Toonpack

Surprised she didn't winkle it out of him, guess he must have clammed up

Considering that by the end of the game we had our 5th, 6th and 7th choice midfielders on the pitch (after Cabaye, Tiote, Obertan and Marveux) we cannot complain really.

It's a simple mark of respect and the fact that not wearing a poppy seems, to some, to be a sort of badge of honour, is just really fucking sad. I am fortunate that I have all the letters sent home from Flanders by my great uncle, he was swept up in the "Your Country Needs You" crap and his first letters are all "Off to bash the Hun, be back by teatime", "Can't wait until Charlie gets here" (My grandfather - joined up at 14yrs old) then the letters change once he's at the front, from descriptions of looking for survivors/collecting the dead from a shelled village to just general stuff about life there, eventually the letters turn to cards with multiple choice statements (cross out which is not applicable) his last card was "I am fine".He was killed, 2 days later, on 26th September 1915 at the Battle of Loos and has no known grave. Later letters from his comrades state he was variously shot through the head or heart (depending on the letter) and died instantly in no pain, truth is, who knows. (on my Grandfather, when Gordon and his elder brother - died of wounds, were killed my great grandmother coughed his age to the Army and he was discharged, they knew he was way under age (we have pictures of him with his unit - he's a child amongst men) but until it was "officially" reported they ignored it. I wear my poppy for them and those like them (especially the 14 year olds who weren't pulled out).

There are rumours a "mystery" FB deal is done (not the Dutch lad), Maiga is done, and they are looking for CB depth, alledgedly

Prick

Absolutely agree, might not have been pretty but it has to go into the outstanding result category

Simpson lost him but nee fucker on the post, mentioned it to my lads before the kick was taken.

He's crocked

Not a bad little read. We don't wanna get carried away though and I still think if we finish in top 7 it would be a great achievement. Nice to see Ba in the top five scorers. From the position we are in, not to, would be apalling tbh. We should only need ever so slightly above relegation-esque form from here on in to achieve that

Taking the above into account Average league position 7.6th Average Ashley league position 15.75th It's not about "versus Ashley" it's about sustainability and that 15.75th would have looked mighty good when we had no money. BTW Post 1st Keegan spell, 9.4th (which madly, is good for 5th best evidently) Wonder what £52 Mill would have bought SBR The only ownership in football that has ever made HUGE personal gain, for not a penny risked, whilst in charge of a club (that was genius, of a sort). That in itself should tell you something. That no-one else has been able to take a club from 3rd division relegation bait to sustained champions league qualification in the past 20 years? Short lived and intermittent would be more apt, maybe if the team had another £52 Million to play with it might have been sustained. 25 years ago Man U were in the bottom 4 (along with us), having a few years previously been relegated ('74) and come back. Funnily enough, Martin Edwards profited to the tune of......£52m http://m.guardian.co...rt&type=article Edwards divested some of his shares periodically to "the city", he made his big wedge at sale. He didn't, for example, sell his shares back to the club and they (Man Utd) have had real sustained success, I think you would agree. He took reasonable dividend and admittedly large salary BUT they were making money and were really succesful. Man U was floated to raise the money to expand the Stretford end (they said) but it was equally done to make money for the directors. The subsequent behaviour of the directors in terms of share disposal and dividend etc. is incomparable. Especially so, given the financial performance backdrop of us and them. If we'd had half the success of Man U, do you think I'd begrudge the £52 Mill (which does not include the profit from sale), no way would I. But we haven't and that £52 Mill could have made a huge difference, shit even if it was creaming off profits I'd have less of a gripe, but it wasn't, it was leveraging personal gain from the very fabric of the club, which the club could not afford and had to borrow to pay. Think of it like performance related pay, you’re saying the owner of Maxwell’s DIY should be rewarded the same as the majority shareholder of B&Q Good try, but no cigar.

The Mrs is gutted, she has to deal with some of the players on occassion and Loven is "just a lovely, lovely man" (which is usually followed by "unlike that "**** ************ ****** ", but I can't type that bit out)

Paranoia is a funny thing maybe I should have included skunkers too. Obsession is funny an all

Taking the above into account Average league position 7.6th Average Ashley league position 15.75th It's not about "versus Ashley" it's about sustainability and that 15.75th would have looked mighty good when we had no money. BTW Post 1st Keegan spell, 9.4th (which madly, is good for 5th best evidently) Wonder what £52 Mill would have bought SBR The only ownership in football that has ever made HUGE personal gain, for not a penny risked, whilst in charge of a club (that was genius, of a sort). That in itself should tell you something. That no-one else has been able to take a club from 3rd division relegation bait to sustained champions league qualification in the past 20 years? Short lived and intermittent would be more apt, maybe if the team had another £52 Million to play with it might have been sustained. 25 years ago Man U were in the bottom 4 (along with us), having a few years previously been relegated ('74) and come back.

Paranoia is a funny thing

Taking the above into account Average league position 7.6th Average Ashley league position 15.75th It's not about "versus Ashley" it's about sustainability and that 15.75th would have looked mighty good when we had no money. BTW Post 1st Keegan spell, 9.4th (which madly, is good for 5th best evidently) Wonder what £52 Mill would have bought SBR The only ownership in football that has ever made HUGE personal gain, for not a penny risked, whilst in charge of a club (that was genius, of a sort). That in itself should tell you something.

I fucking hope not !! Cheap shite

Christmas is coming, the Nike goose needs to get fat(ter)

Think it don't matter what our results are against the top 2 (they will beat more or less everyone this year). What will make or break our season given that our results against average and weak sides continues is our results against Arsenal, Liv and Spurs...Those games for me are the key indicators. Did you know that Man U did not win a single away game against top half opposition last season? Yet still won the league. I make this point (in a roundabout way) quite often about Man U and it can't be underestimated tbh. They will go away and lose at places like Liverpool etc and while the Scousers are there celebrating winning their cup final Ferguson simply won't bat an eyelid at it. He knows Man U will go on and beat the sides (the inferior/'easy' sides) that Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea etc will piss points away to and he picks up the league trophy at the end of the season. The importance of this applies equally to our start to the season. We've played several 'easy' sides but we would routinely piss points away to them/roll over and die in normal circumstances. This season we haven't-we've ground out results, employed gameplans, started with the mindset of not conceding goals, been cynical when necessary (towels) and had a 'never know when we're beaten' mentality and it deserves some fucking credit. As I say, the fact this is our best top flight result sequence in 60 years is an absolute disgrace and does put into perspective why we've never won owt. You can spend truckloads of money but you'll never see the best from that investment unless you've got those basic rudiments in place. I hope to fuck theres just even a moderate amount of investment this winter because it could make a real difference and more to the point this team actually deserves strengthening, the way they're wanting to play for the shirt. Just get half a fucking twitch in your pants, please Mike because this is what it's about. Your coaching staff are showing that even just a few quid is likely to be well deployed so lets treat January as the opportunity to keep pushing forwards, not backwards!! What an excellent post. And on the "mentality" bit, I read this today, different sport, unbeaten team, coach's view: Question was - can a loss be a good thing. Philosophically, we could talk all day about winning and losing. Winning and losing are representative of the three reinforcement theories – positive, negative and zero. As you develop a program that gives a team the ability to grow, positive reinforcement is the best formula for growth. Historically and through case studies, that’s been proven. Negative reinforcement is a short-term answer for correction, but constant negative reinforcement inhibits growth. I think winning and losing parallels the positive versus negative theory. To answer the question, I don’t think a loss is ever good, but it can give you short-term negative reinforcement to get your focus back in line. As a leader, I feel strongly that I can keep the team focused through winning and positive reinforcement to promote growth and confidence as we move forward. As a result, winning becomes ingrained, habitual and establishes a standard. A loss can be a punch in the mouth, but it inhibits progress. In professional sports, it’s all about winning and progressing to be the best you can be, because if you’re playing the best you can, your chances of winning increase greatly. do you mean "winning mentality" as in finishing 2nd [twice], 3rd [twice], 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th in 14 years ? Including "trophy signings" ie largely players who are used to winning ? Or spending one year almost going down, then relegated, another season coming back, and your first season up selling your best players and pocketing the cash ? Somehow I don't think this will get even a half-intelligent football based reply. £52 Million Oh and 13th three times,11th twice and 14th once, for every ying there's a yang

Think it don't matter what our results are against the top 2 (they will beat more or less everyone this year). What will make or break our season given that our results against average and weak sides continues is our results against Arsenal, Liv and Spurs...Those games for me are the key indicators. Did you know that Man U did not win a single away game against top half opposition last season? Yet still won the league. I make this point (in a roundabout way) quite often about Man U and it can't be underestimated tbh. They will go away and lose at places like Liverpool etc and while the Scousers are there celebrating winning their cup final Ferguson simply won't bat an eyelid at it. He knows Man U will go on and beat the sides (the inferior/'easy' sides) that Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea etc will piss points away to and he picks up the league trophy at the end of the season. The importance of this applies equally to our start to the season. We've played several 'easy' sides but we would routinely piss points away to them/roll over and die in normal circumstances. This season we haven't-we've ground out results, employed gameplans, started with the mindset of not conceding goals, been cynical when necessary (towels) and had a 'never know when we're beaten' mentality and it deserves some fucking credit. As I say, the fact this is our best top flight result sequence in 60 years is an absolute disgrace and does put into perspective why we've never won owt. You can spend truckloads of money but you'll never see the best from that investment unless you've got those basic rudiments in place. I hope to fuck theres just even a moderate amount of investment this winter because it could make a real difference and more to the point this team actually deserves strengthening, the way they're wanting to play for the shirt. Just get half a fucking twitch in your pants, please Mike because this is what it's about. Your coaching staff are showing that even just a few quid is likely to be well deployed so lets treat January as the opportunity to keep pushing forwards, not backwards!! What an excellent post. And on the "mentality" bit, I read this today, different sport, unbeaten team, coach's view: Question was - can a loss be a good thing. Philosophically, we could talk all day about winning and losing. Winning and losing are representative of the three reinforcement theories – positive, negative and zero. As you develop a program that gives a team the ability to grow, positive reinforcement is the best formula for growth. Historically and through case studies, that’s been proven. Negative reinforcement is a short-term answer for correction, but constant negative reinforcement inhibits growth. I think winning and losing parallels the positive versus negative theory. To answer the question, I don’t think a loss is ever good, but it can give you short-term negative reinforcement to get your focus back in line. As a leader, I feel strongly that I can keep the team focused through winning and positive reinforcement to promote growth and confidence as we move forward. As a result, winning becomes ingrained, habitual and establishes a standard. A loss can be a punch in the mouth, but it inhibits progress. In professional sports, it’s all about winning and progressing to be the best you can be, because if you’re playing the best you can, your chances of winning increase greatly. American Football par chance? Well obviously, but the premis is applicable But if you'd rather take the piss, fill yer boots.

Think it don't matter what our results are against the top 2 (they will beat more or less everyone this year). What will make or break our season given that our results against average and weak sides continues is our results against Arsenal, Liv and Spurs...Those games for me are the key indicators. Did you know that Man U did not win a single away game against top half opposition last season? Yet still won the league. I make this point (in a roundabout way) quite often about Man U and it can't be underestimated tbh. They will go away and lose at places like Liverpool etc and while the Scousers are there celebrating winning their cup final Ferguson simply won't bat an eyelid at it. He knows Man U will go on and beat the sides (the inferior/'easy' sides) that Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea etc will piss points away to and he picks up the league trophy at the end of the season. The importance of this applies equally to our start to the season. We've played several 'easy' sides but we would routinely piss points away to them/roll over and die in normal circumstances. This season we haven't-we've ground out results, employed gameplans, started with the mindset of not conceding goals, been cynical when necessary (towels) and had a 'never know when we're beaten' mentality and it deserves some fucking credit. As I say, the fact this is our best top flight result sequence in 60 years is an absolute disgrace and does put into perspective why we've never won owt. You can spend truckloads of money but you'll never see the best from that investment unless you've got those basic rudiments in place. I hope to fuck theres just even a moderate amount of investment this winter because it could make a real difference and more to the point this team actually deserves strengthening, the way they're wanting to play for the shirt. Just get half a fucking twitch in your pants, please Mike because this is what it's about. Your coaching staff are showing that even just a few quid is likely to be well deployed so lets treat January as the opportunity to keep pushing forwards, not backwards!! What an excellent post. And on the "mentality" bit, I read this today, different sport, unbeaten team, coach's view: Question was - can a loss be a good thing. Philosophically, we could talk all day about winning and losing. Winning and losing are representative of the three reinforcement theories – positive, negative and zero. As you develop a program that gives a team the ability to grow, positive reinforcement is the best formula for growth. Historically and through case studies, that’s been proven. Negative reinforcement is a short-term answer for correction, but constant negative reinforcement inhibits growth. I think winning and losing parallels the positive versus negative theory. To answer the question, I don’t think a loss is ever good, but it can give you short-term negative reinforcement to get your focus back in line. As a leader, I feel strongly that I can keep the team focused through winning and positive reinforcement to promote growth and confidence as we move forward. As a result, winning becomes ingrained, habitual and establishes a standard. A loss can be a punch in the mouth, but it inhibits progress. In professional sports, it’s all about winning and progressing to be the best you can be, because if you’re playing the best you can, your chances of winning increase greatly.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rvhUqXwobjY/TdqMhgU5r6I/AAAAAAAADVw/GD_o79vjj6I/s400/5%2BLiverpool%2BProfit.jpg

I have an illness. Someone makes a vague reference to numbers and I MUST fact check.... LFC net spend (rounded)... 11/12 - £30m 10/11 - £24m 09/10 - £5m profit 08/09 - £10m 07/08 - £2.5m 06/07 - £37m Just short of £100m over 6 years. Yet their accounts fro 2005 to 2010 declare a cummulative profit on player sales of £72.8 Million

I think the magnitude of difference between a million and a billion gives him some justification for saying what he does. What I took issue with was: He says he put his money in. Did he fuck. He took much more out than he ever put in even before he sold it. You can argue about whether that is fair enough but that doesn't alter the fact he's lying. He says he'd be doing it like Ashley, despite the fact he did it in completely the opposite way, using credit to gamble on success. He also couldn't have paid off the loans because he didn't have anything approaching the necessary capital. The suggestion he's 'intensely' criticised Ashley in the past is also a fabrication I think. Got you. He probably did initially have a net personal investment in the club but that amount would have been nothing compared to what he eventually left with. Nope

£6 Million I believe it was, but it wasn't personal dosh it was a Cameron Hall Ltd loan at 6% interest which the club paid. A leveraged buy out if you will.

Amusing stat for Alex Ferguson's 25 years with Man U Top 4 now - Man City, Man Utd, NUFC, Chelsea Bottom 4 when he was appointed - Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City, NUFC