2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady 
leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.

Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

-- 
Red Squirrel

"Red Squirrel" <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote in message 
news:Xns9920D2131EEBredsquirrelusenet@68.142.88.120...
>2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well done Toady, top stuff :)
--
WSB

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

What about the play-offs?

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:

> Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
>> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>> 
>> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 
> What about the play-offs?
> 
> Stuart

Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

-- 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
> news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:
> 
> > Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> >> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> >> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> >> 
> >> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> > 
> > What about the play-offs?
> > 
> > Stuart
> 
> Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

A minor detail!  

Ironic, really, that our first sell-out since relegation will be against
that well known crowd-puller, Southend United.

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

"Red Squirrel" <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote in message 
news:Xns9920D2131EEBredsquirrelusenet@68.142.88.120...
>2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well done Toady, top stuff :)
--
WSB

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

What about the play-offs?

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:

> Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
>> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>> 
>> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 
> What about the play-offs?
> 
> Stuart

Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

-- 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
> news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:
> 
> > Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> >> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> >> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> >> 
> >> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> > 
> > What about the play-offs?
> > 
> > Stuart
> 
> Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

A minor detail!  

Ironic, really, that our first sell-out since relegation will be against
that well known crowd-puller, Southend United.

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

"Red Squirrel" <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote in message 
news:Xns9920D2131EEBredsquirrelusenet@68.142.88.120...
>2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well done Toady, top stuff :)
--
WSB

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

What about the play-offs?

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:

> Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
>> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>> 
>> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 
> What about the play-offs?
> 
> Stuart

Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

-- 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
> news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:
> 
> > Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> >> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> >> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> >> 
> >> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> > 
> > What about the play-offs?
> > 
> > Stuart
> 
> Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

A minor detail!  

Ironic, really, that our first sell-out since relegation will be against
that well known crowd-puller, Southend United.

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

"Red Squirrel" <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote in message 
news:Xns9920D2131EEBredsquirrelusenet@68.142.88.120...
>2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well done Toady, top stuff :)
--
WSB

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

What about the play-offs?

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:

> Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
>> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>> 
>> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 
> What about the play-offs?
> 
> Stuart

Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

-- 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
> news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:
> 
> > Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> >> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> >> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> >> 
> >> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> > 
> > What about the play-offs?
> > 
> > Stuart
> 
> Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

A minor detail!  

Ironic, really, that our first sell-out since relegation will be against
that well known crowd-puller, Southend United.

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

"Red Squirrel" <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote in message 
news:Xns9920D2131EEBredsquirrelusenet@68.142.88.120...
>2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well done Toady, top stuff :)
--
WSB

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

What about the play-offs?

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:

> Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
>> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>> 
>> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 
> What about the play-offs?
> 
> Stuart

Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

-- 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
> news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:
> 
> > Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> >> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> >> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> >> 
> >> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> > 
> > What about the play-offs?
> > 
> > Stuart
> 
> Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

A minor detail!  

Ironic, really, that our first sell-out since relegation will be against
that well known crowd-puller, Southend United.

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

"Red Squirrel" <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote in message 
news:Xns9920D2131EEBredsquirrelusenet@68.142.88.120...
>2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well done Toady, top stuff :)
--
WSB

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

What about the play-offs?

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:

> Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
>> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>> 
>> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 
> What about the play-offs?
> 
> Stuart

Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

-- 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
> news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:
> 
> > Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> >> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> >> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> >> 
> >> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> > 
> > What about the play-offs?
> > 
> > Stuart
> 
> Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

A minor detail!  

Ironic, really, that our first sell-out since relegation will be against
that well known crowd-puller, Southend United.

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

Red Squirrel wrote:
> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady 
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 

Thank you. Its been a long time coming but I finally did it.

What are peoples thoughts here on
1) Saints chances in playoffs
2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints


My pal who is an ipswich supporter points out that Burley has lots of 
experience of playoffs, mostly with ipswich (6 times in total I think). 
That might in fact point to him not being very good at playoffs, since I 
think he only won them once. As my ipswich pal points out, ipswich 
finished third miles clear of 4th on a couple of occasions, and then 
failed in the playoffs. Will Derby do the same? They've had to face the 
disappointment of going from automatic promotion, to taking their 
chances in a 1 in 4 lottery... I'd almost written off a playoff place 
and I'm sure the players had almost... so there won't be that same 
feeling of being so close and then blowing it. Either way I'm sure its 
going to be a very stressful week or two.

In ways it would be sad to see a multi billionaire come in and turn 
Saints into another club like Chelsea or Man Utd. Sure it would be nice 
to win things, but when I walk down the streets in South London where I 
work and see kids in Chelsea and Man Utd shirts, and then go on holiday 
to the other side of the world and see the same, I'm not sure I'd want 
my club to go that way... to just become a brand.

In the same way much as losing out in the playoffs would be sad, in many 
ways I've enjoyed the Championship more this season. Being in contention 
for promotion all season feels better than being in contention for 
relegation all season in the premiership, or even just mid table 
mediocrity. Unless Saints can go up and have the resources to be 
fighting for a UEFA cup place, i'm sure I'll probably enjoy next season 
more in the Championship.

"Red Squirrel" <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote in message 
news:Xns9920D2131EEBredsquirrelusenet@68.142.88.120...
>2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well done Toady, top stuff :)
--
WSB

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

What about the play-offs?

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:

> Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
>> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>> 
>> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 
> What about the play-offs?
> 
> Stuart

Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

-- 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
> news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:
> 
> > Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> >> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> >> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> >> 
> >> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> > 
> > What about the play-offs?
> > 
> > Stuart
> 
> Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

A minor detail!  

Ironic, really, that our first sell-out since relegation will be against
that well known crowd-puller, Southend United.

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

Red Squirrel wrote:
> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady 
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 

Thank you. Its been a long time coming but I finally did it.

What are peoples thoughts here on
1) Saints chances in playoffs
2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints


My pal who is an ipswich supporter points out that Burley has lots of 
experience of playoffs, mostly with ipswich (6 times in total I think). 
That might in fact point to him not being very good at playoffs, since I 
think he only won them once. As my ipswich pal points out, ipswich 
finished third miles clear of 4th on a couple of occasions, and then 
failed in the playoffs. Will Derby do the same? They've had to face the 
disappointment of going from automatic promotion, to taking their 
chances in a 1 in 4 lottery... I'd almost written off a playoff place 
and I'm sure the players had almost... so there won't be that same 
feeling of being so close and then blowing it. Either way I'm sure its 
going to be a very stressful week or two.

In ways it would be sad to see a multi billionaire come in and turn 
Saints into another club like Chelsea or Man Utd. Sure it would be nice 
to win things, but when I walk down the streets in South London where I 
work and see kids in Chelsea and Man Utd shirts, and then go on holiday 
to the other side of the world and see the same, I'm not sure I'd want 
my club to go that way... to just become a brand.

In the same way much as losing out in the playoffs would be sad, in many 
ways I've enjoyed the Championship more this season. Being in contention 
for promotion all season feels better than being in contention for 
relegation all season in the premiership, or even just mid table 
mediocrity. Unless Saints can go up and have the resources to be 
fighting for a UEFA cup place, i'm sure I'll probably enjoy next season 
more in the Championship.

"Red Squirrel" <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote in message 
news:Xns9920D2131EEBredsquirrelusenet@68.142.88.120...
>2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well done Toady, top stuff :)
--
WSB

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

What about the play-offs?

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:

> Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
>> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>> 
>> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 
> What about the play-offs?
> 
> Stuart

Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

-- 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
> news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:
> 
> > Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> >> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> >> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> >> 
> >> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> > 
> > What about the play-offs?
> > 
> > Stuart
> 
> Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

A minor detail!  

Ironic, really, that our first sell-out since relegation will be against
that well known crowd-puller, Southend United.

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

Red Squirrel wrote:
> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady 
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 

Thank you. Its been a long time coming but I finally did it.

What are peoples thoughts here on
1) Saints chances in playoffs
2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints


My pal who is an ipswich supporter points out that Burley has lots of 
experience of playoffs, mostly with ipswich (6 times in total I think). 
That might in fact point to him not being very good at playoffs, since I 
think he only won them once. As my ipswich pal points out, ipswich 
finished third miles clear of 4th on a couple of occasions, and then 
failed in the playoffs. Will Derby do the same? They've had to face the 
disappointment of going from automatic promotion, to taking their 
chances in a 1 in 4 lottery... I'd almost written off a playoff place 
and I'm sure the players had almost... so there won't be that same 
feeling of being so close and then blowing it. Either way I'm sure its 
going to be a very stressful week or two.

In ways it would be sad to see a multi billionaire come in and turn 
Saints into another club like Chelsea or Man Utd. Sure it would be nice 
to win things, but when I walk down the streets in South London where I 
work and see kids in Chelsea and Man Utd shirts, and then go on holiday 
to the other side of the world and see the same, I'm not sure I'd want 
my club to go that way... to just become a brand.

In the same way much as losing out in the playoffs would be sad, in many 
ways I've enjoyed the Championship more this season. Being in contention 
for promotion all season feels better than being in contention for 
relegation all season in the premiership, or even just mid table 
mediocrity. Unless Saints can go up and have the resources to be 
fighting for a UEFA cup place, i'm sure I'll probably enjoy next season 
more in the Championship.

Toady  wrote:

> 
> What are peoples thoughts here on
> 1) Saints chances in playoffs

Optimistic about beating Derby; less sure about beating West Brom. It
would be nice if Wolves were there instead!  ;-)

> 2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints

At the moment, we simply don't have enough cash to compete, especially
in the Premiership. I'm no lover of American foreign policy, but I'd
rather have funding from 5000 miles west than from 5000 miles east!

I'm a MicroSoftPhobe, but since Mr Allen has already earned his billions
from Microsoft's predatory business practices and exploitation of
market-domination, he might as well spend some of it with Saints than
buying a fourth yacht.

Stuart

-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

"Red Squirrel" <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote in message 
news:Xns9920D2131EEBredsquirrelusenet@68.142.88.120...
>2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well done Toady, top stuff :)
--
WSB

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

What about the play-offs?

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:

> Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
>> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>> 
>> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 
> What about the play-offs?
> 
> Stuart

Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

-- 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
> news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:
> 
> > Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> >> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> >> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> >> 
> >> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> > 
> > What about the play-offs?
> > 
> > Stuart
> 
> Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

A minor detail!  

Ironic, really, that our first sell-out since relegation will be against
that well known crowd-puller, Southend United.

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

Red Squirrel wrote:
> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady 
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 

Thank you. Its been a long time coming but I finally did it.

What are peoples thoughts here on
1) Saints chances in playoffs
2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints


My pal who is an ipswich supporter points out that Burley has lots of 
experience of playoffs, mostly with ipswich (6 times in total I think). 
That might in fact point to him not being very good at playoffs, since I 
think he only won them once. As my ipswich pal points out, ipswich 
finished third miles clear of 4th on a couple of occasions, and then 
failed in the playoffs. Will Derby do the same? They've had to face the 
disappointment of going from automatic promotion, to taking their 
chances in a 1 in 4 lottery... I'd almost written off a playoff place 
and I'm sure the players had almost... so there won't be that same 
feeling of being so close and then blowing it. Either way I'm sure its 
going to be a very stressful week or two.

In ways it would be sad to see a multi billionaire come in and turn 
Saints into another club like Chelsea or Man Utd. Sure it would be nice 
to win things, but when I walk down the streets in South London where I 
work and see kids in Chelsea and Man Utd shirts, and then go on holiday 
to the other side of the world and see the same, I'm not sure I'd want 
my club to go that way... to just become a brand.

In the same way much as losing out in the playoffs would be sad, in many 
ways I've enjoyed the Championship more this season. Being in contention 
for promotion all season feels better than being in contention for 
relegation all season in the premiership, or even just mid table 
mediocrity. Unless Saints can go up and have the resources to be 
fighting for a UEFA cup place, i'm sure I'll probably enjoy next season 
more in the Championship.

Toady  wrote:

> 
> What are peoples thoughts here on
> 1) Saints chances in playoffs

Optimistic about beating Derby; less sure about beating West Brom. It
would be nice if Wolves were there instead!  ;-)

> 2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints

At the moment, we simply don't have enough cash to compete, especially
in the Premiership. I'm no lover of American foreign policy, but I'd
rather have funding from 5000 miles west than from 5000 miles east!

I'm a MicroSoftPhobe, but since Mr Allen has already earned his billions
from Microsoft's predatory business practices and exploitation of
market-domination, he might as well spend some of it with Saints than
buying a fourth yacht.

Stuart

-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

Stuart Bell wrote:
> Toady  wrote:
> 
> 
>>What are peoples thoughts here on
>>1) Saints chances in playoffs
> 
> 
> Optimistic about beating Derby; less sure about beating West Brom. It
> would be nice if Wolves were there instead!  ;-)
> 
> 
>>2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints
> 
> 
> At the moment, we simply don't have enough cash to compete, especially
> in the Premiership. I'm no lover of American foreign policy, but I'd
> rather have funding from 5000 miles west than from 5000 miles east!
> 
> I'm a MicroSoftPhobe, but since Mr Allen has already earned his billions
> from Microsoft's predatory business practices and exploitation of
> market-domination, he might as well spend some of it with Saints than
> buying a fourth yacht.
> 
> Stuart
> 

Yeah, all true. My point was that in some ways it would be cool to be 
Man U or Chelsea (but I don't think the big takeover will happen) but in 
other ways it would spoil things. I'd hate that whole thing of 
travelling to the middle of Asia and then seeing lots of saddo's in 
Saints shirts.

I went up to Ispwich with my tractor boy pal a few weeks back to watch 
Ipswich v Derby. Excellent match. With us was a guy from Manchester who 
supported Man U (one of the few manchester born and bred fans I guess). 
He's almost ashamed to tell people he supports his local club where he 
grew up.

So we walk into a shop just round the corner from Portman road to get 
something to drink and the east european guy behind the counter is 
wearing a Man Utd shirt. Sure it would have been cool if he'd had a 
Saints shirt on, but only because you just don't see so many of them. 
But if everywhere I went there was some bloke who'd never been near St 
Marys with a Saints shirt on, it would be really sad.

I have cousins who are big chelsea fans, brought up on it and they get 
the same thing now.

Still Mr Allen seems a decent bloke. At least he'd have somewhere local 
to keep his dingy.

"Red Squirrel" <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote in message 
news:Xns9920D2131EEBredsquirrelusenet@68.142.88.120...
>2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well done Toady, top stuff :)
--
WSB

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

What about the play-offs?

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:

> Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
>> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>> 
>> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 
> What about the play-offs?
> 
> Stuart

Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

-- 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
> news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:
> 
> > Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> >> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> >> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> >> 
> >> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> > 
> > What about the play-offs?
> > 
> > Stuart
> 
> Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

A minor detail!  

Ironic, really, that our first sell-out since relegation will be against
that well known crowd-puller, Southend United.

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

Red Squirrel wrote:
> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady 
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 

Thank you. Its been a long time coming but I finally did it.

What are peoples thoughts here on
1) Saints chances in playoffs
2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints


My pal who is an ipswich supporter points out that Burley has lots of 
experience of playoffs, mostly with ipswich (6 times in total I think). 
That might in fact point to him not being very good at playoffs, since I 
think he only won them once. As my ipswich pal points out, ipswich 
finished third miles clear of 4th on a couple of occasions, and then 
failed in the playoffs. Will Derby do the same? They've had to face the 
disappointment of going from automatic promotion, to taking their 
chances in a 1 in 4 lottery... I'd almost written off a playoff place 
and I'm sure the players had almost... so there won't be that same 
feeling of being so close and then blowing it. Either way I'm sure its 
going to be a very stressful week or two.

In ways it would be sad to see a multi billionaire come in and turn 
Saints into another club like Chelsea or Man Utd. Sure it would be nice 
to win things, but when I walk down the streets in South London where I 
work and see kids in Chelsea and Man Utd shirts, and then go on holiday 
to the other side of the world and see the same, I'm not sure I'd want 
my club to go that way... to just become a brand.

In the same way much as losing out in the playoffs would be sad, in many 
ways I've enjoyed the Championship more this season. Being in contention 
for promotion all season feels better than being in contention for 
relegation all season in the premiership, or even just mid table 
mediocrity. Unless Saints can go up and have the resources to be 
fighting for a UEFA cup place, i'm sure I'll probably enjoy next season 
more in the Championship.

Toady  wrote:

> 
> What are peoples thoughts here on
> 1) Saints chances in playoffs

Optimistic about beating Derby; less sure about beating West Brom. It
would be nice if Wolves were there instead!  ;-)

> 2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints

At the moment, we simply don't have enough cash to compete, especially
in the Premiership. I'm no lover of American foreign policy, but I'd
rather have funding from 5000 miles west than from 5000 miles east!

I'm a MicroSoftPhobe, but since Mr Allen has already earned his billions
from Microsoft's predatory business practices and exploitation of
market-domination, he might as well spend some of it with Saints than
buying a fourth yacht.

Stuart

-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

Stuart Bell wrote:
> Toady  wrote:
> 
> 
>>What are peoples thoughts here on
>>1) Saints chances in playoffs
> 
> 
> Optimistic about beating Derby; less sure about beating West Brom. It
> would be nice if Wolves were there instead!  ;-)
> 
> 
>>2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints
> 
> 
> At the moment, we simply don't have enough cash to compete, especially
> in the Premiership. I'm no lover of American foreign policy, but I'd
> rather have funding from 5000 miles west than from 5000 miles east!
> 
> I'm a MicroSoftPhobe, but since Mr Allen has already earned his billions
> from Microsoft's predatory business practices and exploitation of
> market-domination, he might as well spend some of it with Saints than
> buying a fourth yacht.
> 
> Stuart
> 

Yeah, all true. My point was that in some ways it would be cool to be 
Man U or Chelsea (but I don't think the big takeover will happen) but in 
other ways it would spoil things. I'd hate that whole thing of 
travelling to the middle of Asia and then seeing lots of saddo's in 
Saints shirts.

I went up to Ispwich with my tractor boy pal a few weeks back to watch 
Ipswich v Derby. Excellent match. With us was a guy from Manchester who 
supported Man U (one of the few manchester born and bred fans I guess). 
He's almost ashamed to tell people he supports his local club where he 
grew up.

So we walk into a shop just round the corner from Portman road to get 
something to drink and the east european guy behind the counter is 
wearing a Man Utd shirt. Sure it would have been cool if he'd had a 
Saints shirt on, but only because you just don't see so many of them. 
But if everywhere I went there was some bloke who'd never been near St 
Marys with a Saints shirt on, it would be really sad.

I have cousins who are big chelsea fans, brought up on it and they get 
the same thing now.

Still Mr Allen seems a decent bloke. At least he'd have somewhere local 
to keep his dingy.

Red Squirrel wrote:
> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady 
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well, rather like Leeds, I gave up sometime before the end.

On the subject of Leeds, I do think the rules about going into
administration still need some tweaks. Leeds clearly opted to go into
administration when they were technically not relegated but practically
were. This way, they don't incur the penalty of 10 points next season in
League 1.

Now I'm not necessarily saying kick a man when he's down, but it seems
to be using the rules to your advantage to be able to soak up the
penalty this season when you'd almost certainly be relegated anyway.

Seems to me the simple fix would be to say that the 10 pts is applied
this season, but if the team ends the season in a position that means it
would have been relegated anyway without the deduction, it should be
applied to next season instead. If this were the case now, Leeds would
have thought twice about it for sure, instead they've effectively been
given a window of opportunity to go into admin for free.

On the topic of the rules not being very good, I also think West Ham
should get at least a 3 point deduction instead of a fine for the
transfer corruption business. As Middlesbrough pointed out, they got
relegated by a 3-point deduction for failing to play Blackburn few years
back. It seems the Premiership are choosing punishments now depending on
the league position of the team in question, which is not a good
precedent in my mind.

On the subject of the 'takeover' by Paul Allen (which seems alas to have
been invented by someone at Saints), all I can say is I'm glad it's not
Steve Balmer. That guy would put Rupert to shame:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/05/chair_chucking/

Cap'n

p.s. hmmmmm i think i'm gonna have to change my sig today



-- 
captain_flackTONYBLAIRFROMOFFICE@hotmail.com

Remove Tony Blair from office to contact me

"Red Squirrel" <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote in message 
news:Xns9920D2131EEBredsquirrelusenet@68.142.88.120...
>2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well done Toady, top stuff :)
--
WSB

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

What about the play-offs?

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:

> Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
>> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>> 
>> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 
> What about the play-offs?
> 
> Stuart

Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

-- 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
> news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:
> 
> > Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> >> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> >> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> >> 
> >> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> > 
> > What about the play-offs?
> > 
> > Stuart
> 
> Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

A minor detail!  

Ironic, really, that our first sell-out since relegation will be against
that well known crowd-puller, Southend United.

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

Red Squirrel wrote:
> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady 
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 

Thank you. Its been a long time coming but I finally did it.

What are peoples thoughts here on
1) Saints chances in playoffs
2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints


My pal who is an ipswich supporter points out that Burley has lots of 
experience of playoffs, mostly with ipswich (6 times in total I think). 
That might in fact point to him not being very good at playoffs, since I 
think he only won them once. As my ipswich pal points out, ipswich 
finished third miles clear of 4th on a couple of occasions, and then 
failed in the playoffs. Will Derby do the same? They've had to face the 
disappointment of going from automatic promotion, to taking their 
chances in a 1 in 4 lottery... I'd almost written off a playoff place 
and I'm sure the players had almost... so there won't be that same 
feeling of being so close and then blowing it. Either way I'm sure its 
going to be a very stressful week or two.

In ways it would be sad to see a multi billionaire come in and turn 
Saints into another club like Chelsea or Man Utd. Sure it would be nice 
to win things, but when I walk down the streets in South London where I 
work and see kids in Chelsea and Man Utd shirts, and then go on holiday 
to the other side of the world and see the same, I'm not sure I'd want 
my club to go that way... to just become a brand.

In the same way much as losing out in the playoffs would be sad, in many 
ways I've enjoyed the Championship more this season. Being in contention 
for promotion all season feels better than being in contention for 
relegation all season in the premiership, or even just mid table 
mediocrity. Unless Saints can go up and have the resources to be 
fighting for a UEFA cup place, i'm sure I'll probably enjoy next season 
more in the Championship.

Toady  wrote:

> 
> What are peoples thoughts here on
> 1) Saints chances in playoffs

Optimistic about beating Derby; less sure about beating West Brom. It
would be nice if Wolves were there instead!  ;-)

> 2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints

At the moment, we simply don't have enough cash to compete, especially
in the Premiership. I'm no lover of American foreign policy, but I'd
rather have funding from 5000 miles west than from 5000 miles east!

I'm a MicroSoftPhobe, but since Mr Allen has already earned his billions
from Microsoft's predatory business practices and exploitation of
market-domination, he might as well spend some of it with Saints than
buying a fourth yacht.

Stuart

-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

Stuart Bell wrote:
> Toady  wrote:
> 
> 
>>What are peoples thoughts here on
>>1) Saints chances in playoffs
> 
> 
> Optimistic about beating Derby; less sure about beating West Brom. It
> would be nice if Wolves were there instead!  ;-)
> 
> 
>>2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints
> 
> 
> At the moment, we simply don't have enough cash to compete, especially
> in the Premiership. I'm no lover of American foreign policy, but I'd
> rather have funding from 5000 miles west than from 5000 miles east!
> 
> I'm a MicroSoftPhobe, but since Mr Allen has already earned his billions
> from Microsoft's predatory business practices and exploitation of
> market-domination, he might as well spend some of it with Saints than
> buying a fourth yacht.
> 
> Stuart
> 

Yeah, all true. My point was that in some ways it would be cool to be 
Man U or Chelsea (but I don't think the big takeover will happen) but in 
other ways it would spoil things. I'd hate that whole thing of 
travelling to the middle of Asia and then seeing lots of saddo's in 
Saints shirts.

I went up to Ispwich with my tractor boy pal a few weeks back to watch 
Ipswich v Derby. Excellent match. With us was a guy from Manchester who 
supported Man U (one of the few manchester born and bred fans I guess). 
He's almost ashamed to tell people he supports his local club where he 
grew up.

So we walk into a shop just round the corner from Portman road to get 
something to drink and the east european guy behind the counter is 
wearing a Man Utd shirt. Sure it would have been cool if he'd had a 
Saints shirt on, but only because you just don't see so many of them. 
But if everywhere I went there was some bloke who'd never been near St 
Marys with a Saints shirt on, it would be really sad.

I have cousins who are big chelsea fans, brought up on it and they get 
the same thing now.

Still Mr Allen seems a decent bloke. At least he'd have somewhere local 
to keep his dingy.

Red Squirrel wrote:
> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady 
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well, rather like Leeds, I gave up sometime before the end.

On the subject of Leeds, I do think the rules about going into
administration still need some tweaks. Leeds clearly opted to go into
administration when they were technically not relegated but practically
were. This way, they don't incur the penalty of 10 points next season in
League 1.

Now I'm not necessarily saying kick a man when he's down, but it seems
to be using the rules to your advantage to be able to soak up the
penalty this season when you'd almost certainly be relegated anyway.

Seems to me the simple fix would be to say that the 10 pts is applied
this season, but if the team ends the season in a position that means it
would have been relegated anyway without the deduction, it should be
applied to next season instead. If this were the case now, Leeds would
have thought twice about it for sure, instead they've effectively been
given a window of opportunity to go into admin for free.

On the topic of the rules not being very good, I also think West Ham
should get at least a 3 point deduction instead of a fine for the
transfer corruption business. As Middlesbrough pointed out, they got
relegated by a 3-point deduction for failing to play Blackburn few years
back. It seems the Premiership are choosing punishments now depending on
the league position of the team in question, which is not a good
precedent in my mind.

On the subject of the 'takeover' by Paul Allen (which seems alas to have
been invented by someone at Saints), all I can say is I'm glad it's not
Steve Balmer. That guy would put Rupert to shame:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/05/chair_chucking/

Cap'n

p.s. hmmmmm i think i'm gonna have to change my sig today



-- 
captain_flackTONYBLAIRFROMOFFICE@hotmail.com

Remove Tony Blair from office to contact me

"Red Squirrel" <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote in message 
news:Xns9920D2131EEBredsquirrelusenet@68.142.88.120...
>2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well done Toady, top stuff :)
--
WSB

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

What about the play-offs?

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:

> Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
>> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>> 
>> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 
> What about the play-offs?
> 
> Stuart

Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

-- 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
> news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:
> 
> > Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> >> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> >> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> >> 
> >> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> > 
> > What about the play-offs?
> > 
> > Stuart
> 
> Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

A minor detail!  

Ironic, really, that our first sell-out since relegation will be against
that well known crowd-puller, Southend United.

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

Red Squirrel wrote:
> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady 
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 

Thank you. Its been a long time coming but I finally did it.

What are peoples thoughts here on
1) Saints chances in playoffs
2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints


My pal who is an ipswich supporter points out that Burley has lots of 
experience of playoffs, mostly with ipswich (6 times in total I think). 
That might in fact point to him not being very good at playoffs, since I 
think he only won them once. As my ipswich pal points out, ipswich 
finished third miles clear of 4th on a couple of occasions, and then 
failed in the playoffs. Will Derby do the same? They've had to face the 
disappointment of going from automatic promotion, to taking their 
chances in a 1 in 4 lottery... I'd almost written off a playoff place 
and I'm sure the players had almost... so there won't be that same 
feeling of being so close and then blowing it. Either way I'm sure its 
going to be a very stressful week or two.

In ways it would be sad to see a multi billionaire come in and turn 
Saints into another club like Chelsea or Man Utd. Sure it would be nice 
to win things, but when I walk down the streets in South London where I 
work and see kids in Chelsea and Man Utd shirts, and then go on holiday 
to the other side of the world and see the same, I'm not sure I'd want 
my club to go that way... to just become a brand.

In the same way much as losing out in the playoffs would be sad, in many 
ways I've enjoyed the Championship more this season. Being in contention 
for promotion all season feels better than being in contention for 
relegation all season in the premiership, or even just mid table 
mediocrity. Unless Saints can go up and have the resources to be 
fighting for a UEFA cup place, i'm sure I'll probably enjoy next season 
more in the Championship.

Toady  wrote:

> 
> What are peoples thoughts here on
> 1) Saints chances in playoffs

Optimistic about beating Derby; less sure about beating West Brom. It
would be nice if Wolves were there instead!  ;-)

> 2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints

At the moment, we simply don't have enough cash to compete, especially
in the Premiership. I'm no lover of American foreign policy, but I'd
rather have funding from 5000 miles west than from 5000 miles east!

I'm a MicroSoftPhobe, but since Mr Allen has already earned his billions
from Microsoft's predatory business practices and exploitation of
market-domination, he might as well spend some of it with Saints than
buying a fourth yacht.

Stuart

-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

Stuart Bell wrote:
> Toady  wrote:
> 
> 
>>What are peoples thoughts here on
>>1) Saints chances in playoffs
> 
> 
> Optimistic about beating Derby; less sure about beating West Brom. It
> would be nice if Wolves were there instead!  ;-)
> 
> 
>>2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints
> 
> 
> At the moment, we simply don't have enough cash to compete, especially
> in the Premiership. I'm no lover of American foreign policy, but I'd
> rather have funding from 5000 miles west than from 5000 miles east!
> 
> I'm a MicroSoftPhobe, but since Mr Allen has already earned his billions
> from Microsoft's predatory business practices and exploitation of
> market-domination, he might as well spend some of it with Saints than
> buying a fourth yacht.
> 
> Stuart
> 

Yeah, all true. My point was that in some ways it would be cool to be 
Man U or Chelsea (but I don't think the big takeover will happen) but in 
other ways it would spoil things. I'd hate that whole thing of 
travelling to the middle of Asia and then seeing lots of saddo's in 
Saints shirts.

I went up to Ispwich with my tractor boy pal a few weeks back to watch 
Ipswich v Derby. Excellent match. With us was a guy from Manchester who 
supported Man U (one of the few manchester born and bred fans I guess). 
He's almost ashamed to tell people he supports his local club where he 
grew up.

So we walk into a shop just round the corner from Portman road to get 
something to drink and the east european guy behind the counter is 
wearing a Man Utd shirt. Sure it would have been cool if he'd had a 
Saints shirt on, but only because you just don't see so many of them. 
But if everywhere I went there was some bloke who'd never been near St 
Marys with a Saints shirt on, it would be really sad.

I have cousins who are big chelsea fans, brought up on it and they get 
the same thing now.

Still Mr Allen seems a decent bloke. At least he'd have somewhere local 
to keep his dingy.

Red Squirrel wrote:
> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady 
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well, rather like Leeds, I gave up sometime before the end.

On the subject of Leeds, I do think the rules about going into
administration still need some tweaks. Leeds clearly opted to go into
administration when they were technically not relegated but practically
were. This way, they don't incur the penalty of 10 points next season in
League 1.

Now I'm not necessarily saying kick a man when he's down, but it seems
to be using the rules to your advantage to be able to soak up the
penalty this season when you'd almost certainly be relegated anyway.

Seems to me the simple fix would be to say that the 10 pts is applied
this season, but if the team ends the season in a position that means it
would have been relegated anyway without the deduction, it should be
applied to next season instead. If this were the case now, Leeds would
have thought twice about it for sure, instead they've effectively been
given a window of opportunity to go into admin for free.

On the topic of the rules not being very good, I also think West Ham
should get at least a 3 point deduction instead of a fine for the
transfer corruption business. As Middlesbrough pointed out, they got
relegated by a 3-point deduction for failing to play Blackburn few years
back. It seems the Premiership are choosing punishments now depending on
the league position of the team in question, which is not a good
precedent in my mind.

On the subject of the 'takeover' by Paul Allen (which seems alas to have
been invented by someone at Saints), all I can say is I'm glad it's not
Steve Balmer. That guy would put Rupert to shame:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/05/chair_chucking/

Cap'n

p.s. hmmmmm i think i'm gonna have to change my sig today



-- 
captain_flackTONYBLAIRFROMOFFICE@hotmail.com

Remove Tony Blair from office to contact me

"Red Squirrel" <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote in message 
news:Xns9920D2131EEBredsquirrelusenet@68.142.88.120...
>2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well done Toady, top stuff :)
--
WSB

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

What about the play-offs?

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:

> Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
>> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
>> 
>> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 
> What about the play-offs?
> 
> Stuart

Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

-- 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
> news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:
> 
> > Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> >> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> >> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> >> 
> >> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> > 
> > What about the play-offs?
> > 
> > Stuart
> 
> Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

A minor detail!  

Ironic, really, that our first sell-out since relegation will be against
that well known crowd-puller, Southend United.

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

Red Squirrel wrote:
> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady 
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 

Thank you. Its been a long time coming but I finally did it.

What are peoples thoughts here on
1) Saints chances in playoffs
2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints


My pal who is an ipswich supporter points out that Burley has lots of 
experience of playoffs, mostly with ipswich (6 times in total I think). 
That might in fact point to him not being very good at playoffs, since I 
think he only won them once. As my ipswich pal points out, ipswich 
finished third miles clear of 4th on a couple of occasions, and then 
failed in the playoffs. Will Derby do the same? They've had to face the 
disappointment of going from automatic promotion, to taking their 
chances in a 1 in 4 lottery... I'd almost written off a playoff place 
and I'm sure the players had almost... so there won't be that same 
feeling of being so close and then blowing it. Either way I'm sure its 
going to be a very stressful week or two.

In ways it would be sad to see a multi billionaire come in and turn 
Saints into another club like Chelsea or Man Utd. Sure it would be nice 
to win things, but when I walk down the streets in South London where I 
work and see kids in Chelsea and Man Utd shirts, and then go on holiday 
to the other side of the world and see the same, I'm not sure I'd want 
my club to go that way... to just become a brand.

In the same way much as losing out in the playoffs would be sad, in many 
ways I've enjoyed the Championship more this season. Being in contention 
for promotion all season feels better than being in contention for 
relegation all season in the premiership, or even just mid table 
mediocrity. Unless Saints can go up and have the resources to be 
fighting for a UEFA cup place, i'm sure I'll probably enjoy next season 
more in the Championship.

Toady  wrote:

> 
> What are peoples thoughts here on
> 1) Saints chances in playoffs

Optimistic about beating Derby; less sure about beating West Brom. It
would be nice if Wolves were there instead!  ;-)

> 2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints

At the moment, we simply don't have enough cash to compete, especially
in the Premiership. I'm no lover of American foreign policy, but I'd
rather have funding from 5000 miles west than from 5000 miles east!

I'm a MicroSoftPhobe, but since Mr Allen has already earned his billions
from Microsoft's predatory business practices and exploitation of
market-domination, he might as well spend some of it with Saints than
buying a fourth yacht.

Stuart

-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

Stuart Bell wrote:
> Toady  wrote:
> 
> 
>>What are peoples thoughts here on
>>1) Saints chances in playoffs
> 
> 
> Optimistic about beating Derby; less sure about beating West Brom. It
> would be nice if Wolves were there instead!  ;-)
> 
> 
>>2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints
> 
> 
> At the moment, we simply don't have enough cash to compete, especially
> in the Premiership. I'm no lover of American foreign policy, but I'd
> rather have funding from 5000 miles west than from 5000 miles east!
> 
> I'm a MicroSoftPhobe, but since Mr Allen has already earned his billions
> from Microsoft's predatory business practices and exploitation of
> market-domination, he might as well spend some of it with Saints than
> buying a fourth yacht.
> 
> Stuart
> 

Yeah, all true. My point was that in some ways it would be cool to be 
Man U or Chelsea (but I don't think the big takeover will happen) but in 
other ways it would spoil things. I'd hate that whole thing of 
travelling to the middle of Asia and then seeing lots of saddo's in 
Saints shirts.

I went up to Ispwich with my tractor boy pal a few weeks back to watch 
Ipswich v Derby. Excellent match. With us was a guy from Manchester who 
supported Man U (one of the few manchester born and bred fans I guess). 
He's almost ashamed to tell people he supports his local club where he 
grew up.

So we walk into a shop just round the corner from Portman road to get 
something to drink and the east european guy behind the counter is 
wearing a Man Utd shirt. Sure it would have been cool if he'd had a 
Saints shirt on, but only because you just don't see so many of them. 
But if everywhere I went there was some bloke who'd never been near St 
Marys with a Saints shirt on, it would be really sad.

I have cousins who are big chelsea fans, brought up on it and they get 
the same thing now.

Still Mr Allen seems a decent bloke. At least he'd have somewhere local 
to keep his dingy.

Red Squirrel wrote:
> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady 
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)

Well, rather like Leeds, I gave up sometime before the end.

On the subject of Leeds, I do think the rules about going into
administration still need some tweaks. Leeds clearly opted to go into
administration when they were technically not relegated but practically
were. This way, they don't incur the penalty of 10 points next season in
League 1.

Now I'm not necessarily saying kick a man when he's down, but it seems
to be using the rules to your advantage to be able to soak up the
penalty this season when you'd almost certainly be relegated anyway.

Seems to me the simple fix would be to say that the 10 pts is applied
this season, but if the team ends the season in a position that means it
would have been relegated anyway without the deduction, it should be
applied to next season instead. If this were the case now, Leeds would
have thought twice about it for sure, instead they've effectively been
given a window of opportunity to go into admin for free.

On the topic of the rules not being very good, I also think West Ham
should get at least a 3 point deduction instead of a fine for the
transfer corruption business. As Middlesbrough pointed out, they got
relegated by a 3-point deduction for failing to play Blackburn few years
back. It seems the Premiership are choosing punishments now depending on
the league position of the team in question, which is not a good
precedent in my mind.

On the subject of the 'takeover' by Paul Allen (which seems alas to have
been invented by someone at Saints), all I can say is I'm glad it's not
Steve Balmer. That guy would put Rupert to shame:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/05/chair_chucking/

Cap'n

p.s. hmmmmm i think i'm gonna have to change my sig today



-- 
captain_flackTONYBLAIRFROMOFFICE@hotmail.com

Remove Tony Blair from office to contact me

Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:

> spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com (Stuart Bell) wrote in 
> news:1hxe0o2.1bwo0vf1efaavaN%spamfritterspam@spamfritterspam.com:
> 
> > Red Squirrel <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> >> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady
> >> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> >> 
> >> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> > 
> > What about the play-offs?
> > 
> > Stuart
> 
> Good point, but we need to get into them first :-(

A minor detail!  

Ironic, really, that our first sell-out since relegation will be against
that well known crowd-puller, Southend United.

Stuart
-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

Red Squirrel wrote:
> 2 games to go in the prediction league, 10 points up for grabs, Toady 
> leading by 14 points.  An unassailable lead.
> 
> Congratulations and I just hope I hang onto second place :-)
> 

Thank you. Its been a long time coming but I finally did it.

What are peoples thoughts here on
1) Saints chances in playoffs
2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints


My pal who is an ipswich supporter points out that Burley has lots of 
experience of playoffs, mostly with ipswich (6 times in total I think). 
That might in fact point to him not being very good at playoffs, since I 
think he only won them once. As my ipswich pal points out, ipswich 
finished third miles clear of 4th on a couple of occasions, and then 
failed in the playoffs. Will Derby do the same? They've had to face the 
disappointment of going from automatic promotion, to taking their 
chances in a 1 in 4 lottery... I'd almost written off a playoff place 
and I'm sure the players had almost... so there won't be that same 
feeling of being so close and then blowing it. Either way I'm sure its 
going to be a very stressful week or two.

In ways it would be sad to see a multi billionaire come in and turn 
Saints into another club like Chelsea or Man Utd. Sure it would be nice 
to win things, but when I walk down the streets in South London where I 
work and see kids in Chelsea and Man Utd shirts, and then go on holiday 
to the other side of the world and see the same, I'm not sure I'd want 
my club to go that way... to just become a brand.

In the same way much as losing out in the playoffs would be sad, in many 
ways I've enjoyed the Championship more this season. Being in contention 
for promotion all season feels better than being in contention for 
relegation all season in the premiership, or even just mid table 
mediocrity. Unless Saints can go up and have the resources to be 
fighting for a UEFA cup place, i'm sure I'll probably enjoy next season 
more in the Championship.

Toady  wrote:

> 
> What are peoples thoughts here on
> 1) Saints chances in playoffs

Optimistic about beating Derby; less sure about beating West Brom. It
would be nice if Wolves were there instead!  ;-)

> 2) Paul Allen or other rich person buying Saints

At the moment, we simply don't have enough cash to compete, especially
in the Premiership. I'm no lover of American foreign policy, but I'd
rather have funding from 5000 miles west than from 5000 miles east!

I'm a MicroSoftPhobe, but since Mr Allen has already earned his billions
from Microsoft's predatory business practices and exploitation of
market-domination, he might as well spend some of it with Saints than
buying a fourth yacht.

Stuart

-- 
Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.

Stuart Bell wrote:
> Toady  wrote:
> 
> 
>>What are peoples thoughts here on
>>1) Saints chances in playoffs
> 
> 
> Optimistic about beating Derby; less sure about beating West Brom. It
> would be nice if Wolves were there instead!  ;-)
> 
>