starchief

Seems a bit ridiculous. It got down to levels that grit refuses to work, so what's he supposed to do? The announcement of 'stay at home unless it's absolutely necessary' was done, and as we don't use snow chains, I wonder what the possible solution can be?

That seems to be working well for Aberdeen

Weren't you a soldier? Who paid for your training? Taxpayer by any chance?

The violence? Complete condemnation. Do I think the demo was hijacked by non-students? Yep. Do I think the police are completely innocent? Judging by previous demos, I sincerely doubt it. So, completely wrong but just a one-night sideshow to a long-term issue. A couple graduate from uni to be ?80,000 in debt in fees and loans. They start paying it back at ?21k - so before they've even earned an average wage then. Just imagine your first mortgage at, say, ?80,000. Well, instead of that, you know have the equivalent of ?160,000 debt to pay. There's no way someone from a poor-to-average background can cope with that. Despite the supposed safeguards, it's one in the eye for the man in the street to benefit the rich. When I hear about how the taxpayer has to pay for fees, there seems little mention that the taxpayer includes graduates. They're already paying! Often at a higher rate - do they get a discount for paying twice? The whole country benefits from an educated society, especially these days, where we just aren't able to compete in terms of manufacturing or agriculture. Our brains are our future. My solution? Although we need a more educated society, we don't need rakes of English Lit or History graduates. They do teach 'how to think' but a one-year course in Critical Thinking with an emphasis on literature, history, American studies etc would do that. You want longer? Then unless you're a genius, you pay for it. But we just can't have enough scientists, engineers and IT professionals. Even a surplus is welcome (they'll be numerate, critical thinkers, so can easily go into financial management, project admin or similar careers). So cheap, or even free, degrees where the country needs your skills. You want to spend three years studying a hobby? Okay, pay for it yourself then, unless you're at the very top of your field (we still need eminent sociologists, so pay for the top quality - we just don't need so many that will never use their knowledge after leaving uni). We also don't need many people to have the kind of degrees we have. Social workers for instance never used to need a degree. What they need is possibly a year of intense training, then substantial in-house training on top of that. But of course, the big issue is: the Lib Dems pledged no increase in fees. I actually lean towards their policies (as well as being a senior lecturer at uni) but won't be voting for them next time round. One of their key features was the introduction of a new style of politics where people could start trusting MPs. Who would trust a Lib Dem now?

Aberdeen's squad is rubbish. There are certainly some decent players there but looking at it in terms of a squad it's about as poor as it has been in recent years. Yep, who would be in the back-line for Aberdeen? How many of them could be considered 'decent players'?

"a decent squad"?? I can't see where you're getting that from. For my money, it's a slightly poorer squad than Motherwell's. My gut feeling is they've moved for their own salaries, no matter how much they deny it. What else was Milne saying when he came back to them "oh please, oh please oh please reconsider"? I doubt it. More like "I can go an extra ?xxx a week" The whole 'players out of contract, not the money to keep the squad together' nonsense was used by McGhee. Yet, I didn't see much difference when he went to Aberdeen. I just wonder if it might be McGhee to Motherwell. I think, after a couple of matches, 'Well fans will get used to it. McGhee will go anywhere there's a wage packet or a chance of compensation, plus he inherits a top six squad. Perhaps, then, he won't be so desperate to leave (but he will as soon as a sniff comes along).

Can there really be that much difference in money for player salaries? I'm assuming no difference in money being made available for transfers. Are two old men still that desperate for a little bit more money in their pay packet? I know they'll talk about sleeping giants and all but I'd love to know the real reason.

Thought they might have approached just Archie Knox. There's a bit of history there.

Pardew's a decent manager but not a great one. I don't see a significant improvement, barring investment, than Hughton, who was doing pretty well for a team that was in the Championship last year.

Not sure we need anyone in defence now. We've got Proctor, Innes and Billet all coming back. That's fine. To improve we'd need a class player that's an automatic choice. They're difficult to find. If Duff is, as is likely, going to continue at RB, then maybe a central mid. Definitely a striker. Only Sutherland can play the Rooney role. Other than that, moving the likes of Odi, Gil or Foran up would mean completely changing our game style.

In a way, yes, as the light in the spaceship would move relative to the speed of the ship (i.e. when you kick a ball at 5 mph on a train moving at 100 mph, the ball only travels at 5 mph in your relative view - to someone standing outside the train, his relative viewpoint is completely different, so it would look faster than 5 mph). In a way, the question can't be answered as the special theory of relativity says no spaceship can attain light speed (you start going back in time if you do - there's some weird experiments with electrons where they've done it. You end up with three electrons, one going at normal speed, one going backwards and another going forwards - both of these cancel each other out, leaving just the one at normal speed [the speed of light]). Quantum physics - easily more bizarre than any UFOs, ghosts or Loch Ness monsters.

Martin Jol is being strongly suggested. Coincidentally, he quit at Ajax today.

They sent the Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Prince William of Wales and one of the best footballers in America and yet they didn't choose Britain, Northern Ireland, Wales, America...looks at notes... ...England. It must be a fix. Mind you, probably best it's held over in Johnny-Foreigner-Land. They're such sore losers

I think he'd go to Ipswich. There's a lot of money behind them, which is why Keane isn't being looked upon favourably. But Keane is still there and Butcher would only be one of a number of targets, so no need to fret about something which has every chance of not happening.

What are the facts then? That seems to be how it's reported.

Sure, managers have left us (and other teams) before after claiming they wanted to stay but what exactly do you want to hear? That he doesn't enjoy it here? That he can't wait to get away? At the moment, he's making long-term plans and saying he wants to stay. That's as good as we can get surely?

For the life of me, I can't see where you're getting this from.

Brew should say the same thing as Terry Butcher used to say: "what pace? I never had pace!"

Marvel or DC?

I wanted England to win it, so I could go see a few matches but, to be honest, I felt Russia was the right candidate. A big footballing nation, with money that has never hosted the tournament. Perhaps they bribed, perhaps they didn't but England has no automatic right to believe they should be in pole spot. I see no reason why Russia shouldn't be the host - only reasons why it should be. Qatar? Well, I thought it should have been Oz but Qatar did have more going for it than you'd imagine. Football in the Arab world is big. Qatar will promote the game right across the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi etc. They also have the money to do it properly. That said, it really should have gone south. Mind you, a lot of the sporting federations were against the WC coming as it collides with Aussie Rules. Perhaps it was that lack of support that did it for them?

Looked on their message board and they mostly seem to want Steve Clarke - who's never had any managerial experience and knows little of the Scottish game. No-one wants John Hughes as he did very well most of the time at Falkirk, until towards the end of his reign or his 4th place finish in the SPL. Crazy! And I noticed some Celtic fan wanted Strachan to take the job as he did a terrible job by dismantling MON's team over three years the stupidity of some supporters!

I'd certainly want it to be held in England. Might get to a few matches. Really though, Russia might well deserve it. New frontiers and all that.

I'm hoping Terry may have learned from 'Well. A top six or even Europe might boost his salary/budget. If he does, well, McCoist might be looking for some help next year. If he goes to Aberdeen, he might get a salary top-up but risks another relegation on his CV, a poor squad that needs huge improvement, the threat of the sack and no better than short-term survival before a massive rebuild with no cash. Doesn't look great to me. Can't see Strachan coming back. Despite Boro, his stock is still higher. I'd like to see Robbo be given the chance. I suspect it might be Gus McPherson or Billy Reid - grafters designed to avoid relegation. Both Yogi and, dare I say it, Calderwood (Jimmy that is) would be good longer term catches. The latter would involve a little more than a slice of that delicious humble pie though. Anyone ever thought Willie Miller was especially humble?

Mine's at 23 but I'm still freezing. Until last month, I was in Egypt, where I'd be using aircon to keep the temperature down to 25C AT NIGHT. I normally come over to do a bit of work in the summer, so the drop from Africa to UK isn't so bad. This is the first time I've come over in the winter and am really suffering. Going back for a few weeks at Xmas though to try to get my blood temperature back to normal levels.

I awaiting Mark coming out with: "The weather conspired against us. The players were itching to avenge the last Celtic game. If it wasn't for Thor and his storm, I really believe we would have turned the corner on Saturday...and you have to give me credit for that."