We are doing that thing you have 'plained' eh Shane? What is it? A piece of wood? A neat bedside cabinet?! Could never get the hang of the plaine myself, hard work.

Im still missing on sunday, watching Barce vs Malaga on Saturday night... Have I mentioned that?!

Cool, look forwards to that then boys. It shouldn't be too bad, and if we (you) appear to be fitter than I expected, which after your display on Sunday might not be that much of a surprise, we'll be back to playing the footy pretty quickly.

Well done for Sunday boys, I take it we won, makes a difference when everyone works hard.

Mikey, are you ever gonna update the Shefford F.C. Website?

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Is Gym another one of your mate's your bringing training?

Your weird, how can you do so much running on a Thursday and Sunday and still have the urge to go to the gym?

I run as much as I can on Thursdays and Sundays, so I cover slightly more ground than you, and I only get the urge to go to the pub.

Sunday 19th is good for me. I have my Xmas work do on the 17th so I'll stay in on the Saturday to make sure I'm in good health on the Sunday.

I'll go and book the Monday off now!

Thanks matty i already feel i am gonna do a better job than browny only joking mate you no i luv ya!!! Obviously the key to succes is to go to newbury racecourse watch a load of horses run round lose about £200-£300 drink 15-20 pints go to liquid drink lots of diffrent shots that make you puke pull a fat bird and eat a kebeb [hopefully not hers] if we had known this we would have been in the premier by now actually then we would have just started moaning that we only lost because we havent got any strikers!!!!! SHEFFORD SHEFFORD SHEFFORD!!!!!!!!!!!!
does anyone no who we have got in the next round? or any good porn sites clearly for a mate of mine!!! just about to go to the gym sorry for swearing matt

Exactly, if they're so smart and worked us out that easily, why didn't they stop us? Fact is their defence was weak, their strikers were good on the ball but not good shooting with the ball and their midfield were good but sloppy, enabling Paul, Neil, Jamie and Adam to feed Matt and Dave for multiple chances. Never seen Dave play so well after turning up looking so rough.

Glad the back is on the up then.

Everyone okay for Sunday 19th December? Tough test in the morning against Hampstead Norreys, then a few quiet beers, then the museum.

I can't remember if there was any pain or problems before my back went, because i wasn't expecting it to go. My back aches now, but nothing like the pain I was in after each game towards the end of last season, I was struggling to actually walk then. So I'm pretty sure it's on the mend. Still keeping an eye on it though cause i certainly don't wanna go though that again. I just ache all over and have dead leg.

Crabbe - Being lino is easy, run up and down the line parallel to Tony, and every time he shouts and puts his arm in the air, stop and do the same.

Sounds very much like sour grapes to me. Surely if that was the case they would have scored on every attack. And if they think that's the answer to winning games, tell them to get one. (a Dave Lewis that is)

Crabbeman Make up your mind will you.Is it a big well done or a massive well done to the boys you cant have it both ways.
Superb team performance yesterday lads you wanted it and took it,played as a team.

Kennett who are you. Be afraid of the fat slow Goal machine called Lewis

I just wanted to say a big well done to everyone for sunday it sounds like everyone played a blinder and it was a great team performance. Thanks to mike for his suggestions it sounds like i will be fighting browny for the coverted linsman flag i will be asking matty for some tips on 2nd thoughts!!! i have got the week off so you will be getting lots of crappy msge like this on the blogger im afraid

Can you tell the difference between just a bit of post-match stiffness and the actual pain you had in your back though? Is it any better?

Been talking to the guy who plays for Kennet and apparently they were all saying afterwards that all we do is give it to Dave Lewis for him to win the game. Slightly sour grapes I feel, as if that is the case why didn't they just stick their entire defence onto Dave, thereby automatically winning the game? Also, if they don't realise that giving the ball to your strikers is a key element of scoring goals, which in turn is a key element of winning a match, they shouldn't really be playing footy in the first place. Finally, both of our strikers scored goals, whereas none of the 5 strikers they played throughout the 90 minutes scored at all. You can't have a go at us for having good strikers who score goals.

They had enough warnings of Dave's ability to outpace their slightly aging and lost-for-speed centre-back and they didn't react to it. Foolishness and strictly non-football genius.

I just wanted to say a massive well done to everyone for yesterday it sounds like everyone played a blinder and it was a great team performance. Thanks for your comments mike it looks like i will be fighting it out with browny for the coverted linsman flag i will be asking matty for tips on 2nd thoughts!!! I have got this week off so unfortunatley there will be lots of these crap msges on blogger

I'm a walking (aching) zombie today.

But a bloody happy one after yesterday!

Nice one boys.

BOUNCEBACKABILITY

Cheers lads cos that was one of my old mates playing for Kennet yesterday and for about 7 years now they've always been at least one division above us and we've never played them in any competition, so it was great yesterday to finally play against his team (even though we were both subs and he only got 10 minutes at the end and I didn't get on at all) but to beat them, in the form they're in at the moment, was an amazing result and means I get to spend today emailing abuse at him.

I won't be too harsh actually cos he was their lino who indicated that Matt's shot had actually crossed the line, but I'll still rub it in a little bit.

Strange cos after the first few minutes it just seemed like an ordinary game, they had a lot of posession but we looked more dangerous, we shift the ball quickly sometimes which works well against teams who like to push their fullbacks forward and Mikey's right, the work from Dave, Matt and Neil chasing down their defence meant that they were never settled and we forced errors out of them, which we then punished. Totally superb.

SHEFFORD FC............ GIANT KILLERS

I broke 4 really... 2 of mine and 2 of the other blokes

Hard bastards only break one bone.

Good session last night it was good to see lots of commitment ie bone braking tackles from dave frew good to see your hols hasent effected you mate!!! unfortunatley i was in the red team how only lasted about 2 mins each game sounds familar!!! unfortunatley i wont be out there sunday i would love to get stuck into a prem side that think they are gonna have an easy game so lets go out there and show the commitment we had last night and you never no what can happen. Good luck sunday boys see you thursday

dont be such a poof im a hard bastard remember

Sadly I will be seen at training no more, as of a week yesterday I move to essex and will not be wanting to make the journey to try and kick dave lewis in the shin........So any change from last season I think not!!

COol no problemo, I shall be there and shall drive carefully while you're in the car, avoiding all bumps and drain covers.

35 Gower Close Basingstoke RG21 5GX

Good training last night lads, certainly quite a lot of effort put in. Try not to get too frustrated with the teams and stuff - when there's a lot of people there it's tough to give everyone the same amount of time - I don't think I ever had that many people in that hall while I was boss, but I remember once before trying to rotate teams using a different system and it descended into utter chaos.

Tried to give every player a number, then players 1 to 5 were a team against a team of players 6 to 10, while 11, 12 and 13 watched. Then when one team lost, the first three numbers went off and were replaced by 11, 12 and 13. That was the easy bit, after that it became clear that what the fuck happens next? No bugger could count, if the team now consisting of 11, 12, 13, 4 & 5 lost, then should that be 4, 5 and 11 going off and 1, 2 and 3 going back on, then what? 13, 1 and 2 go off? Nightmare.

All I can suggest is that at the end of a game, when a team has won, that you just give it a second or two to listen to what the new teams will be - it was right last night where possible to stick the players wearing red on the same team, just a shame that they kept getting beaten quickly. And if you find yourself getting less footy cos you keep losing, tough, get better, quick. No easy way to manage an odd number of players, and with only an hour to play, we just have to get on with it as best we can. I suggest if you want to get more time on the pitch next week, you wear blue.

There was some good footy played last night though and it was good to see Dave Frew back and straight into things again like he'd never been injured or away shooting guns in Vietnam.

Tough tough game ahead on Sunday, I think if we'd drawn Kennet in any of the last 3 seasons we'd have given them a very stern test and may well have turned them over. Sadly, this season they seem to be a lot stronger than before, so we'll have to be well prepared for em.

Smurfy let me know your house number and postcode and I'll come and get you. Might need to be an early start, pick you up about 10 to 9?

Just found out that my possible lift for sunday has now let me down so if anybody was able to give me a lift it would be more than appreciated got to take the mrs with me though as she wont let me out on my own at the moment so if any one could sort me out let me know by blogger or on my mobile cheers.

Sorry, just thought I'd read in your earlier blog that we were away to Kennet. My mistake. Smurfy we're at Northcroft. I'm very tired.

We're at Henwick Smurfy, be good to see you there if you can make it. If you're struggling for a lift then give me a shout.

Dan mate I'm gutted for you too, only one bone gone though, which is what happened to me - mine went at the end of October and I was back playing at the end of February, so you'll have to see how it goes. Sorry to hear it was a bad tackle too, but look on the bright side.

Kind of tailed off a bit there didn't I. Should have rehearsed it a bit really.

No Smurfy, I wouldnt be so tactful if that was the case...!

Mr Sills is that your way of telling me you don't like me and don't want me to come?

Just be careful if you do come Smurfy, I have this thing where, whenever someone with a broken leg or arm coes to the football, I really worry that they will be hit by the ball, or someone will run into them or something. Saying that, Im not playing, and therefore not shooting, so you should be safe...

Where is the game at this sunday as i am hoping to wangle a lift and make a guest appearance and give you some moral support from the sidelines.

They thought the Bernabeu stadium was bad wait till they hear my abuse.

well we're not going down and we're not going up so we may as well see how many teams we can upset between now and the start of next season - lots of change at the club with the injuries and new guys so it'll take a while before we find the flowing footy again, in the meantime we just need to show some character and stick at it, like being 2-0 down against MDM, easy to forget those games and remember the defeats instead. We're still a good team, even when we're not playing well. Kennet should be a good test. I have a thought but I'll run it by Genghis and see if he thinks it's worth running by you guys on Thursday.

I think its fair to say that it hasnt exactly been a settled season...! As I say, Frew should be training this week and Craig hopes to start playing again in december. Stu, Robs mate should be training with us a bit too, he is a pretty good player so handy to have around if needs be. Soon, the Reading crew will be back in full force....

Well I suppose a pina colada gut sounds slightly classier than a beer gut... I think. Lets hope you manage to post your holiday photos on here a bit quicker than Browny has his Blackpool ones.

Yep, unfortunately it's not a dream. He broke it playing for his Saturday team, a bad tackle from what I gather. He's aiming to be back in January. Mark seems a decent keeper obviously the result doesn't reflex that, but the goals weren't his fault. He's pretty similar to Smurf, very good at talking and commanding his box, and scared of nout.

I played about 55 minutes against Partick, was unfit but did what I could and ached all over the next day! My back wasn't too bad, ached for a couple of days but recovered fairly well.

Whoa Whoa Whoa Gun-Jumpers, I have news. Mr Frew is back from Thialand and back from injury (those Lady-boys have healing hands, apparantly), and is coming training on thursday, so Im guessing he could make it on sunday. Although he would have to get there himself, and anyone who remembers his efforts to get to the end of season do this year (when he ended up at the Nawab, in Thatcham) may start to have doubts...

Oh stop teasing us Mike. Tell us. Go on.

Yeah superb holiday - too many photos, dunno which one to shove up on here first. Got buzzed by a shark and came ominously close to having two moray eels go for me (though it would have been my fault) and have renewed my love affair with pina coladas.

Mark sounds like he's willing to fill Smurf's boots quite well then getting booked after 10 minutes, so has Dan broken his leg too then or am I just dreaming that? And I take it you're back playing? HOw has your back reacted to that?

He's our new keeper, and he got booked after about 10 minutes on his Shefford debut! and injured I might add, but it was only a twisted ankle as far as I know. He looks pretty good.
Lewis found him after being told he was in goal until we had a replacement for The Cat.
It took him 3 minutes and one phone call. A damn sight quicker than he moved against Partick!

You have a nice holiday?

So, anyone care to update me then? Two players with broken legs? 11 player squad (12 now but god knows how fit I am!!!)

Give yourselves a break lads you had a storming performance against Shalbourne until the leg break and so it's only been one loss against Partick who we know produce good stuff against us. Take a breather, we'll have a good go at it against Kennet and then back to concentrate on the league. We can't win every game.

Who's Mark and why did I come back to a form saying that he's been booked?

Neil you spelt retarded wrong !

(I probably have as well!)

Paul looking at your proformances this season, I thought you had already retired?

I am available sunday ghengis

11....(Eleven)... And that's including me I assume. Surely we can get more than that, I'm not sure I'd last the whole game, and we have the Hennessy Gold Cup on Saturday = 15 hr drinking session.

Obviously I will if i have too. Could prob get a ringer, (a player who is not signed for the club) not a sore one Smurf.

If Sillsy isn't here, does that mean I'm stuck out on the left wing again?

Huh... I've had 55 minutes of football this year and already your calling for me to be dropped!

My backs a bit hit and miss, it was quite bad for a couple of days after and has just been coming and going since. I'm ok for Sunday though Mikey. I want a cup run this year, anything other than the final just won't be good enough.

Sills, I'm going to score on Sunday, making my tally 2. Well out of your reach.

Fair do's boys, didnt mean to sound arsey, just was having a shit week, and its just so frustrating knowing how well we can play and have played, and its even more annoying that there is not simply one logical answer, like 'dropMatt' (just an example, you understand... ;-) ...). I think we all just need to work harder for each other. When we won the league, we did it by playing as a team, celebrating as a team, and constantly supporting each other (and taking the piss out of each other) throughout the match.

Lets be honest though, we have been shit this year, but, as far as I am aware, we are still in a good position in the league. Although I'm not there on Sunday, you lot should just get out there and play like we can, and play for each other. And if you lose, it will be easier for me to get back in the team!

Matty, hows the back?

I don't think anyone is criticizing you or the work rate you put in, "At times yesterday we looked good and were looking to pass it out wide and actually get some flowing movements going," that's basically complimenting you as I know how hard it can be to get into the game out wide, and hopefully you can appreciate how little we pass the ball out there, cause I used to feel people were deliberately not passing to me!
"Other times we just started to panic and just twated it up field." That's not saying there weren't options available, that's saying we sometimes panicked and whack it rather than trying to get some moves going.
I'm not and I'm sorry if it sounded like I was, criticizing anyone, we're all in the same team and all have to work for and with each other.

I know its been a while since the match but I've been in Cardiff on a course, so couldnt get on the blogger, but Im still pretty pissed off about Sunday. Mostly think what people are saying is right, but I'll admit to not being happy that people are saying there were no options and that we 'had to twat it upfield' because of it. I worked fucking hard on sunday and ran my arse off getting into positions, then screaming for the ball and not getting it. Im not saying I had a great game etc., but in my opinion there were options and I did want it to feet, but the ball wasnt forthcoming! Probably because you all think Im shit and I'd lose the ball. Probably true.

Anyhow, I wont be available until the 11th December now, you'll be pleased to hear. Im off to Wales, then Barcelona. Take your pic over which you would prefer...

Aftrenoon all, About mike post yesterday, i agree that the midfield got pulled out of posistion on sunday, there centre midfielders were excellent at opening up space. but we did seem to have to close down there defenders as well which i think should have be the strikers job. We do need to start defending as a team and not just leaving it to the "defenders". Im not having a go at the strikers but i do think they need to put in a bit more effort closing down there defenders. I think we missed neil on sunday cos he does a lot of closing down up front that goes unnoticed.

We just need to believe in ourselves a bit more and get the ball on the deck and start playing the way we know we can.

I would like to join the sick list for a few days as i just got out of hospital this morning after an operation. I will be using smurf's tips on crappy daytime tv programmes for the next week!

it's been 4 day i am also borded shitless, the only thing keeping me sane is the fact i have an internet betting accout and currently making anbout 30 quid a day (thanks racing channel), i haven't got as low as ricki lake etc yet but i'm getting tempted.

Dan you faggott can you do anything right? Only breaking one bone at least i do things properly and break the tib and the fib.
I have now been home from hospital for a week and i am already bored shitless i am now a follower of: Des and Mel,Trisha,Ricki Lake, casualty,Holby City and The Bill on UK Gold and loads of other shit that i can find on daytime TV
OH and the racing Channel.

Hope to get to see some of you soon

After Reading blogs on a Monday after games we have lost it seams to be the same reaction, "we can do better", "we should be doing this", And so on, And I for one have posted a few, But after Sunday two things stick out in my mind, Working for each other as a team, Actually wanting to have the ball to feet looking and passing to feet, As a team as matt so nicely put it, "Twating the ball" Was the only option we had! The other thing was movement, to many times we put pressure on ourselves by standing around being static not giving the player on the ball the option, Running away, thus leaving us the only option "twating it upfield". Fair point by matt that Matt (in goal) Is excellent and not a lot he could have done for the goals.
As a team we can be devastating going forward, Too many times this season we are terrible at getting back.
Shane also said he has let us slide away from training, I don't think its his fault we as a team have let ourselves slide too if we wanted to win we would work harder, train better and look like the team that won a division and runners up in a cup.

Shane - Lost 5-2 after going 2-0 up after 15 minutes, they got one back, we dropped our heads and never recovered. I think everyone was pretty gutted and felt we could/should have done more to get back into the game so hopefully that will be the turning point.

Mike - dunno what happened to you after the game, we did MOTM at the pub. The results for your little black book were...

1st - Mark (Keeper)
2nd - Matt
3rd - Taylor

Umm you could say that Shane, I saw another broken leg, or shall i put it better, i have a broken leg. I'm going to be out until the end of January , begining of Febuary, i have a fracture to the fibula.

I take it we lost to Partick (again) then? And I take it it wasn't a particularly pleasing performance? Thought as much as none of you bastards would txt me the score on Sunday... I'm only in the Maldives, not like on the other side of ah fuck it

Either way, I can get incoming txts, just can't send any for some reason.

This league is wide open and you guys are the best team in it, absolutely ridiculous that you're not already top, but still long enough to go for you to be there at the end. You're still suffering the hangover from the lazy start to the season that I let you have, just keep working at it and it'll come good, everyone knows that and everyone can see it click now and then - just not as often as it might have been.

Fair enough for Sunday especially after what you lot saw last Sunday, hard to go into every tackle 100% and stuff - Dan did you guys see more legs bust on Saturday then? Must think your numbers up eh? Play in midfield don't you?

So no game this Sunday then? Cool that means I'm back for training before the next match. I might ask Genghis for permission to put you through a little fitness test. Anyone who doesn't match Julie is in for a fucking hard night.

That's not what I mean Smurf...

Do you know any fat page 3 girls I can chase then?

We really haven't got going this season, as Dan says there is very little talking going on, very few 'man on' or 'time' shouts which are so important. At times yesterday we looked good and were looking to pass it out wide and actually get some flowing movements going, other times we just started to panic and just twated it up field.

There's room to improve in all areas, but they are all improvements we know we are more than capable of achieving. I think we need to just take each game at a time and forgot this 'we know we can win the league' talk. Mikes right that we all need to look at our own aspects of the game and try to improve them and hopefully we'll get out of this bad spell pretty soon.

I think it's fair to say that Marks a great keeper, calmed everyone with just his talking so the panic over losing 'The Cat' should have settled. It's a shame we have a week off now, I for one on Sunday morning will be going for a 10 mile run before 7am, so I expect everyone to show that sort of commitment and do the same, we'll let Dan off with 5 miles.

From the sideline yesterday it was possible to see/ hear that there wasn't much communication between players on the pitch. That’s one thing I think could/ should be worked on.

Going back to the point that Shane made on Wednesday on blogger about page 3 girls I think all players should end any relationship and start looking for a page 3 girl, considering how many broke legs Dave and I have seen over the last 2 weeks, Lol

You're right, I havent got a chance with any page three girls anymore, they have heard about my reputation. I would ruin them for other men.

In all honesty, Genghis did a job on me by starting with the line "We're 3-0 up but we've got two players with broken legs." Now I thought that that meant there were two Shefford players with broken legs, which meant that Dave Crabbe had to be involved in it somewhere, even if he wasn't one with a bust bone - so I figured something must have happened in the midfield area.

Naturally I didn't really want any of our players injured and hoped that Genghis had in fact just got mistaken and in fact we were 3-0 up and then he just meant to stop talking. Sadly not.

However when it turned out that only one bust leg was on our side then because my expectations were worse, I almost felt some relief. Whoever it turned out to be it would still be a complete nightmare, just we have one goalie (none now) and 17 midfielders.

But it's up to you guys to bounce back on Sunday and not let it get into your heads. Think about the number of minutes you've spent on a pitch and the number of times you've seen something like that. The odds are very low. You've got more chance pulling a page 3 girl. Not you John.

Heeey Smurfy? Gotta tell you mate, when Genghis phoned me up and said "we've got a broken leg" my first reaction was "please let it be a midfielder" but there you go you can't have everything.

So, you watching Des & Mel yet? When I broke my leg I found that Weird Science; The Series kept me occupied, but that it was hard to stop eating just to pass the time. Beer wasn't such an issue as when you begin to stagger it hurts like hell...

Guess Who's Back

For any of you with a mortgage, you may find you already have this sort of thing.

You can get it lots of places, HSBC (for example, not being a salesman!) can do you Income Protection, so if anything stops you working we will pay a large % of your income (free appointments with a Financial Planning manager, dont you know), which is quite a good idea as it covers accidents, sickness, and unemployment. If you get it at our age (well, my age) its fairly cheap, 10-15 quid a month...

The club, through the Berks & Bucks, gets public liability insurance, but I don't think that's much use to us as individuals if we hurt ourselves. I think it's more if we have a shot and it hits someone behind the goal in the eye (just thinking of Dave Lewis' shooting) and they try to sue us for it.

As for personal injury insurance, we don't get any through the league and we don't have anything as a club - I don't know of any clubs who do, it's just one of those things. Probably most guys when something like this happens suddenly realise the risk, but then if you fall down some steps on a night out and break your ankle you're in the same position (literally). Depending on what you do for a job and what you get in terms of sick pay considering how long you might be off work for a broken leg, it might be worth everyone considering either:-

a) getting insurance as a club - however this would involve everyone making regular payments and the stuff I've ever seen from people who supply this look like complete sharks who would jump at the chance to think of reasons why this particular accident doesn't come under their cover...

or b) getting personal insurance, which I believe Smurf has because of what happened when he broke his arm at work and realised what missing work actually means to someone in his profession. I would think all the main insurance companies provide something like this, so it's fairly easy to get a quote and set up cover, I have no idea of the likely costs.

Ghengis or Shane any chance either of you could find out if We as a team or players are covered by the f.a or are we supposed to have personall insurance?

Just had the NWN call me to ask about Smurf, so watch out for a piece in the paper this week about the break. Does anyone know how he was feeling about work/money/salary stuff? I think he's got personal insurance but dunno about how this will affect his job.

No I didn't get to leave work til about 7pm so there was no way I'd have got to Swindon in time, then Anne phoned to say he is hopefully out today anyway so I figured he wouldn't need visitors so much.

Even having broken my leg I can't comprehend what pain he must have been in, mine was a simple one-bone break and everything stayed in the same shape, so nothing compared to the double-bone leg-flopper he got, what a nightmare.

Did you go up and see him Shane? We were thinking of going on Friday as some of us have the day off, but his missus said he might be out today providing he can walk down the stairs. She said he's been pretty upbeat and just taking the p*ss as always, so mentally I assume he's fine.

As previously said, he was bloody brave, you could see there pain he was in but still managed to have a laugh. And still managed to show the paramedics his bald manhood!

Nutter.

Change of plan - Smurf now is due to come home today after responding well to the op, so don't go visit him tonight cos he won't be there and you'll end up wandering round a hospital ward shouting "Smurf?" and they'll probably keep you there for a few days...

Absolutely Gutted. Horrible, horrible stuff.

I must say I was very impressed (if not unsurprised) that Smurf was still coming out with funny comments etc even whilst being in agony. Could have been something to do with the Gas...

Ive got my new broadband connection now, you cant tell, but Im writing this 10 times faster.

Be glad when your back on your feet smurf fast healing mate. Shane/Mr.Gengis on a different note, myself and Simon where talking on the way home after seeing smurfy with two knees and being able to walk like an ostrich, Are we actually covered by the F.A for such unfortunate circumstances or are we supposed to have personal insurance? (Just thought I'd put a bright spin on things) Get well smurf see ya soon!!

Julie and I are going to visit him tonight and I have already suggested we keep an eye out for any spare uniforms in cupboards, etc...

For those of you who may have the time, Smurf is in hospital at Swindon for the next 6 days - he went in for an op yesterday evening to have rods and pins put into his leg - visiting hours are 2pm to 8pm and he's in Linnett Ward on the the 3rd floor at Swindon Hospital. If you can't find it just look out for what direction the most pissed off nurses are walking away from.

As for you guys, it's always horrible to see something like that and really puts the spooks on you - I was lucky when I broke mine as it stayed the same shape, Smurfy hasn't come off quite so lucky sadly, but we all take a risk just getting up in the morning and if you think about the number of times you've played footy in your life and the number of broken bones you've actually seen. the percentages turn out pretty small.

I've not spoken to Smurf himself but apparently he's feeling quite happy with himself cos he saw the Shalbourne player at the same hospital with the same type of break and he was on oxygen and Smurf didn't need it. Surprised he didn't give him a dead arm on his way past...

Absolutely.

Get well soon Smurfy...

Gutted.

Okay okay sandra's, Must say It's not my type of game, Anyhow back to reality, what kit are we wearing on sunday shane? Hows retirment? seams like all your gonna do all day is play with yourself...sorry ps2. (same thing)

Somehow my game came with a character with 100% sex appeal already.

Sadly lacking in stamina though, never been the same since he broke his leg apparently.

Looking forward to Friday night which will be my next chance to get stuck into it. Dose Julie up on red wine and send her to bed, then join her at about 4.30am...

San Andreas is awsome, i had it on pre-order for around 4 weeks, come on friday and played it all Saturday. Much better than Vice City, so many more little things that you can do, and as you say Shane 30% is the Missions and trying to get your respect up, Stamina, Sex Appeal.

Its wicked, some of the missions are quite hard, sa good tip when doing the drive by, is to just run the bastards over. Hell of a lot easier.

I don't tend to use the cheats - rather get the gameplay experience first of all - the cheats will always be there so why rush? My mate has bought the strategy guide already, whereas I prefer to get beaten a few times and play the game properly first before learning how to do it all. If I get stuck on a mission I'll ask you guys before resorting to a walkthrough or a cheat code. In fact, come to think of it, I don't think I've ever input a cheatcode on the PS2 on any game ever.

I feel righteous.

I really can't wait, I'm just teasing myself until I get it. Me and Cat are buying a new big telly for Christmas for ourselves, so I figure I should wiat until then and play it in all it's 32 inch glory. Cat thinks we are getting the telly to watch Love Actually and Bridget Jones. No.

Do either of you use the cheats to get all the weapons? Are the weapons good...?!

Shelbourne away huh? Lets hope it's windy...

I found it quite hard to see things on the map, haven't really played it long enough to experience night yet though so haven't found the whole screen going too dark at this point. Will hopefully get a bit more time on it tonight though if I get Love Actually out on DVD for Julie or something... Wanna get some tattoos and get my guy in the gym. Pimp up my ride and go cruising with some ho's on the 213. No idea.

Not to much further then that to be honest, got it on Sunday and only played it for about 3 hours. Just done a drive by which took me ages as they seem to shot back and blow up your car. Does yours seems to go really dark easily and its hard to see what your doing?

How far have you got Neil? I've just done some of the very early missions, got myself an affro and a goatee and started spraying over rival tags. Tried to go for a bit of a wander last night but then had to go out, just not getting the time to play it this week and looking like it's going to be like this right up til we go on holiday, meaning I won't be able to get stuck into the game until December!!!

Shalbourne away on Sunday, fond memories of that place.

San Andreas, what can I say - Its superb!!

I bought it on Friday lunchtime but only managed to get about 30 minutes play out of it before having to go to Torquay to spend time with the family...

My first impressions are that it's shit hot. It's also very very large indeed. Apparently the missions only account for about 30% of the gameplay. I've beaten up a couple of people so far but only nicked one car - spent the rest of the time on my BMX gaining skill points and burning off some fat... Found my first gun and blew some ho's heads off. Then had to go and play Halloween with my 3 year old niece - bit of a change of tack. Hoping to get some more time on it this weekend...

So has anyone bought GTA yet? Reviews, please...

Smurfy - £10 was it that we bet about who would be top by the end of October? I'll take it in a crisp and fresh ten pound note please...