What I have learned today.

Gareth Taylor, our illustrious former No.10 and subject of regular amateur cow arse and banjo analogy studies, is manager of Manchester City wimmin, having held the post since 2020.

I liked him when he played at center half.

Indeed. Gareth Taylor was a decent player for the level at the time for teams that set up in a traditional 4-4-2 with touchline-hugging wingers. Paul Hart didn't play that way - his midfield four was a diamond - so Taylor's signing was an odd one.

My uni pal who was just starting out doing football press office work was with Burnley back then and saw all their games home and away. I recall him saying when Taylor signed for Forest that he'd not seen a better first-division target man.

He scored loads at Burnley because they had wingers hitting the byline and putting crosses on his head from 10 yards out. At Forest, we tried to get him playing as a direct replacement for David Johnson when he got crocked and unsurprisingly it didn't work. Taylor continually coming deep for the ball was daft.

He ended scoring some important goals for us and, while he was never a favourite of mine, I do think he was unfairly maligned at times. His arrival coincided with the truly shit period in the mid-2000s and while clearly a part of that, he certainly didn't merit the avalanche of stick he got. There were far more culpable players.

I met Paul Hart during that time and he came across as a right twat and was rather uncomplimentary about our Marlon who at the time was developing nicely. Mr, Harewood was absolutely lovely when I met him the few times we were there and certainly very generous with his time. Hart was always a rather prickly fellow and Nigel (when he was talking to me) did indicate that Harty wasn't the easiest bloke to get along with.

So yeah I agree with the paranoid one, Marloooon was great and could have been special if anyone had shown him some love.

Cracking fellow.

Chicago: Emptying the memory bank.

That Oli Burke is now 27. By the age of 20, he'd played more than 50 times in the English second tier and the Bundesliga.

In the seven years following that he's represented seven different clubs, only making 30+ appearances for one of them.

Former top flight struggle-club journeyman Danny Cadamarteri's son Bailey plays for Lincoln City and has just scored against Birmingham.

Love it

I always got the feeling people rated Cadamarteri a little higher than his ability because he might have been a bit Italian.

The council tax on my wife's old flat in (TalkBack axis) King's Lynn is going to double next year as they implement second home surcharge.

It's handy as it's near her aging mum (and now deceased dad).

I don't really get the justification on the letter that second homes are affecting the level of services the council can deliver. Given we currently pay full council tax on it but consume virtually no local services, I'm unsure how a couple living there full time, paying the same but consuming more will be better for the council coffers like they are suggesting.

Indeed. It doesn’t make sense if you take Council Tax to be what it theoretically is, but Council Tax has never actually being that anyway.. what with most council revenue coming (or not, as it tends to be) from central government funds.

It’s an available tool to put towards a pretty reasonable aim. What you should actually be getting hit with is a Land Value Tax, which would be much better for everyone except you.

Also, a couple living there full time put a bunch of money back into the local economy. It's not just about council tax.

Edit: just realized I said pretty much exactly what tricky already had.

I thought that was the point but not once is that mentioned in any of the literature we have received, it's all about the services. I don't think there is a shortage of housing stock in the area.

Depends what level the LVT would be set at. The new council tax will be c5% of the flat's market value.