sandwichsaint

If Peter Reid's on the bus we all need to head for the lifeboats.

We can field a pretty tasty first eleven. As soon as we get to second choices we struggle. We could play some attractive football and finish solidly mid-table. We need a top line striker and a wide player, and some full back cover, if we are to break top-8. Plus ca change?

Wind behind must have been worth something? From the TV pics it appeared to be blowing right behind them up those long exposed straights. Awesome performance from Froome but I reckon these whispers won't be going away any time soon. Contador's perf has certainly dropped since he changed his butchers.

Yeh, Shanks on Ron Yeats.

Let's hope when he gets to meet the press Poch invites them 'to take a walk round him'. One for the (grand)dads - who originally said that of whom?

Benteke hands in transfer request on SNN now. Don't know what that means for us? L'pool. Chels, Spuds interested.... does that free up anyone for us? (doubt it, they can afford to keep 3 teams before they free up anyone to a potential 'rival') LOL at the world gone mad (is Beneteke actually 'that' good?)

Brilliant,that's the first time I've LOLed on here for ages.

Coincidently, my club are touring down there in a couple of weeks time, we are staying in Bournemouth but a couple of the fixtures are Southampton way. Anybody got the heads up on any of these clubs - grounds, pitches, playing standards, teas, beers????? Hythe and Dibden CC Sarisbury Athletic CC We also play Dorset side Sixpenny Handley.

Interesting snippet at the weekend, friend of ours is a well known TV footie person (you would know the name) and he was at Poch's pc last week. He said his English hasn't really improved since last year, he said it did improve slightly over the season from when he started but where he has been away in the summer for a few weeks he lapses into his own tongue at home and hasn't been using English in the way he would 'at work' ie around the players. Said Capello was exactly the same - he could use enough English to get by on the training ground, but was never committed enough to learn the language to communicate confidently with the press. He doesn't expect Poch to be using English in the media any time soon. Also says the hype around the club is real, we do have the money, we do have the ambition; he expects us to do very well this season and be in a position to sustain it.

Just looked at the profile for AX3D and I lied - big gradients all the way up, and then about a 1.5km run in to the finish which is much flatter. Memory plays tricks - I must have been fitter then cos I found it pretty comfortable when we did it!

Who do we fancy today? Froome or Roland for me and Froome to move into the yellow, perfect. I rode Ax 3 Domaines last time the tour was there (2010?), not a particularly long climb by tour standards (6 or 7km from memory?) certainly not the hardest finish, very steep at the bottom but a more moderate (5-6%) on the top two thirds, reckon most of the big guns will be close together today, depending what happens on Payeres (sp) which is a beast (haven't done that). Fantastic place for a bike break, also got Plateau de Beille just down the road and within touching distance to Andorra/Envilara/Arcalis.

Anybody remember when the breakaway used to stick? I've been watching the TDF about 20 years and remember stages where 3 or 4 riders would arrive at the finish 5-10 minutes clear of the peloton, and then just roll, or even track-stand, in the last 300m as they turned it into a standing sprint. Haven't seen a stage like that for years. Guess there's much more depth in the peleton these days and teams are stronger all round. Reckon the green jersey and the team places will be really close, still think Froome is nailed on for the overall but we will see.

That's not the most scientific thing I've ever read on here. Probably as many similarities as there are differences. Number 1- they both wear a similar template kit!

That's me told (in reply to you calling somebody else 'silly' and going on to tell them how to behave ie 'get some perspective'). I thought I was moving the debate on (by giving my take on the situation) and agreeing with you that there are more important things out there.

I don't think anybody is really suggesting this are they? 'Everybody' understands that there are much greater things to get wound up about, and in the big scheme of things what shirt your football team wears is relatively small beer. Flip that over and shouldn't the same apply to the club? The 'club' may want to: play in red/re-brand/move-on, but is it really such a big deal for them? The vast majority of fans clearly want the club to wear some variant of red and white stripes/black shorts. If there is a reason we are moving to a predominantly 'plain' red style shirt (and red/white shorts) and the evidence tends to point that way, then surely it is not unreasonable for fans to expect a small explanation/justification? The club seem to be putting their desire to play in plain red/white ahead of what 'most' supporters want, if this really is such a big deal for them (they make more money / solids are more successful than stripes / advertisers pay more for solid colour over stripes / teams play better in red / stripe teams never win anything / foreign nufans prefer solid colour / vision coaches prefer solids to stripes etc etc etc) then they should share this with the fanbase who would be far more accepting of these changes if they came out and honestly explained the rationale behind the changes. If it is no big deal to the club (either way) and they can't provide a rationale explanation then people IMO are entitled to be disgruntled. Nobody thinks any of this is more important than real-life, but it is quite annoying in a football-shirt type of way.

Easter should be interesting then.....

No Bruce in your top 100? Or have you gone for something different to Darkness on the Edge etc.

LOL!!!! Realised that after I posted and I left it to see how long it would last... also quoted by Bletch further down the thread .. it should of course be the incomparable 'All Mod Cons'.

Although the VO2 max test is just a sort of scientific equivalent of 'running till you puke', I think Alpine can rest easy that the players will be given a thorough seeing-to over the next couple of days.

I guess if they've looked after themselves they might come back at 80% of match fitness? Guess it's hard to measure accurately in that they can very accurately measure the players' physical condition but 'match fitness' is a far more abstract concept? Also throw in that very few players will have finished the season at 100%. I'm sure the players are in the right hands and hopefully they will all build steadily to be Saints-fit for the first league game.

http://news.techworld.com/networking/3446243/manchester-city-fc-rolls-out-high-density-wifi-at-etihad-stadium/ Saw a thread on here a while ago that said it 'couldn't be done', obviously it can looking at this. Let's be 'avin it, in a go-ahead, customer focused, can-do stylee. Only for me before the game, at HT and afterwards but a real boon to all those that can't watch the game without their phone in their hand.

Luca Modric CDAJFU, is this the sort of thing?

Add Dean Richards to that list too.

Channon for me too. Those we have loved: Eric Martin, John McGrath, Big Ron, Tommy Jenkins, O'Neil, Shilts, Boyer and Ted, Jimmy Case, Steve Mills, Golac, Steve Williams, Peach, Holmes, MLT, Mark Dennis, Bally, Killer, CMFG, Beatts, SRL. Reckon Boruc could be next on my list, a definite cult hero in the making.