New signing today

[Royal With Cheese]

I'd just like to Clarify. I don't think the Irish are British

As someone who's now lived in Northern Ireland for 8 years I challenge you to go to the Rangers Supporters Club on Sandy Row and espouse your clarified views. You may find they don't agree with you - as will more than half the population of the province.

That is if you're actually old enough to go in a public bar in the first place.

[SpaceCruiser]

Yes Spacey, it's all that nasty Mr Wenger's fault.

Oh, yeeeeees!

[nivek elyod]

I'd just like to Clarify. I don't think the Irish are British

As someone who's now lived in Northern Ireland for 8 years I challenge you to go to the Rangers Supporters Club on Sandy Row and espouse your clarified views. You may find they don't agree with you - as will more than half the population of the province.

That is if you're actually old enough to go in a public bar in the first place.

Yes, but 95% of the population in Ireland (including Northern Ireland) would get slightly annoyed if you even implied that they were in any way British. At all. Understandably, given their history...

[papereyes]

I'd just like to Clarify. I don't think the Irish are British

As someone who's now lived in Northern Ireland for 8 years I challenge you to go to the Rangers Supporters Club on Sandy Row and espouse your clarified views. You may find they don't agree with you - as will more than half the population of the province.

That is if you're actually old enough to go in a public bar in the first place.

Yes, but 95% of the population in Ireland (including Northern Ireland) would get slightly annoyed if you even implied that they were in any way British. At all. Understandably, given their history...

Just because someone is prepared to hurt you over an opinion, does not make them right

[Hampshire Royal]

their better health and social care is currently bankrupting the country, causing mass unemployment and is the exact reason that the french voted for the right wing sarcosi

I lived in France for a while, and your opinion that France's shaky economy is caused by their system of solial care is, quite simply, wrong, and your assertion that the election of the right-wing and plainly nasty Sarkozy will cure it is, again, simply wrong.

The real reason why the French economy is suffering is because they are not using their immigrant population (mainly North African) to the best advantage. Being a largely racist society, they consider the N Africans to be almost sub-human and will stop them taking decent jobs and housing, therefore causing strain on an excellent Social Care system. I know a number of well-educated, intelligent French Arabs who simply cannot develop as they would like, not because they're unwilling to work, but because they're never given the opportunity. Given the number of Arabs in the country, try and spot one in the police, or in Politics, or on TV. You wouldn't run out of fingers counting them. It frightened me when Le Pen tried to get elected by saying that the economy was ruined by the number of Arabs living in France and implying that it was their fault. The French couldn't bring themselves to vote for an overt Nazi and so voted for a Nazi in centre-right clothing. He will spend a fortune in breaking a symptom of their malaise, rather than curing the cause.

As for cheese, I now live in Switzerland and their cheese (Gruyere, Fontal, Emmental etc) is the best in the world. Their wine is fast becoming as good as the wines from the rest of the World, I live in the Canton of Fribourg near the border with Vaud and the place is covered in vineyards.

[nivek elyod]

I'd just like to Clarify. I don't think the Irish are British

As someone who's now lived in Northern Ireland for 8 years I challenge you to go to the Rangers Supporters Club on Sandy Row and espouse your clarified views. You may find they don't agree with you - as will more than half the population of the province.

That is if you're actually old enough to go in a public bar in the first place.

Yes, but 95% of the population in Ireland (including Northern Ireland) would get slightly annoyed if you even implied that they were in any way British. At all. Understandably, given their history...

Just because someone is prepared to hurt you over an opinion, does not make them right

Not every anti-British Irish person was in the IRA, you know...

[papereyes]

I'd just like to Clarify. I don't think the Irish are British

As someone who's now lived in Northern Ireland for 8 years I challenge you to go to the Rangers Supporters Club on Sandy Row and espouse your clarified views. You may find they don't agree with you - as will more than half the population of the province.

That is if you're actually old enough to go in a public bar in the first place.

Yes, but 95% of the population in Ireland (including Northern Ireland) would get slightly annoyed if you even implied that they were in any way British. At all. Understandably, given their history...

Just because someone is prepared to hurt you over an opinion, does not make them right

Not every anti-British Irish person was in the IRA, you know...

Because that clearly follows in a logical progression.

[Royal Jelly]

I might (more than likely) be wrong again, but I though the whole reason Ireland was split was that the majority in Ulster wanted to remain part of the UK, not part of the ROI?

Isn't that still the case?

And pointless trivia time (what else have we got to talk about for the next few months) is anyone else surprised that the most northerly part of Ireland is in fact part of the ROI, not Northern Ireland, or am I just ignorant?

[papereyes]

I might (more than likely) be wrong again, but I though the whole reason Ireland was split was that the majority in Ulster wanted to remain part of the UK, not part of the ROI?

Isn't that still the case?

And pointless trivia time (what else have we got to talk about for the next few months) is anyone else surprised that the most northerly part of Ireland is in fact part of the ROI, not Northern Ireland, or am I just ignorant?

No, its that county that loops round over Western Northern Ireland.

[Ian Royal]

I am against a foreigner managing the national side, yet a Scot, or a Welsh or Irishman would be fine by me. They are one of the "home" nations.

I can't see why having Fergie managing England would be any better than having Wenger of Mouriniho to be honest.
I don't think it makes any difference where they were born - if we had won the WC under Sven no one would have discussed his nationality.

For what it's worth I have no idea where this concept of being 'local' comes in. It's all about language. The likes of Andy Bernal, Marcus and Convey fit in really easily becasue they speak our language - just like Doyle, Hunt and Long. Players like Sonks, Bikey and Cisse are obviously 'different' in a number of ways.

I personally think that the manager of the national side should be picked under the same rules as the players, I'm willing to make a concession for Home Countries managers who arn't English as we share a common heritage for the main part and our national identities have been very closesly linked for hundreds of years. (not necessarily in good ways)

In much the same way, I have no problem with foreign players in the team/squad, provided there is a substantial number of Home nations players as well. At the very least a quarter of the first team squad should be from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland or Northern Ireland preferably more. Certainly no Premiership team should represent any foreign nation more strongly than a home one, prefereably England. I think the same goes for all leagues.

We have a special situation in the British Isles as Welsh teams play in the English League system , Wales and Ireland don't have leagues of anywhere near the standard of the top footballing nations, and Scotland have 1 division with about 4 noteworthy teams.

[Ian Royal]

I'd just like to Clarify. I don't think the Irish are British

As someone who's now lived in Northern Ireland for 8 years I challenge you to go to the Rangers Supporters Club on Sandy Row and espouse your clarified views. You may find they don't agree with you - as will more than half the population of the province.

That is if you're actually old enough to go in a public bar in the first place.

Of course the Northern Irish are a different kettle of fish and can be whatever they want to be as far as I'm concerned.

[SpaghettiHoop]

Fishist

[brendywendy]

their better health and social care is currently bankrupting the country, causing mass unemployment and is the exact reason that the french voted for the right wing sarcosi

I lived in France for a while, and your opinion that France's shaky economy is caused by their system of solial care is, quite simply, wrong, and your assertion that the election of the right-wing and plainly nasty Sarkozy will cure it is, again, simply wrong.

The real reason why the French economy is suffering is because they are not using their immigrant population (mainly North African) to the best advantage. Being a largely racist society, they consider the N Africans to be almost sub-human and will stop them taking decent jobs and housing, therefore causing strain on an excellent Social Care system. I know a number of well-educated, intelligent French Arabs who simply cannot develop as they would like, not because they're unwilling to work, but because they're never given the opportunity. Given the number of Arabs in the country, try and spot one in the police, or in Politics, or on TV. You wouldn't run out of fingers counting them. It frightened me when Le Pen tried to get elected by saying that the economy was ruined by the number of Arabs living in France and implying that it was their fault. The French couldn't bring themselves to vote for an overt Nazi and so voted for a Nazi in centre-right clothing. He will spend a fortune in breaking a symptom of their malaise, rather than curing the cause.

As for cheese, I now live in Switzerland and their cheese (Gruyere, Fontal, Emmental etc) is the best in the world. Their wine is fast becoming as good as the wines from the rest of the World, I live in the Canton of Fribourg near the border with Vaud and the place is covered in vineyards.

well agree to differ
i will continue to believe that their high central government spending and resistance to change(the kind of difficult change that M thatcher(spit) forced through in the 80s, is causing their economy and national strength to ebb away whilst they strike for better pay and less hours.

i had a course near geneva last year, and was surprised by the huge number of vineyards around and about
and teh cheese werent bad either, lovely place

[Hampshire Royal]

Where was your course, bw?

[brendywendy]

Where was your course, bw?

stayed in divonne-les-bains on the french side of the border.

but travelled into nyon (on lake geneve) every day
lovely place

never really considered switzerland in the summer but its a beautiful place for a holiday

[Slightly Hungover]

My wife has family in Switzerland and I've been over with her a few times. Absolutely fantastic place, beautiful in both summer and Winter, but for different reasons.

I quite like the idea of living there for a couple of years, but it's a bit far from the Mad Stad

[Ian Royal]

My wife has family in Switzerland and I've been over with her a few times. Absolutely fantastic place, beautiful in both summer and Winter, but for different reasons.

I quite like the idea of living there for a couple of years, but it's a bit far from the Mad Stad

well when we're in Europe

PS did you know Switzerland is the only European Country without a head of state.

[bobby m's syrup]

I might (more than likely) be wrong again, but I though the whole reason Ireland was split was that the majority in Ulster wanted to remain part of the UK, not part of the ROI?

Isn't that still the case?

And pointless trivia time (what else have we got to talk about for the next few months) is anyone else surprised that the most northerly part of Ireland is in fact part of the ROI, not Northern Ireland, or am I just ignorant?

No, its that county that loops round over Western Northern Ireland.

Malin Head, County Donnegal

[Wax Jacket]

I'm with Hampshire Royal here - immigration is a massive ticking timebomb for the French mainly because of the appalling way they've handled newcomers esp from N Africa - you simply cannot afford to marginalise a large part of society like that.

[Basingstoke Royal]

Great football related thread.