revolution saint

Most of my extended family are Charlton fans so hopefully this is good news for them. I doubt they'll ever get a more optimistic manager.

Got my jab booked for Friday. Thought I would be at least a few weeks away (under 50 and no underlying health issues). Fair play to govt and NHS because at this rate I can see all adults having at least the first jab well ahead of schedule. French rollout in comparison looks a total mess and I bet their % take up will be much lower as a result.

Leonard vs Hagler was probably the first fight I ever saw. Rose tinted glasses and all that but it’s one of the best fights of all time for me. To be honest I was more of a Leonard fan but no doubting Haglers quality and was as tough as they come. Destroyed Alan Minter too.

You first, your idea and all that. You can be the canary down the mine and let us know how it goes. Good luck!

Seem to recall Gary Speed always used to score against us.

Yep, I had to turn over eventually. It seems there's an eagerness to bash blokes and things like the murder of Sarah Everard are seen as an opportunity to indulge it. Obviously the caveat is that the murder was horrendous (as are all murders) and despicable. Also not doubting that men are almost always the perpetrators of physical crimes so there's a problem but it's a very small minority of men and yet men seemed to be grouped in as a collective homogenous bunch and it's all our fault. The perception of risk amongst women is disproportionate when you consider that men are actually more at risk (of murder at least) but it's also the case that anyone walking alone in the dark will have increased fear regardless of gender. This grouping of men as a collective simply wouldn't be tolerated in any other group either by gender or race. Can you imagine the outcry if a suggestion is made that there should be a curfew for blacks? It would rightly be condemned so why is it OK to group all men together? Of course I do realise that this is some looney suggestion that no one is taking that seriously but it does illustrate the type of language that people feel is OK to use.

Nah, think it's true. We'd still be covering all his wages so it wouldn't be free in that regard but the more games he plays the less the loan fee. Makes sense for Liverpool - the only reason for the loan is for him to get games (and in a team with a similar philosophy and style) so this type of structuring of the fee incentivises us to play him. Not sure the loan fee goes down to zero but it's probably pretty close to it.

Heroes being ex military types who carry around the responsiblity of not being able to save all their platoon. Their guilt is writ large on their face as they stare moodily out at people who just don't understand them. No one knows what it was like out there. "That's on me" they'll say as they come to terms with the terrible burden in a world that has conveniently forgotten it's soldiers.

The booking system does sound quite poor but I'm sure they'll sort those problems out as time passes. In the mean time I'm quite prepared to swap with you and take your place. I'm under 50 though so you may be waiting till the summer but, and here's the good bit, the booking system is bound to be the dogs bollocks by the time you're eligible.

Saints v Middlesbrough, March 1981, Saints won 1-0 and Moran scored. Only the four ex England captains in the starting lineup.

Because when they bought them they didn't know which ones, if any, were likely to work so they hedged their bets. There's also the issue of supply so this should mean that if any of them have production difficulties then we're not in the cart. Given the global demand I would think we could probably renegotiate if we did end up with excess vaccines anyway.

Poll Tax, Interest rates at 15%, Abolished free school milk, deregulated banks (effects we still feel today), massive contribution to decline of manufacturing industry, precipitated the housing crisis by selling off council homes and not replacing them, unemployment at 12%, cosied up to dictators and human rights abusers such as Pinochet. Yeah, you know where you were with Thatcher - you were fucked. She'd have taken tough decisions but they'd have been the wrong ones.

Canada and the US both have higher rates of obesity than the UK but have a lower death rate due to COVID. Far more countries including Japan, Italy, Portugal, Greece, and Germany have a higher percentage of over 65s than the UK and again have a lower death rate so the minister was wrong and attempting to shift the blame. When that happens they should be challenged. What's causing what was the worst death rate due to COVID in the world (I think we've moved down to second today) is the amount of cases we've had. Again, we need to find out why this is. The government are quite happy to lay the blame at the door of the public - grass up your neighbours, stop having parties, don't stray more than two miles from your house (and for the record I would agree we shouldn't be breaking the rules) but what seems to be a bigger driver of the increase in cases is the failure of test track and trace to identify people who should be self-isolating and the failure of people to do it when they have been informed. The government need to be looking at why this is. The evidence seems to suggest that a lot of people are simply not in a position to be able to completely isolate - either because they can't afford to do so or because of other circumstances. If you've got the second worst mortality rate due to COVID then it's right to ask why that is. In this regard the rest of the developed world have all been far more effective at controlling infections rates. I can understand people getting annoyed at constant bashing of the government and, in some case I think they're unjustified, however our woeful record during this pandemic justifies questions being asked. It's not like we've done very well is it? For the record I wouldn't criticise the lack of PPE during the first wave when the rest of the world was scrambling for whatever they could get their hands on. I think the economic response has been decent and I think the vaccine rollout so far has been very good. But..... the situation with care homes in the first lockdown was borderline criminal, the failure of the government to recognise infection trends and take notice and action early is very poor. Every time we've had a lockdown it's only been after weeks of government denial that they've had to face the inevitable - how many lives could have been saved if we had locked down earlier? The situation with schools has been farcical - threatening legal action over schools closing because they think infection rates make it unsafe to open and then days later closing schools when it was blatantly obvious that was going to happen. Ridiculous. As mentioned earlier our world class test, track and trace system is anything but world class. The exams fiasco was completely avoidable. These are just some of the things the government has fucked up and they should be questioned on them - if our death rate was comparable to Germany, for example, then there wouldn't be as much need for criticism. We're not there though and this is the price the government are going to have to pay.

For a 21 year old from another league to come in and perform the way he has is excellent. Seems to have everything he needs to play in that position and should only get better. Different kind of player to OR but it's good to have this competition for places. Think Diallo probably has the edge in terms of playing the ball forwards quicker and more accurately and also has a bit more pace. Certainly deserves to keep his place in the side at the moment. One thing I will say though - he's been better than Hojbjerg ever was for us. More energy, much better range of passing and far better at releasing the ball quickly and enabling us to keep momentum going forward. Probably slightly worse at giving bland interviews where he tells us the players take responsibility, know what they need to do to get out of relegation scraps and are disappointed at the recent run of results.

Well done lads, this really made me laugh and GM - keep it up mate, there's not enough laughter in the world right now.

Jesus Christ, what is the point of these press conferences when Patel is incapable of answering a question?

Dunno about limited view of history but Ford pardoned Nixon which had the effect of avoiding impeachment proceedings (Nixon resigned and was never impeached). Interestingly the US Supreme Court pronounced that a pardon "carries an imputation of guilt and that its acceptance carries a confession of guilt". Anyway, whilst I'd love nothing more than to see Trump impeached I'm not sure it'll happen and even if it did it would make Trump a martyr in the eyes of his supporters. Wouldn't be as satisfying but probably more sensible to have both houses give an official censure and let him drift off into the relative obscurity of fighting legal cases over his taxes.

Daily Heil have us linked with Balogun again and apparently Liverpool and Brighton also interested. Never seen him play outside of some YouTube clips so hard to say whether he's going to be any good but seems highly rated. Given that he's rejecting a contract from Arsenal on the basis that he wants game time then that would suggest Liverpool wouldn't be a likely destination. It's the kind of signing that would make sense and might be worth a punt especially if he's able to play in any of the forward positions.

Fuck me there’s some sad bastards on here. Who cares what a public holiday is called? Hardly anyone celebrates this as a religious day but if they do then fair play, they ain’t harming me. When I was a civil servant I got the queen’s official birthday off - doesn’t mean I condone a ridiculous, outdated, anti democratic and offensive to intelligent people everywhere institution. I just used to get pissed up.

Indeed, I don't get your half baked idea that an outdated vision of sovereignty trumps economic prosperity. More importantly though neither do any of the other brexiteers otherwise they would have had the balls to admit it. Every time an economic warning has been made concerning brexit it's been labelled untrue and "project fear" so, like it or not, success is going to be based on how well we do economically.

Shouldn't really take that long though should it Wes? Surely we can measure our success in terms of growth against other comparable EU countries? For me this is all about economics - if we're richer as a result then great, I won't stop you feeling free to knock one out over a picture of Nige. If we're not though then it's been a failure that has wasted billions. What I hope doesn't happen is more shifting of blame - sounds like you got what you want so congratulations on that but no more excuses and blaming remoaners or the nasty EU. It's time to deliver now.

Genuine question but have they actually published any data on the new strain that backs up the claim it’s 70 percent more effective at transmission? They may well have done so not trying to score any points, just wondering. Wouldn’t surprise me that they’re blaming a new strain when it’s just an increase of cases of whatever strain. Just guessing on my part though.

Great news Wes. When am I going to be richer? Time to deliver now.

I was 10 when the ‘82 World Cup was on and still my favourite World Cup ever. Remember rushing home from school to watch the Brazil Italy game and loving it. Rossi was a hero but so too were Zico and Falcao. That game and the France West Germany semifinal were brilliant. The final also had the greatest goal celebration ever. Happy days and thanks for sharing the story.

And VAR is still subjective - that's the point. VAR doesn't come up with a decision itself but allows someone to make a more informed decision based on multiple camera angles and a bit more time compared to a ref making it in real time on the pitch. VAR doesn't eliminate bad decisions or subjectivity but overall should contribute to less mistakes being made. When a bad decision is made then the problem is either with the person making it or the rule itself (exactly the same as when a ref makes a decision). Personally I think VAR has probably highlighted a lot of instances where it's difficult to apply a level of consistency when it's borderline or still fairly subjective. We should probably move away from demanding consistency and instead work with broadly agreed rules that are subject to personal interpretation. VAR would have no bearing on this and if we allowed the referee/VAR bod to justify why they made the decision then I don't think many people would be complaining. Blaming the system isn't the answer though.