thecraft

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26035819

BIHL expressed its gratitude to their former chairman in a prepared statement, which said: "Mr Yeung, with his foresight, aspiration and clairvoyance, has steered the board successfully through landmark projects such as the acquisition of Birmingham City Football Club, for which the board is profoundly indebted.

Not sure how successfully clairvoyant he was!

i'm making my first visit this year for the Manchester City match and hoping to get tickets in the Holte  - are there any suggestions about getting to the park early vs enjoying the pre-match atmosphere at a particular pub?

That turned out well, you'll have to come again!

Y-Pass Fish & Chips in Ledbury Herefordshire

Yeah Man City are down in the 2nd aren't they?

Age didnt' seem to be a barrier when we signed Peter Withe!

2nd highest scorer in the premier league after Rooney.....WANTS to play under Paul Lambert and his coaching staff - can't beleive people

are dismissing him if he signs for us.

If Bent get's injured like last season....we're up the creek....would make sense to me!

Def, as long as it is a good deal for us, and I don't think they would go crazy with that, after having just sorted out the wage bill. If PL wants him fine with me, and if he can repeat his 17 goals brilliant! The biggest downside I can see will be the endless newspaper puns, though Holt Ends Villas trophy drought I could live with

#FuseOut

We have one already in Darren Bent he is our main striker.

Weimann etc are also options.

Holt will be a waste of money and I don't think we have much to play with anyway.. if he comes fair enough but I believe we other pressing matters (midfield and defence)

I wouldn't say definitely go and sign him, but if PL does take over and within his budget constraints thought it was a good deal to bring him over I wouldn't have any objection to it.

All I hope he does not bring Grant Holt!

Yes it would be disgraceful if he brought in someone who scored 17 premier league goals in his previous season. I mean how would poor Emile feel if he was replaced by someone who could actually find the back of the net?

this

Personally I hope ( and believe ) he'll move away from this buy crap thing we've had going on at the club, and buy good. It honestly does not matter where they come from

You don't seem to be getting my point Richard. I don't want to see us buy foreign players exclusively. I would however like to see us look abroad for players as well as at home. It can't hurt to broaden your horizons. In recent years this is something we have not done.

Or alternatively, he could be agreeing with you if it doesn't matter where they come from, then we can look foreign and domestic. Fingers crossed on PL now!

Amplifier - The Octopus

2 hours long, definitely something different!

Musically they span the gamut from follky acoustic moments through heavy metal and into deep Prog without ever getting too far up themselves. They even manage to use a William Blake text (The Sick Rose) without coming off as pretentious – not an easy trick.

Review

I wanted to like it, but it was just too long. I might have to revisit bits of it again, which could change my mind somewhat, but I couldn't listen to the whole thing all the way through. It's not that I'm unaccustomed to long pieces of music either, Boris' Flood and Sleep's Dopesmoker are 2 of my favourites and clock in around the hour mark. But TWO hours ugh jeez

Yeah I have had it on at work today and had it on on the drive to and from Pembroke at the weekend, for me there were enough little hooks spread through it to make me go back and listen to it more. A lot of stuff to get through with it though!

I'm tempted by that.

They stream it on their official web site so you can hear it.

http://tinyurl.com/3p9mvhz

I recommend The Sick Rose

Amplifier - The Octopus

2 hours long, definitely something different!

Musically they span the gamut from follky acoustic moments through heavy metal and into deep Prog without ever getting too far up themselves. They even manage to use a William Blake text (The Sick Rose) without coming off as pretentious – not an easy trick.

Review

am i the only one who read that while putting on this voice?

and when you reply this email you get a berry big surprise you virra dog

I think we need to not worry so much. Martinez was one of the managers on the list. Like Bubbadogs post above (or probably 50 pages back by the time I get round to pressing send), I think he chose not to antagonise his chairman, and enhance his reputation for decency by not jumping at the chance of an interview for a job he probably wouldn't get anyway. No ITK knowledge at all, but I just don't think our board are idiots.

I don't think we are an unattractive club to go to, it wouldn't take too much to get us back where we were under MON and hopefully get into a position where we are one of the challengers for the top 4 at some point in the future. We underachieved badly last season, which was always on the cards once MON had left the way he did, and I think it is broadly similar to the Spurs situation when Redknapp came in. I don't think we would have let managers like Jol (who I would have been happy with), and to a lesser extent even Sam Allardyce (who I would have been less fussed on) slip through our fingers if we weren't confident that we would be bringing in someone more suitable. I also don't believe these managers would go to Fulham and especially West Ham if we were seriously interested. We have demanding fans and high expectations it seems, however I seriously doubt any more so than any of the big clubs in the PL. We are a big club - we are capable of being one of the Champions League challengers, we just need the right people.

As others have said, the way we are run, means we don't feed info to the media and they go on a total BS free for all about what is going on at our club. Maybe that is something we can address in a positive way, while maintaining our own high levels of business decency. One of the things levelled at Liverpool with the Barry saga was that they had lost that attribute in their dealings and become classless. I think they are trying to address that with their new owners and Dalglish and I think we have it in abundance.

I am confident that the right person will be found and we will be able to move on and rebuild for the future. Never any guarantees of course, but I certainly still have my faith in the board to find a positive solution.

Bizarrely last week while we were all caught up in the Ancelotti stories (which would have been a magnificent appointment if we could have pulled it off) I dreamed that we got Moyes and Hughes went up to Everton. I would take that

Stravinsky -

That is my absolute fave bit of music by Purcell

Do it, you'll like it.

:winkold:

Cheers

I will look it up

Moravec's rendition of Chopins Nocturnes on now

Apparently she's now embarking on a singing career. Started by doing giggs in manchester.

Purcell, Dido & Aeneas - 'Ah! Bellinda'

Usually not too keen on opera, but Simone Kermes is amazing.

That is my absolute fave bit of music by Purcell

Still a qaulity joke though

Btw I do highly recommend Boscombe nr. Bournemouth. Very nice.

I don't get that one

None of the above, they're all OK.

Hands-down winner is U2.

With Joy Division/New Order and The Smiths in close contention.

U2 for me although Queen and the Beatles would be right up there!

I like Beethoven though I listen to the piano sonatas probably more than anything else by him. I've been listening to quartets too a lot, Schuberts Death and the Maiden by the Takacs Quartet most recently. I missed the chance to see them performing it in Cheltenham last year which is a bit annoying!

Shostakovich again, prob the most common thing I listen to is the 8th quartet.

I also don't mind some early music, things like John Dowland and the odd bit of Purcell.

As I stepped out of the cold shower the Mrs laughed and told me that my penis closely resembled a tic tac. "If that's the case", I joked, "why does your sister still have bad breath?" She didn't laugh then..

Seems to me the last couple of games, that Ash is pretty happy about the Bent signing, I think once they fully click together it will be quite awesome!

Anyway, I've had enough of that for now, and have just broken into my new bottle of:

Interesting. Never before had a blended that is so heavlily based on Islay malts.

Good? Much of an Islay fan?

Used to drink a lot of it (Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Bowmore, Ardbeg), but haven't had any for a while for some reason. The Black Grouse is a very smoky version of a blended - not sure what malts they use, but it's pretty damn nice if that's your taste (not everyone likes it, I know).

Cheers, picked up a bottle over Christmas for £13, it's not bad - definately drinkable - will probably keep a bottle in.

I saw someone saying they didn't like Lagavulin and it tasted like Bitumen haha, I love it - although Islays are always going to be divisive. The funniest description of Lagavulin I saw, though I can kind of see where they are coming from a bit, is that it tastes like churches! A kind of leathery (bible) incensy hint to it.

Used to drink a lot of it (Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Bowmore, Ardbeg), but haven't had any for a while for some reason. The Black Grouse is a very smoky version of a blended - not sure what malts they use, but it's pretty damn nice if that's your taste (not everyone likes it, I know).

Sounds like it may be well worth a go - as a more day to day drink given Lagavulin is over £40 a bottle now!

Anyway, I've had enough of that for now, and have just broken into my new bottle of:

Interesting. Never before had a blended that is so heavlily based on Islay malts.

Good? Much of an Islay fan?