PHILINFRANCE

I imagine their minds would be concentrated were they to default each abandoned match with a 3-0 defeat. It might tempt opposition supporters, though, to pretend to be home fans.

When I see a bird that walks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck....

Initially, a murder will, of course, be 'alleged', as in 'it is alleged that, or 'X' is alleged to', have murdered 'Y', but 'X' will eventually be charged with murder. The offence itself remains alleged, as it is yet to be tried or proven, but the charge is murder - unless I am mistaken, alleged murder is not an offence. In contrast, however, a newspaper would be open to libel proceedings were it to state that 'X' murdered 'Y' prior to 'X' being found guilty, hence the reason they state, 'X' is alleged etc.

I have only been there once; around Christmas time (Boxing Day, if I recall correctly) back in the late 1980s, when City were in what was then the Third Division. By coincidence, for hopefully we shall witness the same scenario in a few weeks time, we had just beaten Fulham at home, in the FA Cup, and we managed to get a fine 1-0 win at Craven Cottage on a very cold day in front of an extremely small crowd for a Christmas fixture. The hospitality was excellent, though: a fine lunch in a tapas bar near to Fulham Broadway and, in the evening after the match, a wonderful dinner in a gorgeous Thai restaurant, also off Fulham Broadway; The Blue Elephant - well recommended if you are in the area.

I shall endeavour to obtain a copy - quite apart from what, as you say, I am sure will be an interesting read, I should be happy to contribute to his income rather than to the numerous ‘stars’ who seem to bring out an exclusive, revealing biography every Christmas.

Unfortunately, I fear you are correct; certainly in so far as it concerns MA.

You and me both, although you and Steve would have been ten years or so before me. I well remember the games of football, though, weekends and evenings during the summer. If we got too hot, we used to go to the doctor’s surgery at the edge of the common (Dr Beddows, Meadows?) to fill up our bottle of water from the outside tap - they used to have chickens and ducks in their courtyard. I didn’t realise until after I had posted that the article was actually written a couple of years ago, by our very own @Tristan Cork no less. Well Done Tristan for an excellent article, and I don’t mind admitting I had tears in my eyes as I was reading it - so much (of the nicer parts) resonated with my own childhood, although it must have been awful for a half cast child growing up in those days knowing why his parents weren’t together.

Not my favourite newspaper, but I found this story extremely interesting and, frankly, heartbreaking. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/bristol-city-stacey-liverpool-ipswich-3287474

It is indeed, and actually involves what is known as 'land reclamation', a means by which people will now be able to walk uninterrupted between Hammersmith and Putney Bridges - previously, there was no way through and walkers had to make a detour. Judging from some of the artists impressions, this will be no run of the mill stand.

I see the episode goes on for almost two hours. Is there anybody who has watched, who is able to indicate, approximately, where Ben Foster appears talking about NP? Thanks in advance.

Firstly, I am sorry to read of your recent loss. I have enjoyed reading your posts on, inter alia, FFP and various clubs‘ financial problems (especially Derby ?), although I must say I had assumed you were a lot younger than it would seem - obviously experienced, but I just envisaged you in your 30s, ten years or so older than Mr P (another assumption). I hope you enjoy your Christmas.

As I recall, most of those ‘appearances’ were as a sub, often with just a few minutes remaining.

Still hanging on. 173/7, Buttler still there and ‘only‘ 39 overs to go.

Indeed: he’s gone from 10 to 12 and now to 14. I reckon by the time I get to the end of this thread, I’m going to read that the offending egg was hard boiled ?.

If it was the same match, and I suspect it might well be, Frank Worthington spent almost the entire warm up juggling with the ball and performing numerous tricks. I was in the Open End and remember being totally enthralled.

That is a very interesting proposition. Just think, if we were to enable trained medical staff from Europe to come and work in the UK with no restrictions, it would surely help the current labour shortage in the NHS. Perhaps we could even extend this offer to HGV drivers and other areas in which we are suffering a labour shortage; fruit and vegetable workers, nursing auxiliary staff, for instance. I wonder if anybody in Government has actually thought of that and, if so, what the response of our European friends might be. I wonder what the response of the anglophone, pro-Brexit French President might be were we to propose a simple, no tariff trade and labour agreement. Finally, I wonder how many of the tens of thousands of people who crossed the Channel in flimsy dinghies this year are suitably trained and qualified to assist our understaffed NHS, and would be more than willing to do so, but are not allowed to work (legally) so ‘disappear’ and end up working ( clandestinely, thus illegally) on building sites, in sweat shops, nail bars or, shamefully, in underground brothels.

Je l’ai eue.

To be fair, he was putting the bones on the side of his plate ?. Typical young French man, though, with his constant ‘du coup’ ?. He (Han-Noah) does come across as a very warm, pleasant young man, though. On the subject of restaurants and bones, what is your view on how to approach them? Shortly after I first arrived in France, many years ago, I was invited to lunch in quite a ‘posh’ restaurant and ordered Carré d’Agneau - rack of lamb for our non-French speaking readers. Delicious and beautifully presented, I finished by eating the remaining lamb from the bones - using my fingers. Our French host didn’t bat an eyelid, but walking back to the office my colleague said he was disgusted with my table manners. I must look it up on my friend Google, but is that frowned upon in polite company?

Forest Green, you say? Well that's not too bad, then, as there would only have been a small attendance. At least it wasn't Wembly (sic), where it would have annoyed at least 60,000 of their fans. Just imagine if your team had reached a Wembley final and the stadium announcer played the wrong record for your team 'anthem'. Oh Well, Hi Ho, it could happen to any team.

I did ask that you not be offended, but I can see from your response that you are. Not to worry, C'est la Vie, as the girls over here say when they wet their culottes - that's knickers in French. The point of my post, however, was not to mock you or to laugh at you, per se, but to highlight simply that there are, unfortunately, a large number of quack, so-called experts out there who will use whatever media outlet is available to them in order to publicise their medical pseudo-expertise, often to sell their quack products to a gullible public. Equally unfortunately, however, there are a number of media outlets and presenters who are only too happy to welcome these 'experts' on to their shows because, guess what: it improves their ratings. In normal circumstances, this wouldn't be a problem and, of course, we all had a good laugh at David Icke some years ago when he appeared on Wogan (Well, most of us) and ridiculed his nonsense. In so far as it concerns COVID, however, this is no laughing matter, and the two 'experts' I quoted were actually using the GB News station to promote an alternative cure for COVID. Now people will have their own views about GB News, but they provided a platform for a discredited cardiologist - a cardiologist, I repeat, and not a COVID expert - to suggest that their proposed treatment (essentially a special diet containing Quercetin food supplements) was an effective alternative to vaccination, a treatment that itself has been discredited. We all know that, for whatever reason, a lot of people (too many, in my opinion) are declining to be vaccinated, and I just think it is dangerous for media outlets to allow influential people, no matter what their field of expertise (if, indeed, they have any), to try and persuade members of the public to ignore real expert medical advice and to try and dissuade them from getting vaccinated, often by scaremongering.

Oh Dear, Harry. I really don't know how to say this, and Please do not be offended, but I was actually being sarcastic; taking the piss, if you like. The two so-called experts to whom I referred are not experts at all, at least not in the field of COVID and preventative medecine therefor. They may (or may not) have been experts in their own field, although this is disputed, but they are no more qualified than you or me to propose 'cures' for COVID.

Excellent, Many Thanks.

I tried to read the article itself, but it appears to be behind a paywall. Is there any possibility you might be able provide a link or, alternatively, to copy and paste it? Thanks in advance.

I can well understand how frustrating it must be for you, when people with limited or even no medical knowledge mock your experience in this field. You are not alone, however, for there are several other experts who would seem to support your views: The world-renowned cardiologist, Dr. Aseem Malhotra, Professor of Evidence Based Medicine at the Bahiana School of Medicine and Public Health in Salvador, Brazil and Cardiology MSc examiner at the University of Hertfordshire, U.K. He has even 'authored' a book, The 21-Day Immunity Plan, showing how to reduce vulnerability to disease, including COVID-19. Dr. Steven Gundry, a former cardiac surgeon, who has spent the last ten years retired from medicine and instead has spent his time writing diet books. Nevertheless, the renowned (ex) cardiac surgeon has made numerous pseudoscientific and false claims since he left the medical profession, and now earns a living selling unproven wellness treatments and recommending the Quercetin food supplements recommended in the above-mentioned immunity plan. Illegitimi non carborundum!

Unfortunately, I am not overly familiar with the meaning of various EMojis, but I suspect that your penultimate one indicates you are being sarcastic. If not, then I must respond to your post based on your final EMoji, suggesting you may have been drinking (Malbec, I seem to recall - Good for You.). For what it is worth, my experience of France is that it treats UK citizens (residing and paying their due taxes in France) very fairly indeed. I have received both my vaccines and am due my third on Monday morning - all with the minimum of fuss and injected with a smile, accompanied by the normal warm chitchat regularly afforded by most professionals with whom I have come in to contact during my years in France - I have been stopped in Police traffic controls on many occasions and, without fail, I have always been greeted with a salute and a warm Bonjour. If you are referring to the French politicians’ attitude towards England and the English, however, that is a different matter, although you should be aware that there is a Presidential election next year and Macron, in particular, needs to demonstrate his strength. But, getting back to GW, how on earth was he ever elected as an MP, let alone a Minister?