Upsetter

I'll see your movie posters and give you:

Honestly? I don't know what you're complaining about. Your own chairman stated that the delay was down to Sir Frank being in holiday, a fact that was known by Derby County when they have us permission to talk to him. In the meantime, Derby have made clear their intention. Of bringing in a replacement, whose name i forget, but who i am sure you are aware of. Seriously, I think you need to get over yourself.

It's in N17, full of Tottenham fans, and is therefore by definition, a complete and utter sh*thole.

I've just finished watching the first season of Mayans MC on BBC iPlayer. A Sons Of Anarchy spin-off, I thought it was excellent. Season 2 is due to air sometime this year, so I hear.

...inese club Dalian Yifang, SSN understands. Naughty, naughty!

From the late, magnificently great, Richie Havens, a song to lift your spirit,fill.your soul:

First off, I've got no interest at all in the rest of your post. The part I've underlined/bolder in the other hand, reflects an attitude that I'm not at all fond of. To put it mildly. Oh and I'm not here to defend Sarri either. He's gone, f**k him, as has Conte. History,. get over it. Where was I? Oh yes, "Some B comperition". Nowadays, since the demise of the Cup Winners Cup, there are a grand total of two major European trophies. And we won one of them. It's in inbred cousin to the attitude that dismisses any trophy bar the Champions League and Premier League title as Mickey Mouse, that writes off the League Cup and even the FA Cup, God help us, as second rate, scarcely worth bothering about. Spoilt brattishness at its purest.

From the Currant Bun: "Chelsea aim to announce Derby County manager Frank Lampard as their new boss before the Blues players return for pre-season training next week." Not that the hacks at the Sun are any more privy to inside info than any other journalists. But it does make sense.

Oh dear!

Breaking News: Derby have confirmed that they given permission for Chelsea to speak to Frank Lampard! Wah hey!

I've got no idea whether or not a loan extension is possible, but either way, keeping Kovacic on the books may not be such a bad idea after all. For one thing, there are any number of foreign imports who have taken time to adjust to the Premier League, and so with a first season in English football under his belt, Kovacic could well show dramatic improvements. The other major factor is of course the transfer ban. There is money available of that I am certain, but without the possibility of bringing in anyone new, forgetting for the moment, youngsters and returning loan players, in Kovacic we have a 25 year old Croatian international with his first season at the club behind him. Of course, you could simply dismiss the above as a Beggars Can't Be Choosers type argument, which would be fair enough, but on the other hand, nothing ventured nothing gained, so why not? Last but by no means least, we have a new manager coming in, odds on Frank Lampard, but whoever he may be, I wouldn't be at all surprised if an end to the turgid dross served up under Sarri brought about a corresponding improvement in several members of the current squad, including Kovacic. Now I've made a case for keeping him on, you can get your bottom dollar that he'll be back at the Bernabeu by the end of July!

But... do we really need a new translator?

If Frank hasn't been given the job by this time next week, then all I've got to say is... be afraid, be very afraid.

So this thread is about football after all? Ok then, to take the thread firmly back off topic, and for the benefit of those of you (yes YOU I'm talking to YOU) who missed the acrostic on page four, here's a little riddle wot I wrote: My first lives in Fulham but not on the Broadway My second hides in Monday and also Today My third is in Festive but stays out of Season My fourth is in New Boots and also in Panties And my last is in Yours but never in Mine. Doddle innit.

I reserve my insults for the worst of the worst (Scousers, T*tt*nh*m fans, Tories), and sad to say, my renowned temper was always something of a myth,mithter. Donald Trump. c**t or what?

Lo and behold, what do I espy? O'er land and sea, and far away From here and there and everywhere Towards who knows where, or what, or why You know who I am.

From The Telegraph: Michel Platini, the former Uefa president, has been arrested over the controversial vote which handed the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. The former France captain, who was part of the Fifa tournament organising committee, was taken into custody by French officers as part of an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Office of the Judicial Police (OCLCIFF). The arrest comes five years after the Daily Telegraphdisclosed how Platini, 63, held meetings with the disgraced former Asian football official Mohammed Bin Hammam before the vote. Platini was head of European football from January 2007, when he replaced the late Lennart Johansson, but stepped down in 2015 after being banned from football for six years, which was later reduced to four after appealing the sanction to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The Frenchman was arrested on Tuesday morning in Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris, according to French investigative outlet Mediapart. His ban by a Fifa ethics committee expired in March this year, but investigators leading the fight against corruption are examining how Qatar won the right to host the next World Cup. Qatar was controversially awarded the right to host the 2022 World Cup over competing nations South Korea, America, Australia and Japan in 2010. It was announced as host at the same time as Russia won the right to stage the 2018 tournament. Platini was on previously part of the Fifa World Cup organising committee. He also joined the Fifa executive committee in 2002 until he received his ban. In 2014, it emerged Platini admitted holding a meeting in secret with Bin Hammam days before casting his vote for Qatar. The ex-Asian Football Confederation president was subsequently banned from football for life following an investigation by the Sunday Times. A source close to Platini said at the time that he had met the Qatar football official for breakfast in a hotel in Switzerland, adding that the two men had previously met 30 to 50 times, as both sat on the decision-making committee for Fifa. However, the source insisted that Mr Platini had not met with the heads of states of countries vying to host the 2018 or the 2022 World Cups. President Putin invited Platini to a meeting, but Platini turned it down. In a letter to the Telegraph, Platini said that he found it "astonishing" that "conversations with a fellow member of the Fifa Executive Committee could suddenly be transformed into a matter of state." "I have obviously met with Mr. Mohamed Bin Hammam on many occasions in 2010 as we were both members of the same Fifa Executive Committee since 2002," Platini told the Telegraph. "During those conversations with Mr. Bin Hammam, the topic of the discussions was my potential candidature for the Fifa Presidency. Mr. Bin Hammam was indeed trying to convince me to become a candidate for the 2011 Fifa Presidential elections." The year after the vote, the state-owned Qatar Sports Investments bought Paris Saint-Germain. Platini’s son Laurent became the chief executive of Burrda, a Qatar owned sports company. Platini has always said that his son’s role was unconnected to his vote. Qatar has previously insisted Bin Hammam was not involved in its bid and denies all allegations of wrong-doing. Platini had previously called for the vote on where to hold the 2022 World Cup to be rerun if corruption is found. The Telegraph also revealed that Jack Warner, a former member of Fifa’s decision-making body Exco, received $1.6million from Kemco, a Qatari company connected to Bin Hammam. Warner and his family declined to comment when approached by the Telegraph over the alleged payment. He subsequently quit football and, in 2015, was banned for life by Fifa. Platini had been widely expected to vote for the United States. He confirmed in 2015 that he “might have told” American officials that he would vote for them. However, he appeared to change his mind after a November 2010 meeting, hosted by then-President Nicolas Sarkozy at his official residence in Paris and Qatar’s crown prince, now Emir, Tamin bin Hamad al-Thani. He has subsequently denied claims that his vote for Qatar was at the request of Sarkozy. “Sarkozy never asked me to vote for Qatar, but I knew what would be good,” he said. France’s financial prosecutor services opened the investigation on grounds of private corruption, criminal association, influence peddling and benefiting from influence peddling to the two World Cups. The multi-million pound investigation into potential corruption at FIfa has already questioned former Fifa president Sepp Blatter, who has blamed Platini for backing out of a secret “gentleman’s agreement” to award the 2022 tournament to the United States. Platini's spokesman did not respond to an approach for comment from the Associated Press. Uefa has been contacted for comment. It may well be too late (but you never know) to arrange an alternate venue for the 2022 World Cup, and knowing FIFA and UEFA there is no way in this world that they will consider cancelling the event. But even so, it is to be hoped that they (whoever they may be) throw the book at the Anglophobic bent bastard and others of his ilk. Hanging's too good for 'em.

Looks very interesting, thanks for the recommendation. I shall have to make a point of watching it on iPlayer.

Sorry but the entire situation concerning demonisation of our entire fanbase has gone way beyond the ridiculous. The Telegraph among others, are now printing a story about a flag containing "Nazi symbolism" carried by Chelsea fans outside the stadium. The symbolism in question? A skull and crossbones, as depicted on any of the Headhunters memorabilia that any mug can buy. "Oh look at me, I'm a proper hooligan I am. I genuine real honest to God Chelsea Headhunter" f**k off. As for the incident in Prague, while the chant in question was undeniably crass and inane going on utterly brainless, the media frenzy whipped up over the word "bomber" is as usual, out of all proportion to the severity of the incident. I'm still waiting for the equal furore over an Arsenal posting an image of Sikhs at Old Trafford with the caption: "Bomb scare in Manchester, I know where my investigation would start". Now I've mentioned Arsenal, I'd like to refer back to an infamous image of an Arsenal NF (National Front) flag draped over the advertising hoardings at Highbury. More recently we have the racist video aimed at Kalidou Koulabaly, This is not to excuse the actions of any genuinely racist elements among the Chelsea fanbase, but the point remains that there are many, many more examples of racism among football fans - at Arsenal and elsewhere, and yet only Chelsea have been targeted as an entire fanbase. Oh and in further reference to Dan Levene , if you're looking for "Tommy Robinson fanboys", check out "We Are The Rangers Boys", a QPR forum.

Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Margaret Thatcher, the wicked witch of Westminster. In order to mark the occasion, I present a brief musical tribute. Kicking off with The Beat, fronted by the late, great Ranking Roger, who himself passed away just the other day: Sadly the Ghoul of Grantham failed to heed the Beat's sage advice, but instead waged war in order to boost her popularity. And so here I present what is arguably UB40's finest moment: Slowing things down, ending this "tribute" with Elvis Costello - "when they finally put you in your grave, I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down": Margaret Thatcher R.I.H. - Rot In Hell

One of, if not the greatest, goalkeepers of all time, a genuine legend of the game, and by all accounts, a proper gentleman, passed away peacefully at the age of 81. Gutted as I was that we lost the '72 League Cup Final, it's impossible to begrudge Gordon Banks his only domestic winners medal. Far more famous as England keeper, he was between the sticks for England's 1966 World Cup win. And then of course there was that save, in 1970 from Pele's "perfect downward header"