egg

It's not a "man's job" but the fact is that women's football and men's football are played at vastly different levels to the extent that experience of playing or managing one does not give relevant experience of the other. That said, as bad as Aluko is as a pundit, she's more qualified to comment on men's football than you are to opine about Barton's mental health.

Didn't realise it was only 13 years. I just noted the 9 years for murder which is a pathetic term.

Agree with that. Crooks is useless, but the quota box that he ticks is a no go zone, whereas one of the quota boxes that Aluko ticks is just about a go zone. She can (for the time being) be talked about whereas muppets like Richards and Crooks get a free pass. On Pistorious, apparently there's a massive male to female violence (and killing) issue in South Africa. Pistorious got released very early and the issue was/is what sort of message does that send. I have no issue with it being raised as such, but its not an issue that we can do anything about over here.

He raises more than one point. He's right that Eluko is crap, that the push to get females involved in the women's game has gone too far, and that Neville has a view on everything. Not sure the war or Fred/Rose West references though, and that Neville needs to be dragged into the way ITV dealt with Schofield though. I didn't understand the Bury reference re Neville though and wandered of that was a more sinister insinuation.

Joey Barton has lost the plot on this. He referenced Rose and Fred West when talking about Eno Eluko and Lucy Ward, and has since had cracks at Union Berlin referencing the wars, Itv bringing up Phil Schofield, and Gary Neville talking about "grooming" and "noncing". It's mor entertaining than the pundits he's talking about to be fair - worth a look. https://x.com/Joey7Barton/status/1743175947514515819?s=20 https://x.com/Joey7Barton/status/1743206615913009231?s=20 https://x.com/Joey7Barton/status/1743205584693010516?s=20 https://x.com/Joey7Barton/status/1743335074463170928?s=20 https://x.com/Joey7Barton/status/1743529495783747668?s=20

Bird

Better than I expected to be honest. Caught him at speed and kept his foot in. Edozie got relatively lucky.

Satirical

Mulder? It's been a while.

Spooky. Southampton's nickname is the Saints. The main character in the Saint was driven by a character played by Roger Moore. Roger Moore's initials are RM. Southampton's manger is Russell Martin. Russell Martin's initials are RM. That can't be a coincidence can it?

One of many who slipped through our fingers. And he never played for Holland. Double travesty.

I'm not convinced that Danny Wallace was ever properly replaced, and we may as well have shut up shop when we sold Rodney.

You've proved that more goals have been scored. Not how or why. I think it's no more than tactics have changed and the game is now more open with more players joining the attack. Nutrition etc is relative - all players gain any advantage that gives - not just strikers. Anyhow, none of this alters that big Baz let's in shots he should be stopping.

Granted, a keeper's role is different if the team play with the keeper as a kind of sweeper or ball player, but fundamentally they still do what they always have. You've lost me on strikers being different though.

Belt

Dynamo

Tough game today, but I fancy us for a close win, and for Ipswich to draw. Would be great to be a point off Ipswich with better goal difference. Also love that almost all the games have a 3.00 kick off on the same day. Nice.

Root

Or a nerf gun. Or black pepper - that works.

Is it in pea shingle?

Yep. Disgraceful.

Of course. Iranian help and weapons is alway a proxy. Western help and weapons is just business.

I started this thread back in the summer when things were hotting up, and as Guterres says, this didn't happen in a vacuum. Not sure about the Russian link though, but it's not beyond the realms of possibility.

Management

Habit