suewhistle

Well, I watched the Germany game in an Italian bar alongside the locals, an English couple and a group of Germans. It was excruciating. For the second (?) breakaway goal I was shouting as the move began "get back and cover" only to see Upson (?) barely sprinting. To add to all the comments here it was the sheer naivety of the way they pushed forward with half an hour still to go. Even in italian local regional women's football our team talk will cover the opposition's key players, and if they have a play-maker or particularly speedy forward we change things to take that into account. We didn't seem to have done anything to cover our lack of pace: it was like Sunday football but without the honest endeavour and giving it your all.

Thanks Saint76er for the info, I must admit it did surprise me when I looked at the map. I stayed at Remiremont on my last drive back from the UK, and the area is notable for the lack of cities; I presume they punch a bit above their weight.

Either way, whether he's just a "humorous" internet troll or a fascist bastard "I believe a stint in Jail is exactly what you need." I'm not sure if I'll miss Wiltshire, even if the PA at SMS does need improving...

They may be free but surely they'll want to be paid. Up front, I would imagine!

Incidentally, ta ZurichSaint: I'd had a mooch around Google the other day without finding anything. We'll still leave you with the Schweizerdeutch searches OK? I'll keep an eye on Ticino!

I'm driving back from Italy about then: that would make a reasonable stop-off point. Brilliant, just checked ViaMichelin and it's just off my normal route home via Besancon.

Shove in the dark in your cellar, lock the door and leave for two years: should be even more mature.

I didn't realise he'd joined the army.

..and may I say much appreciated by the lazier ones amongst us, now that schools hols (at least here) are here.

Now I'm no expert, but a rusty machine gun would probaly cause a breech explosion. Why not hire a falconer? Or borrow a cat that is particularly good with heights? Or wear headphones and listen to soothing ambient music; the Dawn Chorus is a favourite.

No rush, I'll actually be at that game! But I'm intrigued, is it something for all of us overseas hunched, stressed out over our laptops waiting for someone to post something, anything on the match day thread?

Ya bas****s, I've now got a thirst on, soon to be rectified by wandering down to the bar for the match. It's fizzy rubbish, but at least thirst quenching and you can drink more of it than wine! Looking forward to my trip home, sunny beer gardens and decent pints and as a result lots of training runs to keep the tum and bum in trim and to be ready pre-season. Don't feel very confident about it: wish I had some of my Broadside in the cellar as a pre-med..

Us mock? Perish the thought. The rumour I've heard is that it's an Italian consortium... the Camorra, the 'ndraghetta and the Mafia; they're looking at an easy way to launder money, or maybe they want to go straight and this is the easiest way for them to lose their ill-gotten gains. It's difficult to tell as, as anyone who speaks Italian will tell you, their dialects are really something else!

But Sky are allowing half an hour less time for the anaesthetic to work.... I should be there, though. Last year I appreciated a sunny pint (or 3?) at The Platform Tavern. Just hope the weather is as good this year.

Does it leak all the time or only at particular times in the cycle? I repaired my own (after leaving it untouched in the kitchen for 6 months) by simply buying a new drainage pump on the internet and fitting it myself: it only leaked at the end of the cycle and luckily my diagnosis was correct.

Watched the game in my local bar, and the gallows humour was coming out, and a fair bit of criticism. As the Slovaks wasted time at the end someone commented "At least they learnt something from us". It was all taken with good humour as I don't think anyone thought Italy had much of a chance in this WC and anybody who actually bet on them would probably be considered mad here. They desperately need fresh blood as Gattuso et al are really slowing down. They were second to every loose ball.

Nah, not me, I'm really quite relaxed about it, but thought since I was out of the firing line to bring a bit of common sense into the debate. OK son? And since when did you get the right to decide whether it has anything to do with me or on my right to comment? Anyway, back to the Pompey Takeover Thread - far more entertaining conspiracy theories there, and much more believable.

Well said PompeyinReading: it's just you're going to have a hard job explaining some of these facts to your fellow supporters. The lack of sympathy you might have seen here is partly the result of your club vigorously digging whilst still in a hole and supporters completely ignoring what was going on. We've gone from chuckling at a rival's misfortune, to disbelief, to angry and disgusted disbelief. Nothing personal, you understand.

It's all the inflated, and often offensive language and the conspiracy theories that **** me off. Who knows even if it was NC's decision alone, given ML's aversion to expensive borrowings? Perhaps the thinking was along these lines: - are there many people who use the installment plans? NO - are there costs involved? YES *Note: whether to the purchaser and/or the club - are these specialist schemes cheap? NO - are there cheaper ways of getting credit? YES * authorised overdraft, credit card, cheap bank loan, piggy bank, rellies - given the above will that leave many people exposed? NO - do we want to sell a product to people who can't really afford it using expensive third party providers NO Should they have given people more warning of the withdrawal of the facility so they could organise their own affairs? YES

I'm more optimistic: we'll get 22/23k, they'll barely scrape 14k with (ahem, cough, cough) today's squad..

Cheers! Spyinthesky (ta!) above has given more detail of what I instinctively knew was true.

That includes England games as clubs are afraid they'll watch Fat Frank et al, say "I could play better than that" and then start asking for silly pay.

No. I'd have to wear me posh bra!

Thanks for reminding me about that: i genuinely laughed out loud!

Do tell me when that was. I can't be arsed to look it up, but I'd guess it was when Portsmouth was still a major naval port and we still had national service. Have you ever had higher average attendances in, let's be generous - the last 20 years?