Isegrim

If they drop Makelele, they won't win the league IMO. Him and Terry have easily been their best players this season. I don't understand the signing of Ballack. He's too similar to Lampard. Wonder if I'll have to be a Barca fan next year after all? 125695[/snapback] I do find it strange, too. I am not sure if Ballack will be a success. But the fact that he might not be seen as the messiah in the team could suit him. And if he learns to stop his moaning and diving it will suit our national team as well...

Well, as I am working in the UK from July till September you can count me in.

Exactly. It is irrelevant to compare what crap chairmen in the 60s, 70s or 80s have done. It is about now and here. Shepherd didn't take over a struggling club with no fans coming to the club. He took over from the foundations Sir John Hall laid for him. He took over a club with all us Keegan-bandwagon-jumpers (yes, and I am definitely one). So the only thing Shepherd should be judged by are what he has done with the possibilities he has. So should we just be grateful he didn't drag the club down to the state pre-1992? The aim has to be to take the club forward, not just to prevent him going backwards. Though, as Craig has rightly said, it is disputable if the club hasn't in fact gone backwards since 1997. I'm the last one who expects the chairman just to give the manager money to spend it championship manager-style. In fact I would be more than happy if the club was spending far less on transfer fees and wages, but spending the money more wiseley. Ultimately the chairman has to be judged by his decisions and how he runs the club. And with his decisions he has a direct effect on the results. So he deserves somewhat of praise when things are going well, but also has to take the flak when things are going not well. Businesswise Shepherd could of course have done much worse. But some of his decisions are still questionable. Especially the joint venture with NTL was nothing else but a disaster and the only good decision was to press the emergency button. The other things is the spending on players for inflated prices, especially when some deals are considered to be rather decisions from the chairman than the manager (see Luque, Albert). I also heard that everything that is published ind the balance sheets as they are published by the help of KPMG isn't just black and white, but closer investigations would expose a lot of grey (area). Shepherd also has to take the flak for the fiasco that was the appointment of Souness. And doesn't get any credit from me for sticking with him and even backing him until the point of no return (i.e. relegation) was looming. And last but not least the chairman also has representation duties. And instead of lerning from mistakes and keeping a low profile Shepherd keeps on making a fool out of himself with his public appearences. Yes, there could be worse chairman, but there could be also far better. IMHO.

I agree with what you say. However somebody, somewhere ... on here is going to say that while Fred was to blame for the first half of the season, Roeder gets the credit for the 2nd half..... 124585[/snapback] While others say that solely Souness is to blame for the first half and Fred should be praised for the entire season.....

Well, he could be excused if he was offering value for money and not just collecting his wages for playing shite most of the time... 124269[/snapback] Well I'm pretty sure I don't offer value for money or perform anything other than shite, but I'm quite happy picking up my wages. 124271[/snapback] Yes, you are as loveable as Lee Bowyer.

Well, he could be excused if he was offering value for money and not just collecting his wages for playing shite most of the time...

Wishful t(h)inking after all the money you put on Ranieri?

tbf, from all the "in the know" WUMs UM is the most trustworthy.

I don't believe this until it is confirmed by a transcript of a MSN conversation between TaylorIQ27 and Roberto Mancini...

Good article - including the justified snipe at Bowyer.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6...nphy&pr=goog-sl

tbf, there is nothing wrong in adoring Brian Laudrup - even if you are not a bluenose.

I was thinking about this yesterday. To be fair to Roeder you have to judge him by what was possible for him to achieve. Souness was always moaning about Lady Luck and injuries. But if it hadn't been for Owen Newcastle would have probably collected as much points as Sunderland during his reign. Roeder was left a totally depleted and unbalanced squad with injury problems even worse than what Souness had to suffer from. So I don't think the performances against the top teams are a real measure because there weren't equal opportunities. It would have needed a miracle (or serious help from Lady Luck) to get a result from these games.

I don't think there is any difference in quality between the products. It's just a different kind of merchandising. While the likes of Tesco are going for just one private label, discounters like Aldi and Lidl are going for various private labels who just sound more cheapish.

Here is a list of which bigger companies are actually behind some of the private labels (sorry, it's only in Jorman as I couldn't find a similar list in English): http://www3.mdr.de/plusminus/download/markennamen.pdf

http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?HLID=38...ball_Home&f=rss I actually don't have any problem with Fat Fred taking his time. I don't think it has done any harm so far and it won't until the end of the season. It is better to try to get the right man than making another rash appointment (although I still worry about what is going to happen if Bruce gets the sack).

The thing with both Lidl and Aldi is (well, that's what it is here in Jormany) that they mostly sell second label products. So you get many products who are totally identical with branded articles for much cheaper prices. And I know from Aldi that they have a strict quality control. They have a clause in their contracts with suppliers that they can kick every product out of their sortiment if it gets poor ratings from consumer organisations.

Shouldn't this be taken to PM?

No, it's Spartacus.

I'm glad that he has done a good job as caretaker, especially as I was advocating him in this role since the start of the season. So at least I can say that I was right. I agree with Gemmill. He is not my first choice, but I am sceptical about the ideas of Fat Fred. So I rather want to see Cockney Glenn than the job given to a Geordie of the name Steve Bruce...

Well, winding them up and telling them "it's only a game" is malicious but funny.

Christ, I like the odd moan but shoot me if I can't celebrate a 4-1 win over the mackems. What a complete cock. 122455[/snapback] I just switched it on and thought "What the f*ck is he talking about".

I've never posted this on a internet forum, but... MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

That's brilliant. Keeping them in false hope for 60 mins and the piss all over them!