Nottsgriff

Me too. Best I can work out is that he doesn't make big mistakes or give too many fouls away. Yet to see him have a big influence on any game though.

Why is carroll on the edge with three players ahead of him when the ball is out wide?

Henderson and Adam should never play together.

Northampton rugby club have a bar that runs the entire length of the pitch behind one of the stands, selling decent beer at the same price (roughly) as the pubs outside. If we copied that kind of approach people would soon move and have a couple in the ground before the game rather than standing and fighting to be served at Sam Dodd's or the Sandon. Not sure whether that would necessarily be a good thing though, part of the 'matchday experience' for me has always been the buzz in the pub before the game, and the arguments afterwards (even when we win!).

I don't believe that the council would/could force us to groundshare either, I think it's more that a completely new planning application would be subject to a lengthy inquiry process, and could be called in by government, which would potentially mean a 3 year delay to the project. As I understand it, the capacity, footprint, and various aspects of the design (elevation etc.) would have to comply with the original application, but we could probably change some of the aesthetics without too much bother.

Parry planning was granted 2003, H&G 2007, both were still valid when the enabling work was completed (which presumably could apply to either design) in early 2008. So I reckon that means both are still in play, but we'll find out for sure when there is an actual announcement from the club rather than an article by Bascombe. You don't have to complete the build within that 3 year (previously 5 years) time period, just make a start, which will be why we spent that money doing next to bugger all on stanley park in 2008.

Other pics available here My link for those that want to join in on some completely uninformed speculation over the possible design tweaks! I can't believe that we'd keep the four spikes in the corners to hold the roof up these days, so lose those, and do something with the outside appearance would be my guess.

Planning permission used to be for 5 years until the policy changed in 2005, so I think the enabling works carried out by H&G in 2008 means the Parry designs are still valid (Parry designs passed in 2003). Looking on AFL website, I wonder if there's any link to the 'concept football stadium' they've designed....the blurb says "The design of a new 60,000 seat stadium to reflect the status and aspirations of one of the highest profile sporting institutions in the world and provide a venue that includes world class spectator and hospitality accommodation" Looks a bit like the Parry bowl with some fancy architectural cladding? And the 60k capacity is an interesting co-incidence.

Hope so, along with: Black or White, Michael Jackson The ink is black, Three dog night Something inside so strong, Labi Siffre Banana Boat song, Harry Belafonte Redemption song, Bob Marley Talkin' bout a revolution, Tracy Chapman Real Niggaz don't die, NWA Any others? Seriously though, I hope that we as a crowd just use the anger to get behind the team from the first to the last minute, and don't give the press any excuse to slate us again. Boo Evra by all means, he's always been a nasty little chippy s*** of a player, but beyond that we should just try and show our class both on and off the pitch.

Fixed. Couldn't agree more!

Whole away end waving Uruguay flags would be best for me - bit short notice though, not sure many places sell them...

Now I've calmed down a little (just a little), I'm thinking the following. 1) The club's response was fantastic 2) We have to appeal, and I'm certain we will 3) He could pull a hamstring tomorrow before the match and be out for a month and miss the same number of games, the length of the suspension isn't the issue, it's the finding guilty and making an example of someone who is plainly not racist (mixed race family, captain of Ajax etc.). I was expecting them to find him guilty of non-racial abuse as a compromise (though that would have been harsh on him), but we can't accept the verdict as it stands. 4) If it were racist abuse, and it were another team and player, 8 games would seem about right to me, so to opposing fans who've not followed the intricacies with the same interest as we have, they will be wondering what we are whinging about - same goes for disinterested journalists who will lap it up. We can expect lots of abuse in the press and on phone-ins over the next few weeks. But then we're used to that. 5) We need to show that we are 100% behind Suarez, and the Uruguay flags for tomorrow night at Wigan would be a great way of doing that.Certainly for boxing day if tomorrow night is too short notice. 6) The FA couldn't run an orgy in a brothel - we need to find ways to continually become an annoyance to them until they start giving us a fair crack of the whip. 7) This could in a perverse way help us in the long run - the statement tonight, and tweets from Kenny and Lucas suggest that a bunker mentality is developing to add to our good form. f*** the FA!

Definitely. Our player's songs should always be either original or traditional (e.g. Fowler's) - never blatantly stealing from another team. I don't like the 'campione' song for that reason either, it's a PAOK song not ours. Once you start stealing other team's tunes you're not far from chanting 'who are ya' at the opposition. I'd prefer it if our newer songs weren't quite so camp too (e.g. Maxi and Lucas), but I'll take that as long as they're original.

The original FA statement said; So I suppose you could read that either way. You could probably find 6 players a game guilty of 'insulting words and/or behaviour' though if you wanted...

True, not happy exactly. But I bet if the result was that he was cleared of any racist intent, and banned for less than three games we'd put a positive spin on it and take the ban, which would be a result for the FA.

Agreed. When he gets the ball he seems to stop before he goes, if that makes sense. I think he'll come good too, but l like the way Kenny is making all of them (Carra included) win the shirt off the player in possession and form.

He's been charged on two counts, with the media (obviously) focusing on the part that may or may not be racist. Would be easy for them to fudge that through, if they wanted to. Particularly with Evra's "at least 10 occasions" claim.

Bellamy doesn't seem to play two in a week, so I'd go with the same team, but with Downing left and Kuyt right. Carroll in for Suarez if he's not available, but I wouldn't have thought any ban would start so quickly? Gerrard in for Shelvey if fit, obviously.

IMO the delay is while the three draft a very lengthy judgement explaining a nice political fudge of a verdict. (unless that's just wishful thinking on my part) A lengthy ban for Suarez would open a huge can of worms, with appeals potentially all the way to the court of arbitration for sport given our clear support for his side of the story. Clearing him completely would also cause problems, as it would imply that Evra was being over-sensitive and playing the race card which Man Utd would be unlikely to accept. A classic fudged verdict in something as sensitive as this would be to find Suarez guilty of being abusive towards Evra, which is potentially a red card offence and so deserving of a 1-3 match ban, and then to give a lengthy judgement citing evidence from all the various witnesses along the lines of "while he used a term that refers to race it is accepted that he did not mean it as an intentionally racist comment towards Evra. Despite this, it is also understandable that Evra may have read it in this way and felt aggrieved." So a short-ish ban, with a warning about future conduct and maybe even a suspended additional ban for Suarez, and an exoneration for Evra. That way no-one would have that much cause for complaint.

I'd give Henderson a go in CM alongside Adam, with Maxi left and Dirk right - at least for QPR on Saturday anyway and see how it goes. Maxi and Dirk are solid defensively, and we shouldn't get over-run in midfield by QPR whoever we pick.

Might suggest they're his team - I dont think you're allowed to ref the team you support? To be fair, I've thought of him as a decent ref before tonight, and sky and the like will highlight that he got one or two big calls right, but he was horrendously one-eyed for most of the game. As Rory smith said in twitter, Suarez could have been lobotomised on the pitch in the first half and not won a free-kick.

Me too. If luck and s*** refereeing even themselves out over season then we are due every decision from jan-may

Yep - and to chuck in my positive anecdote, my knee was as good as new after the op and rehab, and I'm as good a player as I ever was (i.e. utter s****!) My surgeon was one of the better ones in the country, and he said that around 75% made a full recovery and had a perfect knee afterwards, but 25% were not quite as good afterwards as they were before. Again, this was 10 years ago though, and I'm sure those odds have improved. It's fair to say that Lucas has never over-relied on pace, so I'm sure he'll be fine. Gutted for him though, he was just starting to get the wider recognition that his form for the last 18 months has deserved.

Oh, I did the lot on mine, medial ligament damage, cartilage damage, torn quad muscle, snapped ACL. Was back jogging in a straight line after about 12 weeks following the op (patellar tendon graft) but it was 8-9 months for contact sport. That was 10 years ago though and treatment and thinking has moved on loads since then.

Me on NHS plus lots of effort = 8-9 months Pros at the same time with state of the art equipment and daily physio = 5-6 months These days, hopefully around 4-5 months if that's what he's done. Like I say, even on the best recovery times, I really hope it's just a strain or a knock. Horrible injury to have.