trousers

And I believe that personal choice is simply that....personal. Why should anyone have to justify what they do with their leisure time and why? It's only football.

West Ham's "star" team gave us one of our toughest home games of the season. We won what was an entertaining yet tense game. Given that I, and others, have to pick and choose the games we go to, I'd much rather watch a close game against one of the better teams than a 'stroll in the park' game against a weaker team. The reverse applied when we were in the premier league - i.e. I preferred to watch Saints play the likes of Bolton and Stoke than games against Man Utd and Arsenal. It works both ways. It's personal preference at the end of the day. Nothing more, nothing less.

I feel I probably shouldn't have done but I've just chuckled out loud

More people go to the theatre if there's a 'star' actor in town. More people go to the cinema if there's a blockbuster film out. More people will want to see an England test match vs Australia than vs Bangladesh. More people will tune into Eastenders if Robbie Williams made a guest star appearance. It's simple supply and demand dynamics. Some people have the time, money and desire to go and see their favourite football team week in week out. Some people will pick and choose matches based on budget, other commitments and (shock horror) quality of the opposition. Both types of 'fans' are equally valid and equally important (financially) to the club. All very simple really.

http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?31465-Things-to-do-in-Toronto

"Sh*t, did you see that? He must have a foot like a traction engine"

Were our odds to win the league really as long as 20-1 at the start of the season?

I doff my cap to Labour for kick starting this initiative... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/health-15436685 " Dr Stephen Dunn, from the NHS in the East of England, says the hospital will continue to be paid at NHS rates for its work while it is being run by Circle. The company was chosen after a competitive tendering process, and has to assume all the financial risk involved. "It's a hugely original deal - we've managed to avoid the possibility of closing the hospital. We've got a solution to the debt - and have plans that allow us to meet the efficiency challenges the NHS faces." Any significant changes in services at the hospital will have to be agreed with the local NHS and the public will have to be consulted. Circle chief executive Ali Parsa accepted the company was taking on a challenge. He said the strength of its approach was in increasing the involvement of doctors and nurses. "We want to create a John Lewis-style model with everyone who works there in charge of the hospital, letting them own the problems and solve them. We will try everything we can to make this small hospital viable - if we can how fantastic would that be?" The deal has taken almost a year from the plans being sent to the government for approval, to the contract being given the go ahead. The approval for the tendering process began under the last Labour government. "

Even better! ;-)

Ok. Thanks. Apologies, I just skim read the headline poll on the link. As I say, given the bad press the coalition has had over their first 18 months it's long overdue that Labour are starting to register a lead in the polls. I'm surprised it's taken them so long to have an impact on the views of the public.

Cheers. Got a link to the other polls too? Ta

About time too. Link? Britain is in a better position than most European neighbours but, yep, agree, we're in danger of being sucked down by the countries we trade with Not earth shattering. Governments of both colours lose ministers due to inadvertent errors of judgement Maybe. Maybe not, but ditto above Indeed. Labour must be proud of the generation that grew up during their poor leadership Protests are a sign of a healthy democracy, even though the student's stance is misplaced (in my opinion) People going out on strike because they're being asked to work longer and contribute more towards their pensions as a result of everyone living longer. Yeah, those nasty Tories are at it again. But let's sweep under the carpet that for every £9 of Tory cuts the Labour party had planned to cut £. Vive la difference. Not forgetting that Labour were planning to freeze NHS budgets whereas the Tories have increased it. Northern Ireland or National Insurance? Sorry, not familiar with this one. No doubt the incompetent Tories have cocked up somewhere along the line though. "Massive"? Again, Labour were planning cuts that weren't a million miles away from the Tories. Every reason to be relatively happy with progress thus far. Of course, there will always be a part of society that will want to see the nasty Tories fail at all costs and will perpetuate and exaggerate myths to satisfy the means to an end. I bid you good evening sir :-)

Nice one Dave :-)

Isn't the English '3 lions' emblem a symbol of equal historic nationalistic significance too? Perhaps FIFA should exercise some consistency and stipulate that the badges on international football shirts should only show non-nationalistic symbols? (cue the historians to shoot down my thinly veiled attempt to compare apples with oranges...) ;-) Edit: just thought, is there anything stopping any national side from changing the country's badge on their kits? I see a simple solution to this....

Harriet Harman for Labour leader? Yes please....

Stopped going to Comet years ago. Dreadful customer service.

I'll bear that logic in mind when I next describe Labour's front bench.... ..

Surely the "defence" in "English defence League" should have a capital 'D'...?

Agreed. We should follow the moral lead of the 'Left' and use non-insulting terminology such as "prats" ;-)

Will there ever come a day where the detail on this can be made public without repercussions....?

Why? (for the record, I'm not a fan of May either, but I like to make my judgements on fact rather than media tittle-tattle)

That can only be answered when the full facts are known.

"I'M often asked, usually after a disappointing result, how I manage to muster the enthusiasm to write my Coventry City match reports. And I have to admit there are occasions when the thought of traipsing back to Telegraph Towers and sitting in front of my computer for the next few hours to write about it on a Saturday night fills me with dread. I suppose, after ten long-suffering years of covering the club in the Championship, I have got somewhat battle-hardened and used to it. Wouldn’t it be lovely to follow a club like Southampton – flying high at the top of the league, beating everyone in sight and looking to be heading back to the Premier League. Well, no actually.You see my opposite numbers at the Southampton Echo have been banned from St Mary’s for the last 18 months and have to cobble their home match reports together from listening to local radio commentary and by sneaking a spy into the stands. " I thought the Echo "ban" had been lifted yonks ago....? *confused*