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holigral

Listed below are comments made by holigral between Friday, 20th February 2009 and Friday, 3rd July 2009.

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Owen worth Man Utd gamble 5:07pm on 03 Jul 2009 Ferguson knows his onions, and he especially knows how to get the best out of the older players. Owen is still young, and when he plays in a team that knows how to conserve energy he is less likely to become injured. I reckon they will get him seriously fit, and introduce him increasingly ... by the end of the season expect a lot of goals scored and a glorious England campaign. Rooney and Owen on-form and fit ... enough said.
Ashes are still the ultimate, says Warne 1:25pm on 28 Jun 2009 Interesting team choices so far, and yet there is one person who has not actually done much for quite a while ... KP ! Does he deserve automatic selection? There is something that I call the "Lara effect", which gets to Gayle also - the rest of the team plays less well when there is a dependence upon a super-hero ... and right now KP and FF are being placed in superhero modes ... neither are necessarily fit or firing on all cylinders, so here goes my XII:

Strauss, Cook, Bopara, Shah, Bell, Collingwood, Foster, Broad, Swann, Sidebottom, Anderson, Onions.

The choice is then Collie or Onions as 12th man ... if the wicket is good for batting we need 5 bowlers, if it is good for bowling we need 6 batters!
Weighing up the rivals in F1 row 2:10pm on 19 Jun 2009 I'm agreeing with these comments and like the article ... signs of a dictator too-long in office, signs of an unheathly attitude from FIA and FOM ... ultimately the governing body is there to serve the teams and the public ... not themselves!

Good riddance, I vote for FOTA to really go for it and break away entirely, and for the other teams to join in, and for FOTA to look at a gradual move towards a working budget system.
Battered Washington still chasing gold 11:51am on 15 Jun 2009 Surely it is clear ... "all sponsorship money earned through drug-enhanced performance should be refundable" - society should not endorse cheating.

But then we must clean up our other sports ... arguably Barcelona are european champions because a defender got away with a deliberate handball in their penalty area - versus Chelsea in the semi-final. surely the cheating player should have been banned from the final under post-match review ...

until all forms of cheating are clearly and openly addressed, until it becomes too expensive to risk cheating - penalties etc - then nothing will change.
Secrets of the fixture computer 08:48am on 15 Jun 2009 Agreeing with #14. The scheduling program is probably a "constraint-based optimisation engine". Such programs can easily take into account more factors, including pre-setting certain matches to minimise travel at christmas and easter, grouping clubs to minimise home-home conflicts.

Disagreeing with #13 - the range of standard over the leagues 1,2 regionalised would reduce competition and involve many less clubs in promotion/relegation contests - making the leagues less competitive and less interesting for the fans and players.

I do wonder if some teams could join a "European League" full-time with the national league teams then taking part in uefa-cup style promotion ... say the last 16 of the Champ League and the 4 of the Euefa cup made a first Euro league, and then 4 places were promoted/relegated ...? thoughts?
Strauss's nearly-men have work to do 7:32pm on 11 Mar 2009 While the England "bowling attack" has at times seemed an oxymoron, the key problems are bowling accuracy and movement. In England, a fit sidebottom and flintoff will provide a more cutting edge. For years I have seen the english bowlers consistently too short of a good length, and this problem persists. If Hoggard were fit then with his accuracy and movement, sidebottom and flintoff and swann, we need to see panesar varying far more his trade. But, we need one accurate fast strike blower to accompany fintoff - and they are rare in England. Dump prior for the best keeper - Ambrose showed potential.

Strauss shows the signs of a true captain - his performances are better when captain, so he should retain the job for years to come if the selectors give him time. He could be the best since Mike Brearley. And if Vaughan starts scoring he has the no3 spot to claim.
What's gone wrong at Charlton? 11:47am on 20 Feb 2009 To understand Charlton, also look at Southampton, Wimbledon and, many years ago, Portsmouth.

The game is played as much in the mind as in kicking balls around. Here we have a club whose self-image is "competing for european places", "an established, top-half premiership team". So while this image persists a number of difficulties emerge: opponents are under-estimated; players and coaches hanker after the relative glory days; and the emotional depression keeps the vicious cycle going.

One answer is to fall to league one and then rebuild against weaker teams, taking a 5-year rebuilding plan. Another is for the team and club to face reality: they are where their performances have placed them; they have to treat every opposing team as if Charlton are now underdogs, to work defensively to build a solid base; they have to get the basics right first.

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