Gloucester Saint

They haven’t made the impact hoped yet but if they hadn’t have taken steps to repair some of the severe damage from Boris and Truss they’d have been accused of recklessness. Personally I preferred the Blair and Coalition eras to this, but a hard Brexit plus Truss’s failed gambles and the Ukraine war haven’t exactly given the new lot much scope for manoeuvre that those two eras benefitted from (and Cameron tossed away). Personally, I’d have repealed the stupid and unaffordable NI cut instead of what they did, and Ed Miliband has always been a twat. However, as a Lib Dem majority government will never happen, and then the alternatives are Badenoch or Farage….obvious to give them another couple of years to start making some headway.

You’d have been saying the same in the pub in 1980 about Geoffrey Howe the last time a new government had an in-tray that chronic. And in 1981 and early 1982, people talk about the Falklands effect but the economy picking up and Michael Foot being 15 years past his sell by date helped the 1983 landslide. Howe got pelters for doubling VAT similar to the employers NI increase and it was perceived monetarism was killing the economy, lots of pressure from even their own side to stop it.

Didn’t vote for this government but to compare Reeves to Truss shows pure senility. That’s usually what I expect from Andrew Neil. The flop at GB News has turned him into a bitter old git. No different to Soggy posting a whiny one from the Guardian, Andrew Neil is best ignored.

Another example of why business and politics are different in what drives them. This time, Musk being rational but finding how irrational the GOP is https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyv7gxp02yo

Really quite facile spat about membership numbers between Farage and Badenoch https://www.harrowtimes.co.uk/news/24820989.nigel-farage-threatens-kemi-badenoch-legal-action/?ref=rss

Had the odd good game eg Swansea away at tail end of 17/18 to keep us up but on the whole, Champ with Watford is the right level. Pure senility to think that he was worth £17m from Lazio’s fringe squad which is about £30-35m in todays money. Edit - didn’t know he’d gone to Saudi but explains why Watford are doing much better! Wesley never stays anywhere long before stinking the place out.

Oh Pep did learn from Russell Martin 👍

Tilbury I reckon. Enjoyed it though and agree with those on the Italian Job and Moore Bond films, the BBC documentary on/with Moore on Xmas Day was good, worth watching on catch up if you didn’t see it.

Incredible they were due to have Xmas Day off. Everyone knows in the football industry in that top five divisions in England/Scotland and the more ambitious ones in the sixth that Xmas day is a work day preparing for the Boxing Day fixtures.

It’s the fact the club signed a player for £10m instead who can barely walk and was nowhere near fit instead that makes it even worse. Really lucky that AA and CA stayed fit pretty much all season.

If you wanted a metaphor for Rasmus Ankerson’s contribution to Southampton Football Club, the signing of Kamaldeen Sulemana is very apt.

Yep, and if you go back only slightly further you get Carrillo and Armstrong. Add on another £40m. At least AA did the business in the Champ even if hopeless in the PL.

He’s been rightly sacked and long overdue.

You probably played against old man in that era, played for Hound. Apologies for any late challenges experienced!

Archer time.

Signed for lower Champ/League 1 money so needs development time and minutes. There’s a decent player in there, can cross the ball very well but defensively lax. Will be interesting to see him in a few weeks under a different and vastly superior manager than the village idiot he signed for who couldn’t organise Netley Central.

Not just him, although it was poor. THB should win the second ball from the cross that came back in and failure to do so costs a goal. THB very disappointing this season.

Juric livid about Sugawara giving that away, survived the initial corner but lost the first ball that came back in and didn’t defend the second one.

Has some work to do with Pakistan shot out for only 211.

The beers from Christmas Eve, Day and Boxing Day I’ve shared with family Battledown Milk Stout won’t be seen again as brewery longer in business, doesn’t contain lactose so one I can enjoy. The last beer (last two photos) is typical of the autumn green hop beers of neighbouring Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

He should but his hold up play has been excellent. Astonishing Martin wouldn’t pick him.

If Russell Martin thought his dirge was better to watch than today so far he either needs an eye test or a spell at Marchwood Priory.

Onachu has to score there.

Not at the moment.

Very fortunate there, oceans of space, good pull back and should score really.