This is one of the most important points about the decline in fertility, and one of the less well-known. Fewer young people, means less fluid intelligence, less disruptive innovation (the sort that completely changes the direction of future research).

The absolute idiocy on this app from politicians and media commentators who know f*** all about football has been astonishing in recent days Are the Tel Aviv police anti-semitic? In hock to Muslims?

15-minute interview with Jack Wilshere on 72+ EFL Pod today. This short section was the most revealing. Identifies some of our key issues and broadly sets out his approach: - Lack of intensity last year - Need for variety in our attacking play - Emphasis on pragmatism initially

Jack, you're young, you'll make mistakes along the way and you'll learn from them. The first one being: ensure your flies are done up properly for a big photoshoot!

Let me guess, you too have had multiple colleagues suddenly asking you about Luton at work this morning after 18 months of nothing. 'Jack Wilshere's Luton Town' begins.

While I'd love an instant impact, I'm realistic. There'll no doubt be a big bridge to gap between Wilshere's longer-term ideas and our squad's ability to execute them, so I'm not expecting too much too soon. Good luck and #COYH! [End of ramble from a hopeless romantic]

If the backroom staff end up being who they're rumoured to be... huge credit to the club. There's certainly no lack of ambition or willingness to back their new manager and pay for the quality he wants by his side. They should mitigate much of Wilshere's experience.

And if it's that way for us, you can imagine something similar for the players. They *should* respect and respond to any manager, of course, but this is an ex-England international; a generational talent. His words will hit differently among a young-ish group, you'd imagine.

Call it being seduced by a fancy name or projection, if you like. Call it naivety, even, but if it buys him more goodwill, patience and time from the KR crowd then that's a good thing and exactly what we need right now.

Yes, it's irrational because an elite playing career doesn't always translate to quality coaching but that's human nature. And that's why I think it could be a great appointment. I won't be the only one feeling this way. That extra desire among fans for this to work will be high

Wilshere has my full backing. Any manager would, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that my usual concerns are superseded by pure excitement and hope here That's what you get with an ex-player of his calibre - and the rumours about his backroom staff only add to that hope. 1/5

whatever you think about the appointment the main thing is to get behind him. this is the perfect opportunity to turn the toxic atmosphere at this club around

"It happens occasionally in football, it happens to the best teams sometimes in football, but we just need to make sure it’s a one-off. This is our lowest ebb, and we need now to start turning this corner and pointing in the right direction." - Gary Sweet after Lincoln

3. ⁠this is not the moment for an incredibly expensive increase in state surveillance infrastructure to be run for profit by private tech firms just before Labour ushers in an (even more) authoritarian right wing government. FIX THE GODDAMN COST OF LIVING INSTEAD YOU FREAKS.

Instead, we have players self-diagnosing and completely contradicting each other from one week to the next. Doesn't fill you with confidence.

If Bloomfield had a handle on what the core issues actually are and how to resolve them, you'd expect him to get that across to the squad. You'd then expect the players to be on-message - platitudes, clichés or whatever, but their interviews would at least marry up.

Last week Naismith put our woes down to tactics and game intelligence. This week Clicker says it's about belief and heart. Does management actually know what's going wrong and are they communicating clearly to the squad? Doesn't appear so. (1/3)

Struggled to see what we're trying to do going forward. No discernible attacking characteristics to this team currently. Can't pass through the thirds effectively, not enough happening out wide, can't go long, no real threat in behind.

Last year of his deal, surely, and obviously deemed surplus to requirements. Says a lot about how little he's rated by management if we're willing to let him go to a direct rival. It'll look terrible if he tears it up, though 😬

Can the Supporter's Trust PLEASE tell the club to sort the colours out next time? If we're going to have orange home shirt than make it orange, NOT red and commit to navy instead of a navy that may as well be black Look how much more Luton the tweaked version on the right looks