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Thread | 442
at 16:37 12 Dec 2020
and 20mins To go were doomed according to maestro Lambert were rubbish at 442! |
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Thread | Poor half
at 15:50 17 Oct 2020
We are being outplayed in all departments by Accrington .Lambert has to change things
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Thread | Boris's Musings
at 19:05 5 Jul 2019
This was a story released by Boris not long after the Brexit vote. Discuss
On Friday I heard a new dawn chorus outside my house. There was a rustling and twittering, as though of starlings assembling on a branch. Then I heard a collective clearing of the throat, and they started yodelling my name – followed by various expletives. “Oi Boris – c---!” they shouted. Or “Boris – w-----!” I looked out to see some otherwise charming-looking young people, the sort who might fast to raise money for a Third World leprosy project.
They had the air of idealists – Corbynistas; Lefties; people who might go on a march to stop a war. And so when they started on their protest song, I found myself a bit taken aback. “EU – we love YOU! EU – we love YOU!” they began to croon. Curious, I thought. What exactly is it about the EU that attracts the fervent admiration of north London radicals? It was the first time I had ever heard of trendy socialists demonstrating in favour of an unelected supranational bureaucracy.
In the old days, the Lefties used to dismiss the EU as a bankers’ ramp. Tony Benn thought it was unacceptably anti-democratic. Jeremy Corbyn used to vote against it in every division. Why has it suddenly become so fashionable among our nose-ringed friends? I tried to think which of the EU’s signature policies they were so keen on. Surely not the agricultural subsidies that make up most of the budget, and that have done so much to retard development in the Third World. They can’t – for heaven’s sake – support the peak tariffs that discriminate against value added goods from Sub-Saharan Africa. Nor can they possibly enjoy the sheer opacity of the system – the fact that there are 10,000 officials who are paid more than the Prime Minister, and whose names and functions we don’t know.
They can’t really be defending the waste, the fraud – or the endless expensive caravan of crémant-swilling members of the European Parliament between Brussels and Luxembourg and Strasbourg. Are they really demonstrating in favour of the torrent of red tape that has done so much to hold back growth in the EU? It seems an odd sort of campaign theme: what do we want? More Brussels law-making! When do we want it? Now!
Naturally, Lefties might want laws to protect the workforce – but they would surely want those laws to be made by politicians that the people could remove at elections. No: the more I thought about it, the odder it seemed. It was incredible that these young and idealistic people should be making a rumpus about the euro – the key policy of the modern EU – when that project has so gravely intensified suffering in many southern EU countries, and deprived a generation of young people of employment.
Perhaps, I mused, it was a general feeling that the EU was about openness, tolerance and diversity. But they must surely know that the EU’s rules on free movement mean a highly discriminatory regime, one that makes it much more difficult for people from outside the EU to get into Britain – even though we need their skills.
So what was it about? People’s emotions matter, even when they do not seem to be wholly rational. The feelings being manifested outside my house are shared by the large numbers of people – 30,000, they say – who at the weekend came together in Trafalgar Square to hear pro-EU speeches by Sir Bob Geldof. There is, among a section of the population, a kind of hysteria, a contagious mourning of the kind that I remember in 1997 after the death of the Princess of Wales. It is not about the EU, of course; or not solely. A great many of these protesters – like dear old Geldof – are in a state of some confusion about the EU and what it does.
It is not, as he says, a “free trade area”; if only it were. It is a vast and convoluted exercise in trying to create a federal union – a new political construction based in Brussels. But, as I say, I don’t believe that it is psychologically credible to imagine young people chanting hysterically in favour of Brussels bureaucrats. The whole protest is not about the EU project, per se; it is about them – their own fears and anxieties that are now being projected on to Brexit.
These fears are wildly overdone. The reality is that the stock market has not plunged, as some said it would – far from it. The FTSE is higher than when the vote took place. There has been no emergency budget, and nor will there be. But the crowds of young people are experiencing the last psychological tremors of Project Fear – perhaps the most thoroughgoing government attempt to manipulate public opinion since the run-up to the Iraq War.
When Geldof tells them that the older generation has “stolen your future” by voting to Leave the EU, I am afraid there are too many who still believe it. It is time for this nonsense to end. It was wrong of the Government to offer the public a binary choice on the EU without being willing – in the event that people voted Leave – to explain how this can be made to work in the interests of the UK and Europe. We cannot wait until mid-September, and a new PM. We need a clear statement, now, of some basic truths:
1. There is no risk whatever to the status of the EU nationals now resident and welcome in the UK, and indeed immigration will continue – but in a way that is controlled, thereby neutralising the extremists.
2. It is overwhelmingly in the economic interests of the other EU countries to do a free-trade deal, with zero tariffs and quotas, while we extricate ourselves from the EU law-making system.
3. We can do free-trade deals with economies round the world, many of which are already applying.
4. We can supply leadership in Europe on security and other matters, but at an intergovernmental level.
5. The future is very bright indeed. That’s what Geldof should be chanting |
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Thread | Good article on Sky Sports page
at 23:31 11 Apr 2018
ick McCarthy’s departure from Ipswich has observers urging the club to be careful what they wish for but many supporters see it very differently, writes Adam Bate.
Mick McCarthy's no-nonsense attitude plays well with the neutral. The black humour and belligerence is fun for those dipping into events at Ipswich Town. But those fans described as "a disgrace" by their departing manager no doubt feel it is easier to see the funny side of the football on offer at Portman Road when you're not the ones expected to pay for it.
Ipswich parted company with McCarthy on Tuesday evening following their 1-0 home win over his hometown club Barnsley. It has already been confirmed that he would leave at the end of the season but with little to play for, and as McCarthy himself pointed out, him effectively serving as caretaker manager for his own job, the exit was brought forward.
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McCarthy leaves Ipswich
Manager Mick McCarthy and his assistant Terry Connor have left Ipswich Town with immediate effect.
There has been no shortage of people willing to let Ipswich supporters know that they are making a mistake. McCarthy's track record in the Championship is a good one, twice promoted and never relegated. Careful what you wish for is the message. Hope is the reply. Saturdays with sunshine instead of stoicism. Is that really too much to ask?
There was a time when McCarthy offered that. "The long-term ambition is to take the club back into the Premier League," he said when he arrived in 2012. It was a bold claim given that the club was bottom at the time with no money to spend after incurring losses of £16m that year. But McCarthy set about his task by turning ordinary players into a team.
That was precisely the remit under club owner Marcus Evans. "I wanted to work with a manager who was going to try to and coach and make our players better," he explained at the time and it worked well for quite a while. McCarthy steered Ipswich away from danger and delivered a trio of top 10 finishes - the first time Ipswich had done that in over a decade.
There was even an unlikely play-off place in 2015, remarkable given the modest spending. McCarthy's most expensive buy at the time was Tyrone Mings at £10,000 - subsequently sold for 1,000 times that amount. No wonder he was defensive when it became a struggle last season. "I've done a bloody good job under the terms and conditions," he insisted.
McCarthy leaves Ipswich
Mick McCarthy gives his reasons for leaving Ipswich Town with immediate effect, despite initialling planning to stay on as manager until the end of the season.
McCarthy gives his reasons for leaving Ipswich Town with immediate effect
The problem for McCarthy was partly one of circumstance. With the club now certain of a 15th consecutive season in the Championship, apathy was always going to be a risk. The decision to increase season ticket prices prior to last season only exacerbated the tensions - turned many away and leaving others less inclined to be patient when things went wrong.
And wrong they went. A run of seven defeats in 10 games in the autumn, including a home defeat in the derby against Norwich, did not help the mood. While Ipswich were still in the top half after that result, their ninth without a win against their great rivals, it is the style that has antagonised. Mid-table mediocrity and unambitious football is a bad combination.
Between January and March, over a period of two-and-a-half months, Ipswich fans were subjected to over eight hours of watching their team play without scoring a goal at Portman Road. This is not just bad football but boring football. Barely believably, Ipswich have now failed to score a first-half goal in 17 of their last 20 matches.
The vocal minority in the North Stand grew and a local newspaper poll suggested over 80 per cent wanted McCarthy out. While he boasts a well-earned reputation as a thick-skinned Yorkshireman, it was increasingly clear that he did not welcome such criticism. McCarthy felt he was owed more and rather than placating these fans, he sought to confront them.
Ipswich 1-0 Barnsley
Highlights of the Sky Bet Championship match between Ipswich and Barnsley.
Highlights of Ipswich's 1-0 win over Barnsley at Portman Road on Tuesday
Every victory was a chance to state his case. After a rare 4-2 win over Nottingham Forest, he made his feelings plain. "Always remember," he told reporters, placing his hands on the desk. "Always remember… 'Mick McCarthy your football is *****', 'Mick McCarthy get out of our club', 'Mick McCarthy you're a boring *******'. Always remember… Because I do."
At times, McCarthy has given the distinct impression that he was being fuelled by this antipathy towards the team's own supporters. Revelling in proving them wrong. Wanting to succeed in spite of their presence rather than because of them. By his own admission, he is a bloody-minded individual, even intimating that it has influenced his decisions.
When supporters called for the introduction of on-loan Manchester City talent Bersant Celina in an away game against Burton Albion, and the youngster came off the bench to score a late winner, McCarthy wanted everyone to know that this had not influenced his decision. "I don't give a ***** about that, by the way," he explained.
"He didn't go on because of that, let me just clear that up. In fact, there's more chance of him not going on when they start telling me what to do. And yes, I am a belligerent ****. Let's just clear that up." McCarthy was crystal clear but things reached their nadir when he appeared to hurl abuse at his own fans after a late goal against Norwich in February. He insisted that it was aimed at nobody in particular. Not everybody was convinced.
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His popularity with his own players is not in question. McCarthy is, by all accounts, a very different character around them. There will be another job too. It would be no surprise if it is a job with better prospects than the one that he has done for the past five-and-a-half years at Ipswich. He remains capable of outperforming his budget - a dream for many an owner.
Evans has parted company reluctantly and many players will be disappointed too. That says plenty. Managing upwards is a useful skill. Managing your players is vital. But so is managing the aspirations of supporters and it is easy to wonder whether McCarthy's unwillingness to play this particular game cost him a lot of hard-earned goodwill at Ipswich.
He leaves content in the belief that he has done a good job and unlikely to indulge in too much self-reflection. But the fact that many Ipswich supporters are more than happy to risk taking a backward step for the hope that a new man might bring is revealing too. These fans want to be sold a vision less bleak. That, it seems, is the problem with Mick McCarthy |
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