PaddockLad

I think if he was coming we'd have heard by now. Champions league football and more money are likely on offer somewhere else.

That is generally how things happen iyam. Roy Jenkins was home secretary in the 60s, he abolished hanging and leagalised homosexulality and abortion.He did it becaue he thought the country would be a better place to live if he did. Thatcher crushed the unions for the same reasons. They were elected, but its their level in society who impose their decisons on us, elected or not. Very little comes from ordinary people that changes other's lives funadamentally.

Funding for elite atheletes will be maintained at its present level, but grass roots money is likely to be cut. Anyone wanting to play handball or volleyball is fucked as because its unlikely that team GB will qualify for Rio theyre not going to be given as much funding as they received for London. The Dutch Volleyball coach of team GB at the Olympics has already left his post, as per his contract. The "legacy" crowd talk fine words, but follow it up with fuck all.

He didnt need to do adverts before major championships he appeared in, that may have kept him out of the public eye....developing a stable of horses and inviting skysports to a tour around it to publicise it may have been a bad move for the shy, retiring Michael too. Plenty of brilliant footballers are virtually anonamous...Paul Scholes springs to mind, and a lot of the foreign players seem well balanced people too, but honestly, if self delusion was an Olympic sport Owen would be in the Michael Phelps category.

Ask Owen if he's proud of how he played Jan-May 2009 and he may get a moment of enlightenment. What a fuckin cunt.

Pompey days from liquidation....Chainrai withdraws his offer...the administrators gave all the parachute money to Kanu,Liam Lawrence and Greg Halford http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/portsmouth/9476549/Portsmouth-on-the-brink-of-liquidation-after-Balu-Chainrai-withdraws-bid-to-buy-club.html

Having a bit of charisma,a loud voice and a hugo boss outfit counts as genius?.....he was the biggest confidence trickster in history iyam. I've no doubt he beleived the shite espoused but to get an entire nation to go along with it for 10 years or so was nowt more than a trick. Clever-ish, but genius?....naah.

Is "evil" better known as narcissitic personality disorder?

Fuck me your missus hit the jackpot when she landed you CT

tell her to take a freekin holiday!

Whats wrong mate?

See what I mean? my neighbour is from Berlin and he's a smashing lad, but I havent had the opputunity to dig him about Teutonic Olympic failure...he may take offence and invade my back yard...

You'll be better placed to judge, but for me the French think we're arrogant and we think the French are arrogant, which tells you just about everything you need to know

Its tricky....since the credit crunch theres been a common school of thought of "jings! look at Ireland/Iceland...dont fancy independance now" but Salmon has adjusted his policies to suit, and with huge finds of oil off the west coast of Orkney and Shetland the more militant "indy's" are trying to make a stronger case. Salmonds "devolution +" seems muddles to me, does he just want an independant exchequer? dont see the point in that. For me, having a foot in both camps, am fairly strongly supportive of the union. Its been good for nearly every part of the UK since the end of the last war iyam.

Most countries of note iyam have their national identities defined for them by their deeds on Medieval and also quite modern battle fields. What do we think of the French? surrender monkeys, who will shag your wife. The Italians? reverse gear is the most used in their tanks and they will pinch your wifes arse before shagging her. Germans? robotic automotons to be feared, would prefer to persecute your wife for being non aryan etc etc...the thing is now we dont send thousands into battle any more we're stuck, theres nothing in the age of globalisation,immigration and asylum that defines any modern nation from the other that much. So this national debate about what defines us is pointless and irrelevant to me, which leads me to completly agree with you

He slagged off the capatain and the coach to memebers of the opposistion, a country in which he happens to come from. He basically wanted to knock 50 over games on the head so he could go to the IPL and earn a fortune. He was told he had to retire from all forms of the shortened game, not just one-dayers but 20-20 as well. He didnt like that and has behaved like a prize winning arsehole since. He's a narcissitic ego maniac who is about as good for dressing room morale as rampant crotch-rot. Bell and Cook are better bats iyam and Bairstow who has replaced him for this test looks very talented as well. Doubt if he'll get back in, quite right too, he gets himself out far too often to be considered truly world class.

I dont think that view was ever completely valid, its just the media looking in its self obsessed mirror at itself and projecting what it sees on to the stupid and gullible. Just because there is a large-ish minority taken in by that rubbish it by no means the whole nation is. Theres millions of good people who dont draw attention to themselves in this country, and theyre not going to be featured to any great extent by the media because, by way of just quietly getting on with their lives, theyre not news-worthy. Not sure if theres ever been complete unity in this country, the days of empire and 2 world wars were probably the closest we came. The (relative) economic hardships of the latter part of that period have polarized opinions and we now have Salmon who wants to be the last king of Scotland. Its not going to happen because of the economics, and it will have very little to do with wether the London Olympics made the Celts in the UK in general feel "British".

I think the regeneration of Stratford was a big thing in the "legacy" statement, and although we've had a great games and we've shown that our capital isnt just a riot strewn shithole as it appeared to the world this time last year, it has to be said that the price for the most important part of this project (imo) is nine billion fuckin quid. Amazing what you can get government and private business to spend if theres something in it for them i.e. exposure on the world stage in a paricularly good light. If theyd just decided,off their own bat as it were, to regenerate Stratford, how much would it have cost without the Olympics?

True, and LTB. I'd like to enquire as to the policy employed in the selection of the list by The Fish....is it generally made up of members of what is euphamistically referred to on these boards as "the Trent posse"? I think this should be a matter of public record, as these individuals are suspected to be rogue elements and fifth colunmists

Thing is we cant sing Ashley's praises for the previous 18 months dealings then complain if/when this window doesnt produce what we need. The system is the system.....theres 3 weeks left anway, lets see what happens.

They used to call it "spiced ham" you know kill him

ok, fair one....what I should have said was a 27 year old full back

Good and bad news....no movement on any players yet but theyre introducing a new range of gourmet burgers

We often averaged over 50k a season in the first football "boom time" just after the war and into the early 50s...Liverpool couldnt manage it then. Theyve won 18 league titles, they couldnt do it in any of those seasons either. And when the Sky-funded "second coming" of football occured in the 90s, they didnt have a ground big enough to do it because historically it wasnt required in the first place. If they ever move or re-develop Anfield they may get 50k, that has been the modern model, "build it and they will come". However the real boom years are over in the Premier League, and Liverpool are looking to be such an "also ran" precisely because they failed to move or redevelop in the 90s as we did and the mackems did (and in so doing increasing our attendances hugely) that they may never need 50k capacity because there may not be the demand on Merseyside or indeed worldwide to watch them as they appear now, just another mid table side.

Spurs have got loads of problems too....dos Santos, having missed pre-season by playing at the Olympics, is off with Brazil this week too Looks like Livermore and Jenas in the centre of the park for them, and only Defoe up front....Defoe who scored a cracker at SJP last season like, but still...cant see their bench being anything to be scared of...