PHILINFRANCE

Of course, as far as I am aware, neither Dixie Dean nor Messi had the benefit of a pre-match lasagna to sustain them, so any comparison is dodgy - which makes me think of Tottenham.

Sorry to quote my own post, but I am intrigued, @Ivorguy, as to why you find my revelation that, as a boy growing up in Bristol, I used to enjoy, inter alia, black pudding and Eccles cakes sad. Unfortunately, I have neither seen nor eaten Eccles cakes for many a year, but I still buy and enjoy a portion of freshly made black pudding from my local butcher quite regularly, and very nice it is too, as well as, surprisingly, being quite nutritious. I have also seen it being prepared/made, but that is another story.

Thanks for that. Your response certainly prompted a few interesting suggestions as to the real terms of any deal, although I’m not sure I’m any closer to learning the entire story. I do recall hearing the name Arthur Holmes mentioned in various accounts of events I have heard over the years, in very unfavourable terms I should add, so it would seem only the finer details are missing.

What was/is the true story?

There is something special about the sound and smell of Sunday’s left over roast potatoes being sautéed with onion and the left over cabbage, finished with the fat from the bacon gently frying alongside. I sometimes wonder whether my mother used to go to all that time and expense of preparing Sunday roast, just for the pleasure it gave my father and I the following day as we sat down to enjoy our Bubble and Squeak.

Amazingly, I used to eat black pudding regularly as a young boy living in Bristol and, as an occasional weekend treat, my father would buy a few Eccles cakes from a local baker.

I now acknowledge that, with the benefit of hindsight, I was wrong, but before he finally broke through as a CF, I considered his best position was wide left. AS first came to my attention when he was on loan at Newport, where he impressed playing wide. When he returned from his loan and was played in a more central role, he failed to impress: ergo, he plays better wide left. As we now know, however, he is an extremely promising young centrally forward player.

Thanks for that, and I shall try and listen to it later. In the meantime, I have read a transcript and, to be fair to JB, I sort of agree with a lot of what he is saying, although perhaps not the manner in which he says it. I am totally against the idea of Premier League U21 teams being allowed to compete in the competition, especially if, as JB was alleging about last night’s match, they were not being penalised (or, at least, not being carded) for some outrageous challenges that might seriously injure an opponent who has a ‘proper’ game to play on Saturday. I also empathise with his comments about referees being given ‘work experience’, although it is quite insulting, and, of course, most clubs treat the competition in exactly the same way in so far as it concerns their young players or players returning from injury. City did virtually the same thing in the League Cup game against Coventry earlier this season, playing TV and NW, and look how positively that has turned out.

Thanks for that, although I assume it has now finished. Are you able to provide a link or explain how I might find it?

Where was the interview?

If you are struggling to think of a sewer, what about Joey Barton??.

Perhaps he should go to Specsavers. Sorry.

A sterile, boring 0-0 draw might prove interesting. Can you imagine the two East Midlands teams and Wolves being relegated?

Even though he (CK) is quite ill, I’m sure he would have laughed at that.

I am all for taking the proverbial out of posters when they have had a ‘mare’, provided they can take it. I think of posters such as @Robbored, for instance, who is constantly the subject of ridicule, scorn, sometimes outright abuse, but he has demonstrated he is thick skinned and can take all that is thrown at him, and then some, and still give it back - fair play to him, I say, and long may it continue. There are some (nameless) posters who set themselves up on a pedestal and are fair game. I am one of the biggest culprits for making sarcastic comments at ‘silly’ spelling or grammatical mistakes, but I recognise also that some on this forum are dyslexic, may not be too proficient in the English language or may not even have English as a first language. There would be nothing funny, big or clever in seeking a cheap laugh at their expense, so, obviously, I refrain. Which brings me to @Logical-City, with whom I have had run ins previously. Now, I don’t know him from Adam, and he has obviously had a ‘mare’ on this subject, but perhaps, for whatever reason it was, he genuinely missed out on getting his Birmingham (and Bournemouth) tickets and is just naturally cheesed off. I, like many on here, am reasonably computer literate and am able to have access to a computer (or phone) during normal working hours. It may be that our poster does not feel comfortable making online purchases, perhaps he doesn’t even have a credit card. Re. ten minutes on line, I should imagine people who work in, e.g. Amazon, would find it very difficult and, strange though it may seem, may find it easier and more convenient to take a few (poorly paid) hours off work to queue for tickets and pay in cash. Anyway, I have said quite enough, but perhaps we could all recognise that, in some cases, what we might consider an insignificant task is, for some, an almost insurmountable difficulty.

I’ve just got off a plane and can’t seem to get SKY etc. What happened?

I see our star opening batsman for next season has just been dismissed for a second ball duck!

Eight down now. Still 70odd needed, but Dom Bess still there on 43NO.

Especially should Glamorgan win and Middlesex fail to get sufficient bonus points to go up. One can but hope.

You are both showing your age there, in addition to a questionable taste in music. Luckily, I have never heard the song as I am so young, so it passed way over my head ?.

Was it JB’s car, though? Perhaps JB was driving his brother’s car and thought his brother had insured the car so that other drivers, including, JB were insured to drive it. Perhaps JB’s brother’s car was just not insured. Perhaps JB doesn’t have his own motor insurance (as he drives a company car), and just assumed he would be insured to drive his brother’s car. So many possibilities, so without knowing the facts it would be difficult to judge. On the basis JB ‘escaped’ with a £300 fine, I would be astonished if JB was driving his own car and claimed he thought his brother had insured it - unless his brother is an insurance broker.

Well Played. First Division cricket next season now secured.

The fat lady is certainly clearing her throat; Northants now 104/9. I must say, I would have been happy with a high scoring draw before play started on Tuesday morning.

Who is the 'elderly' gentleman who accompanies Harry Everett in the Somerset live stream? And no, it is not Peter Trego.

He was also well liked and respected by his cricketing peers. I remember some years ago the promising golfer Peter Trego was interviewed after an 'incident' involving Gareth Batty and was asked what he would do next time they met. 'Probably buy him a pint' was Treg's response.