HawK

exactly this, although if the blip doesn't happen, that constitutes SOME ambition A club with ambition maximises its revenues and re-invests in its team. Disagree?

Do people realise he intentionally deflates incomes wherever possible to hawk his Sports Direct shite? Matchday revenue down by so much to reduce overall turnover to make us look like we need the TV money just to tick the club over, when in fact, every single other football club in the fucking country makes MONEY out of their advertising hoardings. We don't, we GIVE money to SD. He has zero fucking commercial ambition for this club, it is just a cash cow to inflate SD. The man is a gambler, a well-publicized high-stakes high-risk gambling man, and there is no bigger risk to gamble on than a football club, and he won't let the club make it's own money and spend it let alone put a pound in himself. Spite and recompense for the much-forgotten about actions that caused him to write those tearful letters where he didn't feel safe taking his family to the game. He's punishing the club and the fans every single week and people just bend over, take it up the arse and say 'Thanks Mike, I'm good at Maths and I can see we aren't doing a Portsmouth!'

Still amazes me how many people still give money to Mike Ashley. He said he'd turn the club into an advertising vehicle, and that's exactly what he's done. He's using the clubs own turnover and status to pay for his initial purchase, line his own pockets and everyone still sucks it up, it honestly makes me laugh how gullible and mindless most of 'our' fans are. Matchday revenues trousered, TV money trousered, player sales trousered. Oh wait, TV money doesn't even exist and you have to sell to buy, don't forget that one. Oh yes, Agent fees and the entire contract of the player need to be accounted for with a player purchase. Run that one by the Glazers eh? Net spend -£45m. Hires an inept manager who can't keep a job in League 1 with a proven history of being unable to manage talented creative players. Re-hires the most articulately retarded person the world has ever known to close transfer deals. Do I go on ?

The man who broke the talent of whom many considered to be one of the most talented players to come out of the French youth system in the past 10 years.

Same personnel, different vein, Souness v Bellamy too.

Unless we're relegated or under severe threat of, he won't be sacked.

Best centre midfielder we've ever had in the PL

Said this 2 years ago. Pardew set up our team to give the ball to the opposition, then see what happens and try to counter. Absolutely rediculous. It was a long ball from Krul every time to Ba/Cisse (neither can win a header or trap it vs a defender), and put Tiote and Cabaye 2 feet from our centre backs so we were never close enough to contest the second ball. Happened game, after game, after game. Thankfully our defence and midfield were inspired and the individual flukey brilliance of Cisse's purple patch covered it up. I've said it before and was shot down many times, we finished 5th despite Pardew, we finished last season where we did because of him.

Alan Pardew: Sameobi > Hatem Ben Arfa Past caring now, MA's done his job on me, I'll be watching another match instead.

Which game? The Wigan away match that was a complete shambles of a match. Also the same match Debuchy got hurt, then Haidara came on for him and Santon switched to the right, and then finally Haidara's leg was nearly taken off by Callum Macca. Ah. Can't remember any impressive performance from our players in that match. All I could remember vividly when Santon played on the right was him cutting back and then crossing with his left foot. Just remember around that time Callum McManaman played like Gillespie on steroids.

Christ, if Swansea can get Bielsa it will just kill me.

"Alan, now that you're in charge of transfers, how do you plan to replace Cabaye with the £45m in transfer profit that the club has made over the past 5 years?"

As idiotic he is, he's very passionate and prideful (albeit in a crazy old grandad way). When he's come and said 'judge me on my signings' and he's made none, I think there may be a modicum of truth to him resigning. That's not to say that Ashley wouldn't have been involved in his removal, but I don't think it would have been a one-way decision. I hope that he did resign, as in some strange way it makes me feel a little bit of sympathy towards a man who would have recognized his inadequacies and subsequent failings and chosen to fall on his sword rather than continue to be painted as a corporate, clueless clown.

Don't get this conclusion at all. At best Kinnear did nothing, at worst he made a mess of our transfer dealings. Regardless of Kinnear being here, what Dave is saying is we still dont have an MD...everyone else in that club is a tickturd, doing the bidding of Ashley...The only one who seemed to be able to get a grip and get hold of things was Llambias and he is gone. Well gone, there is now a massive whole in the club with or without Kinnear. It's a bit naive to believe that there hasn't been a massive whole since Lambias resigned, without trying to be argumentative. Kinnear was a vacuum at best.

It's just shocking how easy it's been for most fans to have been deluded since the start. Using transfer fees to pay wages? You're f*cking joking me. That's what the TV money is FOR. We've hideously underspent and we're being bled dry. I've said it before, a couple of gates of <5k and he's gone. Do what needs to be done.

She's been bumped off. Ashley's spies Ian W on N-O leaked her IP

Except he's been like this ever since KK left.

the whole lack of transparency isn't unique to us (though we're clearly an exaggerated form of it with Ashley making random decisions on a whim) and is more a symptom of modern football itself, the only true way there can be transparency is if the fans had a share in the club and someone on the board and the only realistic way I can see that happening is an edict from the FA to force clubs into having that fan ownership ala Germany which is not bloody likely. Agreed but he has taken it to a whole new level. There can't be a club anywhere in the world with an owner making such ludicrous decisions with absolutely no explanation. Abramovich on his day is as bad as Ashley for it but with the huge cash put in to make up for it. Venkys too are beyond ridiculous What? He actually wants the club to win things. Chelsea have the highest Net spend since Abramovich took over out of any club in the world, even City, Madrid included. That's an owner who wants to win and uses the finances at his disposal to do so.

My FM games are so much more fun than supporting MA's Newcastle.

Without a doubt.

Andy Carroll, to his credit, had him figured out very early on in his senior-team career.

1am download of my brain. Between two different websites, -£40m to -£45m net spend over the previous 5 years. Other big clubs that follow that model with similar figures are Atletico, Everton, Sevilla and a bit 'worse off' Ajax at -£60m net. Porto have netted approximately £150m in transfer profit over the last 5 years. The difference between us and the likes of Atletico, Ajax, Porto etc. is that they exist in reasonably non-competitive leagues, which allows for the income to be continuously re-invested winto attracting young starlets to CL-capable clubs. The fact we are where we are in the league is a minor miracle and a testament to our careful recruitment as we exist in the most competitive and expensive league in the world. The biggest irk is untapped potential, there is no reason to not have paid advertising in the ground to generate income other than a complete disrespect of our club at the most fundamental level by treating it purely as an advertising vehicle. Does anyone remember the reason Mike Ashley gave SJH for buying the club? He wanted to use it to market his SD brand to Asia. Fast forward 5 years and it seems not only is that the main reason for owning the club, but he's now pocketing transfer money to seemingly gamble on the stock market without paying money back into the club. You could argue he saved the club from financial ruin, but a massive chunk of repayable debt incurred was caused directly by his purchase of the club in the first place (stadium loan). By not re-investing transfer fees, his style of ownership and financial control screams 'crook' to the highest degree. It seems what he's doing is essentially the same as borrowing £Xm then using the clubs own turnover and profit to pay that loan back, leaving with 0 outlay and a club as an asset for no expense at all - funded by trousered TV money, increased SD sales from free advertising and transfer profit. It wasn't always this bad, at the start he did invest and we got the likes of Colocinni, Guiterrez and KK. The man WANTED us to do well. Then all the death threats started and the open letters, and I genuinely believe he has absolutely zero consideration for this club any more than as a cash cow with a complete disdain for the fans and customers. It really wouldn't surprise me if he owns up in 20yrs time that the second recruitment of Kinnear was to spite the fans. The man is not adverse to speculative investment and risk taking, he has an absolute fortune in liquid capital if he wanted to make a fist of turning us into a world force. The fact he bluntly refuses to do it now suggests to me that he really does not care one iota about the fans or the club. He doesn't admit mistakes, and the only way Pardew is going to be gone inside his 8yr contract is to join another club. The court case in the aftermath of KKs departure painted bare his ruthless and spiteful business practices, where he was PROVEN in court that he was intentionally attempting to mislead fans and lie to them. Fans = customers = stakeholders. He only has himself to blame, but as he's been caught out he's just taking it out on the club and the fans. While fans remain apathetic he keeps winning, until damage is done to his brand he'll never go or never change. How hard is it really, if people wanted change, to just not turn up for a couple of home games in a row? A couple of gates of less than 5k, with everyone outside the ground with anti-SD banners. It would kill him, it may even lead to a sit-down where he might change his outlook, or he'll just up sticks and cut his losses.