Simon Weeks

@AlfieHouseEcho Can’t imagine anyone is happy with how we are playing?!

Jan Bednarek continued: "And I think when you have to defend 20 situations instead of 10 or 15, it makes it harder because the percentage is going up in their favour." Not happy with the way Saints are playing? (2/2) #SaintsFC

Interesting from Jan Bednarek: "We have to find a way that we can also defend and be a threat up front. I think that's what we were missing at points. For example, against Fulham, we were ahead in the second half, but I don't think we were a threat at all." (1/2) #SaintsFC

@dazza_nics I don’t get it at all. Gave them 20 years, won everything for them, and now fancies living & playing in Spain. Seems fair enough to me as I know where I’d rather live!

I GUARANTEE that the Liverpool fans, who are calling Trent a rat amongst other things would still be asking him for a photo if they saw him today

@sfcbamps Only paid £5m for him too didn’t we? Fair play to him for coming back from the dead with the fans, but I’d happily get money back on him

The best of a below-par bunch since Fonte moved on, but he’s not worth much more than £6m🤣 he is symbolic of the bad times for me. What is the uproar about lol!? Edwards will be 10x the player, JS will stay and be the experience needed & it opens space for 1 more #saintsfc

@sfcbamps @AlfieHouseEcho He refused to play Everton’s best player at the time, which did not help him. I’m very unsure about him. He’s done OK at Coventry I suppose

@Siweeks @AlfieHouseEcho Deffo! As underrated as a manager there is for me. Also like the idea of having a manager who will get immediate respect because of his rep as a player👍 bar Everton where he had a real crap squad, he’s been good everywhere

Everyone comes across well on TV but the actual substance of what Will Still said last night is why maybe he's a good Saints fit? Aggressive counter pressure, offensive marking, play forward quickly, keen to develop. Lots of what they're looking for! Was interesting. #SaintsFC

@sfcbamps @AlfieHouseEcho Lampard?!?

@AlfieHouseEcho Him, Rohl, Rosenior or Lamps and I’m happy with any of them!

@ScummerOf69 Nice bloke? Yep. Good football manager? Sadly not

Just finished the Russell Martin interview with big ears and we failed him massively. He was the perfect man to lead us forward and although he made mistakes, he wasn’t backed at all. Genuine question, would anyone take him back? #SaintsFC

@SaintsExtra @TimesSport Get our money back and get rid. He’ll end up at bottom 6 club at best. Bang average

🚨 Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis is keen to remain in the Premier League following the club’s relegation to the Championship #saintsfc @TimesSport

@loulangdown @Jaguar Can you give me a lift?!

@Siweeks @Jaguar I wasn’t Si! But thanks 😂 still in a Ford fiesta

If anyone was ever thinking of buying a @Jaguar car, please don’t ever do it. Absolutely dreadful organisation

@paullewismoney Yeah well done Paul 😂🤦‍♂️

So glad my savings and pension are in cash!

@mattletiss7 Oh Matt 🤦‍♂️

When a fictional tv programme gets so much exposure and two tier Kier comments on it, you know it’s a psy op

@FlynnJonas2 Agree re THB. Disagree re Ramsdale

Unpopular opinion…. Ramsdale and THB are massively overhyped because they are two young English Players Truth is they are both bang average and Championship level players #SaintsFC

@DanielPriestley It’s not just that though. You can be a plumber & earn a very, very good living. Or an electrician. Or joiner or whatever. Gary’s arguments are awful but majoring on tech / innovation plays into his hands a bit. It’s about agency, as you said in the discussion with him

My strong hunch is that wealth inequality in the last 25 years is largely the result of technology and finance. People who are working with digital assets like media, data, software, etc clearly have had a growing advantage over those who don't. Those who work closely with the financial world that fuels the high growth areas of the economy have also done well. Tech and finance have accelerated ahead and the rest of the economy has fallen behind. Classic examples - the retailers on the high street are declining, while e-commerce sellers with instagram followings are booming. Cinemas are often empty while YouTubers are seeing explosive growth on their channels. Oxford economist @garyseconomics ignores the leverage of tech and finance. He thingks the cause of wealth inequality is ... wealth inequality. A bit like saying that the cause of a football team losing the game is the scoreboard! When pushed, he says it's because some people have a rich dad... despite 80% of millionaires being self-made. Unless you know the real reasons, you can't fix the problem. I debated Gary on the latest episode of DOAC with @StevenBartlett. It got pretty heated, you can watch it on the link below..

@DanielPriestley It’s why you only pay capital gains tax when you crystallise a gain. You don’t pay it just because things go up

@DanielPriestley The point also missed about a “wealth” tax is that wealth is not constant. Your company / assets can be worth £20m one year - and maybe £2m the following. So what happens then? Do you get your tax back? Gary misses the point that assets generally fluctuate in value quite a lot

I asked Gary how we would implement a wealth tax. First he said to tax revenues of their companies - a consumption tax (which mostly get’s passed on to consumers). Then he said to tax their profits - a tax that can be avoided by almost any global entity. Then he said to tax the value of their assets - which causes wealthy people to leave. I’m not arguing with the idea that billionaires could pay more in taxes but I’m curious as to how he intends to implement the plan without doing more harm than good. In the debate, Gary didn't know the difference between inheritance tax and income tax. He didn’t know the difference between revenues and profits. I worry that the guy who’s proposing new taxes has a very low resolution understanding of taxes.

@andrewhesselden @DanielPriestley Most trusts are subject to taxation in the UK, often at rates higher than tax on individuals

I supposed you could try to tax trusts. Or instead of focusing on increasing tax on one group, you could increase tax across the board on everyone but look at specific ways to reduce the tax burden on those who struggle to make ends meet. For example free public transport or tax relief on public transport. Offset the costs of going to work against income tax, for example, lunch at work and takeaway food, petrol for commuting, childcare. Look at ways that state welfare benefits subsidise bad employers (are employers paying a living wage and if not, then could wages be increased without harming end consumers with higher prices?) This may all reduce the need for people to claim benefits and therefore reduce state costs. Combatting ageism in society and scrapping certain barriers to self employment (eg IR35) would probably have a hugely beneficial effect on the workforce, mental health and physical health of older people. This would help older people generate income for longer without reducing quality of life. Finally, getting back into the EU or joining the single market would perhaps be the single most transformative thing the government could do. If it’s easier to trade and if you can eliminate waste causes by friction like paperwork and visas, then growth would come back and there’d be more tax collected to pay for everything. Remember Kaizen and Lean methodologies? Brexit flies in the face of all that and just makes no sense. Anyway, what do I know….?

@NigelGararge @CreativeDeduct @jimthegiant @garyseconomics Umm, I don’t sell life insurance. And I have a degree in economics

Its brilliant seeing the right wing machine having to confront @garyseconomics message. They resort to classist insult of his accent, or more of the same trickledown economics. They are loosing this argument and its beautiful to watch

Perfectly summed up 👇

@patrickamon @CreativeDeduct @jimthegiant @garyseconomics This is the other point he misses in that discussion. Not everyone will get rich / be millionaire. Nor should they. If they did, being a millionaire would be like earning £10,000 now. Yeah people are struggling. But the strugglers tend to have a much better safety net these days

@Siweeks @CreativeDeduct @jimthegiant @garyseconomics He's surely correct to say that not everyone can get rich by being an entrepreneur. For entrepreneurs to get rich there need to be many more consumers than there are entrepreneurs.

@The_Leaver @CreativeDeduct @jimthegiant @garyseconomics Yeah I agree with that point. And it sort of is his only point when you get under the bonnet of it. There are other solutions more effective than a “wealth” tax to improve that. He’s just positioning himself as a YouTube Robin Hood for likes fundamentally