Oh look, an interesting thing has emerged

Quote

Birmingham city council accused of basing drastic cuts on ‘imagined’ data

Whistleblowers fear £760m equal pay liability bill could be hugely overstated, as IT problems leave finances in disarray

 

A £760m equal pay liability bill at Birmingham city council, which led it to effectively declare bankruptcy and make a swathe of drastic budget cuts, could be hugely overstated, councillors, researchers and whistleblowers have said.

Sources inside the Labour-led council said the local authority’s finances were in disarray as a result of a faulty IT system rollout and with no accurate accounts for the past two years there was no way of knowing exactly how the council’s budget stacked up.

There is growing unease that large budget cuts, asset sales and a 10% council tax increase have been made too hastily, before the council has fully got to grips with the current state of its finances.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/may/01/birmingham-city-council-accused-of-making-cuts-based-on-imagined-data

Real Madrid having a mare

Not sure how Judd Trump managed to get that frame back. And to finish with a double on the black was neat.

45 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

I see dreary Mark Lawrenson thinks he’s been sacked because of the BBC woke agenda, what with him being a white male.

Nothing to do with him being an awful depressing pundit.

Doesn't explain Danny Murphy though...

13 minutes ago, John said:

I guess it's because the club has been charged for the use of the buses and the charge for the journey reflects how much they have been stung by the bus company, perhaps there is some charge included for the loss of income on scheduled passenger routes and a charge for having stops in the city centre/station area too?  

Pity it doesn't drop/pick up nearer Villa Park imo. 

Oh, I assumed it stopped close to the ground? Does it stop on the Lichfield Road?

On 30/03/2024 at 08:58, John said:

That's really good news. £5 return from today New Street Station to Villa Park. What's not to like? 

I'll give it a go!  

Why is it more than the capped bus fares of £2 a trip?

4 hours ago, Villarocker said:

That was him realising he couldn't head it back because his keeper was coming towards him and slipping as he engaged the breaks. 

Losing Emi at half time cost us the win. 

He really slipped that much? I assumed it was a glitch in the video, it looks like an 80s computer game almost.

Out of curiosity, has there been any discussion of whether the ball was out of play when it was stopped on the side line by the Trinity Road stand before our first goal? From where I was in the Doug Ellis it looked for all the world like it was out, and I'm sure all the players stopped as well for a second. I'm guessing it wasn't entirely over the line.

1 hour ago, The_Steve said:

For me, Diego tells Robin to stop but is not even looking at what's behind him or where Pau is. It was easier to head it back - but he stopped himself and positioned himself to make a very poor clearance. At that level, you cannot ignore what's behind you.

I was at the game, and I'm pretty sure Carlos wasn't wearing ice skates... His movement looks really weird on this clip.

Just now, rjw63 said:

Can#t be gary Rowett so I'd guess Erikkk 10hag?

Bingo!

Quiz time: which manager just said this:

"We are one of the most dynamic and entertaining teams in the league at this moment"

1 minute ago, Jas10 said:

 

Standalone lion is by far my preferred badge option. Just no need for a shield or circle. And the trefoil looks great - be interesting to see if Villa count as an "elite" team or not 

Dool - The Shape Of Fluidity

23 hours ago, GarethRDR said:

What's the scope of "sitcom" here?  Because I've seen Darkplace shouts, and if Darkplace is in scope, then the answer's unequivocally Darkplace.

Darkplace rules. Surely it counts as a sitcom? It's a comedy, and it is set in a situation.

1 hour ago, JPJCB said:

Is this real? 

I just watched it. Staggering. Apparently Newcastle suffered similar last season as well.

How can these pundits stand there and go along with this? It's just madness.

Just now, rjw63 said:

That's who I meant

Haha. I've genuinely no idea what he is supposed to be, or if it's fancy dress, or if that's actually his day to day look.

1 hour ago, rjw63 said:

Just been watching the Trump game and now the Higgins game.

Do my eyes deceive me or is there some nutter in the audience dressed as a Star Trek Borg?

There's a guy that appears to have half his head tattooed blue

6 minutes ago, Mandy Lifeboats said:

Hancock's Half Hour

Lenin of the Rovers

Operation Good Guys

Welcome To Our Village Please Invade Carefully

Father Ted

Fawlty Towers

Blackadder 2, 3 & 4

IT Crowd

Black Books

 

 

 

 

Oooh Hancock, that deserves a place just for its sheer originality and influence. It was also genuinely hilarious too.

On the one hand, I can keep Christian Flippin' Horner and lose the greatest genius car designer of all time. On the other, I can keep the greatest genius car designer of all time and lose Christian Flippin' Horner. Whatever shall I do?

There's only one way to settle this...

41 minutes ago, Rds1983 said:

Was debating at work what the best sitcom of all time was and thought I'd put it to a vote? The one you could go back to and rewatch again and again.

Before I add options I thought I'd get some recommendations from you all, as there's just too many greats and some very popular ones that I've never got into for some reason.

I'm probably missing some big ones but those that spring to mind are:

IT Crowd

Community 

Always Sunny

Peep Show

The Office

Spaced

Father Ted

Only Fools and Horses

Fawlty Towers

Seinfeld

Parcs and Rec

 

Have I missed anything major?

Excellent choices. Community, Always Sunny and Parks and Rec are just superb. Father Ted and The IT Crowd are nonstop hilarious.

I might be tempted to add Blackadder, Red Dwarf, Black Books and Yes Minister (which is utter genius imo)

He does stretch the truth a bit at times doesn't he? I mean, yes, the original Villa Park was built in 1897 but it isn't like any of that still exists (as far as I'm aware) yet he makes it sound like we are actually playing in a Victorian stadium.

I can just see every single game the commentator referring to Liverpool as the "Slot machine"

Well, I guess maybe the weekend will be a good opportunity to give Chelsea that 8-0 we owe them.

2 hours ago, tonyh29 said:

guess they didn't use Teams Viewer for this

 

 

V'ger does not need Teams to communicate with the creator