Gloucester Saint

His agent has been very busy since Sunday - Man U, Liverpool and PSG all linked and figure of £80m cited.

I take these statements from under-pressure owners with a pinch of salt but at a more micro level, it’s absolutely what’s happened at SFC since 2017. It’s just that SR accelerated the bus towards the cliff and enthusiastically drove it over the edge to break it finally (see what I did there). https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c3v22p6nvx5o SFC went away from the focus on sound football decision-making structures that served it so well 2009-17. Under Semmens, which SR doubled-down on, there’s been a focus on very young and untried players in senior player. Ironically the January window was the first departure from the blunt formula and it actually worked! The core spine of the team and structure of the squad has been fatally overlooked in favour of individual transactions and profit received from those as a sole measure of success. The multi-club set up has been to SFC’s deteriment. There is no strategy for where SFC should be in the football structure which probably reflects the huge churn in DoFs and managers leading to a pot pourri of playing styles and approaches. Until the basics are in place, and SR decides what/how far it wants to invest in a loss-making current division to get back to the stated football destination and vision, I cannot see any progress under SR and far more decline.

Yet more emerging on Robert Kenyon’s behaviour online, Reform using the standard Trump excuse of ‘locker room banter’ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/reform-uk-robert-kenyon-comments-misogynistic-b2983146.html

Probably targets in their appraisals about how much player profit they make.

Lost there 2-1 season before that according to a Saints highlight reel I saw? Would’ve been our first season back in the top flight and their very first. Following season City went down, and down, and down. Which is how a young Roy Hodgson had his first spell there as they hovered above receivership. Wolves did the same thing a couple of years later.

You must have been at this one unless it was at a pre-season friendly http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/3204811.stm

Death. Taxes and losing at Ashton Gate.

The whole thing about needing to take sides in the Middle East let alone in such an obvious and quite aggressively racist way is beyond me. We’re almost back to 1930s Nazi cartoons with some of the Green and Reform literature I saw in the local elections. Ben Givr is revolting and I’d shed no tears if he gets taken out internally because he’s as bad as any Nazi or Hamas/Hezbollah figure. But it shouldn’t label or tarnish a whole race.

Been previous years and it’s brilliant although have seen broken legs etc. The hill is insanely steep. Imagine a grass version of Athelstan Hill in Southampton that is 5-6 times steeper. That’s Cooper’s Hill in Brockworth. You go past on it on the very scenic road between Stroud and Gloucester as it drops down into Brockworth by the petrol station. Views of the Black Mountains, Severn Estuary/Plain and Malvern Hills from the summit.

Yeah, I saw that. Opposing further multi-billion public funds for MAGA thugs who tried to injure and kill police officers. ‘Stupid on Stilts’ indeed https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5890419-republicans-lash-out-anti-weaponization-fund/ https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/21/politics/blanche-senate-republicans-anti-weaponization-fund

Bear trap for Lab/Lib or Cons after the next GE because it’ll almost certainly be a coalition of some kind with the vote going 5 ways and either Green if the Remain bloc wins or Reform if it’s Leave bloc firmly in the mix. Not sure SNP would any better after today either… Lowe’s party are really picking up support from zilch, Reform at least had UKIP as a forerunner, and with Musk’s endless money can go genuinely national. Rupert is an even worse human being than Farage but he’s far more organised and strategic. And he clearly hates Farage as does Musk. Dangerous times but he might just blunt Reform further (their polling has been in slow retreat for a few months now).

Flamin’ Nora, that makes motorway service stations Aldi-like for value for money by comparison. Burgers are £12-15 each around here and I’m in the chocolate box (not Gloucester itself) part of the Gloucestershire Cotswolds.

What is worse for me is that everyone knows what he is like, but over 77m voted for it even so. He’s been far worse second time around than even I feared but that’s because last time the House and Senate, and early on the courts, provided some guardrails. Vote for who you want, but when it has a huge detrimental impact way beyond your town, city, state, and country, it’s unacceptable and the actions of throughly shit human beings. Human race is fucked.

Wish it was a spoof https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-post-shows-him-gazing-165715212.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAH47WwKisdbiNTfDfc5cWYPehtqkSiDIKksRvcQcqjmNVLpHE5tMKLnrvS9ceOvM1ccLWGAqtv-TgLQ6ZVrhnO5MICr7pa2GSy6nhNQKqRAi4TqzNVrZffJh3oKS2tslYN8TWqdQDYtnzhbNFFf9vdPiD5JxHM165BghszTZWa-o

West Ham need to sell more than a few, £196m in transfer fees owed. And that was pre-relegation. Fernandes will make us a few million from a sell on. Bowen wants to stay but at 29 if there’s a buyer he’s gone. KWP to Bournemouth I reckon as they’ll need a bigger squad for Europe. But other than Mateus Fernandes, they don’t have an £100m Declan Rice to sell to clear most of it.

First poll in Makersfield showing Burnham narrowly ahead on 43%, although the Greens have polled 3% and their candidate has withdrawn for anti-semitism so those votes may go to Burnham. Robert Kenyon, Reform’s candidate is on 40%. The same person who has a long history of anti-semitism, other racism, very blatant sexism and clear links to UK Neo Nazi groups. Lowe’s party is on 7% and growing, Lib Dem’s 4% (pull out FFS) and Tories on 2%. Not a fan of Burnham’s but no disputing he’s a far better human being than Robert Kenyon. The Greens got a plumber elected in a nearby by-election and she didn’t have social media like 1930s Germany so it’s hardly as if white working class has to = fascist.

German back-to-back winner of the Cooper’s Hill race https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98rrde2d9no We didn’t go this year as too hot but watched it live on BBCiPlayer

I agree on that, they were very naive and stupid to listen to Farage and Gove on fisheries. Food production is a bit more complex.

15% sell on for Fernandes with West Ham looking for £80m. Could be very beneficial this summer…. Assume it’s the 15% on the profit from £38m to say £80m Any thoughts @Matthew Le God?

Gone into talks about his future at the club. Provided he will accept a relegation reduction to his salary, they’d be mad to sack him given he’s won that league. But depends what their finances are like - not good was the last I saw even if a miracle had happened yesterday. £160-180m in transfer fees owing. EDIT - it’s worse, £196m according to Kieron Maguire who usually knows his stuff https://www.hammers.news/news/new-196m-west-ham-revelation-turns-up-the-heat-on-clubs-under-fire-board/

Certainly an unusual take on ‘wiping the slate clean’. I’d certainly pay on time if I were the customer unless I wasn’t happy with his work. Judging by the voices on the video it sounded up north somewhere.

The only car (apart from a Land Rover Defender) I’ve ever seen burning on Motorways is Citroen Berlingos. And I do a lot of miles,

Makes me think of the Godfrey and Cream song ‘Cry’. Ralph got pelters for an emotional moment at the end of the Liverpool win when everyone’s MH was down the bog. No such excuse for Hellberg. As someone else said, it’s very un-Swedish as well.

Some contraction was inevitable from the boom in small start-ups after Brown’s Small Brewers Progressive Beer Duty reforms, plus 30% of Gen Z not drinking, but the support of tax relief has been far too slow. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9werp5keqlo Pub cos have a great deal to answer for too. They’re not all bad because one of my local pubs is 15th century and the maintenance is hefty. But it’s taken two closure periods and a more experienced landlord coming in to say to Stonegate ‘we need more variety and choice in what we’re selling’. Two different ales from before and always has a local one on = doing much better. Open up tied pubs to more guest products = rising tide lifts all boats. The big lager brands brewed under licence are declining albeit they’re still huge. Nothing against lager but make it good e.g. Utopian in Crediton or import it. Finally, offer Gen Z and those as designated driver to rural pubs 0 options for beer, wine, spirits that fit in better with their company for the evening. I don’t know why Guinness don’t offer their very popular (and very good) Guinness 0.0% on keg, it would make a fortune and really help pubs. Gloucester Brewery and Deya do some great 0% beers, Hobsons in Shropshire. I enjoyed Little Swine from Hogsback Brewery last night. Better that than brewed under licence Carlsberg or even worse, Carling on the taps. Finally, some pictures below from a Cotswolds brewery tour we did autumn 2024. Hook Norton Tower Brewery pictured as referred to in the article and their taproom and eaterie is superb. They have Christmas markets etc as well. Also, North Cotswold brewery are superb as well - last two pictures, one of them a pint of their Mild freshly brewed.

😂 Another reason to change the logo back to the city one to help reset. The tree will be a permanent reminder.