A'Villan

Well if they're anything like the hybrids of Tigers and Lions and the rest of it, what like probably rhinos and hippos, well, they'll probably just end up at the Rothschild's zoo.

To be fair her choice of clothing on THAT day was diabolically stupid and tasteless. Just so it's said I'm not the fashion police, I could care less if a dude where's baggy pants halfway down his ass, or a frock and lipstick on the weekend. But that sh*t was like me donning a toothbrush mustache and swastika t-shirt whilst taking a poo on the doorstep at Yad Vashem.

Add Steph Claire Smith if you're interested in that sort of thing. She's made millions on her looks alone. I went to primary school and high school with her, and was friends with her brother, who is my age. In completely unnecessary news our friendship ended when at age 13 the porn his parents found apparently was all my doing. I can't respect you for snitching on me, when I had nothing to do with the alleged crime.

Waking up at 3:30am on a Saturday morning when I have my quarter final for basketball later tonight, among other commitments throughout the day. It shouldn't because I should be asleep for another four hours minimum. It is the weekend. What is bloody going on here people?!

I reckon we'll beat 'em. Lawro thinks so too apparently. So now you know we won't! Inconvenient KO time and day for me, but I'll be watching.

Totally agree with @useless in his earlier post. We play to win, not make up the numbers. If we fail then we try to understand why and adopt a better approach. So West Ham have some talent? I don't really know to what extent if I'm honest, I know their manager is good. I know they have some former performers at this level. But I also know we have talent and skill necessary to win games too. And that's why @useless is bang on point, we can't let fear determine our approach. Before anyone goes swooning over West Ham's lineup remember Carlos Sanchez has played in every game for them. Snodgrass is in contention for a starting place. They're not so far above us guys.

Admittedly not one of my finer moments. Any club that employs Karim Benzema, well, speaks for itself really.. I was going through a faze of playing everyday myself and wanted to be like Ronaldo, as he was my first exposure to skill at the next level.

"There is no nobility in being superior to your fellow man, true nobility comes from being superior to your former self" - Ernest Hemingway At least I hope that's his quote, it was my laptop background for a few years.

I thought Pepe and Busquets had set the standards of feigning injury so high that no one would reach their level. Then along came Bamford.

Will he? That's good news then. He'll be lap dancing for vape commissary in to time. Imagine being a republican in general population. Talk about stressful, might need his vape fix. Not because he'd be in any particular danger out of the norm, just those inner demons, knowing what he stood for all those years and the consequences it has for so many. All that bullsh*t he's spun from a distance of arm's length and a position of privilege. Now in and among those who are a product of the system and environment America developed. "We saw you rise and we gon' be here when you fall" Wouldn't want to be him at the minute if he is really facing time.

Oh my mistake. I swear it was him who people were saying that it all got too much for him, and what crippled him was the angst surrounding all that. Upon writing that sentence I thought I'd do a quick google and here you go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Johnson_(footballer,_born_1988)#Personal_life

Olic at the 2014 WC was 34 years of age and I remember Croatia's opener against Brazil he was just on the front foot, taking the game to Brazil. It was impressive.

That Michael Johnson kid who played for City just before (pretty confident) they got on the money train. Apparently he was meant to be some prodigy but ended up suffering and buckling under the limelight and attention.

Ronaldo is very emotionally charged. I remember watching a documentary on his time with Sporting where he would cry all the time, due to being away from family I think. You can tell when he puts his heart and mind to something though,which has been football, that sensitivity turns to a fiery passion and he commits heart and soul. Just to add a little something to the debate, people harp on about Messi has the privilege of teammates this and Barcelona that, and I used to be inclined to think so too. But Ronaldo's Manchester United weren't exactly unknown to the table where the greatest teams of all time sit. I mean he was SAF's prodigy, and SAF's legacy is astounding. They had Rooney, Scholes, Keane, Tevez, Nani, Vidic, Evra, van der Sar, Rio Ferdinand, Neville brothers, Giggs, and the list goes on. United during Ronaldo's rise was stacked. I don't think Messi is dependent on teammates as people make out, he goes by defenders as easily as Ronaldo, Ronaldo uses power and pace where Messi is wily and crafty. Certainly Messi would be accustomed to passing having shared the pitch with the best on offer, at a time where Cruyff and Rijkaard had already established an identity at his club. The way I see it is both are incredible, but Messi edges it for me these days, I used to say Ronaldo was better but I was a bit of a Madrid fan for a short while, so I was biased.

Hourihane has achieved a relatively decent goal haul for his position every year going back some time, despite being in the third and fourth tiers, it shows he's got it. He then went on to be a major player, in general and on the scoreboard, in both our championship seasons that saw us rise to prominence and contend promotion. Despite going missing on numerous occasions at the top of the box and consequently we've conceded, he has been an absolute engine getting around the place. In my opinion the energy and off ball movement compensate for his technical ability lacking for an attacking player, and that's evident in how frequently he scores and assists. With him, McGinn and Grealish in midfield you know that when the chance to occupy attacking territory comes up, each have a unique way of making the most of opportunities. Add to this the chemistry developed from our performances last season in gaining promotion and Conor does look a viable option to start. I would be playing both Marvelous and Luiz ahead of Hourihane because they need to integrate at some stage and Hourihane whilst familiar won't cut it every week for me. Better to have the mistakes made by the players that are our future than the players who are going to be a part of our past. Could be wrong but I don't think Hourihane has enough technique to survive a full season as an effective contributor offensively and I'm not sold on his defense either.

Bent hit 9 in each of his first two seasons with us, alongside Young and Downing, we looked quite a formidable attacking outfit, and all three men got called up for England. Many fans were concerned and some even hysterical about relegation the year we signed Bent and Houllier was sick. We ended up salvaging a mid-table finish. I could never understand it myself, but when it was apparent European placing would be beyond us, people lost a lot of confidence and enthusiasm. Unfortunately next up we would lose our best assets and supply line for Darren Bent, in Young and Downing, and replaced with N'Zogbia who admittedly was performing at Wigan. Anyway, onto Davis, I think he is quite a capable player of worthy contributions for us. I'm not sure if he's ever been a prolific scorer but I think his skill level is adequate to play. I wouldn't want to depend on him weekly right now, but people suggesting he doesn't have the goals in him forget he played half a season in our 4th placed championship finish. You don't achieve that level of success playing with 10 men for half a season, Davis was able to play an effective and functional role, and for me, I see him doing okay if called on.

Iguodala to either Clippers or Lakers I hear. Just to add, there's a number of teams in the World Cup capable of beating that USA side on their day. Aside from Kemba Walker and Donovan Mitchell the USA didn't really play anyone distinctly better than what France had to offer scorer-wise.

Without doubt the Matrix trilogy for me. Fresh was also a good film starring Samuel L Jackson and Giancarlo Esposito

You're both rebels and you don't even know it, but that's okay, we need a few more than we have at present. Meeting obligations or deadlines is rather mundane a lot of the time, even when it's something you want to engage. "I hated every moment of training, but I loved every moment of being a champion" "You will not always be motivated, that is why you must learn discipline" The key word there being 'learn'. Because like any skill it is something you can develop with effort and guidance. I have an issue that perplexes me, I get the work done but don't submit it! I've actually just had to see a counselor at university so I can gain accreditation for work that I did but didn't submit. Funny that @Amsterdam_Neil_D mentions illness, within 15 minutes counselor was suggesting I've had ADHD my whole life that's gone undiagnosed. F*** off with that nonsense! How can you ascertain sufficient details and knowledge to then have evidence and explanation for behaviour within 15 minutes of conversation? There's a myriad of complexities and factors which determine tendencies and traits of people which chemistry, biology, social sciences etc. are only at the tip of the iceberg of.

Thought Space Jam might've polled better than it did.

Good post. Especially when those systems are delivering in making the team a competitive outfit, which Fulham very much were, they just didn't get the all important results. Sacking Jokanovic was silly and cost Fulham their PL status IMO. It's one thing to be ambitious but it must be backed up the ability to thrive and the qualities which allow for that. Unfortunately for Fulham, they were displaying the ability to excel, but weren't rewarded for their efforts as they might've been. They made a bad situation worse sacking Jokanovic. They had their flaws and that's what was exposed by teams who were able to capitalise despite creating less and retaining possession less than Fulham over 90 minutes. I'm not saying they would've stayed up had he stayed on, but I think they were on the wrong side of results for a period that seemed unusual given the balance of play. As for us, we've had quite a few changes since promotion and very little time to implement a culture and strategy for how we approach becoming a winning PL side. It's quite remarkable that we're even back in this league if you consider how uninspired and destined for another year in the championship we were one year ago from now. Smith hasn't even been here a year, majority of playing personnel have had less than a handful of opportunities to integrate where it matters. It's all very fresh. Even players who were influential in promotion haven't really spent much time at the club, McGinn just over a year, Mings a few months under. Grealish is the only mainstay. I can't recall or locate the exact stats for percentage of squad carrying over from one campaign to the next for each PL team this season. But it's quite a significant difference. Hopefully someone can refresh with the actual figures, but from memory we have replaced 40% of our squad, compared to the 5-10% for majority if not all other clubs. Then consider that of the players we have retained, some are not up to standard, most have zero experience in a league of this difficulty, few have played any football together. And yet Smith has managed to recruit players who are seemingly up to standard and some, as well as getting performances out of those who might not impress but have a role.

No one has teams popping swishes like Gregg Pop'a'swish Popovich. Australia undefeated throughout the World Cup and into the semi finals to play against Spain, who I'm surprised don't have Ibaka. I like our chances.

Agree with this. I didn't mean to insinuate that if we are not in European placing this season or next that he will get the axe. Just that we won't be here to make up the numbers. Unless things go catastrophic for Smith, and we explore and identify a seemingly better alternative, I think Smith will be afforded time and confidence to lead us toward progress. I also don't really care how we fare statistically per se, while numbers don't lie, they are inanimate and only establish a measurement for something which is organic, football. Numbers are just away of understanding and reasoning. Conveying knowledge. A means of portraying a concept as worthy of recognition and representing events or ideas. So it's not really at the forefront of my interest in regards to the football we play, because it measures an outcome, where the process is what's important and will bring success. I was using the Swansea and Fulham examples to show the contrast and uniqueness of clubs and the outcomes they achieve. Parallels will occur but only to some degree. For example, our fall from grace brought about challenges that people who've spent their careers at the top level failed to rectify, and with competitive resources and personnel. That's why I'm a big fan of the phrase it's more chemistry than biology, which remains true even in football which is a physical contest, it's about interaction and coming together. So far I've been quite impressed with our start to this campaign, exception being against Palace, who Hodgson said in no uncertain terms were aware of our threat and rated us. Smith isn't going to win every tactical duel he has, but I think we were much more aesthetic and competitive in our first three games compared to our fourth.

I'm aware of Khashoggi's murder, and a quick google tells me Trump sold Nuclear tech to the Saudi's. I'm still not able to get my head around your post though. Do you mean Trump didn't mention the assassination and the Nuclear tech to congress?