Laurence

I remember very long time ago I had a Norton motor bike. I stopped riding it before 1963. The reason I mentioned that it helps me place the date of a Burnley v Liverpool cup game at Turf Moor. I know I went to the game on my bike. . When I got there all the tickets were sold , so I stood outside listening to the transistor radios , of the game. The Liverpool fans were discussing a tactic they had used before of f getting the police to open the gates. However they thought there was not enough of them to create the havoc needed to influence the Police, I always think of that day when this topic comes to light.

I suppose being a manager of a football team in a highly competitive football league is just like running any business First of all you have to have a viable business plan It means identifying your long term goals You need to talk to your business section identify how to manage the financial side of the club Look at your non playing side , sort out how it can be improved 1) What do the fans want , what is their minimum requirement ( I suspect avoiding relegation ) ? 2 ) Make sure your youth system is as good as you can make it. Non playing staff are vital in this role, you should be able to leave it to them. 3) Make sure the players contracts are as good as you can afford ( taking into account injuries ) 3 ) My opinion is we have been paying too many players who have long term injuries . Get them off the books if you can 4) Adopt a playing style that is not difficult for free transfer players to understand, Change the style every now and then so opponents do not get familiar with it , Fans also like to see a bit of aggression in the game. I speak as a former Wimbledon fan, A team know as the crazy gang, the fans loved it. 5) It is not easy being a manager, but you have to keep a smile on your face , you have to be able to take a bunch of rejects on, and install a sense of belonging and teamwork , look no further than Leicester City see how the manger there has galvanised a bunch of no hopers into a viable unit 6) John Hughes as great enthusiasm,, but he really needs to be more flexible in his approach and his tactics. In a Division of only 12 clubs anything can happen, There is little room for complacency, just look at the demise of Dundee United . 7) Look at what has gone wrong at Dundee United , and Kilmarnock, and make sure at best we don't make the same mistakes 8) Sure we will lose the best players , when their contracts , expire, so the club has to know about this and make sure , the next man in can do a job. I am a great follower of the NFL, and their great slogan is " The next man up " , has to step in and do the job 9) Complacency has to be avoided, I have seen many relegations and promotions in teams I have followed since 1949, Most of the problems have been caused with a lack of forward planning 10) All I can say to ICT is good luck you will sure need it.

Willett wins Masters By 2 shots ( Leader gives up 5 shots lead over final back nine ) First British player to win at Agusta for 20 years Celebrations in Rotherham I suspect Agusta becomes Disgusta for McElroy

I don't want to get into a row here, my perception is we should not press when one nil up, in a vital match. This is only one example of poor tactics, the barn door is left open time and time again. The great Brian Clough once said that if you are winning you ," make sure you win. One goal is enough", . Never give the other team a chance in sport that's my motto. If you don't have players as good as the other team, you have to win by using your brain, We don't even have clever tactics for taking a throw in, Watch a top team take throw ins, They don't play a version of the kids game, musical statues, they whip the ball into play like grease lightning. We don't even have enough ball boys/girls , available to make sure our guys get the ball back straight away and the away team have to wait. I could go on all day, I perception is we are not well organised, it is not altogether the managers responsibility,

Too many jobs at stake if we pull out. So many industries trading with Europe. The Farmers need the subsides, we have seen recently on the news the amounts they receive and need to compete. Far be it from me to agree with what that man PM says But we have to stay in Scotland may have a referendum if we vote to leave, An Independent Scotland in the EU and England not in, impossible to comprehend. But that would be horrendous, most of he Scottish trade is not with the E U but with England A different system in the south will not help any one. The border will be manned by the English desperate to keep out the immigrants ( allowed into Scotland by the EU ) determined to get to the South of England. I see nothing but chaos ahead if there is a vote to leave.

Injuries are due to our style of play. ( Good English may be owing to our style of play ) If you dally on the ball and kick sideways the opposition know what you are up too and close you down. This means they catch you with heavy tackles. If you play Butcher style and get rid up field quickly defences don't press but retreat to cover the long pass. Hence you don't get caught with the ball . So I feel the style of our play is contributing to our many injuries. Teams have got used to our style this season, last season they were taken by surprise, now they know we we won't punt up field they are on to us like a ton of bricks. With regard to Hughes he has passed his sell by date. Maybe not this season but he will eventually take us down. He took over from Butcher ( a dirty word ) but he inherited a decent squad, That squad has started to disappear, and the replacements are not as good. It can be seen at Newport too, which after Butcher with the new manager has started to win games, true the new manager has turned them around, but the salient test it is the players Butcher left and sorted out. Some replacements like Tansey and Fon Williams are good , but others are not. Another point I would make is the tactics are poor. I will give one example. We were winning one nil in the cup final, with a few minutes left. We got a free kick on the edge of the box, what did we do?. We attacked, virtually all our players went up field . Well you know what happened the free kick was cleared we had one man back, Falkirk broke on the counter, professional foul, resulted and we had a sending off. Bad tactics in the extreme, never criticised because we got the win. It happens all the time. The team is not trained to shut the stable door. Sorry for the diatribe, but I am fed up with the way the team are playing.

A Few years ago more than I wish to remember . Stockport had a banner " Go Go County " I am reminded of that today As a newcomer to these parts I have no history of bitterness to our Northern rivals. I can congratulate Ross County , and feel that both cups residing in the Highlands is a dream that years ago would be totally unbelievable. It is up to Caley to extend that by more than the 2 months or so left.

Quite nice to live in the passed , At my age that's all one can do. At the end of the day as the Americans say " Nobody likes a sore loser " ( to put the champagne on ice, we're going to Hampden twice, ) Funny we used to sing that when I supported another bunch of Dons, ( crazy gang ) but got knocked out of both semis by Chelsea. Except it was Wembley not Hampden

Hi I see you are interested in fishing as most of Lancashire is under plenty of scope for practising your hobby.

WONDER WONDER ALL YOU WANT SON, SOME OF US HAVE TO SPEND OUR TIME MAKING A LIVING, BRINGING WEALTH INTO SCOTLAND AND PAYING OUR TAXES. CHEAP POINTS ARE THE ORDER OF THE DAY WHERE YOU ARE CONCERNED TRY TO THINK OF SOMETHING SENSIBLE WITH YOUR TIME NOT HOLLOW GIBES, "PATHETIC". WHEN YOU HAVE LIVED AS LONG AS ME THERE IS MORE TO LIFE THAN WATHCHING EVERY NEWS BULLETIN. I BET YOU DON'T MOCK YOUR ELDERS AT HOME WITH THE VENOM YOU HAND OUT TO ME. THE MAIN POINT IS THE BRIDGE NOT WHAT I HAVE SEEN OR NOT SEEN TOTALLY IMATURE COMMENT FOR THE SAKE OF A BIT OF A LAUGH AT MY EXPENSE ,SHAME ON YOU

I thought all the Scottish governments until the last one where minority governments. No excuse for being inept often a minority government is a good thing. not an excuse for bad government.

The rail bridge nearby is old fashioned metal construction and has stood the test of time. I wonder why the modern one is cracking up after only 50 years? It is no good saying they did not realise the weight of traffic would rise. It is the job of the designers to anticipate all eventualities, is it not? I also wonder how our fans will get to the match today in Edinburgh ?

I noticed recently with the media ( usually STV ) if the news is bad like the bridge crumbling away The spokesman / woman for the Scottish government is not tagged SNP , But if the news is good like the buyout of the community land in the Western Isles , The spokesman is tagged SNP Is there some sort of love in between the TV broadcaster and the SNP I wonder ? I have thought for a long time if a Politian is interviewed on any subject and s/he is given publicity, a view a different party politian should also be taken it is only fair. Broadcasters should not be seen to favour either side.

Please read this below, which was sent by an IT department of a large company which one of our WI members works for – she thought this should be circulated in order that we are on our guard for these scammers! Don’t forget to warn your friends and neighbours too! The following is a recounting of an incident from the victim of a new credit card scam being carried out by fraudsters: "A week ago, I had a phone call from someone saying that he was from some outfit called Express Couriers (the name could be any courier company). He asked if I was going to be home because there was a package for me that required a signature. The caller said that the delivery would arrive at my home in roughly an hour. Sure enough, about an hour later, a uniformed delivery man turned up with a beautiful basket of flowers and a bottle of wine. I was very surprised since there was no special occasion or holiday, and I certainly didn't expect anything like it. Intrigued, I inquired as to who the sender was. The courier replied, "I don't know, I'm only delivering the package." Apparently, a card was being sent separately... (the card has never arrived!). There was also a consignment note with the gift. "He then went on to explain that because the gift contained alcohol, there was a £3.50 delivery verification charge providing proof that he had actually delivered the package to an adult (of legal drinking age), and not just left it on the doorstep where it could be stolen or taken by anyone, especially a minor. This sounded logical and I offered to pay him cash. He then said that the delivery company required payment to be by credit or debit card only, so that everything is properly accounted for, and this would help in keeping a legal record of the transaction. He added couriers don't carry cash to avoid loss or likely targets for robbery. My husband, who by this time was standing beside me, pulled out his credit card, and 'John,' the 'delivery man' asked him to swipe the card on a small mobile card machine with a small screen and keypad. Frank, my husband, was asked to enter his PIN number and a receipt was printed out. He was given a copy of the transaction. The guy said everything was in order, and wished us good day. "To our horrible surprise, between Thursday and the following Monday, £4,000 had been charged/withdrawn from our credit/debit account at various ATM machines. Apparently the mobile credit card machine which the deliveryman carried now had all the info necessary to create a dummy card with all our card details including the PIN number. "Upon finding out about the illegal transactions on our card, we immediately notified the bank which issued us a new card, and our credit/debit account was closed. We also personally went to the Police, where it was confirmed that it is definitely a scam because several households had been similarly hit." WARNING: Be wary of accepting any surprise gift or package which you neither expected nor personally ordered, especially if it involves any kind of payment as a condition of receiving the gift or package. Also, never accept anything if you do not personally know or there is no proper identification of who the sender is. Above all, the only time you should give out any personal credit/debit card information is when you yourself initiated the purchase or transaction. Please pass this on, it may just prevent someone else from being swindled. President of Holmfirth WI - Michelle Brown

My view of the SNP Members of the House of commons is that they frequently make a lot of noise way above their station, it is like they just want to be noticed. Their role appears to be " love us or hate us but don't ignore us". None of them seem to be able to make a speech without reading it, something which really infuriates me, as it has obviously been written by a party Guru. The order of the day is to be bad tempered and confrontational. I feel it is what is known medically as "little man syndrome", These are people who by definition are totally opposed to Westminster and don't, give a toss for anything other than making trouble.. They seem to me to demonise anyone who they don't agree with . Their political acumen is virtually zero making cheap points and constant jibes. They should get into their heads that the house represents the interests of 65 million people and that they seem to think that the 6 million they root for are the most important. Beggars belief.

I see the intrepid delegation of SNP amongst others , are to bring up the cost of Trident once again From what I can see the costs are greatly exaggerated for political advantage The real costs to the treasury are nowhere near the estimates of CND or the SNP or the Labour leader look at this link https://fullfact.org/factchecks/cost_trident_nuclear_deterrent-28864 You deduct from those costs the taxes paid by people involved in the programme., i.e Income tax for people, Corporation tax for companies, and an element of VAT for suppliers of engineering components. You can also allow for an increase in conventional submarine's that would have to be built to provide a non nuclear defence strategy. To protect shipping, and to afford an element of deterrence. You can also factor in welfare payments to people involved with Trident should they be made unemployed.

I wonder if the SNP would be demanding Britain get permission from the UN to attack I S , if for Paris we were to read Glasgow? UK is a sovereign state, Can do as it sees fit, not dance to the UN tune

Strange word Soccer - Apparently I am told it originated at Cambridge University in the 19th century, It is a corruption of Association, as in ^Association Football", opposed to Rugby Football, which was and maybe still the predominate game in he university. These days managers do not have the control or power that the game gives to the manager, coach, first team coach, Owners are very careful to ensure that their money is not wasted.,

You can all bury your heads in the sand, and believe the nonsense , but the bottom line is Scotland cannot afford to break away. The country is sucking in imports at an unbelievable rate. Just go in any big store in Inverness and see what is manufactured in Scotland. The answer is virtually nothing of consequence, nothing but biscuits and whisky. my last journey to England in 10 minutes on the motorway I counted 50 trucks bringing goods to Scotland.. The Scottish balance of payments deficit is enormous. The cost of which is supported by the Bank Of England and the treasury. Something that would be lost if the Nationalist had their way. All I read on here is wishful thinking and semantics. Wood and trees come to mind. Just stop making minor debatable points and wake up to reality.

People are trying in posts above to carry on the pointless argument about the finances of Scotland I would ask the Nationalists to put to bed all these worn out arguments and face reality. Which is 1) Scotland Has a broken oil industry , which is totally at the mercy of a Saudi driven policy of breaking the back of foreign competition 2) Scotland has a broken Steel industry broken by foreign steel imports. ( I am told that all the steel on the new bridge over the Forth is imported ? 3) Scotland is now a gross importer of Electrical Power from stations in England 4) Unemployment in this country is the only part of the United Kingdom which is rising 5) Scotland is now totally dependant on the financial contribution from the treasury in London 6) there would be with a Yes vote mass unemployment in areas of Glasgow where Trident is stationed had the yes vote had suceeded I shudder to think of the turmoil we would be in if the Yes vote had prevailed. Trying to set up a new nation, currency, civil service embassies and the like in this political climate. It really is a no brainer that Scotland is much more better off with the No vote So lets stop all this nonsense still being peddled by rampant Nationalists and go forward.

IBM you seem to make sport in the most frivolous manner This is supposed to be a serious discussion forum How about some serious input for a change

https://www.facebook.com/ScotLibDems?fref=photo Charles may have gone over the top but drooling of the mouth I going a bit too far If the Liberal Democrats are improving and getting some support back although not a drooling matter, maybe significant,. But there are lots of reasons why council seats are won or lost. The bookies still are giving short odds on the SNP winning all the constituency seats next year in the Scottish government elections, which may be more significant, lets just wait and see. Politics is a big wheel, it turns and surprises all the time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6zl5x8r9Bs Fon "The Fonze" seems to fit the bill Happy Days theme song

A legend in his own lunchtime maybe Legends come and legends go as in beauty it is in the beholder I didn't mean a legend in the sense Robin Hood is a legend, He became a legend because we are now talking about him, He has made a very some will say, never to be forgotten impression on us all. Can that be called a legend. I don.t know. Will his time with us live long in the memory, is that the test of a legend, you tell me?