dubai_phil

Dubai re-invents itself every 6 or so years. In the 6 years to our leaving, the costs had risen to levels that unless you were at "elite" level life was a struggle. VAT had been introduced and retailers added "extras" so that hurt. For various reasons, the economy was hit - funding the war in Yemen, Trade Reductions due to the "issue" with Qatar and a general lack of confidence. Cash flows got hit, companies were not paid on time, staff had to miss a month's pay - yes there is legislation to protect salary payments, but simply put the banks would not make loans to cover cash flow and IF you took your employer to court for non-payment you would just liquidate the company. There is no criticism of regimes in that, it was simple commercial reality, but when a pint of beer is $15 and your food/utilities costs have risen by over 10% missing 3 months pay hurts you. Staying was not an option. Every White Western Ex Pat expects a living wage, but a flow of Kids with MBA's are available at 1/10th the cost. I was subject to racist abuse and one gentleman (NOT a Gulf Arab) tried to run me over for not filling my car quickly enough. (A lovely Emirati Lady saw everything and made sure I walked away. We should have left sooner. I am SO happy here. Big part of my work is learning about & taking guests to Auschwitz. Big event there today live stream from 14:30 your time https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHfUnhGMZWAHRIMp1EUOwyA

Thanks for the nice words from a few of you. Yes I, like many over 26's found myself having to escape from a re-inventing itself again Dubai. I stayed way too long. I stopped posting because life got in the way and it was more about fighting to keep our head above water in the sandpit while people let us down or plain screwed us over time after time. Then Brexit. We had a choice, married to an EU citizen we had to choose one or the other to get residency status BEFORE the 1st "expected" Brexit date. Mrs Polski Phil doesn't take **** from anyone (inc John Boy Saint) and we knew that sooner or later (as has already happened to many of her Polish friends in the UK) something would be said, in a bar or a supermarket and she would react. So. We moved to the AMAZING City of Krakow 12 months ago next week, again a huge battle to get out and get a base here. Friends and family have been (apart from one ex friend) amazing. It took a while trying to get a job knowing only 6 swear words in Polish, but I started driving a Mercedes Van last July driving tourists (and VIP's). I have a great lad I work for/with. We are making a difference, growing like crazy, getting ridiculous reviews on Trip Advisor. After 25 years of sand and dust I now get to see the stunning beauty that is the state of Malopolska of which Krakow is the Capital. I stick the best stuff on Instagram same username. Old Nick is partly correct. I take tourist to Auschwitz on average twice a week. I went iniside for the 1st and ONLY time 10 years ago. Today I believe helping to spread the story is the single most important job I have ever done. I am no historian, I am a snapper, I provide my clients with images of what village life is like in Poland and prepare them for what they will see at the Museum. Equally I have great fun travelling to the Mountains, to Ski Resorts & Thermal Baths. To magical Fairy Tale Castles in deep dark forests to war memorials and village life home cooking restaurants. My work pays peanuts. I love it. 3am start, -13C? Blizzards? Black Ice? ANYTHING is better than those last months in Dubai. I've picked up a golf club once all year, watched about 4 tournaments on telly. But in 2018 I wrote a Golf Story Blog (now defunct) that had almost 1000 regular readers as I told the story of my journey to the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris. That story is out there on Sotonians somewhere. Suffice to say, A Saints fan walked down the 14th fairway talking **** with an Arsenal fan on that fateful Sunday afternoon as me & Poulter tried to stop the emotion and the noise from getting to us. The downside? in 2018 was being photo-bombed at the end by John Rahm instead of dancing with Rory, but hey. Time moves on Oh and yeah. The 2022 story will (Health permitting) be told out there somewhere on the internet. I loved this forum and everyone on it.Hell I nearly had a beer with Glasgow Saint. I've even met Barry Sanchez in real life thanks to the Sotonians pre-match beers thing. I didn't leave over a row, or a banning. Life just got too damn real and I had to survive. Which I have. And if anyone is heading to Krakow for a weekend/stag do. Wodka Bar. It's on Google. Chocolate Chilli Vodka. Nothing else matters in life Live long and prosper guys I'd post a picture but then this ain't such an easy to use template so it won't work. Thanks gang. Ad what a ****ing brilliant last few weeks to be a #saintsfc fan!

Lee was the second of my friends taken by Cancer this year. I had got to know Lee from a distance and last met him in May of 2016 when he was working hard to get a business off the ground with a good friend in Eastliegh. He made the decision to forgo Chemo in order to have a better quality of life, and boy did he do that and how he fought so so hard. His posts and updates of his good and bad days on Facebook were a source of inspiration to me and many others. A great friend stood by him and his family through all of that and I am heartbroken I cannot be at his funeral tomorrow. Europe celebrates a Public Holiday for All Saints Day, and it was on that day that Lee was taken from us, and nothing could be more apt. Lee was a true Saint, many will miss him. I am very lucky to have known him. RIP Lee

Did someone mention golf? Like everyone else all of us down here have had a good laugh at Koeman, Lovren & Liverpool this weekend. As others have said, there were enough "rumours" about ass-hat and our lack of "fight" to keep him. I have no doubt that he won't be coming back anytime soon, nor for that matter will Lovren. Mane with Pelle gave Koeman the option of a long ball, Pelle to hold it and Mane to run onto. Nether of those options have been available to either Puel or MP with the players that "Les" has bought in. Maybe after Saturday we finally have a new option other than being Jim Magiltonesque. Like most Dutch people I have worked with (except those at Golf) Koeman was self opinionated and arrogant and clearly not a good listener. Maybe with Holland he will still be able to get their youngsters to respect him. Everton have found him out to be clueless, but will have the same problems with whoever they recruit UNTIL they find a striker. Perhaps we can sell them Shane Long in January and finish the job off?

Bugger. That's his worldy for the season then. Meanwhile. Anyone mentioned Golf lately? I know Old Nick is absolutely dying for updates about being called up for Team Europe for the Ryder Cup. Nah don't worry I'll sod off back to papsweb now & just annoy Granty with it on Twitter

You're surprised? Lot of the lads came over for Arnhem - we had lads from Greece Holland Germany & 9 of us from down here meeting up next to the fan zone. In Milan, Travel Mush flew in for a day trip from Cambodia, met two Thai Fans from Bangkok who'd had to do the whole Shengen Visa thing. Currently 6 of us from Dubai coming home for the weekend pulling every stunt on the planet to blag tickets and time off work AussieSaint20 is more than a list of Pubs - every name on that list has a decent turnout every week of idiots like us We are just 1 ticket short of a full load and he had 4 Aways this season including Everton (and Milan), so fingers crossed #globalsfc - WE spread the word, not sure the club values us so much at times though

http://www.ticketmaster.ae Legitimate local branch of Ticketmaster. Have used them widely for events & concerts. Ticketmaster Middle East have no Employee by the name of Joanna Hutchings. Ticketmaster Offices are ONLY permitted to sell tickets for events in their own Country. Ticketmaster Middle East have NO EFL final tickets available nor have they EVER sold tickets for an event outside this region. If you are contacted then Ticketmaster recommend you immediately report that contact to the Police as some desperate fan further down the line may get ripped off. Note: There ARE some Corporate Tickets in this region, Emirates Airline for example as FA Cup Sponsor, some Digital Media Companies with operations here, as well as the Official Middle East Manc Supporters group. Some of our Krew have also been able to obtain Corporate and I can assure you none of those are for sale at ANY price - NONE of the Dubai Krew have come across ANY of those being sold locally (and trust me we have some members who are trying VERY hard to get tickets) HTH Enjoy the OS Ticketline queue later today

Had been to Milan once before for work and found it boring over rated and expensive. This time was so different. Day 1 we ate in Brera at the "Two Restaurant Streets" nice part of town, great Pizza, 5 Euro for a beer (cheap compared to here) but the Wine was expensive BUT superb. Day Tow we wandered round the City looked at the Well Dressed Ladies, some of our crew even got in to see the Last Supper & Museums. For Lunch we found "A Wine Shop" located on Via Dante near the Duomo. Everything about it screamed tourist rip off and yet... It sold 1500 Italian Wines at Supermarket Prices that you could take away or have served at your table. The food was superb The Lamb Chops plate for 15 Euros were awesome. In fact once we discovered the Special Promotion we were drinking a great 2012 Valpollicella at 9 Euros a BOTTLE (While FF drank his 35 Euro Beer about 150 metres away. Navigli & the Canals were fun until the bottles started to fly and while I never usually do it, we went back to Via Dante Thursday and drank it dry after the game. Even after midnight, OWTS rolled from Restaurant to Restaurant along that street These guys are well worth a light lunch & bottle of decent wine next time you find yourself stuck in a City Centre http://www.signorvino.com/en Was so great to meet Travel Mush from Cambodia, Bahrain Saint, Romanian, Bulgarian and Polish Saints, 2 native born Thai Girls who'd travelled over, the London Saints crew and the old Salisbury Massive on one trip. Best bit was when I went to take a photo of the inside of the San Siro a voice belted out "**** me you look just like your brother" - another old friend I hadn't seen in some 25 years or so

At the moment looks like we may get 7 of the Dubai Saints crew to the game. We tried REALLY hard to get our **** together and come en masse but the late news of the extra tickets getting down to us mere members put paid to that. Add in about 6 "Casual Members" who come down our way & join us to watch games we've got a pretty decent turn out. We've a mixture arriving from tomorrow lunchtime through to Thursday morning. Biggest bunch of us flying on Emirates but also some (including Eric) trying out our new "potential sponsor" Oman Air via Muscat and as far as we know, one daft bugger coming on Alitalia. Two more were refused vacation days so not a bad effort. We'll be in Brera? & Navilgi Wed & Thursday and we'll be all flagged up, I'll be talking Golf & Eric will be moaning about the lack of Real Ale. Just off to find a fire certificate now for the flags (FFS)

http://www.trenord.it/en/discovery-train/special-tickets/milanocard.aspx MILANOCARD With MilanoCard you are entitled to travel free of charge on all public transports for 24, 48 or 72 hours in the city of Milan and to get the free access to 3 museums and discounts from 10% to 85% provided at monuments, restaurants and in all services under agreement with the MilanoCard as well. Moreover you have a free medical assistance h24 during your trip. MilanoCard gives special and exclusive facilities to visit the Duomo of Milan, the symbol of the city. Do you ever have a personal driver for free? This will be possible in Milan thanks to MilanoCard and Uber. With MilanoCard: 2 rides (up to 15€ each) for free. Discover Milan with Malpensa Express and Milanocard, the first tourist card of the city of Milan. OUR SPECIAL OFFER! Malpensa Express Ticket + MilanoCard 24h: €18,30 Malpensa Express Ticket + MilanoCard 48h: €22,90 Malpensa Express Ticket + MilanoCard 72h: €31

Is it time to return to here and mention Golf?

I am very disturbed to read that Ronald is doping the team. Clearly statements like this prove the age old Southampton fan ethos that something will go wrong. 6th placed team in the EPL get there by Doping. With the current global focus on Drugs use in sport, I am not sure we should even be considering negotiating anything but a severance and possible lifetime ban.

Our tater commented that "Long is currently up there with the very best of the Premier League Strikers. If he can improve his Goal Stats he could become THE best" A fantastic performance, totally unexpected on my part, JRod looked fine if short on awareness until the tackle (on Nasri was it) then seemed to be stuck in glue, I really hope that wasn't a knock or something. Loved all the pictures on my timeline & Twitter of the 40th Anniversary Celebrations, at least the TV showed Lawrie Mac (and Leon) a few times, A great day

I still have the original DVD from that first game. and a copy of the programme somewhere! I don't think the Ref sent Nick off for his attitude, think it was more for the affront of wearing a shiny Silver Made in China Suit. At least mine was handmade in a sweat shop in Thailand. Did anyone else notice how we got a bigger crowd than that lot down the M27? And yes, Granty was right, the Ref was a complete dork (in the first game) awarding a Carrollesque penalty against my Nipper ffs. But of course Karma (rather than any ability or tactical nous) ensured that Nick won the second game. I still laugh now at OldNick not seeing the ref wave the sub on in that first game - in the same way he missed my tactical switch from Mike Bassett to a False The9 - a move which actually changed the game. Yeah, gotta save some airmiles. We NEED the decider.

That is true. However there are and always will be Two LEGENDARY Managers. Perhaps THE only time a Manager at SMS will ever be spotted slurping Magners in the Technical Area. (And no, it wasn't the one who nearly got sent to the stands) It was a brilliant event, and yes, everyone rolls their eyes up as the tale is retold.

Obviously between Pelle & VVD for MoTD, many other great performances, but a word of recognition for Martina. While he doesn't have the craft/guile of a Cedric nor the pace of a Clyne, I've been impresssed that he has come back in and finished two games now, and bombs up and down the line & into the opposition box very well. Defensively he is everything we need in a back up player. He also played the role of pantomime villain very well - doing the splits in the first half after he clearly slipped, did NOT try to claim a foul, nor did the ref give anything, yet it set the Stoke fans off demanding he be booked for "simulation". That frustration seemed to spread around the ground & into their players. As others have said, thought the ref had a fair game up until the last 10 mins or so then seemed to lose the plot. 8 minutes of injury time when he signalled 3? Seriously? IMHO it wasn't a penalty, yes there was contact, but tbh by the time Tadic actually hits the ground, the ball is almost over the line for a goal kick. To most people that would indicate a "dive in a desperate attempt as he had lost control before the contact.... I think the best question is "How would we have reacted if that had been given against us". Red Card? That was a really poor decision, not going to even attempt to defend that. Oh and a huge shout to the travelling fans. They were deafening on the TV coverage here. No wonder RK went over to them. MotM Pelle - not just for the goals but for dropping into the wide right position when Mane came on and doing a good job cutting the supply line down that wing

And more coverage in the National Press inbound as well - Gulf News now doing a rolling where to watch guide to all the Supporters Groups over here More tourists in town this week as well so the date change to Saturday has helped out for us at least!

Muse apparently

He was offside - just but that is offside. Sorry, it was discussed and shown at length (kind of what Wenger alluded to)- from the lino's perspective he appeared to be in line with the last defender but the camera angle showed more than half of his body was ahead of the defender. Cue argument about the definition of "inline" but the Consensus was - offside in the same way consensus was that VVD was ONSIDE and Shlong was offside but not interfering so HIS goal should have stood. Of course we had a proper 'tater not the idiot BT hire

That was fun. 11:45 KO here so watched it in bed with Mrs D_P fast asleep alongside, yep, I woke her up when the second went in and she watched as well, think we probably wole the neighbours with the celebration for the 3rd goal! John Champion & Clive Allen were our 'taters and did a great job, praising us and analyzing what Arsenal were doing wrong, and correctly discussed the Shlong back heel & VVD "goals" also showed why he missed that 1 on 1 (shuffled his feet to put it onto his right foot when should have taken it on his left....) I thought Martina was superb. Obviously the goal, but to come in out of the cold and put in a 90 minute shift like that? JWP was giving him very little cover in the 1st half letting Monreal onto him, yet Cuco was disciplined and well positioned. Jose had one minor wobble by the touchline but was back to his best, perhaps helped by the fact that Martina is a RB that can defend, (if limited on the overlap compared with Cedric) and perhaps having Stek back gives the CB's a bit more confidence? VW stood out in midfield, but credit must be given to all of them for executing the plan to play the ball in behind their defence. Tbh thought Wenger was simply deflecting with those whines about the ref, it was SO obvious that we were playing that tactic yet Wenger did NOTHING to try and counter it (as in drop deeper and squeeze the space). Limp performance by the Arsenal players but the Manager also contributed to that defeat with his arrogance in not changing things when it was clear what we were doing tactically. Clasie showed that he has the eye for a more penetrating ball, Davis kept popping up all over the place, often at left back when Betrand was rampaging forwards in the first half. Like last season Pelle has clearly been struggling for a few weeks with a knock, (but is a black hole now on here), so in some ways the tweak this week was a stroke of luck that helped shape the win. I have NO doubt that when back to full fitness (and mobility) he will pop back to show up the Intelligensia on here. Mane wasn't a surprise through the centre, he's played there before and been so effective, and Shlong did nothing new. In fact it was almost like he reverted to the old Shlong from Hull/WBA. He was a nasty moaning, niggling piece of sh1t last night. And WHAT a difference. I used to hate him as a player and moaned when we signed him, yet for us he has always seemed "Too Nice" and more Perfect Hair than Annoying Bastard. MotM by a country mile, perhaps RK had him in mind when he talked about us being too nice. More of the same please Shane! Last night we finally played to his strengths, I was worried he would pick up a really stupid red card but he also showed his intelligence by managing to stay annoying after his Yellow but not pushing it too far. With the Torygraph reporting that Pelle could be out for "weeks" there is going to be a lot of weight on his shoulders to stay fit and not pick up a ban. Hope that Clasie's knee injury isn't serious, just as he has got up to speed it would be a real shame to lose him as well for a while. Who to play at RB against West Ham after that showing? Cuco or Cedric? Glad I'm not RK. (And of course huge shout out to Dr Barry Gale, it really could have been 6 goals again last night no matter how stupid that sounded at the time!)

Guns n Roses or AC/DC would be awesome, Blur just did Abu Dhabi Think we might see Adele finally Go Large (Mrs D_P knows someone who said she knows Adele's Kindergarten teacher's Indian Grandparents Martian Sister that lives in Borneo cloning Orangutans or something who says it's a done deal) And Coldplay have a new album coming out I think so they will be gagging for publicity Toto are on tour so could fill a legends spot as is Jones the Voice or maybe a Julio & Enrique Iglesias double act? Totally can't believe we got tickets for next year, I'd been on a Stag do so overslept, one of my crew was on holiday in Turkey with no WiFi in his hotel and the final member had started drinking at 10am on the Saturday before going to the egg chasing at Twickenham and basically pulled an all nighter with mates, he was still drinking when his alarm went off at 08:55 so he logged on from his phone and boom straight in and booked tickets by 09:04am

We have a system of possession football. It runs through the entire club. On Saturday at HT WBA had completed 222 passes. We had completed 376 passes. However we conceded fast counter attack goals early in the season and have in our last 9 or 10 PL games struggled to break down teams. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/counter-attacking-football-has-usurped-the-possession-game-in-europe-uefa-evidence-finds-10499045.html The possession model - often compared to the Barcelona Tiki-taka game now appears to be on the declline according to FIFA research. Which opens up a new and hopefully sensible debate. Should we change our style of play? Do we have the players to adopt a "fast transition"?

Utter krap. Sorry. For the first 20 minutes of the coverage of the game here on BeIn Sports something went wrong with the Commentary, In fact we were expecting it to be in Arabic and then boom it was in English. In those first 20 minutes the ONLY sound coming from the TV were our fans singing. I have no idea where you were sat, or how TV had put their microphones but the support was as good as ever at an Away game. Our fans sang all game, we heard it even once we had commentary, and the SRL stuff was commented on as being "unusual and impressive" Apologies for popping on and stating some facts. you can now go back to being the moaning forum.

Ah, you see that was your second mistake. Assuming any regular poster on here has a brain cell. The first one was registering expecting to get news from anyone other than kbilly or Guan

Ah bless, the next "Gaston" just for Alps