OwnGoal

Rick. Let me make it clear. I hate the firms. I’m lucky in that my experiences of them showing how they are unfit to hold a licence with their antics is from a totally different side of the fence to you. I’ve made my living from betting now for nearly twenty years. There’s no trick I’ve not had played on me by the so called big gambling companies. They are vile. That I agree on. Although I am now successful that wasn’t always the case. For many years I was always losing the lot. Maxing out on credit cards and having overdraft limits being exceeded and owing friends money etc. I was lucky to a large extent that my bad years were pre internet, where come a certain time in the day that was it. The problem with the white paper on gambling is the people involved know nothing about gambling. Stories like yours will dominate their thinking. However, they need to differentiate between all the different types of gambling. You mention spins. The crack cocaine of gambling. Fixed odds betting terminals and online casinos, where literally someone can be having numerous bets per minute and mathematically they stand no chance of winning long term. These outlets need to be treated differently to sports betting. People losing money on horses for instance still get a massive amount of pleasure from their pastime. They live for the sport. Affordability, the new key word it seems, needs to be realistic. People should still be able to lose decent money but not tens of thousands of pounds in one night unchecked. Talking about limits of £100 a month is ridiculous. It’s a free country. I know lads who save up all year for a smash at Cheltenham. They bet in tenners max all year. Then go to the festival and are having hundreds on. Win or lose they love the week. I agree something needs to be done. Firms restricting winners to literally pence bets whilst giving the losers more and more free offers. Sickening. In a world where discrimination is seen as an heinous crime the betting firms are allowed to discriminate all the time. They are scum. I know that, but we also need to be careful not to go to far in trying to solve a problem I don’t think you’ll ever truly solve.

I see his only opportunity coming late in a game as the final sub when chasing an equaliser.

I think that was when they took Jack Wilshire, who’d played about 90 mins football in six months or something like that, instead of an in form Danny.

Actuality watched it last night. Jill managed to bore me to sleep with her monotonous voice and rather unfunny attempted one liners. Found Matt interesting. Had he gone in the jungle pre covid he’d have taken a shed load of beating. The covid baggage probably too much to overcome but he does seem a very interesting chap. Was hoping the Leicester lad might win but looks like he’s shot his bolt.

Business is a gamble. How many people have gone broke through business ventures? My mate borrowed fortunes to get his business up and running and risked everything he had. This demonisation of gambling that is ongoing at the moment conveniently forgets that life itself is often a gamble. A few wrong decisions can ruin your life in many other fields. Help is available for people who need it. Banning all sponsorship that is gambling related and saying to someone we know better than you and you therefore have £3 a day to bet with, just in case you get the red mist and lose the lot, is not what a free country needs.

So you think a draconian spending limit on people wanting to gamble is the way forward. What about smokers. What do they spend a month. Have you got a suggestion for them and also big drinkers. People following the City away. That can be expensive. The list can go on. All these people can potentially ruin their lives financially so are we going to try and save them from themselves? People need to be responsible for their own choices. There is help out there for people who struggle. Telling me I can lose £90 a month or 5% of what I earn isn’t an answer.

So you want to tell me how much I can spend. You can’t even have a top night out for £90. That’s a ludicrously low amount. People waste money all sorts of things yet you want to stop people gambling. What other form of expenditure do you want me to show my wage slips and bank statements in order to participate. Would you make me present them at a top notch restaurant before they allow me to be seated? How about my holiday next year ? People should be able to spend their own money as they like. Bookmakers rightly stopped credit card deposits but limiting people from spending their own money is a step too far.

I think we batter them on Boxing Day.

If I’m Maddison then Southgate gets called some names in that phone call.

I think a win against West Ham this week and the relegation fears pretty much go away. A Leicester team then playing with some freedom and with no pressure become a dangerous animal after the World Cup and could easily win a few on the trot. I don’t think we’ll quite recover from our poor start and make the European places as one bad mini run from now on would kill the chances but it’s possible. I say that more from watching our last couple of games and how good we again now look more than just the results.

Seriously amazes me Southgate might not take him. Fair enough if he feels he doesn’t suit his preferred starting line up etc but imagine being a goal down and looking behind you to the bench and having a player like him ready to come and do something special to save your bacon, instead of the six full backs he’ll have sat behind him.

Got a feeling it will be the Matt Hancock show for the first few days when he arrives. Bound to get voted to do the tasks and trials providing he is not exempt. Can’t be many people on the show before who’ve been as unpopular as he is pre show. Even the other contested likely to hate him already.

Class is permanent. Well done Brendan.

He should be playing in the World Cup ahead of over rated Sterling.

The man is immense.

The lads making important saves now. Well done Danny.

Haaland won’t get a kick if he plays. Wout will have him in his pocket all game and if he dares to lose him then Big Dan will kill him.

Great goal

Wow

Nervy start

It was ludicrous decision. I think Coventry was just about the worst choice of City they could have chosen to have gone for the reasons you highlighted. I think they’d have been successful had they moved to Norwich. Norfolk a hotbed of young talent that at present we get but I think a first class rugby team in Norwich would have grown into an Exeter type club very quickly in terms of support and by now they’d be claiming first dibs on the JVPs and Stewards coming thru the local clubs out there.

Their demise as also put pressure on other clubs including us. We’ve now not got a home league fixture till 27th Nov as the two teams we were due to play next at home were them pair. Will hit Tigers hard the lack of cash flow with them two fixtures gone. The RFU need to be careful only two teams go bust. Playing league games on international weekends looks even more loopy now. Clubs like Leicester basically need around 7/8 extra squad players to compensate for not having chunks of first teamers available when the international weekends come around.

I was in the Brickies pre rugby last weekend and they were serving in glass not plastic. Must be a pure football thing.

Fancy us to win well.

Apart from ourselves during the great escape season I can not think of many promoted sides having a better second half of the season than first. Will take a minor miracle for Forest to stay up.