deltablue

Feb 2035 Aside from a blip in late January, its definitely going much better at Everton now. The Northampton result gave me three wins in a row for the first time as Everton manager, followed by a comfortable cup win against Watford. We were denied a 4th league win (and a 5th in all competitions) in a row with a late Leicester equaliser, then seemed to have taken a step back with some soft goals conceded against Bolton and Stockport condemning us to defeats that saw drop back worryingly close to the bottom 3. That was followed by having to write off the West Ham tie after going 3-0 down inside 15 minutes (and having saved a penalty), we may have been underdogs but I didn't expect us to be that bad. Thankfully February was much better, winning 4 out of 5 games and only losing late on in a tricky away game against Charlton. It was the final two wins against Chesterfield and Ipswich that finally saw us pull away from the black hole of the relegation zone in a way we'd been unable to manage before. We can still be in trouble if we have a poor end to the season but a 10 point (and 5 place) safety margin with as many games to go is a nice thing to enjoy. We have now matched the win tally from last season and are close to beating the points tally as well. Eastham has been the big difference maker. I had to pay to terminate a couple of contracts to get the budgetary room to sign him in November but he has truly given us the cutting edge that we were painfully lacking, racking up 13 goals and 2 assists in 18 games in all competitions so far.

Wow, it has been out a long time! I might play newer versions eventually but I might as well finish this off first.

I love the kit.

Missing out on top on the last day sounds tough!

The Bayer players probably needed some aspirin after that.

Go AFC!

Nice, you signed the Cat's nephew!

Dec 2034 It has been a while! I have barely touched FM for the past couple of months but that changed today. We opened up November with a '6-pointer' win against Watford which took us out of the bottom 3 for the first time all season. A couple of narrow defeats followed, then two wins which seemed to be helping take us clear. The second of those, against Brighton saw a debut brace from new forward Eastham. Unfortunately a tough run followed and we briefly dipped back into the relegation zone while we were behind against Derby but we won the second of two games in as many days (the first two of four league games in under a week), followed by coming back from behind to beat Swindon to look at least a little comfortable again. When you're fighting relegation you really appreciate wins, or even draws like the one against Plymouth. Things are basically going how I expected to for now, trying to avoid being in trouble after a lot of new signings and a focus on trying to fix the financial situation. We lost over 2m in each of the last two months, with the wage bill only making up a quarter of that. Tax's, non-footballing costs and loan repayments aren't far behind in the expenditure rankings this season. It's going to be hard to get the necessary sales each year though I hope we can soon settle down into a cycle of making good transfer profits from players bought for little or nothing. I knew what I was getting into, having to endure a lot of short-term pain which will hopefully pay off eventually. Eastham

One thing I am glad I am not missing out on is Gunny making a fool of himself, since I think that's pretty much become a tradition for international tournaments on these forums.

I haven't even been looking at the match threads until the relevant game is over (though I was slightly 'early' for Wales-USA due to all the added time), so I am not following them live on any platform, not just tv. It's no different catching up on any other threads and just seeing what people on here are saying. Knowing how well England were doing didn't make me any more inclined to switch on, nor for any future England game. Like Sebsy my interest in football has declined (and I was more following it from a distance to begin with) so it really doesn't seem that important.

How about actually stand up for human rights, which should never be considered a matter of opinion. You really don't want to be dismissing the importance of LGBTQIA+ rights with me of all people.

Your point about people with those characteristics being unfairly considered legitimate targets (and the effect it can have on them) is valid, but otherwise I think that's a false comparision to make. I don't think being bald, short, redheaded or anything like that has ever been grounds to deny people rights, consider them legally inferior, or forbid them from being themselves on grounds of imprisonment or worse. Even with the point you're trying to make, I don't think physical characteristics alone have ever made people anywhere near as big a target as other groups, whether it's the amount of bullying and discrimination they get or the severity of it. Even being noticably neurodivergent means you're likely to get it a lot worse. It's absurd to try and claim one is even remotely like the other.

There have been some legitimate questions asked in this and other threads about the effect of such a boycott, whether by individuals or organisations, so I would just like to explain my own reasoning on the basis that this is an entirely personal decision and is not one I would put pressure on others to follow. It's not just about this or even any other human rights issue. Even putting those aside, my view is there's just something about this World Cup hosting choice and process that outstrips any other, even Russia and the similar criticisms made about that country getting the World Cup. My opinion is that it really does feel like new and uncharted depths have been plunged, even by FIFA'a standards. I know that even if enough people switch off to make a noticable difference in viewing figures it won't make any impact on anyone or anything that matters. For me it's a matter of conscience. I would feel like if I watched as normal, I would be implicitly tolerating all of these issues (whether it's human rights, the corrupt nature of the process or anything else) and deciding that wanting to watch football is more important than those things. Perhaps it's easier for me both because I am much less engaged with football (usually only watching international tournaments) and because of how much more I can relate to those expressing their opposition and their reasons, which makes it hard to knowingly go against their wishes. That being said, I do like the suggestions and reasoning given by some in this thread about why watching in a gay bar or similar actions can still be considered a middle finger to Qatar and it's policies, so go for it

It's closer than you'd expect. The lower reaches of Mexico City are about 2/3's the altitude of central La Paz and the mountains around it can get to 5,000m. There probably aren't major issues relating to breathing but then again I don't know about trying strenuous physical activity. I know from personal experience that it's high enough for the temperature to drop much more than you'd expect overnight.

I know a few people who have come out firmly against it, so I'd say there is at least more opposition than among the public in general.

Well it is November, so I guess it is a bit late

This is consistent from what I have seen from a few people I follow (mainly drag queens) urging a boycott on those grounds, and I am obviously inclined to support that at least in terms of making a final and definite decision not to tune in myself. It will probably me much more fun to follow it on here anyway

I think around 1908.

I think Corona's missing through injury as well.

Now that would be flying in the face of the World Cup's most reliable trend.

I guess no Wes Burns is a good thing for us.

Good luck getting anything from that group!

They seem like a great club.

It's nice that you're getting highly-rated intakes, though I know that doesn't always mean anything.

It's interesting actually following the major tournaments.