Matt

Restricted to do so 3pm Saturday, aren't they?

It would be a pretty spectacular mess of postponements which results in such a long trip midweek- although it does happen occasionally. Unfortunately a lot of people in the NE think that it happens every week and shy away for the travel. Odd that so many are less fussed when it's a Vase game. It's crazy that SS still need to finish in the Top 3- when looking across the pyramid (as promotion is supposed to) they would likely comfortably do so in the other feeders- another example of how the set-up as it is today restricts the progress of ambitious clubs in the region.

Good result, Buxton looked a very useful team.

Inspiring punditry here

I'm sure that's true, but it's no different to other parts of the country in that many non-league matchgoers will have a 'first love'. Once you go past the three main clubs which are so dominant in people's support, the NE is a backwater in terms of participation in the pyramid. It makes it harder for young players to move up and down the leagues, so many move to another part of the country and end up spending their better years in L1/ L2 and the upper-reaches of non-league, before maybe returning north once their legs have gone. Right now from teams in the NE (ie not Yorks or Cumbria) there's only Darlo and Gateshead between NUFC and Blyth in the pyramid and that's not a healthy balance. Stafford Rangers is a smashing day out. The Trophy covers everything up the National League- so a good number of full-time sides and plenty of 'semi-pro' where the players may be part-time but football is their main job. If Blyth get to the QF this year that would be a fantastic acheivement (they've done it twice in 20-odd years). It's a world away from the Vase.

Blue Star is a warning not to go up when you have no fanbase. You can’t compare it to the established sides with historically decent pull- Shields (x2), Whitley, Bishops. The extra travelling expense means a few more are needed on the gate than more southerly counterparts, but any side getting 300-350 on a regular basis can make it work. I’ve never understood why fans would be happy to play the same old teams, visit the same towns, never want to challenge themselves. The NL is the natural limit for some clubs, fair enough, but why would clubs with potential be so happy to forever be a big fish is a small pond? There are some great away trips to be had further up the pyramid. Maybe the NL sides should be placed into the Trophy. Let's see how they get on then!

The stadium is part of a major multi-use development- I wonder how long before Westfield Corp and others start to complain about loss of business and petition for restrictions on events at the stadium. I live just up the road and as far as I'm concerned any matchday makes the whole of Stratford a no-go zone, even up to the Olympic Village bars & shops which are a fair trek form the ground. It's making WHU money but losing everyone else a fortune. And they can't say they are filling up the bars- they were full any given Saturday anyway.

Was it Paul Gallacher who once punched in a winner for Blackburn at the Leazes End? (sorry if Giggs)

Do any of the Championship games get shown in the US?

It's on 5 Live Sports Extra, albeit via BBC London

Top of the league ;-)

The p&l impact (and therefore tax impact) is all in this year, this is when we've made the sale. When we are actually paid isn't a factor. On the earlier point on why we accept instalments, you would normally expect a discount with cash up front vs instalments, like in any business money has a time value. Our decision to pay up front and take instalments in is (on my reading) a way of maximising net transfer income in the knowledge that the club (Ashley) is in a decent cash position and has the ability to borrow from itself (Ashley's bank account) if needed. That it's some ruse to misrepresent our financials is fanciful, given how out of date those numbers are by the time they are published.

That's just confirmed it Sky Q it is £60 installation and £8 a month. Ah, that's what they mean by 'fluid viewing'

Last time I was there the knobhead element was out in force and they stopped serving well before kick-off, so anyone planning to go there should have a Plan B. A few of the other bars on the north side of the river are home fans only. There's the place just on the south side of the river- The Boathouse or you can try Putney High St where there are a couple of places.

All thanks to Cris

They aren't the draw to day trippers now they're not in the PL. I reckon it will be near enough 100% away overspill.

Looks like there are only about a hundred tickets left in the neutral end.

I understand that, but then my other thought it "what if the deadwood is also shoyte at championship level? We will never get rid of them, so maybe best to peddle them now, rather than risk paddling with them later". Quite a few of them are out of contract next summer- Anita, Cisse, Gouffran, Tiote. Fuck knows what we will do with Saivet.

Easter Monday, so should be a 3pm, subject to further TV fiddling.

Booked flights Stansted to London on the day of the Bohemian game, no idea about tickets. Sounds like a lot of their ground is closed off and capacity is restricted. A day on the beers in Dublin is a good enough plan B. Might make it up for the Sunday of the reserve games up at Corby, it's only an hour up from London.

You can relive all 28 goals on Youtube, they streamed the game.

And no doubt we'll charge them to rescind the obligation- 6m to keep him, 3m to send him back.

The club is his money and last time there was a cash injection into the club to keep things running. The need this time is not as severe, but unless we can raise some cash by selling players and getting the wage bill down in the process, the club as a business will struggle to create anything to play with in the transfer market.

We're on for a decent profit this season, despite on-field failings. We'll probably impair the value of a lot of our players before the end of our financial year so that future player amortisation charged in the FL are much lower. IIRC we did that last time. Also selling some players will have little impact unless they've been here for a while so are on the books at a low value. Profit or loss is only the difference between sale value and book value, it's not the cash received.

Only covers UK clubs.