Alex

Aye, that's what I thought really. Not necessarily top whack in terms of wages but would want certain guarantees and autonomy etc. Basically anyone with a modicum of self respect and talent is going to be an issue as far as a replacement is concerned though.

Just pretend you went there all the time in the 80s.

He was after Moyes when his contract was nearly up at Everton apparently, because the compensation wouldn't have been very much. Wouldn't be surprised if he was interested in Moyes again but I would be surprised if it would work in terms of wages and agreeing the coaching structure, etc.

Eh? Is that a new thing like? Thought you could sign a professional contract at 17.

Those foam pills are beltas.

Have you tried stopping talking shite?

It's all it took for me to write the season off.

This is all Graham Carr's fault.

I reckon that's definitely what happened. Especially as it's the first time she's said anything offensive about members of the establishment.

Thought I'd seen it before somewhere (or similar) but all the same. Although Phil's post was arguably funnier.

Seems alright on The One Show.

I see Chez can't resist a bit of fishing by proxy

I think Luuk De Jong was someone we took a chance on on loan. Simple as. It didn't come off but there was little risk involved. I know Carr was supposed to have look at him earlier but we probably eventually signed him at a bad time when he was already low on confidence and he never really looked like being the answer unfortuantely. I think Mbiwa looked canny alongside Williamson and that's his best role, i.e. being the one to sweep alongside a marker in a CB partnership. Understandably, he didn't play as well when he was shoved out to RB etc. I think he was probably meant to be the insurance policy if Colo left / long-term replacement if he didn't. It can't have helped when the latter got his place straight back in the side at Mbiwa's expense even though Mbiwa had done well there. He's now been shipped out and Colo doesn't look to be in great form (and quite frankly looks rather questionable in terms of commitment / appears to be making sure he doesn't look too bad). You might not accept that but I think that's down to poor man-management on the part of Pardew. I would certainly agree with you about Graham Carr probably having too great a workload for one bloke, despite his success in the past and his many continental contacts. That rather negates your point about a lot of the blame being down to him though.

A Shocking Hobby and Public Energy No. 1 were both quite a departure from his first two albums (Ginger and G-Spot) being a lot more experimental, breakbeat orientated affairs.

Aye, because the anti-Pardew stuff is a new thing amongst the fans. Do you only open your mouth to change feet?

End times approaching fast.

I quite like. Sounds like stuff Speedy J was doing in the early 2000s. Reminds me of Kinesthesia's releases on Rephlex which were about '94 / '95. He had a tune on Colin Dale's Outer Limits too. Innovative you say?

Another quality piece of production by I:Cube was his quirky remix of Maas' Look at me Now Falling:

That's a class tune. Think I slightly prefer the original mix, which is on the album Picnic Attack. Also love this by him: Funky as fuck

Not a fan of his as I was saying earlier. Don't get the hype at all. Those were the only two I quite liked though on what is considered by many to be a cult / classic LP.

Not really doing it for me like.

Be interesting to revisit this if both do well on loan, especially HBA.

The budget restraints are obvious. As is the fact they've had to replace something like 12 players. Given that it stands to reason they've struggled to get some of the deals over the line. Perhaps they could've done better but the point remains that I think it's harsh to blame Carr in particular, given he's done so well in the past with so little to work with. And he identified Remy in the first place, didn't he? His job is to identify the talent, not negotiate the contracts etc.

Cake and eat it time I see. If Pardew is hamstrung by the constraints placed on him by the owner then the same applies to the people charged with recruiting players. Especially when they have to replace a shit load of players, including the two who were the main supply of creativity and goals.

Whatever you think about Pardew (and I've no time for him whatsoever) it's a terrible time to change your manager (especially in our position). So we probably will.