CHAPEL END CHARLIE

Well apparently we are to abandon our fellow citizens to their fate because Pap feels it would be financially expedient for us to do so. This would be yet another example of his well thought out and immensely popular arguments on here ... ... oh and he doesn't like me very much and it's got something to do with Hampshire.

Reverting to insults already I see - oh dear.

The argument that because the Falklanders live a isolated and predominately rural lifestyle that differs radically from how the majority of our (mainly urban/suburban) population now live, this means that they are therefore not truly British anymore is most objectionable. Are we to take it that because the populations of the Scottish Highlands, North Wales, or the Channel Islands also don't spent hours every week stuck in Motorway traffic or enjoying the dubious benefits of the 'rave scene' that they too are somehow less British than those who do? What a superficial and narrow minded definition of what it means to be British that is. I say that in every way that really matters - the enduring ties of blood, history, and culture, prove that these are our people and they should thus enjoy exactly the same rights and responsibilities as the rest of us. That includes the right to be protected from the threat of foreign aggression by the armed forces of the United Kingdom. As for any remaining geographical based objections to British sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, I would suggest objectors take the trouble to read the various applicable articles of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights - a document to which Argentina is a signatory - and then come back and tell this forum that a mere matter of distance outweighs those principles.

Were you quite as pleased when he allowed a opposition player to run past him in the box as if he wasn't there a few moments later?

Yes the drama was intense. Could the driver park his coach without knocking Ted Bates over? Are Adam Lallana and Steven Gerrard now a item? Were there WMD hidden in the bottle that MP kicked over? I can't wait for the sequel: 'St Marys II' - A kick in the Guly's.

A 'heads up' now for all lovers of truly great television, especially the younger forum members among us who may not have seen it before. Take note that 'I Claudius' makes a very welcome return to our screens tomorrow night (BBC4 10PM). Now watching all 12 episodes will demand a considerable investment of your time, the scale of the story and the numerous characters may even tax the attention span of those used to shorter, less complex dramas. But don't let that put you off and if I tell you that Claudius will repay with interest the effort then I do so without any sense of hyperbole. Everything about this epic series is just sublime, from its stellar cast (lead my a young Derek Jacobi of course) to Jack Pulman's oh-so-skillful adaption of Robert Graves's novels I Claudius and Claudius the God - which are themselves excellent reads by the way. BBC television has a history that stretches back in one form or another to just before the Second World War. In all that time I suppose good old 'auntie' must have produced a better realized drama series than I Claudius ... I just can't quite remember what that would right now.

I did notice he played this game with his shirt loose and not tucked into his shorts in the regulation manner. Now he might just be a naturally scruffy type, but a suspicious person might suspect that was because he wanted to disguise a huge beer belly. They might think that - I couldn't possibly comment.

Some observations from a very good afternoon: > Lambert v Skrtel was a proper old battle - call it a score draw > Schneiderlin, Cork, and Lallana, are as outstanding a midfield line-up as this club has fielded in my memory. > Both Clyne and Shaw coming along very nicely - I didn't realise just how quick Shaw can be, but Clyne was my MOTM. > It was v funny to see the Liverpool wall come apart like a cheap suite for Lambert's goal. > J Rod unlucky not to have scored more than the one (great) goal. He may well go on to become a big star next season. > Why do our players continue to lose their footing so quite frequently? > Lallana made those calling him a 'lower league player' look like the mugs they undoutably are. > It was written in the stars that Coutinho would score. > Had we had a keeper of Boruc's quality available from the start of the season, then we'd be probably be safe already methinks. Last, but by no means least, we are today just 2 or 3 decent results away from securing Premier League football for next season.

Although his refusal to overuse the 'P' word at every single opportunity compared to his predecessor is most welcome, you just have to conclude that his post-match musings offer much less entertainment value compared to NA's. But I don't really mind the manager being bland, as long as his team is entertaining.

Well he's not for sale anyway and even if he were I'd be most surprised if we 'entertained' any offers of less than £15m for Morgan - and it may well head north of that. I dare say most of us had him down in our heads as a (very good) defensive midfielder, but this season has seen him emerge as a true box-to-box goalscoring midfielder. There aren't that many of that type around, and every team in the Premier League wants them. So sorry to disagree GS, but the (entirely theoretical) bidding starts at £15m+

Yes, although he was involved in the build up to their goal to be fair, in the main he wasn't all that big a influence on the game. You might almost say that our younger/quicker midfield ran rings around him. But perhaps he just doesn't like St Marys because I seem to recall he had a similarly marginal impact the last time he was here back in 2005/6. So in the autumn of his career now but make no mistake, a truly great player in his prime.

There's still a long way to go of course, but with her bow in place and her forward bridge structure craned aboard just last week the future HMS Queen Elizabeth - the largest warship ever to be constructed for the Royal Navy - is now making visibly good progress towards her completion date in 2016. I have my reservations regarding the choice of aircraft this huge ship is due to operate. For that matter I also question whether we will be able to afford enough fixed wing aircraft to allow these two carriers to ever fulfill their full potential. Nevertheless, even in her semi-complete state this ship is already an impressive sight, and its good to see we can still conceive and execute such 'grand designs' in this country. The way these carriers are being assembled is akin to attempting to complete a immensely complicated 60,000 ton jigsaw puzzle - lets hope every piece fits. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhR30Ewt1f8

Any comparisons drawn between Gaston Ramirez and Morgan Schneiderlin ignore the facts that the latter player was both rather younger when he arrived here, and considerably less expensive too! Perhaps Gaston will eventually prove to be a success here, perhaps he won't. But when we spent a record £12m on him I dare say the club were expecting to see a player who would be delivering match winning performances on a regular basis this season. Even his biggest supporters on here would struggle to argue that we've seen much of that as yet.

Correct, I don't consider Rickie Lambert to be a journeyman player, or anything like one. For the record I consider him to be a bloody good footballer, but perhaps one in the class below that of a true International. If it's your opinion that any player who spends a large part of their career outside the Premier League must therefore be of a mediocre standard, then I can only say that I strongly disagree. I suspect many others on here will too. If you want to talk about true 'journeyman players' then you should be starting with players of the caliber of Paul Wotton or Jermaine Wright for instance - not Sir Rickie Lambert.

Well if they're writing articles about signing our best players and speculation who will go if we are relegated, then by definition they must 'give a toss about us' no ?

Do you foresee a firesale of all our best players should we be relegated? Can't say I do.

Rickie Lambert is not my (or I would expect any Saints fan's) idea of a 'journeyman player' - far from it. However considering his age and lack of pace the big money be quoted for him does indeed seem a tad steep. As for Adam Lallana leaving anytime soon, well 'never say never' but I seriously doubt it, even if we were to be relegated. It surprising just how many other fans still don't realise just how well backed this club is financially.

Well said that man ... ... and congratulations Adam. To be rated so very highly by as distinguished a group of voters as this is a feather in his cap that we should all be celebrating.

It was appalling mate. They sent this London cabby over to Mumbai and paired him up with a local taxi driver to learn the ropes as it were. This poor bloke was earning about £25 a (17 hour) day from his cab - half of which had to go towards paying off the loan he had taken out to buy the taxi, and on the petrol needed to run it. From what was left he had to support himself, his wife, his old mum, and their two children ... oh and his (now deceased) brother's wife and all her kids too. Believe it or not there were plenty of other drivers worse off than he was!

A latest series of 'Toughest place to be a ...' made a welcome appearance on BBC2 last night with the tale of a London cabbie trying to drive a old taxi on the chaotic streets of Mumbai in India. In its third series now I think, and you can easily see why this series keeps getting recommissioned because this is exceptionally good television. The best programmes are surely those that convey not just mere entertainment, but those that also manage to provide some real insight into the realty of the Human condition at the same time - this series does that in spades. What a eye-opener of a programme, if you ever feel the need to have a moan about money or the stress and aggravation involved in living in 21st century Britain - and we all do at times - then just watch this first and I assure you you'll soon gain a new perspective on life. The truth is that compared to the grinding struggle for survival that most of Humanity still has to endure every day, we here are incredibly fortunate to be living in such a wealthy, safe, and stable country. Easily the best thing on TV this week - if I had my way watching this series would be made compulsory.

It may, or may not, come down to the Stoke game, time will tell of course. It'll sure as hell be exciting if it does come down to that and isn't the sheer drama of massive games like that what football is all about? In any case Stoke are notoriously poor away from home and will be long encamped in their customary midtable finish by then I should think. So if we did fail to win this one then we'd deserve to be relegated I'd say. It's surly a vastly better prospect than the last time we were in that position and we had to beat Man Utd to stay up ...

This is another of those increasing popular threads that pose a question that no one can answer - none bloody knows! What I do know for sure is that after our first ten games this season, if you had offered me 16th place now, 3 points above the relegation zone with our fate still very much in our own hands ... well I'd had taken that from you in a 'New York Minute' as the saying has it. As for those Lilly Livered types who are writing our chances off already - get a grip!

Well it would be nice if he could rediscovered his goal scoring touch sometime soon, and it's obviously much harder for Adam to reclaim his customary 'best player on the pitch' status considering the standards in this division. But every manager he's played for have consistently selected him when fit. For what's worth, methinks that's still the right call.

I just rediscovered (from nether reaches of my book collection) '73 North' by the distinguished naval writer Dudley Pope. This is a eminently readable - and probably definitive - account of the crucially important 'Battle of the Barents Sea' in WWII. December 1942 and the arctic convoy JW 51B is making painfully slow progress towards the Kola Inlet in northern Russia. Comprising 14 merchant ships (heavily loaded with war cargo for the Russian Front) and a close escort of 5 Royal Navy destroyers, this tempting target proves too much for Hitler to resist and a overwhelmingly superior force of Kriegsmarine heavy warships and destroyers are dispatched from their Norwegian bases to destroy the apparently hapless convoy. What follows is a truly remarkable tale of courage and victory against the elements and the odds that seems so improbable looking back on it now that you have to constantly remind yourself that this is a work of fact, not fiction. See Captain Sherbrook fearlessly position his handful of puny destroyers between the convoy and the mighty heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper - and learn of the fearful price he and his men would have to pay for their devotion to duty. Wonder at how, with the convoy at their mercy, the Germans somehow managed to let if slip between their fingers. Above all understand the role that confusion and human error always plays in warfare. I won't tell you how this awesome tale ends, but just imagine if you will one of those old cowboy films where the cavalry arrive just in the nick of time to save the day ... While innumerable dramatic stories would emerge from World War II, I dare say few of them are quite so perfectly formed as the one Dudley Pope weaves for us here. Highly recommended to all.

It goes without saying that I'm generally considered to represent the very pinnacle of Saintsweb aristocracy, seen exclusively on all the better class of thread don't you know. Indeed I'm so high up the social order on here that my butler has to hold on to the bottom of the ladder for health and safety reasons. As for the rest of you lot ... well let's face it, you're a bunch of plebs aren't you? While we're on the subject, I see that frightful nouveau riche yobbo Jose Fonte has purchased a utterly horrid Bentley Continental - in white!