Ken Tone

Been on O2 for years. Never had an 'outage' problem and get a fair signal over most of the UK, often when friends on other networks have nothing. But to be fair I don't try to donload huge lumps of data...no video etc ...mostly just phon, text and emails - maybe I'd feel different if I did. My attempts to use a dongle with a laptop on the move are not so happy unless there is a strong signal.

So never mind all the huge amount of proper statistical data, one anecdote over-rides all that, eh? Btw I can't see how sitting a GCSE early is a good idea unless the pupil gets at least an A, preferably an A*. Your son now has a small issue in terms of his A level or even later uni study. If he wants to study German A level, will he re-sit or have a 2 year gap then try and start A level with what is only a middling grade and be rusty with it? Not good preparation. If he doesn't want to study German A level then it's no big deal unless he maybe wants to try for Oxbridge or one of the other very selective universities. Oxford in particular tend to "de-select" applicants with any GCSEs below grade A... usually they'll overlook one, if it wasn't in a subject to relevant to the HE course, but no more than one. Since he has done a GCSE 2 years early he is presumably very bright, so may indeed be looking at a top uni one day? If he does have high aspirations, he really can't afford anything else below A. Don't let the school put him in for anything else early unless they are very confident of a grade A or A*. If he is just ordinary bright and the early GCSE is just the school being pushy for the sake of their league tables then just 'well done' but don't sit anything else early that he might want to study at A level. Oh and "forgot to say" I passed French O level at 14 and another 10 O levels when I was 15 ,and got a B in the full A level Maths when I was 16, so does that mean exams were easier in the 60's and early 70's when I sat them?

Cant say I know much about him to be honest, but I gather he is only 5'7" and is therefore another partner-for-Lambert sort of player ....presumably Connolly's long term replacement if as it seems Barnard is now being overlooked. Fine. I hope he lives up to expectation and the hype, and look forward to seeing him play if he does come here. But am I the only person who thinks we (also) need an understudy for Rickie, or better still, competition for him? I rate Rickie, but if he is injured or loses form I do not see who we would play in his place. Who else can play a target man role?

You missed "and he's got a dodgy ankle so is crocked anyway"

I agree. Bit worrying to read Bristol fans saying this Fontaine bloke is best next a ball winner, as opposed to being one himself. What we really need is another Svennson type to complement Fonte .... or to put it another way a younger, faster Jaidi... and what is more he has to be able to play left side because the otherwise excellent Fonte apparently can't. Still, maybe the Bristol fans are exaggerating.

I hope you're right mate, but I fear that even after finishing off Gaddafi's followers, which still won't be that easy, the next phase could be very messy. There does not seem to be any stable opposition (the mad colonel stifled that) and there's a real danger of something close to civil war as the various factions try to dominate. There's even danger of a Taliban-like regime. It ain't over yet.

Whilst the 'holding pen' idea may be OTT, it is surely time the club considered building a permanent secure fence across the north car park ...with several large gates that can be open for many, maybe most, games but shut if trouble seems likely. Would allow the stewards and police to concentrate on dealing with the trouble instead of forming a human barrier between fans.. and /or allow order to be kept by fewer personnel. This is after all effectively what they do inside the ground. Quite apart from the effect on trouble as such, in the long run this would even save money. Wages for people cost more than fences over time.

So can we sign this guy instead? Would be a lot cheaper, and will scare oppostion teams witless , so Rickie can sneak in and score whilst they're all marking Janes.

You and me both mate. Sad, ain't it.

Any idea about the left side - right side question? Which side does he play on for QPR?

Is the Navy different to the rest of the Forces then? We'd be in a bit of a mess without all the commonwealth recruits to the Army especially. I'd rather have the gurkhas on my side than against me, personally. Come to think of it, there were a fair few foreigners in Nelson's navy at Trafalgar in 'the good old days'.

Lol. You'd have thought he'd be more worried about being with a large gathering of gay people in a confined space to be honest!

Family name for him. Mis-pronounced Joseph as 'Fish when he was little apparently.

Agree. Dickson is a perfectly good player, but then so is Mills, so we didn't need Dickson as well. (cf signing Fox this year?) Always a shame to see a player from the youth side leave, especially when they are of a good standard. Fish will make it at championship level IMO.

Quite. I'd be fairly happy if we matched Arsenal's season of never losing, even if it would be in the second division.

As I recall, Clifford, according to him, had invented a fantastic new coaching method, and was going to turn the world of football upside down ..and St Juste was going to be world class. Delusional. Hence I find it difficult to believe what he is apparently saying now either (it's twitter remember). Pass the pinch of salt.

Well I swear the Kingsland stand physically shakes when Jaidi gets up to top speed, like the scene with the T. Rex in Jurassic Park!

Is he right or left-footed, or at least is he comfrotable on the left side? Fonte seems to need a partner who will play on his left. And does he have pace? If yes to both of those, sounds like a great signing.

Not what I meant by 'a good season'! We'll be in the top 10 ok and may be pushing for promotion IMO. Of course if Hoddle were in charge.......

Am not at all confident personally. I thought the second half against Milwall was a bit of a reality check. We were trying to play our pretty passing game and they simply wouldn't let us. On the basis that, whilst milwall are a solid championship side, they are unlikely to be title contenders, that was a sign to me that we will certainly not walk this league. Our players are not so stand-out good in this division as they were in L1, and top championship players will give them a much harder time. Looking at Leicester's "team", they have some excellent players, so once they do click as a proper team, they will be at or near the top. We just have to hope that this weekend isn't when they click. I don't think we can read too much into the Forest game either btw. That's a fairly intense local derby, and results in such games are often out of line with form in ordinary games. (I still think we'll have a good season mind you.)

'On top of A levels' ..exactly. They are not a sensible or credible alternative to A levels

Don't know how much you have to do with UCAS as opposed to reading Cambridge International Board's propaganda, but if you look at the most recent official figures some 250,000 went through UCAS into uni, 45,000 BTEC National or similar, only 2500, the IB and 680 .. yes 680... the pre-U. It's another place for weak independent schools to hide from competition.

Good grief. What game were you watching? Cork was superb.

The fact remains that only approximately 1% of the number that sit A levels take the IB instead. Seems a pretty risky choice to me to go for something that unusual and unpopular. And how can examiners ensure reliability and validity with a population size of 2500? Many (not all I admit) of the places that offer it are small independent schools that don't want to be shown up in the A level league tables by their better (and much cheaper!) state sixth form college neighbours, so go for the IB simply to avoid easy comparison by gullible parents.

Why on earth did she choose the IB? It's such an obscure qualification that many university admissions tutors know little about it and offers are often very high. And the numbers sitting it are so small that the marking isn't very reilable. I've seen official UCAS figures showing only about 2500 students went to uni last year with the IB, compared with c. 250,000 with A levels. But if she does get a decent offer and she is bright enough to anticipate getting a decent degree, she should still go to uni. Even with the new fees it still makes sense financially in the long run. As to pillocks saying 'everyone passes A level now', they overlook the simple but important fact that students who are likely to fail, nowadays drop out at the end of the first year in the sixth form because they do badly in their AS exams. So of course the A level pass rate is high ....you don't take it unless you have already passed AS well and have shown you are likely to succeed at A2. Before year 2000, some students wasted 2 years then failed. Now they only waste 1 year and only the good ones sit the final A level exams in year 2. So well done to anyone who has just passed. Ignore any bitter old failures on here!