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Showing content with the highest reputation on 16/05/19 in all areas

  1. Just come up trumps in ballot. Get fucking in!
    8 points
  2. Fuck me that was funny. I've developed a belting poker face over the last few years and I deployed it in full tonight. I want to walk round the bar licking the tears off their sad little faces. Mmmmmmmm Leeds fan tears. Mmmmmmmmm delicious.
    8 points
  3. The price of kids football kits is a disgrace. Just spoken to a Blue who has spent £900 on new kits in the past twelve months. He’s had Everton home and away, plus Real Madrid, Man City and now Tottenham Hotspur. That’s before £10 on a Messi scarf and paying postage to return an Ajax top he ordered at half time during the semi final.
    6 points
  4. Love this cubist impression of Edinburgh (William Crozier I think)...
    4 points
  5. Mate sent me this, laughed more than I should.
    4 points
  6. They can shove their "super big trio of attack" up their falangist arses. They can't afford to muscle the top 6 any more unless the player in question is dropping their knickers a la Phil. "Yeah, let's talk business, Zinedine. First of all, you're all done. Real Madrid don't even have that kind of muscle anymore. Ronaldo's gone, right? You're getting chased out of Spain by Barcelona and the other clubs. What do you think is going on here? You think you can come to my club and take Salah!?"
    4 points
  7. More like some dickheads decided that Lucas should be the personification fall guy for the state of the club, rather than actually judge him as a player. And then made total twats of themselves by saying players like Charlie Adam or Jay Spearing should play instead. He was decent and still is, as shown by carrying on at a decent level in Italy.
    4 points
  8. Following the cancellation of Jeremy Kyle due to suicide risks, Sky Sports wont be showing any Everton games next season
    4 points
  9. Shit myself every time this thread gets bumped.
    4 points
  10. http://captiongenerator.com/1390692/Laughing-Man-Everton-Edition
    4 points
  11. This conversation I had on Facebook with Joan the bitter, the way she flipped out when I proved to her Everton did in fact “kick people from their homes” to extend their ground hahaha. You love to see it.
    3 points
  12. A Chelsea fan I know wants it to happen already. He also keeps saying he hopes their transfer ban is upheld so they can give all their on-loan youngsters a proper chance. I’d like his wish to come true.
    3 points
  13. Spot on, this. I read the Guardian.
    3 points
  14. Juventus, one of the most lauded football teams of all time. That instantly recognised pillar of Italian football. Know throughout the world for generations...have changed their new strip to half and half after consumer research found that American fans were less inclined to buy the Nott County homage black and white stripes because they remind them of referee shirts. Juventus, one of the most famous teams on the planet, did this for yankedoodledandy land and the gimps that call it soccerball. Juventus, fucking Juventus. All for a few sheckels more.
    3 points
  15. With me uncle in his gaff. He's disabled and a passionate red, watch most of the games with him.
    2 points
  16. I think it was sometime between the time she was raped and the time she had to go through an excrutiating trial to prosecute her rapist that Artemisia Gentileschi painted Judith Slaying Holofernes.
    2 points
  17. Bit fascinated by Van Gogh and Rembrandt. Went to the National Art Gallery in Dublin a few years back and was in awe at this Rembrandt piece called The Flight into Egypt
    2 points
  18. Neighbours are getting in the mood.
    2 points
  19. Happy birthday Tone, treat yourself to a whole pack of custard creams and then backheel yourself in the bollocks.
    2 points
  20. Golden skies return to Anfield as a new dawn emerges The inside story of how Fenway transformed Liverpool from chaos of 2010 to record-breaking runners-up Anfield was deserted when a slender, bespectacled figure arrived at the Shankly Gates and requested a preview of his new home. John W Henry's team of investors had purchased Liverpool and, having taken a private tour of the club museum, the American wanted an early-morning stroll around the stadium. "I walked the pitch alone," he said. "I love Anfield when the place is empty and the sun is coming out." The symbolism of Henry enjoying his new dawn back in October 2010 has aged well. There is Liverpool before Fenway Sports Group. And there is Liverpool now. There is the ragged aristocrat of a club compared to the current corporate and sporting behemoth, incrementally rebuilding with impassioned dexterity. There are years of recruitment errors and the winning streak of exceptional signings facilitating Jurgen Klopp's revival. In 2010, Liverpool had their name, one upheld by recent European success, a smattering of world-class talent, a global following and enough cup success to nourish optimism that a title win was a few signings away. What they did not have was an infrastructure befitting that reputation. Instead, by 2010, Liverpool were the smallest of big clubs. Until FSG's arrival, administrative power at Liverpool was essentially focused on the chief executive, authorised by a chairman and generally supportive board members. All those charged with executive responsibility had to contend with a restrictive and widely supported conservatism which claimed the Liverpool way was the only way. It meant even routine changes to structure, methods or coaching personnel could be interpreted as risky, radical or ruinous, by shareholders and supporters. Graeme Souness turning an unused boot room into a press area is still chronicled by some as desecrating sacred ground. "When you have been so successful, there is the temptation to stick with a formula," said Rick Parry, who took over as chief executive in 1999. "But across the Nineties, the external environment was rapidly changing - the Premier League, increased revenues, Bosman, the revamped Champions League. Perhaps we were not completely geared for it." Ian Ayre was appointed managing director in 2007. A lifelong fan, his experience as an employee was common. "I was shocked by how small the infrastructure was," said Ayre, who left the club in 2017. "The overall staff was around 200. Retail and hospitality was outsourced. Everyone knew what had to happen to expand, but at the same time there was a negative reaction to commercialisation. But we had to do it. We were getting left behind. "You need all the components right to compete - the commercial revenue, the stadium - it creates a virtuous circle you need to have the funds to build a team. For a while the club completely lost its way." Liverpool were at this time playing a never-ending game of catch-up, particularly when Chelsea took transfer expenditure to extreme levels in the early 2000s. "At the end of Gerard Houllier's reign [in 2004] and the start of Rafa Benitez's time in charge, we would often talk about Chelsea. Not only did they have no weaknesses in their first XI, they had two quality players in each position," said Parry. "Having the resources to get to that position was tough." Alex Miller, who was appointed to Liverpool's technical department under Houllier and served as a coach under Benitez, was also dealing with the challenges of competing with domestic rivals for the most coveted players. "We identified a lot of top players early under Gerard and Rafa," he said. "We met Ronaldo, Pablo Aimar, Dani Alves. We knew all about Petr Cech, who was an outstanding 16-year-old playing in the Under-20 World Cup. "There could be multiple reasons deals did not happen - lots of agents in the background, prices going up as soon as you showed interest. Finance did come into it. The big money was being handed out. You could be offering a player £100,000 a week and you knew they would be straight on the phone to another club telling them what you had offered and trying to get more." One former Liverpool coach tells the story of being out for dinner with an Arsenal scout and discussing a player of interest. The scout called Arsene Wenger and within 30 minutes David Dein was on the phone arranging a meeting with the player's representatives. "I thought to myself, 'They are quick. I wish we were able to do that'," he said, ruefully. Benitez's reign was ultimately undone by the arrival of owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks, who promised much but - off the field, at least - delivered only chaos. The club were perilously close to financial catastrophe until FSG challenged the legality of Hicks and Gillett's ownership when they defaulted on their Royal Bank of Scotland loans in the autumn of 2010. The key for Anfield's new regime was - as Parry has since identified - patience. "What I admire about Fenway is they have stuck to a plan and been prepared to take a longer view," he said. "We always had that sense of expectation going into every season that it is time to win the league again. If there is one lesson I think would have stood us in better stead it would be to show more of that patience, concentrating more on quality in each transfer window and building over a longer period." Ayre confirms that strength of purpose. "When you believe in what you are doing - although you can never be rigid - you go with it. They have," he said. "Even when criticism came, they did not waver from the plan. You can't run Liverpool and expect to be popular." There have been problems. Damien Comolli's appointment in 2010 cost time and money, while the decision to retain Kenny Dalglish in a permanent manager's role in 2011 contradicted the promise to find a more youthful figurehead - which they eventually did in Brendan Rodgers a year later. There were numerous PR catastrophes, most notably the handling of Luis Suarez's indiscretions and ticket pricing. They wasted millions on Andy Carroll, Mario Balotelli and Christian Benteke and there was a time when it seemed FSG were delivering apologies more frequently than results. In the summer of 2012, when the club refused to overpay for Fulham's Clint Dempsey, principal owner Henry published an open letter to appease fans disgruntled by a lack of major signings. It read more like a manifesto. "The transfer policy was not about cutting costs. It was - and will be in the future - about getting maximum value for what is spent so that we can build quality and depth," he wrote. "We must comply with Financial Fair Play guidelines that ensure spending is tied to income." Following this statement, Liverpool's executive structure changed. FSG president Michael Gordon and a recruitment team led by Michael Edwards, later promoted to sporting director, assumed greater authority. Their analytical approach to recruitment oversaw a quiet revolution. "Michael Edwards was initially managing the technical and analytical side as we went into deals and he is now handling more of the negotiations," said Ayre. "He keeps a low profile because he acknowledges how many others are contributing, like Dave Fallows, Barry Hunter and Ian Graham. "Ian is the real scientist of the group who built an analytics system specifically for Liverpool, taking in all the information to give them a more rounded decision on which players they should look at. "Fenway bought into that very quickly. In 2010, they knew they could not go straight in at the top end for players. It will always be just as important to be finding Andy Robertson as signing Virgil van Dijk. It's not how much you have to spend but how you spend." Henry's picturesque dawn stroll in 2010 disguised the fact he was staring at ground zero. In his first few days in charge, he met supporters, journalists, players, current and former employees - anyone with an understanding of the club, building a sense of what had gone wrong since the last title. No Harvard academic was required to conclude that player recruitment was at the tip of the pyramid. "Those first few years under FSG, we had debts coming out of the Hicks and Gillett regime which took time to claw our way back from," said Ayre. "You have to improve the commercial revenue, the stadium, the whole infrastructure so you have the funds to build a team." Rodgers almost delivered in 2014 as Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho showed how transformative clever signings could be. But that, too, fell apart. Ayre admits the recruitment challenges did not get easier. "Take the example of Alexis Sanchez, who we tried to sign from Barcelona in 2014. I know for an absolute fact Arsenal did not offer more than we did. At some point the decision came down to the player and he chose Arsenal," said Ayre. "We put in a lot of effort and did not get him. As a result of that, you look around and the determination to get someone in can lead to a bad decision." After a downturn precipitated Rodgers's exit, Klopp's appointment in 2015 was the missing piece. "Jurgen fits the plan because he fits the club," said Ayre. "He trusted and believed in it. It makes me laugh whenever I read something saying 'the recruitment strategy changed with Klopp'. There is no difference in the system now than there ever was. What is most important is that everyone believes in it, and he does. "Where Jurgen was so strong with Van Dijk is when that deal initially fell away he did not do what other coaches might and ask for someone else so he could have another body in the dressing room. He was prepared to wait to get what he felt was the right player." Over the past three years, Liverpool have developed the uncanny knack of finding the right player, assisted by the swollen budget of commercial expansion and Champions League progress. "I honestly believe they have all the right ingredients now," said Ayre. "The challenge is the scale and depth of that Manchester City machine. It is hard to see how or when that stops." Henry, back at Anfield on Sunday for the season finale against Wolves, cannot bookend his journey until that title returns. Liverpool are not yet back on that perch. But they are not staggering around talking about the past any more. There is no escaping the narrow failure of 2019 adds to a catalogue of agonising disappointment. The silver lining may come in Madrid on June 1. When Henry next stands on his own turf and looks around, he can at least be consoled by golden skies.
    2 points
  21. I hope you're having one of these tonight.
    2 points
  22. Scrap the above. I've just searched "One Day In Gaza" on Twitter and I'm saddened to report that the BBC is now antisemitic too. Disappointing news.
    2 points
  23. Finally got round to watching this. What a horrible bunch of murdering war criminals. Sickening. There were some people at the "border" who didn't help the overall cause, but the Israeli response to their actions was entirely disproportionate. As per usual. A horrific stat from this documentary was the one that claimed that the Israeli thugs shot a Palestinian roughly EVERY 30 SECONDS on the day the documentary was filmed. The bit when the Israeli drones fired tear gas on a field hospital where people, already injured, were then also subjected to the effects of gas was particularly distasteful. It was also interesting to see that the Israeli defence that they were only shooting people who approached the border fence quickly fell to pieces. There was the border fence. Then an additional, smaller barbed wire blockade about 100 metres from the border fence. Then there was a road about 200 metres from the smaller barbed wire blockade. This road was in Gaza. As was the barbed wire blockade. However, Israel had declared this zone between the road and the barbed wire blockade as a "military zone" and viewed anybody in it as engaging in military activities and, therefore, a legitimate target. Despite them being a relatively safe distance from the border fence and not being any threat to Israel's security. This didn't stop them shooting people who were in this area though. And, the children, women and paramedics who were shot whilst in this area? You'll never guess. They weren't targeted and must have been unfortunate victims from bullets that missed their original target or took an unexpected deflection or ricochet. Horrible fuckers.
    2 points
  24. And you expect me to read all this in the middle of the fucking equalizer ??? Sorry mate good on you. It will get better.
    2 points
  25. Hopefully we're recalling Karius for this. Seem to remember he had a big impact last year.
    2 points
  26. This came through the door at the bar today:
    2 points
  27. 2 points
  28. Hot dog finger barms definitely sounds like a euphemism. I've negged this for a backdated post earlier in the thread when you were a guest for outrageously criticising cheese on toast.
    2 points
  29. I was reading this thread earlier while looking for something else. Creepy. Fat slag is now shacked up with some Polish bloke who’s fifteen years younger than her. Apparently he’s really controlling, doesn’t let her do anything and insists that they’re not even in a proper relationship even though he moved into her house about two days after they met. He’s a weed dealer and she was briefly making skunk brownies and trying to sell them. Mrs Turdseye got a sample and it was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever tasted. I can only describe it by saying it was like eating a bag of shit weed. Cellophane included. She came round to ours a few weeks ago crying after he made her take her dog to a shelter because he didn’t want to look after it while she was out. Meanwhile my boy has got a new missus who, as far as I’m aware, isn’t a rabid whore. He’s grown a beard, moved out of the shared flat and is living in one of the nicer parts of town. I think he’s winning.
    2 points
  30. If the Fa had given them a points deduction earlier in the season, then it would have made it magnificent. Us winning the league retrospectively would feel a bit hollow. Rightly or wrongly we were beaten by the better team this season. Their club, owners and clearly a lot of their players are a bunch of knobheads but they won the league by being a cracking side. Still it would be funny as fuck I suppose. They may get a points deduction next season though which could work out okay for us. Should UEFA give them a significant ban, then watch all these elite players fuck off.
    2 points
  31. Thrones has always been plagued by dickheads. Most people didn't read the books (myself included) and didn't watch it at first until it became trendy. They they started reading the books so they could be more trendy than ordinary trendy fans. Then they started bitching about the fact he hadn't finished it and might die, so he got pissed off and told the telly people to do what they wanted and now same wankers are moaning again. The best of thrones wasn't the dragons and magic stuff beloved of Krazy House type teenage wankers, it was the War of the Roses stuff and the little gems of scenes and dialogue like between Arya and Tywen. I'm still enjoying it and it is what it now is.
    2 points
  32. Anything between E 2-5 is good for me.
    2 points
  33. A few others have alluded to it, but the fact that we're the only club actually competing with them will make it more difficult for any real campaign of pressure from other Premier League clubs. Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal won't get near us or them them next season. After a decent start, Spurs won't either. This issue doesn't actually affect them, and their fans are happier seeing City win a few more hollow titles than us getting back on their perch. I probably felt the same myself with some of Chelsea's titles and Manchester City's in 2012 when we were nowhere near figuring in the race - better them than Manchester United. There's a bitter irony in there possibly being a European sanction, given that they'd probably bottle the thing next season again once they get to the quarter finals.
    2 points
  34. Their press releases read like something Mugabe would put out. All thinly veiled threats and misinformation.
    2 points
  35. 6 seasons of character development and 2 seasons of payoff. I don't have a problem with that. "Oh no, my personal theory didn't come to fruition. I'll blame bad writing" Stop moaning
    2 points
  36. We did such a good job that now he doesn’t score against anyone.
    2 points
  37. Plus the £5.60 and Rambo 3 on VHS for Lallana from Cash Convertors.
    2 points
  38. 10 years here - absolutely loaded with loads of spare time on his hands and he can't speak English. Must be as thick as a whale omelette
    2 points
  39. Pretty sure I've posted in here before. I've always been depressive. I'm uncoordinated and not the best looking so as a kid I was always a bit of a joke. I'm pretty funny though and reasonably intelligent so I always had mates but was always shit at sport and with girls so I've got low self esteem l. Took tablets since 18 to help anxiety and they do help. This last year is really putting the tablets to the test. Mrs nephew died in June. Dog died in October ( and I loved her so much). Mum had a major heart operation last month and my dads rapidly dying of cancer ( he's that Ill each week is very tough and it cant be long now) Just feel empty all I look forward to is Saturday so I can get smashed
    2 points
  40. I'm 42, got married last year and never had a stag do. Just couldn't be arsed having one
    2 points
  41. Littlejohn was the reason I was banned from the Daily Mail website when we used to play on there as part of the GF game. Just because I suggested that his constant need to shoe horn something criticising gays into everything he wrote was probably compensating for some latent homosexual tendencies that he was unable to deal with.
    2 points
  42. Hedley , It's Hedley !!
    2 points
  43. I saw tickets for 'An audience with Tony Bellew' going for £80. So on that scale it's a bargain.
    2 points



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