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Never heard of splays before. You learn something new every day!

But yeah, bad neighbours are a curse as there's no escape from it given that it's your home.

I'm encountered a relatively minor issue at my place in NY recently.

A few weeks back, I caught some arsehole (white, middle-aged, loudmouth New Yorker type) throwing a bag of dog shit into one of our rubbish bins. Just a few days before that I'd had to hose them out as f**kers (maybe him) had been throwing bags of shit in now and again for months. The bag would inevitably get damaged by other stuff going in on top, and there'd be an almighty stink every time you opened the bin.

So I was not too happy about the situation and ripped into this lad out on the street.

This week, on two consecutive nights, I've found bags of dogshit lying under the car, which is parked in our driveway in front of the house. I'm wondering if it's the same lad as it appears to be deliberate targeting. I'd put up a ring camera where the bins are to discourage this behaviour, so maybe he's trying to sneakily stick it to me for roaring at him.

It's a minor issue in the grand scheme of things and not something I'm planning to escalate, at least for now, assuming he's got his little bit of satisfaction and is done with it.

I have seen discussions on Reddit about this whole issue though, and it boggles my mind how many people think it's just fine to throw your bags of dog shit into someone else's rubbish.

Take your bag of shit home with you, or get rid of the bloody dog!

Even if City DID stop cheating in 2019, everything after that is still tainted. It's not like they underwent massive management and squad upheavel and started from a blank slate that year. Only significant (long term) change that summer was the loss of Kompany and the signing of Rodri. Everything they did in this decade was built upon the foundation that was laid in the 2010s.

These rules they have broken were just put in place by the premier league elite to protect their position from new money like Manchester city. Not the worst sins in the world.

No one held a gun to City's head and made them take part in the league. Rules are rules, and everyone is supposed to play by them.

[And among that punishment should be to get stripped of all titles]

Will  AGGGUUERRRROOOOOO be consigned to the dustbin  now, never to be spoken of  or seen again?

Will be forever judged in the manner as we look at Ben Johnson the Olympic champion Or Lance Armstrong seven consecutive Tour de France winner nowadays.

The word Scam used 8 times in yesterday Premier League damning statement. The lads in charge at City need to stop embarrassing themselves and take their punishment now.

And among that punishment should  be to get stripped of all titles won in that period and removed from the Premier League.

I suppose only for the history books , but other than that it's fairly irrelevant.

You can't , for example, bring the United  2012 squad back, 14  years later to receive the PL trophy,  and have a open top bus tour. Especially since most have retired or playing  for a different  club. Would just be weird. The emotion of the day  is gone, and  recieving a belated title is a hollow victory .

So, a big fine, they'll have no bother paying it. Remove a few trophies, meh whatever. The main thing  that has to happen is down to  league two or lower. A points deduction  or even relegation to the championship would  be an absolute cop out.

I agree that City should be stripped of titles and possibly demoted or whatever, but you can't start retroactively redistributing trophies, because where does it end?

How many teams missed out on CL or other European spots because of City's cheating? How many teams saw their advances in Euro competitions come to an end once they met City? What were the immediate and future financial implications for those teams?

Plus, any retroactively awarded titles will always be asterixed and basically meaningless anyway, having been stripped of any contemporary joy or satisfaction.

Enzo Maresca keep receipts:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/16/enzo-maresca-manchester-city-apology-2023-derby-goal

And right he is. That goal was as ridiculous as Haaland's one at the weekend. How Rashford was deemed to not have interfered with the play just because he left the ball to Bruno at the last second is beyond me.

[Tsimikas was shockingly bad in that first half in what should have been a great opportunity for him. Constantly giving the ball away]

Yeah, that was grim viewing. Not overly bothered though - it's going to take a while for Iraola to get the team playing the way he wants, and even then there are the issues with fullbacks and the base of midfield.

Tsimikas was shockingly bad in that first half in what should have been a great opportunity for him. Constantly giving the ball away. And the midfield weren't much better, particularly in connecting with the forwards.

Thought Fulham looked really good. By most accounts they've been unlucky so far, so I'd expect to see them start climbing the table.

Tsimikas should be nowhere near the team.  Just not at the level needed.

Yeah, he couldn't even make an impact at Roma last season. Good left foot on him for crosses and corners, but otherwise he's not up to the standard of a team that should be competing for the PL and final stages of the CL. He's lucky to be where he is, a bit like Djimi Traore 20 years ago. Hopefully Kerkez can prove that he IS up to the standard (remains to be seen) and we'll only see Tsimikas occasionally or in the cups.

The offside goal was laughable, but so was the red card situation.

The goal reminds of one United were given against City a couple of years ago. Rashford and Bruno were involved. One shaped up as he was about to take possession of the ball from an offside position, did everything except touch it, left it at the last second for the other to take it and go through and score, and was deemed to not have interfered with the play.

Same situation with Fernandez - how can he not have interfered when he dives at a cross??

Yeah, that was grim viewing. Not overly bothered though - it's going to take a while for Iraola to get the team playing the way he wants, and even then there are the issues with fullbacks and the base of midfield.

Tsimikas was shockingly bad in that first half in what should have been a great opportunity for him. Constantly giving the ball away. And the midfield weren't much better, particularly in connecting with the forwards.

Thought Fulham looked really good. By most accounts they've been unlucky so far, so I'd expect to see them start climbing the table.

Was needing oil for the colder weather and had been sitting for ages now not knowing when to strike on it but looks like i've made an error waiting as it's now thru the roof. I still have some left in the tank but when do you buy?

Bite the bullet.

Not sure what wiggle room Trump has left to try to influence the oil market to lower crude prices.

He tried the theft of the Venezuelan oil two weeks ago, it was the couple of dozen upcoming peace deals before that.

Maybe he'll bomb the Houthis on the Red Sea coast, but will that do anything?

Congressman Ted Lieu had the appropriate response:

If Democrats win control of Congress, Americans will get a $10,000 dividend, a pony, and free ice cream for life (with a choice of free yogurt for life instead, because we're Democrats after all).

Only saw the second half, but even at this early stage, the football looks miles ahead of where Liverpool were last year. It'll take a while to iron out everything, especially with the vulnerabilty to break away goals, but it was great to see the old intensity and pressing back. Even if this will be most likely be a transitional season with plenty of setbacks, it'll be nice to be able to sit down and watch some enjoyable football after the appalling fare that was offered up last season.

Araujo looks great so far, and chipped in with a very nice assist. Wirtz, not for the first time, looked well at home in the CL. Just needs to produce it on a regular basis in the PL. Great finish too from MacAllister, who played very well after his questionable press conference.

Vance is about as charismatic as a dirty wet blanket though. And he's completely owned by the billionaires and oligarchs who put him where he is.

MAGA is a authoritarian, bigoted personality cult, first and foremost. So the underlying causes of Trump may not die with him, but it's going to take a hell of a personality to channel and ride it to the same level as he has.

US looks a basket case politically at the moment. All upmanship. Until they get their house in order, get over each other and pull together politically for the better of the nation, or have their fecking civil war, whatever it takes, cos as it stands they're impossible to deal with. Agreements written in pencil couldn't describe them any better. Because you just don't know what's coming 4 years down the line.

Brits not much better politically but most of the harm they're doing to themselves. At least a trade deal with them will have value or credibility.

Yes China can't believe their luck. Talk about blowing your toes off.

Pencil, or in Trumps case crayon!

Definitely a touch of crayon but Trump is just one American. There's 350 million more of them. If he were to drop dead today I'm not sure how much changes, embarrassing tantrums aside.

That is going to be the big question. Does this insanity die when Trump is done, or is it here to stay?

There are plenty of Republicans who deploy the culture war poison on immigrants, minorities, LBGTQ people, scientific issues like climate change and vaccines, etc. etc., but would still be relatively sane on ecomonic and international issues.

I say relative, because they'll still try to gut social services so they can give their corporate and billionaire donors massive tax cuts and breaks, but at least they'll not blow up the global economy with moronic, self-defeating policies like tarriffs and will be more pragmatic in that they won't threaten to conquer the likes of Greenland and won't sidle up to Putin and the Kims while alienating long-standing western allies.

My feeling is that most of the MAGAts primarily love the cruelty and the permission they feel they get to reveal and revel in their bigotry and racism, so as long as their culture war needs are met, the GOP will back off some of the economic and foreign policy madness.

It looks like they are taking my approach from my Champ Man days...filter 'right winger', Pace-20, Crossing-20...hit return!

Alright let's work down the list and see who we can get!

The way things are looking, Hughes is just as well to be getting out to go to Saudi. This summer is turning into an embarrassment, and last summer is shaping up to be downgraded towards the post-2002 WC season when they brought in stalworts like El Hadj Djouff and Diao.

At this point, they should nearly just go with what they have, give some minutes to the likes of Nyoni and Koumas, and try again in January or next summer. They're going to get fleeced, whoever they try to get in now.

Liverpool once again playing a blinder on the transfer front!

Apparently they've pulled out of the deal for Minteh due to Brighton wanting 80m, and the young PSG lad, Mbayye (sp?) is apparently now looking elsewhere. No progress on Barcola either (not that you'd want them forking out 145m for him!). And now they're apparently looking at Sarr at Palace. Who would be a good signing, but why the hell would you go back to Palace in the closing days of the window after the Guehi farce last year?

Palace will be smelling the desperation, just like Brighton and PSG.