John Boy Saint

Just woken up in my hotel in Sheffield Reading some of the above match thoughts, there seems to be a bit of a "we should have steamrollered Sunderland as they are bottom of the league" attitude. They had a larger slice of first teamers out on the pitch than us, and whilst some of them looked really bad there were others who under new management were out to impress the the new boss. We on the other hand had players who despite training all together who don't play every week and you could see the telepathy was not there or match sharpness. That said we did play in the same style as the first team so at least there is an understanding of the system if called upon. Their first goal was a 6 yard box lottery with the ball & players everywhere as soon as Kelvin was on his backside the target just got even more tempting. Their second goal was was a bit more measured with a bit of good fortune but when the ball went out to our left there was and area the size of the New Forest for the Sunderland player to make the most of. With our 1st eleven not smashing in goals from all over the park, the final third fizzle out also applied more so with last nights team. Rather bizarrely I would like to see Lee brought on in the latter stages of games as he does buzz about like a hornet and seemed to be showing for a pass that never came or when it did was at him rather for him to work with. Jack Cork seemed to be his usual putting himself about winning balls passing well, still unlike the Brick outhouse and his Ninja buddy who will have a crack at goal, he gets towards the 18yard box then just just takes the soft passing option: have a go mate otherwise until suspension or injury presents an opportunity you will be sitting on the bench for a while. Then there is the enigma that is Gaston Ramirez, the lad obviously has talent but he gets the ball and slows down and as a result is instantly swarmed and overcome by opposition players, there was a moment in the first half where basically what he decided to do was woeful, from our lofty perch you had a good view of everything, looking at MP just moments after he just looked at the floor arms crossed and scuffed the head off a worm that had just popped his head of the ground in the technical area: did not look impressed. Second half I forgot that he was still on the pitch when he was subbed. If he us still here on Feb 1st I will be very surprised. The player who impressed me on the night was young Master Reed, he looked very comfortable and combative, although in the second half not quite sure what his instructions were from MP but he went on a few meanders from left back to almost right wing on one occasion to hunt down the ball, this aside, I think we have another able Academy player about to be pushing for a first team start. Bit of a shame not to have progressed further. Still interesting evening out at a ground I haven't been to before.

And Don't forget your warm clothes 4c on the cards for the game!! Brrrrrrrr!

We had the same issue a few years back in our old house we had the British Gas service cover (which was very good especially in the middle of winter and a chap had it running again the next day) and every year we had the same warnings we must have had our boiler still running for 7 years at least from their first warning what actually failed in the end was the fan. We had it replaced by the same local chap who had given the system a flush 2 years previously. He replaced it with a Worcester Bosch which also came with 5 years of labour and parts service cover as standard. That came to just short of £1000. When we bought the Wife's Fathers house off the estate, it had storage heaters and electric immersion, the whole place needed major surgery and we went with the same local bloke who again stuck in an even more efficient Worcester Bosch. And if you have the readies to go that little bit further and intend to stay in your house for a while this guy stuck in a Megaflow mains fed hot water system, this saw the header tank in the roof disappear but best of all the shower is immense and the bath fills in a fraction of the time. Importantly if the system you have is running happily with no strange noises, and you can live with your bills to run it, then don't be in a massive hurry to change it just because they are giving you the frighteners about spares. Do it in your own time with your own research, as has been said above don't jump into the hands of British Gas there are cheaper better options out there.

"Something strange then happened at the other end as King Artur, who had been leaning up against the post, smoking a fag and swigging from a bottle of vodka, actually touched the ball as he claimed a cross, one handed, without spilling a drop." Superbly painted picture!!

Don't forget their Goalie too on MOTD2 last night............... quite strange.

Hope we do make a good fist of it seeing as I am making the effort to go, be interesting to see how Sunderland approach the game as the money staying in the prem has to far out way the bobbins money on offer in the league and Europa cups.

Flying on the Dash 8 (I think) out to the Channel Island a few years back you can see the tyres as the plane is under the wings, on the Tyre markings I noticed " Nitrogen fill only". I guess if you have a tyre full of just air descending from Minus 50 to plus 20c quite quickly the tyre pressures would be compromised, so sticking it in car tyres where the temperature extremes are not as varied it makes sense. Quite amazing that Tyre dealers are happy to prolong the life of the product they rely on as a main income by putting Nitrogen in them.

I thought losing more than 6 games precludes you from the Champions league or a shout at the title. i think it's pretty impressive, end of chat, that so far we have lost just one game this season, if someone had suggested that on the eve of the season the majority on here would have sent for the men in white coats to cart the nutter off!!

So glad I punctuated my similar post with

With today's freak opener for Stoke and back in the 60s Peter Shilton getting a similar wind assisted goal (with a bit of good fortune of finding the only hard bit for the ball to bounce off on what was reported to be a quagmire of a pitch). Is that the only 2 times it has happened against us?

What pray for a windy day and make sure you have a keeper who can kick straight

Not too hard considering how exposed the ground is to the weather.

No Pen and a shonky offside decision against us in the fading minutes, still the draw keeps the tally ticking along.

That's exactly what Champagne Charlie Nicolas said

Wouldn't want to try milking that

I thought the duplicate post phenomena had taken on a bizarre twist.

..

Well You don't see that every week

Last year to counter the ruffling up the oppos policy Adkins went with Jos, Jose, Shaw and Maya across the back which tempted Stoke to come down our left as with 3 big players to the right, especially Maya not feeling very generous. Then if you noticed last season Guly when playing with Luke behind him is like a big brother sticking up for his younger sibling. But then we have big Vic this season, and his Ninja buddy alongside him, I think the mere thought of having to get round a brick outhouse and a combative clinical tackler they will have something else to think about. I would say we are far to cute to be caught by players trying to kick lumps out of us, but then it is about time the referees gave us some decent protection too, as one thing we don't seem to do readily is collapse like being taken out by a sniper when being tackled, and to be honest it's a sad state that the refs only seem to do something when the "tackled" player hits the deck theatrically. (Sorry still seething from Mariner giving a freekick to Sidwell last week when he was all over Luke then Sidwell left the ground to challenge him and Luke was on his way with Sidwell sat on his backside).

I dont see what the issue is it keeps the spawny press at bay he keeps a Spaniard in work which is nice of the club the players like him and he does his talking through the players on the pitch. He does speak English anyone with half the intelligence of MP, wanting to, will be speaking the local language quite well within a month. As for other coaches, Tony Jiménez speaks very good English, and was very likeable with it.

Just thought that I would share this recent positive experience on here. Back in early February this year I needed new tyres on the front of my car, so as per usual I went along to Micheldever Tyres. They had previously asked if I wanted Nitrogen in them rather than compressed air, I figured that with the volume of Nitrogen in the air we breathe it was all the Emperors new clothes. This time I relented and spent the £3.20. Fast forward to last week and I needed replacement front tyres, as it turns out the Tyres that were coming off had travelled 28,000 miles and considering the weight of a 2.2l diesel and the torque transmitted through them every day I can't remember getting that sort of distance out of a set of fronts (even Michelins that traditionally go further than most others) . Then add into that driving to Germany with work so the Autobahn had to be taken advantage of with 140mph on the clock and over 200 miles racked up in under 2hrs, a trip down to Spain and back in the summer, both trips with a fully laden car. In all that time and various temperature extremes the tyres were never topped up as the pressure remained at the 33psi put in on a chilly day in February. Added to this the fuel consumption has improved from an average 540 miles a tank to around 600 and over. The maintaining of tyre pressure impressed me enough to have Nitrogen put in the Wife's tyres simply because she is carp at checking the pressures, and they were always soggy on the rare occasion I took her car out.

I suppose after 125 years of enjoying life thanks mainly to the fans, you ain't going to change your spots. we all know they make the rules up as they go along, so a handful of Saints fans with a little gripe is a mere pimple on their backside.

Never fear when you have had one for a while you don't see it when you are the reader, which is a bit worrying as Apple auto assume will creep into everyday language and we will all end up writing like half-wits as the norm.

Sure that when we went last year our "tour guide" for the day had sussed out that any traditional pubs that are within a healthy walking distance (the Stadium is out on the edge of Stoke) were reported as not being away fan friendly. Some little tips for those driving themselves: If you are going up the M40 when you get to the M42 take the M5 route as there are some grotty roadworks on the M6 around Spaghetti Junction and the M5 joins just after they have finished, negligible difference in mileage. if the M6 is choked up as it often is on a Saturday midday, from where the M6 toll joins north of Birmingham often right up beyond Junction 15 where you will be wanting to get off. Get off at Cannock junc or Stafford Junc basically turn right and you will soon join the A34 which goes right up to Stoke most of it is 50mph limit with live cameras but you will be constantly moving and will get to Stoke a little more relaxed. Car Parking: When you get to Stoke you will see the Stadium up on your right (obviously coming up from the South) just as you get to the exit you will see a big Mini - BMW dealer on the right you can park behind there as they have a matchday "Xmas Part Funds Collection" Car Park , if you want to get away quickly after the game take this option as most car parks closer to the ground will not see you away for a good hour. If you are a bit dodgy with walking it is uphill pretty much all the way to the ground so might be worth a miss.

Adam "a swift kick in the nuts will test whether he is out cold or just messing about"!