CHAPEL END CHARLIE

Another Beano Boy here - The Bash Street Kids being my personal fav. Until my adolescent bloodlust made collecting 'Commando' and 'Battle Picture Library' a minor obsession.

Blackpool are now I believe on their 2 year of the old 3 year 'parachute' payment process, so it's a case of stick or twist for them. Either keep their best players and push for promotion back to the Prem, or cut the wages get some cash in and prepare for life in the lower leagues. If I was them I'd keep him and give it a go.

I can see my beloved Saints 4 - 0 up by half time. Steve Moran will recover from his bad back and score his first hatrick and methinks Agboola will be playing for City ....... sorry I appear to have woken up in back in 1983 for some reason.

Just ask Arizona to come back. We disagreed about just about everything but I liked him.

The OP is talking nonsense, but Lallana is such a important player for us that moving him from his customary left side position is itself something of a gamble. I've only seen him once this pre season (v Wolves) and based on that very limited evidence AL didn't look at his most effective playing behind the striker. I seldom talk about formations because (after the debacle of Jan Poortvliet and the 2008/9 season) the prospect of arguing 442/433 ... etc again makes my brain ache to be frank, but if the players can't adapt to the formation then the manager will have to adapt the formation to the players - or face the consequences. It may not be too much of a exaggeration to say that his job, and more importantly our survival prospects, depend upon NA getting the best out of our better players - included Adam Lallana of course. Dr Chapel End Charlie MA, renowned expert in the bleedin' obvious.

Q - Am I entirely confident that our pre-season campaign has built up such a head of steam that we'll start the season strongly ? A - Can't say I am. Q - Do I think we have done enough (as yet) in the transfer market to fully optimise our chances of staying up ? A - Not really. Q - Where (as things stand) do I think we will finish the season ? A - Bottom six I should think. Q - Might two or three more good signings restore my moral and sense of confidence ? A - Almost certainly. Q - Is it natural for a football fan to worry about the prospects of his club before the season even starts ? A - Oh yes.

I saw Gene Wilder/Mel Brook's 'Young Frankenstein' again last night, and what a undiluted joy this film still is. It's hard to single out the best part of this absurdly funny film: from the outrages 'Transylvania Station' gag, to Marty Feldmans gloriously OTT performance as 'Eye Gore', or even the monsters truly unique version of 'Putting on the Ritz' that remains so vividly in the memory. But perhaps the best bit for me is the scene where the unfortunate monster pays a call on Gene Hackman's hermit cabin in the woods - in a life time of film viewing I have seldom laughed quite this much. PS - and what exactly has she done to them that has made the Horses quite so terrified of Frau Blutcher

Each to his own of course but for me there is a invisible line humour should not cross. Within certain limits even comedy about something quite as horrendous WWII is accepted because war is a innately absurd Human activity that should be ridiculed. But do we go past Dad's Army and seek to find our amusement in the massed slaughter of the concentration camps ? Will that subject ever become a ripe field for comedy ? Not for me. A while ago someone lent me a 'stand-up' DVD by some Irish comedian I'd never seen before (Boyle ?) and I sat through his act (although not much enjoying the experience in all honesty) until he started to make fun of the appalling murder of 'Baby P' - a crime that effected me deeply I should admit. Now to be fair his audience seem to fall into fits of hysterics at this, but for me it was just a sickening descent into a awful tragedy that is beyond humour. I suppose a attempt to both shock and revolt his audience is the whole point of this form of comedy, but I'd had quite enough by now and turned off. His humour reminded be somewhat of a down-market version of Quentin Tarantino's love of bloody violence - effective in front of a audience but ultimately a amoral and empty form of entertainment. I'm not in favour of imposing my sensibilities on anyone else by calling for censorship of this extreme form of humour (if 'humour' be the right word) but I do like to think that maybe at least one member of the audience went home that night and pondered on just what it was they were laughing at.

I don't "expect" any evidence at all - I merely point out that none is forthcoming. Is it your belief that the Liebherr family will bankroll this club for evermore just because it was their late fathers dream ?

I see no actual evidence presented to support this rumour, but the possibility that the club might indeed be up for sale should not just be dismissed out of hand. Given the circumstances a change of ownership can only be a matter of time anyway .....

Website design is not a subject of any great interest to me, but if the aim of the exercise is to promote the club, sell it products, and keep fans informed of developments in a clear and easily usable manner then no only does the new design fail miserably, it is also manifestly inferior to what went before. On a more positive note, at least this morning I was able to access my account for the first time in days - after successfully resetting the password - which leads me to suspect that work is ongoing behind the scenes to rectify some of its more obvious flaws. More pre launch testing might have saved a great deal of bother for all concerned however.

It's neither fair nor useful to lump Jonathon Forte in with better players such as Antonio or Papa Waigo. If I recall correctly those points Forte helped secure did mean something at the time.

If we are crudely dividing loan players into 'Hit & Miss' categories that it seems to me reasonable to rate those that make a useful contribution as 'Hits'. In any case I don't remember many Saints fans leaving Wembley after the 2010 JPT Final regretting the fact that either of these players were in the squad.

Opinions may differ as to how good Papa Waigo and Michail Antonio were, but clearly both made useful contributions during their time here. To attempt to argue otherwise is just silly.

Recently seen bumper sticker: If arseh0les could fly this place would be a airport.

If it's any consolation you not the only fan with the same problem.

I too was not all that impressed (to put it mildly) with Steven Moffat's work on the last series of Who, indeed utter nonsense such as 'Lets kill Hitler' for instance must count among the very worst scripts the programme has generated since its 2005 rebirth. Moffat is a life long DW fan and has been responsible for some excellent episodes in his time (such as 'Blink' in 2007) but he's also a very busy writer/producer who may have 'taken his eye off the ball' regarding DW. At its heart DW must always be family entertainment with its focus very much on the younger members of the family. If I as a (very) long term DW aficionado could not readily explain what all the terminally confusing 'Silence'/Amy being River Song's mum/death of the Doctor story lines behind Series 6 were all about, than what chance does a actual 10 year old child have ? DW at it best has always been a simple good v evil morality tale, this fundamental ethos of the programme seem to have been forgotten. As for the newly released Series 7 trailer - although the time honoured convention that the Daleks must aways be defeated is well known (it would be interesting to see that convention subverted for once) the sight of the Doctor standing amid endless rows of destroyed Daleks yet again does rather spoil the suspense somewhat ! .... and when will the producers learn that army's of CG Daleks are no more effective that a few 'real' models are ? To be fair Dinosaurs on a spaceship however could be good fun - especially if they can manage to eat bleedin River Song for their dinner - and Moffat's very creepy 'Weeping Angles' might just have one last story left in them I suppose. However if this series proves to be as disappointing as the last, then I fear my beloved Who may soon be in for another prolonged absence from our screens. And that would be a shame for children - of all ages.

A few random observations from a victorious, if rather lackluster, football match: Billy Sharp: You look at his game and you'd be hard pressed to claim that he's a obvious Premier League star in the making. He's neither big nor very quick, he can even look clumsy at times. Despite all that as per usual he got his goal again today. Given the chances I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him get us ten goals this coming season because our Billy is just a natural finisher who knows his business inside and out. Jack Stephens: Never seen him play before but a big imposing lad that (on this limited evidence) looked perfectly at home in our defence. I'd say there's probably not all that much between him and Arron Martin. Guly do Prado: It always gets me into trouble on here but I can only call it as I see it. He just doesn't do enough for me. On course to start this season like he finished the last I reckon - and this is not meant as a complement. Nathaniel Clyne: Easily our best player in the first half I thought. Excellent attacking instincts and not afraid to take his man on - and beat him. Fraser Richardson (no mean player himself) will have a job on his hands keeping his starting place. Chaplow, Hammond & Puncheon: All 3 grafted away like players fighting for a place. Lots of honest midfield graft and quite effective in a unspectacular kind of way. Not a favorite of mine but a rare Puncheon goal was just reward for a decent performance. Subs: Steven Davis came on and did all right I thought. Jay Rodriguez didn't really get into this game frankly, but I shouldn't read very much into that. Steve De Ridder tries so very hard you kinda desperately want him to succeed when he still doesn't look to have the quality required in all honesty.

Thanks. Yes new password applied via cut and paste to avoid any chance of copying error. I do use IE so will try another web browser later, but surely this site should work with all browsers surely ?

The new password appears in my email in-box almost immediately - but when applied to the account the previous 'log-in error' message makes a (v unwelcome) reappearance. Repeat the process - same frustrating result again. An unworkable site and a unacceptably poor effort from the club methinks. Sort it out SFC !

Well I now get a 'log-in error' message every time I attempt access my (previously perfectly working account) and the 'reset password' option is about as effective as a chocolate teapot too. This leaves me with no apparent option but to phone the ticket office - at my expense of course. So is it too early to engage in a bit of slating ......

I'll be there with nippers in tow for my only pre-season expedition. While the result isn't all that important in the grand scheme of things of course, a win would nevertheless still be a welcome boost to moral. I know a certain Lambert worshiping 5 year old who certainly does not share in the unenthusiastic reaction to this match many on here seem to hold.

Oh It's hip to be square, and speaking of which you won't be that surprised to know that I once had a (very) square Volvo V70 T5. The pleasure to be had from seeing my old Volvo wagon - with all 7 seats occupied - still frequently leave expensive German motors spluttering in its wake is one of my fondest driving memories. Re Ford Mondeo's - having done umpteen thousands of miles in them over the years, although admittedly no match for a proper Volvo, I must say that they too are excellent drivers cars, and top value for money too. Needless to say not the types of car that hold much appeal for badge snobs of course ......

My recommendation is that every Tom, ****, and Harriet out there wants small cars like these, so the consequent high level of demand for Noddy cars makes them poor value for money. Unless you are still young enough for insurance to be a serious issue, then I say get a proper man sized car instead - a Mondeo rather than a Focus, a Passat not a Golf for instance. That's where the value is.

If this ruthless 'hardball' game we are supposedly playing with Buttner and/or his agent is true (I see no actual evidence that it is) then, even if we do eventually sign him, what frame of mind is he going to be in when he arrives here anyway ? It's hardly an ideal situation for a player to turn up here already disgruntled because he may think - rightly or wrongly - that our intransigence has cost him money. Too much aggravation around this transfer for my likes, but if we do still want him then we may have to pay off this mysterious 3rd party/agent, or move on to the next target. In any case the calender shows that the start of the season is just matter of weeks away .... tick tock.