sadoldgit

There could be plenty of coaching going on but you can coach all day long and it might not make any difference. If it works so well why aren't all the players in the Prem improving?

A lot of people believed it at the time! The album cover of Abbey Road is supposed to show George as the grave digger, Paul as the stiff (no shoes was supposed to be the give away), Ringo as the undertaker and John as the preacher.

To be fair that was down to Ringo rather than Lennon/McCartney and they didn't attempt to recreate an Octopus as David did with Laughing Gnome. Oh, and they didn't go to town with the dreadful puns.

virgin

Whatever anyone thinks of Laughing Gnome, he certainly made up for it later in his career.

cadet

Yes, the Jerry Hall who has previously been with Mike Jagger and Brian Ferry.

Following on from what GM was saying, I remember many associates saying way back that he was a bit of a chameleon and would take on ideas of others and make them his own. The trouble with constant reinvention is that you can often ditch something good for something rubbish which he did on more than one occasion. His greatest hits were very good and I am glad that I saw him in concert where he played most of them. There was a lot of stuff that only die hard fans could love too though. Having said that how many artists have had dodgy periods in such a long career. Even Springsteen has produced some duds. The newspaper coverage today has been well OTT in my opinion which is a shame because it could cause some kind of backlash - he wasn't all that so why the fuss - whereas he clearly was a major cultural figure. A bit more balance was needed. Where do you go with it when McCartney dies for example?

You could well be right. I had assumed that he was starting every game but just found out that he hasn't which would seem to indicate that there have been some issues. It wasn't that long ago he was looking like a decent England prospect. I wonder which Shelvey will turn out for Newcastle?

You may or may no be right Duncan, but given that Caulker was behind Yoshida in the pecking order the coaching staff would appear to disagree with you big time.

I watched it a few times last night and although there was a touch by a defender Gazza should have done much better with it. He just kind of flapped at it in a way you would expect a Sunday morning park player to deal with a ball in like that.

To be fair, it is pretty bad. You might get away with it as the Cheeky Girls, Black Lace etc but not if you are an aspiring rock/pop icon.

You would hope so. The fact that we are being linked with players other than an out and out striker would suggest that perhaps they feel the money will be better spent elsewhere. We are in for an interesting few weeks!

I am amazed that Swansea are selling Shelvey to Newcastle. More playing time for Cork now though.

I must have just woken up in a parallel universe.

I know I am sad, but it would be sadder still if anyone on here actually wanted us to go down! It is one thing worrying about it but another to wish it on your own team

But you said earlier that you thought we would go down? "Villa Sunderland Southampton"

Wayne

Don't worry, JWP will be in the running next year

I can only think that his agent is trying to hint that he needs to play for us more. Linked with Palace and Liverpool. Really?

You are a little ray of sunshine aren't you? Villa, Sunderland, Newcastle.

Apparently when he toured his greatest hits in the 90s he asked his fans what he should play and this came top of the list! He didn't play it though. I wonder why? Anthony Newley (those of a certain age us will remember that name) was a big early influence!

What I was trying to say, albeit clumsily, was that although he wasn't to everyones taste he was clearly up there in terms of influence and was revered by many. Michael Jackson wasn't my thing. I didn't have any of his records, never went to any of his concerts etc but I do recognise that he is seen as a legend. One of the reports last night said that he wasn't to everyone's taste (who is?) but do you get my drift? My wife said last night that she liked some of his music but wasn't a big fan. She did however appreciate what all the fuss was about. When you look at his ranking in Rolling Stone he doesn't come out anywhere near the top. He wasn't the best singer, the best songwriter, the best actor, the best mime artist etc (in my opinion anyway) but clearly he was a big influence and was loved by millions. I am not a Stones fan but when Jagger and Richards depart they will be rightly feted as "legends." Whether a fan of his or not, I think most people realised that he has played a huge part in the fabric of pop culture over the last 50 odd years. Yes, it is probably wrong to compare legendary status unless you don't thing that someone is a legend. But I think that there will be many like me, not my favourite artist by a long way but I can recognise the affect he had on others.

You could argue that 69 was a long life for somewhere who lived in a profession where many died at 27.