Sergeant-Major

Born in Birmingham & grew up in the posh part of Brum....... well Nechells 8) Joined the Army at 17 and for the past 20 years have resided all over the world - mainly UK, Germany & Northern Ireland but regularly return home to see my family and friends in Brum. I always try to coincide my leave / long weekends back when Villa are playing at home.

I dabbled very, very briefly when a youngster and can't see what the big fuss is about with drugs - i.e. why people like them so much!? I get drug tested regularly now in my job so drugs are a big no no for me, but to be honest even if I was allowed to take them I probably wouldn't. I'll just stick to the Stella Artois and Embassy No1 for my highs.

I used to bloody LOVE 'The Smiths' back when I was a teenager in the 1980s. I remember when I first heard them back in 82/83 as an 11/12 year old I thought they were shit but got to 15 about the time of the release of 'The Queen Is Dead' and something just clicked - and to me they were the best thing since the Villa. I almost cried when I heard they were splitting up !! I bought a 'Best Of' compilation of 'The Smiths' a year or so back and the tunes and the memories came flooding back. I had it on in my car and my wife asked what it was and why did the singer sound so miserable!? She's German bless her and just didn't get it. How good would a Smiths reunion and a world tour be?! I would pay big bucks to see that. Just for the record my favourite Smiths tunes are (apart from all of them!): This Charming Man What Difference Does It Make William It was Really Nothing The Headmaster Ritual The Queen Is Dead Cemetry Gates Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others Bigmouth Strikes Again There's A Light That Never Goes Out Favourite Album: The Queen Is Dead (by a country mile) This thread has brought back so many memories - I might dig out some of my old LPs later for a listen.

Yes.... I'm the Sergeant Major & signed on the dotted line 20 years ago. Since then have put my balls on the line for Queen & Country in such places as Northern Ireland, Bosnia & Iraq. However every time I go to Iraq I don't feel so comfortable being there due to the fact that the only reason we are there is for oil !! Tony Blair stood up in the Commons back in 2002 / 2003 and lied about Iraq having stockpiles of Weapons Of Mass Destruction and how Iraq were potentially 24 Hours away from building a missile that could be launched on the UK. In the 5 years we've been there what have we found? Nothing weapon wise but loads and loads of oil. Makes you want to cry the amount of good young lads & lasses who are now dead because of it... hang your head in shame Mr. Blair. But even though I may disagree with the war I'm a soldier and I do as I'm told. So if a foreign Army was planning to invade the UK would I fight? I would fight twice as hard as the man next to me in my fire trench regardless of how old I was.

For - however the conviction would have to be 100% watertight to guard against executing an innocent man. If we had a death penalty it might make those who choose to carry guns and knives think twice, if they thought that by using a weapon would mean "a long drop and a sudden stop" on the end of a rope.

It probably will be Lewis Hamilton - but I'll be voting for Rebecca Adlington as she was outstanding in the Olympics with 2 Golds and the world record in the pool.

Keegan - a nice enough bloke but awful manager. Newcastle are looking at falling apart at the seams - paper thin squad of injury prone has beens, journeymen & youngsters. Just watch them get slammed in their first few games and then the Toon Army will start booing and Ashley will pull the trigger !! I'd bet my mortgage on Keegan not being Newcastle manager by this time next year - I reckon he'll be lucky to survive until Xmas.

Newcastle are rubbish - they're fans are almost as deluded as the tossers who support Spurs in that they think they have a divine right to be in the top 5 and winning trophies. Last season Newcastle were lucky they hit a tiny bit of form that pulled them clear of the relegation zone. Now they have got rid of a few players and signed next to no one - so they have a paper thin squad of has beens, youngsters and journey men - have they got a smaller squad than us?!? Unless they bring in 6 or so players I can see them struggling at the foot of the table - and I'll be laughing by socks off when they are getting slammed 5 and 6 nil week in, week out.

Funny, funny episode The British v German thing was laugh out loud funny!! The spitfires, one armed driver's false arm coming off, Hammond the 'bad winner', pretending the Stig was Captain Slow, the tank firing paintballs at the Minis -"FEUER". I'm not a 'petrolhead' by any means but Top Gear is unmissable - is it the best thing on TV?

My sister lived next door to Luke Moore's Nan in Shard End (until my sister moved a year or so back). Apparently he used to turn up quite regularly in his flash car and have a bit of a big time attitude. Other than that I met Ricky Hatton in a strip club/bar/whorehouse in Bangkok back in 2005 - a very nice guy and sat and chatted for ages.