Whitey Grandad

All sorts of reasons but probably for more money. It may be that the club now feel more secure about staying in the Premier League than when the present one was offered.

Thank you for articulating my thoughts for me

Good point, if I may say so.

How do you know that we aren't doing that now?

Hardly, he has a year left on his contract. If anybody is messing us about it is the press.

Quite so. The bulk of a player's time is spent at the training ground and not the stadium and the manager spends almost as much time there. To take it the other way round, if he wanted to live in London he could be down at Staplewood 3 or 4 days a week without any trouble and St. Mary's is not much over an hour away.

If you want London life there's not a lot to choose between us. Spurs's new training ground is just inside the M25 north of Enfield.

Money, dear boy, simply money.

Wouldn't that be more like aestivation?

Yes indeed. A good World Cup and his price could double.

Unless you're Portsmouth FC (or whatever they were called). As I remember it they collected VAT when they sold but never handed any of it over to HMRC, arguing that it wasn't liable or something.

Usually their value is written down over the length of their contract.

I've still got my boots, can I play?

There's a volcano under it, isn't there?

Are fees always quoted ex-VAT?

You can't take one figure out of context. It could include the salary bill for the remainder of the players' contracts, for example. The balance sheet is what matters.

Orange

If you believe all the rumours it has the air of 'everything must go' about it. I shall wait and see and get on with my life in the meantime.

Yes, thanks for sharing. I have actually been to Aalborg many years ago, to the shipyard back in the days when they still built them.

You never accept the first offer.

As they started there walk there was a chant of 'Guly, Guly' from the Northam and he turned round and applauded them. He was towards the back of the players.

At this rate we won't have a team left in a couple of weeks.

That's rubbish. I've heard that he's entering next year's Eurovision Song Contest.

The wheels would come off his career.

I definitely saw Gazza and Ramirez.