Sheaf Saint

Crikey, I remember him!

The first time I watched that movie I was completely out of my tree on acid. Watched it again a few days later when I came back down to earth and it still made no sense. Maybe that's what the Phew are banking on... waking up and realising it has all just been a bad trip, they're not going insane - not even a tiny bit - and everything will be normal again soon. And who the hell is this Roger Walters bloke?

I never really used to be into his music much, although I have learned to appreciate it more as I have got older, but there can be no doubting his influence. He was the original pin-up, heart-throb pop star that began the music industry practise of using good looks to sell records. Though unlike so many of the 'artists' (I use the term loosely) who subsequently tried to copy that model, Elvis was actually a supremely talented musician.

Why is PL experience so important though? Seriously? Just because somebody has played in the PL before doesn't automatically make them a better player than someone who hasn't. It's the same game at the end of it all, so if you are good enough you will make the step up regardless IMO. This idea that we badly need PL experienced players is a fallacy IMO.

OK, that was a slight exaggeration. But it's clear that many contributors to this thread are already being pessimistic about our chances this season on the basis that we have been slower to sign players than other teams have. It's been the same old story on here every transfer window for as long as I can remember.

Well judging by some of the negativity shown so far, I imagined I would get a glut of instant replies on this about player x going to Fulham or player Y going to Stoke etc... But seeing as I haven't, maybe - just maybe - the right players that we need haven't really been available so far, or the ones we have identified are reluctant to leave their current clubs and so negotiations are taking longer than if they were out of contract or looking for a move. We know from Holloway's little spat at us that we are interested in Matt Philips, which answers the question of whether or not we have been looking for a winger, and if anybody seriously believes that NA and Nicola are happy with our CB situation and are not actively looking for extra players in that department then I can recommend a good therapist for you. Since Nicola took charge we have done our transfer business the way it should be done: behind closed doors until the deal is done. We also know that NA is very particular about the type of player he wants, and I'm talking about not only the skills and talent needed for the position but the right mental attitude to make sure the player isn't a disruptive influence on the overall squad mentality. If the choice is between waiting until the season has started to sign the right players or panic-buying the wrong ones just because a handful of fans are getting hysterical because we haven't splashed out £20m yet, I am far happier for Nigel to go with the former and I will reserve judgment until the window closes.

Seeing as I haven't really been following other clubs' transfer activity, and I really can't be arsed to trawl through all 117 pages of the HCDAJFU thread, can somebody please tell me exactly which transfer targets we have missed out on? I mean, we all know we need a CB or two, and a pacey winger would be nice, but can anyone give me actual examples of where we have been in for these players and they have ended up signing elsewhere?

He's clearly not a dedicated nutjob.

As I type I have been stationary on the M42 for over three hours, and the latest developments on this thread have so far kept me from losing my mind with boredom. Can we get the toaster out of storage and give it a test yet?

Just goes to show how subjective football is I guess. I was at that game and I thought he looked really shaky against what was at the time a very weak Barnsley attack.

My GF and me took her 9-year-old nephew camping at the weekend. He's already really sporty (plays for the Everton u10s) but he says he really wants to get into biking as a result of watching Wiggins, Hoy and Kenny.

OK he has edited his post, but now you need to edit yours.

OK, How much of a tvv@t do I feel right now!? I finally found the option to turn it off - deep within the setup menu on my TV. I have no idea how it got turned on in the first place (my girlfriend can't even open the media player on my Xbox without asking me how - every time!) and I honestly thought it was something that was being added by some TV stations now as part of some equality law or something, as it was only occurring every now and again on certain programs. Let the laughing at Bexy commence - I'l start. HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

Clearly I am. I've looked through all the menus in my TV and can't work out how to turn them off. I thought it was something the TV channels were doing by default now. D'oh!

There's no option to turn them off is there?

Is it just me that thinks these have gone a bit too far now? I understand they are included for people with impaired vision, but it begs the question why somebody would want to watch a TV when they can't actually see what's going on anyway. I only noticed them slightly at first, over factual programs and such. But I was watching a repeat of Red Dwarf on Dave the other day and so many moments of it were completely ruined with the inclusion of some bland presenter talking over it because the element of comedic pauses was completely lost. Then I flick over tonight to see that Terminator Salvation is on Film 4, but have to turn it off after 5 minutes because the audio description is doing my head in so much it's totally ruining the movie experience.

This sounds all too familiar to me. I was made redundant about 4 years ago, 1 week before the global banking crisis, and the uncertainty surrounding that meant nobody was recruiting at that time. One job I was going for I never heard back from and found out from the agent that they had decided to withdraw the vacancy, and shortly after that pretty much all vacancies in my industry just dried up completely. The Job Centre were completely useless. First I had to have a telephone interview where they asked me loads and loads of questions that were often repeated with different wording and appeared to be designed to catch me out if I was making a false claim. When I did go in to speak to someone it became obvious that they treat every claimant with the same level of suspicion. I talked with the adviser about my experience/qualifications etc... and listed everything I had already done to try and get a job including jobs I had already applied for. I clearly knew a hell of a lot better than him how to search for jobs in my industry but that didn't stop him from belittling me and making ridiculous suggestions. He went on the job search screen while I was sitting with him and found a vacancy from a company in Rotherham who were so vague in describing what the job involved that it could only have been door-to-door vacuum cleaner selling, which I told him straight I was not prepared to do because having experienced that kind of industry when I was 16-17 I know full well they get you out on the streets and only pay you if you sell anything before getting rid of you. After 3 months I was told I had to attend a group session at the central JC in Sheffield where I was lumped together with a group of layabouts and career-claimants and given a pointless lecture on how to search for jobs in the local paper, write application letters etc... it was the most patronising waste of time you could ever imagine. The whole experience of being unemployed and claiming JSA was infuriating. It wasn't like I couldn't be arsed to work - I hated being unemployed and was ready to accept any kind of work (within reason) to start earning some money again. I ended up doing a 6-month contract in a call centre, I was that desperate to work, but the attitudes among the JC staff were usually very patronising and often nothing short of insulting. I sincerely hope I never find myself in a similar situation again.

I'll never view this forum in the same way again now that dune has been banned. I mean that quite literally - I can read any thread I like now,without having to scroll past multiple entries of "This post is hidden because dune is on your ignore list"

Well I wasn't in favour of the Jubilee as I'm not a royalist, and I've never been afraid to admit I'm not exactly the most patriotic of British citizens, but the Olympics is the Olympics and politics doesn't, or shouldn't come into it. It's a global celebration of sport, and the way that the British public has warmed to so many of the competitors from outside of the UK kind of piddles all over Morrisey's comparison to Nazi Germany. He's nothing but a musical has-been who craves a bit of attention and deliberately courts controversy in a desperate attempt to remain relevant.

Tick tock........ http://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20120810T00&p0=1329&msg=TOAST+TIME

Focus?

The thing that sticks out most to me in that article is the comment from Poundland.... This is just a very cleverly worded soundbite aimed at making the public believe they are doing this for the benefit of the UK's unemployed and the wider economy, rather than just wanting some cheap labour. I used to work in retail management many years ago for a national chain, and the only way that I could possibly maintain the required level of staff cover while keeping within my wage budget was if I had a 16-17 year-old on the old YTS scheme where they worked full-time while doing a NVQ (Not Very Qualified) certificate and being paid the same amount as they would receive if they were on the dole. This was the same across all of our stores. Essentially we would keep them for a year, or however long it took them to complete their NVQ, and then tell them that there wasn't a full-time position available and let them go, only to replace them with another willing trainee on the same terms. I'm pretty certain this was standard practise among most of the major retail chains, and this was in the mid-late 90s during the boom years. Given the current climate and the finer margins that retailers are working to as they try to remain competitive while keeping their financial heads above water, I have absolutely no doubt that they are using this government initiative to obtain some free labour, with no intention of offering permanent roles to the people that are sent to them by the Job Centre.

I thought Jonathan Edwards was very good while watching the athletics yesterday.

I don't care what people think of him or his Scottishness... he deserved to win that and if he plays like that he can beat Federer to gold as well. Good on him.

Yeah but watching his match against Del Potro earlier he looks very beatable. Lots of unforced errors.