Alex

Scholes using various media outlets to make the case for the defence is laughable like. Especially as, apart from his obvious bias, no one is asking him any pertinent questions about it. If, as he claims it was a 'reflex' and, as Evans also reckons, it was an accident, why doesn't Evans immediately apologise? Because he did it on purpose is the logical conclusion.

:lol;

Aye, modern football isn't totally rubbish. Sad obviously but a dignified and (sort of) happy way to go.

Evans is looking at Cisse, he's about 3 feet away then he hockles in his direction. Aye, pure accident Horrible thing to do but Cisse was provoked (if it's as terrible as the FA says it is then it's extreme provocation by the same measure) and his reaction since has been honest and full of contrition.

Fair enough, maybe it did in the end.

Agreed. Just think the owner will have seen the silver lining in all this straight away.

A student of Shakespeare would say the lady doth protest too much.

I doubt the Sack Pardwew campaign had any impact on Ashley's decision to allow him to leave. In fact, I'd say a Sack Carver campaign is probably about the best chance he has of getting the gig full-time, knowing how pig-headed the owner is.

Reckon they'll both get done. Evans would've probably got away with it bar the reaction. Ashley will probably see it as an opportunity to fine Cisse 2 weeks wages.

Scotland is key. If Labour can do ok there then they will gain a majority. Even then though it's not going to be a very big one.

Current analysis (which has been pretty constant since the Scottish Independence referendum) suggests a hung parliament with Labour as the biggest but the Lib Dems not even having enough seats to hold the balance of power. That honour looks like falling to the SNP. Alex Salmond may well have played a blinder. And NJS is spot on about the two main parties and their so-called leaders.

Aye. It's in such bad taste.

How good is that, btw?

They can't win. Given the 'quality' of the rest of the bench people would've been going mental if Jonas wasn't on it.

:lol:

I think you were a little bit too earnest in the OP for anyone to buy the above

http://www.toontastic.net/board/topic/32799-banning-vs-rules/

Yeah but that's not what I take issue with. Rather it's Graves fanning the flames of a story which wasn't in the papers (even if it was in the background) during a calamitous World Cup campaign. What's the rationale behind that? I take your point though, the fact it became a fairly big story shows the problems at present. With KP I've come round to thinking it's a classic case of his rep being enhanced by being out of an under performing team. Obviously his record is great overall but it's a while since he's done much. The story will rumble on unless the results improve though. Not a bad time to play the Windies like so that series will probably paper over some of the cracks.

Which makes the comments all the dafter. I bet Moores and the current players were delighted.

They finished top 8 in each of his last four seasons there. Not that I like him at all but he had achieved a way of playing which consistently got good results at Bolton. Spent a canny bit of money too though, especially on wages. I think he's a fraud in the sense he tries to convince people he could adapt the way he plays. He was pretty one-dimensional at Bolton. The first half of this season at West Ham they've played some good football but he'd have been playing with Carroll as a target man all season if he'd been fit so you have to wonder how much of that is down to him and how much it's a one-off.

Graves' comments aren't serious or behind closed doors though, are they? As well as the aforementioned timing, i.e. during a World Cup. They're media-friendly froth which the ECB has since moved to distance themselves from. So it's another gaffe rather than saving face. The story had died down and it's now been reignited. That would be acceptable if the circumstances had changed, but further comments from the ECB say that's not the case.