Alex

I was going off the reaction Bruce gave whenever he heard Ryder’s name. Like he fucking hated Ryder. I don’t know whether Bruce fed him info though, I just find it unlikely based on that. It’s all rather moot now anyway. It was probably moot when Bruce was still here as he seemed to have little clue what was happening behind the scenes even when he was supposed to be running the first team affairs

How do you mean?

Nah, Bruce couldn’t stand him for some reason. Presumably because he can’t even take mild criticism (as that’s about as much as he got off Ryder).

There’s lots of factors though. We’re really looking at players who are young and up and coming or, if more established, still have their best years ahead of them. In the case of the latter, they need to improve the first XI, not just the squad. They need to have the right desire / mentality / attitude. They need to represent value and fit into the current wage structure. And you’re talking about players in the final third who come at a premium of course. I think the scouting setup won’t be where Ashworth wants it to be however

Well it’s not an area where we’ll have been well-stocked under Ashley. Which again flies in the face of his bollocks about how the club needed to self-sustaining. I would imagine Ashworth has more than enough contacts though, even if they aren’t officially employed by the club

Aye. Seems like he was genuinely liked and respected by the players

They sound like Tories

I expect the papers to pivot to it being the fault of the people who got rid of Johnson

They won’t have though, will they?

When The Wind Blows is fucking bleak like an elderly couple survive a catastrophic nuclear attack before gradually succumbing to the effects of radiation sickness. Nightie, night, kids

I think it’s the follow-up (where Father Christmas goes on his hols) and he wanted tomato sauce at the posh restaurant in Paris? Something like that. The shit you remember

xGone

In that case he was telling the truth

I went to Laing Art Gallery, probably about 15 years. There was an exhibition from the Tate which had some famous paintings. However by chance there was another exhibition of children’s book illustration with original work by the likes of Briggs and Quentin Blake (who did the Roald Dahl books). It was better than the Tate exhibition tbh. I read loads of his stuff when I was little. Even then I appreciated the bleak side of his work. I think his dad was a postie which inspired his Father Christmas character.

I was saying the only things I could remember were them and the lasso apart from Linda Carter. Everyone remembers the outfit (and her in it)

Aye Sally James on Tiswas 😎

I’ve a mate lives in forest hall who’s a big vinyl collector who has a juke box. He likes a lot of different stuff but in particular northern soul. A few year back all the Motown singles were released on 7” in box sets by year. From about ‘64 onwards until the late 60s just about every single one is a stone cold classic. The label’s output was absolutely incredible. I think Paul McCartney was saying one time how when the Beatles were at their peak the stuff coming out of Motown (rather than the Beach Boys or the Stones) was what they considered to rival them / inspire them to be even better

I used to love Wonder Woman. Despite not really being able to remember anything except Linda Carter I think she had a lasso that could make you tell the truth and bracelets that could deflect bullets? I think just about anyone who had a thing for women fancied her back then though

Did anyone see the story about Yarm getting £20m as part of the levelling up agenda. Fucking Yarm! A posh little market town while nearby there’s some of the most deprived areas in the country. I fucking hate these cunts

It’s a daily newspaper dedicated to sport and about 3/4 of it is football-related. So lots and lots of speculation, especially at this time of year.

Anti-establishment ffs

Iirc we buy very little gas from Russia and France has seen a 4% rise after the government intervened. Meanwhile the energy companies post massive profits. Labour’s fault

It’s the latter