Special K

The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson is worth reading. Didn't see the TV series, but the book is good.

Saints are not a media darling club. Never have been and never will be, so short of winning the bloody league we will never be as high up the perceived interest agenda as the more glamourous clubs in the league.

Dirty scouse at home in the next round for me please.

Far too early to gloat, but with Arse away, Us at home and Citeh away for his next 3 PL games, come the end of October, he could be under some serious pressure. Especially if they have a bad Europa / League cup result thrown in for good measure.

I bet you were like a rat up a dirty drainpipe Papage! Banging out innernet business plans during the day and banging the arse of a different Doris every night, with a bottle of Cristal in one hand and a copy of the Fortean Times in the other, you old roister doister, you! Bloody sh!t luck though, the old bubble bursting like that and having to go back to some one handed surfing. Anyway, how many notches on the old pappy bedpost did you rack up during the good times (and have to stand on a stepladder to etch in too, I bet!)? Bloody loads I reckon, you ledge!

Ooooooh, this could be fun!

After Leverkusen i wondered where the goals were going to come from. 7 in 2 games proves how much i know.

I'd rather be bald than short. I imagine being a shorty is much worse than being a baldy. You can look cool as a baldy, but short fellas cannot do much to change being a short arse and looking like a little fella. And lasses generally don't like fella's shorter than them, (so i'm told, but this could be bollix as I suspect it depends on the size of the wallet)

I thought that "Sweaty" derived from the cockney rhyming slang term "Sweaty Sock" for Jock? A quick straw poll of my Scots friends down here reveals that they don't find being called a "sweaty" offensive, providing that they can call me a "shandy drinking sassenach b*****d" in return. Fair do's I reckon.

Seems strange they spend "years" researching replacement players and then pick ones that do not naturally play in the positions they are requried to fill? I prefer the easier "we bought him cos he runs like fook all day and isn't afraid to stick his boot in" reasons.

I was fortunate enought to have the phrase "Dirty Piglet" explained to me the other day. It has certainly added to my appreciation of the slightly seedier side of life and i feel much enriched for knowing it. Maybe you chaps could help me though? I was directed to find out what a "Portugese Breakfast" was, but alas, I seem to have stumbled upon a number of differing explanations and wondered if you fellas may know the definitive answer? I hope you can help me by "serving up" the correct answer!

Cannot understand Gaston being loaned out. Obviously Hull want a buddy for their new signing, but unless we replace Gaston, then it looks strange. Shame, I thought Gaston would play a bigger part this year.

I watched the SSN ladies XI take on the Lapdancers XI in the penultimate Ladies Cup Final game the other week. What a semi.......

Is he Jody Schekters nipper? Make sense with the ex-racing driver based in Laverstoke now? Dunno though, just guessing?

As an aside, I saw an interesting graphic on twitter yesterday which showed that whilst London is the richest place in Northern Europe, 9 out of 10 of the poorest places in Northern Europe were in England, Wales and NI. Ahh, found it - http://metro.co.uk/2014/08/27/uk-is-the-most-financially-unequal-country-in-northern-europe-new-research-reveals-4847533/ Unfortunately the country is London-centric with the rest of the "union" left to fall into decline. I can't blame the Scots for wanting to break free, if indeed they do vote that way.

I heard on the radio last night that the report gives two examples of fathers who knew what was going on and went to the dwellings where their daughters were being held to try and get them out, only to be arrested themselves by the Police for threatening behaviour with no credence given to their stories. South Yorks Police should be thoroughly ashamed, but it certainly alludes to a culture of fear of racist accusation within the Police. But that isn't the cause. The cause can be laid firmly at the door of the scumbag groups of asian men who perpetrated this and then used the race card as one barrier to investgation. However, the failure of the local authority, social services, police and general community to stamp out their behaviour is, imho, equally to blame for allowing it to continue. It is almost unbelievable that society in Rotherham is so disjointed that this was a) allowed to happen and b) virtually tolerated, especially after the 3 previous reports early in the 2000's that highlighted issues worthy of investigation. All the governing agencies appear totally spineless, incompetent and scared and essentially complicit in this disgraceful case. From what has been reported since, the idiots in charge now seem more concerned with trying to keep their jobs than even attempt to take responsibility. In the meantime hundreds of innocent kids have had their lives ruined.

Lovely finish by Pelle. Will do him the world of good and hopefully keep the melts off his back for a bit.

I agree. The lads need time to gel and they'll only really get that playing games. Seems some on here are too quick to cast a damning judgment after only a couple of halves of football, shame really.

Never said it was fair. Just market rates and using McCormack as a comparison. And read the post Jamie, i'm not judging a player by his price tag so don't go reading stuff that ain't there. Every time I've seen him he's been a pain in the arse. Good to have him on board.

Good player who works tirelessly as a foil for main striker. Good engine and is premier league "ready" which is a good thing. If Ross McCormack is worth 11m then Long for 12m is OK business. Will get goals and should prosper in RK's formation. Happy with this if it comes true.

Thought he was very good. Quick, confident and with good awareness. Hopefully he will be a key player this season. Thought Bertrand was outstanding, very impressed and a more than worthy replacement for Shaw if he keeps that up. Tadic OK, but needs to be more selfish and look to take people on more. Pelle seemed willing enough but will have to toughen up in this league if he wants to make an impression. Need a striker and a CB before the end of the window, in order to compete properly.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Too much empahsis is put on material accumulation and how that relates to personal image and "success". I have a mate who appears to have it all - nice car, nice house, 2 exotic holidays a year, designer gear, the works. Trouble is he juggles a mountain of debt and minimum payments on credit cards every month, so it's bound to come crashing down some day. The car is leased and the house has been remortgaged to pay off debt already, so there's precious little equity. I also had a Client who used to drive a battered old reg Saab but lived in a £3m house in Sussex, had a couple of holiday homes and had plenty of readies. I s'pose the old adage of never judging a book by it's cover is most apt here.

Well said that man!

The Jam - Dig the New Breed - All Mod Cons / To Be Someone / It's Too Bad KD Lang - Ingenue - Save Me / The Mind of Love / Miss Chatelaine Freddie King - Freddie King Sings - See See Baby / Lonesome Whistle Blues / Takin' Care of Business Stevie Ray Vaughn - Texas Flood - Love Struck Baby / Pride and Joy / Texas Flood Pink Floyd - DSOTM - Time / Great Gig in the Sky / Money

This is true. At least have the replacements lined up. Sure, not all of them will want to come, but at the very least they should have sold the new vision to the incomings prior to flogging the family silver. To sell the players and then go out into the market with a bit of cash and say "Hi, can we buy your players" is so very naïve as to be laughable. But the Board appear to be no strangers to stupidity.