You could tell Nyambe wasn’t right in that play. He’d clear that usually I reckon. Unfortunate. Love that boy. Sign him up ffs

Because it isn’t happening It will never happen whilst they are here. Simple as that really. I’d bet my last quid on it. Why have they suddenly realised what it takes to run a club and, if they have, why is it taking so long to sort it?

We’ve had a bit of Bicep discussion before but on the weekend I had the pleasure of catching an Eli Brown closing set at an Elrow event in Brum Didnt get any live videos - but will keep an eye out - but he did play a pretty great mix of Biceps Glue and Nelly Furtados ‘Say it Right’ for all you electronic heads out there

But when you look at Venkys you have to look at their past behaviour as well as finances They have the ability to hire almost any name they can realistically attract to Rovers but so far we have been in the market of cast offs or dodgy pundits. There’s not many who have had a good CV come through the doors in their time. In that case it is hard to think of whatever positive could be happening behind the scenes. Especially when one of the biggest chancers we have seen in Waggott is still sat on his spinning chair. I seriously cannot understand any optimism in Venkys business but hope you are right. It would take some doing though - hiring good folk into and restructuring a club they’ve torn apart. A serious investment and not one I believe they are willing to make.

It really didn’t go up in smoke - Comrade Corbyn is disgraceful and should pay his own expenses (according to you) I will assume you also think Corbyn is a fat cat member of the upper elite then. I just wanted to make sure that in this instance you are applying the same logic to all as in the past you appear to have trouble with that That really was my only point 😁

Huh? The point was that Corbyn billed more expenses than Starmer despite holding a lesser office The other issues around whether or not he voted for pandemic measures are a side show If Starmer is a “fat cat” member of the upper elite based on his expenses claims then I dread to think of what you make of Comrade Corbyn In reality your argument is just a bit silly and you know it

With the size of all them bills it is a bit difficult to know what he voted against But what we do know is that in late 2020 he voted to lock the country down - arguably very harmful to the lesser paid service industry https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/jeremy-corbyn-says-coronavirus-lockdown-the-right-response-as-boris-johnsons-plan-wins-business-and-union-backing Here he called Boris Johnson’s lockdown plan the right idea Although we are off on a tangent. The point was to show you that the expenses claimed by JC were higher than Starmer, despite your protestations that Starmer is now a member of the upper elite. Caveating it by linking it with his idea on public health matters is trying to get yourself of the hole you created. Starmers expenses appear reasonable and are less than the socialist ex-leader of the opposition. So perhaps the principle is now defined - move from the left to the centre and reduce the expenses bills 😃

These “changes” had better be radical because being honest radical change is the only thing that can be viewed as positive We are a skeleton club with a massive chasm in leadership roles. We have 0 scrutiny of our operating procedure and have seen a decade long demise of everything from match day experience to operating staff (ie ticket office and club shop) Nothing at this club is better than it was 12 years ago. Absolutely nothing. So if we are to view any aspect of Venky ownership as positive, and if indeed “change is on its way”, then I have to be honest to share the optimism of 1864 it has to be a change in ownership. There cannot possibly be any other news to be positive about when you consider how everything is done with Venkys.

Well actually Corbyn did vote for lockdown, at least definitely the third one https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2021/jan/06/how-did-your-mp-vote-on-the-coronavirus-lockdown-regulations I can’t really be bothered to look at the other two votes so I will leave that one for you

According to the website below Jeremy Corbyn also claims £6.00 a month for his giffgaff bill Given he also earned the same amount of money as Starmer I’m absolutely certain Ewood will be apoplectic at the way in which Comrade Corbyn has been pilfering the public’s money for his phone deals He also made a claim from John Lewis….he must not have been taking decorating advice from Carrie Symonds https://www.parallelparliament.co.uk/mp/jeremy-corbyn/expenses

It would have to be some miraculous changes for them to be considered big leaps forward in my eyes. What do they have planned - a whole new board? New owners? A full review of the business? Will they put some money into the ground? You might have optimism but unfortunately that isn’t a shared optimism. Why would things change so rapidly after a decade of pure negligence?

You did refer to the British steel crisis Which has been in crisis since the 70s If you didn’t mean Brexit was a cause of the steel industries decline then that’s ok, crossed wires, but it did read as if you said so

Brexit was a major factor in causing the steel crisis? Tata and SSI closed in 2015 - before the referendum British Steel has been declining since the 60s. China produces more than everyone else combined and this website seems to think the fall of British steel is the fault of international markets https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/uk-steel-decades-of-decline/ I’d put big money on Brexit not being the major factor in the demise of British steel but I’m no expert. Everything is the fault of Brexit now - it is almost as if no other problems existed before 2016 lol

Nuance doesn’t belong in the Brexit debate Silas We have driver shortages now and it is all attributed to Brexit. Get with the times

Fair points but I do think the notion that all signs point to everyone needing it is a little premature From what I can see it is having a remarkable results at reducing serious illness in the vulnerable but in case of transmission rates in the younger adult categories it still doesn’t seem to be impacting as much as first thought. Reducing hospitalisations in this age range isn’t exactly vital as there weren’t many to begin with. I stand to be corrected on that one though. As an example I think the push to vaccinate 12-16 year olds is over the top. The “zero Covid” strategy cannot work so is it hasty to expect this strategy to have an impact above and beyond what we have already seen?

To once again interject I would say that Big Pharma definitely does have a motive to push vaccines on people Whether you believe that motive is financial or moral depends on your view of the Pharmaceutical industry Big Pharma has had a huge history of outrageous settlements and an even longer history of avoided fines. A brief summary (first link on google) is actually pretty good at explaining the 10 worst cases of out of court settlements https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/features/biggest-pharmaceutical-lawsuits/ I certainly don’t trust Pfizer, J&J, Moderna or whoever because the history of themselves and their industry is plagued with lies and profiteering In particular American companies are quite shameless in their pursuit of profit and therefore should be treat with caution And I am certainly not a conspiracy theorist or a believer in the New World Order - although New Order are bloody good

The mistrust of the media and state agencies is a deep rooted problem, and one of their own making I do understand the frustration that conspiracies bring but by and large they are limited to the internet I have to admit that I would agree that the media enjoy making a frenzy of situations. Hyperbolic headlines are the order of the day because now everything is online clicks matter. So in that respect it doesn’t so much bother them if the content therein is poor, as long as the headline catches the attention and gains the ‘click’ This same reasoning can go for conspiracy theories. A lot of “influencers” have realised that there is a market for denying or doubting (whatever your mindset) Covid Personally I obviously don’t doubt Covid exists, nor do I doubt the dangers it brings to certain people, but I would say that the media have not made it easy for people. If you are alone and out of touch with certain realities of life then the sensationalist fear mongering in the press must weigh a heavy burden. The fears of variants, the daily death figures (which cease when low) and the other million statistics which have become mainstays now all play a part in creating fear In reality I think people on all sides need to take a chill pill. There’s no real reason scientists would want to harm people and therefore doubts around the vaccine are misplaced. However, if people do not want the medical intervention then that is their choice. It shouldn’t be used as a weapon against them. The path society is going down is dangerous - one which ranks people depending on their attitude towards the state. We’ve heard of “social scores” before…

Where is the conspiracy in that post? Genuine question did CNN not say that?

Butterworth has looked a good player every time he’s played. He’s twice the player Dolan is but just doesn’t run around like a headless chicken. Dolans work rate is fantastic but unfortunately I don’t think he’s got the vision for a top player. I’d much prefer Butterworth against the likes of Luton and play Dolan for the championship teams who think they can play like City, example being Swansea

Either way, regardless of the purpose of the increase in NI, all it has done is make poor people poorer whilst not really impacting any high earners or, in real speak, those who could afford to lose a little bit more to help society In reality the govt will continue to waste vast sums of money elsewhere and raise taxes under the guise of “reform” Not what we voted for

I don't think he has Gav This isn't about wanting or not wanting to pay our(my) way. We all do that enough already. The problem lies in the way the Tories are going about collecting the increased taxes. It has once again fallen on the less paid and younger generation. The NI tax takes a significantly higher percentage from somebody that is earning less than 25k than it does for somebody earning 50k. The idea that the poorer should pay percentage wise more so that those with larger inheritances can hold on it is rather grotesque imo. To suggest that you are against funding the NHS because you take issue with where that funding is coming from is trying to take moral high ground where there isn't any. What Chaddy needs to understand is that, whilst he may be happy to "pay his way", by having that sort of challenge nothing approach he is allowing them to absolve their well off friends from any tax burdens and placing all of that burden on the 'working class'. Why should you pay more if you are poorer just so those richer can continue to accumulate wealth? The Conservatives promise us a low tax society but so far it has only been low tax if you can afford to avoid it (what a world) whereas once again this problem that has been ducked by every government over the past 20 years appears to be "solved" by letting the plebs pay more; a token gesture on increase in dividend tax but above all else protecting their core, comfortably retired (or close to) voter base from any hit financially whatsoever.

Now that is quite a silly statement Chaddy

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/sep/07/boris-johnson-unveils-12bn-a-year-tax-rise-to-pay-for-nhs-and-social-care I did a quick totting up of the impact based on the article above If you are on 25k a year it will be a further 8% of your salary taxed; if 50k it will be a further 1% and if 75k a further 1% also That shows you exactly who this “health and social care levy” is designed to hit I understand we all have to pay our way in any society but surely there are better ways to manage this. The government could bail out the NHS debts for one - just like it did the banks. It could put in measures to stop the excessive fees demanded for social care. Maybe it could even introduce a genuine health and social care levy that is means tested and takes on contributions from employers and businesses. I’m not an expert but somehow I don’t think this will cut the mustard for the overhaul the broken system needs.

All getting a bit strange with the Covid situation for ourselves Another ‘outbreak’ occurred within our Sunday football group. A few lads have been sick and one got a positive for Covid. Another player, who had Covid during the recent outbreak in our group, has all the symptoms but no positive test. All negative. Yet a friend who has no symptoms has had a positive. This is across the board too. Out of 16 of us the three lads to test positive have no symptoms whilst 2 lads who actually do are both negative….strange

I take issue with the rise in National Insurance. Once again it appears to be the poorer who pay. A low tax society should benefit all, but these days the tax rises seem to be for the poor and the tax cuts for the rich In order to have a low tax country you need your business to pay its way. Currently we aren’t doing. I’m not an economist but I would bet good money that you’d generate more income by increasing tax on business profits, ensuring correct tax is taken from big business and placing a more robust tax on income such as rent and dividends Until that happens it is one rule for them and another for us You don’t need to tax to the hilt everything to provide a good service. Maybe start at looking at what healthcare providers charge for basic health requirements too. There’s no way the fees of 1500 a week can be representative of the true cost to care for someone