Lighthouse

12pm kick off? I need another brew, not a pint.

Good point. Would be good to see DN get some decent minutes towards the end, if the situation permits.

Our strongest side - Good. I’ve no idea why people think we can afford to rest our better players.

Another top 6 game hailed as a big derby by the 'tators only to be a drab, turgid and thus far goalless affair.

Rasiak?

Stuff like this may draw sympathy and outrage from the world of broadcasting and social media but for the rest of the population it’s getting a bit ‘boy who cried wolf’. It’ll backfire next time we have a properly unpleasant episode, like the England game in Montenegro last year. People will just not care, because they see hysteria like this every week and they’ve become desensitised, which other people will take as ‘evidence’ of systemic, ingrained racism. This will lead to more trivial incidents being sensationalised and described as abhorrent and horrific, which just leads to a vicious cycle whereby some members of society become more and more offended, whilst the rest care less and less.

You mean the guy with 17 starts in English football, compared to 15 years for Walcott?

He isn’t regressing, he just isn’t that good and never has been. There is a reason Everton, a team around us in the table, let him go basically for free. What we’ve seen of him so for is exactly what I’d expect; plenty of direct running, poor decision making and running into tackles.

In retrospect, that’s probably a good thing. I wonder what kind of programmes clubs run for players in preparation for the end of their playing career. Let’s be honest, a lot of them aren’t the sharpest tools in the box and could probably do with some help and background knowledge in certain areas. Property development, grass root academies, car dealerships, etc.; as long as they’re get started whilst they’re still playing and they’ve got the capital, most players can be kept on the right track.

False equivalence, 'brown' is used as a derogatory term, 'black' isn't. If someone referred to me as 'that white guy' I wouldn't be offended. If someone said, "honky cue ball over there needs an early bath." I probably would.

For everyone or just the racial issues in famous countries that get the most media attention? Presumably all those criticising these Romanian officials are themselves fully informed of the differences between ethnic Tartars, Ukrainians and Romani gypsies and the correct colloquialisms which are and are not acceptable. They all know the difference between referring to someone as a Bosnian Muslim and a Muslim Bosniak and would never dream of using them in an offensive context.

My personal experience with working with and occasionally dating some Eastern Europeans is that they tend to be very direct and to the point with their language. I’m trying to think of a better example but a girl might say, "I don’t like that you are a bald one but you have nice eyes so it’s okay for me." There just isn’t the same polite social filter that we have.

I’m sure Oscar Gobern never practiced or planned to do whatever the hell that was at Bournemouth in League 1, still deserved a red card. That was a penalty, any day of the week. If Maguire did that against us at OT and VAR didn’t give it, this place would be absolutely howling, I guarantee.

This whole issue is in danger of turning into Brexit - two teams, the battle lines drawn, neither willing to give an inch, both determined to seize upon any tiniest crumb of righteousness to score points. The net result is a total stalemate, with little to no progress ever being made. I know people will say people of colour deserve equality so why should they concede anything but this is a negotiation whether you like it or not. It’s going to take time, patience and an acceptance that not everything will go your way. I was involved in a union dispute once where conditions at the company I worked for where nowhere near those of the industry leaders. We were every bit as well trained, professional, experienced and hard working but did we go straight in demanding everything our competitors employees had? No, like heck we did. We went in hard with the most pressing issue at the time (being employed full time on zero hours contracts if anyone cares) and accepted we weren’t going to get free coffee and biscuits. You’ve got to ask yourself if these are the hills we really want to die fighting over. People booing a gesture, for dubious and debatable reasons? A Romanian (who’s outlook on diversity is probably centred more on Tartars and Romani gypsies than PoC) calling a black man a black man? We should be focussing on issues such as the racist chanting in Montenegro last year and the pathetic punishment UEFA handed out, instead we’re having a contest to see who can be the most outraged over Fawlty Towers and Bo Selecta.

Meanwhile, on Bill Gates’ laptop...

I had no idea the phrase, "why on Earth," implied some sort of high stressed emotional breakdown. 😕 Anyway, in the interest of good natured humour I'll rephrase: "I say dear chap, would you mind awfully if I inquired as to your reasoning behind said team selection?"

Because some of us enjoy an early bath, so the phrase doesn’t quite carry the necessary negative connotations. TBH there’s little I enjoy more than a nice long soak with some scented candles and my Matey.

Why on Earth would we do that for a perfectly winnable league game? Play your strongest team.

Those aren’t rights, they’re statistics without context.

What on Earth was poor about Brighton’s penalty decision? JWP stuck his hand straight up above his head and slapped the ball. That was as blatant as it gets.

That’s basically an argument for choosing to suspend him for several games, so that we can better time a one match suspension. Play your strongest team as much as you can, we can deal with a one match ban as and when it comes.

Just checked and seen what an astonishing record we've got away to Brighton. W9-D2-L1 since 1982 😲

That's not so much a rule as it is a form of playing advantage. If the initial foul had been 10 yards out the box, with the second one inside there would be no argument about it.

I’d go with the team which finished tonight’s game personally. Maybe have Walcott on the right instead of Armstrong.