The Fish

Even if they shift Kone and Ndong etc.?

Who's he going to replace though?

You can't be this dense?

Have I fuck, you little tinker. I've said that given the state of the league now, the kinds of sums we'd need to spend to compete will mean falling foul of FFP. £30m is buttons by comparison. And also I gave £20-30m because someone demanded a figure, so I plucked one from the air based on player sales. But don't let, y'know, what I actually said deter you from your odd campaign.

Do you think they won't spend to survive?

It might be, but it might be someone like the owners of Leicester, or Southampton. They will want Benitez and Benitez will want to build a team that can climb the league quickly, I'm sure the new owners will back him as best they can. There's a lot of value to be had in turning Newcastle United into a global brand. The takeover of Man City contributed to the very rules that will prevent similar megarich owners pumping £1bn into the playing staff of a club. Keep on trucking you big dafty

I suppose, but to fill the Home Grown quota, they don't need to be yet. I can't imagine Barkley will be commanding a starting place immediately, and will be introduced slowly. Just like a young Chelsea player could.

Didn't mean it was his M.O. just that he probably thought that what he had would be sufficient to stay in the 2nd tier while he sorts out a buyer for the club.

Well, for a litany of reasons the likelihood of being taken over by a megarish oil state looking to make us a play thing is slim to none. That leaves wealthy investors who're mere mortals by comparison, which means we likely won't be spending £1bn to catch up with the likes of Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd, etc. If that's true we won't be bullying our way into the title chase, which leaves that group I mention, or midtable mediocrity. Am I wrong?

They don't have kids on the books that could fill that need?

Aye, seems an odd one, don't really think Chelsea are lacking in that department, they're not skint so could conceivably have bought the finished article, and he's not been setting the world alight, has he?

I'm just not getting my hopes up. And I've been consistent with my position; they're shite, but I don't think they'll go down. It's a dragon, isn't it? Fuck knows what it's called

I've seen a lot of shit about how Serie A is close this season, therefore it's better than the Premier League. I think it's just an aberrant season with runaway leaders in pretty much all of the English leagues. The Premier League is pretty poor this season, even clubs like Chelsea and Arsenal are not pulling up any trees, and the rest of the league has had a bit of a panic. 8 clubs have changed their manager so far and you can guarantee should teams like West Brom and West Ham still be in the relegation battle towards the end of the season, they'll swing the axe again. They've all appointed thoroughly uninspiring managers as well. Allardyce, Hodgson, Moyes, Pardew (ffs). Pussies.

He's extremely litigious. You know how for most public figures there's a section on their Wiki page about "controversy" or "Legal case". There's an entire page dedicated to "Legal affairs of Donald Trump" and another one just for the cases raised since he became President. From the former

Mine's all right now. Had a mate look over it and offer suggestions a while ago, and he totally reworked it and put it into businessese. Massive error because all the terms and buzzwords he used made me sound a right cunt and after a few weeks of trusting his judgement and getting nothing, I switched to a less Wanker Banker style and I got a much better response. Agree about recruiters being total cunts mind. They see the headline of a CV and don't understand the industries or geography and give you a call anyway. I was offered <£18k jobs in London, >£70k jobs (which I'm not qualified for) and when you explain to the recruiter that's not what you're after they sound like you've wasted their time. All agents are cunts imo; estate, recruitment, talent, letting, football, secret.

I think a combination of Premier League teams outside the top 6 having stagnated for a while, and the style of play from the promoted sides has had an influence on the table. Teams like Swansea, Stoke, West Brom, West Ham, etc. All of them are directionless, what are they aiming for, what are their identities? Even Southampton, once a conveyor belt of young talent and a stylish footballing side, now seem rudderless. What's made it worse for the aforementioned clubs are the appointments they've made, all fairly ordinary, pragmatic football managers. And all of the appointments were made with one thing in mind, short-term survival. Which in and of itself leads inevitably to future struggles. Surely the idea for the clubs who cannot financially compete with the top clubs, must be to play good football, produce good young players, grow the brand globally, target cup competitions and so on? The kind of clubs that would truly benefit from a Director of Football, someone who, when the player moves to Madrid, or the Manager to Spurs, has replacements already lined up and ready to go. Players who fit the football that the club expects and a manager who can deliver it?

Lost any mote of sympathy for him years ago. He's had more chances than most and with the talent he's got he could/should have been at least a Championship level striker for his career. Earning a very good wage, doing the thing he loves, in front of fans that would sing his name, and having a life most of us would have loved. It's not like he's got done for drink driving, or been caught in a one off sex-scandal, the lad has consistently acted the cunt for years. Manager after manager has taken a chance on him and been rewarded with a litany of misdemeanors. He'll end up playing non-league and very soon after he'll turn up in the sports pages promising to turn his life round, about 6 months later there'll be a story about him selling stolen goods out the back of the club minibus.

Has any other manager said "Yes I know what my budget is"? When you buy a car, do you tell the dealer "I've got £Xk to spend, what've you got?" Do you shite.

Making the same gamble Ashley does with us? In thinking what he's got is enough.

I'm not making it out to be a huge draw or anything, but Player A is more likely to want to join Sunderland over, say, Burton or Ipswich etc. Certainly if Sunderland are offering more money. Which I think Short has to. You think I'm voicing an unpopular opinion to avoid criticism from Sunderland fans? If they don't sign anyone they're in deep shit and will surely be in a relegation battle for the rest of the season at best. That alone should force Short's hand. Don't get me wrong I'm enjoying their troubles, I just don't think it's done and dusted.

I know Aston Villa weren't in as bad a situation (obviously), but they spent in the January window last season, didn't they? At least that wouldn't cost much.

Plenty of players who'll be good enough to keep them in that league will take the chance to go play for one of the biggest clubs in that league. Just like people still get excited about joining Leeds. They need to sign players like Daryl Murphy, Grant Hanley.. experienced Championship players who can turn draws to wins and losses to draws.

I always enjoy our little chats Quiffy.