Dr Gloom

get around CT's gaff for a Friday night bong session on the garden sofa

i just watched it. don't know much about the channel beyond what you posted but i can see why renton is freaking out. syed makes a persuasive case

HOT MITCH SUMMER STAGE TWO COMING SOON

yeah, i dunno if they'd be batshit enough to acquire a nuke, let alone launch one preemptively. not sure i agree with renton on that one, though nor would i want iran to get its hand on a nuke to test his theory re: hamas, i dunno if i'd be as charitable to describe them as cornered animal, as if they don't bear some responsibility for Israel's retaliatory strikes. i hate hamas every bit as much as i hate netanyahu. my position is this: there is zero justification for what netanyahu has done to gaza. none whatsoever. it pains me to say this as a pro-israeli, but it is ethnic cleansing. netanyahu and his cronies should stand trial for war crimes. the only longterm outcome for the next generation of israelis is more fear, insecurity and death. you can try and destroy then annex gaza but this isn't going away. his actions turned israel into a pariah state while recruiting the next generation of hamas terrorists. that's all it's achieved - along with the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians. however, hamas - and by extension iran - knew exactly what they were doing when they launched the october 7 attacks. they knew the israeli response would be brutal. the truth is khameni/netanyahu and hamas all wanted the conflict. both netanyahu and hamas need it to cling to power, which is all they care about - neither side care about the people they represent.

the west absolutely is responsible for khameni's grip on iran. it's the classic US-led, western imperialism playbook: get involved in a foreign conflict by arming a rebel group in a bid to access natural resources, before going to war with whatever regime emerges from the mess created by those we armed in the first place. genius

your assessment of hamas and iran is rather forgiving. hamas is a terrorist group committed to the destruction of the state of israel and are supported by iran, which also wants to wipe the "zionist entity" from the map. iran also played a significant hand encouraging hamas to launch the october 7 attacks which helped give netanyahu the political capital needed to start all of this. remember iran did so in a bid to upend the normalisation of Israel-Saudi relations and further destabilise the region, so they achieved that goal. iran has also been engaged in proxy wars in the region for decades. i deplore what nethanyahu and trump are doing now also, but let's call a spade a spade.

yeah, you might be right. and like i said, if elanga is howe's pick then you have to trust him. semenyo has always excited me when i've seen him. he has that maverick technical ability that maxi had but unlike him, he also puts the graft in defensively.

another story that definitely, definitely happened

it's the time of year though, innit. fuck all else to talk about on here apart from transfer speculation, the cricket, the U21s, or WWIII

my main doubt with elanga is he seems great option for a counter-attacking team with pace to burn getting in behind and he looks energetic in the press so would fit out current style but if we are gouing to develop into a more possession-based side, does he have the technical ability to break down a low block defence? it's been our achilles heel, and i'm not sure he's that sort of player. i could well be wrong but i sense someone such as semenyo might be a better option in that regard.

still moaning about "dippers at work" though, i noticed

they're not glamour/marquee signings but chelsea have made loads of those and it doesn't guarantee success. athleticism, pace, work rate and personality seem as important as technical ability to howe. he is also the best in the business at improving players. these lads are all young with potential to be improved. elanga is the one out of all of them who i wonder is worth the price mooted, but if eddie fancies him, you have to trust his judgement. i've seen enough from joao pedro to think he can be a really good player and he would also give us a different way of playing. the one question with him is his attitude, but again i defer to sir eddie on that.

jimbo's telly or stfu

If Luke Edwards is right, and we’re potentially getting Pedro, Trafford and Elanga for £125m, then it’s a good, if expensive start to the window. Though not as expensive as rumours suggested it could have been.

I was listening to TMS yesterday and they were talking about the importance of having an established top 7 going into the Ashes. We have that now Pope has found some form, and Bethell breathing down his neck will hopefully spur him on. And despite the criticism of Bazball, often justified in its early stages, what Stokes and McCullum have done is create an atmosphere where batters play their natural game now while also adapting to the game situation. The questions for me are still about the bowling attack. Agree with Alex that a fit Stokes helps provide balance but it would be great to have a pool of genuine pace bowlers that we can rotate in Australia. We need to wrap Wood up in cotton wool so he’s fit. Play bowlers more suited to English conditions against India if that’s what needed to endure Wood is on the flight. Archer feels like a Hail Mary pass at this stage but it would be amazing if it comes off and he’s part of the Ashes squad.

He looks super fit too. A bit rusty with the bat but that’s to be expected after all that time out and he’s still soneone to be feared at number 6

apparently he could be coming back into the squad for the edgbaston test next week. seems a bit reckless when you look at how his body has broken down and how little red ball cricket he's played in recent years. they're desparate to see if his body is up to a few tests before deciding to pick him in the ashes squad.

yeah - it could have backfired but i can see why stokes decided to put the in. i also agree with tom that it was an arrogant move, but one with some reasoning behind it. they're rightly confident in chasing down a target on a decent pitch though. they no longer seem certain to collapse when wickets start falling. that's multiple chases of 300+ to win games in recent years. feels like we're moving into the second chapter of bazball. they're still playing aggressively, ticking along at well over 4 an over with the bat, but it's not as macho/brainless as it seemed at first.

This move is a guaranteed hex on our transfer business. Thanks for nothing Andrew

you definitely get an exciting prospect from abroad for a lot less than the prices mooted for Elanga or Semenyo. We’ve been linked with Bakayoko, Kubo, Kuhn et Al but sounds like Eddie prefers PL experience this time.

Perhaps we can bump the offer up by giving them the Greek keeper back

i like the player but if the price is £60m of thereabouts.....i dunno. you might get semenyo for that price, who looks a more exciting prospect to me.

still the greatest form of the game