He certainly hits the main KPI for it. He's a middling dutchman. Hopefully some vague association with the Oranje will rub off on us by osmosis. Here's his coaching CV. He was only head coach Haifa and Blasters. Qatar U18 Al-Ittihad Al-Sadd Brøndby Anzhi Makhachkala Fulham...

Looking to make it 1 for 5 in QLD? It's an A-League graveyard. The only legitimate and viable expansion I can see is Canberra.

Yes the egg-ballers want to protect and grow their market share and there certainly is a cultural rump that has an irrational xenophobic hate for the game. But I think we have a pathology in Australian football. We obsess about them instead of taking accountability. There are two things that...

From what I understand the idea that it was an olympic event at all was completely absurd to people in the scene and many saw competing in it as a bit of a sell out. My establishment white lady privilege comment was in reference to the fact that she thought she was entitled to engage in this...

True, and the fact is we love the blow-ups and big personalities and drama. Part of the joy of the game is the pantomime. Careers have been built on playing the villain, but that's not Messi, as you say.

Yeah, I'm agreeing with you on this one. I was just trying to highlight that there are some nuances here. To answer your question, no. If you are "ethnic" and been here for most of your life or are even second or third gen, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. No matter how great it is here...

He's not. You could ask 100 football fans about their first, second and third impressions of Messi and I don't think petulant would come up once. He did, however, learn to impose himself as he has matured. I think I said at the time of the England game my social media feed blew up with two...

I don't buy all the patriotic/nationalist BS about picking your country 'til death do you part. I'm mixed heritage. Love Australia, love the Socceroos, obey the law, pay my taxes, raise my kids here, committed my life and work to this country. I consider myself Australian but with deep family...

She took an artform that's culturally significant and important to a lot of people and made a mockery of it for her 15 minutes of fame. Establishment white lady privilege. The bogans loved it so she'll be on Love Island or Survivor any minute which is what she was after from the beginning. At...

There's something in that. Diego carried the "mad genius" stereotype. There's this kind of ableist attitude that leeway should be given to men who behave poorly, because they are otherwise exceptional in some way. The brilliant autistic idiot savant. There's been speculation for years that...

Selling out has its own special level of cosmic reward. She'll have plenty to regret without stringing her up.

Another often-overlooked fact is that Messi never came with unnecessary baggage. No affairs or quiet settlements after night club incidents. No training ground bust-ups or stand-offs with coaches. Would be club rivals stood down or transferred elsewhere. He obviously enjoys his wealth but he has...

I'll say something a bit controversial. It's been wonderful, but I'm relieved too. When I watch Australia on the world stage or our players overseas, it's mostly pure joy. There aren't the same expectations, and they almost always do us proud and very often achieve more than most people expect...

He's not much taller than his father so I don't know that he got some performance enhancing benefit beyond what the condition took away. I don't know the answer, though. I guess an important factor here is that this was out in the open from day one. Barca and his family jumped through the...

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/aug/31/lionel-messi-retires-from-international-football-argentina Arguably, he leads a very short list of GOATs. All the answers to the question about where exactly he sits on that list at club and international level are in. It's end of an era. Not...

Howard and Rudd agreed on a referendum on constitutional recognition as far back as 2007. It was Howard who put the question of a republic to a referendum as PM.

I'll give him credit for the gun buyback....beyond that he rode the economic success Howard and Keating reforms, maintained power through divisive politics which see him reviled in many diverse communities, got us stuck in a forever war based on a lie in Iraq, fuelled intergenerational inequity...

I said it was part of their success. Same Sex Marriage, Net Zero, Republic, Voice to Parliament. All culture war and all of which the Libs had once supported before courting the fringe. Can't forget Tampa, or the divisive games being played after Bondi either. Howard, Morrison and Abbott made an...

The success the Libs have had since Howard is based on two things. Simultaneously fanning culture war and grievance while presenting themselves as the "sensible" centre right on business and the economy. The audience for culture war is driven by a completely different set of values that over...

It works both ways and both "sides" of politics benefit and suffer under the same rules. When you are accept the stock standard, outrage bait or narrowcasting that is offered as news and commentary by commercial media, anything tempered sound radical. The only reason we hear about this stuff is...