The poster formerly known as ?

[quote user="jas the barclay king"][quote user="nutty nigel"] Some Saints fans actually believe that this whole Microsoft Saints deal is just a rumour circulated by their board in order to sell more season tickets!! Just hows you all football fans deeply distrust the people who own their clubs. In many cases they are right not to trust them. I trust our owners more than most but I''m just a trusting sort of person I guess. Like I put on the other thread, Southampton have been actively seeking investment for months. The Microsoft guy has been "in the frame" to be that investor for nearly a month now. It could happen, but if it really is that imminent why the haste in the sale of Bale?   [/quote] Great points NN. I doubt Microsoft would be interested in a football club.. and if they were they could have the pick of the premiership sides.. why Southampton? jas :) [/quote]   I''m pretty sure Microsoft have ploughed quite a bit of money into Aston Villa shares in the past.

[quote user="GazzaTCC"]Does this mean that you can only be a director of NCFC if you attend every single game then ?????[/quote]   GtCC I think you''re confusing Directors with "True Fans" there, and I think the distinction has already been implied in the original post

[quote user="Mello Yello"][quote user="Attack Barclay 2nd Half"][quote user="Mello Yello"] ......Drugs are for Duffers! [N] [/quote] Tea. Coffee. Chocolate. Tobacco (def ban that one) Alcohol...... Lot of ''duffers'' (?) out there [/quote] Since when has chocolate been a drug.......Smartie!   [/quote]   Chocolate contains approx 0.5-2.5% Theobromine an alkaloid similar to caffeine. Prince Charles once had a racehorse disqualified from winning a valuable race for failing a doping test. Turned out the stable lad had given the nag just one half of a mars bar one week before the race. Animals can''t metabolise Theobromine very quickly at all which is why you should never give a dog chocolate. Thought that would stop your snickering..........    

[quote user="Graeme Miles"]I don''t want to start an argument, but do we know for a fact that Worthy didn''t do these things, or is it just because PG seems to shout from the rooftops about everything?! Worthy always kept his cards close to his chest, I wonder if that worked against us sometimes. If PG is doing something new and refreshing to find talent (I admit I can''t imagine worthy scouting the non-leagues) then brilliant - as long as it brings the results![/quote] Well we do know for fact that Worthy didn''t do it as soon as the season ended don''t we? All that nonsense about waiting three months to save a few bob in wages cost us dear IMO. We missed the proverbial boat several times due to inaction, it''s nice to see Granty is prepared to go without a 12 week holiday in the sun in order to try and strengthen the team, there''s hope for this club yet!

[quote user="jas the barclay king"] it very diffciult to rig a sport event unless BOTH teams are in on it i reckon... it only takes 1 lack of concentration and the whole bet fails...   Say an Irish player Dropped a ball he was meant to catch.. or a Pakistan player mis hit a ball and it went for a 6 when he was meant to hit it for a risky 1..... theres so many different situations... jas :) [/quote] The Asian betting money is laid predominantly on side bets as opposed to the result of the match. In the same way that you can bet on correct scores, HT-FT, scorers, red cards, bookings, corners passes completed etc on football matches through the major bookies in the UK, so with cricket there are many variations of betting on which millions can change hands. Examples are spreadbetting on the number of catches dropped, the number of no balls or wides a particular bowler or team make, (very easily influencable by just one player) apart from the obvious spread bets on batting scores

[quote user="Safri15"]I would shift this to one of the other forums, but i''m sure not many people read them! If you had the chance to appear on Room 101, which 3 items would you want to dispose of? 1. Microsoft Windows I wouldn''t to dispose of it right away because everything would disappear! But I''d like to replace it with Linux as its stable and does what it''s told! Other than Windows NT and 98SE all of their operating systems have been a pile of poo. They crash far too easily, ignore user requests, and are generally unstable if you want to do anything other than word process! 2. French Cars For all of you the have got a french car I apologise, but they are crap. Honestly, what posesses people to buy them? Alright they shift a few stars in the NCAP but they are unreliable, have shocking engines, rubbish parts, and disgusting design. The peugeot 1007 has been modelled on a Hotpoint Fridge Freezer and the Renault Megane looks like its backside is too big for its body! And yet people still buy them! 3. Statistical Analysis Having just finished an 8000 word essay analysing statistics and formulas this has to go in room 101. [/quote]   1 If it weren''t for Windows how many people would even be reading this post? As someone who learned computers in the late 70''s early 80''s, believe me, learn to love Windows, embrace it. Linux is like a step back in time to early 1990''s Win 3.1, it has potential but still needs too much work to be viable for most users. It always surprises me that Linux lovers always slate the instability of Windows as a major factor. Fact Win pre 98SE, and Millenium were unstable. NT4 + up to and including XP are extremely stable even when pressed, and keeping a machine healthy should be no problem at all for anyone with enough PC knowledge to be capable of using a Linux based OS so why do they have all these stability problems? Sorry can''t allow Windows into room 101.   2) French cars Renault 18 one of the best cars ever made. Renault 5 Gordini, red seat job, the original hot hatch (not the Golf GTI as the myth says), renault espace, comfortable for family of 5, allows for extra two passengers on top of these five, a family can have a picnic in one whatever the weather with their tables and captains chairs, remove the rear seats it''s a van which you can forklift a euro pallet into. Try it if you dont believe me.All great cars I have owned, the cylindrical cylinder system has proven to be one of the best engines ever designed.  Unfortunately all new Renaults now look like a blurred photo of them travelling at speed and Citroen just dont make interesting or particularly good cars, neither is there a mainstream French Supercar Company so into room 101 for french cars.   3 Statistical Analysis. : A brief lesson. 100% of statistics are manipulated to produce the result the person commisioning the statistics wants. (This is the only true statistic) It''s that simple, and in 7985 words fewer than your analysis. Into the room with stats.        

Was it Louie Donowa I saw pop one past Peter Shilton from the better part of 40 yards? Probably the best goal I ever saw, but the greatest IMO was Bruces header in the Milk Cup semi final, not the best by any means but nothing before or since has meant so much to me with the possible exception of Iueans at Cardiff.. (Brucie won a flesh coloured Fiat Strada for that goal, my how times have changed in football)!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_bromwich_albion/6418171.stm   Says a lot really. Championship Player of the Year - Jason Koumas (West Brom) League One Player of the Year - Billy Sharp (Scunthorpe) League Two Player of the Year - Izale McLeod (MK Dons) The Football League Young Player of the Year - Gareth Bale (Southampton) Championship Apprentice Award - Chris Gunter (Cardiff) League One Apprentice - Joe Skarz (Huddersfield) League Two Apprentice - Joe Thompson (Rochdale) Goal of the Year - Joe Ledley (Barnsley v Cardiff, 5 Aug 2006) Community Club of the Year - Brighton Best Community Initiative - Norwich City Best Club Sponsorship - Brentford Best Club Marketing Campaign - Norwich City Best Matchday Programme - Colchester United Best Use of New Media - Cardiff City Best Kit Design - Burnley (away kit) Best Away Ground - Stadium of Light (Sunderland) Fan of the Year - Stan McGowen (Bury) Contribution to League Football - Jack Taylor Good Sport Award - Chris Doig (Northampton)

[quote user="jas the barclay king"][quote user="Citizen Journalist Foghorn"] [quote user="Westminster Canary"]Remind me, just how successful was a strategy of "spend, spend, spend" for Birmingham the last time they were in the Premier League?[/quote] well, they got promoted in 2001/2002 so it got ''em 4 years of top flight football. [/quote] and a league cup final Vs Liverpool. jas :) [/quote] With enough in reserve to bounce them straight back up to the Prem first season so make that a bare minimum of all the above plus at least one years Prem money in the first mega payout year and two more years of para payments.   Guess the short answer is.   Approx £150,000,000 of success! 4 years in Prem @ £20,000,00 pa = 80,000,000 1 year para payments @ £8,000,000pa = £8,000,000 minimum 1 year in Prem 2007-2008 @ £40,000,000 pa = £40,000,000 two years para payments @ £9,000,000 = £18,000,000   Still unlike us they haven''t got any "Prudence" so the jokes on them eh?    

[quote user="Joe4Ncfc"]   But surely something to do with coldplay and chris martin has got to catch on! [/quote]   That''d be the first time then. The most memorable thing about that bland drip of a guy is his daughters silly name and oh yeah when he feels really strongly about something he writes it on his hand in.... wait for it felt tipped pen. Not exactly Iggy Pop or G G Allin is he?

[quote user="Branston Pickle"] These ''we''ve done this in the last x games'' posts really are rather pointless (pun intended, lol!). If you want a form guide, why not use the one over the season so far (ie our current league position) which isn''t exactly great reading!   What, exactly, is the point in ramming it home in 3 different ways?  Did you expect us to be top of a form league when we are 18th in the ''real'' one?!  For example, if we win tomorrow we will go up such a short-term form league by quite a lot of places, but next to none in the ''real'' league: that is how much a waste of time short-term form guides are; we''d have won 2 out of 3 in the league (which is a ''fair'' guide, surely?) - better than Derby, but it wouldn''t mean a great deal as we''d still be only 5-6 points off the relegation places and they''ll be in the top 2. I don''t really think anyone doubts that we aren''t doing particularly well, but it is in the future that our final league position will be determined.  The side has been playing better in recent games, with a few signings coming off, but we all know full well that we need to turn performances into points.  The league season is over 46 games and it is only the position that a side finishes in the League then that matters. [/quote] Then lets apply this theory to a previous relegation season that of 1994-1995. At Christmas we were a very healthy seventh in the Premiership. We then failed to win all but one of the remaining 20 fixtures. Our league position was never lower than on the final day. The long term form over the season implied we were safe right until the final Saturday. By the end of January the form over ten games had slumped alarmingly, and by the end of February indicated that we were in dire trouble. The optomists looked to the seasons form for reassurance, the pessimists looked to the recent form for despair, the realists probably looked at the complete picture. Two out of three of these categories did not believe we would go down. It took a freak set of results over a sustained period in ''95, our forms not good at the moment but it''s nowhere as bad as it was back then, we are dropping but at a far slower rate, in my opinion too slowly to end the season in a relegation spot. But I''m worried. We don''t have much in the way of backup and a couple more holes could be enough to sink the ship. On the other hand I''ve seen a marked improvement about our team recently, I''ve seen better play on the field but just as if not more importantly I''ve seen our team compete, and hold their heads up where not so long ago they would have capitulated. There has been a sea change and I''m looking forward to better days ahead.

[quote user="mystic megson"] Am I missing something?  I thought the parachute money was in effect a bonus on top of our normal income, and that for the past two seasons we''ve had money that most other clubs in this division haven''t.  The club has misused it appallingly, but we should not be in a worse position than 17 other Championship clubs next season (assuming we stay in this division of course), and probably better off than many.  If we run into major money problems it is purely down to incompetent financial management. In other words, Neil & Co, it''s your fault.  Stop bleating and SORT IT OUT!   [/quote]   MM thank you.   We didn''t have the parachute money for years yet still managed to pay a full squad without sinking into tens of millions of debt.  Since we''ve had the PM we''ve sunk into debt to the tune of approx £20 mill whilst paying a smaller makeshift squad. And if you take out the stand money we''ve effectively stood still instead of posting a £7+£2.5 mill profit (before anyone says). That is mismanagement at Board level. Its undeniable!  

[quote user="Mello Yello"]If Chelski are the ''Big Club''.........are we the seal pup?[/quote]   Priceless! Absolutely priceless....

[quote user="Shaun Lawson"][quote user="-.-. .-.. ..- -.-. -.-"][quote user="lucky green trainers"][quote user="ob1"][quote user="BlyBlyBabes"] Then, what are we, please? Saving our money for a rainy day? OTBC [/quote] Spending our money on players that deliver value for money (Lappin, hopefully) rather than wasting it on panic buys for crap players (Hughes). I''d rather not spend money at all, than waste money on players that don''t improve the squad. [/quote] probably the prudent thing to do is not overspend in case we get relegated! [/quote] The prudent thing to do was to spend ambitiously when we had the money available, thus reducing fear that relegation would become a major immediate issue....and I''m talking about Premiership relegation here.....never mind where the hell we are now!....... [/quote] Sorry - don''t follow what you''re on about here at all. We did spend ambitiously: fella by the name of Dean Ashton, you might''ve heard of him. [/quote] Had we signed him half a season earlier or held onto him a couple of years longer I would have had to agree with you. Buying a hundred quids worth of lucky dips in the Lottery then walking back into the shop 5 minutes later and cashing them all back in during the cooling off period doesn''t mean you''ve spent a hundred quid on the lottery does it? Do the same with a thousand pounds or a million pounds and you''ll still not win a cent because when those balls start to roll and the tension starts to mount, ultimately you''ve bottled it!! Prudent yes. Ambitious no!

European Championship Qualifying : Group B Table     P W D L F A GD PTS 1 Scotland 4 3 0 1 9 3 6 9 2 France 4 3 0 1 11 2 9 9 3 Italy 4 2 1 1 7 5 2 7 4 Ukraine 3 2 0 1 5 4 1 6 5 Lithuania 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4 6 Georgia 4 1 0 3 9 9 0 3 7 Faroe Islands 4 0 0 4 0 18 -18 0     Now remind me again, which two teams contested the latest World Cup final? Although I would have liked some big name/big money signings as much as the next man, and feel there is much wrong with the way the club has been managed over a period of several years, I''m fairly upbeat about the two new signings. Possibly just possibly this heralds a return to the Norwich we knew and loved of the 70''s 80''s and even early 90''s? Days when we stuck our neck out and brought in young, hungry but unproven players from lower leagues or the Scottish/Welsh/Irish divisions, led by a couple of seasoned pros who''d reached the very top of the game. I''d far rather have the likes of Lappin and Fotheringham at the Club than overpaid, underconcerned journeymen. It''s a gamble I know but it''s patently obvious we don''t have much of a transfer fund, the clubs cash seems to have been thrown at bad deal after bad deal. It''s time to tighten the belt, accept that we''ve P!$$ed away our best chance of making the big time since the second year of the Premiership, we''re going to need players with grit in the weeks and probably years ahead and if just one of the two new recruits from North of the border displays the fight and ambition we come to expect of the Scots, then at 50% that''s a far better success rate than we''ve experienced over the last half dozen years. Watch the match at Twickenham today and tell me afterwards you don''t want some of that passion in your team, I predict Scotland will beat England on home turf, and that doesn''t happen very often at all!