Al, I dined "al fresco" last night. Temp about 25c, sun drenched garden. Bowl of pasta washed down with a bottle of Verdelho. Agree about winter, even the winter here feels cold, even though it very rarely goes below 5c. Enjoy your retirement.

Gav, Neill has a plan, he's working towards that end, surely you can't blame him for that? Whether he's going about it the right way or not, only time will tell. The only thing I object to is him being named captain of the Rovers. However, if that was part of the strategy that Hughes played to keep him, then so be it.

Indeed, Ray-Von. It puts his "grab for cash" in a slightly different perspective. Personally, I think he's gone about it the wrong way. A way that could backfire on him. He'd have been better off negotiating a deal at Ewood and guaranteeing another four years or so income in the way that Reid, Emerton and the rest have done. As it is, there is a danger of it all going tits up.

He's obviously set himself up, but he wants to get into owning an A League franchise. At the moment they are leaking money like nothing. I'd imagine that he'll come back towards the end of his career in England play for a season or two and then buy a club, probably with a couple of other parties. He's always stated he wants to put something back into the game in Australia.

I think from the start with Neill it's been about a change, but moreso about money. If you listen to what he wants to do post football he's going to need shedloads. Not so sure about West Ham, though. OK he'll get a massive weekly wage, but if they go down they'll have to cut him adrift and there's no guarantee that he'll get anywhere near what the Whammers are apparently offering. It could well be the start of a downward spiral for him. It's a pity he didn't take heed from Emerton, Reid et al. His agent may well have shot him in the foot, only time will tell

Have you had any successful applicants, Lee And what about the ones that got in before? I'd better shut up, I'm registered on there.

If you are going to give this guy an avenue to vent his thoughts, you may as well let him back on. Otherwise lock the thread and bounce his emails.

Theno, I have a deal of respect for Paul and his thoughts, and do agree with them from time to time. Where we disagree is in the moderation of certain parts of this board. Moi, Let be what wants to be, you don't have to read what is on here. I'm open, the football side, well that's cut and dried. The ICBINF, well whatever, as long as it's not libellous or whatever, but, we all have our own . Having said all that, I haven't got my house or whatever on the line for the sake of a football club fans site, so if Paul says, enough, then , that's good enough for me edit: Theno, in his previous post made mention to me, ergo my comments above.

So zer! You haf been varned!

It's no secret that Neill has plans for his life after playing football to get into ownership in the A league. To do this he needs plenty of cash. If he stays at the Rovers, he gets an increase in pay. If he moves to (say) Liverpool, he gets an increase in pay and (most probably) a signing on fee. So, for him, it's a no brainer, he's going to be quids ahead by moving.

Why is everyone giving vinjay the space to air his views? The guy is clearly paranoid. Lock the thread, in 15 minutes his monotonous rants will be forgotten.

We have been through this before. I was one that wanted him to remain the first time. He has shown that nothing has changed with his line of thought, so, if he was reinstated, again, then nothing would change in his approach to the contents of his posts. Vinjay, please go quietly mad elsewhere. Mods, don't even give him the benefit of having his thoughts posted on here, they never change, no matter how lucid they may seem. It's still the same bell clanging the same bloody note.

I say no thanks........ but on second thoughts, profile wise might be a good idea......

Explain the link you provided. I can see two ways, what about you?

Anyone else going apart from SR, BBDU and myself? Anyone brave (or rich) enough to fly in for the weekend? I know BBDU is from Geelong but he has "connections".

How many games has Benni had in English football? I would think that his command of English football was not as great as yours of the Language. You obviously have just started following football, as you would be aware of the penalties handed out to English clubs and supporters in the past, if you had been a long term follower of the game. or is it that you're a WUM

pencilled in Look forward to it.

Both played 90 mins. The hardest workers on the night were the stretcher bearers, They must have carted off 6 or 7 Bahrainis The second half was ordinary apart from the pass to Sterjovski, who was unlucky not to score, hitting the bar with a beautiful volley. Neill put in one or two good passes, but put in as many bad ones. Not one of Lucas's best games. It will be interesting to see how Bert and Lucas pull up on the weekend, they'd only get back on friday. edit: The game finished 2-0 to the Aussies.

Australia is playing Bahrain in an Asian cup qualifier, half time and they are two up. Aloisi with what looked like an offside goal, and a wonder strike from Bresciano, if you get a chance, see it. Lucas is undoing all the good work he put in last match, very ordinary, been caught out a number of times, put some very ordinary passes in. Bert is doing OK without setting the world on fire.

This raises the question of should we have a saturday arvo meet up sometime soon? Do we have one before Christmas or wait until the New Year, when there should be a few guys in town for the test match, or both? I can't make the w/e of 11/11 I'll be in Cairns, (if there's anyone up there) or 9th December. Any thoughts?

I can't make it, I'm afraid.

I'm not certain about Liverpool being his next destination. A certain Mr Neeskins, now employed at Barca, made a special trip to see this game.

Score 1-1 Bert had a good game, constantly getting forward. He had no problems containing the Paraguayan forwards. Neill didn't have much to do against a team that seemed disinterested in the game. Early in the game the Aussies played some very good football, it's a pity they don't have anyone capable of finishing. They had some very good chances, but wasted them by seemingly wanting to walk the ball into the net. After about 30 minutes the game just ambled along untill the 88th minute when the Aussies scored. The Paraguayans goal came in the 90th minute from an own goal where there was no pressure, the defender tried to head the ball back to Schwartzer but only succeeded in putting it past him.

Don't know why, but I enjoyed McCarthy's goal more than Bentley's. Maybe it was the close skills he showed in beating the defender and a shot that went between the keeper and the near post.

Col, I used to use Mcafee, until an upgrade fouled up my system, then used Norton, upgraded to a multi user package, without any problems, then at the last update, they couldn't supply me with a multiuser pack. I've switched to AVG multiuser and it's going great. As others have pointed out it's not as resource needy as Norton Systemworks and turned out a fair bit cheaper.