egg

I agree entirely that we can only accept our lot as we can't change it. That's altogether different though to my preference being to compete rather than struggle, even in in a lower league. I'm with you on hope too, but I'm not one of those who comes away happy with a hard fought 2 nil defeat.

100% agreed. I get the impression that some "fans" will lose interest if we're relegated. It's almost like the premier league is a bigger appeal than Saints. I find that genuinely sad.

Yep. I could live with that. I find the notion of being happy with being a shit team in a great league bizarre. It'd be like being content with celibacy. I'd rather a year of decent sex followed by a barren year personally.

Given the option of the thrill of the chase to avoid relegation, or the thrill of the chase to gain promotion, I'd prefer the latter personally. Different perspectives I guess.

Genuine question - What's the appeal of never having a chance of success compared to having a chance of promotion, and competing well at the top end of the table? Other than the better league and watching us getting beaten by really good players, the appeal isn't obvious.

On your last bit, yes, there are massive financial impacts of relegation to include for staff etc. However, the discussion (I assumed) was from a football perspective only. For me, on that front, relegation ain't an issue. Personally I want my team to compete. I also want to see them achieve something positive at the season end, or at least have a chance to. Playing for mid table nothingness does nothing for me, and fighting to stay up is shit. Look at the championship table now, and the premier league, and ask yourself whether you'd rather be in the shoes of a Millwall fan sitting 7th with a real chance of the play offs or promotion, or a saints fan with a real chance of relegation. I suspect many people will be reluctant to give the honest answer.

Of course, but ask yourself when/if that's likely to happen again. Personally, I have no issue when/if we go down, and if we lose some fans who've only hung around in the hope of us pushing for European places, then that's no bad thing.

I don't get it, and I don't get why it's considered preferable to scrape safety in the premier league than, for example, enjoy a push to make the play offs. I checked the championship table earlier. 17th place is only 6 points off the play offs. That's 17 teams with something positive to play for. Compare that to the PL with maybe 8 teams having something positive to play for each season.

Yep, and the skates and Leeds, like forest and all the others had something to play for each season whether it was/is play offs or straight promotion. We have the dizzy heights of safety to play for.

Chandler

Nobody has wished for it. Just that it's no drama if it happens, and that it could turn out to be a fun ride.

Row

Some of my best times as a fan over the last almost 40 years were when we went down, and blasted back. The feeling of turning up expecting to win, and winning, was brilliant. Less plastic fans, just actual fans supporting the club they love irrespective of the league we're in. From a football perspective I won't be upset if we go down.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63895125 The sterling thing all seems a bit odd. We were told that he went home as his family were apparently home and shaken by armed raiders. It turns out that nobody was home when he was apparently burgled. I'm not surprised that there needs to be a discussion about whether he should rejoin the squad.

All while making it unlawful to buy coal in sealed bags, but encouraging us to buy coal briquettes often made in Poland using their coal, and manufactured with energy from their coal fired power stations, then transported here on diesel powered lorries. So green.

Russia to play by the rules. Bless.

Re the above, Russia will produce and flog as much oil as it wants, and India, China etc will buy as much cheap oil as they can. It's not a difficult concept.

It won't work, and I see it as I do. Russian oil now cheaper, and the cap is essentially a fixed price. OPEC output has been reduced so probably higher prices from there, so Russia sell more oil.

Emptiness

Chips

Yep, that'll be tough for Ballard you'd imagine. Not surprised re Payne though, but Small, Lawrence and Finnigan came out of nowhere.

That was unbelievable. I was convinced we'd declared too early, but as it turned out, it was inspired. This new approach to test cricket is something else.

House

Whip

I'd say about 34-25-36