Whitey Grandad

It's all very well saying who you wouldn't have, which two players would you put in their places? Anybody can be negative.

Bogeymen

It's no good building a railway station if there aren't any trains that go to it. I'm with you, walk or die.

Amongst all these stats is there anything about the number of times 'we' hit the woodwork. A few of those going into the goal might have made a difference.

Mata's was not that clear. The ball may actually have been touched by Rooney on it's way through to him.

To be honest I didn't notice that but I tend to skim read anyway. At least I have an excuse what with my deteriating eyesight and decrepitude. That and my old age Irony: a bit like brassy but harder and not as bright.

Fair enough JBS. So we both agree he was worth his place. I must admit I overlooked the significance of the bit about 'last Sunday'.

Or ran out of apostrophes in his Letraset sheets? (remember those?). I see what you mean, that's the trouble with the internet and its forums, it's not real English and without all the winky, smiley thingies the true meaning can get lost. Some contributions need to be read out loud in order to get the true intentions of the poster and irony flies staight out of the Windows. If nothing else I have learned a new law today: Skitt's Law. Here are some more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6408927/Internet-rules-and-laws-the-top-10-from-Godwin-to-Poe.html I'm in two minds about Chelsea. One side of me says that they are there for the taking and that this is a good time to play them. The other reminds me that we are Saints and nothing ever seems to go as expected, even if I expect it to be like that.

Er... not sure how to point this out but I think the Prof's was being deliberate. Maybe he should have written 'of' insead of of.

I believe that's what I said? He may not have scored himself but his delivery was on the spot for Virgil. I am sure we can both agree on this

He didn't need to, we scored two without his assistance and the first with a perfect delivery from him.

When you say 'don't take it so serious' I think you're beginning to get the idea and might I suggest you follow likewise? I can't speak for anyone else but nothing I ever post on here should be taken too seriously.

That annoyed me too. A bit disrespectful in a way.

He'd like that. Anything that pumps his ego.

If it had been a goal scoring opportunity then it would have been a red card. Penalties are more often than not a yellow card. Maybe the lunge was considered reckless.

Not actually blatant, certainly not the first. Bringing back the game for a restart would ruin the ebb and flow, in my opinion. TV judgments have badly influenced cricket and have not improved the rugby. If you're going to have TV dominating the game then you need to rewrite the offside law because it is very difficult to judge by viewing on TV. Even Mata's 'offside' contribution to their goal was difficult to judge. The ball may have been touched on the way through by a United player. What we need are Assistant Referees to be a bit sharper. I'm not a great fan of substitutions when they are spread out and used as a means of disrupting the flow. I'm definitely against them being used in injury time.

Nightclub in Worthing??? What do they do there, have Horlicks raves, watch Strictly Come Dancing all night and then have a snooze?

Please no, no, and thrice no. I fell asleep during the rugby last night with all those stoppages. It's turning into American Football. Offside is not an exact science, we just need to live with it and get on with the game. It has survived well enough until the last decade or so until television took control.

Yes, welcome to the Premier League.

At what stage does somebody say 'Mornington Crescent' and then the thread ends?

I don't miss him, to be honest.

Part of the misunderstanding was his attempts to keep the game flowing by waiting a few seconds to see if any advantage had accrued, and then bringing the game back for a free kick. People around me thought he was giving non-existent fouls. I was bemused by the analytical decision but when you see it again on MOTD Fonte slides in and completely upends the Swansea player. Most of the fouls seemed to be for shoves and pushes which is fair enough. You don't play football with your handset stop pushing and shoving and you won't get picked up. Having said that it was the highest foul count of the day at 32 but not by much, there were a couple of games in the high twenties.

Exactly. It shouldn't have been difficult, the assistant was standing at the right place holding his flag out all the time and the referee had to point this out to him. In the end the kick wasn't taken from the right place but we could still be there now. Talking of the ref, there was a lot of abuse for him but without my red and white striped glasses I thought he was spot on throughout the game.

Your neighbour is correct. He was offside when the ball was kicked.

Arsefart