midds

If rumours circulating down here are true, there were figures of £12m at year 1, £9m or £9.2m at year 2 and £4m or £4.6m at year 3. They are only rumours so I've no idea if there is any truth in them at all. But how the fuck can you invoke it if you haven't played. How can you punish the club if you've been sitting on your arse for a year. It makes no sense legally, morally or even in the warped logic of the professional footballer. Means nowt how many games he's played or missed. The fact is, his value started to head south as soon as we signed him. The less time he has left on his contract, the smaller the transfer fee he commands. The amount of games he's played is irrelevant. In fact - the injuries he's had means that the supposed buy-out figures at the end of each year are optimistic tbh. Shite state of affairs.

It's not so much about whether the clause is real or not (or even the value), what concerns me is WHO gave the ok to talk to the media about this stuff? Can't see Shepherd wanting to make details like this common knowledge. tmonkey has already ans. This is the gist of my anger with Owen....There is no way the paper talk would have been encouraged by his reps without his get go. Especially the level of detail of confidential information....Property of the club actually. He's just testing the water imo. See if anyone's biting. If there was any interest in him from the top 4 - we wouldn't see him for dust.

It's not so much about whether the clause is real or not (or even the value), what concerns me is WHO gave the ok to talk to the media about this stuff? Can't see Shepherd wanting to make details like this common knowledge.

Yeah, I don't know if I agree with play offs in principle but it makes for some cracking games. That Wolves/West Brom match at the weekend was class Keeps the season alive for about 10 clubs how would normally have been playing meaningless games for the last 2 months of the season had the old '3 up' system still been going. It's a bit shit on the club finishing 3rd but they all knew the rules before the season kicked off...

I just love the fact that Vinny Jones was shit scared of him, I hate Vinny Jones. The whole lot of them were by all accounts. Jones, Fash, Eric Young - the whole lot. Magic.

If only Mick Harford was still playing... *only bloke never to get the famous Wimbledon initiation ritual*

Come to think of it, we don't have one 'hard man' in our entire squad. Keane would win pretty easy, if we're taking this whole thing literally. We don't have a player who you'd say would obviously be a great fighter in our team. All the tenacious ones are quite small, while the big fuckers we have seem a bit soft. Martins would probably be useful in a fight. Gooch could punch the snot out of 99% of the league tbh. Was gonna mention him, but he's not really our player anymore. Still tough as sticks though

Come to think of it, we don't have one 'hard man' in our entire squad. Keane would win pretty easy, if we're taking this whole thing literally. We don't have a player who you'd say would obviously be a great fighter in our team. All the tenacious ones are quite small, while the big fuckers we have seem a bit soft. Martins would probably be useful in a fight. Gooch could punch the snot out of 99% of the league tbh.

A bit like Thunderlips and Balboa in Rocky III

Some bloke from Sedgefield. Tony I think they call him.

Offer him a contract extension. If he even has to think about the decision - start the auction at £9m.

The funniest part is that it cost £55! Surely they can't sell many of that shirt Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.... They'll lap it up. blueyes.gif

Much prefer to see someone like Sol Campbell (not necessarily him, but someone of his ilk) brought in and made captain. A player who commands respect and can still play a bit.

Almost a full circle with me like. blueyes.gif

Agreed. Hopefully Sam can handle players better than the previous incumbents.

Not sure his behaviour at Norwich, Coventry (where his is despised) and subsequently at Anfield bears that out tbh. Souness didnt cover himself in glory. However, he should never have been employed here should he? 100% correct. But he was. And he was paid handsomely to manage the players to his disposal and get the best out of them. He failed miserably and the club suffered. Very true. It is still suffering too. The decision to piss Bobby about that summer and the problems that came with it is one which is still to be rectified. However, Bellamy's reaction was poor. His behaviour since has hardly cast him in a good light either. Benitez doesnt seem a bad manager but Bellamy has fucked up there too. Sometimes the blame has to rest with the players and in this instance I am pleased to see the back of him. Good footballer but not good enough to get away with what he wanted to. There is so much more to football than what happens on the pitch. Only exceptional players are worth perservering with. He wasnt, isnt and never will be exceptional. Neither are the other two. On that score it will be interesting to see what Allardyce oes with them. Think we basically agree on this tbh. The lad's obviously a handful and seems to find bother. However, a good man-manager could deal with this while still getting the lad to produce on Saturday afternoons. I agree that if the twatish behaviour becomes too much then action needs to be taken but I honestly think that under the right man (Hughes for Wales & Blackburn) he could be handled while he's still producing. Souness was the worst thing to happen to Newcastle for 15 years and the worst possible personality for dealing with young lads like Bellamy. Shepherd needs to carry some of the blame for appointing him in the first place though. As someone has said though - all water under the bridge and ancient history.

Not sure his behaviour at Norwich, Coventry (where his is despised) and subsequently at Anfield bears that out tbh. Souness didnt cover himself in glory. However, he should never have been employed here should he? 100% correct. But he was. And he was paid handsomely to manage the players to his disposal and get the best out of them. He failed miserably and the club suffered.

With Statler & Waldorf on this one. Bellamy was driven out of the club despite being one of the most effective forwards in the league at the time. Not condoning some of his behaviour but Souness was bang out of order too. He couldn't manage the player so he instigated the confrontation and flogged him for a fraction of his true value in a vain attempt to establish his discipline on the squad. Fucking pathetic. Dragging up the past, but still...

Henry Winter. One of the most respected football journalists out there... He does look like some new species of toad though and his voice is annoying. My hate list- Jim White, Phil Thompson, David Pleat, John Motson, Andy Gray & Rodney Marsh Beagrie's is 1000 times worse. Peter Beagrie crashed a moped through a plate glass window into a hotel reception on a pre-season tour You just can't not like him. Unless he played for your club and him beating the same player 3 times in a row instead of getting a cross in wound you up. Sorry, but he annoys me more than any person in the sport. I'd quite happily knock his teeth out one at a time with a toffee hammer.

Henry Winter. One of the most respected football journalists out there... He does look like some new species of toad though and his voice is annoying. My hate list- Jim White, Phil Thompson, David Pleat, John Motson, Andy Gray & Rodney Marsh Beagrie's is 1000 times worse.

Henry Winter. One of the most respected football journalists out there...

Peter Beagrie is class He's not like!

Demolishing Chinatown to extend SJP...

John Motson. & Peter Beagrie. Both fucking shitheads.

Quite like Ranieri tbh. Always came across as a decent bloke when he was at Chelsea, despite my initial urge to hate him! Might be the man to turn things around but I'm sure other names will be thrown around.