hypochondriac

@sadoldgit

@sadoldgit

100% it is a mindset thing. I do remember being quite frustrated last season though when we drew games we should have won. It's why I worry if we do consider giving Juric some of next season- he doesn't have the correct mentality for the Championship in my opinion.

To be fair to him, it must be a very difficult line to tread. We still need a link to the Americans and not to piss off Trump whilst obviously taking actions that has the potential to upset him. I thought he handled it rather well under the circumstances and as you say a good week for him. If he can sort out some of the domestic issues that he has failed on so far then maybe he can turn things around. He still has the issue of less tax coming in though which will almost certainly mean further tax rises which isn't going to go down well at all.

There are similarities between being a road sweeper and managing a football club. On the one hand you have to choose the right shitty bit of pavement to sweep and on the other you have to choose the right players.

Mods can we lock this thread until we get this hot take tomorrow? Hardly seems worth continuing until then.

“Ukraine should be first to commit to a ceasefire and defy the Russians to follow”. Mandelson also calls on European governments, led by the UK and France, to make a major commitment of their forces to Ukraine’s land, airspace and sea, as a deterrent to Putin making future incursions, with - he hopes - the US providing the “ultimate” backstop if all were to go to hell (the backstop being American intelligence, air cover and access to its long range missile tech, I understand). The close ally of Keir Starmer also urges President Zelenskyy to sign the Trump “commercial” deal assigning mineral and energy rights to the US, to give “the US a stake in Ukraine’s future”.

Interesting that Mandelson is now calling for Ukraine to announce a ceasefire.

Agreed. On top of anything else, our interests do not always align with the other countries of Europe as shown by German reluctance to get involved against Russia and the likes of Hungary not agreeing to any of this.

Having the capability means we wouldn't be reliant on America and it acts as a deterrant.

Maybe in the long term but if Trump pulled all support tomorrow how do you propose that 'Europe' replaces star link communications or the required missiles and intelligence at the rate required to prevent Russia from making gains in the short to medium term, particularly if Russia goes all in once that support stops which would seem like the logical thing to do. I still am not convinced that Trump is going to pull all support anyway and there's a case to be made that he would be happy if other countries proppse to buy American weapons but if he does, what's your predicted timeline for 'winning'?

You don't really know what you're talking about. European troop numbers and machinery is currently pitiful and we wouldn't be anywhere near ready to defend anything substantial for years. It's possible that Zelensky could start proper conscription and try to survive without US assistance but it's pretty unlikely. If Trump did pull all support soon then it's very likely that Ukraine will be overrun pretty quickly and the next sad truth is that Europe have very little to stop Russia.

China won't be providing transgender clinics in Pakistan or modern art seminars in Afghanistan so I am sure they can do without that kind of support.

I thought he came accross much better there to be fair. Maybe it is the case that with English being a second language it's difficult to articulate his meaning as well as he would like.

I expected a slightly stronger take from you on this.

Extremely pro Ukraine twitter account agrees that no one came out of that exchange well

I don't think they are that cunning to be honest but would be fascinating if true.

I wouldn't be antagonised by what he did but it was obvious that Trump would be. His manner and his very obvious irritation was clearly going to get Trump and Vance's backs up. I don't know why he did that personally.

So if you know that's the case, probably best not to correct them in a public way and in a clearly irritated fashion that they must have known would elict an annoyed response.

Exactly. It was amateurish and I have no idea why he didn't prepare beforehand.

You misunderstand me. What I'm saying is that you have to do what is necessary to ingratiate yourself with Trump in order to get more of what you want. How does it serve Ukraine or Zelensky by arguing publicly with Trump even if he is in the right? We all know Starmer thinks Trump is a massive bellend but let's say Trump publicly rebuked him yesterday, the last thing Starmer would have done would be to continue a fight. Zelensky has struck the wrong tone here even if it's understandable given what he's going through.

Brilliant. We can write to the government and let them know that you'll be happy to my share. After all it's nothing compared to what Ukrainians are going through so I'm sure you'll have no problem.

Be a lot more conciliatory in public and save the pointed remarks for private. It doesn't matter if he is personally disrespected, what matters is his country supposedly. He knows what Trump is like, suck it up, show gratitude for the support America has already given him and do the negotiating on private. Use diplomacy.

That may be true but Zelensky was tactically clueless. Starmer played it fantastically by comparison. Arguing with Trump in the White House is only going to end one way. It sucks for us because it means the UK taxpayer is going to be even more under the cosh to finance the war.

What angle was the salute? That will determine the severity of the situation.