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Urghhh.

About 3 weeks ago the owld dear over the road was taken into hospital. When I saw a couple of paramedics over the road I was a little worried. She must be close to 90, but she is mentally all there and a good laugh actually but her mobility isnt there. Anyways one of the paramedics came over and told us she was been taken in because she had bad infection in her leg. Owld dear was stressing because of her dog. So I looked after the dog until her dog walker came to collect it. Not seen anything since and its sad. We've had her for dinner a few times in the 8 years we have lived here and go shopping for her etc. Anyway, last few day at work have been a stress. One of the bairns who works directly for me is a waste of oxygen. Shocking attitude etc. I want them gone. We had a deadline today for a key client and we missed it because they basically lied about something being done. Anyways I have had to seriously kiss arse this afternoon. So got to 5 and I went straight for a pint. Other bairn who works for me came and we had a pint. Then Mrs Wilson messaged to tell me she was in the hair dressers and she said she cba cooking so lets go for food. So went for a bite to eat and a nice glow of a couple of beers and a glass of wine. Got home and there was an ambulance outside the owld dears. Anyways she's home! So we've just had a cuppa with her and a catch up. Honestly. We we're sat with her and she told us how she was really ill and she was scared as she has no family here. Her only family is in Canada and they're elderly too. She said it was so nice to have a cuppa with us. Fuck em, I was crying! I know she's not going to be around forever but it was lovely to see her and she's not lost any of her humour. Feet up now and try and forget about the budget, politics and other shit. Have a good weekend all. Much love

A Woltemade brace, a season-correcting victory, and a load of insanely shit patter about how I shouldn't have made this prediction.

Indeed, it takes at least half a billion to go massively backwards these days.

In the Everton thread as well.

At the very least, our current owners have made all of our dreams of winning the league a genuine possibility, even if it is a very small one right now. I would like to think that we will do it one day. I would also like to think that Eddie will be the manager who takes us there. Pure fairytale stuff, but it's nice to dream. As for FFP / PSR / whatever the fuck - I really hate the "rules" and the way they work. If there was a way to bend the rules, win some trophies and not be punished, docked points etc, I'd absolutely want the club to do it. Appreciate that others would rather play by the book or be cautious, totally understand. But for me, we've waited so long for any success, we've finally had some, and I want us to keep having it. The cup final this year was one of the best days of my life and I'm sure you can all say the same. Spend the money, win the trophies, bring in some superstars to play in black and white. We'd all love that. Doesn't matter what anyone else says about us anyway. Life's too short.

This place would be boring AF if the match threads were measured and rational what's the point in being a football fan if you can't lose your shit and think the whole team are club footed bonk eyes every time the concede a goal!?

People can lose their shit in the match thread but beyond that it’s all fairly reasoned analysis. I love this place ❤️

We also have a long distance lorry driver on the books who'd be obliging, but unless you have a yearning to experience what it's like to be under a patio slab for 20 years until the cold case forensic police dig you up, I'd not recommend it.

"A bit waiting, shoving with a soupçon of black pepper spray by le Polis français? You were lucky."

I’ve just got back home after taking Mrs. F. to Crammy hospital 6am this morning. Long story short, she was taken in to surgery to have her appendix out at teatime, all well, but she’s more tripped out than Gemmill and TBD on a Grateful Dead weekend in a peace camp in Wiltshire. God bless the NHS!

I don't think the reaction from most of our fans, well certainly not on this this message board, has been particularly fickle. We've always complained about shit performances, just we've been privileged over the last three years or so to see much fewer of them than normal, but we'll still openly talk about it when we do see them. It's not been fickle at all. If we see great, we'll call it great. If we see shit, we'll call it shit. It's just honesty.

Aye, the child sex offences would probably rule him out.

The away day lads on this forum live all over, one of them's from outer mongolia, well it's actually Wales but he lives in a Yurt, the drug addled raving hippie cunt, so you can understand my confusion.

He had a couple of stinkers compared to the level he can operate at. But who hasnt for us this season? That back four for me is nailed on our best.

I know that's the rationally correct position, but if we'd won in 95/96 then it'd be hard to argue we didn't spend our way to that title, and I reckon we'd all be OK with defending that against whatever the occasional pub bore has to say.

Aye this is spot on. We're victims of being miles ahead of where we should be. Ourselves and Villa are in similar positions in that we have what it takes to qualify for the CL, but not yet at a level whereby we can sustain a CL campaign and qualify for it again the following season - if we somehow manage that this season we'll have massively over-achieved - even more so when you consider the shenanigans of the transfer window in the summer. Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool & Man City are at a different level to us at the moment and the next milestone has to be getting to that level.

We're miles away from having a squad that should be able to compete with the top 4 on a regular basis. That's why there's inconsistency. But because of what he's achieved in such a ridiculously short space of time, we're judging him by top 4 standards and "why can't we just be at our best and a total fucking juggernaut all of the time?" Look at the money Liverpool, Chelsea, and Man City have spent, and even they can't maintain those standards a lot of the time.

Lads we're five point off the CL spots with 26 games to go.

They were offended by all of the red chinos, I reckon.

This. The parties 'on the left' (lol!), ie labour and the lib dems are far too nice and polite. Get out there and call them all racist putin-loving cunts and keep repeating it until it's etched into the psyche of the entire country, and don't be afraid of saying anyone who supports them is also a racist putin-loving cunt. There's a culture war out there, start bloody fighting it!

Psssst. Dave is "Howe Out", pass it on.

Call a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy - Petitions

At the very least the new commercial bloke should test the limit of “Fair Market Value” in a way some of the deals done so far have failed to do

First choice back four for me is Tino Thiaw Botman Hall I know Botman had a shocker v Brentford, but he's better than that.

we could always cheat like chelsea. the new financial rules do exactly the same job as psr. the system is rigged so why not try harder to bend the rules? the saudis have played incredibly nice to date. they bulldozed their way to success in other sports.

Would love Europa as well. It's still Europe, different flavour, and I think we'd actually look to go and win it. I'm not worried at all about this season at the moment. We'll turn it all around and probably finish 5th - 7th. Hopefully, the turnaround starts properly tomorrow. Maybe we'll have another stab at the League Cup as well. It's a lovely feeling, having a manager who allows me to believe that any bad spells can be navigated. Easier to see them for what they really are.

We’ve looked at the various allegations and……..Fuck You is what it says

We win, Hill Dickinson sounds like they make sausages and you know what sausages mean..................

Fucking hell. Puts it all into perspective in terms of Eddie and what he's doing. When it's written down it looks like a nearly impossible job, and yet we are still doing very well in Europe, we're in a quarter-final... There is no other manager out there who I'd want to guide us through our current situation.

Pssst, Dave is "sow pout". Pass it on....

I'd also like us to bend the rules and stop playing it with kid gloves. Getting to the top will not earn us any sort of moral plaudits from others. Other club's supporters will say what they say regardless of how its done so who cares. As Son House put it: Don't you mind people grinning in your face. As an Australian, I find the English psychological obsession with the morality of sport to be incredible. Sport is for winning. Moral victories are claimed and clung to by losers and Mike Atherton has a pocket full of dirt for anyone who says otherwise.

you’re spot on. He’s consistently shown he can turn things around after starting slowly. It is a recurring theme though, isn’t it? Having to go on mad unbeaten runs to claw back lost ground. Hope he pulls the rabbit out of the hat once again. He wasn’t helped this season by how the transfer window played out but at sone point we’ve got to find a way to start the season better so we’re not left with a mountain to climb.

left back?

I quite fancy a run at the Europa League tbh, be certainly a very good chance if bringing it home

To pull this at this time of year is a proper cunt's trick.

I've basically already done this. They're both acting coy saying they need the other to ask first. Anyway, I've appealed, I'll leave it a couple of weeks before asking if the DVLA have been in contact.

DVLA need me to get new information from quack to appeal with said new information, I can't get a quicker appointment than early January with quack but his secretary insists they didn't send any information AND WON'T send any information unless DVLA request it. Honestly, they can all fuck right off. I've appealed with two previous letters from consultant which say there's no reason I shouldn't drive pre-scans and another saying they've found nothing post scans but according to the DVLA I need to speak to quack AS WELL. I've sent the old letters anyway.

It's not about the truth it's about the clicks and Farage gets the views from the haters and the gammons Same as Trump, absolute box office for the media. That's all it's about these days

oh no. is if the likelihood of us winning wasn't bad enough....

CT: "Have you tried taxi drivin...... Oh, wait."

Alright. Which cunt frae here dobbed HMHM in? Nobody leaves until we find out which cunt did it. (Sorry to hear your troubles HMHM)

I'm hoping they'll sneak a couple of restorations in , in each budget - they committed to making budgets annual - if that's the case (hopefully no war!) then they've got another 2 budgets left at least. I'd like to see some more done to try and combat all these multinationals who use shell companies in tax havens for profits and UK companies for losses - in my view this is why the Employers NI increase had to be made. Amazon can pretend that its shipping stuff from Amazon S.A.R.L to you at 10am the next morning when you order at 9pm the day before and put that sale through luxembourg - but they can't disguise the fact they are hiring UK employees due to the legal need for NI numbers etc . It is the only way to try get revenue out of the multinationals and get away from HMRC making "case based" deals with these companies. IF , just IF amazon, vodafone, 3, EE etc had to pay corporation tax at 20% on UK profits (with all sales being properly registered through a UK entity - and no overseas losses allowed through the UK entity) we'd make billions. We've taken this country to a point where I think people legitimately believe that any operating cost (be it genuine tax, a fine, or any regulatory cost) - should be passed onto customers. We need to get back to the shit we had in the 90's - it was still shit, but at least then companies used to think "if we pollute we get fined 4% but profit is 5% so we'll still make 1% profit by doing x" Now its "if we get fined 4% we've no choice but pass that cost onto the consumer" Thats what neoliberal politics, social media and the complete collapse of any Anti Monopoly rules has done. Christ, 3 years ago we had energy companies saying that costs had gone up so they had to increase energy prices by >10% and what did our governments do? They took money out of the public purse and gave it straight to the energy companies and private sector. I mean seriously, how do they get away with it? You either believe in market forces / neoliberalism, or you don't. It completely breaks the law of supply and demand. Those companies also went on to make record profits - same as most multinationals right now in the UK. And no.. other countries DONT do this and the companies DONT leave the market - ANY profit is viable. Canada wont allow the import of goods it cannot recycle into certain provinces. Prince Edward island doesnt take plastic bottles at all , coca cola didnt exit the market, they supply glass bottles. But like the Labour party of today. in my opinion it isnt a matter of strength it's a matter of media ownership, the Nudge Unit going private, Meta's rise , algorithm and fact checking removal - the media , the oligarchs , russia / china are laughing at how malleable we've been. (what im trying to say is that if they tried to enact any true policies so early in their term, then the screw would be turned so tight they couldn't win another, because the public opinion majority is now fairly easy to manipulate by the elite who don't want regulation, or seek to divide and conquer our international and domestic influence) I do think though, that internet and social media makes it look far worse than it is - the majority of people in my social circles are not greedy and want taxes to at least move half way back to where they were with Thatcher . Business owners used to want legacy and to leave legacy behind (Henry Ford even in America) - now its become trying to get into a position of "the sovereign individual" (cheers Lord Mogg you odious elitist) Edit .. lol what a rant.. all my opinion , but I like to think some of it is accurate at least. I lived with and had friends that are multi millionaires and they all find it stressful and want to be able to take back a bit of control. In most countries its illegal for a CEO of a PLC to do anything philantrophic with their companies - it has to come out of their own pocket because business profits "isn't their money , its the shareholders" . In the USA the only way you can do anything charitable legally, is if you can justify that it will in some way increase profits (e.g. its good advertising)

In Monkseaton and Whitley bay? it's very well to do - I've just moved here and its got a very well to do feel with those mums and toddlers and all the "hobby shops". Why not try my old neck of the woods and do the same on Welbeck road? I feel bad about the boomers thing for people in that bracket who legitimately didn't support and vote for Thatcher and 10 years of Tories. I think the problem is (or in my own personal view, the problem is) that it's that generation that are on Social Media all the time talking politics and they always come out with stuff along the lines of: "Tories / Farage are the only people with balls to fix this country - share if you agree" "I'm not paying for people to have children and live in luxury" - share if you agree "Life was hard for us too, kids need to stop eating Avacado" etc etc. Whilst simultaneously forgetting all the enablers that helped , yes times were tough - but it's that generation that have voted in successive governments that enable excessive consumption and cuts cuts cuts. In the 70's we had: Jobs from school at 15 and you could stay with the same employer for life if you wanted (Unions , apprenticeships , Nationalised industries) Free education at all levels Free dentistry and healthcare Regulated banks (this was huge) Child benefit uncapped Social Housing Regulated rental industry (even the rent act 1965, 77) And the Tories call it the politics of envy that we are unhappy with the deregulation and reduction of taxes for the wealthy - since Thatcher The fact is that the generation before COULD survive and bring a family up on 1 persons wage - and these families were BIG 2 children minimum up to 6 or 7 in my parents generation. I know also though that the family didnt have xboxes etc, or even guaranteed meals in some cases. But it was a generation that shared and had community spirit because they had to share - now that that's taken away the generation appear to be arguing that they want the UK to be like the 70's - but without actually being willing to share or go through any hardship themselves. Look at the comments on BBC today about lifting the 2 child cap on UC - they make it sound like we are talking about the equivalent of a salaried wage being given away. It's a support network for the child. But when its something that affects the boomer generation .. wow. (admittedly though, its only them and workshy fops like me that are writing comments on bbc, other than bots and paid peeps) The reality is now, if you are in a working class or retail job it is not even possible to survive with both peoples wages and 2 children without loading debt . And who was it that bought right into consumerism and globalisation , only to blame kids now for being consumerist. We reduced all regulation on advertising, imports, destroyed unions, destroyed 100's of thousands of jobs in traditional industry areas for "cheap imports" - without giving any alternative path? A cause of areas like south hetton are down to stripping away the possibility of work for an entire generation, who already had children without any practical alternative - the tory alternative is to think that everyone has the same opportunity and "just move to work".

I don't think the owners have shown any hint of being impatient. Howe has had struggles before, and even then the current 'struggle' has us midtable despite a calamitous summer, in the QF of the Carabao, and doing well in the Champions League. He's not faultless, but some of the noise has been pathetic.