egg

7/7 was 7/7. That was different to this. I find it bewildering that anyone cannot acknowledge that the behaviour of the Israeli government towards Palestinians - settlements, supporting settler attacks, destruction of houses, denial of housing permits, shooting of civilians, etc - is wrong. It's odd that anyone cannot acknowledge that it's possible to criticise the behaviour of the Israeli government whilst being disgusted with the appalling actions of Hamas. What's interesting is some of the language used on this thread. People who make criticism both ways are being hit with the "equivalence" stick, seemingly in an attempt to suppress a view that both sides have done wrong. That's an extension of an issue that's always been there when discussing the Israel/Palestine issue - anti Zionist views have wrongly been deemed anti semitic and been shot down. Just criticism doesn't need a set of scales to assess the balance of blame, but even so, who's been most at fault doesn't detract from the fault of the other side. Both sides have been a disgrace, and Israel are not so naive as to think that they can destroy Hamas. They want to destroy as much of Gaza and it's infrastructure as they can. We all know that the Israeli response will only increase the size of the vicious circle. It's a sorry carry on. Whether a 2 state solution will now be possible I'm not sure, but the sad thing is that we kind of had one with Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem.

My recognising that both sides have behaved appallingly (albeit in different ways) is not me suggesting equivalence, or sympathy to the actions of Hamas - poor form of you to insinuate that. I've made it clear that I consider their actions appalling, but you know that.

Goal

What an odd comment. I agree that the Hamas attacks were an act of sheer evil. I've never suggested otherwise. What I have said is that you are wrong to suggest that there is only one bad side in this sorry situation. That's a statement of fact. What it isn't is a suggestion from me that Hamas behaviour is somehow justified, or that I'm suggesting that there is equivalence. It's possible to be disgusted with Hamas and recognise that Israel also behave appallingly.

The point made by whelk is that there's only one bad side in this. There isn't.

Imo any right minded person should accept that the Israeli government have acted disgracefully. Particularly as the UN have said so many times. Whilst that doesn't condone in any way what Hamas have done, it's ridiculous to say that only Hamas are the had guys. Both sides are a disgrace. I'll leave it there, but I'm happy that my view is the proper one.

What's embarrassing is intelligent people only seeing what they want to see. Israel have been a disgrace for years, surely you agree with that. Hamas have been a disgrace for years, and have taken it to a new and appalling level. I'll carry on looking at the full picture. I couldn't give a monkeys what your view is.

Both sides are. Don't let the hideous acts of Hamas kid you that the behaviour of the Israeli government, historically and currently, is acceptable.

American

None of that addresses the point that you were replying to, namely that Martin's way of playing is costing us points.

Do we know if we have managed to get him into our official EFL squad list? He wasn't in the original published list for some reason.

Yep. If Leeds were willing to pay similar money to us, there was never any realistic prospect if Swansea selling the lad to us.

It began Saturday. The disgraceful Hamas actions have given the Israeli government the opportunity to flatten Gaza and force it's people out. They've been told to leave (go where?) and Netanyahu has said he'll turn Gaza into an 'isolated desert' of 'rubble' (not that you'll find the BBC reporting that).

Hamas can't get any further than they've got, and their incursion will be squashed quickly enough. It's no war - the issue is how much punishment Israel choose to give Gaza/the West Bank, and whether they decide to occupy Gaza.

Tie

Yep. It's a massive own goal politically, but the whole thing looked doomed from the off. A G7 country unable to finish building a train line because they can't manage the budget, or figure out how to fund it ain't a great look.

None of the countries are rich - Paraguay, Uruguay, Morocco and Argentina are far from it. That said, 6 host countries from 3 continents is just weird.

He did well this day. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44046850 Proper man management - he motivated the players and kept us up. His track record, on the whole, is decent.

So we only the game because someone scored a goal? That's kind of the point.

I've not seen anything of Abu to have an opinion. If he's around the match day squad, I'd imagine that means KWP at left back, with Abu giving alternative cover. SAA has loads of promise, but realistically he isn't getting on the pitch ahead of Fraser, Edozie or AA (whether he should is another matter though!). I suspect Fraser is on a typical PL to EFL loan, ie we pay more of his wages if he doesn't play. It's a shame for SAA, but he'll develop more playing for the u21's than sitting on the bench. His time will come - we've got a gem there.

Navy

Indeed...as he says "The biggest number I look for is how many wins we've got and how many goals we're scoring." All other stats are irrelevant bollox.

Abu has apparently been training with the first team and isn't in the u21 squad tonight.

Spinning

Yep, and very underrated... that scene in the cafe too. Brutal.