Sheaf Saint

You're right, you will get flak for this, because you are just plain wrong. In the games I saw him play towards the end of last season and in pre-season, he looked a completely different player from the 'rabbit-in-headlights' performances of seasons past. He has improved a great deal IMO. I'm not saying he is ready to be a PL starter, but I'm much more comfortable with the knowledge that he is our back-up now than I was two years ago.

Hey, I'm not suggesting for a second that he will go on to taste the same success in the ballots that Thatcher did, as The quote was not originally mine, after all. A lot of her ideas were considered too extreme even for the Conservatives when she was elected, but she managed to win over public opinion and get herself into a position where she could implement those ideas, and many communities up and down the country are still suffering the effects of them nearly 40 years later. I just think the sneering from the Tories, and their belief that Corbyn is a joke figure to be easily dismissed, may well backfire on them. I think he may well prove to be more of a threat to them and their grand plan to privatise the entire nation than they realise. I could, of course, be wrong. We shall see.

You generally come across as fairly intelligent and articulate CB, so do you really need to have the difference between a career politician and a conviction politician explained to you?

That's just nonsense put out by the right-wing press in an attempt to shift the Overton window even further to the right. Miliband didn't lose the election because he was too left wing. He lost it because he was a pathetic, directionless weakling who had no real idea what his principles were. Seriously, how can a man who fully supported the Tories' austerity plans be considered too left wing?

Good. Bunch of self-serving careerist politicians the lot of them. If they can't stomach being in a party that aims to reign in the violent excesses of the free market and champion social justice then maybe they shouldn't have joined Labour in the first place. Obviously I have no idea how the future of the party will pan out. I have never actually voted Labour myself, but as somebody who would sooner put a bullet through my own head than vote Tory, I'm glad that the opposition now have a leader that will challenge the government properly and provide a coherent voice for the left in the commons. That is something that has been missing from British politics for far too long now. FWIW - I like Corbyn. I like the fact that he stands out against the Westminster establishment that have turned off so many voters in recent years. I like the fact that he is able to debate with common sense and facts rather than resorting to mud-slinging and point-scoring, and that he is very good at shutting down anybody who he feels is doing that to him. I like the fact that he doesn't feel the need to wear a tie, because he recognises that it is substance that counts, rather than image. Despite the best efforts of the right-wing media channels to discredit him and assassinate his character, he has won the leadership election with more support from within the party than even Tony Blair got in 1994. I look forward to seeing him go head-to-head with Cameron at PMQs, because they are such different characters. Finally, here is a comment I just found posted elsewhere online which I found very interesting...

I've heard that title track a few times on the radio and I have to say, as much of a fan as I am of David's / Pink Floyd's earlier material, that I am distinctly unimpressed by it. It's not awful, but it's just so bland and mediocre that it's instantly forgettable. If the rest of the album is no better then I don't think I'll bother with it.

2 billion? That's almost a third of the world's population FFS. I don't believe that for a second. I do get your point though, I just don't share the enthusiasm that so many tourists have towards the Saxe-Coburg family. I don't understand how ordinary plebs can be so impressed by the obscene wealth displayed by a ruling dynasty whose ancestors accumulated such wealth through the oppression and exploitation of the masses - probably/possibly the tourists' own forefathers. The stupidity of it astounds me. Whatever the arguments in favour of it, the idea of hereditary rule is a draconian concept that has no place in a modern, progressive democracy. I guess that tells us that, as much as we like to believe we do, we just don't live in a modern, progressive democracy.

The continued existence of the house of lords suggests otherwise. The tourism argument doesn't hold water I'm afraid. Buckingham Palace, Windsor and Sandringham could all be opened up to the public as nationally-owned tourist attractions if they were vacated by the royal family. For example, the Portuguese overthrew their monarchy over a century ago, yet they still employ lots of staff and make a nice tidy amount from tourism at places like the old royal palace at Sintra.

Yay- congratulations Lizzie. Well done on the outstanding achievement of having the extreme fortune to be born as the heir to a system of leadership that belongs in the dark ages and, thanks to the many advances in medicine since the days of your great great grandmother, having managed to avoid popping your clogs yet.

We sold Morgan because he had become too good for our level, and we got a very good price for him. We can't spend the full selling price on another player of equal quality, because that player would also be too good for our level and would more than likely be wanted by CL clubs who can pay a damn-sight more than we can, so he would not sign for us anyway. So of course we sign cheaper players of lesser quality, in the hope that we can get a few good years out of them and maybe make a large profit if they then go on to make a move to a CL club who can pay a damn-sight more than we can. With the stranglehold that the big four/six clubs now have thanks to the FFP rules, that is the best that a club like ours can hope for.

Eh? I do care about Europe and I would have loved to have seen us progress and play some of the big teams that are in the draw. But the way we played tonight was just embarrassing, and I don't want to see us go the way of all the other teams whose league form has suffered massively from being in a competition that we would have been shown up in.

On tonight's showing, it looks like a good thing we are out of it. Recent history shows how badly teams tend to do in the league when they have a prolonged run in the Europa Cup. If we play like that for the rest of the season we are in trouble. The frustrating thing is - the last 5-6 years have all been leading to this moment, to us qualifying for Europe, and when we got there we went out with a whimper.

Joke refereeing again. Off the chest of Pelle. And there was one a few moments ago where he was blatantly pushed in the back as the ball was played to him. But - we can't blame the ref for the result. We were utter sh!te tonight. I haven't seen us play that badly in quite some time. Worrying times ahead.

Long on for J-Rod. Wrong choice IMO. Long is utterly useless against deep-defending teams. All he does is run around a lot and give away FKs needlessly.

In fairness to JWP, It was a deliberate handball and should have been a pen.

Feckin 'ell - that was a deliberate movement of the arm from the defender in the wall.

Jeez- how was that not a yellow for that assault on S Davis FFS!?

This referee is just a joke. Every single time a Midtjylland player falls over he blows his whistle. It's pathetic.

Tadic coming on it seems

Yep. It seems that the only person who can't see that this formation isn't working is the one guy who can actually do something about it. I hate to say it, but Koeman's team selections so far this season haven't filled me with any confidence.

Tell you what though - if I was a Mitjyland (?) fan, I would be utterly embarrassed by the disgraceful time-wasting and feigning injury all the time. The ref needs to be firmer with it, but he seems intent on giving them a FK every time one of their players falls over.

Well that was ugly. Very poor giveaway from J-Rod for their goal, but the defenders still should have done better with it. I have to say that Koeman has got it badly wrong again tonight. Playing against a team that was inevitably going to defend very deep to play for a 0-0 and starting with 3 CBs and two CMs that are very short on attacking creativity.

Alpine is.

Some positives to take from the game, but overall it's disappointing not to be going into the away leg with a healthy lead. Poor defensive organisation lead to their goal, which is frustrating. Mane was lively but too selfish at times. JWP had one of his better games and his set-piece delivery was very good tonight - just well defended by FCM. Romeu looked good and will only get better. If Wanyama can actually get his head in gear (which he hasn't done yet this season) then we could potentially have a very good DM pairing. Goal for J-Rod. Very good to see even if it was from the spot. Targett looked much better tonight than he did in either of the PL games so far.

So a Midtjylland player goes down injured, gets back up again and carries on, but his team-mate kicks it out anyway. The 'injured' player sits down again to wait for the physio, then we're expected to still give it back to them from the throw-in?