one_ian_taylor

It's pretty meaningless that he's a Bosman - it's no indicator of quality. I'm pretty sure Arsenal fans weren't complaining about getting Sol Campbell on a Bosman, or Chelsea fans with Ballack, or Barcelona fans with Larsson or... you get my point. Nicky Shorey cost £5mn. I'll say it again: £5mn. We can't judge until he's played for us. I for one would like to see us picking up a couple of bargains as we have wasted a ridiculous amount of money over the past few years. A lot of the clubs above us in the table are playing much better football with fewer resources than we have had.

We have - Go Wiggo!

Big day tomorrow/today - will we see the first British winner of Paris Nice for 45 years?

Depends on the road bike and the wheels - it's probably not worse than Paris Roubaix.

You'll either love him or hate him. I think he's great, but there's loads of his stuff on youtube which will give you an idea of what he's like. Maybe start here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGAOCVwLrXo

Looks suspiciously like central Croydon, but not quite. The flyover is certainly on there.

Nice, must have seen you on the telly then as they showed Chris Hoy's parents. The track is such a beautiful shape, must feel incredible to ride (that's if you can get up to the speeds required for the banked turns)

Lucky bastard!

Never pour water on a chip pan fire. It'll take your face off.

Hmmm, sounds a little odd - surely they could have taken the pipe in through the conservatory and drilled the holes on the ground floor inside the conservatory.

I'm confusing assassinations now. Mossad killed the Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in Jan 2010. They also killed the leader of Hezbollah's military wing, Imad Fayez Mughniyah, in Syria in Feb 2008. Busy boys Very busy boys indeed. Mughniyeh must have been particularly difficult to track down.

Slotted a head honcho of Hamas, not Hezbollah.

Matador? Actually, you could be right - maybe 15% in Damascus, but closer to 10% elsewhere.

Sunni Muslims account for 74% of the population ... and Shi'a around 12% Assad is an Alawate if I remember the news reports correctly (still Shi'a ?) I probably didn't write my post very clearly but Iranian influence over that 12 % is already very high (Hamas and Hezbolla) without Assad maybe it would be higher still ? Hamas is a Sunni organisation. Alawites are not really Shia in the way that Iranians are. Iranian influence over Syria would be less without Assad - supporting Hezbollah and building strong relationships with Iran is the result of political expediency rather than religious affiliation. It suits both Iran and Syria to have a strong influence in Lebanon and to support Hezbollah against Israel. The population split that you mention - I suspect that 12% Shia is a conflation of Druze, Alawite and 12er Shia that pays no heed to the cultural and religious differences between the different sects. The Christian population of Syria is larger than the Shia population. 12er Shias do not necessarily consider Alawites to be Shias or even proper Muslims. Yes, Asad is Alawite (Alawites have traditionally occupied a large proportion of high-ranking military posts, partly a hangover from the days of the French mandate, when the French wanted to undermine the power base of the urban Sunni population that provided the greatest opposition to the mandate), but at least in terms of propaganda has always positioned himself as a Muslim and a Syrian first.

Except that Syria's not really a country split between Sunni and Shia. Yes, they do have strong political links with Iran, but that's more out of political expediency. Alawites are not Shii, neither are Druze except in the loosest possible sense. Syria is predominantly Sunni with significant Christian and Alawite minorities. Iran already has plenty of influence in Syria - a change of regime would most likely decrease its influence. But I agree the west shouldn't get involved. But someone should. Having lived in Syria, it's heartbreaking to see what is happening now.

Insulate your loft and your cavity wall - make sure the cavity wall insulation is carried out by someone with proper CIGA accreditation. Get it done as soon as you can - some of the energy companies are providing free loft and cavity wall insulation - they're required to do a certain amount by government before the end of the year and as they're behind on their targets, they're chucking tonnes of money at it. Think EDF do free loft and cavity, other companies may do the same. It doesn't have to be your energy company that does it - as I say, they have targets to hit and they need to do what they can. Call the Energy Saving Trust to start with on 0800 512012.

Al Pacino as Arthur Scargill in Strike

Poor Schleck - this could end up as his only Tour win. Certainly this year's course isn't doing him any favours

My armpit farts are second to none (in my experience). Unfortunately it's not really a wasted talent, as I make the most of it, but it's just not that saleable.

Several different dialects - Moroccan is different enough from Iraqi to almost be a different language, but Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is used for the news in all Arab countries. If you can master MSA, then you should be able to have a conversation with most people, though you'll sound a bit odd and formal.

Great result - hope Ireland can keep it up, as then we'll start to have some nice selection dilemmas. Getting Ireland, Gabby and Bent in the same team could be tricky

Partly filmed in Croydon...

Don't know about inexperienced, he just hit him incredibly cleanly and didn't or couldn't hang on. It was unlucky, and the decision more sore. As as Wales supported, I'm obviously gutted about the defeat, but despite the sending off, Wales should really have won. France created absolutely nothing, only threatened the Welsh try line once or twice, but defended really well when they had to. Wales on the other hand had enough opportunities to win the game. Three pens and a con went begging and had two decent shots at a drop goal, which were fluffed. France missed two dg attempts and had nothing else to show for it. I make that 17 points missed when just two would have done. Still the better team with 14 men, but you have to take at least a couple of your chances in tight games.

They're having to try and out think him, do anything to break his rhythm and HTC's, because any time he gets a good set up, like on Wednesday, he's unbeatable. Incredible ride by Hushovd today.

The longer it goes on, the more I think that Evans could do really well. Never been a big admirer of his, but he looks in very solid form. Not sure if Contador's in good form - wonder if the Giro has cost him.