Marka Ragnos

Fair enough. His club record in Holland (or was it in Belgium?) -- if I'm remembering right -- was spectacular before he signed at Chelsea. It was a coup to get him on loan. Right man, right place, right time for both Luka and WBA. Hard to repeat that magically out of the hat.

Why stop at 300?

I agree with some of what you say here. I believe Bush and Cheney "legally" murdered thousands of Iraqi and Afghan citizens. I still can't believe my fellow Americans elected them. Yes, there's often a huge difference between legal and moral -- except when there's not. .

I'm not sure why that would have any relevance. Btw, what were the dozens of legal avenues open to Manning? My point is, Manning's treachery is obvious to people across the political spectrum, even to people with a natural disinclination to the American "military-industrial complex." As for legal ways to blow the whistle as member of the military, there are many avenues. I gather you're a pretty clever person, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if you were capable of shouldering the burden of thinking your way down some of those avenues. But I will start (and finish) with this avenue: ask for a lawyer experienced in military law. Instantly, Manning would have been afforded certain protections from the UMCJ, including right to counsel and right to remain silent. It's obvious Manning made no sustained effort to use legal means of redress. I'm not really sympathetic to Manning, sorry. He strikes me as a weasel. I never have got the sense of from anything we've seen that he really was out to bring sunlight to the world. His motives seem far less grand and all too human.

Um, no. He's been convicted fairly for releasing classified documents. If he wanted to blow the whistle on the government, there were dozens of legal options open to him. What he did was illegal and traitorous -- and he admits it himself. Glad to see him get a reasonable sentence. Just about right. (He'll be paroled in less an 10 years.) And by the way, before you flame ... I'm probably about as hard left-wing as anyone on this board. Want to see my old CPUSA membership card lol? But you don't have to be a Little America or Little England reactionary to spot a quisling. I gather the sentence is about the same as people get for paid espionage on behalf of a foreign power. It is dramatically and shockingly out of proportion both with previous sentences for leaking, and with what he did. It appears to be not a judicial sentence, but a political one. I'm sure it does appear that way, especially if that's how one wants to see it. But when Manning was acquitted of aiding the enemy -- by far, the most dangerous charge -- was that acquittal "political," too? Or judicial? Did you make that point then? So ... sometimes the military judge was acting "judicially," and sometimes she decided to act "politically," eh? And was that under instructions from ... let me see ... President Obama, or by dark forces running a secret earth government from aboard spacecraft hidden behind the planet Neptune? Leaking thousands of classified documents as a member of the armed forces is wrong as well as illegal, and Manning knew it -- and once again, he admits it. He'll be out by age 40, still young enough to keep goal for the local's weekend club. He's going to have countless book deals, paid interviews, and he'll get the full "Anonymous" rock star treatment. I find it very hard to feel sorry for him.

Truth is, morale seems VERY low at the moment. What a come-down from last autumn! It just doesn't seem they have ever made a concerted plan to deal with the double-loss of Dan Ashworth and Lukaku. Absolutely no serious forward planning.

Going bleedin' bonkers waiting for kickoff. Can't stand it.

Um, no. He's been convicted fairly for releasing classified documents. If he wanted to blow the whistle on the government, there were dozens of legal options open to him. What he did was illegal and traitorous -- and he admits it himself. Glad to see him get a reasonable sentence. Just about right. (He'll be paroled in less an 10 years.) And by the way, before you flame ... I'm probably about as hard left-wing as anyone on this board. Want to see my old CPUSA membership card lol? But you don't have to be a Little America or Little England reactionary to spot a quisling.

Dunno. Sounds a bit cynical, mate. I think we outplayed a strong Arsenal squad that was often unlucky, too. I wouldn't be surprised if Wenger failed to spend much more money and the Gunners STILL finished near the top of the table. And I still believe we're giving ourselves to little credit for last weekend's win, too, and conversely pumping up Chelsea into something they're not because of Mourhino awe. Despite Arsenal fans' whinging about the lack of money spent by Wenger, they still have a damn good club flush with money, and we deserve credit for spanking them. Yeah, the ref was crap. But corrupt? That's Ian Holloway territory, and I don't want to go there.

Purely throwing frustrated fans a bone. If they had been serious, the offer would have been tendered weeks ago.

Even worse, the man has a history of insulting badgers, whom he really ought to keep his sleazy metaphors off of. Aren't they a protected animal? A Holloway quote: "I couldn’t be more chuffed if I were a badger at the start of the mating season" – after his QPR side beat Cardiff. Ugh.

Around 6 or 7, I gather. We're at 12. :-)

Well, that didn't take long, did it? Since he's back in the PL, he better work on his PR nous, no? Poor bloke needs to master the art of such football-management basic PR tactics as "damning with faint praise" and critiquing the ref's actions not his character. Is it really so hard? He should make lots of public apologies. Hey, it's even more attention, right?

This year's squad is totally dispirited. There's no sense of team unity or common purpose. Everyone knows Jeremy Peace has no intention of taking the Baggies further. I agree some of the very weak new promotees such as Hull give WBA a bit of a buffer.

Still not getting why so many people think Chelsea is going to be No. 1 this season. I just don't see it. How have ManU and ManCity really deteriorated in any way, really? What's so great about Chelsea this year?

Is Newcastle that bad? Or City so good? Both?

Damn, Newcastle getting arses handed to 'em. Man City 4-0, and ten more minutes of suffering to go? Is Pardew gone tomorrow?

I think I've figured it out, answered my own question, but it took awhile. I think it may be a Photoshop setting called "Hard Light"??? It's kind of odd how it's become so de rigueur. Ripe for satire, that's for sure. Some of those images actually give me a chill of sympathetic embarrassment. It's that combination of the "hard light" and the oooooo-so-deadly-serious faces. I just feel like, "Please."

Anyone notice in the last several years that a very similar new (new to me, anyway) photographic finishing effect gets added to the preponderance of images of footballers. The effect, in my mind, gives people a kind of "bronzed" or metallic look. Something funny with the contrast levels, but I'm not really a photography expert so I can't say much. Doesn't matter what the original skin tone is, everyone emerges with looking like a polished tin-soldiers look. I see it everywhere, and it drives me nuts. Here's just one of a zillion examples. Here's another. Here's yet another. Finally, here's one that's particularly OTT. Ugh. Are they men, or are they (rather silly) statues? I'd be very interested to know if anyone with photography or Photoshop savvy can explain this. Why does it bug me? God knows. Not for any important reason. It's just become a kind of image-making cliche.

Time for a Levi Ramsey mini-epic... ... Part of that may be because the Krafts don't give a shit about the Revs, but even in Philadelphia, where the Union are the most successful MLS club in terms of local fanbase, I'd still bet on there being more fans of at least Liverpool, Chelsea, Man Utd, and either Arsenal or Man City (and it's perhaps telling that the Union, along with Toronto FC (and the Impact, but they're French, so they don't count for this discussion), don't have the baggage of the MLS's first decade when the focus was on selling the league to soccer moms that the other Eastern MLS clubs do and have focused at some level on developing a more "European" fanbase). As international football has converted non-expats into soccer fans, on the East Coast it's been the PL that has soaked up the interest. Loads of great points in your excellent post. I live an hour north of Philly, and this summer I saw about three kids wearing Union jerseys. Always white suburban boys (and I'm one myself lol), for whatever reason. But if I add up all the others I saw -- heaps and HEAPS of Barca, Real Madrid, Chivas, América, and a few Chelsea and Man U and, for some reason, Everton shirts -- there's no comparison. The fandom around here is completely diffused with no higher number of MLS fans that I can see. I know, I know -- purely empirical, purely anecdotal, etc. I know it's pretty lame, but I think I'd get more excited about the Union if it didn't take 2-3 hours in Philly traffic to travel to a match. So out here in the "hinterlands," I just don't feel "clubbiness" of any sort. Naturally, I find myself reverting to old faves in Blighty. As you suggest, you can practically speaking be "closer" to Birmingham than to many major American cities due to general crap coverage, history, market dynamics, etc. Lots of irony!

I sense way too much awe of José Mourinho. Perhaps I'm way wrong, but I smell awe, and it doesn't seem fully justified given the complete context. I predict it will be a tough challenge for us, but we're going to cause some serious havoc and, if we lose, go down fighting hard. I'm not sure it's wise to pour our hearts into this particular match, but as I said above, I'm not sure our boys are capable of NOT fighting with a lot of heart and energy at this stage. Last year's demons are very fresh in our boys' minds, and they're battling to exorcise them, IMHO. I'm changing my final score to: Chelsea 3-2.

I guess much depends on whether or not a civil war ensues in Egypt. If so, obviously, could be years before we see Egyptian football. The reason I did the topic is because they've actually had some really good players come from their system. No, they're not Brazil, but for African systems, they've done pretty well.

Cause it's shit? (I genuinely don't know) ... (Going off topic here.) No, not the case. Honestly, I think it's the cultural context here. There are some good players and interesting clubs, and the MLS has made incredible progress compared to past USA leagues, but "soccer" just isn't given prime space in the national consciousness and it just makes the game and all that goes with it, for me, less compelling. I have friends who support MLS teams and they're as absolutely dedicated as supporters anywhere. But MLS teams are sort of culturally isolated, IMHO. There are vast spaces in the USA where you could go for months without hearing a single thing about an MLS team, even if you were regularly reading the main news.

Chelsea looked old and tired at the end of the Hull match -- except for Lukaku. Would Okore have the goods to mark Lukaku aggressively? If Luka could be nullified a bit ...

Lukaku, people. That's all that really matters. If Chelsea don't play him, we have a chance. If Chelsea do (and why wouldn't they?), we're up bunghole creek without a paddle. We're younger, faster, brainier, and better-looking against a Chelsea without Lukaku. But bring the kid on, and Benteke's Belgian bro may well neutralise all the good hurt we put on Arsenal last weekend. All that aside, my bigger concern in this match is that we don't get any needless injuries. I worry our boys are still (unnecessarily) going to try to prove they're not last year's team. This is a bad game to do that. I still think they'll play to win, and I half hope they do, but I worry ... please, stay healthy! Don't get hurt, don't get totally humiliated, and I'll be pleased. Chelsea 3 - AVFC 1