Gloucester Saint

What next - Islands of Blood? I suppose there could be a few violent scuffles on the Ryde hovercraft after the game at Fratton amongst supporters heading back to the IoW….

We did, Killer got the winner. Our fans got limited to a temporary stand in the corner, less than the minimum we should’ve had. Hence the next season we got 4 or 5k allocation half-price at what is now the Etihad and won 3-1, excellent day out.

The only positive is at least he isn’t compulsory to buy. The club loves a player with an Achilles injury, you could say it’s their Achilles Heel… In all honesty, Uncle Albert from Only Fools & Horses would have offered more athleticism and vitality, plus entertained the squad with WW2 stories.

That was one more game in that style from Mauricio Pellegrino, after Les Reed promised it on the website. Considering the pedigree and the expensive squad he had, he was astonishingly bad.

I know what you mean but a recent England cap, time to develop as a third CB at a bigger club, and a good reputation in the game, he will get a buyer at somewhere like West Ham or Aston Villa.

Sadly not a surprise. A former boss of mine worked in one of the Motherwell plants in the 1970s and he decided to move the family to a new life and job in Southampton after his little daughter came home and asked ‘Daddy, what is a Feinian?’.

👏

As a liberal (small and large L), I don’t like it honestly. But it’s not totally incongruous to Labour historically though. More people remember Blair era and openness, pro-EU but in the 1970s Labour were far more socially conservative and if you ask our parents generation the trade unions were protectionist with their closed shops, in pockets outright racist.

Not all of it was, for example I’d prefer to have the best technical and emotional skills working with our most ill/vulnerable society members and my experience of how my relatives have been cared for is that some cultures are outstanding at that. So Labour is making me uncomfortable there. But yes, it’s an unarguable fact that this issue has surged in public opinion since the financial crisis stalled living standards for most people and public services degraded by ongoing austerity. Migration has an impact services but research shows most legal migrants are here younger, working/studying and take the qualifications back to their nation of origin and start families there without drawing on the NHS etc. And if they stay long-term, pay tax and contribute to our communities then they should recognised after a decade. Asylum is where we meet in the middle and where we have a global and national issue. Geneva does need a review as countries fragment and climate change kicks in. Some nations - Albania, Vietnam, Turkey etc where there isn’t an active conflict should be on the first plane back out. Afghanistan is tricky due to how many people worked with UK and US vs Taliban. Unfortunately with this topic nationally, the nuance in discussion shown on this thread will not appear.

Clearly there is public concern about the rising migration numbers over the last 25 years. This has accelerated support for hard right and populist parties since the financial crisis of 2008 and particularly the austerity of 2010 onwards. A lot of people, especially just above minimum wage/benefits, or a hybrid of the two, feel poorer and that their living standards have declined since the 2000s. Actually, it has, they are not just feeling it. Part of the issue is that wealth inequalities are unsustainable, along with the pressure on public services. Migration curbs by themselves will not make the difference the public wants to key public services. The very wealthiest have to contribute more and that’s another reality all political parties need to face. Also, do you want our relatives in respite, end of life or other forms of social care looked after by trained people with the emotional competences to give them the experience they deserve or do you want Tiffany or Tony forced by welfare sanctions who don’t give a fuck? Leading to far more scandals like this https://www.hughjames.com/blog/doncaster-care-homes-child-abuse-scandal/ Because with an ageing population that’s the choice being made. The birth rate is not going to rise unless work and jobs are made a lot more secure and people feel a lot more confident to plan family lives together. Universities will also recruit less numbers from China and elsewhere if they are actually allowed to be the market organisations the Browne Review anticipated them to be, by putting fees up by at least inflation, and more if needed. Tice is a 🤡 though saying ‘net zero immigration’. Zero thought for the country’s future needs more like, and as bad as their pathetic budget plans published in the last election shredded by the IFS. As for the Tories, they spent ten years plus setting arbitrary targets without any planning for why those figures were what was needed, and missing every single one. They have not learned a single thing. And their hard Brexit cut the economy by an eye watering 6%, hitting middle and lower and middle earners hardest and enriching their donors and hedge fund friends who shorted the market (see Crispin Odey’). A thin levelling up agenda didn’t touch the sides or come anywhere near what EU regional structural funds had offered. In response to someone else, the NHS is undergoing from what I discern from outside looking in far harder cuts than anything the Tories did as the wasteful Lansley set up is demolished. Hunt wanted to do it but politically couldn’t which is understandable. As a Lib Dem, I’m less fussed about migration but clearly people are so trying to meet them in the middle. But there are tough decisions to be made, I’m not sure I trust Labour with them tbh. But I trust the Tories even less as they did nothing but enrich their donors through asylum accommodation as numbers soared and Reform couldn’t run a bath as UKIP have proved every time they’ve led a council, let alone anything national.

And the manager who brought it about happens to be available.

It could’ve been the mid-70s again but for the 3 promoted teams being so far adrift, with Man U and Spurs spending time in the second tier. Even more staggering that they are competing a European final. Lord knows what the Forest owner was thinking of there.

Step forward Nigel and destroy our economy like MAGA USA has just done.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/farage-reform-nhs-local-elections-starmer-b2742970.html All very well, but no serious counter suggestion on how to fund it https://fullfact.org/health/reform-nigel-farage-pay-for-nhs-labour/

And BBD was on loan by January, 0 goals/assists, and Sugawara effectively out of favour by then after mistaking football for volleyball. For only Fernandes and Ramsdale to work out is about right for SR transfer windows though as a success rate.

Inevitable given Canada’s been using it for a few years and Germany using dialect-based AI on speech since 2017 https://www.context.news/ai/ai-will-help-make-life-or-death-calls-in-rammed-uk-asylum-system https://www.ibanet.org/artificial-intelligence-in-immigration

Only Downes has the engine and even he lacks the physical power of himself to enforce. Don’t know what Martin was thinking.

One good job, one poor. Not ‘Bo Selecta’ but worth a look.

I was being harsh so fair play for pointing it out.

The legal entrants already pay some of the heftiest visa and health surcharge fees in the world, which rose 40% in 2023 alone and remember, the health surcharge is annual for however long they’re here and they pay it for each of their dependents as well. So they’ve often spent ten grand before they even get on the plane. Some larger commercial employers will pay the up front costs or via large research grants for scientists but not for the majority. Where I think the country has to be more direct is where we are receiving people from Turkey, Albania or similar nations where there isn’t a clear conflict people are fleeing from (people smuggling for Albania) is turning those around as economic cases rapidly to send a message. That would make a dent in the numbers quite quickly. The genuine asylum cases from conflict zones are a different beast and have to be considered properly case by case. We could do it quicker though. That’s a legal requirement and won’t change even if God forbid, Reform ever got anywhere near power. That would the least of our worries after they’d reduced the economy to ruins in a way far beyond Truss or Rachel from Accounts.

And it was the sheer cost and VFM vs how many it was going to remove, more have been removed through accelerated processing (or just some) than Rwanda would ever have achieved. It’s why Israel canned their scheme. That’s on top of the £15bn Johnson and Braverman tied us into on asylum accommodation. There’s plenty I can pick holes in with Labour but the Rwanda isn’t one of them, unless the supporters of it are saying they are willing to pay an extra 5p in the pound in tax to fund it, on top of the world’s most expensive visa system?

They aren’t high is why Dragan has a lot of subsidising and writing off to do, which is the price for retaining a blagger and bullshitter (Rasmus) in a key role for far too long. Bazanu and Larios will be heavily subsidised loans out until the end of their contracts, Stewart might as well keep for his final year as he’s decided he wants to play football again, Smallbone the new manager will look at but if they want a midfield two he’ll be off on a nominal fee (1 year left). Aribo and Onachu have buyers, not concerned there. Sulemana - interest but will be a fraction of the £22m rip off fee, Stephens ok as cover, ditto McCarthy. Taylor will be interesting.

Hjulmand is little different to Thorup who Norwich just sacked.

Agree with many points there and thanks for responding. I think with Rwanda it was the sheer cost on top of what the Tories had already burdened the country in with, which their donors have profited to the tune of £383m https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2720n2kkjo Triple the original costs Johnson estimated whilst stopping processing asylum cases so people failing could be swiftly removed. They weren’t, creating the chronic backlog. And people wonder where the budget black hole came from! Don’t agree with what Reeves has done to address it since but an appalling and unacceptable inheritance Johnson and Braverman need to apologise to us for.

Zero I’m afraid, KWP looking likely to be Fulham unless Silva does a flit, Ramsdale has a market and alleged release clause for £25m, Bednarek release clause £6m, Fernandes and Dibling have markets, just how many clubs bid and whether it meets valuation. The hope is that we get fees for some of the others eg Aribo, a modest fee for Smallbone, Sugawara, Manning, BBD. AA possibly.