Rayvin

Well, except the no fly zone was for 32,000 feet, and they were flying at 33,000 feet to save about 15 mins journey time. I mean yeah, they're not breaching the NFZ, but they're cutting it pretty damn close. Not that they were the only ones.

Both of these being, of course, mutually exclusive

Very, very worrying. Could just be coincidence about the previous missing plane (bound to be in fact), but what the fuck is Putin playing at here... Can only conclude that this was done independently of the Kremlin. 250 people though, there should be hell to pay for that. Perverse as throwing more lives after those already lost would be...

Is Obertan still here? I'm amazed no one has put in an offer yet...

Sorry, but, how can you possibly argue that Safari is better than Chrome... Google is punishing you for your heresy. That's what's happening.

If he gets three goals for us this season, he's an improvement on Shola.

...Still can't really believe we actually signed anyone. Now we're going on about possible fifth and sixth additions. I was fearing a Blackpool kind of scenario.

Well at least we've actually replaced Debuchy. Hopefully it'll work out with Janmaat. We seem to get a bounce when we bring in new players under Pardew, so we may actually have a good start to the season. Before he drums their form out of them.

I think it's a massive shame about Ben Arfa. Sure he hasn't helped himself, but I remember he wanted to be the world's best or something like that :/ Pardew has ruined any hopelessly slim chance he ever may have had of that.

I know this is done with now, but I utterly loved this thread

I'd imagine his manager had a few choice words as well Could easily have gone horribly wrong..! As for what I'd do... I dunno, it's not like he's injured anyone, he's just a knob. Like Ant said, probably some heavy tackling or an off camera decapitation. Nothing over the top.

That's good to hear. I do wonder how many billionaires aren't dicks though..?

The Guardian has done one of those lists about which team has what budget available along with who they're going for. They seem to think NUFC is on the brink of a net spend of £40m. Also, they noted that Villa might be taken over by the guy who owns Oracle, who is worth $41bn... Why can't he buy us...

This thread is banal, but I've enjoyed the response to it.

http://metro.co.uk/2014/05/16/everton-and-newcastle-to-go-head-to-head-for-spurs-andros-townsend-4730067/ We're on for Andros Townsend apparently...

All any of the mooted suggestions need is organisation. If we settled in a truly representative fan group, and all fans put their lot in with it, it would be much harder. We stand divided currently.

Yes but, he does appear to be attempting to recoup his losses on the initial purchase. Over time, him spending money we gain by finishing 10th etc will pay off his loan, thus expediting his departure as (in theory) the sale price falls. That has to be the only reason he's even still bothering paying any attention to us at all.

That's a relief...

I'm not saying it's any more likely to happen though It would require a level of organisation beyond mere football fans. We'd need one of the supporters groups to take the initiative and for some real leadership to emerge. So far, from what I've seen, it looks like we're all pulling in different directions and squabbling. (See the 60 vs 69th min. walkout).

I didn't mean we'd gradually buy in - I meant that the money is pledged and only released once another buyer comes along who is prepared to make up the difference between MA's asking price and whatever the fan group manages to accumulate. Essentially, our hand would grow year on year (for a while, I'd imagine the pledged would expire if it took too long, and would need renegotiation). My suggestion was actually a means by which we could erode the false value that he has attached.

We've probably established that money is the only thing that'll do it, I would guess. We as fans can't raise the money to buy out Ashley, but we can raise some of it. If season ticket holders, and regular matchday goers were to avoid spending their money on the club, and stayed away, instead putting the money into some kind of legally protected fund, we could over time start amassing money which could be used to assist any potential buyers in the taking over of the club. In turn, fans could have a say in the running of the club as we would end up with a stake in it. The fund could be invested in by local businesses on the back of promises to allow them set periods of exposure once the club's ownership has been changed. Say we got to a point where even £50m can been put to one side through either local business pledges or fan investment - that's £50m off the sale price for any prospective buyer. Sure, they have to surrender ownership of a part of the club to the fans - but really, this could be set up in such a way that it worked for everyone, with legal control belonging to the main party of buyers, but with special considerations made for fan viewpoints; considerations which were contractually protected. Is this likely to happen? Of course not. Would it even work? Who knows. I dare say someone will think of a reason why it wouldn't. But it's all I can think of. EDIT - how long this would take would depend on uptake amongst fans and local business alike. Maybe 5 seasons if we were lucky and attracted enough media attention.

I love this bit about Benfica being cursed by a manager from the 1960s Thing is, they seem to have made such a big deal about it that it's probably now true, and hanging over the players heads!

Bet Chelsea wish they'd done that with Matic...

Isn't it more about nationalism these days anyway? Agreed with the majority anyway, patriotism is just a tool that those in power use to influence those without.

UK: Carlisle for me, largely because my dad supports them. I know they're a bit too close for comfort, but they've never been a threat to us in any form. Overseas: Juventus - must be the strip