iffleyox

I know the seasons overlap rather than overlay, but are the Bears benefitting from the general disarray at Coventry City do you think? I know that Coventry RFC are, with some direct switching of season ticket holders reported (for obvious reasons there's more resistance to watching Wasps instead of CCFC, with Cov being chosen as the more "local/organic" option) - basically some dyed in the wool Sky Blues are casting about for a different sporting fix. For both teams, the challenge might be if when CCFC get their act together again - can they hold on to the sporting pound?

In Doncaster terms that'd be 1961, tenth consecutive bottom finish. Although I suppose Bears played last season as well, so 1962 - and we're out of last place and into the bottom 3!

from a standing start in 2013, Oxford's community and schools programme is pretty impressive really

Don't disagree that it was bad news moving out of town - although it wasn't really Oxford's decision. However, Oxford do a lot of development - so much so that allegedly at least one other club of this level or higher (others have named one on here somewhere I think but I'm not going to) complained to the RFL that they were doing too much on *their* patch.

Possibly, although IMO Fawlty Towers was much more stream of consciousness and didn't have a narrative arc. It seemed to me like series 2 of Detectorists was written slightly surprised that this obscure programme on BBC4 had got another series to start with and so they did their best over the series to tie up and close off all the loose ends. I think that's partly why the special worked less well - once Andy's gone to Africa to follow his dream, Russell knows that Hugh's not actually a child, etc. Don't misunderstand, I'll be watching it, but they're going to have to do some fancy footwork to keep the standard up - maybe having the best part of 2 years off will help with that.

There's a (strong) argument for leaving it alone after the end of series 2, but let's see. Did you know there's no export market for onions....?

excellent news (although I didn't think much of the Christmas special)

Detectorists is the best comedy on TV at the moment - if you can call it a comedy. I'm never totally sure what it is except brilliance. Technically the Young Ones, to loop back to an earlier conversation, doesn't count as a sitcom because BBC comedy didn't pay for it - it was funded from the Light Entertainment budget, which is why they had to have bands on (true story) so it could be passed off as Variety... I was born in 1980 and Father Ted is the best of my lifetime. However, things like Dad's Army still get repeated because they are *that* good. Given how many episods it went on for the overall standard of writing across the run was exceptional. At it's best Allo Allo reached some pretty high heights but it probably went on too long. My all-time favourite, which I will back against challengers from anyone else, is Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? That is comedy perfection over 2 series, and one of the very few spin-off sequels to be better the original. MASH is a much better film than a TV series. Perhaps I think that because I saw the film first, but Donald Sutherland just is Hawkeye for me.

well, again other code, 3 years ago just north of £3m got Moseley a sub 1,000 seater stand with banqueting/conferencing facilities for 400, changing rooms, a team gym, and a couple of new bars. You can extrapolate out from that that £10m isn't going to go a *very* long way in 2017. On the other hand, it *has* improved the off-field income stream no end.

There is a relevant example from the other code, in that that's basically the approach Saracens have taken - their ground is almost laughably small for a new top flight ground, but the idea was to nail the quality, and worry about expansion later rather than build something massive from the off and compromise on quality of build. I suppose you could argue that it takes someone with a lot of money to pull their punches like that, whereas the danger with Trin would be that if they didn't try and do everything in a one-er a lot of it would never happen at all.

On a slight tangent, I've never understood why the public sector have the right to strike - or rather, why some do and others don't. I was in the forces and we were told "you're doing nationally critical work, so you can't strike and that's why you have a Pay Review Body to intervene with the government on your behalf." AIUI it's the same for the police - *however* the various parts of the NHS have a pay review body *and* can strike. Is there any logic behind this or are we just saying that the police and forces are more important when it comes down to it? Or is it that it's easier to resign - you can't just wrap your hand in and walk away from the police/armed forces, you have to give something like 1 year's notice? Not really related to the discussion in the thread, but sparked a thought in my head - any body got any idea? I suppose it could also come down to "just the way it's always been" as well!

completely agree, which brings me back to my question about, regardless of whether he was in the army or not, given he's in a high profile position, isn't it better that he isn't a tool? That's not a point about whether we should have a royal family or not, just that, as we *have* got one, isn't it better if they're ok people as well. If/when we haven't got a RF, it won't matter. At the moment, it does whether we like it or not.

it's not irrelevant though is it? Because, just as with any other walk of life, there are some utter tools in the army. Isn't it slightly relevant, given whether he or we like it or not he's currently in a high profile position, whether or not he's one of them? By the way, why not the Glens? That Charlie Sloan was slightly less unhinged....

I do, pretty generally accepted to be a top guy. I was in the navy, and served with many people who'd served with both Charles and Andrew. That was much more nuanced. Thinking on Charles was that he was a top chap and first class officer who would have got to CO on merit eventually anyway if he hadn't been fast tracked because of who he was. Difficult, if not impossible, to find anyone who'd served with him who had a bad word to say - and we're talking late night conversations inside the wire in the wardroom bar between naval officers so why would they lie? I paint that picture in detail to set up the fact that I never found *anyone* with a good word for Andrew.

also, last time I checked, Northern Ireland was a home nation and they haven't got a L1 team. So basically what you're saying is that only half of the home nations have L1 teams, and you'd like Scotland not to be in the other half? First, sort your amateur scene out. Some of the coverage of what's been going on up there in RLW last year was truly hair raising.