Benwell Lad

Your sarky posts brighten up my day no end

Dead true. Dekka also took the unusual step of publically crticising our fans who had a go at AC at Anfield just after the transfer. I've already said I would like him back but I don't think it will happen. On Rodgers, I think he's made a mistake and should keep Carroll to have an option. He may have started believing the ridiculous "Barcelona" hype that seems to be surrounding him and his teams. I thought Swansea were generally awful last season, probably the most negative side we saw at SJP. Any team can keep possession if thats all they want to do and don't show any ambition to hurt the opposition. I'd rather watch a side getting the ball up to Carroll quickly. Rodgers is surrounded by a big hype which he may struggle to live up to, especially at his present club.

Someone had better tell Pardew that Carroll is a different type of forward to those we already have, and tell Ashley and Dekka that there may be financial things to sort out, as they may not be aware of this.

First of all the amount of politics and finances involved still make this very unlikely, but at the same time there are factors which make the move a logical one. It it were to happen I'd welcome him back with open arms. The biggest argument against seems to be would he fit in to our current side and could we offer him regular starts ? Probably no to the second part but there again nor would De Jong or any other quality forward at present. That shouldn't stop us pursuing quality otherwise we may as well have kept Leon Best - a limited but willing reserve. To move on we need more quality in depth and top teams can vary and shake things up when they need to, Carroll would be perfect for that. Papiss and Demba were superb last season but even they struggled at times (mackems(H) Everton(a)) having Carroll as an option would scare defences. The arguments about best/most productive starting XI's are pretty pointless. We could be playing up to 60 games next season. There will be plenty of football to satisfy the whole squad and we should be prepared for it. Finally no worries about this new signing being commited to the cause or able to settle in quickly.

No manager ever makes overly optimistic statements about his expectations. Make a modest statement and it is easy to achieve it or better it. Make brash statements and you're making a rod for your own back. In that context Pardew has spoken wisely, although privately I'm sure he'll be disappointed to finish lower than 6th. As always, luck,injuries, cup runs and other unknown variables will impact. Although I didn't expect to finish 5th last season (nor did I expect us to struggle or be relegated as some did), in the final analysis it was well deserved, certainly no fluke. We have some exceptional players (top four quality), a reasonable squad which will hopefully be strengthened before kick off and some very talented but generally untried youngsters in the background. I'd be disappointed with anything below 8th, satisfied with 7th or 8th, happy with 5th or 6th and ecstatic at anything above that.

Can't imagine the Derryphant Man being happy at that description since his international defection and subsequent bone-headed comments! ;D

I think it's a fuckin disgrace that the southern ponce Sebastian Coe comes up here and changes the name of our Sports Direct Arena without consulting the people of Newcastle.

Sure he was brought up in Shrewsbury. He's defo English though, born there and both parents are. I always wondered what it was like growing up and living in Berwick. Do they have southsiders and northsiders? Is there friction between those born north and south of the river? Not really, as far as I know anyway. The river is not the border, the border is a couple of miles further north. What I do find peculiar is that people at one end of a street can sound like Geordies and at the other end sound like Scots.

Surely if a player is worth circa £15M it would be logical to assume that some decent clubs would be in for him?

And the grand architect of the Bruce era, Nile Quin, is held somewhere between legend and sainthood status in their esteem. He'd have been lynched on Tyneside.

Overhead traffic signs on A1 south informing us of possible congestion during Olympic football events at "SAINT JAMES' PARK" . A bit OTT a month in advance considering crowds will probably be a lot less than a normal NUFC home match.

Cuellar. It's just like Quinn and Bruce are still there, nothing has changed. Sadly for Sunderland their reputation and status in football means they will always end up paying over the odds for the type of players no one else really wants.

"In May 2010, we released a report that analysed leaked contracts and showed that Tullow (and Heritage Oil) and the British Embassy in Kinshasa had been lobbying for terms that would cut Congolese government revenues by over $10 billion – a figure equivalent to the country's entire national debt. There was also a credible report in a US diplomatic cable that Tullow’s then partner in Congo, Heritage Oil, was tasked with building relationships with senior politicians to ensure the lucrative deal went through. The result of this particular “Investment in Africa” would have represented a significant transfer of wealth from some of Africa's poorest to British and Irish investors. Elsewhere, from Ghana to Kenya, Tullow have worked against development outcomes by resisting calls for their 25-year contracts to be made public. Last month Tullow were on the backfoot again after a Corporate Watch investigation found that the killing of six Congolese by the Ugandan army next to a shared Tullow/Heritage exploration block was triggered by Heritage straying across the border illegally. Only following the release of the report – a full five years since the deaths – has Tullow promised to investigate what really happened." Fucking disgraceful that is like. Should be a government/football ethics commitee looking into this rather squalid arrangement Sunderland are entering into.

Whenever Sunderland is mentioned to anyone abroad or outside the region the normal reaction is "ugh" before having to point out that it is close to Newcastle, and with once again thousands of music fans heading to "Newcastle" for a gig before realising they will have to make a further short but arduous journey to a soulless plastic arena in an unwelcoming wasteland, perhaps it is time to consider disbanding the city of Sunderland and it being incorporated as a suburb of Newcastle ? Apart from the economic and political advantages of finally living in a place people have heard of, there would be countless other advantages for the people of Sunderland too. They would finally have an identity, having craved one so desperately that they adopted an expression once used by Geordies to insult them. They would at last have an airport and a mainline railway station not to mention shops, cultural and leisure attractions. The SOL could become a dedicated music venue, perhaps renamed the "South Newcastle McCains Cheesy Chip Rock Arena" - a mouthful I know - but less embarrassing than stealing the name of a stadium in Portugal. This would relieve the football club of the futile task of ever trying to fill the stadium when Newcastle aren't playing there and they could ground share with Gateshead. Tyneside would then have three professional clubs, one each in the big, medium and small categories. There would be minimal inconvenience to their fans as most would find travelling to Tyneside easier and the drug addled illiterates who presently populate Sunderland seem to have little interest in their club anyway. While it seems that all the advantages of the proposal would be for Sunderland, and Newcastle would gain very little, at least the citizens of places like Walker,Benwell and Scotswood would no longer carry the stigma of living in the city's most depressed socio-economic suburbs so they would be getting something back.

Don't buy into the Ba replacement argument. Ba, may or may not go but I think it's a seperate issue. If the De Jong story is true then I would see him more as a Smith replacement in the grand scheme of things. The Newcastle business plan is more about salary budget versus earnings. Smith,Lovenkrands and other departures, along with increased earnings free it up considerably for new arrivals. The fee itself will not be a huge issue, AS LONG as the owner believes his value will not go down. Arguments about paying a lot for someone who is not a guaranteed starter don't wash either. Should Ba,Cisse and De Jong all be Newcastle players next season the number of matches we will play will ensure all three will get quite enough starts to satisfy them.

He'll be able to buy two houses in Sunderland if he wins that bet.

...mmm... Apart from a bit of a post management change rally, which included a lot of good luck, they had two prolonged periods of distinctly relegation form at the begining and end of last season. Unless they're about to spring some major surprises I don't think they'll be any better or stronger this time round, so it's a matter finding three worse sides. The promoted teams should be able to make a reasonable go of it, QPR could kick on, Swansea and Norwich I'm not sure about. I can definitely see them being involved in the scramble at the bottom of the table.

Thank heavens for Saint Niall Quinn. Without his lunatic leadership they could have left us in their wake. Having seen a couple of their "star players" at the Euros - Larsson and the IRA fellah - I'd recommend getting the relegation bets on them early. You'll struggle to get evens by January.

i'd very much doubt there was even a cap as such. only in the same way as there is a limit to which any club can give. You're right. The wage cap is a myth, there is however - as in any sensible business - a salary budget, something quite different.

From the excellent Northern League website's blog, in reference to the Wearside League's annual dinner. "Tonight’s wholly enjoyable, greatly fraternal, but one example we will definitely not be following is employing Kevin Ball as the speaker. There’s enough swearing on the field" Pure profanity from the Roeder mocking Sunderland legend. Klassy.

Spot on Madras as I said in my subsequent post. In macum logic however it encapsulates everything you need to know about Mag support and how no one ever went to SJP before 1992.

Comparing our lowest attendance with their highest. Well, that's one way of managing to come out on top Can we compare our 68,386 attendance against Chelsea in 1930 against their 8,003 attendance vs Plymouth in 1989? Or their 6,904 against Barnsley in the FM Cup in 86? They're just completely barking mad.. I was actually at that Wrexham game, it was played at a time when football crowds were very depressed in general, it was a midweek game played after the season had ended as it was an outstanding postponed game iirc. Basically no one was interested and it was like a friendly. In my lifetime Newcastle have always had amongst the (if not THE) best attendance in any league they played in at a particular time. Drawing on a gate from a particular era is wholly unrepresentative in any argument unless taken in the context of gates in general at the time. Whether our average was 22,000 or 50,000 you will find it is always at the top of the crowds during that particular season. I can not remember Sunderland ever having a higher crowd than us in living memory even when they were briefly in a higher league than them we showed them up for the fickle fans they are. Their own legendary chairman Tom Cowie lamented about how much more loyal and passionate we were and nothing has changed since. More salient to Sunderland fans should be why their gates are dropping like a stone over the last few seasons despite a succession of "messiahs" in charge and how depressing it must be to know that your stadium will never be filled again unless either the north east's biggest football club, Take That or Cold Play are in town.

Hope you weren't one of that lot who used to give Tommy Gibb and Clarky such a hard time.

One mean son of a bitch when it comes to bashing a keyboard.

Hearing that Wearside's leading music arena will be sold out for a Coldplay gig tonight, something which never happens when it is utilised in it's secondary role as a football stadium - unless a big team from up the road are on the bill - had me scratching my head thinking of other top performers who have played gigs to packed audiences down there. So far I've got :- Ryan "over the wall" Taylor. Alan "my best moment in football when he was carried off despite losing 1-4" Shearer. Take That. The Nolan. Andy "any O'Brien" O'Brien. Albert "even I can score against this lot" Luque. Michael "better pull this one wide" Chopra. Nikos "now that's what I call a hairy chest" Dabizas. Shola "oh no not him again" Ameobi. There must be others I've missed, anyway hope they have a good evening down there and hopefully none of the stars will be attacked by spectators this time.