PunkStep

Huge clanger on my part there, and this comes from somebody that has corrected someone referring to Sam Smith as 'him' only this week. More power to them for being non binary and my point is what their pronouns and appearance are shouldn't make a blind bit of difference to other people. 

I really like Sam Smith's music, they have an incredible voice and can go from big ballad to dancefloor filler. I couldn't give a shit what they look like nor what their pronouns are and can't get my head around why it bothers some people.

Pie is fucking rubbish and annoying but I never had him down as being this cunty. Fuck him. 

I love that interview. He's one of my all-time favourite coaches but there's definitely an unhinged element there. 

Ha, just found out she's writing a book about Johnson. Of course she fucking is.

2 hours ago, Uncle Zeb said:

GBA games are only on the higher tier. But even for us basics, it's nice to see the real Tetris back on a current handheld.

And that is exactly what I've spent the last hour playing now. It's GB version or nothing for me when it comes to Tetris, so this is a nice treat. 

2 hours ago, Ironic Indie Lad said:

I am not all in on the Tears of the Kingdom hype yet. Not quite sure why as Breath of the Wild is clearly among the top games of the last 10 years at the very least. I think maybe its just difficult to get too wild over Zelda games due to the fear of delays. I will be shocked if this isnt superb though. Thinking this might be a swan song for the switch in terms of big first party titles? It's somehow closing in on 6 years.

Yeah same here. BOTW is incredible but I don't know what to make of this new game so far, struggling to understand the setting. Hyrule, but in the sky? With some bits on land? I dunno.

When it comes to 2nd Zelda releases on the same console I'm still burned from Skyward Sword, which was one of the most disappointing games I've played. Gameplay was an improvement on Twilight Princess but the game was far too short and lacked the depth of Twilight. How the fuck that got a 10 from IGN I'll never know. 

And Amr Zaki, who for about a month was the greatest striker the Premier League had ever seen. 

Absolutely, and not just English players but the teams are amongst the biggest in the world. You only need to look at where much of the Cristiano Ronaldo fanbase is for example- the following he has in the middle east and across Africa is massive, countries that don't have teams and in most cases players at the highest level. 

4 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

I often wore Inter tops

I had a Bolivia top when I was about 13, purely because it was reduced to a tenner in the local sports shop and that's all I had to spend on one. 

I went full hog though. Decided that Erwin Sanchez was their best player as he scored their only goal at USA 94 so I got his name on the back of the shirt with number 8 (he didn't even wear number 8, but Ian Wright did, so I thought that will do).

Globally, supporting a player has become commonplace over the past 10 years or so in football. For example, Mesut Ozil has a larger following on Twitter than any English club not called Man Utd.

But in this country I'm not sure it's anywhere as common. You get kids that like certain footballers, sure, but is it really that different to when we were kids? I loved Ronaldo when he burst onto the scene in the 90s, as well as Romario, Suker and curiously Fabrizio Ravanelli. My best friend's hero was Batigol. But in this country club still takes precedence amongst kids when it comes to who they support from my experience. There are more instances of player-supporters in this country than there were 20 years ago, but nowhere near the extent you see elsewhere.

Makes sense, somewhere down there in rugbyland would've been my guess. 

Some other team tried to move to Stratford before West Ham secured the Olympic stadium, so that was almost a modern example.

I don't think you can compare the culture between American and 'British' sports. The way they are followed, organised and played are vastly different.

I remember reading an article about the Hudson River Derby- which is the heated rivalry between NYC FC and New York Red Bulls that dates back as far as 2015. The article was from a few years after NYC FC were formed, and their rivalry already had its own name! That seems insane to me, but there is a genuine rivalry and who am I to deny that. But that just goes to show that in America you can manufacture some sort of passion and following pretty quickly, much like with franchises moving, whereas over here it's more organic and that's why everyone was up in arms following the Wimbledon move to MK.

Going off piste a bit, but one thing that does surprise me is how few 'new' clubs have emerged at a high level in this country, especially given the rise of post-war new towns. Most of the EFL teams are 100+ years old. You have the odd team- Stevenage in the 70s, Accrington Stanley (don't) in 1968 and Burton Albion in 1950- but that's really it. Even The Class of 92's pet project were formed in 1940. I wonder what the largest city/town in England is to have never had a team in the football league.

15 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Apart from MK Dons, have any other UK clubs moved in the modern era? As in moved "officially", rather than just changing geographic location a bit but keeping the same name?

I really, really wish they would drop the Dons part of their name. It makes no sense whatsoever. 

4 hours ago, DavidB6937 said:

Looking forward to hearing what people think on here

Same here, from the videos it looks decent. I'm a sucker for open world games and I've been looking forward to this for a while, it's also something my 13yo could really sink her teeth into as she's a big Harry Potter fan. 

1 hour ago, SuperBacon said:

Please, please, please let Chelsea be next.

There isn't a club I'd wish this on more than Chelsea, and that includes your lot. I want Boehly to cook a steaming shit pie that turns them back into another West Ham.

I reckon you should bring Poch back. 

5 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

Oh hang on, its City isn't it? We'll absolutely smash them. We always do at home.

3 hours ago, Mr_Danger said:

I hope you’re all enjoying yourselves.

Seeing as Liverpool, the people's choice and everyone's 2nd favourite team, are doing badly then of course we're not enjoying ourselves. This is a travesty!

Nunez will come good, I'm sure of it. He's 90% there. Sadly the remaining 10% is putting away chances but he's doing the hard bit. 

Pundits talking about how much they miss Mane. Sure, but not as much as they make out. Diaz hit the ground running and losing him to injury has been a huge setback. Plus it doesn't help them that Jota, who has also been brilliant for them, seems to be made of glass. 

The midfield needs addressing. Henderson is not as influential as he was, they effectively replaced Wijnaldum with a player that can't run as much (and less suited to this system) and Fabinho can't seem to manage a full season. 

But as well as this, have they perhaps reached a roadblock with their Gegenpressing style? It doesn't seem to be the most sustainable style of playing, at Dortmund it ended with a really bad season (that Klopp managed to somehow salvage when a relegation battle looked likely). It seems to take a toll mentally and physically on players. Their press has been much less aggressive this season, I don't think it's a coincidence their form has gone. Teams used to shit themselves playing them, they don't anymore. 

Going into this we are good and Everton are really shit, just like the same fixture last season. Typical.

Let's hope Spurs do us a favour tomorrow

Good god, the 3rd episode of The Last of Us. I'm not even kidding when I say that was one of the best love stories I've watched. Cried solid for about 10 mins of that. It was like the beginning of the Pixar movie Up but stretched out. 

I liked Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett before but now I love them. 

This is such a good show. I'm not even fussed about the upcoming Fallout TV series now because I can't see it being as good as this. 

1 hour ago, SuperBacon said:

"Nah its true, he's herewegoed it"

I hope you made up a story about him pissing in the water cooler and told HR

Ah, fuck. This was my first single. The less said the better. 

I think I redeemed myself on the album front though, I bought both of these in Woolworths the day after Boxing Day 1994 with some vouchers I got from my aunts and uncles:

I was already into Nirvana and had played my Nevermind tape (taped from my dad's CD) to death. Heart Shaped Box was my favourite song so In Utero was always going to be my first album after I got a CD player for Christmas. 

I can't remember why I picked CrazySexyCool, on the strength of Waterfalls and Digging On You I think, but I thought it was a brilliant album. From grunge to R&B, I always tried different kinds of music as a kid and still do. 

I don't think it does with footballers, nobody can deny what an Inzaghi has bought to the table. It's more a slight on reporters like Fabrizio Romano, who seem to report on stuff that has already been confirmed elsewhere and tap in with a 'here we go' catchphrase. Although really, it's more akin to smashing the ball in the net after the goal has been scored most of the time. 

Absolutely not, he's a twat. The Earl Hebner of football, trying to get himself over. 

4 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

Spence is the young option

I think Conte is going to get him whacked.

4 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

Something I read yesterday which I've given thought to is that Deadline Day is, and pretty much always has been a load of Sky Sports shite (Jim White and his yellow ties bollox) but that HEREWEGO nonce Romano and plebs like Ornstein have utterly ruined it. 

It's fucking unbearable. Ornstein doesn't bother me because he sticks to the handful of stories he's working on (like others) and doesn't act like a self-important cunt like that tap-in merchant HEREWEGO nonce. Romano is to football transfer reporting what Mike Dean is to refereeing and Geoff fucking Shreeves (he has now brought out his own book!) is to shoving a microphone under footballer's noses. They self fellate because a bunch of teenagers on Twitter call them 'legends'. 

Something else that really irks me is how fans seem to consider a transfer window performance as a sort of trophy in its own right, and the term 'who WON the transfer window'. Nobody won the transfer window, it's not a competition!

1 hour ago, Murtz said:

Anyone know how he's been?

Bayern letting him go out on loan answers that. I think the general consensus is that he hasn't been given as many opportunities at Bayern as he thought he'd get. Kimmich, Goretzka and Musiala are limiting his chances. 

Kaylor Navas to Forest is my favourite transfer of the window so far.