btb

Flawed analysis by Soubry - neither Major or Cameron were "great leaders". Major never controlled the "b*****ds" on his backbenches and lost the little credibility he had left when his "back to basics" campaign backfired. Cameron miscalculated that a Tory/Lib-Dem/Labour Alliance would give Remain an easy victory forgetting the Lib-Dems were still regarded as toxic from their coalition with him (!) and not understanding that Labour's support under Corbyn was going to be half-hearted at best. May's not going to do anything to upset the Eurosceptics that's the section of the party she comes from. Her decision to back Remain during the referendum surprised many and was clearly a tactical ploy for a future bid to be Tory Party leader - well she got what she wanted! Cameron's change of mind wrt quitting after the referendum was probably the smartest decision he ever made, Brexit was always gonna be a nightmare which May compounded by losing her majority last June. The scale of how badly its going can be seen by May having to struggle to hold onto a job nobody else wants at present!

Replacement for Morgan next season? Will need to prove to JR that he is hard working if he is to get a game.

If we get promoted this season I'd say yes, the last two times we got relegated it took us eight and five seasons to get back up respectively, if we do it this season (and nothing's won yet) then that'll be three so better than I'd expected. OK we took the calculated risk of giving the McAllister money to JR last season but we still made a profit and I'd be surprised if we don't make one again this season. In summary us overachieving - a wee bit this season (my pre-season prediction was between 3rd & 5th), Utd. underachieving I'd say so. ******************* Any of the ITK guys got gossip on an arrival before the window shuts?

As the late, great Tom Petty said you got lucky!

Report in the Independent that the government has already agreed a Norway Style transition period, the leak comes from a "key member" of the EU negotiating team - we're really showing them we're not going to be messed with. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-latest-updates-uk-leave-eu-norway-transition-terms-parliament-theresa-may-a8173076.html

Actually I thought the strength our bench yesterday was impressive with Irvine. MacKenzie, Sutton & Mullen all proven at this level I'm unsure about Eckersley but I thought he and Josh Todd were back in training. Throw in the new arrivals and competition for places is going to be fierce, Looking around at the other teams benches yesterday I reckon ours is comparatively strong - I realize we're coming into that part of the season where suspensions are a factor and injuries can strike at any time but I don't think we've anything to panic about. Re the CH position ideally I'd prefer another option too but I think of the three only Mackenzie is what I'd consider injury prone - Davis wasn't rushed back and other than being rested for the artificial surface at Palmerston seems to be fully recovered. I don't think JR would have let Buchannan leave if there was any doubt about Davis's fitness.

Some man. Possibly fitness was an issue Octoberish - I remember one pre-match report on the OS before Magennis was fully back stating that SM was doubtful as he hadn't trained during the week. My guess is his recent improved performances are due to regaining full fitness. Like you said - some man!

After she jumped/was pushed from leadership it was clear her future with SLab was over, I felt a lot of the "anger" from within the party was orchestrated and of the "kick a gal while she's down" variety. AFAIK she's still in her '30's and will be looking at a post politics career probably in the media, while I have little regard for the "Ruth Davidson Tribute Act" that characterised her time in leadership I wish her all the best in her future. The "sleeping out" statement would've been best left unsaid and respect to Tibbermoresaint for the Men at Work reference!

Always difficult when a "favourite son" drops out of the manager's plans.

As has been mentioned many times before HD is a class above this division and the confidence he inspires helps everyone else to concentrate on their primary roles.

With Root unable to give a post match interview vice-Captain Jinny Anderson said "we weren't blown away" advocating a steady as she goes policy and while it's not entirely unfair there is a lot of problems England have to address. Stoneman & Vince - Test standard? Compare their performance to the Marsh brothers who had pretty mediocre records going into the series but have come out with credit and bought themselves a bit of time to establish themselves. Even weak links have to be averaging 30+. Root - Can he handle captaincy & batting, his two centuries since taking charge have been when England batted first. Unfortunately the phrase that springs to mind is TINA! 20 wickets abroad - develop a bowling attack that will do this in hot dry conditions (i.e. NZ not included). What's really disappointing from an England perspective is that with the exception of Steven Smith there was no exceptional performances this time and even his record falls short of what Mitchell Johnson did in 2013/14. Despite managing a draw on a lifeless Melbourne pitch all of the doubts raised before the tour materialized.

Read this article in Cycling News, seems Greg is already building a guillotine. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/lemond-chris-froome-broke-the-rules-and-should-be-punished/#disqus_thread Anyone any idea of when the case might come a conclusion? ********************** FFS!

It happened - Cadette was responsible for the booing by committing IIRC a bit of retaliation but I can confirm some of our fans did go OTT & make monkey chants.

New ball did the trick as England's batsmen once again fail to make the big scores, with said new ball still less than 2 overs old you wouldn't fancy them reaching 300 now.

Martin Hayes - I thought he retired years ago!

Shame, still he got that winner against Brechin - best wishes with the usual exception..........

Two months since a sacking - has as outbreak of sanity occurred?

Saints lost 5-0 away to ICT the week after clinching the Division 1 title in 99/00.

Up early to see if England had a chance of pulling one back. Effectively 61/4 with 35 overs to play after tea. Still time for a collapse & slog if SS goes first over after tea but in the real world it's a draw for everyone but the dreamers. Better result for England (statin' the bleedin' obvious) but similar story in that they haven't been able to take their chance & force a win. Maybe a bit harsh on England but I feel if circumstances had been reversed the Aussies would've conjured something up. ***************** Inevitable century for Smith, can't be long now before they shake hands.....................

One of my pressies was a signed script from Blade Runner (one of ten million, I know) and she signed with a kiss. Who knows as I'm probably never going to open the packaging it might not even be the script!

I got a kiss from Daryl Hannah.

If Gallacher did go for a decent fee (the asking price was £750k last January IIRC) might the club rethink scrapping the youth set-up?

Craig Overton appears to be injured in the chest/rib area - physio called out and he recovers to finish the over. Replaced by Woakes - 14 overs left today so I guess England's plan will be to protect Overton for the rest of the day and hope he's fit to resume bowling tomorrow. *********** Close of Play - Australia 203/3 exactly 200 behind. Old cliché but there seemed to be two different games going on in that final session, one when Smith was batting and another when Khawaja/Marsh were. I'd have England marginally ahead but Australia are strong favourites on betting sites obviously on the grounds that England didn't manage to play consistently good cricket in either of the first two Tests and also their batting collapse earlier today - so probably justified.

As opposed to the unlucky ones he's had so far........................