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As a continuation of this, from a staff point of view :

Here's a fun story about the history of Iranian politics: https://portside.org/2020-01-25/how-britain-helped-irans-islamic-regime-destroy-its-left-wing-opposition This is the fun story of how the country I was born in that utterly fucked my mum's country, decided "yeah, let's keep fucking it" because apparently people on the left are more evil than authoritarian theocracy. And in a similar vein... earlier in this thread I said that the US's recent escalations with Iran all stemming from the US pulling out of the JCPOA would ultimately lead to an erosion of support in Iranian politics of the reformists. Well guess what's happening: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/iran-reformists-lose-parliamentary-vote-200219102846864.htmlhttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/iran-reformists-lose-parliamentary-vote-200219102846864.html The failure of the nuclear deal and return of sanctions has been devastating to an economy that's already been under strain from decades of mismanagement. Popular support for the reformists is at an all time low - people feel betrayed and feel stupid for believing in politicians that felt the west could be trusted. And even without that popular support, reformists are finding political life in Iran pretty tough. 80% of reformist candidates have been blocked from running in the upcoming elections & many reformist newspapers have been shut down. I feel like US foreign policy advisors must have known what escalating tensions and guaranteeing that the JCPOA would fail would lead to a rebound in support for Iran's hardliners. The confusing thing there is... the hardliners are the ones who think Iran's best way of dealing with the West is with rampant hostility. They are the ones who think more of Iran's resources, not less of them, should be spent supporting Iranian proxy wars - even if this does literally nothing for the millions of Iranians begging for their government to step in to fix their failing economy. It begs the question: do they want a hostile Iran? If so, why? Because it guarantees instability in the region which guarantees more military intervention on the part of the US? Do they want to push Iran to become so belligerent they force the US to invade? And if this political reality was not by design... it begs the question why no other parties to JCPOA did more than "urge restraint" as tensions first escalated. Because outside of super religious Shia Muslims, I can't imagine anyone in the world would be happy with hardliners likely coming back to power in Iran.

Tbh one thing I’ve noticed under Klopp with us is we always seem to lose momentum after an extended break. I think breaks are necessary for the intensity we use in each match. But you can see after the winter break there’s a bit of rust on the players. I think we’ll see more rotation in the final stretch, but I doubt we do a rest of the entire first team. But yeah, obviously winning the treble would be a really nice way to ensure this season lives on in history for decades. And I’m sure that’s what the team is hoping for. I think at this point we just need to play our way back into form before we host Atletico at Anfield, when we’re at our best at Anfield I think we can beat anyone. But VVD had his worst match in a Liverpool kit and Fabinho, who at his best is very important for us, hasn’t been at his best since coming back from injury. I think we get a bit of momentum back and we can start thinking about a treble. We’ve got 3 weeks (I think, I can’t remember when the FA cup match is) to keep that dream alive

On loan, I believe to Eintracht Frankfurt.

The wife makes a great shepherds pie, I just tend to get the ready mash and cook the mince and just put the mash on top and spread it over then cook it until it browns, but the wife will do her own tatties and mash them up then put carrots, peas etc in it and they come out better than mine, I normally leave all the big main meals to her as her gran taught her how to cook and she is a dab hand at it. Tonight we had, or she made Spaghetti Bolognaise, I am not keen on Spaghetti so she made mine with pasta tubes but she makes a beautiful Bolognaise and uses Dolomio Original Pasta Sauce then it's mushroom, herbs, seriously strong cheese grated on top, I picked the mince up at Tescos as she will always go for Scottish lean steak mince with less fat. But she will always fry the mince first and get all the fat out of it, drain the fat off then put in a pot with all the ingredients in it and let it simmer away for a good 30 minutes, it came out beautiful and after we had a dessert of ice-cream with fruit and whipped cream on top.

Yeah it is very complex and I haven't even started to wrap my head around it all. It looks like a perfect game to play one save for a long time with a pretty slow pace. The learning curve is steep; I did the tutorial yesterday (six parts) and thought "ok; this is not too difficult"... but then I started a proper new game and realised how wrong I was overwhelmed with the level of details. The universe is expansive and very immersive and there's sooooo much to do! It's sort of a combination of RPG - management - simulation - strategy - roguelike and who knows what other genres; it feels very unique in that sense. It's an early access so there's obviously parts of it that are still very raw around the edges but even at this stage there's an insane amount of content already. I believe the full version - and hopefully a proper English language localisation for international players - will make this game a huge hit. The people behind the unofficial English mod did an amazing job too; it definitely makes the game playable but it's obviously not perfect. Some of the translations are perfect while some other are ....ummmm.... hilarious

Thats one of the comments.

Reminds me of when I used to do cocaine, tbh.

@nudge since this is probably a better place to talk about coronavirus in Iran than the Asian football thread Qom (where the first instances of the virus) isn't too far from Arak - about the same distance as Qom is from Tehran... but considering how quickly the virus seems to spread, it's pretty concerning. Because Arak's an industrial hub - so you've got tons of people and things coming and going from the city. Hopefully the virus stays the fuck away from my gran in Shiraz & hopefully she doesn't travel to Tehran anytime soon (but I know she goes back and forth between the two cities pretty regularly).

Oh lol, I just got that off the top blurb on google. My bad - I trust your numbers on it better than I trust google's. Especially with you doing a good job keeping us all up to date on coronavirus. I swear, sometimes google's top result for me when I'm on my work network is always insane compared to my top result when I'm using my laptop/phone at home There's been a flu going around in the US that's already killed 10k this year (in only the US) that's not really getting anywhere near the same sort of coverage as coronavirus.

Oh I'd definitely choose Wuhan then.

I wonder if he just misheard his agent and thought it was a move to West Ham...

Iran finally hired a head coach to replace Wilmots. It's Dragan Skocic. It's his first national team job - but he's worked in Iran before and was willing to be paid in rials. I think that's 2 of the 3 criteria the IFF were looking for - familiarity with Iranian football, experience managing a national team (which was probably unlikely considering the third criteria), and being willing to be paid in rials (I think many managers with the right experience would have likely wanted to be paid in Euros or Dollars - which is unlikely right now considering the economy of Iran & how hard it is to get any money converted to dollars/Euros). The Iranians in Iran (so pretty much all family) I know were hoping the manager of the club they support would be the next national team manager. That's Branko Ivankovic - who was, up until recently, Persepolis FC's manager & also the Iran manager from 2002-2006. But he went off to be the manager for Oman. I don't know anything about Skocic other than what's on his Wikipedia page & what I've been told about him. He's been at 4 Iranian clubs though - Malavan (which is from a province I've got family from... but I don't know any of my family that's not from Tehran/Shiraz so it's not like I can ask "how was he?"), Foolad, Kooneh be Kooneh (a club that doesn't exist anymore), and Sanat Naft. So two clubs from Khuzestan - probably one of the most diverse places in Iran - & two clubs in cities by the Caspian sea. So there's some fun Iran facts. And in other news, Sevilla have sold their captain to a club in China. Specifically... to Wuhan.

He's playing at Frankfurt and he's been pretty impressive recently after a slow start. He's a very talented forward and I am personally delighted he's playing with us. Jovic is a different type of player, I'd say that he is much more direct and more of a finisher. Although he has seemed to struggle since his move to Real Madrid. Andre Silva is supposed to be on loan with Frankfurt for next season as well. The deal was we took Silva on loan from Milan for 2 years, while Milan took Rebic on loan from Frankfurt for two years. At some point I am sure there will be an agreement as to who buys who. I think that eventually AC Milan will buy Rebic(he's actually doing very well there now) and Frankfurt will probably buy Silva. Anyway, we will have to wait and see what actually happens. Welcome to this forum by the way.

I understand that resting players for too long can make a team lose momentum. But I think that Klopp is the best judge to see who is 100% fit and who is a little bit fatigued. I believe that those who are fatigued, should be rested in order to get the best out of them in the Champions League and the FA Cup. As winning the league is almost inevitable for Liverpool, I think that priority now should be focusing on the two knockout competitions that they are in. Imagine Liverpool winning the Premier League, the Champions League and the FA Cup this season, that's actually something that is very possible if Klopp and Liverpool play their cards right.

It all depends on the gap between the league games and the cup tie. Resting too many for too long isn't beneficial either. We play Bournemouth at 12.30 on the Saturday before the second leg v Atletico on the Wednesday. I doubt we'll see more than the usual one or two changes in that particular situation

Looks like a nice game and definitely one of the more complex RPGs out there but I suppose thats the point of it really? Curious to see how you get on in about a month's time when things are leveled up and progressing nicely.

chop them up finely and then mix them with the minced meat. Won't even notice the texture but it'll add a lot of flavour to the meal.

Mushrooms are delicious mate, they deserve a second chance from you at some point in your life.

Sounds exactly how I planned it, thanks. I'm just going to ignore the mushrooms because I can't stand them.

I'd do ground lamb or beef, grated carrot, grated onion, peas, rosemary + thyme, garlic & then potatoes for the mash. I'd probably bung some parmesan cheese into my mash because that's the secret to all good mashed potatoes (but that's probably not the most authentic way). Maybe try it with mushrooms one time & mushrooms without to see which one you'd like better... because I genuinely have no clue whether mushrooms would make it more authentic or not.

Great pictures Stan. I personally (a very unpopular opinion perhaps) dislike Madrid and Barcelona for a few reasons. @Pyfish Dublin, on the other hand, I'm a big a fan of, a class city for a weekend away.

Brilliant place. Temple Bar is obviously class. Atmosphere in all the pubs is best I've experienced. No one wants any trouble, just a good time. Live music, can't go wrong. Good time to go over also as the pubs will be rammed Sunday for the Rugby as it's England v Ireland.

Just googled what a Shepherd’s Pie is exactly, and damn, I'm going to cook that on the weekend, I think. Sounds delicious.

Have put a few hours into it and it is complex af Each character has Natural and Attained attributes. Natural ones are generated during the character creation and can be improved via genetics, reincarnation and the Ancestral Hall building in your Town. The Attained ones are improved by spending experience and time to read books and are transmitted to the next generation via the Taiwu Sword. Martial art/combat technique training has separate levels for theory and practice. Theory level requires reading books associated with a specific martial art (there's also the difference between original books and copies; some also have missing pages etc.) The training system is very interesting and includes barriers that need to be overcome to be able to continue the training. The battle mechanics have enormous amount of factors to consider too. There are three style of accuracy types that determine whether your attack will hit the target or will be countered: Forceful Attack(20) is countered by Absorb(12) Finesse Attack(21) is countered by Counter(13) Swift Attack(22) is countered by Evasion(14). Weapons have different attack elements each of them corresponding to an attack type. There are both external and internal injuries; as well as poisons that require detoxification/antidotes. This game is MAD. In a good sense. No wonder it sold over million copies on Steam already despite having no marketing and being created by a hobby coder. Already looking forward to the final release and the official English translation.

Nice to have another Lady aboard @LorenaMileusnic, and a United one at that, keep posting, our lady Mod in @nudge (Inga) will look after you.

The records in the league only become relevant if you're out of the other two competitions. Give me the trophies any day. I think having something to play for in the league could help in the other two cups though. If the league is wrapped up it doesn't mean we have to rest the whole 11 before a Champions League tie for example

We've set out trying to win every match we play in, with the exception of the aston Villa cup tie and the fa cup replay where we were prepared to just do our best and see what happens. May as well keep it up. There's a lot of potential honours/records still mathematically possible at this stage. In order of decreasing amount of sweetness to me personally... League winners Back to back Champions league winners Fa cup winners Undefeated season Record points total CL finalist Record consecutive wins Perfect home record. 19 from 19

A huge relief

Well he'll have the whole summer and the first half of the season to integrate. Plus, I don't think the club or Klopp are sitting back thinking we'll weather the storm without our two star attackers. I am sure they have some plan for keeping the attack lineup fresh in their absence as well. The problem is how much game time do you give those players and how do you give them that game time to ensure that the team is operating at maximum efficiency when Salah and Mane are out. I think Mino will come good next season he just needs to find his bearings and get more game time.

Last season did we sign anyone from a club who'd been relegated? That's sort of the Klopp special, taking a relegated player and getting some good use out of them. I can't see Norwich not going down... so I figure Cantwell could be that kind of player for us. One thing I like about him is that aside from having a lot of energy, he seemed to be popping up everywhere for Norwich. I think with Salah and Mane going away in January because of ACON next season, players like Minamino and Cantwell, who are versatile do make sense for us to add as squad players. There's obviously a massive drop off in quality though. And when you compare that kind of squad depth to something like what Manchester Cheatey have got at their disposal... it doesn't look all that great for us in January.

https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/17/liverpool-todd-cantwell-transfer-manchester-united-man-utd-tottenham-12254551/ I like Todd, think hes a solid player who has a lot of energy and will run the distance too when required. Is he at the level our current players are at? No. But he'll get there if he's given time and integrated.

Decent article with Andy Lonergan here

They certainly learnt a big lesson that day and I don't think it's ridiculous to say that the current Liverpool as a club (players, fans, manager) moulded in Klopp's image wouldn't exist now had they not listened. The fan base was so split back then. Now it's never been more together. It's all down to Klopp but his job would have been made much harder had the fans been at odds with the owners. They've not made many mistakes since but the trademarking controversy shows the importance of a couple of groups like SOS and the Spion Kop lads. Keeping them honest like you say

america bad

All owners are 'in it for the money' mate. We could do far far worse than FSG, even if they aren't perfect. I've said that from the very start of their reign. The merging of Kirkby and Melwood training facilities, bringing the first and youth players together at Klopps request abta cost of over £50m is another example of the good they've done for the club. As I say, not perfect, but certainly one of the better ownerships compared to some/most of the other big clubs in England. The American owners previous to FSG though.... different kettle of fish altogether.

Anyway anything less than 70k is small for Liverpool. Shouldn’t be slumming it with far, far smaller clubs like spurs and arsenal.

Don’t forget what the liverpook fans did to keep them honest. When they proposed all those posh tickets and your match going fans walked out and they shat it. They would love to be just making pure dough off (well more than they are) your fans but they know there is still a decent core who oppose the total Americanisation of Liverpool.

Expansion of Anfield Rd End (making Anfields capacity around 61'112k) to be completed withing 2 - 2 1/2 years along with the completion of the new merged training ground. FSG out

Will they pay the 130million though ..and Sane has not once said he wants to leave. his mum's home sick who's out here with him but don't think Leroy is so keen

God damn I'm sexy.