arab_joe
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Posts posted by arab_joe
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15 hours ago, Steven W said:
Could a badly timed Walton injury lead to a re-appearance of 'you-know-who'?
Don't even joke about that...
15 hours ago, WhatDayIsIt said:I think Rhuirah Adams is out on loan, so you know who might end up on the bench for that game
Just in case, let's get our goalie coach registered as a player - according to this he is 54 and last played in 2007, so a far better option than he who shall not be named: Paul Mathers.
10 hours ago, Junior_Arab said:If he is looking to offload Brentford it could be that he’s taken them as far as he thinks he can and selling them now will give him the maximum return on his investment. Maybe he sees United where we are (hopefully at a pretty low ebb) and realises that he could improve us fairly drastically then try to sell us for a profit if/when we’re in a better place.
I love your positivity - are you sure you're an Arab!?
7 hours ago, Pull My Strings said:He can't leave for free unless United fail to offer him a new contract and NOBODY could be that incompetent.
Had almost forgotten about that embarrassing "misunderstanding" - we really have been a joke of a club at times this past few years.
6 hours ago, ArabFC said:What's our profit/loss table looking like (before benefactor loans) over the last 20 years?
So nasty it has to be on the "not safe for work" section of P&B...
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9 hours ago, Mark Connolly said:
Tam Courts did, although he quickly went about lowering it again
5 hours ago, Alert Mongoose said:You could probably make a case for Neilson as well despite how it ended up.
I was considering adding Courts, Neilson and possibly even Micky Mellon to my list - but the weird thing about all 3 is that Arabs were, in the main, quite happy when they left. And none have gone on to anything of any note since. So I'm not convinced they really got a boost from their time in charge of us - but even if we generously add those 3, that means 5 managers in past 30 years have gained from their time at DU.
Not a great advert for the job.
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On 01/03/2024 at 22:25, Pull My Strings said:
Both suspended, iirc. Beyond that, dinnae ken.
They were both in the dug-out area for the second half, so I think it was just a choice to sit in the stand for the first half.
We had Euan McLean in the sticks that day - had completely forgotten about him, but according to his Wikipedia he quit football to become a policeman in 2011. I had also completely forgotten the existence of Jordan Robertson, who did a stint in jail for causing death by dangerous driving but has gone on to become an agent.
I know that 2007 is a long time ago now and for my own sanity comparing the two isn't the most sensible thing to do - but it is absolutely jarring how the quality of that whole squad and our current one are absolutely night and day... not sure a single person in our starting 11 breaks into that matchday squad, never mind starting line-up (perhaps with the exception of the aforementioned Euan McLean and Jordan Robertson, and the ridiculously bad Stuart Duff).
19 hours ago, WhatDayIsIt said:One of the biggest issues is we would have been looking at our 4th manager in a year. No decent manager would take the job under those circumstances (like no decent manager took on the job being the 3rd manager in a year)
Since Jim McLean departed as manager in the summer of 1993 (not to make anyone feel old - but that was more than 30 years ago...), have any managers left United with a stock higher than when they joined? Off the top of my head, I'd argue Craig Levein definitely did and perhaps Peter Houston - but beyond that? Any manager taking the job needs to do so with extreme caution...
18 hours ago, Broken Algorithms said:Managers will always fancy their chances at some clubs despite perceived weaknesses. Regardless of whether United win the league, I can't see Goodwin being in the job by the end of the year.
It was a ridiculous risk to give him a 2-year deal at the end of last season - I can't imagine that any other football clubs in the history of the game have offered the manager an extension off the back of 5 straight defeats (and a total record of 3 wins, 2 draws and 7 losses from 12). It is not like Goodwin was in a strong negotiating position.
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On 02/03/2024 at 13:09, Glen Scotia said:
How good was Barry Robson for us
Absolutely outstanding.
Probably the best left foot of anyone I've ever seen in the Tangerine - there was a time (just before he went to Celtic...) when he was man of the match every game for about a month. If he didn't score, he assisted - defenders just couldn't cope with how strong and direct he was. The Hearts game when he scored 3 and assisted the 4th, when Michael Stewart was sent off for arguing with a fan in the Jerry Kerr was a real highlight for me.
On 02/03/2024 at 15:05, ArabFC said:My favourite midfield duo for United, well, ever.
Can be easily argued neither were among the best midfielders we ever had, but collectively they just worked in tandem beautifully.
Agreed on all fronts - together they were absolutely superb. Two of a number of players around that time that left to bigger and better things, only to have pretty underwhelming careers. Gomis is apparently still playing, at East Stirling of all places - good on him.
16 hours ago, mishtergrolsch said:Unless we go on a winning run from now till the end of the season, swatting everyone aside with 3-0 wins all over the place then I'm not convinced we should keep him.
The only problem with that is that it would require the Board to make another appointment... and if there is only global truth, it is that the Dundee United Board cannot make good appointments.
13 hours ago, Fletchers Saucy Manbun said:He should never have been given a contract after the bottom 6 LLLLL. Never seen such a bottler as a manager.
Looking back, it really was quite surprising (although not that surprising, given that it was the Dundee United Board - see above) that we gave him a 2-year contract off the back of such an objectively dreadful run of form. I know that his hands were tied to a certain degree, as the January transfer window had been and gone and Mark Birighitti was still our keeper, but the run he oversaw was woeful.
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On 16/06/2023 at 14:01, arab_joe said:
I'm in the process of selling a flat that I own out here, and buying a place in the UK - finding the whole thing incredibly stressful. Hoping this place will be our "forever home" because I really don't fancy doing this again any time soon.
But I'm actually quite glad that the interest rates have gone up (I'm being quoted around 5% for 2 year fixed) - if I had been doing this 2 or 3 years ago I probably would have borrowed a lot more and found myself bankrupt right about now...
Purchase went through in July last year, currently having the place renovated top to bottom (which is even more stressful/expensive than the buying process...) - my question is, what do people recommend in terms of life insurance/critical illness cover etc.?
I don't know where to start...
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If any Arab fancies watching a slightly cheerier video on YouTube, the wonderful chaps at the Arab Archive have been uploading videos from 2006-07 season - including this Beautiful Sunday:
Well worth a stroll down memory lane!
How good were Gomis and Buaben as a central midfield duo - absolutely dominant in the tackle, couple relentless confidence to carry the ball forward time and time again. Made Kevin Thomson look ordinary.
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On 16/02/2024 at 17:09, Sarto Mutiny said:
Behave. Worse than Christophe Rabitisch? Adam Barton? Yannick Loemba? Jordie Briels? Don't be silly.
Talking of Monsieur Loemba, I saw he managed this last weekend...
On 16/02/2024 at 17:32, Pull My Strings said:Worse than Mark Birighiti?
I've said it before, and I'll no doubt be saying it until the PTSD fully wears off - but my first United game was in the spring of 1996, and in the intervening 28 years I have never seen a worse player for us than Mark Birighitti. An utterly inept goalkeeper that could neither save shots nor gather crosses (and don't get me started on when he had the ball at his feet...), who was completely bereft of confidence - a horrible combination that should never have been allowed to continue for a whole season.
On 16/02/2024 at 18:05, WhatDayIsIt said:Ok, worst midfielder with the pass when it comes to passing it to a teammate. I bet his pass completion rate is around 30% if even that
I actually agree with this - he simply cannot pass a football. He has a good engine, and if we were under the cosh for large periods of games he would no doubt be useful in breaking up opposition attacks etc. (a bit like Mark Kerr, circa 2005), but as teams sit with 11 men behind the ball he is absolutely useless.
On 17/02/2024 at 01:51, Mark Connolly said:What is the purpose of Glenn Middleton?
Middleton has the most assists in the league - he is off form, for sure, but there are far worse in this squad.
On 17/02/2024 at 14:02, ArabFC said:Middleton wasn't great, but I'm wondering if it's a particularly United fan trait to pour all scorn on one of the wide players. Even our good ones -going back to the likes of Conway and McLaren always seemed to get more than their fair share of hate.
Makes me smile to think of the dichotomy of Craig Conway pre and post 15 May 2010 in the eyes of some Arabs. There were people near me in the GF lower that hated the guy.
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On 04/02/2024 at 15:44, Shandon Par said:
ETA, it gave me the fear that maybe there is a hell and in hell the radio would be on 24/7 with Rangersy darts boy, Grado and Old Firm Facts. Will try and be a good person from now on.
I'm glad I'm not the only one with this opinion - his podcast was truly awful.
On 09/02/2024 at 20:50, Stylish Kid said:Don't diss Adam. He's great.
I wholeheartedly disagree on that one - he's an absolutely dreadful guest, and actually makes me realise just how good Stuart and Tam are and have been to have ridden this wave for 25+ years. You can say what you like about their idiosyncrasies (and over the past 210 pages we've said a lot...), but there is no way this newer generation of shows (and I include the likes of The View from the Terrace, Open Goal etc.) are going to have anywhere near the longevity of Off The Ball.
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Put me down for another season, please.
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On 28/01/2024 at 16:49, Aim Here said:
|-------+---------------------------+------------------------| | Round | Game | Status | |-------+---------------------------+------------------------| | 5 | AH13STU vs beef2711 | Win for AH13STU | | 9 | DearyMe vs AH13STU | Win for DearyMe | | 10 | beef2711 vs The_kid1433 | Win for beef2711 | | 12 | The_kid1433 vs AH13STU | Apparently In progress | | 13 | beef2711 vs Arabjoe | Apparently in progress | | 14 | AlbinoRov vs AH13STU | Apparently in progress | | 17 | AH13STU vs The_Curmudgeon | Apparently in progress | | 18 | beef2711 vs DearyMe | Win for DearyMe | | 21 | DearyMe vs ancientnoise | Apparently in progress | | 21 | KenDeans vs AH13STU | Apparently in progress | | 21 | The_kid1433 vs beef2711 | Win for the_kid1433 | | 22 | DearyMe vs invergowrie | Win for DearyMe | | 22 | ancientnoise vs KenDeans | Apparently in progress | | 22 | AH13STU vs stewartmathers | Apparently in progress | |-------+---------------------------+------------------------|
Week 13 - Arabjoe beats Beef2711 by resignation
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17 hours ago, Aim Here said:
Division A
As usual, results and calculations are on the spreadsheet at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YwODlp2A0TBMf2VuyjJox4ZaiyNKmLk37TH0_HrC-jk/
In week 11, I beat AlbinoRov - the spreadsheet has me down for a loss.
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On 21/01/2024 at 16:35, Aim Here said:
22 Arabjoe vs AlbinoRov
Arabjoe wins by checkmate.
Pretty even game until I managed to promote a pawn and force a Queen swap in a single move - then it was game over. Thanks for the game.
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On 21/01/2024 at 16:35, Aim Here said:
15 AH13STU vs Arabjoe
Arabjoe wins by resignation.
Game was a bit all over the place, with plenty of mistakes on both sides - but then snared your Queen with a pawn and it was game over. Thanks for the game.
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17 hours ago, Aim Here said:
20 Arabjoe vs The_kid1433
Arabjoe wins by resignation.
Game swung all over the place - I started well, The Kid dominated the middle game, then I got a fork that essentially ended the tie. Thanks for the game.
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On 03/08/2023 at 09:55, Sergeant Wilson said:
What about his poor, gullible wife? If I can finish separating these conjoined twins and my charity triathlon, I might jump in the helicopter and fly up to console her.
Miranda and Arthur Knight's blog
If you want to drop her a line, her contact number is on her blog.
A truly bizarre tale - will make a great Netflix drama/documentary in a few years.
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On 03/01/2024 at 10:39, ArabianKnight said:
In the same boat with Cudjoe myself, he's scored some great goals this season and has definitely improved but I've yet to be convinced by him, not sure he's ever going to have the consistency to play at a higher level and certainly won't get there if he's refusing a new deal with us.
His agent needs his head checked if he somehow thinks, on current form, that he'll do better than us - if he moves on, I'd give it 18 months before he's playing non-league down south somewhere.
On 04/01/2024 at 17:55, Fife Arab said:Ross County want 115,000 for Simon Murray.
Given we didn't even have the cash available to replace Birighitti last January, there is approximately 0% chance we'll be spending 115,000 on Simon Murray.
On 05/01/2024 at 10:54, Pull My Strings said:McLeod wasn't getting a game so he'd be as well sitting on the bench/ in the stand at Tannadice
Incredible to think, really, that Rory McLeod wasn't able to force his way into a Forfar side sat mid-table in League Two. I know he's only 17, but that must be ringing some pretty serious alarm bells within Tannadice...
On 05/01/2024 at 11:35, Sonam said:Murray still has his pace for sure. He would be a big loss for County. His effort, positive attitude is faultless.
No chance he'll be signing at Tannadice then - that's not our style!
On 06/01/2024 at 21:47, ArabianKnight said:Send Tilson back to County.
He's an absolutely dreadful footballer. A cerntral midfielder that offers absolutely nothing on the ball.
20 hours ago, Girth said:Porky Pawlett gone!?
On the rare occasions that Pawlett was fit, he was a very good player. I wish him well, seemed like a genuinely good guy who just didn't have the body for full-time football.
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On 19/11/2023 at 17:08, Aim Here said:
Division A
Round 9
The_kid1433 vs ArabjoeDraw
If this was a football game, it would have been 0-0 and commentators would have joked about the ball getting injured etc.
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On 30/12/2023 at 14:28, Pull My Strings said:
Tidy for the first and two good finishes for the second and third but, those moments aside, I thought Watt was poor last night. Very poor closing down and tracking back.
Was this ironic?
If so, hats off for the witty depiction of the archetypal angry Arab, desperate to find fault in any performance. Very good.
On 01/01/2024 at 16:49, ArabianKnight said:So McLeod recalled from Forfar since he wasn't getting game time and someone on twitter saying his attitude was apparently stinking there.
Feels like yesterday that Big Tony was announcing our tie-up with Fulham and that Rory McLeod was on trial ahead of a £4 million move down there. I know it shouldn't sway me, but I can't help but feel I would warm to young Rory if he got a haircut - that barnet is ridiculous (okay, not Craig Sibbald levels of ridiculous but not a million miles off it).
13 hours ago, ArabianKnight said:Worrying McMann has picked up a knock too...
I'd argue that, the aforementioned Craig Sibbald aside, McMann has been our most consistent high performer this season. A vast improvement on his last season (which was absolutely disastrous). Hopefully he isn't out for too long.
Loan report on the Dode Fox Podcast always painted Flynn Duffy in fairly positive terms (at least when he was at Peterhead - not sure if he had a more recent loan somewhere else), so maybe worth a punt?
11 hours ago, skinny arab said:Suspect Duffy not coming on was more about Cudjoe getting some minutes as we continue to try to get him to sign a new deal (currently doesn’t look like happening)
I'm still on the fence with Cudjoe, it has to be said - I am not sure he has enough end-product, especially if we are playing Premiership football next season (In shaa Allah etc.) and the fact there are rumours circulating that he is refusing a new deal makes it appear that he may value himself a little too highly...
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On 26/11/2023 at 15:51, Aim Here said:
Division A Table and Fixtures
Round 11
AlbinoRov vs ArabjoeArabjoe wins (!) by checkmate.
Was totally even for first 15-20 moves, until I managed to fork your rooks with my knight. Thanks for the game.
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1 hour ago, Mallo_Madrid said:
If by this you mean there's little to do in Dubai, then your miles off the mark. There's endless activities.
That is exactly what I was meaning - or at least, that there are relatively few things to do that are actually worth doing.
To each his own, clearly, but having lived in the region for 10+ years I would disagree that there are endless worthwhile things to do in Dubai.
26 minutes ago, MONKMAN said:I can't even describe how strongly I feel about this, go to Jordan.
Petra and the Wadi Rum are incredible and literally bucket list destinations, whereas Dubai is full of wankers and is generally a rip off. There's a strip of your usual 5 star hotels on the dead sea coast, Marriot, Hilton Kimpton etc that are perfect for a few days chill out as well as handy for getting to Petra.
I couldn't have put it any better, to be honest. And the bold bit is 100% true (myself excluded...).
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47 minutes ago, Hawk89 said:
Wondering if anyone has been out to Dubai recently?
I'm travelling over to Nepal with work for a week or two early next year (Feb/Mar) and was looking at options for a stopover on the way home. Weighing up two very different options: 3 nights in Dubai with my feet up or 3 nights in Jordan (the country) with a trip down to Petra. Will be on my own and my wife has zero interest in Petra so it feels like a good opportunity to bounce in on the way back.
The main questions are: Is Dubai eye wateringly expensive or can it be done in a budget friendly way? I've had a look at hotels and they are very much on par price wise, just not sure about "living" costs whilst there.You're right that Dubai and Petra are very different options - if you want actual culture etc. then Petra is by far the better option; if you want to sunbathe by the pool or go shopping (and not much else), then Dubai it is.
There are now so many hotels in Dubai that there are always some offering a decent price, but the best ones on at the Madinat, Jumeirah Beach Residences, Palm Jumeirah etc. are still very expensive, as is eating out (unless you fancy food courts in the malls).
Abra rides at the Creek remain 1 Dirham per person per leg, the only bargain in the city.
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Two thumbs up from me, @Swello - those photographs are absolutely stunning (likely more so as I am currently sat in the middle of the ugliest city on earth...).
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7 hours ago, Bairnardo said:
How young is your kid? Would you recommend NY with kids?
We took him when he was about 18 months - so still young enough to chuck in the pram if needed and he was still napping at least once a day. It was definitely a very different trip than the previous few that we had done as a couple (mainly because eating was condensed to a quick bite here and there, as opposed to a drawn out affair with multiple pints/glasses of wine and there were no museums/Broadway shows this time around), but definitely just as enjoyable (if not more so). We're planning on returning next winter with two children in tow, so it can't have been that bad!
We spent a lot more time outside than normal (even though it was December) - in Prospect Park, Central Park, Hudson Yards, the High Line etc. and he also really enjoyed the various boats, trains, cable cars etc. that we used to get around the city.
We finished it off with a few days in the Hamptons, which was filled with walks on the (empty) beaches and in the state parks.
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16 hours ago, Jamie_B said:
Interesting reading the last few posts - planning our first trip to NYC next year and had been looking at hotels in the general Times Square area just to be central. Is there anywhere else we should consider that has a better vibe to it?
We stayed here last time (with a young child, the kitchenette was a necessity), and were very pleased with it (and it is right next door to Central Park, so great location): AKA Central Park.
Have stayed in a few different areas, and for me the most important thing is being close to a subway line. Due to the fact that there are express trains, it is far quicker than the tube etc. so if you're near a subway then the whole of the city is easily accessible.
14 hours ago, Musketeer Gripweed said:The upper west side is really nice. We spent the day up there when we went to the museum. Probably really expensive though.
Pre-children my favourite hotel was in the upper west side: The Lucerne.
A brilliant part of the city.
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Podcasts
in The General Nonsense Forum
Posted
Following the sentencing of Ian Packer for the murder of Emma Caldwell (BBC article), the BBC has re-released their podcast on the same subject.
I believe the podcast was fairly pivotal in convicting Mr Packer (another BBC article certainly suggests that), who rather stupidly tried to get the BBC to clear his name but incriminated himself to the extent that the BBC shelved the podcast from fear that it might harm his prosecution.
The podcast is a fantastic example of proper journalism, would highly recommend: Apple podcasts.