Kingsland Codger

The Long and Wnding Road - The Beatles

Lord Mawhinney has a small bit of room in which to manoeuvre. When we were given the minus 10 point penalty and he was describing the relationship between SLH and SFC, Lord Mawhinney made great play on the phrase the two "inextricably linked". If it can be proven the two entities are not "inextricably linked" then he would be wholly justified in saying things aren't as clear cut as he was initially led to believe. The word "inextricably" is so final that even the merest suggestion that SLC and SFC had some daylight between them would give good cause to re-consider.

Pleased to have been of help ... I hope you chose the correct final score in your bet.

I was at Ryde Esplanade station and saw the news on a placard by the newspaper kiosk. I remember it as clearly as I remember where I was when JFK was shot; whilst the events are hardly comparable they were nevertheless both momentous in their own way.

Thanks for that explaination, JustMike. Shame about the lack of common sense - but there we are. The fact that people had paid good money to watch 40 overs of cricket and were being deprived of over 25% of what they had paid for in advance presumably never entered into the equation. Instead of paying for 40 overs in advance, why not charge people per over and take the money off them as they leave the stadium. If the cost of a ticket is, say, £40 - make that £1 per over and so the crowd on Monday would only have paid £29. That would make the authorities sit up and think. Cricket isn't alone in showing a lack of common sense - I see the referee Howard Webb is in trouble in the Confederation Cup for awarding a penalty after taking advice from the fourth official who had seen a TV replay. This was the same Howard Webb who got into trouble when he awarded Manchester United a penalty when TV replays later showed there hadn't been an infringement. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/8102629.stm

Why was the West Indies innings restricted to just 9 overs? Yes, there had been a rain delay but the ground has floodlights, so why not just play on until their 20 overs were completed? Yes, the match might have finished an hour or so later but where's the harm in that? Fans worried about getting home? Then just leave when you think it appropriate to do so.

It varies between the Red Eagle, Red Osprey or the Red Falcon. Entrance fee is £6.60 but this also gets you two Solent crossings thrown in. Once on the North Island we go to The Platform Tavern although earlier in the year, when the ferry terminal was being refurbished, we went (only the once) to The London Hotel for a post-match pint. A taxi-driver told us it was a pub preferred by 1 in 5 of the male population - but we didn't spot any Chinese when we were there.

Try http://www.parkatmyhouse.com

From L to R: Graham Rowntree, Dai Young (with the ball), not sure of the number 11 but I'd say Tony Underwood, bald second row at the back is Nigel Redman, next to him is Tony Diprose and on the floor with the headband is Rob Wainwright.

An emphatic performance last night. Truly magnificent stuff - though I'm not sure whether the Golden Lions were simply dreadful or were made to look much poorer than they usually are by the glorious stuff the B&I Lions were treating us all to.

Good question ... it will be Eiger one or the other

Getting himself stabbed to death in Canterbury was always going to win him the sympathy vote.

I'm looking forward to approaching the ticket window at the station and asking the lady behind the counter ... "How much will you charge me to Oldham?"

The general view amongst the fans where I sit was there was still (plenty of) time to take the free-kick. However, you are wise to draw this to the attention of the authorities as the easy option for the ref and the FL is to say the pitch invasion caused the match to be finished early. They need to be told this wasn't the case. A firmer referee would have made it abundantly clear Saints has been awarded a free-kick and would have motioned to the physio to come on to attend to Wotton. Play would have resumed with either no invasion having taken place or being nipped in the bud. If the authorities require more letters to confirm this, I would gladly write one. Please PM me is this would be of any use.

I enjoyed the sentence towards the end ... "Harry Redknapp, who started the rot by guiding Southampton down from the Premier League four years ago ... " Good to see a footie journalist get something right

My point? I would have thought that was abundantly obvious; there is more to St George's Day than mere Englishness. What was your point?

If you explain to the PC Brigade you are celebrating the life of England's favourite Turk I'm sure they would be more tolerant.

Well said. At times like this one might consider the words of one of fiction's Great Philosophers ... It was a Very Windy Day, and Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet were walking in the Hundred Acre Wood. Piglet's ears streamed behind him like banners as he fought his way along. Being a rather anxious sort of animal, Piglet turned to Pooh and asked nervously, "Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?" After careful thought, Pooh, being somewhat wiser and less anxious, replied "Supposing it didn't" .

It's Mr Lowe's Orwellian-1984 style of writing history that baffles me. In his interview this morning, nothing happened before 2006. For Mr Lowe history began the moment he left the Club that year. Viewed this way, he is correct - as yorkiesaint says, he didn't run up the overdraft. But the problem began way before then. In 2004 we finished 12th in the Premiership with what then appeared to be a perfectly acceptable, young, up-and-coming manager, appointed by Mr Lowe, in charge. Mr Lowe - you were in charge from then until 2006 during which time we were relegated and then made no attempt at a promotion push. You need to explain these disastrous 2 years to us as well as the 2006-2008 period when you weren't around.

Of the many joyous things on display on Saturday, our defending 70 metres up the pitch was especially welcome. Saga, Euell and McGoldrick (and others) chased down the loose ball, blocked many Preston passes/clearances, kept them well away from the danger area and denied them any rhythm to their play. Tireless commitment and dogged determination; not the most glamourous of qualities but ever so necessary. It was reminiscent of the Beattie and Ormerod days.

Of the many joyous things on display on Saturday, our defending 70 metres up the pitch was especially welcome. Saga, Euell and McGoldrick (and others) chased down the loose ball, blocked many Preston passes/clearances, kept them well away from the danger area and denied them any rhythm to their play. Tireless commitment and dogged determination; not the most glamourous of qualities but ever so necessary. It was reminiscent of the Beattie and Ormerod days.

Harlequins

Whilst the article is reasonable enough it is hardly a piece of crisp insightful journalism. It hasn't told either the keen Saints fan nor the mildly interested neutral anything they didnt already know.

It's not so much his goals I remember (Watford apart) but the way he set them up for others. 1) Robbing the Portsmouth defender of the ball that allowed Marsden (I think) to cross to Beattie to score in the 2-0 League Cup win. 2) A midweek game at West Ham (Nov/Dec 2002?) - it was 0-0 with only a couple of minutes to go. Brett broke down the left wing, crossed to Beattie and both Beattie and the ball ended up in the net. 3) A home match against Leeds (Jan/Feb 2004?). Phillips hadn't scored for a while.The Leeds defenders had the ball and were passing it amongst themselves deep in their own half. Brett chases one down, the Leeds player passes, Brett chases again and again the defenders pass, Brett chases a third time and the Leeds defender, under pressure, passes it straight to Phillips who scored. I always felt sorry for him when we were 3-2 up against Charlton and Brett had scored two. Into stoppage time he got a break and was one-on-one with the Charlton keeper - who saved it, thus denying Brett a Premiership hat-trick. Happy days.

When someone is away on holiday is usually a good time to stage a palace coup.