hypochondriac

Think I agree with you. They haven't even got European football to show for it either yet. You can't keep pulling rabbits out of hats indefinitely. All you need is two or three duds in a row and you're sunk.

That's entirely on us for buying damaged goods.

Surely we have the resources to sign a decent Coventry player if we want to. Hopefully we look at them and some Sunderland players if they lose in the final.

You'll be interested to know that this evening I'm attending a mayor making in Kingston for a lib Dem mayor. Though I don't support them I am much more minded to vote for individuals at a local level and they are good people for definite.

I agree with your analysis. Like you I fail to see what the Conservatives can offer young people who have grown up knowing nothing but Tory Governance.

I've got no idea who he is and I don't really have any interest in what he posts. I just found it interesting that Farage has so many tiktok fans and I posed a question if that had had any part in his recent success. I don't have a tiktok account myself but I know it's a young person thing.

What a bizarre thing to be fixated on. I think we could do with a few taller players but you can obviously be successful with players of different heights.

I wonder if stats like this have anything to do with Reform's surge in the polls?

TBF to them no one of any worth would have wanted to join us in January. Might as well take a punt on a player on loan in case he turns out to be half decent.

I totally agree with that entire post. He'd do better by showing some authenticity.

Great achievement. Something to be proud of with the youngsters. I wonder if we will see any of them next year.

They have. They are two different statements which don't contradict each other.

Which they are. That includes the popularity of the policies being presented as well as the personalities of those in government. This isn't difficult stuff.

I've never denied that policies are an important part of politics.

Sure.

Fascinating to see the change in rhetoric from Starmer and his government on immigration. They are using words and phrases they would have dismissed as racist and dog whistle politics just a year ago. That's politics for you I suppose.

At least in part though that's because loads of public services were set up before we had a giant influx of new people wanting to use the service, some of whom have never contributed to it.

Come on you're better than that.

Yes I know but if loads of people at the next election go to reform due to the failure of the main parties to tackle immigration then that's the fault of the main parties.

The point though is that the public have consistently called for lower levels of immigration. If Labour fail to achieve that during this term then I can hardly blame someone voting for Reform. People have voted continuously for the two main parties and they've all failed to address it so far. That's on them, regardless of how educated the average Reform voter is.

All of your analysis is entirely based on finance. Does the line from Starmer today about being an island of strangers not resonate with you at all? That's about more than money, it's a values thing and a concern that the pace of change and rate of immigration is damaging society.

I don't disagree but pretty lazy just to point at the electorate and call them thick because you don't like how they voted. I personally don't think Reform will do much at all if they ever get in power but I do want waste to be cut in the NHS and wider society. Labour's hope is that they can make a tangible difference over the next couple of years so that people won't feel betrayed with them like they do now.

If nigel gets in then labour and conservative will only have themselves to blame. Failing to adequately control immigration for years is entirely on them.

I don't think there's any indication that we will be playing like that forever. You can't imagine us playing like that next year and then if we do get promoted the hope would be that we would have the players to play an all action closing down style so we wouldn't have to be so negative and defensive all the time. Given the players we have, the opposition and our form it was the most sensible thing to do. Blame the premier league for how uneven it now is and how little chance we have of getting points without doing this.

Given the amount of times this year we have played quite well with possession and had chances only to lose because we get knackered and can't sustain the mindless possession football, I'd take a defensive, negative, battling point over that any day.