Suomi Saint

I can’t wait to see the 5 pledges on Ralph’s desk, or have I missed them?

Although very upsetting, I think a win at Swansea was always required. I don’t believe Huddersfield will lose their last 3 matches. Winner takes all on Tuesday it is. A draw will suit Swansea because they will beat Stoke.

Personally, I think not having the enthusiasm to learn the correct term for a physically challenged transgender with a Welsh father and a Chinese mother borders on being horrible to other people.

I get your point, but racism works both ways. Our colonial past is what it is, and those people are long gone. Personally, I don’t feel any shame or culpability. The race card is such an easy one to play when it suits. Believe me, your average Brit is far less racist than most inhabitants of this flawed planet, yet we indulge so much time and effort on this PC subject, which will eventually lead to a curtailment of freedom of speech if a balance is not found at some point. The Old Bill doesn’t care if your home is ransacked by some useless druggie, but they are all over you if you are a twit and teach your dog to do a Nazi salute. There has to be balance.

Yep, PC will be the death of society. My daughter gets called ‘vanilla face’ on her flights to Lagos, but she doesn’t fein hurt or outrage. Being offended is now a profession it seems.

Hull have scored something like 10 goals in the last 2 away games, and NA has slowly turned their fortunes around since he arrived in December. What he achieved with us was incredible, and I would definitely welcome him back.

Let’s face it, we are not going to win 3 of the last 6. Reed and Co. are guilty of gross mismanagement.

3/4 points.....it makes little difference as we haven’t won for months. Get NA back next season if he will come. Hull are on the up.

4 points adrift.....we are as good as relegated .

This absolutely. Those memories are so special.

2 points adrift makes a win against West Ham essential. I don’t understand the confidence about us overtaking Huddersfield when their form is much better than ours. I actually think it will be between West Ham and us for the last relegation place. Our Board has given Hughes a mountain to climb - win or bust in his first Premier outing. No pressure then.

That is an impressive record. Thanks for posting.

Oldham at home 75/76 when they gave the cup ticket loyalty vouchers out.

If we had turned a few draws into wins then we would be comfortably mid-table. That's the problem with MP - he sets us up safety first. Fortune favours the brave, a saying that is obviously not in his dictionary. I would have thought old Ralph with his management speak could have told him about the benefits of 'lessons learned.' Unfortunately, MP does not learn, which is why we are all hacked off with him. I would rather go down all guns blazing like Blackpool did rather than watch us meekly surrender in this way. If we do not beat Stoke then that is it in my opinion. 3 wins and 2 draws are needed for survival.

Even though we were greatly outnumbered, I don’t remember any trouble. More in Div 1 matches at the Dell. The United fans stayed for the lap of honour, which is something that doesn’t happen now. There were warnings about getting your ticket stolen so I kept mine in my shoe. The United fans were glum, but I never saw anyone have a go.

I thought it was a decent result yesterday and I can't fault MP on this occasion. We have not done very well up there recently. Why was Sims wearing fancy gloves in the sunshine?

I think PEH, OR and JWP would all leave because they are too good for the Championship and would not relish a 50% pay cut (if Saints operate on that basis).

Most of the players will leave if we go down - will be hard to field a team. I wonder if MT is dreaming of playing in the EPL for Fulham next season? No MT and no RB - and that's just in one position. I guess the GK will stay, as will Stephens. Gallagher and Reed will come back no doubt, and I suppose Sims and the other sick note from the U23's will be given a run. As old Harry would say, "we will be down to the bare bones."

Still in the bottom 3 - that's the only stat that matters. Credit to him, though, for taking the F.A Cup seriously.

He may have the talent, but he is made of glass it seems - always injured. I can't see him making it to be honest. I do not understand why these slightly built youngsters are always getting injured, when in the old days people like Stevie Williams (who was hardly a colossus in terms of physique) barely missed a game, even with people like Souness trying to kick him up hill and down dale at every opportunity. Something wrong these days. And before anyone says the game is much quicker nowadays, the one-touch football of the Lawrie Mac era was pretty quick. Much quicker than the dross the current clown of a manager orchestrates.

The 60’s and 70’s were far from easy, I agree, and the reminder of having no heating in the house still makes me shudder. My old man installed central heating himself in 1983, borrowed a book from Hythe library on how to do it. Imagine that now? I think this myth about pensioners having it so good in their early years is being perpetuated by social media, and even my own kids here in Finland think I am telling stories when I tell them I lived in a caravan until 5. It’s ancient history for them, and history can be distorted. I am 9 years off retirement and me and my mates grew up in Hythe with naff all, and what really upsets me about Paxman’s comments - apart from the obvious proposed disenfranchisement of a whole generation - is that some of us made good, not through everything being laid on a plate, but through hard graft and taking risks. One was in bomb disposal and is now a top security adviser on land mines to the UN, another rose from being an HVAC engineer to Leader of Bournemouth Council at one time. At 18 they only possessed the donkey jacket an jeans they stood up in. Having said that, the current housing policy - and methods of construction - are putting the cost of housing out of many young people’s reach.

I find it rather strange that many youngsters think all old people had free university education, were employed in lucrative jobs, own 2nd homes, and have final salary pension schemes. My parents, who are in their 80’s, have benefited from none of the above and I suspect the majority may be in a similar situation. I am of the next generation, left school in 1980, and only one of mates went to university. The big difference between then and now is that it was easier to get on the housing ladder, although there were risks with very high interest rates - many people lost their houses in 89/90. Blame the various consecutive governments for their short-sighted housing policies, not pensioners.

Tbf, I did start by saying the UK as a whole is one of the most densely populated countries which is true. It would be nice to know how England alone compares to the Netherlands. Check out the growth in population in the 25 years between 1967 and Maastricht in 1992, which is negligible, and then compare the growth between 1992 and 2017. This huge rate of increase cannot solely be down to people living longer, although for sure that is one factor. The government needs to come up with a different housing policy because many people now live alone, small properties are being snapped up by investors, and the pace of private development cannot keep up with demand. Hence the extortionate cost of housing and why the young are finding it difficult to get on the ladder.

A good read, thanks for that.

I think this is a very good point. I guess we'll know more when Ralph presents his "Five fingers of Fudge." Or has he done that already and I've missed it?