Saint137

Just tweeted a big set of stud marks and bag of ice on his ankle. Was a big lift when he came back on and yeah for a centre back that was decent skills on the touchline...

New Wigan manager, big step up.

Having seen Michael Owen off in to retirement last season I wonder if we'll do the same for Giggs. Somehow I don't think he'll get quite the reception we gave Owen...

Disappointing lack of old Anglo Saxon on that cake. Slightly before my time but I remember supporting Naarwich for that League Cup final, and I remember spending the next few months (along with every other lad in Southampton) trying to score one touch goals complete with windmill celebration. In fact, the only celebration any 70s kid did was a windmill, loved it when Bridgey did it against Bolton(?) I have lost an inordinate amount of money on his nags though

Loved it also, and wish I'd gone and seen it at the cinema. Moffat is a genius but agree he needs a strong script editor as felt there was a fundamental flaw with the Day of the Doctor (spoilers follow) Why didn't the later Doctors just tell John Hurt's Doctor that his genocide failed? The Daleks survived anyway, ergo no point in trying to destroy them. It was the centrepiece of the episode (and distilled in to a couple of minutes 50 years of what the Doctor stands for) and felt it fell a little short. Still hugely dramatic and emotional, a true edge of the seat moment. Tom Baker was my Doctor and I had the same reaction as I did at the end of "An Adventure in Space & Time" (which is well worth a watch if you haven't seen it).

Easy 9 points, we'll lose to Villa. Its the Saints way...

Ditto, Heath & Kanu: Listened to the first one go in on the radio in my Dad's Austin Allegro, was the first time I'd heard him call someone a budgie, Mum gave him a right earful Avoided the 2008 Cup Final by spending the afternoon balls deep in bed with a particularly hot g/f I have absolutely no recollection of Arsenal's goal in the 2003 Cup Final but that was down to inordinate amount of Jack and coke stiffeners I'd drunk before the match. Sadly sober enough by the end to remember Ashley Cole's thigh clearing Beattie's header off the line (still think it was over)

Reasonably impressed with mine - lovely screen, super fast, and no issues with battery life. Not really worth the upgrade if you have a Nexus 4, and you can get an end-of-line Galaxy S3 for about the same price. Worked for me though as I really needed the extra space over the 8GB N4 (plus I get a shiny new gadget)

Maybe accidentally post a copy to the Ecuadorian embassy?

Its a very banker/business-like approach to football, he's got his 5-year investment plan and currently its on track. Never get too far beyond the fact he's building a sustainable business here, one that is attempting to take the uncertainty and luck out of the game. He sees that the Academy will continue the production line of players and they will either get results on the pitch for us or be valuable commodities to sell on. No reason why won't produce a Gareth Bale every 10 years, a Walcott/Chamberlain/Shaw every couple of years, and a W-P, Lallana, Chambers every year.

If you're under 30 and a Saints fan, savour these days. We haven't been this good since the mid-80s (ask your Dad). We used to do this back then, at times completely unplayable and had absolutely no fear of whatever team we were playing. The passing and movement and teamwork is right up there with that team. Different era I know but the way we are playing now makes me feel like I did when I was standing on the Milton. We are no longer the plucky small club underdog, grateful for scraps from the big dogs table and always able to turn a team over on our day, now we're genuine contenders and the belief is incredible. It may never be this good again, make sure you enjoy it... (personally I think its only the beginning but football is a harsh mistress)

If Arsenal lose tomorrow and we beat them we have a very good chance of going top, Liverpool away at Goodison so could easily not get a win.

Confirmed that it will be chargeable, question is how much - they say cheaper than a £40 per month Sky sub. This is a huge triple play by BT, it should get people flocking to BT Infinity which will be much more widely available (and even faster) by then. With it not being until 2015 people have got enough time to get out of their broadband contracts for it. Reality is though that those who watch footy on TV will end up paying more - I can't see people choosing between Sky for Prem and BT for CL, they'll feel they need both. Or use of streams will increase. The other plus for BT Sport for some people is no dish reqd, I know when I was renting I would have had Sky but most flats didn't have dishes and there was no way of installing one. Providing you can get fast broadband you can just stream it all. With regard to ITV Digital and Setanta the important thing is BT can afford to take a massive hit for a couple of years whilst they build a customer base. They made almost a £1bn profit in the first half of 2013FY. From motorsport forums I know loads are planning to switch broadband suppliers so they can get Moto GP next year and I'm sure rugby fans are doing the same. Wonder what Sky will spend the spare cash on? My feeling is it means the BBC are going to have to pay a premium to renew MOTD in 2015.

Looks like its confirmed and will be exclusive. Huge spanner in the works for ITV & Sky although some games will be FTA. I wonder with the growth of foreign streaming sites whether they'll get a return on their investment, have to feel that the wheels are going to come off the TV football bandwagon in the next 5 years.

Can't imagine a England crowd singing it but you could fit "Morgan, Morgan, Morgan pour les Bleus, Morgan pour les Bleus" in to La Marseillaise

PMSL, love the step and the attempted tap

Sa Calobra is insane, my hire car had trouble driving up it. A few years ago you could see a tour bus wedged in the rocks halfway down on one of the hairpins. Lovely tarmac, wonder if it was paid for by teams.

So what do y'all think of the Jonathan Martin Dolphins bullying stuff? Pretty shocked by it, I know we get banter etc in football but not to this extent? Big difference between physical/mental abuse and what our lot get up to. Can't be good for team building. American way?

The players genuinely seem to wish to play here and believe in the strategy and style of play we've adopted. I know they can be mercenary and tempted by money but I think Cortese is pretty good at handling that. If we're good enough to challenge for top 4 then why bother moving - certainly Shaw might go to Chelsea for personal reasons and maybe Morgan will feel he needs to play on the continent to get noticed by Deschamps but I don't really see either of them moving. Fees are pointless, we have to keep hold of them, or keep the production line going. If we carry on knocking out a couple of £20m+ players a year plus one worldie every 5 years then with the amount of money the TV contract generates we become a very viable long-term investment. And when the wheels come off the TV gravy train we'll be well-placed to prosper due to the academy setup.

Shaw seems to go out in Richmond/Kingston a lot - guess he still lives with his Mum...

Certainly less talk of Nandos on the younger players' Twitter this season...

He really is a godlike genius freak of a player http://dailypicksandflicks.com/2013/10/19/zlatan-ibrahimovics-back-heel-goal-vs-bastia-video/ Bastia appear to have taken inspiration from Balotelli's Bentley for their away strip...

Too bloody dangerous to ride up that section now, got forced on to the pavement there (fortunately not on a road bike so could bump the kerb). Instead tend to ride up Stuckton hill to get to Blissford hill. I think the issue is partly that cars have got bigger/wider, there's much less room for error when you have two Range Rovers passing each other at over 40mph. When I'm pootling around in 'er indoors Ka its just about safe to pass a cyclist without crossing the white line, no way you can do that in even a standard family saloon these days

Oh and should also point out that I saw the guys vandalising/moving the signs on Friday evening on way home from work. Red and silver Toyota Landcruiser (not that that helps as there dozens of those around here) In the interests of balance I did see/hear a few cyclists acting like cocks on Saturday morning, riding on wrong side of road on blind bends to overtake slower riders. Don't think they were on the sportive though, unless they'd done 45 miles in less than two hours on undulating terrain. Didn't spot any numbers on their bikes

Get abuse on a fairly regular basis when I'm out riding, and I live in the forest. Usually from 4x4s (which are tatty and so therefore used for purpose) and battered Subaru estates. I can understand their point about damaging "flora and fauna" by the mountain bikers but most of the road bikes I saw yesterday would fall apart at the site of a manhole cover let alone a forest track. In the past two weeks there have been three cows killed on Roger Penny Way (Cadnam - Fordingbridge road) and I'm pretty sure none of them were killed by cyclists. In fact I saw the aftermath of one - a comprehensively written off big Merc chelsea tractor missing most of its offside front corner. Hitting a ton of cow at stupid MPH will do that, even to a panzer of a Merc... Cycling behaviour yesterday was pretty good - at most bunches were no more than three abreast and there was tolerant behaviour from drivers as well. Cyclists stretched from Blissford Hill all the way back to Bramshaw when I was on the way to the game.