Sheaf Saint

No, they have a more subtle approach of gradual ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and Gaza instead. Same underlying principle - same end result. People killed / displaced in the name of religious fundamentalism, and new generations of hate-filled extremists created. Like you say, there won't be peace in our lifetimes, if ever.

Now on this we are in full agreement, sadly. Perhaps. But there's also the danger it could just result in a power vacuum, and recent history in Iraq and Libya suggests that won't improve matters for anyone.

That may well be true. But it takes two to tango as you well know. There are also plenty of religious fundamentalists in Israel, with a fervent belief in the ancient scriptures telling of God promising the land to Abraham and his children, who don't recognise the Palestinian people's right to exist either. How is that any different?

I see no purpose in getting drawn into another pointless chicken and egg argument. Cos it's been done to death previously on this thread and nobody ever seems to be willing to make any concessions. Like I said, both 'sides' will claim they have righteous justification for their actions, but the truth is that all parties are guilty of past atrocities that have fuelled the perpetual state of conflict in the region.

Sorry but when you said "Guess a few here will be backing them over evil Israel?", I assumed you meant here on this forum and were being deliberately provocative towards certain people who have continually disagreed with you on this thread. Simply dismissing Iran as 'evil' does kinda suggest that you have a very black and white view of the situation though.

I get why you've posted such an obtuse comment, but all you're really doing is demonstrating that you have never fully taken on board the comments from posters who have tried to point out that the state of Israel is not the holier-than-thou, innocent victim their government wants the world to believe it is. This missile attack from Iran was inevitable the moment Israel launched its ground assault in Lebanon. Both sides will claim they are only retaliating or acting in self defence, and neither can actually claim the moral high ground.

Urgh. Do we have to? Can we not just forfeit the match and take the 3-0?

He already did, in the second half last night.

On the Bournemouth build-up thread yesterday, there were one or two posts suggesting that RM should be sacked if we lost the game. At the time, I thought that was premature, and a little too simplistic to hinge his / the club's future on the outcome of a single game. But... It's not just the fact that we lost. It's the manner of the defeat for me. If we had played well, been competitive but just unlucky and not come away with anything, I wouldn't be calling for his head. But that's not what happened, is it. We started the game OK, and created a couple of chances. but as soon as that first goal went in, everything went to utter shit. The players started panicking, and the crazy experimental formation was exposed for the utter folly it was. For about half an hour through to half time, we couldn't even get out of our own half, and Bournemouth were swarming all over us. On the few occasions we did manage to get near their box, we had players over committed which left us badly exposed in midfield and vulnerable to a fast counter attack (see their second goal when Flynn was caught out of position). And what was Martin doing while all this was going on? Standing in his technical area looking like a broken man, with no ability to see what literally everyone else watching could see - that his bonkers formation was not working at all and we needed to make an immediate tactical change to stop them running rampant and putting the result beyond any doubt before half time. He failed to do that, and the game was already lost when he did finally make the changes at HT. I like the guy, and I will be eternally grateful for guiding us to win the playoffs last season. But he clearly isn't up to the job here if he can't even see such obvious failings in his own strategy and make the most simple of changes to keep us in a match. And the way he got pissy with Alfie House afterwards, bizarrely defending his decision to put 5 strikers on the bench on the basis that we needed to score goals - seriously WTF!? So, all in all, he's lost me now and I've reluctantly voted yes. He obviously doesn't have the nous or the desire to adapt in such a way to make this team competitive. I get that there are serious limitations with the squad, but we've got a damn sight more quality than Luton had last year, and even they managed to make themselves difficult to beat at times. The way Russ sets us up and coaches the defence is so poor, it makes us ridiculously easy to play against. It's inexcusable, and I see no sign of that ever changing with him in charge. We'll probably still go down even with a change of manager. But at least give us a chance of going down fighting, because if we continue like we are then the amount of 'scar tissue' this squad will have to overcome next season will be even worse than it was in 2023.

Especially when you consider we had a virtually identical scenario in the second half (almost exactly the same position) and Archer wanted to take it quickly but Oliver blew his whistle and stopped him. Like you say, it still wouldn't have changed anything. But at least be consistent FFS.

Pretty sure Emmanuel Mayuka is worthy of inclusion as well. Although he did at least once win a penalty for us, so in that regard he contributed more in his short time with us than Diaz has so far.

I've no idea what Martin was even thinking with that starting formation tonight. Just baffling, and inexcusable. I'm finally leaning towards thinking we should replace him.

Ref gives us a FK in about the same place as the one they got their first goal from, but blows his whistle and stops Archer from taking it quickly. Cunt.

Jesus, that was embarrassing from BBD.

Dibling is clearly a very exciting talent, but he really needs to learn when to pass the ball instead of trying to dribble past 4 players at once.

Oh look. If you play with a proper striker and people in their correct positions, you can create chances to score. Who could possibly have predicted that? Martin was trying again to be too clever in the first half. And it's unforgivable.

We're gonna win 4-3!

This is the key for me. If you know you're squad has serious limitations then at least set yourself up to be hard working and difficult to beat. But that seems to be beyond Martin's comprehension. We simply don't have the players to play the way he wants to play in the PL. And he's utterly incapable of seeing that, it seems.

Yeah but I didn't watch either of those games 😉

Fuck me this is just beyond pathetic. I don't think I've ever seen such an abject performance. I'll be amazed if it stays 3-0.

Seven defenders in the box and not one of them marking the guy on the penalty spot. Fucking clueless.

This is fucking awful to watch. I've been very reluctant to start calling for a managerial change just yet, cos I thought Russ deserved a chance to show he can adapt to the PL. But just what the fuck is this formation he's put out there tonight? No recognised striker on the pitch but 5 on the bench, and seemingly just instructing the whole team to pass it to a crowded out Dibling at every opportunity. He's doing himself no favours at all. Edit: And there's 2-0. Fuck off Russ.

How the fuck is that allowed to stand? The ball was clearly further forward from where the foul was when he took it. That's bullshit.

Trump on a visit to the hurricane ravaged Georgia today, when asked by a reporter if he had reached out to President Biden to work together on the recovery operation, says "No I haven't reached out to him. I think he's sleeping right now". Such a monumental prick.