blunther

How much do referees get paid these days? A couple of grand a game? With the amount of money in the permier league, having the most important man on the pitch being paid a comparative pittance is very dangerous. I'm not implying Friend was bought, I think he is just incompetent and unable to handle pressure, but when you could pay a ref's annual salary for a week's wage of a bench-warmer, the chances of corruption are that much higher.

4-1 Villa. 125/1. Choinks.

I see others have already responded, but yeah, I hope you kept it!

I love you Lambert, and you can have some ham I love you Lambert, and tuna from a can I love you Lambert, we want tabby fur toooo

You can tell this thread is old, as the options lack:

I won't say too much so as not to get into trouble, but Friend is a disgrace of a referee. This is the same incompetent fool who was in charge for QPR at home this season, and he didn't disappoint today.

Take it easy Stan, come back when you're ready.

Villa Man U double! Wheeeeeeee

Armani all the way.It's a business trip, so treat it like one. I was derided by some last season for saying he needed to smarten up and results would follow. I feel vindicated!! smashing result that.

Some things never change. The standard of refereeing in this league is appalli g. That Kevin Friend 'performance' against QPR last year still infuriates me. It has to be crooked rather than purely incompetence.

7/1 seems quite generous. I'll be sticking us in a treble I think. Start of the season, coming off some good scoring (albeit in friendlies), good record at the Emirates. A win or a hammering, I reckon.

Caul fat! What do I win? Some organ scrapings? Lovely.

There's nothing better than something which shouldn't work, but just does! I think it's how the oils from the chorizo and the fat from the cream mix. Bad for the heart, but great for the soul.

My favourite very simple, quick yet delicious (ly unhealthy) meal - I call it Pasta Maldonado. 500g pasta - rigatoni or similar 250ml single cream A chorizo ring, cut into chunks of 5-10mm About 8 standard tomatoes Some dried chilli and herb of choice (I like oregano). Whatever cheese you have lying around Peel the tomatoes (flash boil them for a little bit first) and roughly chop. Chuck in a pan with some oil to soften up for 5-10 mins. Chuck in the chorizo - leave for five minutes for the oils from the sausage to mingle with the tomatoes Bung in some dried red chilli flakes - a teaspoon or two, and some oregano or whatever you fancy Add the cream, and simmer gently for five minutes Stick a bit of grated cheese in to thicken if desired Chuck in the (cooked) pasta and stir. Serve topped with parmesan if available (cheddar if not), with garlic ciabatta. So simple, yet so unbelievably delicious.

My bubs

Good on you mate. Edwin is a terrific name for a cat.

Cracking, thanks mate!

Where's that? I can't see it, but fancy one!

Undoubtedly he's being offered less than the reported 20k he's on here, but as for the 'why should he take a pay cut' questions - yes, he's perfectly entitled to stay here and see out his contract (one year or two?), but he isn't going to play. Then after his 20k a week contract is up, who's going to offer him anything, given that he's not played a competitive game for years? If he has faith in his ability, he'd be better off moving somewhere on half the money, and at least getting a longer contract, then proving himself so he can move up the payscale. Maybe he doubts himself, or maybe he's an idiot. I've always thought the latter since the infamous MySpace page to be honest.

You're right, assuming both parties want to come to an agreement. However, if you're buying a something that is not for sale, you pay the askin price or bugger off. If my house wasn't for sale, and someone knocked at the door trying to buy it, they'd have to pay a lot more than normal market price, as I don't want to sell it. Why would I negotiate? You came to me, pay up or bugger off. Sorry for the massive quote... Posting on mobile so formatting is tricky.

[url=http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/11/the-burger-lab-revisiting-the-myth-of-the-12-year-old-burger-testing-results.html]This is a very interesting read on why the non-decomposition of a McDonald's burger is not that much of a surprise. It's also a great blog for general burger porn.

Caspian Pizza, Pershore Road, Stirchley. Worst food poisoning of my life. Never again.

IIRC correctly we did pretty well pre-season last year (apart from Forest just before the start of the season), and we didn't start too well in the season.

Tweeted. Absolutely wonderful. This is sublime. Ordered the book from Amazon for a present.

Personally I enjoyed that little exchange of views. Better than fish puns or daft point scoring. Nice to see reasonable fans of other clubs on here having a debate - makes the world go round.