Leeds Ram

It's such a false dichotomy you're posing. You strip out the context and pose a pointless question which no one can really answer. If over time you play well more often than not you'll win more games than lose. If over time you play poorly you'll see your form drop off. What people are concerned about is a pattern of poor play which will see results drop off. Personally, if we had played well over the past 6 weeks and we played well yesterday and lost I'd be less concerned than seeing consistent patterns of poor play as we saw yesterday and winning. Winning when playing poorly is acceptable and even the mark of a good team if it occurs occasionally. If it happens consistently it speaks to something much more concerning that has the potential to go badly wrong. A bit like our terrible start to the season which could have seen Warne given the chop.

I was close to the pitch today and in the section of the pitch (on the right hand side in the middle) that I could see it was obvious there was a lack of clarity leading to mistakes being made. Players didn't know when or where to run to, who they should be passing to, or the pattern of play they should be exercising. Laing was getting frustrated as was Wilson who had a stinker but oftentimes he was put in a poor position because he had so few options and Laing was all over the shop. To me it stunk more of poor coaching than anything else.

I think the fear is (which I have) is that if we're playing like this in league 1 what on earth will we be doing in the championship. We all know Warne's record in the championship with Rotherham and the more people are seeing the more people are likely thinking it was not a lack of resources solely at fault for his dismal record there but the type of play he instills in a team. I do think he'll get us up (just through the playoffs) either this season or next because of the resource gap between us and other teams. However, I've got no faith in his 'football' in the long term.

I went today for the first time in a while since my move and new job and my god it was painful. Just struck me as pure warneball with little changing or being learned from the problems we had earlier on in the season. I thought on balance Cheltenham deserved at least a point and possibly all 3. I don't understand why we're allergic to middle of the field and I was sitting low down and close to the pitch today. The players didn't seem pleased with each other and oftentimes confusion reigned especially in the first half. We'll finish in the playoffs but based off today and what I've seen on the tv recently I doubt we'll make it through them. I'm off to Barnsley in a few weeks and am praying we play better then than the shower we put on today.

Definitely. We seem to be coming into form at exactly the right time and starting to really find our rhythm now. Get a couple of extra bodies in Jan, tie down Cashin and Bird and get out of this godforsaken league never to return.

I was firmly in the warne out camp, and since my move to york a month ago I've barely been on here. But my god, I'm so happy we didn't pull the trigger and I'm so happy the league 1 Guardiola (yes, I've said it) has proven me and every other doubter wrong. Jumped off my sofa twice and scared the cat when we scored in the final 10. Sounds like we absolutely dominated them after the first 25 mins which were ropey. Atmosphere sounded class and in the past 6 weeks this club has turned from a mutinous ship ready to throw its captain overboard to full on master and commander 'lucky jack' as we're downing rum and heading towards the championship

Taking a break may be useful and also using the ignore button for some users may help. Ultimately, it's a forum and there will be disagreements and these will sometimes boil over. It's usually confined to a few posters who simply cannot let something go or make the same point about a billion times, either about a topic or other posters, but yeah it can get frustrating. I don't visit so much these days but that's mostly just because my work has gotten out of control time wise. But don't leave for good would be my advice.

Usually I'd agree with polling after a major event. However, what I'm concerned about is how the conflict will inevitably shape opinions and the options on the table for solutions. I do fear this could concretise public opinion in Gaza and Israel in a deeper and longer way than the usual quick, short, sharp reaction we see from some events which then recedes not that long after the event. This does have the smell of Hamas in the 1990's who conducted suicide bombing operations in an attempt to derail the peace process which in the end worked.

https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/article-773791 https://www.awrad.org/en/article/10719/Wartime-Poll-Results-of-an-Opinion-Poll-Among-Palestinians-in-the-West-Bank-and-Gaza-Strip It's not a smear and there have been opinion surveys conducted. I was making the broader point that conflict has a tendency to polarise opinions further entrenching pre-conceived differences.

Me rubbing you the wrong doesn't mean you get to lie about what I think or what I say. It's absolutely no defence, and I don't know why you'd think it is. Anyway, that is the last I'll say on the matter, and I won't respond further.

Gouging us as they know we'll pay it. Think clubs who make us pay like this should be on the receiving end next season if we're stuck down here.

another win on the board is good news. Finally in the top 6 and looking like the top 2 isn't a million miles away even if the performances aren't great.

You've frequently distorted and lied about my political beliefs, my arguments on this thread and how I address the question of Israel and Palestine and Middle Eastern politics. You've said I believe in the 'western way or the highway' and that I don't give a damn about ME politics despite the fact I've spent 1/3rd of my life studying it. You've said I cherry pick experts, even experts who strongly believe in a Palestinian state simply because you disagree with what they have to say. You've lied about what I've said about Ilan Pappe, you've lied about my beliefs about how we should treat Arab states and claimed that I see hamas and other groups as nothing more than Islamists living in caves 'shooting ak47's in the air shouting death to the west'. You've lied about how I believe Palestinians should just sit there and allowed to be killed. You've lied about how I supposedly believe most Palestinians are terrorists.I could go on and on but what's the point. This is all just since Saturday btw Alpha, I couldn't be bothered to go back before then. Simply put you distort, obfuscate, and lie about other people's opinions and the facts when they don't suit your argument. That's not serious discussion, it's not right and it's something you should be called out on. It also renders you utterly pointless to have a genuine discussion with. I don't believe I was being condescending but merely explanatory. Then again on an online forum it can be difficult to discern between the two and I'll try to take that into account next time I post.

He clearly didn't find it that reasonable given his response. Perhaps the fact that multiple posters are having issues with you suggests you are the problem and not us?

I was merely highlighting was Israeli's thought of the war nothing more. I find both sides (there is overwhelming support in Gaza for the October 7th attacks as well) responses depressing in the search for peace.

Genuinely have you read opinion polls of Israeli's because that's not what they say. Israeli's are very critical of Netanyahu but are also very supportive of the war and its execution.

Yeah this is what I've found. If you write something he doesn't like he simply either lies about or ridiculously distorts what you say and interprets what you think in the worst possible light in response. It makes the conversation utterly pointless. Using a term like 'triggered' in that manner also triggers the f*** out of me tbh.

Gutted that I've had to give my tickets up for this. We've hit a bit of form in the league this season so hopefully we can follow it up with a win here. We really need to string 5,6,7 wins together to mount some pressure on the top 2. The game against Rovers didn't sound great so we need to put that right here as well.

I do get that it grates, especially so since the Arab Spring. On genocide it is a high bar to prove it but so it should be. Genocide is the most serious crime of all. It requires policy directed at the highest levels of government/group. I am not an expert in all areas of world politics or anything but when we look at Rwanda and Serbia there are clear examples of genocide that are well known. You can add in China's treatment of the uighurs and tibet, Islamic State, Syria and Iraq and you have a few legitimate claims there as well as well as in Myanmar. There have been a couple of convictions on different incidents I believe, I know there has definitely been 1. I will respond one last time. Your claim that I argue a free Palestine would give terrorists more freedom wipes away the context in which it is situated. You've basically written a calumny against me at this point, and you should apologise for it. I distinctly argue that a free Palestine without adjustment for its social, economic, and political problems would not be a free and stable state. This is not controversial or new to anyone. Indeed, new political entities that come without those adjustments become internally and externally unstable. This does not mean I inherently believe a Palestinian state would be a terrorist state, as you have suggested but the challenges are immense. "a free Palestine is not going to be the land of milk and honey that some imagine. It will continue to suffer from poverty and political instability; the rights that its Western supporters demand for citizens will likely not be met. The suffering—and all that comes with it—shall merely continue with a new label, leaving plenty of room for terrorist actors to operate and even grow. This is not to suggest that we should not support a Palestinian state, or recognize how it creates the political space and rights that we in the West would demand of ourselves. Still, how likely is it to really occur?" "The two-state solution seems further away than ever before but it still remains closer than the tolerable alternatives. To build back the goodwill Israel once enjoyed, it would be prudent—in time—for Israel not only to cease the terror bombing but also to begin a genuine dialogue to create a two-state solution. " "The failure to address the Palestinian question in an equitable manner has and continues to drain their moral legitimacy. The United States and others should focus their efforts not on a vain and ultimately futile attempt to destroy a terrorist organisation, but rather on a genuine attempt to build peace." I'm also a big fan of Shadi Hamid's work who argues for Arab democracy in the region whether it contains liberalism or not. He's a democratic minimalist and I've had him on my podcast and written two articles for his website. I generally agree with his argument around democratic minimalism and have written and argued for greater support for democracy in the region, even if it comes with policies we do not agree with or like. You basically just label and distort positions you dislike.

No I don't. I think the decision to support the overthrow of Mossadegh was easily the wrong one. I just also find the idea that lionising Mossadegh as merely an innocent democrat who would have ushered in an era of free elections and constitutionality to Iran very suspect as well. The definition leaves plenty of wriggle room, as you say for sure, like almost all international law btw, but given the context of who the UN is dealing with here (state actors) it's much easier to pin down than you make out. Genocide must be a concerted effort institutionally to attempt to annihilate a group of people with some form of systemisation. The reason why the US wasn't seriously accused of genocide in Iraq when individual soldiers committed war crimes is because there was no overarching aim to destroy the Iraqi people. There was no systemised attempt to exterminate them and/or destroy all cultural trace of them. For genocide to stick legally, it cannot be a few rogue soldiers committing terrible acts of violence that much is absolutely obvious. I was giving context to claims of genocide being made and the history of warfare. In the context it was perfectly reasonable to make these statements i think.

You may well be right but I live in hope... I've had some good discussions but maybe Alpha cares a bit too much to have a nuanced discussion about this with someone who see's things through a slightly different lens.

Well then you get potentially a Nasser like situation which is hardly good. Again, it depends from the perspective you come from and I think we have quite different ones on this particular case 🙂 I think when discussing absolute merits, you can't really divorce actions from context of the time they exist in to make a valid moral judgement. I don't think Israel has been entirely indiscriminate in the same way that Assad has been, but the barriers previously erected in terms of discrimination of military force have definitely been lowered. There are also completely valid questions about war crimes, even if they currently stop some way short of genocide. Of course, to those who have lost loved ones intent does not matter nor does whether the act was strictly in the bounds of international law. But I wouldn't be making this argument to that family... I'm making this argument on a derby county forum. I don't think it's Orwellian to mention it at all. I'm not changing definitions to mean something else or to assert something didn't happen when it definitely did. I'm also not being morally hypocritical in saying one thing and practising another.

You're someone who clearly can't engage in good faith so I won't bother responding further.

Yeah it is a bit of a pain if you live a bit far out and/or don't drive. Ideally, I'd prefer to just go back to them but I genuinely don't have the time to make the trip before the game. I figured I might as well try to give them to someone on here so they don't go to waste 🙂

I believe the ticket office would give me a full refund, but I am currently not in a position where I can make it to the ticket office before the game as I am moving house while working.