Roger Armand Walker (@rogwalker) header
Roger Armand Walker (@rogwalker) profile picture

Journalist and historian. Labour out !

Lichfield, England
Joined July 2009
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Vice-President JD Vance has come out blaming Donald Trump's war with Iran for the Republicans' annihilation in the mid-term elections. Vance obviously feels confident enough to point the finger at his boss. How many other erstwhile Trumpites will follow the Veep ? The lame duck Trump can still do a lot of damage in his remaining two years in the White House but there's a definite feel of the end of an era in US politics.
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Donald Trump has deservedly suffered total humiliation in the mid-term elections. So far he's been fairly conciliatory in his response ; he's even accepted the results ! But now we must wait to see how he responds in practice to life with severely clipped wings. The new Democrat-controlled Congress is staunchly pro-Ukraine. Will Trump now water down his increasingly brazen support for Russia ?
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#ManUtdRoma At last something to celebrate for Manchester United. They should have been dead and buried after a typically abysmal first half performance. The penalty changed everything. It was a pretty soft one and we were doubly fortunate when Fernandes got a second chance to take it. But maybe we were owed a bit of luck: we've had precious little of it so far this season ! It transformed the players. How good at last to see a United team going for the opposition's throats once again and being roared on by a passionate crowd !
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Shabana Mahmood's climbdown slashing how long foreign care workers have to wait before they can get ILR sums up this government. Rayner and the Left rule !
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Today Lisandro Martinez epitomised what is wrong with Manchester United. He's grossly overrated and not good enough for the Premier League. First of all he's too short to be a central defender. Second he has the temperament and judgement of a bull in a china shop. He's crazy and he looks as if he's crazy. Carrick or whoever replaces him must drop Martinez and never pick him for the first team again. If he doesn't like it he can emigrate to the Malvinas.
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Roger Armand Walker retweeted
Manchester United fans defiant. Manchester United players defeatist. One day, United players will take responsibility, and will play with the commitment of their fans. Carlos Baleba, Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez failed to react for Chelsea’s first. Martinez so unprofessional for Chelsea’s second goal, elbow, second yellow, pen, shocking behaviour. Michael Carrick has his flaws but he’s been let down by his players. United fans have been let down by their players. United can change the head coach but they have to change many of the players, recruiting stronger characters. Players who take responsibility, who care for the club. #CHEMUN #MUFC
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Anyone who believes Labour really wants to slash the ballooning benefits bill must be living in cloud cuckoo land. Like the Prime Minister, John Healey has said there'll be no ' crude cuts '. In plain language that means no cuts worth talking about. But what really gives the game away is the Chancellor's promise to tackle the problem in " a Labour way ". That means doing sweet FA. This pathetic government dare not risk losing the votes of Britain's growing army of scroungers.
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Andy Burnham is telling us ' no election in the next 12 months ' An interesting choice of period given that until now he's been saying no early election full stop. Calling one in October 2027 would be very early considering he doesn't have to go to the country until the summer of 2029. So is what he said today significant? Or is it yet another top-of-the head Burnhamism that will have to be corrected by a Downing Street spokesman?
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I have to ask this question. Was the team that was ostensibly Arsenal tonight really Manchester United in disguise ? In which case Fleetwood's ' shock ' victory was no shock at all. Remember Grimsby !
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So has Michael Carrick been reprieved ? No it's merely a stay of execution. Berrada, Wilcox and co are just postponing Carrick's walk to the gallows until they can find someone mad enough to replace him as manager. Whoever it is will have to be an utter fool because at today's Manchester United how can anyone possibly succeed in football's job from hell ? But then hubris and ambition often addle the brains of men who should know better.
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Harry Kane richly deserves the Ballon d'Or. He's a popular choice. But imagine that he'd signed for Manchester United a few years ago. Joining the most dysfunctional club in the Premier League would have stunted his career or perhaps even ruined it completely. He would certainly never have become the best player in the world.
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Harry did it! Kane wins Ballon D'or.
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According to Donald Trump Norway " sucks " and he doesn't want Norwegians in the US. In Trump's considered opinion it is a '" a shithouse country. " Why ? Because he blames Norway for his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize. This is despite the fact that while the recipient is chosen by a panel appointed by the parliament in Oslo, the panel's decision is totally independent. Not the sort of subtle distinction that Trump will care about or even perhaps understand.
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🚨Wayne Rooney reacts to Manchester United’s humiliating 3–0 defeat to Bournemouth: 🗣️Rooney: “I watched that and felt sick. A group of players who looked like they couldn’t be bothered, a team with no identity, no fight and no idea what they’re supposed to be, and a club that has spent over a decade actively destroying everything that made it special. That’s what this 3–0 humiliation at home to Bournemouth actually was. I feel for Michael. I really do. Deep down he knows this is probably the end for him. You can see it in his face. He’s a good lad, a proper United man, and he’s been handed a squad that doesn’t have the character or the quality to compete. But let’s stop pretending he’s the problem. He isn’t. Manchester United’s crisis starts right at the top — with the people who keep making the same catastrophic decisions, the same disastrous recruitment, the same lack of any clear direction year after year. This club has been in institutional decline since Sir Alex left, and every new manager is just another scapegoat for the people who actually run the place. Look at that performance today. From the first whistle there was no urgency. Bournemouth scored from a set piece because half the team switched off. Then Yoro slips over in his own box and they walk it in. Then the goalkeeper comes charging out and gets done from a ridiculous angle. That’s not tactics. That’s a team that has no defensive organisation, no concentration, and no pride. When things go wrong, there is zero response. No leaders. No one grabbing the game. Just players standing around looking sorry for themselves while the fans who pay their wages are left embarrassed. And this squad… some of these players are among the most embarrassing I’ve ever seen wear that shirt. The mentality is soft. The quality in big moments is nowhere near the standard this club used to demand. The character is missing. They care more about themselves than the badge. You saw it with the comments this week. They throw their toys out of the pram the second they’re criticised and then put in a performance like this. It’s pathetic. People will scream for Carrick to be sacked. Fine. Do it. But don’t kid yourselves it changes anything. You could appoint the best manager in world football tomorrow morning and this club would still be a mess. Because the problems run far deeper than tactics or formations. The structure is broken. The recruitment is broken. The standards are gone. The accountability is non-existent. The same cycle of failure repeats every single season while the people at the top hide behind the next manager they can hang out to dry. This club has lost its identity. It used to be about winning, about standards, about never accepting second best. Now it’s about excuses, soft players, and a revolving door of managers who get blamed for a mess they didn’t create. Supporters are being forced to watch the same collapse over and over again, and it’s painful because we all remember what this club used to be. Until the people running Manchester United finally look in the mirror and accept responsibility for the mess they’ve created, the suffering will continue. No matter who is standing on the touchline.
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Roger Armand Walker retweeted
Michael Carrick will doubtless pay the price with his job for this deserved defeat to an excellent Bournemouth side and another lifeless display by his Manchester United team. Some of his selections and tactics have been questionable, United were again so open in the centre. But Carrick was not responsible for recruiting Youri Tielemans, who lacks physicality and mobility (and Aston Villa haven’t missed him) and Andrey Santos, a Chelsea reserve.  Carrick was not responsible for the board’s damaging failure to strengthen at centre-back and left-back. Carrick was not responsible for his main striker Benjamin Sesko being injured and the board’s failure to provide him with cover. Carrick was not responsible for the club he loves being in the grip of co-owners like the Glazers whose priorities are focused more on business than the sport. The direction from the top has been negligible, arguably negligent. No real leadership. No expertise. Carrick may be out of his depth but many United fans sang his name during the painful demise to Bournemouth because they know he cares and they know the problems lie elsewhere. The Stretford End again sang in protest at the wretched Glazers. Noticeable that there were few songs in support of Bruno Fernandes. He is supposed to be captain, rallying the players, Footballer of the Year, Player of the Year, not arm-waver of the year, underachieving and complaining. Yet Bruno will be at United longer than Carrick.  Carrick was praised for United finishing third last season and getting in the Champions League. But he will doubtless go partly for his own failings and mainly the failings of others. And United will be trapped in this doom loop again. And again until the core problems are addressed in the boardroom - and the Glazers sell up - and flaws in the recruitment department. #MUFC #MUNBOU
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The sickening reality about this latest Manchester United disaster is that Michael Carrick will lose his job. He is not the problem. He did his best in the face of an ownership structure that has sucked the life out of a once great club. And saddled him with just about the worst playing squad in the Premier League. In desperation he dropped his captain and star player for today's match with Bournemouth. The gamble failed so Carrick's head will roll. ( I'll be surprised if he's stiil in his job at lunchtime tomorrow ) And so the same nightmare will play itself out again. New coach-temporary improvement-relapse-sack. At the end of it all the Glazers, Ratcliffe, Berrada, Wilcox and co will still be there with their feet firmly on the club's windpipe.
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A marvellous and moving call-to-arms from Michael Carrick at his news conference. I particularly liked “I’ll hold that umbrella for me to get wet and keep everyone else dry.” Will it do the trick and finally inspire the players to behave like professionals ? I very much hope so but Manchester United is a club where player power has ruled supreme since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. If they ignore what Carrick said he's doomed and the Groundhog Day of new manager-temporary improvement-collapse-sack the coach will continue season after season.
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A nightmare trip down Memory Lane for Ruben Amorim. As he watched his AC Milan team being humbled by Bournemouth the Vitality Stadium must have felt just like Old Trafford.
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