The Independent Manchester United Supporters Trust (or MUST for short) have released a statement today regarding the possible takeover with the “Red Knights” of Manchester United.

“Initially the Red Knight Group has effectively set a challenge to Manchester United supporters to demonstrate they wish to see an alternative ownership proposal developed.

“In the first instance supporters are being asked to do this simply by joining the free online membership of the Supporters Trust and swelling its ranks to an initial target of at least 100,000.

“It is also essential for a majority of two key groups, the Old Trafford Season Ticket holders and those with Executive facilities, to show their appetite for participation by joining the Must online campaign.”

The site now has 58,530 members and continues to grow. Please show your support by joining online here at MUST. I have joined and I hope that many more will join too. We want to get the Glazer’s out and have ownership by people who actually have money and aren’t taking anything from the club.

At the weekend I saw Invictus, the Political/Rugby themed film that came out recently. The film is set in South Africa during the time of Nelson Mandela’s release from imprisonment on Robin Island. Morgan Freeman fantastically portrays Mandela alongside the equally good Matt Damon as South Africa rugby captain Francois Pienaar. The story builds up to the Rugby World Cup in 1995 where South Africa are a struggling nation, separated by colour and prejudice. Nelson Mandela is striving to change all this and attempts to united a nation through sport.

Invictus

Mandela invites Pienaar to an afternoon tea one day. He has seen an opportunity to unite his country through rugby and decides that Pienaar and the rugby team can do this by winning the world cup on home soil. There are a lot of interesting characters and sub plots that make this film great, however it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Not being a rugby fan and being born too late to be aware of the Mandela imprisonment and Apartheid, I wasn’t aware of a lot of the story before I saw the film. Having come out of the film however I felt entertained and educated, it was a great experience and I’d give the film 8/10.

Next week Nicola Potts appears in the BBC series Five Days II. The second installment of the series stars Suranne Jones (Unforgiven, Coronation Street) who leads an impressive ensemble cast in Gwyneth Hughes’s (Five Days, Miss Austen Regrets, Cherished) gripping new five-part mystery.

Five Days

A tiny newborn baby is abandoned in the toilets of a Yorkshire hospital. At the same time, the Trans-Pennine commuter train is halted by a suicidal jumper – are they connected? A gripping story begins – Five Days is broadcast on BBC One at 9.00pm from Monday 1 to Friday 5 March 2010.

Keep and eye out for Nicola Potts in the new series of Shameless starting tonight, Channel 4, 10pm. Nicola stars as young Tonya in the series, to find out more about Tonya keep your eyes peeled for Nicolas debut; this part has been a fantastic achievement for her. Recently Nicola has been involved with a wide range of productions including BBC/HBO Five Days II, Come Home, Prank Patrol, Strangewayz and Laminat among many others. If you are looking for a dedicated, hard working professional actor based in the North West of England but more than happy to travel for work, then please get in touch with Nicola Potts.

If you would like a reference from people she has worked with in the past then just check out her reviews page on her website. Her role in Shameless is bound to be a successful one for Nicola and I for one am looking forward to seeing her in the latest series.

Another week begins and as the ice and snow melts it’s time to reflect on the film I saw over the weekend. On Saturday I went to the cinema to see It’s Complicated. It was a romantic comedy sort of film but the main characters were a bit older than the usual Rom-Com films. Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin played the lead roles – a divorced couple who found themselves having an affair with each other, ten years after they had seperated.

It's Complicated

Steve Martin played Meryl Streep’s architect and love interest for some parts of the film but his personality didn’t seem threatening enough to break apart the affair that was going on. He too had been through divorce and ultimately he decided not to pursue anything with Streep’s character as he felt that neither of them were ready to move on. The film had a strange ending but it was an interesting story and I enjoyed it – 7/10.