David Shepherd

Nationwide are run like a business. The depositors have extremely little say in how it's run. Big changes were made in the 90s when "carpet bagging" building societies that were thinking of going public was a thing. CIS had to sell their bank for pennies on the pound because like all good socialists, they ran out of other people's money to invest in underperforming, "ethical" assets.

John Lewis and CIS are absolute financial basket cases. Not an example that anyone with a business brain would ever follow.

As far as I remember, the promoted teams have always got the League 1 funding equivalent ever since the imbalance was created at the launch of the 8s. They must have known this in advance.

Yeah, was a tad embarrassing. Clearly Saints were a bit rattled by ‘fax’s resistance

Did the club and your fans proud tonight. Thoroughly enjoyable game. Well played ‘fax

Deserved red. Not the worst I’ve ever seen, but in the words of Mick Morgan, that were diabolical.

I actually think we've got the balance between tech and human decisions absolutely spot on. Football's VAR is a total mess. Cricket is a slow paced game that can afford the stoppages for Third Umpire decisions. The nature of cricket is such that it lends itself to close scrutiny of decisions with ultra edge and hawkeye etc. RL is different, it's fast and furious and the odd howler has little material effect on the outcome of a game. Just look at how the TMO has decimated what was left of Kick and Clap's entertainment value. Nothing broken about our system, no need to fix it.

But it can by beer and sex and chips and gravy.

Bit of a bird's car though.

Exactly We're looking at this from a Northern England perspective. The future of economic growth is in the pacific region, Qatar will very much see this as a way to raise their profile in a big, fast growing economy like Australia.

I think they're pinning all their hopes on that new stand (and the pitch). I'll be amazed if they generate a quarter of the revenue they imagine (£100,000 from the pitch, £500,000 from the stand) and they'll still have a stadium that will look terrible on TV. Apparently the cameras will be in the new stand, so the outside world will still see what a sheethole the rest of it is.

I doubt anyone will see, they probably don't zoom in on the whip marks.

It's also a failing state that's got no money, with out of control crime and frequent electricity blackouts.

I was about to thank you for hacking my webcam and admiring my topiary, but then read the rest of it.

I'm 100% confident you'll see packed stadiums. It's not a society like ours. If the government tell the people they're doing something, then they're doing it. My brother has lived and worked there for 10+ years, you do as you're told or else......

Would anyone be shocked if Tarquin and Rupert aren't already in discussion about a future competition there?

This. 100% this.

The authorities in Qatar aren't afraid to round up the populace and make them sit there in a stadium for a couple of hours.

If they owned it. They can't even afford the rent. The poor council tax payers of Salford City Council foot a good chunk of that bill.

Thing is, they've got the stadia and the authorities aren't scared of rounding up the populace to ensure a good crowd for the cameras. There are plenty of negatives to taking it to Qatar, but the brass and the exposure could be game changing.

Duplicate

Important note: Yorkshire Tea is sold in Qatar, so we're good on that score.

Can't say I'm overly worried about the origin of any brass that Qatar may or may not put in. World sport is awash with grubby money so we'd be in very good company. We could of course take the moral high ground and remain a p!ss poor sport that hardly anyone in the world has heard of, or we could do what all other sports do: Look the other way and use any cash we make to drive the sport forward. There's a myriad of reasons not to choose Qatar, be it the heat or their LGBT laws or even the treatment of their migrant workers. But again, we either hold our nose and pocket the brass, or we take a moral stand. The provenance of the financing should be the least of your concerns. Personally, I'd bite their hands off. We're not a sport that can afford to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Oh god, the grievance industry will go on overtime. Could be an absolute disaster for us.

Bit more pricey than France like, but a month in NZ or SA might be alright. Best get saving up. Not fancying Qatar, bit too warm for my gingerish skin. I bet they’ve no idea what Rugby League is either.