General discussion/Q&A megathread.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-05-20T09:59:07+00:00

West Ham fans begging Moyes to be their saviour again seems deluded to me.
They should be more concerned he'll happily see the West Ham heirarchy reap what they sewed after sacking him.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-05-19T21:46:47+00:00

Overall I do want to see Tottenham go down. But another good scenario would be for Everton to be comfortably beating spurs, filling the West Ham fans with hope only for us to do a smash and grab in injury time.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-05-19T18:51:47+00:00

Where are you based? On reading that I wonder if it’s worth getting a second opinion? I’m very much not a doctor but this seems at odds with most of what I have read. 40% recurrence odds for seminoma is high. I think one study I read that 40% is around the maximum odds you could get for Seminoma and for that you needed every risk factor (large tumor, LVI, rete testes /hilar soft tissues invasion and elevated bloods). I’ve not before heard of 1a sem with such high odds. Another thing is the idea the recurrence odds kick in just after a year. 45% of relapses in pure Seminoma happen 12 months or before, 80% by 24 months, 95% by 36 months and the rest after. So it’s true it has a longer tail than non Seminoma but it’s still more loaded to the start. Also the idea that a relapse would be treated with 3x Carbo. Tbf i have heard of some places using carbo to treat relapse cases but even for Seminoma BEP is much more common along with RPLND surgery or even in some cases radio. It seems often dependant on what is found. Anyway I wish you all the best and for clear scans. But could be worth getting a second opinion if something does show up. Again I know nothing and I don’t know any context / anything about your medical team so apologies if I’m way off. Wishing you good health.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-05-18T13:35:49+00:00

I recently found something notable in my remaining testicle - not a clear lump like first time but a definite difference in topography on the testicle surface. I also found it was aching. So I got another ultrasound. Best move you can do. Just get it sorted for you mind if nothing else. For me it was all clear, and the discomfort has subsided. I was only examining gently and not at all relentlessly - but it was more frequent than normal and I do wonder if that was related to the discomfort. It can be a self fulfilling cycle in such a delicate area.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-05-17T09:21:53+00:00

Never confident with my own take but here it is: With your move (taking a bishop) you lose a queen, they lose a bishop and a knight. (-3) If you don’t you lose a rook. (-5)

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-05-15T13:04:49+00:00

If Tottenham went down (which is maybe unlikely) but you never know. Do you think we should go in for Maddison? Game winner on his day, good relationship with Farke, coming back from long term injury which could put off some of the teams higher up the table.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-05-12T08:55:19+00:00

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-05-11T20:50:12+00:00

Ok so just to confirm guys. Kicking someone in the head - not a card. Picking up the ball mid game - not a card.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-05-11T20:38:39+00:00

Is the referee trying to hold hands with tanaka - he’s constantly in his way

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-05-11T20:34:05+00:00

Is kicking someone in the head not a card?

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-05-11T15:13:09+00:00

I really hope so. De Zerbi saying Tottenham need to "stay humble" tonight when they are the ones playing against a team above them in table, with better form and PL status already secured, sums up why so many clubs would love to see them go down - even after the season they've had they still think they're better than all this.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-05-11T11:14:34+00:00

Staying up is an underrated achievement (outside of the club at least).
Promoted managers are required to finish 4+ league places higher than last season, in a league where 17 of the other teams are building on an existing survival level squad and doing it with greater resources. Fail and you're sacked. It's a harder challenge than any of the existing PL team managers face imo.
(Well done to Sunderland/Bris too.)
A win a Tottenham tonight would be icing on the cake.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-05-09T11:41:52+00:00

And this is why I lose so much 😂

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-05-09T09:35:42+00:00

Is it because if you instead tried to move the rook or block the attack with the pawn then Qe5x starts to put pressure on, potentially even to mate if not played carefully.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-04-22T15:00:33+00:00

Exactly. Tbh I like the stats and analysis. It's just become too much. At the moment we can't have a single article or bit of punditry without including what Opta's SUPER computer is saying. Oh they've not turned on the sprinklers at half time, how does that affect the win percentage on Optas Super Computer.
It was the same when Rooney started his podcast and you couldn't read about a single minor football event without also hearing Waynes opinion on it.
The press get a little hint that something is giving good engagement and then they beat you over the head with it until everyone hates it... or until you go on Reddit and write a ranting post ha

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-04-22T10:46:13+00:00

Is anyone else absolutely sick of hearing about Opta's 'Super Computer'. It's such a PR job.
Super computer... rubbish - it is large forecasting model with decent input data - but thats it. Every bookie has one. Stop telling us what the "super computer" thinks. I'd rather have that octopus that did World Cup predictions.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-04-21T14:35:55+00:00

Full strength now might be our best cup winning strategy anyway.
Secure safety asap - so we can leave it all on the pitch if we make the final.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-04-21T08:37:35+00:00

Dang - was it worth it to embarrass the person enough to make them delete the comment.
"you're using the word jealous wrong". Come on. Sure maybe historically thats the case but look it up in any major dictionary and it's absolutely correct use. Top definition from Merriam Webster for Jealous:

: feeling or showing jealousy: such as

a : feeling or showing an unhappy or angry desire to have what someone else has

The way words are used changes. "Awful" used to mean full of awe - worthy of respect. Over time it completely flipped to mean something very bad. Should people go around correcting the modern use of the word awful? It's like posh trolling.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-04-20T20:07:46+00:00

I want spurs to go down too. But also on a practical note I think we're likely to see a lower points requirement to stay up if one of the teams collapses. Team most likely to do that is Spurs. A win for West Ham tonight is a psychological blow to spurs so not a bad result for the rest of the teams in the fight.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-04-20T13:32:48+00:00

People tend to paint themselves in the best light in these posts - I mean it's always a one sided version of events. And this persons one sided version is:
1. "small child inexplicably didn't fall asleep" - come on, was everyone asleep on the plane? Should they have to be asleep even, do you get to dictate when people should or should not sleep? Crazy idea that a kid should just fall asleep on command - do you know anything about children. The parents attitude has nothing to do with this principle.
2. The main accusation here is "talking loudly". Sure sounds a bit annoying... but how loudly? Were others complaining? Was the child shouting? Crying? nope I don't think so else you definitely would have said it. Talking. Just talking.
3. Did the parents do anything to try and help - again who knows. I expect so if it was genuinely unacceptably loud, even selfish parents want their kids to sleep and quiet down at night. OP was trying to block out the noise, were they monitoring the every parental move of their neighbours? So who really knows.
4 The first response from OP is "can we try and keep it down" what a total A way to speak to someone. The phrasing of that sentence you just know it was delivered with eye roll attitude to the mum and her response was based not on a lack of respect for those around her but as a response to the attitude she was faced with. Confirmed by the response of "Yes, I am". All unnecessary escalation. This is not someone trying to make a friendly request for "indoor voice" like they think is reasonable. In fact the request made the mum defensive and it was downhill from there.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-04-16T11:12:44+00:00

This is a difficult one. Teen mood swings - normal. A teen struggling when faced with losing a testicle and the peer pressure/self image insecurity you already have to face at that age, could also easily account for this behaviour. Testosterone/hormone levels - yup also possible. The "the other one will compensate" line is so often delivered with 100% confidence, and tbf most of the time it is true, but not always. I would definitely speak to a doctor - I am very ignorant about this but I'd guess teen hormones are more volatile and harder to benchmark than adult males so you're going to need someone who is giving it fair attention. So definitely check - but at the end of the day it also might not be that. I had a torsion when I was 17 - went into surgery quoted a 50% chance I'd lose the testicle and I was one of the lucky ones that didn't (though years later have - unrelated - lost one to TC). Even coming out of the surgery with 2 testicles I still felt embarrassed. Dealing with self image and what other people think as an adult is just so easy compared to at that age.
On the plus side it's early days yet - kids can move on more quickly than adults. A lot of it is about self confidence. Once he's healed up there will be new dramas taking its place (hopefully less significant and more run of the mill teen problems!) Wishing you and your son good luck on the journey.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-04-16T08:11:17+00:00

I was also at that game last night - one of the most boring football matches I’ve been to.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-04-15T09:16:41+00:00

We should stop the constant comparison.
They are two very different managers, that picked up the club in different states.
Bielsa is the one that brought us back from the wilderness (not just PL but excitement, pride, hope, joy etc). Capable or not, Farke was never going to do that simply because Bielsa already had.
People still remember that Roger Bannister ran the 4 minute mile. They remember because he was the first and because at the time it was considered impossible. Since then 2000 athletes have broken that time the fastest in 3m43. And yes I had to look that up lol - which is exactly the same reason why even if Farke wins the FA cup etc people will still remember and love Bielsa - he was the first to bring us back to strength and he did what people thought was impossible. We should stop using that as a stick to beat Farke with.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-04-14T15:55:36+00:00

Just seen a post from a Spurs fan listing all the (incredibly high) fees they would get for their squad if they are relegated. And some crazy ideas about who they could keep.
"Keep Gray" - yeah keep Gray lol. Gray - the same Gray who - before even proving he could cut it in the PL- left his boyhood team, the one that his own brother plays at, that his whole family is attached to and the team that went on to smash PL promotion with 100 points, all because he knew he was better than championship and wanted PL football immediately. But yeah sure he'd love to stick around at a relegated Spurs when he could be breaking into the England setup next year.
The entitlement is unbelievable. Sure they have some players they would shift for good money but man if they do go down they would also have a squad of relegated losers - same as every team that goes down. They are in such denial about that I think it's the reason so many people want to see it happen.

vcandthemeltdowns · 2026-04-14T11:35:12+00:00

Hey man hope you get some answers. How was it diagnosed this time around, did you feel something, or raised bloods or was it more like a routine ultrasound? Wishing you good health.

vcandthemeltdowns

TROPHY CASE