Alanh

this site just worked for the coverage of the F1 qualifying so fingers crossed for the match.

We didn't pay £1M. It was a deal up to €1.2M at a time when the Euro exchange rate was much better than it is now. The up to bit is also significant because it implies staged payments subject to achievements. I'm sure we have paid the full amount by now but at the time we probably made a small initial payment which we could afford. Give RL some credit, he only spent money that he knew we could afford.

I think your thread title is a bit misleading. What you are saying is we have one of our best squads ever. We have got two very competent contenders for every position now, with few automatic first choice picks in each position, perhaps only Fonte, Lallana and Lambert. It's a great position to be in and one that will stand us in good stead throughout the season.

Difficult to disagree. If you look at 'British' history you see tha\t we have gone through phases of feudalism, monarchy and now democracy (although the monarch is still in place) to get to where we are. Asking a country like Afghanistan to leap from the sort of violent feudalism that has been funded by the US and Russia in recent years to democracy in a short space of time is impossible to achieve unless the people want it to happen. I think that it's a waste of our military resources being there and we would be better served investing in the integration of all sections of society here at home in order to minimise the marginalisation of specific groups that leads to militant tendencies.

I am pleased for LB that he has got a new contract and I'm sure that he will contribute for us again this year. My main concern about him, and the thing that I think will let him down more this season, is his first touch. Too often he lets the ball get away from him with a poor first touch and as a result we have to immediately start to chase the ball again. Compare this to most of the other attacking players in the team - RL, AL, AOC, GdP, who all have an excellent first touch and allow us to move the ball quickly and play a neat short passing game. I realise that there is a place for different sorts of players and LB definitely contributes with his goals, but I fear that he will get found out a bit in this league because of his first touch.

Can't tell how much sarcasm there is in there. As others have said, this match won't sell out so the chances are you will be able to retain the same seat for the whole tournament, however it does also give you the chance to watch the game from different viewpoints, if you like. I think it's the right decision by the club.

In a 4-4-2 firts choice has got to be AOC - Schneiderlin - Cork - Lallana, but as with many others I prefer a 4-2-3-1 and would go for: Cork - Schneiderlin AOC - Guly - Lallana Lambert While Rickie isn't going to play on the shoulder of the last defender in this formation he is going to be able to hold up the ball and bring others into play and with the other attacking players around him there should always be someone who can make that run beyond the defence.

So you can't imagine a scenario where Donny accepted our bid, we went to the player and his demands were such that we felt it was not worth continuing the discussion? Adkins might be painting a picture that reflects better on the club but it's equally or IMO more likely that he is essentially describing the scenario I have suggested above.

Pull out the weeds that you can and mow the lawn regularly. You might not get rid of them all but you'll slow them down.

Not sure how you can describe elite athletes competing against the best in the world in a variety of different sports mediocrity. Also, there is no financial reward for winning an Olymp[ic medal. Sure there is a commercial angle to the Olympics, but that doesn't detract from the world class performances that are put in.

Got three tickets for the session that includes the Mens 100m final on the evening of 5th August. Applied for four sets of tickets to four different events and these were the only ones that came in. Good result I think.

Realistic is subjective and perhaps I should have said 'almost' every position, but for me these guys would improve the team: CB - Gabbidon CM - Reo Coker Giles Barnes and Anthony Pilkington for wide midfield positions.

Our current squad isn't bad and I believe would compete in the Championship, probably ending up around midtable subject to injuries. At the same time it has to be said that you could improve every position in the team with realistic transfers. If we are going to compete at the top end of the table this season we need to strengthen with 5 - 6 players, probably throughout the spine of the team. I'd be delighted of some of those 5 - 6 players came from the academy, but I really don't know if there is anyone ready for nPC first team action yet. Good news on AOC. Hardly conclusive but much better news than the apparently stabs in the dark that the tabloids are making.

I'm pretty sure that they all changed their kits last season. I remember it being reported as the first time it had happened. Also there was reference to Spurs having introduced 6 new shirts, but that was actually only three new shirts but with two different sponsors - one for Champions League and one for everything else.

Read the article. The question mark is referencing whether we will move back to stripes from this year's sash> It's a common assumption on here that we are going back to stripes but the club have never announced anything so this is part of the teaser campaign preceding the launch of the kit.

Would like to see a large piece of public art installed outside the stadium - something that would do for the stadium site what the Anish Kapoor sculpture is going to do for the Olympic park. Would also like to see some form of pre match ritual to get the crowd going. The occasions that we do the R & W cards on every seat create a fantastic visual spectacle, but obviously that would only work for full house matches. The eagle at Benfica's ground is an amazing spectacle so perhaps we need our own version of this. Getting replays back on the big screen would be great. I know it's to do with the TV facilities in the stadium but it could work. Food sellers in the gangways - like baseball - buy from a guy who carries round snacks. Better on pitch audience participation at half time. get local clubs involved in a season long competition of some sort.

That's a coincidence then as it's the same way that ticketing for the last Winter Olympics was run as well. I think it's more to do with Visa and the Olympic committee than anything specific to London.

He's been there for six seasons and has made progress, but ultimately despite having good resources for the division has failed to get promotion. He's not been sacked because of failure this year, it's more that he has taken the club as far as he can. No way of knowing if they will be stronger for taking this decision, probably depends on personnel changes over the summer as much as the new manager.

New home shirts are typically available in the first couple of weeks of June. I've received several as birthday gifts and each time they have been preceded with an apology from the gift giver that they will arrive late as my birthday is at the end of May.

If we could I would let him go. He delivers a nice cross but doesn't have enough pace to really worry defenders and is as injury prone as Owen Hargreaves. Simply not worth continuing to pay wages. Having said all that I doubt many clubs are going to be interested in taking him off our hands because of his injury record so I expect him to still be with us next season.

I think just looking at the out of contract players is too simplistic. You need to look at the squad and work on the principle that we need 2 good players to compete for every position. GK - Davis, Bart LB - Harding, Dickson RB - Richardson, Butterfield CB - Fonte, Jaidi, Seabourne, ? LM - Lallana, ? RM - Chamberlain, ? CM - Hammond, Chaplow, Schneiderlin, ? CF - Lambert, Guly, Forte, ? For me we need to send Martin out on loan for the season and get a new first choice CB to partner Fonte, Get in two new wingers, one each side and let Puncheon, N'Guesson and Holmes leave. Let Gobern go and get in a new CM. Let Connolly and Barnard go and get in a proven goalscorer. Much as Connolly and Barnard have made a big contribution I think we need more reliable and better players respectively for next year. Forte is obviously seen as a prospect (rightly or wrongly) and can deliver the pace that we will need on occasion, but we should find someone who is more of a proven goalscorer at a higher level that Barnard. All of the new players in should be able to command a first team place in the relevant position rather than be squad players, i.e.a left winger good enough to come in and play as first choice when Lallana is moved to the centre or is out. All of the new

Drop me a line on alanjharrison@aol.com and I'll send you some details.

I've got a 2 bed apartment on the Algarve available from the 15th August. It's on a golf course complex about 45 mins drive from Faro airport. Let me know if you are interested.

Football is all about opinions but I would say that the one thing that LB can't do is hold the ball up with his back to goal. Any long ball played into him invariably bounces off and his second touch needs to be a tackle. He's great at other things, gets shots away and has a poachers instinct, but for me he'll struggle in the Championship and is the main reason why we need another striker. RL is excellent with the ball at his feet. He has great close control and can pick out a great pass. He might not have too much pace but that's what we will need to buy in.

Also worth noting that since NA arrived we have not lost two league games in a row. If we lost we bounced back immediately. That is the sign of a good manager IMO.