Agree completely.
Again, agree absolutely.
Not only would it not diminish your own national identity, rather, to my mind, it would enhance it, by allowing for the simultaneous expression of multiple identities, and personas.
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The 2025-2026 Football Thread
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Not only would it not diminish your own national identity, rather, to my mind, it would enhance it, by allowing for the simultaneous expression of multiple identities, and personas.
More rumours of Saudi interest in buying the Glazers' majority ownership of Manchester United. Dispiriting if there's any truth in it.
Saudi sportswashing (or comedywashing) is unstoppable because most people ultimately have a price that goes beyond principles
Although if Newcastle is anything to go by it may not move the needle all that much for Utd. But if they get their debts written off and a new stadium then maybe its just what the Dr orderd
Although if Newcastle is anything to go by it may not move the needle all that much for Utd. But if they get their debts written off and a new stadium then maybe its just what the Dr orderd
I've read rumors of Qatar and UAE-based consortia engaging with the Glazers, but nothing specific from Saudi from what I've seen yet. Probably too early to get excited and/or concerned yet.
Cabo Verde qualified for the World Cup for the first time ever. I don't love the dilution of quality with the bigger field, but it does enable cool storylines like this.
Also pretty neat to see the Faroe Islands beat somebody in qualification, downing Czechia 2-1 at home.
We all wondered what Middle Eastern countries were going to do when the oil ran out. Turns out it's all pretty simple - buy everything we own now and then run the world later. And we all seem pretty eager to sell.
Breaking news this morning about Aston Villa not allowing Israeli fans to the game against Maccabi Tel Aviv is why I have such a disgust for UK mainstream media because in actual fact it is Birmingham City council who are actually blocking Israeli fans from going to the game, not Aston Villa. How is this so? Well as can be seen in the BBC article, there is something called the Safety Advisory Group (SAG). This a group run by local councils to discuss public safety at an event. They then issue a SAG certificate to say the event is safe to go ahead. In this case it is the SAG run by Birmingham council and they advised based on recent events involved fans of the Israeli team where violence has occurred involving the Israeli fans that to provide a SAG certificate for the game the Israeli fans should be blocked from attending the game. Now here is what the media is not telling the public and in my opinion they are doing so deliberately to take the focus away from the council and put it all on Aston Villa is that football clubs in the UK have to have liability insurance, just as lots of other places have to and the liability insurance to cover game day the club must have a valid SAG certificate. Without that certificate the clubs insurance company will refuse to cover the game and if the game is not covered by insurance then the game cannot go ahead because of health and safety laws.
Therefore, the headlines should be 'Birmingham City Council block Israeli fans' but it makes better headlines if it says a premier league club is blocking the fans. No Aston Villa are not blocking the fans, Birmingham City Council is. All Aston Villa is doing is following legal process set by the decision made by Birmingham City council.
www.bbc.co.uk
Therefore, the headlines should be 'Birmingham City Council block Israeli fans' but it makes better headlines if it says a premier league club is blocking the fans. No Aston Villa are not blocking the fans, Birmingham City Council is. All Aston Villa is doing is following legal process set by the decision made by Birmingham City council.
Wrong to stop Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending Aston Villa match, says PM
Followers of the Israeli club will not be allowed to attend the Europa League game over safety concerns.
www.bbc.co.uk
Just one of the many reasons I don’t follow BBC news anymore. Just not the organisation it once was.Breaking news this morning about Aston Villa not allowing Israeli fans to the game against Maccabi Tel Aviv is why I have such a disgust for UK mainstream media because in actual fact it is Birmingham City council who are actually blocking Israeli fans from going to the game, not Aston Villa. How is this so? Well as can be seen in the BBC article, there is something called the Safety Advisory Group (SAG). This a group run by local councils to discuss public safety at an event. They then issue a SAG certificate to say the event is safe to go ahead. In this case it is the SAG run by Birmingham council and they advised based on recent events involved fans of the Israeli team where violence has occurred involving the Israeli fans that to provide a SAG certificate for the game the Israeli fans should be blocked from attending the game. Now here is what the media is not telling the public and in my opinion they are doing so deliberately to take the focus away from the council and put it all on Aston Villa is that football clubs in the UK have to have liability insurance, just as lots of other places have to and the liability insurance to cover game day the club must have a valid SAG certificate. Without that certificate the clubs insurance company will refuse to cover the game and if the game is not covered by insurance then the game cannot go ahead because of health and safety laws.
Therefore, the headlines should be 'Birmingham City Council block Israeli fans' but it makes better headlines if it says a premier league club is blocking the fans. No Aston Villa are not blocking the fans, Birmingham City Council is. All Aston Villa is doing is following legal process set by the decision made by Birmingham City council.
Wrong to stop Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending Aston Villa match, says PM
Followers of the Israeli club will not be allowed to attend the Europa League game over safety concerns.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the decision is overturned tbh. It doesn’t look good on the government.
That said I can see the match being a flashpoint anyway. I’ll be giving Birmingham a wide birth that day!
Good post - I hadn't spotted this distinction - and very disappointing from the BBC.Breaking news this morning about Aston Villa not allowing Israeli fans to the game against Maccabi Tel Aviv is why I have such a disgust for UK mainstream media because in actual fact it is Birmingham City council who are actually blocking Israeli fans from going to the game, not Aston Villa. How is this so? Well as can be seen in the BBC article, there is something called the Safety Advisory Group (SAG). This a group run by local councils to discuss public safety at an event. They then issue a SAG certificate to say the event is safe to go ahead. In this case it is the SAG run by Birmingham council and they advised based on recent events involved fans of the Israeli team where violence has occurred involving the Israeli fans that to provide a SAG certificate for the game the Israeli fans should be blocked from attending the game. Now here is what the media is not telling the public and in my opinion they are doing so deliberately to take the focus away from the council and put it all on Aston Villa is that football clubs in the UK have to have liability insurance, just as lots of other places have to and the liability insurance to cover game day the club must have a valid SAG certificate. Without that certificate the clubs insurance company will refuse to cover the game and if the game is not covered by insurance then the game cannot go ahead because of health and safety laws.
Therefore, the headlines should be 'Birmingham City Council block Israeli fans' but it makes better headlines if it says a premier league club is blocking the fans. No Aston Villa are not blocking the fans, Birmingham City Council is. All Aston Villa is doing is following legal process set by the decision made by Birmingham City council.
Wrong to stop Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending Aston Villa match, says PM
Followers of the Israeli club will not be allowed to attend the Europa League game over safety concerns.
Just don't see how it works out for Ange. ironically he's the type who needs a team thats too talented to be relegated so that results happen in spite of his efforts
Thats a Chelsea side without many of their key players and he still got spanked.
On another note, its looking like Rodri is no longer the same player, and is now very susceptible to injuries. Good thing he's won all big trophies before this happened.
Thats a Chelsea side without many of their key players and he still got spanked.
On another note, its looking like Rodri is no longer the same player, and is now very susceptible to injuries. Good thing he's won all big trophies before this happened.
The whole affair felt risky from the outset. But however it might have seemed risky from Ange’s perspective, firing him this quickly reflects badly on the owners. Either they didn’t know who they were hiring or they just took a wild stab in the dark hoping for instant results. Both approaches are incompetent.
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Neither explanation (let alone both) reflect well on the owners.
Perhaps.
Yes, this has also crossed my mind.
He hasn't been - at all - the same player since his injury last season, and it is clear that Manchester City miss him.
I hope Forest get relegated after sacking Ange.
Chelsea fans are the most awful cretins imaginable.
Chelsea fans are the most awful cretins imaginable.
And the fact it could be a flashpoint is the issue and no one is paying attention to that. Should Maccabi fans be allowed to attend? Absolutely but if anyone gets hurt or worse it will be the police that get the blame so it’s not politics it’s public safety.
39 days and Forrest decide a new manager is the way to go.
If they had converted one or two of their chances in the first half, things could have been very different.
If they had converted one or two of their chances in the first half, things could have been very different.
Huge result for Amorim and his team. You hope for them it kickstarts something but you never know. They seem to have found a solution in the GK position with Lammens.
Element of vindication for Maguire who remains a stalwart.
As for LFC, they weren't terrible and should've score more. Maybe its a title hangover. But there seems to be an element of naivety where they think they just need to turn up and will inevitably be better than their opponents.
It also seems like Gravenberch has been found out this season. And he's not really being helped by Macallister who's form seems to have dropped off a cliff. VVD and Allison can't always be the saviours. Salah again...MIA.
Don't really blame Slot, he's effectively picked his title winning team + Isak, made timely subs, and it still isn't working out. Therefore he has to mix things up.
As it stands Ekitike should start ahead of Isak, Salah should be benched, and Szobozslai may need to be the new Trent ahead of Bradley
But its only GW 8 so still time to fix up.
Element of vindication for Maguire who remains a stalwart.
As for LFC, they weren't terrible and should've score more. Maybe its a title hangover. But there seems to be an element of naivety where they think they just need to turn up and will inevitably be better than their opponents.
It also seems like Gravenberch has been found out this season. And he's not really being helped by Macallister who's form seems to have dropped off a cliff. VVD and Allison can't always be the saviours. Salah again...MIA.
Don't really blame Slot, he's effectively picked his title winning team + Isak, made timely subs, and it still isn't working out. Therefore he has to mix things up.
As it stands Ekitike should start ahead of Isak, Salah should be benched, and Szobozslai may need to be the new Trent ahead of Bradley
But its only GW 8 so still time to fix up.
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Unfortunately. Slot needs to work something out. The team was firing before, needs to again.
Just seen the highlights of Spurs v Villa game.
That was a cracking goal by Buendia. Very well worked.
That was a cracking goal by Buendia. Very well worked.