dubai_phil

Started off as if it was a load of look at me I won an award from a big company saga BUT it hits the nails on the head and a good read SSA In simplistic terms when I was at school about to do A-Levels you were divided up into Arts or Sciences. At the time it just seemed weird and a little elitist, but over time, and helped by the cultural shock of working down here you begin to understand that no matter what political doctrines say, people's minds DO work differently. The mind of say an Engineer & an Abstract Artist are two examples of almost alien differences, and from the perspective you have posted from (your CEO) that is what we see at SMS, ML, NC and AP will all see and interpret inputs differently. In any business environment, the one REALLY important thing I have always found critical to success is that you make sure that you have ALL types of "brains" in a team. Everyone sees things in a slightly different way and nobody tends to go blindly off down the wrong road. When you get one "view" over-riding everyone (a la Rupert) you get failure because NOBODY is perfect and right ALL of the time (except some posters (not me) on here of course!). Consensus is not what it is about, opinion is not what it is about, I always use the example that Didier Drogba is a great striker (but a nasty sh*t) Having 3 Drogbas up front in your team would be awesome, but having 11 of them would be ludicrous. In business it is about using the strengths and differences in your team and being able to see every possible alternative outcome or strategy and make sure you "lead" the group along the right one. The good news is that we seem to have all the types and we seem to have a balance. The WORRY is when one or the other gets too forceful you get conflict. I think we saw that with the AP out rumours, hopefully, forward progress and a top 3 position after 4 or 5 weeks of the season will show our balance is right It will be interesting. NC has shown strong Management & Decision making. I still reserve judgement though as he may think he is a Leader but I am not sure he has yet developed "Followership".

Oh it's YOU. You're not old stop that nonsense straight away. PM space available and yes I remember

I bought a 3 year old BMW 523i auto in 2000. I pay around 500 quid a year to keep it on the road. I've blown the clutch, cracked cylinder heads (45 mins from the centre of Ras Al Khamaih to Dubai at 220KPH during Ramadanwhen they turn the speed cameras off at Iftar). It still runs, it still looks good and it is still a damned good drive and I get asked to sell it about once a month. It is now "The kids" car or my emergency machine when my Grand Cherokee (similar vintage) needs servicing. It starts first time even if not touched for 3 months. It is a superb machine Best damned car I ever drove & I used to run up 60k a year miles in the UK, would never buy a new one due to the depreciation here vs a Camry but I love it

Let's face it as long as you are able to type OSH you won't notice any difference as long as you wear sunglasses

Well, not for a few months at least :-)

Not sure which would upset the few more, the fact that rich Russians want to buy Bournemouth or that Mitchell believes he (oops The Club) doesn't need the money

You're worried about a SPARROW You have NO idea how fecking lucky you are. I'm plagued by a flock of Green Parrots and Mynah Birds at 6am every morning. Do you have ANY idea how much noise THOSE feckers make?

Been surfing any more news on Frankie Boyle taking over from Cappello or is General Petreaus now favourite?

Oh what a shame looks like AA isn't looking very hard for people interested in buying South Coast Football Clubs http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/3268/league-one/2010/06/29/2000997/russian-multi-millionaire-duo-aim-to-buy-afc-bournemouth-and

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/teams/england/7859607/World-Cup-2010-Its-time-to-sack-Fabio-Capello-and-promote-best-of-English-youth.html Sounds a lot more than needing a quick hand shandy under the Duvet

There is a difference between the WAG circus of last time and SEX. Managing a relationship in such confined circumstances is a nightmare I am sure, but the point of needs and desires vs how to make myself more famous and rich. It's about a balance. Remember the pictures of the players on safari? That is the sort of experience that should have been shared with families as should a number of "Royal Visit" functions. There should be a way to balance between WAG media culture and strapping them to a bed for when the need arises, other teams manage it, or is it just because "We're English"

True. but the trouble is Frank, you and the others on here all contribute to this. You all watch games on TV and pay money to Sky or go to pubs so they can pay Sky. In another few weeks, the fans of the PL clubs will be baying for blood, they'll howl at the player who slows down a "quick break" so they can make an accurate pass instead of a ball into space. They'll be accused of lacking passion, not being fit to wear the shirt etc. Teams at the World Cup do simple things cleverly and quickly, the playmakers in midfield as the ball comes out of defence do things that to Saints fans would make them "anonymous" the players who break up or delay play by positioning, - you watch at SMS the number of times people will be screaming for Morgan to "get on with it" get it forward etc (IF he is still woth us). Lallana getting stick for running into blind alleys or not releasing the ball quickly enough. It isn't SIMPLY the PL, it isn't simply the English Players, it is the fans who EXPECT 160mph football. Interesting comment in one of the papers today - Torres looks rubbish, Pienaar looked rubbish, star players for their teams suffering the burn out we saw from team England. The exception looks like being Tevez, but then he didn't start every game last season as I recall. English FANS are as much to blame. The money comes from THEM, they keep paying for the product so the product will not change.

Sex. It almost always comes down to sex. The players were locked away for a month and had what 1 or 2 visits from WAGS? The Terry incident? The players are (allegedly) highly tuned athletes in their (allegedly) prime. We know that more than one of them has "serial relationship issues" and we know all the stories of the Roast Dinners. Anyone who has been in a relationship and then finds themselves going without for a period knows how a pressure valve can build up. No matter how much you are being trained and paid, the mind is an incredibly complex thing and it can decide it wants to push your hormones and you can't do a damned thing about it apart from think about controlling it (or take Bromide). When you add to that the (alleged) austere regime in the WC camp with players not having (allegedly) access to their own computer games and being left with golf, DSTV Satellite or golf every afternoon after training, maybe there is something in this. The damage caused by losing "a (allegedly) nice guy from the squad - Bridgey, and then not being able to let the Testosterone loose when they need to may well be a part of the jigsaw. Say whatever you like about "should be able to cope for that much money" but at the end of the day, the brain working in perfect harmony with a body and a natural talenet is what makes a footballer. If one bit gets messed up, no amount of money, tactics, coaching or sports psychologists can recover that

Paul Collingwood's Cricket Bat Improbably large amount of pictures to prove a point http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-US&family=editorial&assetType=image&ep=2&p=paul%20collingwood#

Been out all day, so Frankie Boyle to replace Cappello? Not a bad idea he may be able to turn an unfunny laughing stock into a Joke

Why is it that England only produce midget wingers? Other teams have pacy wide midfielders but they all seem to have the build of Antonio sort of a footballing Jonah Lumu(but they do know how to trap a ball). Oh and how ironic that their first goal was Route 1 hoofball. Any word from Franzy yet?

*like2*

But we had Milner, SWP, Lennon, Rooney can you say any one of those younger players did anything other than appear as a rabbit in headlights?

Down and depressed after the football so dug out White Lies & Muse. Happier now

Thank God we are now out and we can sit back and watch 22 players on a pitch play football, because there is no way (apart from a 10 minute period in the first half today and 10 minutes against Slovakia where we deserved to be called a Footballing Nation. Utter garbage

In 2004 I was in a pub here surrounded by Dutch, Irish, Russians and Jocks when we went on penalties to Portugal. Somehow I think deep down we all felt that this was coming. Sure we tried to be positive, we tried to see improvements, but in reality? The Rickie for England thread summed up our real worries (and in fact he sure as hell couldn't have been any worse than those out there.) The reality of the whole approach was that we were one dimensional, we took identical lightweight wingers and old fashioned cumbersome centre halves. whatever style or tempo or system we were supposed to have used in qualifying just went out the window. Hell I saw more tempo and commitment from the Away Team in the forum match than in the first 30 minutes on that pitch. I thought we went to the world cup to play FOOTBALL. I may have been back in the 80's but I was sure that when I played football we used to run around, not walk around. We always "Over-react" to our "unlucky" demise in tournaments, but this time, this squad, this cost, this preparation, this manager? No, I'm sorry something is very rotten in English Football if that is the best we can put out onto a pitch. Emotionally, I'm not gutted, heartbroken or even really mad. The Cricketers cheered me up with some excitement. BUT what I am is just hollow. It wasn't an embarrassment, it was a lesson. Football played at pace made our team look like a pub side. Is that REALLY the BEST we can do? If so we may as well give up now Thank GOD I wasn't in a pub watching and was able to suffer alone at home

So far, rubbish. I have never seen so many overhit passes. If a player allows a long ball to bounce it flies over his head. Effective corners or crosses into the box? few and far between. 25-30 yard free kicks? probaly 60% sailing 20 yards over the bar into row Z. Sorry, these are the best footballers in the world, when they play neat 3 yard one touch passes they look fine, after that, one in 5 long cross field passes pings away into touch. It makes the games sterile with teams playing tippy tappy and players appearing to be shot by snipers at the first breath of air from a closing player. This is not how the World's greatest sporting event should be. Credit to the players for at leasting putting on some sort of show and making some of the matches exciting. But you think watching Switzerland play negative football makes this a great World Cup? Meh

Dear Corpy Once upon a time Poorsmuff had a very good Poly which then became a Uni. It has a very good Business Studies Department. I suggest you take the chance (now you're free socially every couple of weeks) to sign up for a course to explain Corporate Compliance and Corporate Funding so that you can understand the difference between a Director taking out a secured bank loan on the assets of a business (Gaydamark) and Conversion of personal wealth into Equity (Abramovich), and (by NC's own words) Grant Finance from a Director. Maybe then you'll stop trying to defend the insane position your rent-an-owner clowns have put your club into. Grievance counselling teaches that the first true step to recovery is to understand where you actually are rather than the anger, and denial phases. Once you do that you'll be able (along with the rest of the many dozy News posters) to start planning and rebuilding some form of a club for the next ten years instead of the next 10 days or so. You've been buttfooked without any KY and you found out it hurts, take two panadol and move on and wait for the revenge when Storrieteller drops the soap in Ford Open Prison

You have mail Eric.... Not so sure on the beer names, but I still have a souvenir bottle of Cripplec*ck Cider I found in a shop in UK many years ago

Lol, the money grabbing World Cup goes on... (No offence to Rob though he is out of work since his Showtime contract ended, BUT) Today's offer. England v Germany at Meydan (Posh horse race course) Hosted by Rob McAffrey (our own TV legend now) and Derek White with their special guests Peter Reid, Sam Allardyce & Craig Brown. Perfect evening of entertainment for only AED 375 (that's about 55 quid in real money) FIFTY FIVE QUID to watch the footie and listen to the same pundits we've had all the last two weeks for our TV subs... Lol Now of course it will be a great night, just spoiled by the football..... http://www.robandderek.com/ Hmm but is it possible to drink 11 free pints between 5:30 local and 9:30 local to make it worth the effort.....