revolution saint

Nice piece about Viera here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4338048/Could-Patrick-Vieira-succeed-Arsenal-boss-Arsene-Wenger.html You will have to go to the Daily Heil site tho...

I'd be interested to hear what answer Les would give to this question. Arguably this is his most important decision if the takeover goes through - he'll be judged on this by people who may not be quite as forgiving as Kat or have the same vision for the club. I wonder if this makes him more risk adverse or less?

That might be wishful thinking. From what I recall there were mystery candidates when both Koeman and Puel were appointed but nothing materialised and I don't expect them to this time round. These links normally have an element of truth in them and I'd be surprised if it wasn't one of FdB or Pellegrino. In a way the club have only themselves to blame if the fans don't get straight on board with the new appointment. We keep hearing about 'The Southampton Way' and how we do things differently so it's a bit depressing to read that list of potentials - none of them it seems really has much to differentiate themselves from the rest of the candidates and you don't get the sense that they would be imposing an identity and playing style upon the club that would make us distinctive. I will add that doesn't apply to all of the candidates on that long list, just the majority of them.

Could interpret the Echo piece a number of ways but if I had to draw any conclusions it would be: Puel is definitely gone. New manager will be a free agent - there's not enough time to get someone in for pre-season if they have to negotiate with a club and then agree personal terms with the manager. They know who they want as the new man and have probably agreed a deal in principal with them which would explain the relaxed attitude to this. My guess is that the delays are caused by finalising paperwork, holidays and stuff like that but the real work of identifying a manager and agreeing a deal has been done. Pure speculation though.........

The problem with your analysis is that you forget the Tory habit of ripping itself apart over Europe. They can't help themselves. There must be loads of games being played even now and May won't have any power to stop them - she'll try and pander to both sides of her party and the only thing she'll achieve is ****ing them all off. She'll be seen as a dead man walking, with no authority and a liability. Sooner rather than later she'll have to face a leadership election - there might not be any worthy candidates but there are certainly some ambitious non-worthy ones around. So, how's that for a different prediction?

Or you could propose that with a united party Labour could have done even better. As much as this is a slap in the face for the Tories, this is also a rebuke to those MPs within the Labour party that constantly rebelled and briefed against him. For all the talk of imagine if a competent leader was in charge of the PLP people need to remember that they probably wouldn't have campaigned on the same policies. This has shown that actually people are happy to vote for privatisation, for investment and for a fairer society. I would also imagine that it'll show that these policies are enough to convince young people to come out and vote. If, as I hope, this results in Labour becoming a united force then Corbyn will probably look much more competent.

Fair enough - prove it.

No he doesn't. We've never tapped up a new manager - Pardew, Adkins, Poch, Koeman or Puel were all spken to legitimately and there's nothing to suggest we would tap up the new manager. Same goes with players as far as I'm aware. He's just projecting Liverpool behaviour and assuming everyone else does it. He's wrong and so are you.

Yep, difficult to see what the fuss is all about from what I've seen. A few tidy long range goals aside he doesn't look all that but it appears the club are committed to doing a deal so they must be sure and I'll guess we'll see. Lot of clubs after him which either means there's something we're not seeing or his agent is a busy man. To be honest the Real Madrid lad looked more the kind of signing that would benefit us - despite not being particularly tall seemed very good on getting on the end of crosses which would be a bonus seeing as how we put more crosses into the box than anyone else.

Just done this.

End of the day you kill animals for pleasure - otherwise you wouldn't do it would you? You get your kicks out of killing things that can't fight back in a fair fight. You can call it conservation if it makes you feel better and there probably are some benefits to the culling of certain species - I'd just rather it was done by someone who didn't enjoy it, or pay for that 'privilege'. It makes you weird.

He shook both their left and right hands? What's the hell is up with the man? Sounds like a proper nutter to me.

Only problem I have with hunting is that it's not really a fair fight, is it? I mean, the game's rigged. Now if these hunters were to hunt each other then that would be fair and they could rightly take some pride in having taken down their opponent. I'd respect that and it would also cut down on some of the pests that seem to be particularly prevalent these days.

I'd be interested to hear what you think of the results. I've been thinking of getting one and also as a present for my parents as my Dad is particularly interested in this type of thing. My Nan comes from decent Romany stock so I'd expect some out of that to come out in the results. Look forward to seeing what you think of your results.

No wonder Trump loves the poorly educated......

My source tells me this also. Yesterday I spoke to a mate who claimed to know nothing that was going on with regards to transfers - normally I take that with a pinch of salt but I'm inclined to believe him now. I assume my ITK credentials will be off the scale now I've revealed I know nothing but that's a price I'm willing to pay.....

Don't go to many games these days but just got a call for a free ticket. Last time this happened was against Sunderland two years ago so I'd suggest lumping all your money on another 8-0.......

I never buy replica shirts so doesn't really matter what I think but christ that looks rubbish.

Just finished 'America's Dreyfuss' by Joan Brady. It's an account of Alger Hiss, a top american civil servant, who was convicted of perjury after being accused of being a communist by the House of Un-American Affairs Committee. Apparently it was, and is, a big deal in the US although I'd never heard about it. Anyway, in 1949 Hiss, who had been at the Yalta conference and also acted as effectively the first UN secretary general was accused of being a communist. There was no evidence and his accuser was simple fantasist who changed his story as often as his aliases. Hiss, unlike most people appearing before HUAC, declined to take the 5th amendment and chose to defend his name - even going so far as to sue for libel. Nixon made his name with this case and it set him on the way to the white house - the amount of dirty tricks and bare-faced lying he goes to is unbelievable. Really enjoyed this book - very good at showing just how paranoid America became at this period.

As a player Cruyff was outstanding, such an entertainer, and brilliant to watch. Impossible to put the greats in any kind of order but he's certainly right up there. When you consider his contribution to football as both player and manager then he stands out even more - his philosophy on the game and the way he made his mark on it must be unrivalled? Funny thing is that looking at those clips made me really glad we had MLT. I'm not saying MLT was quite as good as Cruyff but he did similar things and wasn't far off that standard - makes you cherish those memories and really appreciate the truly great players. Anyway, RIP Cruyff, thanks for the memories and thanks for your influence - still felt today and all the better for it.

I guess many of you will be going to games in your early 60's now.......

No, I'd completely agree with you. Why would you think otherwise? Funny thing is I've never actually expressed an opinion as to whether I think staying or leaving is a good idea so my vote is effectively up for grabs.

Don't suppose you could stop calling people who want stay in the EU as Remainians? Wasn't really funny the first time and, well, it's a bit school playground isn't it? Detracts from your argument if anything. Ta.

Think you're putting too much store in that quiz - does Trump actually have any policies besides building a big f**k off wall and getting Mexico to pay for it? Sorry, forgot - he wants to ban Muslims and keep Gitmo open for business. Besides that it's all slogans. Not surprising then that he doesn't poll right at the bottom of the list for most people as first he needs to have policies to disagree with. As for why he gets so much publicity? That's obvious - he's good for the media. You'd struggle to much click bait about any of the other politicians because they're all fairly dull but with Trump he'll virtually write the article for you. He was a celebrity anyway and now he's front-runner so hardly surprising he's going to get more coverage. Once you add in the fact that he's totally barking mad then it's no wonder this has become the Trump show. You're obviously right that not many people 'love' the other candidates but why should they? Clinton is offering a pragmatic and (for the US) left-of-centre manifesto - it's hard to get worked up over those kind of 'more of the same' policies although hopefully she'll get in. They're sensible but dull - precisely what the US needs (IMO). Course it doesn't play well against a background of angry chants of "this country needs fixing' but personally I don't think anyone should even be competing on that level. The rest of the candidates are also struggling for the same reasons but even JFK would. Although to be fair if he was resurrected then that would be a hell of a publicity stunt so maybe not.......

Just finished 'American Rust' by Philip Meyer and liked it a lot. It's based around two 21yr olds in Pennsylvania, in a town called Buell that's dying because the local steel mill has closed so there are no jobs, no opportunities and no hope. Essentially we're talking about the flipside of the 'American Dream'. Without giving too much away something happens that sets off a chain of events which becomes almost painful to read - most of the decisions made are with the best intentions but are going down a road that you know won't end well. If you like misery in your books then this has it in spades and positively drips with it. The characterisations of the novel are good and that's really the point of the book - there's not a whole lot of fast paced action going on. The book has been compared to 'Grapes of Wrath' and that's a fair one; it's not quite as good but then it would have to be a terrific book to do that. Chances are though that if you like 'Grapes' then you'll like this one.