Ken Tone

Do you think the Chinese will send a gunboat to frighten us or start a couple of major wars in the UK to protect the opium trade, as we did to China as part of protecting our empire ? As for 'socialist west', do you really think the Chinese consider the west socialist? Where do you get this warped re-writing of history and this weird world view you have?

I sometimes think he must be our punishment for having done something wrong in a previous life. At least, that's what Eileen Drewery would suggest. Still, when we barely scrape into 17th place this season, he can have the last laugh.

Population of Iceland is c 300,000, which as someone pointed out in another thread is about the size of the Southampton, urban area alone. The main question is why didn't several other england players score too?

Now that is a brilliant suggestion. Could help some of them improve their acting skills too ....useful when diving, feigning injury, claiming a throw-in when they've just kicked the ball out, etc

You may well be right and I wouldn't want to write Fox off, but for now Harding is definitely better IMO.

It's just dawned on me. This must have been what Pulis did on match days. After all we never saw Super Saint and Pulis together did we? Has anyone seen the mascots at Aldershot?

I liked Beattie a lot when he was with us and personally would give him a short contract if fit, but I think you're conning yourself if you think he loves the club. Very few footballers 'love' any club. It's their job. Do you love the firm you work for? In Beattie's case , I'm sure he would indeed like to play for us again, IF the wages meet his idea of what he is worth. But that would be mostly because his wife's family live nearby, not because he loves Saints. If the skates offered him a contract I'd be amazed if he didn't accept that, very nearly as willingly as he'd accept one with us.

I have also noticed their absence, but have heard nothing about it, on here or on OS. Can't say they're a great loss mind you IMO.

How the hell would you know that?

Asking where Humberside is, is a bit like asking where Merseyside is. As a description of a locality it is entirely valid and quite commonly used. Even the local radio station is BBC Radio Humberside. Since the poster who made this damn silly point in the first place gives his location as Cottingham, which is near Hull, he knows full well where Humberside is, but is presumably one of the "we're part of Yorkshire" fanatics who got so upset when local government re-organsation made Humberside an official county for while in the 70s. Objecting to the use of 'Humberside' is like objecting to the use of 'Tyneside' to describe an area, or indeed the name 'Radio Solent'.

A sensible attitude Minty, but I'd go even further. I haven't even seen the 2 friends arguing for myself. It's a third party telling me that 2 good friends are having an argument, what is more a third party that has a reputation for exaggerating facts to make a story out of very little.

If that is a serious question ..... It would surprise me greatly if we did. My own personal criticism of Cortese is that he is not very good at p.r and marketing (hardly surprising as an ex- Swiss banker) ... and what is more doesn't even seem to think they matter very much. I very much doubt he cares one jot what people on here think about him, so why would he spend money on p.r. plants?

Exactly, and then pillocks come on here not only believing every word from the Sun in the order written, but also adding their own prejudice, either way. If Cortese does indeed buy his own ticket, it's hardly surprising he expects everyone else to do the same. End of story ...big deal.

Blimey ..talk about convoluted reasoning. 1/240 is the chance that saints v newcaslte is drawn first, or in any specified place in the order. (1/120 if you don't care if it is home or away). I'm with the 1/15 probability (ie odd of 14 to 1 against) of playing Newcastle. Or 1/30 (29 to 1) chance of it being at home.

Some serious advice, Bridgey, since you seem to be asking seriously. All the research shows that you really can damage a child's future by giving it a silly trendy name, so first rule is go for solid and mainstream. Also, don't forget to consider how names sound or look with your surname or initials. Someone earlier suggested Arthur for example -- a fine name in itself, but avoid Arthur with any surname that could go with 'half a ....' eg Arthur Legge, Arthur Day, or Arthur Mow, will get irritating nicknames all their lives. So practise saying the name out loud, with and without any middle names, and surname. Think about how the name might be shortened. Consider initials. It's amazing how many people give their kids the same initials as themselves without considering the confusion it causes when they are older and get letters, bank cards, etc at the same address with the same initials. ... or whether the initials spell a word, eg George Ivor Truscott. And maybe controversially, if you give a child a name that is usually restricted to a particular ethnic, religious or national group, you may lay the child open to future discrimination. So Niamh may be fine in Ireland, but is it traditionally associated particularly with Catholic or Protestant Irish? I don't know, but it may well matter in NI.

Were you there mate? It wasn't just 'raining', it was chucking it down in lumps, to the extent that there was flash-flooding on some roads, and at one point I seriously wondered if the game might not start on time because of waterlogging. I suspect that will have put off a few 'walk-ups'. I was a bit disappointed that no one took up the chant that one bloke near me started in response to 'red army' -- 'red navy!' What really surprised me was how poor the Birmingham turnout was. Less than a thousand from a recent premier league side less than 150 miles away was pathetic.

For example you can't work in education with a conviction, even after it is officially 'spent', ie out of date. This is not just to do with offences against children, or anything else that might put childen directly at risk; it is pretty much any criminal offence --eg the first convicted looter who was an assistant (not a teacher as such) in a primary school lost his job. This is presumably about setting a moral example because those in education are seen as role models by children. So for me the question is are footballers also seen as role models? And I reckon the answer is yes. At my club I don't want to be cheering for a player who is a **** like King, and if I was a Birmingham fan, I'd not be happy that Brum had employed him.

This is brilliant stuff. Have you tried seeing if a newspaper will publish daily updates? Or maybe run it as a cartoon strip? I particularly liked post #276 where the ghost left in your mate's van, but only for a while! Genius! How much longer do you think you can keep this up before you're laughing so much you can't type any more?

Nearer home maybe, but hardly near. It's at least a 3 hour drive from Newcastle to Liverpool, more in bad weather ... only about 50-60 miles closer than Southampton. However, whilst I'm sure he is settled here, if any premier league team bid for him he'd have to be tempted. At 30 he won't get many chances, apart via from us being promoted of course. What is far less likely than him being tempted though IMO, is Newcastle actually bidding £5 million for a 30 year who has never played in the top flight. Surely this is just the standard "link any decent Saints player with Pardew" lazy journalism? They were supposedly going to buy several of our players last window too weren't they?

I take your point but I guess if the majority of people were faced with say this guy as their doctor, or their child's teacher, they'd be a bit put off! So someone looking like him simply ain't going to get a job as a teacher or in just about any profession, regardless of whether he may or may not be capable of doing the job. Nor is any employer (other than another tattooist) going to want him as a receptionist or salesman. In the end any visible tattoo or unusual piercing will have something of the same effect, albeit to a lesser degree if not as extreme as him. Even a small tattoo on the hand or neck will stop you getting many jobs.

And indeed you're entitled to your opinion. It is the case though that the majority of people view tattoos negatively and associate them with a 'type', as many comments on this thread confirm, in the same way as they do say bright green hair. So in the same way as going for a job interview with bright green hair will almost certainly lessen your chances of success, so will a visible tattoo. The difference is of course that a tattoo is permanent. Anyone getting a tattoo that can't be discreetly hidden under clothing is making a decision that will almost certainly damage their career chances in many walks of life.

So in spite of whatever massive salary West Ham are paying him, he has to moonlight too? Hard times.

You might first want to read the thread on 'the lounge' about how difficult it is to remove a tattoo later! http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?32564-Tattoos Love Mum x

Always strikes me as weird that people spend time and money on clothes, hair, make up, etc and then make themselves look uglier with a tattoo or strange piercings. At least most piercings will heal up if allowed to, but tattoos are not easily removed. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A534791 which is usually a pretty reliable source of health info. So it may well take a series of treatments over many months, will be painful and costly (several hundred pounds according to other sites), will carry a risk of infection, and may be of only limited success. You have to be pretty stupid to get a tattoo of any sort IMO, but to get one somewhere easily visible, so for example it will be seen when going for a job interview, is pain downright nuts.

Whilst it is true that rubgy refs are given much more respect, let's not pretend all is well in rugby either. There are rarely incidents of deliberate eye gouging or stamping on an opponent's face in football, like there are in rugby. There is cheating all the time in rugby -- it's just that most of it is violence towards an opponent, not dissent or cheating to score points. Nonetheless, as someone else said it's a real shame they dropped the 'move back 10 yards if you don't retire from a free kick' rule from football. And I do not understand why refs are expected to put up with foul-mouthed abuse from players. Of course they make mistakes but I think even the most fanatical supporters realise that actually they are doing their best and are mostly doing fairly well. I'ts not as if we have corrupt refs in this country. I couldn't be a ref -- I reckon I'd send off half the players for dissent within minutes.