buctootim

Yep he could cook up a nice lasagne in an oven and be like 10,000 other restaurants and chefs in the country. Or he could do something which no-one else on the planet is doing, apart from the bloke at el Bulli, and come up with something genuinely new. Seriously you should try his restaurant -its amazing for a one off experience.

And Gatwick airport. 15 mins free grace for dropping off etc

Their squad is looking pretty threadbare.

Sure. I was just replying to DDs point that perhaps only 18 teachers have been sacked in 40 years (or something like that).

DerryAir. Its a French airline.

lol. Not sure about getting five in the first one. The VW - no need - my sister has got one identical to that, she wont let me borrow tho.....

S2000 is a really nice car - too small for what I need though. Seriously thinking about the older E series merc.

Im absolutely sure that is wrong - more than that number would have been sacked for gross misconduct (theft, being jailed etc) as in any organisation. It is true it is too difficult to sack teachers though, as with many public employees. But many incompetent teachers leave of their own accord. Incompetent treachers often cant interest and control their classes so end up having a miserable time. Its natural selection at its best.

But what is your point Johnny? Thats there are some incompetent teachers?- yes everyone accepts that. Is the proportion who are incompetent worse than that amongst builders, lawyers, or insolvency practioners - no I dont think it is. Could we save money by getting rid of them? -no not really because you would need to replace them to teach their pupils, so whilst the pupils would benefit the costs wouldnt change.

I suggest you get a better builder Johnny, or at least one who can think of more original excuses.

Nick. Suppose you want to hold a corporate training event for telesales staff on a Tuesday at SMS. Do you think you will be offered : A) The Terry Paine Suite or B) The New Carvery. Stu knows its just the names of the Saturday hospitality packages which have been renamed - not the names of the rooms themselves - but he has his own agenda.

Lets see how it pans out when the season actually starts. I'll bet you a new organic feta cheese and spinach wrap that the players names are still prominent.

But what happened 18 months ago is irrelevant. The clubs hospitality functions were contracted out to an an outside caterer then. The club have recently created a new company 'Halo' (Saints enough for you?) and appointed an new Head honcho from Lausanne (its on the OS somewhere) to bring the events in house. You dont appoint a new head with the intention of only running events one day a week. edit here http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/SEMConference/0,,10280,00.html

Quite. Collectively we all spent the money we didnt have very happily. Now the bills are in its all GBs fault. Of course he is largely to blame for the public finances but the mountain of private debt is all down to you, me and the 60 million others in this country.

Stu for what its worth I would guess that the club intend to make much more use of the grounds facilities during the week, not just on matchdays. If you are running several events a week in the same room you need to differentiate between the name of the room and the name of the event - otherwise people get confused and marketing is a nightmare. Also the club dont yet know how popular each of the new matchday packages is going to be. Once they know likely numbers they will proabably confirm which rooms and venues they are going to use for each and make more use of the room names. Its really not a conspiracy to **** people off - or even simple incompetence.

No the room names havent been changed. The MLT suite, Channon etc will continue to host a variety of functions, each with its own name - just like St Mary's Church Hall will host a variety of clubs and societies during the week. Stu needs to understand that simply by hosting a get together round his gaffe doesnt mean his address changes to 37 Lemon Party Road.

Dont you see this inconsistency Duckie? you're saying that - if pushed - you could get the same work done with 20% less staff whilst criticising public sector workers for finishing early on occasion. The reality is that nearly all workers - private or public - can do more by working flat out under pressure for short periods of time - but cant sustain it week in week out.

It is a spectacularly stupid post - you clearly have never been in hospitality otherwise you wouldnt be slating it. As others have said its a good craic for a special occasion - the suites are mostly filled with fans who save up to go in there a few times a year. Last time for me was with my brother, sister and her grown kids for her 50th birthday. Is that okay by you?

Of all the Cortese obsessed threads Stu has started recently, this is the most laughable. Do you have homo erotic thoughts Stu?

C70 might be big enough. I suppose i was thinking about something Merc E series sized - a proper 5 seater with a decent boot - which I guess rules out a folding hard top.

Yep I like them, still a bit 2+2 though. Im looking for a bit of space. Ive got two kids, girlfriends got one and going away involves luggage. Thought about a Chrysler Sebring - but its a bit of a skip with detachable roof.

Nice, but I might as well keep the Alfa Spider, at least its got some kind of rear seat for the kids.

As second, fun weekend car probably about £8,000 (including about £4,000 for an Alfa spider to trade in). As a main car about £18,000.

I want a good four seater convertible with more than a handbag of luggage space. Anyone think of any?

I dont actually know how much of that £752m is spent on staff - but you can be sure its more than 50%, which keeps the rate at below that for large private employers