Kitman

So we have a $4m budget for a new LB and striker then. Better brush up on available loan players then....

Personally I think in trophy terms neither Sunderland nor us have anything to crow about in what, nearly 40 years? Both clubs have a proud history trophy-wise but it's in the distant past. The likes of Blackburn, Leeds, Birmingham, Boro, Portsmouth etc have all managed domestic trophies in that time (and I'm not looking down my nose at those clubs). I expect we have achieved more as a club in terms of results than Sunderland in the last 30 years, trophies aside, both in the league and in Europe, and I assume we've got to more FA/league cup semis/finals (although I've no idea what the Sunderland stats are on that). I assume we've also spent more time in the premier league and a higher average league position but again I don't know the stats. They've also been relegated from the PL several times and also had the second worse points tally in PL history iirc. I'd also assume we have better home attendances, again don't know the stats. However it's just pissing up the wall really imo. I'm not a geordie but my impression is that these sort of comparisons seem to matter more to mackems and they seem to have a massive chip on their shoulder about this 'top dog' stuff. I can't recall any discussion on Sunderland on here that wasn't initiated by a mackem, dunno how typical that is generally of real life.

Indeed. Personally I think Ashley is in a holding pattern until someone comes forward (sooner or later) with the right price. He doesn't need to sell and crystallise a loss so he will sit on the club like a deadweight, neither attracting new investment nor putting in any more of his own money, until he can get shot on his own terms. In the short to medium term I think his priority is to get his $100m of interest free loans back unless he gets a good offer; I believe he plans to fund this out of player sales and the club "wiping its nose" by getting the wage bill down and turning a profit. Making the club profitable and self funding should also make the club attractive to purchasers. PL survival is the only real footballing objective. Key to his business plan will be buying cheap and developing players' value so they can be sold on at a decent profit, before their wages get too high and whilst they still have plenty of time left on their contracts. I admit this is just guesswork and cynicism. Certain things don't fit the pattern like Shola's contract extension and Barton's free transfer but I think this is where we're heading in broad terms.

Who knows? If we sign any more French lads, Pardew is going to have to swap his company car for a bicycle, a beret and a string of onions. We seem to be this year's destination for migrating French footballers. A bit like Puffin Island for frogs

Who said that we had permission? Well that's the point. If we didn't have permission, he's dropping us in it

And Shola, don't forget

I find this a bit confusing. If the Chairman has rejected our offer out of hand, why would he give us permission to meet with the player and discuss terms? Unless the rules are different for clubs abroad?

It's Aussie dollars innit. Would cost a fucking fortune in NZ, mind you. Something like a month's wage (or some other stat I've made up) aye but it was still 650 aussie dollars so that is about 400-500 quid isn't it? or am i getting muddled No you're right it's about 400 of your English pounds. Thought you were talking about the $500 beanbags, sorry.... aye some of the beanbags on that site are $650's now i want to see what it's like to sit on a £500 beanbag Better not fart on it at those prices

It's Aussie dollars innit. Would cost a fucking fortune in NZ, mind you. Something like a month's wage (or some other stat I've made up) aye but it was still 650 aussie dollars so that is about 400-500 quid isn't it? or am i getting muddled No you're right it's about 400 of your English pounds. Thought you were talking about the $500 beanbags, sorry....

It's Aussie dollars innit. Would cost a fucking fortune in NZ, mind you. Something like a month's wage (or some other stat I've made up) He they were actually worth something last week! And this week?

Fookin' cheap, aren't they. Sorry, value for money.

It's Aussie dollars innit. Would cost a fucking fortune in NZ, mind you. Something like a month's wage (or some other stat I've made up)

My mate once shagged a fatty on holiday and greeted her with that when she woke up! What else is there to say? Apparently she was on holiday to recover from a traumatic camping trip, when she was accused of shitting the bed and subjected her to verbal abuse afterwards. This incident set her therapy back by months and made her afraid to go to sleep at night.

Erghh, how dare you come on here and talk about your "love sack", which you "sit on". Worse still you want us to look at pictures of it. What kind of pervert are you, posting pictures of your love sack on the internet? No way am I clicking that link.

Christmas Tree is all right but that Clueless Tit's a right wanker Edit: adds safety wink

Expect Pardoo to say something like "We've moved heaven and earth to get someone in but it's not to be. Still, I've been delighted with Ryan there and he's made the position his own. I know he won't let anyone down, so I'm not disappointed with that."

Nice summary. Re the point above, I'm thinking of getting my 70 year old neighbour in to tell me to sit down whenever I jump up. That'll make it more like Stevie's matchday experience.

Dunno how they can ignore it. It was a clear red card offence, and certainly on the overseas coverage was repeatedly replayed and commented on. None of the officials spotted it (incredibly) so it wasn't dealt with at the time.

well we signed Demba Ba, thats carrolls replacement but unfortunately even with carroll we needed another good striker in You're right. I should have said 2 strikers since January, one of which we've got in. Shola and Best are squad players, imo Lovenkrands should be sold and Ranger sent to a championship side for the season to grow up. Somewhere like Doncaster.

You'd have thought for a position as pivotal as striker, where the need for a goal scorer has been glaringly obvious since January, something would've been sorted by now. Who knows what they've actually been doing on this but it's very poor the season has kicked off and we're still looking. I wonder if the plan all along has been to get someone from a CL club on loan who's surplus to requirements. I hate being so cynical but the lack of a signing in such a key position after so much time makes me suspicious.

Its plainly fucking stupid having known since January we needed a striker and for eons that Enrique was going to be fucked off to the bin dippers; yet here we are 1 game into the season having to read shite from Pardew / Lambsarse that they know what we need and they will be making signings. Useless lying cunts . Making more fake headlines with there mates at the Chronicle morelike. What odds of Kuqi being resigned? Depends if Dean Windass is available

Jonas played well yesterday. I know the game is all about pace these days but athletes that can kick the ball and chase after it at 1,000,000 miles an hour are ten a penny in the Prem. Half of them could spend the week training without a football I reckon, they're footballers in name alone. We could barely string two forward passes together yesterday, so Jonas picking the ball up and actually carrying it forward himself was massively important even if only to take the pressure off our defence. Thinks its a pretty shit statement when the basic rudiments of the game (someone whos actually comfortable with a football at their feet) play second fiddle to pinging balls at nothing, which would have been the alternative given the gaping hole between midfield and attack yesterday. Yes. I also think Jonas tracks back a lot to give the full back support. He breaks out of that defensive position pretty well, shame there's usually no end product but he wins a few free kicks I'll bet you any money a more mobile striker than Ameobi (and ideally an intelligent and mobile front two) would see him picking out more through balls. I take your point on crosses, but it shouldn't be the only thing he's judged on. He should be cutting in and having the choice of two runners to hit while pulling their defence out of position in the process. Doesn't happen though because theres nobody making those runs. The emphasis on crosses (from open play) should be less since Carroll left anyway. Yes, good point. I think we saw a bit of that when Obertan came on, Jonas cutting in and looking for a through ball. He's bound to look worse anyway playing with Raylor instead of Enrique, they had a very good understanding. I'm not against Jonas by the way. To me it makes no sense to drop a first teamer from last season and replace them with an unknown quantity for the sake of it. We've already changed a lot of the team as it is.

Jonas played well yesterday. I know the game is all about pace these days but athletes that can kick the ball and chase after it at 1,000,000 miles an hour are ten a penny in the Prem. Half of them could spend the week training without a football I reckon, they're footballers in name alone. We could barely string two forward passes together yesterday, so Jonas picking the ball up and actually carrying it forward himself was massively important even if only to take the pressure off our defence. Thinks its a pretty shit statement when the basic rudiments of the game (someone whos actually comfortable with a football at their feet) play second fiddle to pinging balls at nothing, which would have been the alternative given the gaping hole between midfield and attack yesterday. Im sick of hearing that tbh. I appreciate the gap between midfield and defence and think if Pardew should have stuck with pre season form, stuck Best up on his own, Vuckic for Jonas and Gosling as the link man. Personally I think it was a big game against Arsenal and Pards bottled it a bit, hence Ameobi and Jonas's inclusion. I think in a few weeks, neither will be in the starting 11 Too experimental.

Jonas played well yesterday. I know the game is all about pace these days but athletes that can kick the ball and chase after it at 1,000,000 miles an hour are ten a penny in the Prem. Half of them could spend the week training without a football I reckon, they're footballers in name alone. We could barely string two forward passes together yesterday, so Jonas picking the ball up and actually carrying it forward himself was massively important even if only to take the pressure off our defence. Thinks its a pretty shit statement when the basic rudiments of the game (someone whos actually comfortable with a football at their feet) play second fiddle to pinging balls at nothing, which would have been the alternative given the gaping hole between midfield and attack yesterday. Yes. I also think Jonas tracks back a lot to give the full back support. He breaks out of that defensive position pretty well, shame there's usually no end product but he wins a few free kicks