The Kraken

United have been awful, but Thiago has been immense.

I see it that It’s more damaging for the Tory party that they’re being seen to defend Johnson’s lies, and to ultimately defend his refusal to walk away. The expectation for him to resign needs to be reiterated by the opposition as they’re making it a character issue. Especially so if, as expected, there are more parties that Johnson could get a fine for. It’s widely acknowledged that birthday-gate was one of the least onerous of the charges. So Johnson can say he was unaware of the rules, his MP’s gather behind him and they all get tarred with the same brush. Then, if there are more transgressions that aren’t so easily explained (for example the one where there’s a screenshot of Johnson and others inside number ten with an open bottle of champagne in shot and a bloke wearing tinsel) then the lies become even more ludicrous. The met are seemingly still wading though all of the events in chronological order. Everyone knows Johnson won’t quit, he’ll only go when the party bins him. So, until then, it’s best to highlight what he should do, then attack the party as a whole for defending him. In other words,Starmer’s playing a blinder.

I’d rather not thanks. I’d rather you just understood why in the first place. But you don’t, and probably never will, so I’d be wasting my time with you. Your post at the very top of this page is particularly poor, where you ask if the baby’s death was part of a bigger, more callous plan. Anyone with a hint of empathy wouldn’t ask that question, as they’d realise why it could be seen as controversial. Feel free to comment on that all you like but please consider this my last statement on the matter, I have no intention of discussing this any further with someone who is incapable of empathy and any recognition of self-error.

As I said, too arrogant to admit getting something wrong. Pitiful.

Not a surprise to see MLG make a fool of himself like this, but still a pretty low thing to do. I’d say he should feel embarrassed about himself, but that’s requires being able to admit you’re wrong, and he’s far too much of an arrogant prat for that.

I like Pope but I think he’ll attract a bit of interest and wouldn’t be cheap.

I don’t know enough about Henderson, I thought he was quite well rated, but that seems a slightly strange one. United seemingly willing to just cut their losses to get rid of him.

This. We spent a reported £13.5M on Angus Gunn, and that didn’t work out all that well. Just have to hope that the club have got someone lined up who wont be a huge transfer fee and wages, and is a step up on Forster. Not easy.

He thought he was being so clever as well 🤣

I did . You got it wrong. He said, and I quote “" In my lifetime (and I'm nearly pensionable), I can only remember us, Sunderland, Coventry, Wigan and the Skates winning it outside of the top sides. ” You’ve then gone and listed some FA Cup winners who were top sides at the time they won the cup. So, you’ve completely misjudged the context you thought you were replying to.

A truly idiotic list basing it on the current ‘big six’.

Good result for Saints, keeps us 1 points away from 9th 😉

I was thinking this, and I can only imagine they build in some fairly high achievement benchmarks to the management contracts that allow them to get rid without paying out contracts in full. If not, half their revenues must disappear on payoffs.

No he isn’t. He lives somewhere near Northampton. He hasn’t even moved to Burnley, he shared a flat up there with Ian Woan and comes back to the family home.

F-Troop v The DEF. When two worlds collide 😬

I was just looking at the table, Coventry coming up would be good after all the SISU shit they had to go through. like you say, Luton would be a fairytale. For Millwall, it would be funny I guess, though I went to the Den a couple of times (only once to watch Saints), and to be honest it was pretty sterile. If it’s still the same, you get funnelled straight into the away section off the train before and after the game, being kept fully away from the home fans. I suppose if you went drinking around Bermondsey pre game it would be a bit livelier….

I hope it’s Fulham and Bournemouth. South coast derby with Bournemouth is decent, despite some of their gobby fans I’ll always have a soft spot for the Cherries. And Fulham is a brilliant away day, the pubs and walk to the ground along the Thames are glorious.

Not a bad shout. Watford old boy with Malay McKay, closer to home for him. However, given how long he’s been in the Prem for, he may be looking for a step up. Watford are always going to struggle to stay up, so it’s like for like really. IMO he’d have been decent for Everton, but Lampard got that and despite doing a poor job he won’t get ousted from that just yet. There’s not really any other stand out Premier League clubs that would go for him. So, it’s either go for a job in the summer, or wait until the inevitable round of Premier League sackings next season and hope for something from that.

It’s a fair point. Though even that level was well ahead of some of the CB options we’ve got now…

Dyche is going to be an interesting choice for a number of a premier league teams. He’ll definitely get a job somewhere, just how high up remains to be seen. He’s done a great job at Burnley over the years given the absolute lack of finance he’s had at his disposal. Would be interesting to see what he can do given a ‘fair’ roll of the dice.

Championship is one below the ‘Womens Super League’. Currently in effectively Division 3 South.

Good summary. I don’t think anyone is presenting it as a negative. Just pointing out out that GK and CB positions have proved harder to bring someone through. GK likely for many of the reasons you mention.

The pearl clutching from the BT sports crew was just embarrassing, it was as if they were presenting on a national tragedy. Then when it was suggested that Grealish wasn’t even playing and had come on the pitch to call Savic a c*nt, it was described by ‘Ri’ as just part of the game. Fuck all this ”no one wants to see this” nonsense. I do! I thought it was great. And seeing the Atleti shithouses get a taste of their own medicine was brilliant, they looked like they wanted to cry at the end.

Goalkeepers and centre backs, never really produced one through the youth team / academy. Full backs, we’re decent at that. Centre mids, not bad. Wingers / wide midfielders and strikers, yep, decent there too. The most promising CB I can remember us bringing through was Mike Williamson, but even that is tenuous as he was signed after playing league games for Torquay. Likewise, Jack Stephens technically was an academy graduate, but we also signed him after he’d played league football elsewhere. Keepers, we had Darryl Flahavan who got released then played in lower leagues. Also similar for his brother Aaron (RIP) who played for Pompey.

One of my dads closest and oldest friends is a Celtic fan. I see him reasonably regularly, and whenever we spoke about football he’d mention this lad called van Dijk that they had. He always said he was a superstar in the making, no doubt about it, and reiterated it to me when we signed him. Van Dijk was a Rolls Royce of a player when he arrived at St Mary’s. We knew it, the club knew it, VvD knew it (he said himself we were just a stepping stone for him). It was a mutually beneficial deal. We gave him a place to get accustomed to life in a Premier League top ten side. He gave a some staggeringly good. performances, and got himself in the shop window. And he improved himself while with us, as a centre back gaining experience at the top of level will do. Van Dijk was simply a phenomenon from start to finish with us.