NJS

I think .COM briefly had a link to the old board before the split and as I was already posting on cult tv boards, being able to do the same about football made sense. Probably about 03 I think.

I mentioned in the Nolan thread that West Ham got into deep shit paying stupid wages - add in Allardyce to that and I think you hopefully have a recipe for disaster. I don't get the idea that bringing in players on daft contracts automatically proves "ambition" - in their case signing him and Faye smack of desperation if anything. (though I thought Faye was decent for us, 3 years on its not such a good move imo)

I think its the idea that Nolan went there because they are a bigger club that underlines the stupidity. Modern footballer goes somewhere just for money shock. Fat tramp.

How many miles do you do a day CT? I currently use my car for driving to the station and back and a bit on weekends and have been thinking an electric car would be ideal.

16 years ago Sustrans who are a charity that promotes cycling and builds cycle paths did a John O Groats to Lands End ride over the course of about 3 weeks to publicise the launch of their national cycle network. I decided to join the ride for two days from Carlisle to Alston and Alston to Durham. To meet up with them I did what Stevie did (though a bit longer as gong from S. Shields instead of the town) and rode to Carlisle on my own. The days riding over the pennines were fantastic though probably the hardest part was riding home from Durham as it was almost an anti-climax after being part of something worthwhile. Of course I was a lot fitter then though I hope to get somewhere approaching that level this year though allowing for age as well.

Because if you're less than 56 then you're automatically wrong on all counts. he is incorrect, definitely, and going around in circles because he has no understanding of football. I wonder if he is a new version of skidders, although less abusive, so far ? Proberbly [as he likes to spell it]. Why can't he answer the question, I answered him, and told him how clubs get into the top positions of the premiership, but it appears the poor little dear doesn't like the [correct] response and still thinks we are no bigger than the Boltons and Blackburns of this world. So how much do you think it would cost to break the top 4? Or the top 6?

Because if you're less than 56 then you're automatically wrong on all counts.

I'd try the promoted teams or maybe Wigan as a make-weight for N'Zogbia. No loss subject to replacement.

A foreigner (even if he has been here a while) would have a colder view though Stevie - he'd see Everton's stability as a plus - I think you're right by the way but could see it being true anyway.

Should and can are two different things. Most clubs now are ran in such a way that almost all the turnover goes on running costs and transfer funds either come from spare cash left over or from owners pockets. In the past when we had a decent wages ratio that gave us good spending power. That margin has been eroded both by increased wages and reduced turnover mainly imo due to the recession though there is scope at both ends for improvement. Unfortunately even an extra 20m would only improve us by a place or two. That's why gradual improvement is the best we can hope for unless Ashley changes his mind or sells. Of course his inevitable fuck-ups won't help and may stop that happening anyway.

Everyone wants to see us compete no matter what LM may have you think. I've said before I think Ashley should speculate to accumulate as that's his quickest route to a financial return and/or enjoyment of a good team. For whatever reason he's decided not to do that which is a pisser. However "promotion" to even a top 6 challenge would take a good 100m in my honest opinion which I accept would be almost reckless no matter how much my heart would like it. Villa and Sunderland have both tried that recently and failed. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try but its not guaranteed. If anyone honestly thinks there's enough money in the pot which when costs are deducted, leaves enough for a decent push on which is how we financed transfers in the past, I think they are wrong. This is just acceptance of the situation and doesn't mean I "support" it - it's just a realistic view imo.

Of course he would. And Barton and every single player we've got and the extra 6 or 7 that Pardew wants to bring in to improve us. Fuck the wage bill, that will just materialise out of somewhere. Its like classic opposition politics. "We wont do the bad things, we'll only do the nice things"........Never any need to explain how it will be done, where the money will come from etc etc. Its quite frightening when you see that West Ham have just spent £16 million over 5 years on one player. I am sure someone will know the facts but I find it hard to believe the earnings p ercentage ratio today is anywhere near what it was in Sir Johns day. This is where Leazes always falls down. He can never explain how financially it can be done in todays climate. Great if you have a sheik but otherwise books need to be balanced. Yet again you come up with stuff thats totally irrelevant to the discussion. LM isnt arguing that we should buy them all and keep our existing players hes talking about strengthening the squad, not merely gambling on new "talent" while binning the known capable players. Team irrelevant strikes again How is it irrelevant that LM demands unlimited spending with no source? I think it's more ambition he's after tbh Something we're not getting Ambition costs money - he thinks we should be competing with Liverpool and Spurs which means 20m players and £80k wages. If turnover doesn't cover that where does the shortfall come from?

Of course he would. And Barton and every single player we've got and the extra 6 or 7 that Pardew wants to bring in to improve us. Fuck the wage bill, that will just materialise out of somewhere. Its like classic opposition politics. "We wont do the bad things, we'll only do the nice things"........Never any need to explain how it will be done, where the money will come from etc etc. Its quite frightening when you see that West Ham have just spent £16 million over 5 years on one player. I am sure someone will know the facts but I find it hard to believe the earnings p ercentage ratio today is anywhere near what it was in Sir Johns day. This is where Leazes always falls down. He can never explain how financially it can be done in todays climate. Great if you have a sheik but otherwise books need to be balanced. Yet again you come up with stuff thats totally irrelevant to the discussion. LM isnt arguing that we should buy them all and keep our existing players hes talking about strengthening the squad, not merely gambling on new "talent" while binning the known capable players. Team irrelevant strikes again How is it irrelevant that LM demands unlimited spending with no source?

Snap - plus Oliver Fucking Twist. I enjoyed the Shakespeare we did (Julius Caesar) so I'm not a complete philistine.

Fuck knows where we'll all be in 5 years time but I'd be astonished if Nolan is still getting a game for West Ham (or anyone else for that matter) - that's why I can understand the policy while still feeling they've underestimated the team spirit factors.

If they don't get promoted this coming season it'll be interesting to see if he'll stay or if they can afford him. They got into trouble by deals like this for Lundberg (and maybe Dyer) so it's nice to see them learning their lesson.

That's because there isn't one. WHY would you go there, like honest, question? Why would you go to Hull by the same measure? People come here for many reasons. It has some fantastic architecture, a world renowned maritime history, a vibrancy that has always been there, a long standing cultural legacy, a fantastic war history, we even have places linked to the American civil war. The most famous race in the world watched by 10 billion, plus two football teams who between them have made it in to the most successful footballing city in England with 27 league titles between them. One of the most well known water fronts in the world, you'd be surprised how many people come just because they like the water front. There is so much more and that's without touching on the music, merseybeat and such. As much, if not more, than most cities outside of London. 10 billion So there's 4 billion more people watch it than who are actually alive, must be fuckin massive mate! Aye due to a boat that sank. Why did it have Liverpool on the side when it was built in Belfast by the way? Not forgetting a maritime history built on the slave trade - interesting historically but being proud of where the city's wealth came from is a bit iffy.

Would be interesting to see tourist figures that removed people only going to Liverpool because of the shit boy band - can't see any other reason to go there for foreigners.

Two stage drawing board - see Carroll as a precedent.

That wasn't the case with Nolan. Regardless of the contract offered to him and his reluctance to sign it the club decided to sell him. Just like with Carroll, Nolan can't have talked to any clubs (more accurately other clubs can't have talked to him) prior to getting permission from Newcastle United. The club decided that they wanted to sell him. I don't know about you but if I was getting that sort of message from my employer I wouldn't be too keen to hang around. The idea that players wait for permission before talking to clubs is very naive imo - it happens all the time. The point is that once the decision to not sign occurs, both player and club have to do the best thing at that time - and the parasites known as agents start to work their magic.

I've posted on forums in the past where posts like that would have resulted in death threats

Unforunately there's a religious opposition to it as well. - the doctor in charge of my Mam's case stated she was opposed as "life was sacred". Of course if it's up to their God when you die then I would ask them why they believe in medicine at all. Did you? No because I knew how well she'd treated my Mam both medically and personally before that. I did kick the hospital Catholic visitor out and had a go at her though - just lashing out at a bad time.

Shearers 8 games for those that forget! Not a lot many of blokes could have done with that! What people who don't understand football fail to grasp is that team moral is 90% of the battle. Honestly it is. See Wimbledon they came up roughly the same time me dad used to start taking me about 86 ish give or take a year, and if it went on ability alone with no feeling, motivation or emotion then in the 15 years they were in the top flight they'd probably have accumulated 10 points a season. Their team spirit and commaraderie won them the Cup. They were all happy. If you come in at a club where the whole spirit of the players is fucked, where there's about 4 cliques within one dressing room, where certain players are probably hoping we go down anyway so they can leave the club with greater ease, you're fucked. Of those eight games as it goes, I blame Howard Webb for our relegation as much as anyone, but regardless if Shearer is the grumpiest aloof prick in the history of human activity, you can't turn around and blame him for our relegation or brand his managerial and motivational skills as worthless. You can say he's unproven, but you can't justifiably say he's fuckin pish without question based on those 8 games. Spot on Stevie - I'm not the bloke's biggest fan but people who don't see that it was a lost cause due to morale and would have been almost miraculous if he had succeeded are fucking blind imo.

Unforunately there's a religious opposition to it as well. - the doctor in charge of my Mam's case stated she was opposed as "life was sacred". Of course if it's up to their God when you die then I would ask them why they believe in medicine at all.

I caught a bit of an interview that tennis player did on SSN and the banality of the "questions" was mind-numbing with things like "Harry Potter or Twilight?" - he could have at least livened it up with "Spit or swallow?".