Frank's cousin

Genius

Right been on hols in France for two weeks - what have I missed? Quick summary anyone? ;-) .... smashed the car up on way down to Loire valley.... ;-(

... on the lss point, yep most host 'cities' make a 'loss', but this is normally due to massive infrastructure development costs, improved transport links etc and the general redevelopment of the site/area... money that would have been spent eveentually and probably over a longer period of time, but definietley benefits the city as a whole. Yes, there is always some folk for whom personally, it is not good, but on the whole teh legacy is not a bad one, provided the locals make use of it.

..waste of money, drain or not, who really knows the figures, but I bet some of you would have been the first to have a go at the bid team had Paris won, and blighty lost out again?

All the best mate. Take care and a speedy recovery

hose him down... worked with mine.. was a bit miserable when soggy mind and mrs went mental..

Well this is BUttner Same bloke or not? hair changes every few weeks... and he dont look like Robin van persie

Aye but it makes a refreshing change from the the usual b itchfest on here

These kind of stories are published becise there is interest in it... obviously... but it still does not deal with teh issue of WHY some get so wound up and over emotive about the kit. If we have a cracking seaosn and finsh 6th in it, will some say it was a 'lucky kit' - and should we then keep it? You can bet that under thsoe circumstances we would have those that were advocating that...same as all red arms = relegation or whatever... seriously, as said before, tradituion is cretaed by time... wear red for 30 years in teh top flight and it would become it... so yeah I cant bsee what the fuss is about... and I dont like it that much...

...to be fair, that sounds like a better plan.

In the 1920's one of these dastardly scientists, defo dodgy as he was buying folks pet dogs from the dog catcher and was extracting their pancreas' whilst under anaestetic...they were put down afterwards... he then went one to isolate some sort of extract from the pancreatic juice and injected it into kids... no official clinical trials like, but them times were a bit different... and you know what, he stopped them dying... having injected the extract into kids with diabetes, he had just discovered insulin... Yep there is some dodgy science out there, and i cant for one moment begn to understand partical physics/quantum theory and all that universe nonsense, but one thing about science is that 'conspiracy' and fake results are always uncovered... if it aint repeatable its dodgy... whether the money spent on this is justfied is another matter, but I would not quetion the integrity of the research... Alps I think you are possibly (quite rightly to IMHO) concerned about the cost of such research versus the value in it, but that does not necessarily invalidate the quality of findings or the integrity of the researchers. That will be put to the test when their research is published and peer reviewed.

Tricky there Bearsy, diverse ingredients, but reasonable nutritional value, possibly need to go for the 'Commando, sling in the tin'/your cousin Yogi approach with this: Take 1 medium saucepan, peal and chop the grapefruit, bung in the pan over a medium heat, meanwhile chop up your ham and add to the pan. Slowly add the Mr Men Yogurt...reduce heat here to avoid a curdle... and simer jently for 4 hours, stiring occaisonally. You should have a nice dark brown sludge bby now closely resembling something unmentionable, but add the aero and stir in until completely melted. Will taste like shiedt, look like shiedt, but will keep you going until you can nab another picnic basket. Remember to wear your new shirt.

Linguini with a white wine and saffron sauce, grilled madegascan King Prawns - takes a bit of time making the fresh chicken stock, double cream, and whitewine sauce, loads of garlic, pinch of saffron , pancetta , challottes... reduce down to a third and away you go... washed down with a decent Marlborough Sauv Blanc... Think I will wear my 2004 UEFA Cup shirt at the table to show my class

The clubs have a problem though in that the fans of all SPL clubs dont want them back... to the point where they have stated boycotts etc... (although likely to be forgotten eventually) - The compromise will probably be SPL admission, but Europe ban, and huge sanctions, including smaller proportion of TV monies etc - not ideal but given the precarious state of football finance, a relgation punishment would as said above screw many others...

Appreciate the sentiments, but... well like in all aspects of life, 'culture' whatever it means to different people, also evolves - the ingrained aspects of what you allude to in the 'tribe' is a more recent thing - post 70s - evolved when the older generation of dads had a new affluence and took up golf leaving terraces a little less 'controlled'. Identity? well we are not the first to try something new and wont be the last - and teh club will like all clubs follow what customers demand...en masse, and not the minorities , no matter how loyal or 'hard core' that group may be. That is the 'business culture' of the modern game. Tradition? Well emotive subject, can understand why it upsets some folk, and each opinion is valid, but tradition is not set in stone, again it evolves, whether moving to a new stadium, or changing the kit, its all about time - Today's 'shocking' change could well become our 'tradition' if we stayed in thos ecolours for 30 years+ who knows - and the level of success and growth we have in those colours will go a long way to how folk come round to the idea. Seems some dont like change - fair enough and we see it constantly with any slight deviation by the club siezed upon as some sort of 'ignoring of or history and tradition' - that may well be true, but how you feel about it will depend on whether you are galss half full or half empty; Half empty: Cortese does not get it - blatently ignoring our history and tradition Half full: Cortese/Liebherr totally got it - they saw a club with great tradition and history, a strong foundation on which to build something anew - a fresh start with new ideas and sow te seeds for new traditions.

Given the amount Beatts went for - I suspect this is Jordan not quite remembering it as it was - remember in 2003 he was the top English prem sriker with 23... I suspect it was more like 1.5, Lowe says feck off, 2m Feck off,...3.5 feck off until at 3.5 Jordan was over his budget. I know its popular to believe Lowe was utterly pants but if you think he would sell Beatts for 3.5 mil let alone 1.5 I suspect you are letting your distaste for Lowe cloud your judgement...

Out of interest, how much did they cost?

Guess we cant really generalise though as players develop at different speeds - the pressure will always be greatest on those such as Walcott and Oxo, as it was very clear that their potential was huge and from 16 onwards There is the middle ground though, with decent players such as Bridge for example, who also developed into international class, yet a little slower so that we had the benefit - if we can be in a situation where we get 4 or 5 of that type over a 3 year period and maybe, just maybe hold onto one exceptional player for an extra season, we could be in a position to do something really good... yes we would end up like Leverkusen, with a decent season, potentially followed by a mass exodus of payers having demonstrated class at a higher level, but if we can get 2 or 3 seasons out of good young players, then I would be happy with that. Alays going to be a shame to see them leave, but much rather that than a policy of older Journeymen signings on huge wages, or end of career former internationals that might look good on the back of a shirt, but are only here for a few extra quid.

Opinion is one thing, and fair enough, but I guess its always going to be appear very harsh when expressedso publically... Thing is whilst there is IMHO some truth in the the whole 'play it safe/media influence' argument, Roy is not alone in that. Its also about learning and mistakes are made... the real issue is whether Roy learns from that and then plays his own tune in the future (he should be cut a bit of slack surely given teh short time in the role). FWIW, the stick Low is getting in Germany is much more critical, given that he insisted on playing Schweinsteiger who was not fit (enough for the greeks, but no where need teh level he needed to be for Italy) and playing Podolski, Kroos and Gomez after the trio of Reus, Klose and Schurle had injected some pace and movement into their attack against Greece. If MLT is quoted correctly, I agree with the need to drop injured or players who do not perform, but 'coward' is a bit harsh and possibly ill advised. Yes it's correct in dictionary terms, but we all know its a word that carries alot more than that.

er... I dont believe I have accused you of anything... was merely clarifying my POV. My comments in response the 'undermining issue' was not aimed at you. I agree that there is 'always a bigger fish' - even Man U selling Ronaldo illustrates that, but the key IMHO for the ideal to work is gaining enough 'success' to hold on until these players are 22/23 etc so we get some benefit from them... this IS a cultural thing IMHO. Example I have used in the past is Germany, which is why clubs like Leverkusen, Schalke, Bremen and even Dortmund have cyclic success whe youngster come through, who stay for 2 or 3 pro seasons before teh big move (Ballack at Leverkusen, Goetze and Dortmund are perhaps the good examples) - so for me its now about whether we can in any way influence the culture within Saints youth, to recognise the benefit of staying for a few pro seasons, rather than leaving at 16/17 or after 10 appearences - do that and we have a chnace of cyclic success which in turn makes retention of others (for a few seasons) that bit easier. I believe NC is pragmatic enough to know this and why he feels that it is possible to progress in this way IF we adopt this more 'continental' attitude and can get the kids and their families to come along for the ride.

...

No...your have it all wrong.... not for the first time.

Thats the whole point, it does not set any precedent. It will alswys be MORE difficult to hold on as a club that has just been promoted and has yet to achieve any prem progress - its chicken and egg for sure, we want to hold on to progress within a more realistic budget, yet need to achieve that progress to make it easier to hold on to the best talent. In the past, money has been a factor, but the players ultimately have the the biggest influence. Talent wanting to go now is more likely than talent wanting to go if we were pushing for a top 6 spot - that is obvious, and I am not sure how this can be considered to be undermining the ideals and aspirations that club has - its the assumption that the difficulty of a newly promoted side holding onto talent that may want such a short cut to success, and who hold all the power, is somehow indicative of both a flawed ideal or flawed management at SFC that is wrong... and was being used once again to take this thread off he latest trolling venture by the usual suspects.

You really are funny. For someone with such great intellect, you dont get irony do you... I may bore many with longwinded trivia, but your 17K posts could be summed up in in 1 'I dont like NC and what he is doing, or believe in his ambition'. There you go, I've edited your 17k for you. So instead of polluting these boards with your trolling and pi ss take, why not stick to the UI board where you can giggle like a naughgty schoolgirl, in the few moments when you can retrieve your nose from the collective rings of those with a similar opinion.

Complete and utter bo llox ans usual (you just cant resist looking for any hole to pi ss in if it means being able to undermine the club) - there is already a precedent which is known to everone one with a fricken brain who has a fricken brain - that ultimately all the power lies with the player, agent,family. If he wants to go, he goes and no matter what ambition, aspiration we may have, will make feck all difference. We are in a position where we can offer decent and fair contracts to 17 year olds. Sure we will not offer stupid money, but we do NOT need to sell, so it wont come down to money from our side - will be all about what the player wants to do. This does not undermine our desire or ambition, just makes it harder, and anyone with a brain knows that this aspiration to hang on to best talent is not easy, given the culture of youth that 'want it now', but it does not invalidate it at all. You want to take this in the direction of ****ing on the club (NC) again - will you ever give it up?