MikeO

Pleased to see Liverpool did us a favour and took a couple of points off Chelsea today. Does our chances of getting third a bit of good . Ever the optimist .

Looked unlikely after the first game but you could be right Louis. Shame Roger Milla isn't playing though . (Coach has an unfortunate name...Otto Pfister...with a silent P :whistle: )

Hi Barry, welcome. Never too early to start indoctrination in my book . Him below morphed fairly easily into the lad in my avatar .

Me and my big mouth . Didn't need that today (City beating Utd) but hopefully it's a one-off. Derby results often throw the form book out of the window (hopefully that won't happen at Anfield though ). Only upside is that it's pushed Liverpool down to seventh .

Agreed...he's a top bloke, always thought so (unusual in a ManU player ).

But they're not all which is nice, Coppell sure as hell ain't and I don't think DM is either. Reading boss Steve Coppell accepted that Jagielka’s goal was legitimate despite claims for offside. He said: “The goal was our fault because when we cleared the corner we did not close up properly or get the ball away far enough. “We did not come out of defence in unison, that was pretty obvious, and it cost us. “I’ve seen it now again and it was not offside..."

City haven't won at home in the league since December 15th, they've drawn three and lost one since then...also lost at home to Spurs in the Carling Cup. Have also lost to us and Sheffield United (and managed a draw at Derby). Couple of slightly more positive results (beating Newcastle and Wham, draw at Villa) don't disguise the fact that they've run out of steam big time. We play anything like we can and we get three points.

Ended up Sky+ing it jacko...I'll let you know.

Fairly typical LibDem organisational ability then .

Looks like MOTD are going to give serious coverage to the fourth place fight as the top three didn't play today. Running order.. Aston Villa v Newcastle Everton v Reading Sunderland v Wigan Middlesbrough v Fulham Bolton v Portsmouth Derby v Tottenham West Ham v Birmingham

An ugly win would do for me just now. Why is an Evertonian's life so hard?

Sense a huge half-time rocket coming up. Sounds dire <_< .

Looks like my twenty-five yardscreamer from VDM is back on . Yakubu is omitted from the squad to face Reading but fellow Nigerian Joseph Yobo returns to the starting line-up. He partners Phil Jagielka in the heart of defence, with Joleon Lescott switching to left-back to fill the gap left by Leighton Baines' absence through injury. Tim Cahill comes straight back into the side after returning to Merseyside on Friday following Australia's encounter with Qatar in Melbourne in midweek. Andrew Johnson continues up front alone, with support provided by Cahill and the usual midfield quartet behind him of Mikel Arteta, Manuel Fernandes, Leon Osman and Lee Carsley. Tim Howard maintains his place after playing for the USA against Mexico on Wednesday. Andy van der Meyde is given a spot on the bench alongside James Vaughan, Tony Hibbert, Nuno Valente and Stefan Wessels.

Burgess one is from the official biography of one Britains greatest modern writers...good enough for me, can find as many as you like . Wouldn't spit on the Sun! "..on hearing news of Amis's salary.." from last Sats Independent " For me Anthony Burgess’s voice was the strongest early warning of the time we now inhabit. ..from The Times. or.. Much controversy surrounds the case of whether Hitler knew of Hess' ideas to make peace with Britain I'd gues that trying to win an argument with you Bill (or even agree on a draw) would be nearly as hard as trying to win one with my wife . How many more examples would it take ? Anyway, I surrender (as I always do with her ).

Thought Canada was the nice peaceful law abiding little bro of the lunatics to the south of them (apologies JD etc). Read something once though about there being a lot of gang stuff in New Zealand also, which you wouldn't think. May no longer be the case, I don't know. Planning to watch Panic Room in about twenty mins, never seen it but I like Jodie Foster, worth staying up for?

You chewing lad!? See me after .

Equally you'll find nowhere on the net where it suggests that a double s is treated any differently to any other sibilant word ending. You can't suggest something is true because you can't find someone saying that it's not. I could say that all Zebra's speak fluent Polish and you'd not be able to find proof on the net that it's not true. You'll have to search the net some more to convince me . Anthony Burgess is the pen name of the polymath who was born John Burgess Wilson in Manchester, England on 25 February, 1917 to a Catholic family of Irish and Scottish ancestry. His mother, Elizabeth Burgess Wilson, and his only sister, Muriel, died in the influenza epidemic the following year, and the loss of his mother had a profound effect upon Burgess's life and work.... I’ve had a great time on They Think It's All Over, imparting my vast sporting knowledge to the nation, but I need time now to focus on my other commitments and so regrettably I won't be back for the 20th series. It's a fantastic show and from now on I'll be able to actually watch it. ” However, after Ross's departure, only two more episodes of the show were made before it was cancelled Or sometimes... Supergrass' profile began to rise quickly, helped along by praise from their more experienced Britpop peers Blur and Elastica

Pressure's got to Josh in the final, two poor scores. Over-excited I think, needs a bit of a team talk before the final attempt. I beat my highest score today though....only just, had all my lives left at the start of level eight and then lost them all without winning another rally so could have been much better .

Grey areas maybe but the single/double s is irrelevant, the same rule applies.. Most respected sources require that practically all singular nouns, including those ending with a sibilant sound, have possessive forms with an extra s after the apostrophe. Examples include the Modern Language Association, The Elements of Style, and The Economist. Such sources would demand possessive singulars like these: Senator Jones's umbrella; Mephistopheles's cat. Rules that modify or extend this principle have included the following: If the singular possessive is difficult or awkward to pronounce with an added sibilant, do not add an extra s; these exceptions are supported by The Guardian, Emory University's writing center, and The American Heritage Book of English Usage. Such sources permit possessive singulars like these: Socrates' later suggestion; James's house, or James' house, depending on which pronunciation is intended. Classical, biblical, and similar names ending in a sibilant, especially if they are polysyllabic, do not take an added s in the possessive; among sources giving exceptions of this kind are The Times and The Elements of Style, which make general stipulations, and Vanderbilt University, which mentions only Moses and Jesus. As a particular case, Jesus' is very commonly written instead of Jesus's, even by people who would otherwise add 's in, for example, James's or Chris's; Jesus' is referred to as "an accepted liturgical archaism" in Hart's Rules. My point was that Jacko's teacher wasn't correct, or at least the example he gave wasn't correct. All grammatical rules in English have exceptions anyway....that's why it's such a bastard language to learn . I think everbody's right...or should that be everybodies right, or everybodys' right. One should NEVER generalize.

Doesn't make any difference Bill. I'm going to watch Jonathan Ross' programme on TV tonight is wrong. Doesn't make sense if you say it. I'm going (not really) to watch Jonathan Ross's programme on TV tonight is correct.

May not be too helpful Jacko but your teacher was wrong . Can be either way, simple example but there are zillions of others. Newcastle play at St James' Park but the park in London is called St James's. And I quite like Russ's scarf anyway . (I like "Avoid cliches like the plague")

Wouldn't piss on him if he was on fire, would go looking for a petrol can instead.

"...any minor blunder which is allowed to pass unnoticed or without consequence..." Came from golf originally, having another free go if you hit an airshot or someting equally as bad, now in common use for other games/sports (in America obviously). We British call it cheating .

Some healthy scepticism from DM... "“My first feeling when I heard it was that it was a load of nonsense. Since then I have started to take it in and there is a big fanbase out there. "There's no doubt it's about money but that is what brings players to our country." The Goodison chief queried whether playing a team three times over a season was conducive to fair competition. "I am not comfortable with the format where you play a team three times," he declared, "I think that doesn't make the league correct. That is the bit that I don't think has been thought out too cleverly." "I don't know where there is a two week period in the calendar where there isn't a midweek game or cup games, if there is, I think we would have been exploiting them somewhere else. "If you are a successful club you don't have that free time." But if these kinks could be ironed out, Moyes could well be behind the idea, especially if an appetite for the game around the globe can be proven. "But the idea is worth looking into to see if it will work,” he added. “I think we need a lot more information. "Would the games definitely sell-out? I can see it in Asia but we have been to America quite a lot - would they sell-out? "I don't know if Africa is being talked about but would the pitches be good enough there?"

And the report on Sky would suggest he's back... The former Middlesbrough man has now reportedly been hit with an £80,000 fine. He is set to train with Everton on Friday but Moyes may decide to leave him out of the squad for this weekend's clash with Reading.