KentVillan

44 minutes ago, LondonLax said:

I agree to an extent but I don’t know if that tells the whole truth. I suspect if the Hamas leadership had access to Israeli levels of weaponry and the Israeli citizens were sitting ducks in Gaza there would not be any Israelis left pretty quickly.

I also suspect there are plenty of Israeli citizens who are more extreme than their (already extreme) government and would like to see that happen to the Palestinians. 

Maybe we are splitting hairs but it feels like there are levels here. 

Yeah this is correct I think.

Picking sides based on who is the underdog kind of ignores what the underdog’s objectives are.

Hamas wants to wipe out the state of Israel. Plenty of hardline Israelis want to pretty much do the same to Palestine.

These kind of people on either side can never really get you anywhere near a solution. Was the same in Northern Ireland, same in Yugoslavia, etc. They always think history is on their side and that they are correcting a historic injustice, but who’s to say the world in 100 BC or 1800 or 1949 is the appropriate time to say when a plot of land rightly belonged to a particular “people” (if that even means anything definable either).

Zionism was a misguided, utopian project IMO because it involved displacing a settled population, but now the state of Israel has existed for nearly a century there’s no reversing that, and so the only thing that makes sense is a two state solution. But there will always be people on both sides who will try to stop that from happening.

And the victims are all the civilians who just want to live normal lives where they were born and raised.

The female commentators and pundits have more to prove as well, so they often come across as having done more research.

It’s not just about understanding the patterns of play, it’s about doing the boring work knowing who has been in form, who’s been injured, who’s in favour with the manager, who the fans like, etc. Nothing worse than a commentator who doesn’t know this stuff and just makes it up on the fly.

30 minutes ago, Jonesy7211 said:

Just a follow up on my previous posts.

My wife and I had a tearful conversation when I came out of hospital last week, but the main thing is we're ok. She asked for the divorce because of how she thinks I don't respect her enough, but whilst I was in hospital it put things in perspective. No divorce. There are things I definitely need to work on though. I've always used my grandad as a big inspiration, he was my hero. I always remember him playfully teasing my grandma. Never nasty, never trying to cause harm, but just a childish teasing like asking where his tea was. He never, ever, meant it. I do the same, and for years my wife has put up with it and has had enough. There's also irony in it as I cook 90% of the time. She also cited my sense of humour as big issue, as I try to mask bad situations with humour, including things that affect her. She said she never feels supported because if it, which I understand.

Regarding the illness, the problem is with my liver, not my head. Currently waiting for liver screen blood results, along with a test for different flavours of hepatitis amongst other things. Should know by the end of the week. Had every test imaginable, full body MRI, loads of CT scans, ultrasound of my liver, x-rays, and a lumbar puncture. That was the most painful experience ever. I do not recommend one. I was let out of hospital when my spiking temp finally came down and remained stable. However my blood test levels for my liver at the last count were 12 times above the normal level. I very rarely drink, but I have been on prescribed drugs that affect my liver for over 12 years, so I suspect that's the cause. Also been referred as an emergency outpatient to a liver specialist, appointment in 8 weeks.

I'll be honest with you, my assumption when you first shared all of this was that your side of the story was lacking a few details that would have explained her behaviour better. You're clearly having a tough time, especially with the health problems, but she must be too.

Looks like she's left the door wide open for some conversations which could rescue and hopefully improve your marriage. Hope you make the most of that opportunity, and wish you all the best with the illness.

2 hours ago, Chindie said:

 

Strawman argument because who on earth is saying that for the first time

1 hour ago, Marka Ragnos said:

Well, I'm pretty sure that my opinion about Middle Eastern politics on a football forum has exactly the same discernible value as the piss in my toilet. But let me reassess ...

  Hide contents

OK, I reassessed, and the outcome was the same. Piss value, I tell you.

 

Yes but the same is true of our opinion of Jack Grealish or dead celebrities or things we have wondered

1 hour ago, a-k said:

Forget who is "right" or who is "wrong", defending the slaughter of 260+ innocent young people attending a peace festival is incomprehensible

Yep, if your first reaction to this kind of thing is to reference the scorecard on each side, you aren't really thinking about any of these victims as people.

The thing I think is always true of these situations is at the state- or leadership level there is often (but not always) one party that is guiltier than the other... but when you dig down into the individual events and tragedies, there are always tons of innocent victims on both sides, who really didn't do anything at all to deserve their fate. Dehumanising people because they happen to be on the side you don't like is why Israel exists in the first place.

12 minutes ago, Villatillidie95 said:

bollocks to that!

Bollocks in sir’s mouth

1 hour ago, Villatillidie95 said:

I know luiz had a subpar game today, but hes a much better midfielder than rice....speaks volumes that they went for him ahead of rice last season!

Bollocks unfortunately, both v good players doing slightly different things

From what I remember, Grealish was poor at the start of last season too? I wouldn’t get too excited about his career being over just yet

19 minutes ago, villa89 said:

He definitely wasn't fast. He couldn't go past a man to save his life. 

He could in the early days at Utd. The pace went as he bulked up 

10 minutes ago, Panto_Villan said:

I think it’s easy to forget just how famous the Spice Girls were in that era. She was the bigger celebrity than him when they got together imo, or on an equal footing at the very least.

Not to argue with any of the points you’re making, but I don’t think you can claim she was only famous because she married Beckham (although their wealth probably does mostly comes from him).

For sure, but you detect a hint of … resentment perhaps, that he was famous for being good at something, and she had basically won the fame lottery. I wonder if that’s why she’s so dismissive of football. IMO not a very likeable person, but whatever, they obviously seem happy together

Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard were all guilty of wanting to play the same roles they had always played, I think Scholes was fed up with the lot of them. The rest of the side were generally good team players.

1 hour ago, mjmooney said:

He was a one-trick pony. 

It's just that, at that one trick - delivering a dead ball - he was, for a while, the best in the world. 

For a couple of seasons he was pretty sublime in open play too

Tbh watching the doc, it just confirms the view a lot of people (inc Ferguson) had at the time that his wife was part of the problem. She could have waited until after the Argentina game to tell him she was pregnant. There are various points throughout the whole thing where she seems to relish making him prioritise her ahead of the career that has made them so wealthy and famous.

And she could never sing either.

Hoddle was a bit of a prick about it all, but he’s been deliberately cast as a villain for dramatic effect.

I think @Zatmanis being overly harsh on him, as he was a world class player in his prime, but the England team was definitely built around him for far too long, when he just wasn’t the kind of player you could build a team around.

19 minutes ago, MotoMkali said:

 

 

Bit surprised by Watkins there, but I suppose since Kane went to Germany and Toney got caught gambling, the pundits need an English striker to wank over.

Digne has indeed been very good this season. Which is what you’d expect from a player earning 700m dollars a year boom boom tish

But I would like to see Moreno back and those two rotating, or one coming on as an impact sub. They offer slightly different things and I think Emery benefits from having the option

Emery seemed a little unsure of him last season, but clearly this season the manager has a lot of confidence in him, and his game has improved in every department, especially in attack.

Think we could see him score 20+ goals this season, and then he’ll need to be taken seriously as a really top striker.

He’s not the most elegant player technically, and his finishing can be wasteful, but he’s very effective and puts in a big shift every week without injury troubles.

Am I the only one who’s also started to see a few signs of him passing and crossing a bit more often when the shot isn’t on? He’s generally very selfish around goal, but I think his awareness has improved.

5 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Spoken like a captain. 

I like having a captain who is smart, in terms of IQ and EQ, as well as leading by example. Think Emery has been very astute with McGinn, because it would have been easy to drop him after the Gerrard era.

16 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

Completely agree, like I said this in their head, they are good enough footballers they're just not playing like it

Same as the Everton game it's like this is all beneath them, second class competition with a "reserves team" and the effort the concentration whatever all drops off

Its not a case of we need to buy more players or we need to play our best 11 every game we need to sort these guys out

My worry is it's something specifically about these players' mindsets which can't easily be fixed. Particularly Tielemans, who has history. Some players make good squad players, and some don't.

You wouldn't have seen this from someone like James Milner, for example.

16 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said:

It's the opposite I think, if a foul carries into the box it's a penalty 

 

 

I stand corrected, apologies.

1 minute ago, fruitvilla said:

Irrelevant to whether a foul starts outside of the box.

Not strong enough of a pull? Perhaps. 

Oh the whole I was encouraged by the Lenglet, Tielmans, Carlos and Dendoncker performances. They were not great but were OK. Duran somehow did not get into the game. Bailey had a good return to the first team. With Watkins. Luiz and Cash coming on we were a different team.

Although I gave McGinn the MotM, I thought Cash was great.

 

Should be irrelevant, but I believe that's how it's always been refereed. Correct me if I'm wrong

1 minute ago, TomC said:

I disagree. He doesn't have to go down for it to be a penalty. The defender tugged his shirt at least 3 times and slowed him down. Unimpeded, he might have gotten past the defender and gotten a cross in.

 

It started outside the box though so it would be a free kick. I think the rule is stupid, but that's how it's always been refereed. Don't think it was a mistake by the ref

Just now, villa4europe said:

Said in the match thread the B team more or less has more European experience (and international experience) than our A team

They're good enough, let's not pretend they're not, especially vs opposition like tonight, they have to play better it's that simple, we need them to play better

Tielemans has 60 international caps and 70 games in europe, dendoncker has 30 caps and 50 games in europe, it's bollocks that they can't be good enough vs mostar, it's a mental block in their head

I get your point, but the combination of them feeling aggrieved about warming the bench in the Premier League and then having to play against obscure teams who park the bus, seems to have had a negative effect.

John McGinn, who's fought his way up from the Championship and is happy to celebrate beating the Faroe Islands with Scotland, seems better suited mentally to this kind of fixture.

I think we'll look better when we start to face teams who want to play football

Just now, duke313 said:

Squad depth is only an issue because we have 5 first team players currently out injured.

Actually this is a relatively typical number if you look across the league. e.g. Newcastle are missing Barnes, Willock, Botman, Wilson and Joelinton atm.

The squad depth is always going to come into play in a normal season because you're never going to go the whole season being able to play your starting XI in most games, and our squad players aren't good enough really except in certain positions (left back, centre back).

3 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

I thought he was bizarre. Not bad, just bizarre. Their play acting played into his hands. He gives us a pen that's never a pen, then we don't get the ball back. Then doesn't give a pen for the most blatant shirt pull I've ever seen.

The shirt pull was never a pen IMO. Started outside the box, and wasn't strong enough inside the box to merit Zaniolo going down. Think commentator got a bit too excited about that.