Despite much speculation that he would retire at the end of the 2006 season, Hird played out the 2007 season, playing 17 of a possible 22 games.

Despite all the progress, there was speculation that Jim O ' Brien was not the coach to lead this team back to the playoffs.

Despite the speculation, in June with the intra-league draft, the Canadiens kept him on their protected list.

Despite QPR's perilous financial condition in 2007 / 2008, the combined personal wealth of the club's new owners ( which included the world's then 8th richest man Lakshmi Mittal ) sparked speculation that QPR would receive significant further investment from their new benefactors drawing parallels to their wealthy West London neighbours Chelsea and Fulham.

Despite speculation that SPECTRE would return for the Daniel Craig era of Bond films, 007 has instead tackled an underground terrorist organisation similar to SPECTRE, known as Quantum.

Despite the dangers of speculation, many believed that the stock market would continue to rise indefinitely.

Despite speculation by the media, both arriving and departing flights are typically full.

Despite media speculation that the winner of the series was to become a new, permanent member of TLC, Watkins and Thomas have vowed to never replace Lopes with a new member.

Despite speculation of cancellation early in 2011, it was announced on 14 November 2011 that the remaining books would indeed be filmed in 2012.

Despite speculation that the group was splitting up, Krayzie and Wish are currently working with upcoming artists on their label The Life Ent.

Despite initial speculation that former Atlanta City Council president Cathy Woolard would be appointed, no replacement was announced until 2 March 2012, when American Foundation for Equal Rights co-founder Chad Griffin was announced as Solmonese's successor.

Despite constant speculation, she remains guarded about her personal life and is sometimes labelled a recluse by members of the media.

Despite speculation that the game would be based on Super Metroid, Ken Lobb, Nintendo of America's Director of Game Development, quelled rumors by stating, " One of the things I wanted to get across in today's meeting is that Metroid is not Super Metroid.

Despite the speculation of aquarium enthusiasts that the eggs are pressure treated to make them infertile, it has been found some GloFish are indeed fertile and will reproduce in a captive environment.

Despite Samoobrona's leadership's denial of such practices, the evidence supplied by the numerous victims leaves little room for speculation.

Despite this measure, factors such as a growing population, the division of plots among descendants, peasant debts and enduring reliance on revenues from working on estates, together with the widespread speculation of estate leaseholders and instances where political corruption was detrimental to the allocation of land, made the reform almost completely ineffectual on the long term, and contributed to the countryside unrest which culminated in the Peasants ' Revolt of 1907.

Speaking in the House of Commons he said “ Despite media speculation to the contrary, there has been no recent change to force levels ”, adding “ There is no evidence of any current credible military threat to the security of the Falkland Islands and therefore no current plan for significant changes to force deployments.

Despite growing reports of excessive speculation in energy markets, the CFTC has refused to take actions they have taken in the past.

Despite mounting speculation of a move to either Manchester United or Arsenal, he signed a two-year contract with QPR that summer.

Despite widespread speculation that he would run for mayor again in 2010, he announced in January that he would not be a candidate.

Despite speculation that she would be challenged for preselection in her seat of Mackellar for the next election, this did not eventuate and she later reaffirmed her intention to contest the next election.

Despite speculation to the contrary, switching from a mainline to a conservative denomination is not important in accounting for the trend, because it is fairly constant over the decades.

Despite translation into 30 different languages, the Russian original has never been published, prompting speculation from the critics that Volkov is afraid to publish it in Russian because " Anybody who has heard Dmitri Dmitrievich's living voice even once would realize right away that it is a forgery.

Despite speculation of a breakup, Screeching Weasel returned with a new line-up on October 29 at Reggie's Rock Club in Chicago with The Queers.

Despite two coup attempts in the following three months, including one by Abeid, Bacar ’ s government remained in power, and was apparently more willing to negotiate with Comoros.

Despite Kitna's success, Palmer was promoted to starting quarterback the following season.

Despite this, by September 1960, following the four-way division of the country, there were four separate armed forces: Mobotu's ANC itself, numbering about 12, 000, the South Kasai Constabulary loyal to Albert Kalonji ( 3, 000 or less ), the Katanga Gendarmerie which were part of Moise Tshombe's regime ( totalling about 10, 000 ), and the Stanleyville dissident ANC loyal to Antoine Gizenga ( numbering about 8, 000 ).

Despite Bismarck's attempts to play the role of an " honest broker " at the Congress of Berlin, Russo-German relations deteriorated following the conference.

If one follows Polybius, the course of events was the following: Despite the Carthaginian pre-war naval advantage, the Roman landing was virtually unopposed.

Despite the step up, his scoring exploits continued and he was runner-up only to Ian Rush in the goalscoring charts the following season and then went one better as he was the First Division's joint top goalscorer in 1984 – 85 with 24 goals.

Despite scattered outbreaks of warfare the following year, Gaul was effectively conquered.

Despite a second-place finish in 1987 – 88, the club was back in 11th place the following season.

Despite the fact that the result of the next use would be displayed on the machine, both courts ruled that " The inducement for each play was the chance that by that play the machine would be set to indicate that it would pay checks on the following play.

Despite a reversal in Buddhist influence which began under King Langdarma ( 836-842 ), the following centuries saw a colossal effort in collecting available Indian sources, many of which are now extant only in Tibetan translation.

Despite his injury problems in 1891, few doubted that Grace should captain England in Australia the following winter when he led Lord Sheffield's team to Australia in 1891 – 92.

Despite having been a prominent Old Bolshevik, Zamyatin was deeply disturbed by the policies pursued by the CPSU following the October Revolution.

Despite this setback ( whose victims later created numerous doubts and psychological strife in Mazzini ), he organized another uprising for the following year.

Despite a limp, he took part in the race the following day and finished eighth.

Despite these measures and others, the European bison population continued to decline over the following century, with only Białowieża and Northern Caucasus populations surviving into the 20th century.

Despite the perceived negative connotation to driving in Albania, most vehicles manage not to get into accidents simply by following their own way through the chaotic traffic.

Despite a decline in popularity following 1968, Daley was historically re-elected for the fifth time in 1971.

Despite the tour, Smuts lost the election the following year, and the new government instituted a strict policy of racial segregation.

Despite this criticism, the following day, August 30, was one of Longstreet's finest performances of the war.

Despite this, the city flourished in the following decades both economically and socially, developing its industry, being an important agricultural market and having a very important cultural and technological centre as the University.

Despite his successes and one-time popularity, Harold Wilson's reputation took a long time to recover from the low ebb reached immediately following his second premiership.

Despite concerns over his character, Titus ruled to great acclaim following the death of Vespasian in 79, and was considered a good emperor by Suetonius and other contemporary historians.

Despite his high popularity among fans following these memorable wins, Hughton was sacked on 6 December 2010, following a 3 – 1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion.

Despite a rise in the number of Australians covered by health insurance plans following the end of the Second World War, a large proportion of the Australian population continued to lack coverage for health risks by the early Seventies.