benjii

Absolute mess at the back. No surprise.

Indeed. I think it is defamatory to call someone a "pedo", and simply saying "I didn't really mean it" or "we all call each other pedos where I'm from", is clearly not a defence, particularly for someone high profile and with reach, who should know better. On that basis, it seems an odd verdict. Where "pedo guy" seems to have had trouble is in convincing the jury that he actually suffered as a result because it seems that, in fact, he tried to capitalise on the infamy/fame at the time and the size of his claim now is clearly mental and greedy. I would have thought that guilty but with fairly modest damages would have been a better outcome. And the bloke has ****ed up by not getting a decent agent at the time to spin some more cash out of it

Yeah, any of the goals in the 4-1 at Fratton were much worse than the Norris one.

We should be positive and stick with the same shape. If we go to 3/5 at the back the whole team will drop off and we’ll just invite balls into our box. I would consider Valery instead of Cedric and maybe bring in Romeu, move JWP to a wider slot and drop Redmond or Djenepo from the starting XI. Other than that, we may as well stay as we are. We will have had three clear days since the last match and don’t play again until next weekend so I don’t see the need to “rest” anyone.

Anyway, are we talking about that awful programmed drum loop with the string sample over it? It’s ****ing terrible. Not rousing in the least. If they must play music at that moment then it’s a terrible choice. Obviously they should play something when the players emerge then either shut the **** up or play something the crowd can sing along to.

Shatner's Bassoon by The Bush Rocketeers.

Wild Woods?

I had some business dealings with the club about two or three years ago and it seemed like a mess. The bloke I was dealing with was nice and did his best but he seemed to be covering about three different roles at once and didn't have the support, time or budget to handle them all.

You're banning people for drawing attention to relevant historic threads? This place.

Yeah, and I guess the bog-roll boom vest was a give away too. Rubber dingy rapids, innit. But my broader point is that if you’re a brown person intervening in something like that you’d better hope the police know what’s going down.

Indeed. Massive credit to the police for identifying what was going on and getting in and dealing with the bad guy. Imagine a scenario in USA where a couple of black guys intervene to take down a terrorist - they'd probably all be dead.

He's obviously Ralph's number one pick at CB. Has he missed a single league game since Ralph came in? All the others have been dropped at some point. So fair play to him. Not his fault we never signed a good, experienced partner.

I couldn't see the game. What shape did we play? 4-2-2-2 or more like 4-3-3?

Player of the season by a distance so far. Averages fewer minutes per goal this season than Kane, Sterling, Mane, Rashford and Aubameyang. A compelling example of why signing experienced players is important to complement the "buy low, sell high" policy. If we'd made a similar signing at centre back we'd probably wondering how high we can finish, rather than if we are going to get relegated. Also seems like a decent bloke, and he's a mush, and he gave it to the Skates at the Fratton end. Top lad all round.

I don't think "quarter Arabic" even makes sense. "Quarter Arabian", would be correct.

Lock up yer daughters... It's Budulak time!

If China wants to invest in foreign infrastructure projects, it does so quite openly. It doesn’t send gormless, disgraced patsies in to buy up the local football team.

I don't find them attractive, just confusing. Fascinating creatures, though.

Selling the “conveyor belt” model to players is fine, but it is to be balanced. When we sold everyone that summer then brought Koeman in, our signings were a mixture of young players and more experienced players. Pelle and Tadic were mature players that we were never going to make a big profit on. Whereas Mane was a young guy with potentially huge profit. The last few years, we haven’t signed any Tadic or Pelle, with the recent exception of Ings. It’s all been young players looking to make their way, particularly at centre back. And it’s a false economy. Also, when you sign someone to a long term contract but plan to sell them anyway, don’t feed bull to the fans about securing their services for five years etc.

Selling the “conveyor belt” mode to players is fine, but it is to be balanced. When we sold everyone that summer then brought Korean in, our signings were a mixture of young players and more experienced players. Pelle and Tadic were mature players that we were never going to make a big profit on. Whereas Mane was a young guy with potentially huge profit. The last few years, we haven’t signed any Tadic or Pelle, with the recent exception of Ings. It’s all been young players looking to make their way, particularly at centre back. And it’s a false economy. Also, when you sign someone to a long term contract but plan to sell them anyway, don’t feed bull to the fans about securing their services for five years etc.

Or a chap with a fanny.

Such a leisure development will really set us apart as a compelling global footballing proposition. We could be known the world over, like Coventry, Sunderland and Weston Super Mare.

Eh, Marco ! Yes, Luca? Did you ear about Sow-hamp-ton? No whata appen? They gotta new Nandos and a cupla benches by Northam shore! Well ****a me sideways! They will be known the world over now!

I used to love Clive James’ stuff. I am actually quite sad about that.

That’s what I thought! I thought, “I bet you can’t even see his todge under his massive bloated gut!” Great minds, Suhari, great minds.