Sheaf Saint

Just got home. Definitely a game of two halves. The first we were assured, composed and never looked like being under threat from a toothless Barnsley side who didn't manage a single shot, on or off target, for the entire half. Passed the ball around nicely and bossed the game completely. Couldn't really see much for the goal as it was up the other and and looked really scrappy, the kind of goal that any team would be furious to concede. Second half was a different matter as we seemed to be playing a lot deeper and inviting them to attack us. Having said that, there was a moment about 25 mins in where we played some magnificent Ole football inside the Bransley half and must have strung together about 25-30 passes in all, but we definitely gave Barnsley more time on the ball and defended a lot deeper. Honestly didn't see what happened for the sending off. The ball had been hoofed like a rugby punt and I was busy watching where it was going to land when I heard the Tykes fans go mental so I looked over to see their player on the ground. The ref called Chaplow over and gave him a straight red without any hesitation, so he obviously saw something I didn't. Will be really interesting to see the replay of it later on. After that, it became a case of backs against the wall for the last 5-10 minutes as Barnsley launched long ball after long ball at our penalty area, but they just didn't have the quality needed to beat our defence who, thankfully, held firm, but not without causing a few frayed nerves in the away end. Brilliant away support. The stand looked to be about 2/3s full and the stadium announcer said the total attendance was over 10,000. Must have been at least 1500 Saints, if not more. The home fans were very quiet and only seemed to come alive when they wanted a free kick for something or other. Davies - 7 Nothing to do in the first half and looked very much in command in the second, although they never really tested him to be fair. Got injured during a goal mouth scramble towards the end but managed to carry on. Harding - 7 Composed and always had Perkins in his pocket, linked up well with Lallana and got forward well, played some nice little through balls at times but was onviously on a different wavelength to the intended recipient and they didn't come off. Richardson - 8 Had a very solid game and dealt with pretty much everything that came his way. Fonte - 8 Showed his class again. first to every header and always seems to be in the right place at the right time. Was never going to give Barnsley anything. Seaborne - 5 Did OK but a better team than Barnsley might well have got the better of him today. His distribution was poor at times and gave the ball away too often for my liking Cork - 8 A real captain's performance, even though he wasn't. Battled well in midfield and always made himself available to receive the ball and pass it again accurately and quickly. Looks like he has been a core member of the team for ages and will only get better IMO Hammond - 7 Fought hard and got himself into some good forward positions to cause problems but his final ball let him down more than once Guly - 7 Such a frustrating player. He clearly has some great skill and showed it at times today, but he also played himself into trouble and gave the ball away cheaply far too often. Unlucky not to score with a header from a well worked move in the second half Lallana - 9 Once again proved he is the best player outside the premiership. Caused Barnsley no end of problems with some fantastic footwork and good movement and link up play with Harding. There was one moment in the second half when he showed some sublime skill that the best Brazilian players would be proud of. Keeping him was possibly the best bit of business that Cortese has done so far Lambert - 6 Won quite a few headers but his flick-ons often went astray and he didn't really threaten. A disappointing performance from his perspective Connolly - 7 Made some good runs and did well to scramble the ball into the net for our goal. Subs... Chaplow - not on long enough to make a judgement and remains to be seen if the red card was warranted or not De Ridder - immediately after coming on showed some great skill to turn and play a lovely ball in for Lallana who's shot hit the side netting. Didn't really get the chance to get into the game when we went down to ten men Scheiderlin - Only on for about 5 minutes at the end Overall, a good team effort. Should have killed the game off when we were on top which lead to a very nervy final 10 minutes, but it's the 3 points that counts. We tried to be a little bit too cute at times and although we played some lovely stuff on occasions, I think we might struggle a little bit if we come up against a more physical side than we did today.

Glad it's over with now so we can forget about it and move on. Shame we didn't get to see how he would have fared in the NPC but hey ho, most of us probably thought we were going to lose him in the January window anyway. The big positive I see from it, apart from the obscene amount of money Arsenal will have paid of course, is that it is yet another great advert for our academy. In the last 5 years we have seen Walcott, Bale and now Oxlade-Chamberlain get mega-money moves to top premiership teams, which must surely be a huge draw to any young kids (or, indeed, their parents) when deciding on the best club to join to progress their careers.

Dunno, maybe so they can announce the signing to the press with a picture of him with his new shirt? Just a thought.

Yes I have thanks. Look, I'm not deliberately trying to put a damper on an otherwise brilliant day - I'm just repeating what I witnessed and what happened. When fans of other clubs start questioning why our fans are more vocal in their dislike of our rivals than they are in support of our own team, you have to wonder why there is such an unhealthy obsession. Sorry if this offends anyone.

Well I watched the game on TV, and the only chants that really came through were the anti-pompey ones. My Everton-supporting mate asked me why we have such an unhealthy obsession with them and I couldn't offer any kind of answer that didn't make me cringe.

Right, you know what? F**k this place! Honestly f**k it! Is it really any wonder that all of the decent posters have deserted? Really? I post a thread in the lounge, which is supposed to be for sensible discussion, and within a handful of posts it has descended into petty insults and bickering by the same usual bunch of d1ckheads who haven't got anything sensible to contribute so they resort to personal abuse instead. And Turkish, do you not see the irony of the fact that you posted that long rant on the 'why this place is dying thread' recently yet it is mostly because of pathetic f**king morons like you, who can't seem to make a single sensible post without being abusive towards other posters, that this place is dying? I take my leave of you all. Thank you very much Saintsweb. To all of the sensible posters I have enjoyed debating with over the years I thank you and wish you well. To the tvv@ts who treat this place like a school playground, I hope you're really proud of yourselves.

What makes you so certain I have ever bought anything from Microsoft either?

Please explain? I don't like Apple products because they are ridiculously over-priced so I choose not to give them my custom. How exactly does that make me a retard?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14340470 OK, I know that technically I am richer than the USA due to their $14.5 trillion debt, but this is just crazy. Proof if any were needed that their products are a rip-off. I've never bought anything from Apple and I never will.

I think you're right, and it is not limited to English either. I am currently trying to learn Spanish and I am using various different sources for my learning. There is a website I use where I can watch videos of people speaking with both Spanish and English subtitles. The videos come from many different places - either from Spain or from various Latin American countries - and on top of the obvious differences in pronunciation, you can recognise the different trends for using certain words and grammar.

Just watched The Happening on Film4. Well that's 2 hours of my life I will never get back!

http://newsthump.com/2011/07/29/your-leather-sofa-is-worse-than-the-holocaust-insists-morrissey/ :lol:

You really are a sad and pathetic little man stanley, you know that?

Yes, and if you had actually paid even the slightest bit of attention to anything I have posted, you would be well aware that I have taken great care to make the important distinction between 'Gypsies' and 'Travellers'. But hey, don't let these minor details get in the way of your moral indignation. Please do not attribute to me statements which I have not made. it does your argument no favours and makes you look extremely foolish. What the f**k has that got to do with owt? How do you know I'm not of African origin myself? I'm not, but you didn't know that before you made such a pathetic comparison. As it happens I live in a very ethnically diverse area of Sheffield and my neighbours on both sides are of Indian origin. I am also on very friendly terms with the chap that runs the shop three doors down and often stop for a chat when I go in there.

Brilliant! :-) Surely it's not genuine though?

Alright. I'll bite for one last time before I take my leave of this thread for good. At no point during the course of this thread have I EVER posted anything racist, owing to the fact that I am not a racist. I expressed an opinion that travellers have a reputation, which if you have ever had any personal experiences with them you would find very difficult to disagree with. This is aimed a a section of society who have chosen a certain way of life and not at any ethnic group, therefore IT IS NOT RACIST. But fine, if your blinkered little view continues to insist that I am racist then you carry on thinking that because I really don't care what an internet troll thinks about me. One final question for you Turkish.... If a group of travellers pitched up in a field next to your house, how would you react? Would you bake them a cake and invite them into your house to help themselves to your food/warmth etc...? Or would you put extra locks on your shed and keep more of a watchful eye on your property?

If this is a government estimate on something that they know the public won't like, my guess is that the actual figure is probably a lot higher.

The ironic thing about this thread is that I always assumed Turkish took his SWF pseudonym from this....

Who???? Where???? You and your strawmen Delldays! Honestly! Try reading people's posts once in a while instead of deciding you already know what they are trying to say based on opinions they may or may not have expressed previously.

Firstly, I have never used the term Gypsy myself throughout the course of this thread, except when quoting others. I am referring to travellers and there is an important distinction. My assertion was made from the personal experiences of people I know who have come into contact with these groups and ended up being the victims of theft and/or criminal damage. I was recently listening to On The Ropes on Radio 4, and the subject being interviewed was a guy who was brought up within the traveller community (though he did specify that his family were actually Gypsies of Romany descent) who was disowned by his family due to his sexuality. He recounted stories of how his father and uncles would routinely steal and scam people for money, and that this was inherent within their culture as they didn't work and needed to earn a living somehow. When one of their own goes on national radio and admits something like that, do you not think that it is worth paying attention to?

Oh don't be such a mong. I gave you an infraction for posting a racist comment, which I duly retracted when you explained that it was posted in sarcasm and you had neglected to use any smileys to convey that. I never had you down as as much of a troll as dune and Turkish, but clearly you want to be in the cool kids' gang and act like a complete **** as well.

dune, you're really not fooling anyone with your mock outrage at some non-existent racism. You also seem to be confused. I thought I was supposed to be a member of your Liberal Elite? How can a wishy-washy liberal who believes in equality for everyone be accused of being a bigot and a racist? Unlike many, I don't have an inherrent (sic) dislike of people who are different to me. Due to my own personal experiences, I am just wary of those whose comrades have such a terrible reputation, regardless of their ethnic group, and to be otherwise would be foolhardy and naive. By labelling me a racist because of this you think you are making yourself look big and clever, but believe me you aren't. Still evading the Maynard question eh?

Dune, stop it now - really. You're just being a childish pr1ck, as usual. There is absolutely nothing RACIST in what I posted and you damn-well know it. No I do not have any statistics because there probably aren't any official ones, seeing as most of the people involved do not exist as far as the state is concerned. How do you keep statistics about people who do not appear on any databases? You just need to ask the experiences of the local residents where travellers have been living nearby and you will have all the information you need. Still evading the question about Mr Maynard I see. Quelle surprise.

Dune how old are you? seriously? For what it's worth, seeing as I must be a member of your Liberal Elite about which you seem to have such an unhealthy obsession, I personally do defend the rights of people to live their life according to whatever values they wish, as long as it dos not impinge on the rights of others to do the same. As many posters have already confirmed, this particular group of travellers under discussion have no doubt already caused many problems within the communities they have chosen to inhabit, as do many others. It isn't racism, or any kind of 'ism' as far as I am concerned. Although, it has not gone un-noticed by me that one of the very first people to mention the term Gypsies on this thread was you. The simple fact is that a large majority of travellers are thieves who force their way onto private land, steal property and leave a huge mess behind them when they are finally (rightly) evicted. Therefore it is not unreasonable for people to be extra vigilant with the security of their property when there are travellers in the area. This is not to say that all travellers are like this... I know that isn't the case. But you and your sidekick Turkish appear to be advocating that we should all just drop our guard and welcome them into our communities with open arms because they have the same human rights as the rest of us. Now, any chance of you ever explaining what it was about Paul Maynard's speech you found so hilarious?

Then perhaps you could enlighten us as to exactly what you were laughing at, seeing as you successfully evaded the question on at least four occasions on that thread. Then again, perhaps you can't... or won't.