leazes.ender

Shamrock Rovers seems a possible. The LOI play games on Friday nights in the main and Shamrock in the next few days are announcing a "festival of football" . That includes a friendly against Real Madrid on the 20th July. Maybe we could play Real at Croke Park as well, as they are there for 12 days apparently, similar to the way Barca have had a training camp in Scotland for the last few year and Hearts played them at Murrayfield. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8102800.stm

They basically got the contract to show all Football League competitions (FL and Carling Cup), after ITV got the FA contract which includes FA Cup and England.

Driving back from Birmingham yesterday i eventually made it to Powburn, just outside Wooler, when i saw something that for the first time over the weekend made me smile. Walking down the road with his dad was a little kid kicking a football enjoying the evening sunshine. Nowt special... nope. This lad was probably only about 8 or 9 and yet there he was head to toe in his Toon kit. Here's a kid that will never have know us get relegated, and yet the one day you'd imagine he'd think twice about wearing his colours, there he was saying to the world "HERE I AM. I'M STILL A NEWCASTLE FAN". And good on him. And then i read this today from that lad writing for the Chronicle ... http://www.blogonthetyne.co.uk/2009/05/how-the-real-newcastle-united.html which is spot on again. The whole country, who've been saying we deserve to be relegated cos we're all obsessed with glory, were so obsessed about us instead of celebrating their own (limited) success. None more so that the mackems with the banners revelling in our demise. From a team who've beaten us once at home in 30 years and last played in a division higher than us 20 years ago. SMB. So what can we do? Get out there, like that little laddie, and show what we're all about. Wear our colours when playing fives, when on holiday, around the town and especially around the MetroCentre and make a statement to the mackems and the world that we ain't going away. NEWCASTLE UNITED WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED

This value is probably based on what we pay them rather than the after-tax normally talked about. That'll drop the value to about 30k and will bring in far more players.

Out in Birmingham getting patronised by Villa and Blues fans. Think they've all realised the PL will be a worse place without us.

Next season the all 16 of the other Premier League clubs should make a pact to play their kids team against Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal to prevent Man Utd winning the league. No one loses any points through this. That t*** Scudamore might as well have stuck his tongue up Fergie's arse the other day basically giving him the licence to do this. And how the f*** can he say that it a 38 game season so its fair on everyone. If this game had been 2 weeks ago he wouldn't have played this side. There is a difference between a weakened team, like against the smogs, and this. Fergie is doing this to piss off Al for turning him down......twice.

"We've got Peta, he runs like a cheeta...."

Doesn't matter, does it? If you mean Goal difference won't be a factor, then it will if we win and they draw. If you mean that the 3rd made no differnce then correct as as our win would have put our better than them.

I want Hull to go down and Sunderland to stay up. We owe them for this season I'll settle for either of them going down thanks. Both would be satisfactory too.

Well saved (not James) man

I know he's a fat smoggie twat but its worth looking at Jeff Winter's "adjusted" league table on his website. He's allocated points to correct refereeing atrocities like that from yesterday. If anything cos he hates us he'll have been stricter with us than any other team. Note where we are in the table. It doesn't correct the fact we've been shit but the Beye red card cost us points against Citeh and also meant 5 days later when we played the mackems the same set of players were knackered. So one shit decision could be argued to have cost us 3 or maybe even 5 points.

Exactly but apparently we all want Hull to win and send us down just so the Mackems can be relegated too ?? Couldn't give a toss what the mackems do until we're safe. Lets leave the "if we go down i hope we take them with us" comments to them.

Saturday - We win, Hull lose = Safe barring goal difference miracle Monday - mackems lose Sunday - We win just for the hell of it, Hull win, Mackems lose = Mackems and Smogs down. Bingo and no need for even the slightest desire that Hull win this weekend.

Eye in the old days it would have been when you had to go to the ticket office to buy them. Sell you tickets on the internet and over the phone and since Reading have the barcode turnstiles you could even print your own ticket, like you do with a boarding pass.

Smack take 2.

Smack. No great fondness for either club but Reading deserve nowt for such a shite support in a play-off semi.

Some classic pictures in the article.... http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/295191/CHELSEA-1-BARCELONA-1-Barcelona-win-on-away-goals-Didier-Drogba-and-Guus-Hiddink-fury-as-Blues-are-denied.html

I noticed this as well. Thought it was just me seeing things. Surely they're not restricted view or anything like that. Its UEFA regulations, fans have to be a certain distance from the pitch or something. So at SJP are a ok as there is an area between pitch and the stand but stam bridge is right on the pitch so they have to have empty seats. It was the back 5/6 rows though of the upper tier of the Mathew Harding stand I think its called. The attendance was only 37857 and that is thousands under capacity. No reason for top tier seats to not be used. Looked like Barca had bigger than normal away allocation too. Surely they'd have sold out?

I noticed this as well. Thought it was just me seeing things. Surely they're not restricted view or anything like that.

Brilliant. sky just replayed an unedited version of Drogba.

Wum? Seriously of course it wasn't a foul. Was actually a very good piece of defending. Joey Barton touched the ball when he tackled Alonso - was that a great bit of defending? I like the cup of your jib. My follow up was about to be about Barton doing something similar (with a tab more aggression), in a game already over, from behind winning the ball. We all know Barton is stupid but do you reckon even he'd have been so thick to have done it in those circumstances?

Under the UEFA rules it was a foul anyway being a tackle from behind, adding to the shirt tugging he was doing. Fergie should instead be wasting his time asking him why he was being such an idiot for making a daft tackle in the first place. Serves him right for being banned for being thick enough to make the foul in the first place.

I think we just got relegated. 3 days before the final we need them to go to Hull and look like they give a damn. Like that's going to happen.

The badge should always be where the heart is. [insert joke about where it should be for the current crop]

Wouldn't average be 5/10?