jonathan melrose

Chelsea Fan and military history geek.
Boeing & Airbus jack of all trades.

[jonathan melrose @jonathanmelrose]

@JHarrisCFC @CFCDaily Hanley

[Carl Wilkinson @Wilbaforce12]

People may not remember this, but in June 2020 Keir Starmer wrote to Boris Johnson about the death of George Floyd and the protests that followed.

In that letter, he did not speak about anger as if it were automatically dangerous. He said he felt “shock and anger” himself. He said black citizens in Britain felt “palpable anger and anxiety.” He said George Floyd’s death had “justifiably prompted anger” and a “burning desire for fundamental change.”

He also spoke about the “fundamental democratic right to peaceful protest,” the need for a “peaceful and proportionate response,” and Britain’s “moral obligation” to understand the values being defended.

So Starmer knows how to do this when he wants to.

He knows how to place anger in context. He knows how to distinguish protest from disorder. He knows how to speak about democratic rights, moral grievance, proportionality, and the need to understand frustration.

Yet in the Henry case, that entire vocabulary seems to vanish.

No “justifiably prompted anger.”
No “palpable anger and anxiety.”
No “burning desire for fundamental change.”
No attempt to understand what has produced the rage.

Just “full force of the law.”

This is what people notice. The state can interpret one form of anger as a moral and political signal, while treating another as nothing more than disorder. It can find language for grievance when the cause is fashionable, but reaches immediately for punishment when the anger comes from people it already despises.

No one serious is saying violence should be excused. But people are entitled to ask why anger is humanised in one case and criminalised in another.

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

Neil’s narrator adds:
Since the Brexit referendum the UK economy has grown faster than Germany, France and Italy, which are all still in the EU. So much for the Brexit drag.
The higher inflation, higher interest rates and poor fiscal position are overwhelmingly the result of the economic policies of previous Tory governments, exacerbated by the current Labour one, which continued to borrow too much, tax too much, spend too much. Hence the UK’s high gilt yields. Brexit didn’t even have a walk on role.

[Paddy Power @paddypower]

Still, it could be worse, Spurs fans. You could be getting pushed towards relegation by Chelsea on the same night Arsenal became Premier League champions.

Oh.

[Vfynn_🥷🏼 𐙚 @Vfynn_]

🚨🎙️Ian Wright on how Chelsea got robbed in the Fa Cup Final, multiple penalty appeals turned down by referee Darren England and breaks down the rules behind every controversial incident:

“I don’t care what badge is on the shirt, if that’s at the other end and it’s against Manchester City, people are screaming corruption for a week. Chelsea got robbed today. Absolutely robbed.

The first one on Joao Pedro before halftime? That is not a ‘coming together’. Khusanov doesn’t even attempt to play the ball, he just body-checks him straight through the back. Under the laws, if you impede or charge a player carelessly inside the box without playing the ball, it’s a penalty. Simple. VAR hiding behind ‘subjective contact’ is nonsense.

Then the second-half madness… two penalty appeals in about 10 seconds and somehow none reviewed properly? Doku clips Caicedo while he’s driving into the area, there’s contact, no touch on the ball, and Chelsea players are begging for consistency because we’ve seen softer ones given all season.

And the handball? Don’t even get me started. Enzo Fernández whips the ball in and it strikes O’Reilly’s arm/elbow. People keep saying ‘his arm was tucked in’ but the law also talks about making the body unnaturally bigger and blocking the trajectory of the ball. We’ve literally seen those given in the Premier League this season. So what’s the standard anymore? Every week fans are told something different.

And then AGAIN on Joao Pedro around the 66th minute, Khusanov makes contact from behind as Gusto’s cross comes in and Pedro goes down. Once more, no urgency from VAR. No referee sent to the monitor. Nothing.

That’s three huge moments in one cup final. Three. Chelsea players were looking around like they already knew nobody was helping them today.

If Arsenal or Liverpool got treated like that in a final, football wouldn’t hear the end of it for months. But because it’s City on the other side, everyone suddenly wants to act ‘calm’ and ‘neutral’.

Chelsea didn’t just lose a final… they got officiated out of one.”

[Chelsea Loan Army @ChelseaIoanArmy]

The Premier League trophy should go to VAR 🙏🏽

[Christiano @Christian_Dyer]

Arsenal’s route to the final is insane.

They’ve been playing Europa League football the whole way through ffs 🤣

Bilbao
Atletico
Olympiacos
Club Brugge
Slavia Praha
Kairat Almaty
Leverkusen
Sporting
Atletico

A rude awakening likely awaits them against a proper side.

[EuroFoot @eurofootcom]

🇧🇷🥶 14 years ago today, Ramires produced this chip at the Camp Nou. 🍟

[talkSPORT @talkSPORT]

🤣 "It's good news for you, Jamie!"

Jason Cundy revealed his new EFL jingle for next season with Jamie O'Hara in mind... 😂

[Olly @oIIyjm]

Keir Starmer perfectly summing up Keir Starmer

[Paddy Power @paddypower]

Not sure the Premier League will recover from losing an institution like Spurs, who provide so much enjoyment to fans of every other club in the world. A real loss.

[Kenneth @NiceGuyKenny]

I can’t deal with Tottenham winning at the same time as finding out Liam Delap is starting.

[Stompey🇸🇪 (fan) @stompey__]

Days since last PL win:

1 - Leeds
2 - Man City, Crystal Palace, Sunderland
3 - Bournemouth, Brighton, Liverpool
4 - West Ham
5
6
7 - I
8 - N
9 - T
10 - E
11 - R
12 -N
13 - A
14 - T
15 - I
16 - O
17 - N
18 - A
19 - L
20
21
22
23 - Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest
24 - Everton, Fulham
25
26
27
28
29
30 - Man United
31 - Arsenal, Newcastle
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41 - Chelsea
42 - Wolves
43
44
45 - Brentford
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62 - Burnley
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107 - Tottenham

[Kenneth @NiceGuyKenny]

So, if in the next four games Tottenham get one point less than Forest and two points less than West Ham then they will be relegated v Chelsea if they lose the game.

[Chris Rose @ArchRose90]

Look at how differently the police handled young football fans yesterday in comparison to the young looters in Clapham.

They remembered how to use the batons again!

[jonathan melrose @jonathanmelrose]

@ChelsTransfer I fancy PortVale @ 18/1

[CarefreeFC @RhysCarefree]

Watch Fofana.

[Paddy Power @paddypower]

Chelsea have been handed a fine and a suspended transfer ban by the Premier League.

Meanwhile, we hear from the lad investigating Man City’s FFP charges…

[Rob Scott @robscott121114]

You get absolutely nothing in this country anymore. It used to be £20 free bet and you got it back if it lost 😩😩😩

[Paddy Power @paddypower]

The cameraman picking out miserable Spurs fans in the crowd deserves an Oscar.