NJS

Stevie I was referring to some of your comments on arabs, indians and chinese - obviously jokey comments about curries and camels are okay by me but some did go a tad too far. I don't think they were categorically racist - just things probably intended as jokes which slightly failed.

^ Ban this Fatist now

I have noticed more thread pages falling foul of our porn filter at work - it doesn't bar the c word per se but some of the contexts have meant they can be blocked. Seperate to that I enjoy Stevies rants but I think he has stepped over the line a couple of times lately - no offence meant Stevie.

I'm sure they said 3-6 months in May.

I'm not sure whether it was the man himself or an associate but whoever thought of the concept of putting the Our Father to Auld Lang Syne and calling it the millenium prayer and releasing it when it was is one of my absolute heroes in life - that level of cynicism is breathtaking and something I aspire to.

Would there have been anything stopping him appointing his own scouts in January? Also on Milner/Scweinsteiger the point is that it looks like he was persuaded on the sale by other possible deals being pretty certain. I've also said before that this structure didn't make use of a major weapon - Keegan's powers of persuasion- I reckon if it was "his" deal, Schweinsteiger would have come.

I fundamentally disagree. Keegan's record last time around shows that. So Keegan would have bought better than what we've got with a net spend of £0? I think so - but the size of the budget is another bug bear.

I fundamentally disagree. Keegan's record last time around shows that.

Leaving Keegan completely out of the equation, the overriding fact is that the recruitment structore/policy/team have failed to strengthen the squad to a satisfactory degree. Those involved and those who defined and peopled the structure have to take responsibility for that. Everyone recognises that the system worked to a point given the promising signings but there were not enough of those and not enough in areas that the manager had requested. If they weren't going by the manager's advice then how can they make judgements about the squad when they are removed from them on a daily basis (Bobby's point). That is what Ashley has done wrong.

That article is from just before the infamous "clear the air talks" where he was assured he had final say. So he said he had concerns which were then laid to rest only for them to surface massively later. And you wonder why he was insistent on not talking further without it being backed up by personnel changes? How do you know he was assured then he had the final say? And if he did have the final say then why did he say in an interview (on Sky after the Man Utd game) that Wise and Jimenez came to him and said they had signed Jonas, only for him to go and look him up on the internet? Because the Ashley interview was after the meeting and he also said he was happy with the outcome. Maybe he thought Jonas was acceptable at the time but the two deadline day deals when they should have been concentrating on his squad concerns were a step too far. I do share some of the "he shouldn't have quite when he did" feelings but to make the whole thing a 50/50 deal is absolutely ludicrous.

That article is from just before the infamous "clear the air talks" where he was assured he had final say. So he said he had concerns which were then laid to rest only for them to surface massively later. And you wonder why he was insistent on not talking further without it being backed up by personnel changes?

Exactly - every pound of profit is a pound less to spend. What a cunt for getting as much as he can for a club who's fans have protested to get him out. The "nonsense" reports that he was trying to sell the club when everything was rosy also had inflated figures - admittedly not this high but that just makes him look even worse. Similar to the "nonsense" reports that Keegan had no say in transfers which he came out and denied so that everyone went out and signed up to 3 year deals, only that turned out to be true too. Both as bad as each other. So Keegan restating what he'd been told and what had been said by Ashley in the press makes Keegan a liar?

Exactly - every pound of profit is a pound less to spend. What a cunt for getting as much as he can for a club who's fans have protested to get him out. The "nonsense" reports that he was trying to sell the club when everything was rosy also had inflated figures - admittedly not this high but that just makes him look even worse.

The "luck" is fair enough when mentioning lack of extinction events but the beauty of natural selection is that it pretty much smothers luck over time. You still need a receptive planet, hence the 'luck'. Statiscally though a receptive planet is almost ineveitble - along with other types of planet giving rise to other life forms. I find Fermi's paradox fascinating (if life elsewhere exists why isn't it here) but I feel confident we're not alone.

Exactly - every pound of profit is a pound less to spend.

The "luck" is fair enough when mentioning lack of extinction events but the beauty of natural selection is that it pretty much smothers luck over time.

In RE/Philosophy yes - in science no. Don't know about anyone else but all the RE teachers in my schools seemed to be rather straight-laced confirmed Christians. You should have tried a catholic school in the second half of the 70s - we're right, everyone else burns in hell, that's all you need to know.

I'm a lot more worried by the alleged asking price than any jollies.

I might be being naive but I find the Chinese/ground development option the most intriuging although obviously it would also have to involve the hoped for team investment.

In RE/Philosophy yes - in science no.

I'm more impressed and awewtruck about how things really are than if some bloke had snapped his fingers....

To clarify what I meant about our developing reason. I think it's special because it takes so long to come about. Some reptiles might have managed it if the dinosaurs didn't become extinct. But they didn't because of whatever catastrophe did for them. Say a meteor had hit the right (or rather the wrong) part of Africa 200,000 years ago and you might be looking at another few hundred million years before reasoned thought was achieved (if ever) on Earth. I hope that explained what I meant a bit more. Fair enough - I just see it as a more advanced version of what other animals have though I guess you're saying that its amazing that those animals have a lesser version as well. I suppose our lucky escape was Toba 74k years ago which nearly did for us. I read a very imaginitive novella a few months ago by Stephen Baxter which supposes that we have just about reached our evolutionary limits due to our intelligence - it considted of a number of short stories set in the future which showed humans coping with massive planetary change pretty much as we are while other species evolved to meet the changes without matching us. It really made me wish I could travel in time to see how we end up. (Though probably wiped out by the LHC or a virus if I'm being pessimistic)

The thing is our species is only about 150k years old which is nothing in evolutionary terms - although the last 5-6m years have seen leaps. I don't see it as that "special" when I see the burgeoning traits in other animals.

Yes: 1. Probably a tenner or less sounds about right. 2. Representing/speaking for fans as opposed to constant Sky Mongness 3. Would like to see it completely independent of club (though a hopefully "friendly" relationship) 4. Being an exile, I think t'internet now makes this possible for the first time.

He's right in the end. Well to within 95% certainty. I think it's pretty arrogant to assume we'll ever have all the answers. I also think there's the possibility of a higher, perhaps inexplicable, force or being or whatever you want to call it. Who knows? I don't think organised religions really have any of the answers though (to this at least). I find their versions of events completely ridiculous when you look at them in any detail. I find the subject fascinating though. I have an open mind on what you mention as well - my stance has always been that its the man-made bollocks used to enslave and control people that I object to. However I do think its only trough science that we will discover the truth - however strange that truth is.