You've taken me a little out of my depth I'm afraid. Overall our historical systems have served us well, but I wouldn't necessarily assert their superiority - it would after all be a bit odd if others hadn't spotted that if it were true. What perhaps was once true, and perhaps isn't now, is that we had the people that could make the system really work. Perhaps though it has always been such.
Its not actually that deep. One very good example is the issue of the independence of a jury and the principle of Habeas Corpus which resulted from the case of William Penn (and the associated Bushel case) in 1670. It is easy to read up about but the ramifications within the sphere of common law countries are profound. It is a terrible indictment of our age that so few people are aware of how individual cases such as this can make such a fundamental difference to all our lives.
I do genuinely believe that for an individual the Anglophone systems are far superior. Some of the biggest problems we are seeing with them today are as a result of the influence of other systems including those propagated and promoted by the EU.
The United Kingdom meets the definition. Its component parts do not. Even the most voluble outbursts of whisky-inspired ravings will not change that.
The mistake is all yours. You do realise that it is largely Brit Nat bampots that write those Wikipedia pages, don't you.
The Scottish people and their state have, thus far, chosen to remain members of the United Kingdom. But they can change their minds whenever they like. That is the very essence of sovereignty.
You do not understand the concept of a sovereign state.
You do not understand the concept of a sovereign people.
Look back to my original post on this thread, the one that you disputed. Now blush beetroot and don't waste my time any further.
Your pomposity rating just went off the swingometer.
Usual claptrap from a cybernat - shown to be talking utter rubbish, so you take refuge in abuse.
What are we to conclude from the collapse of Man Utd? Alex Ferguson was a genius who turned mediocrity into gold, or Moyles is a moron who has turned gold into mediocrity?
Or a mild mixture of both?
Rowed w tim about this
Moyes was massively over rated
In charge of a big club that spent reasonably big
Never won a Cup Never qualified for Champions League Group stages Played boring football to boot
The United Kingdom meets the definition. Its component parts do not. Even the most voluble outbursts of whisky-inspired ravings will not change that.
The mistake is all yours. You do realise that it is largely Brit Nat bampots that write those Wikipedia pages, don't you.
The Scottish people and their state have, thus far, chosen to remain members of the United Kingdom. But they can change their minds whenever they like. That is the very essence of sovereignty.
You do not understand the concept of a sovereign state.
You do not understand the concept of a sovereign people.
Look back to my original post on this thread, the one that you disputed. Now blush beetroot and don't waste my time any further.
Your pomposity rating just went off the swingometer.
Usual claptrap from a cybernat - shown to be talking utter rubbish, so you take refuge in abuse.
ThuD, you're a great opponent of "ethnic nationalists". Do you think PB's Swedish citizen and resident speaking for "us Scots" is acceptable or appropriate ?
Theres a NEW diplomacy game up - it is great fun, the password is OGH to join. Come one, come all. Me and Lucian Fletcher (DJDave1979) have joined as unfortunately the last one has been turned from a great battle of misorders and stabs to a bad situation as a player has surrendered in a very viable position.
What are we to conclude from the collapse of Man Utd? Alex Ferguson was a genius who turned mediocrity into gold, or Moyles is a moron who has turned gold into mediocrity?
Or a mild mixture of both?
Rowed w tim about this
Moyes was massively over rated
In charge of a big club that spent reasonably big
Never won a Cup Never qualified for Champions League Group stages Played boring football to boot
Only got the job because he's a Jock
Also, Ferguson probably knew that the team was running out of steam, that their period of dominance was over, and he knew there wasn't really the money available to buy a new team. That's why he was talking about there being no value in the transfer market last year. Still, at least they've kept Rooney happy
What are we to conclude from the collapse of Man Utd? Alex Ferguson was a genius who turned mediocrity into gold, or Moyles is a moron who has turned gold into mediocrity?
Or a mild mixture of both?
Rowed w tim about this
Moyes was massively over rated
In charge of a big club that spent reasonably big
Never won a Cup Never qualified for Champions League Group stages Played boring football to boot
Only got the job because he's a Jock
Also, Ferguson probably knew that the team was running out of steam, that their period of dominance was over, and he knew there wasn't really the money available to buy a new team. That's why he was talking about there being no value in the transfer market last year. Still, at least they've kept Rooney happy
ERM, they've just spent £37m on one player with rumours of a £150m war chest this summer.
What are we to conclude from the collapse of Man Utd? Alex Ferguson was a genius who turned mediocrity into gold, or Moyles is a moron who has turned gold into mediocrity?
Or a mild mixture of both?
A bit of both. Ferguson left at the right time, they over-performed winning the league and had certain areas rather weak (notably central midfield). Towards the end some of his thinking was fairly short term.
Moyes has come in, spent big, and utterly failed to fill those holes. the stopgap players are a year older and they're being exposed.
Politically (following Machiavelli) I think we should conclude that Ferguson recommended Moyes because he knew that he'd fail.
The only insight this provides is that football managers, even the best, are woeful at politics - even I can work it out. Of course it'll take the football press 25 years to even toy with the concept,
Theres a NEW diplomacy game up - it is great fun, the password is OGH to join. Come one, come all. Me and Lucian Fletcher (DJDave1979) have joined as unfortunately the last one has been turned from a great battle of misorders and stabs to a bad situation as a player has surrendered in a very viable position.
What are we to conclude from the collapse of Man Utd? Alex Ferguson was a genius who turned mediocrity into gold, or Moyles is a moron who has turned gold into mediocrity?
Or a mild mixture of both?
Rowed w tim about this
Moyes was massively over rated
In charge of a big club that spent reasonably big
Never won a Cup Never qualified for Champions League Group stages Played boring football to boot
Only got the job because he's a Jock
Also, Ferguson probably knew that the team was running out of steam, that their period of dominance was over, and he knew there wasn't really the money available to buy a new team. That's why he was talking about there being no value in the transfer market last year. Still, at least they've kept Rooney happy
ERM, they've just spent £37m on one player with rumours of a £150m war chest this summer.
We'll see. If you don't qualify for the CL next year, you'll probably barely be able to service your debts! Still, like I said, you've kept Rooney in grannies for the next 5 years
What are we to conclude from the collapse of Man Utd? Alex Ferguson was a genius who turned mediocrity into gold, or Moyles is a moron who has turned gold into mediocrity?
Or a mild mixture of both?
Rowed w tim about this
Moyes was massively over rated
In charge of a big club that spent reasonably big
Never won a Cup Never qualified for Champions League Group stages Played boring football to boot
Only got the job because he's a Jock
Also, Ferguson probably knew that the team was running out of steam, that their period of dominance was over, and he knew there wasn't really the money available to buy a new team. That's why he was talking about there being no value in the transfer market last year. Still, at least they've kept Rooney happy
ERM, they've just spent £37m on one player with rumours of a £150m war chest this summer.
We'll see. If you don't qualify for the CL next year, you'll probably barely be able to service your debts! Still, like I said, you've kept Rooney in grannies for the next 5 years
What are we to conclude from the collapse of Man Utd? Alex Ferguson was a genius who turned mediocrity into gold, or Moyles is a moron who has turned gold into mediocrity?
Or a mild mixture of both?
Rowed w tim about this
Moyes was massively over rated
In charge of a big club that spent reasonably big
Never won a Cup Never qualified for Champions League Group stages Played boring football to boot
Only got the job because he's a Jock
Also, Ferguson probably knew that the team was running out of steam, that their period of dominance was over, and he knew there wasn't really the money available to buy a new team. That's why he was talking about there being no value in the transfer market last year. Still, at least they've kept Rooney happy
ERM, they've just spent £37m on one player with rumours of a £150m war chest this summer.
We'll see. If you don't qualify for the CL next year, you'll probably barely be able to service your debts! Still, like I said, you've kept Rooney in grannies for the next 5 years
Mr. Jessop, any particular reason behind your Ferrari/Renault prediction, or is it a gut feeling? [Which is fine, of course. I made my early (and small) Rosberg/Magnussen bets partly on gut feeling].
What are we to conclude from the collapse of Man Utd? Alex Ferguson was a genius who turned mediocrity into gold, or Moyles is a moron who has turned gold into mediocrity?
Or a mild mixture of both?
A bit of both. Ferguson left at the right time, they over-performed winning the league and had certain areas rather weak (notably central midfield). Towards the end some of his thinking was fairly short term.
Moyes has come in, spent big, and utterly failed to fill those holes. the stopgap players are a year older and they're being exposed.
I know received wisdom is that Utd team that won the league last year wasn't all that, but is it true?
They only lost the title the year before in the last minute of the season, and even then on goal difference
Multiple spiral # sounds a bit nasty, particularly if the dominant arm. LRI majors is one of the busiest in the country, but part of the problem is that it was built for 100k attendences a year and gets 160k. No free beds at the LRI either at present so putting extra beds on wards.
I am used to it I suppose, but last year was worse!
Mostly the absence of an NHS crisis is due to the warm wet weather. Fewer frosts and far fewer orthopaedic admissions. Good news really, this global warming is great, should have got it started years ago!
Some of the other actions have been good with the NHS reforms also, but mostly it was the weather.
By the way, I'm not sure the Tories should really take it as good news that there wasn't an NHS crisis this winter. Virtually everyone agrees that, with the rapidly deteriorating financial state of the health service, a winter crisis is inevitable at some point, so the fact it didn't happen this time only increases the chance of it happening next winter, which would mean it will be a very live issue in the minds of voters at the election itself (a bit like how Jim Callaghan looked on course for comfortable election win at the end of the 1970s before the winter of discontent happened at the most inopportune time....).
Fox, I was in your neck of the woods last night, LRI A&E Majors-absolute chaos! I had to take my elderly neighbour who had a fall. Turns out he has multiple spiral fractures in his arm. The staff were mostly superb, but really, there did seem a point at which they were almost overwhelmed.
Mr. Jessop, any particular reason behind your Ferrari/Renault prediction, or is it a gut feeling? [Which is fine, of course. I made my early (and small) Rosberg/Magnussen bets partly on gut feeling].
The Renault situation has consistently been worse than they've admitted over the last month, and I don't expect a single Renault to finish the Australian grand prix unlapped.
The Scottish government is trying quite hard to abolish the Court of Session and the Faculty of Advocates now. Their new court bill proposes a privative jurisdiction restricting Court of Session Outer House and the Commercial Court to cases worth more than £150K. If passed in that form they may well have effectively abolished Scots law as a separate jurisdiction as well.
It is really bewildering.
Forgive me for asking David, I bow to your expertise on all matters Scottish, but where is the jurisdiction going? I assume to the Sheriff, who will continue to apply Scots law? Anything else would surely be outside the legislative competence of the Parliament by virtue of para. 1 of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998?
Sorry for the delay. Been eating my tea and depressing myself watching United.
Basically jurisdiction is being passed to the Sheriff Court. This causes several major problems. Firstly, the Sheriff courts cannot cope with their existing business and it is very common to turn up at great expense only to be told there are insufficient sheriffs available. Secondly, because of the first, you get a day or two at a time so cases take much longer and cost much more. Thirdly, the quality of sheriffs are highly variable. Most have little or no experience of commercial matters and spend their time dealing with summary crime.
Most fundamentally of all though, is that Scotland is a very small jurisdiction with a fairly general bar with modest levels of specialisation. If the available work is not concentrated in one place there is no realistic prospect of developing specialist judges or advocates that can keep Scots law going as a viable entity. We frankly struggle already given the much, much larger jurisdiction beside us which is becoming ever more dominant.
It just seems bizarre to me that an SNP government is so determined to undermine and ultimately to destroy Scots law. It will see me out but our years as an independent jurisdiction are frankly numbered. There is really no chance of a coherent body of law being maintained under these new rules.
The weird thing is just HOW bad this Man U team have suddenly become. It's not like they've dropped a gear, or slowed by a couple of yards; they've gone from EPL winners to lacking any pzazz, style, passion, talent, positivity or commitment in six months.
That must be Moyes. Players and teams don't get that bad that quick, without some outside agency f*cking with their heads.
Difficult to think of a manager that takes over from a long serving legend that hasn't failed.
Maybe Liverpool had it right in the 60s, 70s and 80s by promoting from within
ThuD, you're a great opponent of "ethnic nationalists". Do you think PB's Swedish citizen and resident speaking for "us Scots" is acceptable or appropriate ?
Entirely acceptable and appropriate. It annoys PB Unionists which is a virtue in itself.
N.b. F1 spotters will have noticed that the alleged Alonson 336 kph top speed was actually a transponder error, and Ferrari are currently running 25kph slower than the Merc powered cars. I'm sure they could turn it up, but I'm also sure they'll find lower reliability when they do.
Mr. Maaarsh, I do expect a significant attrition rate in Oz. One of the bets I'll be eyeing will be classified finishers. Not something I usually consider, but I'd be unsurprised if half the field dropped out.
On POWER: I haven't been paying attention to top speeds (cheers for the info, though, and I'll try and check the speed trap info during Australian practice) but the rumours remain that the Mercedes if 100-150bhp ahead of the Renault. Probably not as far ahead of Ferrari, but still a good amount.
I hope if the Mercedes is top car that Rosberg and Hamilton can maintain their friendship. Brawn helped manage some tricky situations, and they're missing him this year.
This is really very bad. One of the worst performances in Europe since Jemini*
*For the unaware, the Jemini were our Eurovision entry in 2003, and got nul points, and were lucky to get nul.
Things might look grim now, but Moyes has committed that rain or shine, they'll be in European competition next year, even if he has to write the song himself.
Mr. Maaarsh, I do expect a significant attrition rate in Oz. One of the bets I'll be eyeing will be classified finishers. Not something I usually consider, but I'd be unsurprised if half the field dropped out.
On POWER: I haven't been paying attention to top speeds (cheers for the info, though, and I'll try and check the speed trap info during Australian practice) but the rumours remain that the Mercedes if 100-150bhp ahead of the Renault. Probably not as far ahead of Ferrari, but still a good amount.
I hope if the Mercedes is top car that Rosberg and Hamilton can maintain their friendship. Brawn helped manage some tricky situations, and they're missing him this year.
Basically, it's the Mercs then everyone else way behind on top speed right now. That 100-150 bhp will just be the two ers elements - I'm sure by mid-season the Renaults will have them working with some semblence of functionality, but anyone who thinks you can miss this much running and not be forced to cut every corner going is living in la la land. Even if everything is magically fixed on Thursday, they're a month behind and there's no time to catch it back.
The Max Hastings WW1 programme is somewhat disappointing he spends lots of time recounting events and not enough analysis on what the players options were. I hope Niall Ferguson is more interesting on Friday.
And yet, in spite of all that, the Tories are still behind in the polls. Doesn't that tell you something?
Yes, it tells you that irrational prejudice dominates over everything else in politics, alas for the country, as many may discover if we end up with PM Miliband.
Zero hour contracts and the plantation economy.
LibLab pretend to think it's a bad thing while doing everything they can to make it worse. Con do everything they can to make it worse and don't even pretend to think it's a bad thing.
Entirely rational prejudice and they deserve every bit of it.
... I do genuinely believe that for an individual the Anglophone systems are far superior....
I do too, but it's an irrational belief. Not necessarily wrong for that, but certainly I'm not surely right.
I'd also observe that we don't have quite the arrangements that we think we have. Mostly this is at Europe's door, but not always.
I don't believe it is an irrational belief given the starting point which is that the legal and political system should always be concerned with serving the individual not the state. On that basis the Common Law systems are far superior to their continental counterparts in their ability to limit the power of the state.
But I agree some of those protections are being eroded by our membership of the EU and by successive post war governments seeking to extend their powers.
Mr. Maaaarsh, the engine stuff is double-edged for Renault. They both lack the power and the reliability of the Mercedes.
Not a single point has been lost, but I do hope Red Bull are hampered. I want some new winners. And if one engine must be best the Mercedes is the one I'd pick. At the minimum we'll have a Hamilton-Rosberg duel, with the potential for McLaren and even Force India to score many podiums. Plus, Williams must be delighted.
Angela Merkel ready to offer Britain limited EU opt-outs
Berlin's stance revealed before chancellor's visit and compromise is likely before possible referendum
Angela Merkel is prepared to grant David Cameron special assurances in a revised EU treaty to ensure that the interests of Britain and other non-euro members are protected in the European single market.
In a sign of the lengths the German chancellor is prepared to go to to ensure Britain remains in the EU, authoritative sources in Berlin say Merkel is also prepared to grant "limited opt-outs" to Britain and to ensure that EU regulations are enforced in a more flexible way.
What are we to conclude from the collapse of Man Utd? Alex Ferguson was a genius who turned mediocrity into gold, or Moyles is a moron who has turned gold into mediocrity?
Or a mild mixture of both?
Both. Moyes was a huge mistake. They needed a winner. Moyes has never won anything. It was never going to be easy but Moyes has got the club in a position where attracting the level of player they need is going to be extremely difficult.
Well the first 20 years I was a United supporter didn't have too much glory. Looks like the next 10 won't either.
One of the worst Man U performances I've seen in two decades. Moyes looks wounded, maybe fatally.
A fascinating insight into the importance of The Right Leadership.
The English sides in Europe are looking pretty poor,especially the defending,come on Chelsea to break our duck in Europe,should be better on the defensive side if john Terry playing.
I made my early (and small) Rosberg/Magnussen bets partly on gut feeling].
MD, for the first season in many I've not backed Rosberg - he's cost me too much I guess, but also he's somewhat too short to be attractive. Partly too I can't watch F1 these days. Literally as I type this I've backed Ricciardo, although it's only a token stake, 55 quid currently.
I made my early (and small) Rosberg/Magnussen bets partly on gut feeling].
MD, for the first season in many I've not backed Rosberg - he's cost me too much I guess, but also he's somewhat too short to be attractive. Partly too I can't watch F1 these days. Literally as I type this I've backed Ricciardo, although it's only a token stake, 55 quid currently.
Mr. Omnium, not a bet I'd make, to be honest. Not entirely sure how good I think Ricciardo is, but I suspect Vettel will crush him.
Is the 'can't watch' due to Sky, or the 9 races that composed the rather repetitive Vetteliad at the end of last season? One or two races I frankly would've skipped without my regular articles, but many were fantastic.
Rosberg's a top driver, I feel. This could be his chance.
Also, I'm amused (and slightly depressed) that your token stake is vastly more than what I'd consider a large stake.
Mr. Jessop, any particular reason behind your Ferrari/Renault prediction, or is it a gut feeling? [Which is fine, of course. I made my early (and small) Rosberg/Magnussen bets partly on gut feeling].
It is a wildly uneducated and ill-informed gut instinct. My thinking is based on the past performance when engines were homologenised in 2007, and the vast learning curve the teams are going through. Renault and Mercedes will be getting so much more data on the engines compared to Ferrari because more teams use their engines. And all these engines are thoroughly in there-be-dragons territory: the teams hardly know or understand them yet. The more data that is received, the more trust the teams have, and the more the teams will use the engines to a maximum.
There is a related issue: you learn a great deal from a failure. If all three engine types are equally likely to blow, then Renault and Mercedes will spread them around more than the Ferrari powered cars (8 each for R/M versus 6 for F). This means they get more data and a steeper learning curve. But in this case, steeper is good. And if the failures are evenly spread, then Ferrari-powered cars will get disproportionately disadvantaged - each driver will have a third more failures.
Also remember that a top and mid-level (Red Bull and Lotus) teams use Renault engines, and the FIA will want these to do well. Expect people (and even potentially rival teams) doing everything in their power to ensure those two teams are at least modestly competitive. Expect all teams and engine manufacturers to have massive changes ready by the first European race, in Spain (the 5th of the season). Changes are much easier done in Europe than on flyaways.
ISTR that's what happened in 2007, when the Mercedes engines were not as good, and there were (cough) a few 'reliability' enhancements done that improved horsepower. The other teams were then allowed to catch up.
Mr. Jessop, that's fair enough. The only point I'd slightly disagree is on information to date. I think Lotus have been present for just 3/8 days, so Renault don't have much more info than Ferrari. Ferrari (like Mercedes) also has the advantage of an engine *and* a team.
Have to say, current prices for Red Bull and their drivers are utterly mad, and based on an irrational over-rating of their ability to prosper under these new rules, based solely on their success under the old rules.
Their single biggest differentiator has been taken away under this rules change, so I wouldn't have them ahead of the Mercs or Ferrari even without the extra catostrophic problems they've faced with the power unit.
Without adequate testing running their brake by wire system is going to be antediluvian compared to the competition for the first few races, and by the time they catch up the competition will have moved ahead again.
There have been dominant teams since F1 began and they've always been knocked off their pedestal after a while. Being the best team at blowing defusers is worth very little now, and certainly nowhere near enough to compensate for a near total lack of pre-season testing, even if we imagine they're going to be able to hit full power on the engine by a week on Sunday (which is extremely unlikely).
Angela Merkel ready to offer Britain limited EU opt-outs
Berlin's stance revealed before chancellor's visit and compromise is likely before possible referendum
Angela Merkel is prepared to grant David Cameron special assurances in a revised EU treaty to ensure that the interests of Britain and other non-euro members are protected in the European single market.
In a sign of the lengths the German chancellor is prepared to go to to ensure Britain remains in the EU, authoritative sources in Berlin say Merkel is also prepared to grant "limited opt-outs" to Britain and to ensure that EU regulations are enforced in a more flexible way.
That's very interesting. I hope some of the more enthusiastic europhiles on here that said Germany wouldn't negotiate have taken note.
This is probably an opening move by Merkel. The offer is very light at the moment. An opt-out on working long hours in the NHS and extra flexibility on 'lifestyle' regulation just isn't going to cut it.
IMHO, Cameron needs to secure at least one piece of red meat to stand a good chance of both holding the Conservative party together and winning a referendum. This really needs to be one of three things: ECHR/human rights/justice, immigration concessions or CAP reform/EU rebate. He also needs something on finance regulation vs. The City.
Actually, call me cynical, and it wouldn't surprise me if this was part of a UK/Germany planned opening move by Merkel, so Cameron can then be seen publicly to 'bid up' the German offer, prior to a public signature of a deal-in-principle, accompanied by lots of flashing cameras and pre-briefed journalists.
@md: Yes, almost certainly right. I've backed Vettel for the last 3 years and done ok therefore, but the big plus has been Rosberg and he's flattered to deceive. What I would say though is that Schumacher didn't shine against him and therefore my contention that it's the machine and not the man is boosted.
My Vettel winings (very small) are merely a token embarrassment to the theory.
The letter to John Downey mysteriously freeing him from any danger of prosecution over Hyde Park was not an error.
Those letters were cleared via multiple people before sent.
As it is, whether the letters should have ever existed is one debate. The other is why letters were ever needed. There are plenty who never got one who are pretty much immune from prosecution thanks to politicians making deals.
Have to say, current prices for Red Bull and their drivers are utterly mad, and based on an irrational over-rating of their ability to prosper under these new rules, based solely on their success under the old rules.
Their single biggest differentiator has been taken away under this rules change, so I wouldn't have them ahead of the Mercs or Ferrari even without the extra catostrophic problems they've faced with the power unit.
Without adequate testing running their brake by wire system is going to be antediluvian compared to the competition for the first few races, and by the time they catch up the competition will have moved ahead again.
There have been dominant teams since F1 began and they've always been knocked off their pedestal after a while. Being the best team at blowing defusers is worth very little now, and certainly nowhere near enough to compensate for a near total lack of pre-season testing, even if we imagine they're going to be able to hit full power on the engine by a week on Sunday (which is extremely unlikely).
What are we to conclude from the collapse of Man Utd? Alex Ferguson was a genius who turned mediocrity into gold, or Moyles is a moron who has turned gold into mediocrity?
Or a mild mixture of both?
A bit of both. Ferguson left at the right time, they over-performed winning the league and had certain areas rather weak (notably central midfield). Towards the end some of his thinking was fairly short term.
Moyes has come in, spent big, and utterly failed to fill those holes. the stopgap players are a year older and they're being exposed.
I know received wisdom is that Utd team that won the league last year wasn't all that, but is it true?
They only lost the title the year before in the last minute of the season, and even then on goal difference
To some extent it's subjective.
Glancing at a few statistics you can point to them conceding a lot more goals than they had previously.
Anecdotally (and this is very anecdotally since I don't watch a whole lot of football, but based on what little I've seen, and friends who watch more) I think their midfield controlled games a lot less (and had a much shakier defence, with Vidic and Evra aging fast) but got away with it by having enough of a real cutting edge to outscore teams.
Now they seem to lack the cutting edge (and why I don't know, that may be Moyes) and so the lack of control and defence is coming through.
I'd bow to closer watchers but that's how I'd see it.
What are we to conclude from the collapse of Man Utd? Alex Ferguson was a genius who turned mediocrity into gold, or Moyles is a moron who has turned gold into mediocrity?
Or a mild mixture of both?
A bit of both. Ferguson left at the right time, they over-performed winning the league and had certain areas rather weak (notably central midfield). Towards the end some of his thinking was fairly short term.
Moyes has come in, spent big, and utterly failed to fill those holes. the stopgap players are a year older and they're being exposed.
I know received wisdom is that Utd team that won the league last year wasn't all that, but is it true?
They only lost the title the year before in the last minute of the season, and even then on goal difference
To some extent it's subjective.
Glancing at a few statistics you can point to them conceding a lot more goals than they had previously.
Anecdotally (and this is very anecdotally since I don't watch a whole lot of football, but based on what little I've seen, and friends who watch more) I think their midfield controlled games a lot less (and had a much shakier defence, with Vidic and Evra aging fast) but got away with it by having enough of a real cutting edge to outscore teams.
Now they seem to lack the cutting edge (and why I don't know, that may be Moyes) and so the lack of control and defence is coming through.
I'd bow to closer watchers but that's how I'd see it.
Last season they slept walked their way to it. City imploded with Mancini, Chelsea were a nightmare with Benitez and Arsenal, well enough said.
This year RVP doesn't want to be there, Vidic has already said he is out the door and the dangerously thick Ferdinand is way over the hill. They need rebuilding, Wilf McGuiness is the man for the job!
When Ecuador adopted the dollar in 2000 in a desperate bid to restore stability, one economist likened it to a fat woman buying a dress two sizes too small in the hope that it would make her slim.
Alex Salmond, Scotland’s first minister, has drawn similar derision for suggesting the country could opt unilaterally to use the pound, in the absence of monetary union after a vote for independence.
@michaelsavage: Len McCluskey calls on Miliband not to form Lib-Lab coalition & helpfully says Labour's union reforms will hand Unite more power #newsnight
Comments
I do genuinely believe that for an individual the Anglophone systems are far superior. Some of the biggest problems we are seeing with them today are as a result of the influence of other systems including those propagated and promoted by the EU.
'claptrap', 'cybernat', 'utter rubbish', 'whisky-inspired ravings '.
Moyes was massively over rated
In charge of a big club that spent reasonably big
Never won a Cup
Never qualified for Champions League Group stages
Played boring football to boot
Only got the job because he's a Jock
http://www.playdiplomacy.com/games.php?subpage=pending&msg=18
Theres a NEW diplomacy game up - it is great fun, the password is OGH to join. Come one, come all. Me and Lucian Fletcher (DJDave1979) have joined as unfortunately the last one has been turned from a great battle of misorders and stabs to a bad situation as a player has surrendered in a very viable position.
Still, at least they've kept Rooney happy
Moyes has come in, spent big, and utterly failed to fill those holes. the stopgap players are a year older and they're being exposed.
The only insight this provides is that football managers, even the best, are woeful at politics - even I can work it out. Of course it'll take the football press 25 years to even toy with the concept,
Mr. Jessop, any particular reason behind your Ferrari/Renault prediction, or is it a gut feeling? [Which is fine, of course. I made my early (and small) Rosberg/Magnussen bets partly on gut feeling].
They only lost the title the year before in the last minute of the season, and even then on goal difference
Multiple spiral # sounds a bit nasty, particularly if the dominant arm. LRI majors is one of the busiest in the country, but part of the problem is that it was built for 100k attendences a year and gets 160k. No free beds at the LRI either at present so putting extra beds on wards.
I am used to it I suppose, but last year was worse!
I'd also observe that we don't have quite the arrangements that we think we have. Mostly this is at Europe's door, but not always.
Basically jurisdiction is being passed to the Sheriff Court. This causes several major problems. Firstly, the Sheriff courts cannot cope with their existing business and it is very common to turn up at great expense only to be told there are insufficient sheriffs available. Secondly, because of the first, you get a day or two at a time so cases take much longer and cost much more. Thirdly, the quality of sheriffs are highly variable. Most have little or no experience of commercial matters and spend their time dealing with summary crime.
Most fundamentally of all though, is that Scotland is a very small jurisdiction with a fairly general bar with modest levels of specialisation. If the available work is not concentrated in one place there is no realistic prospect of developing specialist judges or advocates that can keep Scots law going as a viable entity. We frankly struggle already given the much, much larger jurisdiction beside us which is becoming ever more dominant.
It just seems bizarre to me that an SNP government is so determined to undermine and ultimately to destroy Scots law. It will see me out but our years as an independent jurisdiction are frankly numbered. There is really no chance of a coherent body of law being maintained under these new rules.
Maybe Liverpool had it right in the 60s, 70s and 80s by promoting from within
Remember it took nearly four years for United to win their first trophy under Fergie.
I hope he is given as long to survive.
The fact he has a six year contract is a good omen, which I pray he will see out in full.
Dan Walker @mrdanwalker 1m
This is really very bad. One of the worst performances in Europe since Jemini*
*For the unaware, the Jemini were our Eurovision entry in 2003, and got nul points, and were lucky to get nul.
On POWER: I haven't been paying attention to top speeds (cheers for the info, though, and I'll try and check the speed trap info during Australian practice) but the rumours remain that the Mercedes if 100-150bhp ahead of the Renault. Probably not as far ahead of Ferrari, but still a good amount.
I hope if the Mercedes is top car that Rosberg and Hamilton can maintain their friendship. Brawn helped manage some tricky situations, and they're missing him this year.
Basically, it's the Mercs then everyone else way behind on top speed right now. That 100-150 bhp will just be the two ers elements - I'm sure by mid-season the Renaults will have them working with some semblence of functionality, but anyone who thinks you can miss this much running and not be forced to cut every corner going is living in la la land. Even if everything is magically fixed on Thursday, they're a month behind and there's no time to catch it back.
(via @DavidCarefull)
We never win anything these days.
LibLab pretend to think it's a bad thing while doing everything they can to make it worse. Con do everything they can to make it worse and don't even pretend to think it's a bad thing.
Entirely rational prejudice and they deserve every bit of it.
But I agree some of those protections are being eroded by our membership of the EU and by successive post war governments seeking to extend their powers.
Not a single point has been lost, but I do hope Red Bull are hampered. I want some new winners. And if one engine must be best the Mercedes is the one I'd pick. At the minimum we'll have a Hamilton-Rosberg duel, with the potential for McLaren and even Force India to score many podiums. Plus, Williams must be delighted.
Berlin's stance revealed before chancellor's visit and compromise is likely before possible referendum
Angela Merkel is prepared to grant David Cameron special assurances in a revised EU treaty to ensure that the interests of Britain and other non-euro members are protected in the European single market.
In a sign of the lengths the German chancellor is prepared to go to to ensure Britain remains in the EU, authoritative sources in Berlin say Merkel is also prepared to grant "limited opt-outs" to Britain and to ensure that EU regulations are enforced in a more flexible way.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/25/angela-merkel-concessions-britain-eu-nhs
Well the first 20 years I was a United supporter didn't have too much glory. Looks like the next 10 won't either.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=veKx_gJavuw
I'll get my coat.
Is the 'can't watch' due to Sky, or the 9 races that composed the rather repetitive Vetteliad at the end of last season? One or two races I frankly would've skipped without my regular articles, but many were fantastic.
Rosberg's a top driver, I feel. This could be his chance.
Also, I'm amused (and slightly depressed) that your token stake is vastly more than what I'd consider a large stake.
There is a related issue: you learn a great deal from a failure. If all three engine types are equally likely to blow, then Renault and Mercedes will spread them around more than the Ferrari powered cars (8 each for R/M versus 6 for F). This means they get more data and a steeper learning curve. But in this case, steeper is good. And if the failures are evenly spread, then Ferrari-powered cars will get disproportionately disadvantaged - each driver will have a third more failures.
Also remember that a top and mid-level (Red Bull and Lotus) teams use Renault engines, and the FIA will want these to do well. Expect people (and even potentially rival teams) doing everything in their power to ensure those two teams are at least modestly competitive. Expect all teams and engine manufacturers to have massive changes ready by the first European race, in Spain (the 5th of the season). Changes are much easier done in Europe than on flyaways.
ISTR that's what happened in 2007, when the Mercedes engines were not as good, and there were (cough) a few 'reliability' enhancements done that improved horsepower. The other teams were then allowed to catch up.
YouGov/Sun poll tonight - Labour lead up one to six points: CON 33%, LAB 39%, LD 10%, UKIP 11%
Their single biggest differentiator has been taken away under this rules change, so I wouldn't have them ahead of the Mercs or Ferrari even without the extra catostrophic problems they've faced with the power unit.
Without adequate testing running their brake by wire system is going to be antediluvian compared to the competition for the first few races, and by the time they catch up the competition will have moved ahead again.
There have been dominant teams since F1 began and they've always been knocked off their pedestal after a while. Being the best team at blowing defusers is worth very little now, and certainly nowhere near enough to compensate for a near total lack of pre-season testing, even if we imagine they're going to be able to hit full power on the engine by a week on Sunday (which is extremely unlikely).
English football is going UKIP....
All out of Europe.
This is probably an opening move by Merkel. The offer is very light at the moment. An opt-out on working long hours in the NHS and extra flexibility on 'lifestyle' regulation just isn't going to cut it.
IMHO, Cameron needs to secure at least one piece of red meat to stand a good chance of both holding the Conservative party together and winning a referendum. This really needs to be one of three things: ECHR/human rights/justice, immigration concessions or CAP reform/EU rebate. He also needs something on finance regulation vs. The City.
Actually, call me cynical, and it wouldn't surprise me if this was part of a UK/Germany planned opening move by Merkel, so Cameron can then be seen publicly to 'bid up' the German offer, prior to a public signature of a deal-in-principle, accompanied by lots of flashing cameras and pre-briefed journalists.
I know what's going to happen in the next few months...
Off to find what odds Moyes is for next Spurs manager
My Vettel winings (very small) are merely a token embarrassment to the theory.
@maaarsh :Higher hopes.
The letter to John Downey mysteriously freeing him from any danger of prosecution over Hyde Park was not an error.
Those letters were cleared via multiple people before sent.
As it is, whether the letters should have ever existed is one debate. The other is why letters were ever needed. There are plenty who never got one who are pretty much immune from prosecution thanks to politicians making deals.
I do think Pochettino at 25/1 as next manager of Spurs is great value.
Damn you Victor
http://www.oddschecker.com/football/football-specials/tottenham/next-permanent-manager
Glancing at a few statistics you can point to them conceding a lot more goals than they had previously.
Anecdotally (and this is very anecdotally since I don't watch a whole lot of football, but based on what little I've seen, and friends who watch more) I think their midfield controlled games a lot less (and had a much shakier defence, with Vidic and Evra aging fast) but got away with it by having enough of a real cutting edge to outscore teams.
Now they seem to lack the cutting edge (and why I don't know, that may be Moyes) and so the lack of control and defence is coming through.
I'd bow to closer watchers but that's how I'd see it.
time Olympiakos beat
MUFC
was in 350BC. It was
2-1. Aristotle &
Plato for the Greeks.
Giggs scored
the consolation for
UTD
This year RVP doesn't want to be there, Vidic has already said he is out the door and the dangerously thick Ferdinand is way over the hill. They need rebuilding, Wilf McGuiness is the man for the job!
Nick Sutton @suttonnick 2m
Wednesday's Daily Mail front page - "What a sick joke" #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers
pic.twitter.com/D7q5XxO74m
Picamoles, Fofana, and Nyanga all out of France vs Scotland.
(Fofana and Nyanga injured, Picamoles dropped for disrespecting referee).
Still lean towards France winning, but Scotland +8 doesn't look too bad value-wise (imho).
Says Lucian Fletcher of this parish is active in 17 games at the moment.
Pardon me Andrew if one came to that conclusion after 4 front pages on the same subject!
Man U will never win anything again!!!!!!!!!!
Nick - keep enjoying the retirement you know you will never be an MP again!!!!!!
Disgraceful sentence,the thug should have got life.
Johann Lamont looks really weird and does very strange things with her hands. A lot rests on her lifting her game in all this.
http://www.playdiplomacy.com
Regsiter then search for game number 77399
PB 2014 Mk2 Password: OGH
All welcome ! Come one, come all - 4 spots left to fill up.
The rules are dead easy - I'm a complete addict at the moment tbh so like Lucian I'm in a ... few games...
Unsure how to link to the game tbh
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/25/harriet-harman-daily-mail-smear-inept
They'll keep growing, but overtaking ice hockey will come first, probably in the 2020s
They should also change their season to compete with baseball/ice hockey rather than NFL and College football.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/25/harriet-harman-apology-daily-mail-paedophile-smears#history-link-box