chuz

Its a decent recipe that one. The important thing being not to add sugar until you tasted the finished product and found out how much you need to add... Lots of people brew with the sugar it which in my view is a mistake as it doesn't need much, if any

Insane year for Sloes this year. We were picking ripe ones at the end of August. Still plenty around near us but with 3 litres of Slow Gin now brewing not sure how much more we can make... Anyone else experienced this bumper harvest?

The point is surely that, of those we signed that were first choices at other clubs, only one (Long) was a playing in the same division as us at the time...and we paid a significant premium to procure him. My issue is not necessarily that we sell players - we always have - it is that too many players have been sold to competitors in the same league. I accept that you cannot stop players wanting to go to Manchester United or City but it is pretty unprecedented for a club to sell five players over the course of three summers to one club in the same division. Still it has not worked out too badly so far I guess. I would be much happier to sell VVD to PSG, Barca or Real than United, City or Chelsea.

La Pindea might be an option depending on how much you want to spend. Long way from Madrid mind...

The one that does my head in is when a team "sets their stall out". I can just see Luis Van Gaal's millionaires neatly laying their tables in order to ensure early dominance of possession...

Good for you mate. These pop stars don't know they are born. That Nick Kershaw pushed in front of me at the Costa queue this morning and got a right good ear bashing for his troubles

Spending the next two days at Gleneagles - got lucky in the ballot!

I don't know what the take up is with the exec boxes but I do know that as a business we used to spend some money with Saints every year. Not huge amounts but significant enough (hospitality, the odd exec box, sponsorship of players etc). When we got promoted to the Premier League I got a call from someone in the Saints marketing/sponsorship department to tell me that everything was changing now we were a Premier League club and that he would be calling me back in a month or so to offer a bespoke package for the coming season. I never received a follow up call. Now, like I say we were not spending huge amounts as a business but it was five figures. In player wages terms it is a drop in the ocean but since then the business has not spent any money at all with the club, despite being happy to do so in the past and future. We just don't get called any more to see if we want to spend...

I don't know what the take up is with the exec boxes but I do know that as a business we used to spend some money with Saints every year. Not huge amounts but significant enough (hospitality, the odd exec box, sponsorship of players etc). When we got promoted to the Premier League I got a call from someone in the Saints marketing/sponsorship department to tell me that everything was changing now we were a Premier League club and that he would be calling me back in a month or so to offer a bespoke package for the coming season. I never received a follow up call. Now, like I say we were not spending huge amounts as a business but it was five figures. In player wages terms it is a drop in the ocean but since then the business has not spent any money at all with the club, despite being happy to do so in the past and future. We just don't get called any more to see if we want to spend...

http://uokhun.tumblr.com/

Avoid week commencing 25th Feb. Mobile World Congress is on and there will be around 60,000 mobile phone people in the City. Flights and hotels massively expensive and more pick pockets than usual. Oh and Samsung adverts everywhere...

Sorry, did not see this question..I was getting around 40mpg off the 1.9TDI. It was also one of the most efficient cars to have as a company car. Don't have it anymore because I run my own business now but seriously thinking about getting another one...

I had a 9-3 diesel as a company car from 2006-7. Very comfy and most popular car I have had for some time with the family. Only two issues with it 1. As Hutch says above, there is a good second or so delay after putting your toe down till anything happens on the turbo. When it does, it really does. Takes a bit of getting used to but you master it after a while. 2. I lost 4 tyres to blow outs over 12 months. Any pot hole seemed to kill a tyre. I thought it must just be me but another driver that I spoke to had the same problem. Other than that, never had a problem...

Why England Lose - Simon Kupar All Played Out - Pete Davies : best book about foorball I have read

Exactly. There may be several reasons why the owners wish to lend a club money rather than give it. The inter company loan, for example, may reduce a tax burden within another company. Abramovich started by loaning Chelsea money which was then partly converted into share equity http://www.soccerticketsonline.com/chelsea-lost-66-million-last-year/ Regarding the wage bill, 12.3 million equates to around £400,000 per player in a 30 man squad, assuming the club only employs players (which we know it does not). If we guess that £1.5 million of this figure goes to other employees (a total guess) we are left with a player salary bill (including tax and NI) of around £10.8 million in the year in question. This works out at an average of £360,000 per player (assuming 30 player squads) or around £7k per week per player. This does not overly surprise me but then five years ago I knew a League One player coming to the end of his career, playing for a very unfashionable team who was on £5k per week. And this was not a star striker, it was an average journeyman right back...

I lived in Exeter for 8 years. If you are looking to rent a flat, look at the Richmond Road/St David's Hill area, or on the Quay, where there are lots of flats and plenty of young people. Alternatively, Exwick is a kind of family area/2-3 bed houses IIRC. The only bits of Exeter to avoid really are some of the suburbs outside teh main town. The good bit about Exeter is you can (or could when I was there) get reasonable living space very close to the City centre, which means you can walk everywhere. The place is really hilly but actually a really nice City with plenty of stuff to do - certainly enough to keep you occupied for two years. The nightlife is poor compared to some placed but it is (or was) a very safe town. If you can, get yourself friendly with the Guild of Students and blag your way into the Uni - lots of good bands, excellent nightclubs and 18-23 year olds on tap. The town nightlife is more pub than club based, but there are a couple of nightclubs on the quay. It depends what you want. Overall you could do worse than living in Exeter for a couple of years. The first 3 months are very weird but you soon find your feet. PM me if you want more specific details.

If you are looking at a mobile broadband dongle, bear in mind the hideous cost. I had an O2 dongle and it cost me more than £480 for 4 days in Spain. This was with a bolt-on. Have now moved to Vodafone. As long as you are on another Vodafone network (SFR in France) they will cap your usage at £8.50 per day plus VAT for 50 MB - enough for what you need. Every additional 50 MB is another £8.50. The other option is to go onto ebay, buy an unlocked dongle (should cost you around £30) and then go into a mobile shop in France (Carphone have lots of shops there called "The Phone House"), get the best local top up SIM deal you can on data and use that. As long as the dongle is unlocked, it will work fine. PS From 1st July there are new EU rules on roaming which cap the cost.

Thanks so much for your help. We will be there at 11.30!

Hiya My boy wants to get some player autographs before the game on saturday. Can anyone help me with what time we will need to be at the ground. Are the players open to signing before the game? Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks

Is the whole gamde being repeated on SKY at all?

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Who would be your choice Dalek?

I know it is all about opinions, but I don't. Particularly I know he has only been in England for a year but he should know what is required to get out of League One. Most managers seems to talk about watching football whenever they can but he comes across like it is a bit of a chore. Also Scouts are going to games? Good - that is what they are paid for! I suspect it is a bit of a time filler for the OS and I am probably reading too much into it but it did not fill me with confidence about his knowledge of players and teams in league 1...

He is a lovely guy. Totally genuine and committed to Saints. Always mentions his support for Saints when doing interviews etc. Four season tickets I believe... Now working at Rothschilds as a VP...