trousers

@officialsaints: Bad news for trialist Anton Blackwood who has been forced off on 15 mins with a knock. Jack Saville replaces him at right back #saintsfc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusu

That's my understanding too, but I've always felt it's illogical. Does anyone know if clubs quote "tickets purchased" rather than "actual people there" to arrive at the attendance (sic) figure out of personal choice or is it some League/FA regulation that they are adhering to here? I recall someone telling me once that there were tax reasons for quoting "sales figures" instead of "attendance figures" and that there were 'tax benefits' of either under-stating or over-stating the numbers, but never really got to the bottom of that..... Surely what your average punter wants to glean from an "attendance" figure is how many human beings were in the ground watching the game. Yay? Nay?

I take it you're not married then....? ;-))

One difference between this season and the last two seasons is that, during the current pre-season, I've not heard Adkins or Cortese say "we are building a team that can compete in the league above", whereas this was their 'mantra' during the last two seasons. In other words, in League One we were building a team that Adkins/Cortese felt would be competitive in the Championship. They clearly stated that as their aim. However, as we prepare for our first season back in the Championship, I'm not hearing the "we are building a team that can compete in the league above" message this time around, which, to me, suggests that Adkins/Cortese are first and foremost looking at a season of consolidation. Of course, they won't be ruling out the possibility of promotion, but I detect a different level of expectation in the management this year compared to last year (in relative terms). So, to put this in the context of the OP? All this means I'm less apprehensive about this season than I was last season because the expectations were much greater last season (again, in relative terms).

Alas, no, you can't be first - there are 37 people before you who are somehow 'embarrassed' by the number of people who will be in a football stadium watching a game of football whilst a third of the country are on their summer holidays.

Indeed. But that would be an infringement of people's human rights in this country.... © Daily Mail Reader Retorts Ltd

Nice one. Reminds me of the conversation I had with Natwest "customer service" yesterday.... 'Helpful Banking' my arse

Close. Very close. I'm actually being paid by the Labour Party to expose the incompetencies of the Tories.

"Time and again since the Budget, Labour’s Ed Balls has urged the Coalition to follow the example of the United States, with a slower approach to cutting the deficit. ‘The Americans are the right comparison,’ he insists. Very well, Mr Balls. Let us compare. Take growth. Despite the fiscal stimulus so warmly approved by our Shadow Chancellor, the U.S. economy has actually grown more slowly than Britain’s over the first half of this year. To be precise, the U.S. grew by 0.4 per cent quarter-by-quarter over the first half of 2011, while we grew by 0.7 per cent. Certainly, our performance offers little to celebrate. But the fact is that Britain is doing almost twice as well under ‘Slasher’ Osborne as is America under his big spending opposite number. Or take unemployment. In the U.S., it stands at 9.2 per cent, and rising. In the UK, it is 7.7 per cent – and (touch wood) under control. Or interest rates. Remarkably, thanks to Mr Osborne’s cuts, Britain now pays no more for its loans than America, with its reserve currency of the mighty dollar. Indeed, yesterday our Government’s borrowing costs fell to their lowest ever, as investors turned to the UK as a safe haven. Meanwhile Spain and Italy are having to pay more than double. Then there’s the ultimate irony: after its massive spending binge, and the chaos in Congress, the U.S. is having to slash its deficit more quickly than we are. It may be too much to expect a show of humility from the bumptious Mr Balls. But with his economic theories exposed as recipes for catastrophe, could he at least favour us with a period of silence?" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2021783/Isnt-finally-time-silence-Ed-Balls.html Disclaimer: the above is the opinion of The Daily Mail so should be assumed to be complete nonsense.

Lol :-)

Or...does he jump ship to another Championship team when we get promoted this season....? ;-)

Cool. Will do, cheers. (I can see curtains in the online store "linen and home" section, but no duvet covers....I feel a Trevor and Simon sketch coming on...!)

Boom, Tish.....here all week per chance....? ;-)

My uncle is a scout for West Brom and he's never been refused complimentary access to my knowledge. As The Kraken says, the system pretty much survives on an open door "gentleman's agreement" basis (unless there's any FA rules that underpin the system that I'm not aware of. I'll ask him next time I see him)

I was hoping to buy a Saints duvet cover / pillow case set for my son's single bed but can't find any in the online Saints shop. I'm pretty sure they used to do this sort of thing...? Anyone know anywhere else that sells such an item? Cheers

George Osborne's Plan A is right - now cut tax Evening Standard comment 2 Aug 2011 The Chancellor, George Osborne, has few enough reasons to be cheerful just now, what with gloomy figures for the manufacturing sector and sluggish economic growth. But there is one cause for cheer: the UK gilts yield has fallen to 2.7 per cent, the lowest for a decade. What this means is that Britain is paying a smaller interest rate on our debts than our neighbours because the markets have confidence in the Government's economic policies. It's a thumbs-up for Mr Osborne's so-called Plan A for fiscal austerity and deficit reduction. And it means Britain looks like a better bet for investors than the US, with its last-ditch deal to avoid debt default. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23974850-george-osbornes-plan-a-is-right---now-cut-tax.do

Good job we didn't try it out in our last pre-season friendly otherwise Leeds would know what to expect...doh... ;-)

Sigh

I suspect I'm being a tad thick, for once, but how do I enter the prediction league and/or where do I submit my prediction(s)? When I click on the prediction league link, all I see is the initial league table and a bar graph showing the prediction split thus far. Edit: yep, I was being thick - ignore me - just seen the 'my predictions' link....doh....

Nice beaver

And there was me thinking this was a Saints forum.... ;-)

And there was me thinking that this was a Saints forum..... ;-)

And here was me thinking this was a Saints forum..... ;-)

This media led back patting of Ed Miliband pre-empting Government decisions is getting a little tiresome (in my opinion of course). It's a whole lot easier and quicker to suggest a path to follow in opposition than it is to commit to such a move when in power. It's something that every party does in opposition - get in first with proposed ways forward so they can claim it was their idea despite the government (probably) mulling over the very same idea at the same time. In opposition, there is usually little or no consequence of tripping rapid fire solutions off the tongue. In power, however, you have to dot all the i's and cross all the t's to avoid jumping the gun (and even then they can get it wrong...) So all Miliband is doing is what all opposition leaders do - look for opportunist moments to shout out proposed ways forward before the government has had chance to analyse the best solution. All Miliband has done recently is a good job of being in opposition. That's what I'd expect him to do, just like all opposition leaders of all parties before him. In the example of recalling parliament for an extra day, if Cameron had made a snap decision to recall parliament, and then some logistical reason why that couldn't happen came to light, people would have criticised him for not thinking it through first and doing (another) u-turn...with Miliband no doubt leading the charge of the band wagon brigade... But, these observations aside, one thing I do agree with is that Miliband is shaping up into a capable opposition leader... :-)