Toonpack

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

An infection is not an injury it's an infection and infections reduce the effectiveness of painkillers. BTW My sister in law worked for a bloke who got a finger infection from a seemingly inocuous cut, he manned the fuck up and just got on with his work, cost him his arm and nearly his life, but you're right, infections are nowt.

I was being unfair on Stevie then, its just a few times this season i've read 'we're just lucky' in reference to the team's performance and i thought he was 'still peddling this'. The lack of cover and luck with injuries is without doubt fair enough. I support the team and the manager, if we win the Champions League I'll stay hate that wrongun looking casino manager, and the fat thick barrow boy. Even if that means he was right all along? I know why you say it and there is more to his reign than just the affect on the team but there is a basic logic at play here that doesnt make sense to me. Focussing solely on the football, he makes a load of decisions which piss you off because of your belief about the impact on the football. Those decisions lead to (in your example) us winning the champions league. Ergo, all his football decisions were correct and your opinion was incorrect. I know its hypothetical but if the things he did which you hated turned out to be correct, then your hate was mis-placed. Not that this matters that much, its just the internal logic (from a football perspective) makes no sense. Even if Ashley's decisions to sack Hughton and replace him with Pardew, cash in on Carroll and sell Nolan, Barton and Ricky and replace them with younger cheaper options turn out to be a massive success that leads us back into Europe, it won't absolve him of the wrongs he did in the past. The way he acted with Keegan was massively wrong showed a massive lack of respect for a club legend (which he then managed to do again with another in Shearer) and more importantly us fans. Even if it turns out that everything (in terms of getting shot of Keegan and not giving Shearer the job) was the right decision in the long run, the way he did it makes him a cunt. If he continues now to move the club forward in the right way, I can forget about that and rejoice in his good work but that won't change my opinion of him as a man. I won't be shouting for his head but I won't be lauding him either. "Nice" people, don't make the amount of cash he has, sadly. His "kind of person" is in direct proportion to his wealth I reckon.

The general foot area is rather important in this sport. come on though, a month out for a toe infection? sounds a bit excessive doesn't it? i've heard of people playing on with a broken toe before, which tbf would be way more painful. i don't mind him being out for a game or two, not least so we can have a look at marveaux, but really? a month out for a sore toe? he should man up. Speaks someone who's never had one. Immensly painfull, and the point about infections is that they can get significantly worse (as in blood poisoning/ lose bits of your body type serious) if you aggravate them, like disturbing the infected area by kicking a ball for example, or maybe running even. Think dental abscess (if you've ever had one) on your toe.

Best "flash in the pan" for 61 years. Canny

Birthday Leazes I left out the "happy" word as it's not a word Leazes understands.

Let me aks you this, do you think This Newcastle team has put in its best performances in 14 or 15 years? We have been below average and I wouldn’t even be so generous to say the teams we’ve played (in general) have been any shitter. I know you don't see the games live, so it might be easier to forget, but look at the match reports if you think I'm negative. We only really turned up for Blackburn, and in parts for Spurs and at Villa... Arsenal "Two sides whose squad makeup remains in a state of flux ahead of the transfer window closing ultimately achieved their main objectives - of not losing or conceding a goal. The visitors could justifiably claim they had more possession but both 'keepers were rarely tested and the few opportunities were hit high or wide of the goals." Mackems "Sunderland will be angry that they did not get reward for a game which they controlled in large chunks." Fulham "an ultimately edgy win over a tired looking Fulham side." QPR Newcastle manager Alan Pardew: "I am not disappointed we did not get any more from this game because we did not deserve any more. Aston Villa "creating anything clearcut seemed to be beyond us" Blackburn "More goals could and should have followed with Ben Arfa, Best and Gabriel Obertan all coming close. To be back in this ground with supporters shouting "Ole!" as the home side sprayed passes around was as exhilarating as it was unexpected." Wolves "Wolves boss Mick McCarthy will rightly be aggrieved by two decisions." Newcastle manager Alan Pardew: "We were lucky today. We've been better than that and controlled the game much better in other matches. Today we had good fortune." Spurs "The equaliser came four minutes from normal time although both the home side and the visitors could have take away all three points” Wigan Newcastle manager Alan Pardew: "Great credit to Wigan in their approach to the game because they were faster and crisper than us” I wasn't discussing "your" position, we were debating Leazes position (which I note he has yet to clarify). As for "best performances in 14/15 years" I'll take result over performance any day. I've never been in team "they'd rather lose 4-3 than win 1-0". Anyway that wasn't the debate.