When Denis Thatcher addressed Cambridge City Rugby Club some twenty years ago, and someone suggested to him that the game would become professional, he said, in typical Denis style, "Mark my words, it'll all end in tears".  At the time I dismissed his words as an old man, clinging onto the past.  I have a feeling if Denis were alive today, he would be saying I told you so.  CRUFC decided to go professional, or rather than simply paying expenses (as the Welsh would say, cash in the boot), they actually paid the players a salary, and indeed, two years ago, they reached the No.2 position in the 3rd division, and only just failed to go up to the 2nd.  Last week, the club made the momentous decision that it could no longer afford to pay the players.  Our £40,000 a year coach, and four of our best players had left by lunchtime the next day. 

Modern rugby players are understandably mercenaries, who must move to whoever will pay them what they're worth, and in some cases considerably more than they're worth.  So it was with some trepidation that I made my fortnightly trip to the City ground to watch us play bottom of the table Birmingham & Solihull, who have suffered the same sort of financial setbacks as we have in the past few years.  Result? 

What a privilege to join a private view of the Lucian Freud Portraits exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery yesterday, and to join  my colleagues from the House of Lords to see the David Hockney show at the Royal Academy this morning.  The Hockney is such a massive show, with so many vibrant pictures, that I had several favourites.  It is a visual delight, and well worth a visit.  One of the advantages of going away, is that there are so many things to catch up on when you're back....

Arrived back from Majorca yesterday, having spent seven weeks on the first draft of the new book.  I know it doesn't sound long, but it's almost 400 hours of work, and it's only the first draft.  I had to come back for several reasons, not least because Chelsea FC clearly need me as their manager, and England need someone who can bat at number 4 or 5. 

Lot's of things to catch up on - I must be the only person who hasn't seen The Artist yet - and there's about a dozen shows at the theatre I need to see.  But the main reason I'm back in the UK is for the launch of The Sins of the Father, volume two of The Clifton Chronicles, which will be published on March 15th.  So it's back on the treadmill of interviews and signings, which I always dread, but then end up enjoying.  And thank you all for so many emails and letters over the past few weeks.