It's reported on Five Live as 12 people DETAINED rather than arrested.

Maybe I'm being thick here, Paul. Please would you explain the difference?

I've seen enough flags fluttering from cars to know that we will definately win Euro 2004, with a convincing win over France on Sunday and in the final.

I hope to high hell that Cole stays, unless we get the 7.5 million or so we paid for him back, which is highly unlikly.

On the Fowler front, if a swap is in line, I wouldnt mind a Jansen/Fowler swap... sad as though I'd be to see Matty leave.

If Cole goes though, I will personally rip out his knee caps with a lemon zester.

Quoting £7.5 million as an acceptable sale price is completely irrelevant to the current situation with Cole.

When you buy players of a certain age you have to accept that the price, like a car, depreciates over time.

If you purchased a brand new car from a showroom, after three years you would sell it on for less than you paid and accept that the difference in the two purchase prices is the cost to you for three years motoring in a new car.

The same factor goes for player purchase. When selling a player clubs offset how much they pay for a player against how much 'value' they have obtained from the purchase.

In Cole's case such matters to take into account would include him making a valuable contribution to saving us from relegation two years ago and a cup in the trophy cabinet.

I accept that you know that we wouldn't get £7.5 million IF we sold Cole, but you may as well say that you hope we can sell him for £30 million and use the money to buy back Duff and put the rest towards a new hotel for the Riverside - it's not going to happen.

I assume your last line about lemon zesters was supposed to be funny. It wasn't.

http://www.skysports.com/skysports/article...1135629,00.html

Nowhere in this article is Cole quoted as saying that he actually wants to stay. It's just press speculation.

I'll got for 1-1. Cole to get Rovers off the mark. Brum to equalise controversially near the end and Souness lose it with the referee.

I think Gazza would be an excellent choice of new manager, as Burn-a-leh seem to have a tradition of having alcoholic managers.

Given the topic Cletus I think it's high time you changed your signature

A song for Tottenham.

Ternant - Wheres your job?

Ternant Ternant - Wheres your job?

What about Glenda for Burnley?

....I think 'Pleat for Burnley' will hurt them more!

Stanleh really should have seen this coming. After all he was advised by the more knowledgeable Rovers fans on 01/04/2000 "Resign, you might as well resign"

I think you mean 2001. A hilarious moment that will live with me forever.

while i definately dont condone ron's comments, i hate the whole racism debate. i dont understand why it has to be such a sensitive issue - people call each other fat and they dont get fired over it.  without meaning to cause any offence, i hate how i have to be so careful when refering to a black person. im not racist in any respect but a large part of the black community take offence to being called "coloured," or "black," or "negro." sometimes i dont know how to refer to a black person without being accused of being racist.  whats worse is that influential black people such as rappers refer to themselves in the same way that ron atkinson, an influential white man, did. so why is it ok for them to do it and not ron? i think i also speak for the majority who say that when a black person is racist towards the white population, not nearly enough focus is paid to it and in many cases a black person can be just as rasist as a white person.

Nonsense. How many black people do you know who are offended by being called black? Actually, you've answered the question with your misguided 'im (sic) not racist in any respect but...' rant. You don't know any black people, do you? If you did you would know that both negro and coloured are offensive. FYI so is 'half-caste'.

And, as you and Blue Phil seem to fail to understand, calling a black person a 'nigger' live on TV IS a sackable / resigning offence. Big Ron knows that and is big enough to hold his hands up to it. I don't think he's really a racist but at that moment he used racist language and he understands that it's wrong.

one of my friends is black and we often complain about this very thing. as you appear to be such an expert on the subject then can you explain why when i enter the word "negro," into a search engine i find sites such as the "negro college fund," the "negro baseball leagues," and the "journal of negro history." if it is so offensive then why do black people,who presumably run/found these organisations, name them the way they do? are you sure you actually know any black people? in addition to your first point, yes, i have seen on MANY occasions black people become angered by people refering to them as a "black person," as if it is an attempt to racially abuse them. the reason i "ranted," about not being racist is that i expected people to start calling me racist.

obviously calling somebody a "nigger," on national tv is a sackable offense, but thats not what i questioned in my original post. what i did complain about is the sensitivityy of racism in the country.

and in answer to ur second post, what i should have mentioned is that this person that was being yelled at had a severe attitude problem and was useless at his job. he simply "pulled the racist card," and thus, aided to make people think this was common practice with all black people, which it is not.

besides, i hated ron atkinson - i thought he was useless. im glad hes gone.

Thank you for clarifying your comments. It was sad that you couldn't understand the difference between calling someone a 'fat b****** or a black b****** and why race is a sensitive issue. I suggest you visit some of the American 'negro' websites you talk of and read about the stuggle for civil rights, the slave trade and general oppression of black people over the centuries.

Regarding people becoming angry at being referred to a black, I suppose it's a matter of context. If it is a case of asking for someone's ethnicity, or to discribe someone's appearance, than I can't see how it would cause offence; I don't know of any black people in the course of my life who have objected to the term 'black' when describing what someone looks like. However, if you were repeatedly referred to as a 'black man' when race has no bearing on conversation (e.g. "I met this black bloke the other day who said he's off to Spain next week") or where race is used negatively (e.g. "well, he is a black man after all. What else would you expect?") it is another matter.

'Negro' may or may not be a term used is America - it certainly isn't a word used in Britain amongst the black people I know and organisations I have worked with. It's the same way that 'retardation' is still in use in the states, but is cringeworthy when used in the context of social care in the UK.

We live in strange and sad times.

Don't be too sad - we've got 40 points now!

About 10 mins walk up the road towards the centre of London on the opposite side of the road from the ground is a pub whose name I can't remember (can anyone help?). It's one of those pubs you get in London that's in a shop unit rather than being a 'standalone' pub. Anyway Guinness was £1.40 a pint and last season I went in in colours before and after the game, sang Rovers songs and chatted to Spurs fans and, so long as you tell them you hate Arsenal, you should have no trouble.

Except for the huge hangover the following day that kept me off work!!

just in work a few months ago, my manager yelled at a black employee, which i was witness to

If I was witness to such and act I would certainly not automatically discount racism as a factor, as you have. Perhaps you feel it is professional for a manager to yell at their staff in front of others? Or perhaps only the black ones?

while i definately dont condone ron's comments, i hate the whole racism debate. i dont understand why it has to be such a sensitive issue - people call each other fat and they dont get fired over it. without meaning to cause any offence, i hate how i have to be so careful when refering to a black person. im not racist in any respect but a large part of the black community take offence to being called "coloured," or "black," or "negro." sometimes i dont know how to refer to a black person without being accused of being racist. whats worse is that influential black people such as rappers refer to themselves in the same way that ron atkinson, an influential white man, did. so why is it ok for them to do it and not ron? i think i also speak for the majority who say that when a black person is racist towards the white population, not nearly enough focus is paid to it and in many cases a black person can be just as rasist as a white person.

Nonsense. How many black people do you know who are offended by being called black? Actually, you've answered the question with your misguided 'im (sic) not racist in any respect but...' rant. You don't know any black people, do you? If you did you would know that both negro and coloured are offensive. FYI so is 'half-caste'.

And, as you and Blue Phil seem to fail to understand, calling a black person a 'nigger' live on TV IS a sackable / resigning offence. Big Ron knows that and is big enough to hold his hands up to it. I don't think he's really a racist but at that moment he used racist language and he understands that it's wrong.

spurs have been advertising the fact that they dont enjoy fans throwing tickertape in the stadium as its a nuisance when it ocmes to cleaning it up.

Why are they so borthered about tickertape? Surely they have other things to clear up too? Last season Spurs fans were throwing their season tickets onto the pitch once we were 4-0 up!

Political correctness gone mad, IMO. Fair enough, he shouldnt have said what he did but they were comments made in private, accidentally broadcast. He should have been made to apologise, perhaps a fine as a rap on the knuckles, but no way should he lose his job over it. Whether he harbours old-fashioned views on the use of outdated language or not, the fact that such words have never found their way into his commentaries shows sufficient professional decorum, so why should he lose his job?

More likely if he hadnt resigned ITV would have feared a backlash from blacks boycotting his commentaries & therefore less revenue which, as we know from our debates on The Premiership on this site, is really all that ITV is interested in.

As Withnail said, "...what absolute twaddle".

Mark Hughes, Chris Coleman, Mickey Adams

Those are for starters- without looking at lower division managers who should be given the chance.

Why not Gary Megson- He did the best he could with limited resources at West Brom- NIgel Worthington

Off the top of my head

Chris Coleman may be doing a good job at Fulham with Jean Tigana's players, but let's see how he fairs in the transfer market before we even begin to consider him as a quality manager.  Remember Peter Taylor?

i've only read revidge blue's thread and it sum's tonight up to me,i ain't felt this bad since we were in the 3rd division,no fight,no heart a disgrace to the shirt.

You feel even worse than after that game against an already relegated Nottingham Forest?  I don't.