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The People vs Gianni Paladini
The People vs Gianni Paladini
Wednesday, 17th Apr 2013 23:52 by Roller

With Gianni Paladini’s takeover of Birmingham still in the works, Roller considers the Italian’s ‘crimes’ during his time at Loftus Road.

Casting around the traditional, oak panelled splendour of the courtroom from our position in the heart of the jury, the eye is continually drawn to the grey haired, bespectacled man sitting dignifiedly in the dock. His calm persona is unbroken as he rises in unison with the rest of the court room to acknowledge the arrival of the judge.

Having taken his seat, the judge clears his throat and begins proceedings. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, your duty here today at this hearing is to determine whether Mr Gianni Paladini of Rome, Italy (and occasionally Solihul) is guilty as accused of a long catalogue of offences committed against the board, staff and supporters of Queens Park Rangers Football Club, and indeed the club itself, or whether he has been wrongly accused and his impact at the club is, in fact, the key factor in Queens Park Rangers currently playing in the Premier League. This is not only an unusual case but an unusual method of trial as none of you, the jury, are impartial and will all have the opportunity to add your opinions to the cases that the prosecutor and defence lawyer are going to present, before passing verdict.”

The judge indicates to the prosecutor to outline the accusations. He stands, discards his notes and begins. “On the November 16, 2011, Mr Gianni Paladini officially left Queens Park Rangers Football Club. This was a time for unbridled celebration in Shepherds Bush. The self-serving, egotistical man you now see sitting shamefully in the dock had been sucking the soul out of QPR since the day he arrived. The evidence I will bring before you will show how he stabbed other board members in the back in his sordid scramble to become chairman of the club and how he sacrificed others to enable him to remain there. I will demonstrate how he siphoned off the club’s precious money to line the pockets of other football agents, men he had been friends and colleagues with before launching his takeover bid for QPR I will also illustrate the contempt in which he held the supporters of the club in; how he lied about the signing of Alejandro Faurlin, a lie which almost cost the club their hard fought promotion to the Premier League and how his actions in favouring some sections of the supporters above others were designed to create rifts between them. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, at the end of these proceedings, you will hold Mr Paladini in the same contempt that he holds you.”

Even before the prosecutor has sat back down the defence lawyer is on his feet. A nod from the judge is all the encouragement he requires to start his rebuttal of these accusations. “Ladies and gentlemen, you have heard from my learned colleague about specific moments in my client’s involvement with Queens Park Rangers Football Club. But these are just individual incidents, individual incidents with no context. I will not be nitpicking history, scavenging around desperately seeking individual incidents to backup foundless theories, I shall be looking at my client’s involvement as a whole, the global picture, and demonstrably proving that without Mr Paladini’s involvement it is highly unlikely that QPR would even exist today, let alone have been battling against the major clubs in this country in the Premier League for the last two seasons. I will demonstrate that every action Mr Paladini has taken was with the club’s best interests as his guide. Those who doubt him now, will leave with their heads bowed in shame.” With a quick glance towards his client, the defence lawyer sits down.

Prosecution

The prosecutor leans back in his chair and slowly turns his head towards the jury. “I probably should be grateful to Mr Paladini”, he starts “he has given me such a rich litany of material to choose from. However just a few examples from this catalogue of disgrace will suffice to show his guilt.” He stands and approaches the jury, his steely gaze accentuating his resolve. He spins towards Paladini and, with more than a hint of anger in his voice, continues. “The callous way that Paladini disposed of loyal QPR men in his desperate bid to become the club’s chairman gives a chillingly accurate indictment of his self-serving nature; his treatment of Bill Power, the man who championed his acceptance at the club, indicative of this.

“After Paladini’s initial attempt to get Power removed as both chairman and director during a stormy board meeting in August 2005 had been thwarted and the meeting suspended to seek clarification on various legal positions, Paladini had the brazenness to reconvene the meeting after Power, fellow director and lifelong QPR supporter Kevin McGrath and chief executive Mark Devlin had left. The no confidence motion was repeated and passed by three votes to nil by Paladini and his allies: Gualtiero Trucco and former Brazil captain Carlos Dunga, who had flown in specifically for this meeting despite having not attended the previous six board meetings. Lifelong QPR supporter Bill Power was shamelessly stripped of his office and removed from the board. Trucco was quickly voted in as interim chairman, and immediately proposed that Devlin be made redundant with immediate effect, this was also ratified by the remaining members of the board. Within a month Paladini was voted in as chairman and McGrath’s days were numbered.

“Paladini’s treatment of former QPR player and manager Ian Holloway was equally disgraceful. In February 2006 he granted Leicester City permission to talk to Holloway about their vacant managerial position. Assuming that he wasn’t wanted at QPR any more, Holloway reluctantly agreed to be interviewed by the Leicester board. On his return to Loftus Road, Holloway was immediately put on ‘gardening leave’, along with assistants Gary Penrice and Tim Breaker. Paladini claimed that he was concerned about recent performances and the effect the speculation about Holloway joining Leicester City might have on the players; the truth is that Holloway was far more popular with the supporters than Paladini and a powerful voice within the club, Paladini had wanted to get rid of him and had blatantly manipulated these events to enable him to do so. He replaced Holloway with another club legend, Gary Waddock. Waddock was young and inexperienced, not ready to manage a club the size of QPR enabling Paladini to meddle with team affairs in a way that Holloway would not have allowed.

“Paladini’s desperation to impress his friends resulted in QPR paying out scandalous fees to agents, money that he knew that the club could ill afford. Just to highlight two examples, the supposedly free transfer of Marc Nygaard from Brescia Calcio cost the club a reported £60,000 in agents’ fees while the transfer of Ian Evatt from Chesterfield cost an additional £40,000. These fees were hopelessly disproportionate in relation to the transfer fees and the abilities of the players involved. Hopes that Paladini, a former agent, would be able to reduce the fees paid by the club to agents were completely mis-founded, his involvement actually resulted in these fees for the 2004-05 season totalling more than the previous three season’s fees combined as he lined the pockets of his friends with the clubs meagre resources.

“His deceitfulness and egotistical boasting almost cost QPR their hard earned promotion back to the Premier League. Paladini’s claim that Alejandro Faurlin had been signed for £3,500,000 was designed purely to impress the club’s supporters, it had no foundation in reality. An FA investigation into this transfer revealed the deceitful depths that Paladini was prepared to stoop to. The revelation that Faurlin was actual owned by a third party in direct contravention of FA rules threatened to bring the club’s promotion challenge to a shattering halt with a large points deduction one of the potential punishments. Paladini’s pathetic attempts to hide his misconduct from the authorities by fraudulently amending the paperwork compounding the matter, the huge fee paid illegally to an unregistered agent barely registered in comparison to these other offences. Incredibly Paladini not only survived these events to remain in his role at QPR, but blame was subsequently directed towards Ishan Saksena who wasn’t even employed by the club when the Faurlin transfer occurred.

“Perhaps Paladini’s most disgraceful act was to deliberately create rifts in between the supporters. He consciously sought out those who would not only promote his opinions but would also launch campaigns on his behalf against those who spoke out against him; his skilful manipulation of these supporters, showering them with gifts and privileged information, guaranteeing their obedience. Dissenting lifelong QPR supporters were told openly that they were no longer welcome at Loftus Road as Paladini struggled to control the minds of the faithful. His plans were always doomed to fail but the damage he caused still afflicts the fan base.”

The prosecutor turns back towards the jury. “So, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Gianni Paladini”, he says gesturing towards the defendant. “His involvement at Queens Park Rangers has stripped the club of loyal supporters, money and self-respect. The good name of the club has been sullied by FA disciplinary procedures while his agent friends have been feasting on what precious revenue the club could muster. It is nothing short of a miracle that the club has survived his involvement but do not let that deflect you from your easy task of finding him guilty as accused”. Returning to his chair, the prosecutor sits down and neatens up his papers barely disguising the satisfied look on his face.

Defence

The judge calls upon the defence lawyer to present his case. He rises from his chair thoroughly prepared to defend his client. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, rather than scan through the minutia of recent history, I’m going to simply present you with the global picture. This will clearly show that QPR has been greatly enhanced by the time, money and effort expended by Mr Gianni Paladini. So let’s start at the beginning.

“When Mr Paladini initially invested his money into QPR the club was on the verge of oblivion. Unable to meet the demanding payments to service their punitive loan from the ABC Corporation their home ground of Loftus Road was severely under threat. In April 2004 the existing members of the board could not have been happier to accept Mr Paladini’s money to stave off the inevitable; he was happy to take a minor role to those already occupying the senior positions at the club.

“He cut a very frustrated figure as he watched the rest of the board floundering in their attempts to secure the additional investment the club was so desperate for and so he took matters into his own hands. In July 2004 Mr Paladini’s initiative resulted in Barnaby Holding L.L.C. investing £550,000 into the club, also adding the considerable experience of former Brazil captain Carlos Dunga to the board. In November 2004 Mr Paladini’s hard work paid dividends again when another consortium, Wanlock L.L.C., invested £1.1 million in QPR In a few short months Mr Paladini had secured the immediate future of Queens Park Rangers.”

Now in full flow, the defence council continues “It is hardly surprising that the investors that Mr Paladini brought to the club wanted to see him in the role of chairman, it was his vision of the future that they had bought into. As soon as the combined holding of the consortia that Mr Paladini introduced to the club exceeded 50% this became inevitable and he was duty bound to accept the position in the interests of the stability of the club. Weighed down by the millstone of the A.B.C. loan, the club still struggled to meet all their costs prompting Mr Paladini and his fellow investors to invest even more of their money bringing their combined investment up to the incredible sum of over £6.5 million. I am, quite frankly, staggered how anyone can regard Mr Paladini as self-serving. These figures speak volumes for themselves.

“As the severity of the club’s debts continued to drag the club towards extinction, Mr Paladini again sought new investment, which he found in the surprising form of Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore. His sterling work in persuading these two Formula 1 giants came at a great cost to himself. Their investment came with one large proviso, they wanted complete control of the club. With QPR’s best interests at heart and with scant regard for his own position, he, in concert with the other shareholders, reluctantly sold all his shares to them. Wisely the new owners recognised Mr Paladini’s value and importance to the club and ensured that he remained in place to help them steer the course which ultimately led to promotion to the Premier League.

“Mr Paladini continued to have a very positive impact on the club, it must be remembered that the securing of Neil Warnock, the manager who masterminded QPR’s promotion, was his initiative. When this promotion was achieved, Ecclestone and Briatore sold the club on to Tony Fernandes who foolishly decided that he did not need Mr Paladini’s assistance. The constant struggle the club has been fighting, not to mention the money that has been wasted, since then would show that to be a very, very poor decision. Keith Curle, Warnock’s first team coach, a man known for his plain speaking, concisely summed up the effect that releasing Mr Paladini had on QPR stating that ‘When Gianni left QPR the heartbeat of the club went as well’. Chief Executive Philip Beard also thanked Mr Paladini for his important contribution to the club recognising that he went ‘beyond the call of duty’ and ‘played an integral role in our returning to the Premier League’. These are comments from people inside the club, people who know the true situation, not those looking in from the outside trying to second guess events, or with their own personal vendettas to fuel.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, please consider the fact afresh. Consider the position the club was in when Mr Paladini first became involved and consider the position the club was in when he left eight years later. Do not focus on any individual events, focus on the overall picture; can you really say that the club would have been better off if Mr Paladini has not been involved? The fact Queens Park Rangers are not only still in existence, but playing the best teams in the country in the Premier League is due solely to one man, Mr Gianni Paladini. No one man has done more for QPR, you have no alternative but to find in his favour.” The defence lawyer returns to his seat to await the judge’s summation.

Verdict

The judge clears his throat and looks reflectively around the courtroom and eventually rests his gaze on the jury. “You’ve now heard from both the prosecution and defence and so it is now incumbent on you to reach a verdict on the accusations levelled at Mr Paladini. Sufficient time should have passed since these events to allow you to do so without the restrictions of any former prejudice clouding your thinking. I encourage you to expand upon your reasoning and please draw upon any of your own examples to illustrate your conclusions.”

The judge interlaces his fingers and finishes “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, over to you”….

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TGRRRSSS added 00:01 - Apr 18
Guilty - the mere fact we were up to our eyes in a scandal that sullied the actual promotion party so that we found out we were going up via a lesser punishment - club and paladini found guilty of several things and the reading was damning.
Summed up the chaos he engulfed the club in for years.
Will be interesting seeing what sort of mess he creates at Birmingham
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QPRski added 08:02 - Apr 18
Roller, I admit that I am quite impressed by the case for the defence, but cannot accept the implied logic of "the end justifices the means", thus vote GUILTY to the charges.

Congratulations for an extremely original, thought provoking and interesting article.

It is also good to read something about QPR that is not only about the nuts and bolts of our current predicament which can at time be rather depressing.
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WokingR added 08:35 - Apr 18
Guilty - It's not where we got under Paladini but how we got there that is the issue.
As QPRski states above, the end does not justify the means.
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Landofoz89 added 09:16 - Apr 18
Not Guilty

Although ther is evidence to suggest that Gianni Paladini pulled a few strokes (let's face it who doesn't), I believe that his heart was in that right place and he wanted what was best for the club.
He may not have the financial clout, but he knows more about football than Beard, Fernandez and the Mittal's put together.
Good luck to the man I say.
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Landofoz89 added 09:16 - Apr 18
Not Guilty

Although ther is evidence to suggest that Gianni Paladini pulled a few strokes (let's face it who doesn't), I believe that his heart was in that right place and he wanted what was best for the club.
He may not have the financial clout, but he knows more about football than Beard, Fernandez and the Mittal's put together.
Good luck to the man I say.
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daveB added 09:50 - Apr 18
Guilty, killed the family club of QPR forever and turned us into a horrible club which his legacy has continued
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toboboly added 09:53 - Apr 18
Guilty as fcuk.

The prosecution should have been much, much longer. has he paid back those directors loans? Why was his wife's company being paid a directors fee by the club? Constant lies, constant ineptitude. The four year plan let him off lightly as well.

How he hasn't ended up in jail is beyond me.
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tsbains64 added 10:53 - Apr 18
Not Guilty-like it or not s actions saved is from extinction. He was not perfect but he was involved in bringing the billionaires to the club and drive us up the league
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PeterHucker added 11:29 - Apr 18
Guilty - divided the fanbase, connived and plotted, stitched up Ian Holloway, nearly cost us promotion with his underhand dealing and then his utter ineptitude in trying to cover his tracks about said underhand dealing.

Having said that, I think he did mean well at times and it would be wrong to say that he didn't care at all about QPR. and it's notable that most people, ex-players, ex-managers seem to be fairly kind in their words about him.

But on the many times I saw him in various Shepherds Bush boozers, I argued with him a few times but I never once shook his hand and I still would refuse to do so today. All round dodgy geezer, above all the Faurlin transfer and how it nearly (and in all fairness probably should have!) cost us promotion.
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18StoneOfHoop added 11:45 - Apr 18
Some R please remind me again of the details of the locking of the Harlington training ground incident? This is the moment I decided GP and the truth had such an elastic relationship I could never trust anything he said again.
Guilty as charged but suspended sentence.
(Will never accept this 'but he saved the club' revisionist rhubarb line that tsbains64 approves above.)
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QPunkR added 12:17 - Apr 18
Guilty as charged m'lud.

As stated above, the case for the prosecution could have been far, far longer. I used to defend him at the beginning as he did help save the Club initially, even mortgaging his house to raise some cash I believe, but the way he acted since then ruined any credibility he may have once had.
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wittle added 12:52 - Apr 18
guilty,hang him.
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Hunterhoop added 13:15 - Apr 18
Guilty. VERY VERY GUILTY.

Never paid back those interest free loans either, as well as the salary he took from the club. He was in it for himself from day one. It just became more and more apparent. He was also grossly incompetent and cared little for the true heart of the clubs - the fans - as shown by his aim to divide and conquer. All this combined made him a very dangerous individual to our club.
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hoops_legend added 13:19 - Apr 18
The problem is, as guilty as he is... Those agent fees look pitiful compared to what we are paying nowadays. Hughes makes Paladini look like a saint!!!

I think Nygaard was worth the fee given the goals he scored despite being a sick note and awful in a number of games... But 60k overall ain't bad given we pay that to Bosingwa EVERY WEEEK
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TacticalR added 14:53 - Apr 18
Thanks Roller.

With a character like Paladini it's hard to even work out what the facts are before you can get around to passing judgement. Didn't the judge in 'the guns in the boardroom' case say that Paladini had a tenuous connection to reality?

Another difficulty is knowing exactly what the alternatives to Paladini were.

But back to the man himself...
One of the worst things about Paladini was wondering what he was going to do next to tarnish the reputation of the club. Then there were his schemes to divide the fans. Then there were his mysterious player purchases. Then there was his removal of any long-standing employee of the club who possibly oversee what he was doing (I believe that is a problem the club is still suffering from).

I agree with hoops_legend...it's not just Paladini. Since Paladini we have seen the huge danger of having football agents in the boardroom, or connected to managers.
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Tonto added 14:57 - Apr 18
I would say GUILTY, but with the caveat of "with diminished responsbility".

I agree with some of the others who say he meant well, but he made mistakes - to many mistakes to get a not guilty verdict. Whether these mistakes were deliberate (lies) or honest/incompantancy we will probably never know.

I dont like the loans he took out, I dont like the way he got rid of Bill P, but then again he did bring in the money of bernie and Flabio (its not his fault Flabio was an idiot).
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dixiedean added 15:26 - Apr 18
Guilty for me. The phrase " divide & rule" sums up his reign very aptly. He always came across an overly charming, smarmy geezer, a cross between a politician and double-glazing salesman, with self-interest the primary motive behind all he did, regardless of whether that eventually benefitted the club or not.However, the article was a very enjoyable read and , as stated above, a nice distraction from current debates about Bosingwa's salary, whether Samba is worth £2m on current form let alone 12 etc etc. Roller, I think you've done a good job of putting both cases forward withou making it obvious which side you come down on. Maybe you should be a barrister :)
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Royboy48 added 17:20 - Apr 18
NOT GUILTY!

For all the prosecution's litany of alleged transgressions, the simple fact is that without Paladini's success in bringing Bernie and Flavio's wealth to W12, QPR would be playing Neasden in the North Circular Drunk and Disorderly Combination League Division 4

Is that what you wanted? - 'cos that's what would have happened
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JB007007 added 17:34 - Apr 18
What a brilliant read Roller.
The defence is good I admit. Without Ecclestone and Briatore we would have had it, but instead of Paladini something better may have happened anyway.
He's guilty, as I've been lucky enough to have had a decent conversation with Ollie and thats good enough for me.
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Royboy48 added 17:41 - Apr 18
... Case Dismissed!

Next case please

"Yes M'Lud, Case no W12 7PA Hoops v Hughes, Joorabchien and other Agents."

"Mark 'Sparky' Hughes, you are charged that you did, on or about June - Nov 2012, knowingly, wittingly and with malice aforethought, squander needlessly the Goodwill you had generated by keeping QPR in the Premiership by a combination of incompetence, financial profligacy and arrogance wrapped in the most stultifyingly boring personality since Neil from The Young Ones invited Marvin from Hitchhikers GTTG to help sort his socks into alphabetical order. "

"How Do You Plead? Guilty or Not Guilty"
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qblockpete added 19:31 - Apr 18
Quite a good balanced view

Not guilty of course. Could have easily have ended up like Luton Town and instead of spending time in the Premiership could have been playing Wrexham.
Couple of inaccuracies, certainly about websites and think that Bill Power remained freinds with Gianni Paladini despite the takeover.

People have to into account it was the internet age, without Facebook/Twitter for the most part and every supporter for the first time was able to voice an opinion, which in itself led to wrong perceptions. The fact someone disagreed with someone else just mean't it was easier to throw false accusations around.

As for Paladini, we would not be here its that simple. That very fact Power/Devlin and co were looking for investors that led to Paladini, showed we never had any money and that came after years of extreme hardship. The fact, we then stayed in the Championship was pretty satisfactory for most supporters. Its a new era now, but if Paladini had been in charge now i am sure forums/social networks would be slagging the guy off
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thehat added 20:01 - Apr 18
Not Guilty

I remember the bucket collections and ABC circling to take our ground - Of course Paladini was not lilly white but he was a street fighter who knew how to play the game. He got involved when we were in league one and left us in the premiership Nuff said.

We would not of been mugged off by Hughes and his cronies had he been around and not had our pants pulled down as Harry stated.

There is a good saying in life 'Be Careful what you wish for'
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smegma added 07:43 - Apr 20
18StoneOfHoop added 11:45 - Apr 18

"Some R please remind me again of the details of the locking of the Harlington training ground incident? This is the moment I decided GP and the truth had such an elastic relationship I could never trust anything he said again".







The players were not allowed into the training ground as rent was owing apparently. It was still open to 'others'. GP denied it. Dave Thomas of AKUTRs visited the ground (as he was in the locality at the time) and confirmed the story. I believe Steve Russell (then of the LSA Committee, now proprietor of the IndyRs site) also visited the ground and repeated what Dave Thomas said.A high profile fan decided to try and get to the truth, so she rang Gianni !!!!!. Every fan who backed what Dave Thomas/Steve Russell claimed was smeared with the 'enemy within' title. Then began a campaign of 'digging out' any dissenters on messageboards by so called 'fans' who were rewarded by Gianni with various things like POTY tickets, match tickets, invitations into W12 Club for games etc.......and who can forget the way Paulo Sousa was sacked and then the Polish vagrant grassing up FSP and his sidekick Myu telling everyone how they were given season tickets for helping get rid of Sousa.
The Four Year Plan was nothing in comparison.

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qblockpete added 10:32 - Apr 20
Not going over old ground but the only time I could properly claim to be FSP has been since Gianni has gone. I went onto to do London Callin and Matchday programmes. None of this happened whilst Gianni was there and all season tickets in the qblock were paid for year after year whilst he was there.
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isawqpratwcity added 12:36 - Apr 20
Superlative article, Roller!

A lovely read that brings us back to our history when we're all about to slash our wrists with the current situation.

I would have liked to see some cross-examination, but maybe that would get too close to libel?

Oh yeh, as for me (in spite of me having a dialogue along these lines with Clive a couple of years back), guilty as the day is long.

BRING BACK THE ROPE!
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