Rooney

Liam, that is a very naive outlook on everything :lol: The UK's economy is because of "immigration" Leave off Twitter. There's only so much growth before you flatline. China is still going through their industrial revolution. I think if you were to look back on the British history now, we made some decisions in the 80s which paid dividends at the time, but have hampered our growth now through outsourcing and reducing becoming a manufacturing economy. And then of course the world is still reeling from the economic crash of 2008 in reality, as a lot of the decisions made post then are hampering us now. And who can forget Brexit which has made our economy even smaller, living proof the "long term" strategy doesn't work. There's the other angle that the West will cosy up to China in the short term to make up for any American shortfall to avoid tariffs. As I have already explained, America is an unreliable trade partner. You seem convinced the world will follow their blueprint, but we are currently facing the markets reacting badly to tariffs and the highest layoffs in the private sector since 2009. Add this to the absolute joke of DOGE at the moment and the uproar around slashing federal agencies.. and Musk deciding it's not his fault for the cuts. The American economy is currently underperforming and this ideology which MAGA are pushing through is unlikely to work imo.

Not sure I agree with this. I can't really see them having a Top 5/10 hit unless there is a really special song which goes viral. Suspect they might try out a stadium tour for their next tour. Easily reckon they could sell out a couple of dates at Wembley & Heaton Park/Old Trafford.

China just end up flooding the market with cheaper alternatives though. Not sure their economy is reliant on exports at all, sure that is where a lot of the main growth is. The US economy is already beginning to show signs that it is unstable. This magic "we will see the benefits in 10 years" is horseshit. The markets don't like trade wars. They don't have any plan for what they are doing that works in any form of reality. By all logical accounts, what is going on end to end across the administration is pretty unstable.

The MAGA mastermind of Tarrifs are going well. Markets fall and the administration pauses, but of coruse "absolutely nothing to do with cancelling the tarrifs, FAKE NEWS" :lol: Who'd have thought they'd be a disaster ey.

Extension of the GUTS tour with the BST show in the U.K. too. Tends to be the pattern at the moment.. artists sell their own tours before finishing off with festival headline shows.

Headliners have been known for a while, but interesting the line up skews quite young. That Charli xcx show on the Saturday will be packed to the rafters in the tent. I know The 1975 have craved doing Glastonbury again for ages. Probably likely to be their only major show this year (altho were some rumours of warmups) so that’s a good get. Interested to see what kind of show they put on as I assume new material is a little way off, although reckon they’ll drop something in June now.

Probably seen how much Starmer's approval ratings have shot up and Farage's have gone down recently :lol: There's definite criticism domestically to be handled at Starmer and rightly so, but on the international stage so far he's shown immense leadership while walking a diplomatic line with Europe and the US.

In the short term it falls down without the US, but longer term I am not sure. The US probably thinks it does as it has such a high opinion of itself but a joint European army would do fine, but it’s clear we’re a bit behind that. Who knows what’s behind the deal? Zelensky was going to sign it on Friday until things turned sour. I also think Zelensky will have taken advice from the European summit. The wording is very careful. My understanding is this isn’t actually a peace deal, it’s a mineral deal which then allows peace talks to happen. My current view of the situation is the US have washed their hands of it, but signing a mineral’s deal keeps the aid flowing and buys time for Ukraine and Europe. Peace deals take ages. It’s cowardly behaviour from the US, probably a short term win for them (although they’re kidding themselves on this minerals deal) but longer term I’m not sure how isolating themselves from their allies helps.

Europe saw this coming. But clearly they are not quite ready to support yet without America’s backing. I am just not really sure the Trump administration really get it. There’s a play to the domestic audience here, but everything is so black and white to the MAGA movement that they can’t even begin to understand grey areas.

Can't wait for Amorim to be given money. He is truly out of his depth. So thankful we swerved him.

I think like Iz says, there's a real opportunity for the UK here. Clearly we have a special relationship with the US and I do think Trump at least respects us and craves the value and probably Starmer too. I think it helps Starmer will be Prime Minister throughout Trump's term too. But there is a real soft power play here, which I think suits us domestically and internationally too and to almost be the bridge to the US. Be interesting to see how the conference goes tomorrow. Seems like Trump's blindspot and I do think he genuinely wants a deal (which he thinks makes the US money). Vance is an absolute prick though, he tried the same thing with Starmer. Would love to see how he and Putin have a debate about free speech.

I think Ukraine want to end the war, but they want America to be an ally if Russia were to ever try attacking again, which they 100% will. Europe clearly have intelligence that Russia will regroup and try again to capture Ukraine, be that in 12 months or 12 years. Agree it's hypocritical of Trump toplay the peace card whilst funding Israel. I'm still absolutely bewildered at the press conference. Part of the issue is Trump is treating this as a business deal, infact the whole administration is treating politics as a business. Not sure I can see World War 3, as I don't think Russia have the appetite for it just yet, but it is clear they are not done.

Of course they don't trust each other. Putin is clearly Trump's blindspot. And of coruse, Trump hates Zelensky for not throwing Hunter Biden A really awkwad exchange. Genuonely thought Zelensky was going to lump Vance.

Yes agreed, lots of good wins from the Trump visit. I still think the bills going up will hurt Labour though, I do think they have to find a way to get more money in to people's pockets (and probably before they stop the fiscal drag) otherwise the populism of Reform will cut through. Personally for me, I think it's hilarious how all the right wing commentators are up in arms today. Really great to see some of them throwing their toys out of the pram, as they clearly expected things to go a lot differently.

Nottingham Forest 1-1 Manchester City Brighton & Hove Albion 2-2 Fulham Crystal Palace 1-0 Ipswich Town Liverpool 4-0 Southampton Brentford 2-1 Aston Villa Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Everton Chelsea 3-0 Leicester City Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 AFC Bournemouth Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal West Ham United 2-1 Newcastle United

Looks like the US visit went quite well for Starmer. Clearly the Foreign Office have been lobbying hard and done a great job. Trump changes his mind daily (see the dictator comments) but it looks like we played to stroke his ego and drive a fair deal judging by his comments. Not sure Starmer managed to get any further on the Ukraine defence though.. Interested to see how this goes down in the wider context now. Looks like even the major alt-right critics of Starmer were struggling. Have seen a few bits about the Vance comments on free speech, which are absolutely daft.

Think that will be difficult, if we go deep in the Champions League I can really see us struggling a bit. But, an amazing position to be in. I think what is exciting is we are not a perfect team by any stretch of the imagination, so lots of room for growth too under Slot. I suspect longer term we might move to the 4-2-4 formation he's tried out a few times in the big games recently.

I get the impression Salah and Van Dijk will stay. Slot seems way more chilled. Trent is definitely off though. We'll definitely have some holes to fill in the team though, but I'd expect us to spend a fair amount in the summer.

Never want to say never, but it does kind of feel done now. Not sure I can see Arsenal even getting to 80 points at this rate - having affectively a 3 game buffer is huge at this stage. We have a nice little block of fixtures too.

Brighton & Hove Albion 1-2 AFC Bournemouth Crystal Palace 1-1 Aston Villa Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Fulham Chelsea 4-1 Southampton Brentford 1-1 Everton Manchester United 1-0 Ipswich Town Nottingham Forest 2-1 Arsenal Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Manchester City Liverpool 2-1 Newcastle United West Ham United 2-0 Leicester City

I mean they have a game in hand still! Although I agree, we would have to fall off a cliff at this point. We will drop some points. I think the difference is though, we can claw points when we're not at it, whereas not sure Arsenal have that. Midweek will be huge though - be interesting to see how they bounce back mentally. They've a tough away game at Forest!

Long way to go yet, it's amazing how things change in football. 4 days ago Arsenal were going to cruise to the title after we drew away at Villa :lol: Realistically, I think 81/82 points wins the league this year - not sure I see Arsenal getting more than 80. But we will drop points too.

Undoubtedly a good player, but think we will swerve him. Brazillians often drop off a cliff in terms of their performance levels and I think he's about 26/27. Seems tailor made for Arsenal imo, especially since he came from Athletico. Or even Newcastle if Isak gets tempted away.

Yeah a really solid album with pletnty of highs and few mehs - I feel like all of his albums are like this, but this one feels the most consistent in terms of production. Wonder when the deluexe version will be out? I reckon he might release it around the time of the St James park gigs.

Yeah Liam that "let's have a vote" is ridiculous. :lol: If we applied the same logic to everything people would say no. I think the argument that Ukraine won't win the war so they should give up is such a weak one. By that logic if any larger state invades a smaller one, should they just give up? The loss of life is pointless, of coruse it is, but Russia can't face a war forever - they are running out of money, their economy is in the tatters and they are needing to conscript new recruits. At some point they would give up and come to the negotiating table. I think what has really pissed off most people is Trump has his his small dick energy to think he could end the war in days.. peace deals take a long time to thrash out. It's not an episode of Shark Tank or Dragon's Den where you can just present an offer and its a take it or leave it.. it's why this administration will ultimately come unstuck as I don't think it is possible to run foreign policy or a state as a business. Everyone should watch that Newsnight interview with the head of MI6 (I suspect a few of us not lurching to the Far Right already have..) - clear as mud what the state of play is and what Russia see as a longer strategy post war.