Lord Duckhunter

Parents have busy lives and limitted time and money, the step change needs to be at schools. My nipper was lucky enough to get into Grammar School and the sports facilities are fantastic. Now I realise that not every school has not got that, but the thing that impressed me was the commitment to sport. I dont know how they do it (maybe they pay more) but nearly all the teachers have bought into the ethos that sport and particulary competitive sport is good for adolescent kids. It runs through everything they do at school. The headmaster claims that by the end of the first year, they will have found at least one sport for every single child to enjoy and compete in, even the most unfit nerdish kids in the year. The range of clubs in and out of school was breath taking from the basics football, Rugby, Cricket to rowing, kayaking, windsurfing, table tennis, Weight training,Volleyball the list goes on and on. Having 4 children I have found that their sports at school has depended upon one or two teachers and their dedication. Two of the kids were unfortunate to go to a school where there was no such teacher. One of the others had a teacher that I can only describe as inspirational and where he got the time to do the things he did I'll never know. It should not be down to one or two individuals or the whim of the Headmaster, it should be so ingrained in the school that any change in teachers should not lead to a change in how sport is governed in school. Not every school can have the facilities of a Grammar school, but surely the commitment to sport can be installed in every school.

I don't believe for one minute that NC or Read or whoever this hack is hinting at picks the formation. There is nothing wrong with all teams playing the same way. The blog seems to imply that a rollocking will be give to Adkins if he changes tactics. I dont believe any manager will put up with that and certainly not one whose stock is as high as his is at present. He wont walk into a Premier League job, but he would be in prime postion for any Championship post. A Championship post which could lead to the Premiership in a years time, and without the interference implied by Blackmore, would be very appealing. I think most people realise that NC is a tough guy to please, that any blip on our way to where he wants to go and heads will roll and that Adkins will be under pressure from day 1 next season. But this hack has taken that and exaggerated it to fit his agenda. I know from my mate in the local press that there is real animosity towards NC with the local boys, and Adkins is considered " akward". Like most stories this has some truth in it, but it's nowhere near as bad as is being made out. If NC wants our sides to play attractive , movement based, skillful football, with 5 or 6 coming up through the ranks, that is surely a good thing. Quite obviously we will never be Barca or Arsenal but why people feel the need to take the p iss about wanting to be the best you can and setting your sights as high as possible, I dont know.

I dont go to preseason games, I dont like them and think they're a rip off. They are preperation games, and unless you know what each Manager wants out of each game, it's quite hard to judge how it went. Maybe Lambert just needed a bit of a gentle run and rather than "couldn't give a stuff" was just getting his prep right. Who knows, apart from the Manager coaching staff and fitness people.

2-1 according to my Skate mate.

So the guys point that the extra 5 points make no difference to S/T holders, was, as I suspected, wrong. First- 45 pointers whether S/T holders or not Second-S/T holders Third-30 points people So S/T holders with the extra 5 points will have priority over S/T holders without them.

I did save all summer and my Mrs and family went without stuff as cut backs in our non essential budget was made, so that me and my nipper could have S/T''s. Believe me, I'm pushing it by going to Arsenal (fingers crossed), let alone City as well. You're not a divorce lawyer touting for business are you?

One of us is reading it wrong, because I make it. People who have gone to every match, regardless of whether they are a S/T holder (45) ST Holders & people who have gone to all games bar City (30) Sales will be a window for 45 points first, then S/T holders, and then Non S/T holders with 30 points, in that order. That's how it reads to me.

Spot on. I'm going to have to cut my away games down as well. If I dont go to the Sky games, I'll end up seeing more matches (although some will be on telly). I could go to Man C, start waving my extra 5 points around on here, and slag people who didn't go to Manchester off, but what good will that be when I'm listening to Dave Merrington on the sat of the Arsenal game. If I cant get a ticket for the Arsenal game, then so be it, but I'm taking the chance that I'll pick one up. If I dont I will have no complaints.

From a personal point of view, I cant afford Man C and Arsenal. If I go to man C, I'll end up listening to Arsenal on the radio, whereas if I go to arsenal I'll be able to watch Man C on the TV. Added to that sat 3pm in London is easier than Sun 4pm in Manchester, it's a bit of a no brainer for me. I realise that this approcah may not qualify me as a saints Forum Superfan, but I'll live with that. The fact that the fans that do go to City,and both home games get priority (for Arsenal) over S/T holders like me who aren't going to City, is a great step in the right direction. Much better than last years "mate of a S/T holder" being near the top of the list.

There was a ex senior officer on Sky News. He said that they could not conduct a Forensic search on a griveing families property without first establishing just cause. He said that once they could find no cctv evidence of her and all reported sighting had proved to be false, then they could move. He did question the length of time, but said you can not go taking up floorboards ect until the evidence leads you there. He said there would have been a intial search, but you can not make it too indepth at that stage. Had the police taken up floorboards, conducted a forensic search using dogs, dug up the garden of Holly Wells family on day one, just think of the outcry. The police are really in a no win situation.

Whcih is why the Portuguese police went so hard on the McCann's. They did make a right balls up of the investigation, but the McCann's and media line seemed to be "how dare they suspect us". I have noticed a marked difference in the treatment of this family compared to McCann's by the media. All the ex jail bird Grandad and Grandmothers boyfriend "interviwed" and a general nod and wink . The most likely outcome will be a family member or friend and they maybe "wrong uns", but it's heartbreaking. I keep drumming it into my kids not to accept lifts from friends/collagues of mine or my Mrs' friends or work mates. It's a really sad state of affairs, but kids are wary of strangers they have never met before, but most of the time they will know their attacker in some way or other. Look at Huntly, that was their teaching asst's bloke. Have you noticed the difference in the media's treatment of this family with the McCann's.

My oldest wanted a Man U/Wigan ticket and as I was off I said I would ring the TO for him. I was all ready to spend ages and ages getting the engaged tone or not being able to get through, like last year. Got through stright away and sorted tickets out by 9.08am. I dont know whether people haven't realised they are on sale , Man U being a sky game, or more season tickets holders meaning less queues , but I was surprised how easy it was compared to previous years. One of the reasons I got a S/T despite having to miss about 6/7 games a season, was to aviod hours and hours trying to get tickets for big games. It's not been the case with the Man U game, which I find a bit strange.

If I had the chance to impress a potential employer, by working in one of the schemes I would jump at the chance. I could also go into interviews telling the interviwer that I had joined one of these schemes whilst unemployed, and personally I think that would give me an advantage over some body who just sat on their arse picking up their dole.

How does working for your state handout demean people?

If used correctly these sort of schemes can benefit both employers and employees, but like anything it can be abused and that's when the problems start. From an employers prospective you can get a feel for someone and whether you would employ them full time. I used to use agencies like this. I would request staff and then cream off the best ones to work permanently.It's so costly to employ and then get rid of useless layabouts. The problem obviously comes when employers are using this as cheap labour, and have no intention of taking people on. My opinion is this is counter productive. I would rather pay a higher wage and get a committed and dedicated member of staff ( and we're only talking min wage levels, not massive £'s) , than keep having to retrain loads of different bods sent down by the dole office. I would also look more favourable on someone who had been on one of these schemes, than someone who had sat on their backsides picking up their dole. It would have a bearing on any recruitment decisions I made. What do the employees get from it? 3 things in my opinion; It looks better on their CV, they get something to get up to do and will keep them out of a downward spiral (which can happen) and they also get a chance (however remote) to impress someone. We haven't recruited full time people for a number of years, but I took a guy on for 3 months fixed term to do a job for me. He was fantastic, hardworking, reliable, keen and a decent guy. I persuaded the top brass to keep him on and offer him a F/T contract, even though that was never the intention.I did not want him walking out and felt he could add real value to our business. That could happen with these schemes.

Clegg and the Lib/Dems are talking Pony yet again, with this tit for tat approach to boundray reform. The Government put a set of proposals to parliament and whipped their MP's to vote for it. I cant see how that is breaking the coalition agreement as MP's individual votes are not in the gift of any party leader. MP's are perfectly free to defy the whip even if the proposal was in the manifesto. It is up to the party whether they deselect backbench MP's who do so, and up to the Electorate whethere their voting pattern means re election if they stand again. What is not possible is for members of the Govenrment to vote down a Government measure. They are either sacked or they resign. This is what happened to junior members of the Government who voted against Lords reform. Therefore Cameron needs to bring forward the boundray changes and Clegg needs to act in the same manner Cameron did with Lords reform. That is; whip his MP's to vote for it (however half hearted) and all members of the Government need to vote for it,be sacked, or resign (Angie Bray was sacked as PPS and Conor Burns resigned for voting against house of Lords reform) . If Clegg, Cable or anyone else votes against boundrey changes, they will have to leave the Government. Their backbench MP's are free to vote how they want, but Government members are not. That has always been the case over many years and over Government's of every colour .This was certainly the case with Lords reform, and Cameron needs to spell this out to Clegg and grow a pair.

Spot on. Our youngsters are being conned. They are leaving uni with huge debts and terrible job prospects. When I went to school only the very brightest went to uni, and therefore it was funded by and large by the tax payer. Now it is just a extension of school and kids that should be working are being brainwashed into going to uni. It maybe a good laugh and **** up, but it's a pretty expensive one.

The Lib/Dems knew that it is impossible to send nearly 50% of students to uni and not raise fees. They did not for one minute believe that they would be in Government so signed these stupid pledges knowing that they could appear "principled" and gain lots of votes in the Uni towns and Cities. They tried to play politics with a serious issue and ended up getting their fingers burnt.

I'm sticking up for MP's that stand by their principles and dont change them in a rush to the "centre ground", whether left or right. Perhaps you could explain the "nutty right". Who are these charactors and what are some of their nutty right policies?

Some people need reminding that the Lib/Dems lost seats in the last election and are polling rock bottom at the moment. The proposed bill is also a dogs breakfast of a bill, that appears to be worked out on the back of a fag packet. They have been found out. They fight Tory seats as a right leaning party and Labour ones leaning to the left. Had they been in coalition with Labour, the exact same politicans would be following completely different policies, they are unprincipled and only interested in power. I'm sure we'll see a 1970's type election return for them in 2 years time. I did find the post "the nutty right of the tory party are not honourable people who prefer ideology and want cameron to follow their agenda rather than appeal to the centre ground." rather funny. The poster seems to say that abandoning your ideology and giving up your agenda, to appeal to the middle ground is somehow honourable. Whereas following your ideology, sticking by your pricicples and wanting the PM to follow you, is somehow dishonourable. I suppose in solentstars eyes, people like Tony Benn are not honourable but Tony Blair was? Personaly I would rather there were more MP's that stick to their agenda and try to get the PM to follow it, rather than the lemming like rush based on focus groups, we've had the past 20 years.

I disagree. He needed to gain the confidence of the markets. By paying of 25% of the deficit and sticking to a plan, he’s kept interest rates low. He’s now using those low rates to inject some stimulus into the economy.

He would have had one, just wasn't sensible to announce you have one. As Alistar Darling said in an interview with the Economist, "If you announce a plan but also say you have a stand-by plan, you might as well throw your first plan away."

Southampton have every right to be pleased with their signing of Crystal Palace's Nathaniel Clyne - positive statement of intent. @philmcnulty

It's the plan B, that Labour said he didn't have.

We're in the same boat, really struggling at the moment.The Mrs went back to uni to follow her dream of being a midwife so we only had one wage coming in for the past 3 years. We're just lucky that our mortgage is so cheap, I dread to think what would happen if it wasn't. We've just cut back on nights out ect, she's qualified now, so fingers crossed she get a job on decent money. It'll take a couple of years to repay the credit cards that have helped get us through.