Amsterdam_Neil_D

11 minutes ago, villa89 said:

The premier League has marketed itself well and it's reaping the rewards now.

To be fair to European football,  they haven't and never will have the tool box the Premier League has.

Loads of people watch MOTD in Holland every single week.  Whatever the reason is for this,  I doubt it can be replicated.  

If she is not in the water then,  the only thing I can think of now is that she went into the water and then got out later on to someone waiting at a specific point on the river to pick her up.

Cant be abduction from the bench as the mobile or dog would have messed this up.

10 minutes ago, Zatman said:

They have started. Pique has set up his own 6 a side league in which managers pick cards that can earn instant penalty kicks, flipping the score and red cards for opponents among other things

I am not even joking

Sounds like a sport desperate for the inclusion of something that sounds like a formation but also gets people thinking as that game goes along.

The introduction of a "3-2-1 featuring Ted Rogers" section every 10 minutes seems the only logical way to go for them now.  Win a speed boat and all that.

On 02/04/2022 at 22:00, Meath_Villan said:

I like Picard .. better than that discovery shite 

Star Trek Discovery is as far as I know a comedy.

One of the worst shows ever created.  Utterly shocking.  They should all be ashamed.

11 hours ago, CVByrne said:

What else are Barca, Juve and Madrid expected to do?

Invent their own popular sport that they build from the ground up like the UK did with football  

Or join the 3 teams together as 1 massive club and rotate the home games or just give up and pack it all in.

I am watching "The Chemistry of Death" - So far a 7/10.  (I think Paramount but not sure)

Its a bit like a one man Silent Witness.  Very enjoyable so far,  I am waiting for part 6.  The main guy lost his Mrs in an accident years ago so this causes him problems psycologically.

Part 1 / 2 set in sleepy UK village,  4,5,6 are in the Outer Hebrides.

Great cast and location.  It's worth a look If you can get hold of it.

1 hour ago, magnkarl said:

Good bunch of people. Top notch.

They are mostly all new to the game to be fair to them.

1 hour ago, sidcow said:

Surely Lord Flashart was Rick Mayall at his finest?

He was amazing in general but Flashart,  no one past or future could have played that part so well.  Utter genius he is from my childhood.  I was a teeny weeny bit upset at his passing.

Think of the people on that set at the time,  I remember they all looked on at the master in awe when in the throne room scene.

2 minutes ago, Zhan_Zhuang said:

That is nuts!

I'll probably watch it as my eldest is a big fan of Tolkien's books (and the films), as I am too.

I could see from trailers alone it looks odd.

OK,  let me know what you think.  I am being unfair,  it has actor heavy weights in it that carry it along I suppose, like Lenny Henry.
However,  this has nothing to do with Tolkien's books.  They might say it does but it doesn't. 

Places and names maybe,  that's all.  

I am half way through re-editing the sound for Episode 1 for comedy purposes funnily enough.  Almost ready.

2 minutes ago, Zhan_Zhuang said:

I haven't seen Rings of Power,

I mean if you look at what 60 M an episode can deliver in the wrong hands,  for that money I expected something amazing.

Rings of Power is actually so bad that it moves to a comedy in some places unintentionally,  you are not sure if they are actually having a laugh and its not a serious piece of TV or some of it is ad-libbed or something. Really strange.

As you correctly said,  something is off with it, something bad.

10 minutes ago, Dodgyknees said:

300k fine and a threat of a points deduction. 

Payable over 5 years.

26 minutes ago, Zhan_Zhuang said:

Apparently it is the most expensive TV show ever made; visually it looks cool.

More than the Rings Of Power ? I think that's 60M a episode. Money does not guarantee quality.

The breakdown was strange for Rings of Power,  58 M an episode on inclusion and diversity (In a Northern Europe setting) and the rest on the story and the actors. 

There are 2 things I think they need to accomplish,  punish Man City and compensate everyone else.

It is the Premier Leagues basic job to make the league a fair and level playing field for all teams. 

They knew this was not the case for over a decade,  they are as guilty as Man City.  Man City always had a horse shoe in their glove for every match, a material advantage and just basic cheating.

There position in the league is untenable and might be a cause of problems in and around grounds also. 

Man City are the Jimmy Saville of football,  happy to fool the world in plain site for decades on TV twice or 3 times a week and even though most people in the game knew something was up it went on for ages.  In this case they have been caught and are still alive as oppose to Saville.

Put them in the 3rd division,  50% of their gate goes to the away teams until they get back in the Prem so the compensation goes to the poorest teams first and that will be a lot of money for them.

8 minutes ago, stewiek2 said:

The premier league simply cannot ignore this now. It's beyond football. HMRC should, if they aren't already, be on the case. Fraudulent contracts all over the place, false company financial reports posted to Companies House. This is Serie A level of fraud/corruption.

They will get a slap on the wrist.

Most of it relates to the purposely withholding of accounts and evidence to back it up.

They tied everyone in knots due to the financial clout they carry but it has all crumbled now.  

To make it go away,  all they need to do is show the documents but they can't,  for obvious reasons.

They basically ruined a lot of seasons as they knew they had an unfair advantage and capitalized on it at the expense of other teams,  players and fans.

"This is Serie A level of fraud/corruption", I believe it is a lot worse than that.  Industrial scale is needed for it to go on so long.

Should be points and transfer ban at a minimum that effects them in all ways,  status,  league, money.  They need to suffer bad.

9 hours ago, hogso said:

Happy Valley finale. Rushed. 

I thought it was awful.  3/10.

Was all over the place.  Spoilers below

On 03/02/2023 at 00:16, sidcow said:

Her fanny would certainly be the dark side of the moon. 

I suggest a Wizard's sleeve type scenario.

6 hours ago, GlobalVillan said:

Yep, clean sheets, kick **** out of the opposition, long ball, set pieces, hope that'll be enough.

That's his likely plan.

10 or 20 years ago I agree this was the blueprint to survive when in Everton's position.  It has been implemented numerous times by teams in trouble and they have survived somehow.

I don't think this approach alone will work anymore,  the game has slightly changed in that the long ball for example is inviting pressure and releasing possession really is a no no against most premier league teams now,  its hard to get the ball back.  Possession and getting the ball into positions that create free-kick and corner chances mean that they actually need to play in and around the opposition box and convert the opportunities.

The introduction of VAR has also clipped the wings of this approach,  there is few opportunities to be that over physical side,  the clean-sheets relies on not giving away free kicks and red cards for tackles etc.  

 I think they are going to properly struggle,  even if there is a sudden improvement,  injuries and suspensions will hopefully pile up and that will be them done.

I want them gone,  down and out well before the end of the season.

I hope they go down and go into administration or similar,  vile club.  Biggest myth in football,  everyone has a soft spot for so and so.  

No they don't.  

The Small Heath of Liverpool,  hopefully the new ground falls into the water just before opening.

On 20/01/2023 at 19:16, fightoffyour said:

Is Glass Onion a sequel of Knives Out? Should I watch the latter first ?

I found both of them a waste of time. 2/10 for both.  

1 minute ago, Mic09 said:

Best case scenario - Bielsa takes over, they get run to the ground by his high intensity tactics, eventually get relegated and Mr Steve Bruce the promotion expert steps right up.

 

Perfect scenario,  just getting the idea over in a translated form will take a week or two,  then implementation,  tweaking and finding who can do the job/position.

They might not win another game hopefully.  That would be a deserved and perfect way down for them.

36 minutes ago, blandy said:

If UA tank crew, used to T-72 or whatever, are the people who are going to be trained to operate the Leopard tanks, it’s not gonna take 8 weeks to train them, surely?  A conversion course would be pretty short. I guess for new recruits, then 8-10 weeks might be necessary?

I suspect they have been training in them allready for ages,  prudent planning ahead in war by the UK / US and the better trained people are,  the less chance Russia has of getting one to copy long term which is always a worry with this tech.  (Russia coundn't  make an Airfix sized copy currently but long term,  maybe)

The step up to these MBT's is huge as mentioned,  thermal targetting and target aquition are totally diiferent and way ahead of anything else on the battlefield.  

200-300 of the UK/US/D Mbt'S will probably do it,  with Artillary cover and infantary in support,  imagine that.  Putin is right to be scared of these tanks.

(As far as I know the UK Challenger is undefeated in battle.  RPG's will not kill it.)

On 28/11/2022 at 20:27, bickster said:

John Lydon should have been on the Pan Am 103 flight that blew up over Lockerbie. He didn't get his packing done in time and missed the flight

"Packed Lives Matter"

I never thought about the leaf cover before 

Oh dear, they were not much good with cover.

Apparantly the newly mobilized are getting sick before deployment.  This is extrmemly suprising and good news.  I thought even Russia would get them to the front line healthy.  It appears not.

Covid,  Lice and all things nice. 

They have nowhere near enough medical equipment or Doctors for that many people.