Because if you give him an inch.........?

And if it works for him, what'll stop China into Taiwan, North into South Korea, etc.? Oh, and Australia into NZ??

All well and good, Pete boy, but you didn't answer my question. Pay attention now.

What's a pl**ck??

Of course he [ Putin ] will ask for a big chunk of Ukraine Little Top Gun ... but what is the alternative ...?

I'll say this kindly ; The West f***& up badly , they thought Russia was a glorified gas station masquerading as a country GDP the same as Leichtenstein .

Turns out they've got a damn side more clout than you [ UK ] bargained for .

Donbass Kherson Luhansk Donetsk regions are all Russian speakers ; they want to be Russian and like it or not that's the way it is going to roll .

Ursala , Liz , Olaf , Macron , Biden , Blinken , Jans can bluster all they like but they wont get those regions back .

Ask Napolean and Hitler what it's like to have a skirmish with Russia

And if he asks for a chunk of NZ what part will you give him then ?

The mistake is thinking the west can affect this stuff, they can’t. He’s doing it anyway and it’s amazing the way he gets these countries to look inward rather than at his behaviour.

Btw I wouldn’t bet on Russia holding those positions. Ukraine have surprised many and are about to get another 2 billion in weapons arriving

Didn't know that. Yes, it's a carve up.

The biggest challenge to Putin will come from within. His people will turn on him sooner rather than later.

Okay so I'm paying attention Johnny Boy .... this was supposed to be a little interchange between myself and the little Irishman Dec ...hopefully he has a few more clues than you and that half witted domiciled Awstralian plonker Mc Q .

If he's at a loss to what I'm talking about so be it .

Next door neighbour to my son went into a old peoples home [ dementia ] ... dementia's relatives cleaning out the house ; offered my son a ton of gear . Tools tables chairs etc .
Son says to me .."" do you drink wine "" I give him my best Lee van Cleef flinty eyed squint ..... are you kidding ... is it liquid / alcoholic ?

I inherit twenty bottles ; dates back to 1968 , expressly bottled for Alan W Johson ......trying to get the cork out ; Mqama Mia what a mission .

Hold on a sec .... put a 10mm bit into my 18volt De Walt battery drill ....BLAAAT ...bored straight the cork . Take that you SOB

Decant through a little tea strainer ...done and dusted

Ha ha ha ...you believe that Darren ...you'll also subscribe to the Tooth Fairy

You’re determined to make a *%^@ of yourself about this one aren’t you Pete

??? ...why on earth is he going to ask for a chunk of NZ .

Ukraine have surprised no one ; they are getting smashed ...cannon fodder . Russians control the air , have infinetly more tanks ; firepower .
Mobilising another 300,000 troops they will steam roll the Ukrainians . Forget the BS stories about demonstrations , Russians fleeing the country not wanting to serve .

Sadly the Ukranians are pawns ; when the dust has settled that little clown in the green T shirt will retire to Knightsbridge or Miami live on the pigs back after wrecking his country .

Not at all Big Guy .

I'm always bemused by these short nasty little quips you resort to when a few facts short circuit your viewpoint

Putin has about an 85% approval rating ; Russians realise the West hates them ; seizing of Russian yachts , property , freezing bank assetts , travel bans , no fly zones cancelling Mer card

That is not to say he wont get assassinated/ sidelined in some CIA inspired Lumumba , Mossadegh , Allende , Hussein Ghaddafi , Norieaga , Guevera , Solameini Bin Ladan type plot

I doubt he'll be back. It will be Truss V Starmer. As an outsider if the economy is going well and the cost of living criss has abated I can see Truss winning. If the economy is bad it's Starmer's. Conspiracy guff about the media doesn't come into it.

Anthony Taylor is the ref of the NLD, I think he's certainly one of the better refs in the league.

Jared Gillet (the aussie) is on VAR, that is more of a worry as he has a history of c*cking up var decisions. He was the var ref who ruled out the west ham goal v chelsea when Bowen jumped over the gk Mendy and fractionally caught the tip of his boot on Mendy. For us Gillet is the var ref who found some reason to think Chambers fouled a Palace player before our goal that would have won the game 3-2 back in 2019 - One of those wones I believe the PGMOL came out after and had to apologise for. Gillet was also the var ref for our home game v Man City last year.

Saw this as a best current Arsenal English team
Ramsdale, Souza, Holding, white, Maitland-Niles, Nelson, Emile Smith Rowe, Patino, Saka, Nketiah, Balogun.

Would be interesting to see what the other big sides would put out.

Aha Too much to take in

A Germany player giving Kane a decent whack wouldn't be the worst thing tonight......

I can't quite figure out how a kick in the bollocks, as you so gracefully put it, can cause concussion....but there you go.

In fairness to the All Blacks, you couldn't accuse them of underhand carry-on. It's normally totally blatant.

As to your later posts,.I absolutely knew who you were talking about. McBride and O'Reilly were before my time though. I could only go back to the early 80s when it comes to rugby.

Saka came on for England and changed the game. Was involved in everything good England did and is so far and away England’s best right sided attacker.

Maguire had another shocker. If you play 3 at the back there’s always a nagging feeling for me that you’re trying to cover up the inherit weaknesses of your defenders.

England looks far better when they actually attack with some pace and freedom. Play a back 4 and pick your CB from Stones, White, Tomori, Guehi. Ball playing CBs. Play a 3 man midfield of Rice, Bellingham and one other (Foden, Mount, Maddison) and a front 3 of Saka, Kane, Sterling

Wonder if I can have another go at answering that one ..... the answer is probably Yes .

Staying up until 3 am and pouring three and a half bottles of different gut rot down your gob ; is not to be recommended .

My apologies to all for disturbing the harmony of the Gleiber .

Not at all. I’ve been sitting down planning the NZ takeover. Turn the whole place into a big prison camp. I mean is it wrong to transport your criminals across the world?

Woah, woah. They’re your criminals now.

Actually for most of us from the first 80 years, they are our ancestors.

Some of these are interesting.

FACTS YOU MAY NOT KNOW IN SOCCER
(1)Trent Alexander Arnold’s grandmother was Sir Alex Ferguson’s first girlfriend.(No words)
(2) Zidane first wanted to join Algeria instead of France, but the coach said that there's a lot of players like him in the squad.
(3) Chile once won a Football match with 100% possession. (Guess the opponent?)
(4) Chelsea and Dortmund have never played each other in an official competitive match. (Someone said Dortmund is afraid
(5) Édouard Mendy won FIFA Best Goal Keeper but wasn't in the FIFA Best XI team. (Where is the fair play?)
(6) Mourinho went 9 years without losing a single home game. (The Special one?)
(7) Ronald Koeman has more goals than Kroos, Modric and Casemiro combined (the greatest midfield trio?)
(An English manager has never won the Premier League (Graham Potter)
(9) Sir Alex Ferguson stills earns money from Man United even more than some players

others?

I know a few guys from south Philly whose last names end in a vowel and owe me a favor.

Am I alone in thinking Arsenal’s stadium announcer, Nigel Mitchell, is a complete prat? He’s worse than any of the announcers I’ve seen at away grounds and watching the highlights of the England Germany game last night, he’s worse than the Wembley announcer.

The way he puts his own particular emphasis on players’ names when he shouts them out I find almost creepy. Nigel Mitchell gives me the cringes.

If he was responsible for that 'Sweet Caroline' nonsense, he should be sacked for that alone.

Criminals are often resourceful and intelligent. What happened?

I jest. It’s astonishing what authorities think they can get away with when there aren’t any consequences. Lads sent halfway around the world for petty thieving. I guess you know much more about it than me.

It's possible. No one is immune to a coup. Has Russia through its political incarnations....monarchy...communist under the guise of the USSR...whatever it is today, ever had the same smooth transition of power as the UK, USA and other countries since Czar Nicholas II's coronation?

Any time one of the premier dies, it was a power struggle behind the scenes between members of the military and politburo, challengers to the helm spirited away never to be seen or spoken of again. Putin knows his countries own history as well as anyone and try as he might to protect himself from the same fate as others, the word is he's surrounded himself with sycophants and yes men. Always a recipe for disaster.

The war isn't going well. Russia has basically fought most of its wars since WW 2 by proxy (Korean war, Vietnam war, other smaller ones). It's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was the first full scale war it had and they obviously didn't read the histories of Alexander the Great or the British military there. Some historians say that was what imploded their economy. They were already teetering with bread lines going back decades. No healthy economy has continual breadlines. Trying to arm, house and feed about, 200k troops will usually implode any economy. Our stock market was moribund for over a decade from spending in Vietnam.

But I digress. This will not end well for Russia or for Putin. Their last gasp is trying to dislodge the US dollar as the world reserve currency. (Not that I think it should be anyway).

Balogun scores for England U21's levelling game at ht to 1-1

Balogun’s loan has been brilliant so far. He’s only behind the big 3 at PSG for goals in the French league and he’s continually scoring for the Eng U21 side. At the absolute worst case he’s adding plenty of ££ to his transfer value.

If Jesus and Nketiah get injured or are otherwise unavailable at the same time, can Balogun be recalled from his loan?

We shouldn't even be thinking of selling him.
Hopefully he can bang in lots of goals and come back next season and make an impression.
Arteta persuaded him to sign a new contract so hopefully has plans to let him challenge Jesus and Nketiah next season.
We shouldn't be investing in another striker for the forseeable.
Balogun should save us a lot of money in the future.

We’re cursed

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/19924094 ... 64205357-1

We’re screwed. God is punishing us. It always turns to *%^@

Take a point at this stage.

Wish I wasn’t going now.

It’s an early kick off so we won’t even get some liquid coverage beforehand

*%^@ the world. Etc etc

6% interest rates next year

Terrific, that’ll help me mortgage. Oh well at least our bananas are all bendy again though… a worthy trade off for having to flog your gaff

On a more positive note.

https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/ ... d-25086984

I think you may be right, my dear Watson. There must be a supernatural explanation. "When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Talk about clickbait. Emile Smith Rowe and Elneny are out. Absolutely nothing definitive about the rest.

It’s the paranormal at work or something,

We’ve been kidding ourselves for too long. Might be linked to chemtrails or something.