chrisobee

How on earth could you ever imagine Ponty and I even had a clue

This could be fun:D What do you think Ponty and I are trying to find out, D'oh

Argentina for me 3-1, Messi will prove too good for the Germans.

Not if you specifically look for my posts it isn't

Finaly for today: 2.35 - Sandown Mr Willis - e/w. @33/1 (General) 3.25 - Haydock - Thin Red lIne - @ 12/1 (General) 3.35 - Leicester - Sir Bruno - e/w. @ 20/1 (General) 3.40 - Sandown - Virginia Hall - @ 8/1 (General) 8.25 - Carlisle - Stevie Gee - e/w. @ 14/1 (General) Cheers, Chris

In the unlikely event of Uruguay reaching the final it looks quite possible he'll miss that game too: http://www.sportinglife.com/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/10/07/03/WORLDCUP_FIFA.html

Lothian

Indeed !

No, it wasn't deliberate and it wasn't a sending off IN MY OPINION. In fact I'm not even sure he touched Carvalho. As Alpine Saint says Rooney was the one being fouled and then the Portugese, Ronaldo especially, start harranguing the referee, that was what was truly despicable. That said we all view things differently, you need to accept that your view is valid from your perspective but the opposite view is equally valid. Sadly you have posted in keeping with the general trend on here that there are no grey areas rather than respecting an opposite point of view.

Close, it was Suarez !

When did I ever say I wanted it fully revisited ? I raised a couple of points I considered contentious, people can chose to reply or not. As I have already stated ( why does the Horse Racing tips thread seem to be the ONLY one where I don't need to repeat myself ) I wasn't able to join in the orginal debate/polls so am I not allowed to raise a few points now

I'm glad someone gets the point TBH ! Amidst all the repetitive stuff we have on here why not revisit an old topic. I'd bet a lot of people did not/could not join in the orginal debate and how many new members have joined since then ?

Why not and why should it be locked No, I didn't have the chance to discuss it 18 months ago as my Internet access was limited to Internet Cafes.

@cobee33. Just follow several sportsmen/women and mainly athletes. Baj has now become the only person I actually "know" who is on there !

Once again, NO I wouldn't, how many more times ! Please don't assume we all have the same mentality, I have made my point of view very clear but also stated at post 34: " No, I was just trying to make the point that most players would have handled the ball, not that it was right. It's still cheating and 100% no I would never want England/Saints to win that way. However, to avoid any doubt I'm not trying to take the moral high ground, I can see both points of view but I only agree with one which is a reasonable stance to take!"

Not really sure the point you are trying to make here. In Rugby penalty tries are rare as players know they'll not only concede the try anyway but quite possibly get sent off, sin bin for 10 minutes at least. A lot of RL games are close affairs these days, last night Salford 17 Quins 14 so a penalty try awarded or not might well have affected the outcome.

That's the way it goes, Piscean won by a short head at 16/1 ! Your luck will change, maybe not today but soon:D Chris

Finally ! For now : Haydock 2.15 : Would like to oppose short priced favourite Berling @ 4/6 but he looks way ahead of the handicapper. With only 7 going to post no real sense going ew though Anhar @7/1 is an excellently bred colt and might cause an upset so worth considering for a small bet/forecast. Sandown 2.35 Set The Trend @ 8/1 : From the Andrew Balding yard this four year old gelding comes into the race having finished second last time out at Epsom and it is thought that he can follow in the footsteps of stable mate Spanish Acclaim who won yesterday at 16/1. Lightly raced type, the kind of horse which tends to do well in this contest. Beverley 2.45 Good Morning Dubai @ 11/4 :Made a very pleasing debut despite running very green under pure hands & heels from Fallon (literally didn't even flick the stick) and likely to improve significantly for racing. Salisbury 3.10 Twice Over @9/4/ Mawatheeq @6/1 : Twice Over looks the one to beat in a small field of 6 though only Sri Putra looks outclassed.Mawatheeq is closely related to Rumoush and Ghanaati, exceeded all expectations last year and has been delayed this term following a small setback. Highly regarded and considered a live contender for the King George or late season targets.Every chance if back to his best. Beverley 3.50 Select Committee @8/1 : Trained by John Quinn and ridden by the excellent Ian Brennan who is very good value for his five pound claim this five year old gelding was fourth last time out and hopefully can win today over five furlongs. Haydock 3.25 Spirit is Needed ew @28/1 : I see Frankie has cottoned on to this one, possibly for the same reason as me. Despite disappointing on last 2 starts he is a C&D winner which always rate as a positive, at the price a small ew bet is certainly worth taking. Haydock 4.35Edge Closer @ 7/1 ( Skybet)/ :Genki is the short priced favourite and come about 4.45 the 15/8 available at Totesport might prove very good value. However, at a bigger price Edge Closer appeals even if he is not as effective as he once was. From the powerful Richard Hannon yard this six year old bay was a close up fifth last time out at Windsor,should go well in the hands of Richard Hughes. 3 defections already in this race, if the 8 that remain run going ew could be the safe option. Sandown 4.50: Oil Strike @9/1 : Given a considerate ride from a difficult draw on reappearance after long absence, shaping with promise and likely to be competitive in this company if he gets more rub of the green. Sandown 5.25 Beachfire @ 2/1 Nap :The rapidly improving Beachfire should be hard to beat, stepped up 1fl but down slightly in grade and only revised 5lbs upwards for his recent success at this venue. The extra distance is expected to suit.The excellent William Buick takes the ride. The 2/1 at Corals looks generous, probably a 11/8- 6/4 shot. Good luck one and all, hopefully more winners today !? Chris

Plenty to get stuck into today already, as it is Saturday there are of course lots of tricky races so fairly small bets.......However, trying to edit on here seems next to impossible so I'll draft my tips/analysis in my email folder and come back ! Chris

With apologies to St Landrew who I'm sure will be delighted this can of worms is reopened ( at least you don't have to get involved at all unless you want to ) I think it's time to revisit this thread particularly as I was not able to post on the subject at the time. However, having spent some time looking at the nominations/comments there are a few very strange decisions, notably at left back. Firstly, someone, I cannot remember who, suggested we had not been blessed with good left backs over the years. Well in my opinion that simply isn't true. Aside from the 6 nominations, Steve Mills, Benali ( rather contentious it has to be said), Dennis, Bridge, Hollywood and Peach, off the top of my head I can think of Micky Adams, Andy Townsend, Nick Holmes ( ok he did get nominated for midfield but should have been a shoe in for LB), Gareth Bale, Francis Burns, Tommy Traynor and Derek Statham. Now of course we have both Dan Harding and Ryan Dickson so in my experience we have actually been blessed with a wealth of talent at left back, a position many teams struggle to fill. However, what is really contentious for me is the lack of support for Steve Mills who trailed in 5th of the 6 nominations. Now I realise his career was tragically short but even in the 60 odd games he did play before his car accident he simply oozed class and was duly selected for England U23's. A near cert for full honours had his career not been so brief only Mark Dennis and Wayne Bridge come close in my opinion and I'd have him in my 1st team without a shadow of a doubt, a decision made with my head and not my heart but that said who wasn't moved by the Charity match in 1988, 20,000+ at the game if memory serves. The other really contentious issue concerns Phil Boyer. At least he did get nominated for both the Best Right side/Striker and Best Left Side Striker positions but a meagre 3 votes in total is astonishing. No way is James Beattie a better player than Boyer, nor indeed Steve Moran come to that and certainly not on a par with Shearer. Of course it seems clear that more recent players are going to be better remembered but if you know your Saints history then even that shouldn't explain the selections especially when someone like Ronnie Ekelund does ( rightly so) make the subs bench for the "B" team but then rather oddly is joined by Kelvin Davis who as far as I can see wasn't even amongst the nominees:? and never should have been. There are a few more I don't agree with but at least I can accept in those cases it's more a question of personal preference,

Penalty Try - In Rugby League "This is awarded when a player is denied an OBVIOUS try by an OBVIOUS foul. " Not that difficult to implement, fair to say I've never seen a penalty try awarded when it should not have been. A simple solution but in many ways football is still in the dark ages

The referee for England v Germany was Jorge Larrionda of Uruguay though it was his linesmen who should have seen it. I'm not totally sure but as officials work in teams I guess the assistant was Uruguayan as well ? Fair to say the Uruguayans are gaining nothing in the popularity stakes though in the unlikely event of them winning the WC they'll clearly not give a damn. In this case the referee would have had no excuse for not seeing it.

Just these isn't it ? "The older-style £20 notes that show a portrait of Sir Edward Elgar were withdrawn on 30 June."

No, that's blatantly not true.

Very unfair TBH