Rab D Nesbitt

Could they at least disclose that a non disclosure agreement is preventing them from disclosing anything?

Hi ManDee. I actually have a lot of time for them and having lived there for a lot of years find so many little things about them endearing and their countryside to die for. This is perhaps on an individual rather than a collective sense but even so it means there's a helluva lot of individuals there that I like. What I find frustrating however is when they ask for justification for reasons that make them difficult to like and we can reel twenty of them off the tongue they don't want to listen because it's far easier for them to just keep saying we hate them for no reason.

Hi Orion. Britain isn't a country. It's a union of four supposed "equal" partners that are treated like colonies by the bully in the playground that makes up 85% of the population but with almost none of the natural resources required to fund the interest payments on it's eye watering debt. In the context of Empire the term British is used in this instance to spread the blame instead of take ownership of it. As I've said, they're only British when it suits them.

Hi 3183. I don't think I've found myself so out of my depth about so many topics of conversation than I did when I lived there.

Nah, that's definitely a myth. Just like the one about the Irish being stupid. I had to go live there to find that out for myself though.

Hey daisy. Yeah, I'd argue that there are for sure. We'd all like to pay less tax (unless you're Warren Buffet) but lots of people still understand that this will mean less funding of public services, many of which they themselves don't need to access but will end up making society fairer overall.

Hi Orion. Self serving individuals from Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland certainly participated in the pillaging of half the planet's wealth at that time but only one government declared it their policy to do so in the name of their monarch. The word British is nothing more than a term of convenience used by the English when it suits their needs. These days used mostly when they want to lay claim to successful sports persons that hail from the other home nations. Although, they can't even be bothered to do that any more. As witnessed recently when former tennis great Sue Barker declared whilst commentating on the BBC that Andy and Jamie Murray had just sealed victory for England in a Davis Cup quarter final.

Yeah, it left me wondering who is responsible for paying for the policing and security at A League games and whether there is an agreement for only stewards and security to be present inside the ground. I think in the UK the police decide how many officers are required for an event before it can get the green light to go ahead and the home club pays for their time and resources.

Membership holders still get to attend. Looks like they've been flogged with a wet lettuce leaf by the APL. Next three home games should be played behind closed doors with all travelling support banned at away games for the same duration. I'm an ex Victory member but this needs to be stamped out now for good. Unless they're intent on kicking more own goals they also need to ensure that no state league sides introduced to any second division when it's created has any ethnic affiliation or they'll be laying the groundwork for a repeat of what just happened.

Hi old55. Having been to a fair few games in various parts of Europe I think it is actually just a small proportion of people that are responsible for the sort of scenes witnessed the other night. Although small in number they aim to cause maximum disruption baiting others to react. It’s exactly what happened at a game we played down in Geelong the other year where I know the people involved would have been mouthing off at Geelong supporters until it triggered a reaction because they do it every week. A seperate issue can be the sort of inappropriate singing that goes on be it homophobic songs aimed at Brighton fans, anti semetic ones against Spurs supporters, anti catholic ones against Celtic etc that you really don’t want your kids to hear. A lot of it is genuinely creative and funny though so again it’s the exception rather than the rule.

The GOP?

Hi OD. I said as much in my post. On the third line. That the original poster said that wasn’t the case and that I take him at his word.

Ah, that's brilliant daisy. I'd never have twigged of course because I'm not actually a Nesbitt. Sans Peur is mine which I think translates as Without Fear?

You've lost me daisy. What does this mean?

Hey Neil. My initial thought was that it was placed in a footy thread knowing the predictable reactions it would receive but the original poster says not, who I take at his word. Admin could have moved it at any time I guess but sometimes it's not a bad idea to see how a thread plays out first as you don't know where it might go. I've now learnt that I'm not patriotic because I enjoy a foreign game and should consider returning to the land of my birth for even contemplating the passion of an AFL crowd 🤦🏻‍♂️

Hi Forky. You're trying to project your reasons for not liking football into why I shouldn't like it which surely you would agree is a pointless exercise. I like both sports and enjoy discussing their similarities and differences. Quite why that seems to infuriate some people on here though I don't quite know. I understand that you don't like football and the reasons why and will under no circumstances attempt to convince you that you should like it.

You realise that 'A Grand Old Flag' is 1 minute 39 seconds long. I really hope we're all friends again by the middle of March.

We need something to keep us entertained until the next training report DubDee. Thankfully there's a lot of SPL and EPL football on over the festive period which will help fill the void (ducks for cover).

Hi Forky. It's actually quite easy to both sing and be engrossed in what's playing out on the pitch. Like walking and chewing gum or brushing my teeth while I'm taking a pee. It's interesting to see how hyper sensitive some people are to any form of criticism of our native game in this country. I've actually been told in this thread that if I didn't like the crowd noise at an AFL game to go back to my own country which is the sort of response I probably haven't heard since primary school. It's fine for someone to articulate why they don't like or understand football, but surely even they understand the futility in trying to articulate to someone else why they shouldn't enjoy it?

Yeah, it's an incredible sight if you're not used to that sort of thing. I've taken a couple of good friends back to Scotland on different occasions and we scored tickets at the away end of Easter Road for a game against Hibs. After the game (we won 4-3) we all had to wait until the ground emptied before we were all herded by a large contingent of police down a thin residential street with terrace houses lining either side for well over a mile to where all of the supporters buses were. It didn't help us because we were staying in Edinburgh and I'd parked the car back in Leith way past where the home end of the ground was. My mate, who used to think getting out of Windy Hill was hair raising was completely agog at it all. The look on his face throughout was priceless. There was no riot police though from what I remember. It's a fact that none of Rangers and Celtic, Hibernian and Hearts or Dundee / Dundee United can play at home on the same weekend in their respective cities as it would suck up all of their police resources.

Hey tilly. I would kill to see the Pack play at Lambeau Field and I'm well aware of their tailgate parties. Pre game at the Cambuslang Orange Lodge or the Loudern Tavern is pretty good too though. I saw them play down at Joe Robbie Stadium against the Dolphins and also a game between the Redskins (now Commanders) and Giants at the old RFK stadium. I've also been to the Bridge for a game. Chelsea were playing Hertha Berlin in a Champions League game and I must have been in row ZZ of the huge East Stand. Incidentally I took two Chelsea season ticket holders up to Ibrox for a title decider against the sheep sh@ggers (Aberdeen) when we had half the Dutch national team playing for us and Andrei Kanchelskis and they were blown away by the intensity of the crowd.

If it's any consolation pitmaster pretty much all of the places colonised by the above mentioned are hopeless at football. Most of the Sahel was conquered by France but you'd never really know it in a football sense. Maybe because all of their better players now have EU passports and play for Les Bleu. Haiti, Mauritius and Madagascar are also rubbish. I don't think Namibia learnt much about the round ball game from Germany although it might partly explain why Argentina have been so good since the second world war ended. As for England, Australia might be their greatest success story, along with the USA. Both late bloomers. That leaves the likes of Belize, Ghana, Canada, NZ, India, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Even the home colonies of Wales, NI and Scotland aren't very good. In a footballing sense you could say that in the English Empire the sun never sets on mediocrity. It's fair to say though that Portugal hit the jackpot.

Hi George. At the Philips Stadion where PSV play there is a railway line that goes right past the ground. Visiting fans must have tickets and board a specific train that pulls into a platform adjacent to a small corner of the ground where they walk down a tunnel into an area that is completely surrounded by netting to catch anything being thrown in or out.

Are you based in Utah by any chance David?

That we are daisycutter, that we are. Roll on March 18.