DJ Barry Hammond

We will see. If Russia gets to keep territory (which it seems it might), there could be enough of a deal here for both sides to claim victory. Putin might not like the idea of European troops on the doorstep, but maybe the need for a tactical pause is of greater importance - especially if continued support of Ukraine by Europe of defensive weapons makes further incursion futile or at least very difficult. Trump was at pains to question what victory would look like for Ukraine, but to be frank, it’s not clear what victory would look like for Russia either - I certainly don’t think they’d be allowed to steamroll all of Ukraine right now, even if they could. So whilst they may publicly posture on how this would be unacceptable… the Russian’s may have to cede ground on an EU led backstop force - and if nothing else, it would give Putin cause to claim further ‘provocation’ from The West further down the line.

If you haven’t come across this guy yet… I’m happy to provide you with the Japanese Ambassador enjoying St David’s Day.

Quite the weekend for someone that declared pre-election they wouldn’t work past 6pm on a Friday! https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/starmer-is-in-for-a-shock-if-he-becomes-pm/ Guess that’s another broken promise from the shit 😂

I don’t know the land geography of the area that well, but for Russia to have taken and then held those areas, it has to stand to reason that they’re useful strategic staging posts and so I find it unlikely Putin will be willing to give up any land under Russia control… I think that’s a concession that will have to be ceded unfortunately.

I doubt it given the territories form a land bridge to Crimea - which had clearly been one of the overriding objectives of the ‘Special Operation.’

I estimate that what Trump wants is for the war to end so he can setup trade deals with Russia - because they have plenty of raw materials that would help the US economy. If he can also get a great deal from Ukraine at the same time for similar materials then even better, but his focus is primarily getting to a situation where Russian sanctions are lifted.

It depends what is ultimately agreed with all parties doesn’t it. British and French troops will not be going into an active war zone - it would have to be under a ceasefire. And so if you have a ceasefire, twinned with Ukraine elections, American companies setting up mining facilities and European troops stationed in and around Ukraine - can and will Russia be willing to take the chance of going in again over the next 4-5 years? Additionally, a lot is being made on how Ukraine can’t hold out for much longer… but I suspect the same can be said for Russia - can their military and economy continue on a war footing for another 12-18 months?

The problem is, Trump and his circles reaction makes it really difficult to row back towards a deal and sell it to his base with any credibility. And it’s this factor that gives credence to the suggestion the scenes in the Oval Office across the entire week was pure theatre aimed at the American public. The fact that the attack lines had been trailed and tested well before and all key talking heads and media were instantly on point with The White House’s party line further fuels this theory. All the top officials knew that security guarantees were the sticking point for Zelenskyy before he travelled to The White House - his points were not new ones and would have been said in the various meetings they had on the deal before - and I think that had Trump and Vance shown at least a supportive attitude at this supposed signing, he would have signed there and then without a cast iron guarantee as the least bad option for his country. Hell, he may have even had a suit in his luggage ready to put on at the signing to signify the ending of the war. But they weren’t supportive in the slightest, the scenario smelt off from the get go; and the fact Trump has been so quick to take the deal of the table suggests he was never really interested in the partnership in the first place.

Summary from this morning’s developments about a UK / France peace plan. Have to say, I think Starmer is playing some exemplary cricket with all of this.

Interesting you post this at the very same moment this popped up via a news alert; “Starmer said that after discussions with Zelenskyy and Macron that there has been an agreement made that the UK, along with France, and “possibly one or two others” will work with Kyiv to stop the war. He said this agreed peace plan will be presented to the US.” I assume this was said on Laura K?

Trump’s going to be seething when Starmer gets the Nobel Peace Prize 😂

Hmmmm. Someone inside the club is quite deliberately leaking information to the press. Could it be… Rebecca Vardy!?! 😂

I think an assassination is likely given the sheer number of people he’s pissing off. Mean, firing a load of FBI agents isn’t the smartest move if you’ve already had an attempt against your life.

That won’t be the case for a significant portion of the US audience though. I can’t help feeling this whole week has been a setup; with the end goal of forcing Zelenskyy to resign so that the US / Russia can install a puppet leader in Ukraine that grants the US their minerals and Russia further control over Ukraine. The much more moderate press conferences with Macron and Starmer were a prelude to “look how unreasonable Zelenskyy is.” Note Trump’s comment on liking Starmer’s suit for example!

Yeah, this is just a standard Trump Presidency, it was the same the last time. The good news is there’s only around 4 years left of this… assuming Trump actually leaves The White House at the end of his term.

What a surprise. You put some runners on and press higher and we suddenly look a lot better.

I was amazed Ruud didn’t resign last week. He surely will tonight, unless an unbelievable miracle happens in the second half.

There’s not much point in playing a low block if you haven’t coached how you plan to get out of it when you win the ball. It doesn’t help that the side contains a lot of ‘negative’ passers of the ball. At least when you have Winks in midfield, there’s someone looking to make progressive passes.

At this rate it might be better if we just forfeit the rest of our games 3-0.

Been saving that one up all week haven’t you - only to waste it in the first 10 minutes.

Game plan is to sit in then!

That’s exactly what I was saying post Brentford. If we’re running ourselves into the ground, I can take defeats. But to just passively do not a lot in both phases of the game - what’s the point. But what’s more, the team needs a spark and hard running, combative players can provide that.

😂😂😂

I’d say there’s two big reasons why Dyche wouldn’t happen at this stage (if Ruud departs). 1.) We would be wary of appointing a manager that’s only just been relieved from his job for poor performances. 2.) Dyche would be wary of immediately jumping into a job where the teams performed horribly for some time. Having a break and reassessing in the summer unless something exceptional comes up would surely be his plan - we’re not an exceptional opportunity at present.

There’s no way you would have been saying this at the time. He wasn’t getting past Christmas even had we decided to stick by him. It needs to be remembered that under Cooper we had one of the worst pre-seasons I can remember.