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Reply | Would you let Edwards leave?
at 06:31 3 Jul 2020
Has some strengths and glaring weaknesses.
On the plus side, is quick, has some tricks and is great arriving at the back post - especially in the air. When played on wide of midfield he tracks back well and will put in a tackle.
On the negative side, whilst he may not be afraid to tackle, he's not very good at it. His first touch is appalling, properly awful.
But the biggest issue is that as a winger or a wing-back his crossing is terrible - which should be a basic requirement for someone playing in that position. |
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Reply | Musical hell
at 05:32 3 Jul 2020
Yes - in the context of the majority of REMs back catalogue prior to Bill Berry leaving
No - when it can be used as a gateway track for 9/10 year old children when Dad is trying to expose them to the band that produced 5-6 of the best albums from the 80s and early 90s. |
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Reply | ITFC mobile phone - early 2000s?
at 04:25 2 Jul 2020
Yup - I had one around 2006 - that I replaced after a few months with a work funded Blackberry. Was the last non-email mobile I had and if I recall it was ridiculously basic and very plastic.
I think I threw it out when we moved down under in 2013. |
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Reply | “This was my greatest Ipswich team.
at 15:21 1 Jul 2020
Buckeroo.
We though the club was getting back some stability, the fans were back, we were top of the league...and in the blink of an eye the club sh1ts itself and we explode into pieces...and now we realise that if we want to go again it's highly like we will just get the same outcome next time. |
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Reply | And this year's Darwin award goes to
at 06:29 26 Jun 2020
I've spent most of my life getting frustrated at what I perceived to be dumb actions of a dumb minority of people. Then about 4-5 years ago, I realised it was actually me in the minority and that I hate most people.
Then I reflect on how very glad I am to work in an organisation that mainly only employs people who are unashamedly left of centre and who typically have obtained post-grad qualifications (also known as nerds/libtards/bleeding hearts) - and I realise that whilst I hate most people, I'm confident that the majority of folks on the street would hate me back!! |
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Reply | Any Canada based blues here?
at 03:06 26 Jun 2020
100% this - I got the chance to move to Perth when I was 39 - wish I'd had the chance to go earlier before we had kids.
Been here almost seven years and love it - no regrets at all. Yes, it requires an effort to build a new friends network but the overall experience is incredible.
I chose to support the local Aussie Rules and they are as equally crap and disappointing as ITFC - it actually feels quite a nice familiar feeling to have your hopes dashed after only 10% of the new season has been played. |
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Reply | Burnley fans not apologising for plane...
at 05:49 24 Jun 2020
Had a discussion with my Mum the other day because she liked the ‘Police lives matter’ meme doing the rounds on Facebook.
Her response was that she couldn’t care less about what’s happening in the US, it’s not a problem in the UK and she was appalled at police officers being attacked at the recent BLM ‘riots’ (her words) in London.
Made me realise that if you live in deepest Suffolk, are in your 70s and only read the Daily Mail and watch Sky News - chances are you have a very different world view to me!!! |
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Reply | What is the worst... British county?
at 08:56 19 Jun 2020
Ingatestone is about right - probably the precise place you move out of London Essex and into East Anglian Essex. |
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Reply | What is the worst... British county?
at 08:23 19 Jun 2020
The only issue with the split being at Shenfield is that technically places Harlow into North Essex - and Harlow is one of the worst places in the country.
If you make the split at Chelmsford then you can draw a line which has Harlow in the South Essex.
Plus Shenfield is effectively a suburb of Brentwood and Brentwood is definitely London spillover. |
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Reply | What is the worst... British county?
at 05:44 19 Jun 2020
Having lived and worked in many places across the country - including several mentioned here this is my general reflections.
Suffolk (Born and raised, moved away at aged 18) - beautiful county with some towns that are dumps (Ipswich, Felixstowe, Stowmarket, Haverhill) and some of the best small towns and large villages around (Woodbridge, Southwold, Newmarket etc.). Populated with some of the friendliest and most down to earth people you could ever meet. Really safe. Beautiful coastline, although beaches are very average.
Yorkshire (studied at Uni here for four years) - my favourite county. Once you get past the initially overwhelming 'Yorkshireness' of the locals you realise they are proud, friendly and loyal folk. Beautiful countryside, interesting cities and incredible history. I moved away in 1996, but there will always be a bit of my heart in the place. Only real issue is Leeds Utd fans - morons!!
Lancashire (did my postgrad here). A weird place. Really arrogant people who think it's gods own county, but my perception was it was like an inferior Yorkshire in almost everything about it. Slightly less beautiful, cities slightly more grubby, people slightly less friendly and lots more rain.
Berkshire (lived about 10m from Reading for four years - albeit just into North Hampshire - but friends and work were all into Berks so don't know much about Hants). Just a really vanilla place. No obvious virtues, but nothing fundamentally awful about the place. Certainly been to many places worse than Reading, Bracknell and Slough.
Staffordshire (worked there for two years - commuting in on a Monday and back home on a Friday). Quite similar to Berkshire in terms of having nothing going for it, but I found the main towns/cities (Stafford, Burton and Stoke) to be much bigger dives than Berks. Certainly would never hurry back and would put it very close to worst county.
Essex (lived there for seven years). It's two counties in one. I would argue North Essex (Chelmsford upwards) is very similar to Suffolk, but actually a bit nicer. Chelmsford is a nicer town than Ipswich, Clacton is rubbish, but slightly less rubbish than Felixstowe, Braintree not that different to BSE, but several of the north Essex villages are absolute crackers. Then there's everything South of Chelmsford and into NE London - god awful towns, god awful people.
Tyne and Wear (my wife is from there so I know it well). Lovely place, great coastline and Newcastle is a great city. Sunderland is a dump, but the people are really friendly. Just miles from anywhere!!
Which leaves the worst county in my view - Humberside. Had to work there on and off for a year. Can't think of a single place that I couldn't wait to leave. Everybody is miserable, Hull is a dive, Grimsby smells of fish and the coastline is dotted with oil refineries. Awful awful awful [Post edited 19 Jun 7:26]
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Reply | Breaking Bad - what am I missing?
at 05:00 7 Jun 2020
I’ve just started Ozark - probably the closest thing I’ve seen to BB. I’m halfway through season 1 and I would say it’s on a par with second half of S2 BB, which makes it about 20% as good as S3-5 BB.
The thing is, S1 and S5 of BB could barely be more different. Don’t get me wrong, I liked S1 but it’s like a completely different TV series. Midway through S2 (once we progress beyond Tucco being the main villain) it just gets better and better.
If we were to compare each season of BB to an ITFC season I would say:
- S1 is like 04/05 under Royale. Exciting, a bit random (eg Kuqi) but ultimately left you underwhelmed.
- S2 is like 77/78. Frustrating, highs and lows, but with the most incredible run towards the end.
- S3 is like 2000/01 in the prem. A joyride of subverting expectations with hardly a down moment. Leaves you thinking you’re on the cusp of greatness.
- S4 is like 79/80. Everything starts to fall into place, constant highs, possibly the single finest episode in history (Ipswich 6-0 Man Utd).
- S5 is 80/81. You knew coming in it would be special, it was outstanding performance after outstanding performance, there were a couple of tears shed along the way, and ultimately it had the most perfect finish. [Post edited 7 Jun 5:03]
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Reply | One of my best friends has passed away
at 02:41 6 Jun 2020
Hey Dan - perhaps I can offer some helpful words as I've been there mate.
About 11-12 years ago - when I was 33/34 - my best friend from high school died of cancer. He had two boys under the age of 7 and a lovely wife.
It was so sudden - I got a message at work and I literally burst into tears and couldn't stop - I was shaking, unable to speak to 20 minutes. Colleagues got me safely home but I was numb.
The thing is, he'd had cancer in his early 20s, had beaten it and was in full remission - then it came back with speed and vengeance.
I had moved away from Ipswich in my early 20s, so I only saw him every six months, but we had a routine of a few beers, a game of pool, a big hug and lots of laughs.
When he died I felt huge regret that it had been seven months since I'd seen him last - I didn't even know the cancer was back.
The funeral is still probably the most harrowing day of my life - worse than my grandparent's funerals.
So - the helpful bit.
You will be told this but time is a great healer, it might seem a throw away statement - but it genuinely is. Once the initial shock goes, then the great memories take over. Yes, they will always be trapped in time, but you don't forget them in the way you forget so many other things. They become vivid, they make you smile and they make you laugh - as unlikely as that might seem right now.
My mate's wife decided to keep his Facebook page open. Once a year, all his mates get a message saying it's his birthday - and we all put on posts to wish him a happy birthday. And once a year someone will post on the anniversary of his death and we all raise a glass in his memory. Every time I will have a tear in my eye and big smile on my face (pretty much like I do as I type this).
Keep strong, don't be remotely afraid to express your feelings at this time - and trust me - you will never forget him. |
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Reply | You can bring back 3 dead Rock Stars on a 5 album deal
at 00:37 5 Jun 2020
Nick Talbot (Gravenhurst) - taken far too young
Ian Curtis
Can't think of a third that would interest me much - maybe Rob Heaton from New Model Army if that meant he and Justin Sullivan could reconcile and deliver 5 albums more in the style of their 80s/90s body of work rather than the more recent efforts. |
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Reply | We decided to keep the office closed until September today...
at 06:07 4 Jun 2020
Completely different scenario as I am talking about Australia (7,225 cases, 6,640 recovered, 102 deaths - at least 25 of which foreign nationals who contracted the virus on cruise ships that then offloaded them n Australia).
My company started to open up it's offices two weeks ago, starting with my office in Perth. Only letting 50% of the office in at anyone time and have to check in and out using an app to support contact tracing. Only two people in a lift at one time (which is a huge pain even though half the firms in our building haven't com back). The city centre is still really empty, over half the cafes/coffee shops are shut and the car parks really empty. Commute time is 15 minutes compared to 25 minutes usually. Feels really odd to be back - similar feeling to truanting school (i.e. doing something you're not supposed to do). |
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Reply | This may blow your mind but if you oppose fascism...
at 07:33 2 Jun 2020
Happy to concede that he is a long way from 1930s Germany, but:
- 'dictatorial power': he has already exceeded 50% of the number of Executive Orders of the last three two-term presidents, and signed more EOs than any President in his first year of office since Johnson did (and most of Johnson's were related to the Vietnam War.
- Forcible suppression of opposition: The moment Twitter opposed him he signed an EO to increase the regulation of social media. This weekend he had to back down from his 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts', plus his whole 'fake news' movement is nothing but suppression of opposition.
- Ultranationalist: The MAGA campaign, followed by the most extensive set of protectionist trade arrangements in a generation.
I stand by what I said - he is a wannabe fascist. The only reason is he is a wannabe is that he hasn't followed through on any of his threats. His is the epitome of 21st Century Fascism. |
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Reply | This may blow your mind but if you oppose fascism...
at 06:43 2 Jun 2020
I think the problem here is the blurring of lines between different movements and to some extent the hijacking of the antifa movement by the more traditional anarchists (there have been plenty of sightings of Anonymous at some protests).
I'll start with my own frustrations with Antifa - or rather the media's portrayal of Antifa - and that is the endless conflation of Fascism with Nazism. Yes Nazis were fascists, but there were many other manifestations of fascism. The issue is that it's easy to say would you punch a Nazi - and the answer for many is, well yes of course I would, but Hitler's been long dead and self proclaimed Nazis are few and far between. So for many it makes fascism seem a marginal, almost mickey mouse notion. It's the same issue as labelling every liberal as a far left snowflaking socialist.
However, I dare any sensible minded person to read the dictionary definition of Fascism and not come away with the inescapable conclusion that Trump is a wannabe fascist. Does that make the Republican movement a fascist movement - absolutely not, but by pandering to Trump they are becoming apologists for a fascist. For what it's worth the definition of fascism is: a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, as well as strong regimentation of society and of the economy which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe.
Back in 1995, I - along with many thousands of others - marched through Brixton to Brockwell Park as part of an Anti Nazi League protest against a BNP candidate being elected to the local council in a neighbouring borough. I didn't participate because I was 'Anti-Nazi' - that notion has always seemed ridiculous, I marched because I fear the consequences of a shift to the far right and what it means for civil liberties and discrimination (it was - as far as I am concerned - the first stone thrown that caused the ripple effect which ultimately led to UKIP and Brexit).
So now you get the blurring of lines between a decades long civil rights movement, a rising 'Antifa' movement that is very much against Trump, probably some Extinction Rebellion folks, almost certainly a few anarchists thrown in for good measure - at a time when many have lost their jobs and everyone is scared about the future.
By calling out Antifa, Trump then makes a point to the civil rights folks that their cause is being hijacked by white folks, and he then associates it with more traditional anarchy - which has many of the genuine anti-fascists (especially the more centre-left ones) annoyed at the violence - and putting them in a position to denounce the riots. A classic divide and conquer strategy that more than anything cements his position in the eyes of his supporters as a pro-democracy 'tough on crime' leader.
It's all so terribly depressing and predictable. |
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Reply | Do we give enough credit to Burley and that brilliant 2000 team?
at 05:47 28 May 2020
I think it depends on how old you are. If you are 50+ then you will have been at least 8 when we won the FA Cup, at east 11 when we won the UEFA and finished 3rd, 2nd, 2nd. So probably those people would see the Burley era as a positive experience but still way below the third or Robson's eras.
As a 45 year old, I can't properly remember that side (despite being a 6 year old mascot in 1981). My first proper Ipswich memories have Putney, Brennan, Zondervan and an emerging Dozzell in the team.
So for me the 97-01 era was the finest football I have ever seen Town play and is full of many many wonderful memories. The Wembley play-off side trips of my tongue as easily as the 81 side. And it wasn't just the play-off winning year and the first year back in the Prem. The three seasons before that we played wonderful football and regularly played teams of the park. We just lacked a little bit of edge when it mattered.
I think it's the Lyall 91-93 era that isn't given enough credit. |
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Reply | I voted Tory in 2010...never again
at 15:46 27 May 2020
Sorry to burst your bubble, but Brown has gone on the record to say he made huge mistakes in the mid-2000s with regards to banking regulation that exacerbated the impact of the financial crisis. Not forgetting his policy of selling off the gold reserves, and leaving the coffers empty when he left office (the treasury note...’there’s nothing left’).
I’d rank Brown on a par with May as a PM; but the sad thing is they will both go down in history as far better PMs than Call me Dave or the COVID buffoon. |
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Reply | I voted Tory in 2010...never again
at 15:38 27 May 2020
Sorry, been offline for a few hours.
In 2015, despite the vitriol aimed at them I voted Lib Dem. Mainly because I’d read the Orange Book in 2012 and thought it more closely matched my own views than any other party.
In 2017 voted Labour in a futile attempt to try and kick out the Tories so Brexit could be annulled.
In 2019, I voted Lib Dem again because I fully supported the single issue of rejecting Brexit. I knew it was a futile vote, but at least it gave me one last chance to reject this economic genocide the UK is inflicting upon itself.
I should caveat this all with the observation that 2024 (assuming this govt goes for a full five year term) will be my last chance to vote in a UK election because I will then have lived outside the country for more than 10 years. Having got Australian citizenship a couple of months ago I am now required to vote in Australia as well (it’s compulsory), so I need to get my head around who to vote for here because there isn’t really a slightly left of centre party to vote for (because despite being called the Liberal party, the current government is definitely right of centre. |
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