outoftheblue

I hadn't realised you were familiar with the concept of 'Buying a pint'

Quality

Junction of Ripponden Rd and Derker St

Wrong. Very. Tierney's performances weren't always up to the mark, but Latics fans recognise hard work and commitment, and I don't ever recall Marc being on the end of any abuse other than that where the whole team's performance was questioned. While some perceive Latics fans as habitual moaners with no football knowledge, we are so much more tolerant, understanding and unbiased than City or Utd fans. Stop knocking the people whose gate money is helping keep the club in business.

Uh! Oh! You'll only open another can of worms with comments like that!

Indeed, this is high quality ironing. The poor boy will hopefully mature and realise how ridiculous some of these comments of his actually are.

Ahh! It takes a grown up to see the point.

What do you mean, you doubt it? Don't you know? You've just stated you know a lot, but you're unsure if you're a kid? Let me make it easier for you - Your posts are mainly the immature, ill educated, egotistical, one-sided, ill conceived and provocative views of a child. That makes you a kid. And for the record, I'm not your pal - I have friends my own age.

I don't particularly dislike the badge, but I don't seee there was any neeed to change it, and all the design blurb explaining the different aspects of the badge is just bull:censored:. Is it me, or does the new owl appear to be eyeing something suspiciously? Maybe it's keeping a watch on Corney? How apt.

Bit of a generalisation isn't it? Here's another for you; You're a kid - Bet you know :censored: all!

392 if played correctly. Nowt better to do. Obviously...

So far, so good. This season is showing real promise.

Precisely. I'm amazed the club can't rustle up a couple of hundred quid. Christ, we really are up the creek without a paddle or a fecking canoe.

Who the f*** is Barry Owen, and what's he got to do with things?

Always check your change. Never trust taxi drivers. The traditional downstairs jazz bars are MUCH cheaper than the regular stag party tourist bars, so start the night there and get pissed cheap first.

Trouble is, you can't tell if it really is a myth or a mythter....

No thanks, Last time I nearly had to rescucitate him was too close for comfort!!

1. Make friends with the hotel concierge - some have friends in high places and can get you in some great venues (We got red carpet treatment at Hard Rock Cafe when Red Hot Chilli Peppers did a 'Friday Surprise' gig there). Though do bear in mind that they quite often get a backhander from restaurants etc for recommendations when the restaurant might not be very good. 2. Go to JFK and get a flight to LA - It's better 3. Go to Tiffanys and either; i) Buy her an engagement ring if she's the type to take you to NY for your birthday, or ii) Do what we did, and pretend to be interested in a $12,000 engagement ring - just sit there discussing whether it's as nice as the one you've seen at Harry Winstons and enjoy the free wine, coffee and truffles that they offer you while you make your mind up! 4. There's a couple of decent Irish bars on Second where everyone will talk to you if your missus walks off because you didn't buy her a $12k ring...

Crackpot Egyptian. They're all the same.

Terry Christian, the well-known Manchester tv and radio presenter, self-titled music afficianado and general :censored:wit, has tweeted that United should 'Retire' from the FA after the Rooney decision! I Reckon he embodies the reason why most normal people think the majority of United fans are complete clueless cocks.

Just being pedantic. I've nowt better to do!

Actually, to be wholly accurate, SC originally said we wouldn't be at BP next season.

I like Morais, I really do, In fact, he's one of the best players we've had for some time, but I've been saying for a while that his inclusion was what unbalanced the side. A straight 4-4-2 with wingers spreading teams wide has got to be better than giving Felipe a free roam, as he comes too far inside which only serves to crowd the box with defenders. The front pairing, as O4U says, is open to debate, but I think Latics Lee is bang on with that team.

The dregs of society latched onto football in the 70s and 80s because it was a perfect outlet for their anger and violence, as was the Mod/Rocker scene in the 60s. Football as a spectator sport had stooped to an all time low, and any government would have been forgiven for viewing it as a breeding ground for the ill mannered and violent thugs that had infiltrated it. The decent fans amongst us knew that a minority were responsible, but the government and society in general viewed all that followed the game as willing parties to the behaviour. It wasn't a pleasant experience being a decent football fan in those days, having to put up with huge fences, police escorts, exclusions from pubs etc. though I believe most of those measures that we had to endure in order to smother the increasing anti-social disorder did actually have an effect, and football in this country is a much better spectator sport for it. Cardiff is a great example of how a stadium can be built in a town or city centre, amongst numerous watering holes and eateries, with careful monitoring and contingency plans in place should any trouble become apparent. It has taken nearly thirty years of crowd handling experience to finally realise that football fans can mix and enjoy the game in comfortable surroundings, but you can't really blame any government for taking the drastic measures they did in the early days without the benefit of that experience.

Heysel was due to a number of reasons that combined to produce a horrific evening for those of us that attended the game. Margaret Thatcher was not involved in any of those reasons. The English supporters (I say English because there was a small group of Chelsea fans, some in colours that travelled to the game) spent a hot afternoon drinking and playing football in Brussels Square with like-minded Italians before making their way to the Stadium en masse and without incident. At the ground, long queues developed as the police searched all the English fans (I am reliably informed by a Dutch friend who was allocated a ticket in the Juve end that Italians were not subjected to such searches) and many missed a good part of the pre-match build up. On entering the ground it became apparent that a section of the end considered to be reserved for Liverpool fans was occupied by Juventus supporters and fenced off using ribbon tape to ensure a gap of around 25 yards buffer zone in front of a flimsy wire fence. The Liverpool fans, hot and cramped in their vastly smaller allocation of terracing became increasingly hostile to the Juventus fans as the Italians taunted them with throat slashing gestures (Many Liverpool fans had been slashed with craft knives a year earlier at the 84 final in Rome, and the Italians' fondness for using the knives had been a much discussed topic on the way over the Channel) and much beckoning and invitations to fight were offered by both sets of fans. With the Chelsea fans encouraging the English to fight for their country's honour, a few sticks that had been holding flags and banners were hurled by the Reds fans and the evening began to get uncomfortable. The crumbling terracing which should never have staged a youth team match, let alone a European Cup Final, suddenly became the provider of hundreds of missiles for the Juve fans, and lumps of concrete up to six inches in diameter were launched in the direction of the Liverpool contingent (I myself was struck on the shoulder by a sharp piece of concrete causing a large and bloody wound despite being some forty yards from the incident). At that point several charges toward the separating 'fence' were made by the Reds, each one causing the Italians to retreat a little further. A token retaliatory charge was made by the Juve supporters, and with no more than half a dozen police and a rather timid Alsatian dog to hold them back, the English thugs counter charged and flattened the dividing fence with ease, causing several hundred of the Italian hooligan element to turn and run for safety. Panic ensued, and the whole of the Italian support in that section headed at full speed toward a gate in the bottom corner of the stand. With no chance of immediate escape through such a small outlet, many decided to clamber over a small wall and drop the ten or twelve feet to safety. Unfortunately the wall gave way under pressure, and the rest is a very sad history. The police reinforcements immediately prior to the final English charge came from the left of the Liverpool fans, and seeing baton wielding police heading from their left, the supporters (Most of them totally innocent) naturally retreated away to their right - just where the problems were occurring, which would have appeared to the Italians as though the whole stand was charging them and cause greater panic, but worse still it would appear to the English hooligans that they were being given further support by their countrymen, and only served to encourage a larger and braver charge. English thugs, Italian hooligans, bad segregation, terrible policing, a hot uncomfortable evening, awful planning, and UEFA's decision to hold the match at a stadium which should have been condemned all played their part in the tragedy. Mrs Thatcher, whilst being responsible for a government that was taking the country through a very bad time when riots and violence were not uncommon, was hardly a factor in the proceedings.