KentVillan

Sorry!

There isn’t a finite amount to go around though. Boosting London’s productivity boosts tax revenues = more money for govt to spend. It’s a virtuous circle, and seeing it as London “stealing” from other regions is the wrong way to look at it. Plus London isn’t more productive because it gets more investment - it’s more productive for all kinds of geographical and historic reasons that pre-date the existence of the tube. We definitely need way more investment outside London, but turning it into a competition for a hypothetical finite pool of funding is a mistake IMO.

Please be advised that trousers will not open in the rear 4 holes of this belt

Crowded House are class and I would move to anywhere in England they chose to live, and work as a butler

The ONS tried to quantify the net fiscal contribution of each region: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/articles/countryandregionalpublicsectorfinances/financialyearending2021 I don’t think it’s so much a case that London gets too much investment (it’s the engine room of the economy, and surely we want it to have good public transport) but that other regions don’t get enough. Pitting regions against each other ignores the main problem, which is nationwide lack of investment in things that clearly create more value than they require to build.

Yes in Ireland / Wales / South Africa / Australia I think that's right, and probably some parts of England/Scotland. But I believe I'm right in saying that there was a time in England/Scotland where it was a common alternative in all regions for "football" among all classes, including in non-rugby areas, with no negative connotations. In most of England, now, if you say "soccer" it's posh / derogatory.

I think back in the day (pre-1980s maybe?) it wasn't as class coded in British English as it is now. Nowadays you'd probably only hear it from a Boris Johnson type.

Hate to explain the joke, but for sake of clarity, “faucet”, “trash”, “Fall” and “gotten” are, like “soccer”, all supposed Americanisms that actually originated in British English.

I found out today she dated Alex Corbisiero for 8 years. Surely we've all got a chance

Turn the faucet off, and put your opinions in the trash this Fall, I've gotten tired of your shit

This should probably be in things that cheer me up, because it kind of makes me laugh... but: American journos and Twitter influencers sharing their "takes" on "soccer", e.g. The delusion is just amazing. They really think LeBron James could have been a Ballon d'Or winner if he'd gone down a different path.

What kind of things do you do round there? Hiking? Climbing? Cycling? I love that bit of Wales… not sure if I could live there though tbf. Have thought about it!

I said I lived there for 12 years @Demitri_C… and I never owned a car while I lived in London. How’s it an outside view? To give you an example, my friend lives with her two children in Ealing, which is outer London surely? She recently sold her car and does without. And as I said, nobody is getting banned from having a car. I can understand some people might have specific circumstances that require a car in London, but for the vast majority it’s just laziness or narrow mindedness - or they just really like having a car. To make out it’s some kind of life or death situation that the mayor is meddling with… is nonsense.

Christ, protect big ears at all costs I normally love McCoist as a commentator, but he was waxing lyrical about Mbappe’s finish today… it was scuffed and deflected. Weird.

Happier days

The places that best combine the London feel with easier access to countryside are probably Brighton and Bristol.

The reality is that most of the nicest places in the country with the most spectacular views and best houses are absolutely riddled with Representatives for Wellingborough. And anywhere nice that isn’t always ends up on a Telegraph “escape to the country” list and succumbs to the inevitable. There are some beautiful areas of London which would be great to live in if you had a few million quid in the bank. Little Venice / Maida Vale, Hampstead, Holland Park, Richmond. But you’d struggle to socialise with your neighbours probably.

Only if you think Ridgewell was better in his prime than Cahill… which he wasn’t

That’s a really sad one. Horrible seeing a giant of a man end up like that.

Surely we’re taking players at their peak? For a few seasons Hendrie and Gabby were much better players than Davis and Weimann, just didn’t look after themselves very well.

Weimann just not a very good footballer. Likeable character with a great attitude, but he’s an Andre Green type, and Gabby gets in ahead of him any day of the week if we’re doing PL era. Anyway, Dwight Yorke played youth football here so surely he gets the nod if that’s how we’re deciding it?

As much as his career nosedived, I’d probably include a prime Gabby in the squad, if not the starting XI. He was much more dangerous at his peak than Albrighton.

Too young to have watched him play, but surely Brian Little is a nailed on starter?

That’s not my point - there’s a difference between a backup player who doesn’t feature because there are stronger options ahead of them, and a player who doesn’t feature because they literally aren’t going to be needed in any scenario. We currently have the situation where Kane looks very tired, and our only like for like backup for him is Wilson, who is injury prone. Whereas at RB we have Trippier, Walker, White, Trent, and Saka who can all play there (and Dier etc could probably fill in too). So he’s stacked that position for no reason and left us light in other spots. That’s why I say Trent is just there to keep media happy.

Completely - Southgate has wasted a spot which could have gone to a striker on a sixth right back option who almost certainly won’t feature. Trent and Maddison are just there to keep the media quiet.