charlie saint

Frank Swatton RIP

Exactly - the article in the Mail isn't an original piece, it's someone who's read another article in the Times, and decided to make something else out of it. When the Times article was kicked around on here, most posters seemed to think it was a good, positive piece about someone with the right ambitions for the club. Now a journalist has read it, and noticed that he doesn't mention Pardew at all (or, to be precise, Pardew wasn't mentioned by Cortese in the article)... it's what they do - and it's why it's so risible when journalists condemn politicians for trying to use 'spin'.

If you're really bothered, go to pop b i t c h . com messageboard, and scroll down to some posts from yesterday.

I'm with you (not sure what that last bit meant though)... I'm sure that when I was young in the 70s Armistice Day wasn't really bothered with by most people (obviously there would be a school assembly about it). Remembrance Sunday was the big deal though - there was a parade through the village to the church every year. Is it because on Sunday no-one can SEE how much you care? Perhaps they do both now because Sunday is just another day...

Hoping there aren't and knowing there aren't are two different things. I'd say (at a guess) that you'd find BNP supporters in the military at similar proportions to the whole of society. I'm sure Mike Jackson has also figured this out. Luckily we live in a place where they don't actually ask people to declare their political sympathies when they apply for jobs as soldiers. Does anyone remember *that* BNP leaflet, by the way? The Spitfire they showed was from a Polish squadron. Naughty graphic designer!

It's like wrestling a pig. No-one wins, everyone gets covered in sh*t and the pig enjoys it.

I presume when you say "the same rights and access" you mean that there should be some kind of ad-hoc weighting applied? I agree that a ban would be inappropriate - free speech isn't just for people with whom we agree. On the other hand, this isn't going to happen in a vacuum, like some physics experiment - Ken Livingstone (I know, I know) reckons that you will see a rise in actual racist attacks by idiots who see Griffin's appearance on telly as some kind of vindication/encouragement. It's complicated... but as it's going to happen, I hope they give him enough rope, personally.

You seem right about the distribution - but that only suggests that the sample was relatively valid. To assume from that that the majority are better informed/more likely to be correct than the optimists/pessimists is going too far. But I'm not a statistician. Last year's league table shows that any of the top three, minus 10 points would still have made the play-offs. Franchise Town (3rd place) lost 11 times in the season. I think we'll just miss the play-offs.

It must have been observed before, but if we hadn't started on -10, we would have their league position (roughly) - and that's after a mediocre start. I know that is limited comfort for the time being, but it's plain that a run will see us out of the relegation zone quite quickly, and as the 10 points become a diminishing proportion of the available points, a truer picture of our standing will emerge. Play-offs?

The oddest thing - I had a longish wait near the station before the match, for my mate (a Charlton fan). The trains came and went, with a mixture of fans from both clubs getting off... all very amiable as you would hope. Then a kent-bound train pulled in and the Police virtually leapt into action. They surrounded the first carriage, and stopped the people from further back getting off the platform. They then escorted about EIGHT (that's '8') middle-aged Charlton fans up the road. That's at least 15 police men, two of them on horses, some driving mini-buses. These hooligans were waving at the watching crowd like they were minor royals on a walkabout. Does this happen at every game? Is there a similar procession in Southampton every other weekend? Surely it would be cheaper just to let them have their fight...

Hmmm... for all his undoubted enthusiasm and hard work, he's NEVER been blessed especially with the ability to construct a cogent sentence... Why start picking on him now?

I'm glad you managed to get your machine back after the Morlochs stole it. Now, while you were away... AP would have been a good appointment even if we'd been on 0 points in the Second Division.

Way back in the late 80s I worked as a draughtsman for a pre-cast concrete firm. One of our jobs (very lucrative, because it involved no design work) was filling metal boxes brought in by Liebherr, to use as counter-weights for tower cranes.

That reminds me of the kind of stuff Gordon Strachan used to come out with - you remember? About us not really having any Great Players, so it was absolutely vital for us to have our Good Players playing at their best, and for our Average Players to have absolute blinders - and at the same time to hope that their Great Players have a bit of an off day (not a verbatim quote, but the gist is there...). It sounds obvious, but that's the name of the game really - to give your players every chance not to f*ck it up on the day. On the other hand... SCW won his most conspicuous success with an International Team, where hopefully, every man was a already Great Player, or at least a Good one. I agree that attempting to add your 11% to one of them would probably prove futile. In a club situation, there is bound to be more potential, and identifying individuals with the capacity for development ought to be your first priority (actually adding that 'value', your second). After that, find your 1% per player by all means.

You're right - sorry. By the way - I think there's a well tested defence to libel, which is if the statement was a joke - so that's alright. As for WGS... I would worry. You know the axiom that all political careers end in failure? Well, if that's true, then the same applies to Football Managers. The last time he left us he was a legend. If he came back, I'd be worried that the next time he left it would be because he'd been a disaster (even if in the meantime we'd been back to 4th in the Prem...). There's another proverb about the impossibility of 'going back'. It's never the same. Oh, go on then. He'd be great.

"Not the most reliable paper" ? If they've not tapped ML's phone already, I'll eat my hat. Allegedly.

"Liebherr has stated that he intends to buy a season ticket at St Mary's - rather than take a free place in the director's box - and the Swiss expects senior staff at the club to make a similar committment and buy their own seats to watch the Coca-Cola League One club's home games" Read this carefully, and tell me it says he's not going to sit in the directors' box. You know, so that no-one can come back after the first home game and call him a hypocrite. Too much "man o' the people, like" would be much too Mike Ashley, anyway.

Well, Paul Scally bought Gillingham FC for ONE of your English Pounds. So...

Absolutely. And be happy to support a club which might eventually challenge for the Championship play-off places once in a while.

I have these. They belonged to my uncle.

I've always preferred the badge we had before the one we have now, with the three roses... although it was only ever worn as a blazer badge. I'd like to see that on a kit. And I'd also like the late 70s 'candy stripe' kit back.

Re-read the article: the quote mark is after the word 'men' - the Fred Goodwin bit is the journalist's own.

Still - we'd walk the Blue Square Premier league...

Your mention of Bournemouth there made me think of someone worse than Lowe, who could (for all I know - and I don't) be in the frame... *dripping horror letters* Redknapp!!!

Makes U think though, innit!