jackbauer24

There is a line of thought that suggests this is the best result Labour could have got, not just the best they could hope for... another words it was better to lose this election than to win it, but to do so well. First they don't have to actually do anything so positivity remains, no questions are asked of them. Secondly, whoever is in charge during Brexit is going to take a battering, the EU will ensure that. Thirdly, by losing this but making it close they've got a conversly better chance of a landslide at the next election. Youngsters especially will have seen their vote actually did make a difference for once. It's going to be an interesting year...

Labour make gains - That's good! Tories still in control - That's bad! May will probably leave - That's good! Boris favourite to come in - That's bad! UKIP basically wiped out - That's good! Farage feels he needs to come back - That's bad!

According to BBC coverage they're not doing quite as well as exit poll predicted; was 35 seat gain but been downgraded to 29. Same with conservatives, was losing 14 but now only 9....

One hour to go (yes shameless bumping - will VT make 50 voters before polls close?)

4 hours remain. I hope you've all voted!

Exit Poll for VT members who have voted. It SHOULD be anonymous if I've done it right (moderators please check!). No discussion, there is another thread for that.

I know this statement will rile some people up but in my experience, Tory voters tell me they're voting Tory because they will lose this money or that money from Corbyn policies. Labour voters tell me they're voting Labour because they want more funding in education or policing or the NHS. Basically people voting Tory tell me how a Labour government would effect THEM, those voting Labour tell me how a Labour government would help SOCIETY. When me and my partner discuss politics, we talk of what is right and what is fair, we never talk about our own personal bank accounts. We may or may not be marginally worse off if a Labour governnent came to power, I highly doubt we'd be better off, but I'd still be happy living in a country that is attempting to look after everyone rather than the privileged few. Your life experiences will dictate your ideology but I have to question anyone who can look themselves in a mirror and be happy knowing that their bank account is more important than the lives of millions of other people on the breadline, being unfairly assessed for disability benefits, waiting in underfunded hospitals for ever cancelled operations whilst their kids go to a school that has run out of money for supplies and is letting support staff go, to return home (from the food bank) to find it has been burgled but there are no police available to investigate... ok, highly melodramatic but you get my point. I'm yet to meet a Tory supporter (including in my own family) who isn't basically selfish. Doesn't mean they/you are horrible people, it just means that is one of their traits. My uncle is Tory, lovely guy but fundamentally he is way more interested in his bank account than whether his niece's and nephew's kids have a good education as he doesn't see the wider picture, just what effects him.

Whilst I definitely recognise the futility in the strategy, I have thought for a long time that we need to stop giving such strong coverage to these events. There are much more eloquently written arguments for this viewpoint than I could express and obviously in this day and age it's largely impossible to fully police/ control anyway but terrorism, and more precisely terror, feeds off the publicity they get. Does rolling coverage and in depth coverage of the attackers and their methods really help anyone other than the likes of Isis? I'm not delusional but surely a few things could be put in place; no naming terrorists, don't publicise them, giving them their martyrdom. If naming them on social media you can get arrested like naming rape victims etc. Other than safety alerts, do not cover ongoing incidents in such an sensationalised way. Ban witness statements - they are either increasing fear/ terror or wrong (in the case of twitter). Focus on victims only. Whilst I believe in freedom of the press and the right for people to know the facts, I do feel as though the pages and pages we give to these people only fuels the desires of others to follow them. There will be hundreds of paragraphs written about the terrorist, his family, his upbringing, his beliefs etc etc, and yet a line or two about the victim. It seems wrong. Surely just release information the security forces believe is relevant to either keep people safe or discover more information for the investigations. I know it's a really complex area but sometimes you get the feeling the media almost enjoys these events, almost reporting on it as if it's an exciting football match. Furthermore, important information or pleas for help from people in the midst of these incidents get lost in the deluge of irrelevant posts/tweets - in the immediate aftermath of such incidents people should only be able to tweet in an emergency, much like they ask people phoning 999 to do. Communication, media and self-regulation to avoid sensationalism is something that needs to be looked at in my opinion. It may ultimately be futile in the digital age but it's an interesting area to be explored with a lot better structured arguments to be found in articles on the internet.

I spent the first half watching this on my Samsung Gear VR, taking the opportunity to try this new technology on Youtube. And what can I say; when that vague coloured blob went over to the other side of the screen and the other shade of blob did something blobby I was amazed. Best Champions League Final imitating a really really badly detailed minecraft game I've ever seen...

I watch TV shows like the Last Leg and Mock the Week and they all seem to be generally a lot more left leaning. I see that most of social media seems to laugh at the Right and May more than any other party. I work in Education and see first hand these cuts the Tories want to make and the lack of support for our current government. I sit next to people at Villa who are deeply impacted by changes to Disability benefits. My family, who work for the NHS, tell me the Tories are largely hated by the profession. My mum is one of those effected by the pension change for those born in the 50s. My nan is concerned about the 'Dementia Tax' Even on here, there seems to be a left leaning majority. So where are all these Tory supporters? Are they all business people? Why are they all relatively silent? I genuinely don't understand why there is even a chance of a big Tory win when every part of society seems against them; the young, the disabled, the poor, the pensioners and those who work in Education, NHS or police particularly. I'm not deluded enough to say it's a lie they are so popular and even the 'best' case scenario is a hung parliament, but I just don't understand why my life experiences indicate the complete opposite. I'm not overly political or scare people in to silence with my own views so why do Tory supporters generally stay so quiet? If you're ashamed of who you're voting for, why are you voting for them?

I'll weigh in here...pun mostly not intended...but for people getting back in to fitness running is one of the worst things you can do. It is very physically jarring and there are much better methods, especially if you're on the 'wrong' side of 30. Cycling and swimming are a lot kinder to joints etc but you can still work up a sweat. I wouldn't recommend running for anyone who would consider themselves unfit, you'll likely get lots of niggling injuries. Plus running is as boring as @#$/! But this thread has me a little concerned, but for different reasons. I'm 36, look incredibly young for my age (as in occasionally asked for ID still) and weigh 75kg (11.8st) at 183cm (6ft) and am convinced I need to lose belly weight (34"). Everyone tells me I'm being silly but I've put on ten kg and 2 - 4 inches around waist in last 2 or 3 years and it's bothering me. However my arms and chest are that of a ten year old boy! But I hate gyms and the days of playing football/tennis with mates is long gone. I have no motivation for running/cycling alone so my only fitness is walking which equates to around 30/40k steps a week. I used to be super fit (without any upper body strength though!) but for last ten years I've been largely lazy! I've been working on being healthier with my diet rather than calorie counting but it's difficult for a few reasons. Firstly my GF hates practically all fruit and veg and I can never be bothered with the fuss of making two meals. Secondly I have a problem with Coke/Pepsi but have now (for last two weeks) limited it to one can a day - I'm not going through the coke cold turkey thing again, done it several times and it seriously hurts and yet always fall off the wagon! And the weirdest thing that no one ever understands - I don't get hungry. I don't know what it feels like. I eat because I'm supposed to, or others are or because I'm bored. But I've accidentally gone days without eating before (if I'm caught up at work and girlfriend is away so I'm out of a routine). I never have breakfast, I occasionally have a cheese sandwich at lunch and then practically anything at night. I'm not fussy in any way. So my diet would probably be considered pretty horrific. But don't really drink, don't smoke etc. If not drinking coke its either one milkshake a day, one innocent smoothie a day or water. But probably don't drink enough either, even though I DO get thirsty! So I'm kinda stuck with what to do! Sh*t diet, with little motivation for real exercise, poor body image but worried that I'm fat in the belly OR getting a bit weird about it.

Thinner lines down the shirt and that'd be a lovely effort. And sponsor is awful of course, but assume whoever our prospective sponsors are will have a logo that isn't in a big white box...

Man complains he might have to pay marginally more tax on his kids private education so poorer families can afford to put food on the table. Why shouldn't he pay his workers peanuts so his kids can get a better education from the private sector because of repeated cuts in the public one?! It truly amazes, no depresses me that there are people like this in the world. We live in a world all about 'me' now.

I would hope then that you'd be given the early bird price as that's when you bought. People who bought last year before x date are guaranteed the early bird prices til the first game of the season so they are full setup to approve those prices still. But no one on here is likely to be able to give you a definitive answer so a call is likely to solve it. Good luck!

Have you just decided you want to relocate stands? Just seems odd they didn't encourage you to buy in the stand you wanted to sit in and then relocate, i.e. people buy tickets in the stand they want then might just move blocks within that area, normally not altering the price. But that's kind of irrelevant for you now I suppose! I imagine, and it's just a guess, that they'll honour the price you paid on purchase but how that'll effect your direct debit I'm not entirely sure (you've already paid two installments I think). They might just ask you to pay the increase in one go so not to impact on the finance you've arranged through Zebra. But the only way to be sure in this instance will be to phone them - be interesting to note what they say. Out of interest what's the difference in price between top of Holte to Witton/DE both now and then?

I'll keep to the grouping, but only comment on players still with us, or those who played and may return from loan: GOALKEEPERS (Positional average 6) Johnstone - 6 - Slightly above average but don't really care as he's only on loan. Not had the impact a loan player should have. Bunn - 6 - Done enough when called upon, very little difference between the two to be honest. DEFENDERS (Positional average 5.8) Chester - 8 - Some mistakes but my Player of the Season Baker - 7 - Solid and good at this level, some catastrophic mistakes, some brilliant performances Hutton - 7 - The phoenix, can't believe he's still with us but much like Baker on this game Taylor - 7 - Had a great start and would arguably be our best player since January Bree - 5 - Limited impact but still young Amavi - 5 - badly under-performed, but then I think he should be a midfielder instead Tshibola - 4 - Had nothing about him, can't see him returning Elphick - 3 - Awful, awful, awful. De Laet - N/A MIDFIELDERS (Positional average 4.7) Adomah - 6 - Can be brilliant, can be invisible Hourihane - 6 - Has promising moments but lack confidence or tactics preventing him being force he could be Lansbury - 5 - As above, but doesn't have the same skill level Jedinak - 5 - A few months ago it'd have been a 3, but now we know what he does; defend with his body/head and not ever pass successfully Green - 5 - A bright spark on the few appearances he has had, but easily nullified Bjarnason - 5 - Looked promising on occasions, bad time to get injury. Hoping he can replace Jedinak next season as our enforcer. Bacuna - 5 - Brilliant occasionally, goes missing often. Grealish - 4 - I'm so happy we have the best youngster in the UK, he's been ripping the Championship up as an ever present player... Gardner - 2 - And one of those points is for his Blues goal. Awful player, supposed to be the 'better' brother but he's frankly just awful/ STRIKERS (Positional average 5.5) Kodjia - 8 - Amazing yet frustrating, needs to play better in the team and control some stupid reactions. Hogan - 5 - Hasn't settled, team not set up to play to his strengths at all. Probably won't achieve much here with Bruce in charge. McCormack - 5 - Didn't settle, team not set up to play to his strengths at all. Probably won't achieve much here with Bruce in charge. Gabby - 4 - So little to judge, but to be fair, when called upon he's had some impact on the match. MANAGEMENT Di Matteo - 4 - Had a bad spell (Bruce matched) at start and bought awfully (did he buy?) and rightfully sacked Bruce - 5 - Had a bad spell, bought better but not getting results from what should be a strong team - complaining about the same things from December; mentality and attitude. CONCLUSION Goalkeeper needs resolving, defence isn't bad, midfield remains woeful and strikers need consistency or better tactics. Management still has big question mark over it.

Taylor has the position sewn up. It isn't even a competition. Even before the injury, Amavi wasn't as good as Taylor has been. However, I actually rate Amavi and think his best position is on the wing. When everyone was bigging him up a while back it was for his attacking attributes not his defensive abilities. I would have him in the starting XI without doubt, he'd take Grealish's current position. Going forward he offers more, certainly has more pace and yet will put in a shift defensively if needed. I think him and Taylor would work well on that left side. But as a left back? No, he's not strong or focused enough for that role. I'd only play him there against Blackburn...

You're right - but that backs up my point that it's a midfield issue. Our midfielders should be doing this but aren't. They should be better than the midfielders at Fulham and Brentford but aren't currently doing so. Hourihane and Lansbury are not creating for anyone, Kodjia is doing most of the work himself. If Hourihane and Lansbury either start playing to their previous standard, or are arguably given the set up to do so, then you'll find that the likes of Hogan and McCormack don't have an issue scoring. If we continually go for the route one then Hogan will do nothing at this club. The reason Gabby looked better when he came on is that he will cope with aerial balls and hold it up. Different kinds of strikers. To be succesful we'll need both but without a creative midfield, hit and hope won't achieve enough.

The punch was shockingly bad and nearly put us in a lot of trouble. But the biggest problem is he just doesn't command his area at all, you can feel tye lack of confidence the defence has in him. If we buy him in the summer then I'm all for developing him ourselves and seeing if he can step up a little. But if he's only available on loan then get rid and go for some experience on loan or buy our own youngster. Loans should reap instant reward or there is no benefit to us at all.

Hogan = McCormack. Both struggle/d to make an impact because not a single midfielder plays the ball into space, spots runs or puts it in to the strikers feet. We are completely set up to hit it high and to get our strikers to hold up the ball - things Kodjia and Gabby do. Things Benteke could do. But we need a midfield that are creative if we are to supply balls that the likes of Hogan need. I hope he forms a good partnership with Kodjia next season, supported by a settled Hourihane but Lansbury, Jedinak, Gardner and Grealish aren't capable of creating for others. Lansbury, Jedinak are at best ball winners but with an awful touch/ passing. Gardner is..a body on the pitch. Grealish is an overhyped two minutes a match selfish wonder. We would have no problem scoring goals with Hogan if we had better midfielders. That's where improvements need making this summer. How many times did Hogan have his back to goal today when everyone knows he needs to be running on to through balls. For the record though, attitude aside, McCormack looked far technically superior to Hogan and I still hold a little hope he can return fully fit with his head sorted out. Everyone deserves a second chance - Gabby is on his 50th...

Right...good news or bad news?! Your relationship will have to be very very strong, maybe this is for the relationship thread! Unfortunately, and I'm not wishing to scare you, it is such a common story that relationships break down when one partner takes up teaching. Just as a straw poll at my current place, I'd say 80% of relationships broke down because of the time demands and stress the career puts on people. For the none teacher partner it's really difficult to fathom - it's hard to understand it's not just a job and you feel you're letting children down if you don't do it with every ounce of your energy. It's quite emotionally blackmailing really and the government and management use that guilt to push you further. That's not to say you can't have a relationship as a teacher! It's just most relationships seem to have been formed between teachers or those in the education sector OR relationships that started after the individual had already become a teacher so it wasn't a shock to the system. You are in a bind, you have to be supportive but you can see issues arising. I feel for you. I think all you can do is support her wishes, at least the knowledge of what she's getting in to will help you better prepare for it. You're going to have to be patient and be prepared for tears, lots and lots of tears! I'd tell her to speak to as many teachers as possible to get an accurate view of it - don't listen to outsiders views or misleading adverts! Hell, show her this thread where three/four teachers have already said they'd be, at best, wary about entering the profession. No-one is sticking up for it who's an actual teacher yet. Good luck, it's going to be tough but she'll appreciate your support and she's going to need a lot. In a weird way, you just have to hope she sees it for herself. I was speaking to two people who though teaching was a goid idea just this last academic year, both dropped out the course after seeing what I'd told them would happen for themselves. You might just have to let her try. And in best case scenario, maybe she'll be that rare few who like it for long enough to make it worth while.

I wouldn't go as far as saying don't do it but really really think. Don't listen to all those people who think they know the job, listen only to those who do/did the job. Bulletpoints to think about; *It is not 8 til 3 five days a week. A study a few years back suggested a teacher works an average of 65hrs a week. I know of no teacher who doesn't put a day aside at the weekend for planning/marking/assessment. *Can you take constant negative scrutiny? You will be observed constantly to begin with and even after ten years you're still actively observed or assessed once every two weeks through formal observations, book trawls, assessment data, pupil progress or performance management. You HAVE to be told you're doing something wrong all the time so they can mark their sheets to show they are improving their staff for Ofsted - you are never fine/doing a good job. *Schools vary wildly. Both with management and children. Some schools, especially in Birmingham, will be more about behaviour management than teaching. Yes, this is primary. I've had runners, chairs thrown, attacks on adults and all kinds of language from under 9s and in a 'normal' school not a behavioural unit. *The only bit of teaching most teachers like is teaching. You're lucky, genuinely, if that takes up 33% of your time. You teach for 4.5 days a week (PPA is 0.5) so approximately 24hrs a week - the rest is planning, assessment, meetings etc. I could go on. I think the career is very very broken at the moment, me and my partner are both Primary teachers. I wouldn't enter the profession personally now, there are other jobs you could do for a much healthier mental and social well being. Your pay, especially at the start isn't great either. After ten years I was on 34k but now supply as it takes 90% of the crap away. My other half is hoping to be a deputy next year and will be on 45k - we did a work hours count only last month, she did a 72hr week in the 'average' week we documented - got in at 7am Mon to Fri, worked til 5.30 at school (bar one til 6.30, meeting) then came home and did another two hours on marking/ planning/ resources/ assessment. She always sets aside Saturday (Villa ST holder of course!) and then did another 6/7 hours on Sunday. This half term she's had a week off rather than the two the public believe because still more work to do and Easter booster classes etc in prep for SATs. Go in to a school for a week or two, get plenty of real experience. When I say real I mean where you aren't just doing the fun teaching/playing bit as that is less than a third of your time. If it still interests you, go for it, but don't say you weren't warned! Oh, and as a slight aside, assuming you're male, you'll either be expected to go straight for leadership roles, you're gay or youre a kiddyfiddler! Still a surprisingly high resistance to male teachers in primary, normally from institutionalised old midwide type teachers! Good luck!

Or he doesn't want to risk having a Blues relegation on his CV...

Mathematically we can no longer be relegated, just for the record 18 points from relegation places, 11 from promotion places. I will still be happy with a result that leaves us closer to the top than the bottom, said that before season began.

DRS is the wrong solution to a very real problem. Without DRS the aerodynamics of cars these days makes passing almost impossible, the introduction of DRS makes it too easy. Aerodynamics has evolved in to such a science that the 'dirty air' created by a leading car will nearly prevent any over taking. So whilst no fan if this artificial 'turbo' boost, I see the reasons behind it but think the fact it's been left as it is whilst creating too much of an advantage for the pursing car is ridiculous. Surely during preseason testing the FIA could work with teams to create a way DRS could be tailored to negate the disadvantages of dirty air whilst not giving the following car an easy ride. I'm sure intelligent enough people could work out how much speed is lost behind a car and tailor DRS to match, not exceed, it.