BottledDog

But it's not just an email is it? Its on the survey page of their site linked to from .com etc.

I think I'd actually worry far more for the future if this lot ever got their hands on the club. Absolute joke that such a potentially powerful organisation continually make you want to grab them by the sholders and tell them to GROW THE FUCK UP!

Stunned that we don't seem capable even in this league to do it so far, but fingers crossed for Barton. If he can somehow help this team to string 3 or more consecutive passes together consistantly, I'll be over the moon.

The greedy fucker want's Lionel Messi! To be fair though, he's actually quite grounded saying he recognises that we have less money in the championship, but hopes we can replace any players we lose. Interesting that he says it's down to Man U regarding Simpson though. Not wanting to read too much into things, but does that mean we want him to stay and have put in an offer for him?

Its all about perception though isnt it. Flying off to Vegas just doesnt give the impression that they are concentrating on the Transfer Window - whether it be rightly or wrongly. Fans, I think, like to know that their top boys are in their offices working on things. MA & DL seem incapable of avoiding this kind of thing. It's not that they are incapable of avoiding it, it's that we seem to be uniquely obsessed enough with all things negative for the rags to warrent bringing up shit nothing stories like this about us to fret over. It should in my opinion be relegated to the 'media hates us' thread, not get unnecessarily wound up by. I'm shocked it's only the Sunday Sun that's picked up on it because I think it's a fucking disgrace. If we have a major release at work, I tend not to use my annual leave around that time because it's a bit of a busy period and I want to be available and at my best. When did they come back? What were they over there for? Does Lee Charney not do all the spadework on the back of Hughtons reccomendations rather than Lambiarse anyway? But no, despite there being almosty no substance to the story, it's 'a fucking disgrace'? Get away.

Its all about perception though isnt it. Flying off to Vegas just doesnt give the impression that they are concentrating on the Transfer Window - whether it be rightly or wrongly. Fans, I think, like to know that their top boys are in their offices working on things. MA & DL seem incapable of avoiding this kind of thing. It's not that they are incapable of avoiding it, it's that we seem to be uniquely obsessed enough with all things negative for the rags to warrent bringing up shit nothing stories like this about us to fret over. It should in my opinion be relegated to the 'media hates us' thread, not get unnecessarily wound up by.

That. Is. Beautiful.

Finnaly removed? Christ on a bike.

£150m was too much in the PL so no-one met his price. £80m was comically high for the state we were in the summer, so no-one met his price. When he names his price again, is it really any more likely to be met? Will he realise that investors are not queuing up round the corner to buy clubs? A number of major financial institutions will not touch football clubs after what has gone on at Man Utd and Liverpool. As for the concept that a low price would encourage a buyer who couldn't afford to run it- sorry- are we basically demanding that someone who buys the football club has some kind of moral obligation to pump tens of millions of pounds into it? It doesn't matter how much money any buyer has- if they pay what Ashley asks they are either very wealthy (unlikely to happen) or foolhardy. It was overpaying for the club in the first place which has driven Ashley to save face and ask for top-whack prices. I'd rather a businessman paid what it was truly worth- maybe that's the sort of level-headedness needed to run NUFC. the thing is ashley will want as much of the money hes put into the club back as he possibly can so he isnt going to lower the asking price, imo its a case of it will be known the club is for sale at the right price but not a case of desperate searching, he wants to sell but on his terms not anyone elses. He is still more than likely subsidising us, but the club is in a fair state again for any new group to move forward with the right investment. Ashley cannot give us that investment so probably has to go, but I don't see him overcharging, it is not in his interests at all. If nobody is willing to stump up the cash then that says more about the market rather than Ashleys unwillingness to sell.

Facts? How many division 3 players have transfered for six million plus, never mind established players in their late 20s? Genuine question, I have no idea. Fact is though, those two players mentioned were top flight players, QPR were fucked when Les left, and Wright was voted Palaces player of the century.

I mean...he already did. Shut it you Ashleyite! /Was Wise is the reason, for the Krul this season?

The kind of numpty who moans about the former regime being "ousted" when in reality they sold the club to Ashley as quickly as possible, took the money, and ran to the bank, laughing. To be fair Fat Freddie was in hospital when it all went down and by the time he launched his own little salvage mission it was too late. Still hardly ousted by Ashley, was he? If anyone "ousted" Shepherd, it was Sir John Hall. Is this supposed to be news? I haven't moaned about Shepherd being ousted, as you call it. I've been well aware of what happened since it happened and I've already blamed SJH. I'm surprised it took you so long to catch on. Then again, maybe not... Err...yes? SJH sold his shares to Ashley and that kicked off the takeover. What's the news about that, or is this your feeble attempt at trying to make out you weren't in support of it, believing 4th, 3rd and 5th in the PL was rubbish? Whatever must you "think" now... So twisty.

I am going to have to disagree with you on this point. Most players may think they would like to play in a place like SJP in concept, but the reality is much different. I think most professional players are incapable of playing their best at SJP. Most players would like to think they can handle the pressure, but playing at SJP is akin to playing internationally in many countries (including the US) and they just can't handle it. Despite comparisons with the 80s (being louder/better/more aggro) the crowd is a tremendous amount of pressure and many of the players rightly or wrongly even come to resent it. I think this has become even more of a problem as players wages have skyrocketed and their lives are becoming more and more isolated from the supporters and reality. Its not all bad though. Some players do very well in this environment (especially when they become cult favourites like Nobby, Ranger, etc). In Zoggy case I think this was only a small factor though, he didn't get on with many of the players and insitutionally we're a shambles. I don't think the cult thing with Ranger has done him any good at all. Might have given him a boost the first couple of appearances but the tussle at Plymouth may be a symptom of the expectation turning to frustration for both himself and the support if we're not careful tbh.

Get away, there is no way we are getting money for him. Shome mishtake, shurely??

Home as in his parents and extended family down west presumably if his kid's going to be a Geordie.

Article - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/football_league/article6974599.ece Viva La Revolution!

As TheSpence pointed out earlier (clicky), there may not be any actual quote.

Sounds a good plan, maybe even tie Simpson to a permanent contract, and cut costs by moving Geremi on if that's possible. Pulling in one more creative loan would be a bonus, as would being able to do something about Kilgannon fingers crossed. Job done. If they 'generally fuck things up' like they did in the summer, then I'll be pretty happy. It'll hopefully keep us on the right track for promotion, and give us a good financial base to invest in the Premiership next year, whoever the owner is.

Change the sodding title ffs.

Other than failing to sell up to sombody with more money and nous, I don't think Ashley let us down in the summer particularly. He managed to hold onto a far stronger core of players than most were expecting, didn't bow to pressure again by re-hiring Shearer, and has a manager who has with one or two astute loan signings and a good deal of one to one communication, forged a team that despite being just as diverse as ever is clearly more together than they have been in years, something that it would be unfair to put down to winning games alone. I'm not expecting any decent signings in Jan (nobody worth getting excited about is going to move to a club stuck in the championship), but hopefully we can keep the current squad together and some replacement loan signings to top us up and take us over the line. /if we don't escape the ccc then summer really will scare me shitless though.

All teams who go up have momentum, because they have just pissed on their own league. And most of them go straight back down. There is a big gulf in class between the Premier League and the Championship. Nolan and Ameobi looked piss poor in the Premier League and dominate here, that tells its own story. We may be top and winning plenty of games but we are scraping a lot of wins against poor opposition. We were relegated with the same squad plus 40m of players. We haven't signed anyone bar Pancrate and loans so it's a much weaker squad than the one which went down. Take out the loan signings and the squad is threadbare again. We need to improve the first team and we need backup - in short we need to invest to stay up. We would struggle to beat the likes of Hull and Wolves with this squad, we'd certainly struggle to rack up 40 points. Sums it up in a nutshell for me. If we don't invest in January, we may as well prepare for a season of struggle next year, regardless of which league we playing in come August 2010. Just don't see it. Not because of Ashley or Hughtons reticence in the market, It'd just be surprising if anyone half decent would take a punt on us going up, and tbh, I'd be suspicious of any older/establised player willing to take that risk. Players like Kilgannon may prove good business, but If we can keep the core we have and do a similar job as the summer in terms of incomings I'll be happy enough. That should see us up and in a position to actually offer the finances and league to attract players better than the Butts of the world.

Yeah, best to tone down any feeling of achievement lads. It's shit to be the uncoolest kid on the block. /we haven't been promoted. Not by the longest chalkiest chalk ever.

Whey, be nice to have a float. Not enough floats around these days.

Nope, the article is hollow, there's nothing there. Of course there are concerns with what happens in the future, there always are, but never have I seen an article, mid season, worrying like a fucking stoat on acid, about what the consequences might be if we (please god) manage to do the best we can do, and actually go up (saving the sodding club for another year into the bargain). The headline is there to draw people in and he has done that. Good lad, the weather's sunny but I can forcast showers in the future. Christ on a bike. What a cunt.