moonraker

Yep Gosport his father was a GP, I think he went to Pompey Grammar School.

Just mentioned on 5 live that when Lucas arrived at Liverpool he did not impress the Scouse bed wetters were just the same as ours, now he is one of the first on the team sheet. Young players from overseas take time to bed in I am convinced GR will become a very important player for SFC.

I do not think a mis clearance or deflection can truly count as possession, but you may have me on a technicality.

What are the alternatives? we are building a young team with an eye to future. If you want the players to realise their full potential you have to play the game properly and what we are trying to do is the proper way, it is good to watch and when mastered very difficult to counter. I know the Barcelona thing has been over used but I don't see anyone complaining about their possession style football. The old adage that the opposition can't score if you have the ball is a fundamental truth. We are playing in the PL and it seems some are surprised that the other teams can also play football!

To go to OT and put in a 2nd half performance like that is superb, the ESPN commentators were certainly impressed Utd couldn't get into game but we just didn't create enough chances but don't forget this was MU.

We have been to Polensa 5 times with family, it is very nice lots of good sightseeing nearby lovely beech and no high rise hotels. The town is well served with mainly Spanish run family friendly bars and restaurants. Its a 40 min drive from the airport and is near Alcudia.

How on earth do you draw the conclsuion from my FA Cup perspctive that I think football was no good before the EPL, it was great following saints in the 60's 70's and 80's the football at times was incredible, nothing will ever surpass for me watching Ron D score for fun. I used the FA cup to illustrate how English football has changed in the way it is managed and adminsistered.

LM’s achievements will never be forgotten however there is a need for some perspective. From 1972 – 1999 11 different clubs won the FA cup, none more than 3 times (Liverpool and Spurs), from 1990 – 2011 seven clubs have won the cup 4 Clubs once (Spurs, Man City, Everton and Cheats FC), the other 16 have been won by the ‘Big Four’ (Utd (5), Arse (5), Liverpool (3) and Chelsea (5)). Today’s game is very different, dominated by either super clubs (UTD & Arse) or bankrolled clubs (Chelsea and City). LM managed in an era when the playing field was much more level. He would not get the chance today, what EPL club is going to pluck a lower league manager with no playing record of note, no international experience and no public reputation, he should consider himself lucky he lived in that era, and delight us with his tales and reminiscences not profess to understand the modern football business.

Surpricse surprise, top drawer english striker wanted by other clubs!

Same old boring anti immigrant clap trap, no immigration no Brunnell, Churchill, Portilllo ! the list is endless. As for Australia dreaming of having our living standard where did that come from?

In short No

This will be very controversial but hey ho, protesting is pointless, singing a few songs demonstrating our gratitude and respect for what NA has done is right and proper, creating a negative whinging atmosphere is not. NC is the man with the power to make decisions full stop, if you want to own a club and have influence (ha ha) sign a pledge with the phew down the road, otherwise get behind the team, the team that is so deep inside me I am only truly able to support them in a positive way.

I am very saddened for NA an honourable, talented and successful manager who will always have a very special place in the history of Southampton Football Club. I have no idea whether this appointment will work or not. Chief Executive Types are typically driven individuals with a vision and once they decide a direction of travel and the means to get them there nothing will sway them. If their decisions prove wrong they themselves nearly always fall, if right they are lauded and rewarded and these types of decision become a footnote in history. As previously mentioned loyalty is the preserve of us fan not the business that is football or those employed in it. A number of board members have stated on more than one occasion that if Liverpool offered NA a job he would jump at it and rightly so. Today and I say this with regret, a chapter in the history of SFC has closed, tomorrow a new one begins where it will take us nobody on this board knows but I will as always be excited and optimistic.

Am I missing something the title clearly says US "EDL leader jailed for being illegal immigrant after entering US on friend's passport"

It is my opinion that the principle of the single currency and indeed a closely allied (politcally) europe is a good one (note this is not a fact). Setting aside the global economic problems the Euro zone is to a large extent is suffering from the moving of the convergence criteria to allow those countries who are now causing the problems to join. If the original criteria had been enforced then Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal would not have been admitted. The evolution of the EU should not come as surprise to anyone, it’s how the world moves on, not by dreaming of a golden age of British Empire (Commonwealth), school boys in short trousers and caps, secure borders with no Johnny foreigners trespassing on our green and pleasant land. I have had many conversations with people who are anti euro yet who in the next breadth poor scorn on the idea of an independent Scotland. Personally I would like the ancient kingdom of Wessex to be re-established with its own Arthurian King and Camelot as the capital. Opps this is the 21st century the world has changed and will change a lot more going backwards is no way to keep up.

As you do what the Tory Graph / Mail tells you. Saintandy's opinions are always considered and thoughtful unlike most that are of the knee jerk variety.

Based on Sundays performance provided we stay solid in defence and the cJack and Morgan do their thing midfield and get the ball Rickie, Gaston Adam and Punch regularly Norwich will have plenty to think about, they wont want to man mark 4 players.

Alps , none of those examples were close to a loss, i.e. the irretrievable loss of the capability, the correct answer is 1971 when HMS Artemis sank alongside at HMS Dolphin with no loss of life. The V Class and Astute were human error and not close to a loss but of great concern all the same. Yes some T boats had defects like every boat or ship since man carved out a log for a dug out canoe or indeed built anything. I didn't say you slated the RN, I said ex-servicemen. I do not know which industry you work in so am unable to proffer examples of its failures but I am sure there are plenty. The problem with military failures is that they get a far worse press than commercial ones due to politicians and journalists seeing them as an soft target and all and sundry having an opinion more often than not ill informed. More people have been killed or maimed by industrial catastrophes than by military ones (active service excepted where that is the objective). The awful incident on Tireless was a tragedy but it was caused by an item of consumable stores, and was essentially due to Treasurery penny pinching and MoD failure to challenge it, nothing to do with the design of the submarine or the operators. The full coroners report is available on line, Google Tireless SCOG.

Alps your final comment is completely out of order. As an ex-serviceman who has attempted to bring some reality and knowledge (based on 40 yrs SM experience) to this discussion I do not recognise your slur on the ex-servicemen who have commented. What they have pointed out, some more diplomatically than others, is that your position is vulnerable to your lack of experience in the design, manufacture and operation of the most complex safety critical engineered product known to man. In previous threads you have stated that you work in a complex safety critical engineering sector, I am certain that if some of us ex-servicemen came on here slating your industry based on Newspaper articles and wiki you might point out a few flaws in the article / wiki as you have inside knowledge. A couple of easy questions for you: when was the last time we lost a SM? When was the last time a commercial organisation had a catastrophic fatal failure of a safety critical process? The fact that retiring Nuclear Qualified Submarine Engineers are amongst the most sought after across the UK engineering sector illustrates that they know their stuff. Finally I thought Simon Lister’s letter said all that was needed in the public domain.

Cook or captain the thing that differentiates submariners from their above water colleges is the requirement to qualify in all aspects of the submarine, its called a part III. Whilst they do not have to operate everything they have to have a working knowledge of the whole boat. The interest in how a submarine works and what it is both capable of and actually does is part of being a submariner, in any case I believe DD is a weapons engineer not a cook. Your comments do I am afraid demonstrate a profound lack of knowledge and therefore leave you open to less than polite replies.

If my car analogy is bit dodgy I don’t know where that puts then your pesky Russian analogy. For over 40 years during the cold war NATO boats and Russian boats stalked each other, often playing very dangerous cat and mouse games however there was never a direct SM on SM weapon engagement, if it didn’t happen then the likelihood of it happening now are of an order of liklihood so small it doesn’t warrant consideration. I do agree some of the alleged shortfalls in the ASTUTE performance are of concern, but ever was the case with first of class and highly complex systems, ask the French, the USA in deed any nation.

An SSN top speed has two potential uses, getting to an operational area as speedily as possible, as happened in the Falkland’s with the Valiant class (not as fast as T Class), or running away. 99% of a submarines life is spent at less than 10 knots. So failure to achieve the designed top speed, whatever it might be, is not significant. Most vessels Surface and Sub Surface only ever achieve their design top speed once in a lifetime and that is on trials. An analogy of the top speed is with your car, most modern cars are capable of speeds well in excess of 100mph how often do you use it? In aircraft carrier opps the key is not ship speed alone it is wind speed over the deck hence why a carrier will always turn into wind when flying sorties, the top speed is only required when there is no wind. No military ships spend any notable time at high speed it is both uneconomical and detrimental to effective mission system operations.

Because Scotland provides a key chain in the surveillance network for the North Sea and Iceland Faroes gap. This surveillance is currently undertaken by the UK Military as part of its commitment to NATO's collective security principle. The SNP's catalogue of sound bites on defence now require some substance and detail this one is classic “I will bring home all Scots” - Actually no you won’t. If the deal includes the transfer of current UK servicemen to the Scottish forces this will take some time and the individuals would have to agree / volunteer, also could Welsh, Irish and English servicemen request a transfer, those who don’t want to transfer will remain subject to UK military discipline and orders, so another hollow sound bite. There is a precednet for thsi: following the Irish partition many Irish Republic citizens remined in and continued to join the UK armed forces once they had signed the dotted line they were subject to all of the military regulations with no course for redress from the Irish Gov.

There is a motion on the table at the SNP conference to reverse the policy on NATO membership, Norway and Denmark are not happy with their policy. I believe that as the independence debate moves on the SNP and the supporters of independence will be continually found out as not having a clue as to realities of independent statehood compared to regional autonomous government. The debate is all around the SNP’s policies post independence when there is no guarantee that they will be the government as there will be a general election, unless King Alex adopts the Mugabe model. King Alex is also refusing to reveal the leagal advice he received on their possible EU status despite a FOI Commsioners juddegment against him. A question for legal profession, the Faslane Naval Base is UK Crown property is it agreed that all UK crown property will transfer to the new independent Scotland or will they have to buy it from the crown?

You are right I should have said that ships have a greater degree of complexity; aircraft have far fewer systems than a ship. The majority of preserved aircraft are static, the range and scale of operational systems required to maintain a ship the size of QEII in a static condition and allow public access is significantly greater than that required for static aviation exhibits (that in the main are only viewed from afar). XH558's problems stem from a very laudable desire to keep her flying and the complex problem with the turbines not present in static preservation; her problems are a function of failure of a complex system and the absence of a supply chain. QEII would require the majority of her non propulsion systems to either be live or at least replicated and functioning, HVAC, Lighting, safety systems, flood control, fire protection, watertight subdivisions, potable water, waste disposal, power distribution and possible generation etc. whilst in addition other (new) systems would be required to comply with the necessary H&S legislation to gain a safety certificate for public access. I am a very keen supporter of aviation and maritime the preservation scene having been a volunteer at an aviation museum and actively supported maritime projects, but the preservation of something like QEII is in all honesty is wholly impracticable and the amount of money required would be far better spent on a wider range of projects. For another sad example see HMS Plymouth.