CHAPEL END CHARLIE

A common sense solution to the overheating problem would have been for the train driver/guard to open a door or two - which would have undoubtedly happened in the days when working men (and their bosses) had the wisdom to know when to bend a rule and before the dread hand of the Health & Safety Authority stalked the land . Half the problems in this country stem from the simple fact that no one trusts anyone in modern society : Perfectly innocent people have to have a criminal record check before you can have any contact with children because you might just be a paedophile . The presumption of innocence ? well you can forget that . Drivers are confronted with a veritable Forrest of road signs/markings on even short stretches of road because we're no longer trusted to drive a car sensibly anymore . The Fire Brigade will cordon off half a city (including main rail lines/motorways ... etc) when any little fire occurs in a place where there might just be a gas cylinder - 1 in a 10,000 chance of anyone actually getting hurt . Instead of clearing a road ASAP after a accident as they once did the Police now keep them closed for hours on end (costing the economy vast sums) while they 'gather evidence' for prosecutions that in all probability will never happen or even if they did would only result in trivial fines . Civil liberties that have been the birth right of Englishmen for centuries are being eroded daily because we might all be terrorist suicide bomber . Freedom - well that's just another word for nothing left to lose apparently . When two equally drunken young people have sex after a party and wake up the next morning regretting it (has been happening for all human history) the man involved is now considered to be a rapist ! You can't hold a street party or a village fete anymore because you must have insurance just in case you get sued for something . These are just a few of many examples of the sea of Bullsh1t a ordinary Britain has to confront in their everyday life - sometimes I wish my old dad had taken up that postwar '£10 Pom' offer and moved us all to Australia where at least a remnant of old fashioned common sense still endures . :mad:

Decent effort from our team today by the sound of it - bad luck chaps .

Errr ...... I think you will find that the playing field has subsided somewhat in our direction , the weight of all those Liebherr millions undermining the foundations . Do try to keep up .

Football was invented so that man can avoid the horror of having to participate in real conversations . Without Southampton Football Club , Star Trek , or Julia Bradbury I would quite literaly have nothing to talk about .

I'm not entirely sure how I should go about getting over myself - is some form of gymnastics (or a ladder) involved ? Yes we are currently playing in the 3rd Division but as some of us are blessed with memories that extend well past last week I tend to take a longer term view of the true (dare I say rightful) place of SFC in English football . I'll take this opportunity to entirely disassociate myself from the alarmingly large number of Saints fans on here that seem happy to see our club play in the lower divisions - a fundamental lack of ambition on display here I'd say . We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars , as Oscar Wilde may have said . I don't know why I must judge the team merely on 'League One' standards , do you consider our facilities/wage bill/players .. etc to be only typical 3rd Division fare or our they in truth rather better than that ? I'm pleased that after a 'slow start' (AP's words not mine) we are now achieving good results , frankly a half season average that irrespective of the next 3 results will still be well under 2 points per game is not that much to shout about and the very least I expect from this club with this level of financial resources in this division . I make no apology for saying that by the end of next season (barring a unlikely but very welcome play-off triumph this) I expect to see this club promoted . Perhaps I'm being too demanding or bloody unreasonable even - you won't be surprised to read that I see this as just asking for a proper return on (Mr Liebherr's) more than proper investment .

Alan Pardew has my respect and like any Saints manager he will (or specifically his team will) have my backing - but he's not infallible and I'm not about to abandon debate for fear of being depicted as 'off message' somehow . The fans you describe are clearly idiots and not representative of the vast majority , it's just your bad luck you happen to sit near them I'm afraid . I must say our current run of good form is (rather like a period of bad results) starting to bring out the worst in people on here . The authoritarian attitude certain SW posters adopt to other fans who prefer not to brag when we turn over some impoverished little club I find nauseating , the lack of historical perspective shown as we were in exactly the same position ourselves only last season is deeply embarrassing . Judging by the attitude displayed by some you'd think we were turning over wealthy Premier League opposition every week instead of humble little clubs such as Wycombe Wanderers or Torquay . It remains my view that Southampton Football Club winning a match in Division 3 should be a source of modest celebration at the time and quiet satisfaction afterwards , this site after a match however is starting to sound like Saints fans are trying to match Man Utd or Chelsea followers in the level of hubris they can display - I had hoped we were rather better than that .

Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity. Christopher Morley .

I still maintain that the 'Star Trek' franchise is easily the greatest US TV series ever broadcast but I'll throw in a additional contender from the left field - the wonderful 'American Gothic' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3xD3q0C3SM Children in peril , corruption , hot babes and Satanic evil in the American South it's got the lot .

The tune in question has a name - 'The Cuckoo Song'

Oh I've spent too much of my life trying to understand and heed the lessons of history to give anyone or anything my unquestioning support anymore . You elevate Alan Pardew to Godlike status if you like , but as good a manager as he undoubtedly is I fear he may well have 'Feet of Clay' myself - just like the rest of us . If we're not allowed to debate issues on here anymore then this forum ( the word Forum means - 'A public meeting place for open discussion' ) risks becoming a rather dull place don't you think ?

Silly thing to say . Everyone wants to see their team win as often as possible but to say that is everything is not a philosophy I could sign up to . Many things matter in sport - integrity , talent , excitement , drama - if I just wanted to see victories and nothing else I'd follow Man Utd or Chelsea like so many do . 'Victory is Everything' sounds a tad too much like 'Greed is Good' for me thanks .

Now I'd say that was a perfectly reasonable point of view to adopt , there are some on here however who'd like to burn you at the stake for daring to utter such 'heresy' .

You're talking about the woman I love ! - Even if she is nobody's perfect you know .

I was revisiting my beloved Sherlock Holmes collection last night - specifically 'The Adventure of the Norwood Builder' - let be tell you now that Jonas Oldacre is a proper git .

I don't know which was funnier - seeing a finisher of Lambert's quality miss from 6 inches or the comedy goalkeeping that led to the opportunity in the first place .

My ratings for Saints v Tranmere Rovers (3-0 home win) First half : Everyone (players/management/fans/officials) gets a 5 for turning out . Second half : Bart 6 - He did all he had to perfectly well , it'll be interesting to see how he copes under real pressure one day . L James 6 - I appreciate him standing in as a full back for the team but surely he's not the long term answer . R Jaidi 7.5 - I didn't see him make one significant mistake all game , a big strong brute of a CB that can play a bit as well . C Perry 6.5 - Steady Perry reads the game so well it can go along way towards compensating for his (age related) limitations . D Harding 7.5 MOTM - A fine defensive display was capped by a superb goal that changed the whole game . Smashing little player . M Antonio 6 - Worked his socks off but hardly got himself into the game today frankly . D Hammond 7 - The usual 'man sized' midfield performance from one of our very best players . M Schneiderlin 7 - Looking like a proper hard English style midfielder now , which I put down to following Hammond's (excellent) example . A Lallana 7 - Not at his very best today but still class , as fit as a butchers dog these days . D Connolly 6.5 - Was struggling to make much of an impact until a wonderfully insightful lay off set up the 1st gaol . R Lambert 7.5 - Hard working but like DC not having a great game until THAT wonder free kick - a privilege to witness . Substitutes : P Wotton 5 - Mr Invisible to me I must admit , he may be doing great thinks but I just can't see it . Papa 5 - He's offside so often because he's too quick for the officials half the time - has goals in him I reckon . J Mellis - Late sub . Conclusions : After a first half that was as dire a football game as I've seen for some time we eventually came out as easy winners once the game opened up after Dan the Man's fine opening goal . That gulf in class our better players process over the typical journeyman pro's smaller clubs such as Tranmere can field in this division proved decisive - as it was always likely to be . The play-offs are still just about 'doable' I suppose but only if we can avoid letting inferior teams sides such as Tranmere drag us down to their level for long periods again . Both Lambert's superb goal from a long range free kick and the crucial Harding/Connolly opener were absolutely first class and enlightened what would otherwise have been a extremely dull contest to be frank .

It was snoring by the Chapel End during the first half .

Now making a honest living for himself at Newcastle I'm glad to see but it would seem his previous bad habits were too much for our Academy staff to tolerate : http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Nile-Ranger-is-an-example-of-how-football-can-change-lives-says-Newcastle-boss-Chris-Hughton-article252645.html How would you handle that situation if you found a young lad stealing kit - get rid or stick by him ?

Mary Louise Parker from 'Weeds'/'West Wing' ... etc ... be still my beating heart Julia Bradbury ( yes I know she's only 38 ) almost counts too . I'll walk any old Railway line you like for you - anytime you like JB :smt008

Re the dumbing down of science programming on television , I can see the reasons why commercial television feels the need to appeal to the maximum possible audience but why the (licence fee funded) BBC desires to chase audience numbers in the same manner mystifies me . What exactly is the point of having a public service organisation such as the BBC if it provides exactly the same 'lowest common denominator' programming as every other broadcaster does - for free ? The premise that viewers only want childlike CG laden programming that will not overly challenge them ('Walking with Dinosaurs' for instance) shows exactly what the people who control television think of us . These patronising commissioning editors (Tristram's as AA Gill calls them) apparently see the public as little more than a mass of uneducated and not very curious plebs , there to be fobbed off with light-weight rubbish while they sneer at us from behind the scenes presumably . I can only hope and believe they underestimate their audience . I did manage to 'buck the trend' recently and find a interesting science programme - it was argued that the children of mixed race couples were as a direct result of their diverse inheritance genetically healthier than their same race peers - the very idea of 'racial purity' was fundamentally wrong in principle it would seem . The programme may have flirted with the ever-present danger of Political Correctness but I found it rather convincing in the main . As for the question of the exponential growth in the Human population this too is an absolutely valid subject for discussion , but rather like Eugenics (Nazi connotations) and Human ethnic variation (potently racist) - it's seen as a tricky issue to raise these days . Few among us I suppose would find a Chinese style authoritarian approach acceptable while doing nothing could (almost certainly will) produce disastrous consequences for the environment - a difficult problem . We should have more difficult problems raised on television .

It seems to me the UK's participation in the A400M programme has got a lot to do with EU politics and maintaining our position as the principle manufacturer of wings for Airbus and very little to do with the needs of the RAF . I strongly suspect the RAF would have been perfectly happy to operate a mix of C17 and new C130-J 'Hercules' transports and use the considerable sums saved on developing and buying A400M elsewhere . I see this aircraft finally got off the ground this week after the usual serious delays and cost overruns , we can only hope the services receive a decent aircraft eventually .

The Seawolf Class SSN's supposedly cheaper replacements have their own problems : http://hamptonroads.com/2007/12/welding-problems-found-virginia-class-submarines As for the VH-71 Presidential Helicopter programme's cancellation this seems a prime example of how not to run a defence contract . President Obama terminated it because it overrun its budget (or more precisely a politicians need to be seen to cut 'unnecessary' expenditure during a recession) but the reason the programme's costs got out of control in the first place is because of unrealistic demands being placed on a already highly capable (and proven) design and the political need to have it carry a 'Made in the USA' tag . So now we have the ludicrus situation of the most powerful man in the world will still being flown around in ancient expensive to maintain Sikorsky's (the helicopter equivalent of a 1960's Ford Zephyr) while the obvious need for a modern 'Air Force One' will probably be fulfilled by something you can bet will end up costing as much if not more than the cancelled VH-71 . Waste piled upon waste . The desire to always have 'the best possible' at whatever price is the sworn enemy of just having the 'good enough' - a lesson those responsible for many a western defence project would do well to heed .

I saw a recent 'Horizon' (Destination Mars) that was little more than a 'clip show' - an appalling rehash of previous programmes dealing with various aspects of Mars exploration that was little more than a insult to its audience . Once a flagship science series that could be relied upon to provide an interesting and informative hour of TV has become a mere shadow of its former self , better rename it so that the memory of a once great series is not sullied further . BBC2 was briefly replaced by Channel 4 as the viewers first choice for quality science programming before Michael Grade ruined that too , now we're left with light weight shows broadcast on minority interest digital channels - for example 'Extreme Engineering' a moderately interesting programme that covers (unlikly) subjects that might once have been seriously examined on Horizon . Few will want to return to the days of only having four channels available to watch but the decline in technology/science programming on British TV is proof positive that more is not necessarily the same as better .

A storm in a tea cup probably but it's in both parties interest to ensure that a good working relationship is maintained . Falling out with the local press over a minor issue such as this just might be the first mistake we've seen from our new chairman . Never mind I'm sure they'll kiss and make up before very long .