NJS

I just couldn't see any british PM not backing them to the hilt - though Blair's zeal was especially distasteful. I think calls for them to be charged with war crimes are probably over the top but then again when they both come out with the God told me to do it/I'll be judged by God bullshit I think they'd deserve it and more.

I remember Bush's first response was to go to congress and ask for $260bn to pay for the initial Afghanistan invasion - I thought at the time what if they spend that on just alleviating poverty in the third world? - would it have been a better long term strategy leading to a more secure world (as the US would be hated less).

Didn't the number of BNP votes at the Euro elections actually go down compared with the previous one? I think they won seats because the Labour vote collapsed.

When we played in Belgrade in 98, we were taken to a night club by a bloke we'd met which had a cloakroom type check-in facility for guns - scary in hindsight but it seemed "cool" at the time. The bloke was the bouncer at a pub (actually a bingo club) we'd gone to one night but it turned out he was also a bodyguard for the local gangsters.

Not a thing as such but I remember defining what I wanted out of life about 10 years ago when U2 announced a gig with Oasis as support in San Francisco and I remember thinking I wish I had the means/opportunity to just say "fuck it" and jump on a plane and go. I guess it was the idea of having the freedom to do something "daft" without worrying about consequences which appealed.

I'll be going but I need to find out if any of my mates are going first - if you don't mind being a backup I'd be game. Will know by the end of the week.

I've contemplated setting up a gattling gun type thing on the balcony of Liverpool St station and mowing down hundreds of commuters from time to time.

I think a couple of people on here have made that point and I agree - you could add in the french who despite some success (Robert/Ginola) "suffer" the same problems.

"What exactly has Denis Wise done wrong?"[/N-O Collaborator]

Was it just my imagination or was there a suggestion around the time they named the leazes end after SJH that the East Stand would be named after Shepherd? I think they called it the "Charles Shepherd" stand after his Dad.

When I started going as a kid with my Dad and Brother we'd usually go in the Leazes end - the biggest cheer I've ever heard at SJP was when we played Leeds on Boxing day 73 and there was a full house and the tannoy announced at about ten to three that the Leazes end was full. When I started going with mates in 78 the Leazes had just come down - we used to go in the Gallowgate where I went until about 80 or 81 - then I spent another couple of years in the Leazes as standing next to the away fans was just about the only entertainment going. I watched Keegan's debut from the Leazes but by the end of that season we'd migrated to the old stand paddock. In 83 we bought STs for the East stand (Leazes wing) where we remained until 91 when we moved to the new Milburn. We got kicked up to Level 7 when it was extended. Spiritually I'd still say Leazes.

I don't mind corporate fans either for the reasons you state - but I don't mind seeing some "Sky" fans in other areas of the ground disappearing (my Stevie-esque generalisation being Women (just there because of their bloke), Students and posh cunts).

I think its easy to pick out some things Ashley did do and herald them as "beneficial" but most of them don't endure scrutiny. The article seems to suggest we now have an excellemt crop of youngsters when I can't see any difference between now and previous years - some of Wise's signings have already proved a waste of time and have been jettisoned. I'm also atill sick of people writing that the debt is gone - I don't believe for a nanosecond that it is.

Must have taken Liam Liam O quite a while to register that many aliases.

I think I'd "discovered" Sports direct just a couple of months before the twat bought us when I bought a pair of bargain trainers - never again obviously.

My Dad was just too young to serve in the war - he did his national service in Egypt just after the end. My auntie told me a story at my Mam's funeral that I hadn't heard before about the two of them having to run up the main road in S. Shields to avoid a German plane that was lost which was strafing the ground and only just making the shelter. She told it as if it was two teenage girls having a laugh but I can't imagine how terrifying it would have been.

Then we got Paul Bodin on loan who was always excellent against us but was terrible for us.

Nat West and the AA - both ripped me off over insurance in the past. Norwich Union for ripping my Mam off over an investment bond. I did vow never to buy a car from Reg Vardy but decided that was petty but then made that a permanent rule when I read about the son being a fuckwit creationist.

There was a thing on the first series of Doctor Who with Christopher Eccleston a few years ago which really made me think about enduring the war probably more than anything else I've seen or read. It was when Billie Piper was talking to a girl in the blitz who had obviously lost hope and told her she was from the future and we'd won along the lines of "I don't speak German". Of course the fact that I now work for Germans doesn't ruin that sentiment - it just shows how people can move on.

Guttierez certainly was iffy from a "conspiracy" pov - actually finding the rule which they thought gave him a free then using it smacks of pushing it. Of course the incompetent twats failed anyway.

It won't stand up to appeal but it's amusing in the meantime. It's about time somebody was done for effectively doing what they all do - Man U with Hargreaves comes to mind - you can't tell me they hadn't discussed contracts with at least his agent before he "decided" to leave Bayern - see also Saha.

I always thought the conviction was dodgy to say the least but had actually been lulled into thinking his release was a pretty decent act by the Scots - the angle of it preventing his appeal hadn't occured to me - my cynicism must be waning - shit.

That's just about my take - I think all of their albums (including the classics) have some good songs and a bit too much filler. I aslo think that while Noel can write a good song, his lyrics leave a lot be desired. Was all set to head off to V on the Sunday when I heard they'd cancelled as they wree generally excellent live.

What really annoys me is the insistence that Allardyce wouldn't have got us relegated in 07/08 and that we'd now have been okay. I've hated Woolnough for years.

A fair reply - I guess I can't have it both ways, moaning about wages while implying no money should leave the elite. I do agree with the academy/boys club point - I just don't think its right that non-league clubs should get "free" money.