SecretSam

More my level, thanks

Now, I'm quite a smart chap, but I have absolutely no idea what Dave's on about here.

Paging @Davefevs

American football. I mean, who really gives a shit, other than Americans? Yet it's all over the news. Do they go overboard for the FA Cup final?

Off to Les Alpes in May. Any tips? (Am going by train, with bike)

Learn to swim

And is very hard to remove when you've got six fingers on each hand

I bet there's some pretty criminal facial fuzz being sported by regulars on OTIB <<Looks in mirror>>

What a pointless and unnecessary comment.

From the highlights it looks like Cornick played really well- good to see.

Relative to what we normally see at games, that's pretty bad. You almost sound nostalgic for the days of riots on the terraces...

That's what you look like!

The player wants to leave, to go up to the Prem - so you sell, and move on. For all but a few clubs, that's reality.

The same Reid who as a midfielder we would happily have flogged for £300k at the start of his breakthrough season as a number 10/winger?

Where did I say modern football was perfect? All this nonsense about 'real football'. The game evolves over time, today's best teams play a particular style that works, like back when teams played hoofball - that worked, for a while. As you rightly say, it's about playing to the resources available - players, facilities, etc. As for the ownership, well that's another matter. Matchdays? I was able to take my kids to a game, there was no trouble, almost no police, it was perfectly pleasant and dry on a wet day. That's a huge advance over when I started going (late '70s). I'll take that sterile matchday every time.

So...how do you know it's dire, if you don't watch?

Jumpers for goalposts...pitches like ploughed fields, one sub only, slow, lumpen football (see pitches issue), appalling tackles and dire facilities. Ah, the good old days. Utter bollocks.

Let's not get carried away. Remember "streaky Lee"?

Yeah, it was noticeable how Watford changed thongs at half time, leading to their goal. Cracking result and performance, at times the lads tore Watford apart. Some lovely stuff.

It's an interesting debate. Footballers and officials get a dog's abuse sometimes, yet if they give some back, everyone goes nuts. Watkins was clearly directing it at one particular fan; fair play to him. All clubs - us included - have dished out plenty in the recent and long-gone past to players, etc. Can't say I'd want to be on the end of it...maybe this is the first step in addressing this? Perhaps in the same way that racist abuse was pretty common back in the early '80s, when I started going to games regularly. Now, it's just nothing like it was (in the UK, at least). Watkins' BBC interview afterwards was excellent, seems a smart young man, and was clearly upset by the grief he got, and pleased to give some back. It's interesting how we all become different people on a terrace; I used to give Gabbiadini some terrible stick when he played against us; but many years ago, he moved in opposite some friends', and I really felt I ought to pop over and apologise. End of the day, they're just people, understandably they get upset. Interesting to see where this goes.

No, not really, I went to school with him, but that was a long time ago.

Apart from the roads, the sanitation, the streets being safe, education...what have the Romans ever done for us?

I never got a chance to say "Hello"

Sigh Title amended for clarity