arab_joe

Arabjoe wins by resignation. All turned on one move, only 5 or 6 moves in - a blundered Queen. Before that you'd started very strongly and were up on points - but was going to be very tricky to get back into it after the blunder. Thank you for the game. No worries, will send the challenge when I get home from work.

This appears to be missing from the spreadsheet - but I won by way of resignation (it was a while ago so cannot add any more detail than that). I won this by checkmate - I was uncharacteristically ruthless/sensible after I got a couple of pieces ahead, and eventually forced the sacrifice of the Kid's Queen which led to checkmate. Thanks for the game.

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...

Division B, Round 12 Markf268 beats Arabjoe by checkmate. After an even start I managed to move the wrong rook and block myself into a corner - after that I was well beaten.

A lot of our fans seem not to like him at all, but in my eyes his loan was a massive part of our downfall last season - we were simply a far better team with him in the side than we were when he was bombed. Loaning him to a rival was utterly senseless. We are paying him a healthy wage until 2025 so, unless someone makes a really decent offer for him, I think we'd be far better off wiping the slate clean and getting him back in our squad. Because we prefer to pretend that it is still 2013/14. It was (is) a great time to be an Arab, with GMS, Armstrong, Gauld, Ciftci etc. dominating team after team. Top of the league, scoring 4 goals a game etc. At least give us the fantasy... I thought he was excellent in the first 4 or 5 games after he returned from loan - but faded a bit towards the end of the season. But then again, he was hardly playing a team playing to his (or anyone else's for that matter) strengths. I hope that we give some of the youngsters a lot more minutes this season than last - they can hardly be any worse. I'd agree with that - he perhaps lacks a bit of finesse/timing, but at least he seemed to be giving his all. I bumped into Steven Fletcher at the weekend (a thoroughly pleasant chap, it has to be said - was very apologetic for the prior campaign) and he was saying that he really likes the direction that Goodwin is taking the team (although he is unlikely to say anything else...) and that the squad desperately needs some continuity after the absolute chaos of the last year. Goodwin talks very highly of him in the YouTube interview (available here) so I hope that something can be worked out to keep him at the club this season. If he stays, he's the standout choice as captain - but we definitely need someone that can replace him after 65/70 minutes because him having to play every 90 mins since the turn of the year was a ridiculous oversight.

Arabjoe wins by checkmate. As always, a tight game - was never more than a point or two in it. But I managed to fork your Knight/Bishop which allowed my Queen so make a move down the side and trap your King. Looking forward to the rematch. I can't challenge you as my rating is too low - can you please challenge me?

Not if that game is anything to go by - you were up on points and had me on the ropes for 40 moves and I was literally in hail mary territory when I offered up the check/Queen swap in the slim hope that you'd miss that (which luckily for me, you did). If you'd swapped Queens then, I'd likely have resigned.

Well played - I maybe should have seen that checkmate coming but was tying myself in knots trying to attack your well defended King and was completely oblivious! Not at all mate - Queen blunder was always going to make it a really tricky game for you to get back into. I look forward to the rematch.

This feels like a lifetime ago - I saw them at TITP in 2012 and that would be the last time that I saw them. Also a lifetime ago - when we bought CDs. Listened to that album in my 1996 Fiat Punto many, many times. I feel quite sad watching the video of them fighting on stage the other night - I must have seen them 15+ times in their prime when I was in my late teens/early 20s, but feels a bit weird watching them play the same songs 15 years on. I remember meeting one of the band members' girlfriends at a gig they played in a car park (!) in the Overgate and she had a baby in tow, hate to think what that (now teenage) kid thinks watching them scrap and storm off... Also - why is "Which Bitch?" not on Apple music?

Arabjoe wins by resignation. I almost trapped your Queen (I actually thought I had, but you found the one move that allowed you to escape) but it left me a piece or two up - so after swapping a few further pieces I had a decent advantage, but still surprised you resigned - I've lost from far stronger positions! Thanks for the game.

I'm in.

This is likely a very unpopular opinion, given the fact that Smith is very much the booboy's favourite, but in the likely event that we are relegated to the Championship he could be a very good option to have - and on current form a far better choice than Keiran Freeman (whose form has dropped off a cliff). Smith was excellent when we were there last time (albeit he had Shankland's forehead to aim at in the box so could hardly miss...), and right-back is a role that we have found it incredibly difficult to recruit in - I shudder to think who he will bring in to him replace him. I'd keep Ross Graham, Kai Fotheringham, Matthew Cudjie and Rory Macleod as they all have age on their side - and I actually think Craig Sibbald is a good option for 55/60 minutes most weeks - but that aside, hard to argue with that. The goalkeeping situation at Tannadice infuriates me almost as much as letting Clark and Watt go. We knew that Siegrist was leaving at the start of the 2021/2022 season - almost two years ago - and somehow since then we have cycled through Trevor Carson (who we let go - so no idea why he was actually signed), Carljohan Eriksson (who we let go on loan - so no idea why he was actually signed), Jack Newman (who doesn't appear to be anywhere near the quality needed) and have landed on arguably the worst of the lot in Mark Birighitti. After a good few years where goalkeeper was one of our strongest positions each season - we are in complete disarray. We'll be lucky to get that - he's been absolutely dreadful this last few months, barring the incredible strike against St Johnstone. When that went in I genuinely thought it could be the turning point of our season - how wrong I was (thanks to the aforementioned Birighitti...).

I missed this comment yesterday, but this is what I was trying to say - he made the decision to buy a Scottish football club on the wild premise that he was going to make a profit, and that is something he needs to take up with his advisors who, he claims, did such thorough due diligence (not least Mr Asghar who seems to have acted as a finder on the investment) - not with the fans. On the manager situation, this is likely an unpopular opinion but I am actually beginning to sympathise with Liam Fox. He was hired into a role that he clearly was not qualified or ready for (which is evidenced each week when he completely fails to make meaningful substitutions...), but he can hardly be blamed for that - it is down to the Chairman / Mr Asghar. He has then had the squad weakened before his eyes (now becoming clear that Clark and Watt were being taken off the wage bill, whatever the manager might have wanted - I don't believe for one second that Watt was sold because he didn't fit the system), but he can hardly be blamed for that - again that is down to the Chairman / Mr Asghar. Greenie for use of "denouement". I'd completely forgotten about that, but it transpires that Ogren's golf course development is going about as well as Mark Birighitti's career: Ogren walks away from resort construction. I don't think that any Arabs I've spoken to dislike Ogren as an individual (the same cannot be said for Asghar...). He speaks well in that interview, as he always does - but the things that he says are becoming less and less believable. Combining the AGM and the interview, he has suggested that (a) he is not going to keep investing; but (b) if/when we are relegated we will bounce back from relegation at the first time of asking. I just don't see those two statements being compatible...

I wasn't suggesting that Ogren is the reason that we are sat at the bottom of the table - rather that the announcement this week that he is no longer going to be putting money in to fund the running of the club was an entirely predictable end, especially considering how woefully advised he was when he bought the club. There simply was no chance that he was ever going to make a profit from his ownership of Dundee United, and to have bought the club on that premise meant, in my opinion, there was only ever one way it was going to go...

The red flags were there for all to see during his very first Q&A (LINK) Are you looking to make money from this deal? Yes. This isn't a hobby for us, and we expect to make money long-term but, let me say, for that to happen we need to be competing in the Ladbrokes Premiership on a continual basis. How much do you know about Dundee United and Scottish football? I know a ton. We spent a tremendous amount of time and money doing our due diligence. As I (and others) said in this thread at the time:

Really sad news that - too young to have seen him play, but listened to his (excellent) interview on the Dode Fox podcast the other week and he came across brilliantly. That interview, and an article I read in the Daily Record about Tony Watt's transfer to St Mirren (LINK), both suggest that Liam Fox is sticking to his "system" and if players do not fit his mould then they're out. Why are we sticking with a system that doesn't generate goals, wins or points? I'm still absolutely stunned that we (a) let go of Nicky Clark before we had even appointed a successor to Jack Ross (presumably it was Asghar that sanctioned the sale, but looking objectively it seems very odd to have given him to a rival when there was every possibility that the incoming manager might like him - unless, of course, Fox was always getting the gig...); and (b) let go of Tony Watt without a replacement lined up. This is where I am at, too. The performance of the players on Saturday was abysmal, don't get me wrong, but the point where I changed from "we might have enough" to "let's hope Dundee stay down so there are derbies next season" was looking back at the substitutions. I was barely paying attention and even I texted my family group chat to say that Ayina was clearly going to be sent off - how Fox didn't see that was absolutely stunning. And then bringing on Sadat in the last minute was quite honestly the worst substitution we've made since Craig Brewster subbed himself on when he was the manager and about 40... it was a Cup competition that we were headed out of and it looked like we were trying to run down the clock. He should have got 20 minutes, if he is good enough for the first team squad, or nothing at all, if he isn't. The only rational conclusion I can come up with is that the Chairman has decided that enough is enough when it comes to the finances that he has poured into the club - otherwise there's just no reason that we would have had a transfer window like we just did. Since the end of the summer, we have made ourselves considerably weaker - and are now reliant on Steven Fletcher (who turns 36 next month) playing 90 mins twice a week... I make the same comment on this thread every time we are looking for a new manager - I just do not think we have (nor have we had in my lifetime...) a board that can choose a good manager. By my calculations, Fox is our 20th appointment since Jim McLean left - how many of those 20 appointments were successes!? There's never been a safer home win. Thankfully because of the time difference I'll miss it! I'll have a glass of whatever you were drinking last night my friend...

Both fully deserved, in my eyes - the Jets finally made some decent choices in the draft (a broken clock is still right twice a day etc.). Now if only we could turn back time, lose to the Browns in 2020, and pick Trevor Lawrence instead of Zach Wilson...

A complete lack of concentration sees me 6 points down after 8 moves - towel chucked in... Aimhere (very easily) wins by resignation.

Arabjoe wins by resignation. Was neck and neck for the first 30-odd moves, before I managed to swap a knight for your rook; and I then managed to make that advantage count. As always, thanks for the game!

I'd never heard of it, but a quick Google tells me that Walnut Creek is a pretty brilliant location for exploring - you can fairly easily get to Yosemite, Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe, Big Sur, Carmel etc. These are all well worth a day or two (and I suspect there are many other places that I'm unaware of - I've only been to the area twice). Giants baseball is absolutely brilliant!

Week 4: Purplekangaroo89 beat Arabjoe Week 8: AlbinoRov beat Arabjoe Yep, an uncharacteristic slip from you that allowed me a Bishop for free and I then got in a pretty strong position (although I forgot, between moves, what that position/plan was and forgot to move my Knight, which almost cost me). Thanks for the game, look forward to our next one! I made an error on my 3rd or 4th move, and was always up against it after that - especially after jamming 3 pawns one behind the next! Well played.

So I managed to re-watch all 86 episodes between 27 July and 18 August - it reaffirmed, in my eyes, that no show has come close to it since it last aired in 2007. A great character - a real shame that we never got to see the Tony/Livia relationship play out in full. Can't argue with that!

Enjoy! I've also just booked another trip, for 10 days December. I cannot wait! Talking of the subway, one major difference that I have noticed from London (and note that my wife's house in London is right next to the notoriously dodgy District Line so I may have a skewed view of the tube) is that the New York subway has both local (that stop everywhere) and express (that only stop at major stations) trains so it is much easier to travel quickly across NYC - you can be quite a distance from Times Square but, if you're near a station that express trains stop at, then you're only 10 minutes away... I'm still like that - and I still do loads of "touristy" things like the Top of the Rock, Statue of Liberty etc. even though I've done them all 5 or 6 times. Definitely agree, re the taxi ride - that journey from JFK is brilliant!

Arabjoe wins by resignation. That was quite a battle - feels like it took weeks! Highly enjoyable match, I got ahead by a handful of points then gradually got my King into a safe position and could put some pressure on. But was never easy - well played, I look forward to the rematch. Board_Stupid wins by resignation. Tied myself in knots, trying to dodge attacks from all angles - chucked in the towel after it became very clear that there was only ever going to be one winner. Well played. Well played - I had a feeling I was walking into a trap by taking your Bishop... and it turned out I was. I had 6 games on the go at some point this weekend - hopefully will be caught up with all of my fixtures (/defeats) in the next few days.

Hope you did go to the game btw - looked class! Yes, that's a very good call - TKTS works well if you have plenty of time to pop along to the booth a couple of times and see what is on offer, but not great if you're tight for time. Enjoy Book of Mormon, it is high on my list to go and see when back in NYC later this year.