alpine_saint

I thought he looked good, strong and dependable in the Villach games.

One of the final acts of cultural and intellectual vandalism possible to a once-great institution. Its absolutely tragic how useless and dumbed-down the BBC has become. EDIT : Signed, of course.

Whooopee dooo. A winter tournament. I already have 44 reasons why Qatar 2022 can go f**k itself in terms of support from my household. The poor sods working on the infrastructure projects have to work all year round.

Hes neither the player we expected or needed..

I think a few players had their last chance tonight. Did they do enough ?

Absolutely delighted. I know I am considered the voice of doom, but I fancied us for today. Cant explain why. Still dont think our attack is firing on all cylinders, and if Ramirez isnt going to play in a game like this, I dont think he has a future here. Roll on the next game and I hope the imminent discovery of a strategy to deal with the bus-parkers...

:lol:

Brilliant story. Really pleased for you both. And yes, it puts life into perspective, and its about a whole lot more than football.

I see the argument (sorry!) that being in the top division has enabled us to attract the top players for big money, has been made. Well, apart from Lovren, we've certainly splashed the cash over the past two season, whether we've got the top quality we've been expecting for it is quite another matter... Yes, I was "negative" back in the Championship, but I look back at that as being an emotional response to the roller-coaster ride we had to promotion (especially the last 6 weeks..) Last year was a novelty, being back in the PL. Now, I just look at this season and the fixtures and think "meh". I wasnt like that about seeing Saints in Villach, I was possitively wetting myself. Is my demeanour about the PL not in a way even MORE negative than my demeanour 2 years ago ? I cared then...

Yep. Why do you think Labour are supporting the Union so strongly ? the rest of the UK will be under permanent Tory rule, which will immediately instigate the boundary changes Clegg sulked over to tighten their grip.

The jocks have their vote, we dont. If they vote to stay, I hope Westminster starts clawing back the inequities between Scotland and the rest. They can always have another vote and p*ss off if they dont like it.

I wonder how many of us are really, really deep-down happier than at this time 2 years ago. The games and opposition were more interesting then; we only want to win and avoid relegation now for financial reasons. We were competitive then, in with a shout for things. We've spent 60m on underachieving crap since then. (OK, 50m - Lovren is an exception)

So people are only interested if they are positive ? What a load of b*ll*cks. I would argue that negative people (as you describe them) are more interested because they wont simply suck up the sh*t performances and excuses, often on the back of a crap excuse that because you have spent several hundred pounds on an ST you have to appear a happy-clappy ÜberFan..

As it should be. As you rightly said, we are an island nation. We also have a small number of dependencies. The main goal of our Armed Forces is to protect them. If you look at our stand-alone activites of the past 40 years or so (British Honduras and the Falklands), either a naval and air presence deterred invasion or would have deterred invasion. At the end of Phoenix Squadron by Rowland White, which describes the deterrence of Guatemala in 1972, there are a couple of footnotes about Argentina would never have invaded if Ark Royal were still in commission, and Thatcher asked folornly about her status when the Task Force decision were made. As for our NATO committments, its up to the organisation to come up with integrated plans dependent on the individual nations ability (and willingness) to contribute; we can easily tell NATOs command strucutre that our future contribution when we are out of Germany is naval- and air-only. Much as I regret the loss of cap badges, we dont need a big army equipped for offensive operations. We need a defensive force for the UK, and the ability to deploy rapidly to our overseas interests. I think cost savings can be found by investigating the co-existence of the Army Air Corps, Fleet Air Arm and RAF, and also the light infantry regiments and the Royal Marines. I personally question the long-term viability of the RAF. Basically, the RN is an all-arms service and should always be top dog. The Army has provide most of the Chief of defence Staffs for the past 20 years, and due to Irag and Afghanistan has had more than its share of political support and resources. Time for the natural order to re-exert itself....

Uncommonly funny from you. Must be a really boring course.

Our very own Derry is on a par with this chap.

I think there is a chance too. I have a feeling Ramirez, despite my ambivalence about him, will play from the start and do well. I have a feeling Osvaldo is due an arsehole-ripping of someone Lawro has predicted a comfortable Liverpool win

I am rapidly losing interest in all levels of football. My eldest son has just given up because of neanderthal "must win because they have small genitalia" / mobbing mentality amongst youth trainers where I live, and my 9 year old hasnt got a game so far this season because he is in a joint club team, the trainers come from the other club and play only their players, so he wonders why he should bother training, which gives them an additional excuse not to play him. Add that on to Barry's comments, and its clear to me football is a sport for mongs and I am near the end. As some of you may notice (delight in), I dont post too often anymore..

Me (though I'd prefer 0-0 to losing, naturally) My reasoning is if we cant win against bus-parkers at home, and cant win against teams that come at us and play, the question arises where our wins are going to come from.. Also, Suarez and Coutinho are missing

I complained via their chat service today. They explained that sometimes there is a delay when an order for several items has to be collected together for one delivery from several different distribution centres. I argued back that they normally then despatch separately at no extra cost, and it is not possible for customers to see Amazons internal logistic issues. They explained that only happens when one item is out of stock or on order and is expect to significantly delay the rest. My conclusion is that this is either something to do with a glitch in their internal logistics, or I am being spun a line. They did however upgrade my order to Prime status at no cost and its now on its way...

Would like to see the English get a referendum about separating from the rest.

So, they are turning into the internet shopping equivalent of Ryanair.

Anyone else noticing that their despatch/delivery times are getting worse and worse ?

Forget it. Even the Sweaties are not stupid enough to vote for national suicide. They'll have no currency, no NATO membership, no EU membership, lose the Barnet formula and will prop the country up on dwindling oil stocks. I reckon even Salmond reckons it b*ll*cks; he's just playing hard ball for more money and more autonomy within the current set-up.