simple fried egg, which I reckon there is an art to cooking. On the one hand I like the yolk to be soft and runny. There is nothing like a Sunday morning with soft fresh egg yolk, on your toast, mingling with the bacon. On the other hand the sight of egg where the egg white is so clear you can see through to the pattern on the plate is very un-savory. Can’t think of anything more off-putting than undercooked eggs that look like someone has blown their nose on. It’s disgusting.

I know a lot of Chefs around the world would not agree with me, but I am the customer and I should be able to have my eggs fried my way, without an argument.

I once had the chef come storming out of the kitchen to angrily tell me eggs should be eaten this way, because “that is zee way to app-reeez-eeate the enhanced flava of zeee egg”.  No, I argued, I want to enjoy my breakfast not throw up over it.”

And he didn’t appreciate the offer of a lesson in frying an egg. When I asked him to give it a flip, he went off with the hump and in typical French sulky-style cremated the egg in a show of Gallic defiance.

If he was the Head Chef at Maxims in Paris, I would have understood a little more, but this was just a small little Café in Sydney serving breakfast on a Sunday morning. Thankfully the restaurants and cafés that Kelly & I frequent, do truly understand the essence of customer service, and ensure we taken care of. In this regard I would say the level of customer service in Canberra is of a pretty high standard. By the way, some of the restaurants and cafés I’m talking about Cream, Vervé, Caphs, Tosolinis and the new Urban Pantry in Manuka deserve a special mention.

Some customers want expert advise, however others know what they want and do not want to be persuaded otherwise. Above all, we as customers just want to be listened to and feel that we have been understood. We want people to step inside our minds just for a moment to realise what we are feeling.

Sometimes we don’t want the big advise, we don’t even want a solution, we just want to be heard, so please just shut up and just listen. We don’t want to hear how good this product is, we don’t want to listen to jargon and acronyms just because it makes you sound like you know what you’re talking about.

The art of customer service is having the emotional intelligence to understand the individual you are dealing with and respond to them personally, treating them the way they want to be treated.

Customer service, it is whatever the customer says it is.
You may be right, but you’re not right. Right?

Iniesta bangs home the winner for Spain

Not a very good World Cup Final, but great to see the team that tried to play football win. Spain edged out the Dutch by a goal to nil, providing me with my first ever correct prediction of a football match.

The Netherlands side did their best to ruin the match as a spectacle by kicking their way throughout. Tactically it may have worked for 116 minutes, until the fabulous Iniesta stepped up in the box to rifle home the winner. However, the legacy they left from this game has wiped out memories of the great Dutch team of 1974.
I was astonished how the Dutch players surrounded English referee Howard Webb at the final whistle, blaming him for the decisions that didn’t go their way. On balance they evened themselves out, in fact you could argue that Holland were fortunate not to be down to nine men by half time. Yet the Dutch went berserk when Robben was tugged back by Spanish defender Carles Puyol as as he tried to race clear. Robben stayed on his feet and tried to finish it off, thwarted only by keeper Iker Casilla. Webb quite rightly waved play on, giving the Dutch the advantage, however having missed the opportunity Robben chased after Webb demanding that Puyol be sent off.
For me there is nothing worse in football, than players remonstrating with referees, waving their hands indicating that a card should be shown to an opponent. It doesn’t matter if its a World Cup Final or the slightly less important Old Boys match against Brindabella, it is a stain on the game when players show such bad sportsmanship to each other.
Howard Webb seems to be getting a lot of stick for being too lenient throughout the World Cup Final, and also for dishing out 14 yellow cards, and one red, but what choice did he have?  On the one hand, he tried to let the game flow as a spectacle, which is why the likes of Van Bommel and De Jong played for longer than 40 minutes. In hindsight they should both been sent off, but don’t blame referee Webb for that. Can you imagine the outcry if Holland had gone in at half-time with two star players in the bin? The World, including the the two-faced FIFA President Sepp Blatter would have hung him out to dry for spoiling the game. No Webb couldn’t win no matter what he did.
All said and done the blame has to lie with the players, particularly those from the Netherlands. Webb might have got one or two decisions wrong, but overall he did ok, and should be congratulated for his efforts in trying to control a game that was virtually impossible.

In summary the Spanish were the best team in the tournament, just ahead of Germany. They stayed true to their beliefs on how the game should be played, and their sublime passing game was rewarded. I wouldn’t be surprised if Spain and Germany go on to dominate the world game. Brazil 2014 will be very interesting.