Finnegan

This is the sort of rumour I can believe.

Significant tax cuts can boost spending, sure. A 1% reduction to something like NI makes absolutely no difference what so ever to my monthly paycheck it's just a PR exercise from the Tories to try and get votes from working people. Never mind that it'll create a hole to the tune of literal billions at the other end.

Draws are tomorrow yep

What an absolutely nonsense call. No they are not, at all. Complete fvcking opposite. I would say that the sort of weirdos that applaud the plane landing are absolutely, 100% the sort of people that faff around dawdling like they've got all the time in the world and they're not in anyone's way. I'm always that guy getting up to be the first off the train. Often because I've got a connection but mostly because I absolutely hate crowds and don't want to be near any of you other weirdos slowing me down and getting in my space.

We didn't though really did we let's be honest.

Teşekkürler kardeşim

Genuinely shocking decisions. Their penalty was pretty generous, not gonna say it absolutely wasn't a foul there was a bit of a push but the Turkish lad makes a real meal of it. But it wasn't as blatant as the push in the back on Johnson in the first half or the tackle where Johnson got completely wiped out. I'm not kidding we should have had two stonewall penalties in the first half.

And of course Danny Ward dives about five minutes before the Turkey player shoots

I almost actually said in the first half after we should have had like 10 penalties, I guarantee they get given one at the first hint of a foul in the box

Yeah, I'm not being entirely serious. I'd never actively wish us to lose regardless. I'm obviously glad we're doing well. But it's frustrating. Page just isn't really a manager, he's a likeable guy and a grafter and the team seems to like playing for him but he's not a tactician and his selections are often bemusing. The team he picked for Armenia away was a serious head scratcher and there's not really an excuse for losing that.

He's barely had a touch. Turkey have had two shots, both miles off target. Long may it continue.

I mean it was inevitable tbf

That's a stonewall penalty he completely wipes Johnson out

I almost wish we'd get hammered here if Croatia do win. Watching the way we're playing right now just makes me furious this isn't the team Page picked at the weekend. Also... that's a penalty? tf?

Not sure why you're getting so sensitive. You're top of the group, nobody is saying you aren't a better team than us. But we obviously CAN win, especially with home field advantage. There are teams in world football I absolutely can't imagine this Wales team beating AT ALL. Turkey aren't really one of them. If you find that offensive I think that's definitely on you not me. (Especially given we're currently winning.)

It's head to head. Armenia drawing would be enough if we beat Turkey because we've got a better record against Croatia. But I think Croatia will win that quite comfortably. It's in Croatia. If we'd beaten Armenia, I wouldn't have bet against us winning in Cardiff. The atmosphere would be fantastic, everyone would be pumped, Turkey are already through I think and it's not like they're Brazil is it. But even if we do win tonight I just can't see Croatia fvcking up.

God bless BBC sport. Gotta admire their optimism trying to drum up excitement and pretend we still might qualify tonight. Absolutely nailed on Croatia beat Armenia. Only we could take four points from Croatia but throw away five against Armenia

I hate to be That Guy but, erm. Defenders have to defend, too, right? I know the full back role has evolved a lot over the years and I'm not denying Robertson is excellent but the greatest measure of Fuchs game clearly wasn't assists. I mean, guy wasn't even really allowed to go past the halfway line.

Everton apologists, regardless of being lcfc fans, are just fvcking weird man. I don't get it.

I suppose that depends whether or not you just dislike Wrexham because you dislike most football clubs other than Leicester, in which case there's nothing all that unusual about it, or if you specifically dislike Wrexham with any particular level of vitriol?

Narh I've not said that. I'm not in any way qualified to make that statement and I think it's really important, especially when bashing the Aussies, to acknowledge it was Cricket Australia that stripped Smith of the captaincy (don't remember England doing that to Athers) and banned them for so long not the ICC (who gave them infinitely lesser punishments.) My issue isn't with the incident or how the ICC handled it, I just think the English reaction to it was insanely disproportionate (and slightly hypocritical) and continues to be so. It's ironic because if it wasn't the Aussies, the English wouldn't give anywhere near as many fvcks yet it was the integrity of Cricket Australia that made it such a big punishment which in turn caused such a big reaction. If Smith and Warner had gotten a slap on the wrist and there'd been nowhere near as much fuss made about it the whole thing would have been forgotten by the time the news cycle had moved on.

Is there a word for that... something that lighthouses evoke? There's a natural kinda rustic horror to them for no obvious reason. They're intimidating but you don't quite know why. They're nearly all extremely isolated, quite old buildings and their structure is just incredibly unique. It's so easy to let your imagination run. I guess that's why so many of them have myths about hauntings and stuff but then just perpetuates the certain something they possess. For something so mundane they are fantastic.

Maybe it's because I'm naive and haven't played the game enough myself since my early teens but I have a hard time giving a flying fvck about ball tampering, if I'm honest. I think the over reaction and righteous indignation from the English media and fans in particular has been absolutely insane when the Aussies were just caught doing something that I'm convinced every test cricket side in the world does on some level. Athers was fined for ball tampering in the 90s, Trescothick admitted he used to do it all the time for England in tests, Jimmy and Broad have been pinged for doing it before (Broad with a typical shit house excuse of "I was just standing on the ball with my studs cos if was hot and I'm lazy" lmao.) People have used dirt in the pocket, hair products, zips on their clothes, studs on their shoes, hidden bottle tops, suckable sweets, picked seams, finger nails. It's just part of the game no? You get away with what you can get away with. To me it seems a bit like trying to steal a couple of yards from a free kick behind the refs back when placing a football. Everyone is at it. Literally I think every major test cricket side has had an accusation of ball tampering at some point, probably multiple times? I mean Faf du Plessis has been found guilty of it twice and pretty much nobody gives a shit do they? Maybe I've had my head in the sand but I don't remember him getting anywhere near the stick Smith and Warner do? With the Aussies it just played in to the narrative of cheating Aussie convicts and all of that shit that the English love to trot out. Literally any other test side and most would barely give a fvck. Do you really think this attitude of never forgiving or forgetting would still be the case if it was someone more popular like Kane Williamson or Jason Holder? Just nonsense. I'm all for banning, say, substance abusers in athletics or whatever for life. Sure. Or footballers that have been involved in match fixing. Ball tampering cricketers? Come on.

Warner is the Vards of cricket. Absolute shit head if he's on the other team, your favourite player if he's yours. In a sport pretty devoid of personalities, I quite like him. I like Kohli's antics too most of the time tbh. The more cages he rattles the better, at least he's not a fvcking robot.