Dear Parents,
“The best game of the season” by all accounts on Wednesday night as Newcastle snatched a late equaliser against Liverpool. I am not surprised in the slightest that Liverpool are having such a good period under their new manager Arne Slot. Back in 1995, playing ‘Championship Manager’ on the PC, I scouted Arne Slot who, at that time, was a teenager learning his trade in the Dutch lower leagues. His stats were excellent and I had a very limited transfer budget as manager of a then lower league Watford…it was a punt worth taking. And what a punt it proved to be as Arne Slot became a mainstay of my midfield as Watford rose through the leagues, wining back to back Premier League titles and three Champions League successes. Arne never dipped below an 8 out of 10 and eventually I sold him for about £50 million to Real Madrid – a quality footballer, clearly destined for greater things. His career for Nick Baker’s Watford FC was undoubtedly helped by Gavin Holligan, someone I had snapped up as a promising teenager from non-league, who literally could not stop scoring – I remember in one of our Champions League winning seasons he slotted in excess of 60 goals. Strikers are hot property of course, and I eventually shipped him off to Manchester United for £85 million. I can certainly take the credit for identifying Arne Slot’s promise and future tactical acumen as a manager in real life but maybe not so poor Gavin who, having checked on Wikipedia, it seems only career highlight was scoring eight goals for Wycombe…you win some, you lose some…
All the fun of The Beacon BPS Christmas Fair tomorrow as we welcome over a thousand of you to one of the BPS’s flagship events of the year. We are spread across large parts of the site and with stalls, activities and refreshments for all the family it promises to be typical Beacon interactive showcase. With so many different food outlets, the tip is “Come for brunch and stay for lunch” – in particular, I know the boys in Cooking and Nutrition would be delighted to show you what they have been making this week in preparation for their ‘Christmas Café’. It will also give you the opportunity to see where the funds raised from this sort of event go, in terms of enhancing yet further the boys’ experiences and opportunities here with the newly refurbished C & N Room. I will be on my annual Christmas Photograph Stall with trusty sidekick and son, Joseph – like all successful shops, we have expanded to larger premises on the Year 4 corridor – we look forward to seeing you tomorrow!
Nick Baker