Alanh

Not sure how many players Norwich signed or how changed they are from last season, but we know that they signed Surman. Leeds signed seven players last summer and released quite a few. I think we will see Jaidi, Puncheon, Forecast, one of Dickson or Harding, N'Guesson and Connolly leave. Just replacing them one for one means six new players. I would expect us to bring in players who can immediately compete for the first team squad so we could see a dramatically different team to the current one.

We can keep franchise FC below us by beating them. The Peterborough v Huddersfield match is the most important as it could give us the chance to get ahead of one or both of them without using up a game in hand. It's in our hands.

Agreed that possession is the aim, especially when you have the lead. I think the crowd got frustrated last night towards the end of the first half when we tried to play it out from the back but when Harding and Martin had the ball no-one in front of them was making any effort to make themselves available so their only option was back to Davis for a hoof. the same thing happened at a few throw ins during the first half where Harding had no-one to throw to at all.

Obviously, but recent form is the only way to make a judgement about future performance and points per game is the only way to quantify that in a meaningful sense in football.

Interesting fact from the Swansea v Leeds radio commentary at the weekend. Leeds signed 7 players in the summer so they obviously strengthened massively for their Championship campaign and it is paying off for them. Don't know what Norwich did in that regard, but I think you could expect us to do similar if we get promoted in May. I think more of the squad will be released than you have listed.

Not true. The pitch was seeded, not turfed. I was at the new kit launch in July and the grass on the pitch was growing then. Agree that it's been cutting up more this season that in previous years.

that's a bit of an over reaction of a statement. AOC is one of the best players in the squad and has earned his position on merit. He's been a threat in just about every game that he has played and I would think that if the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool want him, then all of our rivals in L1 would also love to have him playing for us. You sound like you have a problem with AOC starting just about every match. Given that Adkins has stated regularly that he has the development (physical and footballing) of AOC at the forefront of his mind where do you see the problem?

Don't be daft, can't you read the sarcasm in the message. Alpine is just saying that despite giving Oldham a thrashing we didn't seem to carry that amazing scoring form forward into our next games as we have scored a grand total of 8 goals in the 7 matches since Oldham. He might be a massive pessimist but on this occasion he's not saying that a big win is a bad thing as you suggest.

Hardly hinting that he's joined us for first team experience. Any footballer going on loan will be hoping for first team experience, but everyone knows that opportunities for keepers are massively restricted. Everyone involved with the deal will know that he is cover for our number 2 and so will only be called upon in an emergency.

No transfer speculation, no real political intrigue at the club, no significant squad selection policies to debate. All signs of a stable club, but doesn't give much to talk about between matches.

One more here. Live in Guildford, commute down the M3 every couple of weeks to SMS.

Yes, that firework was a regular mortar shell, probably about 75 or 100mm diameter so not that big (they can be up to 300mm diameter). The shell should go up to about 200ft and then burst. It looks like that one malfunctioned and burst at about 30 ft which meant that the stars hit the ground around the houses and cars. Members of the public can't (legally) buy those sort of fireworks in the UK.

So Mr Chairman evaluates the options and decides that serving better quality meat products and removing poorer quality (in terms of health benefits) ones from the menu is the same as force feeding a vegetarian meat! Can't quite see how you have got from point A to point B there mate. Anyone who desperately needs a burger will buy one from a van outside the ground.

The problem the EDL have got is that they claim to be against extremist Muslims, effectively this means that they are targeting specific individuals which they can not or do not want to identify. As they are made up predominently of young white males and typically present themselves in large groups they come across as aggressive and threatening have little or no empathy with the Muslim community. As a result their message gets interpreted as being anti Muslim in general. This fine distinction is either too complicated for many of their members to understand or too difficult for their leaders to explain. It's been said many times by Muslim leaders that they are as anti extremism as the EDL claim to be. Surely the best way for the EDL, (or anyone else for that matter) to achieve their stared objectives would be to work with Muslim leaders and encourage extremism to be clamped down on from within the Mulsim community.

Not sure that Barry Hearn actually wants to (or needs to) leave Brisbane Road. Orient's fan base is the right size for their ground as it stands. I'm not sure that they could contribute much to the running of a Prem quality stadium and they would be rrattling round in there on matchdays.

Come up with an alternative that you are not offended by then fight against the conventions of society that all see you as white and want to call you that. That's essentially what all civil liberties groups do regardless of their cause.

Obviously there is no one person or committee that decides. It's society and the conventions of linguistic development and behaviour that determine appropriate terminology. In the UK we have developed to a degree that we understand that racially discriminatory language and behaviour is inappropriate. Not everyone is as advanced in understanding that - especially older generations who grew up using different terminology, but look at behaviour in places like TV sitcoms and conversations that you hear in social situations such as pubs and offices. Where terms like 'darkie' and 'poofter' were commonly used in the 70's they broadly defunct now. That's not the case in all countries - just look at the behaviour of Spanish motor racing fans to Lewis Hamilton a couple of years ago.

The 'coffee without milk' example is ridiculous. You can call someone black, in fact it's the correct description, as opposed to the quaint 70's term 'coloured' - which colour? Black or gay or Arab can all be used as descriptive terms, it's when they are used in a derogatory way they are unacceptable. Regarding EJ adopting. For me it's at the extremes of the norm given his age and sexuality, but it's not going to impact on my life and I wouldn't want to stop it if I was in a decision making capacity on the adoption panel, as I think that the kids will have access to the best of everything (that money can buy).

Feb is important, but look at March and April. 7 games in each of those months, with the majority away from home and including away trips to Bournemouth and Brighton. If we can get 2 points a game on average through Feb I think we'll be set up nicely to challenge for the automatic places during the run in.

Agreed that it's TV money that is driving the crazy prices but it's the overseas revenue that makes up the bulk of the revenue that the Prem brings in. Just getting consumers in the UK to stop subscribing to Sky won't really make any difference unless the rest of the world follows suit.

that sounds like the way forward. Probably best to put it in the car park at SMS though.

If the question had been asked after the Oldham game everyone would have answered yes. Following the last two results there's a lot more negativity. We have responded very positively to our most recent losses and need to again to give ourselves a chance. I'm naturally an optimist and my current thought is that we can make the top two, but champions will probably come down to how we respond to the recent defeat - we need to win the next 4 / 5 to keep up the pressure / close the gap - and also what we do at the Withdean later in the season.

I think the point here is that all of the media ran with a story that they were convinced was true, however events panned out in such a way as to make them look foolish when it didn't happen. There may be an element of face saving going on now, but the point is the story said one thing while the events were different. It is quite plausible for the same thing to happen with this story and while the press are currently stating that he's going to Arsenal, something may happen - like NC refusing to sell, or NA convincing him that his interests would be best served by staying, or the player deciding that he likes playing competitive matches, or Arsenal refusing to meet our valuation, or any one of a hundred other things - and as a result he doesn't move.

Can't agree with the assertion that playing Man Utd in the cup at home is a bad thing. It's an opportunity for the players to test themselves against the best in the country and play in front of a full house and a great atmosphere. It's an opportunity for the manager to test himself as well. If we want to get back to the Prem this is a taster for all concerned of what we can expect every other week at SMS. It also provides us with a platform to demonstrate to prospective new signings the potential that we have. It's only a distraction if you think the squad we have isn't strong enough to play two games a week for a couple of weeks. Aren't you one of the people on here who think that we have one of the strongest in L1?

I'm pretty sure all of those media outlets were saying for certain that Avram Grant was going to be sacked by West Ham after they played Arsenal the other week. They all ran with a story from one source which turned out to be wrong. Not saying it will or won't happen and would prefer him to stay until the end of the season, but just because it's in the papers doesn't mean it will definitely happen in the next week.