Kanji

If you were the opposition you'd be shitting yourself if you had to go up against that front 6 man. Cabaye, Sissoko, HBA, Remy, Gomis and Cisse? Would be hilarious and brilliant to even see man.

Sewelly spot on with the posts in the last page or so - same stuff I've been trying to say since the summer. We made a similar "splash", although on a smaller cash scale, in the summer & winter we signed Ba, Cabaye, and Cisse. However, this is where our small-time mentality owner failed because he continued to use his small-time mentality to not kick-on in terms of manager, further player investment, and bettering our sponsorship. Had we an owner who'd have the foresight to spend money wisely to ensure higher league places and push towards the bracket of challenging for CL - which are all increasing exposure on top of real head-turning momentum (arguably the best momentum in ages with that 5th placed finish) that would have yielded better signings, potential management move, etc. Thats showing ambition, like he's mentioned with Napoli, Dortmund, and Schalke. For a man who's so well regarded for his shrewd business dealings - he's somehow only been successful in brainwashing people to be proud of a club that lives within-its-means when we are carrying on like we are broke and barely making ends meet. We're a ripe club with a brilliant fan base and massive stadium which are excellent foundations for any club - but we've a rich owner with 0 ambition and 0 clue how to run a football club. It's a shame, waste, and a joke.

Yes something like 130M +/- in debt. The fucked up thing is that he paid it off and still wants it paid back. The next person who buys this club will have to retire that "loan" to Mike Ashley but essentially its going to just be extra equity. We'd be better off paying down this loan every year, which correct me If I'm wrong, we are now doing. This will over time lower the asking price of the club if he were ever to have mercy on our souls and sell to someone who gives a fuck.

A shrewd owner and chairmen would have made the most of the summer after we finished 5th. With smart and astute investment including strengthening the management team and playing staff we could have easily kicked on. He's created a ceiling in which we can perform with the way he runs this club. Not asking for bags and bags of money to be spent either man.

It probably is popular now, but I think our wage structure is utterly gash and once again limits our ability to sign players of any quality who were paid handsomely before joining us.

Yes. I find it pretty shocking people don't realize that. As long as you have the ability to properly manage the debt and be financially responsible, it would be pretty f***ing smart on our part. Ashley probably has access to some outstanding loan terms given his personal balance sheet too. The fat b****** could sanction 50M in transfers over the summer and we'd still be perfectly fine. If he wasn't so tight & shocking with how our marketing and commercial side of the business we'd be a much more cash rich club too. A proper re-look at the commercial side could do wonders for this club, and I'd love to know the numbers behind this "free advertising" of SD vs. allowing the club to obtain legit sponsorships with a smarter and more tasteful approach at his SD free advertising - which if done right, he could absolutely do both and get great results.

Problem is looking at this at 0-0 then coming back to see 2-0, being happy then reading these cheeky fake tweets, lost my shit for a few seconds.

What the hell is going on

Haten Ben Arfa

Amazes me the types of lineups he throws out there with Debuchy, Mapou, Colo and...Dummett. The attacking group with Gosling randomly in there when perhaps Marv, Vuck, or Gouffran could have been great there. Just preseason though...

Been saying for ages, its a trickle down but ultimately its Mike Ashley and Joe Kinnear as the problem(s). Our saving from all of this is when Mike Ashley's ownership of this club ends.

Graham Carr's scouting/contacts with Fat Freddie's aggressive over spending...would be glorious

Cisse back. Love it.

Holy shit, was a Massive fan of those 1990 Milan squads wish I could see this one. Can't believe Maldini is going to be at SJP.

Ashley is the problem. It trickles down from there.

Mother fuck, terrible news man.

What is nuts to me is Caulkin's twitter stream and what he felt AP would play him at...the no10, which he apparently played at Charlton.

This is essentially our dealmakers demanding OL pay the 3k a week that is part of his existing deal...basically the differential of what we are offering and what he currently gets paid?

The thing is, it felt like a money-ball type scenario when we were doing well and finishing 5th. That summer many of us thought, OK, more of the same - more of these players with unique situations who are undervalued etc and we'll kick on from here. We questioned AP, some backed him and some wanted someone who could deliver exciting free flowing football - instead we had last season and sort of dawned upon us we were relying on Graham Carr's ability to find the easiest possible scenario to get us a deal for cheap and pay the player more here than he gets in France and hope that Hatem and Yohan put in a good word for us.

Oh fuck...awesome, sorry for the mistake Just saw this too

I can't seem to find if AT&T U-Verse added Premier League Extra Time, I know they just announced the NBC Sports App access, so that will cover me regardless right?

So frustrating indeed. There comes a time when you stick to your guns and hold out on prices and then there are times you step up, pay the premium and back your team to perform on the pitch and the money spent on wages will be returned ten fold in the form of better league finishes, etc. Our lack of professionalism in the "boardroom" level is shocking and embarrassing. There's not an ounce of planning, ambition, or respect for those playing and coaching day-to-day and of course us the supporters.

Slap a 3000,

Yep. I'll stand up and say I did like it before - but this summer has well and proved how poor it is. Its terrible, and I'd even imagine Graham Carr would love to go scout elsewhere but you know that once he made the right moves and we strong-armed France for a bit, that he would be eternally stuck there as that's all Mike Ashley and whoever he has employed at "boardroom" level will care about - doing as least as possible with spending the least amount of cash. Common sense points to the fact that he's clearly only allowed to look at a few countries, small age-range, particular contract issues, and nothing more or less. Its ridiculous. We look so stupid with this constant brinkmanship crap. It was a great laugh the first few times but not when you desperately need reinforcements to improve the squad and league position. Its this lack of ambition that is costing us, and wasting talent spotters/contact-men like Carr at this club.

As someone who works on transactions for a living, our entire acquisition process interests me greatly...mainly b/c it seems like the worst and abrasive way to do deals