NJS

A lad I used to work with tried to sell me on it once - he described it as nowt more than blokes getting together for a drink and a meal - I replied I did that anyway - its called having mates.

3/4 of them are fine live. In a way things like this are more about the coming together in celebration rather than the details. I'll be seeing them at V - unless of course they fall out by then.

I hope the Italians don't try and be too Italian in the final and instead continue to play the same way - they remind me of the 2006 WC - just getting better game by game.

Every time I hear the phrase "pass completion rate" it makes me hate Allardyce that little bit extra.

Fucking hell - I did a bit of SF leching at dinnertime sitting on a bench outside work and it was scorchio.

I think the punishment for administration should be the same as liquidation - in either case its a way of avoiding paying debts. Too many have taken the ten points and virtually shrugged it off.

Two points on Asians I was at university in Bradford 30 years ago and young kids certainly played football in the back lanes just as we did - don't know whether its supressed as they get older by the families but I'm surprised there's been no progress on that front. Also a mate of mines a Blackburn fan who reckons they've bent over backwards trying to involve th community there with very little success. It's a shame as footballs a good bridge compared with others like alcohol with its obvious drawback.

2012, Germany vs Greece and that fucking Brummie cunt finds a way to mention Ronnie Radford. Wanker.

Funny how the person I remember using the "NUFC will cease to exist" most was Hall. At the time I recognised it as scare tactics given Boro had "folded" in 86 - I had no idea it was going to become an actual tactic used deliberately. I wonder if Hall regrets not trying it after the failed share issue now.

If Rangers were just a "normal" administration case I would like to see them have to start again - the same fate I think should apply to Pompey and the rest. I think its the blatant criminality on top of that which should add resolve to those involved to go as far as possible.

Well I was mainly responding to criticism of Shearer re Ben Arfa but I think up to a point you can give an opinion based on an initial view of someone which is reasonable. I don't think anyone has demonstrated the wide ranging knowledge you imply is needed but that doesn't mean all punditry is shit.

No but it depends how broad the subject is. If I was invited for example to be a reviewer of cult/sci-fi tv shows I could hold my own without having watched vast swathes of other genres. I think you can comment on English football games (especially having played at that level in most pundits case) without knowing who the top players in other leagues are.

The past is the past - I concluded after 2 or 3 games that Obertan is shit - I don't care what he did anywhere else.

Don't agree. I rarely watch Rom-coms, westerns or war films but that doesn't make my opinion on say Prometheus any less valid.

I don't see how knowledge of foreign players makes anyone a better pundit. You just give a view on the game as is - adding "that's how he played for x" is meaningless to me. That doesn't mean I think Shearer is good or anything but I find the FIFA 2012 type "knowledge" a bit Boring.

Just read about it during the day and thought it couldn't be that bad but having seen how the board was right in front of the judge it was fucking stupid. However my normal comment about how stupid it is involving the coppers still stands.

I presumed it was a reference to Poland being a slave state and a pretty literal claim to the territory - slightly provocative to say the least.

They've moved on from being blatatntly corrupt to being political favours and gifts - either way its another facet of complete lack of self-respect - bowing down to your "better" to accept a shiny token to keep you in your place - its fucking pathetic. The thought of recognising a lollipop lady who's done the job for forty years is half decent but "services to business" or other such bollocks is sickening. I would also have thought that raising money or working for charities is its own reward without a pat on the head from an institution worth billions.

Interesting as to where he thinks he'll go next.

Sounds like 95% of football bother I've ever seen.

Never did get the logic of being too ashamed to see a GP but being ok with getting bits out on tv - I suppose the fame at any price culture knows no bounds.

Needs a history lesson for starters but it's an interesting take on identity. I think it's both a weakness and a strength of Muslims that they see themselves as all "related" - it does get in the way of integration locally but I think as a concept as a whole it isn't bad - international socialism where working class people across borders should join together is an example of a similar ideal. It's also interesting on whether you want to identify with people. One of the main reasons I don't support England is the bellend factor among the fans that I just don't want to be associated with. I don't mind the St George thing and even the spitfires as they are generally just daft fun but when it comes to the No Surrender brigade they can all fuck off as far as I'm concerned.

If he starts talking about stockings and oranges run a mile.

In the past I'd guess it was more open as there were common pay scales/grades in alot of workplaces. It's only since deunionised individual Contracts that secrecy is now the norm. From the job hunting I did last year I can guess what my peers in other places and also my colleagues are on within reason so its not something that bothers me - though I do respect the convention not to talk about it. I suppose I can admit that my result is higher than those stated so far.

Never forgiven him for the chances he missed against the scousers in the 2005 final.