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I live in Manchester. Burnham has done a good job as mayor particularly with improving the buses. But a lot of the improvement was well underway by the time he became mayor.

There are very tight restrictions on what the media can report on election day itself. Not sure what media you read/watch/listen to but I’ve heard pretty much nothing else but debates about Andy Burnham in the last few weeks!

He’s still the mayor. So if he doesn’t win tonight he’ll just carry on being mayor, presumably until 2028. He only has to resign as mayor if he becomes an MP.

I had the pleasure of meeting The Major Oak at a charity do once. It was surprisingly down to earth, and VERY funny.

"I think you must have either your head in the clouds, or been away on holiday, or reporting on a different team, because if you don’t know the answer to that question . . your question is absolutely unbelievable, the fact you do not understand where I am coming from. If you don’t know the answer to that question then I think you are an ostrich. Your head must be in the sand. Is your head in the sand? Are you flexible enough to get your head in the sand? My suspicion would be no. I can, you can’t. You can’t. Listen you have been here often enough and for you to ask that question, you are either being very, very silly or you are being absolutely stupid, one of the two because for you to ask that question, I am sorry son, you are daft. You are wrong. No, you are wrong. You have been in here, I know you have so don’t give that crap with me, please don’t give that crap with me. I will smile at you because I can afford to smile at you. Now do you want to ask a different question or do you want to ask it differently. Come on, ask it. Ask it or are you not capable?"

My main issue with it is that it's a way for government to look like they're doing something about the problem while putting off the harder things that would actually deal with the problem: Stop making government announcements on X Classify social media companies as publishers Enforce regulatory standards and levy huge fines on companies who break them Work with international bodies to develop a worldwide system of social media regulation (challenging while this US administration are in power, but they won't be there forever)

Think you've misread my post. There are two proposals announced today: 1. Ban social media for under 16s 2. Prevent 16 and 17 year olds from using social media after 8.30pm The first appears unworkable to me, even if you agree with the objectives. There is emerging evidence from Australia that children and teenagers are simply working around the ban with VPNs, fooling facial age ID checks etc. The second seems completely illiberal to me because 16 year olds are classed as adults by the state in terms of their (soon to be) voting rights, ability to join the armed forces, freedom to consent etc. I don't think anyone sensible would argue that the outcomes you're describing aren't bad for children and young people, and bad for society. The question is how best to address these challenges effectively.

Not a parent so no particular skin in this game but the under 16s social media ban looks unworkable (kids will find a workaround through VPNs etc) and the 16 and 17 year old evening watershed is straightforwardly illiberal - if you're old enough to vote (as 16 year olds soon will be), join the army and get your leg over then you're old enough to decide what you watch and when on the internet. All this just seems like a distraction from the harder job of properly regulating social media companies, treating them as the publishers that they are and making them responsible for the harmful content that as far as I can tell is poisoning the minds of pensioners as much if not more than teenagers.

Nigel Cabourn, menswear legend, has died at the age of 77. https://www.drapersonline.com/news/nigel-cabourn-dies-aged-77

Brussell may have noted how long it took the club to get staff in for RvN and Cifuentes and doesn't want to take the risk of joining without at least a core team.

Clough at Forest perhaps the obvious one. And before anyone asks, no I'm not comparing Brussell to Brian Clough.

Not sure he does work that hard to be honest. He runs around a lot, sure. But that's largely because his positioning and passing is so poor that he's often two steps behind the play. Has he worked hard to improve his technical game? No Has he worked hard to improve his fitness? No Has he worked to eradicate the errors that litter his performances? No He's 28 and has only played 200-odd games. Compare that to Harvey Barnes who is a similar age and made his debut the same season, and is at nearly 400 appearances now. There's a player who worked on and developed his game and has the right mentality to play at the top level. For a player who looked so good at academy level he's been incredibly disappointing and has been here waaaaaaay too long.

Wow, his voice still sounds so good!

Hamer Amartey Benalouane Morgan Wasilewski St Ledger Moore Konchesky Schlupp Fuchs Ulloa

Thought I'd have a quick check of how many responses similar surveys from other clubs received. First few results I found: Spurs got 5,202 in 2025: https://thstofficial.com/supporterssurvey2025/ Portsmouth got 1,126 in 2026: https://pompeytrust.com/news/psts-2026-supporter-survey-results Forest got 189 in 2024: https://nffctrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/NFST-Survey-results.pdf.pagespeed.ce.t0pfM57CSs.pdf So 4,400 looks like a very decent response.

I love the bloke. Phenomenal keeper and the heart of a lion. It's no coincidence standards have slipped across the board since he left.

I really enjoyed the documentary, but the absence of explanation about why Pearson got sacked is genuinely hilarious.

Three weeks since relegation was confirmed and they haven't even announced whether our out of contract manager is staying or leaving. They never learn.

You could argue Kante is the greatest player to ever play for Leicester in terms of achievements. Won the Premier League title two years in a row with different clubs. Won the World Cup and FA Cup the following year. Won the Champions League with a man of the match performance. PFA and Football Writers player of the year. Arguably should have won the Ballon D'Or in 2018 or 2021.

Have thought about this and decided I'm up for Fuchs on condition that he ditches the skinny jeans.

Yep, I’ve been a supporter since 1992 and in that time we’ve finished in the bottom half of the second division or lower six times. And five of those were in a row 2005-09. Aside from that a very interesting interview with Methven. He came across as a bit of a plonker in the Sunderland documentary but clearly knows his stuff.

This is a superb article. The best summary of our financial situation and governance issues that I've read.

PSR is a bit of a mess in terms of its design but ultimately if you're spending a very high percentage of your turnover on player salaries that is only sustainable as long as the owner is willing and able to fund the losses. He was, now he isn't (or can't), so we're screwed. That would be the case under any financial regulatory framework.

Should be spending the summer with a personal trainer getting fitter and stronger. Will probably spend it in Ibiza drinking 18 Peronis a day.

Lascelles is exactly the kind of signing we've made in recent years that has left us in this position. Seems a decent bloke but unfit and well past his best. Jakub, Hamza and LT will be here next season and will have to play a role. Page, Braybrooke, Nelson (if he stays), Aluko, Monga (again, if he stays), Page and Alves should be key players. Lorenz Hutchinson, Jaydon Joseph, Kevon Gray, Henry Cartwright and Kirsten Otchere will hopefully get chances to impress. We'll need to use the loan market well as we won't (or shouldn't) be splashing very much cash. I have no faith in the leadership of this club to make any of the right decisions.