I suppose the acid test is whether your average 13yo would like it.

Like most others I really liked last season’s kit. It was a simple, but, bold design which we had never had before. Personally, this one looks like it was designed by a committee i.e. a bit of a compromise.

David_Blunkett wrote:

Assuming we lose to Brazil by no more than 2, then other teams results become a factor, best guessing results with conservative scores, we'd either face Germany or Mexico. (I think)

So there's that to look forward to once we meekly limp over the line.

 
Certain sentences will never sound right:

“Grant Hanley is going to line up to face Germany”

It’s right up there with Gennaro Gattuso’s classic:

“My wife’s from Busby”

Tek wrote:

England conceded two tonight and undoubtedly got lucky with the penalty re-take.

But they also looked frightening in attack at times tonight. Hunting in packs and at real pace.

I fancied them to win it before the tournament started and tonight only cements my fears.

I think if a team scores two, they can score three.

One thing though, they played in the air conditioned Dallas stadium tonight (temp never above 20c apparently). Be interesting how they fare when playing in a hotter city/stadium, as i think it's been a real leveller for some nations.

 
I would concur with that.

They will need luck (injuries, dodgy VAR decisions, freak weather), but I think the biggest challenge is creating a cocoon around the squad, so that, they are oblivious of the adrenaline infrastructure of pundits, media and expectations.

I think Tuchel can build on what Southgate achieved. Make no mistake, this tournament is a marathon, even the best teams are going to need luck.

japanarab wrote:

As much stick as Clarke gets it sounds like the players absolutely love him. I watched the recent SFA documentary on YouTube and they were all mentioning the speech he gave before the Denmark game and how inspiring it was. 

Im amazed at Fletcher getting in to replace Gilmour. That’s a head scratcher. He’s played less than 20 minutes senior football ever? 

I think Clarke has always known that he’s on a hiding to nothing in terms of media and public opinion. His dour, somewhat monosyllabic responses just reflect he will be slaughtered at some point.

Let’s be honest, who actually thought playing Grant Hanley was a good idea? He played really well. Clarke believes in continuity, as opposed to playing his best team. It’s easy to underestimate the benefits of the length of time a squad spend together.

We do have a great midfield, however with an aging defence and limited options up front, I still think it will take some exceptional performances for us to qualify for the next round.

As far as Fletcher is concerned I think it simply boils down to the fact that Clarke is more familiar with him as opposed to Lennon Miller.
 

Macho Man wrote:

Macbonzo wrote:

Macho Man wrote:

thanks.

I've been liking the Errea kits so far.

Adidas will never happen.  I doubt we're a big enough club to get them on board. unless it is for one of their most basic generic kits.

 
You had to burst my bubble. I loved my 1980 and 1983 adidas kits. Adidas were a shoe company trying to break into the football shirt market. Everyone else had these woolly Umbro tops. Plus they were made in West Germany.

Did I say it wouldn't happen?  What I mean to say was Adidas will be heading round to yours with original versions of our old Adidas kits for you to keep (signed by the teams that wore them) and with a full presentation as to why United should let Adidas dream about being our kit supplier for the next 10 years.

They will also give you two special pairs of customised ZX8000's in United colours, one pair to wear and one pair to keep boxed.



Hope that's better.........

 
So,

1) Original strip.
2) Made in Germany, prior to unification
3) No sponsor
4) Proper drawstrings on shorts

Can I swap the ZX8000s for the adidas tracksuit with the black sleeves and cream body?

Ok, that sounds like a deal.

JerryDungle wrote:

redford_must_score wrote:

I'm not entering the debate but honestly anyone who thinks Jackie McNamara had a connection and loyalty to the club needs to give their head a wobble.

 
He certainly involved himself and integrated himself with the fanbase a lot more than Jim The Tim does. I was at a number of events organised by the club where Jackie sat down and spoke with the fans. It was only when things turned toxic due to Thompson revealing the details of his contract that he stopped doing them.

 
I’m sympathetic to this point. He does appear rather detached from the club as an entity. It’s almost as if he sees it as a job to do, then he drives back to East Dunbartonshire to be with his family. If you contrast this with Simo Valikari who lives in Perth and engages with supporters and seems to embrace all aspects of the club.

I do wonder if JG’s lack of immersion in United might have been a reason for our young squad’s poor performance this season? I watched an interview with Rurai Paton recently and he seemed to have a new lease of life under Valikari. My feeling is that dealing with the personal development of young players (especially if they come form overseas) is not one of JG’s strong points. It’s very different from married, senior pros who are Scottish.

Billy_Hainey wrote:

So in the 10th minute oe added time (there was only 5 minutes announced), the green mouldy b@stards get a Penalty. Wonders never cease.

 
I know.

There are far too many things going on to make me believe was is a random outcome. I realised back in October, Rangers seemed to be getting an infinitely elastic number of additional minutes added on if they were behind or drawing. Naturally there were contentious decisions which went for and against each club, but, if I was a jambo today, I would feel utterly scunnered.

I may have mentioned this before, but, the VAR system is corruptable. Quite simply there is billions being bet on every conceivable outcome of a game by unregulated Chinese betting syndicates. If you are betting on the number of minutes of added time, that will never show up through an online bookmaker. In 2008 I recall a Chinese restaurateur telling me the biggest gamblers in Scottish division 2 games were the Chinese.

You don’t even require collusion. Money would not change hands BTC or any equivalent without a regulated exchange is untraceable.

I really really hope the Jambos win, but, I don’t see it.

Trump posted on Truth Social

“Open up that fuckin strait you crazy bastards….”

I think J D Vance  either resigns or proposes invoking the 25th. Clearly there is no one around POTUS who he is listening to nor is there anyone confident to moderate his behaviour.