Forest great was loved in Nottingham but under-appreciated in Scotland before going on to thrive as a coach
On the eve of a Celtic European tie 25 years ago, Stiliyan Petrov cut an increasingly agitated figure. The young Bulgarian, soon to shoot to prominence under Martin O’Neill, was finding it impossible to snatch the ball from a rotund, wizened coach during a possession drill. Petrov’s teammates were cackling with laughter. John Robertson’s brilliance was understated enough in Scotland. Word of his talent in the game was never likely to reach Petrov as he grew up in deepest Bulgaria.
Petrov is part of a recent generation who owe a debt of gratitude to Robertson the coach. More of them later. When news of Robertson’s death filtered through on Christmas Day, the prevailing sense was that his country had lost one of a kind. He was also an individual who, for reasons associated with his own modesty, really never received the kudos he deserved in the land of his birth.
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© Photograph: PA Photos/PA
© Photograph: PA Photos/PA
© Photograph: PA Photos/PA
From shock Strictly news to shock flatulence, plus a roundup of the most hilarious news fails, here are the year’s wildest bits of television
One of the most critically acclaimed and most watched shows of the year was Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham’s staggering Adolescence. At the heart of the plot: why did an innocent-looking kid called Jamie (Owen Cooper) commit such a brutal murder? The third episode lifted the lid. As Jamie is interviewed by psychologist Briony (Erin Doherty), we see him slowly reveal that he’s not an innocent kid, but warped by misogyny and a twisted sense of entitlement. The episode was captivating in its acting, but it stayed with you: from Jamie’s sudden switch from vulnerability to manipulation, to the moment the camera zooms in on Briony’s face as she registers who Jamie really is. Horrifying.
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© Photograph: BBC
© Photograph: BBC
© Photograph: BBC
Our circadian cycle doesn’t just affect our sleeping and waking, but our motivations, mood, behaviour and alertness. Whether you are a lark or an owl, here’s how to recognise your own rhythm
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It’s easy to hate clocks. Their unstoppable forward churn wakes us up and shames us for running late. They are a constant reminder that every enjoyable moment, just like life itself, is ephemeral. But even if we rounded up all our time-telling devices and buried them deep in the earth, we could never escape clocks. Because we are one.
We don’t need to have studied the intricacies of circadian rhythms to know that we are ravenous at certain times and not others, that the mid-afternoon slump is real, and if we party until 4am we’re unlikely to sleep for eight hours afterwards, because the body clock has no sympathy for hangovers. But to better understand this all-encompassing daily cycle is to truly know our animal selves.
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© Illustration: Spencer Wilson/The Guardian
© Illustration: Spencer Wilson/The Guardian
© Illustration: Spencer Wilson/The Guardian
From cheeseboard pies to spiced-up veg and one last sweet flourish, this is how to eat, waste less and savour the lull between Christmas and New Year
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At this time of year, I like to stay home, shut off from the world and do as little as possible for as long as possible. Eat all the food, embrace all the leftovers and be creative with whatever’s in the kitchen. After the big day, I like to turn leftovers into some sort of pie: they’re forgiving and malleable and work with whatever you have hanging about. This leftovers pie from Tom Hunt and this turkey and ham pie from Felicity Cloake are great places to start. You could absolutely make your own pastry, as Tom does, or use shop-bought if you want to keep things as simple as possible (I always store a few rolls of pastry in the fridge over Christmas for precisely this reason). If it’s cheese that you have in abundance, meanwhile, then Rosie Birkett’s decadent-sounding lazy cheeseboard tart is a perfect way of using up the odds and ends of any remaining festive fromage.
As well as comfort food, I also find I need a change of pace after the 25th; I start craving spice and less hearty meals, too. Yotam Ottolenghi’s Boxing Day fried rice with garlic and spring onion sauce is the perfect way to be resourceful with leftover roast veg, as is Meera Sodha’s Christmas veg penang curry, a real treat of a dish that I enjoy year-round, and especially after the indulgence of December. Nigel Slater’s roast parsnip and stilton soup with beetroot crisps is another great addition to your leftovers repertoire, not least because it is a recipe that needs very few ingredients, very little work and is immensely adaptable. If I don’t have beetroot kicking around, I just leave it out. And if I have leftover comté instead of stilton, I’ll chop and stir that in instead.
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© Photograph: Luke J Albert/The Guardian. Food and prop styling: Rosie Birkett. Food assistant: Nena Foster.
© Photograph: Luke J Albert/The Guardian. Food and prop styling: Rosie Birkett. Food assistant: Nena Foster.
© Photograph: Luke J Albert/The Guardian. Food and prop styling: Rosie Birkett. Food assistant: Nena Foster.
How our two-bedroom terrace become something of a cat rescue centre is illustration of nationwide crisis
How many cats is too many cats? I can’t tell you exactly, but a couple of weeks ago, I had 11 cats living in my terrace house. And I can say with confidence this is absolutely, definitely too many.
At time of writing, I still have seven.
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© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
The best plots are the ones that dare to change, and the start of a new year is the perfect time to move around your plants
Something I’ve noticed in gardens that have been tended by the same person – or people – is that the best ones never stay the same. People who truly love their plots shuffle things around all the time, with the same confidence and curiosity as those restless interior design lovers who change their curtains twice a year with the clocks.
The longest I’ve ever had a plot is five years, but even in that time I feel as though I made several different gardens. The suck-it-and-see approach of lifting something that isn’t terribly happy has been a stalwart of mine since I started container gardening on a tiny balcony.
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© Photograph: Jozef Durok/Getty Images
© Photograph: Jozef Durok/Getty Images
© Photograph: Jozef Durok/Getty Images
© Tetiana Dzhafarova/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
© Illustration: Stephen Collins/The Guardian
© Illustration: Stephen Collins/The Guardian
© Illustration: Stephen Collins/The Guardian
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