bigbadbob

A bit of poetic justice all round, between him and Chelsea, they royally screwed us over with the protracted move 18 months ago. No respect was paid to Derby whatsoever, we didn't even receive any help in the loan department afterwards.
He needed to serve a decent apprenticeship before taking on a job like that, not one lucky season with Derby made to look better because of a large number of worldy goals from Wilson.
He should have built something at Derby and given himself a better shot at Chelsea a couple of years down the line. Lets face it, chelsea never hang on to a manager for very long. Now, his reputation is tarnished and he will find it difficult to get another club.
Chelsea, in the meantime have wasted a couple of hundred million quid in the transfer market and ruined the reputation of  one of their 'greats'.

He was ill prepared to take on the Chelsea job. He hadn’t got to grips with football in the Championship. Hope he enjoyed his 18 months.

Perhaps Uncle Arry, Ferdinand and Drogba can start a social media and Radio campaign singing his praises for a month and change his mind.
They do seem rather absent at the moment however. Funny that.

I wonder if Roman’s thinking should he stay or should he go?

I loved having them here, but they really shafted us at the end. Frank was bound to be offered the Chelsea job at many points throughout his managerial career but he chose to go at the very first opportunity, when he would have know he wasn't ready, leaving us in the lurch. Not having the experience of a second season at Derby to draw on, he's struggling to do that at Chelsea and will likely be sacked. He should have finishing the job at Derby first. It was very disappointing when they jumped ship and haven't looked back in our direction since.
I am intrigued by the Lampard/Rooney contrast. It remains to be seen if Rooney works out any better, but I like how the players are working so hard.

Apart from the result, a cracking day out.

Apart from the result, a cracking day out.

Have a Merry Christmas.
 

Maybe you'd be better off using the Gents?

Why won't women put the toilet seat back up when they've finished!

I dare not ask. 

The whole TV world is raving about Queen's Gambit, which is on Netflix for those of you who don't have Kodi. Seven hour-long episodes. I've just started on it.

I'm too dumb to understand or enjoy chess, but Queen's Gambit was really good. I enjoyed it. Mini series too so it had my attention for long enough. 

Premiership are charging £14.95 a game stop moaning I am waiting for my refund.

Refunds not being issued straight away pretty much shows how much of a precarious situation we are/were in. It's not an administrative error and there is no reason for them not to have paid up other than the money isn't there. 
If refunding fans is going to cause massive issues for the club then I'm prepared to wait until it's safe to receive refunds. 

Thanks @TigerTeddfor your rebuttals to these, but they are representative of comments that will likely keep surfacing throughout what I hope will be an ongoing thread, so I'll add my two-penneth too.
There's a movement called Effective Altruism (or EA), whose aim is how to do the most good with what you have. They have three core priorities which are:
relieving extreme global poverty fighting for nonhuman animal rights working to prevent existential risk but it's number 3 that is their highest priority. If Humans become extinct, then we can no longer do any good, Conversely, the more Humans there are, the more potential good we are able to do in the Universe. Earlier this year I helped publish a book called The Precipice by Toby Ord, one of the founders of EA, and Toby's dedication reads:
"To the hundred billion people before us, who fashioned our civilisation; to the seven billion now alive, whose actions may determine its fate; to the trillions to come, whose existence lies in the balance."
The thing is, future people do not have a voice to ask for our help or plead their case. They are wholly reliant on us to create a future in which they can exist and flourish. The plan for a self-sustaining settlement on Mars is massive to help increase the potential future good that can be done in the Universe for two reasons.
One, which is Elon Musk's argument, is that it's like creating a backup in case your computer goes wrong. If everything goes to hell here on Earth, then Humanity can still go on and eventually spread to the stars, doing good in the process. The other is that it accelerates Humanity's expansion into space and becoming a multiplanetary species, which means we will be on course to spread out across the Universe more quickly, allowing trillions more future Humans to be born and do good. Another influential figure in the EA movement whose books I publish is Nick Bostrom, and he wrote about this in a paper entitled "Astronomical Waste: the Opportunity Cost of Delayed Technological Development". Bostrom writes:
"With very advanced technology, a very large population of people living happy lives could be sustained in the accessible region of the universe. For every year that development of such technologies and colonization of the universe is delayed, there is therefore an opportunity cost: a potential good, lives worth living, is not being realized."
For me these are compelling arguments from two of the most prominent moral philosophers in the world today.  They resonate especially because I'm a mathematical physicist and often try to think in higher dimensions, meaning I'll often think about the Universe as a continuous present rather than past, present and future. The future isn't some nebulous thing that's going to happen. In a very real sense it coexists with us at the moment. It's just as real as the present we're living in. And I want that future to be the best it possibly can be for Humanity and for the Universe. And despite the Universe existing for nearly 14 billion years the only evidence of an advanced technological civilization existing anywhere within it, is here on Earth. So if the Universe is to realize its potential for future good, it could well be down to us to make that happen.
From Boca Chica to Mars is the next step on that road, but an incredibly important one.
 

Good job it’s not your money then. It’s Elon’s to do with as he wishes.
you can’t get to Mars, but you can install solar panels, drive an electric car, recycle more, eat less meat, boycott companies that don’t lower their carbon footprint, encourage others to do the same etc. That’s all in your power. It’s happening. It needs to happen better and faster, but Elon can’t personally do much more than he’s already doing. Saving this planet is down to us now.
Not that Elon hasn’t done some pretty incredible stuff in his own right to help us help the planet. 
PS colonising Mars could eventually enable us to move automated heavy industry onto Mars, thereby leaving earth as an essentially carbon free utopia. 
that could be centuries away, but it’s got to start somewhere. 

we can do both

What a waste of money and effort. We should purely be concentrating this planet sustainable to live on. You know that place with oxygen and temperature we can survive with.  

Nice

Food porn for you northerners. @Boycie will be back in a while once he has sorted himself out.
 

Nice piece of swordfish.  
 

Oh man, Stranger Things is great. I've watched about 20 episodes in 3 days. 
I half arsed saw the first season but wasn't into it but now I get the hype. 
Simple, nostalgic, electronic music, neon lights, 80's movie cliché, great characters and great acting. Millie Bobby Brown is fascinating in every scene. 
Just about to start season 3. Breaking Bad levels of enjoyment for me. All this time ignoring the hype! ?

Club can't win......... pay the price.......wasting money , don't pay the price why did we  miss out ?