Baggio

Thanks for that, HF.

I liked the one the other day 'better technique - James McClean or Harem Ben Arfa'

Is this a parody account? Cheeky cunt

I've just looked at Chelsea's run in and they've got Spurs, Arsenal and Liverpool in the last away games, all away from home too. EDIT - Think Spurs might be in the cup.

I thought we wanted Liverpool to beat Everton in the SF? We do.

The biggest game of our season is going to plan!

That was a Mike Ashley cash injection. His loan balance increased slightly to cover it. Thanks for that. Do they give details about how much is in the club account?

Definitely supporting Everton as I'd hate to miss out on Europe due to a lucky cup run by Sunderland. Liverpool have the cup mentality so you have to favour them against either even with their poor league form.

Oh right, so is there a certain length of time they use? For example 3 years net? Looking at the accounts I think they've used some of the Carroll money to wipe out any outside debt, since the overdraft is pretty much gone.

Money spent on stadiums, training grounds and academy are not included in the figures UEFA want. They closed any loopholes in court a few weeks back too.

Sunderland are like Villa, living beyond their means for a few years and now they've got to pull it all back in. I presume the Henderson deal will be on next year.

If ye does have a buy out clause and leaves Carroll will be back IMO.

How did they reach that figure anyway? Since we bought Ben Arfa and Tiote in the same window and only sold Carroll? Anyone I've forgot? Also what tax would they pay on such a profit?

I'm not sure what we spent on the stadium, academy or training facilities but all of that is exempt from the accounts for this. We probably spent that on Sports Direct Signage for the stadium...does that count? Yes.

I'm not sure what we spent on the stadium, academy or training facilities but all of that is exempt from the accounts for this.

Sunderland have recorded an overall loss of £7.8m as they prepare for the implementation of Uefa's financial fair play rules. The loss for the year ended 31 July 2011 represented a 72% reduction (£20.1m) on the figure of £27.9m 12 months earlier. An increase in operating expenses, largely the result of the addition of 14 players to the first-team squad, contributed to a net operating loss of £31.2m. The chief executive, Margaret Byrne, said: "We have to make sure that we are financially sound and prepare the club for the implementation of financial fair play rules. "Our financial results show that we are heading in the right direction on both fronts. We have seen significant strengthening of our playing squad with the acquisition of 14 players during the period, culminating in a 10th place finish in the Premier League, which was always our aim. "We have also seen a growth in our commercial revenue, from areas such as concerts and sponsorship, which is something that is key to us achieving our aims." Turnover for the period increased by 21% to £79.4m, a rise of £14m. Operating expenses, which include player wages, rose to £110.7m, including player amortisation costs – which reflect the book value of the playing staff – of £29.1m. Of the 14 players arriving at the Stadium of Light during the reporting period, 10 of them, including Asamoah Gyan, Connor Wickham and John O'Shea, were permanent signings and four on loan. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/mar/27/sunderland-losses-uefa-fair-play-rules?newsfeed=true

If we go 4-3-3 I think he will be sat in front of the back 4 the majority of the time anyway so no need to play him CB.

Hopefully they get the league wrapped up before City come here.

I thought they were both to blame, maybe leaning towards Krul as he looked like he was coming for it which is what I presume Williamson thought too.

Here's a list of our Premiership seasons points wise since the league changed to 20 teams. 95/96 - 78 96/97 - 68 97/98 - 44 98/99 - 46 99/00 - 52 00/01 - 51 01/02 - 71 02/03 - 69 03/04 - 56 04/05 - 44 05/06 - 58 06/07 - 46 07/08 - 43 08/09 - 34 10/11 - 46 11/12 - 50 so far He's already bettered 9 seasons with 7 games still to go.

So now he's playing well and putting the work in when we don't have the ball... Was it good man management or bad man management from Pardew?

If the contract offer is correct it's a good deal for him, a nice signing on bonus to boost his wage without breaking the wage cap.

I think they definitely want one and it seems to be out of Yanga-M'Biwa and Douglas if rumours are to be believed. We've seen with a striker search that they are prepared to wait for the right man to come along and with none of those 2 available in January they've chosen to do the same again, it was a risk as Colo could have picked up a serious injury 6 weeks ago and we would have been fucked but hopefully it comes off for us.

Pardew's biggest problem this season is how much he's raised expectations, people have gone from being happy with a top 10 finish to moaning about the football not being great all of the time or how we're not putting fours and fives on teams like we did last season despite being sat in 6th. I was reading N-O yesterday and there's a guy (Beran or something like that) who's critical of Pardew who came out and said the first half wasn't that great as we had a spell where West Brom came into it between the second and third goals, now the 2 things that went through my mind was this guy was a fucking idiot and that some people will never be happy. I like Pardew, he tries some things on the pitch that I wouldn't and we've had patches where the football has been terrible but you've got to be realistic about things, for most of the season I think our football has been mixed up well rather than just hoof ball that some would have you believe, we're not the finished article either and there's still some more building to do in the summer which is why it amazes me that some over there think we are where we are in spite of Pardew even when we have some very average players kicking around the team. They seem to be hung up on Bobby Robson too for some strange reason, they like to throw in what his opinion would have been, how he would have managed Ben Arfa to strengthen their point of view, makes me cringe to be honest.

Uefa and the European Commission (EC) closed any possible loophole that could be exploited by overspending clubs when they signed a joint agreement yesterday endorsing Financial Fair Play (FFP). They said the FFP rules, drawn up by European football's governing body, were fully compliant with European law. The central principle of FFP is that clubs should "live within their means" or break even based on football-related income at least matching their football-related expenditure. Uefa and the EC have acted to stop any club mounting a challenge in court to the FFP rules, which come fully into force in 2013-14 with any sanctions imposed in the 2014-15 season. The Uefa president Michel Platini believes the joint statement is a significant step in strengthening the policy, saying: "Our statement confirms that Uefa's Financial Fair Play regulations are fully consistent with EU State aid policy." Joaquin Almunia, vice-president of the EC and the Commissioner for Competition added: "I fully support the objectives of Uefa's FFP rules as I believe it is essential for football clubs to have a solid financial foundation. The Uefa rules will protect the interests of individual clubs and players as well as football in Europe as a whole." Almunia, who has agreed the 14-point statement with Platini, would rule on any complaints and his comments make it clear that there would be little sense in clubs challenging the ruling. Some observers have questioned whether the FFP rules can work, but the Uefa/EC joint agreement means there will be no room for clubs to manouevre their way out of the framework. At present, many clubs have huge debts which need to be off their books when FFP comes fully into force or else they will risk Uefa sanctions that could include disqualification from the Champions and Europa League. Uefa' general secretary Gianni Infantino said: "Let us be clear this is not a new law. But it reaffirms what we have always said that the FFP rules are legal and in accordance with European legislation. "If anyone was thinking of filing some sort of complaint saying FFP somehow restricts European competition law they would have to file it to the Commission. This is a big milestone in the enforcement of the break-even principle." What FFP and yesterday's joint statement cannot prevent at present, however, are the types of financial problems affecting clubs such as Rangers in Scotland, Portsmouth in the English Championship and Servette and Neuchatel Xamax in Switzerland, where poor management has led to difficulties. Asked if it was time for Uefa to oversee who could and could not take control of Europe's senior clubs, Infantino replied: "It is not our ambition to dictate everything everywhere. We hope we can convince every league, every association and every club in Europe to implement the same rules and to make sure there is a stricter control as it is really a pity and sad to see what is happening today in Switzerland, and in Scotland where some traditional clubs are going bust for whatever reason. "This shows more control is needed, more enforcement is needed, but this cannot be done by Uefa but by everybody in a responsible way and our job is to convince everyone to follow the same principles and the same rules which we have started to do." http://www.independe...ns-7580682.html