ChezGiven

When exactly did this meeting take place?

Still not convinced this lad is genuine tbh.

I think its important to remember that collective predictions have tended to be wrong a lot recently. The club was not going to sign anyone last January according to most posters predicting relegation in the run up to Christmas. No one expected 5 players. We werent going to sign a striker in January after the disappointment of the summer of 2011. No one expected Cisse. The last 2 January windows have been good after bad summers. Doesn't mean this January will be good, just means its hard to say what will happen. Given where we are in the league i agree its unlikely for us to proactively meet a player valuation. That doesn't mean we wont see a new face in the team. Hard to say really.

Goggleboxing the goggleboxers, goggle boxing gogglebox. It's a meta-goggle Parky. It's also shit.

I'm with CT on that Homeland lass's face constantly contorted face. Does my head in.

Sherlock explained how he did it to the Andersen. That was the real explanation and the use of Andersen (now an obsessed fanboy of sorts) and his doubtful reaction was the clever way of anticipating the likely reaction of the fans to any genuine explanation if they had given it simply. The writers gave the genuine explanation but then mocked how the fans would have reacted to it. I think....

Audiences create TV revenue. Whatever increases audiences of the Europa League will increase demand for advertising, which will drive up advertising prices which will in turn drive up bids from TV companies. Audience is king.

By the way Tooj, Port is the best drink to pair with chocolate desserts. I was in a 2 star michelin place last year and was recommended it and it was proper lush.

Is everyone else watching Sherlock? Bit disappointed with the NYD episode but it was still good fun, looking forward to the episode tonight.

We had roast 'Pintade' for lunch. It's a Guinea Fowl, reared in the Loire. Like Partridge really. Butter, olive oil, salt and pepper. Glass of water and glass of Friday's Chablis in there too. Basted every 10 mins (dries out easily) and served with roast pots done in duck fat. The gravy was excellent on account of the white wine I reckon. Served with a premier cru red Bourgogne, which I drank all myself Last treat / feast after 2 weeks off work and to keep my spirits up for tomorrow.

Good enough for me. Cheers!

Is CLoud Atlas any good?

Butchers, fishmongers, grocers selling good quality local produce. It's horrible how the supermarket has taken over Britain.

Seems fairly normal that diet, there is never any processed food of any description in out house. Plenty of salt though.

I refuse to buy any meat, fish or veg from the supermarket. Best thing about living outside UK is the fact that supermarkets don't dominate food retail. I gave my butcher a Christmas pudding from M&S for Christmas and he gave me a proper Spanish ham knife for the belotta. You don't get that in Sainsbury's.

We always have quinoa cold in a salad. Cherry toms, cucumber, shallots, whatever and oil/balsamic. Dead simple and the dressing gives you a nice flavour. Good with a simple bit of chicken. The only point in eating it is if you are doing a low carb diet otherwise eat something tasty.

I reckon the odds of a solid shite coming out of gloomy's arse this month are longer than us beating City 4-0.

Shola is 'amazing in training' he knows the basics of finding space and scoring. Doing it on the big stage is another thing entirely. Calling out Shola's record doesn't change the utter facileness of pretending a striker's movement is a function of the coach's instructions. A striker's movement is one of te lost natural elements of his game and the reason why he is playing professional football in the first place. Or are you suggesting Parky needs to nip down to the training ground to explain how one human being ends up in a different physical space to another? It's nonsense.

So the only reason Remy, Gouffran and Shola make the wrong decisions in the box is because what? Pardew is not telling them how to find space? What drivel, all these players know their trade, they don't need to be told how to do what they've done since being kids. Pardew is not 'reminding them'? Hardly. Pardew is not explaining how to deal with being marked? See above. Pardew is not explaining how to deal with new dangled marking systems only deployed by our premiership opponents? What is it exactly you imagine a coach can tell a player about finding space? Time your run better? Go near or far post but decide early and take the risk? Make a dummy run and then pull back into space. Now we've exhausted the rocket science that is 'finding space in a penalty area' is there something in there that requires a special skill of coaching? Of course there isnt. Performance of a striker has little to do with coaching once the ball is being delivered into the box. The tactics deployed by a manager dictate the frequency, quality and number of players on the end of those balls. The performance of e.g. Remy is 99% confidence, focus, relaxed and calm mind, thriving on the pressure and atmosphere. All the things that allow a player to make the right decisions. Making the wrong run or being static has nothing to do with 'knowing what to because the coaching staff told you' and everything to do with mental performance. The single most important role of the coach / manager. I'm surprised you think our attackers are making bad decisions because Pardew has not explained the basics of attacking. A very odd point of view when you think about it.

We had a Poularde de Bresse. It's what Heston uses 'in search of perfection' but is ridiculously expensive for a chicken. http://reluctanthousedad.com/2012/05/29/recipe-shed-in-search-of-poulet-de-bresse-the-red-crowned-king-of-chickens/ Was lush.

And when he picked up his 5th yellow he said afterwards he needed a break.

Man on the moon. Amazing performance from Carrey. I assume it was shown on TV last night because of the recent story which is a hoax. I think.... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/comedy/comedy-news/10448924/Andy-Kaufmans-daughter-appearance-sparks-rumours-the-comedian-is-still-alive.html

The question will still be relevant when they travel down to Watford next season.

The Lord of My Ring. 3 hour biopic of a wizened old shaman coming to terms with a changing world told through the prism of a marathon stint on the bog. Twist in the tale is he is stander. Graphic, deep and thought provoking. 9/10