Bet most pot-heads started out on tobacco/alcohol. Probably should delegalise those too. Well the first one anyway, not sure how well I could get by without the odd drink

(Officially) best ever actually Really not sure Matteo will be a defensive rock when faced with the likes of Duff and Robben. The reason he should play in certain games is down to the fact that he is a centre-back, good in the air, more determined than Gray, and won't be beaten by teams knocking egg-chasing style cross-field kicks over his head. When we're playing against teams with pace in the wide areas, Gray and Matteo are equally suspect to getting completely fleeced resulting in disastrous consequences. Personally I'd play Matteo against Chelsea, only so that Gray's confidence doesn't take a battering like last season.

And didn't we sign either Blake or Ward instead of Dublin? Whew, really dodged a bullet there.

Gray's performance, whilst being very welcome, was no doubt helped by the fact that MGP actually bothered tracking back and defending, unlike Bentley on the other flank. Granted Bentley did run back more than I would have expected him too, but he didn't seem to have a clue what he was up to once he got near his own box. Thought Lucas did an admirable job considering he was faced with two international wingers in Ronaldo and Richardson taking him on on his own all day. Matteo and Gresko haven't done anything wrong this season, but would still plump for Gray to start the next few games to see if he can regularly play to that standard.

His name is Ricky Ponting and he put England in to bat in the second test. Seriously, Australia's batsmen have been woeful in the series, bowlers like Warne and Lee should not be top-scoring in any innings for suppossedly the best team in the world. England deserve to win 3-1.

Phil, whatever people want to do in their own time is up to them, they can put whatever they want wherever they want . I'd suggest they be careful with the cones though, wouldn't want to get Flopsy too excited...

It's very easy to blame any problem that happens at a football game on alcohol. These ignorant little wannabes don't cause trouble because they are drunk but because they are scum, pure and simple. People can easily have the vast quantity of seven whole pints without causing any furthur trouble for their fellow spectators than the need to stand up every five minutes so the inebriated sod can leg it to the gents. I'm a bit worried about this Wez bloke, he seems to be laughing in quite the maniacal way.

Accrington Stanley? The only thing they're good for is an odd fluke result in the Cup giving them the chance to play a home game at Ewood, or the Turd for their sins. As for the kit, who cares as long as it's blue and white.

Flitcroft's a good young player, hasn't quite lived up to his promise of a couple of years ago, but he still has a bit about him. Saying that he's hardly the sort of player we should be looking to sign to try and make the next step and finally win something.

What I don't understand is why they've decided a country can 'only' have four teams. Needless to say a country should only have one team in the Champions League but that's beside the point. I thought a countries number of Champions League places was variable and based on their Uefa coefficient(or some such silliness) which was determined by how well teams from that country peformed in Europe. Which is why England have 4 teams in the Champions League(or at least the qualifying stages), and Holland have only 2 eligible. This of course can fluctuate(albeit at the speed of the FIFA rankings) and if PSV Eindhoven managed to win the Champions League for the next 10 years(or something), the Dutch might get 3 teams into the competition(or would they get 4, what with PSV qualifying as winners?). So, surely if English teams performed well enough, the Premier League should be able to get 5 entry level positions, and so should also be able to get an additional place if one of the Premiership clubs win it.

It means Everton are out, England can only have four teams in the "Champions" League. I wouldn't worry too much about it if I was Everton, Liverpool beating Chelsea over two legs and then AC Milan is unthinkable.

Middlesbrough have applied and will likely take one of the places. They seem to have enjoyed their time in Europe this year quite a bit, despite its correlation with their lengthening injury list. Rovers certainly should not apply, the Uefa Cup itself was bad enough for our league performances and confidence, we hardly need to try and compete in a qualifying tournament we have little hope of getting through. Travelling to far flung corners of Europe(not to mention Kazakhstan) to drain our players before the season has even started isn't worth the potential rewards.

And Kevin Keegan Steve Archibald(I think) Chris Waddle

Well presumably they do, but then that's probably due to the fact that we don't avoid any film set in another country like the plague(notable exception if the American military is blowing the crap out of the other country at the time). I know I'd much rather watch a The War of the Worlds set in south-east England than America, or, erm, Dublin, though, as that is where the book is set. The location isn't a random choice but an integral part of the story. No blockbuster screenwriter is fit to warm up HG Wells pen.

I mean in the same laughable special effects and wooden sets way that make the likes of Doctor Who endearing. Can you actually imagine a 1950's film having the tripods as described in the book, how on earth would they have managed that convincingly? The new one's a 'contemporary reimagining' then? Which is Hollywood-speak for 'big pile of SFX laden crap designed to amuse slack-jawed Americans"

Not to mention the 1996 film version of The Island of Doctor Moreau, what was that meant to be? Tom Cruise indeed , I'm kind of looking forward to it really, it's making me laugh just thinking about him playing that role. Not read much about the new film version but I presume they have Americanised the whole thing so that it no longer bears any semblance to the book, or decent viewing material. The old version was pretty watchable though.

Pretty rub(b)ish? Complete and utter stinking muck is more like it, that 'performance' against Manchester United will live long in my cheese-fuelled nightmares, that overhead 'clearance' down by the corner flag, aagh, it makes my stones retract just thinking about it. And then there was that missed chance to settle the game in front of the BBE. Then straight after the game we get his fanboys on here telling us how brilliant he was, blithering idiots. Hughes has been completely and utterly vindicated in not playing Pedersen at first by the Norwegians recent good form, not the other way around. If he had thrown him in like Souness attempted to do the guys confidence would have been completely shattered. To suggest Pedersen would have played this well all season is ludicrous, he played poorly for the first team when selected, and if he was inferior to De Pedro for the reserves, well that just takes the biscuit(if the lardy Spanish slug hasn't eaten them all first that is).

Well let's see now, since this thread was last resurrected I think I've read the following, in no particular order: Midnight Tides - Steven Erikson - fantasy writing as it should be, well written with something to say about the world we live in. Those authors who think all it requires to compose a quality fantasy novel is to throw in some swords, some sorcerors, some near-naked women and the obligatory dragon, and the Tolkien fanboys who perpetuate the emergence of such drivel by paying hard cash for it, need to read this sort of book, for the sake of us all. Tehol Beddict is the single best character in any book I've ever read, cerebral comedy at the highest level. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky - Don't really think I need to say much about this one, sublime piece of work which is scarily accurate to our society despite the near 150 years since it was written. A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson - Apart from the singular aberation of a mind-numbingly boring section on clouds or some such nonsense, this is an interesting quick run through just about all of science. Packed with interesting factoids, brilliantly written, and clipping along at a fair old pace, this is a must read for anyone interested in, well, anything. Superstrings and the Search for the Theory of Everything - F. David Peat - Fascinating topic, poorly written and a bit dated at this stage, there are far better books to read about this out there. The Healthy Dead - Steven Erikson - See the first book above, again fantasy writing of the highest quality. Short novella which champions idleness and indulgence, bound to get you reaching for another beer. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown - Like everyone else, I read this one. Fascinating trivia, but the standard of writing is what you'd expect from a children's book. Terrible Lizard - Deborah Cadbury - Interesting look at the lives and infighting of the early dinosaur hunters written with a bit more quality than you'd expect. The Time Machine - HG Wells - Went back and re-read this one recently, a lot more going on than I remember from reading it years ago, and certainly puts the recent film version to shame, although admittedly so would watching paint dry. And I'm currently making my way through: The Divine Comedy - Dante - Had to see what all the fuss was about and I've gotten myself half way through purgatory at this stage, dipping in and out of it occassionly. I'm impressed, who knew 500 odd pages of poetry could actually be enjoyable? And I can feel enormous self-satisfaction at the notion that I must be one of the few people who know's what Radagast's location means without having to resort to google. Long Way Round - Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman - Not as good as the tv series, but still a quality tale of a round the world bike trip that makes you want to get up and travel, and who knew two actors would actually be able to write a decent book? The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoevsky - About half way through this at the moment and I'm hooked. There is so much going on here that it's mind-blowing. I'd go as far to say that it's arguably the best book of the lot here, so far. A cutting endictment of how possession of the highest qualities will result in nothing but contempt from the world we have created.

I can't imagine the tickets will go on open sale, maybe on sale to people on the database/stubs if neccessary, but a free-for-all is just asking for trouble. I'd say the chances of a season ticket holder not getting a ticket, if they want one, are about as good as Burnley's chances of winning the FA Cup.

Brentford. I think Hartlepool beat Boston in the third round.

Well when the alternative seems to be Jemal Johnson and Dickov upfront, average height about 4ft 8, Bellamy can be seen as a towering centre-forward.

Burnley at Ewood, or any other home draw against a lower league team would be fantastic. We can wait to play the big guns until we get to the quarter-finals at least. Hopefully they'll get drawn against each other and we'll sail through to the final.... Sky are saying the draw is at 1.30 on Monday, although recent draws seem to be appearing before their reported times.

Funny thing rules, there are always ways around. Just look at all the money Souness has made for Rangers in the past couple of years, whilst supposedly working for the benefit of other clubs.

So basically what you're saying is that you had the money to buy Barry Ferguson, but you decided that there were other players you wanted to buy instead? I'm sure Barry will be most impressed with his beloved Rangers snapping up players left, right and centre with the money which would have seen him getting the move he desires.

Rest easy Morph, the sum total of his knowledge of the Stone Roses probably involves hearing Fools Gold when SkySports used to use a sample from it. Radagast - if you spent all the time you spend browsing through the bowels of HMV, doing a paid job instead, you'd surely be able to afford the normal price of the album.... As for new albums, Mercury Rev - The Secret Migration, their best album yet(which is saying something), and you got to love the packaging - who needs generic plastic cd cases?