Steve K

Presuming that piece of illiterate nonsense was aimed at Chelsea, could you give a hint as to what has been asterisked out? Your choice of apparent insult was so odd that I'm not sure whether I (as a half-hearted Chelsea fan) should be insulted or not. I'd be delighted if you would remove any uncertainty. Many thanks!

Well, I think that Di Matteo was sacked despite winning the CL, rather than because of (not winning it would surely have got him the chop even earlier), but I take your point. Searching for logic in the murky world of Premier League football is a futile exercise.

As a Chelsea fan, I find it rather deflating to discover that we're so mediocre that merely drawing with us is now a sackable offence.

Thanks for the clarification re "FSW", chaps. It's not really an acronym, if I'm being pedantic, but I shan't argue the point... I'm clearly in a minority among Chelsea fans, though. While not liking the fact that RDM was unceremoniously sacked, I also didn't like it when Ancelotti or Mourinho were booted out, and I'd have liked AVB to have had more success, and Hiddink to have had a a longer stint. However, the owner will do as he pleases, and there's very little I or any fan can do about it other than to take it on the chin. Protests against Benitez will change nothing so (although I don't go the Bridge) I will throw my weight behind him as the current manager, and hope he does as well as possible. Of course, we'll never know how Chelsea would have got on if Mourinho, Ancelotti or even Avram Grant(!) were still in charge, but statistically speaking, it's hard to argue that Abramovich is doing the wrong thing. Yes, it does my head in that CFC have had more managers than just about anyone over the last ten years, but you can't say conclusively that this has made them worse. Which is kind of annoying in itself. I feel that they ought to have done even better with continuity at the top, but how do you better three league wins, one Champions' League and various cups? It's a frustrating argument to which there is no definite answer. So, regardless of morals or common sense (and when did they ever amount to much in football?): Come on Rafa!

Oops, sorry- I've come back a bit late! Still, what can you do, other than try to support whoever's in charge of your team? Rafa is the Blues manager - FACT (as he might say). I might be asking for trouble here, but I honestly don't know what FSW stands for. Can anyone help? Heaven forbid you're being rude about Chelsea's manager!

I think you'll find you've lost 8 now - anyway, here goes: QPR are going to get stuffed at Old Trafford this weekend. You're welcome...

Maybe a penalty doesn't count as a shot on target? Not sure. Or maybe it doesn't count as a shot if it comes off the stomach, ear, knee, shoulder...? Oh, and thank you all for not taking the mick after my confident prediction of an easy win for Fulham. If anyone's team is in need of a win, let me know, and I'll post here, boldly proclaiming that they'll get stuffed next time out.

A funny old weekend of Premier League football so far... Man City won 5-0, which might not have surprised too many before the game, but the manner of the victory was odd. The first penalty was an extraordinarily poor decision, the second was a bit "meh", and after holding on for 45 minutes without conceding, I think Villa can consider themselves hard done by to have lost by 5. However, rightly or wrongly, they now find themselves in the relegation zone, which is worrying. Not QPR worrying, but still not good. Liverpool seem to be showing signs of turning things around - OK, so it's Luis Suarez scoring over 50% of their goals, and he'll be a big miss if he gets injured (or opens his gob again), but for now, he's there, and on fire, so good luck to him. Not my favourite player, ever since his World Cup cheating shenanigans, but you can't argue with talent. My lot, Chelsea, are also showing signs of turning it around - sadly, they were doing well before, and now they're facing the wrong way! I genuinely think Juan Mata is the best player in the league right now, but until Torres or Sturridge remember where they left their scoring boots, it'll be hard work. That said, third place is no terrible thing, and anyway, good luck to Steve Clarke and West Brom - as a Midlander, I want at leat one of the local teams to do well. Really, there are no great (or even very good) teams in the league right now, IMO. There are great players, for sure, but the overall standard is pretty rotten compared to previous seasons. Still, if it makes for cracking, end-to-end football, I'm not complaining. And yes, I even include Man City in the "not a great team" category. It's just that they have such an embarrassment of great players that they can get away with an apparent lack of cohesion or team spirit, and a manager whose English seems to be getting worse every week... Oh, I forgot - Fulham are doing rather nicely so far (I do like Martin Jol, I must say, particularly when he kept his dignity after being treated so poorly by that weasel Levy), and I see they are playing Sunderland later. I'd say that's a comfortable 3-0 to the home side, which will put them just behind Arsenal by the end of the weekend.

If you're confident that you're right, I'd waste no time in posting your own photo. Don't leave it another year!

I think what you meant was, they are prejudiced, but at least they're not biased!

Yes, it will be interesting to see the punishment givne out to the Serbian FA. As has been said, if Bentner was fined £80,000 for displaying advertising on his pants, and John Terry £200,000 for making an offensive comment with racist overtones, then the fine for a mob of hundreds, screaming abuse and making monkey chants, must surely run into the high hundreds of thousands, or possibly into the millions of euros? Mustn't it? Even Mr Platini must now realise that, with the world of football watching, UEFA's next move is an important one.

No, but I did better than usual on Sky's Super 6 yesterday - I managed to get both of the 5-goal games spot on, correctly predicting 4-1 to Chelsea and 3-2 to West Brom. Having said that, I'm usually rubbish, being a goal or two out every time and and getting nothing right at all!

Leon Cort, actually - I just scrolled back through the live text on the Beeb!

I think that one was debunked (on QI and elsewhere) some years ago. Snopes has a page on it here: http://www.snopes.com/quotes/mrgorsky.asp It's one of things you wish were true, but sadly, just because someone writes "true story" on something, this one isn't!

I've had a wee search for this as, I'm sure, have several others, but with no success. Could we have a small clue please?

Oh yes. They're great, aren't they? Comments like "there was definite contact there, so he had every right to go to ground and win the penalty", which is basically condoning diving, and at the opposite end of the scale, you get "that was never a foul - he got the ball". Yes - before taking out the player with both legs, probably. Merely touching the ball does not cancel out a foul!

So rather than carry on slagging off a current member of this site, might it be better to stick to the more light-hearted side of things in this thread, which provides harmless entertainment for most of us? Anyone who really feels the need to take issue with his workmanship can possibly use the personal messaging function instead.

I don't think any human could get these decisions right without the assistance of technology - I very rarely let myself get angry at the refs these days, as there's far more deliberate cheating going on from the players who, as you say, ought to be forced to play as if their cheating would be reviewed and punished. Let's be honest - if the players didn't and cheat, pull shirts and dig elbows (because they knew they wouldn't get away with it), then the referees would have a much simpler job. And I'm not just saying this, but I'd like all players from all clubs to be reviewed and dealt with by the same standards. My favoured team, Chelsea, were - as you mentioned - denied a couple of really decent penalty shouts yesterday. Another week, they'll possibly get a lucky break and win a game they shouldn't, but that won't make it right. Two wrongs rarely do.

Well done - I believe it was one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever known. The crater is well worth a look if you're ever in the area!

Sorry for the brief delay between posts - I recognised the other square, but took a few minutes to get one of my own sorted, as I had nothing prepared. It left give me with the surreal situation where Martin appeared to confidently identify my square as Reading, though (it isn't!).

Indeed - very local knowledge. If you look at my Forgotten Railways thread, there are a fair few pictures taken in that square! Here we are, with the proof: And on the subject of accidents (not that I'm suggesting such a gruesome theme), now for one of my own: If you'd stood here in November 1944, you'd have likely as not been deafened and possibly hit by pieces of flying cow.

I haven't cross-checked with the map itself, but I'd be surprised if that doesn't turn out to be Sutton Coldfield. Catholic church - check. Bishop Vesey school - check. The site of Sutton's 3rd best-known railway station. Yep - I think I need to look for a square of my own!

Actually, I did hear an amusing little joke on the radio today, which I'll share: How do they start the races at the Jelly Olympics? On your marks, get set...

Not a joke, but I'm still amazed that a doping agency has the power to strip a man of titles he was given 7 or more years ago by another body entirely, after they've hounded him so much that he's been driven to give up arguing with them.

Right then - here we go. Just a tiny piece of railway at top right. Let's hope it doesn't leave you out of breath: