Dons_1988

This is indeed petty, and I'm not sure very valid.

More irritating are the ones who crave attention for it. It starts by visibly putting coat and scarf on, then it’s an exclamation of how cold it is, probably repeated about 5 times, then it’s shivering in a way of making sure everyone can see it with a loud ‘brrrrrrrr’, as if anyone actually makes that noise naturally. We fucking get it, you’re cold. ETA - was there not also some lunatic feminist who argued that temperatures in offices were proof of how sexist the workplace was

Just listened to that on my way into work. Got a headache now, awful radio. Generally like both English and Stewart but there were no winners in that argument.

Let's be honest your issue with Stone Island isn't the fashion, it's the Danny Dyer wannabe image it projects. I quite like Stone Island stuff but I wouldn't wear it because of the stigma it comes with. That and the ridiculous price.

Anyone who forms opinions based on what 'side' their on instead of applying critical thinking to individual issues. See football (siding with your own club on everything), politics (left/right, remain/brexit etc) and much more. People who do this are morons who are far too easily guided and demonstrate the biggest flaw in democracy.

I don't see how a transfer window for managers would benefit anyone other than incompetent managers fearful of the sack. It's too important a role for a club to be tied down for an extra few months if it's a disaster, no manager would want it if they were headhunted by a bigger club and wanted to go. How would it work cross-border if Scotland implemented it and nowhere else did? A manager is chased by an English club and can't go because of this window? Or they can go but the club who loses their manager can't poach a manager from another club because it's outside the window? There's so many holes in it for very little benefit. Managers also already have protection from this, it's called compensation.

Well yes, you could also say he probably knew Mcginn, Hayes etc would be gone well before they did too. But that summer after the SC final Mcinnes was chased by Sunderland for a while. From the time he turned them down to the first Euro qualifier I think he maybe had 3-4 weeks to cobble a team together. We would already have had targets but players like Ryan Christie may not have come if Mcinnes wasn't there etc. It was all just very rushed, rebuilding a team is hard enough without having to do it in a few weeks.

Christ even for him that’s a dreadful article.

I think it's fair to say recruitment has gone wrong in the last few windows. I won't revisit all names as you've done a good summary of each signing there. I will forgive last summers as we basically had to rebuild the team in a month after losing Jack, Hayes etc in time for the Euro qualifiers. January is also a shite time to recruit. The summer just past is more concerning. I think we did miss out on several of our top targets which can happen but our plan B is clearly not great. Forrester and Gleeson could go down as Mcinnes' biggest recruitment failings as manager if they don't improve soon. He's obviously signed plenty of crap players but generally they've been signed as squad fillers. These two were clearly earmarked as first teamers given the investment in them and neither of them seem capable of getting a game just now. Nor have I seen anything from them to suggest they deserve it. Saying that, I think our squad is nowhere near as bad as some people think. We have the basis of a good team if we could just get consistency of selection and build a bit of momentum. The season has felt very stop start in terms of injuries, suspensions, performances and results, something which we're not used to under Mcinnes. I do think questions need to be asked tactically of Mcinnes, particularly in big games. There is a consistent theme to all of the big game failures we've had. We seem to want to ease our way in to the big games. Just get through the first half without taking too much damage and then we get going. Problem is, teams like Hearts on Saturday came out the blocks at 100mph and by the time we woke up we were 2-0 down. I just think we need to be braver in these situations, starting of course on Sunday. I am a little worried that if Sunday goes badly then Mcinnes will lose a huge chunk of our support and we'll be back into a situation similar to the latter days of Jimmy Calderwood's reign. Could be a really pivotal moment in the season.

Scottish football is brilliant eh?

[emoji1] he thought he was haggling

It possibly is and Brexit may be a catalyst for that but I think in many respects Belfast as a city alone feels like a place that has finally got its act together and become attractive for visitors etc again now. However, the unsavoury element of the country is always lurking there and the recent controversy with the flag on Belfast city hall was a reminder of what it can be like if you rock the boat. Saying that, I think a lot of the current generation in NI are hoping that when the generation of fierce loyalists/unionists etc pass on then they will finally be able to consign all that to history.

I suspect NI as a country would be fearful of the violence that would break out if there was any serious movement towards a united Ireland. My wife and in laws are Northern Irish and most are just grateful that the troubles are significantly less than they used to be. They also just have no faith that Northern Ireland would cope either independent or part of ROI. It's a complete basket case really.

There’s big efforts at the moment to stop abortions based on the gender of the baby, to be honest your story feels like a similar ethical decision.

It's the only non-Scottish football podcast I listen to as they generally don't seem to take themselves too seriously. You're right though the whole 'we get lots of complaints about how little we know about Scottish football HAHAHAHA' wears thin and panders to the worst of their English audience. I don't listen to it expecting any decent 'fitba' coverage anyway so you might as well just not bother.

I was about to post this. Given they introduced her as their 'first ever Scotch guest, and now they would do "fitba" justice', some of my highlights were: - following Scotland because her Dad makes her - referring to Man United as 'we' throughout - saying she liked Harry Wilson, the Wales player, because he had a 'great English name' - her general fulfilment of the stereotype of a Sky Sports presenter's knowledge of Scottish football

Hmm. Few things on this one: - I presume you have figures to support the change (or lack thereof) in the footballing budget due to AberDNA this season? We spent fees on Ferguson and Forrester that we know of. Otherwise I don't know personally if we have or have not increased it. - Not all AberDNA money was meant to go straight into the first team. I signed up and said my preference was for it to go towards youth development. - If you're unhappy with the quality of player signed then that is Mcinnes, not the club you should be angry with. Both have disappointed but they came in with decent pedigree. Your 'English lower leagues' thro away comments suggest a regular in the English Championship (Gleeson) and Irish International is beneath us. He's not been good enough so far but hardly a shit pedigree. And like I say, Mcinnes asks the board to sign players and they carry it out. - It wasn't a brilliant transfer window but it sounds like we missed out on several top targets. Shit happens, it's not easy in football to sign top players in a competitive market. If we're looking to sign players above our level then chances are we will be offering a lower salary than they could get in say the Championship which means we have to sell the club and the manager to them. Half our support not bothering with a cup semi final doesn't really support that. - Your point about Hearts, Hibs etc is a big one and one that I think is significant to a lot of fans. They have started better than us, they invested in their squad over the summer well. Boo fucking hoo. The support need to grow a spine and stand up to that challenge. It's brilliant having so many good teams in the top half of the table, we should be excited about being part of that. Instead there's some people going "we might end up 4th or 5th so I'm not going anymore ". Football isn't a linear upward trajectory in terms of progress, it's impossible to constantly get better and better. We've had a dip. We're 8 games in and for all we've been awful (apparently) we're only 2 points behind Gerrard's galactico's and a win tomorrow could see us possibly 4 points (?) off the top of the table. How awful. Fucking shitbag of a support sometimes min honestly.

Everything ok kinc?

Did they? Be specific.

Ultimate team any good as a casual player? Always avoided due to knowing folk that have pissed stupid money on it year on year. Plus being married I maybe get round to playing about once a week when the wife is out. Just generally stick to career mode.

You'd think we were relegation fodder the way some of our support act at times

People with self esteem issues are generally unaware of it, that's ok though. Round 1 to you in the classic P&B game of 'who's more bothered' though. Bravo, sir.

Take a time out laddie, you've nearly exhausted the 'Rangers fan feeding his self esteem through hubris' bingo.

“Harmful stereotyping” [emoji1]

I probably will. Rangers are at their comedy best when they're feeling cocky again