Gloucester Saint

Adrian Viveash, who the new owner got rid of in the summer.

All of this is a fact, and has been obvious with SR for a while. Need a latter day John Williams as SFC CEO, have a strategic hook-up with an agent like Wolves had with Mendez next season until the scouting department is rebuilt top to bottom and ensure Rasmus’s nose is kept firmly out of any transfers. Hire a first team manager committed to the type of press then pass football which suits Saints and what the fans enjoy and recruit players accordingly with pace, power, maybe raw but the materials to improve. Even when a transfer looks a good deal on paper, the first team manager has right of veto. SR themselves need a couple more investors with Dragan to get the headroom up to 3-5Bn which is the minimum for a multi club model and dilute Rasmus and Henrik’s influence. A global figurehead like Patrick Vieira or Henry would make them be taken far more seriously in the industry. At the moment, all they’re doing is giving a horrific glimpse of what Pinnacle would’ve been like if Markus hadn’t bought us. Professionalise or sell up this season. Your choice Dragan. I wouldn’t invest in setting up a hotel chain as I don’t have a hospitality background, I’d start with a smaller hotel and hire very experienced in that industry around me first. They have never got Saints right at the core before taking on two more clubs with not much success so far either.

All the hallmarks of Russia https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy93dp4zk3o

RoI football team very much in the Rugby Union team’s shadow

Going further north this week with Abbeydale’s Sheffield Stout. Made with six malts apparently, notes of dark chocolate with spicy hop notes in the background. And it tastes good - dark chocolate, equivalent to a very high cocoa content, getting the peppery notes off the hops with hints of fruit 🍋‍🟩 The can is a work of art, I’m reluctant to put it in the recycling. I think that’s Kinder Scout depicted at the top of the can.

What’s in it for Ukraine though? They can’t fight at the same level if Trump slows the funding package but Russia’s operations are now in part propped up by N Korea. And America doesn’t want that. Crimea and Donbas will go to Putin in any settlement next year, RUSI have predicted that for months. Although the latter Putin’s forces have smashed to shit, and Russia has no money for reparations anywhere with their economy in tatters. Trump has campaigned on not funding overseas wars so can’t fill the reparations gap either, but what he can do is NATO membership which would also be a positive stroke for Western Europe, who are concerned about Putin holding on for another 4 years for a crack at Latvia/Lithuania. Putin would hate that but he’s already in a corner and Xi won’t supply any more credit. He can claim a hollow win for liberating the Russian speaking lands.

He’s got a unique status as a non-Washington system person - really The Apprentice and the visibility of his enterprises enabled him to parachute in with that profile. Plus he was non-aligned for most of his life and in fact more involved in Democrat politics 90s and 00s in NYC. It’d be hard to replicate again in the same way by anyone else. Main reason is people thought they were better off in 2020 with the cost of living and borrowing https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cze3yr77j9wo They may well have been too given the post-pandemic inflation we’ve all experienced and impact of Putin’s war. But his tariffs didn’t work last time - cost of washing machines shot up for domestic consumers when he slapped 50% on those, hurting the lowest incomes, hopefully he’s learned from that https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20myx1erl6o

They’re both the elite - Trump had a huge PAC investment from Musk, the Kock billionaires have pumped huge money into the GOP. Trump inherited a lot of money and assets with the family business. The other fact is that the Democrats have been and remain a mess post-Obama. They need a compelling counter narrative of how they’ll create new industries to keep the lights on to get a big majority with younger voters. The former coal communities ain’t coming back to them.

To be fair to Sheaf, under what the Heritage Foundation have drawn up with Project 2025, you absolutely would, a climate scientist would be a criminal. From the evidence visible, Trump isn’t fussed by it and thinks it’s way too much hassle/load of bollocks but he’s 78 and there’s a whole movement behind him who do believe in it, horrific as it is. Hence the Democrats only have a brief window to mope into their Brooklyn Pilsner because the mid-terms and 2028 need to be planned for now. They need that precision they had in their tactics under Obama back.

Project 2025 is a very chilling strategy, from the Heritage Foundation, a certain former poster’s favourite cut and paste source. It’s a hard right policy Kleenex list (other tissue brands are available). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_2025 My sense is however that Trump doesn’t care that much for it and more hassle than it is worth. JD Vance definitely does though and was seemingly involved in the drafting. Given he’s only in his early 40s, the Democrats need to build around Sharpiro as a front runner early to build around, and build up funds quickly for the mid-terms and then squeeze Vance for 2028.

Whilst no fan of Trump whatsoever, he’s not even been re-inaugurated yet…

And what all those sides have in common is that they aren’t the best defensively, but they can often get a goal. Which is where Portsmouth without Colby Bishop until at least January and beyond for him to get match fit, are a bit stuffed.

Pretty much this. Putin will be loving this as he was pretty much screwed although I suspect Trump will tell him to agree a settlement as he has more power in their relationship than last time. Hopefully by the time Russia can re-arm to think about a Baltic invasion Putin will be deceased.

Those all look familiar bar 5. And all very irritating. Bags on seats on trains as well as feet. Whelk - the queuing is more of a cafe thing I find but it might in the old fart pubs I use, it’s not a thing whereas in the trendier urban bars it might be more so.

There’s some key differences though: - Trump is a spender and more like Boris in the sense that’s he’s not too bothered by supply-side theory unlike the Reagan period and traditional country club Republicans. Put it this way, he wouldn’t have been Thatcher’s cup of tea, not a dry fiscal conservative. In fact, it’s why a lot of the Conservative Party dislike him equally as much as Lab/Lib/SNP outside of the ERG populist wing. - That’s why he can win over groups the GOP and even the Democrats traditionally couldn’t despite losing many traditional GOP themselves. In a sense, Bannon has made them homeless - The Democrats need to start acting a national movement not just a political party again. For better or for worse, the GOP has had a leader for the last few years even though Trump is only the spearhead/face of MAGA. That’s why Biden limped on in his last two years after a very efficient first two.

Bits in this people from different politics backgrounds will both agree and disagree with, but I thought it was fairly balanced and sets out why the Democrats flunked from a leadership perspective starting 2 years ago with being ruthless about Biden not running again https://newrepublic.com/article/188055/democrats-lost-election-trump-2024

His views are not my cup of tea economically because it ignores markets being rigged against smaller firms, on social infrastructure (which we do need those with the broadest shoulders to help cover), and on the environment although I did agree with the post about someone being elected in the UK and their first comment being about Gaza. I’d be unhappy if I lived there and my new elected rep did that.

It’s pretty tacky behaviour

Yep, that’s why he’s been jettisoned from his ‘home’ party we go see him as a relic of the Corbyn era (which he is). And it ignores as you say the notion that migrants might adopt some of the norms of their adopted homeland. I still wouldn’t have voted for him in their Sundays in a month of Sundays with the travel ban Trump introduced and what’s ahead in their former region, but it’s their choice.

You’re looking at the noise although I agree that Lammy’s comments in opposition are a lesson - Badenoch needs to watch and learn. Hague hammered Trump on Times Radio yesterday but he’s no longer Foreign Secretary (good one he was too) and actively involved in the Tory party so he has 100% licence. Trump and Vance don’t care - as already stated elsewhere they met for a dinner in Trump Tower in September and whilst not Starmer’s biggest fan (Lib Dem voter) I have to say that there isn’t anything to back up the statement that Starmer has said anything in public about Trump, unlike Lammy. The special relationship has been purely transactional since Blair/Bush and will remain so. Our blooper as a country was Brexit which is far more self-defeating in protecting our strategic economic and security interests than what America did yesterday. We’ve left ourselves in the cross-hairs of US-China-Russia, on the latter’s doorstep. Not smart.

Any major fiscal event - devaluation late 1960s, Barber’s dash for growth early 70s and miner’s strike, ERM, Banking Crisis, Truss - all resulted in the governing party defeated. Even in 1945, did the returning troops elect hero Churchill? No, they went for the findings of the Beveridge Report as that offered more for their families. Bush Snr was punished in 1992 for Reagan’s SDI-related huge deficit - Its the Economy Stupid. Bush Jnr left Obama with an enormous pile of debt with big tax cuts which were never affordable.

She ran a tidy campaign but Biden had lost any credibility and she was tied to him as his VP. Only a clean break was beating Trump, and would’ve beaten Trump. Vance will have the same issue in 2028. Trump’s ramblings and ignoring his advisors/team won’t stop now he’s won and Vance will take the hit from voters if the economy remains volatile. If he even gets that far through the Primaries if Trump repeats the chaos of term one.

I want to disagree with this but logically can’t. Bit harsh on Harris because the damage was already done by their party nationally not being firm with Biden and saying ‘we are having Primaries in the circumstances and you’re welcome to stand in those’. Instead, he shat the bed globally in the debate and then calling Ukraine’s President Putin. I couldn’t watch. Harris wouldn’t have beaten Shapiro, I think Buttgeig being LGBTQ is a barrier to him unfortunately in America but he would’ve knocked Harris out.

His own VP incoming for one - ‘America’s Hitler’. Yet quite happy to serve under him to get into the White House. It shows how self-orientated most politicians, people and voters are of all persuasions when it comes down to it. They’ll ignore slights if they believe someone can get them to where they want to go. The swing voters will go back hating Trump within 12 months but the fact they gambled again tells you the Democrats aren’t landing their messages.

Looking forward to seeing that phrase on the next match day thread - ‘Martin you fucko, we need to get Tyler and Archer on’