Election Year or Fear!

[ramAnag]

In the past 2 years Maccabi fans have been somewhat less than welcome guests in both Athens and Cyprus. They have form, not just in Amsterdam.

Perhaps the scenes involving Maccabi fans at the (postponed) Tel Aviv derby yesterday provides some additional perspective. Convenient? Probably. Logical reasoning for retaining the ban? Regretfully I’m coming round to that way of thinking.

[Andy_Faber]

Perhaps the scenes involving Maccabi fans at the (postponed) Tel Aviv derby yesterday provides some additional perspective. Convenient? Probably. Logical reasoning for retaining the ban? Regretfully I’m coming round to that way of thinking.

Regardless of any political shenanigans, I think the big danger is that ?something will kick off? bigger than the police can handle. And Villa fans deserve it to be played at VP. What would be (seen as) unfair would be if antisemitic protest was still allowed IMO

[ramAnag]

Regardless of any political shenanigans, I think the big danger is that ?something will kick off? bigger than the police can handle. And Villa fans deserve it to be played at VP. What would be (seen as) unfair would be if antisemitic protest was still allowed IMO

Inclined to agree. Hope the political **** stirrers keep their mouths shut from here on in.
In view of all that’s happened there’s bound to be some reaction - anti aspects of Israeli behaviour rather than antisemitic imo.
Doubtless if the Russian sides hadn’t actually been banned they too would have been booed (at least) as (stupidly imo) have the Argentinian, German and Scottish national sides on the basis of conflict from decades or centuries ago.
Anyway, agree that Villa fans deserve it to be played at VP and that there is a danger of something kicking off that the police can’t handle. Local people shouldn’t have to experience that imo.

[Geoff Parkstone]

Booing Scottish fans/teams on the basis of previous conflict?? Get real, I'll grant you Germany and Argentina but Scotland is a local derby. Both sets of fans have the same view about each other - remember Andy Murray and "anyone but England'...

Next you'll be telling me that our fans boo Forest because the Sheriff of Nottingham once slaughtered some Derbyshire peasants

[MadAmster]

Next you'll be telling me that our fans boo Forest because the Sheriff of Nottingham once slaughtered some Derbyshire pheasants

Maybe the bloke was hungry?

[SithHappens]

Booing Scottish fans/teams on the basis of previous conflict?? Get real, I'll grant you Germany and Argentina but Scotland is a local derby. Both sets of fans have the same view about each other - remember Andy Murray and "anyone but England'...

Next you'll be telling me that our fans boo Forest because the Sheriff of Nottingham once slaughtered some Derbyshire peasants

Well his official title was Sheriff of Derby and Nottingham so probably not that..

[ramAnag]

Booing Scottish fans/teams on the basis of previous conflict?? Get real, I'll grant you Germany and Argentina but Scotland is a local derby. Both sets of fans have the same view about each other - remember Andy Murray and "anyone but England'...

Next you'll be telling me that our fans boo Forest because the Sheriff of Nottingham once slaughtered some Derbyshire peasants

So predictable. Rather than comment on the real issue you pick up on the tiniest detail just for the sake of it.
Silly of me to suggest that modern animosity - faux or otherwise - between the Scots and the English could in any way originate from battles such as Bannockburn or Culloden, or folk heroes such as Robert the Bruce, Rob Roy and Bonnie Prince Charlie.

[Andy_Faber]

So predictable. Rather than comment on the real issue you pick up on the tiniest detail just for the sake of it.
Silly of me to suggest that modern animosity - faux or otherwise - between the Scots and the English could in any way originate from battles such as Bannockburn or Culloden, or folk heroes such as Robert the Bruce, Rob Roy and Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Regarding Us v the Hoots, such animosity these days, on a person to person basis rather than country to country is rather limited, there's ALWAYS an edge but in my experience its all good natured. Mac may have experience and disagree. My own efforts recently to stoke the fire have been limited to describing Swarkestone Bridge to some recent culture-hungry visitors from USA as the limit of the Scottish Empire

[ramAnag]

Regarding Us v the Hoots, such animosity these days, on a person to person basis rather than country to country is rather limited, there's ALWAYS an edge but in my experience its all good natured. Mac may have experience and disagree. My own efforts recently to stoke the fire have been limited to describing Swarkestone Bridge to some recent culture-hungry visitors from USA as the limit of the Scottish Empire

Lol. Brave man with your family connections. I’m not sure how good natured any animosity would be in the event of England winning at Hampden or an English club side turning up at Celtic Park, but I take your point and hope you’re right.
My only previous point was that most modern international animosity is rooted in historical confrontation/rivalry.

[SithHappens]

Reform failing to win in Caerphilly was nice to see. Especially as they have been celebrating the win there for sometime.

Perhaps a warning to them that opinion polls don't always translate

[macstheman]

Farage's embarrassment doesn't outway Labour's utter obliteration!

[Geoff Parkstone]

Reform failing to win in Caerphilly was nice to see. Especially as they have been celebrating the win there for sometime.

Perhaps a warning to them that opinion polls don't always translate

Its an interesting result, obviously distorted by the Welsh-ness of having Plaid Cymru taking a lot of the defecting labour vote, so Im not sure quite what it says about how a bye election without the Welsh effect might go.

Con, Lab, LD and Green all cleaned out with Labour converting a 6k majority into a massive defeat. Not sure any of these will be happy, let alone Reform who perhaps would have been expected to win as the primary protest vote nationwide.

Its easy to be gleeful that Reform missed an open goal, but if I were the goalkeeper Id be even more concerned. I might even sit up and take notice but I doubt 2TS will, hes got a big enough parliamentary majority to ignore the mood of the nation - and Im sure will continue to do so - after all his Dad was a toolmaker, didnt you know?

[Andy_Faber]

Its an interesting result, obviously distorted by the Welsh-ness of having Plaid Cymru taking a lot of the defecting labour vote, so Im not sure quite what it says about how a bye election without the Welsh effect might go.

Con, Lab, LD and Green all cleaned out with Labour converting a 6k majority into a massive defeat. Not sure any of these will be happy, let alone Reform who perhaps would have been expected to win as the primary protest vote nationwide.

Its easy to be gleeful that Reform missed an open goal, but if I were the goalkeeper Id be even more concerned. I might even sit up and take notice but I doubt 2TS will, hes got a big enough parliamentary majority to ignore the mood of the nation - and Im sure will continue to do so - after all his Dad was a toolmaker, didnt you know?

I'm surprised Reform haven't made more of the massive vote swing - maybe they're learning to control their excitement. They (and the new Corbyn vehicle if it ever gets into gear) are certainly going to **** things up over the next four years.

[SithHappens]

I'm surprised Reform haven't made more of the massive vote swing - maybe they're learning to control their excitement. They (and the new Corbyn vehicle if it ever gets into gear) are certainly going to **** things up over the next four years.

They are doing. Claiming victory because of it. Of course it was significant but they still lost despite their (over) confidence, bit of a Steve Ovett moment.

[ramAnag]

They are doing. Claiming victory because of it. Of course it was significant but they still lost despite their (over) confidence, bit of a Steve Ovett moment.

As mac says, nothing outweighs Labour’s obliteration in what has always been a safe seat, or disguises the fact that their loss was roughly equivalent to Reform’s gain.
On the other hand there is some comfort to be taken from the fact that while 12,113 voted for the prat in the purple pants…21,573 didn’t, even at a time when protest votes are regularly quite spectacular.