Wullie

I used to read Football365 every day religiously about ten years ago. Whenever I read one of their articles recently, it makes me think I should start again. Love how often they call out charlatans like Fat Sam and Pardew on their bullshit.

I really don't understand why some people follow football. They didn't like Ben Arfa, they didn't like Robert. I don't know what they're hoping to see when they buy a very expensive ticket to watch elite sport. It's like some of them expect and want the quality to be worse, the higher up the pyramid they go. "That exceptional dribbling ability and fantastic finishing might wash in the poxy French league but it's no match for passing it safe back to the centre half that I'm paying £45 to watch at Newcastle."

French league is so crap we keep buying worse players from it to replace him. Sensible transfer policy see?

It's mighty impressive the way Leicester have changed their game. They couldn't stop scoring until Christmas, and they'd usually concede too. The amount of goals in their games was as high as anyone in Europe's major leagues for a long while. Then when they've needed to, when it became apparent that they might actually do it, they've been able to turn into a formidable defensive unit and start winning narrowly to nil every single week. We tried to do the same in '96 late on but messed it up at Blackburn and Forest. They've been doing this for months now with barely a hitch.

I'm firmly of the view that it'll be the greatest sporting achievement of all time. Article about it in the Guardian earlier this week: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/apr/06/leicester-premier-league-freedom-fighters

Nul points.

Aye, he owns, what, 9%, and the SFA won't allow to him to take up any more. He's finished there, other than having his fat paws on the merchandising.

Yes it's the clubs money, but we'll still have more of it to spend than other clubs. At the end of the day it's his money that he's worried about and I don't think he'll give it up lightly. Maybe Rangers promotion to the big time is our best hope. Why would Rangers affect the situation in the slightest? Rangers are more likely to offer Ashley's SD brand a cheap route to route to CL football than we ever will be. If that happens maybe he'll decide Newcastle is expendable. You're living in a dream world if you think CL games involving Rangers will get more eyes on his company than an average Premier League game, not least because CL advertising rules would stop it happening anyway.

I've said many times this year that I think the team/club is irreparably broken under Ashley, and it has been that way since Pardew was here, which is why I hold no ill will towards McClaren. Don't think Rafa knew what he was walking into. I'm not sure there was that much transformation where Leicester were concerned. It was a running joke for a while that they were playing consistently well but not getting results, then they went on a run of a few games where they did get them. It's worlds apart from this sorry bunch - they've been total shit since 2012, even when they were a completely different group of players - hence my view that the whole thing is fucked. I said in midweek that Rafa is on a hiding to nothing as far as selection goes. I disagree with a few of the selections he's made, leaving Mitrovic out last week for example, but today Mitrovic offered nothing at all. Taylor shouldn't be playing, but Lascelles is hardly proven quality and has made his share of cock-ups in his short career here. Whoever he picks from the entire squad is ultimately going to be shite and we all know it.

When has Nigel Pearson ever transformed a team? His Leicester side were bottom for about 33 weeks then won a few games and stayed up. Bryan Robson did that at West Brom. I don't know where this idea, now apparently accepted wisdom, has come from that he's some sort of expert at coming in and saving teams from relegation. The BBC are absolutely obsessed with the maniac and how good he apparently is at that. He's got less experience in doing that than Tim Sherwood and Paulo di Canio.

Yes it's the clubs money, but we'll still have more of it to spend than other clubs. At the end of the day it's his money that he's worried about and I don't think he'll give it up lightly. Maybe Rangers promotion to the big time is our best hope. Why would Rangers affect the situation in the slightest?

A boycott (not that it'll work) becomes oh so more effective in the Championship too without the TV money propping up the finances. Hugely so.

Even Keegan took at least half a dozen games to win his first game. Things were looking absolutely desperate when Derbyshire scored that last minute winner for Blackburn at SJP. The last manager to see a significant mid-season bump here was Roeder. Souness and Robson had the same.

If only the problem was limited to the defence. Not disagreeing with you but we've scored less goals away from home than anyone else in English football. The whole team is shit from front to back, and the scariest thing is that personnel changes seem to make absolutely zero difference, going back over several years.

That international break has hit Barca very hard.

Had a feeling this would happen to Barca tonight. Their recent record at Sociedad is really poor and without Suarez they're susceptible to be shut down by ten men behind the ball as they used to be a couple of years ago.

We've never beaten them at home since they came up have we?

a fair number of the fans who still go were still thinking it was all rosey again after the window. So many of our fanbase are simpletons. It's what Shepherd did, just spend some cash 1-2 years too late to keep fans happy. The club is dysfunctional on all levels. Yep. 'Spend a few quid and that'll shut the stupid cunts up' seems to have been the order of the day. You could easily be talking about the press there. How often do we hear "you can't blame Mike Ashley after he spent £x"?

Fair point. Longest of fucking projects ever. 1BR 1BA, quaint cottage fixer-upper, perfect for the DIYer. Full of rustic charm and conveniently located nearish to major thoroughfares and land. http://i.imgur.com/kceon0H.jpg

Swansea haven't looked back since getting shot.

Arsenal's equaliser earlier cost me a £2200 accy.

We disagree on many things but certainly not this. Well said.

That free kick again.

Everyone happy for that to just drop in.