Jimbo

Newcastle United is not worth a penny - never mind £100m. That's the view of sources close to the negotiations as Mike Ashley tries to sell the struggling football club. Several consortiums are interested in buying Newcastle. They have been carrying out due diligence and delving into the background of the club's financial liabilities. However, the two main players are a Malaysian group and a team of Irish investors. They have been given a tour of St James Park and the clubs training headquarters. But there is a big stumbling block with the price Ashley wants. Someone close to the negotiations told me: "There is no way Ashley will get £100m. It's not worth a penny. He'll end up having to give it away." Why? Newcastle United is debt free. I'm told Ashley's foray into football has cost him £150m. But my source reckons the club is on track to lose £57m this year. "The Malaysians are still the front runners. But why would anyone want to pay money for a club which is projected to lose more than £50m in its first year of trading?" added the source. He said he couldn't see any deal being done before the new football season started. Ashley has been trying to sell Newcastle United since June. The Sports Direct founder is using Keith Harris, chairman of London-based investment bankers Seymour Pierce, for the sale. He wants £100m for a football club steeped in history and with passionate fans. But this is a club in decline with a huge wage bill and a make-shift manager.

Portsmouth by the way

How many fingers has the one on the left got !

Anyone not seen this film, get it watched !

TEAMS HTFC: Alex Smithies, Lee Peltier, Joe Scarz, Michael Collins, Peter Clarke ©, Gary Roberts, Anthony Kay, Theo Robinson, Robbie Simpson, Andy Butler, Anthony Pilkington Subs: Simon Eastwood, Nathan Clarke, Jim Goodwin, Tom Clarke, Robbie Williams, Lee Novak, James Berrett, Lionel Ainsworth NUFC: Steve Harper ©, Habib Beye, Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Jonas Gutierrez, Joey Barton, Danny Guthrie, Kazenga LuaLua, Andy Carroll, Xisco Subs: Fraser Forster, Tamas Kadar, James Tavernier, Kevin Nolan, Damien Duff, Ryan Taylor, Alan Smith, Ryan Donaldson, Samuel Adjei, Shola Ameobi Referee: Mr J. Moss

Turn the computer off and walk away slowly......

Got it today, enjoying it so far but getting a bit too signature punch happy.

But no Vuckic

FTW

Sven: "I'll do go anywhere if the price is right"

Take away his auto-cue and he's a very very poor orator. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8160209.stm

Sloan this week

Olden, but golden

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics...-in-bottom.html A vicar attended hospital with a potato stuck up his bottom - and claimed it got there after he fell on to the vegetable while naked. The clergyman, in his 50s, told nurses he had been hanging curtains when he fell backwards on to his kitchen table. He happened to be nude at the time of the mishap, said the vicar, who insisted he had not been playing a sex game. The vicar had to undergo a delicate operation to extract the vegetable, one of a range of odd items medics in Sheffield have had to remove from people's backsides or genitals. Others include a can of deodorant, a cucumber, a Russian doll – and a carnation. Speaking of the vicar, A & E nurse Trudi Watson, of Sheffield's Northern General Hospital, said: "He explained to me, quite sincerely, he had been hanging curtains naked in the kitchen when he fell backwards on to the kitchen table and on to a potato. "But it's not for me to question his story. He had to undergo surgery to have it removed." She advised anyone tempted to use such objects in sex games to think again. "It can be very dangerous and potentially life-threatening," she said. "Surgery can lead to infection, nasty scarring, and it could possibly end up with the person having to use a colostomy bag as a result." A hospital trust spokeswoman in Sheffield said: "Like all busy hospitals we do see some unusual accidents. "But our staff deal with them in a discreet, professional and kind way."

I think we can sympathise with them regarding England obsessed big name big wage players, for 23, read 10, no, actually 23 is fine.

He's bought better players but the prices he's paid have been obscene. i guess these prices are the market nowadays. Downing & Milner for £12mill are actually better value than £4mill for someone like Harewood. i think this is where O'Neill may have wasted a bit of money. but then Randy Lerner isn't that short of cash, so i guess O'Neill can afford to pay that little bit extra to get certain players. £8.5m on Reo Coker ? £8m on Curtis Davies ? £5m on Steve Sidwell ? These deals were done in 2007 2008, not the insane Man City era, then £12m on Milner, a player many of us questioned his ability, and now the same fee for Downing, a player that even Boro fans had big reservations about. The vast majority of his signings seem massively over priced based on their ability.

RIP, Thats just terrible.