Laivasse

Phil Dowd, what a word removed. Nice ending to that Arse game, karmic satisfaction.

Green Man Gaming have a 25% off voucher you can use, can find it pretty easily on their site.

If that clip's anything to go by, this seems like a frivolous claim in order to discredit a referee they hate. I hate Clattenburg too, but I don't need to pretend he's a racist to know that he's a word removed. I would hope that Clattenburg or the FA has some legal grounds to get recompense from Chelsea if this turns out to be false, but then again if you hit too hard back the other way then it could be seen as an attempt to discourage legitimate racism complaints. All Chelsea really needs to do to maintain the appearance of having made the claim in good faith, is to say 'oh well it sounded like he said (whatever)'. Doesn't matter if they have any credibility in the issue. Bit unbalanced if you ask me.

Completed it myself this evening. Completely demented little gem. Looking forward to going back through it to try for the A grades (already got the 'true ending').

Gabby was instrumental to the goal. What the hell game were some people watching?

I wouldn't be opposed to having Downing back if it meant he played as well as he did just before he left. I don't think he would though, because his head is gone. He couldn't live up to the pressure of his big transfer fee at Liverpool. Coming back here would just be more pressure that his fragile little head couldn't handle: having to live up to his pre-departure form, having to win over fans who legitimately hate him for the way he left and wanting to prove to Liverpool/the world in general that his shit form was due to mismanagement. He'd have to develop a stronger backbone than I believe him to have.

It's probably a charity for children all poisoned or maimed by Stephen Ireland, anyway.

I think actually (highlight to show): it only reduces worldwide panic by 2 bars. Could just be a difference of Classic mode. For myself, I just completed the game on Classic mode with 30 losses overall. The biggest problem for me was the strategy aspect. I think I had lost 5 or 6 countries by the end and China was also at 5 bars by the time I attempted the final mission. I was never sure if the playthrough was going to end in defeat or success, so I guess the difficulty was perfectly pitched for me. It wasn't Ironman, so there was reloading involved of course, but I mostly only reloaded squad wipeouts, from the start of the mission. Losing a single mission in Classic mode would have meant losing the entire game TBH, and I wanted to see the ending on my first play. The game was a real, real bitch overall, but the Colonel-tier abilities you get really change the game. Colonel snipers are mind-blowing - both Double Tap and In The Zone are awesome to have, especially in conjunction with some of the abilities you get from late game armour. With skills like that I was struggling less and less as the game went on. I didn't lose any soldiers in the last few missions, although I finished a couple while soldiers were bleeding out (which saves their life). I also almost totally ballsed up the last few enemies in the final mission, which made for a tense finale. Great, great game. My game of the year easily. I think I'll have a long break from it before diving back in on Ironman, though, because despite being addictive as hell it is pure tension and stress at every step.

It's good stuff, but wait until you see what a Colonel level sniper with plasma sniper rifle can do. I'm not sure there's an alien unit on the field that can survive the heat it brings. The hardest part is positioning, however.

It's not so much any sort of features missing, but the devs have said that the AI is intentionally shackled on Normal and below. On Classic, the AI plays to win (as well as having higher health and hit %). Also on Classic mode you start out without having a pre-built Officer School (used for squad expansion and upgrades). You need to build it yourself which takes money and time, as opposed to Normal where it's there as soon as you start. I've never played XCOM before but I played on Classic. I am just about keeping my head above water, with the help of some very occasional reloading, but I think I'm quite near the end of the game and the panic levels are starting to get out of control. I'm losing the backing of countries left and right, so I may not be able to complete the game on this play through. I've read that Normal is much, much easier than Classic, so I would probably be steamrollering that mode, but I would not enjoy that at all. The challenge makes the game.

With you on that. I kept trying to give it a chance when I was in the States and regretted it every time. Unless you're in a dive where it's a choice between Sam Adams and Bud, there's almost always a much nicer option around.

Really a great, absorbing game. At first I was lamenting my decision to play on Classic. Some harsh losses and reloads later and I've finally got into the rhythm of things. The sense of reward you get for a solid tactical play paying off is the bees knees. I'm at the point where I've captured my first Outsider, only just starting to kit out my troops in decent armour and a laser weapon here and there. Trying desperately to keep up with the necessary pace of research. The best moment so far has been capturing that Outsider. The previous mission was a horrible wash - everyone killed except for one vet who was left out of action. Then I had an intercepted UFO with only a squad of 4 rookies to investigate it. I had a go just to see how it went - had to reload a wipe-out or two. But then it all came together and I killed two floaters, then one more through a reaction shot, one through panic fire, and finally I used a rookie as bait for the Outsider, to distract from my key rookie with the arc thrower. He moved in and tied things up as the sole survivor. That guy is now a fledgling support unit, carrying the only laser rifle I can afford. This game can really swallow up the hours.

What a save, Brad.

Benteke has got around a lot and linked up well, just not been clinical. Defoe has been less accurate than benteke today but he'll walk off giving it the big un because his terrible shot went in off somebody's heel. It's just the way things go, would be mad to speculate that Bent starting would have changed the whole game. We may have had even less presence in build up play, who knows.

It would be misleading to put this down to a couple of missed chances. We've missed one really golden sitter and one pretty good one - but they've also missed one or two of their own and still scored two. Spurs have just done more and more has come off for them. This is more down to midfield selection than striker selection IMO.

I was watching Fulham earlier and realised something really weird and sickening - Sidwell would improve our midfield.

Not much you can do about shit like this. No individual errors, no lack of effort - just an insubstantial midfield and not being as jammy as your opponents. Just press on and hope to do better next week... I'd look to start someone else over Delph in future, though, maybe Albrighton too.

Good changes. Edit SHIT

Defoe blasted wide from 3 yards and it came off Caulker's heel and went in.

Jammy as all shit.

Clark hoofing it too much.

Oof. Now THAT is a sitter. Hurts all the more to miss that since it really would have ruined Lloris' debut.

Seen worse halves of football from us. No changes needed but Lambert needs to psych the lads up a bit, since the game has been very sedate so far and I reckon Spurs will offer more in the 2nd. Not enough possession and Delph is one of the culprits for that. The others are our young defenders who tend to hoof it a bit too readily now that we have a target man.

Gabby's been involved in every attack and put in our only good cross so far.

Even game, Spurs look like they have more about them and more possession and attempts, but neither team really creating chances. Vlaar dealing with Bale comfortably so far, though maybe that shows how Lowton needs help with him.