St Landrew

Ah bollix. I'm leaving it as: Summer

Apologies for going right off topic for my post, but I've just realised what the title of this thread keeps reminding me of: New Gold Dream. [81/82/83/84]

ire

breeze

In all honesty, I don't know why he came on like a President to do his apologising. A simple statement to the press, that he was sorry, would have been enough. This is another example of celebrities taking themselves far too seriously. They are not role moels, and nor should they ever set themselves up to be. Part of the problem, is that, as sportspersons, they are paid far too much money. Perhaps 10 times, 100 times, as much as they deserve. Admittedly, Tiger Woods does good work outside of being a sportsman. But he do that wihout all the huge millions, just for swinging a metal stick accurately against some plastic. Some people work 70 hour shifts, save people's lives, and if, or when, they make a mistake, often due to overtiredness, which ends in someone dying, or being mamed for life, they are struck off the register. Being a doctor/surgeon should be one of the most valued jobs a person can do, and the entertainer/sportsman should, at the most, be paid as much as the doctor/surgeon. Can't see it happening in this topsy-turvy world. As for the professional footballer..?

Without wading through this thread, did I hear correctly that David Gold, of all people, i.e. West Ham's co-owner might lend £10M to Pompey to stop them liquidating..? Of course, if they are then allowed to go into administration, after paying HMRC, he can whistle for his £10M. If they don't go into administration, they will stumble on towards the next banana skin. It's utterly ridiculous.

marsupial

Piles

Zombie

Lois

Crossroads

Hotel

Flipper

I'll accept that title. Trigger was played by Roger Lloyd-Pack, and his father [the chemist in NotD] was Charles Lloyd-Pack. I've always thought of the station as being Basinstoke or Winchester too. Not sure, but I think it is meant to be Winchester. Must have another look.

****

I think a Rule 1 is in order.

erogenous

Don't you think that says more about the Premier League setup than it does about the teams in it..? What is the most boring league in top professional football. No, actually it's the Scottish Premiership. And why..? Because only 2 teams have any realistic chance of winning anything. The English Premier League seem intent on following their example, as season after season it is the same clubs who are up there. Liverpool might actually consider themselves one of those, and likewise so do Arsenal. But both are actually being dropped slightly by Chelsea and ManU. The title isn't consistently being contested by 4 clubs in the EPL, but by 2. The other 2 are there just for frills, and the rest are there to produce a league. They are mere cannon fodder and they know it. This is because ever since the EPL was formed the tables have stacked up against the up and coming clubs. There is a glass ceiling, and it is mainly 5th place. If you're really good for one season or two, it may be as high as 3rd. There is also the gate receipts rule that was changed back in the late 1980's, in favour of the bigger clubs. It meant that all gates receipts, for league matches, would be kept by the home club. Great if you are ManU and have a huge stadium [they make it even bigger every few years], but not so great if you are Fulham. In the FA Cup, they keep to the old tradition of half shares, hence the big pay-day for minnow clubs that get to big stadiums, these days. It was always thus, every week, once upon a time, and it gave smaller clubs a chance to compete. Not now. Perhaps it's why the big clubs don't give a toss about the FA Cup. Very little extra money..! Something has to be done. Putting the clock back, and returning to 4 divisions would do no harm at all. Capping the wages, terms and conditions of players would help. Limiting the percentage of player costs to a club to a lower percentage, by Premiership rule, rather than by advised limit would help too. And finally, I would suggest a squad cost purchase limit. For example, in the Premiership, a squad may cost £80M [or lower, this is just an example] to purchase. It could consist of say, 18 relatively costly players, or 30 cheapish ones. Then, after the measures were implemented, the rules would be given a 5 year settling in period. After that, clubs would be told to field their strongest possible teams, whenever circumstances permitted, with no grey areas for debate. Plus, there should be a fund for any club which finds itself, through little or no fault of its own, on very hard times. Those times should be much easier, given the few measures that were implemented 5 years previously. I don't expect the clock to be turned back such that clubs would have to once again share their gate receipts, all the time, as this would be an immediate sizable loss of money to bigger clubs that could leave them in a dangerous financial state. But also, they wouldn't be allowed to put all of that income into ever more costly players, on the pitch, with that squad cost limit in place. But they could use it to lower ticket prices. Now wouldn't that be good..?

accelerate

It's good squad selection and management by McCarthy. If the Premier League don't want this sort of thing to happen they need to cap the amount of money that can be spent on player transfers and players wages, terms and conditions, so that there is a more even and competitive league where any team has a good chance, on the day, of beating the other. It's the Premier League's own fault that they have allowed the balance of club domination to become so one-sided. Mick McCarthy played the percentages, to good effect, and has been fined for it. Wrong.

your money

And make sure your Night of the Demon is NotD, and not Curse of the Demon. CotD was NotD, but edited for the U.S. market and with a title change to reflect the two versions. It is significantly less edgy than the original cut.

albatross

perch

You got in first, so I changed mine from Perch, another fish, rather than Skate. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roller