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Trust me, we know we're not in the Premiership. We've seen the coverage disappear, the gates drop (but 22K+ is still good for League One) and most of the news stories you did see about Southampton were bad ones. You have had plenty of opportunity to laugh at us since 2005, and I'm sure you have. How much misery would you like to see inflicted on a football club? Does it end in pub league football ignominy, or after complete extinction? Can't speak for all, but I don't believe Saints have the god-given right to win anything. I think we need to respect our opposition if we're going to get ourselves out of this division. Bit of a shame that for some people on your boards, respect doesn't seem go both ways.

Good shout. When I went there, they had drum and bass on in one room, house in the other. Outside the club, the bouncers checked my pockets and made me lift the soles of my feet in a pretty thorough drugs search. The odd thing was, the drum and bass part of the club was a haze of big bifta smoke. Some of the Brixton clubs ( Fridge and the 404 ) are excellent, if very strange at 5am in the morning. I've lived in Liverpool for yonks, and there are some good clubs here. However, the London scene is just amazing - it's pretty much 24 hour clubbing at the weekends. Completely different vibe to Southampton's slightly snarly clubs too.

Unusual in my opinion maybe, but I'd like to see more teams from the south coast represented in the higher divisions, Brighton included. When you think that a club like Wigan, who have only recently discovered that balls come in other configurations than egg-shaped, are strutting their stuff in the Premiership, it's clear that the south coast needs more teams in the top flight. There are currently none. So I care not what a few of their fans think. If I had my way, Southampton, Brighton and Bournemouth would go up.

Very good move. Good player for League One, and for 50K, Grand Theft Chaplow.

It's weird, but I was very much for Europe back in the day. Not so sure now. The advantages don't seem worth the cost. Arguably the biggest, the free market, is something that other countries enjoy without paying for the privilege of membership. The rest of it, I think we can thoroughly do without. Returning to the subject of the coalition, our problem is that we're not presently set up for coalition government. We're used to a party with a large majority and confrontational politics between all parties. The same people who were ripping shreds out of each other a year ago are now having to work together. Conservative backbenchers, who might otherwise be enjoying a junior ministerial number, are having to sit on the sidelines to make way for former adversaries. It's a shame, because with the proper setup, coalition government can work. Germany remain the strongest economic power in Europe, and are governed by coalition. The problem with British politics is that political parties are too concerned with telling you who they are and what they stand for. I'd prefer that instead, they conjure up a decent assessment of the country's problems and a solid plan for resolution. There is no other business in the world where you would keep your job if :- a) you said you could do x, y and z in an interview b) you did the complete opposite afterward The problem is, you can't sack a politician in this country, yet they're supposed to work for us. The right to recall a politician needs to be made law.

I've got all three consoles. The 360 is the one I use the most by a country mile.

And with good reason. I was talking out of my arse, mistakenly thinking that the Telegraph was Murdoch-owned. Got the issue of ownership completely wrong. That said, it's an excellent result for Rupes. I'm wondering how that particular piece of news got out.

It's essentially entrapment. The Telegraph benefits because Rupert is now happy.

Agreed. Democracy, as implemented here and elsewhere, is merely the illusion of choice. The only thing we get to decide is who represents us at Parliament. Once returned, the political parties will just do whatever their leadership demands. New governments rarely know what they're doing, while the institutions that persist across Parliaments, such as corporations, continue to get stronger and wield more power in our 'democratic' process. We live in an age where you can instantly canvas opinion and debate on any subject, yet we're denied from doing so because our "representative Government" is there to do it for us. Look how well that's worked out.

Nope. Universal property re-valuation in line with what people can pay and adjustment of existing mortgages in line with those valuations. Let the banks take the hit.

There are a lot of factors at play. Supply and demand, not helped by the right-to-buy scheme or the mass influx of economic migrants from less affluent parts of the EU. The massive availability of credit prior to the crash comes into play. Used to be that mortgage limits were set at three times the household income. People were self-certifying for hundreds of thousands of pounds with no proof whatsoever. Prices are often dictated by what the market will bear. With the massive amount of credit available during the worst excesses of lending, the market could bear a lot - more than it should have; as it turns out. People need to stop thinking of property as a market. A home is something to live in, not something to speculate on. They are priced way too high for the average salary ( 27K ? ), and while there are causes for this, there are no valid reasons why we should continue to put up with it.

Agree with pretty much all of that. Also, the way they're handling the housing benefit bill is scandalous. I think we can all agree that £400 a week is a staggering amount of money to be paying for rent. Instead of going after the underyling problem, namely, the fact that it costs so much to live here, they've decided to wash the poor out of London. Councils there are already block-booking B+B's in dismal seaside towns.

As a kid, I went mental when I found out about, and was terrified by, germs. The idea of something small and potentially deadly freaked me out. If I touched something, I had to touch it again to "put the germs back on". As a consequence, I probably ended up collecting more germs than I would have done normally. Now, I'm a bit obsessive about numbers that are powers of two (which I like) the number 37 (which I do not).

Dunno. We've already seen the transition from the politics of hope ( "we're cuddly Tories. we care about the environment" ) to the politics of fear ( "the country's f*cked. we're going to cut your monetary bolox off!" ). A lot of people who might have been hoodwinked this year may change their vote. That said, this current Labour lot don't really seem to have a plan either - so you could well be right. As usual, the Southampton constituencies will be key.

So, does anyone rate the chances of this Parliament lasting until 2015, given the recent revelations from Vince Cable? Full story is all over the news, but essentially, he likens coalition government to war. In another brillant move, he also stated his intention to prevent Rupert Murdoch from acquiring the rest of BSkyB. The knives may well be out. Division is hardly new. That's why we have on-message ministers and barracking back-benchers, even in Governments which hold a significant majority. This isn't a majority Government and support for the Lib Dems is eroding rapidly. You've got to wonder how many of their MPs fear losing their seats. How long do you think the Coalition has got? Is there a turning point for them?

I applaud them. Never thought they'd have it in 'em.

Rock Band 1 + 2 on both PS3 and XBox. Basically, the missus wouldn't let me take the Xbox to Ireland - so it went down like that. Rez on PS2 and XBLA. Sensi on Amigas and XBLA. Knights of the Old Republic : XBOX 1 and PC.

It's definitely faster on my spanky new SSD. Yes, I am a smug c*nt.

For me, it's a straight up choice between a team that looks like they work behind a deli counter (stripes) and a team that looks like a load of Embassy fag packets running around (sash). Wait, that doesn't make it any easier, does it?

Phoned the Galpharm Stadium today. For anyone who wants to know about tickets on the day, yes, you can buy them.

World's stupidest bottom burp, MrMojoRisin, Britain.

That article is a great read.

He's backup for Barnard in the White House.

Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 = both ace. Super Smash Bros Brawl = very "Nintendo" fighting game which is entirely unconcerned with quarter circles and the like Mario Party games are very good for kids. Lots of little 80s style mini-games underpinned by a board game structure. If you can get a few GameCube pads and get the older games, you're onto a winner there. Mario Kart is cool as well, although the split-screen is not great. Boom Blox = really cheap game which probably makes the best use of the Wii controller so far.

One of the things I miss the most about Southampton is the Indian that used to be (may still be) on Lodge Road. One of the few Indians nationwide that can make a Chicken Tikka Masala that doesn't look like menstrual fluid.