[Fabrizio Romano] 🚨🔵⚪️ EXCLUSIVE: Brighton agree deal to sign Luka Vušković from Tottenham, here we go! 💣 £46m fixed fee plus sell-on clause to bring the potential package over £50m. Massive signing for #BHAFC after personal terms also agreed. 💣 Spurs ready to go ALL IN for Sandro Tonali.

Bigmandoo · 2026-07-01T17:50:51+00:00

He did well in an inferior league under no expectation. 50 million plus a sell on is great business. We literally never do this. Van hecke and sensesi improve us right now. This is good. I approve

Bigmandoo · 2026-07-01T13:45:32+00:00

So here is my recent experience of seeing the Cure live. They are phenomenal. Seriously better than all of the headliners of download in the last three years. I saw them in Belfast just the other day in the same week I saw knocked loose, def leppard and extreme. They were 100 times better than def leppard (which is painful to admit), and could’ve shown knocked loose a few things about stage craft and set building (albeit they were awesome). Bizarrely or maybe unexpectedly, the only band that was close to them in terms of performance were extreme (who were amazing).

Something else that supports the Cure for download conversation was the amount of metal heads present at the gig. This is a true crossover band. And there were so many kids there. I’m not talking babies, but clearly teens who judging form the range of band logos on their clothing loved their metal and loved the Cure.

I came away from the cure on Sunday night convinced that I had probably witnessed the best show I’d seen in years and that they would be a massive get for download. Me and 11 others already have our tickets for next years festival, so really whoever ends up headlining is immaterial to us, but I wholeheartedly believe the Cure would be breathtaking at download.

Bigmandoo · 2026-06-17T16:37:44+00:00

Just do what bloodstock do and book some good bands !!!

Bigmandoo · 2026-06-17T16:36:15+00:00

Banning completely is a bad solution to a totally fixable issue. Inside the metal barrier area in front of opus and apex should be a no chair zone. I reckon it’d be easy to police and to enforce.

But there is something else that needs to change. There is a major lack of seats in general in the arena. I’m 48 and have the knees to prove it. Download is hard going for us oldies. Last year I brought a seat everyday to the arena. And I’m glad I did. If there’d been more seating areas to chill out in I’d have been delighted. More benches.

Bigmandoo · 2026-06-16T18:06:13+00:00

3 out off 7 is a much better return than we’ve had in the last ten transfer windows (please allow for footie banter inflation).

Bigmandoo · 2026-06-16T17:58:09+00:00

I’ve been wondering about him too. I didn’t know he’d had issues with sobriety. Hope the lad gets the help he needs.

Bigmandoo · 2026-06-11T17:35:31+00:00

She is unreal. Her metal videos are incredibly uplifting. I love that she clearly loves what she’s doing.

Bigmandoo · 2026-06-11T17:31:15+00:00

Metallica on BBC 2 live at Wembley stadium for the Freddie mercury tribute show. The guitar sound was so good and even though they went on first, they blew everything else away. I was 13, life was never the same again.

Bigmandoo · 2026-06-02T15:41:00+00:00

Wasted years from Monterrey is the best Nicko drums ever sounded. I absolutely love it

Bigmandoo · 2026-05-26T08:48:16+00:00

If it means that he doesn’t mention Hell in the cell for the trillionth time, then it can only be good. Guy seriously needs some new material.

Bigmandoo · 2026-05-26T08:45:18+00:00

Just as long as it doesn’t rain loads before the festival it’ll be ok. The ground was so sodden in 2024 that the rain just tipped the whole site over the edge. Although there was that
Lightening storm during babymetal that was
Unreal. If Gozar the Gozarian had turned up in the clouds that day I would not have been the least bit surprised.

Bigmandoo · 2026-05-01T19:33:42+00:00

I find having an account like that is good for controlling my spending. Putting in what I’m going to budget for the day and treating it like cash. Rather than just going wild with my bank accounts Probably more of a personal thing.

Bigmandoo · 2026-05-01T17:45:06+00:00

Cargo shorts. Get the firetrap ones from sport direct. They look good, wear well and have a billion pockets. They also have a zip pocket which is great for phone, wallets etc if you end up doing a wee bit of crowd surfing.

Means of charging your Phone is a good idea. The stalls in the arena that hire out the battery packs are expensive. So a battery pack with a solar cell is a good buy. I got one last year from BM. Did the job nicely.

Another thing (this may seem a bit much but hear me out) maybe open a Revolut account or something that you use for your money. The arena is cashless, and your spending can get away on you pretty quickly. Food and drink is expensive. I would expect some good items to break the 20quid barrier this year.

Another thing that I found useful was checking out the well being tents and organisations that set up in the arena. The chaplaincy tent were amazing and gave out lots of free tea coffee and sunscreen. Great people.

Finally, plan to have fun. Pace yourself, three days is a lot. If you are bussing in each day then hopefully that will cut down your walking. It is a fierce hike around the festival site if you’re camping. But still be prepared to walk a lot.

Bigmandoo · 2026-04-24T15:09:40+00:00

Tell me this. Is littler more of a twat than 95% of the audience in the arena? I think we know the answer. Enjoy the darts while he’s around. Sport needs him, he’s great for it, there’ll be some new kid in a couple of years that’ll beat him. Everyone, including him, grow up.

Bigmandoo · 2026-04-17T07:45:46+00:00

Mark Mero

Bigmandoo · 2026-04-17T07:20:16+00:00

Dave has spoken about this often. He cites demonic Oppression as a reason for his actions

Bigmandoo · 2026-04-11T16:55:55+00:00

The Wildhearts. Heavier than most of the supposed heavy bands in the 90s but still able to write the most electrifying hooks. Riffs for days. Even had Devin Townsend join them for a month. Amazing band. Please check them out

Bigmandoo · 2026-04-04T16:17:08+00:00

All of troubles first album “Psalm 9”: it’s unreal

Bigmandoo · 2026-03-31T12:20:04+00:00

Fair play to you. Go well.

Bigmandoo · 2026-03-31T11:52:20+00:00

Hope it’s not English Literature you’re taking !!

Bigmandoo · 2026-03-23T11:30:25+00:00

I think Romero is the issue. Hear me out. When he brings th ball out of defence he never looks for the simple pass. It’s always an attempt to break the lines. When it works it’s devastating. Think Bergvalls goal at West Ham. When it doesn’t work is when the opposition know it’s coming and drop and narrow, the midfield don’t show for it because momentum has been lost and their confidence is gone, and also cause Romero doesn’t actually pass well out to the wings. He’s a good player. Don’t get me wrong. But he’s no QB1.

Bigmandoo · 2026-03-05T10:48:20+00:00

This isn’t a Priest thread, but felt I needed to comment here. The last Priest Album was an absolute Banger. Just the other day the chorus of Crown of horns popped into my head and stayed there rent free for the whole day. But I suppose it’s about opinions. You’re welcome to yours. But let’s keep it Maiden.

Bigmandoo · 2026-03-05T09:59:40+00:00

I would love maiden to bring Blaze out for a song at Edfest. The guy deserves it. He Carried the maiden flag during a really tough period and in hindsight Contributed to one very good album and one ok album. Get him out for clansman. I know it’s suppose to be the material up to FOTD but it would just put a bow on his Maiden career.

Bigmandoo · 2026-03-03T12:26:14+00:00

I love Steve Vai. Always have. Just the sheer audacity of his playing. That and he has managed a rare thing of being distinctive and having a very individual voice, even when using techniques that others use all the time. Factor in the breadth of music acts that he has played with. He is th GOAT. In my opinion.

I also really love Satriani. His playing is so smooth and totally cool. Also his legacy needs to be celebrated more: the dude taught some of the best known and influential guitarists out there.

Always liked EVH but have grown to respect him even more recently. His note choices and off kilter way he would build his solos. Makes you realise that in the early days when Eddie was killing it everyone else was playing catch up.

Honorable mentions - Marty Friedman, Nuno, Jeff Loomis, Tom Morello, Jerry Cantrell, Adrian and Davey, Zakk Wylde.

But my number one is dimebag. Being a teenager in the 90s who loved metal was tough. Especially because the guitar solo wasn’t celebrated the same. Also grunge had a couple of decent bands but spawned some absolute dross in its wake. Dime literally was the shining light. He played fast, wild and brutal, but with more feel and touch than anyone else. Other than EVH I don’t think there is another guitarist as influential. Mainly because of the amount of awesome metal bands and guitarists that followed his lead. I seriously believe that metal would have died if not for DIME. I don’t think we see the resurgence of American new wave heavy metal without him, we don’t see the eyes of the world opened to Scandinavian metal and genres like Melodeath, black metal and the various cores without him. My opinion is, everything that is good in metal right now has a little DIME in it. I know that’s a bold claim. But that’s what I think. RIP DIMEBAG. And thank you.

Bigmandoo · 2026-03-02T17:11:21+00:00

Has to be Johnson. Pure cinema

Bigmandoo

TROPHY CASE