Craig

Which, judging by what he's done at Bolton, is what I would anticipate Allardyce trying to do. As for us being in a state and Allardyce only being attractive because we're on the decline - he's taken Bolton from nowhere to being a fixture in the top half of the Premiership on very little money. I think he's proven that he's plenty good enough for what we're looking for, and a good deal better than the muppet he would be replacing. I'm assuming the reference they were making was more to do with the setup above the level of team manager. And that is something I do think needs rectifying. As was pointed out the other day, in the summer of 2004, we were considered on a level with Liverpool. Since then, their board's actions have moved the club forward, ours quite the opposite. In terms of what you say from the footballing POV, I do agree with you on that one but then we're assuming he'll have the same freedom as Gartside offered him at Bolton.

For the record, I think they may have a valid point. We're excited at the prospect of Allardyce because he's better than what we have at present. That to me is more a testament of how much we've gone into decline rather than how better Big Sam has become. When he was being touted before Souness got the job, most people didn't think he was good enough. The point they make that I do strongly agree with is:

Eh? They only finished above us in 04/05. Good point (although they'll finish above us this year so they may be counting that). Hit the email button!

Didn't someone say (Smog perhaps) that it was going to be predominately white?

Lawrie McMenemy losing the plot? Surely not??

The weeks have to have a purpose......it's called the weekend

Is that with wolves howling in the background as well??

no thanks The weather is nice this time of year. It was positively tropical in town this afternoon. Ferking lush! Are we talking about the same degree as the piss up last summer? If so The Fish is going to be be rather pink tonight

You trying to say there were tonnes of people there with their flashes primed ready for the money shot?

So you're taking home around £1200 a month and still find the time to be a student as well? Fuck, I'm in the wrong job!

Hate to be a killjoy 2J but we could get some shit for that one. I'm quite happy for you to PM people the list though * Leaving it for you to remove

Good call Pure chillout music though...

I don't think it looks that bad tbh. I just wanted wanted to be sure which one I wanted before I went for it. The script on the back of the collar is shite!

I toyed with it but couldn't make my mind up which one I wanted. Bought it at JJB and they're doing squad name and number for a fiver and they told me if I kept the receipt, they can put it on at a later date. Wanted to go with Owen - 10 but knew it'd be like the kiss of death

SSH take note.... We all talk bullshit, Sammy is paid to do it though so is probably that little bit better at it than the rest of us!

While I do think, despite the massive fine, West Ham got of a bit light by not having any points docked, I can't see what's going to be gained from sueing them. And another thing, if Whelan's team weren't in the predicament they're in, would he be making so much noise about it?? It's not West Ham's (or the Premier League's for that matter) fault that Wigan are so close to relegation.

Just working it out, I guess he is on the upward hill to 60 now so no spring chicken any more. All the same, it makes those days in the early 90s seem even more distant.

Or does our former manager look almost unrecognisable?? He looks ill IMO.

Well for the first time since the Grandad-collar shirt, I've succumbed and bought a home shirt. There's only one thing wrong with it IMO, the Northern Rock logo. If it was a nice subtle sponsorship logo (such as a blue star, or brown ale patch) I think it'd look awesome. The black back is not that bad tbh. It's no worse than a patch under the number to make it more readible (which many were complaining we needed especially for the Euro games when we used the Adidas numbers). The only difference is it's there by default rather than choice get some people's backs up. That's marketing FFS - they're exploiting an opportunity which I can't really blame them for trying.

Same with my role really. There's two of us in our team providing support for around 200 people in our building. If one of us is off, the other has to cover and it's hell. I'm good mates with him as well so I wouldn't want to put him through that if it wasn't genuine and he's the same. What happens if you're both off ill on the same day? Porn, everywhere. That happens regardless man. We had one of our directors who, when confronted as to why he had downloaded hardcore porn onto his laptop while using a broadband connection in a hotel, justified his actions because he reckoned we'd not configured the web filtering properly and therefore it was all IT's fault! And yes, he was being serious!

It's their customer services rather than their live service which has always been shocking to be fair. If everything's working OK, there's no problem.

They may have the Virgin name....... but it's still NTHell under the pretty red paint job!

Forrest Gump had a pretty decent soundtrack IIRC... Also love the soundtrack from Vanilla Sky - that's what got me into Sigur Ros

Same with my role really. There's two of us in our team providing support for around 200 people in our building. If one of us is off, the other has to cover and it's hell. I'm good mates with him as well so I wouldn't want to put him through that if it wasn't genuine and he's the same. What happens if you're both off ill on the same day? Then someone from another team will cover. There's 8 of us work in the building but are segregated into teams for different departments in the building..