Monroe Transfer

GAME Group have something like 1200 stores in Europe, and until last week Gameplay.co.uk as well. I can't see all 1200 stores being closed or anything like that, quite likely they'll be taken over or something. But without them on the high street, the supermarkets will capitalise on the big void. HMV are in trouble too.

You may well be right, but why put so much faith in presumptions? Who knows what the future may bring. Basically giving Ashley stick based on future events that may or or may not happen. For one I didn't see us spending £10m on a player during January. That's certainly a bold, positive move. Of course it's all about building on what you've got though, but I'll worry about that when the season is over. I'm not giving Ashley stick based on future events - its based on what he's done so far But you've just told us that because of "his zero ambition up until now", Ashley won't build on the good season we're having. Like you're from the future or something.

You may well be right, but why put so much faith in presumptions? Who knows what the future may bring. Basically giving Ashley stick based on future events that may or or may not happen. For one I didn't see us spending £10m on a player during January. That's certainly a bold, positive move. Of course it's all about building on what you've got though, but I'll worry about that when the season is over.

Why are you talking in the past tense? We're 3 points off fourth at the moment. I don't understand why you're finding it hard to understand that the club did not set out to get into the top four at the start of the season. It was not a realistic aim back then, so you'd presume they financed things accordingly. The fact that we're in the top six is a credit to the team and staff.

The fact that Liverpool reinvested the Torres money means fuck all really. The point that Leazes doesn't get (why am I getting involved in this...) is that you don't have to spend lavishly to be semi-successful. NUFC fans say Liverpool paid over the odds for some of their players because they're simply not value for money. £35m covers just about all of NUFC's better signings since we were promoted, and as such as we've undoubtedly done the better business. We are higher than them in the table, despite spending a lot, lot less and being a division lower only a couple of years ago. If NUFC sell some of the better players during the window then they can spend pennies on new players for all I care, if they happen to decent replacements. Of course a bigger statement of intent would be to hold on to the better players, and spend wisely (and occasionally significantly, like with Cisse). We'll see what happens in the summer. At the moment we're over-achieving, considering where we were not too long ago. At the start of the season at least we did not share the same aspirations and aims as the likes of Liverpool. So we should not be compared to them so much. edit; reading that post again, I get the impression Leazes wants us to believe that Carroll left NUFC because we're not as ambitious as they are. As opposed to being offered a silly sum of money that we couldn't really refuse. I can't speak for the guy but I don't believe he was ever forcing a move, before or after Liverpool became interested in him.

Now rumours that the future Nintendo catalogue might not be stocked there. Mario Party 9 definitely won't be, for now at least. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-29-game-group-not-stocking-mario-party-9

Yup. Their range has gotten worse, there's far too much shelf space devoted to pre-owned games, and there's just not much incentive to buy there. They've spent loads on securing exclusive deals for limited editions and the like, which has helped them in the short term but probably harmed them in the long term. I certainly found (can't see them doing it much more now) that annoying, albeit it was rare that the exclusive DLC or whatever was actually worth the extra outlay.

If you're referring more to the act of reserving a copy at a physical store then yeah, a lot of times it isn't worth it. Pre-ordering online is a different matter though. I haven't bought a game offline in years. Even when I lived in a city, within walking distance to a store regardless of whether I was working or not, I'd still pre-order everything online. It's generally cheaper, comes with less hassle, and you'll get it at home on the day of release if not earlier.

Fresh off a couple of big Wii games not being sold in their stores, and days after not stocking Ubisoft Vita games at launch, all EA games will now not be sold in their stores. All pre-orders canceled. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-29-game-not-stocking-mass-effect-3-or-ea-games-past-ssx Yeah, they're in big trouble. Have a look at this - http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=GMG.L#symbol=gmg.l;range=1d;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;

Is that an Alan Oliver piece?

Maybe this'll explain why he wasn't great when he came on against Wolves. http://twitter.com/#...3095936/photo/1 Class. Not sure about that tablecloth mind.

Just noticed this on Twitter. Not cool.

My man

As if.

Cheer up PaddockLad.

Spot fucking on. All that needs to be said is your post and OTF's. So what's changed? Nothing. I've only commented on what I've seen. I'm not writing him off, I'm still patient with him. He's not fully adapted yet either, because his time on the pitch is so irregular. He needs more time, for sure, but on the other hand I can understand why Pardew doesn't trust him. The below is my current take on him from a post after the match (can't directly quote it for some reason): At the moment, we're only seeing glimpses of his talent. It's like hie has a highlight reel quota to fill. Once he's done that he's back to losing possession 9 times out of 10 when there's a pass on. You could point out that with more starts his confidence would grow, and you'd be right, but he's still got to prove himself worthy when he's on as a sub too. At the moment, I can't blame Pardew for not trusting Ben Arfa. You can tell how much he frustrates Pardew - knowing he's got a player of such ability, but one who is yet to consistently harness it.

I still maintain that we're only 2-3 players away from a really good side. Simpson will 'do' as cover, so that'd overs some of the lacking squad depth.

They're just singling him out man, never gave him a chance etc.

CT, does your wife know about your infatuation with a young, scrawny Irish boy?

I really fancy watching some classic Simpsons. Is there a decent, simple source for such entertainment?

So simple but so effective.

Utter nonsense. Not even going to get into it.

Yeah Gannicus is brilliant. Can't wait to see what happens between him and Oenomaus in future episodes.

Latest episode of this was just ridiculous. It's an overplayed word nowadays, but it really was epic. Like season finale epic, but we're only 5 episodes in.