GenerationA47

Naturally… all complete dross and in fact the rest of the squad’s hated by the fans because they didn’t all get in the top 3. Sara and Sargent just about pass muster. I do think Sarge and Rowe have been hard done by & without their injuries they’d have placed higher. Glad Rowe got young POTS in what’s presumably going to prove his last season here

Hideously put, to my mind Whatsapp Willy complains that Kenworth is POTS only because he’s the captain & a sweeper, then goes on to suggest eye-catching players in attacking positions should get the award instead, for doing their jobs well. No acknowledgement of his personal playing qualities, season-long consistent contribution, leadership and attitude, long(ish) service to the club, civic mayoralty in his spare time, or impressive performance in the variety of roles he’s been asked to take on

Build it, and they will come

Fair’s fare. But I’d agree with that. My prediction is we’ll be ok against teams beginning with S or playing in blue. Leeds and WBrom would be harder to call

What’s better, to answer your own question, or to pose a rhetorical one?

Good response from Herr W

Edit: apologies to Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe and above all Tettey! How could I 😭

It’s nothing like it. There was a principled and rational case for wanting VAR. In all seriousness I think there still is. It’s just we never considered the extent to which 1. VAR doesn’t eliminate the close (controversial & borderline) calls, it just reduces the number by pushing further into the margins.. mm rather then cm, etc. Purely speaking from hindsight, this shouldn’t have been too surprising (eg for those with an appreciation of real-world approximations of Xeno’s paradox!). It does mean the feeling of fallibility and insufficiency doesn’t go away 2. It does nothing to address the sense (nor the evidence) of unconscious and conscious bias in official judgements especially institutional/ cultural bias. VAR should in theory reduce the effects of personal bias but if it does, it’s unlikely to be visible. (Not least because as fans we’re such a bunch of ‘cry wolf’ addicts, any examples or effects of real referee bias gets lost in the noise.) 3. It increases complexity, adds on time (& frustration), and puts focus on the process.. whilst managing to keep it opaque to most fans in the ground. If anything, these features only highlight the increased closeness of the calls it’s making - and the perceived injustice when that comes up 4. To my knowledge, there’s no overall impression, or series of memorable examples or significant/iconic triumphs, showcasing VAR brilliance and so on. These might serve as focus points for general approval and justification. It’s mostly a series of dull, unremarkable and mostly uncontroversial decisions as with in-game referee decisions. 5. The Premier League would find such a crap way to implement it, with the least satisfactory procedure (& use of its benefits) of any league as far as I know

Wahoo. In that case my comment was for the few, not the many. Which group are you in?

Doesn’t exactly scream ‘operation ace the play-offs’

Well, you learn someone new every day! Suspect it’s over of those ‘official status’ vs ‘common usage’ situation, too. As when someone says “it’s not the Union Jack, it’s the Union Flag”*.. (* which in any case for anyone who cares, turns out also to be inaccurate pedantry, soundly debunked by the Flag Institute.** (**And I know a thing or two about pedantry!) Similar to how the Jack nickname pre-dates the invention of the jackstaff, the river arguably pre-dates the stadium 😋 Either way, it’s accurately the river end in speech, if not actually the River End on paper… If the dictionary were frozen, rather than changing with words as actually used, we might be stuck with speaking the contents of Johnson’s 1755 effort - e.g. Cana'ry. n.s. [from the Canaryislands.] Wine brought from the Canaries; sack. Fan. n.s. [vannus, Latin.] 1. An instrument used by ladies to move the air and cool themselves. 2. Any thing spread out like a woman’s fan into a triangle with a broad base. 3. The instrument by which the chaff is blown away when corn is winnowed. 4. Any thing by which the air is moved; wings. 5. An instrument to raise the fire. ^ inadvertent evidence for the historic connection between us lot + whining air movement

Looks like this has already initiated a family rowe

At the end of the day the gaffer told me to tuck in in the central zone

Which I appreciate could be my mission statement on here

My new least favourite thread! the rebel in me keeps clicking on Ignore. Now I’m adding to the dross Somebody help