Soulfusion

Was a bit tighter at the top this season and Gareth made to work for his title this time around.

I'm in and looking to improve on mid table position last time around. However gone without Haaland or Salah. Inspired or idiotic? Time will tell

That is my sort of soul music. Two hours of pure bliss!

Not doing so well this weekend...but still have three players to score tomorrow

@SmudgerJust to let you know I've managed to join the league as Fusion Force. Let the games commence..... Good luck to all!!

Great topic Mike At the beginning of Lockdown in 2020 I returned to running for some mental wellbeing and started the Couch to 5K programme once again. This is a great way of gradually breaking people into running and by October 2021 (when I contracted Covid) was running 6-7K every other day. Have attempted to restart the running a few times since but found I struggled becoming easily fatigued and lacking mental belief. Fast forward to May this year and with the summer approaching and my weight ballooning to above 15 stone and clothes struggling to fit I took the plunge to have another go at C25K. This morning I completed my Week 5 Run 2 session so I am half-way through and have lost 7lb in weight so no need to purchase a new wardrobe of clothes! Ideally I would like to lose 33lb in total and get back to my football playing days weight!

What is your take on Spurs swooping for your manager? Things didn't go so well for the last treble winning manager from Celtic to join the Premier League (or, in the long term, the English football club that signed them). Spurs to be relegated in two seasons time anyone?

I hope your team lifts the trophy. After 38 years of support you deserve it.

Spoke to a mate about this show at the weekend. He is a British domiciled Irishman from Belfast who served in the British Army who put his papers in about six months before the first Iraq war. Was "rewarded" with a tour of Northern Ireland to finish his service. He said the show brought back vivid memories due to its accuracy; moving him to tears because of those memories.

The Netflix Luther film is a real disappointment compared with the series', which I thought were fabulous. You really have to suspend your belief as the story disappears into a James Bond/Bourne territory. A real shame, especially as the series creator Neil Cross is involved Has anyone seen The Night Manager on Netflix? Is it worth watching?

Apparently Marvel return to form with the third Guardians movie. Probably helps the continuity that the same writer/director used throughout. Some of the recent Marvel movies become too formulaic with overuse of CGI effects. Thor God of Love & Thunder was just pants, childish drivel. The earlier movies were better for concentrating on building the characters. The fact they were superheroes was incidental.

Certainly seems that Southampton are going down and looking increasingly dicey for Everton and Leicester. Interesting last roll of the dice for Leeds. Never known so many Premier League clubs rack up three managers in a single season by the way. Can Forest pull off a miracle? Pleased that the Forest board have stuck with Cooper. Chelsea fortunate that Potter did such a good job with a bloated and unbalanced squad early season!

BBC drama so most have probably seen it but Blue Lights, for me, is the best Cop drama I've watched in years. Elements of classic Hill Street Blues and set in Belfast. Had me captivated from the start and brilliant from the third episode on. Great writing, acting and filming. Just brilliant.

Think tonight's match is on Amazon Prime. Nervy affair for the Gunners, will be pleased to avoid defeat and will be really pumped if we gain all 3 points!

As an Arsenal fan I will not entertain any discussion about titles until April at least. My concerns being that whilst we have a very good first XI proven to be a match for any other team in the league we do not have the ability (luxury?) to rotate players as often as City and our high energy game may catch up with us towards the end of the season (especially once the Europe League kicks in again). Hopefully in enough forthcoming games we can get 3 up within the hour then give some of the key players a rest with 30 mins to go. Regarding Liverpool there was discussion earlier in the season about Klopp never going beyond seven seasons with any of the clubs he has managed. My theory is he is too loyal to players that have brought clubs success and he is not ruthless enough to replace them when their levels start to drop through age. Thus preventing him from to rebuild successful teams a la Fergie. The fight at the bottom is intriguing with nearly nine clubs possibly involved in a relegation battle. Dyche is a canny acquisition by Everton and I can see many other clubs will now find things sticky at Goodison (like Arsenal last weekend) Feel sorry for Potter at Chelsea. Not sure how many of the signings are wanted by him. The new owners seem to be playing their own actual game of Fantasy Football. In any other season 17 signings in two windows by a so called "top 6" club would only happen if I was managing them in Football Manager! The job Eddie Howe is doing at Newcastle is pretty amazing; yes I know they are bankrolled by Saudi but he seems to have control over signings and there have been few marquee (commercial) signings than I had expected with players being brought in to strengthen the first XI unlike Chelsea. I could go on...

Terrific end of year show Chalky. Just goes to show that, musically at least, 2022 was a great year for new and newly discovered music. Missed out on House Brothers' Shake and the Soul4Real Bettye Swann releases.

I have been (very) slowly making my way through this thread listening to all of Dean's shows posted here by Chalky. Always a fantastic and eclectic mix of soul from all ages and genres. However since Christmas it seems all of the shows posted before October 2022 appear to have been removed. Anyone have any ideas why? I had reached September 21 or thereabouts...

I grew up on songs arranged, written and/or produced by Thom Bell - Often not realising that fact until much later in life! Classically trained Thom was one of the first to successfully integrate orchestral sounds into arrangements and production without losing the soul. The retrospective CD from Kent a few years back is an essential listen.

If reports of the French squad being hit by a flu bug through the squad are true and several of their major players are effected then clearly it is Argentina to prevail. Hopefully though there will be two fully fit squads on the pitch and a great game to watch. Both results shall be historic; France retaining the trophy vs Messi completing his personal medal haul. Personally I prefer a France win; makes our quarter final exit less painful!!

Sad news indeed. RIP Mr. STewart; you leave behind a great legacy and shall never be forgotten.

England's strength is its attack; hopefully Gareth will have learnt lessons from his previous tournaments that caution will not prevail. If he allows the team to play without fear the match against France should be a cracker. Personally, I would prefer to lose in a tight 3-2 or 4-3 thriller than a plodding defensive match that sees us go out on Pens! Ronaldo to keep the Portugal bench warm in the Quarters? The Dutch match up with the Argies should be a cracker.

Sorry Mike. Performance not really there for the Welsh this morning... England never beaten the Yanks before. Time to make history later?

Wow.. Just wow. Japan come from behind to beat the Germans in a group that also includes Spain. Could we see the four times Champions departing the Finals at the Group stage again?

And, perhaps more importantly in a football context, should not have been awarded to a nation with zero history of reaching the World Cup finals. Somewhere in the World there are 26 players in a nation that may have qualified for this World Cup and may never have the opportunity of playing at this level because a nation with more money than football talent was able to bribe FIFA. If FIFA wanted an Arab World Cup, in a footballing sense, Iran has more credentials than Qatar. Good win for England yesterday though and good to see there will not be an over reliance on Kane to score goals. Wales were much improved in the second half of their game with USA.

Another fine selection Karl.