derry

MTK v Portsmouth about 1957.

£30+ bn and 85000 MoD civil servants.

The tv replays are much more accurate than seeing the instantaneous event live. I see every home game, but I get a more accurate view from the tv replays on what I thought I saw from a distance. NA says they were sloppy, but your obviously expert opinion has to be accepted, two great goals!

What credibility? Are we talking about the vast amount of money thrown at administration, inflated salaries, targets and consultants? As for the education system, what a cluster**** that has turned out.

It's a sick joke and sits alongside the Typhoon, designed to have a cannon, designed out on RAF planes, then needed ballast but that didn't work, the cannons were replaced as ballast but can't be fired as there is now no fire control system. Alongside the six Special forces Chinooks that have sat for ten years because they can only fly in VFR because the systems weren't designed properly. It's no good trying to blame anybody but Gordon Brown who borrowed more than we could afford and wasted the lot. Now we have to cut everything and are still spending too much. £7bn foreign aid FFS, cancel the lot, we need to sort things out here and get rid of the department that administrates it.

Both goals were preventable. The first was off the post to Pilkington who could have been pressed but Hammond didn't see the danger so stayed where he was. The second goal was a free kick into the six yd area that both Fonte and Lambert went for but collided resulting in the ball dropping at the edge of the box allowing a clear shot. With better defending both goals could have been prevented. If all you are looking at is two incisive shots that is correct, but the sloppy play was what led to the shots which shouldn't have been allowed.

Both goals were sloppy, Hammond had a chance to close Pilkington down for the first but just stayed where he was and stuck a half hearted leg out from five yards away. For the second Fonte and Lambert collided going for the same cross, surely it's not rocket science for Lambert to let the defender go for it and cover. Similar to Fonte and Butterfield going for the same ball against Plymouth, it just needs a call which doesn't seem to be happening.

At the Tranmere match we were sitting next to somebody analysing the match. As the seats next to us are reserved club seats we assumed he was scouting the game for Huddersfield. The person sitting next to him had a look at what he was writing, all referenced to the Saints numbers. A particular note was all the passes from Davis out to Fonte. I thought then that we may well get pressed at Huddersfield. It sounds that Davis has to wake up to all round options and not pick up Fonte especially if he is being pressed, likewise the other players not pressed have to provide instantaneous options. Building from the back predominately through one or two players is easy to cut off, defenders going wide and midfielders dropping off could also open up passing options. It appears that now Lambert is no longer competitive, with balls played up front we are just giving the ball away. It is going to take time for the players to be able to vary their game depending on the challenges set by opposition. Adkins will take things from this game especially the shortcomings of some players.

Guly was in a class on his own on Saturday, for skill only Lallana is close to him but in a different way. Admittedly Lee Barnard gives loads of effort but is very orthodox and somewhat predictable, his movement and link up play is good but I would much rather have him playing against us than Guly. If Lambert continues his improvement, together with the Puncheon revival and a now match fit Lallana, a dynamic Guly is much more likely to open up Huddersfield and give us a start rather than have to play catch up later in the game. Our central midfield looks so much stronger now with an improved Hammond, box to Box Chaplow and Schneiderlin available. With the footballing style adopted by Nigel Adkins we still have a bit to go before we are using possession at pace, it is only a matter of time and familiarity. For that reason I think the unpredictability, pace and form of Guly is a bigger asset at the start.

Nigel Adkins left Barnard out last week as he didn't train until Thursday and wasn't involved in the Tranmere preparation. That makes me think that he could well opt for Hammond and Chaplow to start. Adkins seems to be a meticulous manager who uses all the technology and analytical tools available to prepare the players. This new approach here with the first team requires the attendance of the players, any that are missing this preparation will probably drop out, provided there are selection choices.

Friendly with David Lallana and Steve Surman.

To call them long balls is bending the facts somewhat. The first was a layoff in the corner by Guly to Puncheon who in trying to beat a defender had the ball knocked sideways, which went to the backing up butterfield about five yards away on the edge of the penalty area who put a nicely weighted cross to the edge of the six yd box for Lambert to score. The second was a nicely chipped ball from the halfway line into the space behind the left back for Guly's run into the space, from there the cross from the byeline for the goal. Neither could remotely be compared with the long ball from the edge of one penalty area to the other. Any time it happened yesterday we lost possession and were counter attacked.

Illogical as the sun goes down lower in the second half for the early autumn/spring months and in the winter (most of the season) it is mostly cloudy.

Bournemouth had the maximum away support but as we were attacking the Northam end it was quiet and drowned out by the Saints supporters. When it is the other way round the opponents are attacking their supporters end and they are making all the noise. Much better this way.

Interestingly, today I was talking to a Bournemouth fan who said that he wouldn't mind staying in league one with some success and his team playing good football. He carried on to say that it is all very well getting promoted but how are they going to strengthen their side and pay higher wages with no more money coming into the club. He also said on the other hand if you get promoted you will strengthen your side sufficiently to go for promotion again and get big crowds. He is obviously proud of how his team is performing but has no trouble in seeing the real world.

With due respect to you Steve, that statement on GOS is absolute ******** and the tactic is the fall back position of the safety first manager who can't see the wood from the trees. Sticking 10 defenders in the penalty area stops goalkeepers from getting to the ball, sheer numbers in the box leads to players not marking properly, thinking somebody else is, (it happened regularly with Saints), No clearance outlet and just invites further pressure, allows 7 at least in the penalty area and a couple more just outside, some of the forwards necessarily used as defenders couldn't mark to save their lives. Leaving two and even three forwards up really stretches the opposition. It means that at least two are defensive, two more must fill the gap in front of them and with one taking the kick a maximum of five attackers are in the penalty area, meaning that five are marked and there are three spare defenders plus a goalkeeper with the space to be able to claim balls in the six yd area with the goal line covered. We have never looked in any difficulty at corners under Adkins but looked in all sorts of trouble previously with 11 in the penalty area and the ball launched into the six yd box. Adkins is, as far as I am concerned the best manager we have had since the Ted Bates/LM/Chris Nicholl era, including WAG's success, and Hoddle's tactics. We are very much work in progress and there will be a lot more to come. I think our biggest test will to be hang on to him.

My son is a mate of a senior Reading first team player, I got him to ask about Bignall. 'He's good, really quick and strong, a bit raw at times, but has got a great strike on his left foot, can play wide, but is better up the middle'. He sounds like a good signing if only for the short term.

My son is a mate of a senior Reading first team player, so I got him to ask about Bignall. The answer, 'he's good, really quick and strong, a bit raw at times but has got a great strike on his left foot, he can play wide but is better up the middle'. It sounds like a good signing but only short term.

I think they have to repay a total of £287m ish by 15th October. Most of it to RBS plus about £60m to another bank.

Nigel Adkins was my no1 choice after seeing how his team played three years ago against Saints. Ever since then I have been following his performances along with Sean O'Driscoll, Lee Clarke and latterly Eddie Howe. I hated the way Pardew played and excused some dire performances and abject tactics by blaming pitches. FFS nobody forced him to play narrow up the muddy bits. Adkins won't be doing this, on the bad pitches he'll have the team playing right out on the touchlines. Since he has arrived he has addressed all the issues I had with Pardew's battering ram aerial bombardment. Width, possession, insisting that the ball isn't given back to the opposition, playing out from the back, leaving two players up defending corners, attacking corners with movement and starting outside the penalty area instead of just standing in the six yard box, Kelvin Davis trying to help out with crosses. Adkins is a breath of fresh air and the football the team are trying to play will get better, slicker and quicker as they get more used to it. I'm delighted we have got rid of Pardew because I thought from early on in his tenure that he was a bull****ter that didn't have much depth or talent as a manager, unlike Nigel Adkins, and really wasn't going to take us where the management wanted to go. I personally think the major issue that the management had with Pardew, was that they hated the way he had the team playing. Markus Liebherr and Nicola Cortese were brought up watching European teams passing the ball and retaining possession and found the Davis to Lambert difficult to understand and just didn't want their team to play that way. Hence the statement in May about a more compelling style of football. It was obvious that Pardew either couldn't, wouldn't, or didn't have a clue how to deliver the passing game they wanted, which is the way Nigel Adkin's teams play and why Pardew was sacked and Adkins brought in.

He paid our taxes to HMRC.

There should be qualifying criteria to receive any state benefits. Namely, you can only take out to the limit already paid in. I suspect to do that we would (not before time) have to come out of Europe.

We probably won't play them again at SMS for another 50 years. One more match and we can forget all about them again.

Personal abuse and a lack of respect for others views should be stamped out. It is easy to hold a constructive discussion with people that are willing to disagree and argue intelligently and constructively. There are quite a few that now refuse to put arguments forward because of the abuse they receive. In the main they are much more knowledgeable, constructive and interesting than the abusers who trot out the same old rubbish.

It was in this mornings Echo that David Jones had left the club.