James

Would you applause if it were Ashley? That's an absolutely different question. You're comparing someone who loved the club at heart but was also flawed and did some questionable things to someone who has attempted to destroy the club, plastered us with SD logos and relegated us twice in eight years. He certainly did love the club. It made him richer than he could ever have really imagined. Never liked his managerial appointments Probably died of some complications related to Greggs

My defining moment though was when he called Mick, HTT and co a betting scam. This was a man who never did his research and just went with what he believed

RIP He clearly tried to make the club as good as it can be, and profit himself in the process. But his success and the club's success were tied together but that wasn't an issue for me. I think in the end he presided over a period where the Premier League was becoming much more globalised and modernised and yet Shepherd took a much more inward, conservative view that led to appointments like Souness.

I thought Dave has been everywhere otherwise a tame first half

Rafa will always have the team well drilled and defensively aware. We may have a few bad days but these will be blips. In the other hand I think that as long as you have Ritchie on corners and free kicks with the likes of Lascelles, Clark, Joselu and Mitro to aim for we will nick one goal wins and score draws even in days when our open play attacking isn't working out. This is a big difference to seasons under McClaren, Carver and Pardew and is why we will finish comfortably top 12

Should be ashamed of yourself David

? Dunno what for yet breaking news

Rooney's been arrested

New manager speculation = high September click bait profits

Looks like he's left enough room between his car and the kerb for another car to fit in. We're signing someone lads. Very close to the white line, wheel not straight, signing no one lads.

Looking for positives, if we do get Targett, and Lazaar falls through like it might yet do, plus Dummett and Gamez, plus Manquillo, Clark, Mbemba and Colback who can all supposedly play at left back, we should have a squad that is guaranteed to be highly appealing to Alan Pardew.

At least (clauses aside) we get two seasons of Merino.

I know. But solid as in a bunch of disciplined effective players who won't get relegated. But then it will be up to whoever came next to not fuck that up.

I believe he will stay for the players and the fans. But he will probably no longer believe in a long term project. He will be working to put us on a solid platform that the next manager can either build on or fuck up. Maybe one day he will return under new ownership.

It's been done before on many occasions, where have you been? Example A statement from Newcastle United Football Club Managing Director Derek Llambias A statement from Newcastle United Managing Director Derek Llambias Now that the transfer window has closed, we have had some time to reflect on the business we have conducted over the summer. Our aim was to secure young players who represented value for money and could add real strength to the squad. The majority of our transfer dealings were completed in the early part of the window and we feel we have signed some players of exceptional quality. Yohan Cabaye, Sylvain Marveaux, Mehdi Abeid, Demba Ba and Gabriel Obertan were all brought in early and we have seen these players settle quickly into the squad and perform well on the pitch. Earlier this week we were delighted to sign Davide Santon from Inter Milan to fill our left-back position after the departure of Jose Enrique. Davide is an excellent young prospect and we're sure he'll be another superb addition to the squad. We also welcomed young goalkeeper Rob Elliot from Charlton Athletic who will help us retain healthy competition for that position after loaning out Fraser Forster to Celtic. [bold]Of course we had also hoped to secure a further striker in the window, in addition to Demba Ba. Work to bring a striker into the club began early in the summer. Negotiations were complex and protracted and unfortunately it was disappointing that ultimately we could not secure our priority target. Whilst we did turn our attention to alternative prospects in the latter stages of the window, we have a very clear transfer policy and will not make knee-jerk decisions at the last-minute which are not in the best interests of the club. We understand that supporters will feel frustrated that we did not sign another striker during the window, but it was not for lack of trying that we did not bring our final target in.[/bold] Other than replacing Fraser Forster with Rob Elliot, our best ever transfer window under Ashley

Don't get why we aren't in for Renato Sanchez, given that Swansea are favourites.

Someone had to..... Various sources saying he is to sign on loan

I believe Rafa will have some deals lined up. If he gets authorisation today, he will buy.

Ok we should let him speak to Fulham to ensure he is actually willing to accept. In the mean time maybe try to negotiate a few million extra. If we can find a striker or a number 10 that we can sign, who Rafa would want to start ahead of Gayle then we should move to sell him. But we should only submit final paperwork on Gayle once the new striker signing is complete.

I reckon Benitez actually quite likes De Jong and planned to keep him as an option on bench but others seeming impossible to shift meant he has had to cast his eye a bit further up at players 20-25. Similar to Colback, or so he thought. Credit to Siem for working with is to move on, unlike the others. Wish him well.

Hasn't scored today, send him back to Chelsea

Rafa will be here until the end of the season as he promised certain players he would be. Next year I doubt Rafa or those players will be here.

Hallelujah Hope he loses every penny he fleeced out of us and spends the rest of his miserable life reflecting on what a failure he is.

Really not a fan of how badly Krul has been treated.

Although I am no fan of Colback I am struggling to understand the logic of him now becoming surplus as we need 4 central midfielders and if you exclude kids and Diane who hasn't really played there that will leave us with 3. I read this as being Rafa's attempt to make room for another player in another position.