Gemmill

She absolutely wasn't like. She was one for the granddads who couldn't believe there was a lass on their gardening show with no bra on.

Also, generally speaking PL clubs don't come knocking for up and coming English coaches without big club experience. They'd rather appoint someone like Lampard or a coach from abroad. There's definitely logic to the whole plan, but they appear to have abandoned it on its first road test.

The Daily Mail's take. I fucking despise the press in this country.

It was meant to be this "England DNA" thing though, where they're literally identified as a good young coach and groomed for the top job. But the FA hasn't got the balls to follow through when there are shiny baubles to be won.

Three days ago, this cunt was making the case for Pep for England. Today he thinks the England manager should be English. Ladies and gentlemen, please be upstanding for the Chief Football Writer at the Daily Telegraph.

I don't believe for a second that the Greece match changed anything. They didn't take a look at Carsley and look at one another and go "What do you reckon? Do you think Pep's better? Shall we ask him?" If England had beaten Greece, Carsley still wouldn't be getting announced today.

I think you're right that Carsley didn't want it btw. But that is just FURTHER EVIDENCE of Ashworth's failings, because surely the first question you'd ask your chosen successor for the big job is "would you like to do it if the opportunity arose?" It all comes back to the tool at the hub of the wheel.

The man is a spokey dokey.

The wheel that he sits at the centre of is buckled.

I don't think you offer it to Carsley, and only then sound out Pep and Ancelotti. There's talk that they'd already spoken with Pep in the summer too. You also don't appoint Carsley on an interim basis if the plan is for him to get the job. I'm telling you, this all comes back to Dan Ashworth being a useless prick.

I like the appointment, but it's a pretty sad indictment of the FA's grand succession planning that they haven't got a viable successor. We're straight back to "pick a foreign bloke that's won something". Was it Ashworth that set this failed system up?

Shearer won't be happy.

He was on the BBC a few weeks back cos he's fronting up this scheme to get older folk to come up with a playlist. The idea being that if you're unfortunate enough to suffer with dementia at some point, that this can bring some comfort and spark memories, etc. He seems to have slowed down a canny bit, as you would expect, but I'm sure he saw this as a real slap in the face given what he did for them.

If you're not expecting to get anything if you sold it, then I don't see what benefit regular servicing is really giving you (beyond obvious things like oil and brake fluid changes).

I love how there's now a "national insurance controversy" because it looks like they're going to raise Employer's NI. The press and the Tories trying to suggest this is breaking a manifesto promise, even though it was abundantly clear that it was Employee's NI that was being talked about during the campaign. The way the press will just run with the Tory line as if there are questions to be answered, instead of just going "Aye that's bollocks, we can ignore it" just again speaks to how they've forgotten how to actually do they're job, because they're so addicted to drama.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/oct/14/cheating-alleged-after-mens-world-conker-champion-found-with-steel-chestnut Shocking stuff.

Synchronise watches, fight fans.

Corbyn's manifesto was undeliverable at the time he proposed it and that was before the effects of Brexit, covid, and Truss. Starmer running on that manifesto in 2024 would have been one of the all time greatest acts of political self sabotage.

It should have been obvious when he wouldn't take 2 million No's for an answer.

Jenrick says he'll appoint Rees Mogg as party chair if he wins the leadership.

His current, yet to be proven take, is that he reckons that polling in America is failing to adequately take account of the huge voter registration numbers since Harris became the Dem ticket. He reckons that, plus increased turnover among women, could.... could result in a bigger than expected win for Harris than the polls are suggesting. Hope to fuck he's right this time too.

He's a good lad. Greek national, now lives here full time. Former civil servant and incredibly posh, but he's sound and a very astute political observer/commentator in my experience. He was the only person when Johnson won his big majority and everyone was saying Labour were done for, that was saying "I wouldn't be so sure. Set free to do what he wants to do, Johnson will be his own worst enemy, and it's much more likely that this ends in scandal and tears." And he was absolutely bang on.

Re Italy, they're trying to get closer ties with Europe where every country has a veto. You can't have closer ties with Europe and refuse to engage with Italy. They're in government, they have to engage with some people that we, and also they, would consider unsavoury. I want to see progress in some areas, but I expect to see some things I don't like along the way. It's the cost of being in government and wanting to stay there. If you absolutely insist on ideological purity, you can only ever have that in opposition, and you'll only ever be in opposition.

A pretty good, sober assessment of Labour's first 100 days. Probably won't appeal to the THEY'RE JUST TORIES crew on here (you know who you are), but it's pretty balanced imo. Laura K features for being a bellend that has forgotten how to do her job.

Beetlejuice was alright. Monica Bellucci and Winona Ryder in the same film is not to be sniffed at. @Monkeys Fist would approve.