madthatter

This with massive bells on I'm not 100% sure how it should be working but I always liked the idea of only a captain being able to challenge decisions (say 3 a half) and then have them referred, a bit like tennis. I think VAR is showing that football is played and ref'd by humans and we make mistakes and have differing opinions - even with 5 different camera angles

Tell you what should be a booking - any player asking the ref to give a card.

And I've never heard public figures who are Muslim state they aren't going to blow people up . . . What an odd comment

Been saying this for ages. All the shrieking liberals are doing is giving the (far) right leaning groups more and more support. When I've seen TR speak (like at Oxford Union) he always has the accusations of being a racist thrown at him but they are never backed up - God, that grinds my gears when folk do that . . . Most of his concerns and points are rational and in the best interests of the country - you may disagree with him, or see him first and foremost as a self-publicist, but regardless I'd still stand by that claim. There will be many folk who would publicly agree with him if it wasn't TR saying it, and if they weren't afraid of PC backlash, so I reckon the idea of him working with a credible party isn't that far fetched.

A variant(s) on the theme of the UJ, I think.

Sounds like one I could watch with my mrs, she loves that kind of thing, ta.

Don't have to meet folk to know how they think or feel do you? But aye, I've met a fair few of them n all. In hindsight I should have asked them if they saw the Palestinian flag as a symbol of a murderous, terrorist regime?

You say that, and granted it's not exactly a national outcry; but I'd say that mon on the video represents a fair chunk of how many from ethnic minorities feel about it. I'm more interested in the arguments that folk put forward for such things - in this case a clear historical prejudice against all things English. If it were to be changed I'd have it as it is but in each of the four corners I'd have one of; curry, cannabis - rasta hat, Polish sausage and a pint. I haven't thought it through - that would offend the vegans/vegtarians

I'm one of those - and you can understand why folk were skeptical but fair fcuks to him; he's saying and doing all the right things. Time to judge is after the tournament but I will say that the continuity form lower levels to the first team with GS is seeming like a huge plus for England, now and looking ahead. The FA must take credit as well though.

To be fair they were like that in the Euros . . . I'm always wary of teams that win when they don't really deserve to - it's not luck is it when it keeps happening. No-one seems to mention France but they're a bit similar - not great but through with no fuss. They'll only get better

With good reason

Aye but think the article must have been early to mid 00s. The whole idea of replacing a flag and the inferred symbolism is, to me, very similar to the idea of removing statues of historical figures. It's attempting to silence or rewrite history - much better to keep and reeducate so that it can be understood more widely (good and bad) and perhaps embraced in a more holistic way moving forwards. far right loons would just choose another symbol like say a cricket bat crossed with a beer mat or some such nonsense - we'd end up having to ban cricket bats instead . . . was that partridge enough for you?

No but given what constitutes a sending off these days he probably should have gone. I'd say it was deliberate and worse than Beckham's fanny tap against the Argies . . .

Funny guy isn't he? You could do with lightening up a bit squire edit - that's not a reference to skin tone, just to be clear

Quite! But as said above, it depends on who is flying it and their intent. Any argument I've heard for replacing it has not been convincing. Read a Voice article years ago that wanted the UJ changed to reflect more diversity - as it was claimed that it represents slavery and oppression to many. The answer: A UJ that was basically a new styled Jamaican flag - ha ha! that's diversity for you!

That's my thoughts as well. The best way to do that is for all English folk, regardless of origin, to proudly fly it. A George's Cross flying over a little country village somewhere in the shires is a beautiful thing - no-ones telling me otherwise. Minorities could also fly the flag but generally choose a Pakistani, Indian, Jamaican or whatever flag instead. Their choice but . . .

I'd agree on that, actually. Which, to bring things full circle, supports the idea that it was management that brought the success . . . and failure. Perhaps Ferdinand was right . . .

I'm getting that vibe, aye. Rather muddled thinking imo.

ha ha In reality though that would be OK so long as every shot of said crowd also contained 20% blacks, 60% women, 30% disabled (with clearly visible disabilities) and 20% Asian with possibly a token white man

https://www.facebook.com/BritishDynamite/videos/663798310659042/ Hope that link works. Anyways - the St George's Cross: A symbol of colonialism, imperialism, crusade and far right oppression . . . or just a flag that a lot of folk take pride in? A flags a flag to me but listening to the two arguments the fella at the front is the one who has old-fashioned views and clings to the past, with a little prejudice thrown in for good measure. Lad with the flag is quite articulate and makes a good case. It's a shame that some folk can't identify with a flag (whatever that means) or see it in such a negative light but minorities should never be ruling majorities in a democracy.

Aye I'd imagine the poor ones could only dream of having cars to sell. There's many folk here that couldn't afford to go to the world cup thinly veiled 'im skint'

You're probably right but you know how the press are . . . I think we try and win but if second spot looks decent he could possibly rest a few more? Agree that Mexico, Columbia etc could give us a tougher test than many think

Worth a flutter for the cup?

To be fair, for most of those 90 players we were not playing in European competitions domestically. I reckon the likes of Barnes, Beardsley etc would have held their own. Marseilles were one of the top dogs when Waddle played there iirc? Anyways, not saying they were better then the GG players but some were easily on par. Comparing Cole to Pearce though is like comparing a Ferrari to a Land Rover. Probably fair to say the 90 lot over-performed (maybe?) and the GG lot under-performed (for certain).

Not great is it? Still think it's a good idea but way too many creases to be ironed out