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Erasmus

No, but Abramovich is a very close associate of Putin, on both a personal and business level, and Putin has been involved in some very dark activities, not least of which is the poisonings in Salisbury. He is little better than a terrorist, and so anyone who has a close relationship with him must be...

Erasmus

I read today that the Russian dissident who got poisoned is calling for sanctions against Putin's close allies including Abramovich and Usmanov, who was involved with Arsenal. I wonder how Chelsea supporters feel about having that sort of person owning their club? I know it's completely different fr...

Erasmus

He got a lot of stick for the style of football we played, and for the long run without a win, but he was undoubtedly a success as a Burnley manager, as he kept us in the Championship when we were on our knees financially. A really tough job he had, but he did all that was asked of him. I had a litt...

Erasmus

I'm very much with Dark Cloud on this. At a personal level, being owned purely as a business will take something of the edge off my lifelong passion for the club, and if I'm honest I would prefer to play in a lower division than be transformed in that way. On the other hand, I have an eight-year-old...

Erasmus

Rooney is typical of the appointments made by rich owners who known little about football. Looking for a big name to put up in lights, rather than an experienced football manager with a solid record of achievement.

Erasmus

From the matches I've seen, it seems clear he's being asked to come inside a lot to support the central midfielders. One problem from playing 4-4-2 is that the central two in midfield will usually be outnumbered, so I can see why this is being done. It does, however, reduce the threat Dwight poses w...

Erasmus

I would imagine that Eze has been getting advice from his agent since he was a young player. We might have been able to come up with the fee of 10m, but it is likely that the agent would have advised the player to hold on and wait for a better offer from a wealthier club. As it turned out, I'm sure ...

Erasmus

Paul Weller made me very, very happy when I was on holiday in Italy one summer. I got hold of an English Sunday paper from a little shop and found out that we had beaten Wimbledon 1-0 with Paul as the scorer. That might have been just after a promotion. No internet in those days. I've also got a vag...

Erasmus

It seems that it may well be the case that Venkys are, as they see it, 'just trying to do the right thing'. It's like they feel honour-bound not to abandon Blackburn Rovers, having taken the club under their wing, so to speak. I have been to India many times and know a lot of Indian people, and I ca...

Erasmus

You really have to wonder what Venkys have been doing all these years with Blackburn Rovers. They've spent and are spending a lot of their own money on a club that they have no long-standing connection with. As of now, I think they are spending millions of pounds each season to keep them with an out...

Erasmus

According to the BBC, Johan has returned to his club. No reason given, so it could be an injury or it could be an arrangement with Burnley to get him back in time for preparation for the match against Palace.

Erasmus

I don't like Manchester United, Manchester City or Chelsea either. I don't like nineteen of the twenty teams in the Premier League. It just seems like the horrible ethos of the Premier League is spreading to all levels of the game.

Erasmus

I also have a dislike of Salford. I don't like the way that rich people can use the Football League as a place to play with their toys at the expense of long-established clubs rooted in their communities. I was glad to see Fylde drop down to the National League North, and I really hope we don't see ...

Erasmus

His corner for the second goal was superb. Flat and well struck, very difficult to defend against.

Erasmus

I suspect it's down to money. Don't Fifa hold the rights on international matches? If so the more that are played the more money coming to Fifa. I don't know whether or not this is the case, but that's my first thought on it.

Erasmus

It's backs against the wall time at the moment. The impression I've got from watching the games this season is that the players are mentally and physically exhausted. We have succeeded against the odds in recent seasons through absolute commitment to winning matches, and retaining that level is ment...

Erasmus

I don't think Germany's attack on Russia was entirely a 'mistake'. It was a mistake in the sense that it was a failure, but Hitler's whole intention in starting a war in Europe was to defeat the Soviet Union and seize vast amounts of land in the East. The attack on France was just a means of ensurin...

Erasmus

With the money we have available, we can't afford players who are certain to do well in the Premier League, or extremely likely to do well. So we have to get in those who have shown that they might become good Premier League players. As a result, it is inevitable that a fair few won't make that tran...

Erasmus

With the exception of Blackpool, all of those named had significant subsidy from their owners that enabled them to get promotion. A better example would be Burnley. If we can do it, then Blackburn and Preston have a better chance than we did because of the subsidies they are given each season. I ima...

Erasmus

In terms of what would be our 'natural' status, all three of us would probably be bottom half of the Championship with occasional dips down into League 1. Somehow, Burnley have been able to massively over-achieve, relying almost solely on their own means of self-elevation. Blackburn and Preston seem...

Erasmus

Mansfield have been massive underachievers for a few years now. They've had a lot of money put into them by the owner. Every season they start off as favourites for promotion and consistently fall short.

Erasmus

I think Sean Dyche is going about things in the right way. It is accepted wisdom that when you are on a very poor run, as we are, the first thing you do is make the defence solid. When that is established, you start to focus more on the attack side in order to win games. We are now at that first sta...

Erasmus

The new owners could have done the right thing and paid off the debts left by the previous regime. That would also have been the real world. And we shouldn't forget the people of Thailand, a very poor country. The money being spent on Leicester City is wealth derived from the Thai tourist industry. ...

Erasmus

Driving up on a Saturday morning, having lunch at my daughter's house, going to the match with as many family members as can get there, getting a win, going out for something to eat with daughter and grandchildren, driving back home feeling happy.

Erasmus

Personally, I wouldn't want to see Dubai having anything to do with Burnley FC. It is totalitarian state with a dreadful record on human rights, and has been heavily involved in the vicious attacks on civilians in Yemen. Do we really want those sort of people involved with our football club, regardl...

Erasmus

That's the way it is if you support a football team, an unending stream of ups and downs. The joy you feel at the former is paid for by the distress experienced when the downs come. Last ten years or so have been pretty much a steady flow of up times, so we have to be prepared to take the downs, kno...

Erasmus

No need for anyone to bankrupt themselves, but most of us could manage losing 5% of our income. The moral argument for doing so appears unassailable. We just have to be honest with ourselves, and do a little more than we are doing already.

Erasmus

At the heart of this is the fate of those who are presently on minimum wage and will only receive two thirds of that amount. Johnson has said a 'very generous' financial package has been offered, but if you have to survive and feed your family on two thirds of the minimum wage it probably doesn't fe...

Erasmus

Perhaps they could run two teams, one for the Europa Super-Bore League and the other for domestic competitions. The money generated from each would allow them to have twice as many players.

Erasmus

From Christian scripture, we have 'Spare not the Amalekites', including suckling babes. I believe Cromwell's men used it as a battle cry when slaughtering Catholics at Drogheda. Buddhist and Hindu scriptures probably less so, but don't tell totto.

Erasmus

So it's a bit of a gamble then? We would have to try to work out which is the most likely outcome and what the odds are of us winning. Isn't it just a leap in the dark that might reduce the country's prosperity?

Erasmus

So is leaving the EU going to make Britain more prosperous, and be beneficial to the people of the country? Or is it going to leave us poorer?

Erasmus

I've always wondered why the Nevilles chose to invent Salford FC rather than giving their support for Bury, a proper, long-established club.

Erasmus

It's not by their own efforts though is it? It's down to one person deciding to throw loads of money at it. That's the only reason, and it 's not much of an effort to say, 'Yes, please'. A good local following is fine, but many non-league teams have that and are staying non-league because nobody's t...

Erasmus

Perhaps I shouldn't feel this way, but I seem to have an instinctive antipathy towards these newly created clubs that get into the league just because some rich person wants a bit of fun running a football club. For the most part they don't have the same strong local identity as the more well establ...

Erasmus

Not quite right about Indian philosophy having no concept of 'ego', Pstotto. They refer to it as ahaṁkāra, or sometimes asmitā, and it is said to be one of the main elements of our mental factulties.

Erasmus

I would imagine the problem with signing younger players is that if they are good enough to play at Premier League level, other teams will get them before us, and they will be beyond the reach of our finances. Buying young players who might become good enough to play in the Premier League would take...

Erasmus

Agreed, Wilko Johnson was always a good turn. I saw him once in a small venue where he was so well gone that he could barely stand, but they put a guitar in his hands and pushed him on stage and he was superb. Like Lazarus, he seems to have returned from the dead of late.

Erasmus

Chester, I think that may be hindsight speaking. It would have been hard for the other board members to refuse Brendan Flood's offers at a time when there seemed little risk attached to them. In 2007/08 everyone seemed to presume that the strong economy would just go on and on.

Erasmus

There was something on television a few days ago about people trapped in Italy because they are still testing positive weeks after recovering. They seemed to suggest that even after one has recovered and is no longer a potential source of infection, there may be still residual traces of the virus th...

Erasmus

Interesting point about the promotion under Coyle and whether it was a gamble. I think what actually happened was the Brendan Flood came forward with significant financial support, which we accepted and used. Then subsequently the financial crash ruined some of Brendan's business interests leaving u...

Erasmus

Strange that there is some kind of argument going on when everyone is pretty much in agreement. There is no doubt that both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England have behaved abominably in putting their own institutional reputation above the wellbeing of abused individuals. Nobody disa...

Erasmus

If you've not read it before, I would also suggest The Sea The Sea by Iris Murdoch. One of her best.

Erasmus

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Highly recommended. Also just read Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier, a bit intense but I enjoyed it.

Erasmus

Nothing at all is clearly obvious to us, as we have so little knowledge of the workings of the club. Guesses aren't clearly obvious, and we have no idea of how and why Hendrick left. Agnostics all of us.

Erasmus

No one is to blame. Just the opposite, all those running the club deserve enormous praise for achieving what no other club of Burnley's standing has ever achieved before, unless backed by some wealthy donor. Look down the Premier League, there isn't a single club there that is in the same position a...

Erasmus

Just been reading through this discussion. There's a rather nasty whiff of BNP coming across from some quarters.

Erasmus

To me Souness's argument made no sense at all. He was suggesting that people will be more entertained by bad decisions. It certainly gets people talking, but it goes completely against the sporting ethos that makes football the great game that it is. Teams score goals through the forward players get...

Erasmus

It really doesn't matter whether or not he paid the full amount of state taxes. If it is true that he only paid $750 in federal taxes, he is still avoiding paying what he should do. Hardly an example of the type of civic responsibility to be expected of a President. That line of defence would be equ...

Erasmus

On a slightly more sober note, I think the Trump presidency has highlighted some of the problems with a written constitution when compared to an unwritten constitution such as we have in Britain. Edmund Burke put forward the view that the constitution should evolve slowly and organically to avoid ra...

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