Matt

Fallopian Voyager

My train tickets for the Forest game literally dropped through the letterbox yesterday. Will probably just have a day in town instead.

That's almost all our turnover! NUST have really lost it. The prospectus should be a interesting read, that's if it ever appears.

Maybe last year's asking price of £70-80m would be semi-reasonable if we were back in the PL. The valuation of football clubs seems to have no reasonable business basis, so it really is a case of only being worth what someone is prepared to pay. That makes us worth not very much.

Hmm.

FIFA had to abandon their rotation plan once they realised South Africa was the only realistic contender to ever stage an African WC.

Sounds alright tbh.

I'm a fat fucker and even I used to get annoyed by the try-hards in January. Each week someone else being shown how to use a treadmill. How fucking hard can it be?

If his contract is up in the summer, why not sign him now? Once we're within 6 months of the expiry of his current contract can't we just agree a pre-contract, thereby removing any threat of an auction during the January window. All that would be left is to agree a fee with Leeds for agreeing to us having him for the rest of the season. Offer them £500k for the benefit of not having a want-away player in the dressing room for the rest of the season. We could do the same with Kilgallon- it all depends on what day their contracts expire.

While I never enjoy any supermarket- they bring out the worst in people- Asda is one of the worst places to shop. Our only local supermarket is an Asda, which acts as a kind of United Nations of Scum, whereby idiots of all races and creeds gather round a run-down piece of England to drive their trollies with the same absent-mindedness which they afford motorised transport in the adjoining car-park. The five quid for an online delivery is simply the best fiver you could ever spend. Just make sure you buy loads of heavy stuff to make the fuckers sweat for it.

Not arsed for NYE, will be staying in and letting other people enjoy the bar prices, I'll be out on Saturday I think.

What the Glazers have done at Man Utd has been repeated all over the world in all industries with some massive sucesses but just as many huge failures. Many regulated industries must maintain their finances at a certain level (water companies for an example need to maintain a BBB grading so they cant take on dangerous levels of debt). What we need is a sensible approach to club finance along similar lines- some debt is necessary but can be restricted in its usage- for example debt incurred in building a stadium would be treated seperately. It is not unreasonable to restrict over-leveraging of football clubs- you simply put a leverage cap on the 'operating licence holder' (ClubCo) and any additional debt must be raised above this level (HoldCo) meaning that the club itself is protected from the brunt of the aggressive structure. Most importantly, clubs need to control their wage bill. If we don't want clubs to fail then the free market in the football industry will need to be curbed.

Sounds delightful.

Meeting Meenz around 3.30-4ish, will probably go to Tilley's before then Trent after- will probably be grabbing some food in town as well.

Heard that from a few places now.

This story brings back memories of that horrific picture of Paul Jewell.

If we hadn't have been 2-0 up and cruising for the last half hour we'd have certainly been able to create more chances, they absolutely fell to bits. I don't blame players for taking the foot off the gas as the match wore on, it was freezing out there and the last thing you want is someone sprinting for a nothing ball and pulling a hamstring.

Got it in one!

See you in the trent anytime from 5.30 onwards!

What he could not have done is gone round the world touting how good our system of financial regulation was, while enjoying billions upon billions in corporate and income tax on the back of it. Now the government are angry and chasing after their pound of flesh. It's been one distraction after another from Numbers 10 and 11. First it was Fred the Shred and now its the stage-managed barney over bonus taxes which, in the long run will probably all even out anyway. It all pales into insignificance when you consider that the real story is that the financial system upon which we have become thoroughly dependent has proved unsustainable and inherently flawed. That's a bit of a trickier issue to deal with than stopping a greasy bond trader going home with an extra fat wedge. They should stop playing the headlines game and start thinking about what we actually want our economy to look like in 10 years time.

Not necessarily. It makes paying bonuses this year very expensive and hard to justify to shareholders. Companies where employees have a clear view on pay and reward issues would most likely decide against paying large bonuses this year if it means paying away hundreds of millions of pounds in tax when they know employees will stick around. Employees who have in the past been well looked-after would have some faith and hang around until next year. So all the headlines will be of massive bonus cuts. Of course the situation will reverse out next year, but then that is a problem for the next government! For companies who fear the flight of some of their better staff of course, they have a trickier decision to make. Although if you happen to work for a ratings agency, credit insurer, leveraged equity house or hedge fund then you're home free.

Harewood out, Beattie in would be a great move.

Right- sorted booked for 8 of us at 7pm

Ten-four rubberdick. Are you still coming?

Any luck?