• 13 Jul 2026, 7:15 p.m.

    Why the hell not?

  • 13 Jul 2026, 7:19 p.m.

    Because she wants to go and I have to live with her..

    Clearly your marriage is made up.

    Chicago: Stuck.

  • 13 Jul 2026, 7:34 p.m.

    I seriously don't think I have known anyone, ANYONE who agonises so performatively over a ticket. All told , anyone who has gone out there has spent WAY more than that. So either buy one. Or don’t.

    But 48h of you banging on about it will get pretty boring.

    This

    I don’t pay Ingo. I thought you knew that.

    That is because you sat/stood next to me….that’s worth an extra grand.

  • 13 Jul 2026, 7:45 p.m.

    I mean the fooball has been largely mismatched and of dubious qality. Though some quarters have been nicely air conditioned and hydrated. I always think they try it on, to see what they can get away with...and the message being sent back is largely "whtever the fuck you want". I like to think that I have less of an attack surface to malicious exploirtation. The dumb compliance for overpaying is validating and providing a compelling case, for those you least want near something that you really care about, getting involved.

    Football is already pretty broken, you lot are just tramping the dirt down on it.

  • Squad
    13 Jul 2026, 8:22 p.m.

    Talkback Top Gear challenge.

    Jake has $2860 to buy a battered old van and drive it from the UK to Chicago. He can get the Tunnel and then a ferry over the Bering Strait, or something.

    Meanwhile Ingo has a few £12s to buy a go kart with a massive speaker system and follow him around playing Quo at full volume.

    Mince on a bicycle managing to keep up until he is eaten by a bear in Alaska.

    Hilarity ensues.

  • 13 Jul 2026, 8:28 p.m.

    I want a refund

  • 13 Jul 2026, 8:30 p.m.

    Jake as May, Ingo as Clarkson, and Mince as Hamster, are all pretty much perfect.

  • 14 Jul 2026, 5:06 a.m.

    Ref for the game on Wednesday is an American fella. Internet sentiment seems to be he's pretty decent.

  • 14 Jul 2026, 5:58 a.m.

    Solid advice, as history has taught us.

  • 14 Jul 2026, 6:02 a.m.

    Gammon as Stig on public transport

  • 14 Jul 2026, 5:27 p.m.

    To sate my appetite for WC stuff on a non match day I somehow ended up watching the 1994 Graham Taylor documentary. It was slightly before my time, but it kinda astounds me that a team with that talent, including Pearce, Des, and a young Nigel, couldn't qualify for what I remember as my first proper WC. Taylor came across as a decent bloke but a second rate coach and man manager... not that I suppose you lot didn't know that already.

    "Caarrrrlllton!!..... Caaaarrlllttonnn!!!..."
    "What sort of thing is happening here?...."

    Anyway, as you were.

  • 14 Jul 2026, 5:33 p.m.

    I think the fact Carlton Palmer was playing for England might provide evidence that the team wasn't all that great.

  • 14 Jul 2026, 5:38 p.m.

    Andy Sinton played a couple of times under Taylor also, I think? It wasn't a great time to follow the national side.

  • 14 Jul 2026, 6:02 p.m.

    It was a real transition era as many of the 1990 players were retired/retiring, dearth of new midfield talent, plus arguably England's three best players in Gazza, Shearer and Psycho all suffered long-term injuries around that period.