GenerationA47

(Correction to previous age declaration) 25 when the sun''s shining. 99 in the shade.

OK if really you want me to lay something on the women, I''ll try my hardest. Seriously though, tell us who the City pin-up player(s) is/are & we''ll invite them along too for the benefit of you ladies. They can stop off on the way back from conquering St Mary''s (ooh, stop it).

You''re welcome to come along the M4 to join our future orgies in the Royal County... Livin'' on a prayer

I saw that too. I''ll bring the nails.

25 - about 1.3 years younger than the average age so far FYI (which however doesn''t justify my occasional immaturity...!).

Lads, lads. Calm down! Of course I was actually attempting to imply that none of these things were on the cards. Though it seems this thing has got a life of its own now. My giddy aunt Delia, what sort of a monster have I created?

HEEELLPPPP! Seriously, I don''t really think we''re all that likely to nick it, but despite the bad image of negative football it has worked for some ''minnows'' away to the ''giants''. Hasn''t this been to good effect by some clubs in the past, i.e. turning an expected mauling into a draw? I''m not advocating it per se mind you.

Ama, you are spot on there. No taxation without representation, or something like that (seems to fit, strangely enough).

And then there were four... Looks like Henley, then, as the compromise venue of choice!

...and I''ll be back home in Norfolk for the game this Saturday anyway. However, Mr D. Flange Monkey (and anyone else silly enough), here''s an email address for future reference (re. College Arms invasions or whatever): . (I get enough spam as it is without putting my proper email address on the www.)

Andrew, if we''re talking the Sun here surely that should be ''Nickersoff''?

I''m truly sorry Swarney, but the way that reads makes your story seem quite funny. (However I''m sure it was anything but amusing at the time and I wish you a full and speedy recovery. Oh, that Iain Dowie - what a cruel ****!)

I''ve seen the verses before, but the real challenge would be to say what the tune to the verses is. For some reason I always think of Auld Lang Syne when I read those lyrics - this must stop. Anyone know? Anyone care? I''d be chuffed to hear it, personally. Even a muffled realplayer clip on a home-made website, sung by a drunkard who''d heard it once before (while on acid in a Krung Thep karaoke bar in 1972) would do.

What a nice set of Crystal Palace people you turned up - I take back what I said about all South Londoners being absolute horrid, nasty and common. If only all football fans were that pleasant - and flattering about us & our city... Also, both pieces were short but sweet - like their style (or your editing, maybe).

Since just about everywhere else is doing it, I was feeling all left out so I wonder in principle how many of us ''Berks'' there were (I''m in Reading, you see), where we live etc. You don''t necessarily have to sign up to regular group match-viewing, Premiership-themed orgies with yellow-clad girls, naked occult Delia-worshipping rituals in ruined abbeys, etc.

1stW, I guessed 3-1 as my Prediction League entry for this match. I won''t say who to... Do you reckon we''ll pile everyone back and get the draw? Is it true Worthie''s never done that, and if so is it because he never will or because he''s never ''needed'' to before?

...We''re Living In Sin with these Damned crimes against humour. If I Was Your Mother I''d say Stick to Your Guns, but since I''m not...Hey God, Give Me Something For the Pain!

Oi, watch it, FF! I owe (nearly!) all I know to Google''s encyclopaedic knowledge... but I do admit to owning a copy of New Jersey. I keep it tethered off the beach at Caister (near California).

I agree. I too dislike the professional moaners - the people who enjoy complaining just because we don''t win every game - but fair criticism shouldn''t be squashed (in the name of backing the team) either. I expect most fans on this message board just want us to do well and it comes out in different ways for different people - trouble is each attitude tends to annoy the other lot! Surely there''s a balance to be struck, i.e. being the friendly critic when necessary but when you''re at the game being 100% behind the boys - loudly!

Thanks Gazza, your points are certainly food for thought. Good to hear your positive take on the staffing front. As for that 100ml radius, we & other ''seasiders'' should definitely be compensated by having our inland zone extended, say to 150ml, or else be allowed to skip the sea and extend into Holland! Poaching promising lads from Ajax & Feyenoord would be amusing. I did see that Kathy/NCISA had handed over a cheque for £1,000 to the youngsters, which is a great move. Let''s hope a bit more of the Premier gold not being spent on players etc. is invested in the youth teams, then. Oh, and I wish I was close enough to watch at Colney but I''m hardly ever home nowadays. Cheers.

I can well understand your purr disappointment at this ''stroke'' of misfortune, pussy. Still, no use crying over spilt milk... Mind you, if you paws to consider a moment, I suppose it''s similar to cricket where if you get a 6 you don''t get the 4 on top too. In any case, you''re only off top spot by a whisker.

What''s wrong with the Guardian as a newspaper, Bury? Too much news, not enough bile perhaps?! Personally I don''t know any other national paper which gives so many angles on a given story (not just left or right, establishment or alternative).

King of Latvia, you must admit if we''re to finish above Palace (who we finished 15 points ahead of), WBA (ditto 8 pts ahead of) plus one other team even better than them, then we really need to win all the winnable ones as well as a few ''lucky'' ones, then make the rest up with as many hard-fought draws as possible. That''s why we "should" have won yesterday. That doesn''t mean that the one contrary result yesterday has sent us down already (!), but of course it might make all the difference when it comes to the end: we''ll all be scrabbling for every single point come May next year. But we can still do it! And Worthie is still talking of adding 2 players to the squad, which is great news (http://www.teamtalk.com/teamtalk/News/Story_Page/0,7760,873516,00.html)

Some years ago our youth team produced homegown Premiership-beaters Sutton, Goss, Ullathorne and (er) Sutch, and slightly later such greats as Eadie, Mills, Kenton, Bellamy, and Green. All these players seem to have been influential in the greatest successes of their club (NCFC or later clubs) over the years, and the first group are simply legendary. Does the current crop (e.g. Jarvis, Henderson and Shackell) show any sign of the potential for greatness of their illustrious forebears at the equivalent age? Perhaps you think so. If not, where and why has our youth set-up diverged from its past performance - is it a lack of finance and quality staffing after our brush with bankruptcy and football league hiatus - or were we just lucky back then? (Apologies if this topic''s already been done to death a million times, or if I''ve made any factual errors.)

Whiskie the Cat: The moral of the tail (miaouch!) is, you get 4 bonus points for getting the exact minute right but that''s instead of the 2 bonus points for the time bracket, not on top of them. Hence you scored 5 not 7 - well done, that''s 4 more than I got.