Paul

And there was me thinking it was an honour to play for your country. Silly me

RIP to both of them And GafferTape, fuck off you twat

http://www.worldcup365.com/story/0,16726,8...1263885,00.html RADIO ONE BANS ENGLAND SONGS? If the political equation of Britain wasn't ridiculous enough, BBC Radio One has reportedly been banned from airing songs that mention 'England' during the World Cup in case they upset Scottish, Welsh and Irish sensibilities. 'Bands who use the E word will get the red card from the station's all-important playlist,' reports The Daily Mirror, and quotes a Radio 1 source complaining: "We have been told songs that contain the word England repeatedly can't be put on the playlist because we don't want to upset anyone who isn't English. It's ridiculous." Almost as ridiculous as having a Scottish Home Secretary, voted in to the Westminster Parliament by a Scottish constituency, making laws that only affect English and Welsh voters on such issues as education, crime and transport but having no influence on such matters in Scotland, and in his own constituency, because responsibility for home affairs north of Hadrian's Wall has been devolved to a Scottish Parliament. Fuck off man Seriously though, if this is true it is outrageous

Just found out there that all World Cup matches, including England, will also be shown live on UKTV G2. Am I the only person who finds this a little strange?

Hardly, half a million who has not put a decent shift in in the past two seasons is good enough for me. About time we made a profit, too. 144462[/snapback] I'd value him at about 1.5

Think you're funny do ya

500k? What a joke

:lol: :lol: :lol: 144061[/snapback] Read that earlier.. made my day

Good work mate

16 million for a player who won't even make the bench.. Oh well...

Arsenal face Fifa investigation By Meirion Jones Senior Producer, BBC Newsnight Fifa has launched a probe into whether Arsenal have broken regulations which may leave the club exposed to possible expulsion from the Champions League. BBC Newsnight has learnt that a police probe in Belgium has concluded Arsenal made secret payments of £1m to Beveren. Arsenal have admitted providing a loan to Beveren, but say they have never had a controlling influence over the club. Fifa is investigating whether Arsenal have breached rules governing fair play and conflict of interest. It was a mystery payment of one million pounds to an obscure Belgian football club in 2001 which sparked off a money-laundering investigation. A company with no name wanted to invest a million pounds in the club. We thought it rather bizarre Christian du Four, Investigating Magistrate The club, Beveren, was in desperate financial straits and they refused to say where the cash had come from. Fog of secrecy Christian du Four, the Investigating Magistrate in the Flemish town of Dendermonde, told Newsnight, "A company with no name wanted to invest a million pounds in the club. We thought it rather bizarre." At the same time the team threw out most of its Belgian players and replaced them with unknowns from an academy in Ivory Coast, West Africa. Belgian police suspected the fog of secrecy was hiding mafia involvement. Instead after an investigation they have told Newsnight that they found Arsenal's secret hand behind the money. Arsenal has a public deal with Beveren to play friendly matches and loan players but Arsenal repeatedly denied that they put money into the club. Arsenal now admit that they did loan money, indirectly, to Beveren. An Arsenal spokesman said "Arsenal confirms that it has never owned, directly or indirectly, any shares in Beveren or had any power whatsoever to influence its management or administration. It did in 2001 provide funds of 1,570,703 euros by way of loan to a member of the consortium to assist in stabilising the finances of Beveren." Reading from his investigation, Mr Du Four said: "Jean Marc Guillou who is the manager of Beveren has very close contacts with Arsene Wenger the coach of Arsenal and that is why they went ahead with the contract." Rules He then highlighted one contract signed by Arsenal Vice-Chairman David Dein. The contract (Document shows Dein agreeing to advance 12 million Belgian francs (around £200,000) on behalf of Arsenal Football Club in an interest free loan to an associate of his called Raoul de Waele. The loan was to establish a company called Goal which would take over control of Beveren football club. The loan and other money advanced by Arsenal would be repaid out of Goal's share of transfer profits. Du Four says that in all Arsenal put in £1m. A director of Beveren, who did not wish to be identified, told Newsnight that in return for the £1m de Waele was given 50% control of Beveren and Guillou was given another 30%. Fifa President Sepp Blatter told BBC Radio Five Live "Let Arsenal give the Football Association their report. It will be then be reported later to Fifa but for the time being I am not in a position to make any comments about what punishments or sanctions should be taken against a club." If Arsenal secretly controlled another club, especially one such as Beveren who they bought Emmanuel Eboue from, they could be in breach of FIFA rules and could be heavily fined or even thrown out of the Champions League. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/prog...ght/5037494.stm Published: 2006/06/01 15:42:02 GMT © BBC MMVI Please please PLEASE don't let Spurs get in the Champions League

Beresford's spot on imo. Would still like us to give him another season after spending so much on him though

You reckon? What did he do ok exactly? 143299[/snapback] See the post I posted after that. Ta. 143309[/snapback] I turned over straight afterwards so I never saw him getting 'crucified'. He was very ordinary in my view though and I was prepared to give him a chance in his favoured position. He failed to impress and gave the ball away far too cheaply and in dangerous positions. Luckily it was only a friendly against Hungary. 143355[/snapback] Hargreaves has been given numerous chances to impress.. and for me, falls into the same category as Jenas. Just disappears during games.

Got that e-mail sent to me at work. Actually believed it for a second

What a legend

http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=39...+down+Boro+job# Venables turns down Boro job By Lewis Rutledge - Created on 26 May 2006 Terry Venables has turned down the chance to be Middlesbrough boss. The former England boss has been heavily linked with the vacant post since Steve McClaren was confirmed as the next boss of the national team and had been widely expected to take the position. Boro chairman Steve Gibson has made no secret of his admiration for El Tel, but also insisted that their search was at an early stage. The board's attempts to get a new man in place have now suffered a setback with Venables' rejection. Early indications are that the 63-year-old was reluctant to commit to such an important role at this time because of all his other responsibilities. The race to be next Middlesbrough boss therefore remains wide open, with the likes of Alan Curbishley and Martin O'Neill thought to be in the running. Suppose he could be holding out for a place in the England set up..

Ashington...

What's the tune? Can't get that out my head now

Leazes Level 7, about 4 rows from the back, about level with the left hand side of the 6 yard box

Robson recovers after cancer op Former England and Newcastle boss Sir Bobby Robson says an operation to remove a cancerous tumour from his lung has been "100% successful". The tumour was spotted when Robson had an X-ray following a skiing accident. "I've had a thorough scan and I'm clean as a whistle," Robson, currently working with the Republic of Ireland, told the Mail on Sunday. "There aren't any other tumours so I don't need further treatment. I feel fortunate that it was caught early." Ex-Ipswich manager Robson has beaten cancer twice already, in 1992 and 1995. Robson, who is an adviser to Republic of Ireland coach Steve Staunton, says he will be fit to travel to Dublin for the Republic's game against Chile on 24 May. Story from BBC SPORT: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi...als/4981950.stm Published: 2006/05/07 10:54:40 GMT © BBC MMVI Thank God for that

Pardew never said that. From what I heard, all he said was that all the big clubs have appointed foreign managers, but also mentioned that Newcastle are yet to appoint their new manager. I could be wrong like..

I thought so too. Didn't realise it was Pattison till I got home and read this thread

I thought it was Alan O'Brien Was no sound in SJH to tell us the teams, dunno about anywhere else

Here's an email that my mate sent me, not saying it's true, just thought it would be interesting to post it.

*ahem* Owen dismisses Gerrard Reds plea Newcastle United's former Liverpool striker Michael Owen has played down a plea from Reds captain Steven Gerrard for him to 'come home' to Anfield. Gerrard feels Owen, a £17m signing from Real Madrid in August 2005, would solve his side's goalscoring problems. Owen said: "It is nice of Steven to say what he thinks of me, but someone else makes those decisions. "I am happy here, as I have always said. I made a decision last summer to come here and have loved every minute." He added: "Stevie has said they need a striker, or that they need to score more goals. "He's a good friend of mine, so I'd expect him to say 'Michael Owen is a good player' because I would say the same about him." Owen has not played this year because of a broken foot and admits he has been frustrated by his long lay-off. "Thankfully when I have played, we have managed to get some points and I have managed to get some goals," he told his club's website. "I'd be feeling pretty awful if that hadn't been the case and I'd played nine or 10 games and nothing had happened when I had played. "That's the only softening of the blow. But the rest of it is not. I'm disappointed that I haven't played as much, but it will not be long until I will be playing again. "Hopefully, it's only a short period of time and I'll be back out there in the black and white." Story from BBC SPORT: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi...ted/4809044.stm Published: 2006/03/15 13:02:39 GMT © BBC MMVI