We're going to be runners up again. :-(

[redgunamo]

Then why do refs still hate us?

The only reason they appear to like and respect Declan Rice is precisely because he is NOT captain so they actually have very little to do with him. However, were he contractually required to be constantly in their ear waving imaginary cards about, all that would change.

Perhaps, despite having received the most egregious red card in history, he may be seen as honest, stolid, a stalwart; one of the decent (for a Londoner) guys. He doesn't cause them any problems.

In any case, referees are never going to win us the league (does a single one of them actually come from London or even the South?), we are going to have to be good enough to do it on our own. The modest, unassuming ?degaard will be fine.

[Peter]

The only reason they appear to like and respect Declan Rice is precisely because he is NOT captain so they actually have very little to do with him. However, were he contractually required to be constantly in their ear waving imaginary cards about, all that would change.

Perhaps, despite having received the most egregious red card in history, he may be seen as honest, stolid, a stalwart; one of the decent (for a Londoner) guys. He doesn't cause them any problems.

In any case, referees are never going to win us the league (does a single one of them actually come from London or even the South?), we are going to have to be good enough to do it on our own. The modest, unassuming ?degaard will be fine.

We are not asking refs to win us the league. Just to treat us with the same level of contempt they do every other team.

And it may have been the most egregious red card in history but only until the MLS one.

Which is kind of the point.....

[Peter]

Name me a finer C20th work of history that 1066 and all that, P. Go on. I should go back to it as I reckon there are loads of jokes I missed aged c.10 and 20. Reading after A-levels when I'd read it ten was eye-opening, so there must be loads more joke I get now.

It should be compulsory reading at school before you have any actual lessons. Though I guess you'll be gutted when you find out William wasn't actually an orange.

I'm not really a fan of history as comedy. For the same reason I always thought The Darkness were a bunch of ****ers.

Is this supposed to be funny? Or is it supposed to be good? Because it appears to be neither...

History, like rock n roll, is too serious to be taken lightly.

Apart from Spinal Tap, obviously. And Bad News.

[redgunamo]

Just to treat us with the same level of contempt they do every other team.

That cannot happen because we are from London and the Arsenal are the most prominent southern upstarts, in their view. The vast majority of English players come from the capital and the South, yet, incredibly, that is almost entirely reversed when it comes to elite referees and linesmen; VAR and so on. Northerners feel they have a right to always win, that they always deserve to win.

Wonder why so many titles are won by Liverpool and Manchester United? And how many of those triumphs were actually memorable? It's as though they can almost sleepwalk their way to the top. However when WE win the league, we have had to make history; Invincibles, only one defeat in '91, Double winners etc. Even Chelsea with Roman's financial doping and their record low Goals Conceded.

It's the same everywhere so there's probably nothing to be done about it, except being good enough to occasionally overcome that built-in bias. In Germany, Bayern have won over half the Bundesliga titles, ever! Successful clubs from the Italian south are Napoli and other giants like Lecce, possibly Cagliari. Spain; everybody knows about.

[redgunamo]

I'm not really a fan of history as comedy. For the same reason I always thought The Darkness were a bunch of ****ers.

Is this supposed to be funny? Or is it supposed to be good? Because it appears to be neither...

History, like rock n roll, is too serious to be taken lightly.

Apart from Spinal Tap, obviously. And Bad News.

Apparently Spinal Tap was based on The Sweet. Unpleasant business, mentioning it at home though as The Sweet is one of the wife's favourites lol

[Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult]

I'm not really a fan of history as comedy. For the same reason I always thought The Darkness were a bunch of ****ers.

Is this supposed to be funny? Or is it supposed to be good? Because it appears to be neither...

History, like rock n roll, is too serious to be taken lightly.

Apart from Spinal Tap, obviously. And Bad News.

I can't even remember who The Darkness are. Name vaguely rings a bell.

But name me one serious historian who has encapsulated the Civil War's "Wrong but Wromantic vs Right but Repulsive" in a solitary sentence better than those two did?

Genuine question. When I did the W3K {as we must call the Civil War now*} I didn't see it summed up as neatly as that. Good satire only works if it nails the point. And Yeatman and Sellar turn it up to 11 on that front.

*When Johnny comes marching home again, he's gonna be really ****ed off that it's been renamed the War of the Three Kingdoms. Hope he doesn't get off at the wrong bus or underground stop as a result.

[Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult]

I'm not really a fan of history as comedy. For the same reason I always thought The Darkness were a bunch of ****ers.

Is this supposed to be funny? Or is it supposed to be good? Because it appears to be neither...

History, like rock n roll, is too serious to be taken lightly.

Apart from Spinal Tap, obviously. And Bad News.

PS - HANG ON:

"I'm not really a fan of history as comedy."

Which means you either haven't read or don't appreciate the Flashman books.

In which case burn, heretic.

{You must have read this Burma memoir, Quartered Safe Out Here? That's when you realise how he went native, as all civilised Brits do in India. But it explains why Flashman's always getting bailed out by Indian troops. cf Kipling's Grave of the Hundred Head.}

[Peter]

That cannot happen because we are from London and the Arsenal are the most prominent southern upstarts, in their view. The vast majority of English players come from the capital and the South, yet, incredibly, that is almost entirely reversed when it comes to elite referees and linesmen; VAR and so on. Northerners feel they have a right to always win, that they always deserve to win.

Wonder why so many titles are won by Liverpool and Manchester United? And how many of those triumphs were actually memorable? It's as though they can almost sleepwalk their way to the top. However when WE win the league, we have had to make history; Invincibles, only one defeat in '91, Double winners etc. Even Chelsea with Roman's financial doping and their record low Goals Conceded.

It's the same everywhere so there's probably nothing to be done about it, except being good enough to occasionally overcome that built-in bias. In Germany, Bayern have won over half the Bundesliga titles, ever! Successful clubs from the Italian south are Napoli and other giants like Lecce, possibly Cagliari. Spain; everybody knows about.

Or winning 2-0 at anfield in the last minute (and they tried to disallow the first goal).

So you are saying we are ****ed no matter what we do?

That isnt a terribly nice thought

[redgunamo]

Or winning 2-0 at anfield in the last minute (and they tried to disallow the first goal).

So you are saying we are ****ed no matter what we do?

That isnt a terribly nice thought

Not really, no.

It's as though they only invented football as the North's revenge for centuries of real and perceived social and economic privation and injustice visited upon it by the South.

[Peter]

Not really, no.

It's as though they only invented football as the North's revenge for centuries of real and perceived social and economic privation and injustice visited upon it by the South.

At least Saka got a full 90 minutes under his belt for England in a totally pointless game. Again!

That will do him good