Matt

Entirely legal. They're his businesses and can take a divi from one to invest in another no problem. UEFA would have an issue if both sides were in European competition, although the cynic in me would say that NUFC in the PL is a good enough advertsing vehicle, while it's cheaper to get Rangers into the CL than NUFC so that situation may never arise.

I went with a few lads to Majorca for the pre-season when Keegan was in charge, no-one cares about the football it's just about the trip.

Ah, we're always going to be mediocre so why have a scrap of land to capitalise on future success that will never arrive?

Love this guy just jumping between about 10 languages.

Germany v Gibraltar could break a few records.

Wonga's sponsorship money was just a loan. We now owe then half a billion.

Pile it high and sell it cheap.

For a start, it's unlikely that someone who has jacked their ST would then buy every game (or even most) but there is clearly an impact if a significant amount of revenue becomes dependent on ambition shown on the playing side, rather than being as good as guaranteed before the season's even begun. They might ignore it and stick to their current modus operandi, but at that points fans can also adopt the same approach of 'sensible, prudent business' with their own wallets. That's why the renewal deadline is so early, in the year, by the time the summer's gone you've already paid over half the cost of the ticket and you're locked in for another year. Hope has proved a very valuable commodity in keeping numbers up.

Plenty of people have made it clear that they are binning STs, not necessarily never buying a ticket. The dynamic between supporters and club is very different when you can opt to attend or not a couple of days before rather than being commited months in advance.

I'm pretty sure there is no credit agreement embedded in there, so it wouldn't have any impact unless you were subject to a court order of some kind. The early renewal long-term ticket scheme was the day it all started to go wrong. Why would you need to lock people in structurally and financially unless it was to counteract a desire to bin their ticket?

A more effective ploy would require some tinkering with the electronic hoardings during a live game.

Loyalty points remain even if you don't buy a membership. I packed my season ticket in this time last year and my profile now says general sale but when I log in my loyalty points are still on. I think that's just for 12 month... They may go... But feel free to get that confirmed... Mine are still on there after 2 years, also I can't buy a membership because it says I already have one (I don't). So I suspect this is just down to poor data maintenance than anything else.

Of course you can still go. But now you are at liberty to decide whether it offers 'value for money' and can sack it off as and when you decide it doesn't.

Clearly not remotely match fit, but he needs to sort his hair. Reminds me too much of Guivarc'h

None of the snidey little tactics like some of the games under Bruce, either. Just decent passing football.

I'm not sure of the exact terms in the current laws but 'adopting an aggressive stance' is a booking and not a red card. The reason he sent off Remy is because he thought he struck the opponent with his head, and I don't think he did that at all. I've no idea why Johnson was given the straight red but if they conclude he has simulated the head-butt, then that's two bookable offences in the incident. I only saw the game online so the picture quality wasn't great but did Remy actually make a forward motion with his head, or was it all just part of squaring up?

At times we had as much as ball as we did against Stoke's 9 men.

Stats I'm seeing say 11 on target. You're in binary mode.

Well that's me telt!

Long-term, as in over several seasons, it is very hard to achieve beyond spending levels. Every club will want to finish as high as they can within a season, but ultimately there is a realistic cap on what they can do without committing more to spend. Europe and higher PL finishes all come with reward but to maintain it comes at a price- clubs have to make that choice. And if things turn against you, signings don't work out, you can be left investing but still failing to hold your position. So when we look at the trend over recent seasons and take decisions in aggregate and not in isolation, the club has put its stall out to be middle of the pack. It will take any additional pluses (5th place) along the way and take measures if the plans are under great threat (last January). But there are short-term, in-season effects. I hate the fact that we are happy operate within ourselves. We prefer profitable mediocrity and cap-doffing to our betters, as evidenced by the endless expectations management that punctuates every sentence which flows from the assorted club mouthpieces. 'Know your place' is the mantra of a club representing a city which has always railed against such a concept. Never mind season ticket prices or flogging players, who wants to be a paid-up, badge-wearing member of that club?

Well, given we also have no real interest in the cups (for similar squad depth reasons as Europe), surely that's the same thing? Do you think the club would be pleased if we managed to finish in the Europa spots the season? We'd all be awaiting the draw and planning flights, the club would be bemoaning the expense and hassle.

People aren't pissed off at selling Cabaye. People are pissed off at the whole 'poor ol' us, what can we do' bollocks that spews forth from the club on a near-daily basis. We've sold plenty of good players before, players we've missed subsequently, but it was done in the hope of improving the squad overall.

When a manager spends one season moaning about being in Europe, then at the start of the next season declares how good it is that we're not in it, then the club explains that it's not attractive financially, then there isn't something in it? I'm not saying we are deliberately losing games or anything daft like that, but we are actively managing the squad to be in mid-table safety, to ensure we pick up a good slice of PL money without the need for a large squad or any more than a couple of top-quality players.

...especially now the club is actively avoiding competing in it

This perfectly sums up why I don't have a season ticket any more. With a 550-mile round trip thrown in, it just didn't make financial sense, using the same logic the club enshrines.