JMDP

Very much agree with the above about Hunter - insufferable is completely the right word to describe him. League shaping up quite nicely, very tight at the top. I had a good weekend, went up to Barca for their draw on Saturday evening (thought they were well worth the win), then back to the Metropolitano on Sunday. Was Atleti's most complete performance of the season. Betis were not bad at all but comfortably beaten on the day. Standouts were De Paul, Griezmann and Carrasco. The latter is genuinely one of my favourite players to watch and his goal a peach. Wanted to get to Rayo-Celta Vigo yesterday but was sold out.

Barcelona 1-1 Alaves. Apparently their lowest weekend crowd since 2001.

They are winding up all the right type of people so you have to say fair play.

Always good to see P&B do reasoned discussion when it comes to a sensitive topic. Tbf, @oaksofts porno script alone would have me getting the pitchforks out if he ever moved next door.

Had it 8-4 with the last round a 10-8. Could have legitimately been stopped I reckon. Great fight to round off a ropey night, the kid in with Smith utterly overmatached and a horrible KO and that Hatton robbery was shite too. Incredible performance from big Usyk though, would genuinely love to see a Fury fight. As @J_Stewart says, he is the only man that can beat him. It would also be a cracking build up.

RJJ & Bellew both said he lost. In Spain, there are Spanish commentators over the top - both laughed at the decision.

Genuinely one of the worst decisions I've ever seen that. The commentators on DAZN in Spain burst out laughing when it got read out, was pretty inevitable.

99th minute winner by Thomas Lemar for Atleti away to Espanyol- big 3 points and first time they have won there in 4. Atleti were shocking in first half and should have been more than one down. Simeone made a ton of changes at half time which changed the game. Koondogbia settled the midfield and pressure grew until the equaliser. On paper, it is now a very strong squad and Simeone will probably take time to work out the best way to fit everyone in - but attacking options of Suarez, Griezmann, Felix, Correa and Cunha Cunha isn't too bad. Looking forward to going to the Metropoolitano for the Porto game on Wed, will be my first game of the season and first since before COVID.

A 6 week course to produce the type of music Kanye does is one of the wildest takes I've seen on here. I'm looking forward to being to write Revolver or Is this it after a couple of guitar lessons. I think Kanye is probably the most influential musician of this century for a lot of the reasons @SANTAN put above. Every album is brilliant in it's own right and his catalogue overall stacks up against anyone else IMO. His debut was groundbreaking (nothing like Jesus Walks was getting made when he dropped it), 808's went against the grain of everything else produced at the time and MBDTF is a masterpiece. In terms of lyrics, he might not have the lyrical dexterity of someone like Wretch, but there are some amazing examples of great stuff (the sweetness of Hey Mama, honesty of Runaway, wordplay on Gone etc). The other main thing about him, I think is quite overlooked is his ability to bring the best out of others - Nicki Minaj on Monster, Chance on Ultralight Beam, Cam'Ron and Consequence on Gone, Pusha T on Runaway. His drive and work ethic pushed those around him to better things. I know it's not for everyone but I think it's hard to deny his genius and influence.

Sorry to hear pal. Thoughts with you and yours.

Under the chairmanship of Andrew Neil, The Spectator has published articles in support of the Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn, an article called "In defence of the Wehrmacht", Taki, Rod Liddle's numerous nonsense (including a piece where he said he couldn't be a teacher as he wouldn't countenance not being able to shag the students), Julie Bindel after her Islamophobia as well as numerous trans baiting articles.

No worries mate, give me a shout if you need anything else. Have you booked a train? We went up with OUIGO, easy to book on the app and generally cheaper than renfe/ave.

I was in Zaragoza with my mrs for 3 nights there and really enjoyed it. We stayed in a hotel just off Plaza de España and everything is easily walkable. Highly recommend the El Tubo area for drinks and tapas, just wandering around there the vibe is brilliant and many of the pubs have their own speciality tapas - can't mind the name but one that did Sardines and Baked potatoes as speciality was great. For a full meal, I would highly recommend Casa Lac (excellent menu del dia at 22 euros and oldest restaurant in town), El Real (great view of Cathedral, lamb shoulder was incredible, also has about 7 different San Miguel on tap) and Flor de Lis was good too as was a place called la Cocina de Keyla for breakkfast/brunch. Book tickets online for Cathedral and the Aljaferia palace - there were people getting turned away on the day when we were there. The origami museum is also really good btw.

Some great stories on this thread, mine is nowhere near as exciting. I spent a year in Sweden straight from uni as my gf at the time was Swedish. I hadn't really thought about living abroad and wouldn't have been brave enough to do it on my own, looking back that year helped my confidence no end and I changed a lot. A few years later, I was working in a job that I hated but was settled in and paid well when my brother broke his neck. He lived near London and being the only childless person in my family at the time, I went to look after him for a few months as he slowly recovered. If he hadn't broken his neck, my life would look pretty different I reckon. When down there, I retrained as a teacher and spent 8 years in London (with a year in Italy) before moving to Spain, where I've been in Madrid for 3 years. There is a lot to love about here - a brilliant lifestyle, buzzing city with plenty of mountains, countryside, etc nearby. The neighbourhood I live in has the same sense of community mentioned in a post above - I get all my shopping individually from the barrio butcher, fishmonger, fruit and veg guy, etc. My local is run by a Venezuelan guy who couldn't be nicer (he put on the Scotland-England game with ITV commentary and got in some bottles of Innis and Gunn for me). I can't see me coming home soon but I miss it massively. The major drawback is missing people, exacerbated by COVID and it being nigh on 2 years since seeing any family, especially since my parents are getting on. As much as I love the culture here, I miss Scottish pubs, going to the Albion (sometimes I will be sitting at the Metropolitano wishing it was Forthbank), square sausage and being able to just catch up with my pals anytime. I guess you have to weigh up the positives and negatives of anything - I sometimes wish I could see my mum and dad a lot more, but these are the choices I made and I try to look on the positive side of things on the whole.

State of this thread, man. Who was it that said COVID was done last summer, was it @Todd_is_God? Imagine being that guy and still posting on here!

These 2 c***s still going at it. Unsurprisingly, neither come out of it well.

The five years is so they can pay him the reduced wage over a longer period equivalent to 2/3 years on full salary. Press here saying he will most likely be off to MLS in 2/3 years but with Barca still paying him. Saul/Griezmann swap looking closer - Atleti fans not happy at all.

Baddiel is an arsehole and his apologies have always been insincere, see the one below as an example. He even managed to be racist in his recent book on anti-semitism, which is a fair old achievement. Perhaps it was. My word.

Poor content gets what poor content gets, brother.

And fair play to you @SANTAN for following it up with a meltdown of your own. Really topped off a great thread nicely.

Fair play to you @SoloXI, having read through it was a fairly good protracted meltdown!

Atletico confirm signing of Rodrigo de Paul. Fantastic signing - will probably see Saul leave though, possibly in a swap deal for Griezmann according to Spanish press.

Absolutely delighted for Rayo. Great club, brilliant place to watch a match. Shame the owners are such utter c***s. Totally agree, think this could be great business for Getafe. They have also signed Vitolo - became a bit of a joke player towards the end for Atleti but on his day can be a real asset. Looking promising for fans being in stadiums too - got an email the other day from Atleti to renew my season ticket. With a discount for missing the last few games of the covid season, it means that it will be just a touch under 400 euros for all league, cup and champs league games. Can't wait to get back.