Dr Gloom

get him signed. it'd be like a new signing

to be honest mate, if the mcg is another featherbed like the first two tests i fancy us to retain the urn as our bowling attack is better than yours. if it's a lively pitch (unlikely but they're bound to try to prepare one with a lot of grass on it after perth) then you guys are in with a shout as the occasion could still get to the frail minds of our side. at the end of the day they're english and they're playing under pressure to do something that hasn't been achieved for a generation. with that in mind, it's very likely it could still go tits up for us. looking it on paper though, i still fancy our chances, especially if we go for bresnan over colly and promote bell to number 5. prior is a more than capable number 6 and bresnan can sling his willow at number 7 while sharing the workload with the other seamers and taking the pressure off swann to tie up an end. Well, a lot will obviously depend on what happens on day one. Expecting a crowd of 100,000 and with momentum towards the Aussies, the English will have done well to overcome that. The pitch will be nothing like Perth's but it'll be green as there has been a lot of rain and moisture on the eastern seaboard of this continent the last few weeks, plus of course the groundsmen will make sure it is moist come boxing day. Not too sure I agree with you about England having a superior bowling attack. Ryan Harris will prosper on that wicket, as will Siddle and if Johnson can come near to replicating his accuracy he showed in Perth, and that's even before you take into consideration Finn will be rested and Anderson has a few aches and pains, well, I don't see any kind of superiority, if anything England are inferior. We'll have to wait and see there. As you mention also, England traditionally have a propensity to choke under pressure. Fascinating stuff, it being all up in the air, I'll be sat on my sofa with prawns and blue-swimmer crabs to devour and Coopers and a few glasses of cab-sav's to wash it all down with. i disagree about the bowling. i think johnson got lucky with some assistance from the fremantle doctor. i've never seen him swing it like that before although i know he did somethign similar when he tore through south africa a few years back. if he gets it right, he's dangerous no doubt - clearly you don't get to world number 1 without being dangerous. but he reminds me a bit of steve harmison - when he does get it right, it's less to do with his action and more to do with a bit of help from the conditions or everything just clicking into place on a given day. i'd be suprised if he repeats that perth performance - he threw down a load of rubbish in brisbane and the whole of last summer in the UK (though obviously i hope he doesn't prove me wrong ) siddle, i don't think is much to write home about. hilfenhaus for me is the better bowler but he's not really a wicket taker is he? and your lack of a front line spinner will come into play now the series has moved on from perth. the one thing that could swing it your way is your batters are better suited to the conditions. our batters could well wilt under the pressure and our bowlers start to feel the pace of the series. all to play for like you say, i'm well looking forward to boxing day - man city at home during the day then the ashes cricket all night. happy days

i can see barton going out to do de jong for revenge over ben arfa. i wouldn't mind if he did either

M lights are the worst thing on coke. I could easily go through 2 packs a night in the bad old days. ouch, that'll be one sore throat the next day. i know what you mean though. the reason i've been able to almsot quit is those days for me are few and far between now. i don't know about anyone else but in my group of mates all the birds have all 'grown out' of the big nights and the lads are all still a bunch of closet savages just waiting for a chance to get together with out the birds for a night of carnage. used to be every weekend but you're talking about once every 6 weeks these days. that's the problem when everyone starts moving in with their lasses and having kids. there used to be one remaining house share up until last year that a gorup of mates lived in where we always used to go for nights of pro evo and gack but these days there's nowhere as literally every one of my mates have moved in with their missus. sign of the times i suppose, approaching mid 30s. not getting any younger and all that. bit of a rant there, apologies for derailing the thread

my brother mastered that art but i've never been able to just keep it to just the wild woodbines. as soon as i touch a joint i'm back on the tabs 24/7 or caining about 5 joints a day after work (and feeling like shit all day at work because of the nicotine cravings). the only way for me is cold turkey.

i'd take a high scoring draw against city like. that's be good day out. a win would be different class

what are the roads like? i'm setting off in a couple of hours. has there been any snow over night or forecast to come today? i don't trust the bbc weather website a tad

i had about 12 tabs the night of my work do but swear they made my hangover ten times worse. i was dry wretchign all morning while at work - not a good look - and all i could taste in my mouth was borbon and malboroughs - nice. thankfully, i haven't been able to stmocah the thought of one since

i hope it's on as i'm going. haven't been to a boxing day match for what feels like years. makes it a belter week if you get the right result. i share your optimism stevie. i don't reckon the man city galacticos are going to fancy a boxing day match in freezing cold conditions.

le shark, fucking hell i remember that brings back memories of those naff naff copies all the carvers in my school used to wear.

You bastards killed Jesus anyway exactly, a day of celebration

speaking of spurs rejects, thsi bite from the telegraph probably explains why we never really were in for keane in the summer: West Ham would also have had to pay Keane’s £65,000-a-week wages — his salary at Spurs – for an initial six-month loan deal, then commit to a £6 million fee to take up the option of signing the Republic of Ireland international on a three-year contract. In addition, it is understood that Tottenham had considered asking for an increase on that fee, thought to be another £1 million, should West Ham stay up. It means, in effect, they would have had to have paid £8 million for Keane in fees and bonuses plus a contract that would have amounted to £11.8 million over 3½ years. That would have been an overall financial commitment of £19.8 million for a striker who is 30. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/...relegation.html

http://shop.uniqlo.com/uk/goods/066084 looks like something a shoreditch twat would wear. speaking of which, this hipster piss take is quite funny for those that haven't seen it. are there many of these skinny jean and low cut vest wearing numpties in newcastle these days?

aye. it's cheap as cheaps but quite stylish stuff. much better than the likes of h&m or gap.

i'm still at work ya bastards. was supposed to drive up yesterday but had to do a day extra in the office. fucking ridiculous really as i'm sat in a fucking ghost town of a newsroom. got to drive to me mother's tonight in stanhope than on to ponteland to see the wife's parents then back down via derbyshire where me old fella lives this year - all in the space of 5 days with a pregnant wife and the threat of more snow on the roads. i love this time of year but all the schleping about in the car is a nightmare. i'm quite looking forward to when the bairn's here and we've got an excuse for everyone to come down here so we're not the ones missioning it about every year. i'm well looking forward to man city on boxing day. it feesl like forever since i had a day out at the match on boxing day. loving it.

i'd like to see us bid for a couple of spurs rejects. hopefully we can cling on to carroll

got to love a bond film at this time of year too

National lampoons Christmas vacation.

I think it's a fucking outrage that the poorest boroughs in London, like newham, are getting bigger cuts to council funding than the more desirable areas like Richmond. It's pretty obvious which area needs the money more. It looks to me like a vindictive attack by the government against a borough that voted labour

to be honest mate, if the mcg is another featherbed like the first two tests i fancy us to retain the urn as our bowling attack is better than yours. if it's a lively pitch (unlikely but they're bound to try to prepare one with a lot of grass on it after perth) then you guys are in with a shout as the occasion could still get to the frail minds of our side. at the end of the day they're english and they're playing under pressure to do something that hasn't been achieved for a generation. with that in mind, it's very likely it could still go tits up for us. looking it on paper though, i still fancy our chances, especially if we go for bresnan over colly and promote bell to number 5. prior is a more than capable number 6 and bresnan can sling his willow at number 7 while sharing the workload with the other seamers and taking the pressure off swann to tie up an end.

it's his massive wages they want off the bill. in the summer i'd have said it would have been a good move but his performances this season show he can still do it at the highest level. if we sell him, it should be for more than £1.5m and we would have to be bringing in a better player to replace him with.

Nani has had a good season tbf. He's got me loads of points in fantasy football

he's still playing though. seems silly if you ask me.

I've got a lot of time for becks but there's no way he deserves that lifetime award at 35