Frankie S

7 for Friday. Was 50/50 on the board game and went the wrong way. Aussie sport and politics predictably wrong.

8/10 for Thursday, knew 6.

9/10 for Wed. George Speight was a gap in my knowledge. Knew the rest.

I think the bigger picture, irrespective of the qualities of the current incumbent of the manager's job, is whether the board are prepared to back the manager in allowing him to assemble a squad? We appear to be operating with an exceptionally shallow squad, barely more than a full team of experienced players supplemented by a bunch of youngsters, who may, or very well may not, prove to be good enough for this level. Fleetwood managed to change their entire XI at half time in their friendly match against us, an increasingly common move that I've seen replicated at a couple of pre-season games I've attended, while we had a meagre five options available from the bench. The squad already looks paper thin, and this is before injuries and suspensions kick in. I'm aware that there have been suggestions that one or two more will be added to the squad, but, even without Naysmith's extraordinarily bleak message on the official site a few weeks ago about the lack of budget available to strengthen the squad, the distinct impresssion conveyed for the last couple of years is that the club is moving on (relatively) high wage earners and hoping to replace them on the cheap, either from promotion from the younger age groups (a hugely risky strategy given the very small percentage of youngsters who actually make the grade), judicious bargain basement shopping, or by bringing players in on loan deals, where the majority of their wages are paid by the parent clubs. I've seen some speculation that we may be waiting to see if we qualify from the group stages of the current competition before strengthening with the associated windfall. If that is the case, then it's astonishingly short sighted, as progress in the cup was always much more likely to be secured by making the much needed investment in the playing staff in the first place. It would be like waiting to see if we get relegated before deciding whether it would have been worth investing in the players who could have secured our Championship status. I tend to think that's such an implausible scenario that the truth is likely to be simply that Naysmith is having genuine difficulty attracting players with the limited budget at his disposal. Despite the relative profitability of the off the field activities in recent years, for which the board should be commended, it feels as if the club is more focused on generating profit than it is on putting a decent team on the park. Football isn't just another business though, and as a shareholder, I would like to see profit generated from off the field activities subsidising the quality and depth of the playing pool. The 'most profitable club in Division One' is not an accolade I'm particularly keen to secure, but it seems a lot more likely to come to pass than any title won on the park. Anyone can see that the squad is not only short of numbers, but is completely unbalanced, with a glaring lack of pace and creativity. I'm sure this obvious point has not been lost on the management. Defensive midfielders who don't chip in with their share of goals or assists tend to be less coveted and less expensive than players that can make a difference at the business end of the pitch. If the board are labouring under the impression that promoting untested kids from within is going to be an adequate alternative to assembling a Championship-standard squad, then this belief will almost certainly prove to be delusional. It's certainly a cheaper strategy, but will it prove to be an effective one? Doubtful to say the least. If the board aren't prepared to back the manager, then they should sack him, but I have a feeling that the manager's position at Palmerston is already becoming a poisoned chalice. Are the board ready to back anyone, or will, as seems likely, the next man be similarly constrained? A ever-rotating cast of managers of ever-diminishing quality seems likely and, inevitably, relegation to the division below. Ultimately, responsibility will lie with the board, rather than with the fall guy who happens to be occupying the manager's position at the time.

8 for Tuesday. Knew 7. Niveous landscape and actress letting me down. Guessed playwright.

9 for Monday. Landed guesses on one of the Aussie sport questions and the Aussie politics question. Knew 7. Slightly fortunate I didn't do the quiz earlier: the film director question (along with a few other films he has directed) came up in a pub quiz I did last night. Not certain I would have got it otherwise.

7 for Friday. No idea what the Coleman medal is, or who Tony Lockett is, let alone how many times he's won the bloody thing. Author and skink wrong too.

Fairly conventional episode to follow the surreal magnificence of Ep8. Disappointingly expositional in parts - although it brought a few threads together, and tied the Buckhorn investigation into the Twin Peaks stuff, it felt like much of the episode was devoted to recapping what we already knew. Loving Matthew Lillard's performance as William Hastings, but I was hoping for full scale Bob-style possession by a Lodge spirit rather than the slightly anti-climactic reveal that he's just a hapless paranormal enthusiast back from a day trip to the Black Lodge. Not enough of Lynch's unsettling voodoo magic for me, though I enjoyed the tremendously uncomfortable smoking scene with Gordon, Diane and Tammy, and Albert had a few choice lines. Have a feeling this is the calm before the storm though.

8 for Thursday. As is customary, sport and politics (albeit Indonesian rather than Australian this time) tripping me up. Landed 2 or 3 guesses there so will settle for that.

8/10 for Wed. Aussie PM and TV series wrong.

7/10 for Tuesday. Indian food, swimmer and King of Thailand wrong.

9/10 for Monday. Knew 8. Guessed TV show. Got F1 question wrong.

9/10 for Friday. Knew 6 and had a hunch on the opera. Landed guesses on spa resort and, for a change, Aussie sport. Missed Aussie TV show.

7 for Thursday. Aussie PM's licence plate wrong plus author and TV show.

Fortunate 9/10 for Wed. Knew 6 and used a process of elimination to get towards the correct answer on a couple. Nothing in this life is more certain than death, taxes and getting Aussie sport wrong though.

8/10 for Tuesday. Beyond even the esoteric and unknowable realms of Aussie Sport and Aussie Politics, the questions that really fill me with dread are the ones that have 'Banjo' Paterson as an option. Only the Aussies could have a major figure from their literary tradition called 'Banjo.' Good job Shakespeare and T.S. Eliot weren't Australian, otherwise they'd have been nicknamed 'Wazza' and 'Taz.'

8/10 for Monday. Knew 7, guessed Aussie UN representative.

8/10 for Friday, guessed Aussie politico (hybrid Aussie sport / Aussie politics questions now) and Thai food one. Semi-educated guess on N. Korea.

Tougher set for Thursday, will settle for 7 on that.

Ten for Wed. That set suited me nicely. Even guessed the Aussie sport question.

Another 8/10 for Tuesday. Aussie sport and Aussie reality shows wrong. Knew the rest, but can't buy a guess ATM.

8/10 for Monday. Aussie politics wrong as ever, and misread last question.

Well, that was the most astonishing hour (and a bit) of TV that I've ever seen.

Interesting to hear these rumours about Episode 8 being 'wild' and 'mind-blowing.' I think the leak has come from a Showtime executive, perhaps in a bid to boost ratings before the mid season hiatus (albeit its only taking a week off). Looking forward to it immensely in any case. I have it on good authority (having spoken to one of the cast members), that the none of the actors really know what is going to happen, and only know about the scenes they filmed themselves. Seems authentic as the person in question asked me if they were 'in Episode 6', which I happened to see before they did . Apparently the only cast members to have seen the whole thing are Kyle MacLachlan and Miguel Ferrer (who Lynch gave a private showing before he passed away - nice touch).

I'm ok on your major Japanese islands (Honshu, Shikoku, Hokkaido and Kyushu), but after that things get distinctly shaky!