pap

You utter bast, trousers. How DARE you post spoilers?! We were all in the dark.

I don't think that you can draw too much from the interview save what was explicitly stated or can be reasonably implied. First, the club is not for sale. Second, it's unlikely that he'll have joined to see us plummet down the table; wouldn't be great for his reputation if the club regresses from the lofty heights we reached with Cortese at the helm. Though the focus seems to be set on the commercial end of the business, you can't really have that without success on the pitch underpinning it. Prize money and gate receipts are areas of growth the club should be targeting. Merchandising is also huge; and not capacity-limited in the same way that TV money and bums on seats are. If there is enough demand, you can flog as many shirts as you can make, etc. None of that is possible without success to sustain it. I also think we'll be one of the strongest advocates of Premier League B. The pessimistic possibility is that our academy is going to be a player factory for the bigger clubs, but that goes against Les Reed's statements about the academy being there for Southampton's benefit. Vagueness about the long-term future is likely part management speak, not wanting to make promises he can't deliver on, but mostly just not having definitive answers on a lot of issues. Like is Poch staying, etc, etc? I am cautiously optimistic. Externally, he looks sensible so far - a good communicator and evidently someone who has been in the background for a while before taking this job (bad leaders often look without leaping). As others have said - actions speak louder than words.

Out of respect for your infinite golfing connections and the forlorn hope that they may one day come in useful, I have watched the pilot and the following episode. The good news is that I'm probably going to watch more. The bad news is that so far, it feels very much like a season-long bottle episode. I will probably lose interest if the scope doesn't start to expand, and especially if I hear more dialogue like this:- "The oxygen cleansers are down" "Is that a bad thing?" "Only if you like breathing" I've also noticed supposedly smart characters doing really stupid things, like the chunky girl keeping schtum about things that she probably be telling her boss about. My fear is that they're just throwing a load of memes du jours at the wall in the hope that some of it sticks. Zombies (ish), conspiracies, black programmes - it's all there. I'm just not sure that they're going to make the best of all those ingredients.

Bit concerning that the fella has no long term objectives.

No, that's his TODO list. Needs to post finance, apparently.

"I am your God now" lols

Strictly speaking, it's the Web that is 25. Internet has been around in some form since ARPA decided they'd like a network that continued to work after being nuked. Still, a lot of change in that time. I remember the days when a beard was required to use the Internet. They let anyone on it now.

All of those shows have my seal of recommendation, Whitey G. The Wire is hard going the first five episodes the same way it's hard-going to dip into Shakespeare or Hardy for the first time. You can hear the language, but it doesn't really flow and I didn't know what some of it meant. To the show's credit, it lifts the fog factor through context. I didn't have to look anything up, but ended up understanding what everything meant regardless. Breaking Bad is a tour-de-force, a show that seems to have been planned with some sort of diligence (although a few ad-libs became favourites), the complete opposite to the vague mystical boll*cks we got with LOST (which you probably haven't seen). It really becomes something. Loved Rome; thought the lead chaps were top in their roles. Who'd have thought Tommy from Trainspotting (which you probably haven't seen) would be so bad-ass? WG; don't want to impugn your character and suggest that you're not "hip" or "with it", so hand out forum slaps accordingly if you've seen any of the things I've accused you of probably not seeing.

Well I can't answer for everyone, but I think the burden is important. That's the rationale behind sending players out on loan so that they can get first-team football. From our perspective, the burden that Premier League B would provide would be ideal. We want our players to play together and benefit from the staff setup and training facilities. A properly funded Premier League B would give us both. There will undoubtedly be increased expectation on youth players from where they are now, but not quite on a par with their parent teams. A bit of pressure won't be bad, and I think anyone looking to become a Premier League footballer would relish the opportunity to show off their skills. Besides, Sky Sports already puts on a load of youth games; the precedent exists - it's just that the organisation has been lacking.

I don't know whether its the way we're set up, but it looks like we're crying out for a killer touch. So much buzzing about the area with work created through short passing, and very little end result. Lallana is hitting magical form this year and is becoming the player that creates space for others. Rodriguez is capitalising on the mistakes; we're good at quick wing play and statistically very good on set pieces. Thing is, most of our final third opportunity is built up on short attacking play, and we're not converting enough of those. All depends on what is coming through the youth team. If we've got a couple of prospects that can convert those chances, the job many of us were hoping Osvaldo would do, then put them in. Otherwise, I think we need to spend well, not necessarily big. Michu from a relegated/demoralised Swansea side might be ideal.

I listened to this twice during the course of the day as background noise. Les Reed came across very well, and it looks like we are well set up for this Premier League B thing if it gets some proper promotion. Marketed properly, it could be the UK equivalent of College Football over in the US, or potentially better. Most College Football fans actually went to the "school" of the team they support. Premier League B wouldn't necessarily have that constraint. The Premier League could put real money behind this idea and bill the B games as a support act for the real thing. It's a belief and presentation thing, really. As a Saints fan, I'd much rather be tuning in to watch our youth team on a Friday night than a Championship game.

1) Breaking Bad is right up there. One of the best arcs on telly. 2) No other show has ever made me care about as many characters as The Wire. 3) No one is safe in Walking Dead (except maybe for Rick). 4) Absolutely no one is safe in Game of Thrones. 5) No show better reflected post-911 paranoia better than Battlestar Galactica. 6) No show hit its feet faster than True Detective. 7) Nothing quite matches the refined quality of swearing in Dead Like Me. extra!)Nothing quite matches the coarse quality of swearing in Deadwood. No other show has ever been as unfairly dismissed on the basis of its title as Buffy The Vampire Slayer. 9) Rome is in the running for best "two season" show ever. 10) No show's cancellation made me as sad as Firefly's; it was already cancelled when I started watching it. Serenity is pretty good closure though.

According to IMDB, Jamie will be a mystical martial artist/environmental agent taking on a ruthless oil corporation in his next job. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110725/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_40 The job comes with its own name; Jamie must assume the alias Forrest Taft for the duration, by now a bread-and-butter activity to the forum's "master of disguise". Good luck, nipper.

Can we have a big shurlock / CB Fry meet-up? They see each other across the bar; a flicker of mutual acknowledgement before, welling up, they run into each other's arms and blub uncontrollably. Famous forum meet ups could be the "True Detective" anthology format we've been searching for. I nominate Bearsy as promoter. I am on hand for any technical consultant duties.

My problem is that I have read the books. While the trustworthiness of the crows is a theme, George RR Martin spends far more time describing mediaeval food he would like to eat. Do some quotes on mead or wheels of cheese. I will cope better.

Jamie; part of the problem with you being a terse moron from my point of view is not understanding what the f**k point you are trying to make. Please understand that contrary to what is perhaps your understanding, the rest of the forum does not live in your head. Consequently, they will not have access to whatever thoughts it might be entertaining at any given moment. All of us are afflicted with this condition. Some are able to overcome it with words.

Yeah, I'm sure too; http://frigsociety.com/2013/04/10/thatcher-the-lessons-not-yet-learned/

Lads, the pair of you have been tangling with yours truly long enough to know that reciprocration is a key part of my posts. You play, I play. You discuss, I discuss. You come out fighting, etc, etc. I know. I should rise above it.

Not at all mate, just returning sh!te for sh!te. If you want to have a big insult ding-dong, more than happy to accommodate you on the Ramirez Off-Topic Thread. Otherwise, sling your hook and resume whatever it was you were doing (protecting paedos or fitting up black people, etc).

It's funny. As uninformed coppers go, I find you typical.

Link to the audio podcast version:- http://www.skysports.com/podcast/0,20494,26960,00.html

They're looking to do season two in Merseyside. Already been knocked back. http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/controversial-channel-four-show-benefits-6797582 Guess that's what happens when you fool people into appearing on something like this.

Not at all. I'm very sad to hear that someone with as strong a voice as Bob Crow has gone. If you're looking for revellers, scroll up.

Fk, even Katie Hopkins can spell his name correctly. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/katie-hopkins-continues-campaign-to-become-britains-most-hated-with-poorly-timed-bob-crow-tweet-9184095.html Does this mean our right wingers are officially thicker than Hopkins?

So he posted the Huff Post link from beyond the grave? Maybe you right wingers were right to be afraid of him.