Alex

Aye, you were in on the ground floor where he was concerned, what with your in depth knowledge of continental football and all that @Christmas Tree

I.e. much better than every player you've championed then.

I quite like golf anyway but it's a bit like tennis where the Majors are far more interesting with that much more riding on them (in terms of prestige, history and so on anyway). The Ryder Cup just takes it up to another level. The matchplay format and the fourballs / foursomes is part of that too. Not to mention the possibility of beating the septics. I quite fancy them though, surely they're due a win.

I love the Ryder Cup like.

Spot on. One of the saddest things in this is the in-fighting which is another victory for Ashley.

I didn't mean to put words in your mouth so I apologise for that. I completely respect your position and it's along the same lines as mine to be honest. I probably shouldn't have included you anyway in my earlier comments, as I took issue more with KCG when he said he had no respect for people who went to the match. The reason being that I think it's a bit out of order to have a pop at the likes of Paddock Lad because it's not as black and white as not going = anti-Ashley and going = tacit approval of Ashley. Great post, btw. @@Kevin Carr's Gloves Not looking for an argument as I can see your point of view too, to be honest

Great performance from Streete.

No, we can't.

Easier to make then. Much easier in fact since you admit not enjoying it was also a big factor. Which somewhat disagrees with your earlier inference that it was all about a protest. It made the decision much easier for me too, as I have admitted before and have never denied. Which is why I'm less inclined to criticise those who still do enjoy it. I think people thinking not going serves some higher purpose are kidding themselves.

Kevin Keegan's G-string You take my point though. Not going is a decision neither of you had to make.

You and KKG wouldn't be going anyway as you live 100s of miles away tbh.

Well, there is that as well I suppose.

Eat cake.

I can understand fans not wanting to do anything within the ground which might affect the team's performance because I think, already, people are genuinely worried about relegation and, by extension, what that might mean for the club second time around. I think the cautious approach is a good one. They've clearly got their heads sewn on and don't seem to be ego-driven like Mark Jensen obviously was / is. I'm not even convinced not going to games is the answer and I say that as someone who stopped going because I felt like I was being shafted and laughed at by Ashley. It's really difficult to know how to play this one without doing more harm than good but I admire the measured and well organised way they seem to be going about things so far.

I think in football, it's all about the clubs. In general this makes pundits more conservative about who they slag off because slagging off a popular player / manager / ex-player results in a backlash from that set of fans. I know this isn't particularly applicable to Alan Pardew but I think it's that sort of attitude in general that makes it different to cricket. I.e. slag off Wayne Rooney's England performances too much and you'll get a load of Man Utd fans giving you and your broadcaster grief. In cricket, because the emphasis is much more on the national team than the counties, then you seem to have an atmosphere whereby criticism of current players is acceptable because you don't get that backlash because of the lack of club-based tribalism. That's not to say I disagree with you as I think it would be much better were that not true. If you look at Sky, for example, then the pundits call it as they see it when commentating on the form of England cricket players, the coaches, selectors and so on. Whereas the football ones seem much more guarded when it comes to discussing players and managers. I couldn't imagine the equivalent of Swann, Botham or whoever in football being as outspoken (and keeping their jobs).

@@NJS Congratulations, mate. Must be a weight off your mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOvjrU_yM5I

I see the greatest PM ever further alienated the blue rinse brigade by forgetting Royal protocol. Oops! UKIP (and by extension everyone who's not a Tory) will be rubbing their hands.

I bet Miliband pulls his bacon sandwich face as he approaches the Billy Mill roundabout.

www.rogersprofanisaurus.co.uk/bead_curtains

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limpet

Clinging onto a minute victory like a limpet on Rockall.