havanatopia

I was not one of them.

Darn it, elastic band just snapped.

Here in the tropics its humming away nicely courtesy of an elastic band and a manual fan to keep the processor cool.

Sadly have to agree. Bench warmer at best.

Bryan does not look too fresh so far. Correct. Only LJ cannot see it. The guy continues to be a liability I am afraid. Lets see if he can redeem himself. City have come out at about half normal speed; gonna lose this one at this rate.

Confused here.. Are you a City fan? If you are a Tyke you are talking as if you did not sign him. Is he on loan to you then? If you are City I hope we have learnt. No, it IS Tomlin.

Is this true or are you being sarcastic? It was not a rumour was it?

Interesting story there Chip. It is surprising to think we are so much further north in any part of the UK than New England; All about the gulf stream; without that we would have winters like Montreal. Could be right about the vultures buying the bits of GKN. I am still hoping the govt blocks it.

Google countries with most statutory holidays.... Indonesia then Philippines i believe but add in Le Strike and no doubt France might top it. Never stopped me working mind.

Very sensible. Its bigger than Christmas here; total load of nonsense. Yesterday and today in fact and not even a supermarket open. Thank the lord for 711 !

She was sold off for mutton years ago mate.

I think Fred shot her with a bow and arrow so yes.

What are you doing out of bed so early or have you sauntered out of the Dordogne to South East Asia?!

The two GKN Aerospace factories at Western Approach, Bristol and at Filton cumulatively employ about 1/3 of the companies' UK workforce; 484 in Bristol and 1454 in Filton. The two most important clients for GKN Bristol are BAE Systems and Airbus. I know this has little to do with today's match but it is a significant moment in the history of Bristol industry and it needs mentioning. GKN started life as the Dowlais Ironworks Company near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales in 1759. Yesterday GKN, with 60,000 employees in 30 countries, was sold by a 52% shareholder majority vote to a hostile takeover predator named Melrose Industries formed in 2003. Their motto is 'buy, improve, sell'. Although, for once, a hostile takeover has taken place by a British based and run company it is essentially an asset stripper and jobs will inevitably go. Airbus, curiously, has already gone public by saying it will stop buying from GKN. That might be hard in the short term as there are few factories in the world with the expertise to build Wing Spars as they do in Bristol and GKN supplies BAE Systems which in turn supplies Airbus. It could get a bit messy. I hope the Gov't will not regret not stepping in to prevent a takeover on national security grounds. This would not have happened anywhere else in the world and is why Britain is the most open market in the world, for good and for bad. Barnsley mined the coal that powered the iron foundries and made the glass. They may still make glass in Barnsley but Bristolians should be enormously proud of our industrial heritage past and indeed present. In fairness to Barnsley I did give them the benefit of the doubt with 30 minutes of research and found that they can indeed stand proud today as hosting the world's largest mince pie factory, oh yes. here it is:- Next time you buy a box of 6 mince pies think of young Doris there quality controlling out the burnt or cracked top pies to take home to Fred for his tea. 720 pies a minute they make; how does she do it? Or perhaps, when you next go over one of those very common pot holes in your Mini, your Jaguar, your Land Rover or your Volvo think of that GKN CV Joint that beautifully distributes power from the transmission through the axle and the CV Joint to the wheels and protects you and your car from the harshness of it. Surely our manufacturing superiority will transcend into the DNA of our players today as they descend on Oakwell? Chien Lee took over Barnsley and thus ended the reign of the now sadly departed Patrick Cryne. Lee, from Hong Kong, is also 80% owner of Nice Football Club and partners part of the shareholding at Barnsley with Billy Beane of the Oakland Athletics Baseball team. Remains to be seen if they buy back the stadium and surrounding Oakwell sports venues procurred in 2002 by the council to save the club from going under. Of course, the kiss of death for City is to talk about the poor managerial record of Jose Morais; he may have assisted Jose Mourinho along the way at Chelsea, Inter and Madrid but as a number one its not great. Time will tell, but not today thanks. Enjoy the drive up folks but enjoy it much more coming back. And remember GKN on that bumpy M6 and if it gets really bad stop at Charnock Richard for a mince pie and a cuppa tea.

Are they 'very large losses' though to a 'large organisation' ? There is little point spending a million quid on a club regularly losing a million quid a year with no prospect of that changing. The club or entity itself requires those losses if it is to avoid paying tax; if you were able to take those losses and offset them elsewhere the football club would effectivy be left to pay taxes because all of a sudden it has made a profit. And lets face it nobody looks to buy a business that has no prospect of making money in the medium term; if you are paying tax you are making money and that would be the only criteria attractive to a buyer. The Wael's bought Rovers to make money through top flight football and/or to sell the Mem for development. It looks like a very long term strategy but until they spend big on a stadium like SL has done they will not be permitted entry into the top flight. Is it a case of biting off more than one can chew in this case? Is that what this discussion is all about?

Superb win.. sounded like a very forgettable performance but its 3 points. well done.

FT.

Draw for me. That'll do.

Not the most fun people in the world though it has to be said.

And do we want Cardiff to win against them tomorrow? Have another one gorrrn.. and ask them to put a Drambuie shot in it. Gorrrrrrnnnn.

Who is the radio bristol co commentator?

I know but the interior of Exeter is better and Wells has some Wurzel looking gargoyles... The most in the land apparently.

You could be right. Are these boycotts more than hot air and justified though? Perhaps yes.

I wonder if this could be the last time a thread is entitled with the name Ipswich Town included within. Suffolk County Council seem set on a path to take the fair saxon town of Ipswich to city status although should that be awarded by our monarch it likely would not happen until her platinum jubilee in 2022. The popular myth for city status to be either bestowed or exist is for a settlement to have a cathedral; this requirement ceased to be in the mid 19th century having been enacted in the 16th century by Henry VIII. Ipswich City is no more incongruous that Swansea City which, prior to 1969, was called Swansea Town. This was the last time a football club changed its name to reflect the change in status of the settlement in which it was located. Since then Derby, Sunderland, Wolverhampton, Brighton, Preston and Chelmsford have all become cities. In a recent poll 60% of local residents thought the councils idea to apply for city status for Ipswich was wrong. Money wasting and time wasting being cited as two reasons to drop the idea. I wonder though if city status might propel the club more into the limelight, attract more investment into the new city and perhaps the club and send it again toward the top flight of English football. It did not seem to do Swansea too much harm and Derby, Wolves, Brighton and Preston are all doing fairly well in the history of their clubs. A spark perhaps for the elevation of all things civic and sporting. Conversely Bristol has long held city status, since 1542 in fact, although it is by no means the earliest. Today's cathedral was founded in 1140 and consecrated in 1148. It was originally St Augustine's Abbey but after the Dissolution of the Monasteries it became the seat of the newly created Bishop of Bristol and the cathedral of the new Diocese of Bristol after Henry VIII's break with the Pope and the dissolution of the monasteries, the formerly monastic cathedrals were "re-founded" with secular canons. The south west, of which I include Salisbury, is bestowed with some of the finest medieval monastic architecture in the land. The cathedral cities of Salisbury, Exeter Gloucester and Wells, particularly, come to mind. There is something remarkably whole and humbling to walk amongst these hallowed yet magnificent structures and while city status no longer requires a cathedral the very existence of one creates an aura, a resonance and a stability to the place. Bristol is very fortunate to have such medieval status; something that can and should anchor the success of our sports teams now that we have the structure to support them. Ipswich will never have that, at least not for many centuries to come. I think the majority of its residents understand that and this is reflected in their refusal to endorse the idea of the council; call it psychological without necessarily understanding the historic significance. And call football a religion without understanding what it means, like they do in Liverpool, then maybe the inside of a place of worship like Bristol Cathedral can also become Ashton Gate. A factor for not playing Ipswich TOWN again comes with promotion. I rank our chances somewhere near where the bookies are I think; around 20% which seems to factor in there are 5 teams left with a fighting chance of 6th place; down to Millwall one might suggest. And, equally considered, our diabolical run of form which might otherwise place our percentage forecast at closer to 50%. So why has our form collapsed and, more importantly, can it be arrested in time? Nine matches left, historical data considered, three points adrift all suggest we probably need 6 wins out of 9. True enough Hull City went on a late charge under Phil Brown 10 years ago and that is what it will likely take for us but you have to consider the wily Tony Pulis at Boro. Rarely do I make predictions and in the hope I am proven wrong I think our trajectory remains downward albeit with temporary arrests to that slide with occasional but insufficient wins, today perhaps being one of them. All in all it will not be through lack of support from the City faithful. The feeling I get is the City board did not really want promotion this season, or is that just them trying to take the pressure off? If it is, and it somehow works, then more the credit to them for pulling a genie out of the bottle in these next 9 games. A solid, decent season will have become truly magnificent. Enjoy the match everybody.

I don't think quite 'delighted'. You see we need a win. Quite right.