Cornish Steve

Not a big fan. Mind you, I was not a big fan of Barry, and he turned out well.

Damning with faint praise?

No different than the basic structure of some bridges. I'd go for it, hanging off a Cornish cliff. Problem would be getting planning permission from over-fussy councils.

I certainly don't expect every player to be consistently brilliant. Neither do I expect every player to even be appropriate to play every game. For me, the squad is like a toolbox. Some tools are general-purpose, and they can be used all the time. Others are more specialized, and they work best in specific situations. Same with players: Against some styles of play, McGeady will be excellent; against others, he will not come across well. It's for the manager to determine how best to approach each job. As long as McGeady puts his particular skills to best use and meets his responsibilties, that's fine with me. He's definitely worth his fee. And, by drawing this analogy, I don't mean to imply that McGeady is a tool.

We don't talk about the incident often, but one of my cousins once spent time in jail. He was innocent of course, and that eventually came to light, but the time of his imprisonment was awkward. My uncle managed to make ends meet by spending countless hours working on his allotment. I say allotment, but it was really a sloping field close to his home in mid-Cornwall. Anyway, my cousin was arrested right before potato planting season, and my uncle was rather stuck without him being there to help. His writing was none to good, but he wrote to my cousin: "so wish you wuz ere cuz kant plant me bleddy spuds, ground jus to ard". My cousin wrote back to him right away: "dont ye touch the field wile Im gone, ye stupid bugger. thats wer I burried the guns!". Of course, there's no privacy in jail, and the police intercepted the message. The next day, twenty of them turned over that field inch by inch, but they never found anything. Next day my cousin wrote again: "Ye can plant yer spuds now dad. Best I cud do from ere."

Because you should never burn bridges.

I realize it was a joke, but it would not be funny to this guy, I'm sure. I have a friend who has not touched a drop for 50 years now because he was determined not to succumb again. He's very extreme about this, but I respect his commitment. I've seen him react to those who joke about it. To him, it's no laughing matter. Anyway, I didn't mean to distract from the topic in hand. Sorry.

Sir, sir. Please sir, it was him!

Newcastle's decision to sell Ben Arfa to Hull has already come back to bite them. Now De Jong is out injured for several months. Where are their goals going to come from?

I'm sure he didn't! It takes a lot of courage to overcome addiction. He's a high-profile personality at this point who chairs at least one charity associated with addiction and who does a lot to help and promote others. With the obsession Britain has with drinking, all credit to the man for being absolute in his current avoidance.

This is the same Johnny Giles who famously refused to put any effort into playing for Brian Clough at Leeds, right?

A game behind closed doors? What's that all about.

Duffy the plantar slayer? It's Coleman who has blistering pace.

I'm convinced by the argument. If all skills aren't in place by age 21, they never will be. So let's save a fortune and simply disband the u-21s. Waste of money. They won't grow any more and they've had all the time needed to be as good as they can be.

But not all of Britain! And when taken away from the gloomy rainy cold damp wet overcast weather, we can be very upbeat!

Can't remember whether this was aswered before, but do we receive compensation for players who get injured playing for England?

Falcao to United on a one-year loan, with an option to buy. Total cost of the one-year deal is 24m - that's a 6m fee and 18m in wages. He'll be paid more than Rooney since his wages must be boosted - given that taxes in Britain are much higher than in Monaco and he expects to receive the same net amount. Known as the King of the Europa League, since he's had much success there.

But details can be confirmed for one more hour.

Which Premier League manager, after concluding his transfer dealings for this window, told the BBC that "I like the look of us now and I think we've got a real chances of staying in this division." Is it, A ) Stevie Bruce B ) Louis van Gaal C ) 'Arry Redknapp D ) Neil Warnock

So why'd ya lock the discussion?

Agreed.

Will get the loan deal we want, in that case. United can't afford to keep him on the bench all season. I'm still expecting at least one other loan deal from out of nowhere.

Newcastle is what some are suggesting.

Henen not coming is ridiculous. Still, it frees up cash for another deal. Little point in responding to what doesn't happen or to final-day rumours. Let's see how things look in three hours' time.

Everything points that way. Martinez is very loyal to players he's respected in the past, which in turn means they respond in kind. Can't say I'm excited in this case, but I do expect it to happen.