Mark Albrighton

It's rather sweet that the second film presents us with a world in 2015 where flying cars and hover boards are common place and yet we're also heavily reliant on fax machines. Or at least the McFly's are anyway.

There's a place for statistics in football. I used to work with statistical data and have a fair idea of how useful number crunching can be, but also that it can be misleading if done incorrectly. It's fair to say, for some, stats are surplus in assessing a player's abilities. At the very least, the key pass stat supports the notion that Gil is one of our more creative players. Now that we've lost the brilliance of Benteke, we'll need our creative players to provide as many chances as they can to give Sinclair/ Gestede/ Ayew/ Gabby as many opportunities to get on the scoresheet. I'm no expert on the game, there are plenty on this site who have a better understanding and are more articulate than me. But FWIW, I rate Gil regardless of data support, as in the majority of the games he's played, the opposition seem to be wary of him. He's been incredibly composed - looks comfortable on the ball, which is impressive considering he's not really been played consistently and he's been happy to track back and help out.

Whether Gil could get into other teams or whether he should be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Sidwell () isn't really the point. He's clearly one of our better players (if not the best) and should be starting each of our games in whichever position it mostly benefits him and the team (which is most likely more central, in that number ten role).

4 is my favourite series of Homeland so far S4 is easily the worst, IMO. S1 was the best, and then it got slowly worse from then onwards. Season Four of Homeland loses points for severe lack of Brody's gorgeous mrs. But that negative of the season is outweighed by the major plus point of not having Brody's daughter Dana feature. Quite possibly the most annoying character creation ever.

This thread has been terribly quiet. Anyone know if he's likely to play at all today?

Hope he gets some match time. Joe always comes across like a good guy. Even though it was in the twilight of his career, I'm pleased I got to see him play for us. There's still a touch of class about him which was lovely to see. Best of luck Joe.

The Old Crown in Digbeth is one I've been in as it happens, went in there after the cup final. The Victoria looks like a striking place. I was in the Rose Villa around the Jewellery Quarter for New Year's. Memory was a bit hazy, but I remember it being a good atmosphere.

I miss getting truly enthusiastic about new music. I don't seem to have the same appetite for it anymore. I miss football down the local playing fields. My brother, 3 friends and I scraped together around £50 to buy some full size goal nets, it seemed like a right mission to get them. We used to bring a radio and keep in touch with the latest scores. And I miss you, like the deserts miss the rain.

Yeah they do, it's just the constant use of Lemon at every given opportunity that grates.

Just read that ITV are celebrating 30 years of "Back to the Future" later this month by showing the whole trilogy together. Which should have earned ITV a pat on the back. But in their infinite wisdom they've included a specially made programme entitled "Keith Lemon's Back t'Future Tribute". Bad ITV, very bad.

Congratulations. I can relate to how you're possibly feeling at the moment (although that story is for another time). The worries you have are gonna be natural, suddenly everything has shifted, every decision now appears to need extra thought and I dare say that upon hearing the news, you were in a bit of a daze. But you sound like you're in a positive frame of mind, which is really good to hear. Congrats, again.

Some of these posts have properly made me laugh. I do sympathise, I hadn't previously heard about the Postma story so whenever that was referenced it left me a bit confused. Anyway, we all know DHUTWU means "Don't Have Ulterior Thoughts Whilst Urinating".

Pretty sure rjw63 has "DHUTWU" copyrighted, doesn't he?

Surreal.

Not sure I've had the pleasure of that one. I've been to The Clifton in Sedgley. For me, the most soul destroying Wetherspoons is The Moon Under Water in Wolverhampton. However, it does make me smile that it takes it's name from Orwell's essay on the most ideal pub. Not totally sure they followed his criteria to the letter.

Yeah looks a good shout, just getting there is the challenging (fun) part!

And if you'd like to see portraits of Marc Bolan, Sid Vicious, John Lennon, Freddie Mercury and Amy Winehouse dressed in Tudor gear set in a 15th century building, I'd recommend the Henry Tudor House, also in Shrewsbury.

One I would suggest, The Boathouse Inn, Shrewsbury. Lovely setting overlooking the river.

It's shameful how few of these pubs I've heard of. When I'm next in Brum I'll try to sample a couple of them. I'm always looking out for pubs that are somehow noteworthy- historically or otherwise. I've done Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham (supposedly the oldest pub, not sure if it is), I've done the pubs with both the shortest & longest names (both in Stalybridge) and Guy Fawkes' birthplace in York. Anyone got any suggestions for pubs along these lines?

Would be interesting to know how many supporters of other clubs who attempted the quiz, forgot about us. Would like to think very few but there's bound to be some.

^ Apologies, I should have used a spoiler. But for those who haven't seen Apocalypto, Wally's presence has minimal bearing on the film's outcome.

Easy.

Watched "Apocalypto" last night. Enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

I remember seeing him in an episode of "Who do you think you are". He came across as a fairly decent bloke, but I smiled at how much he really wanted to have some Irish roots. It felt like the entire episode was him desperately searching for just one of his ancestors to have come from Ireland. He clearly has a strong love of the country. Also there was his idea that gay marriage will lead to fathers marrying their sons to avoid inheritance tax. Good actor, though.

Yes, I've persevered with it. Mainly in the hope of seeing Quinn just settling down with a nice girl.