ecuk268

Imagine a scenario where Rupert Lowe never existed and we were stuck with Guy Askham and his biscuit tin. With a capacity of 15000 the dear old Dell could never have sustained Premiership football. Also, Stoneham was to be a 25000-seater so it was fortunate that we ended up at St Marys, much the better site. It's been a rollercoaster ride but we're now in a good position both on and off the pitch and I think that Rupert Lowe and Andrew Cowen deserve some credit for starting the process off despite the darker days that we had to go through. Personally, I really enjoyed the L1 and Championship seasons - more honest football and fewer prima-donna divers.

Back in the 80's a friends Mum (who was a big Saints fan) was in Southampton General feeling a bit poorly. He sent a get-well card to the club and asked if they could get some of the players to sign it. A few days later in walked Danny with a large bunch of flowers. Really made her day.

Herbie was also instrumental in organizing the yearly visit of the Chernobyl kids. These are youngsters from the Chernobyl area who, due to their exposure to radiation, are unlikely to make it beyond their teens. Herbie arranged for the Club to give them a tour of St Marys, a number of items from the Megastore and a party in the Club. Apparently, even a couple of weeks away from their home and being given good food can increase their life expectancy. He's a true gent.

UKIP do seem to have more than their fair of looneys (unless the other parties are better at keeping theirs quiet).

And the Albion Band

If we get a day off, I'm all for it.

They had intelligence that he had a gun in the car. That's not the same as being certain. The officer who fired the shots said that he saw a gun hidden in a sock in Duggans hand but forensic examination of the gun and expert evidence found that this could not have been the case. In spite of it being bright summer's evening, no one saw the gun being thrown. More worryingly, the sergeant in charge of the stop instructed 3 armed response officers to secure the gun on the grass as soon as they arrived but, at that time, he could not have been sure that there was a gun, let alone it's location. All 11 officers involved initially said that several shots had been fired. It was only when they were at the inquest that they admitted there were only two.

“Artur is fit and he may play or he may not play,” said Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino. Well, that's clear then.

Would be interesting to see a breakdown of these new jobs. How many were full-time or zero-hours contracts. How many were minimum wage? The tabloid media seems to delight in demonizing people on benefits, implying that the unemployed are the main problem. In fact the spending on unemployment benefit in 2012 was roughly £5bn. Spending on work-related benefits (tax credits etc) was £43bn and pensions was £88bn. The taxpayer is subsidising employers who pay low wages and for, the first time, the number of working families below the poverty line exceeds those not in work. Osborne says that he wants to reduce benefit spending by £25bn but doesn't mention the similar amount lost to corporate tax avoidance and cosy HMRC deals with the big corporations. But that might affect donations to the Tory Party.

Makes a change from "can reveal that......"

Gove criticizes the portrayal of WW1 in programmes such as Blackadder and the film "Oh What a Lovely War" as left-wing propaganda. The latter was largely based on the book "The Donkeys" written by military historian Alan Clark, the onetime Tory Minister who could in no way be described as left-wing.

The Isle of Wight appears to be adopting a similar approach...... http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2014/01/02/isle-of-wight-to-relax-rules-on-herbal-teas/

http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=70443

Um Bongo

Who moderates the Moderators???

Picked mine up from Duncan a couple of weeks ago and have since been engrossed. What surprises me is the number of players that I'e watched over the years but had completely forgotten about. Nice to see that an anecdote about Bill Stroud that I supplied being included.

I see that the Sun has lived up to it's usual high standards by buying (presumably) the story of one of the killer's mothers and printing a large front-page photo of him with bloodstained machete in hand.

Mrs ecuk268 could tell you some stories on that subject. She has met parents who aren't really bothered - she's had 4-year olds who are puzzled when they're given a book because they've never seen one before. It's a problem that parents who have struggled at school often don't value education as highly as they might. Thus the problem gets passed on to the next generation.

Depends what they miss in those 2 weeks. In reception and early years it could easily be a new topic in basic reading or maths. When they come back, the rest of the class will have moved on and your child may struggle to catch up. It you must take them out of school, talk to the teachers first so that you are aware of what they could be missing.

Mrs ecuk268 has spent her working life as an Infant teacher and has often despaired at the attitude of some parents who take their children out of school because "it doesn't matter at that age". These are the years where the foundations are built. The teaching of literacy and numeracy moves very quickly and a 2-week break can put a child at a serious disadvantage. This means that they either require extra attention when they return (to the detriment of the rest of the class) or they fall behind and face a real struggle to catch up. If you don't get it right at this age then you are creating problems for the future. Still, that's not as important as your bank balance is it?

Exactly. St Georges Day doesn't really commemorate anything. Just some Lebanese (or other Middle Eastern country) bloke who didn't really kill a dragon. I'd go for Henry VIII breaking from Rome thus making us a Protestant country and printing the Bible in English so that even the lower orders could read it thus lessening the powers of the Church. Don't think that he did it all in one day though.

If nothing else, Souness gave us that wonderful 6-3 hammering of Man U.

I think that back in the 60s and 70s most people in this area had their first go at driving at Stoney Cross. Sunday afternoons were quite entertaining if a bit hazardous.

We had our double glazing put in 25 years ago when we moved in. Although they still look fine, the rubber seals have started to shrink and there's small gaps at the corners. Doesn't seem worth replacing them as they're otherwise OK. Anyone ever has theirs refurbished?

Should have taken Onions.