Baggio

so where is the 25m quid left from the sale of Carroll, and what happened to the 14th biggest revenues in football ? Oh howay man LM ffs. We've been through this (I know how you feel now...), but here you go: AC was sold in Jan 11. Since then we have bought (forgetting agent fees for a moment) : HBA £6M Cabaye £4.5M Marv £FREE Obertan £3M Santon £5M Elliot £0.5M Cisse £9M - all give or take a bit. Total £28M Then consider that recently NUFC have paid some of the highest fees to agents, around £6M not including some of the above. But look, its not this simple. It is not as easy as this much came in so that much goes out. It really isnt. What about wages? You sell a player on £50K per week and buy one of £30K per week. Surely the £20K per week has to be accounted somewhere? The same in reverse? Well said, after all you know what they say...

Llambias said in a recent interview that top 8 will still be the plan next season, I think it's a fair enough as cutting a year or 2 out of their plans because we've finished that high already leaves Pardew open to being a victim of his own success. So if we do drop back a place or 2 in the league next season the club are telling him it's okay as we have the added fixtures of competing in Europe next season, I know a few people have been wary of us qualifying for Europe as our league form may dip but if we want to compete long term then we need the extra money it brings in, the most important thing though is for the squad to improve because that is the way we progress long term.

I do wonder if stuff like this is being thrown about now to disrupt our players during the run in. I was reading an article last week and it had quotes from someone on the board at Chelsea who was honest enough to come out and say that it is more important for them to come in the top 4 and qualify for the CL next year than beat Barcelona in the semis, that tells you how much they rely on the money the competition produces, without it and the new financial rules they are going to be pretty fucked and I don't see a mad spending spree on the cards. It's probably already been mentioned that they've got a great young keeper on loan at Atletico Madrid who has apparently been attracting interest from Real so it wouldn't make sense to go for Krul, since Cech isn't that bad anyway.

People were also predicting Sports Direct would be plastered across our shirts without getting paid for it too when Northern Rock cancelled the deal, however as we've seen money talks and now Virgin have the deal instead. If a good offer comes in they will take it, I'm pretty sure of that. Looks like Virgin have taken over as shirt sponsors from Northern Rock, just as they have bought out the NR name from the government and rebranded it as Virgin Money. Northern Rock weren't stadium sponsors so how much has actually changed apart from a much redeuced fee payable by Virgin for the priveligde? We'll see what the summer brings, but we'll be called the Sports Direct Arena next season iyam, and thats just the way Mike likes it. I know I sound churlish after the season we've had and I dont actually lie awake at night thinking about shit like this but it is important. No other major club which hasnt moved lock, stock and barrel to another stadium has done this. Its funny, I was a t my mate's 40th on Saturday night and his old man was there who was stadium manager at St Mary's whilst Pardew was manager at Southampton. He says he quite liked the bloke, but he was fuckin hard to work for. The word he used was perfectionist, which I really like the sound of. I know everything cant be perfect in life in general, it doesnt work like that. But these fuckers lie as easily as breathing and thats just not good enough. It's speculation on what the terms of the deal are but looking back at the article by Luke Edwards at the time it says it only went through after Virgin agreed to the clubs demands, which doesn't sound like it's a straight takeover of the previous deal on the same terms. I think Chelsea are another club that have come out and said they are looking to sell the naming rights for their stadium, the problem is that it's still a delicate subject to approach and I think sponsors are wary of the shit storm that could potentially follow which would be bad for their name. I still think Virgin will take it up eventually.

He doesn't want to move until he's done his 5 years in Holland so he can play for the national team.

He's charging no interest on the loans man. I know the free advertising sticks in the throat, but it probably evens out. Yeah fair one, but what happens when he comes to sell the club?....I know that would be an issue for any owner that has gone down the road he has, but the club isnt worth the money Ashley has put into it.There is a residual debt hanging around the club which he doesnt need to service the interest on so it suits him down to the ground. Llambias has said its about maximising any revenue stream possible, and theyre just not doing it. Were Virgin offered shirt and ground like he claimed a sponsor would be? Impossible to know but theyre lying through their fuckin teeth on this....again... People were also predicting Sports Direct would be plastered across our shirts without getting paid for it too when Northern Rock cancelled the deal, however as we've seen money talks and now Virgin have the deal instead. If a good offer comes in they will take it, I'm pretty sure of that.

I wonder when the shift in opinion took place.

We should be happy that the club is putting down foundations and going in the right direction, not arguing with someone desperate for us to fail so he can be right on the internet, ignore him. However just for fun and to lighten the mood, I've seen a few posts lately trying to point score over what people apparently said years ago which could be true, false or just a twisted version of the truth to suit the poster. So for fun, can someone tell me which forum member famously said this...

Swansea beating Blackburn too.

West Brom beating QPR. Looking at their 4 remaining fixtures of Spurs, Chelsea, Man City and Stoke they've got big problems if they don't win here.

If both team keep winning then Man Utd can win the league by winning at Eastlands, if they do then expect a much easier City side to turn up here. If they don't then we're in for a tough afternoon with Man Utd playing Swansea after our game.

Arsenal Pts 64 G +25 Wigan (h) Chelsea (h) Stoke (a) Norwich (h) West Brom (a) Spurs Pts 59 G +19 QPR (a) Blackburn (h) Bolton (a) Villa (a) Fulham (h) Newcastle Pts 59 G +8 Stoke (h) Wigan (a) Chelsea (a) Man City (h) Everton (a) Chelsea Pts 57 G +18 Arsenal (a) QPR (h) Newcastle (h) Liverpool (a) Blackburn (h)

Excellent motivation to get the 3 points against Stoke, put the pressure on Chelsea and Spurs. I didn't think we could get 4th because of how hard our run in is compared to Spurs, however watching the way Wigan played against Man Utd made me realise that the teams down there are not just going to roll over. Going to QPR, Bolton and Villa are not going to be easy games for Spurs, especially as they could all be fighting for survival and Tottenham haven't won away from home in the league since the turn of the year either.

Surely if Chelsea finish above us then they will be 5th anyway so the Europa League place passes over to the team in 6th?

We are nearly there, 12 points above Everton and 13 above Liverpool with 15 points left to play for. The best thing about it is we deserve it for the way we've played this season. Fucking fantastic effort from all involved.

Carroll!!!!!!!!!!

I thought that was in there from Jelavic.

Carroll nearly.

Come on!!!

3 yards out from Carroll, shocking.

There's only a point between them to be fair and Liverpool beat them comfortably a month ago. *Wishful thinking.

Enrique on the bench.

Liverpool's cup form has been excellent this season to be fair to them, they've beaten Man Utd, Man City and Chelsea in the domestic cups and you have to hope that their experience of big games and playing in finals will see them through.

Actually I think they were, my memory is that he effortlessly dispossesed someone as his first defensive involvement while I sat smugly smiling to myself. Cut to later in the season against Portsmouth and my look had changed more than slightly. Steven Taylor is a good defender who loves a block and is very handy at corners. Throws his body into defending which can be both a blessing and a curse. Never fit for long enough to fully establish his credentials unfortunately. To be fair to him he looked very good up until the Portsmouth battering and he went to bits from there, not that I recall saying what Leazes claims I said and he really isn't in a position to point the finger when he thought Souness was a top boss and better than Keegan.

I would of thought being a Newcastle fan you wouldn't need to ask how good he is. Or are you a Ben Arfa fan that follows Newcastle because he's here? Kitman offered the view that steven taylor was not good enough for a top-level team - is he not a fan then? Very peculiar way of trying to slate fellow fans... He's offered an opinion on the player, one that I agree with. You on the other hand have asked if he's a good defender, which to be honest you wouldn't need to if you had watched enough of us as you would be forming an opinion of your own, which is why I asked if you were a Ben Arfa fan that follows us because of him.