Comrade 86

Marinakis in full-on hissy fit mode. Makes me almost wish I owned a bakery.

In place of whom?

No I got that buddy! Sorry, the rambling bit was a general observation really, not related to your post. Probably should have made that clearer. He's just a player who has frustrated me over the last few seasons and I still don't really know what to expect from him, so it was musing, nothing more.

Not sure if this one has been mentioned but Warrior is good fun. A Chinese martial artist travels to the US to unite his family, but instead ends up embroiled in some fairly savage turf wars. Much fighting is done, a lot of it spectacularly violent, you get the drift! It's far from cerebral but it's quite a fun way to unplug, if not taken too seriously. Somewhat like Deadwood but with kung fu. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5743796/?ref_=ttep_ov

He does divide opinion somewhat 😂 It's an interesting one as back in his academy days, when it was much easier to catch games live, I watched every game I could and that was a good generation amongst whom, he looked the comfortable standout. He literally scored for fun. He's never looked quick, but he was utterly unerring in front of goal. and we all predicted huge things. Fair to say that things haven't since gone according to plan and he's now struggled to convince a good few coaches that he's worth a regular starting berth, but what I really like about his recent endeavours is that he's now putting in really good shifts wherever he's asked to play. I think he has to start the next game and if he can now add consistency to his goal contributions, he can silence his doubters once and for all. FWIW, I still believe in him and I'd re-sign him in a heartbeat.

NGL, I'm now mildly intrigued 😂

1Wildsmith 6.5 - Solid enough after two shaky starts, but in truth, was well screened and had little to do. Still better than last time out, though that's a very low bar. A welcome improvement nonetheless. 35Nelson 7.0 - Mooted before the game that playing in a 3 does not suit Curtis overly and he was slow to get into the game, though he did look better by the end. Perhaps he's just acclimatising to the role, but I'd still question whether we sacrifice the back 4 option to accommodate Bradley. 5Bradley 7.0 - Another solid enough performance. The haters will hate, don't they always, but he's playing well enough to my eye. Whether a back 3 is typically what we really want, I'm not sure though, but it's not my call and I've now bored myself saying it. 6Cashin 7.5 - Another solid enough game. He's a 7+ pretty much every game these days and if ever there was an incentive to get promoted, keeping the likes of Eiran at the club would be it, to my mind at least. 23Ward 9.0 - Feeling a bit smug after putting him up as needing to start yesterday, though I have to admit I didn't see that performance coming. When we look back on this season, this will be right up there with the best outings we've seen all year. He was a menace from start to finish and with Joe as a RWB and Ryan as an RB, we look ridiculously strong on the right flank now. I noted one wag suggesting we were starting with the slowest WBs in the league. Didn't look that way to me! 8Bird 7.0 - Quietly effective without tearing up any trees. In fairness, he seemed to content to keep things ticking along and he did that well enough. I don't mind that as I think he'll be critical in some harder games to follow. I do wish he'd signed for an extra year with a caveat though, as £2.8 mill might look stupidly cheap this time next year. Owes us fook all IMO, though I'll be gutted when he leaves. 32Adams 7.5 - Never lacks effort, but there was more than just endeavour about him again and he's now added to the man-crush list. A really excellent loan and I'm desperate to see us tie him in if there's anyway that deal can be done. We're a different team with him starting. 4Hourihane 6.5 - Didn't even notice him, sorry Conor. Gave you a median score plus 0.5 for the win. 17Sibley 8.0 - Suggested he might be the wildcard and this was his best performance in some time, indeed without Ward, he would have been my clear MOTM. He had already looked brighter of late in any case and is clearly not just accepting his team responsibilities, but now relishing them. Quite why it's taken so long and so many coaches, I don't know, but it's very much a case of better late than never, assuming he can kick on from here. Get him re-signed in any case, please! 11Méndez-Laing 7.0 - Looked more himself back in his natural environment and I think he'll get to understand Gayle's movement better with games. With Bird to unlock teams through the middle and Nate and CBT out wide, Gayle must be licking his lips right now. 27Blackett-Taylor 7.0 - had been mildly concerned about him, though on reflection, I've no idea why, though possibly as I don't really know very much about him. Still limited evidence, but he looked a lot brighter yesterday. A 7/10 may be over-egging it slightly, but there's signs of distinct promise. If he grows into the team I could see Nate getting far less attention and that's gotta be a positive. 25Gayle 8.0 - One thing I'd not noted about him across what has been a really good career, is his work rate. It's genuinely Collo-esque and if anything says 'I'm not just here for the shekels' that's it. His movement, runs, just everything about him screams a league above this level and he took his goal with aplomb. I fancied he'd be deadly at this level and I've seen nothing to change my mind. Those who chose to write him off without doing any homework on him at all, it seems, well they look pretty silly right now. Without being mean, long may that last! 10Waghorn 6.5 - Little chance to shine or show his stuff so gets the median plus win bonus rating. I'd not be surprised to see Waggy feature significantly over the run in as he too has class to spare at this level. 7Barkhuizen 7.5 - Been driving me nuts in the last few games after previously rediscovering some good form. If he could finish like he takes up a position, then he'd be a Premier League player, but this was a decent outing in the grand scheme and another welcome return to form. Consistency now please Tom! 12Smith 6.5 - Perhaps unlucky not to start given his impressive form of late, but I think PW had a clear vision for this game and given the result, who am I to argue? Median plus 0.5 again. WarneWatch - With the lad squandering leads in recent outings and conceding ground to teams around us, this game was huge. Other results di not really help us much, so not conceding further ground was an absolute mandatory condition and one Warne met head on. We can talk about the quality of his football until we're blue in the face and many on here do precisely that, but these types of game do somewhat answer his critics and whilst I wanted a back 4, I thought the gaffer got it spot on in the end. Vale were poor, but they were resoundingly 2nd best, bar that weird 15 minutes of mass hysteria and while we have tougher tasks ahead, another 3 goals to build our GD further and 3 more points in the bank with a clean sheet... well that's good enough for me! Brizzle next week, where the competition have easier games on paper, so another huge test of our credentials, but I feel quietly confident all the same. Well done lads, and well played Mr Warne. Onwards.

The new RBR car looked rapid and stable from the off, but a weird practice session gremlin briefly fooled me into thinking my initial visual impression was wrong. Having watched the car race, to be honest, I don't think anyone has closed the gap at all. Depressingly, the data seems to confirm as much. I think Merc and particularly the Ferrari, look much easier and more pleasant for their drivers than the last two years and both can probably be driven nearer their limits more safely and more often, but neither are in the same league as Newey's latest iteration and this with Verstappen in cruise control. No sweary man stuff this week as he lead by 9 seconds after only 10 laps. This was the proverbial exercise canter for the Belgian Bullet who never saw another car all race. Lewis did what I'm becoming accustomed to and went through the motions after another half-hearted qualification. Too much of that (with his new allegiance to Ferrari) and he will be very much driver #2 and this another fallow season. I hope I'm wrong but he seemed to just accept his lot and only benefitted 2 positions via others' misfortunes and a rare well judged undercut form his engineers and strategists. I fear that his days as a hard racer are over and I'd rather see him stop if he's not willing to ride the ragged edge anymore. Thank god the Mighty Rams put on a show yesterday, to give me something to cheer, as this was depressing stuff for all bar Verstappen fans. Even some of them are finding Liberty's 'new vision' of F1 rather predictable now. I get that being American, they were always likely to want to make this as much entertainment as sport, but frankly, I'm seeing neither. No new regs until 2026 either... 🥱

Only a suggested as a starter by two posters yesterday. You weren't either of them. Of those who did pick him in their suggested line ups before the game, at least one of them (yours truly), did so only because Nyambe is injured. Two questions; do you suppose that Nyambe's form might also have had something to do with Joe's limited starts? And in regards to your 'we've paid the price' comment, what is this 'price/ you claim we've paid?

Good job from the gaffer today. Tactics good, formation worked, subs were fairly seamless. It actually could have been 5-0 without flattering us. I am still perplexed by our tendency to disappear into our shell as we did the last 15 minutes of the 1st half. It was like we'd collectively lost our minds for a while there, with even the senior players looking rattled, but that aside, no real grumbles at all. I thought the back 5 worked well too, with Ward and Sibs the standouts. I think I'd still favour a 4 if Ryan and Fozzy were fit, but 3 goals scored and none conceded, to some extent, tells its own story, even against a poor side like Vale and I'm chuffed we've at least stopped the rot. We will need to back that performance up though as it's likely Brizzle will prove a significantly sterner test with our arch-nemesis, the Wardrobe lying in wait 👀

Gayle, 100%. A match fit and sharp Waggy is more than useful at this level, but Gayle has a distinct class edge.

Anyone else clock Tierney's new motor?

Both Sky and BBC reporting a Sibbo brace.

Take a wild guess 😋

In before anyone cracks a 'massive helmet' funny.

Hello ladies and gents. My name's Louie Sibley! Get in you beaut!!!

Come on lads. Notch a 2nd and this lot crumble. Need to be clinical.

2028 for the concluding part of the trilogy, apparently! I watched the first one thinking it was a standalone film, not the first instalment of something that required a 7 year investment 😂

Sadly I'm expecting exactly what we saw last season, save for the Ferrari and Merc being far more comfortable to drive. Really disappointed in Hamilton's latest qualifying effort and now wondering whether we'll ever see him top the podium again. This whole level the playing field with new tech regs has really not worked out too well, so I'm praying for some drama and to at least see some dicing at the front, not just within the pack behind. Please!!! 😂

One of the most shameful incidents I've seen in my entire life. I'm at a loss for words. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68445973

I was joking Gerry, but my initial post does very clearly close with the 'So that's my pointless attempt to pick a team, which will doubtless resemble PW's selection not one iota 😂' so your comment did seem somewhat redundant.

Saved me the trouble. Much more polite too, though my intended response used fewer words 🤔😋

Can anyone who does audiobooks explain how they do different characters please? Is it the same person or multiple persons. Sorry if this is a daft question, but I've never 'read' a book that way and am intrigued.

Laughing as I did initially find the film confusing too, but the more leisurely pace of reading versus 2 hours of film makes it easier. It's one of those books that makes you marvel at the imaginations some folk possess and there's always copies in charity shops too which is handy! 😂