dubai_phil

To save you looking it up, CSI's owner has a "wealth value" of in the region of 400 million. So you have no concerns on them having the funds for spending on their project. That number has been quoted before. It is strangely and completely co-incidentally with no direct or indirect relevance very close to a figure that also comes up when you google the loans/guarantees paid by the EU towards the rescue of Saab. There is of course NO inference of any link, proven by research that anyone can do on the CSI Group & related companies sponsorship in Motor Racing, Basketball & Ice Hockey - they show similar numbers and date before the Saab sideshow. Corpy - there is NO DOUBT WHATSOEVER that your owners have funds. the POINT is that they have shown themselves to be astute (some say otherwise) businessmen. They simply are NOT stupid. They are in "your project" for fun but they aren't going to p1ss away their money with no chance of ever getting a return. Now then. let's get back to basics. CVA costs still have to be met - 16.5mil over 4 years. That is a drain of 4mil a year from your cash flow. You are signing players (well done) but have only some 8,000 ST holders at the moment. I ain't done Maths since school and I ain't sure how that all adds up, but I do recall one interesting fact which is that another South Coast club couldn't cover the cost of around 4mil a year of Mortgage payments even playing kids. How many times is it possible to spend those Parachute payments?

Yep several meetings were held, even the Press & the Bompey forum reported on their Corp Hostility visit to Fitness last park. I merely passed those on to here. How many people drive McLaren F1's in the UK? I also reported on the time and date that Mitchell was seen at a Restaurant in Bompey meeting the driver of an F1. They weren't ITK sources they were the Press in the main and as quoted at the time a mates' WIFE. Of course your beloved hereos never looked at a single football club other than yours. Now then, remind me, where does their lad play his schoolboy football? Anyway, get back to dreaming.

So Champney's near Leicester only serve Muesli for breakfast is that it? Will cross that one off my list, Full English only for me.

Nope haven't ignored NA at all. I will believe we have money on the table when we see evidence of it. There are plenty of ways that "Spin" can say one thing and mean something else. A simple "off the top of head" interpretation - We bid 3mil for Billy Sharp. How? Did we bid 3mil cash? did we bid 300k with huge add-ons? Did we bid 3 mil with payments over the length of his contract at say 1 mil a season? Many many tranfers are deals done in this manner, the headline says 3mil bid. OK that may mean we had 3mil on the table there and then, equally it MAY have meant we only had a 500k downpayment on the table in the bid as CASH. (Cash FLOW in the NPC - makes a 3mil bid easy to finance over more than one season) Another Spin COULD be - we look like we will get something close to 8 mil in one go for AOC. Here you go Nige, you can spend 3 mil of that - that also can be spun to mean "Money on the table" or Hey Nige you can have all the ST Income to spend on players once we get over 7,000 tickets sold.... Each version of those can mean Money on the Table, in exactly the SAME way that it can mean a pot of 3mil sitting on the table Interpretation on the lack of spending, there are a lot of different ways of looking at it. 1) Prof - no ambition 2) D_P - maybe not the simplistic view of having a pile of cash in used tenners There is also one other point that again we overlook. We have a very successful and close knit TEAM from the end of last season. Psychology & the dynamics of "TEAM" is a massive area of Science and luck. NA identifies a certain position he wants a player, but the backroom staff HAVE to take all the "fitting in" factors into account. Does our team really NEED a disruptive superstar? Hell no - we're trying to get rid of Puncheon so the lack of signings can be down to the fact that the right MENTAL approach from a player is missing. NA has said he wants to add to the TEAM. I take that as being very sensible - TEAM players not prima-donnas. Anyway like I said it is simply an interpretation. I don't believe what anyone anywhere ever says, I wait to see what they deliver.

Completely disagree with Prof..... In the way he has assumed it is about lacking ambition..... I just have a nagging concern that he has identified a lack of activity but has given it the wrong tag-line. I get the feeling that we may actually be waiting for money to become available rather than lacking ambition. My personal view is that it seems that we need to sell to buy. No clear evidence for that of course, a smattering of occassional mumbles and grumbles is matched with a plethora of positive PR statements. If you remove the ambition line and then speculate that maybe the "Family" have not released "a budget" YET for this coming season then the effect could be the same. Think we will discover that this is about a mixture. I may have a part of it, reluctance to sign may be a part of it. Also, again MANY on here have forgotten that we have a structure where NA is NOT the man pursuing players - he will have identified areas he wants to strengthen and then given that "position list" to The back-office team led by Les Read to go find him suitable candidates. I will stick with the I'm a bit twitchy as to whether we have the funds in place (TODAY) for the next season side of the fence. I think the ambition line is the wrong take on it.

NA likes playing a 4 - 2 -3 -1 type formation with the middle 3 of AOC RL & AL with options of Guly With Nugent in the middle makes sense on the right deal when Connoly/LB aren't the right sort of player. Whether it will happen or not is another matter but can see some sense in it.

Aviva were FORCED to write off 16mil because somebody went to see a Bank Manager the day before he reduced our overdraft facility. We had the income to pay the next years due amount, but oh no, our bank Manager had a meeting and within days started a new job. Strangely at the same Administrator. yeah we were crook compared to the few.... Simply because that someone who had No role in the club when he met our Bank Manager made some promises... Oh and guess what - he got screwed by ML as well when he saved us. ONE day the man with the emails and the copy of the Appointments book will decide to make the facts known, until then he has a family to feed and damned good luck tyo him, but trust me there are some scared "influencers" out there trying to make sure that day never happens. 4 grand that's what we got screwed over. 4 fecking grand

Well many people criticise Dubai about many things, but ONE thing they have got right.... The NOTW is banned down here. Sooner the whole lot of their Editorial staff get Jailed for the whole phone hacking rubbish the better... Because then the Cops can go check out all the rest of the press... Still, you lot do love reading krap about your celebs don't you, so somone else will be along soon afterwards. On a different note, you'll all be pleased to know that the local Hello Magazine will be publishing a picture of some real celebs this month.... yep Me & EoA got snapped tonight......... lol next stop our phones will be hacked can see it now "Dubai p1ssheads in where to watch the Leeds game?" Exclusive.....

Nope, didn't enjoy it at all. We fecking LOVED it... What an awesome night out, couple of old farts dancing like Dads and we didn't care because EVERYONE was doing the same. Haven't got my hands in the air like that for years. The hits came and went but by the end everyone simply Raved to every damned song. His first Encore? We never saw THAT coming... The original Willy Dixon version of Led Zep's Whole Lotta Love. If he's heading your way pour a gallon of VodkaredBulls down your throat and then go dance. The English Chick singer Joy someone - awesome voice & range. Oh Lordy somewhat stunned by that, really did not see such a great gig coming

OK gang, I give up. I thought I had seen it all in most things, especially - you know those types that pose for cash at touristy venues. Anyway, while on hols in Krakow we went into the big square and there was this bloke doing the whole pose for pics thing. Trouble is this is a real photo (wot I took) It has shadows, and a few seconds after I took this he put a blanket over his head, put his feet down and walked off. (and no, there wasn't a hole in the Cobbled Stone under the Arabic Prayer mat he's resting on. And no matter WHO I have bored with my holiday snaps since, NOBODY can work out how he does it! So, any experts or suggestions out there? Oh and no I didn't leave a donation in his bucket - I didn't think he'd find a couple of Dirhams much use which was all I had at the time!

Good spot by Eric for tonight - he noticed a 4th July special gig so we're off to see Moby tonight. Wonder if he'll play the few good songs he had before he became krap? We'll let you know

Perhaps more entertaining is to view it as one down one to go....

Agree with that, but there is a second part where the skate is actually probably correct. the comparison to Brum... Win a cup, get relegated, get financial trouble The brums do have one difference though. Their owner actually got ARRESTED for money laundering... So if they gave the skates stick they are somewhat deseriving of abise back

Not necessarily, this article offers up a reflection on the state of the transfer market this summer so far http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/8611865/Fair-Play-rules-leave-clubs-with-unwanted-players-in-a-dormant-market.html Mind you we said something similar last summer

Currently 22.3 on the weird US based system we now have here. It's based on slopes & course indexes and all sorts of weird stuff, but basically when I come home I seem to be about 3 shots better than when I play over here, guess something to do with how hard a course is or something. I could be good, can biff a decent drive (my longest in competition was a sprinkler head downwind 350 yards But my Short game and Iron play at the moment is just completely rubbish and my putting although improved this year ain't there yet. I've got loads of lessons as presents, need to have them to improve but am quite happy bumbling my way around. Problem is my golf moments came early in my career when I was a hacker so I know I ain't ever gonna be able to beat that - playing in a Pro Am with Monty about 8 years ago & winning a paid trip to play in a "pan Middle East pro-am championships" in Egypt with Ronan Rafferty. (And I was a crap 28 hacker at the time) so keep the faith lads I had two good days out of about several thousand on a golf course. I make up for it now by giving Golfing tips to the Pros, Schwartzel seemed to do alright with my advice in his next comp after I told him how to self-hypnotise like Tiger does.... Oh any of you lot want to sign up and work as a Volunteer Marshall at the Race to Dubai from 6-11th December let me know by PM & I'll send you the info to sign up for a cracking week walking with the stars. As you might have read I have a little bit of pull with the organisers (winky smiley thingy)

Cheers guys. The GF was "more than" shocked and the crazy thing is that we'd met the family only two weeks ago, me being an imbecile with languages meant I never even caught any nuances of unhappiness or concerns but the GF says the "I guess you'd have to call it Parental abuse" even to a 30 something year old had been going on for a while but nobody could expect it to have that sort of impact on someone. As for the Groom in the email story guess we will find out how strong the bonds of Love can truly be. He has a tough call though

thanks for the boxing guru link - just froze my IE and can't load or close any pages without a take the plug out reboot, so stuck with teh Torygraph text commentary Ho hum

Saw the story in the Snail, thought it funny. Then the same evening down the pub with some mates & the GF she gets a call from home. The father of her Godson had just hung himself leaving his widow & 4 kids (with no life assurance) under 10 shortly after being "harangued" yet again by his mother about how useless he was. Suddenly the subject of "older family members" pursuing their wishes onto their Children became one of reality. I now hold a lot of bad thoughts about what should happen to people like the mother in Poland (and to some extent) the one who wrote that email. Thanks (fellow TSW member) & mates for the kind words & support that evening when the disaster struck my better half. If I could I'd take the stupid cow who wrote that email to the funeral to see what that sort of thing can lead to, but I can't so I'll stick with calling her a stupid cow and hope her life is ruined for a year and she learns how to be more human and tolerant of others.

We didn't touch a drop of beer all weekend. Drank gallons of Cider everyday though. And lol at the idea of finding eanyone to meet up with while there! Had a mate from Dubai - we both managed to get to the Other stage at the same time for the Wombats but still couldn't get near the bar!

OK, so as many of you may know I have been on a mission into the depths of Eastern Europe in my never ending quest to check up on all things fishy. I managed to find a trail from Russia into the Baltics that led my "contacts" at great risk to themselves to find the secret mock-up of Poopey's new owner's new Arena plans. This undercover mission called for enormous strength and endurance (my source insisted on downing a bottle of Vodka shots an hour before he would give me any leads) In this first picture you can clearly see the new main stand which has been custom designed to ensure that every one of their ST holders has unrivalled leg room and a fantastic view from the halfway line Also evident in this picture is the cunning way that the Russians have reduced their costs by integrating the training pitch into the new Arena In this second picture you can clearly see how the new owners have learnt from last season and again saved some money by ensuring that the Bench is custom designed to fit their actual match day squad size of substitutes And in this third you can see they have enlarged their changing room to meet UEFA standards without the need for Terry the Builder So clearly, the Russians aren't stupid after all, they've come up with cunning methods to reduce the costs and to ensure that they can actually afford to buy Scott Parker, Nasri et al

And in MANY cases this is as criminally wrong as the top end waste in "The Public Sector". Again, was it better to waste all that money on those National Fire Station Centres (not the concept but the whole shambles of Top Management not even having a proper PLAN of what to do with the money!) or to cut pensions? Likewise is it right to give one person huge bonuses based on the performance of emplyees who haven't seen a pay rise for 3 years and have seen THEIR pensions plans ruined by under-investment or tax "theft". Or even those who are forced out of work because of the "re-structurings/job description changes and find their old jobs being taken by low cost labour in Indian Call centres or Eastern European Labour? How big is the BA pension hole? So many people in the public sector will also get screwed AGAIN while the likes of the incompetent Freddy Goodwin and the other idiots who ruined the economy get bigger pay cheques? Fact is the UK is as crook as anywhere else. Get yourself onto the gravy train in any sector and sod the rest of the country. The Greeks are an excellent example. The public are getting totally screwed and yet the Rich simply don't bother paying the taxes that get brought in and watch who gets to buy all the State Asset sell-offs.

Bit less stressed today having slept off the yuk flight home. Soggy hits the bit that I actually agree with. The fact is that the "Public" need "Services" & that local & central Government have to provide that out of taxes (or as is the case down here) in fees. The problem is that the amount spent on these support services seems to have had little or no control. for example, how are the provision of these services priotritised? What is the most important? Is it getting the bins emptied or is it bombing Libya? Is it employing "people facing care workers" or employing expensive managers who only set targets and add nothing to the levels of actual service at the front line (like that Baby whatever woman that got her unfair dismissal claim recently) Should the people who have worked in the public sector for 15 or more years get screwed over on their contracts because some 10,000 or so "new" quasi political roles were creaated. Should Department heads get salaries higher than the Prime Minister when the teachers are getting screwed or my mate who helps maintain Housing Association promperties gets his pay cut by 33%? The British Army is smaller than the US Marines. Yet it has more than ten times the number of Officers and some 80% of those drive desks. Is that REALLY what your money should be spent on? The politics is actually very simple. There are a great many great people in the Public Sector doing hard and stressful jobs. But everytime someobody tries to look for waste (The MOD procurement processes), profligacy (Council Credit Cards), overpaid useless management (Baby P example) they are hounded down by saying "Sop the cuts". The service providers at the frontline need the help and support. The system never lets that happen as politics and vested interests get in the way. Want to stop having to cut Teachers pensions? Easy, fire the entire top level of Civil Servants & Government staff and let the people below them do the work. Bet that someone somewhere can find the 80:20 rule - 80% of the money paid as salaries etc goes to the top 20% of "managers" So the situation you now have is that eliminating waste always hurts the public facing staff as the top Turkeys would never vote for Christmas. And unfortunately that has been the same since before Harold Wilson & Jim Hacker et al, not just the Scottish Imbecile. he just let go of the reins even more.

Harumph... My POLISH fiance thank you very much.

The Wombles were awesome. HTH Seriously. Very clever set by Mike Batt. If you took away the dopey Womble lyrics they managed to play an excellent set of just about every genre of music. As a "concert" it was far more intimate than the "experiences" of Coldplay & U2. We got to the Avalon field just as they kicked off and struggled to even get down off the railway line it was so packed. Watching the stoned drunk dopey dancing of many in their 20's & 30's from the comfort of our camping chairs was a hoot. But was gutted we got there too late to get a free Womble mask. Coldplay put on an awesome SHOW. It was the 2nd time I've seen them live and they simply are streets ahead of (most) other bands in making it a "SENSATION". What they do not seem to do is to put on a concert. Compare them to Elbow in terms of audience participation and simple excitement at being on that stage then they were pants, yet those couple of hours of Coldplay will live long in the memory banks as being simply "something else" Standing 150 or so yards from the stage for both them & U2 then U2 shaded it as an experience. But Coldplay played a better "set" even with his feck up of the words of one song. Probably the reason we preffered U2 as a sensation was simply the whole being cold and wet thing.

TBH I sort of wish they'd smashed them up at the beginning of their set so could have got across to see Kool & The Gang instead.