JoetheRam

It gets worse.
As well as the robe on Messi, Macron being on the pitch, Aguero with his John Terry impression.....a bloke that sprinkles salt on a steak got on the pitch to join in with the celebrations as well.
I dread to think who would be on the pitch if England won, Rishi Sunak, Jeremy Clarkson and Wayne Rooney?

Customary team of the tournament to indulge the inner 12 year old...
4-3-3
Bounou (MAR)
 
Hakimi (MAR)
Souttar (AUS)
Gvardiol (HRV)
Hernandez (FRA)
 
Modric (HRV)
Amrabat (MAR)
Bellingham (ENG)
 
Messi (ARG)
Alvarez (ARG)
Mbappe (FRA)
None of this shoehorning players in out of position and it's not necessarily the best players overall, more players who were memorable AND good.

I was always taught that sport mirrors society. 
When society is violent, sport is violent (see Ancient Rome). When society demands order, so to does sport (Victorian England).
It's somehow poetic that Football nowadays chooses to punish exuberant celebration and freedom of expression and let's 'gamesmanship' as you describe above escape almost unpunished. And that's without mentioning the corruption that is essentially accepted as part of the game and part of life and the cult of personality that surrounds the games key figures.
We get the sport we deserve I guess.

I was always taught that sport mirrors society. 
When society is violent, sport is violent (see Ancient Rome). When society demands order, so to does sport (Victorian England).
It's somehow poetic that Football nowadays chooses to punish exuberant celebration and freedom of expression and let's 'gamesmanship' as you describe above escape almost unpunished. And that's without mentioning the corruption that is essentially accepted as part of the game and part of life and the cult of personality that surrounds the games key figures.
We get the sport we deserve I guess.

Yeah, starting with FIFA, UEFA and the IOC......
The desperation of the Qataris and Infantino to steal the limelight was one of the most nauseating spectacles I've witnessed in Sport.

A technicality? ?
Or as its more commonly referred to 'cheating'

There was a dive that got booked too wasn't there? 
You've got live video referees and still the harshest punishment for blatant diving is a rare yellow. Football says cheating is less criminal than taking your shirt off after you score. 
Diving should be a red card. Just like time wasting should be a yellow instantly and not 20 minutes of warnings. And actually follow the yellow with a red. 
Last night Martinez should have been booked for throwing the ball and/or not returning to his line. Then he'd have not messed around afterwards. If he did then send him off. 
Truth is that football left gentleman's conduct behind many decades ago. It is waaaay to late to talk about fair play and respect. 
Lie, cheat and push the limits. That's what players do. Because it's now called gamesmanship and the worst you'll get is told off for being naughty. 
As @TigerTeddsaid, don't hate the player. Martinez might be a troll but the referees allow this nonsense to go on. 

Customary team of the tournament to indulge the inner 12 year old...
4-3-3
Bounou (MAR)
 
Hakimi (MAR)
Souttar (AUS)
Gvardiol (HRV)
Hernandez (FRA)
 
Modric (HRV)
Amrabat (MAR)
Bellingham (ENG)
 
Messi (ARG)
Alvarez (ARG)
Mbappe (FRA)
None of this shoehorning players in out of position and it's not necessarily the best players overall, more players who were memorable AND good.

Didn't most of Pele's goals come in that Brazilian league? 
Messi is gets my vote for the goat. Even before he won the world cup. Some of the things I've seen him do consistently I just don't think others have been capable of
For as many years as he's done it, at the level he's done it, against the opponent's he's done it.... I just think he's a freak. 
I think there's players past and present that have been better than Messi for a time. Mbappe is probably there now. Ronaldo has had ridiculous seasons for example. 
But Messi has always been one of the best playmakers of the last 15 years. One of the best goalscorers of the last 15 years. The haul of trophies. The personal awards. For his whole career he's been the very elite and produced magic on every stage so frequently. He's never been carried. He's never shrunk away. 
He's the goat imo simply because he's the best midfielder, winger and striker of over a decade. 
Most great players are only in that top 2 or 3 for a few years. Their "peak". When was Messi's peak? He scored 70+ goals in a season 10 years ago and now he's just won the Copa America and World Cup. 
Whatever you use to measure him by he ironically stands tall. Whether a young winger, center forward or a number 10. Whether 2012 or 2022. 
Don't suppose it matters. But short of joining Burnley to prove he's good I'm not sure what else he could do to further his case. He's not even finished yet. 

Not sure you can compare from different eras The game , rules ( no tackling from behind now and Var) even the balls are not comparable . Watching from the 1970 World Cup that Brazilian team was amazing and so much more than Pele great as he was. 
I loved watching the Cruyff inspired Dutch teams of 74 and 78 a tragedy they didn’t win one but transformed the way the game was played. 
Saw Best but think he was already in decline then. 
Maradonna a flawed genius .For what my opinion is worth Messi has been the best for the last decade. His and Ronaldo’s numbers are incredible but I don’t think this Ronaldo was as good as the Brazilian one. 
My GOAT a toss up between King Kev , Roy Mac , Charlie and Toddy ?

Gary Lineker... we know you know Maradona's middle name, but it's fine just to say his surname and first name. We know who you mean. Pretentious.
Right team won I think.  The French were crap for 75 minutes.
Extra time was nuts.
Martinez wins player of the tournament for shithousing.  Ref's should be able to send players off for that kind of crap. Hope they introduce something where the player doesn't come from the halfway line until the ref has the ball in the hand and the keeper is on his line. 
Overall, great group stage, average knock outs, great final, poor atmosphere/tournament feeling, stupid timing, below par coverage from BBC and ITV 6.5/10 for me on the World Cup scale.
 

Lionel Messi GOAT
Spare a thought for Ronaldo and Pier Morgan. Mbappe will grab all the records at international level and Haaland at club level.

Gary Lineker... we know you know Maradona's middle name, but it's fine just to say his surname and first name. We know who you mean. Pretentious.
Right team won I think.  The French were crap for 75 minutes.
Extra time was nuts.
Martinez wins player of the tournament for shithousing.  Ref's should be able to send players off for that kind of crap. Hope they introduce something where the player doesn't come from the halfway line until the ref has the ball in the hand and the keeper is on his line. 
Overall, great group stage, average knock outs, great final, poor atmosphere/tournament feeling, stupid timing, below par coverage from BBC and ITV 6.5/10 for me on the World Cup scale.
 

How brain dead are the Argentina defenders? 

Geoff Hurst getting worried now

That virus done it's job on France big time. Walk in the park for the Argies this.
Definite trip for the penalty though.
Nice team goal for the second.
BBC tossing Messi off at his every touch. 
He's been decent this tournament, 7/10, but the over praising not only diminishes him as a player but is incredibly disrespectful to the players who have actually played above themselves. 

Mick Lynch is fighting for RMT members, thats his job. He's been elected by his fellow workers to represent them. If, by his leadership, the RMT workers get to keep their current working conditions and get a pay rise then he's done a good job for them.
I'm not sure what point you are making but I assume you mean you don't want Lynch to include you when he says he's fighting for working people, I get that. I would suggest that he means people who work at shop floor level in manufacturing, retail, warehousing, cleaning, catering etc.
Some working people are very happy with their jobs, conditions and wages so yes, Lynch probably isn't fighting for them as such. If you're in that group then fair play to you, count your blessings and perhaps offer a bit of support for those less well paid and struggling to pay the bills.

Nowt wrong with my i-sight yoof

If you're about two thirds - three quarters of the way through a car PCP deal and you intend to keep the car after your contract ends, look to see if you would be able to reduce your monthly payments by taking out a loan to pay off the remaining finance over two or three more years.
End result; you have a 5 or 6 year old car fully paid for, which should still have higher residuals than any deposit you put down and you've saved a bit of interest.
 

Get around paywalls on The Bellylaugh, The Times (Rupert and Financial) and Independent websites by quickly switching your device to airplane mode whilst the page is loading. Get the timing right and that article is yours to read for free.
NB. Stealing content on the Internet is wrong.

If you're about two thirds - three quarters of the way through a car PCP deal and you intend to keep the car after your contract ends, look to see if you would be able to reduce your monthly payments by taking out a loan to pay off the remaining finance over two or three more years.
End result; you have a 5 or 6 year old car fully paid for, which should still have higher residuals than any deposit you put down and you've saved a bit of interest.
 

It's one of the great switcheroos of the right wing - they have managed to convince many that they belong in the middle class and so the fight of those pesky working classes will only serve to take money from you. Think Hyacinth Bouquet, if you're old enough. In a survey in the US only 10% of Americans considered themselves to be working class and only 1% upper class (I know, it's not the UK but still). It's why we have people who really get no benefit from it voting Tory, they convince themselves the tax cuts are for them because to admit the opposite is to somehow admit you're looking up rather than looking down.
And the second scam of all time is the percentage sign - "all employees are getting a 3% pay rise" means a very different thing if you are on £20k or £250k. Same with taxes, people vote Tory because they still believe a 1% tax cut saves them 1%. It doesn't, it just returns a little less to your pocket than anyone wealthier to you - so widening the gap further.
BTW - I'm not ranting at you, apologies if it sounds that way. Just replying to the thread with some thoughts.

Interest is a massive, complex subject that spans pretty much the length of human history.
From Aristotle to Keynes they've all had a go at arguing what it means, whether it should exist, when it should be charged, how it should be charged, how it should be calculated...
And interest is just one of many instruments of the global financial markets, so no, I don't think your average man in The Street will ever know how how the financial system works in its entirety.
The effects on individuals/businesses/government of rates rising and falling should be better reported though. 
The economy is a balancing act and everything has it's advantages and disadvantages to different parties, educating the public beyond "low interest good, high interest bad" would be a start.
Personally enjoying inflation reducing the real terms value of my mortgage by 15% a year not so much the effect it's having on the weekly shop.
 

Not sure how else money is created apart from people's labour?
If you take labour out of the equation then not a lot would happen in the money markets would it?
I know nowt about the global money market, other than who owns it, but I do know that businesses make money out of the labour of their workers. I have worked in the private sector for 45 years and I can state as a fact that not one penny of profit would ever be made without   a lorry driver delivering ingredients to our factory, a fork lift driver unloading that lorry, a process operative weighing out the ingredient, a mixing operative, an oven operative, a packing machine operative, a Quality Control operative, engineering operatives who can fault find and repair mechanical as well as robotic and systems equipment. More fork lift drivers to move the finished goods to despatch so more lorry drivers can take the product to storage warehouses and supermarkets.
So, I would argue that the ordinary citizen exchanging their labour for pay is the only way that money markets are created.
That is why the global money markets try so hard to reduce workers rights so the profit margin is increased.
The RMT union is on strike because the train operating companies want the workers to do more night shifts and more weekend shifts for less unsocial hours pay. Thats a good example of the way the money markets work. 
My business stopped double time on Sundays about 7 years ago, For nearly 40 years we always paid double time to workers for Sunday overtime, now its been reduced to time and a third. This was the difference between earning extra money to afford Christmas or summer holidays for the majority. (Rich people won't understand this)
The point is that its a constant battle for working people to survive and maybe enjoy the odd bit of leisure time. The money markets task is to make profit for the rich at the expense of the workers.