BottledDog

Pretty sure Cabaye, Marveaux, Ba, and even Ben Arfa have all stated that the managers vision for them was a large factor in them signing FFS. Stop being so bloody miserable.

No, again nowt wrong with what he's said, and they are pretty interesting quotes to boot. I like the guy as a manager though which makes a difference. /For the record as it seems to have some bearing on the debate, I couldn't believe it when we brought in Souness, vehemently argued against the many on here that backed Souness over the 'cancerous' players, railed against the appointments of Allardyce and Roeder as a continuation of the knee jerk appointments, resigned to disaster over Kinnear etc. Yet on the other hand backed and defended the appointment of Hughton for very much the same reasons I back Pardew tbh. Hope Pardew is afforded the time Hughton wasn't.

All of them, it'd be nice to see some competition at left back.

In that case I don't think we'll pursue our interest in him.. It's the way this club seems to work nowadays: we're effin' bargain hunters.. Probleme? Oddly enough, this value for money policy has brought in a raft of rather impressive players. Agreed. Would be great if we started using the proceedings from our sales to get even better players in (rather than making a profit on transfers) to really move the club forward. The tranfer fees are only part of it, but yes, once the club itself starts making a profit, we should do that, and fingers crossed, we will. /sorry, that was a bit comma heavy. Wrong thread, but as a fan who cares about the club making a profit? The fact is we will never be able to compete for anything other than Premiership continuity with a level of investment based solely on reinvesting any profits we have made. Most other clubs, not even just Premiership ones, have outside money coming in. With the model proposed, at best we will be able to stay where we are long term, but more likely other clubs will probably overtake us. Realistically, which clubs in Europe have been able to post profits all the whilst enjoying success on the pitch? Very few I'd have thought, and they would almost certainly all rely on having outstanding footballing knowledge from top to bottom in the club, which is something we certainly don't have.. No fan should, but it's a fact that Ashley has said that any profits the club makes will not go out of the club but invested into the team. That is why it's important, otherwise (unless he has a change in heart and goes back to throwing £20m at the club every season) we will never move on. Forget what other clubs do, this is the model we are sadly, though not unexpectedly, following.

Yeah, 'told' Yeah what? Fact is he has contacts within the club. He knows more than us, although things change quick as f***. He never actually sounds like he know's anything though. His Twitter is just a constant stream of if's, but's, and maybe's. Can you imagine him getting straight onto the blower to some 'contact' early this morning after the story broke, and them giving him the time of day between negotiations to peddle a 'Oh yes we want him, but he's more expensive than we thought, but, and keep this under your hat, we are still interested' line. My arse has he talked to anyone about Cissokho. No evidence of anything, and Taxfree is already calling us a disgrace.

Told by whom? I don't believe for a second that most of his reactionary 'I've been told' tweets to stories actually come from anywhere beyond his own fevered bonce.

In that case I don't think we'll pursue our interest in him.. It's the way this club seems to work nowadays: we're effin' bargain hunters.. Probleme? Oddly enough, this value for money policy has brought in a raft of rather impressive players. Agreed. Would be great if we started using the proceedings from our sales to get even better players in (rather than making a profit on transfers) to really move the club forward. The tranfer fees are only part of it, but yes, once the club itself starts making a profit, we should do that, and fingers crossed, we will. /sorry, that was a bit comma heavy.

Just fucking spend some money for once, we've brought in £45m this year from sales. Douglas doesn't know shit. His twitter is just a constant stream of Anal like 'wide of the marks', and 'never say nevers'.

In that case I don't think we'll pursue our interest in him.. It's the way this club seems to work nowadays: we're effin' bargain hunters.. Probleme? Oddly enough, this value for money policy has brought in a raft of rather impressive players.

Most sovereign states have more debt and higher gearing than we do anyway right now. Either way if Liverpool comes in for a player the likelyhood of them leaving is unarguably high. Even when we were a 'big(ger)' club it took all or 20 seconds for Didi to decide to fuck off.

If anyone shows the slightest hint of disappointment on the off chance we don't get him, despite not one drop of reasonable evidence he is even on our radar, I will laugh like a fkn drain.

Ah right, cheers.

Wa going to record the game on Football First, but cannot see it on the list. Can anyone who understands Sky give me clue why not?

With Jigsaw at Huddersfield.

A draw would be fine. That said, have to say right now I think I'd enjoy a Liverpool defeat far greater than a run of the mill Sunderland defeat.

Saved for Bendtner. Pardew keeps banging on about any new number 9 having the right character for the shirt, and to be fair if anyone believes he's the next coming, it's Bendtner.

He's not in charge' of Newcastle United, he's the first team manager. As most managers generally are these days. Think most managers in England still have the final say (or at least some say) on transfers. Pards clearly doesn't. Carr has come out and said emphatically that all he and the scouts do is put names forward, then organise trips for the manager to see the players play. That's as far as their involvement goes, it is then up to the money men, with the final say going to Pardew. Is Carr now also part of your imagined cabal of liars at the club? Wut. Pardew certainly has no say when it comes to outgoing transfers, that much is clear. It's pointless even discussing the managers influence at the club though while we have these muppets at the helm. The best we can hope for is a decent coach. Is Pardew a decent coach? Probably not. That was a reasonable 'Wut' to that line tbf. Pardew has a say in outgoing transfers, just very little when it comes to the big one's or transfer disputes. Again, I think that is fairly standard across the board. I do believe he has a good degree of control and the final say in all incoming transfers. Just my opinion of course, but the players he has brought in are not randoms, they are all players that fill gaps in our squad and change the philosophy of the team quite dramatically. I believe this is something Pardew along with the scouts has put together without influence from the board. So assuming we have or are trying for one of Pieters or M'Bengue, I guess they're the same type of full back to fit into the style of play Pardew wants. Are they both attack minded or defensively minded players? Being both left backs, I'm going to go with 'defensively minded players'. Am I right? What do I win?

For closure's sake can we please lock this thread? Difficult to find closure if there's not a thread in which to grieve.

Maybe I'm being blind by not seeing this, but has anyone posted this or the Chronicle article? Don't see it on the Chronicle site. The Journal had a story on it today, think someone said the Chronic will do a piece on it tomorrow. Very good bit of diplomacy from Pardew by all accounts as it seems to have impacted board/player relations for quite some time now.

Being sceptical is fine, we certainly should be, I just don't see that Pardew should be vilified for saying those things when there is little else he can say. It's down to the board in the end as always. he shouldnt be vilified, he should be recognised for what he is. an average manager taken on by people who's motives are money related and nothing to do with football, with the understanding that he has no say in who comes or goes. he speaks on their behalf and picks the team,and i guarantee you 50% of the members of this board could do just as good a job. What twaddle.

Being sceptical is fine, we certainly should be, I just don't see that Pardew should be vilified for saying those things when there is little else he can say. It's down to the board in the end as always.

@MsiDouglas Mark Douglas Spoke to someone close to Nile Ranger. Mystified at the Den Haag link, so chalk that one off for the minute Just thinking back though, would tie in with his 'the futures bright, the futures orange' tweet (which we thought might have been about Blackpool).

Bloody well hope not. He is a winger, and little more. If you watch Obertans interview on nutv, you'll be left in no doubt that he'd far rather at some point see himself as a striker than a winger.

Going by his press conference today, he doesn't think either is leaving. .... Meanwhile, in Spain. http://therepublikofmancunia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Fabregas-Barcelona-shirt.jpg

Ah man, I hope that happens.