Chris Larkin

I'll be there, London is always good and we might even win. Apparently we've sold 1400 tickets, and the club has ordered 816 more off Charlton.

Do Plymouth really see us as rivals? I know there was a bit of anger from then in our first few seasons at this level over Sturrock, but as far as I understand we seem to get on alright with them now, and they don't really consider us to be the enemy. Have I just not been paying attention?

Why would Rudi agree to leave and cut his wages this time if he wasn't prepared to do so during the summer?

Today - Out on the town. Saturday - Work at 0630. Watch Jeffrey Stelling on SSS. Cry when Saints lose. Sunday - Work at 0630. Follow NFL. Cry when Seahawks lose. 5/10.

Fair enough. Maybe it was just my frustration after the game that made me see the game as I did. I don't think he's good enough for England yet, but as there's esentially no chance of him playing against Germany it doesn't really matter. If Capello rates him he'll no doubt turn out alright.

Apparently Michael Mancienne has been called up to the 23 man England squad to face Germany on Wednesday. I don't know about any of you, but I didn't think a great deal of his performance today. Then again, what do I know?

Shrewsbury are bizarre on the goalscoring front at the moment (24 goals in 8 games at home; 7 in 7 away), so that will hopefully give Jamie a chance to get some games, and a bit of first team experience. As people have said, it sounds like a good deal for both sides, provided we don't just go and flog him for a pittance in January.

I just danced around the living room in excitement. Not sure I've ever been this excited at us scoring a goal when not watching the match. COYR!!!

We did score 3 against Exeter this year, although that doesn't really count. Before that, it was Burnley last year. We managed it four times in the 06-07 season. However, very few teams have a hope of scoring three away from home on a regular basis - the problem with us is a terrible defence.

We are starting to get the point where it can't really get any worse. So that's sort of a bright side...

At the time I thought it was to get another striker into the box for the final free-kick. However, I believe substitutions must be announced to the Fourth Official several minutes before they happen, and paperwork completed, so it seems unlikely that was the reason with hindsight. Incidentally, substitutions don't actually waste time, as if the referee is doing his job correctly (and they normally are, with regards to timing) the time taken to make the substitution will be added on at the end. The only way to grind a result out with the use of substitutions is create a break in play, which can disrupt the opposition's attacking momentum. I didn't get the sense tonight that that was what it was for, so it's really a mystery.

Should be a good one, my Seahawks have been AWFUL this year, so it's nice to be able to concentrate on some different teams. Suppose I'll be cheering for the Saints, because Philip Rivers' arrogance irritates me hugely. Anyone know if Mike Carlson is going to be involved in the coverage on the BBC?

Source please?

So it is. What a hero. Do you think he could play for us on saturday to celebrate?

That Kazahkstani #21, the 20 year old goalscorer looked none too shabby today. Wouldn't cost nearly £3million either. Otherwise, I'd bring Bairdy back, he's the man we need to hold the defence together once Perry gets too old and Killer breaks again.

Possible, however: 1). You have to go into administration before the end of March (I believe) to take the points deduction that season. Thus, we have to be sure that we will be 10 points ahead at the end of the season, with 5 or 6 games to go. If we are in that position, we'd probably still be within a shout of the play-offs, so going into administration would be seen as a stupid move. 2). All the clubs who have gone into administration in the last few years have had a further points deduction coming out of it, as the Football League rules on Company Voluntary Agreements are essentially impossible to comply with. Leeds lost 15 points, Rotherham and Bournemouth lost 17 each, Luton lost 30. How could we reasonably expect to stay in the Championship the next year with our best players sold by the administrators, and a points deduction? If it all goes wrong, we could well find ourselves in League Two, two seasons from now. Administration for football clubs is really a last resort, so we ought not to do it unless it is absolutely forced upon us.

That's true, but you can also only have so many loanees in total during a season. I think it may be that you can have up to ten total loan signings in a season, no more than four of whom can be on a short term loan at any one time. At the moment, we have Jack Cork, Romain Gasmi, Thomas Pekhart and Jordan Robertson on short term loan. If we want Brian Howard, we can either take him on a season long loan, or wait until January. Could someone please check on FM to see if the loan rules I've assumed are correct?

Barnsley do only pay about threepence a week to their players though (Kayodi Odejayi was said to be on about £1,500 per week last season - Howard can't be on much more). I'm sure someone on similar wages far worse than Brian Howard could be offloaded in January, if he wants to come. But why do Barnsley only want a 'nominal fee'? There was paper talk over the summer that Everton were going to pay £5million for Howard. What's happened since then?

Isn't that Safri on the right there?

Here's my predictions this season: AFC East: New England Patriots AFC North: Pittsburgh Steelers AFC South: Indianapolis Colts AFC West: San Diego Chargers AFC Wildcards: Jacksonville Jaguars + Houston Texans NFC East: New York Giants NFC North: Minnesota Vikings NFC South: New Orleans Saints NFC West: Seattle Seahawks NFC Wildcards: Dallas Cowboys + Carolina Panthers AFC Championship Game: Colts defeat Chargers NFC Championship Game: Seahawks defeat Giants Superbowl XLIII: Colts defeat Seahawks I realise I'm being a right fanboy prediction my Hawks to win the NFC, but with a Favre-less Packers, and the Cowboys still unable to win a play-off game, there are no great teams in the entire conference. Any of the teams I have making the play-offs are in with a good shout, so why not?

I think the prospect of earning two or three times as much at Stoke than he was at Saints would change most peoples' hearts.

At least we didn't get Anthony Pulis as part of the deal. Every cloud...

Good call. It could be a bit difficult, though - I believe loans of less than 3 months aren't recallable, so Bennett couldn't move to us until after the transfer window closes, when Surman would have to be gone. I suppose they could both move on loan as soon as possible, and then put the full transfer through in the January window? I feel it's a bit unfair calling Wotton a journeyman - he's been at Plymouth for 14 years, and has played almost 400 games for them. Whether he's actually any good is, of course, another matter...

He's only there for a month initially, so we might be able to get him after September 8th. Surely we can pay his wages if Brentford can?

The ticket office managed to sell me a ticket this morning for a closed part of the ground, in Block 39. I'm pretty sure there was a couple next to me who had the same issue. Ended up sitting right up the back of the Kingsland, next to the closed corner. It wasn't ideal. Sort it out, Saints.