Supporting our Future

In the aftermath of the fragmentation and discussions (mostly arguments) surrounding the proposed move to Stratford and the viability of the NDP we once more find ourselves waiting for the clubs next move. You wouldn't dispute the fact that we were some what left on the shelf during the whole process. A protest here, a protest there - Daniel Levy and club simply asked us to keep the faith but left many of us in a state of confusion with questions left unanswered.

Protesting, obviously not enough. A different approch is required. And we have that.

A group of Spurs fans have got together to attempt to gauge constructive opinion by way (initally) of a survey. Rather than simply chase the club for answers the aim is to propose a soultion(s). And that can only be completed if you get yourself involved.

It's well worth your time and hopefully the club will take note and possibly push forward with their own referendum or at the very least respond to the proposals that SOF suggest - as the progression of Tottenham remains paramount with all concerned. We still need that bigger stadium, right?

Martin Cloake is involved in this and it's worth reading his associated article about the survey and the reasons behind 'Supporting our Future' (rather than me paraphrasing and not doing it any justice).

You can do so by clicking here to visit his blog and article.

The 'Supporting our Future' ethos is outlined as follows on their website:

Our initial aim is to get discussions to resume development of a World Class football stadium worthy of the club and its ambition at our current home, White Hart Lane, back on track. We aim to do this by

• Conducting a detailed survey of fan opinion
• Using these findings to construct practical proposals.
• Seeking meaningful dialogue with the club and partners interested in backing stadium expansion.
• Working in a fully transparent manner.

We encourage every Spurs fan reading this site to take part in our on-line referendum.

Explore these pages to find out more about Supporting our Future, the latest news, and how to get in touch, particularly if you are interested in helping to support our work.

 Their mission statement is simple:

We, a group of supporters of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, intend to offer a practical proposal based on the opinions of the fans to resume development of a World Class football stadium worthy of the club and its ambition at our current home, White Hart Lane.

Click here for the survey. Have your say. We've all had something to moan about in the past six months, let's not all suddenly go quiet again until the next twist and turn rears it's head.

New leaked image of proposed Spurs Stratford stadium

Exclusive.

I've managed to get hold of an exclusive 'leaked' ITK mock-up of what the Olympic Site redevelopment will look like if Daniel Levy and the club win the bid and progress with their plans. Exclusive. Not sure how much time I have before this blog article will be removed on advisement from my solicitors. Will fight the THFC lawyers and their court injunctions for as long as I can. I've also included the descriptions of the proposed additions to the area surrounding the OS which was included as part of the stolen image pack.

click on image to expand

1  - Chirpy Towers. To dare is to Cock-a-doodle-doo do do do. Visit the state of the art Spurs Shop and enjoy delightful Michelin quality three course meals in Chirpy's slow rotating head allowing you to enjoy the amazing view of Canary Wharf and Newham, including our deadly rivals home ground; Upton Park. The exclusive Chirpy's EyeBalls penthouse dinner rooms can be booked in advance (premium required) where you can watch the whole game whilst sat at your table...if you prefer to avoid the hustle and bustle of the crowds down below.

2  - The World Famous Home of Stratford Hotspur® and Nandos. The Nandos Stadium. Our new sponsor and club badge thanks to a multi-million pound long term deal means you'll never go hungry for football...or chicken! You can find Nandos outlets inside the stadium and be sure to order the 'take it to your seat*' bucket before the game kicks off (*take it to the seat meal deal only includes a medium coke, for large coke, extra £4 charge, fries not inclusive). The controversial inclusion of red in the stadium name and team shirts is nothing to worry about. Remember, we wore red in our badge back in 1882/83 and a red shirt between 1890-1896. Both the replicas of these shirts are soon to be available in the club shop with our new clothing tagline: Hot for Spurs and proud of our heritage.

3  - Stratford Hotspur®. Home is where the Strat® is, and Spurs is stratting it's hot stuff all over North (eastish) London. You voted to move and we've embraced our local community, repaying their hospitality with a gentle nod of approval to our new surroundings. Location? Geography? Booooring. Why tie ourselves down to a place or a name when the Spurs brand is worldwide?

Stratford Hotspur®. Refined and redefining the game of soccer®. To Revenue is to Do®.

4  - Abercrombie & Fitch / Apple Store. Stylise your lifestyle, pre and post match. Sit down, stand up and look sexy doing so by picking up the latest trends in A&F. Or if you're tech savvy or wish to be, visit the Apple Store and download the Spurs application so you can get all the very latest information after you've already seen it on tv and the internet.

5  - Paul Smith. Another one of our exclusive partnered retail shops for essential football clobber and motifs. Use your season ticket 'card' for special discounts on a wonderful range of ties, shirts and shoes so you're always looking dapper whilst taking in the atmosphere.

6  - We are N17 Land. History is important and for those that wish to live in the past, wipe that tear away you melter and rejoice! We are N17 Land brings you the very best of the olde Tottenham High Road including Bill Nicholson's Gates*, the heritage buildings, littered covered and p*ss stained roads and shut down pubs and grubby food establishments. Win a free copy of The Opus here. Honestly, we have hundreds of them to give away so don't miss out!

*Gates open at 10am on Saturday match-days and 5pm for midweek for access to car park.

7  - Starbucks. You can have a coffee and a muffin on the day to calm those pre-match nerves in one of our coffee house outlets. Free wireless included in-store for the disconcerting fan who wishes to get fierce and do battle online via blogs and forums. So don't be forgetting your ipads!

8  - Slug and Lettuce. Pre-match drink? Over-crowding? Struggling to get to the bar? Look no further than the Slug! And to make certain, we have more than just the one for you to enjoy an alcoholic beverage and give you ample time to tweet your thoughts on the team selection. Pub crawling has never been this crisp and clean!

9  - Harry Hotspur statue. Remaining true to our rich heritage, included on the grounds is an amazing tour de force iconic bronze talking statue of seasoned traveller and warrior entrepreneur Harry Hotspur, who looks East towards Upton Park with menace and an ever so subtle hint of marching fearless into battle. Listen to him sing 'Glory Glory Stratford Hotspur' (debit card charge of £5 per chorus) and point towards deepest West Ham territory. The epitome of glory and progression standing the test of time, a true echo to our past that also retains a place in the future much like Hotspur's legacy that has enriched Northumberland, Tottenham and now Stratford.

10 - Replica Town. Be sure to visit the old fashion pre-match traditional walkabout. Get yourself some Caviar to go or a tuna salad at 'Seastar Fish bar'. Enjoy a sit down meal at Pavro Ocakbas Vegetarian Restaurant or if you've already eaten at home just order yourself a cocktail at the Bricklayers Wine Bar.

11 - Monorail. For our exclusive 'Platinum True Fan' members, get to and from the Docklands in the super fast Monorail sponsored by Bloomberg that will take you from your executive box straight back into the hub of the banking world within minutes. All other season ticket holders, club members and tickets purchased via general sale and on the day - please head towards Stratford station with plenty of time to spare to avoid congestion.

12 - Canary Wharf. Majestic, just majestic! The amazing backdrop on the horizon that will light up the sky on those Glory Glory nights making them that extra special.

Footnote:

You'll note all the Chirpy heads that are located around the ground. They crow if we win, and sing 'Can't smile without you' if we lose. Making sure we are pampering the emotive side of your journey into our world class arena experience. Directions to local shopping centres and words from our sponsors are also subliminally whispered from his beak.

Also, to commemorate the move to the new stadium and the soon to be concluded deal that will see AEG purchase the club and a proposed future franchise merger with LA Galaxy, Daniel Levy will present to loyal Spurs supporters a Monolith at the first home game to be played in Stratford as a thank you and a remainder of services rendered.

COYSH!

Comedy gold

Catching up with yesterdays news. What is it with the three stooges over in East London? Their mouths permanently open. Don't they know only Harry has the copyright for that?

“Is it a ludicrous idea? It sounds like it to me. They have just got planning permission to build a new stadium. So what are they going to do, have one stadium for when it’s sunny and another for when it’s raining?” - Gold

No you moron. It's called having options, the type you are required to have by default when dealing with the matter of redevelopment and the future of a football club. What exactly is our chairman meant to do in this scenario? Not submit an application for the Olympic stadium meaning it would be impossible to have ever applied for it after the deadline had passed? What if Boris says no to the N17 plan? We'd be left scratching our heads.

Nah guv, it aint on is it? Nah, that pesky greedy Levy and his bang out of orderness of fulfilling his duty as club chairman to do everything in his power to have all corners covered, because that makes perfect and quite obvious business sense. Soz about the no text message to Kazza to let her know. Daniel has one less friend on Facebook now.

But don't fret Gold, Boris will say yes to the Northumberland project and you'll have Stratford and East London to yourselves to downsize the stadium to a modest size to make sure you're not left with empty seats and plenty of unsold tickets.

I still think, mixed in with the business thinking, part of this is a Levy ploy to make sure Boris rubber stamps it. Even in a worst case scenario, East London is not for me.

The Bill Nicholson Stadium, thank you very much

Blog articles might be a little sporadic from me in the next several weeks, most of my active on-line time will be in late evenings and the early hours of am. Good news, no more epic 10,000 word extravaganzas for a while, so happy days for people who like short, snappy blogs that don't choke up valuable time away from surfing porn. Although this one is ye olde slighter bigger than average size edition.

Guest bloggers have been busy with off-line duties too, but they've all checked in, so plenty to come in this summer of World Cup disappointment (it's going to be penalties again) and the usual shenanigans what we have come to love and know as the 'summer transfer window' (Spurs fan up a tree looking into The Lodge, in 3...2...1...).

Anyways, tonight's article is simply this: I love the new revised stadium design (re: Northumberland Dev Project). Official site article here if you've been asleep all day. To quote the sexy key bits:

• A redesign of the Southern area of the site resulting in a stunning new design for the hotel and residential buildings.
• An enlarged public square on a raised podium, which extends from the High Road to Worcester Avenue and connects directly into the Stadium, new Tottenham Hotspur Foundation offices set alongside facilitating even greater community use and activity.
• A high quality environment along the High Road with a new courtyard setting for retained historic buildings to the South and trees, gates and structures in front of the Stadium linking to the existing terrace of historic buildings to the North.
• Grade II listed Warmington House, along with 3 other locally listed buildings with historic links to the Club, to be retained - the Red House, Dispensary and the former White Hart Pub - all to be refurbished and brought back to life.
• Fantastic new Club Megastore with integrated Club museum, ticket office and café.
• Further improvements to the development including a Skybar and roof garden on the adjacent supermarket, linked directly to the Stadium.
• The re-use of the famous Bill Nicholson Gates, ‘Cockerel on the Ball' Clock and ‘Golden Cockerel' statue within the public realm.

Lovely. So basically we are looking to retain some history along with improving on the original design (hotel and residential stuff).

I'm glad we were asked to go away and come back again because if you compare the original design (the one that had no listed buildings left after the proposed rebuild) to the new one, you'll be hard pressed to disagree that it's not been improved on, tenfold.

Original design:

Look at the bottom right-hand corner, no listed buildings, hotel etc across the face of the stand.

New revised proposed design:

 

Yeah sure, the listed building sort of look out of place/quaint, but for me its the change to the hotel bit that is a massive improvement. In fact, the original looks completely cluttered in comparison.

For actual photo close ups of the listed buildings, click on the below links:

http://www.savebritainsheritage.org/pix/articles/tot5.jpg

http://www.savebritainsheritage.org/pix/articles/tot6.jpg

http://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/images/photos/Tottenham_Dispensary_1910,_no746_locally_listec-2.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3104/3107773597_b714451612.jpg

Regulars to the Lane will get a better perspective of things seeing the above linked photos. What does make me smile is that these buildings have sat there, some of which are derelict, and nothing has been done - by anyone - to restore them to former or in-fact newly-improved glory. We want to knock them down, and machine says no. Doubtful they would say no to the new plans. Why would they when we are giving them purpose once more?

I could handcuff myself to the gates if things got tasty with the board of directors

Nothing to hate, everything to love about this. Not too shabby of a new Spurs Shop either. For more information on the building which formally had the Cockerel at the front of it (Red House) click here. There's a bit of nostalgia attached (or not so much of since 2008) and retaining the Bill Nick gates along with that removed golden Cockerel, we get a nice nod to the past. Obviously, security must be tight here, on the look out for any cheeky West Ham fans that might drive up the high road at 4am to pay us a visit and leave their calling card for us to choke over whilst we tuck into our morning bowl of corn flakes.

Again, can't believe I didn't hate on the original design more when I first saw it (the hotel part of it).

Kudos to the Bill Nick inclusion too. Mr Tottenham Hotspur deserves this elegant touch for a new era, linking us right back to when this club became a fully fledged giant (before falling into deep sleep again for a while).

Shame there are no multi-millionaire pound companies called Bill Nicholson out there looking to buy the rights to the naming of the new stadium. Because I can't think of a better name for it.

Perhaps we could request the sponsor to be part of a pre-determined template, i.e. The Bill Nicholson 'enter sponsor here' Stadium?

Petition anyone?

Stadium images can all be found in their original form over at the official site.

Build it and they will come

And they will. From Enfield, Chingford and Hertfordshire, in their thousands. BELIEVE.

Stewart Hugo. What a hero. He'll probably get his own brick in the Arsenalistion (no really, its a proper word describing how they plan to turn their home into a very visible stronghold) of the Emirates. Not sure why they're making a big deal out of it considering the work was completed years back. It's called Woolwich.

Anyways, read Hugo's masterpiece here. Apparently he makes the suggestion we don't have any young supporters. Damn that pesky gooner club, churning out teenage supporters via a top secret clandestine project; 'The Boys from South London'. Humourless cloned borgs, drowning in red scarfs. The experiment obviously leaving them devoid of the ability to sing although curiously some have developed muscular spasms that sees them jumping and waving their arms around relentlessly. You'll note they've been grouped all together in the far corner of the ground in the hope nobody will notice this cruel abomination.

Reckon when we DO (ya hear that Hugo?) finish building the new stadium we should Tottenhamlistion it. We could include memorial days in our history like when we bought Raziak and when we sold Raziak and that time we beat Southend in the cup. Or when we sacked Gross, what a party we had on that day. Giddy times.

Special mention to Fabio (now that's what I call a letter) for his kind words. Read the rest of the ranting and support at Haringey Gov site. Stop playa hating Hugo, you absolute melter.

Spurs drop out of top 4, Harry out...

Afternoon. Sorry for the lack of blogs in recent days. I've been busy today standing outside WHL demonstrating against the club over our sudden demise and drop from 4th to 5th in the table. One point behind City who are today considered 'title contenders' after their demolition of the football purists Blackburn Rovers as we sat around doing nothing. Rome wasn't built in a day but it took that long to burn down. Harry out. Europa League just ain't good enough.

*cough*

There's a lull at the minute and I'm sleeping in it. As you can tell by the inane introduction above. Not much going on, I guess all eyes on Hull this weekend and (please please please) a tasty three points to once more return us to our rightful place up in the Gods. In all seriousness, mathematically, you could argue that a title shot is not out of the question.

/silence

/more silence

/tumbleweed

Nah, just fucking witha ya. Of course there was nothing serious in that statement, although how on earth the tabloids churn out the same old knee-jerk every time about the other clubs around us, I do not know. Well I do know, it’s the usual hype machine spitting out bullshit, but tbh, I'd happy to see them building someone else up whilst we quietly go about our business. Call me sceptical, but until Mancini suffers a blip and works around it, I'm not going to sigh in despair. Half way through the season and we've never lost touch with the so called Elite. Do the same from here on in and we'll be proud at the end of it. Obviously ecstatic is a far better emotion than just being proud (which in football often translates to 'good effort you losers'). So still we await for some strengthening of the squad and that ever so important consolidation.

Nothing to report on elsewhere, transfer rumours wise. Joe Cole apparently some say (again). If contract talks break down with Chelsea apparently Harry will go in for him. I guess to offer him the £130K or so Chelsea wont give him. Riiight. Gotcha. Makes perfect sense there.

Did someone say Saviola? He's not even any good in Football Manager anymore. And if people are going to whore players to Spurs can you please be more original and choose a player who isn't a midget. Keane, Defoe, Lennon. It's like the Fellowship of the Yids. Spurs and their fetish for vertically challenged footballers.

Plenty of discussion on Jamie O'Hara in one or two forums. To some he's a good backup player thanks to his heart and effort. Others cry out that he is simply not good enough. One crazy loon today stated he's a future Spurs captain and that he's still young and should be developed.

One weekend without Tottenham and people are losing their minds.

Jamie O'Hara - Yes or no?

Anyways, until something interesting happens, I'll leave you with the story of the day. Backlash? More like end of days.

New Spurs stadium = Majestic

Credit to the chairman. Majestic, no? It's got an understated swagger to it. Modern yet still manages to retain a traditional boxed in look, aided no doubt by the fact the stands are closer to the pitch (in comparison to other newly built stadia).

Levy. I could almost kiss you, you wonderful bald munchkin you. This is testament to managing a redevelopment project by listening to the fans. Great work from everyone involved. I'm all giddy over here.

Reduced capacity because of the amendments made to the design? Just about 'ok' with me. 70,000 registered members. 23,000 waiting for the chance to apply for a season ticket. Perhaps we could have done with a few less exec boxes at both sides of the 'Kop' end. The more fans, the bigger the atmosphere and the bonus gloating rights to be able to sing about how our one is bigger than yours. But let's face it, we will sell out most games anyway. And better a packed ground than one with 5,000 or so empty blue seats. Last thing we want is radio adverts begging day-trippers to buy up tickets.

Corporate boxes are a modern day requirement (from a financial stand point I guess) and their 'section' looks quite inoffensive. Probably would have made it far nearer the 60k mark if we had less of them. Posh Tarquins tucking into their glazed ribs and chilled champagne in the luxury of their boxes is fine, thanks to the fact that the rest of the ground will be vibrant with us commoners. Considering the noise we make (ear bleeding levels innit?) at White Hart Lane, we'd probably tear a hole in the space time continuum when 50,000 Lilywhites slow sing Oh When the Spurs go marching in...

As for the above artists impression, loving that 63 row single tier stand. I can see myself standing bang in the middle of that beauty. Hopefully the Park Lane lot get shifted into that stand when the move eventually happens. Although it's more likely that we'll be in the opposite stand near the away fan section. If that's the case then fingers crossed the single tier end is more than just a family stand (aka Paxton II).

Also. Please get rid of that clock.

More details and pictures can be found on the Tottenham site.

Now all we need is a decent sponsor for the 'name' of the new stadium. Shame really that there are no loyal traditionalist millionaire Spurs fan(s) who can simply pay the club to name the ground something apt like...

The Bill Nicholson.

...and avoid the necessity to have a brand name plastered all over it. But then again that's just a fanciful daydream on my part. Still, here's hoping we get a statue of the great man. Would look great at the front of the new stadium.

Yes. I want the moon on a stick too.

The 'New White Hart Lane' - Looking good on paper

The club have released more progress updates on the re-development plans for the new stadium. So far there is little to be critical of. Yeah, yeah....you heard me right. I guess this is as close as a pat on the back (that's just a single pat of hand to back) I will get to giving our esteemed chairman. Please do not take this as a form of weakness from myself. I'll still be greeting him with a water balloon, as per usual every Monday morning as he drives into work. No reason in either of us getting slack.

Snazzy

There's perhaps one or two minor design quirks (what's with the wavy upper tier?) and no apparent news of whether the Cockerel on the ball will re-appear on the new east stand but all otherwise looks good (isn't this also a good time to think about a statue for Sir Bill Nicholson?).

The general re-generation potential for the local vicinity will also go down a storm. Upmarket Tottenham, eh?

Here's a quick look through some of the updates below:

• 58,237 capacity - Wonderful. And with a possible 45k+ being made up of season ticket holders (meaning less of the corporate ilk), the new stadium will have no excuse to ever be on the quiet side.

• Fans being kept together to retain the 'camaraderie which has built up over the years' - This is a simplistic master-stroke. One of the most important ingredients and vital to retain the current atmosphere WHL is capable of. Have to say, of all the things announced by the club, this one makes me smile the most. Evidence that the club actually listens to the fans.
  

• Stadium 'bowl' tightened to maximise atmosphere (8.2m from the pitch) - Compared to Arsenal, City and Wembley we'll be far closer than the three of them to the pitch. Not as close as we are now, but close enough. Which is a nice touch.
  

• Re-location of the away fans - Interesting this, as the away supporters will be moved from the South-West corner where they preside now to the North-East corner of the new stadium which means the new North stand (or new Paxton if you want) will be, in-effect, the new Park Lane - as long as they move the Park Lane residents to the new North stand. That would make the new South stand a family designated area (as having them sat next to the away fans would not make sense). You dig?
  

• New public square on Tottenham High Road - Nice touch. Can imagine a sing-a-long or two occurring here.

• New supermarket with parking - Guess the locals will like this one, and might even mean an improved pre-match diet for me personally.

• Only concerns are the travel aspects where several 'hoped' improvements are subject to 'discussions'.

Check this for more info:

PDF Guide from Tottenhamhotspur.com

Or just visit the official site.

A thought to take into 2009

In this current economic climate, don't expect the new stadium to be built. Expect Levy to gain planning permission, and then sell the club for a tidy sum thanks to the ground development getting the green light.

AGM

AGM big news was about the new stadium with the designers unveiling their first 'artistic impressions' of what the ground and surrounding area will look like. Firstly, thanks to the numerous people who were present at the AGM who have reported back on Spurs message boards about what was discussed.

Here's a brief run down of what was spoken about during the meeting, which also included a cameo from Harry Redknapp.

- The Tottenham 16. Spurs will be speaking to the FA and Hampshire police about this in more detail. Donna Cullen stated that the FA meet-up is planned for January. The club have raised concerns with Crimestoppers and the whole 'racist' element believing (and rightly so) that fans have been misinterpreted. No shock that the only reason action has been taken is because Judas made a complaint.

- Harry made a cameo, pulling no punches, and probably got up Levy's nose in the process with his assessment. Which is music to my ears. He said the squad is not good enough for Top 4 ambitions. Thank the lord for the reality check. I guess that makes the fact that we apparently don't plan to spend big in Jan a bit worrying, but then, we've never made the top 4 with all the money we've spent, so maybe it doesn't matter that much. If we start signing players of quality (that don't cost tens of millions) we might see some progress with less of the superfluous. We're not as good as Villa according to Harry. Don't disagree with that. He also said he almost joined Newcastle. Phew. He also touched on the basis of his managerial wizardry (telling players when they play well and when they don't) and also had a special mention for Ledley (makes all the different when he plays). Scored high with the classic 'I use to watch Spurs as a kid' stories. Of course you did 'arry.

- No option to waive dividends to shareholders (4p a share). "Don't cash the cheque" is the advice from Levy if you don't want it. Hardcore.

- Regarding the stadium, there will be a second consultation in January. What pleases me at this point is that the pitch will be 4-5 metres closer to the stands that at other comparable stadiums (like the pikey one for example). Capacity will be between 55,000 and 60,000. The theme and concept of the stadium is based on 'flowing lines' which is based on Tottenham's flowing football. Riiiiiight. Well thank God we've picked up a little on the pitch, because designing a stadium to look like a sack of potatoes (based on form earlier in the season) would have failed to ignite the imagination. There is currently no date for completion, and the planning application will be submitted next year.

Some images:

Looks pretty much like most modern-styled bowl stadia. But it's what's inside that counts most.

- The club is receiving a "six figure" sum for being involved in the motor sport sponsorship deal. More money under the bed for Daniel there.

- Apparently we are not a big enough club for our own television channel. Other clubs have media partners on board or are "heavily subsidised". Thank God for that. Last thing I want to see is an excuse for David Bentley to star-jump his way through more TV time.

- We have (according to the presentation), 100 scouts worldwide. Yes. 100 scouts. A frigging army, with notepads and pencils. Scouting what exactly, I don't know. If these chaps reported into Comolli when he was still knocking about, then I suggest we get rid of all of them and start from scratch.

Inside the new Spurs stadium. Old skool ground for the purists.

- Oh hold up, that might actually happen. Apparently this summer an overhaul of the scouting network will be begin. Begone Comolli Agents! It's going be like that scene in the Matrix when Neo fights hundreds of Mr Smiths. Except there won't be any sunglasses and kung-fu fighting as such, just phone calls and P45's. And Levy as a bald 'Neo'? I can taste my own vomit.

- No right to buy clause on-loan Campbell from Man Utd, and he looks set to return in January. Which is fine by me, because it means we will HAVE to bring in someone for sure.

- Usual mix of random questions about prices, European travel, the Berbatov transfer saga, lack of 28/30 kids shirt size availability.......I'm sure Levy was sweating. There were also some feeble attempts to justify the farcical way in which tickets are allocated for European games and booking fee hikes were also brushed off.

So, same as usual. Some positives. Some spin. And no real hard hitting questions asked. I've been banned from these AGM's for a number of years now, after I throw my shoe at Levy. Bloody infidel.