Rooney

Mbuemo is a good signing, one massive fee though. Feel Brentford have got a very good deal there. Interested to see how it works out.

The crowd were pretty mixed. Loads of young people there though. Just think it would have been a good opportunity for another band- although the whole vibe is nostalgia.

The whole "can't get 16/17 year olds vote" is fecking ludacris. So it's legal for them to have sex and bring a child in to this world, but they're not trusted to vote 🤥 Please make this make sense.

The whole striker market is bonkers, it's why prices are high but you can always sell them on too. Look at Nunez for example. Never seen him play, but apparently he is an Isak clone.

Saw then last night and they were ace. I wish the support acts were a bit better though rather than a nostaliga trip to the 90s. Feel like they could have got a big indie band like Fontaines or Blossoms to support. Liam sounds as good as he has done for a while, not sure it came through in Cardiff, but his voice is definitely starting to really go. Didn't do any long notes at all. Thought the sound set up was really good at Heaton park, had heard terrible things but no issues where we were. Drinks prices were also reall reasonable.

You can't really compare US vs UK salaries though. Yeah you earn more in the US and you might be able to make more money in the middle class, but there's no such thing as a work life balance, 10 days holidays and the cost of everything is relative to over there too. Rent, transport is all way more expensive. Wage growth certainly hasn't happened as it should have though. And unfortunately with the housing bubble there's not a great deal that can be done imo unless you crack down on property developers and short term holiday letters. "Re-setting" the housing market means you plus millions of people in to potentially negative equity for those who have bought. Imo within the State function either something has got to give or we need tax rises. The latter are inevitable at some point.

I agree. I think it's easy to point to certain levels of standard living, I think the issue is governments kept house prices so high leading to the current housing mess we have now, plus of course the whole 'let's all have a property empire' mantra, which I see less of these days, but still happening. We have a problem where nobody wants tax rises, have a huge level of Government debt and we want to support everyone in the State.

Really enjoying this now I've listened a few times, I think the quality tails off towards the end, but the first half is really strong. Kind of feels like a male SZA album with real sprinklings of MJ throughout. Agree there is no massive hit single here though unless one of the songs manages to go viral somewhere. I quite like some of the interludes where they address his recent media troubles.. I always hark back to listening ti Liam Payne on a few podcasts where he says he'd love to sit down with Justin Bieber to discuss his experiences during those 2011-2015 years. I feel like the Scooter Braun split completely passed me by as well.

You don't spend £80m on a back up striker though. Ekitike is only going to come somewhere he will be first choice, he left PSG for that exact same reason. Saudi are back in the Nunez, Newcastle big for Ekitike and Liverpool make a play for Isak - none of those moves are coincidental. Newcastle also want Trafford for £40m, don't think they are spending £200m net this summer. I think whatever happens will happen fairly quickly, so we'll see within the next 7 days I reckon.

The journalists are a day or two behind on the story, same thing happened with Wirtz. Newcastle weren't spend £80m on Ekitike without selling Isak. Of course Newcastle don't want to sell, but with all of this story there will be a huge amount of PR involved. They could sell him this year, spend a load of money to reinvest in the squad and get out of their PSR troubles, or they can chance it and hold on to him. Who knows.

Those approval rates show how hard it is going to be for any government going forwards.. everyone wants massive state handouts but we have no means of funding it. Think until a government levels with the public and takes the heat it's going to be hard work. But it's a lose lose situation really as Reform and the Tories will promise the earth if Labour ever do that. So all in all, we're fecked.

I thought that too up until a month ago. I think there’s a huge chance it gets done.

We need a striker. Nunez is off and not fancied by Klopp. The Isak stuff has been rumbling for weeks, I was a sceptic weeks ago but I genuinely think it’s most likely on. At the moment it’s PR in the media. And as for Diaz, the issue Liverpool have at the moment is we don’t want too much change. We probably think we can rinse Bayern and we don’t need/want to sell as we’ll be pretty limited in attacking options.

Real's problem is in this current era you can get easily out worked. You can usually afford one player who doesn't press or track back, but not two. Maresca said the game was won in the first 10 minutes. Just goes to show how helpful PSG being able to constantly rest their team for the high intensity was in the Champions League!

Yes of course they will, I'm expecting a lot of hyperbole. PSG are a really good side, but they're not the greatest team ever which I've been reading out. There's obvious weakenesses in there which all the Premier League teams they played in the CL exploited at times. Palmer's great when he's on form, but when he's not on it Chelsea are terrible.

It's just flirting though. The show would be boring if there's not drama. It's why Harry has been fun to watch this series, he's literally not given a damn. Plus I suspect the producers have been telling the boys not to close things off early.

But this is kind of my point - the album chart barely gets any traction or sales with streaming. And half of the current albums chart is dominated by bands from the 70s and 90s! Clearly the public still love a band and we have had massive bands in the past, but there's noone since the mid 00s that have really hit that giant spot. The 1975 possibly, but as much as I like them, I'd question whether they could do a multi date stadium tour.. certainly could probably do Dua Lipa's level though.

We have good bands - Sleep Token, Bring me the Horizon, Wolf Alice, Fontaines D.C - but none of these acts have crossed over to the mainstream - compare that to the 00s - Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, The Killers etc. be unlikely for any of them to have a hit single now (ok maybe Coldplay) but will sell out stadiums and can headline any festival and be a huge draw. I class Linkin Park as a stdium band, they are pretty huge. You know but looking back at these huge nostalgia tours - Oasis. Blur, Fleetwood Mac (not gonna happen but you know), Guns n Roses.. feels like we have a massive musical cultural gap with longevity! I feel you could possibly apply this to even solo artists as well to some degree.

I don’t think it’s anything to do with politics. The music industry has always been full of nepotism, whether you’re a band or an artist. Can argue that up until recently that was more artists than bands, but not sure I agree too much. Even with some of the acts listed above, I just don’t see it. If you think of the huge nostalgia wave and cultural impact I don’t think we’ve had a band for a while. Even a band like Sleep Token- they’re never going to headline Glastonbury on the pyramid stage. Huge gap for a band which has some form of cross cultural appeal. It is weird as like you say, evidently this music is still popular but seemingly it’s nowhere near the charts, and thus nowhere near the mainstream!

Now in the sense of bands.. I mean the traditional sense. Interesting topic to bring up and has been a trend for many years. Clearly the UK public love a band.. just look at Oasis on their current mega tour. The every year you can have the a mix of bands from the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s selling out stadiums and headlining festivals. But with the album chart practically a token gesture at this point and the huge trend for solo artists.. just where have all the bands gone? The current trend of music seems to create stars for 2-3 yeards (if that) before the next artist comes along. Can't think of any band post pandemic who have made a gigantic mainstream breakthrough. possibly Fonatines D.C. but it really did make me think where is the next generation of festival and stadium bookings coming from if the TikTok trend continues.

His wages are insane though and Italian clubs are notioursly cheap. Whereas the other examples will be on much lower wages so an easier sell. Funniest thing for me is Garnacho was told he has no future at the club, yet here is rocking up to pre-seaosn training as well.

If you get rid of them, the series is basically finished. I don't think any of the girls came across well with their comments- but one of them recognised that they were all as bad as each other. This is the first series I can remember in ages where girls actively dislike each other. Not really sure Dejon has done anything wrong either. Part of why I think Love Island has become so stale at times is people couple up and within 2 weeks they're closed off and one partner gets insanely jealous. I get the jealously angle, but the posessive nature is mad.

I really wish we had an Arsenal fan on here 😁😂 #notomadueke Silly season is well in effect at the moment, loads of bonkers deals happening with average players. Forest kicking off because someone bid the money for a clause they put in the contract.. going to be a fun few weeks.

I don't think much can be done, seems its an admin error from Palace and certainly a warning for future multi ownership clubs.

Justice was about 21-22 tracks I think with the deluexe versions. Reading a bit more about this and whose rumoured to be producing, seems like a real mix, but definitely expecting way more Trap/Rap vibes. Convinced this will either be insanely good or a piece of shite. Read that this is more a set up for a Pop album in 2026. Wonder if he was trying to get out of a contract with Def Jam?