Christmas Tree

Birminghams right on the borderline for heavy snow this morning. Fingers crossed.

Absolutely dying with this for the last 24 hours. Tried to get some sleep but being awake in bed most of the night. Now moved onto the settee so everyone else can get a canny lie in. Men do get it worse than women as well.

Mackems trying to steal Christmas has to be the PR angle here.

He'll go 451 with Nolan behind Carroll. Hope he doesnt. Attack, attack, attack attack attack!

I like the team better now but they had better quality players and more of chance to break into Europe when dickface first took over. No mate, they had players that we're perceived as better quality, when in fact they were by and large overpaid lazy has beens. Milner, Duff, Martins, Owen, Given, Beye, Bassong, and N'Zogbia all moved to clubs who have qualified for europe and/or stayed in the premiership while we went down. So much for them being "has beens". You don't half talk some shit. Seriously leazes, theres not many of them Id swap for the players playing in their respective positions now. Given and Bassong and thats probably about it.

Warmed to Pardew over the first week. Think he's handled the media well, said nowt daft and what he has said makes sense. Feels like we've got a real manager rather than a caretaker.

Pardews team tomorrow will be interesting and tell us a lot about how everyones feeling at st james. Will he start with two strikers? Will the second striker be Ranger? Campbell looks as though he's injured but will Taylor keep his place? Surely he cant drop Krul? He'll probably give Jonas one more chance. Really excited for this game and will be gutted if we go 1 up or if we dont get all 3 points. Cmon

just watched the game again, in the bath with a couple of bottles. brilliant performance again. jonas you lazy scardy cat , fuck right off. barton also, ashleys celebration for the second goal reminds me of the good old days in the gallowgate when you used to travel forward 15 feet when a goal was scored.

I like the team better now but they had better quality players and more of chance to break into Europe when dickface first took over. No mate, they had players that we're perceived as better quality, when in fact they were by and large overpaid lazy has beens. Perhaps, although we have lower aspirations for the team now. Most supporters are happy just to stay up this season so the current crop are over achieving in this sense. As we were then Meaning we were happy to stay up then with the that team that finished 5 points off relegation. There you are Alex, as simple as I can put it.

Suggest you re-read the exchange

The conversation didnt start out about outlook, it started out about the quality of this team, currently 8th to the team he inherited, just avoided relegation. Nice try at changing it though. And with your changed stance I would agree that nobody expected a poor season having just being bought by a britsh billionaire.

I like the team better now but they had better quality players and more of chance to break into Europe when dickface first took over. No mate, they had players that we're perceived as better quality, when in fact they were by and large overpaid lazy has beens. Perhaps, although we have lower aspirations for the team now. Most supporters are happy just to stay up this season so the current crop are over achieving in this sense. As we were then When Ashley first took over? Hardly. We'd just finished five points off the drop man. The day Shepard handed over the reins to Ashley, you're seriously telling me you expected us to be in a relegation dogfight that season ? No, Skidmark was talking about the quality of the team he inherited, not what he was going to add to it. You said you thought that team had more chance of getting into europe. I pointed out that that team only just avoided the drop. Not rocket science like. We didn't just avoid the drop. Five points was a canny margin in the context of the division that year and we had a far superior goal difference to the sides that went down. To put it in other terms the sides that went down averaged one point a game (or less) so it's not unfair to argue they were nowhere near overhauling us (given they'd have needed on average 5+ games more in which to do so). aye whatever.

I like the team better now but they had better quality players and more of chance to break into Europe when dickface first took over. No mate, they had players that we're perceived as better quality, when in fact they were by and large overpaid lazy has beens. Perhaps, although we have lower aspirations for the team now. Most supporters are happy just to stay up this season so the current crop are over achieving in this sense. As we were then When Ashley first took over? Hardly. We'd just finished five points off the drop man. And the fans were happy about that at the time were they? Nice try though, CT. No they wernt, thats the point skidmarks making. You've lost me im afraid. Christ Well you've still lost me, but if it makes you happy you away HM is arguing fans weren't happy with just staying up when Ashley took over / before that when Shepherd was still in charge. You said they were. I've bolded and italicised the bit where you argued this to make it easier for you. I think sometimes alex your too sharp for yourself never mind me. He said, most fans are just happy to stay up now, i said , as we were then.

I like the team better now but they had better quality players and more of chance to break into Europe when dickface first took over. No mate, they had players that we're perceived as better quality, when in fact they were by and large overpaid lazy has beens. Perhaps, although we have lower aspirations for the team now. Most supporters are happy just to stay up this season so the current crop are over achieving in this sense. As we were then When Ashley first took over? Hardly. We'd just finished five points off the drop man. The day Shepard handed over the reins to Ashley, you're seriously telling me you expected us to be in a relegation dogfight that season ? No, Skidmark was talking about the quality of the team he inherited, not what he was going to add to it. You said you thought that team had more chance of getting into europe. I pointed out that that team only just avoided the drop. Not rocket science like.

I like the team better now but they had better quality players and more of chance to break into Europe when dickface first took over. No mate, they had players that we're perceived as better quality, when in fact they were by and large overpaid lazy has beens. Perhaps, although we have lower aspirations for the team now. Most supporters are happy just to stay up this season so the current crop are over achieving in this sense. As we were then When Ashley first took over? Hardly. We'd just finished five points off the drop man. And the fans were happy about that at the time were they? Nice try though, CT. No they wernt, thats the point skidmarks making. You've lost me im afraid. Christ Well you've still lost me, but if it makes you happy you away

I like the team better now but they had better quality players and more of chance to break into Europe when dickface first took over. No mate, they had players that we're perceived as better quality, when in fact they were by and large overpaid lazy has beens. Perhaps, although we have lower aspirations for the team now. Most supporters are happy just to stay up this season so the current crop are over achieving in this sense. As we were then When Ashley first took over? Hardly. We'd just finished five points off the drop man. And the fans were happy about that at the time were they? Nice try though, CT. No they wernt, thats the point skidmarks making. You've lost me im afraid.

We've never had an honest vision of what he has in store for the club, assuming a long or even medium term plan exists or ever has done. I think that's why people are always trying to second guess what he's doing and the motives behind that. I honestly think that is cause he's changed his mind a few times regarding long term commitment and other factors like the financial crisis (which still hasn't washed out of the system, regardless of lapdog media suggestions). Think for a billionaire he is a very strange mix and a real lottery when it comes to second guessing his next move. I don't really mind him for that as his main life experience will have been to do with ultra competitive scenarios and survival and the fact that he has had to work really hard (had some luck as well) to get his money. I think he's changed his mind a few times as well. Again though, he could've been more open about that and built up a far better relationship with the fans on the back of it, i.e. "I planned to do A, but the financial crisis hit me in the pocket, so it's now a case of plan B". In lieu of that there's a strong suspicion that he's taking the piss out of the fans etc. And the most ridiculous thing of all is that his fear of being honest has led him to say the most outrageous lies which is far more contemptuous of the fans than if he had just said 'am cutting back for a couple of seasons, put your ambition on hold, i'll not let us do a Leeds but thats about it'. I dont think he has ever understood the dynamic of how the fan's passions actually work. Yes people shout and spit venom when things go wrong but trying to lie your way out of it is far worse in the long run. Through his staff, Mort etc, I think he did start off with a very open agenda. The KK walk out , fans reaction etc has had him on the back foot ever since. They have tried to re-emerge from the bunker, most notably with that Journal / chronicle fiasco of an interview. Following that we all used to say we just wished they shut up......which they have since done Didnt they even put a statement out at the start of the year saying they wouldnt be making any statements

I like the team better now but they had better quality players and more of chance to break into Europe when dickface first took over. No mate, they had players that we're perceived as better quality, when in fact they were by and large overpaid lazy has beens. Perhaps, although we have lower aspirations for the team now. Most supporters are happy just to stay up this season so the current crop are over achieving in this sense. As we were then When Ashley first took over? Hardly. We'd just finished five points off the drop man.

I like the team better now but they had better quality players and more of chance to break into Europe when dickface first took over. No mate, they had players that we're perceived as better quality, when in fact they were by and large overpaid lazy has beens. Perhaps, although we have lower aspirations for the team now. Most supporters are happy just to stay up this season so the current crop are over achieving in this sense. As we were then

Thread Killer

Dont they sell it in the Trent? Some may not know that Carlsberg Special Brew was originally brewed in 1950 to commemorate Winston Churchills visit to Copenhagen where he was seen as a hero by the Danes. It even has its own dedicated fan website http://www.arrysbrewsite.co.uk/

He buys failing companies cheap so he can stick their logo on his cheap tat. While this acquisition policy is ingenious, its irrelevant to nufc. ........ and he's no stranger to intentionally & systematically facilitating a company's demise either, by acting as an agent saboteur via his influence in the boardroom/strength of shareholding ie. blocking financial lifelines/rescue packages. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets...acks-board.html They've held out bravely for some time now, but it would appear as if Black's days are numbered. Modern day Gordon Gheko......Greed is good.

It reads as an undercutting massacre for JJB and smaller retailers as well, and they simply can't compete on pricing as they don't have exclusive rights to 'owned brands' being pilfered out of sweat shops [producing a massive profit margin for SD] as a means of offsetting the damage done to the balance sheets. He's been raping club shops [partially depriving them of a revenue stream] across the board, and his immediate competition for nigh on a decade now. West Ham's top brass have been vocal on this front. Umbro, Whelan & Co committed the crime of cartel activity/collusion and were nailed by the FTO, thanks to being stitched by a rogue competitor - in Umbro's case a rogue customer who was devaluing it's product. But at least they [by colluding] were trying to re-establish a sense of parity in the market, something of a level playing field for all parties involved. The same clubs shops that raped us for £40 for a £5 bit of tat under Shepherd. Wasnt that what they said

Happy Birthday Flower

Couldnt agree more. Its just showing off.