I would do concordance online, of course. No. The concordance would only help you with the same things that are concerning the same thing. It would put them all in one row. I know. It helps you to find stuff. That's correct. That's great. But it ain't going to find... It is their life in the universe except for Earth. It ain't going to find that. What the hell's the matter with you? You sure as well insist that the Bible says that? Because I've read all the scriptures pertaining to those situations. But the concordance is not going to find me that.  That's all. But you can't go around saying things like, I don't believe that. I don't believe... You haven't read the book? How do you do that? I mean...  I'm defending science. Where? Science hasn't proved that. You ever watch Ancient Aliens? That's not science. Of course it is. They're full of the top scientists. When they speak, they're speaking speculation. They do not know anything about life on another planet. They're showing a hell of a lot of deductive reasoning evidence. Archaeological evidence. You've got archaeological evidence on other planets? No, they're going back into all the cultures. So how does that prove life on another planet? How does that prove life on another planet? By all the sightings that were reported. How does that prove life on another planet? Of any kind. But they have more... Even bacteria. I'll accept bacteria. But they have more proof than religion does. Fine. Then accept there what you're saying is proof. But don't go saying the Bible is wrong. How the hell can you say that? I want to see... Having not read it. Because you're insisting that it says that. And I want to see... I'm not insisting that. I said many scriptures pulled together say that. Not one scripture. There is no life on another planet. Except on Earth. There's no one scripture in the Bible says that. How do you come to that conclusion? I just explained it how many times. The Bible is here a little, there a little. You must take all the scriptures on one subject. And then you will find out. Your deductive reasoning says that. Anybody's deductive reasoning. Okay. Continue. I say no. Continue. You can't say that. I say that's your interpretation. No. That's not acceptable. What about the verse that says absence from the body, presence with the Lord. You said, oh, Ken is wrong. Yeah, about what? What does that mean? God hates the flesh. Absence from the body, present with the Lord. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. It means that you're somewhere else. No, it doesn't. It's just what I just said. God hates the flesh. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. That's all it means. It doesn't mean that you're absent from the body. You're closer to God. But how are you absent from the body? Death. You're not a spear being. If you're deaf, you know nothing. Well, for you to be absent from the body means that something in you is absent from the body. Exiting of the body. So how does that bring any closer to God? Well, if you're absent from the body is present with the Lord that means something. Who said that? How can you be absent from your body and present in the Lord when you have not yet been resurrected? Oh, I'm sorry. Let's go back to the soul idea. Soul, yeah. The immortal soul idea. Soul food. Which is a concept, by the way, from religious nuts. Who haven't read the Bible? You got some nerve to think that there is no other life forms anywhere else. Stop saying, I think it. I just said, who thinks it? No other life forms? The Bible. It's Clifton number two giving me the stare down. Alright, continue. Where did dogs first arrive on the scene? Scientists have long debated that question and now a study of doggy DNA from around the world is pointing to central age. Man's best friend may have evolved somewhere near what is now Nepal and Mongolia. Pre-studies have suggested Southern China. The Middle East, Siberia and Europe as the first place where our first domesticated animal arose from wolves at least 15,000 years ago. I read a textbook about that very subject and they went even farther back. They showed some ferret looking animal from Africa and they branched off. One became canine, one became feline but yeah, it only makes sense like the African wild dog the wolf just like the bob cat they tie in the bob cat the ocelot different small cats to the domesticated cat. For the new work Adam Boyko of Cornell University and others analyzed DNA from 549 dogs that represented 38 countries in Africa the Americas Asia, Europe, India and the Middle East and islands north and east of Australia. The animals were not house pets. They were village dogs that wandered freely in the streets or fields. The researchers examined the DNA for signals of where the dogs had the most ancient roots. That pointed to central Asia. The analysis did not tackle the contentious question of when the dogs appeared. Results were reported in a paper released on Monday by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Even Boyko doesn't think his work will end the debate among scientists. I'm not pretending my study alone is enough to rally the community together. He's right. Robert Wayne of the University of California Los Angeles who proposed a European origin for dogs in 2013 based on analysis of ancient DNA said he didn't buy the conclusion about central Asia. In an email he questioned Boyko's use of modern-day genetic material as a guide to the distant past. Another expert Gregor Larson of Oxford University called the paper a major step forward but said he also suspected that modern DNA is not the way to go. Now that central Asia has been added to the mix everyone with a favorite region can point to at least one paper that supports their suspicions. Larson is involved in an international project to tackle the question with ancient DNA and anatomical comparisons. Boyko said that that research will provide an important test of his own work. You see, it reminds me of this question I asked of the dog breeders that I never got a reply. Now the English Bulldog which I happen to like very much is my favorite breed the English Bulldog of today you know the one shown at the Westminster dog show, right? It's not the original English Bulldog that was used for cruel sport of bull baiting. Now that dog was more athletic and what happened is when they outlaw bull baiting the athleticism they went for the exaggerated features instead of athleticism. So my question was why don't you just dig up some of the champion original English Bulldogs from the grave and try to find good DNA in the bone marrow and clone one nobody answers you know what I mean? It's like it's so easy it's like trying to bring back the Tasmanian tiger that is extinct you try to find they would rather bring back a T-Rex not a Bulldog what's the start Jurassic Park Jurassic Park I know chickens they found good DNA in Montana of T-Rex DNA and being that the bird is the word being that the bird is the word in the closest living relative to dinosaurs they wanted to put the DNA in fertile chicken eggs try to bring back the T-Rex Jurassic Park scientists in movies they always do the wrong thing well they like mad science mad alright well I don't think Goldblum was mad when he first started out with the fly he had good intentions that's great but all roads to room are paved with good intentions road to heaven road to hell road to hell road to hell are paved with good intentions road to hell are paved with good intentions that's an old saying in a very accurate one too unfortunately I mean look at the island of Dr. Moreau you need a better GPS for that because there would be nothing at the end of that road well it shows it shows the corruptibility well it's a saying well a saying is a saying it should be based on accurate facts the corruptibility of human nature or the inability to see consequences ahead of what you're doing well if you have good intentions to start and you become down a road you become overwhelmed by greed you know I'm sure Thomas Edison had good intentions before Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan started waving money under his nose I'm sure he originally had good intentions who knows yeah you know who knows because you told me yourself all men are all people on this earth are evil Bingo I'm glad you said that I'm glad you admitted it people are scum we are all evil there is none that is good that's also what the Bible says I'm talking about people selling out I'm not talking about it I'm talking about in you no selling out did you tell me that if somebody weighed enough dough in front of your nose that you might think is selling out the newspaper I mean the newsletter no it has nothing to do with the newsletter Anderson Cooper it has to do with you becoming corrupt Anderson Cooper why do you keep on saying no when I say something synonymous well what you say you say to me oh no that's not it now Anderson Cooper started off progressive then he came out of the closet so big deal he became a game progressive news anchor or whatever you want to call him journalist journalist that's a problem then he sold out with the people who made that perception he was never a progressive why would anybody he pretended to be one whatever but that's a problem with us Hillary pretended and that's a problem with us isn't it because we're not perceiving this people don't do their homework they don't do their research well you don't want to study the Bible you think I'm going to read that humongous book page by page to try to find what you were insisting on before five times with books of notes oh you and your notes and writing it's not for everybody well then you can't say what you say Mr. Wordsworth you see what I'm saying Mr. Wordsworth it's not for everybody then you can't say what you say that there is a different form of I didn't say there were humanoids out there don't try to change it you actually wanted to speak for the Bible you think there's no bacteria on Mars hogwash I didn't say I think I said the Bible says and I wish if they brought back they found water I think on Mars they have, Mars has polar caps all they got to do is say we got bacteria from the rover we have bacteria from Mars and I'm going to tease the dickens out of you sir I'm going to tease you it's not me it's the Bible why are you putting me all right so the bacteria is phony if the rover brings back bacteria in a rock from Mars then the bacteria then it's a lie then the Bible's wrong and if it's wrong about that one thing it's wrong about all the other things why is it so bad that there might be fungi or bacteria on Mars why is that a bad thing you're not getting the point I don't think it's bad I think it's exciting my argument was the Bible said so period that's it no room for nothing else now if you read the Bible and came up with something else you can say oh no no the Bible does say it here and there if you haven't then you can't speak on that subject no room for nothing else got you well if you speak on subjects you don't know about it you create yourself as a fool not if I am telling you what science articles say I'm not a fool if you're believing that but they got a lot of it it's not all theory not what you said not what you said is proven at all period it's all speculation I don't think they actually in a tangible way have the bacteria from Mars no kidding and they will not have any now is that arrogance and they will not have any is that arrogance yeah you're an arrogant you're an arrogant German American you're arrogant yes you are arrogant but I didn't say that oh you didn't oh the Bible said your interpretation you still stand by your interpretation stop bringing the personal into things like that it is not my interpretation the Bible interprets itself some things in the Bible are plain as the nose on your face other things have to be deciphered they may be in another place here a little and there a little gotcha you have to put it together it's a jigsaw puzzle gotcha it is not for those who are lazy or don't want to read it or do the homework it is not for them they should just walk away and not enter into the the debate J between you the cat, mama cat and Clifton boy this is Clifton is over with hours of time no he he looked perturbed because he didn't come in when he came in and he came in somebody must have told him to come in at that time nobody did I mean it was totally he was supposed to be here two days ago oh then that's his fault why are you making it personal then that's his fault you and the crumb buns not you but the crumb buns in this neighborhood alright oh he's supposed to be here two days ago and he didn't come he figured I'd be here alone he didn't know he didn't know that you have an agenda he thought you were just hanging out and watching TV on a Sunday I know the average person the average person doesn't get involved in important things I know adaptive supporters the first democratic presidential debate of the 2016 cycle was far from a complete and utter route Bernie Sanders more than held his own and presented a real challenge to Hillary Clinton a key ideological difference between the two candidates is that Sanders has no ties to Wall Street or big money interests Super PAC money Sanders is a candidate who represents the interests of working families yeah right that's true it is a gross overstatement for Bloomberg news columnist John Heilman to characterize the outcome of the democratic presidential debate as an out by Hillary Clinton there is serious doubt whether she was even the victor she gets great she gets huge contributions from some of the media many of the mass media pundits who made that declaration had in April written off Bernie Sanders as an outlier and aired again in June by dismissing the same power of Donald Trump in the first democratic presidential debate Sanders unquestionably won tremendous accolades for clearly articulating points that render him the top contender for the presidents after the debate an associate entered at alternate.org recognized that Sanders won the CNN focus group the fusion focus group and the Fox News focus group in the latter he even converted several Hillary supporters he won the slate online poll CNN time online poll 9 news Colorado the street online poll Fox 5 poll the conservative drudge online poll and the liberal daily calls online poll there wasn't to this associate editor's knowledge a poll he didn't win by at least 18 points Sanders was the debate winner if not the majority of the debate audience complete and utter routes mobs the floor with the field we couldn't possibly have been watching the same debate I thought Bernie Sanders was by far the most authentic candidate on the stage he projected an honest force and intensity when talking about the issues the middle class working families are most interested in while Hillary Clinton's performance passable in navigating her several potentially negative issues in a polished lawyerly way Sanders was the one who exhibited an intense truly held conviction about the issues he raised his honesty and integrity showed in the high point of the evening when he came to Clinton's defense in condemning the focus on her damn emails as a diversion from the important issues facing the middle class he was clearly the one he didn't want the email topic to suck up too much valuable time what went in reality I mean maybe he probably knew she was going to go for Congress for this hearing he just didn't want it to become the issue well it is still yeah while people are cheering for the way she's handling it but it's not over I'm trying to think of Chris Christie cut the funding on something recently asked to do a food I'm trying to think what it was Christie is always cutting funding for anything that helps there is boys oh yeah he gave another big break he's always doing that he does it at the same time he'll cut funding for the middle class and the poor the mainstream of New Jersey and then he'll he'll give the money to his rich friends and then they create jobs in China and the trickle down is really in China and Chris Christie got re-elected and the person who really gives a shit about the people did not get elected Barbara Bono and people still complain about Christie and I told them I don't want to hear it on the New Jersey working families whatever Facebook page I don't want to hear complaining and crying because you did not bother to get behind Barbara Bono and elector you re-elected Christie you complain during the first term of Chris Christie you re-elected Chris Christie and you're still complaining about him that's it and of course if you don't vote you have no right to bitch you want to end it here one of your light subjects I have been with my boyfriend for almost five years lately he seems to want to meet up or hang out with more girls than usual hang out no it doesn't work that way there is no male and female friends if you're seriously involved he has always had female friends throughout our relationship some of whom he previously even had sex with but they displayed nothing more than just a friendship and acted as if nothing ever happened how do you do that how do you have a platonic friendship and then have sex like it was a handshake and then just go back to being platonic I always wonder how that happens I feel like the guy is he's got the cavorca he's got the lure of the animal I was comfortable and okay with these friendships but isn't meeting new girls kind of like finding a new date yes or does he just want friends outside the relationship are they mostly girls I don't feel the need to meet other people I'm comfortable focusing on our relationship is this a sign that he is bored it's a sign that he's messing around and both and could be bored Amy's answer


Hello and welcome to the official AFC Bournemouth podcast coming to you as ever from Vitality Stadium. Our job here is to bring you closer to some of those personalities collected to the club throughout the course of the season, be it first team players, staff, management or academy personnel. Now for those of you who are new here, my name is Zoe Rundle and I'm part of the media team here at AFC Bournemouth. Today I'm once again privileged to be in the company of Neil Parrott, a fountain of AFC Bournemouth knowledge and someone that has been following the fortunes of the club for the last 30 years. Neil, it's great to be back. Can I start by wishing you a very happy new season? Thank you very much Zoe. Happy new season to you. Can't wait now. First game on the horizon. A few new signings in the door already. Really looking forward to see how things are going to go. Obviously got a new head coach as well so can't wait. Well we've got quite possibly our most exciting guest yet, someone that's new to England and new to the Cherries but has an incredibly impressive CV. So without further ado it's my pleasure to introduce Antoni Iroiola on our official club podcast. Antoni, thank you so much for your time and for joining us. First things first, how are you? Hi, thank you Zoe. I'm good, I'm good. I'm looking forward to start the season because it's really close. We've been preparing this precision to be in our best moment for the game against West Ham and we'll see it very soon. How have you settled in obviously both here at Vitality Stadium and away from the football? I think everything has been, you have been quite helpful I would say. Things have been really easy in the pitch outside the football because I started living in a hotel, now I already have a house, I already have a car so I can win some independence and I can explore my own, do my own research and explore some places. Antoni, you said you'd already been to Dyrdledor to have a look round. Is there anywhere else that you're particularly looking to go to? Yes, I've been also walking through the old Harri Rocks area, until Swanatch. I love the places, I love to walk, I think it's a really lovely area. I have also some recommendations to go to Creecharch, also to some beautiful places where we can have a walk also and have things to do. I can truly recommend Highcliff and Oni because that's where I live and it's next door to Christchurch so you're more than welcome to come round for a cup of tea one day. I appreciate it. Now you've kept your family life very private. Are we allowed to know how your wife and children are settling in as well? Yes, I'm waiting, I'm still waiting for them. I think probably this week or next week they will be able to come because these visa issues take time and they are waiting for the visa to be everything solved so they can fly here. But yes, yes, we already done our homework with the schools, with this staff and I have my wife and two children, my daughter is 8, my son is 3 and I'm sure they will suffer at the beginning with the language and all these things but I think it's going to be a very good experience for them. How did your wife take to the fact that you were all going to be moving over to England? She's used, she's used because at the end with our job you have to be ready all the time, even from my football career let's say even if it was almost in the same place but we have to be ready, you never know when you are going to have to move and she's used, she's really happy to come here, I think it's, I've told her, we've been lucky with the area, with the city, with the people living here and I'm sure they will all enjoy it. Now we're going to go right back to the very start for you, just tell us a little bit about your childhood and your upbringing. Well I think quite normal, quite normal, I was raised in the vast country in San Sebastian, actually in a town outside San Sebastian in Surville, it's a small town and something pretty normal, I used to play football but I actually didn't realize that I had a chance to become a football player until quite late I would save you until I started playing for athletic youth teams in the academy but I was already 16, I think 16 years old, something like this so everything until the 16 years old period was not so football related. So when you were younger did you follow football, did you watch football because some players here they say I grow up and I was football mad, football was everything, how was that for you? I love all the sports, I love all the sports, even here that I didn't know cricket, I've been watching, I've been learning with the asias, these games and I love all the sports. I like football but I love cycling, I love a lot of different sports and I used to watch a lot when I was younger. Did you have a favorite team or a favorite player or anything? I remember in my moment probably the player I kind of idolized was Michael Ladrup, Danish player, he played for Barca, for Real Madrid later, Juventus previously. Probably was the only player I could say okay I was always looking at him and trying to learn things from him but it's the only thing I remember. Now obviously we know that Justin Cliver's dad and grandfather were footballers as well. What about you, are you from a footballing family? No, no, no, my father is the only one that likes to watch games. My mother, even my wife, my wife normally doesn't even watch our games. Normally he asks me okay, you are going to be happy but she doesn't understand the game. She is normally not talking too much about football that I think is a very good thing for me. Now I understand that you gave up a law degree to pursue a career in football. Just tell us about that decision. Now I wouldn't say exactly like this. I started playing football and for the moment I had to decide that I was going to the university. I was already kind of very close to the first team so I had to decide to go for a career where I could pass the exams, I could do something without going to class because I had already the professional trainings in the morning, even double sessions. So I went to classes just twice a week probably and I managed to go until I think it was kind of more than half of the career but I haven't finished it. So what do you think you'd be doing now if you hadn't made it as a footballer? I really don't know because I really don't really like the law of these things. It was quite good in my studies. You need to go to university to do something but I don't think I would follow this route. I don't know. Something else I don't know. I read somewhere that you once fancied opening a bookshop. Is that true? Yes, we talk a lot about this. Probably now it's not the best period to open a bookshop because almost all the people I read with the ebooks and all these things that I really like to read. I really like to be involved with this kind to go to a bookshop to spend 30, 40 minutes looking for new books, new chances and I've always talked about these things. Now you started in the youth ranks at Andy Walker, an amateur club near your hometown. Just tell us about that club and some of the players that you came across there. Yes, it has been strange because in that moment it was not kind of famous but they have become famous. They don't have a first team, let's say they only have under 18s. So we were playing there not with the hopes of becoming really professional football players because enjoying with the friends and actually we finished having a really good team. We had very good results and in our later years there a lot of players were playing together there. We finished in the best academies there in the best country and even in other areas of Spain and some of them, I would say a lot of them, we've become football players. Now you then moved to Athletic Bill Bowie, you spent 15 years there in your four seasons as captain. The club reached two Copa del Rey finals, a Europa League final and qualified for the Champions League. You must look back at that time as some really fond memories. Yes, of course, it has been my club, forever will be my club. I think I've spent almost half of my life there in the academy, in the first team I've played. I think one more final that you said about Copa del Rey, I've lost them all. I've lost all the finals I've played because Europa League final we lost, the three Copa del Rey finals, the Super Cup we lost. But we were there, we were almost, we played for the Champions League, a lot of games also in Europa League. And probably the thing that it's not completely fooled about my career is I couldn't win a trophy with them. I played a lot of finals, we did very good things, we played in Europe, successful career I would say. But we didn't at the end win any final and that's probably the only thing I would change of my football career. Now you rarely missed a game over the spell that you were there. Would you consider yourself to be fortunate with injuries and things like that? Yes, I've been fortunate, I've been fortunate.  I could maintain, I could go up and down all the game but I wasn't so explosive so probably that's one of the reasons. Probably the players that are faster, they have more risk of muscle injuries. And I've been quite lucky, this has allowed me to play a lot of games during my career. And probably at the end of my career is when I started feeling okay. Now it's not the same, now you start feeling soft issues but you start feeling the games you've already played. Now you played under no fewer than seven different coaches as well. Now I know that's part and parcel of football. What was that like for a player? I think in that moment probably you are not thinking, for sure I was not thinking in my coaching career. When you are playing I don't think there are a lot of players that think that they will continue as coaches. But I've been quite lucky with coaches I've had. Really good ones, probably the one who influenced me more was Ernesto Valverde because I had him in the young teams, in the second team. He was the one who gave me the chance to become a pro football player to make my debut in first division. And I also had him at the end of my career and he has been very important for me. And I also had Martela Bielsa, Vicente del Bosque with the national team, very very good coaches overall. Is it fair to say that you take the good and the bad things from all the coaches into your coaching career? You try, you try to take the good but it's difficult because you see the football one way and you try to take some exercises from this coach, the others from the other one, the way we present for opposition goal kicks from the other one. But it's difficult to take everything from the same coach because you see things probably differently. And probably also I would say Patrick Vera was my last coach when we finished in the United States. He showed me also another way of watching the game, more positional football, more kind of he came from Manchester City Academy. So we tried to replicate a little bit what they were doing with the first team and for me was a little bit different and really good for my coaching career. Now you were captain, you took penalties and you took free kicks. You obviously didn't let anybody get hold of the ball. How important are all those roles to you now in head coaching? It's not like the first person who gets the ball takes the free kick. It's all got to be orchestrated. Yes, it has to be orchestrated. At the end there is a part where players have to make the decisions. If you don't feel confident enough, okay, it's probably a good decision not to take the penalty. But it's not okay. Whoever comes and thinks that no, no, there has to be a previous consensus, a order. And then at the end it's the player who takes the decision. Even if you say, okay, if there is a penalty, I don't know, whoever has to take it. If you don't feel confident, probably it's the best option to leave it for the second one. But it has to be in some kind of logic, some kind of order. And I think, and almost all the teams, I think it will be like this. And the captaincy is obviously a vital role as well that you were in and you're choosing a captain here as well. Yes, for me it was big responsibility because also Athletic Club is not like any other club. It's very, his philosophy, we only play with best players or players that have been playing their youth career.  It's not just the captain of your team, you represent your players. No, you represent a lot of things, you represent a lot of people. And I felt this responsibility when I was playing for them. And I think it's something that is valuable and now I can understand better probably the players that I have. Now you may have thought that you were going to finish your career in Spain, but you ended up moving to America with New York City and playing in the MLS. How did that all come about? It was my decision, I think I had the chance to continue playing for Athletic Club. I started feeling that I had been very, very important for the club for a lot of seasons. And the moment arrives when you start feeling, okay, probably I'm not going to continue as a starter every week. Probably I will have to get used to be on the bench sometimes. Probably I can become a problem for the club and before everything, these things happen. I think I took the decisions to finish in another place, completely different, completely different experience, completely different pressure, because when I played for Athletic I felt really the pressure. And when I moved to the United States, to New York City, it was something completely different. What did you make of that experience, playing out there, living out there, and what do you make of what it's become now? Yes, it's for me different experience because when I arrived there it was the first year of the franchise, it was a new franchise. I arrived half way on the season, we were, I don't know, two, three last in the standings because it's normal when you start a new franchise, new players. But there's no relegation there, so there's no pressure. It doesn't matter, sometimes it's strange because it doesn't matter to lose, because when you have no option to play the playoffs, the first months until the end of the first season there were a little bit strange for me because it was a completely different sensation. It has to matter to win, to lose, but the second season there was much better. We were much better from the beginning, we had another coach, and I think we finished second in the standings, and even if we lost in the playoffs, it was much nicer, and for me it was a completely different perspective.  I was playing with the Villa, with Pirlo, with Frank Lampard, and almost anyone recognised these players when you were living in New York, so I think it's a really nice sensation, especially for these kind of players. You also played internationally, everyone says it's such an honour to represent your country.  Yes, at the end this is always the divide. The clubs are the ones paying the money to the players, and at the end, when it really matters a lot of times, players are thinking more on their national team. Football has been like this for a lot of years. I don't think it will change. It may change. It has changed in other sports. We see that NBA players, for example, sometimes are not allowed to represent their national teams. I see football far from this position. I still think that these national teams are something big in football, and we have to adapt. We have to try to work the best way with the national team coaches. So, at the end, it's better for everyone, and we'll continue to do it like this. I hope we have more players involved, because it means that we are doing the right things. You retired then in November 2016. When you look back across your playing career, what are the highlights and the moments that stick out for you? Probably my first game, my last game, both in the same stadium in San homes. The best memories probably were there, because the sensation we have when you made your debut. I remember it was against the first game of the season. I was starting the nerves you have there before the game. You remember, after a lot of years of living the way I did with all the people that really thanked me, and it was a very good sensation. Probably are my best memories. Was moving into coaching a natural transition for you? I think it's something that I didn't have clear, but I wanted to give it a try. I told my friends I want to prove myself. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I didn't have very clear that I want to become, because I know that it's not easy. The life of a coach is not easy to be in charge of so many people with the pressure sometimes with the loneliness of a coach. It's not easy, but the thing we control more, I think we all want to try new things, the way we see the game, try if it works. It was my first thinking. Let's take all the courses, everything let's learn, let's prepare, and then let's try. Now you had a good grounding in Cyprus with Llanica and then Miranda in Spain. Just tell us about those two positions there. Yes, probably were the first options I had. I didn't think too much, because I wanted to try to prove myself. Let's see if I see myself in this position and were really helpful experiences in Cyprus. Also, it helped me with the language, because I had to coach in English. That has become a very good thing for moments like today. Also, Miranda was my first experience, let's say in a big league or second division, but in Spain it's a strong league. We were recently promoted, so this is going to be yes or no. It was a good season, and I think I had very good friends on both sides, both places, and I'm willing to return always to these places. You have spoken about the coaches that you played under. Tell us about the best advice that you were given by them. I think the best advice is, you have to make the mistakes, and you have to feel for yourself, and you have to experiment, and the only way to progress in your coaching career is making the mistakes, because next time you will think, okay, we're in the same position, we took this decision, probably was not the best, and you have to learn quickly, because the game doesn't wait for anyone, and the only way is doing and putting in practice everything. Even if you read, you follow all the best coaches, you follow everything, you have a lot of information right now, but I think you have to make your own mistakes and be quick to learn from them. Is it true you're a big admirer of German football? Yes, yes, I've always been, because the way they play, I think it fits very well with the way I understand the game. I think they are normally, they prioritize the collective idea, they try to play in a high rhythm, the pressing normally is good, every player is quite complete, you know, it's offensively, defensively set pieces, and this philosophy is the one that I think it fits better with the way I see the game. Now, after leaving Miranda's, you remained in the Spanish 2nd tier with Reo Vercano, for those people in England listening, tell us a little bit about Reo Vercano and the club. Reo Vercano is a very special club also, I think it doesn't have the structure probably that the big teams in Spain have, also the stadium is special, it's in the middle of Bayecas neighbourhood, the atmosphere there is really nice, it's staying with only three stands, yes, but it's really, everyone likes to play there, because their supporters are really good, all the time singing with the team, and I felt probably after the first season there was when we had kind of the pressure, because it was second division, we had the pressure at least to play the playoffs, to finish top six, we did it, we managed to get the promotion, and then the two seasons we played there in first division were kind of not so much pressure, and we had good players, almost the same players we received in the first day in second division were the ones we left, because they performed really well. Now, that promotion that you were talking about just then, what an incredible achievement for you relatively early on in your coaching career, just tell us a little bit more about that season and you must have really enjoyed it. Yes, I think it's something that a lot of coaches that have more trophies, they tell a lot about this, winning a trophy is a lot, but promoting from second division to first division is something big, because it really changes a lot of things in the club, and also in the playoffs, I feel that is probably more unexpected, because when you are first, second or the season, you kind of see that it's coming and probably we're going to promote. Playoffs are not exactly like here, we play two legs, so it's literally different, but we lost first game at home against Girona, and then we had to go there and win by two goals and we did it, we finished near two winning the game and probably it's the best achievement I've done as a coach. You've been quoted as saying, I prefer too much chaos to too much organisation. Can you expand on that for us? As a football viewer, or if I'm in the stands, I need things to happen in a game. Also as a coach I think the way we see the game, I think we can take more things when there are more attacks, more spaces, more things happening close to the boxes than when everything is too controlled. I feel like overall Premier League is like this. You go and see Italian teams that probably are at the same level, but are completely different. They don't leave spaces, they close everything, they keep control of the game, they slow it a little bit with the ball, and it's different and I feel like Premier League, every other team, I wouldn't say every other team, but a lot of teams try to be more direct, even if we all have our structure, our organised attacks, whatever you do, the 3 plus 2, the 2 plus 3, whatever you want to do in the build-up, but they don't spend so much time during the build-up. I read somewhere that you don't part the buses ahead coach, you take it for a ride. It's not like a lot of times they say this, he's very offensive, because I think it's the best way to defend. I'm not safe when I feel we are very close to our goal, and even if we have the players in our box, I don't feel safe when I'm coaching out there. I always feel we are in danger, and I feel safer even if we are higher and we have space, but the ball is farther from our goal. We have to be ready to come back, we have to be ready to manage our line, our defensive line, we have to put pressure to manage these things, but it's the way I feel as a coach. If I felt that being in a low block, we would be able not to conced, I would be okay with this, but I don't feel well like this. I read a very good article written by Sid Lowe recently, and people who played under you and know you described you as brave, clear and introverted. Yes, I would say that probably there are worse things to say about me, but I wouldn't tell you, I wouldn't tell you. But yes, I think the players demand a clear information.  We can help them, but especially without the ball, I think players demand very clear information what we are going to do when the ball is here, what we are going to do when the ball is here, and I think it's the help we can provide them. Apparently there is no smoke selling with you, you don't say it as it is. I try, I try because players are really smart, and when you talk to a player, he smells, and he can see, and he can... Every time you talk to a team, they are examining you. They are analyzing what you say, everything you say, and I prefer to be really honest, even if I'm giving them, or I'm putting them in the worst positions that probably they are, so later in the season they cannot tell me, I was going to play, I was going to be very important, no, no, I told you the competition was this, you have to earn your spot, you have to earn your minutes, and then if everything goes well and this player plays a lot, he will be always grateful. If he doesn't, ok, we talked about this, and I think it's better to clarify these things as soon as we come, sometimes you cannot tell a player because you really don't know if he will play or not, and you have to tell him as it is.  They are, and they have to be, because probably when we used to play, not so many years ago, we weren't so aware about the position, about tactics, about other players we were facing, and now they have all the information, coaches are also, every coaches has his education, his degrees, his experience, and players take everything, they are the ones that take all the information from one coach, from the other, from the opposing team, and sometimes are the ones that provide better solutions. A lot of times, in half times, I like to listen to them, we are having this travel, how do you see the solution? At the end, coaches, we have to take the last word, we have to take the best solution for us, but I think it's good that we listen to them. There was a feature on Sky Sports recently about the future of football, and you said that systems and structures had become a lot more dynamic. How would you describe your footballing philosophy? I said this because we demand a lot more from players. Some years ago, probably, you could play with a number 10 who didn't defend, yes? Didn't defend, and okay, it was good because he was good on the ball, and you could survive defensively with one or two players less, and you leave number 10, number 9, wingers not following, you cannot allow this, so players have to evolve, have to become, okay. Now, with the ball we're going to do this, you are going to be more in the inside, without the ball you have to follow this player, but you have to change, you have to jump here, from here to here, when we are ready to press this way, and they have to understand everything so they can perform the best way.  Yes, I took it as a compliment, I took it as a compliment, I think we've been, I don't know if lucky, I think we deserved good results, I don't know if so good results that we took against them last games, we played past two seasons, but I think we weren't comfortable for them because we didn't leave them so much time to take their structures to make their positional play, and I think they, there is always luck, when you win against these teams, you have to be lucky, you have to take the chance you have, but I think we did a lot of things against them very well. Now, you've already spoken about the lure of the Premier League and how excited you are for the first game this weekend against West Ham. What can AFC Bournemouth supporters expect to see across the course of the season from their team? Always the coaches say the same, we hope they are proud of the players, I think we are in hands of the players, they are the most important thing and we have to support them, we have to help them, I have to help them, especially the coach, but they are the ones that will give us the results, the good moments of football, and I think we have very clear the way we want to play, but I don't know if it will get us results or not, you never know when we start the season, but I feel pretty confident after the pre-season, we will have now some the first three or four weeks until the market closes, that will be a little bit different because you have players that you don't know if they will continue, you will have players they are not right now here, every week now waiting, the next opponent is going to sign this player, this first week is going to be a little bit different, but I think once the market closes, once we establish a team, I think we can be a good team. For those supporters that are listening to this podcast and I'm sure there's going to be plenty of them, what is your message to them? I felt since the first moment I arrived and they are behind the team, even the pre-season friendlies for a pre-season to see all the people that came to watch the games, for me was really nice, because normally in other stages you see that only they use one stand or whatever for a pre-season game and the games were almost full and the atmosphere was really nice and I think they will help us especially when we play at home because even when we played against Southampton, I could hear them all the game and it was really nice for me to see them this way and unfortunately we could give them a good game and I cannot ask anything for them, I will try to give them good moments, it's the reason why we play because we want to give our supporters good moments and we will keep working for this. What sort of research have you done about this club and its history? Are you aware that not very long ago we were in the bottom division? Yes, I know a lot of things I knew before I knew some people and for me it's really nice because you feel probably we don't have the biggest stadium, the biggest history but people here is proud and proud of their history and they say ok, we were in third division, fourth division we've been there not so long ago now here we are in the Premier League facing the best players in the world in the moment that Premier League is experiencing now because I think probably 20 years ago I wouldn't say it was clearly the best league in the world but there were other big leagues but right now I think it's commonly accepted that we are in the best league in the world. Do you see a lot of similarities between here and Rayo? Yes, I see a lot of similarities because when you see the I don't know the betting for relegation and you are there third, fourth and we were like this my two previous seasons with Friday I kind of were exactly the same we were in the red line and we could have two good seasons when we didn't suffer and especially past season we were very close until the last game to play in Europe. I see there is kind of similarities in the moment I think past season was a big achievement for Bournemouth after a promotion I think next season is very important and now we need to disconfirmation that we belong to the division we are here, we want to change some things in the way of our how we play the style but at the end we want to confirm that we belong here. Now I think you did your pro licence with Scoloni who managed Argentina to well cut glory last year does international management take your fancy at some stage down the line? I've never thought on this I think it's completely different I was very very happy for him because I think he's a very smart guy, very nice guy he was very good when we were in the coaching licence he was already working with some paoli at some point and we could see from the beginning that he was going to be a really good coach but I think it's something completely different I think probably it's something that I could see or I could maybe it doesn't happen I think I'm more focused in the everyday work I love the everyday work to come here, see the players prepare for trainings a national team it's something completely different.  Nobody, nobody, no one they've told me worse things I wouldn't comment here but other similarities no, no Sefi Balesteros Now you said you like lots of sports do you like golf? I like golf but I never played I tried to start but I saw that it was really difficult you have to spend a lot of time learning so it wasn't worth it but I followed the game I support John Ram who is a big athletic club supporter his grandfather was my let's say team manager in athletic club so I always follow, I support him I always hope he wins the tournaments but I don't know how to play Now you mentioned earlier you're into loads of different sports so we know you're a keen cyclist as well and where that love of cycling comes from? I really loved cycling from the beginning I think it's something popular especially in the Basque Country not only Basque cyclists but it's normal to go and travel to see two different stages for example and I really love the love the sport and I also like to take my bike and go a couple of hours and stay there thinking in my things I want to push really hard because then you don't have focus and you cannot think in other things but I really like to go with my bike and spend 2-3 hours knowing new places Now I don't know if you know but Simon Francis is a very keen cyclist as well and he tells us that he goes on 100 mile rides through the new forest Is that something you fancy joining him on? No I don't know Simon Francis could still play right now Much fitter than me I could just be with him and ride for some miles but not for 100 for sure Now what about any other pursuits away from football I know NFL when you were over in America you picked up an interest for that Yes I really love a lot of sport NFL was for me really interesting I didn't know the sport I didn't experience I went there to watch games in the stadium when I was in New York to see the Giants to see the Jets and I started learning and it's a very tactical sport very tactical it's almost like continuous set pieces with the blocks with the spaces the different movements combined movements and I think it's a really interesting game I've got to ask you because it's quite a big topic here in England at the moment social media what do you make of it some players are on it some players aren't it can be good it can be bad what's your take on it I don't have any I don't have Facebook I don't have I probably am the only person I don't have any Twitter not Instagram I don't have but I think they are useful because they give you a lot of information they give you a lot of information I personally feel that they are dangerous for us because it's better not to know everything they say about you and probably you suspect because of the results if they say good or bad things but I really haven't started probably one day I should start with these things but it hasn't arrived the day 10 quickfire questions for you you've got to choose one or the other so the first one and this is Jonathan Woodgate got us talking about this when he did a podcast because when he was in Spain he took a fancy to Calimocho or Sangria which do you prefer? Calimocho is much more Basque and I think Sangria is for holidays probably summer holidays I would go with Sangria rest of the year Calimocho just for anybody listening who doesn't know Calimocho is a mixture of red wine and Coke yes that's it Sangria is even more mixture Messi or Ronaldo for me Messi no doubt yes Madrid or Barcelona as a city probably now that I've spent my last three years in Madrid I would say Madrid scoring a goal or keeping a clean sheet scoring a goal I think there's no other sensation than scoring a goal Madonna or Pavarotti this is a tough one I wouldn't choose anyone I'm not very I always say music side don't ask me questions about music I don't know anything about music it's going to be the toughest I wouldn't choose anyone The Godfather or Titanic The Godfather Have you got a favourite film out of interest is the one you always turn to No I'm not a lot about films also I think I like the Nolan films Nolan I think makes films that make you think in different things special things and I would take those ones This is a choice of two famous Basque desserts Gatto Basque or Gashua Gashua yes yes we say yes I would take both I cannot choose I would take those both yes Tour de France or Vuelta a España Tour de France yes for sure I've got one more music one you might know a little bit more about Julio Inglasius or Enrique Inglasius I wouldn't choose but if I have to choose between the two The Father Fish and Chips or Payella Ok we are playing here at home I would say Fish and Chips Have you experienced is it your first experience in England of Fish and Chips or? No I've been here also in different parts of the country playing on holidays and I've had Fish and Chips before but I'm good I eat everything I don't have special problems with the food and I really like to experience food from different places Now just to finish off we've got a few questions that have been submitted by fans that they'd like to ask you so I'm going to kick off with Marv on Twitter he's asking who's the best player that you've ever played with? In the opposite team Leo Messi for sure in my team I would go with probably Chaby in the national team he played he knew what to do before saving all the time and I would say Chaby Now you sort of answered this one a little bit just a moment ago Andrew is asking how much time had you spent in the UK before you came to work in Bournemouth? I've come a lot to play games or precision games or friendlies during the season or in Europe sometimes a couple of times on holidays some holidays small breaks a couple of days different parts of the country but I had never been here in Bournemouth Morgan wants to know out of all the places that you've visited in and around Bournemouth so far do you have a favourite or is it too early to tell? I think it's too early to tell but I could say all the places I've been haven't really been very nice the coast, I love the coast because I've come also from the best country the sea and I I love all the coastal cities Now Tate wants to know what team in the Premier League do you think Bournemouth are most similar to if any at all? Or maybe is that giving too much away? Difficult questions right now before we start the season after some games probably I would be more more precise I wouldn't say right now Now the final question is a really good question it's actually one that I would love to ask you as well from Sam have you had an English cup of tea yet? I am a coffee guy I know I have to start with the tea but I am still in the coffee side Well at some point in the next month I will make you an English cup of tea and you can tell me after that I will appreciate it sorry Now Andoni it's been an absolute pleasure having you here with us I really appreciate your time we know how precious it is Thank you very much Now if you have enjoyed listening to our podcast we would absolutely love it if you could like and subscribe on whatever platform you are listening on We would be very grateful for any shares on social media so that other fans be it AFC Bournemouth related, Spanish football fans or just the general football fan can enjoy it too Our thanks again to Andoni Arayola and from Neil Perret and myself Zoe Rundle thank you for tuning in to our podcast


The first item of business this afternoon is portfolio questions on health, wellbeing and sport. As ever, in order to get as many people in as possible, short and succinct questions and answers would be helpful. Question number 1, Colin Beattie. To ask the Scottish Government how many GP appointments were missed by patients in the last 12 months. Thank you Cabinet Secretary, Shona Robison. As independent contractors, GP partners are responsible for their own practice appointment and patient consultation arrangements. However, the Scottish Government expects health boards and their contracted practices to ensure that satisfactory appointment systems are in place for patients reviewing outlier performance and providing advice and support where necessary. Additionally, as part of the negotiated general medical services contract settlement for 2014-15, access will be reviewed and Scottish GP practices by March 2015. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. I have recently myself been in discussions with local GPs as to what solutions can be employed to minimise missed appointments and so ease the burden on GP practices. Can the cabinet secretary update the Parliament on what initiatives the Government is undertaking to enable patients to easily cancel appointments? I can tell the member that online services are currently available to all GP practices in Scotland via existing clinical systems. The Scottish Government officials are actively looking to promote the uptake and usage of those services, which include online appointments and repeat prescriptions. We certainly welcome any new and innovative ideas, and I would be happy to keep the member informed about the progress of that. Thank you, Richard Simpson. At the last audit, cabinet secretary, I think that it was only about 50 per cent of people who are practices who are actually using it. The initiative to increase its welcome. I know that the Government has announced that there will be an inspection system for general practice. That is about 18 months behind England, which has been going for that length of time. When will it start the inspection system? Will the cabinet secretary look at the recent article by Ron Neville, a GP in Dundee, who has an appointment system that seems to me to be absolute best practice, and hopefully the Government might look at it and promote it? Certainly work is going on pace on the new inspection system for GPs, but I will update the member at the meeting that we have towards the end of this month. I agree that the system that you have described that Ron Neville has developed is something that we should be having a closer look at. As I have said before, I am always keen to make sure that the best practice in those matters is rolled out elsewhere. Again, I will be able to update the member further on that at the end of the month. The cabinet secretary will be aware of the pilots by a number of GP practices to use text messaging to help to produce a number of missed appointments and to help patients manage their healthcare. What plans does the Scottish Government have to roll this out across the NHS health boards? As I said to Richard Simpson, I think that the innovative ways, and some of them, are very simple. Given the use of text messaging more generally, I think that it is a very effective way of reminding people about their appointments, but also giving them an opportunity for someone to cancel their appointment in advance, because an appointment can be given to someone else. I am very keen that all of those things become the standard practice. Obviously, that sometimes takes longer than we would all wish. Again, I am happy to provide the member with an update on how we are going to make sure that we roll that out as quickly as possible. To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the local authorities that have yet to submit a draft or completed autism strategy. The Scottish Government are funding a national co-ordination team based in Strathclyw University to bridge between the Scottish Autism Strategy and its implementation at a local level. In the past few months, the team has made contact with all local authorities, and the nine local authorities that are yet to submit a draft are finalising them locally and submitting to committees for sign-off. They have until 31 March 2015 to submit their action plans and strategies. The national co-ordination team is meeting with all local authorities' autism leads on 19 January to continue those discussions. I thank the minister for his answer. The minister may be aware that Aberdeen City Council has not yet submitted a draft or completed autism strategy. I note that the minister says that they have until 31 March 2015, but my understanding was that when the funding was initially allocated, the hope would be that those would be submitted by March 2014. I am due to meet the council leader next week to discuss the issue, and I am concerned that the autism strategy appears to have been conflated with the council's school inclusion review, which, while important, is not the same thing. Has the minister received information from Aberdeen City Council as to when its autism strategy will be completed, given the anxieties of service users and their families that this important piece of work has been on-going for some considerable time, with no visible sign of progress? First of all, I acknowledge Mr McDonald's personal and political interest in the matter. He is a great champion on that particular issue. I can tell him in the chamber that Aberdeen City Council has given the Scottish Government assurances that its strategy, the autism strategy, was being finalised last week, and it will be submitted to the Scottish Government this week. I am aware that the final draft that the minister was going before the committee at Aberdeen City Council this month and once signed off, the final strategy will be made public. I want to reinforce the point that I have already made. The Scottish Government will continue to hold discussions with local authorities to ensure that all autism strategies and action plans are made public. Constituents have come to see me and tell me that the strategy is not working, and they feel that there is no access to appropriate services in Highland, leaving themselves and their families unsupported. I am pleased that Strathclyde has been asked to co-ordinate the national strategy, but I am asking what work will they do with local authorities and NHS boards, and what work will they also do to include service users and their families in designing local services for them? I can inform the minister that Highland Council is one of those that has submitted its draft. We would, of course, always want to make sure that service users and those who take a great interest in the matter are consulted on. Indeed, the team that I have referred to will maintain a great interest in what is happening in the Highland Council air and across the country, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government how many acute hospitals in Scotland were in red alert in each of the last week of 2014 and the first week of 2015. Cabinet Secretary, Shona Robison. While hospitals have experienced pressures over the recent holiday period, none have needed to declare a major incident due to the demands that they were facing. On a daily basis, boards have been keeping the Scottish Government informed about pressures and actions that are being taken to addresses. Additional support has been provided to the boards where required. Thank you, James Kelly. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. There is no doubt that, in recent weeks, the crisis in Scotland's A&Es has intensified, with many patients facing unacceptable long waiting times, including constituents of mine. Does the cabinet secretary agree that that is unacceptable? Does she accept responsibility? In each of the last two weeks, how many patients have waited greater than 12 hours? I say to James Kelly that it is unacceptable that anyone has to wait longer than they should in A&E. Of course, the pressure on A&Es across Scotland and across the rest of the islands has been unprecedented. Glasgow, for example, has told me in some detail about the level of very sick elderly patients that are turning up in numbers that they have not seen during winter pressures in any other year—many more admissions than normal, which puts pressure on the whole system. In answer to his question specifically, the number of 12-hour waits in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area for the week ending 11 January was 84. That is a significant number of the 175 for the whole of Scotland. Those patients should not have had to wait 12 hours, but we need to understand that staff in A&E were doing absolutely the best that they could, that the winter pressure preparations had been gone through in great detail, and staff and managers had put in place everything that they could have. Unfortunately, due to the surge of patients who were having to be admitted, the A&E departments, particularly in Glasgow and Clyde, faced unprecedented pressure. However, we will absolutely learn the lessons from this winter and, in preparation for the months coming, we will make sure that we deal with some of those pressures, particularly the delayed discharges, which were not the whole story given the level of admissions, but certainly do add to the pressure that boards are facing. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Ayrshire and Arran and what issues were discussed. Can I say to Margaret McDougall that ministers and Scottish Government regularly meet with representatives of health boards, including NHS Ayrshire and Arran, to discuss matters of importance to local people? It was a pleasure to conduct NHS Ayrshire and Arran's annual review, the first one that I have done since becoming Cabinet Secretary. As the Cabinet Secretary will know, Crosshouse hospital has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons recently. Firstly, £1.3 million worth of surgical equipment was stolen and sold on the black market. That led to cancellations of operations and, of course, the cost of replacement. Secondly, an unannounced inspection found widespread blood contamination of patient equipment in maternity and A and E departments. A second inspection, a month later, saw some improvement but still it did not get a clean bill of health. Staff are doing all they can but they are underfunded and overstretched. Are those two issues indicative of what is happening to our health service across Scotland under the Scottish Government? They recently announced £3.2 million for Ayrshire and Arran. I am just coming to it and that will not even cover the replacement of stolen instruments. So what is the Cabinet Secretary going to do to ensure that our once-envied health service is properly funded and supported? Our health service still is envied across the world and it is properly funded. A £380 million rise in the budget next year breaching £12 billion for the first time ever now by any reasonable person's standards. £12 billion is a lot of money for the health budget. Can I turn to Crosshouse hospital itself? I have to say that I was very impressed with the hospital and the staff who were working very hard within it when I visited Crosshouse. The surgical equipment being stolen was reprehensible that that happened and of course the police investigation is ongoing and has reached an advanced stage. The inspection reports are important and previously there were no such inspection regimes and I think that it is really important even when it makes difficult reading that HEI are going in and shining a light on all of our hospitals particularly when they are unannounced and it means therefore that they can know where they have to put matters right and of course a lot of work has gone on by Ersin, Arran and particularly at Crosshouse hospital to address the issues within those inspection reports. I will say to Margaret MacDougall that there is still more to be done and I am the first to accept that but that is not under sell the good things that our NHS provides and the hard-working staff within it. Supplementary John Scott Thank you, Presiding Officer. Cabinet Secretary will be aware of the ongoing lack of bed availability at Air and Crosshouse hospitals with occasional but regular closures of Crosshouse hospital leading to extra burdens on staff, particularly at Air hospital. Notwithstanding the almost herculean efforts of nurses and doctors at both hospitals, this entirely foreseeable, predictable and now well-documented problem remains and my question is what is the Cabinet Secretary doing by way of discussion and planning with NHS Ayrshire and Arran senior management to get this now long-standing problem resolved? Cabinet Secretary can I thank John Scott for his question? Yes, this is absolutely a discussion that is going on between ourselves and Ayrshire and Arran. It is very important that all parts of the health system have the right number of beds in the right places with the right staff to support them at the right time. What we also need to do is to make sure that those beds are being used to their optimum and because of the issue and challenge of delayed discharge at the moment that is not the case because too many beds are being used by people who do not require them because they are not being able to be discharged because of all the reasons that we know in terms of care in the community and some of the support requirements there. We are doing a lot around that and I have more to say about that in the next few weeks but I can assure John Scott that those discussions are on going and I will write to him to update him on the latest. To ask the Scottish Government the progress to provide an update of the progress of the new Dumfries and Galloway royal infirmary. Cabinet Secretary. The replacement for the Dumfries and Galloway royal infirmary is currently progressing as planned, construction commencing in the spring of this year following financial close of the project in February. The board is working in partnership with the consortium High Wood Health, appointed as preferred bidder. Full unconditional planning consent for the project was obtained on 16 December. The construction and handover of the new hospital to the health board by HWH is planned for the end of August 2017 to become fully operational by the end of that year. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. NHS Dumfries and Galloway have said that they are fully committed to delivering real community benefits as part of the procurement, construction and operational phase of the hospital project. Could the cabinet secretary outline what sustainable training, employment and local development opportunities that the project will bring? Yes, I can. NHS Dumfries and Galloway has a requirement in the project agreement for targeted community benefits, including recruitment and training, small and medium enterprise supplier development and educational opportunities. High Wood Health, the project delivery partner, is working closely with Dumfries and Galloway employment and education specialists, and that includes a commitment to create 150 new jobs, 36 of which will be apprenticeships. NHS Dumfries and Galloway's project team as enablers will work in partnership with HWH and the agencies to maximise opportunities arising during the delivery of the contract. To ask the Scottish Government how many times NHS 5 failed to meet its four eight and twelve hour accident emergency waiting time targets between the 24th of December 2014 and the 4th of January 2015. Unvalidated figures have been reported to the Government for the two-week festive period. NHS 5's four-hour accident and emergency performance for core accident and emergency departments was 87.3 per cent in the two weeks ending the 4th of January this year. Official ISD Scotland statistics on accident and emergency activity for October, November and December of last year will be published on February 3. A&E figures will then be published on a monthly basis thereafter. I thank the cabinet secretary for her response and I would obviously want to put in record my sincere thanks to all those workers and hospitals and across the public services who were working over Christmas in the year to look after and care for the elderly and most vulnerable in our communities. The figures that I have are for four hours 154 times, eight hours 25 times and 12 hours target three times. I would be grateful for a meeting with the minister to follow that up. She has previously, and the previous question talked about delayed discharges. Is she aware that NHS 5 took a decision to shift nine patients and then followed up by another 13 patients into care homes without the guidelines and the assessment, the social work assessment actually taking place, which is a form of boarding patients into care homes? Does she support such a move and will she agree to look into and respond to me whether this is a change in policy and practice taking place in terms of boarding patients into care homes? I would be happy to meet her to discuss the issues in more detail. NHS 5 and 5 council, as I am sure the member is aware, came in to see me jointly to discuss the challenges of delayed discharge within their area. It was actually a very productive meeting. From that meeting, a number of actions were agreed and Scottish Government officials have been supporting the partnership in taking forward some of those measures. Some of that is to look at the boosting of home care to get people obviously moving safely home. However, one of the other areas was the opening of what we call intermediate care beds. Those are beds that are step-up, step-down beds that can be used for people who are ready for discharge but perhaps not ready to go home. They are not people who are boarded out because they are ready for discharge but they are people who maybe need a bit of rehabilitation to be able to go home independently. However, I am happy to discuss that in more detail with Alex Rowley in due course. To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update regarding the proposed commonwealth games legacy sporting facilities that will benefit the people of Glasgow? Glasgow 2014 has been used as a catalyst to raise the profile of sport in Glasgow, accelerate the development sport and create a lasting legacy of world-class sporting facilities. The people of Glasgow continue to benefit from the fantastic facilities used to host the commonwealth games, such as the Emirates Arena and the Glasgow National Hockey Centre. Furthermore, communities across Scotland have been supported by the LEXI 2014 Active Places Fund since its launch in 2012. A total of 154 projects from 31 local authorities, including 13 in Glasgow, have received awards totaling over £8.1 million. I thank the minister for that answer. I am wondering if he could furnish me with any information on the possibility of a development of any or whether three G pitches in my Glasgow Anise land constituency. What I can say to Mr Kidd is that there has been investment in his constituency. In terms of sports facilities, there are nine community sports hubs up and running in Glasgow, including an area-based hub in Drumchappel, and a variety of local venues, including the high school sports centre and leisure centre, and a disability sports hub based at Scotland leisure centre. I am sure that he will be interested in that. In terms of three G pitches in his constituency, sport Scotland has not provided any funding towards three G pitches in recent years, but there are various funding sources available that can be applied for sports projects, including the installation of three G pitches. If there is any specific project in Anzenland that can be of assistance in pointing Mr Kidd or others in the direction of those funding sources, Mr Kidd just needs to ask. Question 8, Jim Huw. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the number of mental health officers being trained. Local authorities have a legal duty to appoint a sufficient number of mental health officers to discharge functions under the relevant legislation. They must decide on the number of mental health officers appointed in the area taking into account local needs and circumstances. The Scottish Social Services Council's latest mental health officer report indicates a 39 per cent increase in admissions to mental health officer award programme in 2013-14. Minister for his reply, evidence from that Scottish Social Services Council shows that the number of mental health officers is declining and the workforce is aging. The Mental Welfare Commission states that 42 per cent of emergency detentions in hospitals had no mental health officer consent, even though that should be the case, and that 62 per cent of short-term detentions did not have a social circumstances report critical to patients getting the right treatment and care. When will the Government address the shortage of mental health officers and look to have a Scottish-wide recruitment and training strategy for them this year? Well, of course, I should say that we will always take serious the views of the Scottish Social Services Council and the Mental Welfare Commission and others who express a view in relation to those matters. I would go back to my original answer and make the point again that the latest mental health officer report indicates a 39 per cent increase in admissions to the mental health officer award programmes in 2013-14, but we are exploring mental health officer capacity and other issues with key stakeholders, including local authorities and mental health officers, to better understand what the issues are and what plans there are at a local level to address any shortfall in mental health officers. This is something that the Government places great priority on, Presiding Officer. Thank you. Briefly, please, Mary Scanlon. Can the minister tell me, given that the out-of-hours mental health officers is now at an all-time low, what recourse do mental health patients have to the Government when there is no mental health officer there to provide them with the advice and support that they need in accordance with the Mental Health Act? Well, of course, this Government takes very seriously the provision of mental health services across Scotland. I have made the point that capacity is increasing. We hope to be able to see more mental health officers come on stream. I should make the point that the workforce planning is a matter for each individual local authority, but, of course, as part of its responsibilities in terms of mental health, just on 20 November, the Government announced additional investment of £15 million over the next three years to improve mental health services. I think that that gives some indication in terms of the importance that we place in this area. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to promote women's football. The Scottish Government is a committed supporter of Scottish women's football and recognises the positive impact that football can have in communities throughout Scotland. In May 2014, under the Cashback for Communities programme in the Scottish FA, it was awarded up to £2.25 million through to 2017. The funding is supporting development of various aspects of girls' and women's football, including proactive engagement with girls via regional development officers to increase participation for females aged between 9 and 24. Richard Lyle. I thank the minister for his answer, and I know that he is a committed football supporter. I note that, sadly, Scotland's women's football team did not unfortunately qualify for the 2015 World Cup in Canada. What steps has the Scottish Government taken to improve our chances of qualifying for the next women's football World Cup in 2019? Opposite, the women's national team did unfortunately not qualify for the 2015 World Cup in Canada. I think that we should recognise the tremendous progress that they made as a team, because they performed very well in a strong qualification group, reaching the playoffs for the first time in their history. They are now ranked 21st in the FIFA World Rankers and 12th in the European Rankers. I hope that Mr Lyle and others in the chamber have understood that they do not particularly want ministerial responsibility for guaranteeing whether or not our national teams qualify for international tournaments, but I would go back to my initial answer, which demonstrates the significant funding that we are leveraging into women's football directly. Of course, we have committed £500,000 each year since 2008 to support the active girls programme, which aims to increase the number of girls participating in PE, physical activity and sport in and around schools, which includes football. We are committed in that end, and I am sure that I speak for the whole chamber when I say that I wish the women's national team all the very best in their efforts to qualify for the next World Cup. Question 10, Liam McArthur. To ask the Scottish Government how often the short-life working group on heart failure has met and what conclusions it has reached regarding strengthening the role of heart failure nurses. The heart failure hub has met in a formal capacity twice and has been integral to two learning events, the second of which will take place on 6 February 2015. The national programme of work being taken forward by the heart failure hub recognises that heart failure care is critically dependent on heart failure teams with heart failure nurses being central to this. To this end, we have appointed two heart failure nurses to support the work of the heart failure hub and to draw heart failure nurses even more closely into this advancing agenda. Thank you, Liam McArthur. Can I thank the minister for her response and also, belatedly, welcome her to her post? The minister will be aware that Orkney is the only area in the country without a heart failure nurse. It is an issue that I raised in the chamber back in 2013. It is a concern of the Orkney Heart Support Group, which has been in regular contact with the NHS Orkney Board. NHS Orkney itself accepts that the heart failure nurse could be cost effective, beneficial to patients and reduce hospital readmission. Will the minister agree to engage with the board in Orkney to see whether the appointment of a heart failure nurse in Orkney can be included in the board's delivery plan for the coming year? Maureen Watt. Yes, I am happy to engage with NHS Orkney on this, and they recognise, as the member has said, that it does not have a heart failure nurse service as detailed in the Scottish Heart Failure Nurse Forum 2013 report. However, we should recognise that Orkney currently has two consultant physicians in post and have recently recruited a third consultant physician. Heart failure patients in Orkney are cared for in a shared manner between the physicians based at Balfour hospital, both with previous cardiologist experience, NHS Grampian and the local primary care teams. Although Orkney does not have a formal heart failure nurse service, the consultant physician's cardiac specialist nurse, who is a heart failure nurse practitioner and the hospital farm assist all provide advice to any member of the multidisciplinary team caring for a patient with heart failure in Orkney. As the Scottish Government, what support it provides to people with lipidemia? The Scottish Government recognises that lipidemia can be a distressing and painful condition. As with all long-term conditions, we want people living with lipidemia to be able to access the best possible care and support wherever possible. The recommendation of any particular treatment is a matter for discussion between a patient and their doctor, and any issues surrounding the provision of a treatment are a matter for the relevant NHS board. I thank the minister for that answer, but can she advise whether the Scottish Government will consider how to improve the level of support offered to those who have lipidemia? If that will include increasing the number of specialists employed by NHS Scotland, I understand that at the moment there are in fact only two in Scotland. Yes, I understand that lipidemia can cause many difficulties and can be very painful for people who have this condition. I am also aware that for some patients it can take some time for them to receive the correct diagnosis. Increasing awareness of lipidemia is clearly important, and I am pleased to note that the Royal College of General Practitioners launched a lipidemia course for GPs and medics in May 2014, which was developed in partnership with lipidemia UK. I also recognise the importance of the third sector in providing valuable support to those with lipidemia. My officials have confirmed that they will update lipidemia charities about the possible opportunities of grant applications for 2015-16 under the section 16B scheme. The Scottish Government is fully committed to providing the people of Scotland with the NHS services that meet their needs and maintain high standards of care. While the Government provides policy, framework and resources of high-quality healthcare in Scotland, it is for each NHS board to decide how best to deliver those services to meet the needs of the population. To ask the Scottish Government whether it supports the role that community hospitals play in helping with the provision of local healthcare and freeing up beds in larger hospitals. Community hospitals can play a vital role in the provision of local healthcare, and are being developed to provide a range of community services such as bed-based intermediate care services or health and social care hubs. It may be developed to provide a range of medical and social care services in one place. Bed-based intermediate care can be provided a step up from home as an alternative hospital admission or step down following a hospital stay. We encourage partnerships to develop more of those services as alternatives to acute hospital admission. I thank the minister for that answer. The minister may be aware that as part of a review of clinical services, NHS Borders is considering the future of hospitals in Duns, Hoik, Kelso and Peebles. I have been flooded by emails and letters from concerned residents, patients and staff who cannot understand why busy local hospitals, which free up beds in the Borders general hospital, might be lost. The Scottish Government's community hospital strategy says that community hospitals are an important part—it is more important than ever—in providing both health and social care services for local communities. The Scottish Government's vision for healthcare includes shifting the balance of care from large institutions into community settings. Has the minister had any discussions with NHS Borders over the suggestion that facilities in Duns, Hoik, Peebles and Kelso may close? Given the Scottish Government's apparent support for community hospitals, will the minister join me in making it clear to NHS Borders that those local facilities must stay open and rule out supporting any closures in the Borders? Let me acknowledge that Mr Lamont is doing what you might expect to do. Of course, he represents his constituency interest. I should say that we shouldn't put the cart before the horse here. This is ultimately a matter for NHS Borders, and I'm aware that they are proposing to carry out a review of all their clinical services, not just community hospitals. I would expect any review to be carried out in line with our 2020 vision for the future of healthcare in Scotland. Those proposals will have to give clear evidence of how the board would address the impact and outcomes for people in communities. To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers staffing levels in NHS Lanarkshire satisfactory. In NHS Lanarkshire, staff in post numbers are at a record high, the number of consultants is at a record high and the number of qualified nurses and midwives are at a record high. NHS boards, including NHS Lanarkshire, are responsible for ensuring that they have the correct mix and number of staff to deliver and maintain high-quality services for their patients. We expect all NHS boards to plan for their workforce, utilising staff banks where appropriate, and we have supported the development of workload and workforce planning tools, the use of which were mandated in April 2013. Mark Griffin? I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. It is the cabinet secretary who is aware that the out-of-hours service in Cuminald has now been closed since June 2014 because of a lack of available GPs, meaning that local people now have to travel to Munklands hospital in Airdrie, adding more pressure to that service. Does the minister think that it is acceptable that that situation has been allowed to drag on for over seven months and what action can she take to get Cuminald out-of-hours service operational again? Obviously, Mark Griffin will be aware that NHS Lanarkshire is embarking on a review of their out-of-hours services. What I can say is that it is very important that NHS Lanarkshire move to ensure that the out-of-hours service meets the needs of the local population. I hope that Mark Griffin will welcome the fact that NHS Lanarkshire is one of the biggest gainers of the enrack uplift that I announced this week and is set to receive £13.5 million in next year's budget. I am sure that that will help when it comes to the design and provision of their out-of-hours services. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the availability of child and adolescent mental health services in North East Scotland. NHS boards have done significant work in service redesign to increase the capacity—their capacity—to meet the CAMHS target on a sustainable basis. As a result of redesign, NHS Grampian has already identified where they need to increase capacity. We support the board and the work that they have done in the back of a process that gives sustainable performance in patient facilities covering the north of Scotland, which includes the NHS Grampian, which is provided by Dudh Hope House and Dundee, which is a further six beds becoming available in May 2015. The additional six beds will increase the bed base serving the north of Scotland and improve the quality of the estate. As the minister says, there are no CAMHS in-patient facilities in the NHS Grampian area. Instead, a young patient from, say, my hometown of Ellen would be placed over 100 miles away from home in Rheymor hospital in Inverness, where currently the socament's NHS bed is in the north. Even Dudh Hope House, as the minister mentions, is more than 82 miles away. How are families to support their children at such distances?  Does the minister agree, and how does he intend to improve access for my younger constituents to local, responsive and age-appropriate services? Of course, there is always an important balance to be had, and I recognise that where we can provide services as local as possible we should see to that. Those are, of course, specialist services and we cannot provide them, sadly, absolutely every location. That is why they are located in specialist centres, but there is always the possibility that beds can be made available at other locations in certain circumstances where that might be appropriate, and that can be taken forward. To ask the Scottish Government what requirement there is on health boards to undertake adverse incident reviews in respect of patients dying whilst on the delayed discharge database. NHS boards must ensure that a system to record these cases is in place, and the medical director should consider all such cases and carry out a review if it were thought that the delay in discharge had been a contributory factor to the person's death. Any adverse incident review should be carried out in line with guidance in the learning from adverse incidents through reporting and review document. Can I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer? There were 1,000 deaths of patients on the delayed discharge database, in other words, patients fit for discharge. A freedom of information request by the Labour health team shows that only two reviews were carried out. Does the minister find this appropriate, and if not, what action will be taken? The number of reviews that would be carried out would be if it was thought that the delay in discharge had been a contributory factor to the person's death. There is a process through the guidance that I described in my earlier answer, learning from adverse incidents through reporting and review document that sets out which cases should be reviewed in that way. We are talking about very frail elderly people, many of whom have had a number of conditions. However, I would be the first to acknowledge that, even when it comes to end-of-life care, a hospital is not the place that many of those frail elderly people would want to die.  That is why I have said absolutely that dealing with the delayed discharge and eradicating the delayed discharge out of the health system is absolutely my top priority, and it is for that very reason that it is so. Question 16 has been withdrawn and a satisfactory explanation has been provided. To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has taken to protect NHS staff in light of the recent reports of high levels of injuries at work and sick leave due to stress. Our staff are at the heart of the NHS. Their health and wellbeing is something that the Government takes very seriously. The staff governance standard for NHS Scotland commits all boards to providing a continuously improving and safe working environment, promoting the health and wellbeing of staff, patients in the wider community. Through our monitoring arrangements, we are ensuring that boards have policies and actions in place to support staff. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. I am sure that everyone will agree that injuries and sickness within the NHS are a serious problem, whatever the cause, but would the minister agree that it would be useful to have regular updates made available by health boards about the nature and incidents of such problems and what action they are taking to address them? Yes, I would agree with John Pentland. I think that that may well be something that would be useful and I can certainly be happy to look at how we could do that. I think that it is important that we understand the nature of those injuries, particularly where the violence has been involved in any of those. Importantly, as John Pentland also said, what action each board is taking to address those issues. I am very happy to take that forward and I will get back to the member in due course. That concludes questions this afternoon. We therefore turn to the next item of business, which is a debate on motion number 12045.