stu0x

No, it's not just you. But then Gareth Bale has just won PFA Player of the Year, essentially off the back of a couple of CL group stage performances.

Well of course it would... Offending history has a pretty major impact on the sentencing guidelines, as well it should. Having said that, if he *has* used an improvised weapon to cause injury, he's looking at a custodial unless exceptional circumstances apply... Of course, his best chance out of a custodial would be to plead guilty, but I guess it depends how strong the case is. (incidentally I'm pretty sure there's no non-custody option for armed robbery with a firearm, so your ridiculous straw man example doesn't really hold weight, but then you knew that didn't you...)

Not good enough. If we're not picking up at least 4 points per match we have no chance of promotion. Cortese out. FFS.

I think you should meet Benthelegend

Victor Moses, John Bostock... It's idiotic really. Would anyone here be deluded enough to think that Lallana is better than Nasri? Or that Oxo is better than David Silva? They are essentially the same comparison.

My advice would be, don't. And I speak from experience. Sit down, and I'll tell you a story... About six years ago, I got myself an imported RX7. I had wanted one for years. I used an extremely well-respected importer, renowned for getting mint condition cars. The car they sourced was immaculate. It was a '96 but had only 20,000 miles on it, everything was in perfect condition, 1 non-smoker owner from new, garaged every night, etc. It looked like it had come off the showroom floor. I had wanted one that was only 'mildly' modified (my insurance couldn't take anything more), so it was a fairly typical Stage 1 example - new filter kit, exhaust, etc - but no major mechanical changes. The reason I'm labouring this point is that there was nothing wrong with the car itself, so that can't be blamed for what was to follow. It was essentially utterly unusable on UK roads. It didn't help that I lived in London, surrounded by speedbumps. The daily drive to work was a succession of first gear sprints of about 50 yards, then arse-scraping discomfort over the next speedbump, then repeat. But even on the odd occasion when I got to 'cut loose', it was so ludicrously over-specced for using on a road. I could put my foot down with the car dead straight, in 3rd gear, on a dry road, and the back end would start to step out. WOT in second or first was a maelstrom of tyre smoke. I was, to put not too fine a point on it, terrified of the bloody thing. To complement this was fuel economy that sat happily at around 14mpg, dipping into single figures when angry. The drive from South London to Leeds (so virtually all motorway), and back again, cost £60. That was back when Shell V-Power (of course you can only put 'performance' fuel in there, or risk your engine detonating) was 99p/litre, god knows what the cost would be like nowadays. Then you have to get it serviced or have some work done on it. Unless you know exactly what you are doing, don't even think about lifting the bonnet. There is no national dealer network for modified japtech. Instead, you'll find yourself driving a significant distance to one of the handful of specialists for that model of car (ironically, I had to drive to Portsmouth). When you get there, if you are *very* lucky, you will arrive at an anonymous industrial unit. That's if you're lucky. They're quite often based on farms (enjoy the drive down the track to get there), and are usually in the middle of nowhere. The reason this is important is that 'customer service' at these places involves them taking your keys and waving goodbye. Courtesy car? Don't make me laugh. You might get a lift to the local train station. See you in a few days. When you return, the bill is ordinarily eye-watering. I'm not saying these guys are cowboys, far from it, they are often very skilled and knowledgeable. But they operate in a different universe, where the primary goal is not a working, reliable mode of transport. Which takes me onto the financial aspect. There are generally two types of people who own these sorts of cars. The first have stacks of cash and treat it very much as a plaything. The second are the rest of us who try and manage it on a budget. Everyone in the second category realises, sooner or later, that they can't. My running costs just for servicing and repairs (ie not including fuel, a full set of tyres, etc) was just shy of £5000. In 18 months. And that was 6 years ago. Eventually a drunk driver in an uninsured car ploughed into the side of my car (whilst it was parked), and wrote it off. And, after the initial rage had settled in (and discounting the grief of the insurance company), I was actually relieved. I now have a Skoda vRS. It costs peanuts to run and insure, gets me (literally) ten times as far on the same amount of fuel, can carry more than a single bag of shopping, is comfortable, reliable, and when I want to have a bit of fun and throw it around a bit, I can do so safe in the knowledge that it's not going to fling itself into the nearest hedge at the earliest opportunity. My experience is by no means unusual. I have a friend who owned 2 Nissan GTRs at the same sort of time. The second one in particular was a monster, about 45k's worth in mint condition. He had very similar experiences. I remember him calling me almost in tears after, having taken his car in for a 'routine service', the 'specialist' had arbitrarily decided his turbos needed replacing and had disassembled his engine, leaving him with an unexpected 5 grand bill. On another occasion he took his R34 in to have a genuine Nismo bodykit fitted and painted (several thousand pounds worth of work), and got it back with muddy footprints on the dashboard. He rather astutely pointed out that you don't get that from your local BMW dealership. And they even give you a cup of tea. He finally got rid when he came to the conclusion he probably wasn't making the most out of a 500bhp car driving half an hour to work and back each day. He used to say that they were great cars to own - if you never actually *have* to drive a car, that is. I would agree wholeheartedly. Long story short. If you want to get an imported Jap car, get one of the more 'sensible' normally aspirated ones, and make sure it is one that you can take to a normal dealer to get work done on it. Practically, something like an Integra is perfect. You will still get nowhere near using its full capabilities on a UK road, and it severely lessens the downsides. Even so, go into it with your eyes open. And whatever you do, stay well away from those fire-breathing, twin turbo behemoths, unless you literally have so much money you don't care. And another car to drive, when you just want to go somewhere (ie anywhere), and do something (ie anything) with the least amount of fuss possible.

The problem is the tyres. P Zeros are pants, notorious for how quick they wear.

1. Pulis 2. Holmes 3. Forte

The judiciary really don't like it when people get kicked in the head on the ground, they consider it rather unsporting.

It would have to be that **** wouldnt it...

Let me just check something... We're 3 points behind second place, with a superior goal difference... And we'd get 3 points if we win tonight... Yes, I can confirm, you are stating the obvious

A Fratton. The chopsy nature of some of the posts on this thread is hilarious. Makes you realise just why football supporters have such a poor reputation amongst the rest of society - because we/they deserve it, apparently. Batari's box, anyone?

It will be this design, probably with reversed colours (White in the middle). I wouldn't be surprised if everything else about it is identical, even the Hazard tape bit on the back. This is what happens when you buy a template shirt from a major manufacturer. Not that I'm complaining, but anyone expecting anything radically different was always going to be on to a loser.

Sorry but that's ********. The press will print absolutely anything during the transfer window, more often than not they just make things up and credit them to a 'source close to' or 'club insider'. Making any sort of official statement would just add fuel to the fire and open up a whole new raft of intentional misinterpretations. The suggestion that if Cortese came out and said 'he is not for sale, so leave it be' would be enough to end speculation in the matter is absurd. You only have to look at the number of players who have been 'not for sale' who have then been sold a week later to know that isn't true.

Literally bat**** insane

Branfoot

I would suggest that over 90 minutes it is quite easy (and indeed quite common) for the better team not to win. Over 38+ matches, teams tend to end up where they deserve to be. After all, these things all even up over a season. Literally. Richard. (It's called 'regression to the mean', by the way, a well established statistical concept, and nothing to do with optimism or pessimism) Not that I think we were necessarily 'mugged' against Walsall, incidentally

They won't and shouldn't win it. Player will be Mackail-Smith, Manager will be Ferguson or maybe Bradbury.

Nice one on my iPhone so no idea if saintsplayer will work but I'll give it a go. Just seemed odd that the BBC specifically said they were covering it.

Is there any radio coverage of tonights match? BBC website says it's on BBC local radio, but neither WM or Solent list it...

Well, to some extent true. From a purely statistical approach, it matters not where we amass our points total, just that we amass it. But if you look at it from a psychological point of view, it matters greatly. A clear 2nd, on 61 points, is a *very* different prospect to 5th on 52 with 3 games in hand. For every actual point we can make up, it will make the teams ahead of us more conscious and more nervous. Visibility is key. For example, the current strapline from BBC's League One roundup: "All the goals from Saturday's matches in League One as Bournemouth gain ground on leaders Brighton". We *all* gained ground on Brighton. But Bournemouth are second, so they are the threat. We need to make ourselves the threat, we need to be the team putting the pressure on the others. That's why the games in hand are important.

Barnard seems far more effective when coming on as a sub. The problem is that he scores when he comes on as a sub, is rewarded with a start, and more often than not fails to deliver... repeat ad nauseum. Walsall are likely to park the bus. So I'd like to see an aggressive 4-3-3, N'Guessan and Chambo out wide with Lallana at the spearhead of a Chelsea-esque midfield 3. Bags of attacking intent and gives us the most flexibility for substitutions if we need to make a change (either to shut up shop or push for a winner). But it won't happen. I predict Barnard straight in to a 4-4-2, and a long laboured effort trying to break down a resolute Walsall side. Narrow win for Saints, but a 0-0 would by no means be out of the question either.

Well, it's not is it. 1) A criminal act that resulted in your own death would invalidate your insurance policy. 2) Wrong part of the subcontinent. I think you meant Pakistan. They all look the same though, eh? 3) The statistical impact of suicide bombing on total deaths is basically nil. A far more accurate comparison would be a life insurance company demanding higher premiums from people who have a history of heart disease in their family. Which... they do.

I'll go out on a limb and say the more likely result will be a 35% increase for women, and a 0% decrease for men...

I tend to agree. The Police don't need a court's authority to obtain that information, obviously, but it wouldn't be available to a third party (if it was the ISP would be breaching DPA by releasing it)