Wullie

in theory yes but theres a lot of decent competition tbh, derby have been in and around promotion for a few years, Brighton barely missed on an automatic spot, Norwich know what they are doing and should be pretty stable going into the season and god knows what way Villa will go. Much as it pains me to wish any good on Steve Bruce and the various family members that make up his shit team, but we're much better off them coming up in the play offs than Wednesday as it's hard not to see them being around the top 3 or 4 next year.

He hasn't bothered feeding the potential of the football club because Sports Direct has profited sufficiently by it's Premier League association. That's where the earner is for him. Thing is.. He´s slowly reducing his shareholding in Sports Direct, today he´s also taking flutters on the stock market, finance london property deals etc He's always traded on the stock market, he often buys 5% of a company and sells it within weeks when the value has gone up, he did it with Adidas around the time he bought us. I'm not aware of him reducing his shareholding in that company recently?

Blackpool/Fleetwood area I think.

Ashley's "football philosophy" is to advertise his tatty company to the widest audience possible whilst spending as little money as possible. That's the beginning and the end of it. Well, that´s the coastermonger philosophy in a nutshell.. But it seems to me that what differentiates Ashley from say the Al-Nahyan family at City or the King Power guys at Leicester is that he wants everything on the cheap. But relegations are not cheap. Perhaps he might find it cheaper to actually nourish the club in the long run You wouldn't believe how much cost cutting he does. I'm not talking about getting Obertan off the wage bill, I mean cutting certain departments down to skeleton staff on minimum wage and refusing to put out so much as a plate of biscuits for the press on a matchday. He's always thought along the lines of "I've built up a completely dominant company and destroyed my competition by paying staff peanuts and running everything on a shoestring so why won't it work for a football club?" So how does Rafa fit in there.. Is the leopard changing his spots? I don't believe so. If McClaren had two more wins on the board, he'd still be sitting pretty as safe as houses. Ashley knows where the money is and will do what it takes to get back there. He did nothing to rock the boat in 2009-10 either after it quickly became evident that we were going to piss it. It's after promotion that would be my concern. Rafa walking now would have been a disaster for him, with a massive drop in attendances and a mass exodus of players. I honestly don't think he'd give the slightest shit about losing Benitez after promotion, in fact I think he'll want someone else in who will help him sell assets and diminish expectations. We'll see I suppose. I don't trust him and I never will.

Ashley's "football philosophy" is to advertise his tatty company to the widest audience possible whilst spending as little money as possible. That's the beginning and the end of it. Well, that´s the coastermonger philosophy in a nutshell.. But it seems to me that what differentiates Ashley from say the Al-Nahyan family at City or the King Power guys at Leicester is that he wants everything on the cheap. But relegations are not cheap. Perhaps he might find it cheaper to actually nourish the club in the long run You wouldn't believe how much cost cutting he does. I'm not talking about getting Obertan off the wage bill, I mean cutting certain departments down to skeleton staff on minimum wage and refusing to put out so much as a plate of biscuits for the press on a matchday. He's always thought along the lines of "I've built up a completely dominant company and destroyed my competition by paying staff peanuts and running everything on a shoestring so why won't it work for a football club?"

Knows as much about Newcastle United as he does about Alaska, the simpering cunt.

http://i4.chroniclelive.co.uk/incoming/article9634527.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Papiss-Cisse-3.jpg Third kit or some shit isn't it?

Ashley's "football philosophy" is to advertise his tatty company to the widest audience possible whilst spending as little money as possible. That's the beginning and the end of it.

I don't know why I'm arguing but it's not 'dreadful to watch' compared to Stoke/West Brom/Crystal Palace vs Watford/Sunderland/Swansea. That's without even mentioning the 'good' teams that are dull as dishwater as well, like Man Utd and Chelsea. It just isn't.

Yep. The most watched league in the world. La Liga has the best players, but their product is generally poor because of the way Barca and Real Madrid take most of the cash. Certainly looked that way when 7th played 8th recently.

The irony.

I'm sure most Sunderland fans will be gutted knowing you lot are winning Championship games while we're facing teams in the best league in the world. When are the La Liga fixtures out btw? EDIT: bugger off sb

The way some people talk about the championship is nuts, it's just a league full of limited teams, we heard all this guff last time we went down. They talk about it like it's a 15 round fight with a grizzly bear.

I don't know what you're talking about either but you're exactly right. Sometimes previously "average" managers find a perfect fit at a club, while other decorated ones clash with personalities and flop. Trying to create a list of X is better than Y is bloody daft because managers don't manage in a lab under control conditions. The only absolute truth where managers are concerned is that Alan Pardew is a complete cunt. Everything else is, to a degree, speculation.

Wonder which challenging job Pep will take after Man City? Could it be Basel? Could it be Olympiakos? I'm so excited to find out. I hear he turned down the Celtic job when Rangers looked comfortable for promotion. Pep's too good for any competition.

Betting scam I believe.

It's always done my head in how many people refer to injuries as all a matter of luck.

"He was talking about how Palace were a 'street team', as if they'd have won if it was in the car park"

Every week on the Times podcast, Marcotti (who clearly knows he's a fucking fraud) asks the others something along the lines of "Palace lose again, isn't it about time everyone starts asking questions of Alan Pardew?" and every week all the others fall over each other to get the excuses in. He goes on massive losing streaks because he's so patient with his players was this week's offering from that twat Alyson Rudd.

What happened to the last guy?

That is fucking amazing. Should have given me the fiver love, I'd have let you watch it at your house.

Get in.