CHAPEL END CHARLIE

I'm much impressed - yet again - with the latest series of 'Who Do You Think You Are?' (BBC1 Wednesday). Last weeks unbearably sad story regarding the life of Greg Wallace's ill-fated Grandfather was genuinely compulsive viewing and this weeks tale of Patrick Stewart (perhaps my favorite actor) and his wife beating/war hero/shell shocked father was equally interesting. Just like life, the closer you look - the more you can see. Just stop for a moment and think of the level of research that must go into producing a complex programme of this nature. It must take a big effort to find stars with a sufficiently interesting background to be worth pursuing, and then even more time to do the level of in depth background research this format requires. It should go without saying that we 'little people' may also have interesting family histories too, but I suppose basing each programme around a well known 'personality' does boost the audience numbers in todays celebrity obsessed culture. Highly recommended.

I completely agree. I also remember that in his first (brief) stint here on loan Jack Cork didn't look all that bad a tyro CB. He lacks the obvious 'brick sh1thouse' build of your true CB, but perhaps his return to the back line might be a decent option if needed.

The OP is clearly the 'sunnyside up' type of fan - and there is much to be optimistic about - but some excellent signings this window shouldn't blind us to our squads true strengths and weaknesses. Defence We are still relying on Kelvin as both new GKs are inexperienced and utterly untested at this level. The rest of the Premier League will see this situation as a weakness - they may well be right. Clyne I feel will become a class act, but is not yet perhaps the 'finished article' as far as his defending is concerned. Yoshida should be a real improvement over the out of his depth Fonte - he needs to be frankly. As for the LB position, it seems clear enough that we wanted to strengthen here but missed out. Midfield Already boasting some good players (Lallana Schneiderlin Cork Davis) we now look even more convincing with the genuine International quality of Ramirez added. I may have said before that I don't rate Guly as PL quality - or even close to that standard frankly. Puncheon is a enigma, I've never really liked him but I wouldn't be all that surprised to see JP make a useful contribution this season. The prospect of PL football seems to motivate this player more than most. It will be interesting to see young Ward-Prowse develop. Forwards Here too we seem to have improved significantly. Lambert didn't go to Villa then (!) and Tadanari Lee should soon be back. This Mayuka lad could be a star and Rodriguez surely hasn't become a bad player overnight - has he ? Conclusions Our end of season 'goals conceded' stats may not look all that pretty, but as long as NA can knit all these good players into a good team, playing in a formation that suites their abilities, then I feel there is reason to believe we should now survive - we might even dream of a mid-table finish with a bit of luck and all the new signings prospering. As ever only time will tell.

I'd take a finisher of his quality in a New York minute under some kind of pay-as-you-play deal - half the Premier League would I'd imagine. A pretty big 'punt' on him staying fit otherwise.

A hell of lot of money spent if todays expected late deals come to fruition - more than we could have reasonably expected - and the signings appear to be good ones. However, if I were spending north of £30m on this squad then I'd make pretty damn sure some of it went on signing a better GK than Kelvin - just saying.

A formidable addition to our defence May be a bit rusty though .....

Athletic, quick as you like, two good feet and knows where the goal is ...... we certainly don't want his type here. By the way you lot, I claim first dibs on the 'Mayuka Bazooka' headline when he scores his first screamer.

This, along with those ghastly Prom Nights, is a foul American tradition that has no place here in a properly mannered country. But I can picture the horrific scene in my minds eye if I ever were to lose control of my senses and go to one: I walk through the door nervously late as usual, a familiar feeling of impending doom making unwelcome inroads into my oh-so-fragile sense of confidence. I see a group of successful middle aged people in a huddle ahead of me. The conversation instantly stops as they turn to stare at me. My mouth runs dry as fear takes hold and I suddenly discover I can't remember any of their names .... what is even worse they seem to have completely forgotten me ! Only now does the awful truth dawn on me - every bloody one of them has more hair/money/teeth than I do. I scream in terror and flee back to the carpark only to find a horrible git I could never abide has just parked his posh new Audi A8 next to my ancient rust covered Mondeo *shudders* On refection just shoot me now please

My fellow Sci Fi fans. I have just noticed today - for the first time I'm ashamed to say - that the somewhat rotund actor who played 'Captain Hollister' in ten episodes of Red Dwarf - Mac McDonald - also played base commander 'Al Simpson' in James Cameron's action masterpiece Aliens, although I must admit he is only seen in the so called 'Directors Cut' version. This is obviously a important development so I thought I'd waste no time in letting you all know. Stay tuned for further updates direct from Nerdville Control.

I saw 'The Unauthorised Biography of Johnny Cash' on one of the Freeview channels last night. Now as a (strangely music free) TV production this pedestrian effort hardly set any new standards, yet because of its innately remarkable subject it somehow became a worthwhile piece of programming anyway. Surely one of the greatest musicians of our times Cash is a almost unfathomable enigma of man to even attempt to understand, and thus a irresistible subject for this kind of programming. Good Johnny v Evil Cash was the (trite) way this programme had of putting it, but that merely skims the surface of this complex, troubled & gifted Human Being. Despite being a dedicated admirer of Johnny Cash for many years now, looking back at his loutish & immature behavior back in the late 60's (when his addition problems were at there worst) I can't help but admit that I would probably have found him a hard person to like in all honesty. But even in his darkest moments however - and Johnny had more than his fair share of them - there was still this loving & compassionate side to his nature that shines through & sets him apart from his much less interesting contemporary's. You should walk a mile in another mans shoes before judging him they say .... Perhaps his brother put it best when he said that Johnny was both the "kindest and meanest person he ever knew". One thing I know for sure is that this world has become a poorer place because of his passing.

You are by no means alone in thinking this. My take is that Kelvin (bless him) is a good keeper, but not really an outstanding one. Given the scale of the challenge ahead of us we surely we need to sign a top quality keeper this week, or face the consequences. The record shows that collectively our defense was conceding a goal a game last season in the Championship, That did not prove fatal at the time because our forwards were scoring frequently. Faced however with significantly sharper Premier League strikers, and more robust defences too, if that stat goes up to 2 or 3 goals a game conceded - which seems likely right now - then the writing is already on the wall for us this season. The need to sign a experienced keeper who can both challenge Davis for a starting place and/or provide reliable cover should he become injured, is pressing. The last time we were in this division we had two International quality goalkeepers on our books - Antti Niemi & Paul Jones. Recreating that enviable situation is too much to ask, but signing one quality keeper isn't.

It's not just a question of unsold seats, I noticed yesterday that plenty of corporate boxes were also empty. I expect Man Utd will be a sell out again as our manc mates besiege SFC fans with ticket requests, but you have to wonder at the clubs marketing and ticket pricing policy if this situation continues. Needless to say winning football games does also help to shift tickets ......

The smell of bullsh1t emanating from this thread is overpowering. No proper football fan - of any team - could possibly be entirely unconcerned to see his/her team is at the bottom of the league without a point after four games. If this sorry state of affairs should occur here, then I can promise anyone reading this that I'm not going to be all 'cool calm & collected' about it as some on here claim they will be - I'm going to give the (metaphorical) cat the kicking of its ferking life and be a utter bear to everyone around me. If we were to continue in such miserably uncompetitive form then - sooner or later - I will certainly expect the 'powers that be' to take the appropriate action to address the situation. Failure is not a option. I've paid over £500 to follow this team this season - which is a lot of money to me - and in return for that I expect to see us field a viable Premier League team that doesn't roll over and have its tummy tickled every time it plays the likes of Wigan Athletic.

A surprising ordinary - and yet utterly extraordinary - man who despite his eternal fame, and all the wealth and power it might have led to, never let it go to his head.

I wish Guly was our only problem because that could be sorted easily enough. We didn't lose today solely because of any one player, but put simply Guly is very clearly not a Premier League player. Overhearing other fans comments on the way out I can assure you I'm not the only fan who holds this view - far from it.

I thought we stated brightly enough and might even had been the better team for a while, Lallana forcing a top class save from El Habsi, but after about 35 minutes or so we ran out of ideas and the game became pretty even. The second half had hardly got started and our sleepy defence was undone by a quick Wigan goal that Kelvin had no chance with. One goal down with plenty of time on the clock you'd think the home team would push on for a equalizer - you'd have thought that would happen but it didn't really. We had nothing left to offer as Wigan had by now figured us out, nullified Lambert, and started to outplay our midfield. Any possibility of our team getting back into the game was not increased by the managers inert reaction to going behind. When we did eventually get subs on (too late IMO) the selection of young JWP for Steve Davis didn't seem likely to change the pattern of the game - and sure enough it didn't. I'm no great fan of Jason Puncheon to put it mildly, but he might just have made a difference to this game. So early days but a VERY depressing result in truth. Looking at the fixture list it's anyone guess when we get our first points this season. Three Good. Lallana - Had a decent game in the middle today I thought. Probably better employed on the left however. Steve Davis - Good tidy player that will doubtless prove to be a decent addition to our midfield. Clyne - Has a lot left to learn about defending, but will develop into a proper PL player before long methinks. Three Bad. Fonte - Utterly out of depth today. Poor defensibly, dismal in his distribution, wasteful going forward. Guly - Well people keep telling me how wonderful he is. My view is he shouldn't be anywhere near our starting 11 Rodriguez - A striker being asked (unsuccessfully) to play out wide. Sort it out NA !

It's enough to make a chap proud to come from Poole.

Another week gone and nothing more than more rumours to show for it. The trouble with brinkmanship is that the closer to the edge you go, then the greater the risk of a very nasty fall you run. Tonight we have a squad that may well struggle to get out of the bottom six places this season. Now if the chairman really wants to do something about that perilous state of affairs then (to state the obvious again) he better start getting some good players signed pretty damn quick. So a interesting week ahead then ?

The OP makes a very valid point when he points out the difficulty of pigeonholing players neatly into this, or that, level of the game. I can also wholeheartedly agree that the vast gulf in class that supposedly exists between the top of one division, and the nether regions of the next, is equally hard to pin down with any degree of certainty. Having said all that - just for fun - if we are to divide our senior players into wheat and Premier League chaff, then this is how I see it - for the moment anyway. Potentially good enough to play regularly in the Premier League: Lallana , Lambert , Schneiderlin , Lee , Rodriguez , Cork , Hooiveld , Clyne , Fonte , S Davis. Borderline cases I reckon: K Davis , Sharp , Richardson , Puncheon , Fox. Probably not up to it methinks: Guly , Chaplow , Hammond , Seabourne , Butterfield , De Ridder. NB - Needless to say the above is more a fans 'gut feeling' rather than a scientifically accurate prediction based on observed (all of one games worth) of evidence ! Too early to say with the youngsters and Gazzaniga so I will omit any grossly premature guesswork re their potential this season. Naturally as the season progresses players will move between the above divisions as some exceed expectations, while others disappoint.

I took the kids to see Disney-Pixar's latest effort 'Brave' yesterday, and what a smashing children's film it is. Funny and thrilling in just the right measure, add in a engaging script and some fine vocal performances from its mostly Scottish cast (the wonderful Billy Connelly in particular) and it's hard to see what more you could ask for. What really stood out for me however is just how far CGI technology has come along in recent years. Pixar has achieved what it had set out to do many years ago and created something truly remarkable in the field of computer generated images. Better even than 'Avatar' perhaps, this film looks so sumptuous that I can honestly say it took my breath away at times. The beautiful depth and fidelity of texture achieved (be it Human hair, the grain of wood, or moss on a rock) colours that almost outdo the best efforts of Mother Nature - and all so hyper realistically realized that reality itself may be in danger of becoming a disappointment to this generation of children. What can be put on the screen now, sourced only from the Human imagination and the innards of a computer, truly is a wonder to behold. 9/10

One of the best posts I've ever read on here Frank. I find myself in complete agreement with you when you write that a life free of organised religion does not necessarily equate to a life bereft of any deep meaning - as you so elegantly argue we must find meaning elsewhere. I think it our nature that modern man still seeks to find a form of meaning in life in much the same measure that our pre historic ancestors surely did, only in what we might now call the dawn of the 'Post belief' era we must each struggle alone to find our own path towards 'salvation' without having the answers laid before us like a set of instructions. I wonder if, like me, you sometimes listen to sublime religious music such as a JS Bach cantata, or contemplate something as profoundly beautiful as a Raphael's 'Madonna of the Meadow' and still experience the awesome power of religion, a power that rationalism and scientific knowledge cannot quite dispel? We may one day soon rid ourselves of outdated notions like Heaven and Hell and the idea of a all-powerful God watching over us. Something tells me however that our underlying need for faith in something is a part of our nature humanity might find hard to dispense with. Indeed, why would we want to ?

The writer Harlen Ellison once postulated that God can only exist while mankind continues to believe in him - in which case he must be on his deathbed if this nation is any guide. Like Harlen I'm not a religious man because, as I see it, religion doesn't nearly explain the world in all its unfathomable complexity. To me the Universe seems a utterly indifferent place where life on Earth in all its magnificent diversity is the remarkable - but rationally explainable - result of the remorseless processes of physics, evolution, and the happenstance of this planets favorable orbit. Were some cosmic disaster to overwhelm our 'Island Earth' tomorrow then I expect no all powerful God Figure to come to our rescue, just as no divine being intervened to save Europe's Jewry from the horror of the concentration camps or the innocent victims of Rwanda's genocide. This is the hard reality of our existence is it not ? But our religions are truly remarkable achievements of the Human intellect that atheists casually dismiss at their peril. Anyone with even the sketchiest knowledge of the New Testament or the Koran should understand what monumental works of philosophy they are. Yes they are contradictory at times, and they have been misused by those intent on exploiting them for their own ends, but that should not blind us to their central message of love and forgiveness. I say the awesome wisdom of our ancestors as exhibited in the great religions, the fact they understood so very much about what it means to be a moral Human Being hint at the heights we as a species might one day scale. What contradictions we are - so very wise but still so needful in nature, so humane yet capable of such utterly cruelty as well. In some ways humanity already resembles the capricious old Gods on Mt Olympus. Is that all we can ever be ?

Cortese (by all accounts) is a responsible business man determined to obtain the best possible value for money for his employers - the Liebherr family. Being careful with your own, and other peoples, money is a good thing of course, but you have to wonder whether losing out on players we clearly both want and need (such as Buttner) because we are not prepared to compromise on our principles is a tenable position given the constrains of the transfer window system. It stinks but to do business in this market it may be necessary some times to pay more than you think a player is really worth and pay off grasping agents (or a players father even) too in order to achieve the desired aim - a decent quality Premier League squad. Signing players is a complex business we mere fans probably underestimate the difficulties of, but it would appear we have missed more targets than we've hit this summer - and that should be a matter of concern for us all.

The MOD has just released new images of the Royal Navy's latest warship design - the 5,400t Type 26 Global Combat Ship: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19312378 Intended to replace the aging Type 23 Frigate, the RN will require a class of 13 ships in theory - those who follow this type of thing however may be excused for doubting the service will ever more than half that number. PS - Not exactly a thing of beauty is it !

The OP has clearly gone well OTT with this "ten men" nonsense, but those who habitually rush to Guly's defence every time someone dares criticize him seem equally in error. To describe yesterdays workmanlike performance as "Brilliant" or "Great" is a gross exaggeration of the truth that verges of the ridiculous. Having watched the game carefully I saw precious little evidence of brilliance or greatness from this player, only a honest footballer putting in a decent enough shift. One suspects that in their heart of hearts many members of the Guly Defence League do actualy know that this player isn't really good enough to make very much of a impact on the Premier League and that we (urgently) need to sign someone better. I don't however expect many of them to admit this.