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Should the Championship Wait for VAR to Improve

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The introduction of VAR into the Premier League has been unpopular to say the least. Fans, players, managers and pundits have bemoaned the implementation of the technology, ruining the instantaneous aspect of the game.

Goals have been disallowed for marginal calls for offside, while penalties have been awarded by the review systems for the slightest contact. It has changed the landscape of the division quite significantly at the top and the bottom of the Premier League. Leicester City would be slightly worse off, while Brighton may have been in the relegation zone without the benefit of the technology.

It’s amusing to see fans call for the good old days of when officials’ mistakes were allowed to go uncorrected. We’ve gone from whinging about the referee and his two assistants – to complaining about an official miles away in a hub analysing the game from all different angles to ensure that the correct decision by the letter of the law is made.

Some say football should not be governed in such a manner – but the technology did come into fruition because of the demand for better accuracy with key decisions on the pitch. Fans, players and managers of Premier League teams may have remorse over their previous claims.

It will certainly not appeal to other fans in the United Kingdom to see the pitfalls of VAR. The Championship could be the next league to make the move to the system, although it could take longer to introduce given the teething problems the top flight has endured.

For teams that have been starved of success for so long such as Leeds United, who are the leading contenders in the Championship betting odds to earn promotion to the Premier League. The Whites would not want to see promotion charge hinge on the decision of VAR. It would not be a popular move even if the officials in the lower leagues do not quite boast the quality of their top-flight counterparts.

There have been numerous complaints about the standard of officiating in the Football League. Every week there seems to be a contentious incident where a referee or his assistant has made a huge blunder. However, at least in that situation – it is a judgement call made on the pitch in real time. Anyone can make a mistake and if the history of football has proven, referees are only human and will make errors that will usually balance out over the course of a season.

Moving to technology as the Premier League have done would create problems. In most Premier League grounds there are screens to tell fans that a VAR check is occurring. However, for teams not as financially secure as their counterparts in the top flight those screens are not an option. It would create a further communication problem with supporters in the ground that have already been prevalent even with boards around the stadium notifying of the check and result of the decision.

It seems that at this precise moment it would not be a good idea for the Championship and the leagues below to adopt the technology until the teething issues are resolved and they are able to utilise it to its best ability.

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Finding an Employee Shuttle Parking Solutions Page

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Many employers are having to concern themselves with their employee’s commute to work and parking because it is starting to affect the morale of workers, their effectiveness at work, and whether employees are arriving at work on time. Developing an Employee shuttle parking solutions page on your intranet may be what you require to find a solution which will not only help your employees get to work on time, but show them that you are concerned about their time and happiness.

The Need For an Employee Shuttle Parking Solutions Page

Right now you and most other companies provide a parking lot for your employees or passes for a local parking lot. However as areas develop in city locations and even on industrial parks, and the road infrastructure develops with it, often what happens is that the location you chose for your business has become harder and harder to get to. What might have been a 30 minute commute for an employee is now an hour, with them sat in dead traffic for half of that as they queue to enter the city, get to the parking lot, find a space if they’re able and then walk to the office.

This has become a source of frustration for many employees, especially for those who have to pay for their own parking passes, and the passes increase in cost every year as parking spaces are of higher demand and the location becomes more popular as other businesses move into the area.

What tends to happen is employees have to set off from home earlier and earlier to ensure they can complete their commute and be at the desk on time, and that they can beat the rush for car park spaces so they don’t have to park too far away and end up walking for 10 minutes in the rain or cold to the office. Whereas someone may have left home at 8 am in the past they’re now leaving at 7 am to beat the commute and rush for car park spaces. This affects their energy levels, their morale, and family life as well.

Thankfully there’s a solution for this problem which is plaguing workforces throughout the country. It’s a solution that works well for theme parks, airports, city shopping areas and now for corporations wanting to improve life for their employees…parking and shuttle services. Imagine renting a large car park outside the city center about 15 minutes away from your office, the cost of that parking lot per space could be one tenth of the parking spaces close to your office.

You then provide shuttle buses from the car park to the door of your office, perhaps they can run every 10 minutes from the office to the parking lot before and after work hours so that all individuals can have a relaxing and hassle free journey into work. This type of parking solution is ideal for companies where parking close to the office is expensive and difficult to find, or has been hard to get to via the road system.

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5 Mercedes-Benz Maintenance Tips

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If you own a Mercedes-Benz, you’ve likely invested a hefty amount of money in driving one of the best car brands in the world. Therefore, you want to keep it operating smoothly for as long as possible. To avoid mechanical breakdown or damages, here are five Mercedes-Benz maintenance steps that you can do yourself:

1. Apply for UV protection both inside and out.

The first step that you can do is to apply UV protection to protect the paint from photodegradation. After cleaning your car, you should apply wax that provides an ample amount of protection against the sun’s harmful rays. You should also apply for UV protection inside the vehicle, especially if you have leather seats. There are leather cleaners and conditioners available in the market that coat the leather and keep the seats looking brand new for longer.

2. Check your car’s hoses and belts.

Your car has a few hoses and belts that keep it running, including the timing belt, serpentine belt, and coolant hose. If one of the belts snap or if the hose bursts, you will have a major problem on hand. Therefore, perform a regular under-the-hood inspection to see if the hose looks spongy or if the belts have cracks. If you see any issues, don’t wait for it to get worse. Schedule a Mercedes Benz service as soon as you can at the nearest Sandown-Group branch.

3. Check your car’s fluids and filters.

You already know that your car won’t run if there’s no oil. However, oil has contaminants that can ruin your engine if it is not filtered properly. This is why you need to have your car’s oil filter changed regularly. This ensures that your engine is not damaged by tiny and hard particles that are in the oil. Aside from this, you also need to check the fluids in your transmission, brake, and the steering wheel.

4. Make sure that your tire pressure is at the recommended psi.

Most car owners won’t know that their tires are under-inflated, which can lead to higher risks of collisions on the road. To prevent accidents from happening, make sure that your tire pressure is at the right psi level, as recommended by the manufacturer. Aside from tire pressure, you should also check that it is at the right alignment to tread wear.

5. Walk around your vehicle to see if external features are working.

The last maintenance step that you can do is to check if every light is working correctly. These include your headlights, taillights, brake lights, reverse lights, hazard lights, and turn signals. The last thing you want is to get a ticket while driving because one of these lights are not working. If you find a burned-out light, have it replaced immediately.

To keep your Mercedes-Benz running smoothly for years to come, make sure that you schedule inspections and servicing regularly. But don’t forget to do your part as the car owner and to perform the steps listed above as well. Check your car’s UV protection, hoses and belts, fluids and filters, tire pressure, and external features.

 

Electric Fields Festival Cancelled

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It’s the end of a brief era in Scotland, as the Electric Fields has been canceled barely a month before the fifth year of the festival was due to kick off. The news follows controversy over a change of venue, which some prospective festival-goers had already warned was likely to kill the mood. The move from the festival’s original venue at Drumlanrig Castle, which is in Dumfries and Galloway, to Finnieston’s SWG3 had prompted a rush of refund requests, and it now seems like the festival is no longer financially viable.

Rumors about the potential cancellation of the festival had been circulating online since Monday 2nd June, with potential attendees reporting that they were being told the big gig was off when they attempted to buy tickets, but it wasn’t until Wednesday that the event organizers confirmed that Electric Fields wouldn’t be going ahead this year, or ever again. They spoke of being faced with challenges that were impossible to overcome, and also confirmed that Electric Fields would immediately cease trading as a company.

The news will come as a disappointment to those who were happy to travel to Glasgow, and also to those within Glasgow who were excited about the idea of having an increasingly large festival on their doorstep. From its inception as a small festival which mostly catered for a small audience of the organizers and their immediate friends and family, numbering around one hundred people in total for the first event, the festival had grown exponentially in size each year. Last year, eight thousand people gathered to watch headline act Noel Gallagher perform on Friday night.

This year’s festival was scheduled to be headlined by Metronomy on the opening night, The Vaccines on Friday night, and then Frank Turner on the Saturday. Friendly Fires, Sleaford Mods, The Futureheads and Nadine Shah had also been confirmed as performing, and will now presumably be looking for an alternative major booking for their summer festival schedule at short notice. As well as hitting musicians in the pocket, there will also likely be a detrimental effect on the local economy. Electric Fields is believed to have made almost £1.5m for the Dumfries and Galloway area during last year’s festival, and so a similar – if not more significant – sum of money could have been expected to wash into Glasgow this July.

The reasons for the switch of venue were never clear from the moment the change was announced. Organizers initially blamed transport and logistics issues for the need to change, but there were no significant issues with transport in or out of the area for the festival last year. After some debate whether those who had already bought tickets would even be eligible for refunds, it was eventually decided that anyone who wanted to cancel because of the change of venue would receive a refund within 28 working days. Organizers had hoped that the number of people seeking a refund would be no more than eighty, but based on the cancellation announcement it seems likely that this wasn’t the case.

Among the criticisms of the move to Glasgow was the idea that the city already has enough summer festivals, with both Summer Sessions and the T In The Park replacement TRNSMT going ahead as usual this year. Electric Fields would likely have become the smaller of the three Glasgow festivals, and may have struggled to attract as many paying customers as a result.

The cancellation of the festival is just the latest in a number of issues suffered by smaller festivals over the past couple of years in the UK. Y Not Festival has done well to make a comeback after suffering the embarrassment of being canceled halfway through due to weather issues during 2017, and Liverpool’s Hope and Glory Festival was also canceled on its second day due to staffing, crowding, and security problems. All of this goes to show that running a festival is not the easy route to making money that some organizers appear to believe it is. While they might believe that they’re following the same strategy that would work well at an online casino or All Sister Sites – by which we mean they’re spending a little money, rubbing their hands, and waiting for the jackpot payout to come their way when it’s all over – what they’re actually finding is that sometimes, you walk away from the casino as a loser. The organizers of large festivals like Leeds, Reading, Glastonbury, and Download, know when to hold’ em and know when to fold ’em. It would appear that some of the newer would-be festival gurus don’t.

There hasn’t been any further update posted by the festival organizers since the statement concerning the cancellation on their social media pages. If you did have a ticket, and were planning to attend the festival, you’re advised to contact the company or booking agent you bought the ticket from for a refund. If your ticket came directly from the organizers, a telephone number for refund requests has also been provided, which is 0161 813 2222.

If the news hasn’t dampened your enthusiasm to go and check out a festival this summer – and we really hope that it hasn’t – then you might want to check out this list of festivals happening this month and see if anything takes your fancy. If not, don’t despair, there’s still plenty of summer to come, and lots of gigs and festivals still selling tickets! As we mentioned earlier, TRNSMT is still happening in the Glasgow area, and features a Friday night headlines set by Stormzy, who will be fresh from his Glastonbury appearance. Example, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Richard Ashcroft, Bastille, George Ezra, Snow Patrol and many more are also listed as being in attendance, and we have confidence that the festival won’t be called off at the last second.

Stay tuned to our website for all the information you need regarding any future festival changes, along with all the other big news and reviews happening within the world of music.

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