van Hanegem

I know republicans are a minority in the USA but according to Gallup almost 90% of them believe Trump is doing a good job. That’s the same score as Bush when he adressed the nation after 9/11, amazing... https://news.gallup.com/poll/203198/presidential-approval-ratings-donald-trump.aspx

Ze hoeven van mij niet helemaal kapot te gaan, een jaartje of 10 in de Jupiler League is voldoende...

When Vilhena and El Ahmadi both leave there might be a chance for Clasie at Feyenoord. I reckon it will be on loan then as Feyenoord will never pay more than 6 million euro’s. I’ve always doubted if Clasie could make it in the PL but I wouldn’t mind to see him back in de Kuip as the Dutch league is a totaly different story. Maybe he could also help to prevent the young talents at Feyenoord leaving too soon for the big 6 where they usually don’t stand a chance.

From the Dutch magazine Voetbal International: Though the Saints still have to agree with a transfer, Ajax is very optimistic Tadic will join them for 17 million euro’s. Erwin Koeman thinks this is not too much as in England players are easily sold for 15 million when they are able to pass the ball to another player. According to him Tadic could play for another 3 years in the PL, not for the big 6 but for every other club. Koeman didn’t know why Tadic wants to return to the Netherlands, could be for his family because he had a good time here in the past or because the Dutch Eredivisie is way less intense than the PL. https://www.vi.nl/nieuws/tadic-had-nog-makkelijk-drie-jaar-in-de-premier-league-kunnen-spelen

Liked the tension in the game between Argentina and Nigeria tonight, hopefully we get more of this tomorrow when Brasil plays Serbia.

Yup, I’m curious what will happen if Seehofer stands his ground.

Ajax is the richest club in the Netherlands with more than 100 million euro’s to spend but they won’t be paying much more than the 17,1 million which is suggested (Tadic will be the most expensive player in the Eredivisie ever) as there is tight financial control from the board which will have reluctantly agreed with that figure. Last year Ajax really wanted Richarlison but the board didn’t want to pay more than 14 million euro’s so they lost him to Watford. It will be the same with Tadic so it’s very likely that there is a release clause for 17,1 million. Otherwise they would be really stupid to leak this to Dutch journalists as there would be an outrage amongst their fans who already are p*ssed off with the transfer policies of the last 5 years.

The Australian system is no solution either and it is inhuman GM, I reckon you wouldn't mistreat those unfortunates yourself like the Australians do. With African Sub-Sahara going to hell the next decades (climate change, famine, war), tens of millions will be on the move towards Europe. The real solution is forced birth control but that's still a few steps too far for most people. In the meantime it's getting messier within the EU, even Tusk and Juncker do not like each other at the moment while Merkel and Macron can't force their will on the other members. It appears the Schengen treaty is in real danger now...

Don't be too harsh on him, Verbal is working on a noble cause, he's a man with a mission!

You could add that it will be a new challenge for him to be the key player in a team full of youngsters who really need the guidance of an experienced player who can make the difference when it comes to winning prizes (Ajax didn’t win anything for 4 years in a row now which is exceptional for them). Coaching younger players now might help him in his later career when wants to become a coach. Also, the Ajax’ game is always about attacking and dominating which is much more fun for a player like Tadic.

Indeed. There’s not much to appreciate from the Trump administration but I do support the withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council which is a complete farce.

There’s not much to negotiate when the limited release clause is true I suppose...

According to De Telegraaf Southampton offered Tadic a new “fantastic” deal but he said no and then the Saints agreed to start negotiations. https://www.telegraaf.nl/sport/2198770/overmars-in-het-geheim-naar-zwitserland

Quite remarkable that Tadic is willing to play in the Eredivisie again. I assume that Ajax is going to pay a salary that’s way beyond their usual pay (max. 2,5 million) but surely Tadic could get more elsewhere. Apparantly he’s not only interested in money, good for him. Very disappointing to see him leave the Saints though.

Nah, I don’t like Wilders and the way he’s splitting Dutch society. But yes, I do fear for the freedom we’re used to within Europe because of the mass immigration of people who are stuck in a backward religion. As even “political correct” socialists across Europe acknowledge the problems with muslim migrants recently as they realised things are getting out of hand, one has to be very naive to still believe it’s better to look away. Does this mean I’m being sceptical concerning the integration of muslims in European societies? Yes, you might even call me prejudiced. Does this mean I’m not capable to ask questions about British society without the above mentioned fear? No. I’m not like you, I don’t jump to conclusions as easily and I don’t like pigeonholing like you do. The only thing Wilders and I have in common is that we both have an Indonesian background, I doubt however that he has some muslim friends there like I do. Friends who accept my attitude towards their religion because real friendship doesn’t bother about religion. Well, maybe salafists are right: those guys are not real muslims...

Thanks for this. So it's not just the police, it's also the social workers. Could you say if there is a general fear of being seen as a racist throughout the country or is this a regional thing?

Though the Turkey deal is not ideal (especially sending migrants back from Greece to Turkey doesn't work due to Greek officials), I have the impression that politicians are positive about it as there are less migrants coming in. Suppose the EU can run their own refugee camps in North Africa (instead of being dependable from Erdogan cs), it might be a better solution.

What are you on about? I just asked if it was fake news as I didn't know wether it was true, I'm not "avoiding" anything. What I don't understand is that this Robinson clown gets so much attention while there's not much fuzz around here about why the Police is afraid of being racist. I would like to hear more about the latter hence my question to Cabbage Face to hear his opinion on this. Could you tell me more on this behaviour of British Police? Is it because of politicians putting pressure on the police or what? How could this happen?

I see what you mean, the Dutch government is indeed worried that German border controls on migrants will hurt tourism and trade and ultimately it could blow up the Schengen treaty. If that would mean the end of the current EU remains to be seen but there are definitely serious headaches at this moment in Brussels with Merkel in trouble. However, a different track for the EU is still far away. A proposal from Italy's populist party Lega which would mean that refugees ask for asylum in Europe instead of one of the member states might be a way out for the EU but I wonder if they can put enough pressure on the Visigrad countries to accept their fair share of the migrants. Denmark and Austria are working on plans for refugee camps outside of the EU and that might work as I assume Libya or some other country in North Africa is willing to accept billions for giving shelter.

It was just a question as I read the strangest things are happening in the UK lately. I know it can't be true that in a western country a judge is telling the press not to write about some case and then the press just complies, that would be a real joke. But with all those European politicians warning us about the threat from Russia manipulating the news in the democratic West, I started to doubt wether it's true your police is afraid of being racist. Unbelievable that this is true, you have bigger issues to discuss than some racist idiot trying to get some attention wouldn't you say?

I reckon he is but what do you think of the police who didn’t want to be accused of being racist and therefore didn’t response effectively at first when they learned about the rapes? Or is that fake news?

Getting rid of Merkel would be a good thing for Europe, why is that a dead canary?

Nice to see that the NY Times pays attention to Morocco but they should have also mentioned that the Dutch Moroccans - except for Ziyech - wouldn't be selected for the Dutch national team at this moment as they are not good enough. Of course Ziyech would have been more than welcome right now because of his passing abilities but he chose for Morocco because he didn't hear anything from the Dutch staff untill it was too late. Dutch coaches like Marco van Basten and Danny Blind didn't like his attitude and were not keen at all to make him feel special and welcome. It's a shame that Oranje misses out on his talent but Ziyech is indeed a liability when it comes to teambuilding. At each Dutch club (Heerenveen, Twente and Ajax) there are many supporters who don't like him either and wanted him to leave their club. If you think Boufal is a bit of a nuisance, you're in for a treat with Hakim... Well, that won't happen anyway. However, I do hope for the Dutch Moroccans players that they rise to the occasion and make their countrymen proud. With Iran, Spain and Portugal as opponents it will be difficult to reach the next round but who knows...

If Saints really want to sign Promes (hopefully not), there’d better be a nice shoestore and some jewellers in the neighbourhood... https://youtu.be/YKXOnNzQ7bo

Geert Wilders announced that he'll cross the channel to march for Tommy, a real hero... Well, I guess Wilders won't be allowed on British soil but I wonder if his pr-officers actually know who Tommy Robinson really is. Maybe they should be on Saintsweb!