Wilko

Yeah, that's right. Because when attendances

This sort of thing makes me so angry I may become a Pompey fan.

Aaaauuuu-ber-gine Aaaauuuu-ber-gine

I hear Sven has always been a Saints fan. I'm off to polish the statue.

How does a boom and bust economy equal rosy economic times?

Football agents are no different to any other kind of recruitment agents.

I agree that to put your life on the line for that wage would seem a little unwise. But it has been pointed out earlier on that nobody is forced to join the forces. The question of how much they should be paid also remains. How much should anybody be paid to do anything? What about a surgeon who regularly saves lives? What about a recruitment consultant who finds somebody a great job? What about a politician who changes a law to make society fairer? What about nurses who work in hospices? You see what I'm getting at, here. You can argue that everybody is either paid too much or not enough, but ultimately the wage is there and people make the decision to take it. It's the value that the economy places on the job. If nobody joined at the starting wage, the forces would put the wage up to encourage more people to join up in the same way teachers of some subjects are given incentives to join the profession. I think the sacrifices troops are required to make as part of their job are well documented and few, if any, would take the job not knowing the facts.

That is not a sweeping statement. It's a fact. If the soldiers decided not to fight, there would be no war. On your second point, you say it as if there was no army we would all be subject to the tyrrany of some kind of unknown force that would immediately rob us of our freedoms. I just see it differently. I am, at least, glad we can agree to disagree politely, rather than getting into name calling and insults.

The number of sweeping statements on both sides of this debate is alarming. Are they poorly paid? That's subjective. Most members of the armed forces get paid in line with graduate jobs. If you come out of an average university with an average degree, or from an average college with an average set of grades, you're likely to get paid about £16-17k for your first couple of years. This seems to be roughly in line with the forces. On that basis, anybody who goes into any job is poorly paid. Somebody wrote that the armed forces sacrifice a lot for the people of the country. I do have a great deal of respect for those who sign up with the aim of defending the realm, but I can't help but feel that in the 21st century this is misguided. If we were talking about fighting the invading forces of fascism then I would have no issue. However, in recent years we've been involved in conflicts in far away places that have very little to do with defending our land and a lot to do with a sense that we, alongside America, should act as the police of the world. I understand that it was politicians who made the decisions to start the wars, but those who sign up for the fight are actively parcitipating in them and if every single one of them decided not to fight, there would be no war. But this is all getting away from the point. If the club wishes to give free tickets to soldiers than it should and it's not worth having a massive argument or getting angry about it. I see no reason why they should be given special treatment for doing their job. It is my right to hold these views. People like Stu from Romsey and all the rest of you who are going ape at those who disagree with your pro-military views should remember that on so many occasions they are the first people to argue that our armed forces are there to protect such freedoms.

Stu, It is my opinion in both the 'real world' and here on the internet, which is also the real world, unless I'm very much mistaken about what happens when I surf the internet. I see no reason why I would waste my time posting things I do not believe in on an internet forum. As for your statement that it's 'lucky' most of the country doesn't agree with me. I don't think you have any proof of this, as I suspect you have no idea whether most of the country thinks servicemen should be given free football tickets. If there has been any recent scientific polling on the issue, please feel free to post a link to it. Regards, Wilko

Is the fact that somebody thinks soldiers shouldn't be given free football tickets a reason to give them a good kicking? That's what you seem to be implying with all your 'safety of their PC' rhetoric.

From a humanitarian perspective, you could argue that a nurse does a lot more good than a soldier. I think you're being very unfair to nurses.

I see no reason to give freebies to the military. Most of the people I know who are in the forces seem to get very long holidays and most of their living expenses paid for. One of my mates in the Marines finished a tour in Iraq, was given a free holiday on the way back, went travelling in Central America for three weeks, then spent another few weeks on holiday. Many people who are in the 'support the forces' brigade seem to forget that nobody has been conscripted. Every one in the armed forces joined of their own free will. The rights and wrongs of the conflicts they are involved in are another matter, but I reckon most of our servicemen can afford a football ticket. I await the predictable barrage of abuse.

David Cameron said: "I'm really angry about it too, you know, just like all the rest of it, and George is working on something to sort it all out. We're going to grip it really hard...."

I don't really get the whole 'they should be grateful to their employers for giving them a job' attitude. That's just tosh. People who own companies will always try to take the **** out of those who work for them. That's just the way it is. As long as the shareholders are OK, that's all that matters. Well done to the workers for standing up for themselves.

I've gone from sadness, to mild annoyance at the MK Dons game being called off, back to sadness again. That's about it, really.

I'm not moaning. I'm merely putting across an alternative viewpoint to the one that prevails. I put up my view, others questioned it, I answered. I see no reason to abuse me.

I stand corrected.

No. I said: "Thirty quid is thirty quid, but that's not really the point." 1. It's train ticket refunds I'm talking about. 2. I said: "I bet they are going ahead," not "I know they are going ahead." 3. Please don't issue instructions.

I'm sure the match tickets will be refunded, but do you really think Saints are going to refund my train ticket? Thirty quid is thirty quid, but that's not really the point. Do you think employees in other parts of Liebherr's business have downed tools for the day to remember him? I don't know the answer, but I do think postponing a football match three days after a club owner's death is an over-reaction. A minute of silence or clapping would be a fine tribute.

No refund and I can't get to MK for any stupid midweek rearranged game. The more I think about it, the more I think that this is an over the top Princess-Diana's-death-style reaction. It's very sad that he has died, but it's nowhere near as sad as Exeter striker Adam Stansfield's death of bowel cancer at the aged of just 31. I bet they are going ahead with their game on Saturday.

Am I the only one who thinks postponing the game could be a bit of an over-reaction? Is Liebherr construction downing tools for a day as well? Why not go ahead with the game and have a minute of clapping, as is now customary? I'm not 'trolling'.

For those who haven't seen it, this is how the main media news website is reporting it: http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/photo/100811echopics.shtml http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/photo/100810photoban.shtml http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/photo/100809cartoons.shtml http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/photo/100806football.shtml

If I don't buy the Sun, how will I know what to think?

Public sector workers are just the latest favourite scapegoats of the Conservative party/Daily Mail/Daily Express/Daily Telegraph. They have joined the ranks of immigrants and the poor as people it is acceptable to moan and whinge about. Less hate, more love.