Fowllyd

More to the point - how long's his fiver going to take getting through Paypal?

I think we should all be on our knees thanking god that Scooby has parted with a fiver from his own pocket in order to keep entertaining us. Thank you, your Scoobness. One small thing though - you might look up how to spell pivotal....

Now sit back and wait for the accusations of being in Michael Wilde's pocket!

Well, he probably won't be posting too often - and I'm sure he has to watch the pennies!

I assume that this really is Michael Wilde then. Obviously anybody could set up an account under any name, but I imagine the admin team would be very sure to check the credentials of anybody registering as the club chairman... Ponty?

It's only the winners of both Carling and FA cups who go into the UEFA cup. It's just that it was only last season that none of the big four actually made it to the FA cup final. In previous years (well, since 1995) the winners already had a Champions' League place, so the runners-up got the UEFA cup place. I'd agree with your post - the Premiership isn't part of the Football League, so why do its teams get to participate in a cup originally intended for League members only? But if Premiership clubs weren't in it, I can't see there'd be a European place for the winners. And many Premiership teams do take it seriously, especially those who have little or no chance of European qualification otherwise.

Good shout. Or maybe 'Radar Love' by Golden Earring?

You keep us all amused old chap - keep up the good work, won't you now...

Does that count as abuse of your mighty admin powers?

You've made this suggestion several times - as a matter of interest, can you actually give any examples? I find it very hard to see that a few people spouting off on an internet forum can have any noticeable effect on either the club or the team.

Don't think it had been - an interesting read, too. Shows that there really are things to be thankful for!

You're being a tad unfair I think - they're worth way more than a fiver in entertainment value. Joining the Saints Web - £5... Tommac's tantrums - priceless.

Good to see the ECB showing a bit of sense on ticket pricing. Glad you enjoyed your day too.....

Just to add one thing to this thread: the Observer has a section throughout the season headed 'The Verdict' in which there's comment on each Championship game from the two managers plus one supporter, normally from the home side. In yesterday's Observer, the Cardiff supporter's comment was: Interesting, I think, to see it from that perspective...

The price is hardly the issue here. To take your MK Dons example, that entailed moving a poorly-supported team with no ground to its name to a place 50 or so miles away. This meant a complete change, not just the same old Wimbledon playing elsewhere. If Gaydamak were to buy St Mary's from Norwich Union, he'd then have the rather interesting task of persuading Pompey supporters to go and watch their team playing in Southampton. I just don't think that's remotely credible. If our ground were somewhere else - Fareham for instance, or even Stoneham - this would be more plausible. But it isn't - it's smack in the middle of the city which Skates hate with a passion.

Personally, I think it probably is.

Highly unlikely I'd have thought. What would either of our major creditors get by calling in the debts? Norwich Union would get a football stadium - really useful asset for them - and Barclays would get bog all.

Likewise, I didn't see any way to make the payment without opening an account first - I've paid for things via Paypal before now with no account, but not this time. It may be, of course, that the option was there but not easy to find. You can stop them sending you annoying emails - you'll have to log in, then edit your profile. Incidentally to do this much you'll need to have fully activated the account, as I found out myself.

Indeed. I grabbed the sport section straight away to see what was in there, and had to look through it several times to be certain I hadn't missed anything. Plenty about the Charity Shield, which means absolutely bugger all, though. If it ain't Prem they ain't bothered...

I see what you mean - however, if you follow this link http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/football_league/article4454042.ece it takes you to the start of the article. Each team's predicted position is given after the bit of blurb, so 20th is what they're predicting for us.

In truth, it's not just us - it's the Championship itself, and indeed any of the leagues below the Premiership. A thousand words may seem a lot, but think of just how many have already been blatted out in the Guardian alone about Prem teams - and all this more than a week before their season even starts. All the average journo will do is look at the final tables of last season, then have a quick look at who's been signed by whom, maybe even see if anything else has happened at a given club. He'll then scratch his arse and produce his forecast to the season to come. Once you've been outside the Prem for a few seasons, that's the level of attention you'll get - the only exception will be if something out of the ordinary happens, such as a takeover by somebody famous (see QPR).

Yes!!!! Ten-wicket win. How's that leave the table?

Yee-haw!! Ton's up, 103 without loss now. OK, let's start the 'easy, easy' chants...

75/0 off 18.4 - looking good now...

I expected Rashid to be on pretty early, but Hoggard's spell must have been poor - over six an over conceded. Looks like Yorks have now slowed the run rate, but no more than that. 47/0 now...