icouldtelltheworld

14% chance of CL qualification? I think someone needs to run a virus check on the supercomputer tbh

We've only got ourselves to blame really, constantly singing "he's Steven Gerrard's man", no wonder he's ended up as captain

McNeil isn't a bad signing tbh. Still only 22, bags of PL experience, 26 goal involvements in a really poor and overwhelmingly defensive Burnley team. Poor season last year, but clearly has potential to grow into a decent player, 20m is about right (plenty of our fans seem to think Keinan Davis is worth upwards of 15m based on half a good season at Forest). They're still in trouble though, such an unbalanced squad and Lampard really is a poor manager. No chance he lasts the season IMO. You struggle to pick three teams going into the season who you're certain will struggle more than them

This would be like taking the captaincy of Tyrone Mings and giving it to John McGinn (Analogy doesn't really work, just couldn't miss the opportunity to make a topical Villa joke)

Seems I'm something of a minority in that McGinn still gets into my first XI, but he has nowhere near the temperament or leadership qualities to be captain IMO

At the risk of sounding like a barmy Gerrard-hating conspiracy theorist, it's hard to escape the sense that this decision is at least partly premised on McGinn being the player in the squad who most reminds him of himself

You have to be **** joking me

Read a Twitter thread earlier which I annoyingly can't find now which basically made this point. Main argument was that Labour seem to have learnt completely the wrong lessons from Corbynism. His programme of economic radicalism wasn't universally unpopular, there were elements of it which resonated with a wide swathe of voters - the problem was in large part that people didn't trust them to deliver it because he and others were perceived as being a bit loopy in other ways. There is greater appetite for public spending and nationalisation of certain industries/utilities than there has been for decades, amidst the worst cost of living crisis in a generation. That the Labour Party has nothing to offer in these circumstances is infuriating.

Thanks mate - wise words there from your old man which I will try to keep in mind. Under no illusions, its going to be a marathon and not a sprint

Thank you mate - that means a lot. I also think its important to remember that others have experienced similar and moved on with their lives, can be difficult to keep sight of that when you're at your worst

I would keep Mings as captain as long as he's here, even if he ends up out of the first eleven and playing significantly fewer minutes (a bit like Milner at Liverpool or Kompany towards the end of his time at Citeh). A fantastic ambassador for the club, a leader in the truest sense of the word and an incredible role model for our young fans and youth players coming through

Really struggling at the moment. I was meant to be getting married next month, but my fiance told me in June that she wanted to cancel/postpone and we've subsequently broken up. She moved out about a month ago, I'm moving back in with my parents tomorrow and she's going to move in here until the house has sold. Tbh I've been smashing the drink and drugs since she moved out which has numbed my feelings, but of course inevitably led to me hitting rock bottom eventually. I've had a few days clean of everything and it's all hit me at once, having vivid dreams of us being back together and then waking up in a complete state. There's no real point to this post, but I've been struggling to open up about this to people and just needed to put my thoughts out there somewhere. I've never posted in these threads before, but have always found it so heartening the way people rally round and support one another on here - it's probably one of the main reasons I stuck around to discuss the Villa tbh, that sense of community on VT. Going to be a long, hard road ahead but I do feel that I've hit the lowest point and can slowly start to build myself back up now. Ultimately there's a chance here to work on myself and become more comfortable in my own skin. I have to own the fact that there are aspects of my own character and behaviour which have contributed to this situation, and I feel more ready to confront those aspects of myself than I ever have before. My thoughts are with anyone else who is currently suffering - you are not alone and better days will come. Writing this post is a big step for me, so I just wanted to say thank you to all of you lovely VT people for being part of a community in which I can feel comfortable sharing this. Take care all and have a lovely day.

At least during the New Labour years we got snappy slogans - this is a pile of meaningless drivel. As has been said countless times in this thread, it would be nice come election time to have actual positive reasons to vote for Labour, rather than simply against the Tories. The little tidbits were being fed by Starmer really do not do anything to inspire confidence

Good signing for Burnley, especially if they are trying to become more of a footballing team. Fair play to the lad, has done well since he left here

Agree - I've always felt that they are pretty similar to one another as well

Very little I'd consider buying there even if it was half the price tbh, hard to believe that's the best we can do

It really isn't, Iran are ranked 21st in the FIFA world rankings - the team that England lost 4-0 to the other day are ranked 40th. England should win, but it's unlikely to be an easy game by any stretch of the imagination

Yeah they changed it from Winston Churchill Boulevard or something IIRC, proper trolling There's also a chain of Bobby Sands burger bars in Tehran which is... unusual, to say the least

My in-laws are Iranian, trust me when I say that the entire country will be super motivated for that game

It shouldn't and likely won't happen, but every one of those teams will be extra motivated against England for various reasons - it's a tougher group than it first appears on paper IMO. I'm going to stick a tenner on it. Not sure if you're a gambling man, but what this generally means is I'm about to lose a tenner

Not to mention the various social/political sub plots at play. Could see some really interesting games, I could well see England finishing bottom of that group

Feel for him, could've been a huge goal for them

Palace signed Benteke's younger brother at the same time as him

Not a fan of the home shirt, liked the away shirt til I saw the weird shading on the badge. Reckon the 3rd kit might grow on me, but yeah not massively impressed