The Apprentice 2008

Toughest choice on who to fire this week:

Michael: OK, I'm now ocnvinced he's a bit of a nob. How he had the gall to moan about splitting the tasks between two subteams when it was his bloody idea in the first place! is beyond me

Helene: Very poor this week. 'Average' project management, got key decisions wrong, beaten by the other team on both days, and as Sara pointed out, seemed to do very little other than pose in a dress at the fair.

Sara: Just doesn't seem to be a good teamplayer. I can see where she is coming from a lot of the time (e.g. going for the hard sell at the end of the day) but she just doesn't come across very well in conversation. She also cracked me up at the end in the car after being fired.... "I don't like being told what to do by the Project Manager".... er, OK. At least she said she'd learnt from that and needs to be her own boss.


Meanwhile Lucinda continues to impress in her quirky, understated way. I can't see her winning it though.
 
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she is smoking... those eyes - yum :)
she might as well have gone as she wasn't going to win... same could have been said of all 3 of them though :)
 
The girls always look even more attractive on the follow on show on BBC2 for some reason. Jennifer (the irish person) actually looked quite attractive without all the fake makekup/powerdressing rubbish she was doing on the show.

Good episode I thought, it's clear Lucinda and Lee make a good team, Raef is much more sedated than those two, and as much as I'd like him to win, I think he just doesn't seem to have "what it takes" - I could be wrong though.

Michael needs to be pushed down some stairs and then another flight and another. :/

Helene is very average she won't last.

Alex just comes across as very immature - then again I think he's the youngest person there?
 
Dingo said:
Has she been selling you rose tinted spectacles on the latest task?

If so I can understand, because she was hopeless at selling wedding cakes, so she had to sell somebody something!!


Minger and a whinger.....not a classic pairing:(
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Not a minger... but on close inspection definately not a stunner. 6.5/10.
 
Freefaller said:
Michael needs to be pushed down some stairs and then another flight and another. :/
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hahaha I agree. I absolutely cannot stand him. Can't believe he was kept on after that pathetic begging crap at the end. He gave puppy dog eyes and Sugar bought it. He's got to be for the chop pretty soon. I don't think I can stand him for much longer.

Was quite impressed by how well Lucinda's team worked together on this task. It's not something I've seen happen so far without massive arguments. Looks like she's back to her old self next week though.
 
Lostkat said:
hahaha I agree. I absolutely cannot stand him. Can't believe he was kept on after that pathetic begging crap at the end. He gave puppy dog eyes and Sugar bought it. He's got to be for the chop pretty soon. I don't think I can stand him for much longer.
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he was probably kept on because Sugar can only do one double firing per season.
 
i get the feeling about Helene that she would stab you in the back, if it would help her advance in her career.

the type of person that is cold and heartless and does not let you get close to her.
 
I thought this was one of the most boring episodes. Although Sara's and Michael's selling technique was awful (Michael especially when he was telling the woman she's going to regret not getting the cake for the rest of her life!) it was partly due to the product they were selling but surely, a wedding cake at a wedding convention must have been sellable!
 
Not the best episode but was OK.

I really want to kill Mike though. He is a idiot who thinks he is better than everybody else when he is, in fact, a slimy no good toad with a limited range of sales "skills" that involves the Double Glazing style hard sale. He has no people skills and no project management skills and should have been fired over Sarah.

I'd have sacked 'em both though but if I could have only done one it would be Mike.

Team Alpha started right, picked the right products (gambling on the designer dresses) and this got them the right accessories (who is going to spend £600 on a cake when the dresses cost around the same - idiots)

I am impressed on how good a manager Lucinda is turning out to be (she stormed to victory the last time she was in charge as well) and how good a sales person Claire is, especially when teamed with Lucinda.

They are still far from the cream of Britain's business people though. But hey ho it makes for good TV>
 
SDK^ said:
Cakes will sell more than the other option the team lost out on.
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Your Fired! fundamental mistake on the product selection.

My favorite bit was when all four of the loosing team were out of the room and and SAS said he was unsure which was worst, to which Margaret replied, "They are all useless and get rid of the lot!".

Lucinda, she does seem to be the most natural manager out there. High praise again from her team. Other project managers have tended to decide on something themselves and force it on the team. Helene was the one who decided on the dresses this week for her team and as project manager she had the final say.

Michaelm, what else can be said, what a muppet! It came up on the screen the he was a "Telesales Executive" is that hype for a team leader at a cold calling call centre flogging double glazing? I would have loved to of been on the recieving end of his sales pitch. I've been in places where people are trying to hard sell like he was, normally i speak to a supervisor or manager and say that i was intending to purchase a product but due to the aggressive selling technique, i just don't want to spend my money with them. Let them know exactly why they don't get my custom. Nothing is better than some idiotn thinking they can sell anything have a customer tell them that they were the reason a sale failed not the product.
 
Freefaller said:
The girls always look even more attractive on the follow on show on BBC2 for some reason. Jennifer (the irish person) actually looked quite attractive without all the fake makekup/powerdressing rubbish she was doing on the show.

Good episode I thought, it's clear Lucinda and Lee make a good team, Raef is much more sedated than those two, and as much as I'd like him to win, I think he just doesn't seem to have "what it takes" - I could be wrong though.

Michael needs to be pushed down some stairs and then another flight and another. :/

Helene is very average she won't last.

Alex just comes across as very immature - then again I think he's the youngest person there?
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An excellent summary. :)

Paulus said:
i get the feeling about Helene that she would stab you in the back, if it would help her advance in her career.

the type of person that is cold and heartless and does not let you get close to her.
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True. There is something nasty about her. She hasn't really shone and I reckon if she hasn't gone by the interview stage, the interviewers will suss her out.

LordSplodge said:
Not the best episode but was OK.

I really want to kill Mike though. He is a idiot who thinks he is better than everybody else when he is, in fact, a slimy no good toad with a limited range of sales "skills" that involves the Double Glazing style hard sale. He has no people skills and no project management skills and should have been fired over Sarah.

I'd have sacked 'em both though but if I could have only done one it would be Mike.
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Mike is just plain rubbish. Arrogant and cocky. Suggesting splitting the team up geographically then saying someone more intelligent wouldn't have done that. :rolleyes:

callmeBadger said:
Your Fired! fundamental mistake on the product selection.

My favorite bit was when all four of the loosing team were out of the room and and SAS said he was unsure which was worst, to which Margaret replied, "They are all useless and get rid of the lot!".
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I was thinking that. I looked at the team and thought I could make an argument for all four to go. :D

callmeBadger said:
Michaelm, what else can be said, what a muppet! It came up on the screen the he was a "Telesales Executive" is that hype for a team leader at a cold calling call centre flogging double glazing? I would have loved to of been on the recieving end of his sales pitch. I've been in places where people are trying to hard sell like he was, normally i speak to a supervisor or manager and say that i was intending to purchase a product but due to the aggressive selling technique, i just don't want to spend my money with them. Let them know exactly why they don't get my custom. Nothing is better than some idiotn thinking they can sell anything have a customer tell them that they were the reason a sale failed not the product.
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True. And calling people dum dums. No they aren't they just don't like your hard sales techniques and want to run things by their other half.
 
I think it's increasingly likely the Alex will win. He does seem competent, likeable (at least the people working with him like him!) and shrewd. I think only Claire offers true competition at the moment but she has annoyed SAS more in the past. Lucinder is good but not brash enough for SAS and Raef will not be attacking enough in the boardroom because he is too nice.

All the rest are useless.
 
I thought that the team who won :

Lucinda
Lee
Raith
Claire

are all the best the following 4 i'd have just fired there and then:

Helen = Average
Alex = Stands out the way, never in trouble, yet never does anything good
Saira = Same as Alex but also anoying, on the aftershow she spoke a lot more calmyly and was likeable, but during the show had a really anoying screamy voice

Michael = RAAGGGHHH what a pillock!
 
lozzick said:
Alex = Stands out the way, never in trouble, yet never does anything good
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He's a good salesman IMO. Usually seems to be able to strike a deal with the average man on the street, at least when he's not being undermined by others.

He's also tactically aware and is an effective boardroom brawler. He's destroyed other candidates in the past (take that posh guy Nick Double-Barrelled from the first episode) and while he wouldn't be my favourite, I wouldn't totally discount his talents.
 
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