Minty

My wife's birthday is on Valentines Day, so trying to do something for her birthday becomes a major pain the ass... more often than not we have to do something before or after the 14th.

That would help, no doubt about it. So many people think they know the rules, but it takes a few minutes to check so that you're prepared when you pass through security, and saves yourself, the staff, and fellow passengers a lot of time.

Hammy, it was all a long time ago, and to be quite honest, I have no idea what actually happened! lol Same here, enjoyed my time, but onwards and upwards since.

The Councillor seems to imply that just by being in the room, he is being forced to join in with the prayer, which is rubbish. We have all been at weddings or funerals or other events where a prayer has been said... do those who are of different faiths to that which a prayer is being said in all leave the room at that point? No. It's a simple case of tolerance and respect for others IMO, and he showed a lack of respect.

There ain't no Mong who can Mop Jizz like me...

Agreed, for me Martin is the long term solution as he has more awareness and intelligence, and is also a very effective communicator and a natural leader on the pitch. It would be wrong to just put him in now, but he needs game time and I think within a season or so, he can start to command a regular place and, more importantly, can grow with the team as it climbs the leagues.

Is that before you left? ;-)

Sounds like you got a rude individual who was out of order, which has no relation to all the other security officers who do a good job. Some of them are better than others, no different to anyone you come across in any job. Admittedly, you say it is not just the one guy, but I doubt that is the case. Common courtesy should be afforded to anyone at any time in any situation, and if this guy was rude then as suggested above, you should complain to the Security Manager. I worked with some who were quite obnoxious at times which drive me mad, as I often had to deal with the complaints about them. That said, I take issue with the comments about Security Officers being halfwits. They go through some stringent training, and the good ones deserve more respect than that. They also have to put up with a lot of crap thanks to passengers who are also unable to show some common courtesy, and there are many, who think they are above the law.

Not all cyclists are the same. Many are children or teenagers who are less experienced at cycling, or occasional adult cyclists, who need the protection that a cycle lane affords. I on the other hand generally use the roads, even if there is a cycle lane, because I am an experienced cyclist, and roads are usually smoother, faster, and there are no pedestrians in the way, which is often the case on even dedicated cycle lanes, and of course allowed on shared pavements, which are one of the worst ideas anyone ever came up with. There are plenty of idiotic cyclists, and plenty of idiotic drivers. Not all cyclists act the same, not all drivers do. Therefore it's a shame that threads like this have to lead to the black-and-white view that some clearly have about cyclists.

No it's not alps, and I'm disappointed (though not surprised) that you chose to make such a counter-claim. The simple fact of the matter is that making season long predictions based on very short periods of time, be it 45 minutes, or only 2 or 3 games, is always pointless. IMO you can start to gauge current form over 4-6 games IMO, but there are always anomalies, and we're dealing with Human Beings who are cannot be programmed to play the same way every game. I then tend to look at the last 10 games to build a picture of our overall form, with reference to the whole season before that. How people choose to judge our form and ability to get future results is up to them, and it's not my place to tell people how to do it, but my main point is simply that rational judgement about how a whole season will pan out is virtually impossible when people are absorbed in a game happening at that same time. And that applies if we're 1-0 down or 5-0 up.

This works both ways however. Some people get angry/abusive at others because they dare to suggest things are not as bad as others think. Also, making judgements of any kind is all well and good, but in the middle of a game, which could change one way or the other at any time, is always somewhat premature. Comments on how a individual game is progressing is fair enough, after all that is what is currently happening. But trying to then pass judgement on an entire season, and/or predicting a final league position, just because we are 1-0 down at half time in a game, is pointless and only likely to invite abuse because the two events, i.e. the game, and the season as a whole, are never directly linked. One is, literally, a fraction of the other, and so, so many people on match threads seem to forget this. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and no one should be abused just for having one, whatever it is. But some opinions and judgements are so clearly based on their own emotion because of how a match is going, that they are never going to be credible.

I really don't see that it matters. If you want to analyse the whole squad and work out who was here already, who Adkins brought in, who he wants to keep, who he is thinking of releasing later etc, then go for it. Ultimately, Adkins has now had a solid period of time to work with the squad and make some changes. He's made his mark, we've seen that in a number of excellent performances, but equally we know that we don't yet have the consistent level of performance we would like and there have been (and will be yet more) poor performances. But then again, it is League 1, and consistency is not exactly commonplace at this level. If things don't go to plan, there is no 'get out' as mentioned in the OP. Blame and excuses are pointless. All that matters is that Adkins and the squad continuously work hard to achieve our aim of promotion no matter what the last result or performance was, good or bad. A bit of faith and support from fans would help that, and thankfully I think most recognise that.

Some interesting comments on the FoxesTalk forum: http://www.foxestalk.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=70514 Seems he has the talent, but his application is called into question... but as Adkins has worked with him I'm sure he's confident he can get him firing.

Makes perfect sense. As for 'Trying to save money due to the death of someone's family member'... that's just plain wrong. It's a simple sharing of resources. You have a heat source, so if it's viable, why not use it for two different things?

Fair point. I wonder what Miss Piggy's opinion on this is?

I'm struggling to work out why this is in Muppet Show? Seemed a perfectly serious and genuine question to me.

Touché.

I always enjoy when this kind of thread comes around again. And again. And again and again and again. It's refreshing to hear the same, fixed opinions on the subject, repeated for the benefit of those who've forgotten who does and who doesn't.

Indeed. Keys and Gray (and holepuncture it seems) made their minds up based purely on her sex. And in answer to holepuncture: Yes, I do. The larger pool of people we have to choose top level officials from the better.

Well, I guess it depends on how you judge being 'the best'. We can certainly claim to be amongst the best, judging by current performance and the number of players who've gone on to play in the Prem. But that title doesn't really matter IMO, the success of an Academy is usually measured by the number of players who go on to play at the highest level, and ideally, for the club whose Academy developed them over a period of time. Also, quite a number of English Prem came from the lower leagues and through youth teams elsewhere, but not necessarily Academy set-ups. However, to put things in context, it's worth seeing who we're currently competing with: http://www.premierleague.com/page/YouthATable (That was from before we beat Crystal Palace, the previous leaders, convincingly on Saturday: http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/AcademyNews/0,,10280~2274093,00.html We're now unbeaten in 14 matches.) Producing good players through an Academy is a win-win situation. Some will go on to other clubs and we'll be paid well for them if they are genuinely good quality. Others will remain at Saints and we'll reap the rewards.

We don't rely on Lallana that much, but we don't play quite as well and people look for a reason. The reason is that's football sometimes. Half the game to go, let Nigel do his thing and let's see what happens. Keep the faith.

Especially when the number 4 goes to Totton...

Patience and belief are key. I hope the crowd remember that.

I think it's fair to say that quite a lot of us were very doubtful about Cortese's actions at the time, and of course none of us still know exactly what happened. I'll readily admit that, based on the information to hand (i.e. nothing) I was very concerned about the move. Some were more vocal than others (understatement!) but I think despite this, most reasonable folk, even if they were critical of Cortese, remained open minded and chose to judge the action on the outcome and how the new manager fared. Now, we don't quite yet have an "outcome" but there is no doubt in my mind that Adkins will deliver promotion, and the way we seem to be going about it should, by now, have 99.9% of Saints fans more than happy that the ends will justify the means. All I would add is that I sincerely hope we can stop this apparent need to rake over old ground and old opinions, seemingly just to have a pop at people who had a criticism or opinion that has proved wrong. We ALL get things wrong from time to time. All that matters now is where we are and where we're going. Not to mention that we're going there on Nigel's bus...!