ewerk

So if we take out amortisation of contracts which doesn't actually affect cash flows, the Allardyce payment (a one-off fee) and the fact that we'll no longer be financing the debt then it would overall be a profit of £9.2m? Doesn't sound too bad.

Aren't some details already available on their expenses though? I think the FoI issue is that people want them itemised. As long as we're getting some sort of information and can see if certain MPs are taking the piss then it's not a big deal to me.

That's a similar argument to city bonuses though (and look where that has lead). Although I agree with you in a way, it would take quite some doing to nail MPs down to X working hours a week, and even if it could be done it would likely be very easy to cheat (in fact this has lead to issues with MEPs in the EP). Again the debates participated, things voted on, questions asked, and committees etc. sat on, public league table is probably the best way to regulate them - nothing they fear more than the public seeing in black and white how little they do. How about the time spent on constituency work and all the other tasks MPs have? It's near impossible to have a league table for all these things. Ultimately MPs will be accountable to their constituents at election time so this talk of league tables is nonsense.

That does sound rather expensive to me. Also, it might be an idea to see if you can get an Irish Sky package which will give you Saturday 3pm games on Setanta and you'll get the Irish 'MoTD' earlier in the evening.

Fuck you Fop. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7842402.stm

Wasn't his loan deal set to come to an end now anyway?

I can't see us letting him go cheaply, knowing that City have seemingly endless resources and Shay is one of the best keepers in the league.

Maybe Souness was actually onto something when he said there was a problem with our training pitch, hopefully they've actually looked into the possibility.

Wasn't there talk of him having an attitude problem?

So you just watch shite films then?

Old news. http://www.sundaysun.co.uk/sport/newcastle...79310-22665615/

I don't think it's necessarily that they have to be in school but they do have to be in some sort of education or training.

Got in over his head, bad appointments, the finance markets going against him, dealing with debt from the previous regime. Easy. But I don't believe for a moment he's an idiot. The evidence is to the contrary tbh.

On the first team side, has it been any more successful than a decent manager would have been bringing in his own players? It's hard to say.

Good to see the national media having a go at Kinnear and Ashley.

I think that the only reason Allardyce was allowed to bring in his own players was because we hadn't yet got our amazing scouting / DOF system up and running at the time.

Definetly, though their wages would need to reflect their loss of outside income but no doubt the Daily Mail et al would be up in arms about any significant increase.

So we should be ok with a squad of 7? Is that you Mike?

Soyce?

Triple their wages and do away with expenses altogether.

id love to slap tom Fantastic debut post.

He's done well, but aye I'm far from sure he'd do well again from nothing (either in a different field or even in another field). He seems more like an Arthur Daley/Del Boy that's been exceptionally lucky than a Branson. Some of his share gambles remind me of those property developer programs of the last few years where they overspend stupidly but the market saves them and still hands them a profit. It's only being in the last year things have been going wrong for him, and he doesn't really seem to know what to do. In fairness there might not be much to do - other than not make stupid share bets - but he's not really putting out a sea of calm like he should be either. And I'm far from sure it's sunk in how much he'll lose if NUFC are relegated either. The way he has treated his shareholders, the people who liquidised his fortune, has been a disgrace. Clearly he treats us with the same contempt.

Not quite as exciting.

Diddums.