revolution saint

This is probably part of the negotiation game and nothing more. What's encouraging is that the agent has chosen to name Cardiff as our main rivals - usually it's Arsenal, Liverpool etc. Cardiff have already baulked at the asking price so really can't see them offering more in wages and shows the player is willing to move to a club that isn't one of the big four. To be fair we're playing the same game with the player what with the links to the Belgian lad. I still expect Wanyama to sign anyway.....

NOS4R2 by Joe Hill. I'm just over half way through and it's brilliant so far. Probably unfair to draw a comparison between Stephen King and his son but this really is right up there with the best of early King novels. It's not a homage or pastiche but it has the same voice. It's a big old novel too at about 700 pages but so far it's not dragged at all. If you like Stephen King and haven't tried any Joe Hill stuff before then give it a go - you really won't be disappointed.

Can't believe no one has mentioned Carlisle fans. Thought they were great at the JPT. Also met a few decent Wigan fans this season as well.

All seems a load of rubbish but for the record I'm one of those new affluent types. I'd have thought class would be more economically based but there was only a couple of questions on that. Also found it odd that one of the factors was who you were friends with and what their occupation was but not what your occupation was.

No, but some actors get far more than that.

I know this thread is all about knocking the skates but today I'll applaud them - they got a draw and points have been hard to come by so well done. Despite dropping to the bottom of the division they are still far higher than they'll be for a good while so I hope they enjoy this point. WTFILN?

Playing devils advocate does the number of people who die make a difference? If so what's the cutoff point - what number constitutes a period of silence and what doesn't? Personally a single death is as important as a multiple one but the only people it really concerns are friends and family. The rest of us can respect the loss of others but I think for most people that's implicit anyway - do we need to publically display that grief/respect? I'm not defending people who disrupt a period of silence but I do think their are genuine questions concerning death and how we honour it - let's face it people die every day and it's all tragic.

Would guess it was at the request of Brazil which is fair enough I suppose. I wouldn't disrupt a minute silence but do think that it's getting out of hand - there's a fine line between showing respect and mawkishly sharing grief for people we don't know. To be honest I don't really know the answer but things like the Villa "no respect" chant don't help.

Well there's obviously no such thing as Karma, so the answer is no. The case needs to be investigated before anyone can form an opinion though - how did the chap die, was the death attributable to any individual (he could have just had a heart attack), was unnecessary force used, what drove the bloke to do this, did he act alone, was he known to any other person in the shop that day.... the list goes on. Appreciate that it's always fun to form a knee jerk opinion based on scant details but I'd rather wait till we know a little more. Clearly if the chap brought a gun into a shop (replica or not) then he should expect a reasonable amount of force - and it's doubtful many juries or judges would convict anyone who caused death in the act of self defence (on the face of it this doesn't sound like the Tony Martin case).

From the limited amount I've seen Zarate could actually be a better bet than Coutinho - certainly looks physically stronger and better able to cope in the prem. Maybe doesn't have the blinding pace or as many tricks but still quite pacy and skillful. Also has an eye for goal. Lazio paid 20M euros for him with a 60M buyout clause but he's available for much, much less now and he wants to move. He's Argentinian so MP will be aware of him and he's played in the prem before so will know what to expect. Given that any transfer of this type is going to be a risk I'd be tempted to go for the cheaper option of Zarate as he seems to have more attributes that would suit the pace of the prem than Coutinho. In addition to that his missus is fit.

I think I did, but happy for you to enlighten me. Last post from me though - i don't miss the days of unlimited posts....

Erm, no, delldays and alps thought NA should go, everyone else thought differently, results changed for the better, delldays and alps changed their minds, everyone else stayed the same.

OK here's my take on it, and it could be quite rambling so apologies for that. Does anyone else think we've become slaves to a strategic, long term vision? I do. There's nothing wrong with having ambition, developing the academy etc but does anyone seriously think we stand a better chance of survival with a bloke who, respected though he may be, doesn't speak the native language, has no experience in this league and joins mid season or someone who knows the players and has done a half decent job (NA)? Personally I really can't see any reason to sack NA at this point in time - he's our best chance of survival. What worries me is the return of "the Southampton way" which dictates we always play a certain way (4-3-3) and we must have x amount of academy players in the team. A fine and well intentioned ideal but we need to survive and establish ourselves over time to achieve that - I'm not sure we're there yet. If you listen to the new fella's interviews it's all about the "project" and it has more than a whiff of the poortvliet about it. This season is all about staying up - nothing more, and IMO today's decision has made that more unlikely.

well assuming we're also looking at another CB or two then there's really no reason not to get excited about this. Lad looks quality. Of course I'm only judging him on the YouTube stuff but really does look good. Also get the feeling he could make Ramirez look a better player purely because he'd read the flicks and have the pace and speed of thought to feed off him. I know scoring goals hasn't been a massive problem for us but IMO we probably should have made more of our possession and been more effective in the final 3rd - Coutinho could easily help out on that. Also love the fact that Italy seems to be a feeder country for us..... Anyway, doubt it'll happen but I guess one of the plusses of being in the prem is getting these kind of links so I'll just enjoy it and see what happens.

Fair play to Danny Boyle for turning an honour down.

This year we decided to do the poundland parade of crap for a laugh - idea being that you buy the crappiest, most inappropriate present you can find. So I got multi-coloured shoelaces and car air freshener. We did do normal presents as well but the crap ones were the most fun.

I think your presumption is pretty much wrong - sure you have to ease kids in but you're suggesting not actually playing competitive football for 2 years?

Without wanting to get involved in the rights and wrongs of the situation (don't know the detail) it's hardly surprising they would strike on a day that would cause maximum publicity.... they'd be pretty stupid not to really.

I honestly despair that child abuse can be considered party political.

Love the Jam but Weller has had a few dodgy spells; Style Council for me was awful and despite his protestations a lot of his solo stuff has become predictable dad rock.

Just watching a documentary on religion and politics in the US on PBS which is quite interesting although fairly superficial. It got me wondering though if anyone knows if there is a natural link between the free market neonservatives (Friedman and the chicago boys) and the christian far right? The documentary seems to suggest there isn't and that it's more a marriage of convenience which makes sense. Anyway, I just find it interesting - would like to know if anyone has any thoughts or recommendations on further reading. BTW I'm not trying to make any point on politics or religion at all.

No real opinion on Di Canio as a manager as I don't know enough about him. He's proved he's a fascist **** though which is enough for me to say no thanks.

Jamie Oliver - fat tongued mockney w*nker.

Well if she's just a figurehead then we can get rid of her then surely? After all she doesn't really do much and the idea that she should get the lucrative figurehead position purely and simply because she inherited it is, well, stupid. Ironically Puerto Rica is actually a republic - it's head of state is the US president but unfortunately it's citizens don't get a vote in US presidential elections - the US can be a little disingenous about the democracy it promotes though. Anyway, bottom line is that if you think our head of state should be decided by birthright alone then you're a monarchist, if not then you're a republican.

The monarchy is not democratic and hereditary rule is ridiculous. Pretty sure no one would dispute that? Any monarchist defence is therefore the defence of an absurdity.