Jimbo

Wanted Enjoyable in kind of impossibly far fetched kind of a way.

The Sun: NEWCASTLE have told Manchester City they want at least £14million for goalkeeper Shay Given. City made a new bid of £6m for Given last night. But Toon boss Joe Kinnear knows there is a mountain of cash available to Eastlands chief Mark Hughes and wants him to try again. Toon also fancy City’s Michael Johnson as part of the deal although the midfielder is not keen on moving to Tyneside. Irish stopper Given, 32, is desperate to quit Newcastle after a decade of brilliant service and knows there is an offer of £72,000 a week on the table from City. Kinnear continues to insist the Irishman will not be leaving. But after being handed just £10m for transfers by owner Mike Ashley, Kinnear has to cash in to boost his woefully thin squad for the relegation battle ahead. Toon legend Rob Lee does not blame Given for wanting to jump ship. He said: “I would hate to see him go but Newcastle is probably not the best place to be at the moment.”

Lucky him !

ALMOST exactly a year ago, Newcastle United were 11th. And, in one of the most shameful episodes in Premier League history, Sam Allardyce got the sack. One might deduce that the discarding of Allardyce after just 24 games in charge got Newcastle precisely nowhere, for tomorrow they visit Ewood to take on Big Sam’s Blackburn Rovers and guess what? They’re 11th. But, in fact, it is worse than that. Newcastle, once the heart and soul of the Premier League, are the club that no-one cares about any more. St James’ Park, despite its magnificence as a structural entity, no longer generates the atmosphere that once made it one of the most vibrant grounds in the country. No wonder perhaps, when home support is dwindling and travelling fans, still panting for breath after scaling the north face of the Leazes End to reach their seats, are left squinting through the Tyneside stratosphere to determine what might be going on below them on the pitch. Newcastle pooped their own party years ago, and under Mike Ashley are fast becoming what Aston Villa were in the latter days under Doug Ellis. Unexciting, uninspiring and a waste of a place in the top flight. Even their attempts to liven things up by appointing the world’s most sweary manager, Joe Kinnear, have failed to make things any better on the field. Admittedly, Big Sam had not exactly endeared himself to the locals on Tyneside, even if much of that was to do with the long-ball reputation first whipped up by Graeme Souness to explain away a defeat at Bolton during his Newcastle days. But Newcastle were not as far behind the elite 12 months ago as they are now and far less vulnerable to the drop. And, if they’d bothered to let him hang around and prove it, they actually had a capable manager on their hands who could have taken the club forward. He’s needed less than a month to prove that at Ewood. Rovers, of course, got the same criticism for sacking Paul Ince last month but their risk of relegation was much more immediate, such was the worrying nature in which they had been cast adrift. Newcastle had time to build, but Ashley opted not to do so with Allardyce. Instead, he chose to chase the hopelessly impossible dream under Kevin Keegan. He ended up with the seemingly confused Kinnear, a man who insisted he couldn’t possibly be linked to Newcastle’s supposed ‘Cockney mafia’ because he was born in Ireland but then days later put his iridescent language down to a tough upbringing in, er, Watford. That Ashley has remained at the helm, first declaring his intention to sell and then taking the club off the market once the heat had died down, is his most impressive feat yet. But if Rovers leave Ashley crying into his beer in the directors’ box tomorrow, not too much sympathy will be spared for him. http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport...r_to_obscurity/

I'm genuinely gutted.

Fuck Spurds have scored.

RIP

30 mins of extra time then if the score remains the same Burnley are through on away goals

Burnley 3 - 0 Spurds Spurds heading out on away goals if extra time finishes like this, Burnley all over them.

He looks like he's got the hang of it in this montage

My initial mental image of the perpetrator has been validated

Carlisle United boss Greg Abbott is hoping to bring Newcastle United goalkeeper Tim Krul back to Brunton Park. Krul has returned to Newcastle after making nine appearances during a two-month loan spell at Carlisle. Abbott wants to re-sign the Dutch youngster on loan, but accepts Magpies manager Joe Kinnear is currently reluctant to agree to a deal. Newcastle keepers Shay Given and Steve Harper have both been linked with moves away, so Abbott will rely on Ben Williams while he awaits a decision from Kinnear. "We are still waiting to see what happens with the Newcastle United situation but, at the moment, Tim Krul is their player," Abbott told the club's official website. "If that situation gets resolved then there may be room for us to ask the question again, but we are very much on the back foot at the moment. "Ben has been very patient and has worked very hard. I am sure that he is looking forward to getting his chance to prove himself again."

The decision to award most staff at nationalised bank Northern Rock a 10% bonus is "indefensible", the Liberal Democrats have said. Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said: "This is bringing the worst of the City bonus culture into a public body." But the Unite trade union argued the bonus, which follows an agreement with the Treasury, was a fitting reward for "hard work and dedication". Gordon Brown's spokesman said it was a "matter for Northern Rock". Loan repayments The bonuses are due to be paid to staff on Friday. Northern Rock was nationalised in February 2008 after a run on the bank in 2007. Once Britain's fifth-biggest home loan provider, it was taken into public ownership after it failed to find a suitable buyer from the private sector. A Northern Rock spokesman refused to be drawn on how much money was being paid out, but pointed out that the staff-wide bonus scheme had been announced in October. He also stressed that no executives or senior management would benefit. The reward comes after staff met targets on repaying the bank's £26bn loan from the government. 'Step in now' Mr Cable said: "This is an extraordinary action from a state-owned bank which still owes billions to taxpayers. "When millions of people are facing pay cuts or even unemployment, this is indefensible. The government should step in to stop this now." But Unite national officer Rob MacGregor said: "Unite members and staff at the bank have worked exceptionally hard in extremely difficult circumstances. "They have experienced the loss of friends and colleagues through compulsory redundancy yet have continued working solidly with dedication and commitment. "These have been very difficult times and this bonus agreed with the Treasury was promised if targets were met. Their dedication and commitment has meant that they have not only achieved but exceeded the targets set." Asked whether Mr Brown approved of the bonuses, the prime minister's spokesman said: "Northern Rock, as I think is well known, has repaid its debts to the government at a rate faster than originally planned for. "Operational decisions such as this are a matter for Northern Rock."

QFT and still the best striker at the club

Euro-porntastic !

Id agree with that tbh. Goals win you games and if we lost Owen and only had a replacment of the likes of Carroll then thats worrying. Where Harper is pretty decent. Not conceding goals stops you from losing games, not losing games gets you points, getting points keeps you up.

Mike Ashley getting in on the act

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/01/20/...re-v260-update/ The PS3 firmware update (v2.60) is designed primarily to enhance the system’s media capabilities. The key feature is a new Photo Gallery application, which delivers a suite of tools for sorting through and displaying your digital photo collection. Digital pictures can be organized in groups according to various criteria, including the camera used to take the photos, the event date and time, colors in the photos, as well as the number, ages, or facial expressions of the people pictured. You can also create slideshows set to music and build photo playlists with an easy-to-use interface. The Photo Gallery application will need to be installed separately from the XMB after you update your PS3’s firmware. To install the Photo Gallery application, go to the Photo section on the XMB, select Photo Gallery and press the X button. The 2.60 update also includes: * Guest access to PlayStation Store – This enables non-PlayStation Network members to browse through the storefront to check out the latest games, demos, videos, etc. * DivX 3.11 support – Videos in this format can now be played on PS3.

I got one of those a couple of years back, total waste of time, it either gave a light tingle that did fuck all, or it inflicted pain which could only be tolerated for a short period of time. Having said that you probably aren't supposed to strap it to your ballbag.

£5 set up fee, + £50 in Marks and Sparks vouchers.

SSN: Man City have tabled an improved offer for Shay Given, City had offered £8m but Newcastle are holding out for more.

It's ok, renowned thinker and philosopher, the glamour model Jordan, has come up with a scheme to help those that suffer sexual violence, after reading her proposal, perhaps she should be given the task to mend our broken society.......

ah, now you're talking. I'll have a look at this tomorrow. Owt in particular to look out for ? You'll need to run CloneDVD along side Any DVD for it to do what you want to do.

[/luquetastic] http://www.atalanta.it/atalanta/show.do?di...p;area=floccari