The9

This is true, but at least there's some excuse for not seeing the delineation between the FA and the Premier League, given the links between the two and a sizeable amount of joint membership in the early days of the "FA Premier League". To think the FA is responsible for the Football League's -10 deductions is just ignorant, especially when it's only -9 in the Prem anyway.

Erm, who has nothing whatsoever to do with the FA or Premier League, as he resigned from the FA in 2008 : http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/football_league/article4289665.ece

Went to Walsall's website, clicked on "directions", loaded Google Maps then typed "pub" into the search... one of those.

Frankly having been there before, and only two days before I have to do loads of family visiting all over the place, I have better things to do the weekend before Xmas than get to Yorkshire and back, and I suspect lots of other people will as well. And I drove to Hartlepool and back in one day, FFS.

Gillingham captain pained to discover where gnomes get their balls from.

I agree, and we're doing a hell of a job keeping Gillett and Wotton away from Prem teams as well...

No, we won the penalties, we drew the game. It's really not difficult. Ask the bookies if they paid out on a Saints win, bearing in mind that they pay out on the 90 minutes score... and while I'm on the subject, it was Lambert's goal not Waigo's, even the ref said so.

We did also lamp two belters straight at him when it was easier to score, which can't have hurt his case.

Brilliant, the FA had nothing to do with the -10. Carry on. Only one way to find out the Manchester scenario...

As plastic pitches have been banned in English competitive football since the early 1990s, I'm guessing not. Though there are a load of third generation pitches in use in various countries and UEFA/FIFA readily acknowledge that some Russian and Scandinavian teams wouldn't have a season without them, and hybrid grass/plastic fibres are now part of most top-level pitches to aid the integrity of the surface, I suspect your dream wouldn't have been that detailed.

I'm kinda disturbed by some attitutes to Antonio, evidently none of these people were at Bristol Rovers for the FA Cup match or the JPT game v Charlton when he was very good. He's also got quite a few moves to send defenders the wrong way - though why wouldn't he push and go if he's going to outpace the defender every time like he did v MK Dons? I thought he was pretty good on Tuesday too, with the exception of not shooting after he'd beaten most of Wycombe's defence twice, and regard him as a signing we should make in January if Reading want to let him go (which they will, as he's a squad player and they're skint). He's much more of a finished product than Thomson (or Dyer was) and suits us well.

So Anders didn't knock the Argies out ? Damn.

Please explain, especially given that we didn't even apply.

Yeah, but they were Premier League goals, each one was worth about a quarter of a place from the bottom in the Prem at the end of the season and probably made us about £50k in prize-money per goal.

That's alright then. Have to say I haven't seen a linesman for a Sunday morning match for some time, but I personally don't have a problem with them just doing their job regarding in/out without offering an opinion, you can't always tell. Not everyone is as detached as me when it comes to refereeing decisions at football matches though, I'm usually the one shaking my head as half the crowd appeals for backpasses off players' thighs, offsides from throw-ins and handball if it goes remotely near the upper torso of a player.

I have come a lot closer to playing professional football than I have space travel, but I can still tell you that the Space Shuttle Challenger wasn't performing at its best when it blew up in 1986. You'll also find people in professional football who swear the likes of Titus Bramble and Calum Davenport (too soon?) are decent defenders, and some of the best internationals have made the worst judges of other players. Bobby Charlton, Maradona and Bobby Moore are springing to mind in that category. Just because he's scoring goals doesn't mean he couldn't be scoring more goals, and it doesn't take a trained eye to see that Lambert's not running around as much as at the start of the season. He might be ill, he might be unfit, he might have been told to be a target man and not chase back, or get into wide positions (of which I'm glad, as it winds me up when he's crossing in the air to Connolly). That's the bit we don't know.

Are you "pretty sure", or as confident as you appear in the next statement when you outright claim it won't be an issue ? I haven't checked (yet), by the way.

Certainly MAY have got relegated sooner, can't argue with any of the rest of it, there weren't many dissenters in 2003... aaaaargh, I'm getting sucked in...

Erm, are we talking about the same game/lino/whatever ? Northampton, FA Cup, last Saturday, linesman in front of the Saints fans in the side stand ? How on earth can it possibly be the case that a referee should instruct his linesman NOT to flag when the ball has gone out of play when he's in no position to know ? It's not a situation where a referee can overrule and he needs the notification that it's gone off even if he's better placed to indicate who touched it last. This lino fella sure as hell stood there, flag at his side, like a chocolate teapot on three separate occasions long after the ball had gone off the pitch with the ref looking at him confused as to why he hadn't flagged the ball obviously out of play. If they'd been briefed to use telepathy it clearly wasn't working. He didn't get his decisions "spot on" because he didn't flag for the ball being off the pitch when play was restarted (after some confusion) with a throw in on three occasions, indicating that the ball had indeed left the playing area.

Personally I thought he was Fernandes without the circles in the first half and Wotton without the heading or lack of ability to change direction in the second. A few decent tackles, a lot of safe possession stuff, nothing remotely exciting, creative or interesting. I thought we already had Wotton and Hammond for sideways passing and Lloyd James along with those two for kicking people ?

I do hope you don't really believe that, you mental.

Good use of FACT there.

In the form table, I would suggest.

Seeing as there's a wodging great gap between 10th and 11th in the table at the moment I'm fairly confident that we won't be breaking into the top 10 until probably March, but that we're going to spend a large chunk of the time from now until the end of February somewhere near 11th place.

Ta for clarifying.