80

Wouldn't be surprised if we got as many as 10 points (49), wouldn't be surprised if we got as few as 3 (from draws) (42). Hard for me to call. Feel sure no one above 15th is going down, though, so it's Sunderland, Blackburn, Blackpool, West Ham and Wolverhampton, and to a lesser extent Wigan, against the wall for me.

it wont even be this summer but next winter as i've a feeling we'll be shopping abroad and bringing in players aswell known as tiote was. The first swallow of the summer? Been waiting for some people to start moving their judgement date back again.

In itself I'd be pretty pleased about this. Never wanted it originally. Just for starters, a likely future manager shouldn't walk into a club with stuff already named after him, it's just asking for trouble. You do wonder if it would have happened if they'd all been pally, though.

Cheers

Regarding this, hopefully Brummie can come in and add more/corroborate, but I understand the issue at Villa was a falling out with Martin O'Neill which meant he was on his way out long before other factors like Manchester City came along. (Regarding the falling out, MO'N was thought to be in the wrong... another instance of his 'moods' bringing on an argument and disharmony. Another one of the events that weakened his popularity among Villa supporters)

Neither of us were party to the discussions that took place on that day, so we don't know whether they said more to him in person, nor whether their claim about him asking to renegotiate immediately is true. Just going on the story from the Milner camp (which no one cast doubt upon at the time, as I recall), it certainly sounds like plausible behaviour from the Ashley/Llambias regime, though. This probably belongs to the other thread, but are you sure you've got the Milner story right? The story at the time was that Milner felt that his progress in the first year of his contract meant that he deserved to have his contract improved. This is the first time I've heard the angle that the club broke a promise. Can you refer me to any quotes / links? Not tonight but if someone doesn't do the job for me, hold me to it another day and I'll try and find something for you. Specifically, as I recall, one of the major issues was that the contract signed a year or so prior had actually been agreed upon a long time before that and had been held up merely for reasons of bureaucracy (inc. the takeover). (by the by, he'd already done the club a good turn by not going ballistic in the pursuit of respect and better wages when we suddenly halted his original Villa transfer, having already been unceremoniously dumped on them by Souness (who's coaching staff told him he wasn't good enough to make staying on for extra training worth his while...)) It was subsequently signed as a matter of good will, despite it being understood he'd already become a more valuable player (and was yet to become even more valuable, following further good performances and Villa's persistent interest).

Do you already know what they're going to say, or do you think that whatever they say is going to be wrong? Well if they said something that fitted in reasonably with Milner's story then I would believe them... Fact is, I consider the lad a trustworthy character. Every reference I've ever heard of regarding him from every club he's been associated with suggests he's as straight down the line as they come. So for him to say what he said is striking. It's sheer stupidity to insist upon considering claim and counter-claim as holding equal weight when you've access to wider supporting evidence, particularly regarding character.

Neither of us were party to the discussions that took place on that day, so we don't know whether they said more to him in person, nor whether their claim about him asking to renegotiate immediately is true. Just going on the story from the Milner camp (which no one cast doubt upon at the time, as I recall), it certainly sounds like plausible behaviour from the Ashley/Llambias regime, though.

If he isn't ready for the match tomorrow, despite that he had a FULL training session yesterday, I will execute our medical staff..We desperately need him.. Why have you begun pursuing this red herring issue? I hadn't heard our medical staff be mentioned (in a negative light) in absolutely ages until the last two or three months. And later on you're saying it's because we have a thin squad, and of course the medical staff aren't responsible for not signing extra players or giving away the players we did have. By the way, what other usernames have you used on here?

If that was how things went, were I in his position I'd have been out and/or declared war on the regime on a point of honour, never mind any money concerns. Bearing in mind Carroll's not known for being the brightest spark, those text messages are likely to be the best he could offer in such a situation.

Good luck to you in trying to hear it. And more fool you should you believe them ahead of someone like Milner and his 'agents' the PFA, for good measure...

More plausible is the club vowing to renege (never mind 'immediate rises', I'm talking about next summer and beyond) on a gentlemen's agreement made at the time of the previous contract being signed that improved contracts would be offered as his career progressed. The new message being 'if you weren't satisfied with £22k pw for the next five years, why did you sign a piece of paper saying you were? You'll have to go elsewhere to get more any time remotely soon.'

If you believe Milner - and I do - he agreed a contract extension when Ashley bought the club on the same terms that he was already on, on the condition that the club would renegotiate the deal the next year. The club then refused to even talk to him about it causing him to show his annoyance by handing in a transfer request. They then sold him saying he wanted to leave.

£17m was the loss in the year, not the debt. That's £150m. Right, thought that might be the case. Still, correct me if I'm wrong but people (here or in the media) seem to be talking about our debt now (post-promotion) being relatively low and only discussing it in terms what is owed to people other than Ashley.

Really haven't got the time to join in but wanted to say one important thing. People saying we now have one of the lowest debts in the Premiership, that it stands at £17m (if I've heard correctly) - this ignores our debt to Ashley (I assume...........). Given this, and going purely on these figures, it's going to be something in the way of £170m, so it's not that pleasant.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-united/nufc-news/2011/03/28/pardew-nufc-can-handle-pressure-of-drop-72703-28415604/2/ “Nobody went away at the weekend and everybody is looking forward to Saturday.” Yes they did Not aware of anything unwholesome, but don't know what he's on about there.

Fixed.

Who the hell's Dave Vera Lynn..

http://www.people.co.uk/sport/football/news/2011/03/27/kenny-dalglish-and-dave-vera-lynn-come-to-the-rescue-for-plymouth-argyle-102039-23017954/ Think we ought to be getting involved in this. Probably WOAT actually...

I would have liked to have seen more of him From what I saw, it hardly even amounted to a few touches. Strange comment.

Did anyone watch Adam Campbell playing for the England U16s against Northern Ireland the other night? I recorded and ran through it to pick out his highlights, although there weren't many, partly as he came off at half-time. Did very little on the ball but what he did he did well, had a knack of unexpectedly keeping the ball for his team, I'd like to imagine he'd play better in a better one - intelligent possession play type thing. Only thing his teammates really offered was Devante Cole's bluster... His main involvement was England's best play of that half, when on the edge of the box he flicked the ball back on himself, parallel to the goal, and ultimately hit a very nice shot off the post. Looks like he's a well-weighted player as things stand, has good control over his limbs, which you'd hope given he's all of three foot tall... shorts down to his ankles. Still, his overall lack of impact on this particular game was a bit disappointing.

Not that bad really?

Pleased to see it, that was the 'just about' I was hoping for. Would love him to show them up as and when they start pulling moves this Summer.

As feared/suspected/expected. Aye. I do wonder if he'll be here next season, if he won't sign then the club will surely look to sell whilst his remaining value is at its highest. Just about no chance in my view.

That's not true Don't disagree for a second that he gets credit from a lot of people nowadays, but can't accept there's more people blindly defending him than otherwise...