amsterdam

4 "Luckies", 2 extra-strong espresso's and occasionally Oxo on toast... Love the Full English, but bacon and sausages here are not the same as back home. Farley's Rusks are a great shout - they still make them?

Agree totally; NC comes from a financial background where any reports released are clear and unambiguous; if someone leaves a board of directors "due to mutual agreement" the media/shareholders don't generally: a) start rumours that the departing director was sh*gging everything in sight; b) assume the chairman is a c**t c) compare the chairman to Hitler/Mussolini/Pol Pot d) get all the director's pals and ex-company staff moaning to the national media that the chairman doesn't understand football I think NC is just trying to run SFC as a "professional" business; I know footie is a unique industry in many ways, but I can't fault NC for giving it a try. Much prefer his approach than than the (allegedly) shambolic, dodgy-dealing of certain other clubs/individuals.

Fair do's!! I'll mention it next time I talk to him and pass back his reaction (not seen the series myself)! But your logic is still skewed - (extreme examples) would we reject Mourinho because he has a similar accent to Salazar? Or Fabio Capello because he sounds like Benito Mussolini (granted, he could get the trains to run on time, though)? I too would be underwhelmed with Phil Brown, but not because of his accent! Whay-aye, pet; I'm ganning doon the Scotswood Road etc !

Indeed, he talks with a Newcastle accent (like Robson Green). But Rob is a family friend and I've always found him (Rob) to be a very modest and charming man - I'll pass on your concerns to him if you have any examples of him being a ****; I'm sure he would be quite upset that he came across like that.

I think you're right. Also I don't think it really matters (from a fan POV) who is appointed; we'll end up with the usual Pareto reaction - 10% of posters will be under-whelmed, 10% will be delighted, and 80% will "wait to see what happens".

At this stage I think they are just canvassing opinion... Which camp are you in?

When I lived in Switzerland I supported (behind Saints) Lausanne Sport - 0-0 vs Derry in a UEFA qualifier was my son's first game. They were awful and went bankrupt a few years ago. I have a soft spot for Utrecht (my nearest team aside from Ajax). They are like Saints used to be; rabid support, quaint (i.e. crap) ground, and the occasional good player (sold on). They've done well this season, however and are in the same CL group as Liverpool (Dirk Kuyt made his name at Utrecht so will be a good game to go to). I'm moving to Kenya soon, so will have to come up with another team, AFC Leopards have a cool name, but are the Man U of Kenya, so may opt for Tusker FC, named after the best beer in the region....

Load of bolognaise, if you ask me...

Genius - well done Whitey Grandad! But still, Dalek, I have this image of you as some kind of Norman Bates/Stephen King Nightmare Character (do you have a full sized-GH mannequin in a rocking-chair in your bed-sit (possibly dressed in an England replica kit from the 1980's)? "Oh yes, my precious, ONE day they will laugh no more, mwahahahaha!"). I think your "voice in the wilderness" in this case may one day the "voice in the padded cell"! When I was a kid growing up in the 70's, there would occasionally appear on the news a discovery of some poor Japanese bloke who'd survived on a remote Pacific Island who'd not been told that the war was over, and had continued believing that he was fighting for the cause long after the world had moved on... The heart-warming part of this was that when the soldier had the "real world" situation explained to him, the look on his face was generally one of joy and relief - I really hope you find that eventually, Dalek!! I don't mean to offend - I'm sure you're a charming and erudite individual, Dalek, and I mean no disrespect to anyone who suffered in WW2; but really!

Should this thread not be in TMS? (Maybe the regular posters on there would reject it as being too farcical)?! Thanks though, Dalek, for giving me a genuine laugh today amid all the "I told you so's" and the "We are doomed's" and "The Cortese is a ****'s" - you are a shining beacon of consistency and unerring self-belief and I salute you sir!

I thought that too... Also we have given out a lot of stick to "The Franchise" in the past, but I checked a couple of their forums and they seem a respectful bunch... Not wishing to start a love-in, but fair play to them and hope they get a good (and appreciative) reception when we get round to playing them...

Hmmmm.... Define "trained"...! Seriously - good luck to all those getting their results today; if you're off to Uni, then have a great 3 to 4 years; I had a great time at Newcastle (after bumming off to Paris for a year, busking) and don't regret it for an instant. To those who didn't get the grades - don't worry - do your re-sits and pay more attention this time round - you can do it! And those who decide that Uni is NOT for them, them good luck too! You are all my Saint's brothers and sisters and if our path's cross at some point in life, know that you will always have the edge over a fish fiddler from the other end of the M27!!

Keegan signing - my Nan worked at the Potter's Heron and brought back a signed (paper!) napkin from him - wasn't really into footie in those days so didn't appreciate the significance... April 27th 2001 - got married; more importantly, Saints beat Liverpool 3-1 and my best man (a Scouse fanatic) grinning through gritted teeth as I got the band to play "OWTS" for the 100th time... 6-3 vs United - listening to the radio in the car in the Sainsbury's car park on Purley Way in Croydon in joyous disbelief; refused to go shopping until the final whistle. Shamefully burst into tears listening to the radio with MLT getting the last goal at Dell... Surprised at my sense of loss when reading on this site that Marcus had passed away - like losing family...

"Child 44" is a good read (though as a cat lover I found the first couple of chapters a bit tasteless - though probably historically accurate). "Archangel" by Robert Harris has a similar "atmosphere"; his books "Fatherland" and "Enigma" are also good, but I found his recent one, "Pompeii", a bit disappointing. In the "alternative histories" category, one of my favorites is Stephen Fry's "Making History" - the love story sub-plot is so-so, but the general theme of "What would happen if we could make sure Hitler never lived" is very thought-provoking. I don't know if you were being sarcastic SiP (!) but there are a lot worse writers than Lee Child out there!! For a "switch your brain off and enjoy the ride"/type holiday book they are quite entertaining - "One Shot", "Bad Luck and Trouble" and "Persuader" are great! In similar vein, I recommend David Baldacci ("Split Second" and "Hour Game"), and an English equivalent, Simon Kernick ("Relentless" and "Severed"). The three Stieg Larssen books are great, and a bit off the wall to the normal thrillers - I must admit that it took me a while to get into the first one (Dragon Tattoo) because Larssen introduces so many characters early on who all have typically Swedish names and it took me a while to work out who was who (it reads like a Saints squad list from the late 1990's!) - all 3 of my books have been nicked by various visitors who have come to NL, which is a form of recommendation.. I'm currently re-reading Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything"; I've read it several times, but my scientific knowledge is limited so I always find something new in it! My eldest nipper has just "discovered" the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy so I might re-read that once he's finished it - it must be nearly 30 years since I first read it. I'm not sure there should be any "must-read" books, otherwise you end up like the Autodidact in Sartre's "Nausea", skimming through books and authors in alphabetical order, because you feel you SHOULD read them, rather than because you enjoy the process of reading, and it is such a matter of personal taste... Some "Classics" I particularly enjoyed (because of plot/writing style) are: "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoyevsky "Candide" by Voltaire "Diary of a Madman" by Gogol "A Farewell to Arms" by Hemingway "Metamorphosis" by Kafka Bit more modern: "Catch 22" by Heller "Portnoy's Complaint" by Roth "The World According to Garp" by Irving And of course, anything written by Gerald Durrell or P.G. Wodehouse.... HTH

"Statistical representativeness" depends on the homogeneity of the of the universe you are testing, not the sample size... However, I believe Puddings is right! One of the issues with using the forum as a guide to opinion is that it allows/encourages some (many?) posters to express views that are more extreme than they would normally have - e.g. a player can be either a "Donkey" or a "Genius"; very rarely something in between! There are also some posters who appear to love to argue (debate?) and thus will deliberately mis-read statements issued by the club, for example, simply to spark a heated discussion. Having said that, there is the "Wisdom Of The Crowd" theory (can't remember the author) where on "major" issues, MOST people would agree, and the forum could be regarded as representative - honouring Ted Bates, for example, or accepting that we "deserved" to punished for going into admin like we did (compare that to Pompey's response), moving from the Dell, etc.

Agree that "Addicted" is an interesting read, and I'm not one of Adams' greatest fans. As someone above said, Gazza's autobiography is interesting in the way that watching an inevitable car crash is "interesting" - how many times can a man b***ix his own life up before people around him say "enough - grow up"..? I've just re-read "The Beautiful Game?" by David Conn; maybe a bit heavy on the financial anecdotes for a light holiday read, and a little out of date - 2005? - but shows what a dodgy shambles the whole business is...

The French have got some good back-up, so i don't expect Morgan to get the call just yet.... Goalkeepers Sebastien Frey (Fiorentina), Mickael Landreau (Lille), Stephane Ruffier (Monaco), Olivier Sorin (Auxerre), Nicolas Douchez (Rennes). Defenders Philippe Mexes (Roma), Mickael Ciani (Bordeaux), Mamadou Sakho (PSG), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Rod Fanni (Rennes), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Lyon), Benoit Tremoulinas (Bordeaux), Mathieu Chalme (Bordeaux), Adil Rami (Lille), Julien Escude (Séville), Mathieu Debuchy (Lille), Aly Cissokho (Lyon), Christtophe Jallet (PSG), Francois Clerc (Lyon) Midfielders Rio Mavuba (Lille), Yohan Cabaye (Lille), Maxime Gonalons (Lyon), Yann Mvila (Rennes), Sylvain Marveaux (Rennes), Benoit Cheyrou (Marseille), Blaise Matuidi (St Etienne), Gael Kakuta (Chelsea), Karim Ait-Fana (Montpellier), Samir Nasri (Arsenal, pictured), Hatem Ben Arfa (Marseille), Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid), Benoit Pedretti (Auxerre), Moussa Sissoko (Toulouse) Forwards Karim Benzema (Real), Kevin Gameiro (Lorient), Loic Remy (Nice), Jimmy Briand (Lyon), Bafetimbi Gomis (Lyon), Guillaume Hoarau (PSG), Louis Saha (Everton)

The French have got some good back-up, so i don't expect Morgan to get the call just yet.... Goalkeepers Sebastien Frey (Fiorentina), Mickael Landreau (Lille), Stephane Ruffier (Monaco), Olivier Sorin (Auxerre), Nicolas Douchez (Rennes). Defenders Philippe Mexes (Roma), Mickael Ciani (Bordeaux), Mamadou Sakho (PSG), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Rod Fanni (Rennes), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Lyon), Benoit Tremoulinas (Bordeaux), Mathieu Chalme (Bordeaux), Adil Rami (Lille), Julien Escude (Séville), Mathieu Debuchy (Lille), Aly Cissokho (Lyon), Christtophe Jallet (PSG), Francois Clerc (Lyon) Midfielders Rio Mavuba (Lille), Yohan Cabaye (Lille), Maxime Gonalons (Lyon), Yann Mvila (Rennes), Sylvain Marveaux (Rennes), Benoit Cheyrou (Marseille), Blaise Matuidi (St Etienne), Gael Kakuta (Chelsea), Karim Ait-Fana (Montpellier), Samir Nasri (Arsenal, pictured), Hatem Ben Arfa (Marseille), Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid), Benoit Pedretti (Auxerre), Moussa Sissoko (Toulouse) Forwards Karim Benzema (Real), Kevin Gameiro (Lorient), Loic Remy (Nice), Jimmy Briand (Lyon), Bafetimbi Gomis (Lyon), Guillaume Hoarau (PSG), Louis Saha (Everton)

No CCTV there last night then? According to the news, the police had him surrounded (armed officers within 20 feet) then moved the media back "for their own safety"?? I'm not usually one for conspiracies, but Moat was never going to get out of this alive, loathsome though he may have been...

Just spat coffee over the keyboard, you b@gger!

I loved the interview with the officer in charge of this case this morning when asked why he had drafted in 14 elite snipers for this operation: "Oh, er, for protection..." I guess this Moat guy will be found to have (ahem) "turned the gun on himself"; surprised they didn't try that one on that De Mendez fella...

The other alternative is to stay further out e.g Schiphol, Haarlem and just travel in. The hotels in the centre are pretty grim unless you stump up for Krasnopalski or one of the business chains such as the Tulip Inns. I've also heard the Botel (a converted boat) up near Centraal Station is OK. For fun, avoid the Grasshopper and Teasers - I have never worked out why these are so popular with tourists - they will gouge into your holiday money very quickly; just round the corner in the red light district is Stones which is much more reasonable and plays great music. The Club Paradiso is still very popular especially on band nights and the Panama is just outside the centre and the fit local girls go there. Alternatively just go to one of the "hubs" Leidseplein or Rembrantsplein and there's no shortage of decent places to eat, drink and be merry! Succes!

This sums up my complete hatred of Thatcher. I'm happy to be called naive or simplistic, but in my opinion Public servants" are just that - servants of the public. I'm not a particularly big fan of Churchill either, but at least he displayed empathy and understanding of the general population; Thatcher just rode slipshod over general opinion and employed useless, corrupt t0ssers such as Cecil Parkinson to agree with her.

It means she was wearing some kind of dress pin near a street that had a lot of felines before she went to McD's and picked up a chicken lunch, I think. HTH

St Marco - I don't agree with conscription, but I do see where you are coming from - I lived in Switzerland for 5 years where there is still mandatory military service and I never heard one Swiss person complain about it). I think for us Brits (politically, we would NEVER re-introduce National Service) it's down to respect for tradition and understanding of history; but it IS a 2-way thing; us old codgers and parents have to give our yoof the time and education (and enthusiasm) to broaden their interest. I think Redondo Saint's idea is a good one - I guess I'm lucky to live here but my kids must be sick of visiting the Anne Frank Museum, Overloon and Westerbork to at least get a sense of the horror of war (which is not particularly well-portrayed in their PSP and Playstation games). I can understand that from our parent's perspective, WWII was still a bit raw, so most school trips were to things like the Science or Natural History Museums; but I think that now is the time we have more "interactive" trips to remember the brave... Lest we forget....