Alex

The Nolan babysitting thing was overplayed imo. Carroll was living in a hotel so his bail conditions required a permanent address which is where Nolan came in. That and Nolan being a massive fanny rat / piss head didn't exactly make me think he was a good influence.

Shola's happy with a bit-part role anyway though. Plus 30 mins on the pitch and he's blowing out his arse.

I think we had a Ferguson Videostar.

Made some of Nigella's No-Churn Magarita Ice Cream. Hoyed a bit more alcohol than she says in though. It's var, var nice

Miguel (played RB at Euro 2004 before he got injured).

I was joking, Andrew

I think he is a good man manager but that has undoubtedly been helped by us not signing players with shite attitudes on the whole. I know you could point to Ben Arfa as a possible in that regard but at least he's young with something to prove not some washed-up has-been on a final pay day. Carroll has a lot to prove too like.

Radio Rentals? But I think they sold tellies too. I think Ferguson was the same crack actually.

Someone to spend time recovering from injury with?

And Hughton (mainly Hughton now I think about it). Didn't Carroll play for Pardew against Liverpool and score (Pardew's 1st game?) then get injured and never play for us again? Bit sketchy on the details but it was something like that I think.

That's it in the main, plus he likes hitting lasses and is thick as fuck. That's problematic if he doesn't rein it in. He's not the sort of player who can stroll about like Ibrahimovic. His game is all about his physicality which demands that he's fit enough to be getting into the faces of the opposition centre-backs. He's mobile for his size too. You take away that edge and the level of fitness required and, to me, he's just A. N. Other big lump tbh. Basically I'd like him here but he comes with a risk because of his suspect attitude / lifestyle. I agree we should ideally look at loan with an agreed fee at the end of it (should we decide we want him). Liverpool are saying no but I'd basically tap Carroll up (as everyone does) and say we want him but it'll have to be a loan. If he refuses to go elsewhere that leaves us in a strong position come the end of August. I think Liverpool are desperate to get rid.

They should've sponsored Man Utd. Missed a trick there.

IP check. I reckon this is Blaydon parodying Li3nZ.

Should've added 'decent / reliable' We had a Baird tv in the 80s. I'd forgotten all about that. Remember tv repair men btw?

I googled it to check but I assumed it was Japanese (which is why I checked). What British companies were making tellys, video recorders etc. in the 80's like?

I think the won the CL with no Italian players in their starting line-up (and won the treble that year with virtually no Italian players involved).

Sharp's Japanese like but other than that you're spot on

And read some Jack Kerouac / Richard Brautigan to get you in the mood

Enjoy it. My road trip in Canada was probably the best holiday I ever had.

I reckon the Inter link is the agent/player trying to push the deal through anyway.

Pardew's managed both of them reasonably well for half a season each. He hasn't really proved he can successfully manage either long-term. That's not being churlish, I just mention it because everything I've heard about Carroll suggests he's an absolute knacker. I'm still excited at the prospect of this deal mind.

Big Sur is meant to be lush, is it not worth spending an extra day on that stretch, HF?

Apart from the sunderland goals, there's the annoyance factor, i.e. how much he winds up that little fanny MattM4.

Inter are struggling with the FFP rules apparently and have flogged a load of players. That'll impact wages too. Apparently Morratti is about £1,000m down over the last 10 years.

I was reading that (ironically, Mr Platini) it'll affect Spanish and Italian clubs more than English ones as the EPL still generates a lot more income than La Liga or Serie A. I know you're on about the likes of Chelsea and Man City though. I think Liverpool will struggle to compete too as they already are and they've been bankrolled for years.