Wullie

Some of that lot on Twitter will be more jealous of Rafa getting to meet their hero.

You have to complain to the company themselves I believe, then: http://www.ibas-uk.com/ What's the crack?

Hanley and Ritchie start for the Jocks.

ITV must have had to invest in new cameras to fit that fucking skull in. Never seen anything like it.

Personally I'll be absolutely howling if England get turned over.

It's to do with an elbow by Nzonzi on Shawcross. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/mark-halsey-claims-refereeing-bosses-8764725

We ended up with Ashley because John Hall wanted his 30 pieces of silver, no other reason. The accounts were much worse for any buyer than they were for Shepherd, because the stadium loan had to be immediately paid off in the event of a takeover.

If Shepherd had managed to drag the club a few years down the line into the new TV deal, he'd have been laughing. It's basically impossible to bankrupt a PL club at this point unless you're deliberately trying. His main problem wasn't overspending, it was his chronic inability to choose a good manager, wasting money was generally a by-product of that. I really envy clubs with local ownership whose interest isn't financial, like Middlesbrough. I think in a few decades, English football will look back on the last few years and seriously rue selling off all our clubs to the highest bidders.

I'm 31 mate and feel much the same, it was eventually total apathy that enveloped me. I'm still nowhere near as emotionally invested as I was, not sure I ever will be tbh, while he remains owner anyway.

As Elliottman says, we only pay up front, but we accept instalments. Been the case for years. It's a swizz to make us look less cash rich than we are. That doesn't change because Rafa Benitez is managing the team.

It's a sign of an "agenda" now to criticise the way Ashley runs Newcastle? Dear me, that didn't take long.

Few articles about the PL's money and the way it is affecting the rest of Europe: https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/sep/01/premier-league-billion-pound-spenders-transfer-window https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/aug/31/premier-league-spain-la-liga-transfer-window-signings http://www.football365.com/news/premier-league-painting-itself-into-transfer-corner

Paul Merson ranks the transfer windows across the Premier League: Chelsea: ‘I don’t think Marcos Alonso is good enough for Chelsea. Michy Batshuayi looks lively so far, and N’Golo Kante makes Chelsea the team to beat this season. David Luiz? No, no, no, no, no. Did you watch him play against Monaco last week? He gave away the silliest penalty I’ve ever seen and Paris Saint-Germain probably dropped him off.’ Grade: A+. On giving Crystal Palace a B+: ‘This could be a D in six months, or an A+.’ On giving Leicester a C: ‘ It could turn out to be a B+ transfer window or expelled from school.’ On giving Middlesbrough a B-: ‘I’ve gone B- but that could easily turn into a D because there are a few big gambles.’ On giving Watford a C: ‘If they stay up, this is an A.’

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37245788 Horrible prick.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37234594 The hatred never dies.

You can generally know a shit window as soon as it's finished but it's harder to judge a good one until you've seen the players on the park. As always, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. I don't think we're drastically short of anything now but that ultimately depends on whether the players we have perform.

Lol.

Why would we want Colback chasing the ball like a stupid dog when we're planning on having it most of the time?

There's a bit too much checking of boxes going on for my liking, as if footballers were like buying a new phone. "Ok so he's got two dozen international caps, 100 PL appearances and 8Gb of RAM, I'll take him." That kinda is how it works though. They're resources. Being an international boosts your market value as does any professional accolade. That's only how it works if you want the team to end up overpriced and shite.

"There was a feeling" Cheeky bastards.

There's a bit too much checking of boxes going on for my liking, as if footballers were like buying a new phone. "Ok so he's got two dozen international caps, 100 PL appearances and 8Gb of RAM, I'll take him." The only thing that should really be taken into account is how good they are in practice. Maybe Ryan Mason is a better player, with much greater potential? Personally I couldn't comment, wouldn't know Ryan Mason if he slapped me round the chops. All this "£25m or less and we'd have been shafted" - I actually agree, such is the brainless nature of PL spending. But on the other side of the coin, if we'd paid £10m for a much younger Sissoko in 2013 rather than £2m, based purely on his performances (i.e. not taking into account the sell on fee) I'd feel like we overpaid. In fact if we bought a player tomorrow for that much who gave us the exact same level of performance, I'd feel the same.