Kitman

I'll take that bet. What's it worth 50 quid to a charity of choice? I'll bet you two out of those three are no longer NUFC players come September 2010. I wonder why they'd sell Jonas, Colo and Enrique when they were happy to pay their wages in the Championship? Mind you I wouldn't take that bet as they're probably stupid enough to do it.... I still tend to think that we'll have one or two squad additions funded from future PL income (ie not through sales). Maybe a budget of no more than $10m which they can pay in one go out of season ticket sales. A new proven striker is the number one priority, anyone can see that, as the likes of Best, Ameobi, Carroll, Lovenkrands etc ain't going to cut it in the PL. Our midfield is shit too by PL standards, as many have repeatedly pointed out, unless Vukcic is the new Fabregas, Barton gets back to his Man City standards, Jonas learns how to deliver a ball and Routledge steps up to the PL. However most importantly failure to address the striker situation will doom us to a relegation scrap imo. I just can't see how we'd get enough goals as the current squad isn't good enough to scrape 1-0 wins against most PL teams. Even from an asset protection point of view, why wouldn't you invest in a goal scorer, like the mackems did with Bent? * * leaving aside being as thick as mince or mentally ill

Does this mean we won't be signing Joe Cole this summer?

Aha, just seen CT's thread. I'm so ashamed. Mods please delete this thread.

Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce reckons Newcastle United fans do the club no favours. Allardyce endured a torrid time at St James’s Park and believes the rabid supporters of the Tyneside club are more of a hindrance than a help. He told the Sunday Mirror: "Fan pressure there is hostile towards the players. They don’t really support the team as they should, they’re very critical and the players can’t handle that. “That’s what Scott Parker couldn’t cope with. He said he couldn’t play at Newcastle. “Gary Speed told me when I went up there that it’s a very difficult place to play your football. If the fans don’t take to you, you’re knackered. “I had spent a huge amount of time recreating a football club that needed recreating. That was behind the scenes, with an induction of staff who had moved with me. “We’d created a whole new working environment, but that staff got dismantled over the next six months – the club appreciated nothing and started all over again.” http://www.clicklancashire.com/sport/black...nited-fans.html? ------------------------------------------------------- I really do find this gobshite tiresome. I'd have more respect for him if he just kept his mouth shut and moved on, but he's still trying to justify the past. He should just get over it, it didn't work out and enough said.

"The Board have set a five year plan to promote core values of credibility...." I had to laugh at this. They have a 5 year plan to become credible!

Like Parky, I find it impossible to believe there will be no spending on players at all. I think there will be a small rebalancing of the squad, with one or two more leaving (Butt has gone already) and one or two joining. I think the devil will be in detail. What does "new capital outlay" mean exactly? Is it a sell to buy policy or something else. Does it refer to new capital investment by Ashley or the club? What does "break even" mean - break even in overall results, investment by Ashley or what? I assume it's meant to dampen speculation about the club in the press and lower expectations of agents and other clubs. It's probably intended to stop agents talking up the prospect of the club buying their players and pushing up transfer fees. And maybe manage expectations in the toon. However that's the best I can say of this statement. It's a really hamfisted and bungling piece of work, at once confontational and bombastic. It's reminiscent of that "It's a FACT" statement issued re Keegan. Any PR expert would have told you how this would be received and you wonder what idiot is employed as the media officer. It's so bad it must have been written by Llambias himself.

Redknapp's left more jobs than KK iirc. Often leaving a sinking ship rather than over principles as well. Think every club he's left has ended up in the shit financially too He likes to buy players in bulk. No wonder he's the agents' friend (but of course there's no absolutely truth in the rumour he likes a bung).

I suppose it depends on whether you think football's bubble will burst and the days of spending 30-40m on players every season will become a thing of the past for every club except maybe two or three clubs. Maybe we've hit the high water mark already on that score, and if Sky are unwilling in the future to tip so much money into the game then players on big ticket wages might be a thing of the past too. However I can't pretend MA is some kind of visionary, he's been an incompetent oaf surrounded by more incompetent oafs who is hell bent on reproducing his Sports Direct model at our club. imo. Unlike dear old CT, I don't think we have much to look forward to under MA and I agree with your comments about youth development in particular (which we don't seem a lot better at today than yesteryear, judging by the amount of reserve players about to be released who never got a sniff at the first team).

Re (2) do you mean the Plymouth match?

You speak a lot of sense for a foreigner

The Greeks are revolting. But the Albanians are worse. I'll get me coat.

Hearing the Coloccini song. I nearly wet myself.

Typical, NZ don't even get a mention Anyone who thinks the money spent on Alan Shearer was wasted deserves to be told to fuck off. If he'd said Michael Owen he'd have had more of a case

I'm glad I don't have to decide where to cast my vote. God what a shower. I wouldn't trust Clegg or Cameron to mind my pint while I went to the bog, let alone run the country. What a pair of oily turds they are.

I couldn't care less about who got the CL gig; they're both pretty unlikeable clubs and I've no affinity with either of them. Spurs have delusions of grandeur out of keeping with their WHL shithole and Citeh are like lotto winners flashing their new found cash. The joke is Spurs fans will get all excited about the CL and then they'll be knocked out in the first round by someone far more savvy than our 'Arry.

Seemed mediocre. Started well but then went as flat as a pancrate.

Its just past midday here. So I'm a TT day owl.

I wonder if he's still talking in that strange Dutch accent. "Yes, well, we are pleased for sure, we were wanting a big performance this season y'know...."

Except Leon Best

At Peterboro and Reading I was struck by how heavy and slow he looked. Our midfield lacks pace and invention imo.

I suspect we're following the Burnley model, not the Birmingham model. Stick with the players who got you promoted, stay solvent, get relegated, get re-promoted maybe. Make a profit. A top class midfielder and striker would transform our prospects for next season. Maybe we'll sign these as a minimum, that would be a pleasant surprise.

He says, typing on his computer over the internet, without a trace of irony. To be honest Parky, you've never really demonstrated you understand the principles of science. Scientific principles are one thing, the implementation of those principles is quite another. The latter happens via human beings, so may not always be as perfect as people might wish. Look at the scientific community's treatment of Tesla vs Edison for instance.

I think we've just located Osama Bin Laden

I expect the chimpanzees had a haunted look.......

I don't really blame the press, I blame the people for buying into it everytime. I can't understand why anybody buys the Daily Mail. It's no different to a tabloid, and is less absorbent when you run out of toilet paper or cat litter.