sadoldgit

RIP to all who gave their lives for their country. I lost both of my grandfathers in the Great War and an uncle in WW2 who was a Spitfire pilot.

I would pay a great deal of money for them not to make another record. Haven't we had enough of 1D already???

Many top managers prefer to stay with their league clubs rather than manage a national side. Let us hope that Ron is happy here and wants to see the job through. There will be plenty of time for the national job further down the line I expect.

Some people still worried about relegation? WTF?

I don't agree that we are punching above our weight. We are where we are on merit. It is not our fault that so many of the so called big clubs are misfiring. I think the only club we need to worry about is Chelsea.

Why my daddy heads in Liverpool?

Ferguson wasn't likeable either. He got away with it though because he won shedloads of trophies!

Listen mate, NC has long gone. We are currently 2nd with an excellent manager and playing good football. If you really cant enjoy this and can only harp back to the good old days under NC or look forward to a bleak vision of losing key players again next summer what is going on inside your head? I have heard of pessimism but this takes the biscuit. Where exactly were we going under NC that we cant go with the new management? Lighten up and enjoy the ride for goodness sakes.

I must admit I was worried about Fonte this season and was hoping he would be replaced and would just be cover, but he has stepped up and is a deserved captain.

Very touching. The club is in good hands.

I disagree Minty. I think that Chambers has been poor this season. His poor positional play has lead to a number of goals against and whilst it is not down to him alone, Arsenal have looked weak at the back. I was going to say he offers nothing going forward but appreciate he has scored his first goal and provided a cross that led to Arsenals equaliser in Europe the other week - but apart from that he was very poor and was at fault for the goal they conceded. He may well flourish but at the moment I think too much is expected of him.

It is relevant because I was responding to a comment about racism. But if you want me to shut up I will.

Can you see my point though? By calling someone a name that is a shortened version of the language that is used by many of their nationals, that is racist. "Used in a certain way." So I have a couple of friends who are "Gay". Is it still okay to call them that nowadays? My point is who decides? Some in the black culture call each other the N word and that is fine? Surely it should be intent rather than the actual word that determines what is racist or not? They are just words at the end of the day. The F word used to be taboo on TV and now is common place. Even the C word is used after 9pm now. I went to a mixed wedding earlier this year. The father of the groom, who is Asian, stood up and made a series of jokes about all of the corner shops being closed in the area because everyone was at the wedding. No doubt if I had said that I would have been branded a racist. We really need to lighten up and deal with proper racism.

But why? I honestly want to know why some words are deemed "racist" and others aren't. Am I supposed to take offence if someone calls me a Pommie or a Limey? If I say that someone is a Pakistani that is fine. Shorten it to Paki and I am a bad person???

When teams bucks trends it throws the "experts" out. It was so simple to write us off in the summer and now some people are having to re-evaluate SFC. They are doing so by saying we have had an easy start to the season. What I would say back is 18 points off "safety" 10 games in is no mean feat. We have shown a resilience that perhaps we didn't have last year and have more strength in depth. We have shown we can grind out results when needs be. We have shown that we can come from behind. Yes, we will lose more matches but I don't see why this squad need fear anyone. We have lost to Liverpool and Tottenham away by the odd goal. I think we will beat both teams at home. Take each game as it comes, learn from them and move on.

I struggle with this stuff. Yid. Yiddish. Paki. Pakistani. If the shortened versions of these words are "offensive why isn't it offensive to call a British person a Brit?

We can only play and beat what is in front of us and that is what we are doing. In the two matches we have lost we have only lost by one goal. I don't think any of the "top" teams will fancy playing us. The only team I worry about is Chelsea.

Neil Heaney (yes, its true!).

I think you are right about the 80s. Was it Mike Yarwood who gave up impersonations because the characters were no longer there? I have heard some comedians say the same - that there is very little in politics to get excited about. I am 60 and one of the many disaffected people who no longer vote. I have worked for The Times, Guardian, Telegraph and Spectator magazine (not a jouno) over a 30 year period but have only bought a newspaper once in the last 10 years. I watch the news and Question Time occasionally but would rather watch one of the many excellent historical documentaries that pop up quite regularly. When I surf the net it is usually to look up something about Prohibition after watching an episode of Boardwalk Empire or something about King Edward when watching the two excellent programmes on the Battle of Bannockburn. I currently work for a Government Agency where the cuts are hampering our ability to deliver and you can see outsourcing coming closer and closer. The Probation service is already in line and I am sure the CPS will be next. No more jobs for life in the public sector and maybe that isn't a bad thing, but the apathy is amazing and no one seems to care anymore, t hey just wait for the inevitable. What am I trying to say in this ramble? I guess the world is a very difference place nowadays. Social media seems to rule the roost. Despite its stupid name, Twitter has huge potential to get big messages across. Instead is seems to be used for celebrity tittle tattle - another sign of the times. Andy Warhol only got one thing wrong. Everybody wont be famous for 15 mins, they will be famous for 15 seconds. I don't know what the answer is? Has getting hip, trendy Prof Brian Cox in made programmes on space sexier to the watching public? Would people listen to him if he was a potential candidate for the Green Party? Has Homeland made more people interested in the Middle East issues or are they just tuning in to see who Carrie sh@gs next? Is that there is just too much information out there now? Once upon a time the news agenda was driving by the editors of newspapers and TV newsrooms and current affairs programmes. Now you can sit down, long on, and read about what the hell you like whenever you like. I have no idea what the answer is but perhaps the problem is that in the West we are too comfortable and perhaps in needs something like another Great Depression or war to wake people out of this stupor?

Isnt this the problem nowadays though? Far too many politicians and public figures are not trusted and do not engage the people. Once upon a time some entertainers could get a message across ( I am thinking about Ben Elton back in the 80s ) but now that doesn't seem to work so well either. It worked for Bono for a bit but now no one takes him seriously.

I struggled with the comments about molestation too. And his eyes are all over the place as he seems to be concentrating on ways to be clever/funny without listening to what is being said. I think he needs to decide what he wants to be and stick to it. Some people can make pertinent points and be funny at the same time but I am not sure if RB has that skill set. There is a real art in good communication skills. If you are leaving people confused about your message you are not succeeding in your aim. There is too much for me with RB that is distracting. Why is that? is he not confident in the points he makes so he uses diversionary tactics? I don't know. I just know that he seems to alienate a lot of people - maybe he wants to exclude old codgers like me though?

I can see positives and negatives in the growth of multi national corporations but clearly shifting food back and forth a number of times around the world before it ends up an supermarket shelves is a nonsense. I though our supermarkets were supposed to be doing more to source local produce? Still....my three kids are all teenagers. I try to get them interested in world economics but they are simply not interested. I don't think any of them have every read a newspaper and they don't engage in the news. If someone like Brand could interest them then that would be great, but like me, they think he is up his own b*m and don't take him seriously. I grew up in a country full of social unrest. Constant strikes, the 3 day week, IRA bombings etc. It was hard to ignore what was going on. Now all my kids seem to worry about is getting tickets to see London Grammer.

Okay 10 games in and now I am getting excited. I think we can take any of the "big" teams and can't wait for these fixtures. I don't think for one minute that we will sustain 2nd but I do now think that we are very capable of a top 6th finish. That and a cup final would be amazing after the summer we had. January will be very interesting. Will them club consolidate or bring in some extra strength and try and push on? A lot depends on the progress of JRod I suspect. If Boruc goes would be bring in a new no 2? Whatever, just a great time to be a Saints fan.

Been going on for ages though hasn't it Pap? Wasn't that whatthe Thatcher/Scargill battle was all about? Subsidised coal? God this bloke is irritating. I get Minty's point which is ignore his mannerisms and concentrate on what he says, but he really comes across as a prize ****. And what is with all the touchy feely stuff? Just plan creepy.

I see what you did with the "clean sheets" things! Very clever!