Rayvin

I meant more widely than that but you're not wrong really. For his valid criticism to be taken seriously he actually needs people to be listening. Tbh he might be best giving up midway through the term to allow someone new to come in. That way he has taken the sting out of the Corbyn legacy and given his successor something to run at.

I really don't think this strategy for Labour is working.

Yeah so that's my lesson learned on reading the post before the quoted text

All these people who talk about stability and so on, what do they think the sport is actually about? Because it really seems that for some of them, it really isn't about being competitive and improving. I mean ok Steve Howey, we're stable but... so? How is being 'stable' any better than being relegated in the overall scheme of things? Not sure I can see much difference between perpetual 17th and yoyoing between the Championship and the PL. You could in fact argue that the latter would be more satisfying.

Looks like the playoffs after a pretty shocking run of form. I reckon they might make it this time tbh, the teams around them all seem to be wobbling as well. Still can't believe this is their third season down there.

I think Sunak will go for it but honestly I think it'll be Gove. He'll have the Mail behind him, inevitably.

It was always going to end like this with Cummings and I'm actually fairly surprised it's taken as long as it has. I suspect he's got far more in his arsenal too. That is, however, a fantastically callous thing for the Prime Minister to say. It's almost unbelievable in fact, as it paints Johnson as a complete psychopath. If I was one of the people who believes he's a harmless buffoon, I'm not sure I'd swallow that.

I'm sure they actively overlooked better options as well. It wasn't strategic desperation, it was corruption.

No more a fan of Edwards than anyone else on here, but I can't see how or why that takeover would happen now. Would they really just have sat on their hands for the past year? Is there any evidence at all that it's still in the pipeline?

I can assist too.

The European Super League and Scottish Independence thread. That's how we roll on TT.

I'll be impressed if they're sanctioned at all. Pleasantly surprised with how this has gone though - the collapse of it has probably demonstrated that for all the bluster, these 6 teams do need the PL more than the PL needs them - at least that seems to be the position we're in at the moment. Whether Masters called their bluff or they failed to call his, I don't know.

Wonder if Charnley will bother himself to make a statement, or will just wait to see what the others write and copy and paste bits of what everyone else says.

I suspect all 14 of the clubs will be primarily motivated by the financial aspects of this, and will weigh up whether the damage from kicking the 6 "big" clubs out of the league will be greater or worse than letting it run on like this. Only the fans care about the sporting competitiveness of the league. The PL only care about their money and brand, the FA only care because they're paid to, the government only care because they think there's votes in it. As much as I'd love everyone involved to grow a pair and tell them to sling their collective hooks, I can't see it.

And the fact that 'the money' was one of the key reasons to leave prior to the vote.

Based on the above:

A boost to the LDs has to be a Remainer issue. Greens potentially also, frankly, just from the other side of the Labour spectrum. The Tories having taken some more of Labour is a bit fucking weird but there we are I guess. Those numbers are on par with Corbyn iirc.

I'll stress I'd be perfectly happy with a national anthem that didn't push a single person's life over and above everyone else's.

Was just surveyed by YouGov. "Do you like, love, dislike, hate the British national anthem?" "Do you own a union jack flag or something that displays it" "Do you think government buildings should fly the flag every day?" What the fuck is this country on? And for the record, my answers: 1 - Hate it 2 - No 3 - No

I think "hope" is probably the problem. Some people are too far gone. Understandably, tbh.

I suspect Labour will just about hold on and are making noises like this in order to shore up turnout. If they lose it'll be a clusterfuck though.

I mean, that's what you're asking for though - Biden was completely the same. Yeah he seems to have a bit of life in him now, but pre-election he was aiming to be as bland as possible. Starmer is literally doing what you and these journalists are saying he should be.

The current polls are intensely depressing. We're basically a one party state.

I don't think I've ever disagreed with that if it would actually work. My contention has generally been that the centre is a busted flush that has nothing to offer despite its acolytes claiming that it's the one true path. I was pro New Labour, I backed Miliband, I backed Brown even. They failed, their ideas failed, the whole concept failed. Corbyn wasn't the messiah because he was super left wing, he was the messiah because he was offering something different to the bland, vacuous, Tory lite policies that Labour had been increasingly trying to get behind to remain 'relevant' against the context of a lost battle over the narrative around austerity. To be clear, the centre in Labour had lost 2 elections before the 'unelectable hard left' came along. The left has subsequently lost another 2, although in one of those it came quite close to causing an upset - albeit in very unusual circumstances. Biden has won this victory, like it or not, also in very unusual circumstances. I think my argument here really is that we've proven absolutely nothing about what needs to happen in the UK political scene by looking at the US post-Trump. Why did Miliband not win? Why did Brown not win? Why hasn't New Labour been in power forever? I would also argue that the situation is more difficult in the UK than it is in the US. People are far more polarised in this country - part of that is a consequence of Corbyn but the genie isn't going back in the bottle I don't think, so we have to roll with it. If Starmer is going to win he will need to speak to the left, right and centre simultaneously. Johnson isn't the great evil that Trump was, he can't rely on his enemy motivating the left to vote while he goes chasing after the centre - which is what Biden did - especially as Johnson is actually outflanking him on the left with spending. To be clear though, a hard left winger isn't the answer either - it could have been pre-Brexit, but not now. I think, unfortunately, that the ludicrous handling from ALL involved within Labour during the Corbyn years has rather ensured that the answer is Johnson.

Well obviously the centrist republicans would prefer Biden to Sanders - and I'm fully aware of the issue with the word socialism. We've talked these points to death so let's not