jim mk2

You have to hand it to Watford - the people running that club must have so many contacts around Europe with their fingers on the pulses of the best up and coming coaches. How they managed to get out of the Championship with 4 coaches in one season defies belief really. Southampton were in League One about 5 years ago so it shows what can be achieved with good people running the club. Swansea are another well run club. For those who remember the 1960s and 70s the likes of Watford, Brighton, Swansea, Bournemouth were all 3rd or 4th division clubs - the idea that that they would ever be in the equivalent of the old first division would have been inconceivable. .

The flip side of that is Watford who changed their manager 4 (yes 4) times in their promotion season to the Premier League and have continued to change managers ever since while cementing their place in the top league.

I got the info from a Leeds fan who I met today. He thinks the new badge is wonderful ! The protesters seem most upset over the loss of the white Yorkshire rose.

On the contrary. The new Leeds badge was designed after consultation with fans. Leeds fans makes the right arm across the chest gesture at matches.

Jimmy Armfield was known in his pomp as a "class" player (what happened to class players??) - in the same way that (Sir) Keith Newton and Ronnie Clayton were. It was just something in the way they moved. Players aren't the same these days. He was also a "gentleman" footballer - a term which modern fans would never understand. Ronnie Clayton and Bobby Moore were the same. Armfield was an excellent full back and could have been England's full back in the 1966 World Cup but for injury. He never bore any resentment. Sad day for football.

So even "Gods" make mistakes. Just shows going too far with hubris tends to come back and bite you on the derriere.

Doesn't make any sense. Suspended during the investigation and now he's been charged with a serious offence he is cleared to play? He could still end up in jail if found guilty.

Affray carries a maximum 3-year prison sentence. He's a lucky lad - it could have been abh or gbh.

There are ways of standing up for people without throwing punches and having a street brawl. He's supposed to be a professional sportsman. His behaviour was inexcusable. He's an idiot.

Missed out on Ashes series, set back his career and his earnings, and probably going to end up in court. .... I wonder if he still thinks he did the "right thing".

Fallon's a regular at Ewood. Seen him there many times. RV Blue, Specialist subject: Tripe.

Chicken and egg. If there weren't so many matches in London cricket fans would have to travel to other grounds. Won't happen though. Money talks. Like the economy, everything is skewed towards London and the south.

Britain's most northerly league club - Ross County, who play at Dingwall, north of Inverness, is worth a visit. It's a small, isolated town miles from anywhere. I visited in 1980, when it was still a Highland League club. Inverness had 3 clubs in those days, Caledonian, Thistle and Clacknacuddin, each with their own typical non-league type ground complete with ramshackle stands and corrugated iron fencing. Fantastic.

Finn, Wood and Plunkett are all faster bowlers than the players on tour, players who get bounce out of faster pitches, but Finn and Wood unfortunately are injured and Plunkett didn't play alot last summer because of fitness problems and is regarded as a ODI bowler these days. Roland-Jones is injured too and would almost certainly been on tour. Finn and Wood were big losses, and coupled with the loss of Stokes, it's little wonder England's attack has lacked variety and looked toothless.

Tomlinson has overcome the potentially lifelong handicap of having been born in Burnley so I'm sure he'll come though his difficulties. He didn't do much wrong at Peterborough.

Gabby Logan's dad.

Neat and efficient but wouldn't go overboard. Prefer Evans.

Entertaining match in the freezing east Anglian cold. Some observations Good 1 The team are playing with a great deal of confidence and look capable of scoring goals every time they attack. The feelgood factor is back! 2. Mowbray's got the team alot fitter and the shape looks better too. 3.. Dack must be the best £750,000 we've ever spent. Proper footballer and puts in a good shift too. 4. After a poor first half hour Downing had an very good game. 5. Mulgrew's a class above in this division 6. Smallwood was a tiger in midfield. 7 Last season I thought Williams was one of the worst left backs I'd seen in a Rovers shirt but looks a different player this season. 8. Antonnsson is a strange player. He's not a winger because he can't beat a man and his crosses are poor. He's too weak physically to play with his back to goal, he can't head the ball for toffee, has no right foot and his left isn't that brilliant either. But he scores goals Bad 1. We continue to concede goals, and very soft ones at that. The better teams will punish us. 2. Raya still doesn't convince. He has no physical presence and cannot deal with crosses. My heart is in my mouth every time we concede a corner. 3. Nyambe still doesn't look the part. Poor first touch and gets caught out of position time after time. Alot of goals we concede come down our right side. 4. Evans injured again. Shame as I like him as a player. 5. Conway was off the pace the whole game. Is he lacking match practice or over the hill ? Hope not as I like him. Conclusion This excellent run won't last forever and we're bound to hit a bad patch. However we should finish in the top 6 but it's open to question whether we will make the top 2. This team is the direct opposite of Howard Kendall's third division promotion side, which was expert in grinding out 1-0 wins. Can this team dig out results if the goals dry up? A right back and another winger is needed in January, and possibly a better goalkeeper if one is available

Rovers look flat crowd subdued poor goal to concede training ground routine Samuel should have scored nyambe and downing having poor games

That's a real shame. I know a few people who've made special trips to Pboro just to sample the old-time experience on that covered terrace.

Received my ticket today and am seriously dischuffed about this match. Last time I was there about 3 years ago (we won 4-1 includiing a Rhodes hat-trick - Berg's only win as manager) we were behind the goal standing on an old fashioned terrace with crash barriers and a low tin roof - just like the Darwen End 40 years ago. It was brillilant. Now we're stuck in the seated North Stand, on the upper tier in the extreme left-hand corner. Shame as I was really looking forward to this game

Should Australia have enforced the follow on ? Probably, because they already had enough runs. England likely to be all out 175 or fewer second innings

England generally do well at Adelaide ....... so the Australians change the format. Of course they chose not to do so at Brisbane and Perth, where Australia usually do well. Draw your own conclusions.

Not a chance. Good to see the new boys gets some runs but 190-4 can easily become 250-7 if they don't kick on. Ali's too high for me at No 6; Bairstow is a better bat. Ali's best position is No 8.

Welcome back pg. England have taken Vince with a Test batting average of about 19 and two rookies in terms of international experience in Stoneman and Malan, so my hopes aren't high. Losing Stokes was a blow - he would have given England the edge.