sadoldgit

I made the suggestion because a poster earlier in this thread said he shouldn’t get the job because he is too young. I don’t disagree that he should pick his own backroom team should he get the job.

It’s not Starmer’s place to deliver. It’s down to Macron. We are paying them enough money. Time they delivered.

My point is that the system is supposed to be there to support people who need it. Means testing to me should be about looking at each case on its own merits and providing commensurate support. Yes, you probably need a cap but a set amount might be below some people’s needsand more than other people’s needs.If it is the case that generally people rely on two incomes then that should be taken into account if one income goes. Means testing doesn’t mean you still have one income so you are ok. It doesn’t matter if my wife had left her job willingly or was sacked. It didn’t affect the outcome of our case. You keep going on about nice holidays. Perhaps you know one person who does and base your assumption that everybody is on that but I think you will find that people struggling to make ends meet and even have to rely on food banks don’t go on nice holidays. We weren’t fussed about having a nice holiday. We just wanted to meet our monthly bill obligation whilst my wife looked for another job. We did take responsibility for ourselves thanks and we found a way through it without any state support. Others probably weren’t as fortunate. I am not looking for sympathy, I am just trying to point out, from first hand experience, that the current benefit system, Universal Credit, is very hard to obtain, the system is a nightmare to negotiate and this idea that most people who do use this system are all living it up thanks to those who are working is pure nonsense.

Turkish? I might reference other posters but I don’t follow them around constantly.

We were getting by on both of our incomes. When we lost her income we had problems as we were reliant on both incomes. My wife left her job because of intolerable working conditions that seriously affected her mental health. Should she had stayed? We weren’t means tested. We didn’t qualify because of my income, which was barely enough to cover our basic outgoings. If the benefit was means tested we could have shown that we were struggling to cover our basic outgoings every month just on my income. Many people now rely heavily on two incomes, it is not unusual. If one person becomes employed for whatever reason, it puts an enormous strain on the family finances. My point was that everybody’s needs are different. There is no one size fits all and everyone seeking benefits should be treated on their own circumstances with the benefits being commensurate with their needs. She was given a caseworker who was based somewhere else other than the building she needed to report to. There was no direct contact with her caseworker, it was all done through the person she met at the time. She never met the same person twice, nor did I. There was no way of building a relationship with anyone. It was all clicks on a computer with someone somewhere else making a decision and informing you by post. It is not a very humane system. Because my wife had started an accountancy course, they eventually said that she qualified for a couple hundred loan as a “student.” We were never given any information about paying this loan back. About a year later some money disappeared from my account without any notification. After some digging I found out that it had been taken directly by the DWP without any prior contact with myself or my wife (who the loan was made to in the first place). No phone call. No letter. It is an inhuman process and if you have worked all your life it is humiliating. We have both paid NI contributions for years and just needed some financial support to tide us over until my wife got another job, which wasn’t going to take forever. No luxuries. No holidays for years because we had to pay back money we borrowed to pay the mortgage and bills. We went down from two cars to one which may not sound like a big deal but if you live out in the wilds with no decent public transport system it isn’t great. So no Egg, we didn’t seek help for luxuries. We sought help to pay our bills. Like many people, this is a second marriage for both of us. We both had to start again which meant a new, big mortgage at an age when you expect to have either paid it off or nearly paid it off. We don’t have an extravagant lifestyle. The cost of living crisis has affected us just as it has many other people at an age where you hope that you don’t have to worry too much about making ends meet. I don’t see paying the electric bill and the mortgage as a luxury but it felt like that for a time. We haven’t had a proper holiday since before Covid but I’m sure we aren’t alone there and it isn’t the end of the world and we managed to get through a difficult period without having to sell our home. Its very easy to be sniffy about benefits until you find yourself in a position when you need them.

Living rent free in your head still eh Baby Reindeer?

I never mention Nigel or Beats. Another poster on here was dead against Eckert because he is only 32 years old. The word is that Spors saw him as a potential first team manager/coach down the line which is why he was given the under 21 gig. He hasn’t suddenly become older or got 5 years experience managing the first team so is it unreasonable to bring someone else in with that experience for him to lean on? If that person also has German connections and knows the club…. One way or another he will need a coaching staff unless the under 21 staff join him, but that sounds like a “nod” idea doesn’t it?

It comes to something when you are too far right for Reform.

And still it goes on. https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2025/11/27/israeli-troops-kill-two-palestinians-in-jenin-as-they-try-to-surrender

I find it very sad. There are plenty of proper flag posts with proper flags flying in areas that are appropriate. To see what now are no more than shredded dish cloths hanging off street furniture does nothing for “national pride.”

If there is still no “stand out candidate” I wouldn’t have a problem with him given the job for the rest of the season and then revue. Perhaps Ralph could be persuaded to come back to give him a bit of avuncular support but let’s be honest, things have changed massively in the last few weeks and there can only be one reason for that.

“Many others will abuse it.” Where is the evidence for this statement. Define “many.” Do you think that maybe the word “some” might be more accurate or are just doing the usual assumption that we are a nation of scroungers?

Not as bad as some would like to believe then … https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/sterling-uk-bond-prices-rise-whippy-trading-reeves-budget-soothes-some-nerves-2025-11-26/

In Trumpworld Zelensky and Ukraine are “losers” because they allowed themselves to be invaded. It clearly pisses him off that he is obligated to support a “loser” and if it weren’t for the European leaders putting pressure on him I’m sure he would have bailed on Ukraine a long time ago.

Pieces of rags hanging off the lampposts. I wish the people who are so proud of their country they felt the need to shin up them and tie flags to them would do something about the eyesore.