shurlock

Got any more 'holidays' or leave of absences planned pal? #crushingbore

6.4/10 Experimental and audaciously shameless. Only needed the image and pathos of a distraught father for a full house. Not without potential but meanders at the end, trying to do too much and is ultimately raw.

Only Boro have scored fewer goals than us in the league. That said, we have the third best defensive record. Unlike Koeman's setup, I don't think one comes at the expense of the other. It's quite possible to be more expansive without sacrificing our shape or compactness.

Maybe history will look more kindly on Dusic aka Charlie...

7.3/10 Bonus points for the graphics, even if somewhat derivative.

Not quite. It means we should be able to sacrifice a defender or get the defence to hold a higher line - all of which should benefit our attack.

Yep it's OTT, esp on a match thread.

Pochettino did IMO.

Please tell me which facts I stated are unsubstantiated? Otherwise wind your neck in. FWIW, Hutch's numbers are meaningless -if not disingenuous in isolation. But given your form on this thread, you don't know your **** from your elbow. It was misguided missile who decided to revisit old ground, not me. A gormless claim was made that the EU is a dictatorship and it was duly challenged. Get off your high horse or take it up with him pal.

I recommend you do some reading. For laws to pass, they must be agreed by both the Council of the European Union and Parliament. Voting weights in the Council are determined by country population size, so act as a check and balance for any unfairness (itself debatable) you think exists with apportionment rules for the European Parliament. Moreover the Council is widely viewed as the more dominant institution.

The reference to the Treaty of Lisbon was made solely in relation to the changes to qualified majority voting that neither you nor Jacob seems to understand. I made no other factual or normative claims about the Lisbon Treaty. It's painfully obvious to see you're incapable of arguing or addressing specifics - whether it's this post or previous ones. No great shame to admit you're out of your depth pal. After all your side "won".

I agree the lad isn't the sharpest tool in the box. Poor old Jacob can't even get his basic facts right. Qualified majority voting doesn't work on the basis of weighted member votes. As such Malta doesn't have 15x more influence per capita than the UK. The adoption of acts by the Council of the EU now requires the approval of 55% of member states which critically must represent at least 65% of the EU's population. In other words the system rewards the demographic or population weight of countries, benefitting larger countries like the UK. Very different from the picture presented by Jacob. Perhaps you should try to make up your own mind on issues. Dimwitted deference to elites and a thing for plummy accents arent excuses pal. EDIT: I investigated the link and see the debate was held in November 2013 before the changes to qualified voting took effect (1 November 2014). That leads to a number of conclusions: (i) while Jacob's claims were closer to the truth at the time, he was hoodwinking the audience as he knew the voting system was being overhauled and replaced, as set out in the Lisbon Treaty. Or perhaps he wasn't aware of the changes which would be consistent with his general cluelessness. (ii) you're an even thicker **** for sending an out of date link. That said, you don't have a clue about the institutional realities of the EU and the significance of one date over any other date, given your perspective is basically grounded in rank prejudice.

In particular double majority voting.

Not sure what your point is pal. My point was directed at the claim that the EU is a dictatorship. For what's it worth you exhibit a basic misunderstanding of the powers of the European Commission -and how they relate to other institutions. Perhaps you would like to address the post in its entirety. But perhaps not given your pîśś poor effort at a response

Great nutmeg

An amen would have been more appropriate.

MLG is the biggest and most skilful windup on here.

The substantive point (per the previous page) is your claim that the EU is a dictatorship. Unsurprisingly you provided no evidence to that end. Rather blabbered something incoherent about the European Commission. You do realise the European Commission cannot make or foist laws on member states? That it can only make proposals which have to be agreed by the Council of the EU made up of ministers from national governments and Parliament? That the powers the Commission does enjoy (notably in the monitoring and enforcement of EU laws) rest on treaties and laws decided by elected national governments? That Commissioners are increasingly accountable to European Parliament/directly-elected MEPs? That the European Council, another body made up of heads of state/national governments increasingly set the broad direction of EU policymaking? That even under qualified majority voting the vast majority of EU legislative decisions have been voted for by the UK government (97.4% for 2004-09; 86.7% for 2009-15) presumably because they are beneficial to the UK -never mind that the most sensitive areas need to be agreed by unanimity? That brexiters on here, you included, either because they are thick and/or hypocritical simultaneously criticise the EU for being too cumbersome given the need for consensus across member states because of that pesky thing called democracy? The EU, like every living breathing political system, has weaknesses; acknowledging this does not prove that it is a dictatorship. Far from it. Thick **** is just about right.

You've consistently argued that Austin's injury record is par for the course and nothing to be concerned about.

You're one thick ****

Good to see one man army MLG denying that Austin is injury-prone. #freakaccident #couldhappentoanyone

Agree. Good post.

Like it or not, it was reported by the press. It's probably utter b*****ks but it didn't originate from here.

#moneyball

Why is it? Its not outlandish to claim we were a striker short (even before Austin's injury).