manc-mag

When was it when we hadn't won in London for like 2/3 seasons or something. As though London was a place you didn't have to win football games but could still be serious contenders ie. not like it provides anywhere upto 6 Prem away games per season. Jesus wept that was depressing hearing that time after time. I used to just wish one of the pundits would pipe up after a while and say it's not a 'London jinx', it's fucking gutless football.

Okay, what I'm about to say it very basic. We had the 14th largest revenue in European football but still managed to make a loss of £15m. The following season we lost £33m, the one after that we lost £20m. Regardless of turnover, no club can go on making those sort of losses unless they have a megarich owner prepared to make up the shortfall. Under the previous regime we did not have the owners with the ability or willingness to underwrite those size of losses. Do you understand? The players would have played for free in the end if push came to shove though. Just had to be asked nicely. That is how you HOLD ON to your best players. The truly successful clubs have been doing it for years, though it comes as no surprise to me I should have to spell this out to YOU!

I suspect you're about to get called "chum".

*right back meaning: way back, rather than right full back, obviously.

Agreed. In any case, if he had end product he'd be playing for one of the top sides in the world so it's a moot point. I forgive him the lack of decisive cross a lot of the time on account of the fact he's often chased the ball in both directions before delivering it. ie tracking back to pick it up and then the other way at goal. Or from right back off his full backs toes in any event. Different altogether than (and this is not having a go at the likes of Ben Arfa by any means) waiting to receive it just over half way and then straight out of your feet into space. The guy's got someone on his shoulder practically every pace he takes given the shift he puts in.

Theres no way you're still 19 stone going off that pic. Look to be in half decent nick, if that's what the top does for you I'm having one (unless your head is lopped off the photo because the shirt's so tight you look like Mr Mackey).

That looks more like the full kit tbf? Socks too?

I wouldn't pay much credence to that. I'm expecting the same formation as Villa with Oba in for Raylor. Aye, trying to plant the seed in Spurs minds that it'll be a nice practice game for them after what should be a massive battle against Liverpool. Psychological iyam and I'm all for it. Either way we go there as massive underdogs and I'm all for that too. We've just played and won two games we'd have got slated for losing, and that deserves credit, so we go there now and anything is a bonus. Hopefully that change in the psychology of the game will be good for us and we give a good account.

Not sure Given was at fault necessarily, but you'd be waiting a long time for him to deal with a cross anyway. Always been a spectator as far as that's concerned.

Head down, eyeballs in single file. Neat as ninepence.

six foot something and size medium?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30ZW2mMlxxc&feature=related

The jokes on her anyway, cos with my technique I'd never have to see the sneer. Two from the top, one from the bottom and a taxi home please, Carol.

I'd noticed, proper fun bags. Sent her a couple of tweets notifying her of this, sadly she didn't reply. I know what you mean about her knockers like, but when did she start going boss-eyed? Got a head like a squashed meat pie in some of them pics.

Your memory's better than your plumbing

Ashley Cole I think should get it. Steeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevie Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee will get it. I reckon it should go to Hart myself, would take something very strange to keep him from being an automatic england starter for a lot of years now reckon Gerrard or Parker will get it, more likely parker since not a massive crock like gerrard Urgggh! Parker Mind you: URGGGH! Gerrard

Ouch.

The CPS would have charged him on the basis of that footage alone I would imagine purely because there is clear evidence of him saying the words "black cunt". That would mean there was a case to answer. His answer to it lies in the area of doubt created by the bit of footage that gets obscured by Ashley Cole. The CPS will just take the view that's for a tribunal of fact to establish and let it go to court. I've said it before but criminal law is a right pile of old shite btw. Dead easy, so never let anyone calling themself a criminal lawyer talk down to you. The wigs and gowns need to go, fucking dressing up for grown ups. Surely there's other camera angles that catch more that haven't been available to the general public? Aye maybe. If they do exist though, at the very least they'll show he said something before the words: "you fucking black cunt!" If those earlier words are in any way ambiguous/the meaning is unclear that'll go in his favour.

They didn't btw Original outlay was a loan from Cameron Hall Ltd, to the club, at around 6% interest. Was a leveraged buy out. Well I spose I mean they could have done summat else with their time if they'd wanted to. They had vision which neebody else did you absolutely have to give them that and the loan could still have been pissed up the wall if their gamble hadnt come off. I fucking loved going from the bottom of the second to the top of the Prem and thats absolutely down to them, but it's just daft to say it's exactly the same risk factors at play now for Ashley.

I agree they're two separate debates, but Ashley's decision making even down to the moving of Level 7 seemed almost antagonistic and there are many reasons I will never find anything endearing about the man. Despite standing amongst toon fans for a year, he has never grasped and took on board what he needs to gain the favour of the support. Communication. We've never really known what's gone at the club through official channels for years, Mort was decent at PR but he was away soon, and we've got this fuckin glorified specky croupier who none of us trust. All of these things add up to people taking a while to admit by hook or by crook they have done some things reasonably well. While it's true his exposure is a lot greater than FFS or SJH, neither of those two were near to having a personal wealthy of £100m let alone £1bn like Ashley has as well. @ glorified specky croupier. As to the bit in bold, that's a totally fair point too. Like I say, Ashley could afford to if he wanted to, it just doesnt push his buttons from a fans point of view. Which is sadly probably why he'll casually do the more the more twatish things like L7 too. Zero emotional attachment. In some measure it's a good thing, in others its bad. Your communication point is spot on and exactly where its a bad thing. Quite needlessly too.

We are artificially supported now though in a different but still very real sense. If we got a run in the CL we'd probably shoot right up again automatically on turnover (to what exact level I dont know). If Ashley managed that on a shoestring I doubt he'd be getting credit for it though from Leazes, even though Leazes is only arsed about turnover to begin with. The uplift in turnover is only realistically available if you get in the CL from where we are now. What's being advocated now is spend more for the prospect of that. Ashley's not arsed to because he's already nuts deep to the tune of 100's millions of debt and 'financing' a CL push might not come off. His exposure is massive already whereas S&H's exposure was about a million. Ashley's fortune is 'linked' to the club in a way Shepherd and Hall's never was. Ashley could still easily afford to do something now as his wealth is so great, but he's not going to because it's not worth the risk (to him). Turnover means fuck all to him because it could be massive and still cost him in real terms as long as theres more out than in and no external financing. For S&H when turnover is in the 10's of millions on a 1 million £ investment and theres lots of external financing you're laughing, frankly. If it fails, what the fuck have you lost? Nah that's a good post. I will say although he did well for NUFC I always thought John Hall was a cunt. I mind when we signed Andy Cole every interview for weeks he mentioned he and Lady May were guarantors for the £1.75m transfer fee. So fuck! He got £80m out of the club. Thing is it's not even said as a criticism of one lot or an exultation of the other, it's just highlighting a very different set of factors. And yet despite all that, and the cerebral talk of high finance, the main factor is still (and all it boils down to for me) that Ashley isn't a fan. ie it doesn't make his cock twitch enough. Shepherd on the other hand was a fan, I'm sure of that. That said would he have been fan enough to put 100's of millions of his own tax paid savings on the line for the thrill of a Champions League run now? My guess is not in a million years. In a sense it's a bit like the criticism of the bankers now. Like it or not Ashley is a real capitalist whereas Shepherd and Hall for a £1 million investment are more akin to the bankers/ phoney capitalists because of the limit of their exposure. That's going too far and is overly harsh on S&H because the bankers dont risk a penny of their own money, whereas S&H did but it still serves to demonstrate how much more cavalier people are happy to be with risk when your level of exposure doesnt keep you awake at night. That's why it's a completely pointless debate for me.

We are artificially supported now though in a different but still very real sense. If we got a run in the CL we'd probably shoot right up again automatically on turnover (to what exact level I dont know). If Ashley managed that on a shoestring I doubt he'd be getting credit for it though from Leazes, even though Leazes is only arsed about turnover to begin with. The uplift in turnover is only realistically available if you get in the CL from where we are now. What's being advocated now is spend more for the prospect of that. Ashley's not arsed to because he's already nuts deep to the tune of 100's millions of debt and 'financing' a CL push might not come off. His exposure is massive already whereas S&H's exposure was about a million. Ashley's fortune is 'linked' to the club in a way Shepherd and Hall's never was. Ashley could still easily afford to do something now as his wealth is so great, but he's not going to because it's not worth the risk (to him). Turnover means fuck all to him because it could be massive and still cost him in real terms as long as theres more out than in and no external financing. For S&H when turnover is in the 10's of millions on a 1 million £ investment and theres lots of external financing you're laughing, frankly. If it fails, what the fuck have you lost?