Chris

Who arranged the brackets for this? You can't have two of the absolute best in the first round.

Had some of the pineapple ones today. The flavour is a little more subtle than I'd imagined, which is no bad thing. Thumbs up from me.

Here we go again. Anyone who doesn't like that loser Corbyn is a "vile human being". Tories must absolutely adore you.

Did read it. Backed him to the hilt at the time. Have realised I was wrong to since.

You make your points really well and convincingly. I guess what it comes down to is whether you believe his only crime is ignorance. I struggle with that given his career-long habit of using every possible despicable means of gaining an advantage on an opponent and have that as my frame of reference. Not a part of me thinks he's above that kind of malice.

So, would your South American mother come to England and start referring to black people as negrito? To their faces? During an argument? Serious question. Edit: There’s a lot of social, historical and linguistic context surrounding race. Not all of it pleasant. There are some people in certain southern states in the US who’d tell you it’s their culture and heritage too. Might even wave a flag professing it.

All these years on, the mental gymnastics being performed to defend Suarez are incredible It’s very simple. Spanish speaking man playing football in England uses term considered racially offensive to insult black Frenchman. Black Frenchman found it offensive. English authorities agreed. That’s the context, outside of this weird little cult still having none of it because it’s us, it’s Man United and Ferguson and there was some kind of FA / media conspiracy to halt the rise of Liverpool. It’s absolutely batshit. Even if, best case scenario, his argument can be believed, that “little black friend” is some sort of term of endearment, and sweet little Luis’ only crime was cultural ignorance, then he was still in the wrong. There are innumerable things you cannot do/say in other countries due to local context, culture and sensitivities. You get caught, you get punished. Ignorance is not a valid excuse. That’s your best case scenario. But it’s also extremely unlikely. He’s always been a horrible, nasty little shit. His form before and since does nothing to inspire confidence in his innocence.

Ah. One thing that never changes about this place. There’s always someone willing to use the strongest word in the English language towards someone they’ve never met because they disagree about football. If you’re not fond of the response, maybe don’t make ridiculous generalisations like “all Spanish speakers” to make your point. A good day to you, sir.

Yep. All of them did. You counted them.

So you’re still believing steadfastly in that old “it totally means something really friendly and polite in Spanish and wasn’t a racist insult at all” line all these years later, huh? Bless.

Dave was cold to me. If I'd had some Rog' warmth it might have been a different story. Ergo, I blame you.

Nah, Dave and I diverge massively on this.

As far as I can remember with McManaman, it was us who tried shopping him to Barcelona the previous year. That's when he got the fuck'ems. I'm no lover of him these days, but let's at least get the facts straight.

Nice one, Andrew. Miss you dude.