By Tony Attwood.
I have been waiting for the “Cech spotted at airport” story to emerge, but it seems no, no one is going to oblige. So instead we have Adrian Durham in the Mail.
Now Adrian Durham is a special sort of man. He knows. In fact he knows everything. He is, in short omniscient. Thus he speaks…
- Forget Arsenal, Roy Hodgson’s England are the new Invincibles… and they’re far more entertaining than Arsene Wenger’s lot
and on another occasion…
- England expects more than this – we don’t ask for brilliance, but we want some entertainment from our national team
And so forth. But then who needs consistency when you know everything and can tell the future?
- Arsenal have failed yet again but there’s more chance of the Queen being sacked than Arsene Wenger getting the boot
and…
- Arsene Wenger is finally listening to me… now let’s see if he can get Arsenal back to where they belong.
So, the almighty Daily Mail, the newspaper that along with a number of others, supported the Black Shirts in England in the 1930s. Of course that was a long time ago, and the Mail doesn’t support the unification of Britain with Germany any more under fascism any more. In those days it said yes to European Union. Now it supports the Conservative Party instead – but we are all entitled to move a little over the years.
I won’t bore you to death with all the things the manifestation known as Durham the All Knowing actually says, but one that he likes to ramp out is that, “Wenger has been too cautious about giving contracts to players over 30”. He says that within the “Arsene Wenger is finally listening to me” piece.
So that would be Bergkamp would it? Oh no, of course not. Then David Seaman perhaps (since this is era of talking goalkeepers). Except David stayed until he was, oh, what was it, hang on, calculator in hand, 40.
In fact, finding players who were over 30 and who then were refused a new contract with Arsenal and then played well, is rather hard. Certainly Robert Pires, the man adorning the only player related shirt I own. He left, and hardly played in the following year because he got the injury I suspect Wenger knew could happen again. Although he did return, the sharpness, pace and brilliance was fading. Letting him go when we did was a superb move – although I was desperately sad.
“Wenger won’t have 30+ year olds in the team” was one of those media fantasies that became true because the press repeated it. Like the wild claims that Arsenal got more red cards than any other team in the early Wenger years (you could tell that was untrue since the papers never actually told us how many reds any other team had).
Or the “Wenger is accused of…” which the press wanted to publish upon Mr W’s arrival at Highbury, but couldn’t as he repeatedly outwitted them. And that’s what people like the Durham being can’t stand. It is not that hard, but Wenger does it brilliantly. He makes them look fools, over and over and over again. And my goodness do they hate it!
Here’s what the “writer” (I use the word in its broadest sense) in the newspaper (ditto) says.
It would be conceited of me to take any kind of credit for the changes in recent seasons that have brought trophies to Arsenal and potentially re-positioned them as future challengers for the big honours – Champions League and Premier League.
But it’s hard to ignore the fact that Wenger has U-turned and is now following the instructions I’ve been giving him for just under a decade….
He has gone back on his previous beliefs about how the club should be run and it all being about the stadium being paid for. It’s about the man understanding the fans, and realising that a top-four place cannot be presented to knowledgeable supporters dressed up as success. The Emirates faithful deserve better and there should be at least a polite ripple of applause for Wenger finally relenting.
So what is the thesis exactly?
Apparently it is this. Mr Wenger talked about “financial doping” meaning the buying of clubs by the oil rich, and then allowing them to lose vast sums of money. Durham says Wenger should not have said this when he “stood by” and “watched Arsenal fans exploited and over-charged simply to watch football.”
“A club fleecing fans is despicable….
“Wenger was at the centre of that Arsenal policy for far too long, and to make it worse he didn’t even spend the money…. At any point during those years of moaning Wenger could have spent big. Arsenal have huge assets to borrow against, huge guaranteed incomes season after season, but all that seemed to matter was a top-four finish….
“Wenger has finally learned how to admit he has made a mistake. Drawing up a contract in 2009 that committed the club to paying Nicklas Bendtner £52,000 every week for five years was a sackable offence.“
He also picks a couple of quotes in which Mr Wenger says positive things about players who were subsequently sold and ends…
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“Not only did Arsenal fans have to endure a lack of trophies for too long, they then had the embarrassment of being annihilated by Chelsea and even Liverpool in 2013-14.”.
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(Even Liverpool??? Liverpool came second – all because they signed Suarez and he came good until he bit again. What the fuck does “Even Liverpool” actually mean in the context of that season?)
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Now to make this argument work the writer has to validate his position by putting forward evidence that shows the argument of the other side to be false. That’s how it goes. It’s called debate. Comes from Athens – they did a lot of it.
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But this writer doesn’t do that. He doesn’t consider any of the vital facts.
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The most obvious glossed over point is the stadium. He mentions it, but doesn’t consider the fact that to have the terms of the borrowing seen through, Arsenal needed a limited expenditure on players plus income from the Champions League. It varies from year to year but roughly Arsenal earned 35 million to 40 million euros each year from being in the Champions League. That is why coming fourth is a trophy – a financial trophy. OK it is only equivalent to a fraction of the money that Man C and Chelsea got from their owners but it was a help.
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Second, he plays the old barrack room lawyer game of taking individual incidents and generalising. He does this with Bendtner and alleges a salary – which is a guess. And no one is going to say Bendtner was a success. He played 108 times for Arsenal in the league after arriving as a 17 year old, and there was hope he would work out. He didn’t.
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OK you can blame Mr Wenger, but if you are going to, you also need to balance this the failures that all managers (even the great Sir Alex) have, and with the signing of Henry, purchased for £11m and then after all that wonderful service transferred to Barcelona for €24 million. Pires who was brilliant with Henry and bought for £6m, and all the way to Bellerin and Coquelin both bought for nothing. Want more? Freddie anyone? Vieira for £3.5m? Anelka for £250,000 sold for £25m?
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He does the same by picking out certain games where Arsenal got hammered. But forgets (probably because he knows everything he doesn’t have to remember it all) that each of those terrible defeats only cost us 3 points. He writes of the team as if we were ending up where Tottenham did each year. No, we were hammered and it hurt enormously, because I have to go to work the following monday like everyone else, but we still got through each year and ended up fourth. Ask Tottenham how they feel when we sing “It’s happened again” each year.
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What he can’t actually get is that his argument is total nonsense based on no facts. What Wenger did was paid for the stadium through clever buying in of low cost players and then selling them on for fortunes while keeping us in Europe. We now have nearly paid for a stadium that is not only a delight to sit in, but also has a reputation because of the associated facilities, that makes players want to come to Arsenal.
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This writer even goes through the old bit about prices being too high at the Emirates. Which is a bit rich from a totally pro-capitalist organ like the Mail. Capitalism is about using money (capital) to build and make more money. That is what Arsenal has done. It has done it by careful manipulation of the transfer market, by playing in Europe and yes by charging high (but not the highest) prices for tickets. But (and this is the bit that the writer fails to grasp) Arsenal fills the stadium. Each ticket is sold.
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And let me remind him – when I first watched Arsenal with my dad in 1957, Arsenal was the most expensive ground in the country. Sorry guys, but that is what Arsenal has been since government and League controlled pricing was abandoned somewhere around 1951.
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Remember “supply and demand?” It is on page three of each book on capitalist economics after the definitions of “market” and “capitalism”. Is it really that the Mail has forgotten the economic model it loves to propound?
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The Daily Mail has a reputation too – and it is for picking the “facts” that fit with whatever thesis it is putting forwards. And that’s where the difference is. Arsenal and Arsene Wenger have never hidden from where they are and what they are doing.
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I think I will stick with them, if its all the same to Adrian Durham. Even if he knows it all, I am not quite sure he knows it all. Put him and his kind in charge and we would be just like Portsmouth.
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Fourth Division anyone?
Great article, what an absolute tool Adrian Durham is, a perfect fit for the Daily Mail and Talk Spite
“Empty vessels make much noise”. The man is possessed by his own aura? He is simply unintelligent, unarticulated and flogging an old horse about being outspoken?
No matter how much you polish a turd, a turd is a turd.
Great article. I think we both arrived at Highbury with our dads the same year. Joe Haverty on the wing etal
Gerry
Great piece Diurham is a class 1 mug I do listen cos like All
Gooners I like a laugh I’ve been an Arsenal fan since the age 7 Great year for me The Arsenal won the double in 71 My/our club is steeped in History and Loyalty from its fan base . We’re class Arsenal till I die COYG
Love this article!
Personally I believe that our recent success and the fact that it is now obvious to all and sundry that we we are firmly on the up is solely down to a cabal of Illuminati that genuinely have insight into central universal truths. This group consists of Durham, Stewart Robson, Paul Merson, and the true high priest of all wisdom, Piers Morgan.
Thanks heavens that fool Venga now listens to The Wise Men.
This article points out Durham is a tool which we can all accept. It aslo points out all the good in Arsene with very little of the bad which is also fair enough.
The reality is though most fans and pundits have been saying for 10 years spend more money and we will have more sucess on the pitch and we have. To say Wenger has proven people wrong is not really correct the more you spend on wages and players the more chance you have of success as we have proven recently.
Just out of interest who does have the highest ticket prices then?
Just don’t give this idiot Durham any space anywhere the man is a fool. Proved by the ‘he’s listening to me’ bit. No one anywhere listens to him. next time you are tempted to quote him just don’t he thrives on people getting involved ignore him & like all nuisances he will be moved on.
Funny how they described Wenger as stubborn and not listening to anyone suddenly they claim he is listening to them…. fools.
So we can expect Mr. I am Arsenals saviour Durham to give up on the Daily Arsenal and tell us all about why we will win evrything.
Bet he can’t go through the program without saying twice,Can’t get me head around
Durham has started to put out there now that Denis Bergkamp wasn’t all that. A complete moron is what he is and just another media whore.
I personally think that Adrian Durham is a genius….
I don’t believe any rumour unless it’s first reported in the Metro and then consequently confirmed by the great Durham…
I’m pretty sure he knows it’s nonsense, there’s an outside chance that he simply doesn’t give it any thought and simply writes words but he seems to know that you just hit certain key points and various themes, without needing to provide any proof, and you make more money.
Funny thing is though, there will be people who think that they changed the way we do things with negative opinions; I hope they learn to think eventually.
Very good article.
But to all gooners – when the national papers (mail or otherwise) regurgitate tripe about Arsenal – don’t but the damn papers!
Some of my favourite, laughable Durham opinions are ‘Henderson is the new Gerrard,’ then there was, last season ‘Manchester United are playing the most attractive football in the league.’ Also last season there was his piece about what a great signing DiMaria was, in comparison to the ‘eye-wateringly bad deal for Özil.’ It’s like he’s incapable of interpreting anything that actually happens on a football pitch. When it comes to grown-up thinking, like the problems of financing our stadium, he’s just not capable of it.
Durham has managed to create a whole show based on his acidic and biased views on Arsenal and his childish one sided opinions are sometimes laughable.
He rants and raves about a club he hates although he will say he doesn’t, and then look for any little thing to pull holes in and his biggest bug bear is Wenger.
It’s crazy how people back down to him and even Darren Gough has become his bitch now which is a real shame.
Where everyone and their dog applauds what Wenger has done to even keep Arsenal in the top 4 with selling of players and paying off debts he will use this business model to beat the club with.
The club had to make a decision when moving and everyone with any ounce of sense new we would be in trouble for many years as the emergence of City and Chelsea and there spending coincided which heaped more pressure on being contenders.
Yes we are all gutted we couldn’t have done more but over the coming years Arsen and Arsenal will have no excuses not to do better then just a top 4 finish and I think most people know this and even Durham!
What we wouldn’t be seeing anytime in the news –
” Arsene Wenger thanks Duh!ham for showing him the errors of his ways .”
If I saw Durham walking across a road in front of my car, I’d put my foot down on the accelerator.
Somebody suggested not buying The Mail, which is fair enough, but this isn’t about the print version but the free online Mail and the response by readers to Durham’s inflamitory articles. The comments section is absolutely full of abusive posts and The Mail gets more advertising revenue from his click bait shite
The European Court of Justice (sponsored by Etihad Airlines, and others) has blocked FFP Phase 2 implementation. Or rather, a court in Brussels has done this by referring the case to the ECJ (sponsored by Qatar Airways, and others). It is not known if the ECJ (sponsored by Gazprom, and others) justices are going to consider this case while relaxing in Doha or not. It is not known if the court in Brussels accepted travel and lodging from Qatar.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33240826
In other news, Septic Bladder feels hard done by, in this incident. He was heard to mutter, “Where’s mine?”.
Another terrific article that reminds me why Untold Arsenal is my favourite blog.
Adrian Durham is an unspeakable twit who would lead Arsenal out of business (let alone relegated) if we followed his advice. Has the idiot not learned anything from what happened to Leeds United, Portsmouth and Glasgow Rangers? Obviously not.
@TailGunner
I suggested not buying papers which regurgitate tripe about Arsenal – the same thing very obviously applies to blog sites – don’t open them – the title of all such sites should be warning enough!
Look at me! Look at me!
@Garry Dinsley
June 23, 2015 at 2:50 pm
Exactly the same as me!!!
And I agree with you about that tool Durham the IDIOT!!
He talks about sackable offenses and he sure stacks a few of those each day he punches the keyboard!!
Great Article Tony!! As usual.
Don’t know why we even bother with this Adrian idiot. Can someone ask him to manage at least an under 8 side for s season and then come back and talk.
Durham 2014
“I think the ‘away goals’ rule in European football is outdated.”
Wenger 2015
“I think the ‘away goals’ rule in European football is out dated.”
So we have proof positive, Wenger does follow Durham. You’d think he’d be singing from the rooftops, but alas not.
Durham 2015
“Wenger is a fool to suggest the ‘away goals’ rule in European football is outdated”
Now this rather confusing, and some would say rather hypocritical U-turn, did not go unnoticed by one eagle eyed Untolder (Sorry I cant remember which one) who promptly ‘tweeted’ Durham about his hypocrisy, and received a response along the lines of:
“I only said that (in 2014) to stir up debate. It wasn’t my real opinion”
So there we have it from the horses (or should I say narcissistic, hypocritical ignoramuses) mouth. He doesn’t mean a word of what he says.
It’s all a wind up.
PS Could whoever it was tweeted Durham about his massive own goal please make yourself known 🙂
Piers Morgan is the Online Editor for the Daily Mail!
The owner of the Daily Mail, was in charge of propaganda in WW1. Durham, obviously believes we are still at war? With Germany/France?
I do not waste time on the thoughts of Chairman Piers and his cronies.
Dunham was on the wind up and tongue in cheek take it easy guys
Durham’s contradictions, sweeping statements and opinions are toe curling. He has a bizarre obsession with Arsenal for reasons I can’t fathom; perhaps he is a closet Spurs fan.
Either way he appears to be both a man of straw and a two bob c***t!
Whatever it is that motivates AD, he certainly knows how to get people wound up.
Extra! Extra! Read it here first!
Sources close to the inside track have tonight confirmed the first major signing of the transfer skylight. Adrian Durham has reportedly signed for Untold Arsenal.
Mr. Durham has been spotted at Northampton International Spaceport as he arrived from his home planet to undergo the obligatory readin’, writin’ and spelling test.
While there has been no official comment from UA billionaire owners it is widely expected that this most sensational deal will go through by close of business some day.
Property prices in the area are reported to have rocketed as a result of the imminent move as Mr. Durham and his entourage trawl the region for a suitable palace.
UA fans will no doubt be ecstatic at the prospect of an Attwood/Broeckx/Durham strike force.
More details to follow on this earth shattering exclusive scoop, probably.
Dec
Are you a fan of E.E. “Doc” Smith?
Passages about Lensmen and Skylarks come to mind, reading your extra. 🙂
If I knew what/who any of those are Gord, I’d nod my head or something. I probably should get out more.
Dec
Don’t blame it on not getting out enough. E.E.”Doc” Smith started writing Sci-Fi in the 1930’s (or so).
No, I am not as old as Nicky, I was born in 1960. But, I am a space nut, and have read a bunch of EESmith’s books.
—
OT: Eat your vegetables?
A friend of the family who is now about 70/71, had polio as a child. And now he finds himself being diabetic. And in taking him out for dinner on a recent visit, I found out he likes bacon. Specifically he likes the “rashers” that most North American’s call bacon. And that is something he finds himself missing.
I decided to see if I could make him some bacon which would be more acceptable to a diabetic diet. And I was drawn to what I call “back bacon”, which is apparently what most English call “bacon”.
Following on my attempts at Salt Beef (which I would call corned beef), I cured pork loin chops in beets, beet juice and some salt. A dangerous experiment from a botulism point of view. The resulting “bacon” was hot smoked in mesquite after coating with maple syrup, and tasted fine.
In researching how to reduce the botulism dangers, I go down the lacto-fermentation path again, and run into sports nutrition. Which wasn’t expected. And the reason to add this.
There are a handful of vegetables which can have high levels of nitrate: celery, cress, spinach are among them. Oh, and red beets. It seems, that a person can run (slightly) more efficiently, if you have a diet high in these high nitrate vegetables.
Maybe.
The statistics on this are probably better than the best Adrian Durham rant on Arsenal.
From us AKBs at Untold Arsenal to Duh!ham – a message of hope to help yourself .
“When you find yourself drowning in self-hate, you have to remind yourself that you weren’t born feeling this way. That at some point in your journey, some person or experience sent you the message that there was something wrong with who you are, and you internalized those messages and took them on as your truth.
But that hate isn’t yours to carry, and those judgments aren’t about you. And in the same way that you learned to think badly of yourself, you can learn to think new, self-loving and accepting thoughts. You can learn to challenge those beliefs, take away their power, and reclaim your own. It won’t be easy, and it won’t happen over night.
But it is possible. And it starts when you decide that there has to be more to life than this pain you feel. It starts when you decide that you deserve to discover it.”
― Daniell Koepke
” Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”
From – Spirit Science
“Music should make you laugh, make you cry or make you think. If it doesn’t do one of those three things ,then you are wasting everybody’s time .”
Kenny Rogers .
Football , like most other art forms , is the same . It should give you pride ,joy and laughter , occasionally it’ll make you cry and feel down, sometimes both at the same time ,but it will always make you think ( ostriches and ‘them’ excepted , of course!).
This will always make me cheer , but with a lump in my throat . A very good example of one team’s failure , being another ‘s God !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfeVsRf0dK0
Over the last weekend , while awaiting that Cech transfer to unravel , I guess like most , I too received many ‘ Happy Father’s Day ‘ wishes , messages and clips . This particular one always did make me stop and ‘take a moment’ .
Happy Father’s Day , guys . Never ever belated as every day IS Father’s Day ! Cheers !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unE8E581RMc
Anyone remember this old gem from the past – another tearjerker .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGSbcCXIIRg&list=RDgGSbcCXIIRg#t=178
Brickfields Gunners @ 4:41 am – Brilliant
Splendid article Tony. On the down side; as an ardent AKB, if Arsene is actually listening to that idiot Durham I may just turn to the dark side 🙂
Durham is just one lying scum bag among a whole Daily Mail full scum bags and quite honestly doesn’t deserve the attention.
hahahahahahahahahahaha……
@Jambug, thats hilarious.
hahahahhahahahhahahahhaha
One of the many things that annoy me about Druham and the rubbish he spouts is the amount of Arsenal fans (and other fans) who swallow his BS. He has ‘friends of the show’ call up regularly and criticise the club and to agree that Wenger is the anti-Christ and is only behind the leader of IS as a hate figure.
His hypocritical views like that of most of the media is amazing what these journalists should be pointing out is the way Arsenal have lived within their means and run the club as a proper business instead of a rich mans play thing or a football club built upon large debt. But we will not hear this said as it makes a mockery of what these over paid lazy journalists have been spouting for years about how Wenger and the club have got it wrong.
ha ha ha ha ha ha@jambug you rock.
He smells like an Arse, He smells like an Aaaaarse, Adrian Durham, he talks all shite.
I have never listened to him nor do I intend to. On the few occassions I have listened to talk shite, I realised that they sprout controversy to get audience.
As for FFP or Free Foul Play – it is alive and well under the Limited liability PGMO in UK. Msr Platini aka Bladder junior is also alive & wealthier.
If Wenger was listening to Durham 2 years ago he would have signed Jimmy Bullard to play in our midfield, Ironicly, although he would never have been good enough to play for Arsenal he also spent most of the following season injured
Tailgunner
“Whatever it is that motivates AD, he certainly knows how to get people wound up.”
@Swales 1968
“One of the many things that annoy me about Durham and the rubbish he spouts is the amount of Arsenal fans (and other fans) who swallow his BS.”
And there in lies the quandary.
As much as I think he has a severe dislike of Arsenal, there is no doubt what he does is for effect. To either get calls or clicks.
But alas, in my mind, as innocent as some my find it, I disagree, because as @Swales says, many believe it.
Durham is just a small part of a very big problem, which is the undermining of Arsenal FC, our players, our fans and most of all, our manager, throughout the media, at every turn.
If they are not trying to unsettle our players, putting others off from coming to us, they are laying the ground for us to be kicked off the park with no fear of reprisals.
So yes, it is a wind up, but not as innocent a one, as some may think.
Greg Dyke:
“England need more Harry Kane’s”
No. No they don’t.
They would benefit from selecting players like Afobe or Chambers (i could be biased here but Chambers did debut opposite, um, Aguero at CB in some style and played well in that pos. when asked for a green rookie at his age, very encouraging.)
They also need better protection from the pgMOB representatives for the likes of Wilshere. Chamberlain. Walcott. etc.
Finsbury
Harry Kane is a great player, of that there is no doubt. But he has had one season.
But when it’s a Spurs prodigy, or Liverpool, or United, or anyone one apart from us for that matter, it’s orgasm time for the media, FA, and anyone else with and arse and a mouth.
Wilshere is an exceptional talent. I mean exceptional.
He is the closest thing to Gazza, Hoddle and Le Tiss that this Country has produced for years.
Walcott is one of the biggest game effecting players around. Just his presence on the pitch can completely change the mind set of the opposition manager, and entirely alter how they approach a match.
They should of been treasured by our media and nurtured by our National side, not just by Arsenal and Arsene, but basically they’ve had nothing but stick from the media and get returned to us damaged by our National side.
As for protection of any kind. They are openly targeted and all the blame is heaped upon themselves.
Woe betide anyone should target Kane’s ankles and I fear the tower awaits !
I’ve been told by a football group on Facebook that I should not bother posting what Durham says in his articles and that we as fans should just ignore him.
I have been thinking about this and before I would of agreed but in reflection I think that as fans we should post everything he says about the club, players and manager to show the hypocrisy of him and others in the media towards Arsenal. The only way we will see the back of Durham and the like is to show that what they are preaching is wrong, is hypocritical and is biased. If someone from the government kept coming up with BS like this about their department would everybody just ignore them or would they stand up and show them where they are wrong?
@Swales1968
“If someone from the government kept coming up with BS like this about their department would everybody just ignore them….”
I said something similar.
I said what Durham does, especially with a daily article aired specifically with the intention of criticising one team and one team only, is tantamount to being libellous.
He accuses Arsenal FC of ‘robbing’ there own fans. Is that not Libellous?
He has accused Arsenal players of feigning injury to avoid England duty. Is that not Libellous?
Would you be allowed to pick out one particular supermarket that you just happened to take a dislike to, and accuse them of ‘robbing’ there customers?
I posed these and a few other similar points on here before, and one of the guys with a legal background said that what he does is totally legal, although personally I doubt he would be so accommodating if it was his own company being criticised, derided, and lied about on National Radio, every single day.
But hey, what do I know?
Who is this durham guy, anyway?
He knows how to market himself…
I mean, we get the hate in our heart out of his words, but yet, he is the one who gets the money.
Is hate a necessity?