David Icke - Son of God

Form what the lads tell me there is constant investment in the location and site. Id image this Ireland location would be a loop hole they could potentially use to get around any possible tariffs if we don't get an agreement with the EU. They would be mental to completely relocate that factory, it would be suicide for a decade or more until all the new workers are at the same level of skills and experience as the current workers, let alone setting up the production lines from scratch and making sure all the robots and machinery are operating at 100%. The best way for the car companies to continue as is, is for the UK and EU to come to an agreement on trade and movement of goods. You seem to have made the assumption that Nissan operates in Sunderland and nowhere else. They have a huge presence in Barcelona, where the majority of their vans are currently made. The infrastructure is already there, so I'd imagine it's not beyond the wit of one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world to transfer production from one site to another realtively quickly and with little impact on their production process. If it becomes financially unviable to ship parts to the UK from suppliers elsewhere in Europe, and if it becomes increasingly difficult to remain competitive across Europe then what incentive is there to remain? You can whack another couple of grand onto the cost of making a Qashqai in Sunderland based on the governments own figures, and that's before you even consider tarrifs. The thing that really vexes me is that this corner of the country has a long, long history of reliance on industry that sharp f***s off the minute the economics of a particular situation changes. You'd think we'd be wise to that now. Not sticking our fingers in our ears and hoping it won't happen yet again. No, Nissan has the most efficient and productive car plant in Europe located in Sunderland, it would be difficult to suddenly switch all that production from one plant to another and even more difficult to create a new factory from scratch. Even if you switch the production to another existing plant, Nissan cars or a Renault factory producing Nissan cars there's decades worth of manufacturing experience that would be lost and would take years to catch up on. If you switch it to an existing plant then you'll still have to create all the production lines from scratch as I would assume they would not want the current lines affected which would impact their production levels at that current plant and impact car sales. We've seen heavy industry leave these shores and bugger off to all parts with little regard for the apparent experience or expertise of those left behind when the economics change. Why is Nissan apparently immune to these same market forces? Access to Europe was the carrot waved in 1982 to get Nissan to set up shop in Sunderland in the first place. Over the last 30 years they have repeatedly said that not having that access could impact on the long term viability of the Sunderland plant and understandably so. They have suppliers all over Europe that send parts to Sunderland, and the majority of the vehicles built there are then shipped back to the EU. Whack tariffs on importing and exporting goods between the EU and UK, and there will be tariffs if we leave the SM/CU, then the Sunderland plant isn't so efficient. There's some poor bastard in Yokohama with a massive spreadsheet, furiously trying to work all this out and decide whether over the next 30 years it'll work out cheaper to pitch their tent somewhere else within the EU or continue as things are. Maybe I'm less sanguine about this because I live a literal stones throw from Nissan, plenty of my mates work there or for suppliers and the impact of the plant shutting down or even scaling down operations would be fucking disasterous. At the best of times walking around Washington is like a George A. Romero film, it would be end of days stuff if one of the biggest employers naffed off.

I was always very impressed at how he reinvented himself after his hip problem. Absolute brick shithouse by the end of his time here. When you consider the rake he was during his first few seasons it's mental to think it's the same player I spent years thinking he was absolutely shite, then towards the end of his time here I had done a complete 180. Not the most prolific striker in the world, but those last few years he played that target man role so well and you could tell he absolutely adored playing for the club. His penalties too. Every single one in the side netting. Can't teach that sort of technique.

Form what the lads tell me there is constant investment in the location and site. Id image this Ireland location would be a loop hole they could potentially use to get around any possible tariffs if we don't get an agreement with the EU. They would be mental to completely relocate that factory, it would be suicide for a decade or more until all the new workers are at the same level of skills and experience as the current workers, let alone setting up the production lines from scratch and making sure all the robots and machinery are operating at 100%. The best way for the car companies to continue as is, is for the UK and EU to come to an agreement on trade and movement of goods. You seem to have made the assumption that Nissan operates in Sunderland and nowhere else. They have a huge presence in Barcelona, where the majority of their vans are currently made. The infrastructure is already there, so I'd imagine it's not beyond the wit of one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world to transfer production from one site to another realtively quickly and with little impact on their production process. If it becomes financially unviable to ship parts to the UK from suppliers elsewhere in Europe, and if it becomes increasingly difficult to remain competitive across Europe then what incentive is there to remain? You can whack another couple of grand onto the cost of making a Qashqai in Sunderland based on the governments own figures, and that's before you even consider tarrifs. The thing that really vexes me is that this corner of the country has a long, long history of reliance on industry that sharp fucks off the minute the economics of a particular situation changes. You'd think we'd be wise to that now. Not sticking our fingers in our ears and hoping it won't happen yet again.

Here's a question, and it's one I fear may become reality in the next few years given the sheer size of their debts - if Sunderland AFC were to find themselves in a position where they were reliant on a Hartlepool-style whip round to continue as a going concern, would you put a couple of quid in the bucket? As deranged and bitter as a lot of their fans are, North East football is in enough of a state as it is without one of the two bigger clubs going to the wall.

I'm halfway through the TF podcast and ready to brick the windows of my nearest Sports Direct A lot of innuendo, winks and nods but I genuinely hope there is some form of campaign against SD. It's so bloody obvious, but it's the only target fans can hit that will actually make him sit up and take notice.

Such a snake.

Our annual last minute bid for Charles N'Zogbia, eh?

They've dodged a bullet with Lonergan. He is somehow worse than the two they've already got.

I look forward to the pictures of him holding a scarf in front of the Gallowgate in a full body cast.

He hates the West (Ham).

I <3 Islam

He's class. We're ganna win tha leeeeeeeeeg.

It's good. https://www.acast.com/footballramble/newcastleunited-themikeashleyyears Listened to that this morning. Funny and depressing in equal measure. They missed loads out too. They could've turned it into a three or four parter.

You would like to think that the club are capable of working on more than one deal at a time. Then again, this is Charnley, Barnes and Ashley

Darlow can't jump and Elliot isn't the most agile of stoppers. I have no qualms us bringing someone else in, however I have absolutely zero idea whether this lad is any cop.

This must be a contender for the shortest period between elation and irritation on a transfer thread ever?

Shelvey's had a bit of a shite season, but if we get rid of him without a like for like replacement we are in serious trouble.

All that money and he can't even afford a pair of socks.

Nee fucker backs the team anyway. 90 minutes of vitriol directed at the owner would be better for the team than the 90 minutes of moans and groans every time a pass is misplaced.

250m is low. That is what the club was worth a decade ago. With the new PL money top tier clubs can become decent investment vehicles if managed correctly. IMO Newcastle has other advantages over run of the mill PL clubs as well. Think this might burst a few bubbles in here, but from a business perspective we are a run of the mill PL club. We are no different than Stoke, Watford, Bournemouth, and Swansea. Just like all of them and really anyone outside the top 6, we are closer to not being a PL club at all than being a top tier club. This is why there is such a massive gap in the valuations of the top 6 and everyone else. It's hard to fathom Liverpool or Spurs being relegated so those clubs are in a similar price bracket to some American sports teams based on the massive, global TV deals, merchandise, tickets, etc. For everyone else the threat of relegation, and with it the loss of the primary revenue stream, is more real than ever. The best way for Ashley to get the price he wants (and likely much more) would be to place a bet on Rafa's ability to move us into a much more secure position. Establish us as a "safe" club. But he's not going to do that so he'll continue to gamble, benefit from the global branding he's getting for free, and see if someone will eventually take the risk and pay him what he wants. Hmm. Bigger, better stadium in a better location, bigger fanbase (with the reputation, fair or otherwise, of being particularly fanatical), a history of competing in Europe (and the CL, in fact). How can you say we're the same - in terms of potential - as the other clubs listed? Get it right - which involves risk - and we'll be going much further than a Watford or a Swansea, and more quickly. We *are* one of the most attractive investment opportunities in the PL - it's us and Everton. I've no doubt we're attractive because of the potential for growth, however if you look at us from a business POV could you really argue that we're worth substantially more than £250m? The investment required on top of that initial outlay, on the playing squad, the training ground and academy facilities, is going to run into hundreds of millions of pounds. Couple that with the damage done to our commercial income over the last decade, and it becomes much harder for PCP or anyone else interested in purchasing the club to justify chucking another £50m/£100m on the table. They'll know exactly what we're worth, down to the last penny. It's tough tits if we think it's low, or even if Ashley thinks it's low. The real value of NUFC has zero to do with what he's spent on it, and everything to do with the value of the assets and the performance of the team. By that measure I'd say £250m isn't far off.

Not even attemting to back the manager during a very real relegation fight. Christ almighty

The assumption that we'd sign anyone aywhere near his level to replace him ffs

Imagine being bullied by Peter Beardsley man

Simon Bird. Edwards has always been an odd fellow. He's a good journalist but sometimes he gets a chip on his shoulder about an issue and ends up coming across as a massive twat. There were a million and one ways he could've responded to that tweet, and yet he chose the one that made him look petty and thick. Quite a feat Oh, and there's always this too...

The thing is these sources are hardly likely to turn around and confirm anything if any deal is approaching a crucial stage, even if it was true. Surely if there's a sensitivity about leaks, as we know there is in the case after some of the coverage over the last few months, it's easier to just say play dumb and then build bridges with a few sports journalists afterwards. In that case I do find the company and context in which it was create more compelling than the denials, but we'll just have to wait and see I suppose.