The Kraken

Despite failing to win a new contract, Simon Gillett found a cunning new way to stay at the club....

Unite members outside the court sang "we are the champions" after the verdict was announced. Says it all about how short-sighted and blinkered these idiots are.

That reminds me of Sheffield United's badge.

From that site... "What is BA doing that's provocative? Unite and BA were close to a deal that could have been recommended to crew which would have brought down costs and allowed BA to restructure its business. But while Unite negotiated in good faith to come to an agreement that both sides could live with, BA carried on a campaign of bullying and victimisation against cabin crew. BA is taking disciplinary action against more than 50 crew members who have been suspended on spurious charges arising from the dispute. Seven crew have already been dismissed. Thousands of cabin crew and their families have had long-established travel arrangements removed. BA won't listen to their cabin crew staff or to their Unite representatives in order to settle this dispute. Staff are unable to speak out for fear of being victimized or sacked if they do. There has to be a better way." What an utterly, utterly pathetic reason for going on strike for such a huge amount of time. Unite have had their noses severely put out of joint by BA's insistence on being managed properly and not taken for a ride any longer by the union in an effort to stem the bleeding of their massive losses. Yes Unite, there is a "better way". Advise your members to get back to work. The public are not behind you in this dispute any more and can see through your ridiculous PR spin. If these 50 crew members who've been suspended suffer unfair dismissal then the courts will back that up, and they will receive more than adequate compensation. This just seems like yet another excuse for these militant hardliners to stamp their feet in an attempt to wreak further havoc on the general public. Far too keen to have a fight than get things resolved.

My mate got exactly that a couple of months ago, and it was perfect. Home shirt with name and number, looked flawless to him. No problems with the sizing either. We're yet to work out whether the shirts are fakes, replicas, or seconds. They come with all the proper labels, official manufacturer badges and what not, and the quality of material is definitely that of the proper shirts. So to all intents and purposes they look like the real thing. None of the shirts I have are in any way damaged or imperfect, all the stitching etc looks fine. I've had my four for a couple of years now and I wear one at least once a week to play footy, after all that use they have all washed up fine, no shrinking or anything. If you buy 3 or 4 at a time then the postage costs come down and you're only really paying £10 or £15 a shirt. So even if it is just a really good quality fake that you're getting, it's really not a lot of money to spend. And especially if, like me, you only use them to play football in anyway.

Not really surprised Surman didn't make it at Wolves, although admittedly his injury did him no favours. Just never thought he was quite good enough for the Prem; not strong enough for a central midfielder and not quick enough for a left winger. Still would make a good Championship player though, so it would be a bit of a coup if he did return, but I'd expect him to set his sights higher than us unfortunately. Plus his wages would be Prem level.

I've had 4 shirts off these lot in the past: http://www.bornprosper.com/cart/default.asp I use them all for playing 5-a-side, they look and feel exactly like the genuine article and after many, many washes are still pretty much good as new. Cheaper than your site too. Some of my friends have bought shirts from there too, all with excellent results. I guess there's always a risk with these types of sites, but between me and my friends we've probably bought over 30 shirts from these lot, and all have been fine. Great value too.

I'd much rather they just went into open population of a UK prison, to be fair.

Good news that the work-shy fops have to actually do what they're being paid for. However, this is just going delay matters and the cynical Unite leaders will now be planning a summer of chaos, so yet more innocent passengers are punished for the stupidity and downright pig-headedness of this archaic organisation. Just get a grip and get back to work, and be grateful that you're already grossly overpaid and still employed.

You could ask the same about SISA too; a supporters organisation which, it seems, is impossible to join (not that you'd actually WANT to stand alongside that bunch of imbeciles anyway).

The Echo did actually run a double page spread on it prior to NC's comments; one page with an interview with SISA chairman (Mick O'Callaghan I think) and one with "Saints Trust chairman" Nick Illingsworth. The SISA guy came out largely in favour of AP and said it would be madness to sack him (perhaps a rare semblance of sense from SISA at last), whereas Illingsworth was more constrained and suggested that AP had had an "OK" season. There's two sides to it. Firstly, neither said that they were speaking on behalf of their (defunct) organisations and only expressed personal views. However, when it's knowingly dressed up that the paper are speaking to you only because of the your title, its disingenuous at best to not point out that your organisation doesn't actually exist any more. Its even worse to continue to prattle on quite happily giving quote after quote living under the banner of a dead organisation, just to carry on getting your ridiculous fix of publicity. I've said before, the Echo are complicit in this and it is either poor or lazy journalism that they don't clarify the situation, or actually find someone worthwhile to interview. But the ultimate fault lies with Illingsworth et al and their pathetic need for attention and to be seen as some form of uber-fan.

The Saints Trust are clearly just an avenue for one or two very sad individuals to use a false title in a rather sorry effort of self importance and notoriety. It is either very poor or very lazy journalism on behalf of the Echo to carry on using these idiots for regular soundbites. I do agree somewhat with SRS's campaign against the Trust though. While most people on this board are aware that they are a defunct organisation, many people who read the Echo and get to hear the ramblings of Illingsworth, Perry McMillan, Mike O'Callaghan etc won't be aware that they are just individuals hiding behind the name of an organisation that doesn't exist and perhaps believe they are a formal mouthpiece for the views of the fans, which is clearly very wrong. Until the Echo get off their arses and actually start asking some questions of these fools (asking whether the Saints Trust/SISA actually exist would be a good start) we will continue seeing these publicity whores get their desired 5 minutes of attention.

Really? Reminded me of this....

Apart from the badge, I think that would be decent. And if they've got the away shirt anywhere near right, that would be quality. here it is without logo... Edited with new badge.

As am I; you enjoy yourself sweetums xxx

This whole discussion is a bit head mental, to be fair.

Unless the reason is that you don't understand their respective roles, then no, I don't. xx

Erm, I'm perfectly aware how its spelt. Go and google search "psychiatry", then maybe you'll understand.

Have another go, genius.

Should have gone with this, tbf....

Lager that tastes like lager.

In 30 years of flying I don't think it has ever taken me anywhere close to 3 hours to get through customs at LHR or LGW. And if you want to compare with Southampton; I've previously turned up 30 minutes prior to a European flight and had no bother checking in and getting the (on-time) flight.

This is Unite you're talking about though, an organisation to whom the terms "clever" and "imaginative" are completely alien. I think SRS had it right when he termed them as scum, because this new round of unjustified and thoroughly excessive strikes are designed only to cause chaos to the general public. I'd be more than happy to see any one of them on the picket line lose their jobs, it would be completely deserved for their flagrant disregard of their customers.

From BBC... "The British Airways cabin crew union, Unite, has announced fresh strike dates in its long-running dispute with the airline. Cabin crew will walk out for four separate five-day strikes in May and June. The first strike will begin on 18 May, ending on 22 May, with the three further strikes beginning on 24 May, 30 May and 5 June. Unite members rejected a fresh deal for cabin crew earlier this month. The union said 81% of the cabin crew it represents voted against BA's offer last week, which sought to resolve the dispute over pay and working conditions. Details of that deal were not given, but Unite said BA had failed to restore the travel perks it withdrew from staff involved in the previous strikes in March. Those stoppages grounded hundreds of flights and cost BA an estimated £45m. The newly-announced strikes will see staff walk out for a total of 20 days, covering spring bank holiday and school half-term holidays. In a statement, Unite's joint general secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley blamed BA for forcing cabin crew to again resort to industrial action. "There can be no industrial peace without meaningful negotiations and while management victimises trade unionists and uses disciplinary procedures in a witch-hunt," they said, claiming that a Unite approach made over the weekend had been rejected. "The seven days' notice period is sufficient time for BA management to do the sensible thing and reopen meaningful negotiations," they added. The sooner BA kick Unite into touch, the better. Totally and utterly out of touch with reality.

Charlton probably still have the supporter base to command some transfer funds and therefore be more of a potential threat, so I'd go for them.