Tamworthram

You must be unlucky. Clear blue skies and not a hint of snow in Tamworth (just 7 miles north of Sutton Coldfield for anyone who doesn’t know the area).

I was talking to my dad yesterday about reasons why, even though on paper it should be a comfortable win for Derby, I fear a draw. I said I don’t really consider it a local Derby because their isn’t really a great deal of rivalry - probably because of the difference in the size of the clubs and how rarely we’ve played each other.

It’s what Charlton are aspiring to, not what they have isn’t it?

Firstly, sorry to be a pedant but Birmingham is a city not a town. The second largest (or third behind Manchester depending on how you measure it) in England. Secondly, and this is coming from someone living relatively close to Birmingham and having worked in the city centre for many years, why would you keep visiting Brum? 😀 I haven’t dug too deeply into the issue but I imagine it’s either a case of financial mismanagement or under funding of local authorities depending perhaps on your political persuasion. I don’t want to go down the political route either so I won’t speculate on which is the most likely cause - probably a combination of both. It also seems the council have been hit with a massive bill (something like £760m) to settle historic equal pay cases.

I don’t think the EFL would award points without completing the game unless 1) there was absolutely nothing riding on the result and a reasonable amount of the game had been completed or b) the innocent team were so far in front with very little of the game remaining so that the result was beyond all reasonable doubt. The Blackpool game referred to earlier in the thread would fall into the first scenario as it was the last game of the season, Blackpool were already relegated and Huddersfield were safe in mid table. The EFL have the discretion to order the game to be replayed in full or in part. If there was the slightest doubt over the result, they could order that the remainder of the game is played out. I think the best sanction against Reading would be a points deduction and a warning that if it happened again, all remaining fixtures would have to be played behind closed doors (or without home fans).

Neither were Bradford or Wycombe 🙁

I totally agree if they are on benefits for the right reasons but I think it's undeniable that there is a very small minority of folk that abuse/defraud the system. I think most of us are hypocrits to a degree but not to the extent of the likes of Vine.

Nice idea buy isn't our away form better than our home form of late. 😀

Given they’d only played 16 minutes and the score was 0:0 I think it would be wrong (and unlikely) that the three points should simply be given to Port Vale. That wouldn’t seem fair to me on the clubs that may be battling against Port Vale later in the season. The ideal outcome for me would be: Port Vale (and all the supporters who made the trip) are fully reimbursed for their expenses by Reading. Game replayed (possibly behind closed doors). Reading deducted a minimum of another 3 points (regardless of the result of the replayed game). Reading hit with a fine over and above the reimbursement of costs incurred.

Does he actually “campaign” against poor and disabled people? I must have missed all the controversial stuff you are describing. Fair enough if he did but I’d still much rather try to have a sensible conversation with him than Barton. I would also criticise people that deliberately chose to go on benefits rather than getting a job (major caveat here, I wouldn’t label everyone going on benefits in such a way. I am totally confident that the vast majority have little or no choice. Did Vine label all benefit claimants in such a way or did he just suggest that some do it? 🤷🏻‍♂️). Also what’s so controversial about saying “benefit fraud is a thing”? It clearly is as you concede. Regarding the cost of benefit fraud, this was estimated at £6.4b for 2022/23. So, not an insignificant amount. It is less than unclaimed benefits (£19b) but that doesn’t make it right or acceptable.

He’s a bit of a prat but what has Vine ever done or said that comes anywhere close to Barton’s antics?

Whether the result (at the time the game is abandoned) stands or the game has to be replayed in full or part is at the discretion of the EFL (rule 34.2). Given how little of each game had been completed and the score in each game was 0:0 (I think), I'd be very surprised if both games weren't replayed in full but with Reading receiving a fine and/or having to play the game behind closed doors.

Well I know that but I’m just commenting on what could happen today.

Without diving into actual home and away form for all the teams, it looks like the best hope for today is damage limitation as none of our rivals seem to have too hard a game. Maybe Charlton can do us a favour and beat Peterborough. We'd then move up to third without even playing. 🤞

It's bad enough that the dogs are pooing everywhere but now their owners are doing as well? Oh, sorry. I misread the thread title. 😀

OK, so “excessive force” is a serious understatement but there’s no need to round on me. I think you know what I meant. If not, I’ll make it clearer. I don’t approve of what Israel are trying to do or the way they are going about it. I find it abhorrent. It’s a horrible situation that those of us in the west can’t really begin to appreciate. The equally distressing thing is, it’s almost impossible to imagine a solution that will be acceptable to both sides. 😢

I think you’re the one dressing it up to be honest. I think there is a reasonable case for protecting the free passage of vessels in international waters. I don’t support the excessive force used by Israel but neither do I support the blackmailing tactics employed by the rebels. In some ways, whilst I don’t profess to be anywhere near knowledgeable on the subject, I wonder if the rebels are just as much victims as the innocent people of Gaza. Are they just being used by Iran in the same way the innocent people of Gaza are being used by Hamas? The world certainly is fcked up and there seem to be plenty of villains (on all sides) but very few heroes. 😢

A slight exaggeration. There were "only" 16 targets and according to some chap on the radio this morning (no idea who) they will all have been targets that have been hit before. It's a worrying development but isn't your second comment a tad over the top as well? The Houthi rebels are launching attacks on civilian vessels that were probably going nowhere near Israel and had nothing to do with the ongoing conflict.

Gambling on getting promoted? Haven’t we been there, done that? And that was a gamble where the prize (moving from the Championship into the Premier League) was surely significantly bigger than moving from League 1 up to the Championship.

Bring it on. It served us well at the BBG 😀

Reminds me of the Mrs Merton interview with Debbie McGee: "So, what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?"

Without knowing all the details it's difficult to form an opinion. I agree with @Stive Pesley that Fujitsu probably shouldn't be completely demonised because of this horrible scandal but, if they are culpable in any way then a contribution should be sought. Regarding the £700m case, as you say they won their day in court so I'm not sure you can blame them for seeking compensation. If you cancel a contract for someone to complete a piece of work then, unless you can wriggle out on a technicality or the contract allows a cancellation, surely you should expect to have to pay up. Regarding future work, I'd like to think the government's procurement process is robust enough to ensure contracts are awarded to the right people but, sadly, my confidence in their right and proper persons process is no better than it is for the EFL. This would be a fault on behalf of the government not Fujitsu. You can't blame them for bidding for work.

I agree the individuals concerned will no doubt have moved on long again but, if they were employees of Fujitsu (and IF Fujitsu were found to be complicit) wouldn’t the company have to be responsible for the actions of its employees 🤷🏻 Demonising might be too strong a word as I agree (and have said) the PO must shoulder the overwhelming guilt but maybe Fujitsu do have some responsibility. None of us really know what happened.

That’s the worry. However, another performance like that against Oxford and the second half against Wigan and we’ll blow them away. Which team will Warne pick and will the players turn up? As Warne often says in his interviews - we win together, we lose together. Whatever the performance/result, I very much see it as a shared praise or responsibility. PW needs to get the formation and tactics right but even if he doesn’t, the players should be performing better than they have on occasions. I don’t do predictions, all I’ll say is that I’m a tad nervous. This one feels particularly difficult to call.

I don’t think anyone is suggesting that the Post Office management shouldn’t take the overwhelming (by some considerable margin) share of the blame. Just that Fujitsu “may” have been complicit. If Fujitsu are guilty in any way then I would say it almost (but not quite) fades into insignificance compared to the PO’s role. Whatever Fujitsu we’re doing, I’m confident in my mind that it was at least with the blessing of the PO.