cambsaint

I only get to a few away games, and I am surprised at the number of middle aged and over fans. When I was in my teens and twenties, I went home with a sore hoarse throat from every game, Now I'm nearly seventy I may sing the odd verse of OWTSGMI, for old times sake, I'm certainly not going to sing anything else, most especially the "Shoot the Pompey Scum" song, which is Ok a couple of times as a joke, but is pathetic (imo) whe nsung over and over again. I did rather like the "Is this a library?" sung at Arsenal last year though. That showed some wit, but I don't know who originated it. When I was young it cost 5-10 shillings (25 to 50p) to watch a game, and it was a game anybody could afford to watch. Now when the cost of watching a game, transport and a drink and a snack is about £50 each,it is hardly surprising that those with the disposable income to attend don't want to sing.

The twice I've seen Ramirez on as a sub this season, he has contributed some excellent passes. Quite why he doesn't get on when the team obviously lack any imagination or success as against Stoke, is beyond me. He couldn't have done much worse than the rest anyway.

If I was sent a similar letter and I was completely innocent of any untoward activity, then I would respond with a very strongly worded letter to the Chairman protesting that such a letter without any evidence is tantamount to defamation of character and demand a written apology.

Nine points would be an excellent and feasible return. 8 would be acceptable, anything less not, anything 10 or above would be excellent. Spurs will play a very high pressing game and Mane, Tadic and Pelle are very good at scoring on breakaway, so a point or a win isn't too optimistic. I'm sure we will be working on soaking up pressure and breakaways before we meet the three top teams.

Too late for this year but I'd love to be able to buy one by mail order for next year. I'd happily give a tenner inc postage.

The goalkeeper is an intregral part of the team and defence and in a sound defence the shots he has to save should be very difficult to save. Sunderland's goalkeeper yesterday would have amazing stats but they still lost, so apart from the fact that he prevented a thrashing it makes no difference. A lot that a goalkeeper does can only really be measured by the team and the management; organising the defence, distribution and giving players confidence to pass back and many more. Their positioning can also prevent a lot of shots, if the striker doesn't think he can score he is more likely to pass. I remember reading a very good striker once said of playing Saints many years ago: " you get through their defence and then you see Shilton in front of you and you still realise you've got a lot to do", I paraphrase as it was many years ago, (the unexpurgated version probably contained many expletives). A good goalkeeper also has a subliminal effect on opposing strikers. Raw statistics aren't a particularly good guide. A good goalkeeper can just be a good shot-stopper, but a very good or great goalie is a great deal more.

When I played rugby, the captain and the captain alone could politely request the referee to explain a decision. Personally I think that any player other than the captain or offender trying to influence the referee should be immediately yellow carded, and if the captain or offender is aggressive or abusive (I don't mean using the f word as an illiterate descriptor btw) they should be yellow or red carded. I also think that when the game has stopped technology can be used, each manager having one appeal each half, and the referee can be allowed to review any incident as long as play has stopped. It's a difficult area, but if we get decent administration in UEFA and FIFA- probably hoping for too much in the latter, then headway can be made. The current situation that a weak little bit of retaliation leads to an instant red, but a number of players surrounding and haranguing the referee isn't punished is ludicrous.

I still think that he is a very talented player, and it is an unacceptable waste he can get the best out of him. I think there is plenty to come. It's not his fault the club paid too much for him and pays him a huge salary, of money not to see if his talents can be utilised to the benefit of the team. I'm sure RK with his Dutch background appreciates skilful players, and I hopethat was a decision of the club, and any of us would love to be in that position, so emotions cannot cloud rational decisions, and those are RK's to make.

Although one of the two Manchester clubs must be favourite to win, as long as we avoid one of them we have a great chance of reaching the finals. I really hope RK gives it a real go. The final against Forest was a great experience, I watched it with my late father. He bought us a great fillet steak lunch in Harrow, and he had just bought his first automatic Audi and I almost put him through the windscreen when I automatically went to use the clutch in Wembley car park! Heart permitting I would love to be at next years final with my son. Football finals are about fond memories almost as much as the result.

Has he been given a proper chance. I personally hope that RK gives him a few starts as I think he is probably amongst our most skilful players.

I cannot see why people think that footballers should be loyal to one employer all their very short working lives. Would they think they should stay with an employer they didn't like, or if their boss changed for the sake of loyalty. The only time I ever didn't do what was best for myself probably cost me a small fortune and I was royally shafted a few months later. There is only one consideration with employment and that is what you consider best for you and your family. I still like Lallana, and can quite understand why having been at Saints since he was a boy, he wanted to play at another club before he was too old. Personally I'd have him back like a shot (at the right price of course)

An entertaining match, as I am recovering from a few days in hospital with heart problems, I made sure I didn't get too worked up. I thought Mane and Pelle both had quiet days, VVD was excellent as was Bertrand. Unfortunately Ward-Prowse was muscled out when he came on. I saw Ramirez at MK, and today, and he was excellent in both games. He also is tall, which caused problems today. I hope he starts in place of Mane on his suspicion. his sending off was stupid, but I wonder whether he had lost it after being continually fouled, he certainly didn't get any protection at all from that ref, neither did any other Saint, but the slightest touch on a Liverpool player seemed to be called. Benteke's header was worthy of the great Ron Davies. All in all a fair result and a very good point for Saints.

I was working in Stoke at the time we signed Kevin Keegan, and I was a supplier to Stoke City FC (complimentary tickets every home match and League cup final tickets). Everybody was amazed when the news broke and extremely jealous. Probably our best ever signing, the other two being Ron Davies and Alan Ball. We signed Charlie George at approx the same time as Peter Osgood, unfortunately his knees had gone, but they could provide sublime moments of skill, I'm sure I remember them passing to each other wing to wing all the way up the field once, making the opposition look clueless.

One of the few things I agree with Nigel Farage about is that the German car manufacturers will never allow any rules that make their cars unfavourable.# The UK is a huge market for them, and other German consumer goods-Bosch etc. So we will get a good trade agreement. I read that our diplomats have given up on any hopes of being able to stop free movement of labour, mainly because the smaller new Eastern European nations will veto any such agreement. If I find it intolerable that the rules on who can enter the UK are effectively governed by Poland, Hungary etc, and I am reasonably liberal on this subject, then I am sure that a large majority of the electorate will agree. I am fairly certain that the result of the referendum will be decided by immigration in the end, and I expect us to leave unless the virtual certainty of a NO vote changes the views of Europe on this subject.

After Saints had virtually said they would no longer negotiate with Levy, one wonders where this is coming from. Is it from Wanyama's agent trying to pressurise Saints, which is likely to make them dig their heels in and may well be counterproductive, or is it Spuds getting their ar*e licking London based journo's to try to unsettle things. It makes you wonder what the attraction of playing at Milton Keynes for a couple of seasons is, unless they are offering much higher wages than we would ever pay. I just hope that if a deal is done with the appalling Levy, who appears to be blacklisted by a number of other teams, that it is an all upfront cash deal or nothing at our valuation.

Regarding the corner incident, I think he wanted to show the viewers just how stupid and poor sighted the Chelsea fans were. It made me laugh at the stupid tw*ts going berserk over nothing. I think the standard of refereeing is pretty good overall. My wife always laughs at me when I call the ref incompetent, blind, bent or a cheat, and says ypu always say that. Seriously though the game is now so fast that it is an incredibly difficult job especially with the amount of cheating that goes on.it's very easy to come to a different conclusion with several camera angles, slo-mo and super slo-mo. Even then it frequently comes down to a matter of opinion and I often think the so called pundits are wrong. I think that we could experiment on the lines of cricket and allow managers say two appeals per half, after the game has stopped and allow the ref to request replays on the big screen for penalties, cards, and goals. Whether these should be in slow-motion or in real time could be a matter of opinion. It wouldn't matter if the appeal was upheld or not each manager would only have two appeals per half to discourage minor appeals. The only problem being that refs may come to depend on the appeals rather as they have in cricket. Certainly wouldn't want to see the endless slo-mos you often see in Rugby. What I would like to see is only the captain allowed to politely query a decision, and any other player being booked if they approached the referee, and to make asking for a card an automatic red-card offence. I remember many years ago I used to ref in inter-faculty matches. often at this level if I let things go, and was queried I just used to ask the captains if they wanted me to blow for every minor offence rather than play advantage, and warn them that if I did the match would probably last three hours. They usually got the point! It was very difficult even at that level, if I were young again I would consider having a go at refereeing because I love the game but was never very good at it. Only problem was that when I was young I tried never to miss a home game and loved watching top class games.

Hope they get him on 8 out of 10 cats do countdown. A must for Rachel Riley watchers, and even an oldie like me loves it. And its on at ten pm

Cambridge United, for obvious reasons, although I hardly ever go now but was a regular when my son followed them, but I managed to persuade him that Saints were far better! I'd go to see them play p*****, but fortunately last year I had something else on and missed a Utd loss. The thought of paying to watch Utd lose to *** is awful. I'll never forget when four of us found ourselves in Shrewsbury in about 1975/6 and saw a fixture list in the pub saying that P**** were playing. We went along and watched Shrewsbury thrash them, A great day out as it was a bonus to our reason to being there!

While I agree that the chant was pathetic, the game had become utterly pointless by that time, and I suppose a kind of mass hysteria sets in. We actually left five minutes early to avoid the worst of the traffic. I was surprised that so many home supporters stayed to the end. Remember that many of this kind of things are only funny to those involved. Certainly not worth a thread.

On the basis of what I saw last night, I think it's entirely possible. He looked very composed on the ball last night and provided one superb pass and several other good ones. On the basis of last night you would pick him over Juanmi every time. At 24 he could yet mature into an excellent player.

Just got back. What a farce-a total mismatch MKD were pathetic, Saints bossed the match from the beginning. My son and I agreed that we could never have imagined watching a 6-0 thrashing completely unexciting and boring. Saints played well, Mane looked a different class to everyone else, Rodriguez took his goals well and it must have been the perfect way to get match fit, Long scored a couple. Ramirez showed some very classy touches and one superb pass, Van Dijk looked very comfortable on the ball and has an excellent touch. Not too much to take away from a walkover though, ten to twelve wouldn't have flattered Saints Impressive stadium, no atmosphere but not even half full. I've never felt such a sense of anti-climax after such a good Saints win.

Norwich home is virtually if not completely sold out by seasons. It's a very pleasant City and the North Norfolk Coast is very beautiful as are the Broads. Isolated from the rest of England though, 60 miles to Cambridge, and Peterboghorror, and a fair way to Ipswich. Communications much improved recently by the dualling of A11 through Thetford Forest. In Medieval times it was the second City of England, immensely rich and second most populous due to Wool Trade, which accounts for the magnificence of many the village Churches round there. (In those days the mega-rich didn't buy a Ferrari to show off their wealth they built a better church than their neighbour.). Excellent Uni, and culture, and a very picturesque city which by and large avoided the attention of the Luftwaffe leaving a lot standing. Road system the easiest to get lost in in England Imo-a nightmare. There is a saying-"Narrmal furr Narrfolk" -which is an insult referring to the inbreeding that occurred in such an isolated area..

Money may stop them going to clubs like Liverpool Spurs Everton and the like. It would of course have a knock on effect through entire squad, and we would have to be able to afford higher wages across squad. Elite clubs -don't bother just agree to sell at a time convenient to us so it doesn't wreck plans and get as much as loot as poss.

I had a Toyota Celica GT4 (a la Carlos Sainz) in the early nineties-what a car- only a Mini-Cooper in the early 70s compares. A real Jekyll and Hyde car, driven sensibly it was a lazy comfortable 2L, foot down and turbo cutting in-Wow, the number of fancy Mercs and BMWs that discovered they were slower than they thought was amazing. The first time somebody wanted a traffic lights drag, I was doing over 40 at the other side of the junction while their wheels were still spinning. That was a long time ago of course -early nineties. I'm twenty-five tears older and hopefully a lot wiser and much more sensible now (I actually obey speed limits) and you wouldn't dare do the speeds through France that my son and I did one holiday. Still can't really believe how quickly we got from Nantes to Paris. However it would probably seem slow now. The biggest joke was that it was an 18 month old ex motability car- how you could be disabled and get in and out and drive one of those things beggars belief.