Dan Gottschalk

Work in Parliament. Mainly tweet about football, and occasionally the cricket

[Mark Gillies @5goalthriller]

“And Harry Kane, who did *not* miss his penalty…”

[Dan Gottschalk @dan_gchalk]

Imagine booking Andrea Boccelli for a football tournament and getting him to sing anything other than Nessun Dorma

[Dan Gottschalk @dan_gchalk]

“Row Zed” as opposed to “Row Zee” has to go down as a cultural victory…

@FootballCliches??

[ًًً @_captainpulisic]

phrases casuals won’t know ?

[Dan Gottschalk @dan_gchalk]

@forwardnotback @UKLabour Whenever I worked on by-elections, we always made a point of ensuring they were offered to the candidate

[Dan Gottschalk @dan_gchalk]

Takes like this miss the point entirely.

Littler *can* take it. He’s proved that. Bottom of the league after week 5 and has just won the whole thing 12 weeks later.

What happened last night was a release after high pressure. And darts is richer for characters like Luke.

[Harvey 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 @THFCHarvey18]

Don’t give it if you can’t take it 👍

[Dan Gottschalk @dan_gchalk]

I enjoyed the new format when it came in. Nightly drama and it felt clean.

But it’s run its course and it feels like there’s a consensus to move back to the league format.

Plus, imagine the hype that would build in the week up to certain match-ups… would be more exciting imo

[Jeremy @Jeremy7105]

One of the if the most iconic rivalry ever in darts is Phil Taylor v Raymond van Barneveld. That faced 27 times in 12 years in the Premier League. In comparison, Luke Humphries v Littler with that final has now happened 23 times in 3 years. Think the format has run its course

[Dan Gottschalk @dan_gchalk]

That miss on D2 against Humphries in the worlds was such a huge moment

[Did MVG hit a 9 darter on Sky today? @MVGonSky]

It came close to falling in tonight's Premier League final, but Luke Littler still hasn't lost a game of PDC darts that has gone 20 legs or longer since his first World Championship final on 3rd January 2024, 876 days ago.

He is now 26-0 since joining the tour.

[Tim Shipman @ShippersUnbound]

Further to Blair. Literally every honest sensible person in all the main parties privately agrees with all these propositions:

- welfare spending is too high and is throwing good people on the scrapheap
- defence spending is too low
- the triple lock is unsustainable
- without cheap energy we cannot exploit the AI revolution
- we should be investing in EVERY form of energy: renewables, nuclear and the North Sea
- migration needs to be controlled to boost social cohesion and because the boats look like a huge failure of the state
- any new relationship with the EU will be imposed on us until we are stronger and cannot involve the closeness some desire without freedom of movement
- we are deeply embedded with America in ways which the public does not understand and cannot be told and however joyous it makes us feel to hate Trump, disengagement at the deep state level is not only wholly unrealistic but also undesirable
- Whitehall needs a total overhaul so specific project expertise and political appointees can be brought in quickly

Blair basically says all that.

The one thing he doesn’t say and which the same group of people agree on is this and it’s something Blair left behind:

- judges and quangos have too much power, are unaccountable and without redressing the balance in favour of parliament it is very difficult to do anything big fast
- the bare minimum that needs to change in this regard is to reform judicial review and planning law so we can put building and economic growth ahead of newts and NIMBYs

None of that above really ought to be up for discussion. It is all common sense but not one of our politicians will publicly say all of it

Whatever you think of Blair, engage with what he’s saying not how he makes you feel. The bare minimum we should expect from any leader is that they have an analysis of the current situation and a plan to deal with it which is as coherent and realistic as his intervention. Pretty well every critique I’ve read so far has failed to meet this requirement.

Over to Andy and Keir and Kemi and Nigel and Zack and all the others

[Jim Gardner-Johnson @DatDudeJD]

BAR OWNER: “You’re OK at making drinks, but are you good at changing the channel on a TV?”

BARTENDER INTERVIEWEE: “I am the literal worst channel changer of all time.”

BAR OWNER: “You start tomorrow.”

[Clive Martin @clive_mart1n]

I’m sorry but there are obviously so many people doing ‘Arsenal brat summer’, not because they are football fans, but because the club has become some de facto living in London accessory.

Might as well be a work-discounted Blok membership or a reservation at Singburi.

[Jack Hancock 🇨🇴🇵🇦🇦🇹🇯🇴 @HancockAnalysis]

PATRIOTS

[Dan Gottschalk @dan_gchalk]

Tuchel choosing who to take to the World Cup #ThreeLions

[England @England]

It’s official. Your #ThreeLions players heading to the @FIFAWorldCup! 🏆

[Adam @AdamFulwell_]

Thomas Tuchel picking this England squad

[Dan Gottschalk @dan_gchalk]

Thank god Tom said it. I’ve felt like I’ve been on a one-man mission of pedantry for months.

However there is a very important difference between the two so I’ll continue to fight the good fight…

[Tom Harwood @tomhfh]

I’ve given up trying to correct people.

But let me try just one last time. It’s not ‘King of the North.’

It’s ‘King *in* the North.’

[Harry Samuels @hnjsamuels]

Might run for Parliament on a single-issue campaign: mandating overnight counts for all elections

[Fella @FPLFella]

Thought someone had put an election day accumulator on for a second.

[Dan Gottschalk @dan_gchalk]

@graceyldn Always have your AirPods in and when they go to talk to you, make the “I’m on the phone” gesture.

Have avoided any sort of conversation with them for at least two years now

[Sky Sports Football @SkyFootball]

JACK BYCROFT... ARE YOU SERIOUS?! 🤯

The Exeter City goalkeeper scored a 96th-minute equaliser to rescue a point!

[Jamie @BelishaBeacon25]

@surreycricket The Oval Office

[bailey @Baileymoon15]

looking like the driving crooner