benjii

CHDAJFU? He's still got it.

If he'd played against Leicester instead of Ol' Man Davis, we'd have two more points!

She is approximately the same height as a corner flag.

Backroom team of Mark Paul, Cosimo Sarli and Marco Almeida. Did someone say, "dream ticket"?

Quite right. Anyone who "signed" that is, simply, an idiot.

I thought Benn's speech was very slickly and professionally delivered but it was pretty empty and if that is now what constitutes Parliament's standout oratory then there must be quite a lack of intellect to be found therein. Having said that, good oratory does not necessarily a good decision make. George Galloway, for example, is an excellent orator and a tremendous ****.

I think the defensive tactics are not right. We don't press consistently but we don't drop off enough to close space in front of the back for either. Wanyama and Clasie are often neither here nor there. Couple that with centre backs falling asleep and we're going to concede. I think there's maybe a lack of characters in the squad now. We could do with signing a couple of mentally resilient players. Really, it's going to be a boring and frustrating season where we squander opportunities (this and the Europa). I guess the hope is that we start next season with players who've grown from their experiences this season (Cedric, Clasie, Van Dijk) and only lose one or two first teamers. But, importantly, we need to address our patterns of play. We don't look well drilled at the moment but we have enough quality to beat the bottom half of the league.

Who / what is that?

Quite. We are not going to finish above United, City, Arsenal, Spurs or Liverpool. We probably won't finish above Chelsea and it's 50/50 at best if we finish above Leicester (although Leicester must have some tough fixtures coming up - they seem to play bottom half teams most weeks and they have also had loads of luck, from what I've seen) and Everton. So, feck the league, lets try to win something.

His potential appeared enormous when he first started playing. That is why he got hyped. Not really a stick to beat him with. Personally, I think his best position is a deeper midfielder, a la Classie or Morgan, but due to his versatility he gets shifted around a lot and hasn't had the chance to develop there. I don't think he can play alongside Vic or Romeu as they are both quite slow as well. I can't see him ever getting a chance in that role at Saints so he will need to decide if he's happy in the utility squad role or if he needs to drop down and develop himself as a CM.

Not too fussed, would rather give a few youngsters a go and keep others fresh for Wednesday. Obviously we should try to get something but I look at it as an opportunity to try a few things. I would maybe pick: ------------------------------------------------Stek-------------------------------------------- Martina------------------Van Dijk----------------------Yoshida-------------------------Targett -------------------------------Romeu---------------Clasie-------------------------------------- -McQueen-------------------------------Juanmi-----------------------------------Hesketh-- ------------------------------------------Long-------------------------------------------------- Bench: Gazza, Cedric, Caulker, Davis, Mane, Seager, JWP

I was sad to hear of his passing too. Such a weird accident! What are the chances?

Exactly, and these are the sorts of fouls that referees should recognise and sanction accordingly. Mason didn't have a clue.

I reckon he will shaft us, to be honest!

Mason's use of, or failure to use, yellow cards was just downright suspicious. No reall explanation at all other than favouring Stoke. And we had a clear penalty refused.

No it isn't. What does that even mean? Pretty **** effort if killing 120 people is supposed to bring the downfall of western civilisation. It is part of a recruitment drive perpetrated by brainwashed morons but orchestrated by people concerned with their power bases in the middle east. It is supposed to provoke a reaction. Every right thinking person knows it is wrong and sympathises with all victims of this sort of thing. What is certainly not needed is a festival of grief that actually smacks more of fear than anything else IMO.

Ian Holloway just said we tried to sign him for £5million when Holloway managed him. He said he wished, for Phillips I think, they had let him go but the chairman wasn't interested in selling. Not sure if a concrete bid has been reported before.

What a badly written letter. It smacks of someone promoted beyond their capabilities. The kind of thing some ex-military dunce like that bloke on The Apprentice would come out with.

So what's the criteria? It smacks to me of a mawkish desire to be seen to do something coupled with, frankly, fear. As you correctly say, we are only doing this because it was relatively close to home - so we are acknowledging its impact. The best message is to just carry on without this pompous grandstanding. And your point about childbirth, despite it being made fatuously, is a very good one. That is something the world could do a lot about fairly easily. Stopping a handful of nutters with guns is virtually impossible. So despite couching your post in block-headed and obnoxious tones you are quite right. And if we absolutely must indulge in some sort of tokenism pre-match then let's do something sensible. Not play a song that no one understand and is, itself, a bloodthirsty call to arms of which ISIS would be proud.

Exactly. This shows we (or at least an idiotic institution) are(is) affected. It shows that people will behave weirdly and without any obvious application of rationality as a result of the attacks. Frankly, it makes them look rattled. It will hardly be a show of defiance - it will be people shuffling around uncomfortably waiting for it to finish so we can get on with the match. There might be a few "hon he hons" hummed along, as it's quite a nice tune. I am also livid that my beret, stripy jumper and onions-round-the-neck tribute will be overlooked.

Absolutely ridiculous and not something I want to be a part of at all. Let's play the Yemeni anthem, the Russian anthem, the Nigerian anthem, the Malian anthem, the Kenyan anthem, the Chinese anthem, the Somali anthem, the Ukrainian anthem, the Indian anthem, the US anthem, the Australian anthem, the Central African Republic anthem, the DRC anthem etc....

A Chinese Burn can be tremendously funny.

#prayforstpetersburg

Twitter?

Obviously what happened in Paris was awful (although more people died in the Russian plane bombing and I didn't see swathes of Russian flags adorning Facebook photos and people falling over themselves to be silent or post trite quotes from Mandela or Ghandi or whatever then, but anyway, that's another topic....) but it is quite easy to fall into the trap of ego-centralising this whole issue. The "west" is largely untouched by ISIS. You see phrases like, "they hate us - they want to destroy our way of lives etc..". Do people honestly believe the ISIS commanders view the annihilation of western civilisation as remotely possible or plausible? ISIS have persecuted far greater (in volume) crimes against Muslims who they think are "bad Muslims" and minorities in the middle east. The genocide of the Yazidi, for example. This is not, "them against us"; we are collateral damage. France and Russia appear to have been targeted due to their recent activities in the region. These were tactical attacks. They are not premised on abstract dogma - at least not amongst the commanders (you obviously need a supply of indoctrinated foot soldiers willing to die to perpetrate these things). The portentous and, frankly, ridiculous language of a great war, of a clash of civilizations between east and west is moronic. That doesn't mean some tactical military intervention is not justified but we should be quite clear: if we go into Syria and Iraq our objective has to be for the people of that region. It is not for our own ends because if we protect ourselves the problems will not go away. We are not the real target and, although it is horrible and my heart aches for those affected, a few hundred civilian deaths every now and then is hardly going to bring down the west or western values. What might, is if enough Westerners start behaving like stupid children. We can negotiate? Not really. It is not within our gift to ensure that "deviant" sects of Islam adhere to the Salafist Sunni creed. That's what they (ISIS) want first of all. They would probably be quite happy if there was a global caliphate but the true power-holders in these organisations are not stupid enough to believe that can possibly happen any time soon (if ever). What's the answer? I don't know but I know we have more chance of getting there eventually if reason defeats hyperbole.