Whitey Grandad

Same difference

Who says we can’t compete? If you believe all the talk our competitors are Norwich and Crystal Palace. But only if you believe the rumours. Being able to compete and wanting to compete are different things.

So any decline was due to Austin joining us?

The PremierLeague is too rich for most of the teams in it. It’s a farce that some clubs can spend so much more than most of the others.

True. There’s usual a period of a few days of mourning before the funeral elegy.

He’s gone. Why would we need to do anything? No rush.

The dominoes are set up and just waiting for the first to fall.

The prices these days are ridiculous. I’m sure a lot of us remember our first one million pound player. It doesn’t seem that long ago.

Sky News are reporting that Messi will definitely not be staying at Barcelona. And on the BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58108298

When I bought mine I was told that they would be sent out ‘some time in August’

Addons? Sponsorship of hairbands, presumably.

Let's look at it this way. If we hadn't taken the offer from Villa, Ings's services for the next season would have cost us over £20m. And that's on top of his wages.

The young man in the ticket office told me that they had set aside some seats in the Itchen for those of us who had been kicked out of the Kingsland. He then gave me a ticket for seat M83 and told me that it was in the block directly opposite the one that I had bought in block 32. Like hell it was. I was tucked up in the corner about 40 yards nearer the goal line. The fellow on my left spent the whole match leaning forward and his head blocked out the left hand half of the pitch. I had the sun straight in my eyes for the first hour and struggled to see anything. A classic case of bait and switch. Offer one thing and then change it for an inferior product.

I've come across this type of behaviour before,

There's a quote that I saw on a wheeler-dealer progran, "Nothing is for sale but everything has its price"

Likewise, same reply. I have my strong doubts that it will be.

And they are difficult to flush away.

Why do you reach that conclusion? He’s a professional footballer. That means he plays football in order to earn money. He went for the best offer that he could get. It really is that simple.

Finally, you have put your finger on the answer, albeit unwittingly. It’s precisely because we choose not to compete that the club is sustainable.

Selling Ings was a no-brainer. We can’t look at this one transfer in isolation. Give it until the end of the transfer window and then step back and take a look. Players come, players go, new heroes come along.

But if players are on the bench they are not having a night off in front of the tele.

The scientific conclusion might be that we should have opened up a month earlier

Likewise. I have been building a small wall in the garden and I have only just picked up the emails. To be honest I don’t want to go now. My grandson can’t get the evening off so it would be just me and I don’t fancy queuing up to sit at the back of some corner. I might ring up and ask for a refund. I have a wall to finish.

You should see the shit that comes out of the bottom!

I looked at them but 'my' seats had already been sold. I shall probably walk across them in my muddy boots before settling down in what will be my new home, even if it is only for one season. My grandson wanted to go to these games so I bought them last Thursday when there was plenty of choice. Now it turns out that he can't get his shifts changed