Still get that falling off the ceiling one. Very common I believe and has a reason I've forgotten. Nightmares involving tarantulas in my childhood have left me with a dread of spiders. Those big hairy ones that lurk in the shower in the autumn mornings - shiver. I don't know how you Aussies manage to survive with the verocious things you have down there!

I suppose this fits here, not worth a new thread anyway. Hughes has announced that Paul Gallagher will not be going out on loan this season as "he sees him as an important member of the squad this term" Good news for Gally and I must say this pleases me greatly.

............and if you happen to be in the area pop along to the Pendle Bike Fest On the Sunday you can laugh at me returning from this 160 km Dad's day out which starts and finishes at Pendle Leisure Centre, Colne. I'll be the sweaty one in blue.

A lot depends on how old your kids are, but: Trentham Gardens at Stoke is on our list for this summer, lots of people talking about how good the Monkey Walk is. FREE - St Annes beach on the quiet section between Lytham and Pontins. Went about 10 days ago, picnic, beach cricket, frizbee, footie, paddling, kites. Beach almost empty, no hassle, no cokes and ice creams. Cost nothing but petrol and everyone had a great time. FREE - Hardcastle Craggs, Hebden Bridge. Picnic, walks, rock scrambling. Cotton mill Lancaster - Duke's Theatre in the Park, this year Tom Sawyer. Open air theater located all around the park. Bloody brilliant. Castle Howard, Leeds adventure playground plus the usual historic stuff Chatsworth, great adventure playground plus the usual Harewood House - ditto Delamere Forest - Go-ape - MUST book Chester Zoo - £50 for 4, plan to go again this summer Halifax - Eureka! Hands on museum, about £7, brilliant Manchester - Imperial War Museum, The Museum of Science and Industry York - the Minster, Jorvik Centre, ghost tour. Lived in York for five years, great city. Fountains Abbey - Harrogate and if all else fails put some lead in your pencil here

Quite agree jim, but ultimately the FA selected Multiplex because they were the only company prepared to build it for the price. Sound business decision?

How very, very true! BBC News Will heads roll? Of course not. Should heads roll? Absolutely. Every fan in the country will end up paying for this ridiculous delay. The entire FA board, council or whatever should resign.

Excellent post AESF, plenty of very good points. There are some simple truths about England which many people seem to have real difficulty getting to grips with. The manager was a first class idiot who has wasted 5 years, £25m and our finest talent in 40 years The team, collectively, are very, very poor. Neither they, nor the manager, have managed to put together more than five memorable results throughout SGE's tenure The players clearly either couldn't give two hoots about the WC or lacked the courage and/or fibre to tell SGE "this isn't working." If the players really cared, there would be no problem with putting in the performances needed. These people are professiomal footballers at the peak of their careers, and they need a manager to tell them how to play? Don't make me laugh. There are no excuses, England are, and will remain, awful. It's hardly surprising is it? Our game is run by a bunch of self-interested amateurs who can't even build a football stadium. How on earth do we expect them to employ a quality manager, motivate players and win a tournament? If those who run the game were competent and/or cared about the England team these discussions just wouldn't happen. The structure and organisation of English football is archaic, designed to look after the top clubs and squeeze every penny out of the fans, Until there is a fundamental change England will win nothing.

Blackburn Rovers have today confirmed the signing of Benni McCarthy for an undisclosed fee. The South African striker moves from Porto to Ewood Park on a four year contract.

As Gamst is his mother's name and Pedersen his father's is this a Norwegian naming thing* or is that his mother chose not to take her husband's surname when they married? i.e Do Norwegians use both parents surnames in this way?

I have a feeling this is going to be the big Christmas push........but that aside I plan to buy one soonish. Has anyone got any experience of these boxes, and in particular: 80Gb sounds a lot, is it in practice? Waht size would an average movie be? On standard digi boxes you can only record the channel you are watching. Presumably the whole point of one with a hard drive is to allow one to record a channel while watching another? (the main feature I want) Anyone recommend a particular model?

Me too. Heard it on the way home from work, I'd expected better of Damian as I thought he had a brain. Why do 99% of footballers talk total @#/?? Is it a measure of how they perceive the fans

Got a nice panama............very fetching

Sunday's Observer

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday I have to spend all day in the open, literally no shade, discussing bedding plant trials with customers. Being slightly follicly challenged today I'm going to buy a hat - style suggestions welcome!

Keep your curtains closed during the day........it will keep the house much cooler.

I have kicking around the house somewhere: The Beatles ~ Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) Robert Johnson ~ King of the Delta Blues Singers (1961) purchased in the 80s Bob Dylan ~ Bringing it All Back Home (1965) The Beach Boys ~ Pet Sounds (1966) The Clash ~ London Calling (1979) Stevie Wonder ~ Songs in the Key of Life (1976) Pink Floyd ~ The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) Otis Redding ~ Otis Blue (1965) The Who ~ My Generation (1965) Fairport Convention ~ Liege and Lief (1969) I worry about some of those dates All on vinyl and we don't have a turntable or even a Dansette! It isn't a "best ever" list so I suppose that explains the abscence of magnificent stuff like The Stones "Exile on Main Street" or Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks" - which surely should be in there somewhere.

Discuss this to your heart's content BUT please be careful. If you are naming names, individuals or clubs, please sure to post a link that substantiates what you are saying. Speculation will be deleted, we can't afford the legal fees.

Pretty high I would say. Last season avoiding relegation to Serie C required 40 points, so Juve have to win 23 and draw 1 simply to avoid relegation. To put that in perspective last season's Serie B champions, Atalanta W - 24, D - 9, L - 9. So Juve require championship winning form just to avoid relegation. In Serie A last season Juve results were W - 27, D - 10, L - 1 and that we know is a highly dubious record. The Juve coach/manager has to motivate his team to play at championship winning level all season purely to avoid relegation. That will be an amazing feat. I think a small bet on Juve being relegated next season would be worthwhile. Based on last season Juve will need to win 36 and draw 1 game for an automatic promotion spot, that would be pretty good.

The BBC are reporting, on radio, it is a 44 point deduction for next season. I can't find it on the web but I've heard it twice on the radio this evening.

Good...and I certainly wasn't determined not to enjoy it. My feeling is modern media make it very difficult to enjoy a broadcast sports event. The event becomes unavoidable and the reporting is relentless both before and after. I'm sure I'd have a wonderful time if I went to the WC or the Euros, just as I do at Ewood and plenty of other sports events in which I have only a passing interest. The CWG in Manchester was fantastic, I watch international squash, had some great days at Wimbledon, enjoy an evening's sunshine at OT and can't wait for the C&G final. Being there is an enormous part of the enjoyment, just as, for me, the wall to wall media quickly distracts if one isn't there.

Think I meant Cole, it was early this morning

Glad its over, I pretty much lost interest after the first week. As usual, and as with all aspects of football, we are swamped by the media. WC this, England that. The broadcasters just don't understand what utter purile crap they are putting out and how boring it is. Moments I remember (as opposed to memorable moments)? Lampard's goal, Rooney's sending off, Zidane's sending off. That would be it really. Enjoyed what I saw of Germany and Australia plus what I saw of the final was better than expected but I don't think my atention would have been held for the whole game if I'd watched from the start. I suppose we can now look forward to the McClaren honeymoon, followed by an acrimonious divorce. Great, really looking forward to that one. Less is MORE.

Twas tongue in cheek............

Possibly this should be the first question to all potential signings?

Other than Bellamy's move I haven't noticed a big signing by anyone this summer, OK Chelsea spent a fortune on Schevchenko and Ballack but that hardly counts as being in the real world. Now this will either change as the WC comes to a close or perhaps there is a new wind of realism blowing through the PL? I'm unsure about Jeffers but pleased to see Roberts arrive and I suspect this is Hughes building a squad while continuing to look for that star, bums on seats, name, which is going to be so important if we are to bring the crowds back to Ewood. I don't believe the board have finished the summer's business yet and JW/TF will be painfully aware of the need to sign a crowd puller. As to who? I think we can only watch this space.