hutch

He said exactly the same last year. Works for me.

I was looking at the de Graafschap webpage, as you do, and noticed that they've got a player there called Robin Propper. HCDAJFT

I see Neil Shipperley's done a video preview of the season over on the SSN website

It was written by a footballer, though, not a journalist.

I think it was the vacancy at Left Brest that turned him. Anyway we like Latvians here don't we? Didn't we used to have one?

The printed schedules over here show that Liverpool game, but when I checked the on-screen programme guide last night it's got the Saints game listed, so maybe some of the satellite companies have changed their minds at the last minute.

Guernsey is not a member of the EU

For those convinced that they are going to compete in the league this season, I just read this: Neville Dalton on Pompey's prospects this season. I particularly liked the intro. Neville Dalton is a journalist and a Portsmouth fan of more than 40 years. Ever since Pompey were bought for the umpteenth time in the past half a dozen years, I’ve been looking forward to writing about the season ahead unfettered by the misery that so marred our most recent close-seasons. No more massive debts hanging over us; everybody paid; a level playing field; a decent-sized squad, with room for sensible – and careful – augmentation where necessary. Oh, and a proper pre-season, carefully planned and controlled by a manager no longer constrained by the physical and metaphorical chains that have held us down for what seems for ever. I’m still looking forward to writing such a piece....

my registered e-mail address is .........@btinternet.com

I'm sure I read a few days ago that Stevie was just waiting for Villas-Boas to get back to sort out his loans for the season

That was how it was done for the WC tickets here in SA last year, except that the machines which printed the tickets weren't at the grounds, they were in temporary FIFA shops set up in shopping centres a couple of months before the tournament. Seemed to work pretty well, I just nipped in when I was in the shopping centre anyway, stuck my credit card in and out popped the printed tickets.

Over here in SA we have to pay for plastic bags at the supermarket. It was introduced for "environmental reasons" about 3 years ago. In all that time I haven't seen 1 person bring their old used bags to the shop. We still pay for them & stick them in the bin, like everybody else. Probably not a true tax, though, because I think the supermarket keeps the money. I think they're about 1p each. On a decent weekend shop, that's about 10p on £150

He can sign after he's had his breakfast

It does do a pretty good job playing video content from Saints Player in full screen over WiFi. I'm sure Mrs. H will find that most helpful

Reduce our capacity to 22.5k and I think we would too

Not questioning your opinion, but I do question this. Leicester? Birmingham? Nope Leeds? Yep Middlesbrough? West Ham? Maybe From my 40+ years supporting Saints, in the "big club" stakes I'd put us below Leeds, on par with Forest, Derby, West Ham and Boro, and bigger than the rest, including Leicester & Birmingham.

If the decision is close, always plump for the extra motivation that a player playing against his old club will have. Harding has already scored twice against Leeds since he left them. Not bad for a full back

Are they servicing the refunds, or are they actually giving people their money back?

No, but apparently they've been serviced, so that's all OK then.

i thought we learned from that lot down the road that The Bank of Premier League now offered a special deal on advancing parachute payments if you're a bit short, so it would seem that there's no reason to go into admin if your only problem is short-term cash flow until your owners assets thaw out. Unless, of course, you wanted to go into admin for other reasons.

You also get live score updates from all the other games being played, and a live league table during the matches.

I have the unenviable task of lowering the coffin of one of our "adopted" babies into her grave on Friday. She was 2½ months old. I won't take my measuring tape with me.

Agreed, but I'm a big Patti fan anyway. Her Gloria is by far the best IMO. Also, rummaging in Mrs. H's iTunes the other day I came across a version of Purple Rain by Leanne Rimes. Very good.

Does anybody have one of these? Mrs. H has just got one to go with her Blackberry, and handed it to me to set it up. It seems like a bit of a mission. She already has a newish very portable laptop with WiFi & 3G onboard, a Blackberry and an iPhone. What do you get from a playbook that you don't already get from one of these?

A couple of anecdotes of what can go wrong, from my own experience: 1. Flying from Johannesburg to London via Addis Ababa, with a 3 day stopover on business in Addis, they checked my luggage all the way to Heathrow. It took me 2 days to get my hands on my suitcase in Addis. 2. Flying from Johannesburg to Marsa Alam (Egypt) via Cairo. Collected my luggage in the domestic hall after the local flight from Cairo to Marsa Alam, met the driver, loaded the luggage and set off. We were stopped by the security police at the airport perimeter gate and sent back to the terminal, where I was marched to the international arrivals hall with my luggage and thoroughly searched by some miserable looking thugs.