Sheaf Saint

One of them reckons they were robbed by the FA. So many things wrong in such a short sentence!

That's a shame. If it's big headline acts you want then I agree that it's better to see them in a smaller, indoor venue because they will play for longer and probably come back for an encore etc.., but there are so many positive reasons to enjoy festivals other than just the headline acts. For me it's not really about the headliners - it's more about the little-known, obscure stuff going on in the smaller tents/stages. Over the last few years I have discovered so many good new artists / bands that I would never have known about if I hadn't stumbled across them randomly at a festival. On top of that there is the togetherness of getting all your mates together on the campsite. It's really hard to convince my mates to go and see certain gigs sometimes because people invariably have different tastes, but last year there was a group of about 20 of us all camped together at Beatherder and although we didn't all go to see the same acts, we had a bloody marvellous time.

I'll be making my annual pilgrimage to Beatherder in Lancashire - this will be my fifth year running. A proper grass roots festivale with no attitude, no corporate sponsorship and no bullsh*t. I'm also going to Optimus Alive in Lisbon in July to see The Stone Roses and Radiohead mainly, but that's more going to be a city break with some live music inbetween than a proper festival where you shut yourself away from reality for the weekend. I went to Bestival last year - thought it was OK but a crap atmosphere. The crowd was very stereotypically white, middle-class teenagers in their festival chic, who didn't actually appear to be appreciating a lot of the music and only went there to be one of the cool kids (perhaps it's just because I'm getting a bit old that I thought that though) and given the amount of hassle it is getting there, I don't think I'll be in a hurry to go again. Good lineup this year though. I see there is no Big Chill this year. The organisers claim it is because it clashes with the Olympics, but I reckon it's because their gamble to turn it into a commercial cash-cow last year spectacularly backfired on them. When Festival Republic bought it out they tried to re-brand it into a commercial pop festival and most of the loyal fanbase who used to love it as a showcase for great independent music (like me) turned their backs on it in protest.

Not really. If they were actually any good then the Skates wouldn't be in their current league position because they would have acquired a lot more points prior to the deduction. This, it seems, is the irony of it all... They adopted a quality over quantity policy in their playing squad, but the quality appears to be very questionable.

Just about to turn 37. Born in Winchester and grews up in Bitterne - went to Bitterne Park Comprehensive between 1987 and 1991. I was never interested in football as a kid. Didn't get into it until I was about 13 and first went along cos my mate at school used to get free tickets from his dad who worked at the Dell. My first ever game was a League cup game against Luton in 1988/89 season. It was 0-0 after 90 minutes and we lost 2-1 in extra time. Can't remember who scored our goal. My first really strong memory of watching Saints was later that season when we played Newcastle at home on the back of a shocking run of something like 23 games without a win. I remember it was a tight game with neither team creating much, but we got a penalty in the last minute which a newly-signed Neil Ruddock duly smashed in and we won 1-0 (Newcastle went down that season). To this day I don't think I've ever experienced anything like the celebrations in the Milton End when the final whistle went that day.

Indeed, as we discovered so painfully in 2005. If Brizzle City get any points at home to Cardiff later on, Pompey will be NINE points from safety! WTFILN???

Some key stats for you... Skates last 8 games - Won 0 Drawn 2 lost 6 For 2 Against 11 I don't honestly care if they 'get away with it' now. They have a one way ticket to League 1 and there's nothing they or anyone can do about it. Balance of power in Hampshire is now well and truly restored.

43!

Wonderful stuff. 10 points from 12 now - promotion form. Sounds like we always had a higher gear in the 2nd half as well.

Full time at Upton Park 1-1!

Bloomin 'eck! If things stay as they are the Skates will be 8 points from safety. And it could get worse later if Bristol City can get some points against Cardiff.

Brighton 2-0 Pompey!

West Ham clinging on to a draw apparently. Donny getting very close to a late winner.

Wow - screamer from Hooiveld and keepers makes a double save to keep it out!

Sharp coming on

Brighton 1-0 up now as well. Happy days!

Doncaster equalise!

LALLANA!!!!! 2-0 lovely!

I wouldn't be surprised. There's no love lost between Barnsley and Donny Rovers, I know that much. The only thing that unites them is their common hatred for Sheff Wednesday.

Surely that takes them over the minimum 14 senior players now, doesn't it?

Is it though? Although western journalists are not allowed in the country, there were still plenty of reports from the time of the last election about corruption and vote-rigging. And the way in which the protests about it were so ruthlessly put down was hardly consistent with the actions of a democratically-elected government.

Thing is, I just can't see that happening now. Look at their current form - 2 draws and 5 defeats in their last seven games, having only scored two goals. Even if they were safe right now that would be worryingly bad form, but they are currently 6 points from safety and all other teams around them have shown they are capable of winning games recently. They've got a patched up squad of loanees following the departure of Lawrence and Huseklepp, and an inexperienced manager who appears to be cracking under the pressure. Put it this way, I wouldn't be in any hurry to go out and put any bets on them staying up.

Little Miss Sunshine is my recommendation. Never fails to lift me up if I'm glum.

Well it's obviously impossible to quantify. But, I really do think the threat from AQ is, and always has been, overstated. Look at the events of 7/7 here... The guys who were (allegedly) responsible for it were just a bunch of disaffected British Pakistanis with no proven links to AQ. As we saw with the August riots last year, young people with very little future prospects are easily swayed into violent action, and it is my opinion that the continued presence of UK/US troops in Afghanistan is only going to generate further anger amongst the younger generation of Muslims and increase the likelihood of something like 7/7 happening again.

And do you also think that the lives of 400 servicemen and £billions of public money spent was worth it to prevent the possibility of a handful of deaths? Like I said, I think it needs to be put into perspective... In 2009 there were 190 recorded deaths in the UK as a direct result of obesity, with a further 757 where it was a contributing factor (link) In 2010 there were 1,850 fatalities in road accidents in the UK (link) Would those resources not be better spent elsewhere?