Jimbo

Ashley reveals Newcastle had £100m debt By Michael Walker Published: 22 October 2007 Mike Ashley, the new owner of Newcastle United, has spoken publicly for the first time. Often portrayed as a recluse, Ashley took the opportunity to quash the recurring stories that Newcastle are for sale. "I didn't buy Newcastle United to sell it," he said yesterday. "The club is not for sale, selling is just not on the agenda. Yes, there have been plenty of people suggesting they want to buy the club off me already and the answer is always the same: 'No'. "I bought this club to become part of its passion and it has worked. I feel at home here already. I love the place, the club and especially the fans, who wouldn't?" Ashley revealed that the debt he inherited at Newcastle was £100m but said that the speed of the purchase meant: "There was no time to do the usual due diligence on the deal because I had to move so quickly. "So I paid £140m for the club with the expectation that there was a debt of £70m. Actually it was around £100m so there was suddenly an extra £30m to find. But I just thought: 'Shut up about it'. I'm a big boy and I didn't cry. "To me the real issue was this: Was the debt bigger than I thought? Yes. Would I have changed my mind if I'd known the full extent of the debt? Not one iota. "It might have been a different story if I had needed to go to the bank to borrow the money but I didn't. I have my own money and anyway, I tend to live by the saying you can't take it with you." Newcastle host Tottenham Hotspur at home tonight and manager Sam Allardyce has also received some good news from Michael Owen, who yesterday played down talk of a rift between himself and Allardyce. Allardyce thinks Tottenham have bottomed out after draws with Aston Villa and Liverpool and showed sympathy towards Martin Jol. "He was in a black hole but there is light at the end of the tunnel now." Spurs will be without Paul Robinson in goal, Newcastle are awaiting news on Mark Viduka's fitness.

Liverpool fans might have something to say about that tbh And Blackburn Didn't he win the FA Cup with Liverpool? Nah Ronnie Moran did, Souness was having heart surgery, although they managed to wheel him out for the final.

Thats right, I'm English, not British, not Scotish, not Welsh not Irish.

agreed Well what I really meant to say was that the rest of us were pissing ourselves laughing after the result last night. The reason I said "agreed" is because I genuinely could not give a flying fuck how or what our neighbouring nations achieve in the sporting arena.

agreed

Good point about the pitting strategy, that along with the tyre fuck up last time out, it almost seemed that Alonso and Hamilton were on different teams in terms of the fuck ups McClaren made with Hamilton rather than Alonso.

take your Scottish glasses off, hes a fucking shite manager.

Hamilton showed his inexperience at the start, but even so, had he not had that gearbox failure there is every chance he would have done it, he had a great race today coming back from 18th, and did some utterly phenominal moves making up the places, arguably more impressive than some of the processions we have witnessed when he has won.

What a great race, and what a fantastic season its been.

Download this file: http://www.mediafire.com/?63ntcv19x1r Unzip it and replace the inc folder in C: program files/sports interactive/football manager 2008/data/db/800 This will correct all the competition names suc as Euro cup will become UEFA Cup etc.

Hugo Loris Brilliant Keeper.

He can't buy a goal for me, what tactics are you using? This one: http://www.mediafire.com/?5459dmxm1it

Happy Birthday dude !

Download this file: FM Graphics unzip it to C:\ my documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2008/ Fire up the game, go to Preferences, go to "Display and Sound", make sure that "use skin cache" is unticked, "reload skin on confirm" is ticked and so is "show badges and logos"

Gladiator: Special Edition Fuck I love that film.

Its a bit complicated but what I'll do is upload my graphics folder and list what you need to do with it in a separate thread.

TRANSFER RUMOURS Derby are ready to bid £7m for Portsmouth striker David Nugent, and they also want Newcastle's Shola Ameobi on loan. (News of the World) Real Madrid want Chelsea centre-back Ricardo Carvalho. (Various) Manchester City are set to bid £10m for Heerenveen's Brazilian striker Alfonso Alves. (Various) Arsenal and Manchester United are locked in a battle to sign 19-year-old Argentine midfielder Angel Di Maria. (News of the World) Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill wants to sign Liverpool left-back John Arne Riise. (The People) Everton, Liverpool and Arsenal are competing for the signature of Monaco midfielder Yohan Mollo. (The People) Newcastle will renew their interest in Barcelona's want-away Brazilian Edmilson. (The People) Manchester City are targeting Lyon's France international striker Karin Benzema but will need to pay around £14m for him. (The People) City also want Chelsea left-back Wayne Bridge but face competition from West Ham. (The People) Tottenham are set to make a cut-price £1.5m bid for West Ham midfielder Luis Boa Morte. (The People) Arsenal are interested in signing Dynamo Kiev's Croatian midfielder Luka Modric. (The People) Manchester United are set to land 15-year-old Norwegian striker Joshua King from Valarenga. (The People) Tottenham are considering moving for Villarreal's Argentine midfielder Juan Riquelme. (The People) But Tottenham are set to lose out to Manchester United for the signature of Ghana youth international Ransford Osei. (The People) Chelsea winger Scott Sinclair is wanted on loan by Sheffield United manager Bryan Robson. (The People) Liverpool midfielder Momo Sissoko has told friends he wants to leave the club in January. (Mail on Sunday) Tell us your transfer rumours Back to top OTHER GOSSIP Bolton have been told by Real Sociedad that prising manager Chris Coleman away will cost them £1m. (Various) As well as Coleman, Bolton are considering Gary Megson and Graeme Souness for their vacant manager's position. (The people) The FA would have to pay £21m as part of a complex pay-off to Chelsea if they want Jose Mourinho as the next England manager. (Sunday Mirror). But the ex-Blues boss says he does not want the job. (News of the World). However, Jurgen Klinsmann is interested in becoming the next England boss, having told friends he wants his next job to be in London. (The People) Back to top AND FINALLY Freddy Eastwood has come down to earth with a bump since his goals have dried up - his club Wolves put him on a Ryanair flight to return from Wales' trip to San Marino rather than the private jet he has been used to previously.

Goalmachine !

http://www.snopes.com/photos/medical/nepalbaby.asp

Villa 1 - 0 ManUre

So much so ,he signed for Spurs Did we bid for him ?

Ashley gave me £33m for a European finish

Berbatov slept in Toon shirt By MARTIN BLACKBURN Published: Today rigTeaserImage DIMITAR BERBATOV grew up worshipping Alan Shearer — and slept in a No 9 Newcastle shirt! The Spurs striker was bought a Toon strip bearing his name and Big Al’s number as an 18th birthday gift from his parents. And that was the reason he chose the No 9 shirt when he moved to Tottenham in the summer of 2006. The Bulgarian, 26, will be relishing the chance to walk out at St James’ Park on Monday night where Shearer was so popular for 10 years. Berba’s mum Margarita, 45, a former champion handball player, recalls how the Shearer shirt became her boy’s prized possession. She said: “Dimitar wore this shirt all the time. “He even used to sleep in his Newcastle shirt! It’s that special to him. “Dimitar told me it was his dream to play for Newcastle United one day and wear the same shirt as Alan Shearer, who is my son’s hero. “Shearer was a major inspiration for him to work hard for himself and the team. He liked the fact that Alan Shearer scored goals but was not a selfish player. “Dimitar thinks this shirt may even have been a sign he was meant to play in England.” Berbatov was brought up in a sports-mad house. His father Ivan was a striker for CSKA Sofia but the youngster chose Newcastle as his team. Berbatov was such a fan of Toon legend Shearer he even tucked into the ex-England hitman’s famous pre-match meal of chicken and beans. Shearer netted 148 league goals in 295 games for Newcastle and in his schooldays little Dimi got into trouble for scribbling Shearer’s name and records on his school books. Then when he hit the big-time, he bought his mum a Honda Civic with a personalised number plate that included the No 9. His old schoolmate Mario Bekov, who has known Berbatov for 20 years, said his admiration for the former Toon ace bordered on obsession. He said: “Dimitar never missed a Newcastle game when it was on television. And Shearer was up there with Pele as a God for him.” Another pal, Stefan Damianov, recalled how Berbatov considered himself to be an honorary Geordie as he followed the Toon and grew up in a mining region of Blagoevgrad. He said: “People in this part of Bulgaria like the Newcastle team especially and identify themselves with the football-mad culture of the people there and loyalty to the team.” Dimitar Berbatov PAST TIMES ... Dimitar aged eight, flat in Blagoevgrad, and with dad Ivan, brother Asen and mum Margarita Sadly for Berbatov, Shearer had hung up his boots by the time he made his first visit to Tyneside last December. But this next visit will still be crucial with only goal difference separating Spurs from the bottom three at the start of the weekend. Berbatov enjoyed an explosive first season in English football and scored 23 goals after his £10.9million move from Bayer Leverkusen. He is idolised by Spurs fans and is already considered as good as White Hart Lane legends Alan Gilzean, Glenn Hoddle and Jurgen Klinsmann. But Berbatov has not enjoyed as much success so far this term with just two goals to his name in nine appearances. He remains highly ambitious and is unlikely to be impressed by Tottenham’s shaky start to the season. His mum added: “Dimitar has told me he’s hungry to win cups and wants to play in the Champions League in the next few years.” Tottenham came within a minute of taking all three points from Liverpool two weeks ago until Fernando Torres stole a point with his header. And Berbatov’s fellow striker Darren Bent has called for a repeat of the Anfield performance as Spurs look to kick-start their league campaign. England forward Bent is warning they could face an early bombardment from Toon — who have won three and drawn one of their league home games this term. The Geordies have also beaten Spurs 3-1 on their last two visits to St James’ Park. Bent said: “If we play like we did at Anfield then we can go there and get what we want. “Newcastle start really fast and we’ve got to be prepared for that — but we know what we’ve got to do. “People think it will be straightforward after what we did at Anfield but it doesn’t always work like that.”

Let us know what colour the smoke is