nufc.com have included this rather peculiar note in their preview of the Leeds game:

"However, before investing with the bookie, consider that the last league game a Dyerless United won was Watford (h) last March and the last away game was at Leicester in December 1999."

Blimey, he must be our talisman, surely, unless....

Being a sad bastard and one of Dyer's less vociferous admirers (ho ho), I thought this apparently conclusive evidence needed closer inspection.

This revealed that we have only played 4 Dyerless games since December 1999. During this same period NUFC have managed to lose 18 games despite the presence of this supposedly guaranteed match-winner. So before you run off to buy your Kieron Dyer soccer stickers book, please remember that footballer's performances can go up as well as down and statistics can be used to prove anything :-)

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Answers

Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital

Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics

The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you.

Statistics have shown that mortality increases perceptibly in the military during wartime.

The truth is usually just an excuse for a lack of imagination

"Whose side are you on?" "We are on the side of the truth. Is there another?"

"Truth is a three-edged sword - Your truth, my truth, and the truth in between."

"It is interesting that people try to find meaningful patterns in things that are essentially random.I have noticed that the images they percieve sometimes suggest what they are thinking about at that particular moment."

"Opinion does not enter into it - What is, is."

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

We haven't won a cup final without Milburn in the team since 1932.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001