chuz

Avoid week commencing 25th Feb. Mobile World Congress is on and there will be around 60,000 mobile phone people in the City. Flights and hotels massively expensive and more pick pockets than usual. Oh and Samsung adverts everywhere...

Sorry, did not see this question..I was getting around 40mpg off the 1.9TDI. It was also one of the most efficient cars to have as a company car. Don't have it anymore because I run my own business now but seriously thinking about getting another one...

I had a 9-3 diesel as a company car from 2006-7. Very comfy and most popular car I have had for some time with the family. Only two issues with it 1. As Hutch says above, there is a good second or so delay after putting your toe down till anything happens on the turbo. When it does, it really does. Takes a bit of getting used to but you master it after a while. 2. I lost 4 tyres to blow outs over 12 months. Any pot hole seemed to kill a tyre. I thought it must just be me but another driver that I spoke to had the same problem. Other than that, never had a problem...

Why England Lose - Simon Kupar All Played Out - Pete Davies : best book about foorball I have read

Exactly. There may be several reasons why the owners wish to lend a club money rather than give it. The inter company loan, for example, may reduce a tax burden within another company. Abramovich started by loaning Chelsea money which was then partly converted into share equity http://www.soccerticketsonline.com/chelsea-lost-66-million-last-year/ Regarding the wage bill, 12.3 million equates to around £400,000 per player in a 30 man squad, assuming the club only employs players (which we know it does not). If we guess that £1.5 million of this figure goes to other employees (a total guess) we are left with a player salary bill (including tax and NI) of around £10.8 million in the year in question. This works out at an average of £360,000 per player (assuming 30 player squads) or around £7k per week per player. This does not overly surprise me but then five years ago I knew a League One player coming to the end of his career, playing for a very unfashionable team who was on £5k per week. And this was not a star striker, it was an average journeyman right back...

I lived in Exeter for 8 years. If you are looking to rent a flat, look at the Richmond Road/St David's Hill area, or on the Quay, where there are lots of flats and plenty of young people. Alternatively, Exwick is a kind of family area/2-3 bed houses IIRC. The only bits of Exeter to avoid really are some of the suburbs outside teh main town. The good bit about Exeter is you can (or could when I was there) get reasonable living space very close to the City centre, which means you can walk everywhere. The place is really hilly but actually a really nice City with plenty of stuff to do - certainly enough to keep you occupied for two years. The nightlife is poor compared to some placed but it is (or was) a very safe town. If you can, get yourself friendly with the Guild of Students and blag your way into the Uni - lots of good bands, excellent nightclubs and 18-23 year olds on tap. The town nightlife is more pub than club based, but there are a couple of nightclubs on the quay. It depends what you want. Overall you could do worse than living in Exeter for a couple of years. The first 3 months are very weird but you soon find your feet. PM me if you want more specific details.

If you are looking at a mobile broadband dongle, bear in mind the hideous cost. I had an O2 dongle and it cost me more than £480 for 4 days in Spain. This was with a bolt-on. Have now moved to Vodafone. As long as you are on another Vodafone network (SFR in France) they will cap your usage at £8.50 per day plus VAT for 50 MB - enough for what you need. Every additional 50 MB is another £8.50. The other option is to go onto ebay, buy an unlocked dongle (should cost you around £30) and then go into a mobile shop in France (Carphone have lots of shops there called "The Phone House"), get the best local top up SIM deal you can on data and use that. As long as the dongle is unlocked, it will work fine. PS From 1st July there are new EU rules on roaming which cap the cost.

Thanks so much for your help. We will be there at 11.30!

Hiya My boy wants to get some player autographs before the game on saturday. Can anyone help me with what time we will need to be at the ground. Are the players open to signing before the game? Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks

Is the whole gamde being repeated on SKY at all?

Comparison site for best deals on money exchange http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/

Who would be your choice Dalek?

I know it is all about opinions, but I don't. Particularly I know he has only been in England for a year but he should know what is required to get out of League One. Most managers seems to talk about watching football whenever they can but he comes across like it is a bit of a chore. Also Scouts are going to games? Good - that is what they are paid for! I suspect it is a bit of a time filler for the OS and I am probably reading too much into it but it did not fill me with confidence about his knowledge of players and teams in league 1...

He is a lovely guy. Totally genuine and committed to Saints. Always mentions his support for Saints when doing interviews etc. Four season tickets I believe... Now working at Rothschilds as a VP...

My understanding is this: 10 points for going into administration. Additional points if you do not come out of admin with a Creditors Voluntary Agreement (CVA). Clubs that have not come out with a CVA in the past have not done so because the owed lots of money to the tax man. The FA (or it might be the FL, or indeed both) demand that all football related costs are paid in full. Until they are paid in full you cannot come out of administration, and you cannot play in the league. CVA's usually require that creditors agree to be paid a certain proportion of the money owed to them (say for argument 10p in every £1) rather than see the company go bust and get nothing. The problem has come in the past with the tax man. The tax man has said "hang on, the transfer fees owed are being paid in full, the players are being paid in full, yet we (the Government) are being offered 10p in the £1. That is not fair". So they have refused to agree to CVAs. IF we do not owe the tax man a lot of money, the chances of getting a CVA will be significantly enhanced. I can imagine this kind of scenario... A new buyer agrees to take on and pay the full cost of Football commitments (players wages, transfers owed etc) AND agrees to pay off the money owed to the tax man. It then does a deal with the creditors and offers (say for argument) £5 million to Aviva to pay off the stadium debt, £3 million to Barclays to pay off the overdraft and a proportion of the monies owed to every other creditor (the pie supplier, programme printer etc). If this can be agreed, then we can move out of admin without an additional points penalty. Two things worth bearing in mind: 1. If we owe the tax man shed loads of money, we are in deep trouble 2. The people who really suffer are local companies that supply the club with goods and services. Many cannot afford to take 10p in the £1 or whatever. This is only my understanding and if I have it totally wrong apologies! Also all the sums mentioned in here are totally speculative. Basically any new owner will want to lose as much debt as possible in exchange for cash buy outs, but they cannot write off any of the football debt and they would be unwise not to pay the tax man...

Nope it is the rules that the FL dictate and (I imagine) we sign up to in order to be part of the League. It is aimed to stop clubs who know they are going to be relegated going into administration on the last day of the season and taking the hit when they know they are already going down. I believe it was brought in when a club went into administration at half time on the last game of the season, knowing they would be relegated and preferring to take the hit that season. Because of that, the FL changed their rules. And presumably we (like everyone else) signed up to the new rules in order to remain in the league Its not nice, but we knew that if we went into admin after the third Thursday in March, we would have the deduction taken either this year (if we stay up) or next (if we go down). What amazes me is, knowing this, we went into admin less than 5 working days later...

http://www.besthotels.es/html/fitxa/fitxa.php?c_hotel=30 Not exactly 5 star but cheap as chips and central

Lawrie McMenemy joined us in 1973 and left in 1985. Having been privileged to see some of the football played in that era, I think it is fair to say that without a doubt Lawrie McMenemy put us on the footballing map. He had plenty of opportunities to leave us during his tenure as manager, but did not. Read his Diary of a Season book if you want to know more. Even in the 70s and 80s, 12 years at a club was exceptional. If Gordon Strachan is treated like a hero for what he did for Saints, Lawrie should probably be sainted. Yes he did leave but only after a long and successful tenure: making us one of the most attractive and well respected clubs in the country. He returned to become Director of Football under Alan Ball, Dave Merrington and Graham Souness. He resigned when Souness resigned. Whatever his reasons (at the time it was stated as "differences with the new board", led by Rupert Lowe) clearly he decided to act as he did, resigning from a paid position on a matter of principle - right or wrong. I would also point out that the sums that he is alleged to have earned as an ambassador to the club during the Wilde/Execs/Crouch era have not to my knowledge ever been in the public arena. I do know that when Mike Richards intimated that he had been earning £60,000 at the AGM in 2007, David Jones categorically denied that it was anything like that figure. Comments get bandied about on this site, either out of mischief making or ignorance, but I find the character assassinations of McMenemy particularly galling, since it is obvious he cares a great deal for the club and does not like to see it in its current state. Regardless of the politics and mud slinging I will always be grateful to Lawrie for the part he played in making the club what it was at its peak. He may not be to everyone's tastes but his positive place in Saints' history is assured

I do take your point Nick. But who knows what the score really is? Perhaps we had reduced the overdraft to £3 million and it was going the wrong way again? Perhaps we had calculated that by now we would have a couple of million of March Madness season ticket money in the bank that did not materialise because of the league position. The whole of this season has been so bizarre to be untrue. From offering Dyer a new contract then immediately sending him on loan to buying players in the January transfer window, when we must have known the current scenario was possible. It seems that decisions have been made throughout the season that just beggar belief...

Perhaps because we agreed to pay the overdraft back within a certain time scale or at a certain rate and we had breached those terms?

I was only six when we won the cup so I guess that I just thought "wow, we will do this all the time now!" For me it is either the ability to have a crack whatever the score, or defying the odds. On the first count, I was at the Everton away game when we lost 7-1. We were 5-0 down after 35 minutes and after that the atmosphere was great. We all decided to have a party. My Arsenal supporting mate (who had never seen his team get a thumping) was amazed at our support. I also think the Cup Final 2003 counts in that respect. We went to have a great time and no one was gonna stop us. Apart from Claus' foul on Henry, Antii getting injured and Beats late chance, I cannot remember anything of the game, just the amazing atmosphere before, during and after. In terms of defying the odds, the whole end to the Great Escape season was brilliant. Dellhurst was great too. But the best feeling ever at a football match for me was Matty scoring against Arsenal in the last game at the Dell. It was just such a fitting end to the place...

I have often wondered if this is correct: http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=43102 According to Soccerbase, Bart had started a sum total of 5 professional games before joining us...anyone know if this is right or not. If so it was a bit of a gamble to get him in, and his initial good form was even more amazing...

Still my favourite

St Marco, I do not doubt your view here, but if this is the case I would be interested to know how the following took place http://mobiletoday.co.uk/news.aspx?id=49162&fid=150 and, assuming what took place at JAG Communications is legal, what is stopping SLH going down the same route. I was astonished when I saw the story about because I did not think it was possible to do this but it seems it is and I am concerned the same could happen to SLH. There may be a good reason why it cannot, but I would just like to know what the score is.