80

A pretty reasonable assumption I'd have thought, no? Honestly, not really, no. Really don't know either way, but going on what little he's said (+ what others say about how application processes work for managerial jobs), I doubt he's just gone full-blooded for everything since November.

Must just love the West Midlands or something

He left Blackburn for Man City but apart from that... Seems like it was always agreed with Fulham that he'd be fucking off if a proper job came along, but he'd help them out in the mean time.

Wouldn't be surprised if he literally has no basic wage... This is a shame, but never mind. I'm still better than him, and so are most people.

left-right combo

Sure it's not a Southampton top?

I don't particularly expect that bit to be true. Like Barton and others, he'd probably see security in having extra years on his deal - possibly even worth him taking a paycut therefore. He also seems happy/eager to stay here in and of itself. As far as I'm aware (which isn't very far), the Board started wanting to negotiate with Nolan following the squad wanting them to. I can see a few reasons why he's treated differently to Colo. Partly as he's on lower wages, so it's recognised that it should be a lot less tricky to get him to cut his wages/less necessary to cut his wages to an 'acceptable' level. Partly as he's the squad leader, so securing him helps secure the others - regardless of what some detractors think, clearly a lot of the players think we really need him more than most, and so the idea he could have one year left on his deal and a sell-happy Board in charge next year will unsettle the others. Added to that of course, he's less obviously a critical player on the pitch - it's easier to imagine the Board deciding they'd rather just get rid of him than it is with someone like Colo, and so again that helps unnerve the wider squad. So altogether, negotiating with him is more about symbolism and helping to make sure other valuable players think the club is moving in the right direction and not a sinking ship. Yup, I'd buy all of that - except I'm not putting any negative spin ("sell-happy" and "sinking ship") on my viewing of what is really an exercise in expediency. Yes, signing Nolan has more symbolic value than footballing merit. But if that symbol leads to a sense of stability and security, and leads to a single one of Barton/Enrique/Colo re-signing, then it's worth the extra 2 million quid the symbol might cost... It's not my spin raccy, any more than 'moving in the right direction' or 'acceptable' - just giving the players' possible perspective... Read again.

I don't particularly expect that bit to be true. Like Barton and others, he'd probably see security in having extra years on his deal - possibly even worth him taking a paycut therefore. He also seems happy/eager to stay here in and of itself. As far as I'm aware (which isn't very far), the Board started wanting to negotiate with Nolan following the squad wanting them to. I can see a few reasons why he's treated differently to Colo. Partly as he's on lower wages, so it's recognised that it should be a lot less tricky to get him to cut his wages/less necessary to cut his wages to an 'acceptable' level. Partly as he's the squad leader, so securing him helps secure the others - regardless of what some detractors think, clearly a lot of the players think we really need him more than most, and so the idea he could have one year left on his deal and a sell-happy Board in charge next year will unsettle the others. Added to that of course, he's less obviously a critical player on the pitch - it's easier to imagine the Board deciding they'd rather just get rid of him than it is with someone like Colo, and so again that helps unnerve the wider squad. So altogether, negotiating with him is more about symbolism and helping to make sure other valuable players think the club is moving in the right direction and not a sinking ship.

There you went trying to provide an example of spin, completely overshot the mark and landed in outright misrepresentation. Indeed, the bolder text is only a hair's breadth from deliberate falsehood... You're gonna have to tell me how... It's an extrapolation. To say all our players are going to be at the club until (at least) when their contracts expire, while wilfully ignoring all surrounding circumstances is patently absurd. It's also not even clear that it would be good news, seeing as a lot of people don't want to risk having unhappy players hanging around next season...

Spin is arranging facts/things in a particular order to make a picture be perceived in a certain way. Trying to make an already thrown ball bend towards a particular area. Seeing as you ask, it should be pointed out that your list of facts isn't a list of every fact/thing that's happened since January, so obviously there's some selection in there. Furthermore, saying Barton and Enrique are here until at least June 2012 is like saying at 10pm on January 31st that Carroll would be here until at least 2015. True in a sense - the Liverpool deal hadn't quite gone through - but it was perfectly apparent that it wouldn't be true in half an hour's time.

Meaning what exactly? http://fc08.deviantart.net/images3/i/2004/134/7/7/Rough_Infinity_Snake.jpg We're back worrying about Barton's future and about to start going in circles...

Only one way he's gonna manage that...

I think the snake's about to start swallowing his own tail, so I'll leave this conversation here

I think the answer is some people are more talented at managing than others.

Depends what you mean by 'end well'. We're all within our rights to make certain comments about our employers, and he's always been a bit Cantona-esque in having/wanting a life beyond his 10-15 year career, so just avoiding hassle probably isn't going to be his main aim. He's said before he expects to live round here for the rest of his life after he's finished playing, so presumably/hopefully he's got that in mind as he makes his decisions now. I don't want him to wreck himself, but how many times have many people wanted comments from/criticised certain individuals like Keegan for not avoiding non-disclosure agreements and giving us more of a clue about just what the hell's been going on. I'd much prefer things like this to stay behind closed doors. I know it's McKay who's made it public, and he's got every right to, but making twitter accounts in the middle of things isn't helping things. I don't think it reflects particularly well on Barton or the club by making private contract talks public. Dirty washing indoors and all that. I sort of operate in a different world - don't want every bad feeling publicised for the sake of it, but in general I think things should be able to stand up in daylight and if they don't then it's more important that they're shown up. Thinking of it from Barton (or any player's) perspective, it'd be one thing if it was all gonna be quiet, but every previous experience with Ashley/Llambias says they're gonna air as much of his dirty laundry as they can as slyly as they can, and if it isn't dirty enough, they'll throw mud on it to make sure. If I was him I'd make my own plans with that in mind. But how are we ever to find out who's telling the truth when they, inevitably, give their own different versions of events. Nothing can be proved and it only damages the club itself. Not got a problem with finding out the truth at a much later date but I think it's best if it's all done in private until it's sorted one way or the other. Hopefully people listening will be bright enough to pick their way through the versions, but more importantly it's easier to hold people to things if they've made a statement - leaves a lot less room for them to be pulling tricks behind closed doors. Regarding privacy, it often (in or out of football) just seems to see the shits get away with it and make hay while the sun shines - especially when they're smart enough to know they don't have to play by the rules if everyone else does. Agree totally about the privacy issue and arseholes getting away with it. Still think these sorts of things are better off kept private regardless of the individuals involved. Hammer the contract out in private or make a clean break of things. Telling tales to the press and/or creating twitter accounts to spill the beans on the details of contract talks isn't my bag tbh. I hope they sort it out but the longer it goes the more untenable Barton's situation becomes. You can't possibly keep a player who's in open conflict publically with his employer. It just won't work. Have to say, 'if' this twitter/statements story does develop further, I'm assuming it's going to be bigger than just a squabble about contract lengths, and one way or another will touch upon the way the club's being run. I might end up disagreeing with it myself if it somehow proves to be just a "we'll give you £30k/I want £40k" story. If it was an ideal world I could see sense in a clean break, but as I say, half the point is I don't believe Ashley/Llambias would let it be. I... have difficulty looking at how this one goes with a view to whether Barton's position here is tenable because I've been waiting for this to happen for the past year, certainly since Hughton was finally sacked. His position here isn't tenable, it wasn't last month, and I probably expected him to go before Carroll, if anything. The thing I cling onto in all this is the idea a lot have that each time we cut the wages or cash in on a player, we get a little bit closer to being sold. I don't really see why it would be true, but maybe it is. Hope so.

Depends what you mean by 'end well'. We're all within our rights to make certain comments about our employers, and he's always been a bit Cantona-esque in having/wanting a life beyond his 10-15 year career, so just avoiding hassle probably isn't going to be his main aim. He's said before he expects to live round here for the rest of his life after he's finished playing, so presumably/hopefully he's got that in mind as he makes his decisions now. I don't want him to wreck himself, but how many times have many people wanted comments from/criticised certain individuals like Keegan for not avoiding non-disclosure agreements and giving us more of a clue about just what the hell's been going on. I'd much prefer things like this to stay behind closed doors. I know it's McKay who's made it public, and he's got every right to, but making twitter accounts in the middle of things isn't helping things. I don't think it reflects particularly well on Barton or the club by making private contract talks public. Dirty washing indoors and all that. I sort of operate in a different world - don't want every bad feeling publicised for the sake of it, but in general I think things should be able to stand up in daylight and if they don't then it's more important that they're shown up. Thinking of it from Barton (or any player's) perspective, it'd be one thing if it was all gonna be quiet, but every previous experience with Ashley/Llambias says they're gonna air as much of his dirty laundry as they can as slyly as they can, and if it isn't dirty enough, they'll throw mud on it to make sure. If I was him I'd make my own plans with that in mind. But how are we ever to find out who's telling the truth when they, inevitably, give their own different versions of events. Nothing can be proved and it only damages the club itself. Not got a problem with finding out the truth at a much later date but I think it's best if it's all done in private until it's sorted one way or the other. Hopefully people listening will be bright enough to pick their way through the versions, but more importantly it's easier to hold people to things if they've made a statement - leaves a lot less room for them to be pulling tricks behind closed doors. Regarding privacy, it often (in or out of football) just seems to see the shits get away with it and make hay while the sun shines - especially when they're smart enough to know they don't have to play by the rules if everyone else does.

Depends what you mean by 'end well'. We're all within our rights to make certain comments about our employers, and he's always been a bit Cantona-esque in having/wanting a life beyond his 10-15 year career, so just avoiding hassle probably isn't going to be his main aim. He's said before he expects to live round here for the rest of his life after he's finished playing, so presumably/hopefully he's got that in mind as he makes his decisions now. I don't want him to wreck himself, but how many times have many people wanted comments from/criticised certain individuals like Keegan for not avoiding non-disclosure agreements and giving us more of a clue about just what the hell's been going on. I'd much prefer things like this to stay behind closed doors. I know it's McKay who's made it public, and he's got every right to, but making twitter accounts in the middle of things isn't helping things. I don't think it reflects particularly well on Barton or the club by making private contract talks public. Dirty washing indoors and all that. I sort of operate in a different world - don't want every bad feeling publicised for the sake of it, but in general I think things should be able to stand up in daylight and if they don't then it's more important that they're shown up. Thinking of it from Barton (or any player's) perspective, it'd be one thing if it was all gonna be quiet, but every previous experience with Ashley/Llambias says they're gonna air as much of his dirty laundry as they can as slyly as they can, and if it isn't dirty enough, they'll throw mud on it to make sure. If I was him I'd make my own plans with that in mind.

Judging by the 1988 bit, just a little scroat that's a man u follower. Cockney c***. Even worse, he's Welsh. ewwwwe FYP http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-59MCs1hiXU4/TaeOpOHa9gI/AAAAAAAAARE/JtCmBfC2txw/s1600/Yeaaaah.jpg

Depends what you mean by 'end well'. We're all within our rights to make certain comments about our employers, and he's always been a bit Cantona-esque in having/wanting a life beyond his 10-15 year career, so just avoiding hassle probably isn't going to be his main aim. He's said before he expects to live round here for the rest of his life after he's finished playing, so presumably/hopefully he's got that in mind as he makes his decisions now. I don't want him to wreck himself, but how many times have many people wanted comments from/criticised certain individuals like Keegan for not avoiding non-disclosure agreements and giving us more of a clue about just what the hell's been going on.

Seriously, the guy is clearly under stress and has lost his judgement. He's making a complete fool of himself, and someone close to him needs to stop him. Not gonna say he won't, it's his own life he's got to keep leading, but I can't see how he has yet. Nothing wrong with opening a twitter account to keep in touch with supporters.

Probably meant in the future or something...

This bit is especially right. By good luck we finally had a great (and large) nucleus at this club. It's not nearly so great now and it soon won't exist.

On that last point, I expect you're right but it's already started - journalists already tweeting 'a source' who says he's turning down a very lucrative deal... the implication being it's not enough for richie rich.

The way Pardew sets us up and, going on his past and the players we're being linked with, where he's going to take us, Barton is becoming steadily more obsolete, though. I think it's a mistake and a shame as when Joey had a good game he played in a great system and I loved the games that came out of them, but there you go... As a player, he doesn't fit nearly so well nowadays. Isn't Barton essential to Pardew's way of playing? It's presumably because of that that our only genuine wide player (Routledge) was let go. Regarding Routledge, I think he was let go to save wages and because Pardew simply didn't rate him in the slightest. As for Barton, he's only essential given the squad Pardew's been dealing with (we've got fuck all decent attackers, let's face it). In truth he's been used somewhat differently since the first half of the season, and less effectively in my view (part of the reason Simpson has suddenly 'become shit', remember how everyone was saying their partnership was starting to outshine the Latin Left?). More to the point, as Pardew starts making a real stamp on things, Barton's going to become less useful, partly as he's too slow. Could only see that being different if Pardew somehow manages to reconvert him to centre-midfield, but that involves booting Nolan out, of course.