squiggly_dan

If you just plan to arrive paralytic and pass-out it is fine, but don't be fooled by the modern exterior - this place is a sh*thole. At least you don't need to get ripped off in Revolution downstairs - just buy a bottle of vodka and listen to their music in your room!

Using your analogy, when the road that is the League 1 season reaches a hairpin bend, Saints will easily by able to right the overturned bus, while Peterborough's bus will simply fly over the edge in the wrong direction!

In the 2004 Indonesian tsunami several people were killed in South Africa, nearly 5,000 miles away, although these were people already in the water - I'm not sure that the waves broke land. Seattle is about the same distance from the epicentre of this quake, however Taiwan have just announced that the first wave has reached them and caused little/no damage. I'm sure there will be plenty of warning for the US West coast if required!

So you are saying that getting rid of Adkins now would be a 'close shave'?

Hi, my name is squiggly_dan and I approve this message.

Remember reading an interview that said he is not a football supporter, and treated the game as no more than a profession. When everybody else was watching the 'big game' he would usually be out on the golf course. Should have been remembered as a Saints legend for always playing to his full potential and scoring the second-best goal I have seen against the skates (Marian's being top), but tarnished his reputation by being part of that gutless group that surrendered at Fratton Park.

From Sky transfer centre: "Arsene Wenger has confirmed Arsenal's intention to sign Southampton wonderkid Alex Chamberlain while his dad Mark believes The Gunners are the ideal choice." "Early on it seems the big news is surrounding Southampton starlet Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Arsenal look set to conclude a £10million deal with Arsene Wenger confirming talks. His father Mark Chamberlain has also talked to Sky Sports News, stayed tuned as we will bring you that interview shortly." I expect the deal-breaker is the loan-back agreement which Arsenal don't appear to want. I'm sure his Dad realises Alex is better off here for another season at least, but it wouldn't hurt if he could be signed on a premier league contract while doing it!

Anybody else notice they are playing a Pompey team playing in that video? Surely the biggest crowd those kids will ever play in front of in a Pompey shirt!

The world of sports just keeps getting better and better! Legard quickly got found out on his move from radio to TV - it's surely much easier to commentate when nobody else can see what is going on! The amount of times he would commentate on replays like they were live was astonishing - can you not see they are going at half-speed! He is like Murray Walker, but in all the wrong ways. Brundle usually stayed professional rather than offering the sarcastic corrections that were being shouted at the telly by everybody else, but I'm sure he went home with a red forehead from the countless facepalm moments each weekend! My vote would have gone to Anthony Davidson as statistician for Brundle. I know he was doing 5Live as well, but the difference is that he was also providing the alternative TV commentary - the difference is amazing:

Glory, glory Markus Liebherr, And the Saints go marching OOONNN. I think Markus would have wanted to be remembered with a subtle gesture - a stand/suite renaming or statue would not suit his character. I would like to see a memorial garden built outside the Kingsland, to include the bench that was being discussed on here shortly after his death.

San Francisco DO > Book a night tour of Alcatraz - limited numbers with special events not happening in the daytime. Keep a look out for volunteers with badges who often take small groups on ad-hoc tours into closed-off areas > Take a Segway tour http://citysegwaytours.com/ - you will look like a fooktard, but the only way to tour the city - they steam up the hills! > Take a food tour - http://www.localtastesofthecitytours.com/ - you actually get well fed on these! > Free tours - http://www.sfcityguides.org/ - just turn up - what more do you want? > Hire a bike and ride from Fisherman's Wharf over the bridge to Sausalito, then get the ferry back (which has plenty of room for bikes). A few good restaurants in Sausalito - just make sure you know the time of the last ferry (3hr ride otherwise)! > Ride the cable car. Surprisingly effective transportation method (you will find very few taxis!) - don't bother waiting at the turnaround stations, just hop on one block up, and make sure you stand on the footplate and hang on the outside! > Jazz club, Dim Sum, Top of the Mark, Aquarium (unless you are stopping in Monterey), Giants or Niners game. > Pack for all seasons - when the fog falls it brings a chill, even in July! DON'T > Bother with Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Chinatown, USS Pampatino, Union Square. > Stop in a tourist area - you will get harassed by panhandlers. > Call it Frisco or San Fran in front of the locals - only San Francisco will do. Los Angeles Find a decent bar and stay in it. Las Vegas DO > Use the casinos on Freemont Street (Golden Gate dancers/dealers are cute & daiquiri's are 90% proof in Mermaids - try the deep fried twinkies!) > Use the Orleans and visit the Prime Rib Loft. > Use a gun range. > Make sure you know how to get cheap drinks from the cocktail waitresses. > Get a gaming card if you are going to gamble heavily and stay in one casino - you will likely be offered dinner or a free stay next time. > Find a $5 steak and lobster dinner (probably impossible now though). > Hire a car and drive to the south rim of the Grand Canyon (not the crap part in the Indian Reservation), via the Hoover Dam. > Use Tix4Tonight booths to get big discount on shows (although the adult shows are pretty lame). > Look for coupons booklets for pretty decent savings on everything. > Play blackjack - if you are a low roller, the Sahara has $1 tables, everywhere else will be $5 and $10 on weekends. > Use Premium Outlets (between strip & downtown) or Town Square (near airport) for any shopping - visit the Yard House in the latter for a massive selection of draught beers. DON'T > Give beggars money - as informed by a local "you will be shot". > Stray off the beaten track. > Stay on the strip (....just stay away from the ultra-bright and ultra-dark places basically!) > Use the Deuce (bus) - why this follows the strip I do not know - usually faster to walk. > Bother wasting your time touring the different casinos - I found most of the attractions and casino features to be tacky and boring, including The Venetian Gondolas, Paris, Caesar's Palace, Bellagio fountains, Treasure Island boat, MGM lions, Shark Reef - all a load of ballbags. With all this taken away, they are all just giant gambling halls where it is almost impossible to sit comfortably and have a reasonably priced drink, unless you are feeding your money into machines at the same time. > Use NYNY coaster, unless you want to break your back. The only legal prostitution in the US is in brothels in certain counties of Nevada, but not Las Vegas (despite the literature being touted by the 'porn slappers' (not what you might think - this is one google search string containing 'porn' or 'slappers' that is actually mostly SFW!). You will have to head a little way into the desert if you want that type of action! You are missing so much by taking the coach option - rent a car next time and drive down Big Sur! I did two weeks between San Francisco and Vegas with a mate last year for well under £1,200 flights, car hire and accommodation. Only certain parts needed planning - we just used a roomsaver booklet every day, which gives coupons for guaranteed room rates all over California. Have fun!

80 years old, two broken ankles, already booked to race less than 4 months after his accident. What a remarkable man. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8684528.stm

Keep an eye out for a "competition" in the Sunday Times - they have sponsored the event in previous years, and give away 5,000 or so tickets for the Friday. Even if you don't win, they are usually easily available on eBay for under £15. Saturday and Sunday is when all the F1 drivers turn up, but the crowds are too large (I am more interested in the machinery anyway!). The paddocks allow you to get up close to all sorts (and sometimes sit inside if you ask nicely!), and there is a recently introduced rally stage at the top of the hill. Last year I was surprised that they had organised a full (15 min) Red Arrows display on the Friday - I was only expecting a fly-by!

BA have confirmed that you are able to claim a refund for any "unflown" flights, so I would suggest doing so, and being proactive in finding an alternative rather than waiting for BA to sort it out! There are still several options into European Airports - currently you can fly Hong Kong to Paris via Doha with Qatar Airways departing early tomorrow morning. Kayak.co.uk is a good site for comparing options, although I appreciate the situation is changing all the time, with flights being cancelled etc. Good Luck!

Air New Zealand have availability (@ HK$10,000 on their HK site) on flight NR39 to LHR, and this is currently scheduled on their departures list! Hopefully you are awake and can investigate, as the flight leaves in 5 hours! Their reservations no in Hong Kong is 852-2862 8988.

I think it is a good idea actually - assuming a number of airlines usually have two opposing planes in the air on long-haul flights, only half would be trapped in Europe. This means that they could fly people into France/Spain, then put them on boats back home. Even if it takes some time to organise, it has to be better than people trapped on the other side of the world with no money to pay for accomodation - surely this is the type of crisis the EU was designed for? Just think, the Royal Navy could serve a purpose for once, and provide an expedited freight and passenger service for the UK for a few weeks! :wink:

According to the BBC, several parts of Europe are still open, including Southern France. It appears that Air France have re-routed a number of their flights to Toulouse, and you can currently get a one-way ticket from Hong Kong departing Tuesday for under £1000+tax. It might be worth phoning Airlines serving Hong Kong and Greece, Lithuania, Portugal, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Spain, Italy, Norway, Bulgaria, Sweden, Poland and France to see if there are any cheaper options (the Hong Kong Airport website will probably have route maps). A simple train ride once in Europe to Northern France, and hopefully the ferry/Eurostar options will be viable once you arrive! Please let us know how you are getting on, and if I can help!

I will be heading back that way if you still need?

1. Download this flash video rip 2. Download DVD Flick 3. Install and open DVD flick. - Change the destination folder (at the bottom of the screen) to somewhere easy to find. - In "Project settings/General" change the target format to "NTSC" - In "Project settings/Burning" tick "Create ISO image" & "Burn project to disk" - Choose "Add title" on the right column of the main screen, and locate the video. - Make sure you have a blank DVD in your drive, and choose "Create DVD". DVD Flick will then encode the file, arrange into the correct file format for DVD, create a disk image (.iso - you can use this to burn more disks), and burn that image to disk. 4. Let me know how you get on!

There appear to be some common themes here, many of which are repeated every couple of months without any action being taken! With regard to the match-day experience in control of the club, could I suggest a "petitions/complaints/suggestions" sub-forum to contain polls that could be directed to the club - David Luker is active on the forum and is clearly interested in fans views considering the OS surveys this season? I have become increasingly disappointed over recent seasons with the atmosphere at St Mary's – it seems that the smaller attendances and cheaper tickets have attracted a larger proportion of casual fans (both the “sit on hands” and “yoof” variants) and while this is no bad thing, they need guidance from the long-term fans to bring back the respectful, passionate, football-intelligent crowd I remember! Booing injuries, “you fat ****”, “who are ya”, anti-P*mpey songs etc are only incidental things that range from annoying to disrespectful, but if enough like-minded fans simply shouted “shhh” or start a positive song, those too young/drunk to realise how moronic they sound will soon catch on! I hope the club will consult further in the close season regarding positioning of fans, as Mr Cortese seems to be obsessed with the Northam being the only area capable of generating noise! I would like to see a dedicated “choir” section possibly in the Itchen South, as I know there are the “hidden” noise-makers around the ground who would like to get involved but are too self-conscious to do so where they are. This forum has already spawned the best chant for 5+ years (Rickie's), but most now give up the correct version after being drowned out by the la, la, la's! It would only take a small amount of planning (and a small number of fans) to get something started – a separate build up thread to plan seating and discuss positive, child-friendly and clever chants would be a start. We could then leave the yoof to continue gesticulating at the away fans until they get bored and get on board! By the way, I am 24 and realise I sound like a grumpy old man – but I don't care!

David Luker emailed me this at the start of the season: "Essentially, we are quite limited by our sound system which isn’t really correct for the stadium we are in. This does give us issues, and is under review." dluker@saintsfc.co.uk - give him feedback, and he will be able to manage his priorities!

As the writing credits seem to be nailed down for the first verse, I wondered if I could get in on the action by suggesting the following for the second and subsequent run-throughs: la-la la-la la-la la-la Rickie, Rickie, la-la la-la la-la la-la Rickie, Rickie, He gets the ball he takes the **** He wears the shirt of Matt le Tiss Rickie Lambert, Southampton's Goal Machine Repeat 'till bored! I think the first two lines of the original are the not as good as the rest, and replacing them with the above after the first run through has the added bonus of there being less words to remember! I expect a credit on all songsheets and royalty cheques on the 1st day of each month or you will be hearing from my solicitor.

To my mind, all Saints songs should either support the team, insult the away team/fans, or occasionally make our hatred of Poopey known. We're the (insert stand) over here and the disco is the equivalent of people talking about their weekend during the game - it is like people have become disinterested, illustrated by the amount of people looking at each other and the other stands while these songs are being sung. What should happen is that people watch the pitch for 90 minutes and encourage the team! I'm glad you agree! As proven by latter day saint above, those near to the Northam are happy with the noise around them, so don't think there is a problem. In equal measure, those near to the Chapel think that politely clapping along is acceptable at a football match. If the Chapel/Kingsland corner is closed all season, it should give us a good oppertunity to gather a group who want to sing - the "do you go to games on your own" thread proves there are a lot of non-season ticket holders who don't have to sit with friends/family and could easily re-locate. The only obstacle would be the stewards, but I think they are only concerned with trouble with away fans, and people standing where it would affect other fans (neither are applicable). We have nearly two weeks to get something sorted, so who is interested? I am one of those embarrassed to sing on my own, as I realise how stupid people sound doing this! A bit of organisation would mean more people could get involved - I am not necessarily suggesting orchestration, but it is effective! The auld lang syne version of "come on you reds" was a good filler, and as mentioned earlier, we need to have more of these when it goes a bit flat such as "red and white barmy army", "Alan Pardew's red army", and the ole, ole song ending in "the saints" rather than the "**** off" version usually heard.

Right, we desperately need to get our sh!t organised! I have been dwelling on this for a while, and it was brought home after sitting in block 11 yesterday where people were actually turning in their seats with apparent disgust to see who was singing! There were only about three groups/individuals within 5 blocks of me who bothered to join in with or start any songs, apart from a couple of verses of OWTSGMI after our goal. After sitting in various places at the other end of the stadium over the last couple of seasons this was quite a shock – it is always difficult to work out what is going on in other stands, but I didn't realise it was this bad! I realise that most of our matches this season (barring an unlikely cup run) are much less significant than previous years, but we all still celebrate goals the same as ever, so why not the rest of the match? I am certain that there are a large number of fans located towards the Chapel who want to make more noise, but feel self-conscious doing so unless enough others start the song. I would expect that non-season ticket holders will gradually disperse to more atmospheric areas of the ground as the season gets going, but this is not helpful for those left behind! I think it would be beneficial if we could organise an ongoing series of threads here with song suggestions, ticket buying organisation, and even recommendations to take to the club. I am not suggesting a group of “Badboysaint ultras”, but a group of like-minded fans who want to get more involved. During the game Sing our songs properly: It makes me angry that Spurs sing OWTSGMI much better than the team it belongs to! Over the past few seasons there has been at least one semi-organised attempt to start a slow version of the song, but it is always spoiled by the over-enthusiastic yoof starting to clap the fast version half way through. All it would need is a group of 50+ organised fans to start at a certain time in the game (would not even need to be sat next to each other), with a few at the back banging the timing on the back boards. If anybody tried to start the fast version before the second run through, a loud “shhhh” should get the point across. I know that many don't like this version, but I think it would be perfect before the start of each half, and if we hold a 2 goal plus lead (wishful thinking!). Sing when your winning: The Millwall lot were perfectly entitled to let us know that “our support is sh!t”, and it made me think about the amount of times we would drown out away fan goal celebrations with a “come on you reds” while we were in the Premiership. This is a great way to silence the opposition, as it makes us appear as though we expect to score next, and makes it difficult for them to formulate any songs. I know it is a painful memory, but try to remember the 2005 Leeds game – they were singing from half time (at three nil down) all the way to the end, and we all remember what happened! Mix it up: The reason we don't have any variety is that many of our previous songs have been about players that have subsequently left – when our top strikers inevitably leave, we will be left with “super Kelvin Davis”! Fans need to be taught new songs, and Northam apart, not many will start any for fear of looking like a plonker when nobody joins in! Woolston Ferry, Auld Lang Syne version of “come on you reds”, and normal “come on you reds” at corners/free kicks are some I would like to see return. Organised ticket buying: I noticed that although the corners were not sold on Saturday, the stewards did not object to people moving to these areas, although the two Northam corners were netted. If enough interested supporters could buy tickets in the same stand, it would be easy for a group to form in one of these corners, and generate some noise. I would suggest the Chapel/Itchen corner as needing urgent attention – you never know, it might stop some of the older fans getting their sleep and get them involved! In my opinion it was the Chapel end that was initially noisiest when SMS opened, but migration of the vocal fans to the Northam did not take long. The problem now is that all noise spreads out to the pitch, but you cannot hear what is happening in the same stand. This goes some way to explaining why the Northamites usually think all away support is rubbish! From the rest of the ground, the noise and sight of singing, clapping, scarf waving fans in the Northam looks good, but the away fans are not intimidated by it. Things were better when blocks 1-4 were open, but I don't think we will be able to convince the club about this just yet (I personally think the Chapel should be closed with advertising on netting across the seats). In the concourses / pre-match Beer and food: I may have missed the discussions amongst the bullsh1t being “discussed” on here in the last couple of years, but if we were to canvass opinion (not just on here), we could present recommendations to the club concerning real ales, Pukka Pies etc. I think we are having trouble adjusting from Lowe's reign of terror, and cannot take the new owner seriously when he says he wants the club to “re-engage with the fans and the local community”. At least we would be able to find out what catering contracts are in place, and make our views known! Facilities: It always appears as though the concourses are as packed as ever at half time despite the smoking ban, but I think this is because almost everybody is in a queue for the first 10 minutes! If service times could be improved (even to have bottled beer/cider vending machines) many non-drinkers would be able return to their seats with their hot dog and leave more space. This would allow the possibility of seating areas, which would attract more people to the ground before the game. A return to showing sky sports and highlights (especially highlights of the first half) would also achieve this. It appears to me that up to now the club has not been benefiting from money flowing through the tills in the concourses, so they have not focused on attracting fans to the ground before the game or looking after us during half time. Building atmosphere: Any changes from the above would hopefully result in more fans in the ground before the match, so there would be the opportunity to get a few songs going. The current pre-match routine on the tannoy appears poorly planned and is essentially useless. Who can remember a single thing that was said before the game yesterday? Although tacky, Mike Osman did engage with the fans, and allowed us to create an intimidating atmosphere, but all we get now is the away fans singing over the generic announcements and news. I have been waiting for somebody to put together a classy Saints audio-visual mix to be played before the game, and after a good start, the club's effort just promotes Saints in the community, catering, corporates etc. – not very inspiring! Entertainment Half time: Already discussed to death on here, but nothing has changed – win a shirt, ticket news, penalties, mascots p!ssing about, players come back out. I was impressed by the effort of Trousers' friends Coast with their Saints Aid effort, and would like to see them perform on the pitch. Although the verses are a bit cringe-worthy because of the lyrics, the guitar solo is amazing, and sends a chill down my spine every time (very Mark Knopfler)! If they could edit an instrumental version of the Chorus, I'm sure it would catch on if played over the tannoy. Live music is the way forward for me, but only if relevant (not a Bee Gees tribute), and I think that this group deserve an outing just because of their history with the club: http://cosab.org.uk/about-us/ Additionally, I cannot understand why the club do not often invite kiddies 5 a side teams – surely one of the best ways to get new young fans is to give them a chance to play on the pitch? Using the contacts available to people on this forum, I'm sure we would be able to put together a list of acts that would cost the club next to nothing, but provide us with some form of entertainment (judging by last season, it may be the only available ). Saints Aid showed how many performing Saints fans will do something for nothing, and smaller bands would be getting exposure otherwise unavailable to them. This is becoming a boringly long first post, so I would welcome your comments, and if any subscribing members think anything here would warrant a new thread, please feel free to copy and paste!