St Landrew

No offence to you at all matey, as you didn't invent the phrase, but I think that's the biggest pile of rubbish ever suggested in football. Who keeps the statistics on these things..? Who tests the theory that bad decisions/luck evens itself out..? Who can judge whether one act of luck is worth more than another..? What about the bad decision that allows one team to win 3-1 rather than 2-1, in one game, but yet another piece of bad decision making gets the same team a loss of 2-1 instead of a 1-1 draw, which might have kept them in a division..? How do you square that..? Luck, whatever that is, or bad decision making, doesn't necessarily even itself out over time.

Based on the fact that video evidence isn't available, referees are allowed a little scope for their own judgement. In the strict view of fouls, and action taken on them, Murphy should have been sent off. Of course, so should have Claus, back in 2003. Both referees made crucial decisions, and the games were possibly the better for it. But that's almost certainly my Saints bias creeping in. As far as Carlisle's penalty shout is concerned, at present, the culture of shirt pulling and player restraining seems to go largely unpunished in the melee of the penalty area. Often, unless it is blatent, the referee and his lino can't tell because they have too much to follow, as it is. If we want near transparency then we must have video evidence. We can't have near fair play without it.

Granted, every time I hear Alan Green's commentary, I feel he is on a one man mission to promote his pet subjects, but if Talksport presenters are idiots, are their comments about Green valid..? Probably not.

I'm a bit tempted to listen to Durham's uninformed arrogance again. I caught a bit of it a couple of months back where I was working and didn't have the control of a radio being played nearby. I found Darren Gough bearable, but Durham was a complete aresehole. He wasn't even humourously pathetic. Hawkesby & Jacobs are actually quite good fun, but they wouldn't get me to shift from Radio 4, if I had a choice. Radio Silence is good too.

I finished off your list with... Cuthbert, Dibble, Grub, and then looked it up to see if I was right. To my shame, I did. I can't remember anything important, but I can remember trivia, no problem at all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ could

Awww..! Let's go for... Camberwick Green

If anyone makes a success, then someone else has to choke, as you put it, for them to do it. Making the playoffs may depend on someone else not achieving enough points when all looked fine and dandy for them. But form is form, and it doesn't matter what happens in isolated parts of the season, it's the overall measure that counts. So if PNE choked to let Saints into the playoffs, under Burley, then their form dipped at the wrong moment for them. That's all. Nobody was actually let in. Made me chuckle, and I agree, Burley had a much different setup. But I think the overriding difference between Burley's playoff team and Pardew's, this season, is confidence, from top to bottom. Yes, Saints were coming out of the RL era, but very shakily, and it was often a case of one step forward and two back. When they won matches, it was a great feeling, but one always felt they were going to trip up, somewhere. This era is chock full of expectation and confidence. When Saints go into a match now, we expect them to win 99% of the time, and if they don't at least perform properly, there is genuine surprise. I don't think I ever felt that with the club in modern times.

Now you've explained your reasoning. I can go with that.

Because you would wanted Portsmouth to win. I'm usually pretty forgiving of most things, but Pompey have lied and cheated their way to their present position and they are still wriggling a bit, getting special conditions awarded to them by the Premiership. I want them in administration [that's one bit over] and I want them relegated, good and proper, and at the earliest opportunity, hopefully, this coming weekend. And if that means old twitcher benefitted from it, then that's unfortunate, but necessary. Eating a huge slice of humble pie will do them no harm at all. They can regroup in the Championship.

There's an oft used phrase... it was never in doubt... but it's becoming true, for me. I think I'm finally getting the last 5 seasons off my shoulders, chest, out of my head, or wherever, because now I don't get that torn up about games. If we are winning, I generally believe we can hold on or increase the margin, and if we are losing I generally think we can turn it around. Just remembered, it's that other phrase, it's the... monkey off my back.

That's just all those late nights and deciding to go to Tesco at three in the morning because you're peckish.

Seeing as other key players were also left out of the side, due to either being cup-tied or injured, I think the Lads did very well. You certainly can't argue with a 4-1 scoreline, and just because Carlisle gifted some of the goals doesn't mean that they weren't deserved. Sometimes it isn't necessary to find the cloud behind the silver lining.

Perhaps a slight overreaction, [but then I maybe becoming numb to all the put downs] but well said, JS. If people are not interested in what is an obvious example of a fun topic, then don't comment at all.

I think people here have pieced together pretty much what Pardew was feeling. I would add that he knows the Johnstone's Paint Trophy is just the first rung of a long climb up the achievement ladder. The JPT win was very nice, but it isn't the FA Cup or League Cup, and more importantly, it's not promotion either. There's a lot of work to be done.

Decided to watch the Cumbria based edition, just for a bit of fun. Pundits Steve Stone and Michael Bridges were agreeing that it was men against boys, and that Saints were a hell of a team. Which was nice to hear, and you can never have enough of that.

Check to see if you Mexican Wave'd.

The obvious thing is a PC with TV tuner/Capture card, and a DVD writer. It gives plenty of scope for editing the programme and burning a good copy. But the other obvious way is to be on good enough terms with a fellow Saints fan, who happens to own a DVD/HDD recorder, and to be able to borrow it for a few hours. If this is possible, then get a least one DVD out of it, but of course you could make a few spares too. I expect that fellow Saints fan might want one. Note: You may have to drop the recording quality a tad to get it on a 2 hour DVD blank.

Don't you believe it. That episode a few weeks ago, that I told you I'd missed..? I decided to wait until it became available on the iPlayer, and get the viewing over with. After all, it says it is coming soon, and besides, I'd have probably forgotten it, if I'd left it for a day or so. For any other programme, coming soon usually means within half to one hour. For Late Kick Off you can wait as late as gone 3am. My advice is to leave it until the next day.

If a regional programme is available on the iPlayer, it can be viewed anywhere in the UK. Just select the region you want and the programme will be there. Hence, you can also watch the footy from Carlisle's perspective, if you are curious.

Exactly. I thought the ref and his linos had a very good game.

Anyway, for those UK based Saints supporters who completely forgot to watch Late Kick Off, and still want to, here is the BBC South link to the iPlayer. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rs88z/Late_Kick_Off_South_South_West_and_West_2010_Episode_11/ I bet the BBC Northeast & Cumbria version isn't as sweet. EDIT: And you can see that here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rs646/Late_Kick_Off_North_East_and_Cumbria_2010_Episode_11/

Sorry Chrisobee. Of course, I meant 11.45pm. I even checked my PC's time which said 23.44 when I did the post. At least I posted. The other week I completely forgot Late Kick Off was on, and someone posted AFTER it was on. Which is bloody useless, IMO.

Is about to start - 10.45pm.

Antarctic [even]

I chuckled.