A disappointing display and deserved defeat for Newcastle United here, with us a yard off the pace and blunt in attack against Leicester City.
Goals from James Maddison and Youri Tielemans did the damage as we tired early on in the second half and left too many gaps at the back after steady start.
Andy Carroll scored his first goal for the club in over a decade to give us a glimmer of hope in the final five minutes, however it was a case of too little too late from our perspective, with our urgency to attack and get bodies in the box only coming when the damage had been done.
Wilson was too often isolated, Joelinton and Almiron struggled, our tiring midfield was too easily bypassed and our defence was cut open as a result, being left exposed for both of Leicester’s second half strikes.
The late strike ended our goal drought, but the defeat highlighted how lacking we are in a box-to-box midfielder capable of keeping up at both ends of the field and quality attacking options to supply Callum Wilson when ASM and Fraser are missing.
The results leaves us winless in our last five and stuck in 15th on 19 points after 16 games, with us eight points clear of the bottom three at present.
Steve Bruce made two changes for this one, bringing in Sean Longstaff for the suspended Isaac Hayden and handing Miguel Almiron a recall at the expense of Jacob Murphy:
As we come to expect, Leicester dominated possession in the early stages, having over 70% of the ball in the opening 10 minutes. We were higher up the pitch once again and attempting to press – although this time the visitors were finding gaps and threatening to get in behind.
The danger of a high line is it gives strikers like Jamie Vardy space to get in behind if gaps open up – and he very nearly punished us on two occasions. The first saw Youri Tielemans make a mess of his clever cut-back, then the England striker had the ball in the net minutes later – only for the offside flag to save our blushes.
We were a yard behind them, weren’t always getting tight enough and seemed looser in possession than we were on Wednesday night, however we did have a decent spell midway through the first half, with Joelinton getting a header on goal then being unlucky not to set Wilson in behind after his ball over the top was cut out via a crucial Kasper Schmeichel interception.
This half-decent spell helped stem the tide. Leicester were still having the lions share of possession, but we were working hard all over the pitch and getting a little bit tighter to their key men to deny Vardy of the kind of service he was thriving from in the opening 15 minutes.
One thing that had to improve was our ability to get bodies closer to Wilson – he just 11 touches in the opening 45 – Joelinton’s first touch and our passing from deep, with us often lumping it long (even when we had the chance to build from the back) and the referee Rob Jones having more touches than some of our outfield players in the first half!
That said, we went into the break at 0-0 and had managed to contain a Leicester City that threatened to tear us apart early on. It wasn’t pretty and we had to be better on the ball in the second half, however it was another solid defensive effort – despite a few scares.
The game got back underway and there was immediately a couple of early warning signs as Vardy and Co. got in behind, only for his shot to slice wide of Darlow’s near post.
We got into a few good positions, with Yedlin whipping in a brilliant ball that somehow evaded everyone in black and white and Almiron also had a few attempts to slip Wilson in behind cut out.
Just as we were growing into the game and threatening to cause problems, a Leicester City counter attack saw Harvey Barnes leave the Longstaff brothers for dead and play in Vardy. He cut in and laid the ball back for James Maddison, who lashed a powerful strike beyond a helpless Karl Darlow and into the roof of the net. 0-1 Leicester.
Against the run of play based on our promising start to the second half, but an away goal that always looked likely if they caught us off guard with players out of position and struggling to get back.
The Longstaff’s hadn’t played badly in the middle up until this point, but their lack of pace was badly exposed for the goal, highlighting how badly we need a box-to-box midfielder capable of keeping up with play at both ends of the field.
Murphy and Shelvey then replaced a very disappointing Almiron and Joelinton. The former immediately burst forward and a wicked cross soon followed from Matty Longstaff…but once again no one was in the middle to make the most of it.
Then, five minutes later, it was 0-2 via a combination of brilliant Leicester finishing and dreadful marking from our perspective.
Ritchie was caught sleeping to allow Albrighton all the time in the world to pick out Youri Tielemans in the box. The Belgian still had a lot to do, but with Jonjo Shelvey treading water in his attempt to get back and Matty Longstaff out on his feet, he swept the ball past Karl Darlow expertly.
We were at sixes and sevens at this point and Jamie Vardy smelt blood as he then got in between Schar and Fernandez. His resultant shot rattled to crossbar and Andy Carroll then entered the field with just over 10 minutes remaining – and he made an immediate impact!
His introduction stunk of desperation based on his recent attempts to ‘make an impact’ from the bench, yet he lashed home a volley to score his first for the club in over a decade and hand us a surprise lifeline heading into the final five minutes.
We had Leicester camped in their own half for a spell and were lumping hopeful ball at the big man, but little came of it. That said, Shelvey put a teasing cross that was asking to be finished off, but YET AGAIN there was no one in black and white able to make the most of an inviting ball across the box.
That was that and Leicester held on for a deserved win.
Next up, an FA Cup clash against a much improved Arsenal next weekend!
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I just saw you lot are in total lockdown for about 2 months. Do they have any mental health hotlines as I think this will get pretty bad. Hopefully PL can find a way to keep football going as some sort of distraction.
I checked Chicago and it seems to be going against most of the country. There wasnt a Thanksgiving surge and the levels are close to where they could reopen bars. I think they will play it cautious but it is moving in the right direction. This is the time of year when people stay inside anyway because of the cold. i am used to it, but its nice to get to the pub once a week so hopefully they will open.
I was a bit surprised at the Chicago figures as I had really only watched national TV and that was all doom and gloom, especially California.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric, this ‘new’ strain of covid in the UK was apparently widespread in the USA last October and has been around all over Europe for a few months now.
At least the USA has started their vaccination roll out. My daughter-in-law works in a Florida hospital and got her first jab last week and my son , who works in a private surgical hospital gets his this week.
The UK has vaccinated more people than the rest of Europe put together but , as Stuart says , the Government gets little credit. I do not vote for any mainstream party having always campaigned to leave the EU since 1975 , but I thank God that we are not going through this epidemic with a Labour government.
Sidekick(Quote)
Sidekick, they have talked about this new strain in single cases so far. 1 in CO and another NY. I have had the news on quite a lot because I was going on a trip to FL so wanted to keep up with developments. Cancelled it.
Not sure Labour could have done a worse job. And I know Democrats would have done better than Trump because all he has done is spread lies when he is not calling Covid a hoax. He still refers to it as the “China Virus”. I am sure you have heard from your family how badly Trump has dealt with this crisis.
#worstcrisismanagerever
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Also Sidekick, NYC were requiring UK arrivals to have a negative test starting a couple of weeks ago. If it was widespread before that they would have said. It really has been talked about as a recent thing here, but of course it could have just not been diagnosed before but I havent heard that. Mayor of NYC called for a full travel ban from UK just a few minutes ago so he thinks this was not in NY.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I still think they will shut all leagues below the PL down and the PL is touch and go. I have read a bit more about Boris’ u-turns so I wouldnt be surprised to see him direct the PL to close. Did he really open up schools for 1 day and then change his mind?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The fuc.king politics and wannabe genius politicians who think they can do better, on this site are doing my head in. It is meant to be a football blog ffs.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
If true, that doesnt instill much confidence that he knows what he is doing. But Stewie will say it is the media;s fault.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Gilly: football and covid are intertwined at the moment and that brings in politics because they decide on a lockdown in general and in football. Cant get away from it I am afraid. I am at least 60/40 that there will be no football to talk about anyway in the next week or so.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
OK, here’s some football. This speculation of Gayle to Fulham cannot be true. Even the Fat Man is not that stupid, surely.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
It would be crazy to let Gayle go unless a suitable replacement is on the way, which is unlikely. Let’s see …
Gilly Toon(Quote)
I can see Gayle leaving tbh, Bruce keeps saying how much he rates him and how he tried to sign him twice yet he hardly ever starts him .
kimtoon(Quote)
WOW, 1 in 50 people in England ( 1 in 30 in London ) infected with covid , according to the office of national statistics.
kimtoon(Quote)
Can you really see that NOT affecting the PL? And as we have seen once it is in that bubble it spreads. You just have to look at NUFC, City and Fulham.
You know the 3 Steves? Was the bald one at the Leicester match. I dont recall seeing him. If not, he has been out a while along with Lascelles and St Max. I am surprised there hasnt been more calls to shut down football because the 25 man (plus coaches) is just nonsensical when numbers reach a critical mass in the general population.
From what you re saying Kimtoon, they have got to that point now.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
agree 100& Eric
icedog(Quote)
Well I cannot see the Euros happening, once this new variant starts spreading in other European countries , and it will, with the infection rates so high .
Don’t forget Wembley is set to host 7 games after Belgium lost the right to host after stadia not being built on time.
The opening match will be played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Glasgow’s Hampden Park and Dublin’s Aviva Stadium will host last-16 matches and three group games.
The quarter-finals and three group matches will be held in Munich (Germany), Baku (Azerbaijan), Rome (Italy) and St Petersburg (Russia).
The other host cities that will hold three group games and a last 16 game are Copenhagen (Denmark), Bucharest (Romania), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Bilbao (Spain), Budapest (Hungary) and now London.
kimtoon(Quote)
I have no faith in the PL clowns so they will have to be forced into a “pause” by the sheer weight of cases or a Govt order. I think it is close to both. I am shocked and surprised that there is so little discussion of this in the press and on Sky.
If the Euros are to go ahead they have to cut back the venues. Good idea guys but maybe next time! Who the Fck picked Baku? Didnt they learn a lesson from the Europa League Final?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The latest is the EFL want the players union to pay 5 million for weekly Covid tests. Not sure if that will save their season but it was ridiculous they were in such large bubbles with personal close contact without testing.
On tuesday the PL had 40 cases. This is getting close to a critical mass for a shutdown.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The data is looking grim. Here is a summary:
The 40 PL positive tests are NEW positives from testing on Dec 28 and 31. This is on top of the outbreaks at NUFC, City and Fulham and almost all clubs showing some positives and having to isolate players. The full extent of the Fulham outbreak is not known but they called off 2 games so it must be serious.
40 EFL games were called off over the Christmas period.
The EFL now want testing twice a week and are asking for funding. Shows the stupidity of them not testing at all for the season so far.
Pep has weighed in with a totally contradictory comment, he says “it looks like we are an island inside society. Everything is locked down except ourselves”. He concludes “Dont change the schedule, we have to adapt”.
My conclusion would be that this island he talks about is unsustainable and the facts are getting in the way of keeping the leagues open. The testing and bubble protocols have been shown to be inadequate. I really dont want it to shut down as it will be a help for all football fans during 2 months of hell, but I just cannot see any other argument for keeping football going. Especially since they locked it down in probably a less serious situation last year.
The wild card is the Vaccines but I doubt that will be enough. And do we really see this going from a full lockdown to “back to normal” in 2 months even with the vaccine?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Are the players changing and eating together in confined spaces? That would be a problem. Let’s take testing out of the equation for now. If you were to design a way to maximize the spread of this disease the PL model would be it – if they change and eat together indoors. Even so, you have these other dangers:
You have 40 people (includes staff) mixing closely outside for hours on a daily basis. No social distancing and no masks. In fact, it is the opposite because they are constantly touching each other and spitting.
These people then go home to families where they can pass on the virus or pick it up.
Then once a week or more, the bubble is breached because they play another team who have been working under the same protocols. They have to travel miles to get to the venue and are in close proximity again whether on buses, trains or planes.
Match day, all rules are ignored. No masks on the sidelines for Managers etc. It used to be fist bumps but that has gone out the window, The personal contact goes up exponentially because the players are always pushing and shoving. Just look at every corner and free kick. And when there is a goal there is a pile on from about half the team. The only saving grace is that it is outside but otherwise this is the perfect design for a super-spreader event.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Piers Morgan on GMB “Why are we behind the curve once again on vaccines”!!! That is a personification of the media through this pandemic. How on earth are we behind the curve? We have vaccinated more people in this country than the entire continent of Europe put together!
Unbelievable
Stuart79(Quote)
The man has the Vaccine minister on and castigates him for being behind the curve when we’re actually way ahead of it and then focuses on issues from 9 months ago!! The guy is stuck on a doom loop dated 10th April.
Stuart79(Quote)
Well, we are the 3rd quickest in Vaccinating to be exact Stu. Israel are number one for Vaccine distribution.
I think what Piers was getting at, and i said this yesterday to lews carer, is that the virus is already mutating at alarming levels and the longer we take to vaccinate everyone the quicker our existing vaccines becomes useless.
It gives the scientist breathing space to tinker with the formula of the existing vaccine to adjust it in future for the new variant . We need to get ahead of the curve as they say, not playing catch up.
We are doing well, but it needs to speed up both in supply and administration of the vaccine if we are to win the war on covid.
With 1 in 50 now infected, just going to the supermarket is a game of russian roulette , even if you don gloves and use gel after a visit you know lots of others have touched the products. 🙁
kimtoon(Quote)
What do you expect from Piers Morgan? He is just a self promoter and all he cares about is the number of his twitter followers. I dont know why you get sucked in by him. He is the Robbie Savage of tabloid style TV news, always something controversial for his own ends. May as well have Jeremy Kyle interview politicians.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
It’s also madness the amount of re training courses and forms ( some 28 ) returning medics have to do before they can get back in the system to give a vaccine to people.
Many of these medics/nurses only retired in the last couple of years, they will of spent a life time doing that and it’s an insult to have to jump through hoops just because they want to help .
kimtoon(Quote)
Eric, Morgan is a bell end imo but he does make the odd relevant point and I think today he was right.
kimtoon(Quote)
Didn’t shut the freezer door properly last night, have half defrosted stuff i need to ditch now . Hate it when that happens. 👿
kimtoon(Quote)
And my bin is already full 🙄 2 days later for collection due to xmas holidays. Still at least it’s black bin week and it’s not the summer and hot enough for flies, yuk .
kimtoon(Quote)
My point was, Kim, not whether we were the fastest but that we are well ahead of the entire continent of Europe combined and PM is constantly comparing us to other European countries when it’s bad news (not that you can compare countries) but when we’re ahead of the curve he still criticises. It’s quite a good microcosm of the media as a whole.
Still people expect this vaccine to be done in a ridiculously quick rate which just isn’t possible. It will ramp up I’m no doubt but you can’t go from 0-60 in 1 second.
But I guarantee if by mid February we’ve vaccinated 11m people (good going) the government will be criticised because they wanted 12.2m. That’s why they should never set targets.
I wouldn’t mind betting at the end of this we will come out of it better than most countries in Europe and that with our unique problems which makes a virus much more likely to negative effect is than many others.
Stuart79(Quote)
What point was he making that was correct? The fact we aren’t vaccinating quick enough? Surely he can’t be correct in that, given 99% of the world haven’t vaccinated as many as we have? There is a big gap between what we would like and what is possible. You seem to be another good example of unrealistic expectations, Kim if I do say so.
Stuart79(Quote)
Extending Gayle’s contract is a no-brainer in my opinion. I know he has his injury issues but we need a backup for Wilson. That backup is not Carroll or Joelinton.
Dwight is on supposedly 65k a week. That’s 3.4 million a year. That is a normal wage for a PL striker now. It would cost at least 10 mil to replace him and the new player would be on the same wage.
But he is 31 you say!!! Well, I know they are much better players but Cavani is 33 and Zlatan is 39. They gave Ritchie an new deal at 31 and he has been out a lot as well. Shelvey, injured as much as Dwight.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I dont care what some people say about Gayle not being a PL striker. He is the best we have after Wilson so we need him. I would dispute that he is not PL quality anyway. He played under Pardew FFS and then Rafa loaned him out to get Rondon. When he has been given a run of games at least he hs worried the opposition which is a lot more than can be said for Joelinton.
Firmino at Liverpool doesnt score a lot now but worries the opposition.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Stu, he was right about getting ahead of the curve, in this case the new variant .
How is unrealistic to expect us to vaccinate more and quicker ? We have the army, medics,new and retired also Pharmacies, GP’S, HEALTH CENTERS.
We have empty schools, football stadiums, nightingale hospitals that can all be used to vaccinate folk and most importantly the will to get on with it.
In the case of Astra zenica Vaccine, no huge issue of keeping it as cool as the other one and it’s ours so no hoops of other countries to jump through. I’m aware that batches have to get approval before use but throw enough cash and personal at it and it’ll speed up.
There has been near on 9 months to have a plan in place for this particular vaccine and how to get it out quick smart so no excuses.
Even if we did 3m a week we’d have most vaccinated by may. Hopefully we can do even more than that.
kimtoon(Quote)
Kimtoon: how long would it take to train someone to give an inoculation? A day? You could set up a new category of say Certified Inoculation Specialist. You could push that through in a week. Have Nurses and Drs oversee the efforts in schools. Schools are empty and the obvious place to centre this effort because they are in every neighbourhood and they all have gyms and assembly halls. They usually have long corridors where you could social distance inside.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
There has been no plan over here either but that is down to Trump and no centralised distribution or the money being made available. Hopefully that will change under Biden.
The problem is that they are relying on the existing infrastructure and that is overwhelmed. You cannot add to the burden at hospitals with inoculations. You have to have separate places to do them and schools are ideal if they are closed. Hell, you could set them up in private gyms that are closed and pay the owners for their use. There are lots of private gyms over here.
They are also relying on pharmacies over here which are usually in supermarkets. That’s a bad idea. Having 10s and hundreds queueing up in a supermarket is asking for trouble.
You could also set up mobile sites, like a mobile library.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I’m not really commenting on the football as it’s about as depressing as the rest of the news. I’ve lost so much interest in it apart from match day and even then I sometimes have to be reminded there’s a match on!
Stuart79(Quote)
Kim it’s a perfect example of always wanting more. If we had vaccinated 10m by now people would have asked why it wasn’t 15m. I find it sad, futile, mealy mouthed and quite frankly, pointless posturing and oneupmanship. Even when all the evidence points towards the fact we’re well ahead of the curve compared to the rest of the world it’s still not good enough. Quite sad I think. It’s also been completely forgotten that the vaccine manufacturers can only produce a certain number of vaccines at the moment too.
But I also see they have said that the red tape and pointless questionnaires are being scrapped so former health workers will be able to administer the vaccine. So that’s good news. Personally I think we will be about beginning of March not middle of Feb before we get the vulnerable done. I’m sure we can expect criticism for the government…
Stuart79(Quote)
Assuming the PL stays open, what do we have to do? What do we need?
Left Back? Not if Dummett is fit, but will he be fit. If Willems is available it is a gamble worth taking. Does that mean we are giving up on Lewis? Not sure, but he needs to be eased in and cannot play against the likes of say Mahrez.
Centre Back? I think we have enough there, especially if Dummett is fit.
Centre Forward? Ship Carroll to Big Fat Sam and loan somebody. Who? Sharpy will probably have some ideas. I dont 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The BIG ONE. Central Midfield. Let’s take a look at what we have:
Shelvey. The enigma. I go back and forth. He is worth a spot on the bench but he is too inconsistent.
Hayden: I think he does a job but needs someone creative next to him and/or box to box. If we play a 3 man midfield we could have both but not when Bruce plays the 9-0-1.
Sean: He has to prove himself. Now lowest on the pecking order after 1 decent game in 18 months.
Matty: has shown promise but is 20 with virtually no experience. Will have to watch him closely to see if he is as slow as he looked against Leicester. If that is the case he needs to develop Pirlo-esque passing ability and Arturo Vidal tackling to stay in the team. Possible, Kante is not quick and does a job, same with Carrick.
Hendrick: have we really seen anything except in that first game? I am not sure what he is -right, central, left, providing forward cover for fullbacks? Not sure Bruce knows either, but that wouldnt surprise me.
Miggy, Fraser and Ritchie: not really sure if they are midfielders but some people want to shoehorn them in there.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Oh, and assuming we stay up I would sell Shelvey in the summer. He has taken up too much of my time trying to work out how we can fit him in, how he will help or hinder, whether the good Jonjo outweighs the bad Jonjo.
I just want him gone now. I dont even care about the fee. Out of sight out of mind.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
We have far too many players needing contracts sorted – not just fringe players anymore either.
If we lose Yedlin, Schar, Clark and Fernandes – where does that leave our defence?!.
Carroll & Gayles contracts have ran down – they go and the top end of the pitch looks pretty sparse too!! – it leaves very little cover.
I don’t necessarily think all of those players will leave – but 2 or 3 defo will.
I’d say we are already 3-4 players shy of a good squad already & Ashley wants out, so he isn’t coughing up for replacements.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric – not a clue mate. Not for a loan in Jan or even if we were to buy in the summer ??♂️.
I think we will struggle for a centre forward without spending big money again.
Sharpy17(Quote)
2 more players and 1 more staff member at Man City test positive for Covid.
Why is nobody talking about the suspension of the season? Or at the very least cancelling City games?
40 EPL games cancelled over Christmas.
Does nobody care about the players or their families? You have to explain to me how this bubble theory is working when it clearly isnt.
They are still playing the games and possibly passing on the virus to other teams even as more of their players test positive. How can you justify not isolating when the City players have obviously been in contact with covid positive team mates. If this was any other business they would be doing contact tracing.
The thing is, with football teams you dont even need to do contact tracing because we know who is in the squad and we know who the staff are. And we know they have been in CLOSE contact EVERY day. Closer contact than even supermarket employees or schoolchildren who do not roll around on the floor together when they stack a shelf correctly or get an A on a spelling test.
AM I MISSING SOMETHING HERE?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
And dont tell me the system is working because they are catching the positive cases. No it is not!!!! There has been a 10 day gap between the first positive tests at City and today. They are not catching these cases in time because it is still spreading.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sharpy, I did say the other day that I find it odd so many players contracts are being allowed to run down. Is there more to it than meets the eye? Is Ashley expecting the club to be off his hands by summer and then it’s new owners concern or preparing us for a new spell in championship by shifting some high earners ?
kimtoon(Quote)
Stu, it’s good the red tape is being done away with, about time and will help massively .
As for wanting more on the vaccine front, that simply isn’t what this is all about, it’s about being properly on top of a rapidly changing virus. The whole world has been chasing this thing for 9 months. We knew this vaccine worked months back and just needed approval, they should of been aiming for much more vaccines ready to go once approved and have thousands of people trained up to administer it too.
Lew’s carers hubby works for superdrug and they are only just starting gearing up to give out the vaccine, they haven’t been told anything about when they will be getting it in or when they can start vaccinating.
As for other countries being worse than us, so what. It’s not a competition . I just want us to throw everything at it and get some semblance of normality back.
kimtoon(Quote)
Lewis is out so I think Bruce will keep the same back 5 for Arsenal. Hayden will be back, but I will be a bit controversial and say Shelvey will also play and be captain. That means dropping both Longstaffs. I also think Murphy will play and unbelievably Joelinton will keep his place. Now for my most controversial pick. I think Bruce will save Wilson for Sheffield and will instead start Gayle. So
Dubravka
Yedlin Fernandez Schar Clark Ritchie
Hayden Shelvey
Murphy Gayle Joelinton
Eric Sykes(Quote)
“ We knew this vaccine worked months back and just needed approval, they should of been aiming for much more vaccines ready to go once approved” Howay, Kim – they can administer vaccines that haven’t been manufactured yet. The gvt had the foresight to pre order Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines before any other country and they still haven’t been given enough. When we see that there’s 5m dozes sat idle somewhere and the gvt aren’t using them I’ll criticise but not when we’re a week into AstraZeneca vaccination roll out I’m afraid.
Stuart79(Quote)
I’ve had to turn Question Off. The bias is staggering. One government minister and a nurse/author who has an agenda against Boris Johnson and a Chief Exec who also has an agenda against the government for different reasons… Dear God! Why do these people think everything that needs doing is simple and straight forward… We could have saved 60,000 lives if we’d have locked down in March and still be locked down now. These people don’t see the nuance or the fact that there are other factors at play. That’s literally the limit of these peoples views. Scary that they’re suppose to be intelligent.
Stuart79(Quote)
Hell on over your end Eric – he’s got his puppets dancing!!
Good to see Pence has come to his senses though.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric – I think it’s been a combo of Ashley overlooking it or leaving it to the last minute coz his priority has been to sell.
But the likelihood of the first teamers signing with the club in limbo – Bruce as gaffer & the ambition being survival – why would they stay on??!!!.
I wonder if that was the vision they sold to Wilson to get him to sign on by the way??!
Sharpy17(Quote)
How many were ordered though Stu ?
kimtoon(Quote)
Eric, Trump has gone too far now, inciting violent protest.
kimtoon(Quote)
I see Trump every day and I have been saying he is crazy. His speeches are all rambling messes aimed at racists and morons, usually with guns but DC will not allow open carry. Still some brought some.
This is all on Trump and his lies. He gets his news from Murdoch and conspiracy theories on the internet.
This was almost ineveitible. They had already tried it on the State House in Michigan and there was a plot to kidnap the Governor, have a kangaroo court and execute her.
I have said on here that Trump is a danger to the world. I believe it and I was not exaggerating.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
These stupid fcks call themselves a militia. They are nothing of the sort. They are domestic terrorists incited by an Orange lunatic. The term militia in the American Constitution refers to recruiting able bodied citizens to HELP the army in times of insurrection or most famously against the British army. It is not a bunch of tw@ts playing soldiers and rising up against an elected government and the police. That is the antithesis of what the founders of this country meant.
Make no mistake that Trump has enabled these delusional traitors. His Presidency has been one lie after the other culminating in his supporters and him attempting a coup. And that is what it is. It was before with his baseless claims of election fraud, but now it has gotten violent. He asked these morons to stop but in the same sentence defended them.
He is burning down the building on the way out and if his supporters had their way that would be literally and it would have been the houses of the US Congress.
This is appalling. No matter what you think of Boris I cannot believe this would happen in Britain. This is a subset of Americans/terrorists who are violent and have easy access to weapons. I cannot for the life of me see who would need an AK47 but there are millions of them in this country.
The cult of Trump is incredibly dangerous and he will continue when he is out of power egged on by his idiot sons. Don Jr even said today that there is no longer a Republican Party, it is Trump’s Party. This is an autocrat getting what he wanted whatever he says on TV. He wanted this.
I am not going to bore you with all I know about this but his reasoning for questioning the election is that “people believe it was rigged”. No evidence. That’s the sum total of his argument. Trump’s enablers are almost as much to blame. They set up this false narrative that they could overturn a democratic election and set up the perfect arena for this riot. If it was from the other side of the political spectrum I have no doubt that the Police would have intervened more forcefully.
In Michigan when the terrorists who call themselves a militia occupied the capital with machine guns at their side the police did not intervene because they didnt want to cause chaos and said they were “outgunned”. And they were. These morons had AK47s and even deadlier weapons.
Anyway, that is what I have seen through watching this develop over Trumps term.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Facebook have banned Trump. Can you believe that facebook banned the President. He is still President until noon on Jan 20th.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Pictures of the mob. You have to be some kind of stupid to be involved in an insurrection and mob rule and not cover your face. They must have violated some laws and with all of the face detection software now some of these fools must be arrested and go to jail. Best get Trump out of office first though.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/gallery/2021/jan/06/trump-mob-storm-us-capitol-in-pictures
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I always said he was dangerous. His rallies were like a 21st Century Mussolini and it was noted that when he went back to the White House after his bout of Covid that there were eerie parallels when he was speaking from the balcony. I have never wished anybody dead in my life but I said after Trump got Covid that it would be better for the world if he just faded away.
I compared it to Hitler and whether it would have been a good thing if he had been killed in 1935 or by his Generals during the war. Stuart thought I was being hyperbolic but I stand by what I said.
There is even talk of invoking the 25th amendment among his cabinet. This is done when they and the VP feel he is unfit for duty. In this case that he is mentally unstable. It would not be ratified as two thirds of the House and Senate have to pass it but it shows the depth of feeling now. This man is dangerous. I just hope he leaves office before he can start a war with Iran.
I am sure you all do not follow this closely but there are 10 living defense secretaries. They wrote a letter earlier this week asking the armed forces not to go along with Trump on action within and without the United States.
Trump is a Mad Man drunk on power.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
This was planned. They found bombs, a van filled with molotov cocktails and rioters with helmets and kevlar vests on. If you look at any of the videos the rioters were violently confronting the police they purport to support. They even had high powered pepper spray. And yet so few were arrested. If it were liberals they would all be in jail. You have to hope that in the coming weeks these traitors will be tracked down and jailed – for the good of the country! Their ideas and actions are dangerous, egged on by an egotistical maniac. They call themselves Patriots when really they are Traitors led by the Traitor in Chief.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
My last word on this for tonight because this is unprecedented in the history of the American Republic, at least since the Civil War. These people wrap themselves in the American flag and call themselves a militia as outlined in the 2nd Amendment to The Constitution. As I said above, that is a bastardization of what the 2nd Amendment actually says. They say they are Patriots, they are insurrectionists, traitors and vigilantes.
Vigilante! Not militia is the correct word to describe these thugs. They say they are for law and order and yet fight with the Police. The Representatives had to barricade themselves in. Where were the reinforcements. Where was the intelligence who were tasked with preventing this sort of thing? They did it in Michigan where there was a plot to kidnap the Governer. How could they not know this might happen again.
I can only think they didnt want to roil Trump by having a massive Police presence during one of his stupid rallies. He even called these people good people afterwards. They are talking about firing some of the Police Chiefs and Capitol Security people. They should start at the top with the person who implicitly, and even worse, explicitly called for this.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
above that was deleted – B@stardization.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric, it’s awful scenes there, is there no way they can just remove him from office straight away ?
As you say he is hell bent on causing mayhem on his way out.
This is the guy with the nuclear codes ffs .
kimtoon(Quote)
Eric , if the Republicans believe that the Democrats cheated to win the Presidency then the Republicans are just going to have to learn how to be better cheaters.
Sidekick(Quote)
In that stupid rally just before Trump spoke Rudi Guiliani ranted on stage that the the election should be decided by “trial by combat”!!! Fcn stupid Game of Thrones Reference. But then Trump made one of his stupid and roiling speeches imploring his supporters to march on Capitol Hill. He knew what he was doing. In state capitols other MAGA/vigilantes gathered with weapons – AK47s – because they are open carry states. That means that you can carry a machine gun on your hip and nobody can say anything. This, in a country where there is a mass shooting almost every week, all with these exact weapons. You can carry a machine gun into Walmart FFS in half the states. If DC was open carry this would have been much worse.
Only 52 people were arrested and the vast majority of those were for curfew violations much later. A lot of these people in the Capitol Building committed felonies which have a 10 year prison term. How stupid can they be. The FBI will track them down because they made no effort to hide their identity. They hang out in facebook groups and have Watsapp groups. It will be easy to identify them because they are so stupid.
I had thought maybe the FBI should wait until Trump is gone to arrest these people but now I think they should be removed from the streets because there is the potential for them to act again, probably in their own states.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Kimtoon: even before yesterday there were calls for another impeachment because of the phone call he made to Georgia election officials telling them to subvert the election by “finding” votes. That is also a felony.
There is also talk of his own Cabinet talking about invoking article 25 of the US Constitution. This would have them declare him (mentally) unfit for Office. The VP would have to go along and I doubt they have the balls to do it.
They should do both though as a way as loosening his grip on the party after he leaves. I think the impeachment can go on when he is out of office. There probably isnt time so we just have to pray (and I am not religious) that he doesnt nuke Iran.
I think he better get a move on with his pardons.
He is also grooming his son Don, Jr. for a run for President who is a bigger idiot than he is.
I urge anybody who thinks I am going over the top here to look at some of the scenes from yesterday and imagine if that was Britain. Look at when these vigilantes took over the Michigan State House as well. If you have not seen them already you should also watch 15 mins of one of his speeches on Youtube to see what I am talking about. He is unhinged. That and “crazy” are the 2 most oft used terms for him now.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Boris is wartime Churchill compared to this. If I ever see Stuart defending Trump I will lose all respect for him. I am usually not offended by people having different views to me but I make an exception for Trump.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
From AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna only about 150m. How many more should we have ordered?
Stuart79(Quote)
Interesting scenes from the US. I think everyone knows Trump is a fruit cake but I always like to see the bigger picture. It’s very easy to criticise Trump and god knows he needs it but I want to know why the US has got to a point where they voted for a man like Trump in the first place and then for him to increase his vote by 7m 4 years later… That is more worrying than some idiots rioting IMO.
Whose taking responsibility for this? It’s not come out of the blue. This has been building up for years. Does Obama take some responsibility? How bad must the US be for a man like Trump to be so popular?
Answer these questions and we can start to find a solution.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stuart: Trump is a master manipulator of the weak and there are others like Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham who called Trump all sorts of things 4 years ago and support him now because of their own political ambitions. I have asked myself why Trump has so much support as he is not even a Republican. He voted Democrat for most of his life to curry favours in NYC.
It is a perfect storm of the new Josef Goebbels, Facebook/Twitter and conspiracy theories on the internet. They all came together with the weak willed and feeble minded to create this Orange Frankenstein’s Monster.
All Donald ever wanted was the tax cuts for his billionaire pals and himself. The Republicans went along so they could stack the supreme court and appease the religious nuts who many in congress are themselves. I could spend all day telling you how it got to this but I will stop as there is a game coming up.
I reckon a weakened team and 3-0 to Arsenal. If it goes ahead.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
A lot more than that considering how big the population is .
kimtoon(Quote)
Eric – the USA is in an incredible state when that idiot can even be considered as a politician.
georgio(Quote)
Stu, How in gods name can you blame Obama for the rantings of a madman !
Did you see some of the faces on those protesters, pure hatred and out of control, some scary ***** there like.
kimtoon(Quote)
Eh? You don’t think that’s enough to vaccinate our entire population? We have 67 million people. However that doesn’t alter the fact that we ordered these back in the summer (regardless of whether they worked or not) and given the fact that they have a shelf life and limits on manufacturing you are showing once again you live in a rose tinted world of unrealistic expectations.
Stuart79(Quote)
I haven’t blamed Obama. I asked if he’s taking “some” responsibility for it. I think it’s a fair question actually. He was president for 8 years prior to Trump. What had he done for the people who decided things were that bad that they voted for someone like Trump? I could also ask the same question of George W Bush but that was twenty years ago but it wouldn’t surprise me if the seeds were down that far back.
But I have to say, Kim, you’re a classic example of the people who don’t want to debate why were at this point. You just want the easy option of calling Trump a maniac and blaming him for everything.
It’s like terrorism. It’s no good just blaming the people who are radicalised because it won’t get us anywhere’s we need to find out why these people are easy to radicalise and what’s happened in their lives for them to be easily manipulated. Eric said something very similar above about Trump voters.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu: I am not the oracle on this but I have lived through the last 4 years of madness. He and Mitch McConnell have tried to undo everything Obama did. They tried and failed with healthcare. I think it was 60 times and took it to the Supreme Court more than once. Obama is nothing like Trump.
The Republicans thought they could have Trump as a useful idiot to get their Agenda through. They found out that the could not put the orange toothpaste back in the tube. He has thrown everybody he has ever hired under the bus. Mike Pence is next. Nobody, but nobody has a good word to say about him after they leave. Some write books, some tell private stories about his derangement.
He is probably the 2nd most petty man in the history of the world. Stalin being number 1.
You only see the headlines of the worst stuff he does. But there are other things. Obama set up National and State wildlife and Wilderness areas. Similar to National Parks. Trump revoked these so his Pals could drill and frack in them. Last week he issued drilling licenses for parts of the Alaska wilderness where drilling had been banned before. That was one of his last acts. He is petty and dangerous and more like Stalin than you could imaging if you dont see it every day.
He called for locking up Hilary FFS. And in the week before the election to jail Obama and Biden. This was not a joke. He asked his Attorney General (the highest law official in the land ) if he could do it.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
And stop with the false equivalency Stuart. Obama was nothing like Trump. I also think W Bush is a good man who was led astray by NeoCons. You are implicitly defending Trump by saying they are all the same when they are not. You do this all the time. You cannot defend someone so you bring up a straw man who you can attack.
Eric Sykes(Quote)