dubai_phil

Nipples - don't wear cheap polyester Groin - Don't wear boxers. Lamisil make a cream for Athlete's foot and also one for crotch rot. In emergency Canestan cream works. In the summer here we play golf in about 43C and betty swolloxs is a real problem. Good quality Dry-Fit stuff helps the nipple rash problem, and a decent pair of pure cotton bikini style undies is acceptable under the golf shorts (but never anywhere else) Pop round if you need to borrow the Lamisil spray oh

Just to re-iterate my point. SJ was/is "lazy". So was Rasiak, and of course in the same vein was Le Tiss all the way back to Ted MacDougall. Many a time I have heard those lines on here or in the stands at matches, but of course, they all scored goals. Omerod (and to an extent Kevin Davies) was a bundle of energy, a real team player and..... In a conventional system, the laziness is not real, their strength is all about an extra inch of space or milli-second of speed of thought in or around the penalty area. It is about getting into the right position so that the 9 remaining outfield players have a fulcrum to play around. I am sure that whatever they call the Opta stats will show they cover huge distances during a game, but the fact is that the so called laziness and that instant burst is what made them the goalscorers they were. In our CURRENT pass and move world, that becomes a problem, they become "almost" one dimensional" they need to score goals but they need to be Brett Omerod and "interchangable". John & Rasiak don't have that as a strength. Now I have LONG advocated that a manager SHOULD pick his system and style to suit the players at his disposal. At the MOMENT this is not working because we have gaps in the team in "specialist" positions - especially on the wings. Now the problem is that the system has been designed for a LONG TERM STRATEGY, play the same way from U-14 upwards. That is actually a good idea as it means less chopping and changing when managerial/coaching staff leave/get fired. (A perennial football problem). BUT right now we have not got the right players for the system available. SJ is a great CCC forward, but not in a 4-2-3-1 formation. If we were to revert to 4-4-2 or even 4-4-1-1 then I think he would have scored goals for us, in the muddle we have at the moment, I don't think he would score goals, don't think he would add to the system actually working AND we cannot afford him. Many have said it is about balance this season. IMHO not just in the team but also off it. I am sure that in the summer Barclays liked the ideas of "long term sustainable development". The problem is that the world Barclays operate in, and especially the fan numbers changed and we have an inflexible playing system that is in need of a few expedient tweaks. So, glad to see him go as 1) we can't afford him and it buys us some more time financially 2) he doesn't fit into the system REALLY angry he has gone as 1) we need his goals 2) we should adjust the system to play to his strengths HTH

What is (and will be) very heart breaking is that investment actually could have been quite close. And then the world changed in reality when the Yanks let Lehman Bros go. I know it doesn't fit all the views held, but the guys behind the scenes actually have been trying incredibly hard to find the right deal.

I have a feeling that MAYBE, more by luck than judgement, we've been carving costs out of the club and culling deadwood, we may (and I hate this) appear to have been visionary. While I am scared sh8tless about the state of the club, I really think that football is in for one heck of a shock as the recession gathers speed. Sky's profits through the floor, Setanta needing finance, Liverpool's 30 mil a year of profits going on ONLY paying the interest to buy them, sponsorship budgets being slashed across the globe, corporate boxes not even selling at Old Trafford. (and who the heck is going to pay off Charlton's 30mil of debt?) It isn't just about us, just that we were the first in the real sh*t. For the next 3 months it is simply about surviving. If we get to January then somebody somewhere has been a bl**dy magician.

Lazy yes, doesn't fit the football style this season yes. Fair arguments Nick Proven scorer at this level, top scorer last year, then without a viable alternative the fuss is valid - who IS going to score the goals.... (FWIW I don't think SJ fits into the style and I don't think he would have scored many, but the fuss is fear and it's very valid)

No it's not. The club IS a mess it has debts, but when the trading statement comes out look carefully because it also has assets. The club HAS to survive this recession because at the end of it a lot of blood will have been spilled around the world, a great deal will have changed (sponsors going bust not just clubs) that there is a chance of a major rethink on the way the football world thinks. IF it survives it can be sold. If it goes under NOW, losing money and will lose players to repay the debts, it becomes a HELL of a gamble that someone might take it over and pump in money to make it run... Because right now ANYONE out there with money is trying to find ways to stop losing it, not buy expensive toys. This ain't in favour of the incumbents, it's just that it will truly be worse and we are talking about survivng for 6-9 months THEN we can get rid of Lowe et al. Admin means they MIGHT be gone but so will any hope for any future for the club for 5-10 years

There is always another way. Just we aren't close enough to know ALL the details, all the parties and ALL the options. If there ISN'T another way then the sale of players in January will have to happen because 1) I personally think attendances are down below what we hoped for 2) The 4 high earners who we could not sell on will cost 2mil a year in salaries so will have added around 1mil to the debt 3) we have made loans not sales (although I am SURE that we will have received some small amounts as fees for the loans So to keep our BEST players we have to HOPE that people pay us for the high earners to reduce the overdraft. We have NO idea what the loan agreements ACTUALLY say, so it's pointless to speculate "Wildely" Again, as we saw in the summer, I am sure that the club will wait and see what develops during January. IF we have to sell a Surman or Lallana, then I think it would only be done towards the end of the window when all other options have failed

Lots of reliable sources and posters have indicated that the combined cost of SJ, Euell, Thomas and Skacel were costing us 2million pounds a year in salaries which we could not cover in the business plan, so a fair guess would be at least a quarter of that......

Hmm conspiracy theory page 4,962 Ah so they knew SJ was off so they knew that freed up some cash flow to let Skacel play. Good as Thomas is out for 7 months that leaves us to hope Euell finds fitness and a new home PD effin Q

Well obviously, because as everyone knows the recession will be over then, we'll have avoided administration and Fulthorpe will be in with his zillions........... oh Step up Peckhart & Robertson oh Well, we've still got BWP & DMG oh Ho hum nice weather today, but seems like SMS is a bit like the sea off Dubai at the moment. Full of fresh sh*t

The title of this one got me all excited for a moment ! http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/articles/article.php?page_id=10789

oops - there's a pick up truck full of Taliban just left with your name on it. You forgot the (PBH) afterwards. Also, many westerners lay the blame for much of the world's evils at the door of his followers, but even he (PBH) couldn't have dreamt up DMG

From opposition fans You only sing when you're winning.. From late '76 When it's spring again we'll sing again Southampton for Amsterdam When the Saints go up to lift the cup Southampton for Amsterdam A whole Max Bygraves evening on the ferry to Anderlecht away (yes we were very ****ed ok!) (and for those too young, it was where the Cup Winner's Cup final was to have been played that year

Methinks somebody forgot to pay their innernet bill and got cut off in mid stride. It's the recession you know

Just remember one simple mantra as you travel through life's ever changing journey. You're only as old as the Woman you feel. (but NEVER in a Gary Glitter sort of way because then you wouldn't be allowed to drink and stuff) (I also need to edit my plans - had to scrap the pool 'cos the chick's decided she's stopping by for some aerobics on the way to work. Ho hum, it's Soooooo tough being a sex object)

Just remember to pay extra for the insurance because you just KNOW you're gonna vomit onto it at some point in the evening....... The moustache that is As for hair - easy - wig with two bottles of Olive oil poured over it (but only if it is a non-smoking party.......)

Cool OK that ws fun time for some more

doh! I spitted that after I tiped ot, bit fwlt the himour was bitter that way

If it AIN'T work related, lots of photo booth type places have printers that can make T-Shirts. Very common here, especially for Stag/hen tours. Just take the design/photo on CD or memory stick and they can do from 1 up to about 20. Not cheap and unless you take your own t-shirts they give you the cheapest cr*p. (Ask for cotton and ask for a heavy weight - can't remember but we used to make about 120/160 gsm, they last for ever and look good on, printing places try and sell about 60 gsm) (think it was called gsm)

Simple - if this is work related then Tell your boss you need to go check out high quality T-Shirt manufacturers, produce a list (from Google), work out the import duty and cotton import quota issue (google) Then take 10 days to visit the manufacturers in Bangkok, Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City (You can visit 20 T short people in 2 hours in each to put on the visit report to boss) return to office, recover from sunburn and too much seks, pm Gecko Saint and ask him for a favour. Give to boss who decides to get into currency speculation instead HTH

Friday - Chill by pool for an hour, Karaoke tonight (chicks get 2 free drinks so you always take one with you! Singers get 2 free drinks and you can do 2 songs (I am AWFUL but always happy to make an a*se of myself for free booze), DJ is a mate and gets free shooters in so total cost of night out getting monged is 6 quid for the taxi fare between 4 of us (mate & his chick) - there's a recession you know :-) ) Saturday - Work, cook dinner for the chick, stay away from the innernet so we have a chance to win Sunday - stay in bed with the chick until 8pm then watch DVD's after she goes home

Afro wig, Flares, cream silk shirt open to navel with long pointy collar, chest wig, medallion, RayBan Aviator (or clone) shades, purple (or mauve) silky/velvety waist coat with flowers on it HTH Or just picture Neil from the Young Ones and go as a hippy Or of course - John Travolta Saturday Night fever (my mate the DJ does regular DJ shaft nights)

Sorry MB but you're posts are just WAY too simplistic. I think the Turtles and elephants could be closer to the mark. I'm alright with this expanding universe stuff, but what about the Dark does it Matter? and other critically important questions. So then I read stuff and see - ha MB's wrong.... there are more opinions about all of this than there are people at fault for the mess at SMS http://www.telegraph.co.uk/digitallife/main.jhtml?xml=/connected/2002/04/30/ecftime30.xml COSMOLOGISTS have come up with a new model of the universe in which time does not begin or end but turns in a never ending cycle, as suggested by some ancient philosophies and religions. Modern society believes that time is linear, stretching from today back to the birth of the universe in the Big Bang of creation some 15 billion years ago. But, inspired by the movements of the Sun and heavens, some ancient cultures saw time as being cyclic, so that events and lives would endlessly repeat. Now, two leading cosmologists suggest something similar to this eternal return in a new model of the universe where time has no beginning or end. Instead, the cosmos undergoes cycles of expansion and contraction so that it endlessly dies and rises from its ashes. The conventional model of the universe starts with the Big Bang, followed by a short period of extremely fast expansion and cooling, called inflation, which accounts for many features of the universe today. But this model does not account for recent discoveries by astronomers, notably of the way the expansion of the universe seems to have been accelerated by a mysterious force called "dark energy". In the current issue of the journal Science, a new model of the universe is put forward by Profs Paul Steinhardt of Princeton University and Neil Turok of Cambridge University that may replace the role of inflation with a new chain of events and account for this dark energy - rather than add it in an ad hoc way. The new idea is an extension of what is called the "ekpyrotic theory", based upon the mathematical framework of M theory (the current favourite contender for a theory of everything) which describes the birth of our universe in the collision of enormous four-dimensional membranes, or branes. Two infinite branes - our own universe and a "mirror universe" - live a tiny fraction of a metre apart. "If you wait long enough, the branes approach one another," said Prof Steinhardt. They collide, and the energy of that collision creates all the matter and energy in our universe. The membranes "bounce" and separate again. The newborn universe, on its brane, then evolves and eventually burns out. The theorists were surprised to realise that the collapse-and-bounce cycle repeats itself ad infinitum. Each cycle begins with a Big Bang, in which radiation and matter are generated. The universe expands and cools over trillions of years, becoming dominated by the dark energy that accelerates the expansion of the universe until the matter and radiation become dilute. Then dark energy decays, causing the next Big Bang to occur. Prof Turok explained that each cycle would be identical in broad outline - the density and rate of expansion of the universe - though would differ in detail. "Different galaxies and stars would form each time round, through amplification of random density variations which are generated near the end of each cycle (when the dark energy is decaying)." To accommodate the branes, the universe proposed in the new model has more than the four dimensions - three of space and one of time - that we are familiar with. It is in one of these additional dimensions, the universe begins to contract, ending in a Big Crunch so that the cycle begins again. "The period of contraction is quite unlike what we normally think of, a contraction of our usual dimensions," said Prof Steinhardt. "It is a contraction, bounce and re-expansion of an extra dimension." The model sounds obscure but accounts for dark energy and overcomes a problem encountered by earlier cyclic models of the cosmos in coping with the second law of thermodynamics - where a quantity linked with disorder (called entropy) always increases, to provide an arrow of time, from low to high entropy. While the Big Bang starts out as a dot consisting of a homogeneous soup of particles and energy, the Big Crunch collapses all the detritus of a cosmos into a point: in other words, the Crunch has much more entropy than the Bang. Thus, when the universe begins to expand once again, it starts off with much more entropy (disorder) and this changes the cycle time. "The problem is that, going back in time, the duration of these cycles shrinks to zero and you are back to the idea of having a beginning," said Prof Steinhardt. Each part of the new model's cycle, in which dark energy causes the universe to accelerate, also causes the entropy from the previous cycle to be diluted. In this way, entropy does not have to be taken into account. Will the new theory catch on? Only time will tell. The team has started to propose experiments to see if its model is correct - cosmologists do not care how crazy their ideas sound, only if they are mathematically consistent and can account for the features of our cosmos. If the model is confirmed, questions about the beginning of time would be meaningless, said Prof Steinhardt. "Rather the universe has been cycling forever. That's quite fascinating and one of the reasons why a cyclic universe has been an appealing notion since time immemorial."

Been trying to find a photo of the newest one, the UK Government Finances hole.

Oh well done for finding that one. Quality