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It’s absolutely insane that it takes a TV drama to get the nation talking about what is an age of daily crisis for young people in this country. The episode in the school (which is the second one I think) is by a million miles the most realistic portrayal of secondary school education I’ve ever seen. The only thing that is slightly over the top is the visibility of the mobile phones, but everything else is absolutely spot on. The range of teacher portrayals with some flaky and completely out of their depth and others visible, vocal and totally on it is brilliant. The way the kids talk and behave is uncanny; it doesn’t look like acting at all; it looks completely real. Even the kid trying to be funny when the police officer is talking to them about the murder of another child in their school rings true. The education system in this country is completely broken. When Covid arrived we were a decade into austerity but lockdown broke everything. When children returned to school in the aftermath, attendance and behaviour both plummeted to levels I’ve never seen in over 25 years in the profession. The teacher recruitment crisis got exponentially worse and there is now a vicious cycle of understaffed schools relying on poor quality and unqualified adults to manage groups of children who are often out of control. It continues to amaze me that this shit is not on the national news every single day. Again, the education system is completely broken. It will take many, many years to put it right if at all. I don’t see how anything other than time, money and a huge legislative emphasis on children’s mental health will solve it. Oh, and if it wasn’t already clear enough, the addiction to mobile phones - which exploded during lockdown - is the most destructive thing I’ve ever seen in my life for children. In my view this is exponentially worse than the effect of cigarettes on the generations that preceded this vaping generation. The fact that we haven’t even begun to seriously discuss the banning of mobile phones for under 16s is breathtaking and the idea of a completely unregulated Internet when every single other medium is regulated up to the eyeballs blows my mind. What has happened to young people in the last five years is not a ticking time bomb anymore; it is multiple explosions across the country every single day.

All that time people actually through Trent was working on that cunt Bellingham to join him at Liverpool. Haha, fucking hell. In the works since January? It’s been since that World Cup in 2022 when the absolute pair of knobheads were inseparable. Bro this and bro that. Popping out of birthday cakes. Fuck off! May they be really unhappy together.

£176m ~ Winning Premier League (based on last seasons winners revenue, this is likely to increase with the new overseas TV deal). £82m ~ Reaching Champions League Round of 16. £60m ~ Adidas New Deal (Which is £30m more which Nike currently pays). More millions from the new Anfield Road stand. Also seems that a lot of regular tickets are being sold as corporate tickets More sponsorship deals and increased revenues from current ones. 5th place guarantees CL football from next season. Most watched sports team in the world along with massive social media and YouTube followers/subscribers. A £20m profit on player sales last summer and no signings in January windows either side of last summer. Got shut of big earners over the last 2 years like Fabinho, Milner, Firmino, Mane, Keita, Oxlade Chamberlain, Henderson, Thiago, Matip and Adrian to massively reduce the wage bill. Slot and his backroom staff getting paid far less than Klopp and his staff. Sold several youngsters who cost very little for large amounts such as Clark, Carvalho and Van Den Berg. Invested none of their own funds since 2016 saving themselves a fortune. The club they bought for £300m is now worth £5 billion. Strung along 3 players for as long as possible to avoid giving them new inproved deals. Again saving money for 9 months. Will probably sell at least 5 players in the summer to reduce the wage bill as well as claw back some revenue. US Tour that made the club £20m. Less non playing staff than the Mancs. Yet James Pearce says any new deals for Salah, Van Dijk and TAA will massively impact upon the summer budget. Even though these deals were the alleged priority last summer it's been dragged out for as long as possible to make it look so arduous that any of them staying is a success. There is never any fucking money. Even if they found a gold mine under the Kop they'd still cry poverty. Absolutely sick to death of these penny pinching cunts and their lame excuses.

Galgorm Resort, near Ballymena. It was grand, 7/10.

Wasn't that four years of not reading or hearing his name 10-12 times a day lovely?

Mate, the fact that they travelled from the various spots in the world, where they live, to play in a game that raises money for charity makes the players in both teams legends in my eyes.

Pepper Mills is doing a skydive for charity today if anyone's interested https://www.justgiving.com/page/hannah-swain-1725022441853?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL&fbclid=PAY2xjawJLjodleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABpnumTUmmY4xBXgy42EDq8vWbyTjy7ybtgGWMjo9eY2f8UMC4P16wPQV97A_aem_6kBZqGLzziklkKASEoIaXA

It’s only politically difficult; technically it’s basically the flick of a switch. I feel we’re at the stage the Victorians were in the industrial revolution when they had brand-new towns and cities springing up everywhere that brought crime, disease and starvation on a huge scale. They realised their society was starting to fall apart so they began putting in place sewage systems, policing and various forms of (inadequate, I know) welfare. This technological revolution has destroyed the high street, is destroying democracy and is now ravaging the mental health of children. We need radical responses rather than political hand wringing as they kick the ball down the pitch repeatedly.

We've conquered all of retail, we're never gonna stop, From half and halfs to tote bags, We've sold the fucking lot, No searching LFC bags, Eighty quid for a shirt, We won't spend a penny, Cause Linda's fella is a blert Allez allez allez

Corner wasn't even taken that quickly really!

The first lock down was pretty scary. The unknown and the worry. I had to go to work right through it, which worried us all. We just tried to keep things as normal as possible. I was working out at home with the missus a lot and going for a run within my 5k radius every day. I'd never been as fit in my life. We always just tried to focus on the positives and done as many 'normal' things as possible. We stopped watching the news and listening to the numbers. We played lots of music, played lots of board games. Went for walks, ate ice cream. It's funny, my little lad is 8 now. Out of nowhere the other day he asked us if we remembered his 4th birthday during covid. We said yes, why? He answered that it's because it's his favourite birthday party. His sister wasn't born then, it was just the 3 of us so the missus dressed up as Cat woman and me as Robin. We got him a Batman costume. We surprised him with our costumes as we got him dressed first and we got changed in the other room. We went out in the car and drove to a tunnel nearby and recreated the Only Fools And Horses scene. A man came past in his car and stopped, called us and said thanks for making him laugh. It was brilliant. All in all, we just tried to make the best of it. We each caught covid just the once, so we got lucky.

VID-20250324-WA0015.mp4

And got a decent photo of Times Square when flying out.

Knock knock who’s there Lenny Henry knock knock knock knock knock

I was in the toughest job of my life which was killing me by the day. 50% of my job was leading a team of spinal injury support workers in the care of a single paraplegic - Co-ordinating the care, dealing with ACC for ongoing funding, working 1/3 of the shifts including manual bowel evac (which really stretched my boundaries.) The other 50% of the job was Health & Safety in Forestry. That’s when my work got tough. I’m not going to go into the details. Anyway, due to business and family issues, as Covid and lockdown hit, both the paraplegic and logging company were being uplifted and relocated to the opposite end of the North Island, Aotearoa. I had the opportunity of relocating to continue in my roles, or take redundancy. I got out while I still had my sanity. Lockdown was a breeze. The Mrs and I just hung out at home with our dog. We were a ‘bubble’ that was allowed to get out daily and exercise, we took turns queuing for food once a week, and just settled into binge tv, and gaming. I now lead a relatively stress free life stacking supermarket shelves 2 days a week. Semi retired.

As long as it doesn’t get postponed and they have to play it again.

Fuck the lot of you. Poached eggs on cheesy crumpets. Delicious. Eggs cooked to perfection.

You came down the hill quicker than you went up it. 9.30 Crossvile bus from Edge lane, arrived at Talacre late afternoon. Fun fact, i banged my missus for the first time in a caravan in Talacre, Fifty years married next year(inşallah)

Harvey Elliott turned down the chance to join Real Madrid and also declined their offer of introducing him to Sergio Ramos because he didn't like what Ramos did to Mo in the final. That's a true fan on the pitch.

Calling Trent Alexander-Arnold a rat is ridiculous. Like it or not, free transfers are part and parcel of the game.

Well, I don’t want to brag, but…

Text STOP to unsubscribe to updates on US military raids.

I honestly don't care, I'm not just saying that, I simply don't care.

Reading about Jim Broadbent recently turning down a gong saying ' loads of friends have accepted them allegedly for their parents' happiness , well my father didn't like any of that royal palaver so I may be one of the few people who refused, to keep my family happy'

Anyone who thinks the last home game which would see the league title presented to LFC in front of fans for the first time in 35 years is going to be 'quite a bit shit' ...well frankly football just isn't really for them.....

I reckon even at the age of 13,I would have still thought andrew tate was a monument cunt

Darwin Nunez: Hold my beer Rest of squad: But you're not holding a beer Darwin Nunez: Oh

I suppose I'm one of those fans who has got everything he dreamt of. I started watching in the promotion season, when going up after about 8 seasons in the wilderness was the dream and playing in Europe seemed miles away, both literally and metaphorically. The next few seasons were watched from the sidelines so being there through most of the '72-73 season and seeing the reds clinch the title was terrific. After that was just a blur of continued success but highlights included being at Wembley to win the European Cup and 4 League Cups in a row. But there was still an itch to scratch. I'd never been there in person to see us win the FA cup. That was the big one to win growing up and Blues were quick to remind us of our failures to do so. I'd been to Wembley in 71 (one of my worst days supporting the reds) and again in 77 so when I got a ticket in 86 I was in two minds whether to go or not as I feared I was a jinx. Happily, things turned out fine. Beating Everton to win the cup and clinch the only double in our history. Seeing Alan Hansen lift the cup is my absolute favourite moment in a lifetime's support. Cloud Nine here I come! After that, I thought I would be less bothered and for the next two seasons I was quite relaxed and then we lost to Wimbledon in the cup final (I wasn't there, don't blame me). That was every bit as bad as losing to Arsenal in 1971 but it was clear I was still hooked. It's like that clip in the Sopranos, 'I thought I was out and then they pulled me back in.' The las few years I've been desperate for us to win the league again but, this time, in front of the fans and get that buzz you only get when 50,000 + of your fellow fans are celebrating with you. Maybe, I can be more relaxed then, but somehow I doubt it.

Maybe it’s a……..Slow Horse

Got off work earlier than I expected so headed to my missus house to surprise her and make dinner. Stopped at Aldi on the way home and got 30% or 50% off stickers on absolutely loads of what I wanted to buy and made a killer salad. I don't eat salad often but I'm gonna after making this. So, so good. Oh, yeah, she'd got off work early to get home and finish a load of work rather than.stay late, and had smashed veggie sausage, chips and beans just before I arrived. The big loser.

Okay, lawyer head on here, and I'm going to offer an explanaition as to why the District Judge may have impoed as suspended sentence rather than an immediate custodial sentence. As I understand it, Barton's wife did not give evidence for the prosecution and had attempted to retract and stop the prosecution going ahead. I also understand that they are still a couple which means they are living daily in the same household. Barton was prosecuted using an exception to the hearsay rule called res gestae. It's now common that when police respond to calls immediately, they turn on their body worn cameras to record an immediate account, aprticualrly in DV cases. Provided it's only a short space of time between the incident and their attendance, and obviously the immediate 999 call, then even if a complainant refuses to give evidence the porosecution can try and admit the account given to police or in a 999 call under the res geatae rule. It's not as strong as actual live evidence, but it's based on the idea that such an immediate account is unlikely to have been fabricated so a conviction can be secured under it if the court are swayed by it. Having convicted Barton, the DJ is then left with a position where the parties are still together, and the wife hasn't supported the prosecution. I suspect that the DJ will have had in the back of his mind that if he imposed an immediate custodial sentence then that may have fostered acrimony and resentment, placing wife in a potentially similar situation when Barton was released. He may have wanted to afford a measure of protection for the wife that he was unable to by way of something like a restraining order, which was comletely impractical in the circumstances. I'm not saying it was the reason, or that I would agree with it, but I could see that thought process being applied in a case like this.

The Mandela effect

If he wants to experience football abroad then I understand and wish him well. No need for any hate towards him making a decision for him and his career at all. He’s won everything with us and you can’t ask for anything more than that. Ideally we’d get a fee, but he’s been loyal and saw out his contract (which is for me is the right thing to do) He owes us nothing, we don’t owe him anything. Shame, as he’s been a legend for us and forever will be. But we are bigger than any player, we’ll get over it.

Still moaning about Sandhills as well saying if it was Liverpool it would be a brand new station..

Gary neville is too easy to dislike that it's almost kitsch, but the way he's gone easy on Ratcliffe in sharp contrast to his endless, tedious bitching about the Glazers, sums the man up perfectly. He probably admires him actually, you can imagine him walking around the Salford ground acting exactly the same way.

I’d not long been self employed when COVID hit, so I didn’t qualify for any financial support whatsoever until much later. The repercussions of that are still there in that, although month on month were mostly fine, my savings took a big hit so we have much less of a safety net now. I suffer quite badly from anxiety and depression, so having to work more than I’d like does me no favours. I do appreciate we are infinitely better off than many others though. In the long run I don’t think it was good for my children. Particularly the youngest one who has autism. Although he loved not having to go to school, the long weeks/months of isolation have probably contributed to many of the struggles he has now. My own health has never properly recovered from getting COVID. It might not be the sole factor but I’ve never felt mentally/physically completely well since. On the flip side, it was one of the happiest periods of my relationship. The wife was furloughed so we slipped into a routine of long dog walks, home for a coffee and a biscuit in the garden, before ‘doing our own thing’ in the afternoon. For her, that meant gardening. For me, doing fuck all. I also started posting regularly on here again during the first lockdown. Given the popularity of my previous persona, it was a good job I had plenty of time on my hands to repair at least some of the damage done.

Having read both sides numerous times in the regurgitated debates, it's probably fairer to say both sides are correct. The 'enjoy the here and now' side will see fans inside the stadium delirious seeing the side lift the elusive trophy in front of them. It wouldn't hit the heights of pure ecstasy had Villa not shit themselves on that final day back a few years - but that's on the other teams failing to make it a title race this season. The party in the stands seeing Virgil lift the trophy will be the stuff of legends that will be talked about for years. The owners can, and should, be lauded for bringing title number 20 back. For some people tho, once the adrenaline of the title has worn off - the focus becomes on wanting to defend the title, and that's where the other side of debate enter the chat. 115 and Chelsea go off to play this ridiculous World Club nonsense in the summer and that puts both on the back foot potentially, so we should be in an ideal place to be leading the pack again. Being champions already paints a target on your back as the other 19 teams want the scalp of beating last seasons winners. We already know certain teams always raise their game against us, and that goes up a notch again when you have the gold PL badge on your sleeve. Everyone always says defending a trophy is harder than winning it, so this is where the idea of removing your best players from a winning squad does nothing but undermine the chances of this happening. This is where the criticism of FSG could not be more accurate. You are allowed to revel in the moment of lifting the league title and be concerned that the tight fisted nature of the owners is crushing the desire to become the dominant team in the land for a few years. You dont need to pick a side here, or criticise others for being too far on one side. It's all valid.

My daughter made lemon meringue pie. It’s nice but crazily sweet.

It's mad to think this was 5 years ago. At the time my then missus had moved in with me, and she was a copper so she was continuing to work and be out and about with scumbags who were most likely to break social distancing rules and be a risk of infection, while I worked from home. Working was fine, and being home all the time was mostly ok too, but the challenge for me was my daughters mum was high vulnerability due to her cancer treatment, and her living on her own with it was a major mental health concern, so we had to try and work various solutions around how we managed our daughter. She continued to work really hard at her primary school work from home, so long as there was a structure. That first lockdpwn i set her work every day she was at mine and gave her time windows to do specific stuff. As long as she had enough to do and a timetable she was happy and kept herself busy. It was enjoyable to see her applying herself to learning too. She was 7 then, which i think was the best age to be impacted by this thing mm she had firm friendships and was old enough that zoom calls with mates could work, and while she needed attention she didn't demand to be amused all the time. The difficulty was balancing that with time between me and her mum. The 10 day isolation thing, her mums vulnerability to infection and my missus job meant we had to be creative. For a couple of months we lived in a rota based world where my missus and I would be together at home for a fortnight while my daughter was with her mum, then my missus would move out into her brothers vacant rental flat for two weeks while my daughter came to live with me. That gave us 2 weeks together in isolation so we could give her back to her mum without increased risk. That worked. But obly got me. My missus struggled mentally with having to move out for a fortnight every 2 weeks, and my ex wife struggled mentally with a fortnight of isolation without seeing her daughter while living with a terminal illness and the effects of treatment. So we had to change it up and the only change I could see that worked would be for me to have no physical contact with my daughter for the next however long (I think it was 3 months in the end) while she loved with her mum full time. Everyone else was now fine, and I'd see my daughter every morning for a kick of a ball in the garden or a bike ride or a just a chat. Always at 2m. Never in physical contact. Never a kiss or a hug. We made up elaborate handshakes that we could play out without touching 2 metres apart. I went home in tears most mornings but everyone else was better off. I didn't lose anyone close to me from covin, so by god I had it better than most, and I'm grateful, but fucking hell what a time.

Posted earlier on the thread cunts are always good at pool, always.

Russell Brand retweeting (what he thinks is) a section of the released JFK files, without reading it properly.

They've let this shit get to a point where they'll be lauded if they get one to stay.

Football is a lot more boring in general now, systems are more important than individuality & Football is no longer the beautiful game. We've had the passion of our team scoring a goal removed by VAR & the rules get worse every season to accommodate this interloper in our sport. It's easy to feel quite half arsed about it all. On top of that, big clubs like Liverpool have had the match going fan base diluted by people who would sooner film the game on their camera than call the opposition cunts & hold up a sign begging for a player's jersey rather than sing his song. Winning the league is the be all & end all for most of us but when you get twatted out of two tournaments in a week, it's going to take the wind out your sails a bit. Plus this contract situation is dragging on behind the scenes. I'm struggling to think how it could be so good & yet so bad at the same time, it's all very odd but you'd hope a two week break & then a derby win would brighten the mood a bit...

Chester Castle. First go at something that isn't a tutorial.