veloman

If there is any justice Chopra should open for England (I hope he doesn't - deprives Warks of another class player). Anyone know where Boyd Rankin was ?

No, not McLeish !

As regards appointing a 'recently sacked' manager, can I just remind you of such a man we appointed, albeit some years ago, who didn't do too badly for us.

Yep - quite staggering. As I think I said before (somewhere) the keyboard player was the driving force behind Poliphony and he now lives in California. He emailed the rest of us recently to say that he had been approached with a view to using one of the tracks on a 'sampler ' of 70's prog rock. I immediately had visions of vast wealth and hoards of adoring groupies. However it seems the offer is £50 each plus royalties. As regards the groupies ..... my wife thinks this is fairly unlikely at my age and it took some time for her to stop laughing ! For those who know about these things, the keyboard player, Dave Bristow, was partly responsible for the Yamaha DX7 - a seminal instrument in my day. The bass player still lives in Harborne.

Kingfisher ,, re. Black Widow. I think I may have mentioned this earlier in this thread but (as a drummer) this was the best bass sound I have ever heard. Our bass player had this rig with a Fender Precision. I have played with various set-ups including Fender Piggyback (or summat like that) and one bloke had a JD bass with Trace-Eliot(sp) - lots of green light on the amp head. No = Peavey was the best. Just an opinion of course.

Like the look of those homemade flapjacks - excellent. If anyone wants to buy proprietary ones would suggest CNP protein flapjacks - as used by TEAM Sky (Wiggins' team) . Interesting article in the news about increased use of anabolic steroids in the UK. Although bike racing has/had a bit of a reputation for drug use, they don't usually go for 'Steds'. Any of you gym experts seen much evidence of this increased use ?

^^^^^ Hmm - not sure. Thought it was the semis but couldn't swear to it. The match was advertised as a one on one between Jimmy Brown and diving git - which Brown won ! Yep Frank Pimblett; have a nasty feeling he was a little too keen on the odd social drink and didn't train properly; or at least to Sir Ron's standards . Great potential too.

Agreed re. Brian Little and that 72 team; didn't we play Blues in the semi-final - when they had that diving, git who needs his adenoids doing ! I think I saw Brian Little's first team debut - against Torquay - in tandem with Andy Lochead. Might be wrong though. He now works with Chasetown.

" A tidy player that never let us down" . Sums him up perfectly IMO; but anyone who was there and thus fairly old, will never forget his brilliant run down the right wing and squaring the ball for Little (I think it was) to score the winner in the League Cup final against Everton at Old Trafford. God .... I wish we had the likes of him now ! So ... Aston Villa - why no mention last Saturday ?

A leading Gloucestershire badger has claimed that gassing royals is more humane than shooting them. The aim is to help stop the spread of useless hangers-on and leeches in Society.

And with my usual lack of bias, who is the Sri Lankan fielding coach ?

At the Stoke (away) game, I was sat next to three Asians one of whom claimed to be the uncle of Ateeq Javid . So - an ideal combination - Villa fan and Warks fan. Pity it was a crap performance - but not as bad as Sunday !! Incidentally, I can't see England beating Sri Lanka tomorrow - think I'll watch the cycling on Eurosport.

I see Kate Bush is playing a string of gigs for the first time in ages. Now I am not particularly a fan of hers but why is it always in effing London !! I discovered, some time ago, that Boz Scaggs (old school blue-eyed soul) had played one gig in the UK and damn me it was in London; I would really liked to have seen him. London-centric or what. Incidentally, for anyone interested in such things; try counting the bars in 'Wuthering Heights' by Kate Bush and listen to the tasty guitar work right at the end of the number.

Ah - omariqy - are you of Pakistani origin/background ? If so what do you think of Shoaib Malik who Warwickshire have signed for the T20 ? As regards your big match - I think a lot depends on Ajmal (just my opinion) who is a damn good spinner.

Anyone watch the programme about the miners strike 30 years on ; shown last week. Possibly not the impact around West Mids as it had in other parts of the Country but still very important event. So - Scargill was right (love him or loathe him) about the pit closures; info released under the 30 Year Rule.

^^^^ Ok, I've got another one en route so I'll try it !

Does anyone else have trouble getting the cellophane off CD's ? Just received my latest purchase from Amazon - "JaRule sings Andrew Lloyd Webber" - and I couldn't get the effin' wrapping off. Am just about to attack it with knife when wife comes in and asks if I am having trouble. Knife slips and I nearly castrate myself. Bring back LPs

Blimey an Ibanez !! In the 60's that make were sold in 'Grattan' or 'Janet Fraser' catalogues and would come with a sticker saying "Definitely not a Toy" !!! - in other words nobody would be seen dead with one. Then in the 70's they reinvented themselves and, I gather , are pretty damn good now. A bit like Pearl Drums, summat I know a bit more about. There was a kit in the window of a large music shop in Broad Street called George Clays - possibly most on here are too young to remember that shop. Anyway they were tripe - but then reinvented themselves and , with the use of clever marketing (Rat Scabies used them) came back as world-class quality. Incidentally, George Clay himself was a massive Villa fan and followed them all over Europe.

Says in The Mail that Jonathon Trott will be back for Warks for the start of the season. Excellent !

Well, you say you are 'kinda heavy' but....... you've done it !! I struggle going over canal bridges !

Yep - Selle Italia aren't really 'budget' - they are probably a good as you can get. There is a wide range but - I reckon you would need to pay c.£50 for one ! La Marmotte - much respect !! I'm not a Sportive rider but I have mates who have done that and I believe it is a tad 'grippy'. 39x27 perhaps ??

Excellent ! If you want to find details of events in your area go to cyclingtimetrials.org.uk and look under the 'Events' drop down .

^^^^ not ridiculous at all - essential I would say That Shiv is serious bit of kit; what wheels do you use? Where did you ride those time trials, was it in the Midlands ?

Just had a look at these and they all look good value. The Boardman has Mavic rims which are excellent and has a double chainset, which for a road bike I reckon is better than triple. I have never bought an off the peg bike but, what ever you do, make sure you get the right size - err on the small side ' cos then you have some adjustment. Don't know if stems come 'cut to size' or not but if you have any say in the matter leave a couple of spacers above the stem. When checking for size - sit on the fecker, put your heels on the pedals and pedal backwards, you must be able to complete the rotation without rocking around in the saddle. Hope that is some help.

Al last some sense; The School Teachers Review Body have rejected that 'Pipsqeak' Gove's proposals to reduce school holidays and increase the length of the school day. If you are a teacher or have a close friend or relative who is a teacher you will appreciate how much extra work they put in. I do love that term 'Pipsqeak'.