Gloucester Saint

Not many do in this country even before his uninformed latest impulse rantings https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/01/05/tesla-is-now-fighting-for-its-future-elon-musk/ It’s stupid as he had such a good product which relied to a certain extent on more liberal and ecologically aware buyers as well as the boomer EV market. We’d have been interested if they’d made a compact (the current ones are too big) model but not now. X is struggling as well.

Good posts by Saint86 and Chez. I broadly agree with Chez’s about Martin’s strengths and weaknesses and that the squad wasn’t necessarily top 2 material. That said, conceding well over 60 goals with a defence of KWP, THB, Jan and Manning which at that level is as good as it gets, was a huge red flag that he wasn’t setting up properly off the ball. Had Bazanu in goal but that was his decision which he loudly defended at the fans forum. Whilst Alex has been dreadful back in the PL he looked like a 1970 Gordon Banks by comparison when he came in last season. So the first summer task is to either loan Gavin out or reach a termination settlement on his contract. He won’t make a keeper above League 1. Alex’s new contract was bonkers but we might as well use him as a back up in his final year. On the infrastructure, Juric we will see (he might activate the release rather than the club!) but new CEO, DoF, Head of Recruitment as a minimum needing to come in. Need to recruit them now to take account of notice periods. They also require a long lead in to have an action plan to establish what assets can be sold at what brackets, dispose of Rasmus’s rubbish, retirement settlements for Stewart and Larios (if insurance will cover, settlement package if not), and work out how much that will cost Dragan. I suspect some pennies will then drop enmasse in the boardroom as facts beat bullshit.

It’s wholly unacceptable behaviour because he’s cosied up to President of the US so it’s limiting people’s ability to hit back. It’s not just politicians he behaves like this against if he can’t get his own way https://news.bloomberglaw.com/esg/tesla-denies-musk-bullied-scholar-ahead-of-56-billion-pay-vote Elon hated being bullied for having Asperger’s, and rightly so, some of the stuff one poster gets on here is a bit strong at times however pedantic he can be, but Musk is re-creating what was done to him on a global scale, it makes him no better than his tormentors and actually worse. Good for Farage and Starmer for giving him a spoonful of mustard in return. I have colleagues with Asperger’s and they certainly don’t go around spreading mis-information and outright lies to attack people. They have strengths and weaknesses like we all do. He could have the power to really advance things for neurodiverse so it’s very unfortunate that he’s using his power destructively: https://theconversation.com/elon-musk-how-being-autistic-may-make-him-think-differently-194228 In summary, he’s taking his childhood in SA out on people https://medium.com/@erinfulmerwrites/elon-musk-isnt-unwell-his-abusive-bullying-resembles-coercive-control-cd74ef296071 I think him and Trump will be at each other by the summer anyway, Cummings v Boris on steroids.

Tice has his own motivations and Badenoch is desperate for the cash and a completely empty vessel intellectually. Agree that Farage and Starmer have shown backbone. The idea that Musk is highlighting this for the public good is hilarious - an arsonist pure and simple trying to re-create 1970s South Africa in the West. Watch him turn on Vance next and end up being a wealthy Cummings to Trump’s Boris by the summer. The GOP are very wary of him and the skilled visa and budget issues are an appetiser of what to expect.

Any chance Elon can recommend Rasmus Ankersen for leader of whoever the Danish equivalent of Reform or the EDL is? The only way we might get rid of the cunt.

Meaning if the forum is silly what does that say about the state of the football club at the moment? If it was a fallen and severely injured racehorse at nearby Cheltenham, the screens would go around and be put out of its misery. New owners with industry expertise in the stables would help carrying on the horse racing analogy.

Where’s that GIF gone showing Far Right 2024 as a family sitting around a Sunday roast? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr56g4v28g7o

No more foolish than buying a £10m striker who can barely walk, crazy tactics and spending £22m on Kameldeen Sulemana.

Is that the same BBC that had Richard Sharp https://www.ft.com/content/2c492290-61f6-4dc2-acae-84bd01f7be62 chairing until 2023 and Tim Davie the ex-Conservative Party candidate? https://news.sky.com/story/bbc-defends-appearance-of-tim-davie-at-1922-committee-of-tory-mps-amid-row-over-israel-hamas-war-coverage-12992692

It’ll be like one of the lockdown games without the canned crowd noise effects, serves SR right.

That was deliberate from Kraft ‘not me mate, that’s Rasmus that is’.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce8xl4d3m81o

Even a dodgy Lasagne lunch for Brentford Spurs-style wouldn’t stop them winning.

Been to Agios Nikolaos on Crete and Sidari in Corfu, both a long time ago and lovely. The one set of islands I’d love to try are the Cape Verde’s. Anybody been?

Littler dominating so far but not over yet. MVG can go on a surge. Has to win this set though 1-4 down and 2-2 on legs.

Enjoying Adnams Broadside Strong Original watching the darts final. Lovely dark winter strong ale, fruitcake flavours and orange peel with a delicious nutty finish. Was thinking about my top 5 beers I’ve ever had. Tricky when I’ve completed 80% of the original Roger Protz 300. My selections were: - Larkin Porter from Kent, tried it at the Planet Thanet Beer Festival in Margate (I still have the festival glass - how sad is that?). Tasted of everything - sweet, savoury, bitter, spicy and hyper complex https://untappd.com/b/larkins-brewery-porter/114713 - Holt’s Bitter. The soundtrack to watching Saints in Manchester over the years and numerous work visits. You can only get it in Manchester at Holt’s pubs, so bitter, not hugely aromatic but the ultimate session pint as the bitterness claws at your throat and you want another one https://untappd.com/b/joseph-holt-bitter/32879 - Burton Bridge Empire Pale Ale. First had this at the GBBF and took a bottle home, with my favourite ever bottle label design. This type of strong, hoppy IPA has some relationship to the original India Pale Ales sent out to India and Burton was the place to brew them with its waters strong in minerals https://untappd.com/b/burton-bridge-brewery-empire-india-pale-ale/1312 - Westvleteren Blond Trappist. The Westy 12 was voted best beer in the world by a US magazine and has regrettably become very hard to come by without visiting the brewery tap. Trying all of them with friends, it was this one, the blonde, which really blew us away with its complexity https://untappd.com/b/brouwerij-de-sint-sixtusabdij-van-westvleteren-trappist-westvleteren-blond/4681 - Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild - I nearly put the Maxim Raspberry Porter but Mild is so important historically and this strong version from the Black Country is exceptional https://untappd.com/b/sarah-hughes-brewery-dark-ruby/2343 Notable mentions: East Street Cream, a 5% ESB from North Somerset is being brewed again, was in my top 5 but has changed hands a few times. Maxim Raspberry Porter from Sunderland a gorgeous drop. Two local brews in my top dozen are Deya Steady Rolling Man Pale Ale and Goff’s Cheltenham Gold. Bristol Beer Factory Milk Stout was a big favourite but has lactose so off limits these days.

Forum is playing up for me since the IT updates so my replies may be intermittent. OK, to be clear if someone has concerns rooted in evidence or their own experiences/those of family/close friends about an ethnic or faith group because of practices or acts eg women’s’ rights, FGM, DV, grooming gangs of young men, that’s certainly not racist per se. I’d defend anyone’s right to do that. Also certainly the Rushdie and Denmark cartoon incidents are unacceptable with fatwas threatened etc. Disagree with the author by all means and push back (the British Empire has some very dark moments) but violence and death threats are just unacceptable, a former colleague of mine is/was subject to a Fatwa if he re-enters a certain Middle Eastern nation. These issues are discussed frequently in policy and academic circles, tackled by research grants, no doubt with some mutual unease at times but it’s important that these happen albeit objectively. What is unacceptable is making up exaggerated and disproportionate social scenarios to stir hatred - Powell’s Rivers of Blood and some of the things Robinson has said about Muslims to incite others. Only Rigby’s attackers truly know what their motivation was but I suspect the uniform was only part of it and what he represented. Driving a car into a crowd of people not caring who you hit would be another example. The frustrating thing about Musk’s comments is that the issue is one of the implementation of the various reviews into child safety in communities which the current government needs to tackle with the outcomes bouncing around since 2022 and into 2025 now. Instead, we’re discussing his daft views about a Luton Town football hooligan on his fifth prison term as some kind of hero. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czxdzng92lno

Yes, and thank you for correcting. Littler has the recent edge head to head but not much in it bar the World Matchplay first round, Littler’s poorest majors display https://www.skysports.com/darts/news/12040/13283030/luke-littler-vs-michael-van-gerwen-rivalry-reaches-peak-at-world-darts-championship-final Chris Dobey just didn’t seem like he believed he could win that night and MVG dominated the stage. MVG does have a big advantage of having won the WDC 4 times before, tackling Phil Taylor and peak Peter Wright, so there may be less fear. But Littler has a different mindset even when you take into account his age.

If someone is of a mindset to proactively attack, harm, physically or otherwise someone with a different skin colour, faith, or as you say directly and deliberately damage someone's career, for me that’s racism. They are not by that stage seeing the person as an individual with their own values, views, they are just one of a whole diaspora, identity, faith etc that person despises. We all have biases - I must admit that I do - but it’s how we rationalise and manage them. And sadly some people go miles past that stage where what happens in Gaza, or Southport, even without having the facts, is a trigger. The attack on Lee Rigby - the streets of Woolwich are not those of Gaza or Lebanon, Rigby is a civilian at that point. Southport and those trying to set fire to a hotel full of what they perceive as asylum seekers because a few people are stirring misinformation on SM.

No-one is advocating having a go at Juric, not one single poster. Rasmus et al are totally fair game, worst season in our history now, a void and watching the team is a chore. Add in that 22/23 was our worst top flight season ever by a mile before that, far worse than 04/05. Wembley yes, but only because Martin was forced to adjust his crazy tactics and the 🤡 did his Achilles. SR need two immaculate transfer windows now, particularly the summer, as their stock with the fanbase is rock bottom. Around where Sunderland’s was with Lawrie 1986. There’s a growing sense we are being bled off for Goztepe as Rasmus fights for his future.

Tidy rebuttal without name calling from Streeting and more Tories distancing from Musk despite Kemi trying to cosy up to him https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czxdzng92lno

Islamophobia is still racism don't forget, the same way Islamists are racists. Opposing Islamic extremism is free speech, but misinformation and falsehoods to stir hatred and violence against an ethnic group is not on. His EDL support base were mostly ex-NF, BNP and football casuals, but became politically inconvenient for him. This piece captures him well https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2024/08/tommy-robinson-is-no-working-class-hero-luton

Don’t know about hammer but if he repeats last night’s performance over Stephen Bunting who averaged over 100, then hard to see him being beaten. Chris Dobey competed for the first three sets last night but after missing three consecutive doubles, sank without trace and never really looked like he believed he could beat MVG. Littler has no such problem because he knocked MVG out last year. However, MVG has looked seriously impressive and rolled back the years so Sky, PDC and the audience have got the final they wanted after Peter Wright dumped Humphries out.

Ain’t that the truth.

MVG drops the f-bomb on live TV 😂 Littler next, him and Bunting can’t be worse than Chris Dobey was.