Whitey Grandad

I think that's a fair assessment. Bear in mind that each referee is different and has his own threshold for awarding penalties. I think that Mané's first incident where he threw himself to the floor after having his foot trod on (touched?) did not help his cause and possibly led to his booking for another perceived dive.

My two children went through university in the 1990s, my son for 4 years and my daughter for 3. It cost me over £40,000 to do it. My daughter came out debt-free but my son owed quite a bit which he has only just paid off. Most of his went on booze. In my day (Cambridge 1968 ) there were no tuition fees and there was a grant of up to £400 but this was means-tested and only the poor got the full grant. Getting a job during the vacations is the important thing. Personally, I don't agree with the big drive to send everybody to 'university' and then get them to have to pay for it all. I think that apprenticeships are a much better course to a career for a lot of youngsters. You're earning money whilst you''re learning and by the time your contemporaries have graduated you're some way along the career path.

No, always the referee, he is the one who stops his watch during the game. These days they are all wired up but previously you could see the referee signalling by tapping his hand against his thigh to show the number of minutes. In yesterday's game they showed Wenger walking over to the fourth official to ask how long and the official had his hand to his earpiece at the time. The referee does not actually have to tell the players how long is left although that would probably be considered bad manners. It's a bit difficult to hide when there's a giant scoreboard of course.

I still don't think he'll get a game.

Not as costly as employing the wrong people. It's a minefield, you have my sympathies. Sorry that I can't help more, have you tried word of mouth?

It's been happening for years. The concept of 'sport' disappeared a long time ago.

That's a very extreme figure. Even Cambridge charge 'only' £9000 p.a. so that would be £27,000. Student loans are not a normal debt and should not be considered as such. They are not repayable on demand and may never be repayed at all. They should be thought of more as a graduate tax which is not payable below a certain threshold. Decent sized pensions are the exception, unless the individuals used to work in certain areas of the Public Sector. Gordon Brown killed all the rest.

Corporation Tax will bring more businesses and jobs into Britain and will leave companies with more money that they can spend on investment and employment. It will also help to offset the costs of auto-enrolment in pensions. Inheritance Tax will pass on more money to the younger generations so no complaints there, surely? The 40% threshold has not been indexed and is still subject to fiscal creep.

I think it must just be an attempt at a joke. During the next four years there will be loads of new pensioners. I don't know the demographics but I'm pretty sure that there will be more new recruits than thos slipping away. I don't think that the winter fuel allowance will sway anybody either way. In my opinion it should just be lumped in with the state pension along with the Christmas bonus. Then it would be liable for tax along with all the other payments.

Which tax cuts are you thinking of?

Too right it's serious. Using the NHS doesn't make you any wealthier and the value of your own home is totally irrelevant. Any savings you migh have are eroded by inflation in order to reduce the government's debt. As for the highlighted part, the value of living in a home that you have bought and paid for has not changed. It's still the same home. Pensions are index-linked but they are not tax-free and they have been paid for by a lifetime of contributions. As I said, I don't see any wealth amongst the old.

That's rubbish. Where is all this wealth? I can't see any. With interest rates at virtually zero for the last few years the wealth has been going the other way.

Already gone. Gerrard joined LA Galaxy in July.

Sounds like a team-building exercise for those not on international calls. A mini break with a change of scenery.

It might actually be true. How can they call Anfield intimidating when as that photo shows there's hardly anybody in it

And Chelsea soon

It's his ball, why should he? The petulant little ****

D'Azure

Well put. I'm still in shock to appreciate it properly.

If we're safe by January then we'll need him for our push for the title

Yes indeed, that would be good. Incidentally, five years is the maximum length of contract.

Very good but not the best. As for the free-kick goal yesterday, if he'd stayed on his line and somebody ended up with a free header we'd have been giving him some stick for it. It was a superbly taken kick, or a fluke, whichever you prefer.

Thankfully the gods of football don't like that sort of think. Mere mortals shouldn't try and interfere with their plans.

I think the problems with Chelsea is that everything is about Mourinho and his ego.

Thanks for the suggestion Of course I'm rich enough to have several of them in my own private box although at my age they'd have to start the day before and might not be finished by the time the next match started.