Genuine Hibs Fan

Six Nations 2023: Johnny Sexton insists he will be fit for Ireland's France game - BBC Sport Feels like every year there's an instance of Ireland saying "no Johnny definitely did NOT have a HIA he does NOT have concussion thank you".

By my count Duhan beat 8 men for his two tries - unreal player. Bonus point win away in England without playing particularly well and 2 of your most important players missing? Win against Wales and who knows from there. Get it done GT

Would work better than the original plan of sprinkling those players through the super 6 clubs (is awful in football though)

Just listening to the Thistle podcast and I think someone has stolen the excel I made and posted here about our back row options in the summer to argue we should drop Jamie Ritchie

The inevitable British tweeification of American culture war topics has arrived. I have a soft spot for some of the more recent BBC4 comedy (Fags Mags and Bags, Cabin Pressure) but by God

What is it the true sense of the word to you? And how does it allow them to deflect? Do you think that if the MP in question had publicly described Israeli government policy as vile and racist she would have had a different response from the press and the party? For me I don't forsee any meaningful difference in the response, and if that is what she (imo rightly) believes I don't see how lessening the force of that message would assist her. I don't really see how this is a tactical (given there is no way to avoid being monstered by the LP or the press by being honest about the Israeli government) or factual (unless you argue that a political movement can not be defined as fascist until it has gained a permanent hold of power and purged alternate political views, which negates fascism being an ideology at all really, which is obviously false) error.

Wait till you find out the lib dem policy on self id

What is your specific concern with describing the Israeli government, whose finance minister described himself as a fascist and is run by Bibi whose ideology and policy tracks pretty closely in many ways to what BN has linked above, as fascist? (again, you are the only person to make reference to Nazis here) Please don't repeat again some variation that people should not use these terms "lazily" (with which I agree). What is your material issue with the use of the word fascist in this particular instance?

Those guys are going to make me bat for Michelle Mone fml

Number 9 shirt sitting empty and Hoppe takes 13, the yank football mindset is incredible. Also, always knew he was a "character" but had no idea how mental Stack was

More Linehan stuff that I CBA linking to but apparently there is a pretty large number of older, LGB alliance types who are trying to claim that the word "queer" is a vile slur even when used by young LGBTQ people, as they were not around when it was a popular slur. Seems very very strange to me, and kind of ties in with something I've seen discussed on the radfem side of the TERF movement where their conception of that part of their identity is wrapped up completely in a darker past which they feel that younger people (young LGBTQ people and young women are overwhelmingly, based on my experience and polling I've read, completely bewildered by most anti-trans stuff) don't appreciate enough. I think the UK is now somewhere where generational politics is completely ingrained, on the culture war and economic issues there's a complete disconnect of how people see and experience the world between generations, even within the same identity groups. Not to say that in this case all or even a majority of older feminists or gay/lesbian people are like the mentalists in Linehan/Rowling's mentions

They seem to be retaining the Eddie policy of pretty much leaking important details beforehand, Tuilagi not expected to start, Smith - Farrell - Marchant midfield apparently.

Can never know with Sutherland but I've a feeling the TH situation means they are just trying to make sure that at least Berghan will be coming on alongside folk he trains with regularly. Could be bad defensively, yeah, but this is a big opportunity and the selection has made me very hopeful that Townsend is finally getting over the risk aversion which has held us back (imo) over the last few years. Would be very fitting as it was the 6N before the last world cup that he went the other way, from very attacking to cautious. For me a big benefit of an attacking centre partnership is that it puts a lot less pressure on Hogg to be involved so frequently in attack, letting him pick his moments more often and feed off other people's breaks. I think the sluggishness of the pack that's out could hamper our attack a bit, as you've said, but circumstances dictated some of that and if the first priority for our locks is fix the lineout that's again held us back for a while then Richie and Gilchrist are probably right to get the nod. Could see this going anywhere from Scotland by 7-10 to England by 20, not sure the effect Borthwick could have had in the time he's been given.

The pack is certainly *interesting* but looks like Fagerson and Watson haven't made it. Worried about Nel but excited for Crosbie.

I've always quite liked Curtis main. Runs about and bumps into folk and scores pretty much every kind of goal within the box (including two excellent ones tonight) but is like 5-8 extra goals a season from being really good at this level. He'll have a hard time again soon enough but glad he's doing well. Terrific b*****d behaviour tonight too ETA Mark O'Hara is like the midfielder version of that as well.

A valiant effort mate but that's an L for yourself and for Aberdeen there

So this is the squad for the rest of the season. Red text = probably won't see any more of them this season Question mark = injured but it's unclear for how long Highlighted = players I think most fans would agree will either be too old/shite/unhappy/never available/on loans we're unlikely to be able to renew or sign permanently by the end of the season. Add/remove McGeady, Tait, Hauge, Kenneh as you like It's ehm not very good is it. And that's the team I'd hope we retain for next year (? = may not be able to keep/make loan permanent/ may not be worth it due to injuries/ may not want to stay as a squad player if we upgrade/others may think are too shite to persevere with) - probably harsh on McGeady as he doesn't look his age pace-wise. It's ehm not very good is it. Happy with the GKs, blood Johnson in the cups and bring in a random jobber to help with training. Happy enough with the forwards (massive caveats over us being able to keep 3/4 of the senior players ) - 2 good out and out CFs, 2 exciting youngsters to back them up and 2 good wide players who can cover centrally as well. Probably want at least 1 very good wide player. Defence and midfield is essentially the same thing we've been saying since about 2017 and 2018 respectively, it needs completely rebuilt. Probably need 3 out of 4 starting defenders, plus additional CBs. Happy enough with Magennis and Campbell as options as a box to box/10 type midfielder who gets goals in the box, a type of player that's really effective in this league and we rarely seem to have. Jeggs and Kenneh are I guess an OK couple of options as screening midfielders but I wouldn't be too chuffed if either plays a lot. Imo we need 2 or 3 additional midfielders who are either aggressive/smart players off the ball but can also pass more than 5 yards or playmaker types to replace Newall; with a couple of Newall, Tait etc leaving. So essentially 5 or 6 starters, plus 3 or 4 good squad players, required in the summer; and a lot of unattractive players to move on. New DoF will be busy...

That's the team for me. Honestly think you have to go and attack this England team, hence the centre partnership (I'd have Harris alongside Kinghorn on the bench) but if I was actually in charge would probably go more conservative as I suspect Townsend will. Ashman at 2 as he throws the best arrows for me, and Richie as England will probably field 3 or 4 lineout options and he's the best hope of consistent clean ball. Could be a good time to go for a 6-2 split as well, protect Watson on his return and get Crosbie in the match day squad as he looks to be really effective at the moment.

It's very funny that there's still a lot of people out there who don't know that in large parts of the world you can get knock offs of trendy branded clothing for a fiver at a market stall

Think Trossard and Jorginho is relatively good business for arsenal. With Trossard Vs Murdyk you're signing someone who is proven quality in the league, for non-stupid money, and not immediately engulfed in a racism storm. Caicedo would have been great but at 70 mill? Jorginho's won a lot and is a very decent midfielder to be bringing on. If they're looking for guys to close out a title race rather than build for the next one, which is really what you should be doing in their position in January, they've done well

What might it say about a country that a foreign dignitary can say this on a mainstream news channel without being worried it was a PR disaster, and be right? What might it say if a random punter calling out this government behaviour for what it is could lead to the UK's vile mainstream press branding them a dangerous racist, cheered on by the sensible liberal establishment and the people in charge of the ostensibly left of centre political party. That is, if they can divert themselves from a moral panic which has seen violent attacks on the targeted group well on the up.

Working on it!

Nothing has ever put me off a podcast more than when I tried to introduce my Dad to the Terrace, which I had listened to for c.8 years and really enjoyed at that point, and he pointed out that none of the panel on that episode could get a sentence out, and I just can't stop noticing it now. He seems a really nice lad and knowledgeable but Duncan McKay chairing yesterday's podcast and struggling to get two consecutive words out cleanly, deary me. Craig and Shaughan on the Lower Leagues is still enjoyable but I barely listen at all anymore. Feel like it went from being a fun podcast made by 4/5 folk who were clearly pals, to a more professional, really good show, to a rotating cast of guys who are pally on twitter with not much really worth listening to.

It's me, I'm the good male role model.

@ICTChris can't find your post about Morrisey and being famous for stuff he did as a teenager fucking him up, but was thinking of it when listening to QAnon Anonymous' ManClan (v good series you'd like on masculinity gurus that they're doing, only on their patreon feed but you could probably get it through some stream if you really wanted) episode on Andrew Tate. They were talking about how people often seem to be crystalised at the moment they became famous, but that if that were the case then Tate must have become famous when he was 14 as that's the only way to describe his mental age based on his output - the "I have machetes all over my house" in particular is something no one but a teenage boy would think was cool.