My Issue isn’t with the racial, class or origin of the current England squad.
My observation, from when I was actively involved (so 40 years ago) was that at club level the majority of people who played the game were products of the public / grammar school type upbringing and brought that Bullingdon Club type attitude with them.
This makes sense as most secondary modern / comprehensive schools in England focussed on football.
I would like to think that with the advent of professionalism Rugby Union is a much more inclusive sport these days and in fairness it probably is.
But I’m more than happy to stick with my irrational prejudices whilst still enjoying watching the game. (I do watch Doncaster Knights - something of an amazing success story - a few times a year
It may have been true in the 60s, 70s and 80s that some rugby players displayed obnoxious and superiority traits.
But all that changed after1995, when the game became professional, and we saw a massive increase in attendance at Mini Rugby for state school pupils, at clubs all around the country.
There was also an exodus of players from League to Union, reversing the trend of previous years, because League players realised they could make more money in what is a more global sport. This has culminated in Owen Farrell, a working class lad from Wigan, becoming England captain, and his dad Andy appointed as head coach of Ireland.
So you really need to keep up with the times old chap.
Given that Andy Farrell is a millionaire (although of course not to the extent of Premier League footballers), how accurate is it to describe his son as working class?
I joined it not long after it first launched, and found it was full of idiots posting inane drivel*, and weirdos stalking me. So I deleted my account, and have never used it since.
He's literally caused it to break by massively cutting staff / costs. at least partly seems to be "I know best" arrogance. Anyone less financially secure would have been moved aside, or had to step down by now, all very Kwasi Kwarteng. He overpaid because he'd overly committed and couldn't pull out late on, and it's worth even less now as he has driven away advertisers.
He's also decimated the people doing any scrutiny of posts, so if you think everyone should be able to post what they like whenever they like you might agree with some of it. If you think people should be held to account for deliberately broadcasting misinformation, hatred or harmful posts, pretending to be others, commiting fraud etc you might have a different view.
For an eco system that was built up by millions of users to be taken over effectively by one rich bloke so he can personally decide who says what is a different thing altogether.
In fairness, your use of twitter is probably about 100 times more than the rest of the gasroom combined.
Though for casuals like me, say i'll once a week write "Wycombe Wanderers twitter" into google and have a quick scroll down, i can't even do that now, as it insists on a login. Which I don't have, and have no inclination to set up..
The worst thing he did was get rid of third-party apps, forcing people to use the garbage official app. Barely look at it now, which is no bad thing in all honesty.
Comments
My Issue isn’t with the racial, class or origin of the current England squad.
My observation, from when I was actively involved (so 40 years ago) was that at club level the majority of people who played the game were products of the public / grammar school type upbringing and brought that Bullingdon Club type attitude with them.
This makes sense as most secondary modern / comprehensive schools in England focussed on football.
I would like to think that with the advent of professionalism Rugby Union is a much more inclusive sport these days and in fairness it probably is.
But I’m more than happy to stick with my irrational prejudices whilst still enjoying watching the game. (I do watch Doncaster Knights - something of an amazing success story - a few times a year
Where did I ever mention the race or colour of Rugger Buggers, Bargey ??
Being Obnoxious and have a superiority complex is not confined to White public schoolboys, as Kwasi the failed chancellor can vouch for that.
It's just that the traits of the Bullingdon Boys, that is so often mirrored by the rugby fraternity.
It may have been true in the 60s, 70s and 80s that some rugby players displayed obnoxious and superiority traits.
But all that changed after1995, when the game became professional, and we saw a massive increase in attendance at Mini Rugby for state school pupils, at clubs all around the country.
There was also an exodus of players from League to Union, reversing the trend of previous years, because League players realised they could make more money in what is a more global sport. This has culminated in Owen Farrell, a working class lad from Wigan, becoming England captain, and his dad Andy appointed as head coach of Ireland.
So you really need to keep up with the times old chap.
Given that Andy Farrell is a millionaire (although of course not to the extent of Premier League footballers), how accurate is it to describe his son as working class?
He's a millionaire now, after all the success he had as a player in League and Union, and subsequently as an international coach.
But he wasn't in 1991 when Owen was born, they were an ordinary family from the town of pie-eaters.
I live in Wigan, I’m part of an ordinary family, and I’m middle class.
So Elon Musk has finally killed Twitter once and for all. Why are billionaires so fucking weird?
Good thing too, I never joined but when I did visit the site it was full of angry people putting a lot of effort into insulting each other.
Like the Gasroom?
I joined it not long after it first launched, and found it was full of idiots posting inane drivel*, and weirdos stalking me. So I deleted my account, and have never used it since.
*Yes, just like the Gasroom.
Twitter has been much better since Elon took over, but today hasn’t been his finest hour.
I use Twitter 99% of the time for Wycombe related content and news. So, not much to speak of lately!
You're literally the first person I've heard say that. He's gradually ruined it and today was the final straw.
You’re clearly moving in the wrong circles!
Getting rid of blue ticks has been a disaster and the whole thing is even more rife with bots now - my DMs are absolutely full of them.
Punched in the scrum is bad enough. At first, I read it as “…punched in the scrotum…”
This place never fails to deliver after midnight
I miss @LX1 though - you alright mate?
The gasroom is full of gentlefolk who occasionally get a little hot under the collar.
I’m trying to work whether this is meant at face value.
If it is. I am curious to know of any ways it has improved as from what I can see (as a very occasional user) it doesn’t seem to.
It's improved the experience for people whose world view aligns with the new despot in charge certainly.
He's literally caused it to break by massively cutting staff / costs. at least partly seems to be "I know best" arrogance. Anyone less financially secure would have been moved aside, or had to step down by now, all very Kwasi Kwarteng. He overpaid because he'd overly committed and couldn't pull out late on, and it's worth even less now as he has driven away advertisers.
He's also decimated the people doing any scrutiny of posts, so if you think everyone should be able to post what they like whenever they like you might agree with some of it. If you think people should be held to account for deliberately broadcasting misinformation, hatred or harmful posts, pretending to be others, commiting fraud etc you might have a different view.
For an eco system that was built up by millions of users to be taken over effectively by one rich bloke so he can personally decide who says what is a different thing altogether.
In fairness, your use of twitter is probably about 100 times more than the rest of the gasroom combined.
Though for casuals like me, say i'll once a week write "Wycombe Wanderers twitter" into google and have a quick scroll down, i can't even do that now, as it insists on a login. Which I don't have, and have no inclination to set up..
Assume that was another of his changes?
Yeah, only a recent change I think
Think Micra signed into the wrong account with his post above🤣
The worst thing he did was get rid of third-party apps, forcing people to use the garbage official app. Barely look at it now, which is no bad thing in all honesty.
I was also kicked in the scrotum @micra if that helps.
Punched is arguably more subtle but could be seen as rather more perverse if the fist is not fully clenched.
Disclaimer: I do not speak from personal experience either as the recipient of such an assault or as an exponent.
Wycombe girl Isa Guhu taking over from Sue Barker, in presenting this years Wimbledon.