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The merits of discussing rumours


Leslie Charteris

It worked in Greece, let's try Democracy  

36 members have voted

  1. 1. It worked in Greece, let's try Democracy

    • Non-stickied weekly rumours thread, allowing spin-off threads
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    • No central rumours thread. End of
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There are very many rumours around at the moment, some founded in truth, others started by agents. Some my be started by employees of football clubs and others are the work of fanatsists, WUMs and people who should get out more.

 

I would like to think I can spot the latter and pick out the entirely plausible from the former. Not so, apparently. It is beyond those that post on here to discuss the relative merits of a number of different rumours that are circulating, each needs its own separate piece of cyberspace.

 

The upshot is that we now have a large number of threads which I expect few people will bother to read, so much for free speech. There is an irony, too, that none of these separate threads may not have any more truth in them than the original big thread and I suspect that fewer people will read the diverse threads.

 

If you don't like a thread, don't read it or pass over the posters you don't like. Moderators, it is your job to nudge people in the right direction if you do not like where a thread is heading. Locking it is not the only option open to you.

 

What has happened tonight could be a turning point in the life of Sainsweb. Let's not make it it the first step towards its demise.

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They took Hypo's freedom of speech. They took his liberty. Today will be known as 11/7 - everyone will remember where they were the day Hypo made a stand for the common man and started thousands of individual rumour threads, only to be mown down by the powers that be.

Edited by the stain
got the date wrong
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There are very many rumours around at the moment, some founded in truth, others started by agents. Some my be started by employees of football clubs and others are the work of fanatsists, WUMs and people who should get out more.

 

I would like to think I can spot the latter and pick out the entirely plausible from the former. Not so, apparently. It is beyond those that post on here to discuss the relative merits of a number of different rumours that are circulating, each needs its own separate piece of cyberspace.

 

The upshot is that we now have a large number of threads which I expect few people will bother to read, so much for free speech. There is an irony, too, that none of these separate threads may not have any more truth in them than the original big thread and I suspect that fewer people will read the diverse threads.

 

If you don't like a thread, don't read it or pass over the posters you don't like. Moderators, it is your job to nudge people in the right direction if you do not like where a thread is heading. Locking it is not the only option open to you.

 

What has happened tonight could be a turning point in the life of Sainsweb. Let's not make it it the first step towards its demise.

 

On a purely grammatical point, the words "former" and "latter" refer to two options. E.g. "I was minded to do A, but my wife wanted me to do B. I decided to do the latter"

 

If you list more than two options, the correct terms are "first" and "last".

 

Sorry to be a pedant, it's just all very irritating. I think people use the terms "former" and "latter" because they sound more formal and serious than "first" and "last". But it doesn't make it any more accurate.

 

On a wider point, I just think these ideas about freedom of speech etc are over-stated. Its a web forum. About a football club. Not a matter for Amnesty International, really.

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On a purely grammatical point, the words "former" and "latter" refer to two options. E.g. "I was minded to do A, but my wife wanted me to do B. I decided to do the latter"

 

If you list more than two options, the correct terms are "first" and "last".

 

Sorry to be a pedant, it's just all very irritating. I think people use the terms "former" and "latter" because they sound more formal and serious than "first" and "last". But it doesn't make it any more accurate.

 

On a wider point, I just think these ideas about freedom of speech etc are over-stated. Its a web forum. About a football club. Not a matter for Amnesty International, really.

 

Which part of "Some my be started by employees of football clubs [

 

Am I to understand that Hypo has now been banned as well ? For doing something a lot of us were crying out for, in dumping the air-sapping mega-threads which most people cannot be bothered with once they get going, and which pile hundreds of potential discussion points into one place to be ignored ?

 

EDIT : Just had a look - yeah he's been banned, but the only remaining evidence is him starting an utterly pointless "new catch-all rumours thread"... so not in line with my complaint above.

 

Can't say it's made a massive difference to me, I post my random guff anyway, but Deppo was probably the turning point anyway. I shed no tears for Hypo's last posting either, what with him mis-spelling "Stasi".

 

We do appear to be running out of the entertaining and/or any way interesting posters. My money's on delldays, alpine and Benji getting bounced soon. Pretty soon it'll just be me and the kit thread.

Edited by The9
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On a wider point, I just think these ideas about freedom of speech etc are over-stated. Its a web forum. About a football club. Not a matter for Amnesty International, really.

 

It takes a brave man on here to doubt the seriousness of the Internet and football forums.

 

You, sir, are the bravest of the brave. I salute you.

 

:-))

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RUMOUR - according to the best dictionary I have - I know there's plenty on the net, but I love the feel of my fingers running over paper, is : " a piece of information, or a story that people talk about, but that may not be true. " Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary.

LIE - (the same publication states) is " To say, or write something that you know is not true " :

 

Yes... I realise there is a subtle difference but whether or not you are genuinely ITK, or it's just a tale you got from the milkman who heard it from one of his customers... who knows someone in the pub... who works at a football club ..and so on ..

 

Having been stupid enough to have read many of these "rumour threads " in the past, I realise that it takes a certain type of personality, or ego to ; invent such stories or just pass on someone else's " lie /rumour ". It would be so much better and create less stress and adrenalin for everyone, if we all took a step back before deciding to write that we heard that XXXXXXXXXX is going to sign / or be sold tomorrow.

 

I enjoy this site, and reading many of the correspondents, some knowledgeable, others humourous ..a few outrageous but surely

there is enough media hype already that we can surely check a few facts before " putting fingers to keyboard " and try to be truthful.

.....or is that not PC on this site anymore?

 

NOTE ; with the death of TNOW, we will at least have a few less " groundless rumours " to contend with.

Edited by david in sweden
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There are very many rumours around at the moment, some founded in truth, others started by agents. Some my be started by employees of football clubs and others are the work of fanatsists, WUMs and people who should get out more.

 

I would like to think I can spot the latter and pick out the entirely plausible from the former. Not so, apparently. It is beyond those that post on here to discuss the relative merits of a number of different rumours that are circulating, each needs its own separate piece of cyberspace.

 

The upshot is that we now have a large number of threads which I expect few people will bother to read, so much for free speech. There is an irony, too, that none of these separate threads may not have any more truth in them than the original big thread and I suspect that fewer people will read the diverse threads.

 

If you don't like a thread, don't read it or pass over the posters you don't like. Moderators, it is your job to nudge people in the right direction if you do not like where a thread is heading. Locking it is not the only option open to you.

 

What has happened tonight could be a turning point in the life of Sainsweb. Let's not make it it the first step towards its demise.

 

Hmm, let's recap, shall we. A post goes up suggesting rumours are separated into individual threads named for the player in question, a load of people agree at the time ( can't remember there being many dissenters ), a moderator locks the thread and business carries on as normal.

 

Some people, clearly not happy with the loss of their thread, start a new thread to compensate. This is closed too. Finally, a new post in the HCDAJFU arrives with the word "Stazi" in the subject, and hypo is banned. Feel free to add to this tapestry as appropriate.

 

This isn't a freedom of speech thing ( well, the moderators probably don't appreciate being likened to the East German secret police ) - it was a re-organisation of information. Some people didn't like it. Toys were ejected from perambulators. I don't see how having more threads to read, each with a relevant title, somehow curtails the right to free expression.

Edited by pap
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I am also confused to why people would want all of the rumours about loads of different players in one place.

 

As for the "checking rumours before posting", well unfortunately some people think it's funny to just make them up to waste other people's time, and some like the attention of posting utter rubbish because they just want to be first to mention that player - it's left up to the reader's judgement to decide whether there's any truth in it - and it's one of the only occasions where I'm actually happy for the reader to be the one left to do the thinking - as opposed to the odious nature of txt spk and stuff like that.

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Hypo didn't just start one thread about rumours - he went a little mental and created about 10 or 12 in the space of about 10minutes last night, naming indivdual players on each thread and most of them not even proper rumours - just "someone mentioned XXXXX - what do we think?". A rumour must have some basis rather than just anyone off the street mentioning a name.

 

Basically, he acted like a baby because his favourite thread was locked. He had a little strop, a little cry, threw his toys out of his pram and eventually got banned.

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I am also confused to why people would want all of the rumours about loads of different players in one place.

 

As for the "checking rumours before posting", well unfortunately some people think it's funny to just make them up to waste other people's time, and some like the attention of posting utter rubbish because they just want to be first to mention that player - it's left up to the reader's judgement to decide whether there's any truth in it - and it's one of the only occasions where I'm actually happy for the reader to be the one left to do the thinking - as opposed to the odious nature of txt spk and stuff like that.

 

Nor me. I visit this site a few times a day, and I have trouble keeping up with the really large threads. Imagine someone returning from a four-week break. A 76 page thread is almost inpenetrable at that point. Difficult to know what page relevant stuff begins on, difficult to post as well - how do you know that someone hasn't already made your point 6 pages ago.

 

The fact that the thread in question was chock full of the usual hilarity and took the (ahem) venerable football rumours site as inspiration certainly didn't help.

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Nor me. I visit this site a few times a day, and I have trouble keeping up with the really large threads. Imagine someone returning from a four-week break. A 76 page thread is almost inpenetrable at that point. Difficult to know what page relevant stuff begins on, difficult to post as well - how do you know that someone hasn't already made your point 6 pages ago.

 

The fact that the thread in question was chock full of the usual hilarity and took the (ahem) venerable football rumours site as inspiration certainly didn't help.

 

There would be no need to trawl through the whole thing if you had been away etc. You'd only need to check the most recent posts for latest rumours. Anything with any substance would eventually transpire into an actual signing or would have a thread of it's own if it seemed more substantial than most of the rubbish rumours.

 

Didn't really see the need to lock it just because a handful of people said they didn't like it.

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Hypo didn't just start one thread about rumours - he went a little mental and created about 10 or 12 in the space of about 10minutes last night, naming indivdual players on each thread and most of them not even proper rumours - just "someone mentioned XXXXX - what do we think?". A rumour must have some basis rather than just anyone off the street mentioning a name.

 

Basically, he acted like a baby because his favourite thread was locked. He had a little strop, a little cry, threw his toys out of his pram and eventually got banned.

 

I'd kinda guessed that much, which is why I mentioned "the only remaining evidence", as all the player threads have disappeared.

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I liked the rumours thread, trawling through it was no more ardous than looking at individual threads. I imagine the matchday threads will now be split up into individual minute threads?

 

As has been mentioned above, once you get a bit behind it's completely impractical to try and catch up, meaning there's a heightened likelihood of people posting duplicate information. As I've been desperately clinging to the Kit thread all summer, I can confirm that it's massivelay annoying to have people posting the same crap that was already discussed 3 weeks ago as new information.

 

And your analogy is a load of gash, as each minute of a match sits in the context of the time frame surrounding it, whilst individual player rumours can sit entirely independently of all other player rumours with no need to know all about every other rumour that's going on.

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The rumours thread was untidy. It's important to be tidy - more important than freedom of speech imo.

 

Numerous other threads would have been more untidy, and preserved Freedom of Speech equally as well, so that's a total red herring.

 

Also, just for the record, no-one has a right to free speech on here, you've signed up to a privately-run subscription forum and agreed that if you didn't abide by the rules you get banned with no financial recompense.

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The rumours thread was my only reason for coming on here. I am a football fan, and by my very nature I like to get excited or righteously indignant at the prospect of signing these players. I am old enough and intelligent enough to pick my way through those that are clearly spurious and therefore don't need a moderator to point it out to me by deleting such threads. It is all part of being a football fan that Summer is filled with mindless tittle-tattle about which players will be coming and going, and the newspapers are filled with such stories. However, I do not have the time to be rooting through all of these sources myself, hence why Saintsweb is always a good place to get all the rumours in one convenient place. All in all, a shame that it has disappeared; it would appear that the moderators are forgetting themselves and what this site actually is. I'm sure there are plenty of other Saintsweb users around like me, so I guess I won't be the only one who will have to look elsewhere for this info now.

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As has been mentioned above, once you get a bit behind it's completely impractical to try and catch up, meaning there's a heightened likelihood of people posting duplicate information. As I've been desperately clinging to the Kit thread all summer, I can confirm that it's massivelay annoying to have people posting the same crap that was already discussed 3 weeks ago as new information.

 

And your analogy is a load of gash, as each minute of a match sits in the context of the time frame surrounding it, whilst individual player rumours can sit entirely independently of all other player rumours with no need to know all about every other rumour that's going on.

 

To be honest it's all a matter of opinion, isn't it? I didn't find the rumours thread annoying in the slightest. If you didn't like it then you could ignore it, or you could start individual rumour threads as well - I don't see any reason why they couldn't co-exist and in many cases they did. Still it's a small thing to get worked up about, it's just a shame it's gone.

 

Oh and the match day thread suggestion was a joke - fairly sure most people would have got that but I can always edit it if you found it annoying.

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The rumours thread was my only reason for coming on here. I am a football fan, and by my very nature I like to get excited or righteously indignant at the prospect of signing these players. I am old enough and intelligent enough to pick my way through those that are clearly spurious and therefore don't need a moderator to point it out to me by deleting such threads. It is all part of being a football fan that Summer is filled with mindless tittle-tattle about which players will be coming and going, and the newspapers are filled with such stories. However, I do not have the time to be rooting through all of these sources myself, hence why Saintsweb is always a good place to get all the rumours in one convenient place. All in all, a shame that it has disappeared; it would appear that the moderators are forgetting themselves and what this site actually is. I'm sure there are plenty of other Saintsweb users around like me, so I guess I won't be the only one who will have to look elsewhere for this info now.

 

Thanks Battersea Saint, you have said what I was trying to say only you have said it better (well, it was late when I posted). It's a shame hypo has been banned, as I tend to agree with his point, even if he did go a bit over the top. I wonder if he'd been on the sauce? I suspect a few posts on here have been well fueled - they never look quite as funny or perceptive the next day!

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Yes, I was very disappointed to see the thread go.

 

It hadn't been brilliant lately, but it did have some value to it. Why am I disappointed then?

 

Well, out of 3307 'active members', a handful of people wanted it closed and it was closed. This isn't alternative vote. There were probably more people that wanted it kept open. I don't really want to support or condemn the banning of Hypochondriac, but he was a sensible poster believe it or not, and had he not started a new thread on it, someone else would have.

 

I'm not against the idea of a rumours forum, but since such a thing hasn't been implemented, why can't we start a new rumours thread?

 

It shouldn't have been closed, in my opinion. Are we going to see posts deleted because a set of people or a moderator deems them not to be valuable or repetitive? If so then certain people are going to be in trouble. I know who I'd want to see banned in that case...

Edited by Crazy Diamond
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Yes, I was very disappointed to see the thread go.

 

It hadn't been brilliant lately, but it did have some value to it. Why am I disappointed then?

 

Well, out of 3307 'active members', a handful of people wanted it closed and it was closed. This isn't alternative vote. There were probably more people that wanted it kept open. I don't really want to support or condemn the banning of Hypochondriac, but he was a sensible poster believe it or not, and had he not started a new thread on it, someone else would have.

 

I'm not against the idea of a rumours forum, but since such a thing hasn't been implemented, why can't we start a new rumours thread?

 

It shouldn't have been closed, in my opinion. Are we going to see posts deleted because a set of people or a moderator deems them not to be valuable or repetitive? If so then certain people are going to be in trouble. I know who I'd want to see banned in that case...

 

Totally agree with this post.

 

All forum members are equal, but some are more equal than others it seems

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The rumours thread.......well I never read it. It was already several pages long and the look I had was more off-topic than rumours. Having said that I had no problem with it being there. If people weren't happy with it then why didn't they do what I did, ignore it?

 

The needs/wants of the many outweigh (or should) the needs/wants of the few!!!!!!

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I was also disappointed to find the rumours thread missing yesterday evening. It has been one of the few threads on this site worth looking at all Summer. Even if it had reached umpteen pages, nobody was obliged to wade through from page one. I only ever started with "Yesterday," even if I had not looked for a week. It seems a very selfish decision to delete a thread enjoyed by many because a minority of members or registered users are too self centered to ignore a thread they are not interested in. There are of course, societies where books are burnt, because Authorities don't like them. Are we moving in such a direction? I often disagree with Hypo's comments and his tone but I am sorry that he has got himself banned because he was (nearly) always interesting!

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I liked it. It was nearly always wrong but so what, so are the people at games who think they are in the know. It's part of football I wouldn't advise reading all of it just the last day. It wasn't particularly informative but it was entertaining.

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I was also disappointed to find the rumours thread missing yesterday evening. It has been one of the few threads on this site worth looking at all Summer. Even if it had reached umpteen pages, nobody was obliged to wade through from page one. I only ever started with "Yesterday," even if I had not looked for a week. It seems a very selfish decision to delete a thread enjoyed by many because a minority of members or registered users are too self centered to ignore a thread they are not interested in. There are of course, societies where books are burnt, because Authorities don't like them. Are we moving in such a direction? I often disagree with Hypo's comments and his tone but I am sorry that he has got himself banned because he was (nearly) always interesting!

 

I agree entirelty.

 

Nobody makes you iead a thread. If you don't like it , move on. Why get a thread deleted??

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I thought that the rumours thread was pointless but it seems that there are many that think otherwise.

 

I think a poll is needed. Run it for 24 hours or so and go with what the majority want.

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Given a handful of people have now said they want it open, perhaps it'll be reopened. After all, a handful of people wanted it closed.

 

Good work team!

 

It would be a nice idea.......but I doubt it'll happen. Shame. Anyone got any links to forums with some football rumours? Obviously I already check football rumours so don't suggest that but any others will be welcome.

 

On a side note can we get rid of the "what films are you watching", "what are you listening to", "what are you reading" threads? Personally I like them but obviously there are some people with short attention spans and they're the people we should be thinking of.

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It was stupid to close the only thread with consistent views and comments over the summer. It was relatively interesting and the main thread on here (despite the minority that wanted it gone). It's not hard to avoid a thread if you don't agree with it, so I'm completely at a loss to see why it has been removed without a new option being available.

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As one of the posters who expressed an opinion that the "long thread was useless", I have to say I am surprised at the reaction and drama to the closing of one thread. The way some of you are going on, you'd think someone had stabbed your puppy. Right now, I'm indifferent. If this is so upsetting, perhaps the long thread should be resurrected.

 

I personally look forward to seeing the revolutionary posts of victory when the oppressed masses get their thread back.

Edited by pap
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As one of the posters who expressed an opinion that the "long thread was useless", I have to say I am surprised at the reaction and drama to the closing of one thread. The way some of you are going on, you'd think someone had stabbed your puppy. Right now, I'm indifferent. If this is so upsetting, perhaps the long thread should be resurrected.

 

I personally look forward to seeing the revolutionary posts of victory when the oppressed masses get their thread back.

 

I don't think it was really hurting anyone keeping the thread open. Why not have both options and then everyone is happy?

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As one of the posters who expressed an opinion that the "long thread was useless", I have to say I am surprised at the reaction and drama to the closing of one thread. The way some of you are going on, you'd think someone had stabbed your puppy. Right now, I'm indifferent. If this is so upsetting, perhaps the long thread should be resurrected.

 

I personally look forward to seeing the revolutionary posts of victory when the oppressed masses get their thread back.

 

And personally I was surprised that people took offence to it in the first place and it was closed. Clearly it was a popular and interesting thread and it was always possible to ignore. If anyone is being over the top then it's you - puppy being stabbed? Bit of a drama queen post really.

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As one of the posters who expressed an opinion that the "long thread was useless", I have to say I am surprised at the reaction and drama to the closing of one thread. The way some of you are going on, you'd think someone had stabbed your puppy. Right now, I'm indifferent. If this is so upsetting, perhaps the long thread should be resurrected.

 

I personally look forward to seeing the revolutionary posts of victory when the oppressed masses get their thread back.

 

It was doing no harm to you, so why complain? I'm not going to go on a thread you like and say I'm in favour of closing it simply because I don't like the quality of the posts. Surely you objecting to it was overreacting...?

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And personally I was surprised that people took offence to it in the first place and it was closed. Clearly it was a popular and interesting thread and it was always possible to ignore. If anyone is being over the top then it's you - puppy being stabbed? Bit of a drama queen post really.

 

Yes exactly. The system was working well whereby you had one big thread detailing all the overheard rumours and nonsense and a new thread was started for a player when it was a little more concrete. Now we have a situation where we are just going to get loads of tenuous stories in separate threads.

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It was stupid to close the only thread with consistent views and comments over the summer. It was relatively interesting and the main thread on here (despite the minority that wanted it gone). It's not hard to avoid a thread if you don't agree with it, so I'm completely at a loss to see why it has been removed without a new option being available.

 

I would agree with this. I enjoyed the thread greatly, it was interesting to see how the window was ebbing and flowing. It did become a cumbersome thread but that is surely what happens in a popular forum, good things grow quickly.

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There is a third way. Keep a rumours and a HCDAJU thread but non-stickied, that way it will rise to top on merit. If a particular player gathers any credence I am sure that a thread will be opened. Given that it is the silly season there are not too many active threads anyway.

 

Suggest we batch it so as not to create such a huge thread.

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It was doing no harm to you, so why complain? I'm not going to go on a thread you like and say I'm in favour of closing it simply because I don't like the quality of the posts. Surely you objecting to it was overreacting...?

 

All I did was answer a question on a thread, on-topic too. I wouldn't equate that with complaining. I seem to recall that most people on that thread were in favour of closing it, and I've already stated that I would welcome the return of this much-missed thread back into the general fabric of the SaintsWeb tapestry.

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Does this really need regulation FFS?!

 

Bizarre, frankly. Have a mega-thread - what harm is it doing? If people want to start spin-off threads then that is fine too. All this, "there's already a thread" ******** from the mods is precisely that: boll ox. Wasn't the £5 supposed to provide a forum that had the bandwidth to cope with more than one ****ing summer signings thread?

 

If someone wants to start a thread about a particular rumour, that is fine. If someone wants to post and read a consolidated rumour thread, that is fine. Just woe-betide that any such thread, of whatever hue, containeth "sarcasm" or "pointlessness".

 

It's always mental how mods on this forum will zealously jump all over anything like this but will ignore the trolling and idiocy spewed out by the more ghastly posters.

 

And there are too many sub-forums.

Edited by benjii
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