chicago_shearer

This is going to go on for weeks, isn't it?

Increasingly disillusioned would be the most polite way to describe it. How nice would an ex-Soviet gas and oil billionaire mobster be right now?

I miss Daniel Cordone's hair net.

Part of me wants to take this as a very optimistic sign, but name checking Villa is a bit weird.

Was Emre actually replaced? Good list that actually. Someone has clearly put some thought into it.

I think we'll hold on to Martins for a month or so. One of the few that multiple teams will be interested in, so worth holding out for the best offer. Colo or Barton.

Sounds like a good idea that. Being clear on the terms of a job before you sign on the dotted line. Because if a manager signed a contract without negotiating, clarifying and agreeing to his exact responsibilities before hand then it might result in a dispute that could damage the club and derail an entire season.

Experience doesn't bother me. It is totally overrated and bares little correlation to success. Ideas and intelligence matter more. Guardiola, Martinez at Swansea, Keegan in his first stint, Zola....the list goes on. I do wonder if Shearer can be ruthless enough with his mates like Butt and Duff, but time will tell. I wish Syed would have named some of the obvious alternatives by the way. Combine Kinnear, Allardyce and Souness and you must be looking at 50+ years of managerial experience.

I'm doing that little smile that Fergie did last Sunday when told that we went down.

Don't care to be honest. I'd settle for the permanent (as in more than 2 years) appointment of Alan Shearer and enough backing to get the job done. The more stability the better.

I'd argue that this mentality is even more dangerous. An owner and a manager can only f*** you up so badly. Lots of teams have had bad owners and average coaching. We were let down very, very badly by our players. We are well overdue a clear out - we've earned one on the basis of this past season. Keep a few senior professionals Shearer trusts and can work with, Steven Taylor, hopefully Bassong or Enrique if we can manage it (stability is important in defence) and then gut the rest of the squad. Promote young, hungry players and get some pace back in the team. Get a team that can counterattack like Sir Bobby's old sides used to. But most of all use the new faces to get some team spirit back in the side. I don't ever want to see a team as careless, exhausted and lifeless as we were in that last 45 minutes against Villa. There is simply no excuse.

I'm buying a new one this summer since I've decided the one I own is unlucky, and has arguably had more to do with the relegation than Ashley and Kinnear. I don't like the new official one so I've decided to go with this (despite the l/s): http://www.toffs.com/content/ebiz/toffs/invt/1291/1291_l.jpg

Fixed. Nothing to see here.

They do something similar for lower league US matches. Pay an annual subscription, see your team's games in hi-res broadband. I can see the argument that it would discourage actually attending the match, but there would be ways around that.

Not that I'm aware of. Would be pleased if there where any legal streams. However illegal ones aren't exactly hard to come by. In Norway however we have online subscriptions for all Top division, and 1division games. Works like a charm. Will be next season I imagine. You can only get an if someone is legally broadcasting it in the first place. Those Arabic & Chinese stations probably don't take too much interest in the fizzy pop. But

We need to get quicker. Pace is the number one priority as far as I'm concerned. Beckford fits the bill.

I think they should make the old yellow 'I had a shitter' training shirt the new away/third kit for next season. Except make it 'We had a shitter - 08/09'.

It might be worth starting a separate 'Foreign Based Supporters' Guide to Actually Watching Some Football in 09/10' thread when it gets a bit closer to next season. Setanta-i shows a few matches, the odd match on FSC (for the Yanks), and there's always the .cock radio. Anyone know of anything else?

I have seen Sheffield Wednesday and Burnley do US tours in recent years. No reason Newcastle can't do the same.

I saw Burnley in the pre season, playing an amateur team called the Carolina Railhawks over here. If you had told me in July that they would be in the Premiership and we wouldn't, I think I might have laughed. Unbelievable.

It isn't about them. Ashley & co. are obviously incompetent. It was about doing everything in your power to stop today from happening, for the people that DO care. You think Shearer is best mates with Ashley? Or do you think he cares enough to work for him regardless? One man put his reputation and career on the line, and one man folded at the first sign of pressure. I won't forgive him.

f*** off. He brought it on himself. Where is he? Not a fucking word since.

Legend. The ones person to come out of this shit with his reputation. I wish the players and our other managers this season had shown half his commitment and pride.

You can;t. He had no control over anything except training, he left after 2 weeks in the top 10, the other 36 other games he wasn't responsible for. Yes you can.

Balls of titanium. I hope he stays for the next decade.