trousers

The council tax was more punitive to 'middle england' who are better at apathy that rioting.

Poll tax. Sadly another good idea that fell victim to bad publicity and/or clumsy execution.

Just because the execution was "botched" doesn't make it a bad idea per se. If consolidating / streamlining / rationalising various quangos saves a few bob or billions of pounds then it's worthwhile I'd have thought. If the exercise ends up costing more than it saves I'd be the first one to declare it as a waste of time. I tend to make such judgements after the event rather than pre-empt the outcome though. Call me old fashioned. :-)

Easy. Ben the Legend

Given all human beings are inherently hypocritical, yes.

Ok if I consult successful banker Nicola Cortese on that one first...? ;-)

Incorrect. They are playing Swindon in the LEAGUE - a rearranged fixture that was cancelled in December. If we hadn't got to the 3rd round tomorrow we'd be playing Oldham in the league as originally scheduled. Voila: http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10341~2246775,00.html Oldham Athletic clash re-arranged Posted on: Fri 17 Dec 2010 Town's League 1 fixture against Oldham Athletic has been re-arranged for Saturday 8th January. The match, which was postponed last weekend, has been moved to that particular date as both clubs are out of the FA Cup - the third round of which is set to be played that weekend.

An extractor fan if I ever saw one

But that would make it more difficult for teams to cheat.....oh.... ;-)

And there was me thinking I'd trigger a rational discussion on a Friday afternoon.... :-)

Are you still based in Naples, Florida 6 months of the year....?

Let's say for argument's sake that Hull have, as you say, increased their offer from 750k to 1m with a 10k pw salary and Saints original offer was 1.5m with, say, a £5k pw salary, Saints could now say to Swindon: "Ok, we'll now offer you 1.25m" and use the 'saved' 250k to pay him a higher weekly wage than Hull..... Same amount of money we were prepared to throw at the deal, just distributed differently. All that assumes the figures quoted are correct of course....

To be fair, David was referring to the relative attendance figures rather than the absolute figures.

Charlie Austin arriving for job interview yesterday

I would imagine a well off club such as Southampton FC will have written off the 4 pence in the pound of £35k by now.....

Spooky.....I'm listening to Alanis Morrisette as we speak....

Can anyone recommend a plumber and/or drain technician who covers the North East corner of Hampshire? I need a small access panel installed in a downstairs soil pipe. Cheers p.s. other more substantial plumbing work potentially in the pipeline (pun intended) - e.g. I think my central heating pump is on it's last legs and probably needs replacing this year at some point. In fact, the whole central heating system, including boiler, is a tad old so probably needs a professional opinion as to when/if it needs updating....

Was just about to start a "Anyone know a good plumber?" type thread and couldn't see anywhere obvious to put it. Might be worth having a "Tradesman wanted / Tradesman available" section? Just a thought cheers

Yep. Very good deal(s). My post was somewhat tongue-in-cheek

Post #190 http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?27328-Blackpool-build-up-!&p=928064#post928064

Shouldn't we be praising the fact that we now have much more open politics whereby the coalition have set up review panels and committees for various policy decisions headed by people from across the political spectrum and don't try and put a spin on the verdict? (yes, I know this particular committee was established by the coalition per se but there have been plenty of government commisioned policy review panels headed by politicians from all parties) Unless people are yearning for the days where the Blair/Mandleson/Campbell sanctum would micro-control policy creation and reviews. Jenkin's committee has one view, the government has another. Wow, there's a revelation.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jan/07/david-chaytor-jailed-mps-expenses David Chaytor, the first former MP to be convicted over the expenses scandal, was today sentenced to 18 months in prison. The former Labour MP for Bury North last month pleaded guilty at the Old Baileyto three charges of false accounting, days before he had been due to stand trial. He faced a maximum sentence of seven years. Chaytor had admitted false accounting involving a total of £18,350. He had agreed to pay back the sum before today's hearing at Southwark crown court.

Converting loans into permies doesn't count (well, not when I'm making up the rules as I go along it doesn't) :-)

But according to a lot of people on here, risk of injury (to any player, regardless of whether they are a transfer target) is one worth taking to play a full strength side in the FA Cup.... ;-)