Spudulike

This might be a hoax too - trying to persuade a CFC fan not to sign up to the Bale w***-fest :-)When i said work in progress, I meant to imply that he is still developing. There's a consensus that the standard of defending last season was poorer than in previous seasons, and that should also be borne in mind when considering Bale. Bale is very good. I hope that we keep him. However, he is also very hyped and my response ^was just trying to be level-headed. He's had a very good season but, imo, there's a sense of context missing about how good he is.

Fibber - I bet you're swooning even now! :-)

I've got to concede defeat to you and Lofty - I can't discuss the rival merits of JM and AVB without feeling horribly compromised... I'll have to 'phone my mate now, to talk about birds, booze and rugby....i must forget Lofty's photos...

I'm defo not getting into a debate about who's the better looking of the two....:-)

It was v funny - particularly the 'Only Fools...' picture. Gotta say, AVB is uber cool, even in a p*** take :-)

Cool cake - will it keep until next season? (i'm trying to work out what supermarket it's in - £1.30!!!)

Thanks! I agree with you. I don't think we've yet seen him playing in a scenario when most managers have an idea how to shut his game down. In some first halves, the season just gone, he's been tightly marked and has been a lot less effective. I wonder how he'll adapt, as others increasingly 'call' his game. He has flaws (selfishness in front of goal) that mean he won't always be a popular colleague, even if he is a consistent scorer. Defo a work in progress. We need to keep him, I think, but there's no guarantee that he'll achieve what seems possible.

Ah. Good point. He also typed 'little clique' - tautology. I PROMISE I will not get involved in anymore Jaycee chats.

I've got to go now. Last thought Jaycee - for a teacher, your grammar and style is shocking, seriously.

I'd like to give you some 'advice' but I don't want to get banned...

Bloody hell - not called for. Can you not: 1. Post without being offensive?; 2. As an alternative, ignore posters you disagree with?; 3. Just calm down and be less defensive?

I swore to myself that I wouldn't respond to your bait, but I've failed... Are you seriously claiming not to be a troll? I ask because you've just implied that you'll burn the picture, if you win it. If you are not a troll, your sense of humour is warped, to be honest.

Glad you've posted this. I agree. Bale's v good but is it too soon to say he's permanent class? I think so. He is defo over-hyped, as good as he is.

It's obviously not up to me what you post. Your other posts today have not been trolling, fair play. This is a discussion forum and people are going to disagree with some of what any poster says. My point, respectfully, is that you should consider responding in a moderate tone or, alternatively, don't respond. Telling others (directly) that they are dull, know eff all, etc is a wholly bad idea. This doesn't apply solely to you, so don't think it's personal.

Jaycee - Uno was being objective and offered some good advice and you practically told him to eff off. I've no idea what you're about. Generally, debates here aren't discourteous but you're picking fights with people who tried to be fair. Prediction: you are going to get banned. Good enough too.

I hadn't noticed that...thanks for letting me know. I'd like to think it's down to my natural charm but, being realistic, it's probably more that yous Chelsea girls are so courteous :-)

Do any Shedenders have doubts about whether JM is on his way? I ask because there are threads where posters are saying 'will JM buy...' or 'who will JM sell?'. I think what I mean is, is it a done deal in effect, or are CFC close to a deal, but not home and dry?

Ah, thanks Moi. Sorry I-L-T-M.

Cfc and Spurs to one side, the JT race story f***** me off cos it felt like the media and police were being 'played' by Ferdinand, and that Ferdinand used that accusation mainly 'cos he knew how bad it would appear. It's not a CFC issue to me, it's more of a story about political correctness and what the state says we can and can't say/think. I'll have to think about the Greavsie issue....

I don't think it's an education thing, or a class thing. In the heat of an argument, you sometimes select the most obvious visual 'signature' of the person you are arguing with. At school, it was 'you four-eyed so and so' or 'you lanky ****'. This isn't to excuse what someone might have said, but it explains why it might have been said. i.e. as an automatic response and not as a racist slur (that is, without the intent to be racist).

Thanks for the invite. I'm very sympathetic to CFC but I couldn't turn my coat; been with Spuds for over 30 years now, me lad... Multiple trophy's? My heart couldn't cope - I'll settle for the next one that we win (next season?)

Just for clarity, I wasn't commenting about another poster but about the racism issue that has been rehearsed in recent posts. I should have made that clear; my annoyance is with the 'law'. If my post could be seen as laying into Jaycee, I apologise. I've read the recent pages of this thread. Jaycee is defending his point of view, fair play, and others are disagreeing with him. The exchange of views has been 'frank' from both sides of the argument. It doesn't seem to me, fwiw, that anyone is being bullied. Of course, my view of the thread is subjective (as is that of everyone else). Edit: I've just re-read the recent pages and Jaycee is using a very condescending tone with other Shedenders; not a good way to start your time on a forum.

Anyone who, after properly looking into the case, thinks that John Terry is racist, is dull as f***. I remember hearing debates on Radio 5, etc where people were conceding that the court had found Terry innocent but were saying 'yeah, but the FA say...'. I'm not saying this to appease CFC fans; it pisses me off that the Met Police spent loads of police man hours, money, CPS and court time investigating someone's alleged words, when people are beaten up, etc and the justice system doesn't seem concerned. I'm not saying that a racist incident shouldn't be investigated, just that the Police should treat other issues as seriously and that, when someone is accused of racism, we should think about the accusation before we jump on the condemnatory bandwagon.

Thanks for the info.

Two questions (I'm not following CFC closely enough to know): 1. Is RB still manager? (i.e. will he be for the US tour?); 2. Is it known, or is there a consensus, about when he might go? Wondering when news might be expected..