foxile5

Well yes, I suppose. It's also better than if he had killed a puppy, too. Better than if he had made a sexist comment or racist joke, as well. It doesn't have to be one or the other, though, does it? And you don't need him to say the above in order to question the mentality of the team. I think that, given recent performances and the erosion of effort, saying 'this is my first trophy' when we're currently sat in 2nd position might meet a lot of criteria for excessively hubristic.

I'm not sure that this confidence is helping or hindering the team. Do they genuinely think that they've won it already? That's a dangerous avenue to stalk, isn't it?

Coaching out a swagger and intent in a team took Brendan four seasons give or take. Remarkable, really. But if you challenged it at the time you had 100s of Dr Footballs crying about 'inversion' and 'the process' and goodness me where are they now.

You're already sugar taxed. The real piss boiler in all of that? They put up the sugar free drinks to align with the sugar taxed drinks in most places. Taxed for sugar. Taxed for not.

So the FA can break its tradition to suit the UEFA demands on the players? How about not having League matches on Sundays for European teams? How about arranging the league fixtures preferably like European countries do so that the likes of Liverpool/Arsenal/Man City play on Saturday in the mornings? Of course, that might limit the amount of "Super Sundays" that you can coin it off of over the footballing calender. It also removes the possibility of a draw doesn't it. We all know which demographic cannot handle 'ties'.

The fight is long lost, sadly, but I do keep saying it just so folks are aware. I find it gauche and prefer the old ways but accept I'm probably a dying breed. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't resist. If you listen to The_77 we're both wrong, we're both ignorant, and it isn't happening. Except it is and we should make some effort to resist it...futile as though it may be.

Agreed - globalisation is occuring and, as you put it, shrinking the world. American happens to be providing the cultural narrative/dialogue for the West's ever shrinking template. You're very much correct on the Americanisation of ownership. The point I was trying to make, I suppose, is that the broader and more transformative Americanisation of ownership and league model is pathed by the little shifts. The copying of the language of American sports. The wearing of a single arm-band to look like an NBA player - this was directly admitted by Pogba...he copied basketballers and wanted to be known for doing it. It's the whole small package of things that creates a fertile grounds for the bigger changes to occur. If you'll read in my previous posts I point that out - it's pathed the way for rank and file change. The poster I was responding too became hostile at that suggestion but, same as you and your lad, I see these changes at the ground and have witnessed the protests at the proposed league changes by American owners.

This is all well and good and agreeable. The concern comes when the government start saying things like 'look how better off you were not being allowed cigarettes - we're going to make it so you can't drink fizzy pop. We were right before so you can trust us'. Things like these liberties being removed shouldn't be flippantly ignored. Thin edge of the wedge stuff.

No - I'm not 'completely unaware' of how footballers behave. It simply isn't what I'm posting about. I'm talking about the Americanisation of British sports and not the Americanisation of South American sports. For what it's worth - there are traditions in the South Americas that I wouldn't want porting over here, either. And I can see elements of Americanisation there (which is to be entirely expected given how big American sports are globally). Yes - I do point to America as the reason for these silly celebrations and linguistic shift. Simply because it IS from America. This 'Ice in his veins' stuff is directly lifted from the basketball culture. It's an Americanisation. As are the 'fan cams' I'm seeing more and more at football grounds as well as the T-Shirt Cannons that are making their way in. All popularised in American sports. It is a steady process of Americanisation. And because I'm a fan attending 80% of games home and away during a season I see this and I'm allowed to voice that concern. I know you didn't mention the Super League. I was using it as a supportive comment based on the Americanisation of British sports. That's because it is evidence of a move away from a footballing pyramid (British) to a closed-shop franchise model (American). "to go on your diatribes" is a ridiculous comment and I'll say nothing beyond this - the only one who has been abusive and needling towards the other is you. I've met your points with explanations rooted in what I see and experience as a match going fan. You've responded by being hysterical and telling me what I'm seeing isn't happening. You've been insulting too. British football is Americanising. We can see that happening (as the vast majority on here are MATCH GOING FANS). And as a culture we have a right to object to it. You don't get to dictate that.

Be immediately spammed with Pearson and ostrich memes so as to render it unusable.

Extremely mixed feelings on it. On the one hand you can't really argue with a ban on smoking - it's harmful, it costs money, it ruins lives, it's objectively a negative. However - the first cut is the deepest with things like this. I'm extremely wary above the government banning things like this. Of course they're going to choose smoking as it's difficult as a population to argue with. However, it opens the door to other bannings. I don't like the idea of the government - of any flavour - getting comfortable with taking away liberties. EVEN IF it is things like smoking in the first instance. It's not a million miles away from policing what I eat and drink.

A fantastic melt-down to start the day. From cabbage soup to LGBTQ+ bigotry and a rage quit. Excellent.

This is accurate. Other presenters don't have the presence to 'freelance' so are tied to standards he isn't purely through the need to have a stable job. Most BBC employees can't court scandal and walk into any other high profile job in the same way. The rules of the game don't apply the same.

I'm torn. On the one hand I think he was a dreadful broadcaster. His commentary wasn't very good - though it wasn't terrible - and his vendetta against Pearson and attempts to influence the club were awful. Unprofessional. However, it doesn't seem like his dismissal was held against the same standards as others and he certainly hasn't brought the institution into as much disrepute as other current and past employees. You've got to presume that he simply wasn't liked by a member of staff and the axe was sharpened.

Yes. And I'm aware that things change. That does not mean to say that changes shouldn't be resisted. The impact of Americanisation of British sports would be significant to say the least. The American franchise model is not predicated on passage of clubs through a pyramid; it is a closed shop franchise model. That would strike at the very core of what the British game holds dear - the (albeit Romantic) notion that a club from rise from the bottom to the very top. It's what made OUR story so precious and so special. The idea of transit through league systems is important to our game. Maybe not American sports but I'm not trying to impose a pyramid system on them. Whilst the nomenclature of the sports ITSELF doesn't seem significant it is not surprising that this big shift in language/presentation of 'matchday experiences' (formerly football matches) is closely aligned to the 14+ clubs being overtaken by American owners. This too coincides with ever louder voices for a super-league. This is not by chance. The welcoming of American owners and Americanisms has resulted in a really pressing attempt to develop a super-league in franchise style. This has occurred and is still occurring. Just because you're American/live in America doesn't mean that I have to automatically genuflect and admit that, actually, everything is okay. It isn't. The process of letting the American voice into British football is a net loss for our footballing heritage and that's fine to say. It's bought about the super-league talk MUCH faster than it ever would have without American owners dominating the footballing landscape. And what is the super-league if not a franchise model in everything but name? Just because it works in America and was invented in America doesn't mean that it needs porting over here and it isn't subversive to say that. I'm not comparing, nor am I interested in, the football of South America because that isn't the invasive attitude here. If you know your footballing history this game has a tradition in Britain that is older than America itself; we are a nation of tradition and some of them are worth preserving. Particularly sporting ones in my opinion. I think using the term 'provincialism' as an insult is bordering on ironic given the US foreign policy over the last forever, but whatever. The British game has been compromised by the American presence and it's evidencable. I'm not wrong to point this out.

I mean - talking cynically and NOT endorsing this view - it does trim the surplus population and provide a lot of tax income. There are certain parties that might view this as a win.

"NO! I want to be the one to score so i can jerk my arms around a bit and everyone can look. Me. ME."

Oh it did. Winds me right up. I freely admit that I'm entering my 'shouting at clouds' phase of life.

You do see it in other walks of life - it just isn't as pronounced or commented on. You won't be hearing "trainee teacher makes significant progress whilst 25 year counterpart struggles to control a class" or "fire-fighter does more work in a week than station officer in a year" because that would simply be punching downwards. It's an entertainment business thing. Timothee Chamalet has more exposure, oscar nominations, pounds in the bank than, say, David Nielson. And Nielson was on the tele before the former was born. Same with singers. The local bands that have been doing the circuits for thirty years are outstripped by a 26 year old Dua Lipa. It's just that it's noticable.

Sorry - I forgot to link this to the penalty squabble. It's all ego driven. They just want to do their little touch-down dance hand signal and jerky movement so everyone looks at them. It's self-above-team in a uniquely American way.

I've plenty to say about this current Chelsea team and not a great deal of it is positive but my major bug bear - this 'Cold Palmer and 'shivering' celebration. Firstly : it's the footballing equivalent of trampling American dog eggs across our carpet, if you'll excuse the metaphor. This 'ice in his veins' nonsense is a direct import from the US sports traditions, particularly basketball. We should be ashamed that the players and fans are pandering to their sports heritage the way they are. We have our own traditions, our own heritage. We should be proud of our own national game and not looking to import the nomenclature of another nations - particularly one so crass. And, as I've pointed out numerous times in the past, it's the death by a thousand cuts effect it has. The language of the sports has been slowly Americanised. It's only a short jump to the game becoming Americanised. It DOES happen and we should resist. Secondly : the idea of personalised celebration is totally narcissitic. The ego of the sportsperson has accelerated out of control in recent times. They contribute nothing to the world and take so much. If you took away Doctors, binmen, sewerage works and so on then society would be negatively effected. If you took away sports people then there are other outlets of entertainment. They are a drain. We feed this black hole of self-obsession when we start lionising stupid little personal celebrations. He ought to be booed on principle. He thinks that he's important, that he has a foothold in the running of society and he matters on a large scale when the opposite is the truth. Don't feed that. Anyway. That's my two peeneth.

It's the process. Don't worry about it. It's a process.

It's 'the process'. Remember that - when fans had an almost cult like dedication to 'the process'. You couldn't question it. The football PhDs came at you left right and center and told you it was breathtaking. Would love to hear more about this process. Nobody could ever outline it for me and it seems that it's made the club regress.

Let's be playing around at the back. Come on. Let's be playing.

It is breathtaking.