Greg2607

If we sell any more wingers, Alves will definitely get a chance on the wing won't he.....

That wasn't the argument though. It was that we could replace him for £5m "easily". Personally, I don't think so, but there we go.

Not those that are up for selling him. He's easily replaceable for less than £5m apparently.

I do feel sorry for page, given the duo behind him, but we can't expect page and Monga to be our game winners. Far too much pressure for young lads.

Can we now all please accept that he's our best midfielder and that Hamza really shouldnt be considered as an adequate replacement for that role???

I didn't get to watch the game.... Genuine question, how did the youngsters get on? I saw they got subbed, but didn't know if that was more about protecting them or they were less effective than they could have been?

That can't be right. I was told vestegaard isn't even a championship level defender these days.

Or....we need to modify our expectations. I fully believe we are in a major reset and need to get used to this standard of squad unfortunately.

but wasn't "Just play the kids" part of people's wishes with RVN last year? i'm firmly of the belief that if they are "good enough" they will break through against established professionals, albeit, that's been pushed back on me quite hard recently. I'm told that it's an outdated view and established professionals are preferred over younger players who are "obviously" better than them. personal opinion.... but if the younger players are outperforming an established player in training why WOULDN'T a manager pick them.... I can't imagine any manager deliberately picks a team he knows to be inferior to the options available to him. I'd love every single one of those youngsters to build a fantastic career in football in the PL... but Statistically... it's highly highly unlikely to be the case. Ashby have an FA Youth Cup winning player on their team... sometimes... the young kids just don't make it in the professional game despite being good at their Age Group. It's a different thing entirely when you are competing against players who HAVE made the grade and are building a career out of the game....

plenty of people were clamouring for the youth team to be developed and blooded..... this is potentially what it looks like. I think you are likely to see lots of the younger guys being thrown in at the deep end. They are definitely likely to be Bench Fillers now I would think. Page, Golding, Alves, all likely to make the bench. Monga & Nelson too if they aren't in the starting 11. Depending on what happens with JJ.... Aluko is likely to be starting at right back or on the bench if Ricardo isn't fit. If Winks does Go... I suspect we see him at the base of the Midfield, so it's unlikely he slots in at RB either. now they MIGHT swim.... but it's a large gamble based on a desire to be back in the premier league. gut instinct from me, says that not all of those players will be operating at the required level. but I guess we will wait and see....

That's your vision though. It's not one which any political party (other than the greens probably) have tried to paint.

Incidentally.... I do think Labour TRIED to paint that picture if you read their manifesto. But the messaging hasn't landed and the media have fixated on the immediate impacts to people in a negative sense. The vision hasn't landed. Spreading economic activity out of the south east and into the regions should be something that 3/4's of the country are excited about. Setting up wealth funds, should be something the country gets excited about. But the dissenting voices are far far louder and the messaging has been lost. No celebration of waiting lists coming down. No real celebration of trade deals. No celebration of the breakfast clubs or the relaunch of "sure start" centres. No celebration of protecting workers rights. It's much easier for them to generate revenue with angry click bait headlines.

all of that above conversation goes back to what I said yesterday (or the day before... I talk alot of nonsense, I lose track!) - Ultimately, everyone seems to collectively want change.... but they don't want the things that enable change to impact them. High Earners - Don't tax me more, I'm taxed enough Low Earners - Don't reduce my benefits Pensioners - I NEED my WFA. Doctors - We want pay restoration Businesses - Don't change my trading environment Home Owners - Don't build that infrastructure NEAR me. What successive governments have failed to do is build a vision of the future that we are ALL, COLLECTIVELY working towards. All Contributing to. Afterall, I'm sure those of us who have children, want them to inherit a working, meaningful and supportive society. Problem is... None of us know what that vision is. Who could define it on here? If @Tommy G felt that a 1% increase on his income tax could guarantee his Kids would have the school provision and support networks they needed... I know for a fact he would pay it in an instant. if @leicsmac KNEW that reducing WFA for pensioners could GUARANTEE a more eco focused future where humanity gets to endure... he would accept it in an instant. It's why people like Farage are so successful politically. He paints a vision VERY effectively. certain demographics can identify with that vision and will move heaven and earth to vote for it. I would offer to go into politics myself... but there are far too many skeletons in my closet from my youth!

Sure and I accept that in an ideal world you'd want both.... But if Lionel Messi was an absolute tool and akinbiyi was the hardest working player in the world..... I'd still want Messi in my team.

Hang on..... You think we can find better replacements for £5m?!?! GRANTED we might find someone with a better attitude..... But not with the same skills to retain possession, recycle and set the tempo.

Sure, I almost caveated it with, it probably doesn't apply to proper scientific research. I was referring more to roles in industry, where people are employed to provide market research, product research, competitor research etc.

Any and all call centre environments. AI can already hold realistic phone calls with people. Expect nearly all customer service jobs in the future to have ai as a first interaction. Expect almost all driving jobs to go the same way. all analytical jobs. All research jobs.... Most Legal Jobs Underwriting jobs Actuarial jobs.... Marketing and Communication Jobs Copywriting. Authors and Journalists.... Basically.... MOST of the white collar jobs will be displaced. Albeit, they might evolve into something different and people will adapt... But the jobs market as we know it, will be unrecognisable in a decade at most.

Of which I probably agree with you..... BUT..... the written press.... Owned by those HNWI, have a field day on "the millionaire exodus", how it will destroy growth etc. christ, today, I've seen loads online about IHT and how it should be abolished..... It's the Super Wealthy that want to protect or remove IHT, because they don't want anything going to the state. They also don't want anything to impact on the world they've created which sees them absolutely fine. They'll moan about all the crime though.

I think the Provision for SEN and Neuro Divergence as a whole is really poor in this country. right from school through to adults with learning disabilities. But aren't these the exact kind of things that we want to raise taxes to pay for? they've been stripped to the bone previously and if we want to rectify it, and we want better state provision, then we have to be able to pay for it. same with Mental Health Services, NHS, Dentist Services etc. There is a diminishing percentage of working age people in the country, so unless there is some magic way of doing this, tax is going to have to rise.... given that we've essentially demonised immigration as a nation.... the solution isn't going to be from importing more workers from abroad to support the burden.... it also isn't going to be from raising birth rates either.... as someone said earlier... the social contract is currently broken.... lots of people can no longer afford to have large enough families for us to be above a replacement rate. it's a virtually impossible conundrum to solve.

I didn't say it was a good or a bad thing... just that people are angry because it impacted them. You'll see more of this when AI REALLY kicks in.... the white collar workers will be impacted in their droves and made redundant. Historically, if Blue Collar workers were impacted by Mines closing down, or factories closing down.... the narrative was "they'll just have to re-train, or get another job".... I can imagine the uproar and outrage when it's white collar workers and the "middle class" will outstrip anything we saw previously.

People generally want things to change, but don't want that change to impact THEIR lives. Also, if the things that are bad, don't impact them, then they tend not to care. Love it or loathe it, the VAT charge on private schools fees are a big deal to those that pay them currently. BUT those people that sent their kids to private school, didn't care that state education was poorly invested in. It didn't impact them. Those that now can't afford private school fees, are angry that these "choices" are now impacting them AND see the state education system as poorer than what they were paying for, so may impact their kids. So now they are unhappy at the provision in state education as well, because it's impacting them. In general terms, the middle class and the rich are less impacted by everyday change as they are generally "alright".... But the state of decay in the UK as a whole and especially for those in need of support, is shameful. It's just that most people don't see it.

Be careful what you wish for with Milei, he has literally doubled the levels of poverty in Argentina. Yes, he's fixing some metrics, but at what cost to the average citizen?

looking at it a slightly different way......... who would you play as the 10 if BEK is the 8??

so we are basically saying that the UK is the footballing equivalent of LCFC right??

Isn't it all "ideas" rather than policy? I thought they were looking at it as a replacement for council tax.