gazza ladra

Legal view of Newcastle United bust-up http://www.sundaysun.co.uk/news/north-east-news/2010/03/28/legal-view-on-newcastle-united-bust-up-79310-26122692/ IT has been one of the most talked about punch-ups in the country. Toon star Steven Taylor's jaw was broken in a fight at Newcastle United's training ground last Sunday. Allegedly it was caused by fellow Magpies star Andy Carroll, who certainly appears to have been in the wars as this picture shows. Carroll has not been arrested, and now North East legal expert Adam Jackson has explained why police do not pursue all alleged crimes. The senior lecturer in criminal law at Northumbria University said unless Taylor makes a complaint, there is little officers can do. “The police are the investigatory body and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) makes the overall decision about whether to prosecute,” he explained. “So when police are deciding whether to investigate a crime they will tend to apply the same tests the CPS would apply.” When deciding whether or not to take a case to court the CPS ask two questions. Firstly, is prosecution in the public interest, and is there a realistic prospect of conviction? But in the case of Carroll, 21, and Taylor, 24, things are slightly more complicated. “Without the complainant’s version of events it’s difficult to establish what’s happened,” Adam continued. “In order for someone to be convicted a jury would have to be convinced beyond all reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. “But if the victim doesn’t give any evidence and no other witnesses are prepared to come forward and make a statement, even if the police investigate and suspect Andy Carroll has caused this injury to Steven Taylor, convincing a jury beyond all reasonable doubt would be difficult. “It could have been a training ground incident or some kind of accident when they were both jumping for the ball. Without Steven Taylor’s evidence it’s effectively a non-starter. “All we know is that Steven Taylor has a broken jaw. People have claimed it was Andy Carroll, but apart from all that speculation there is just no evidence. Adam explained that there is also no charge, other than assault, police could pursue. “If this had happened in the city centre and they were having a fight while spilling out of a pub on the Bigg Market in Newcastle, the police can rely on public order offences,” said Adam. “They would tend to arrest everybody involved on suspicion of affray and then try to work out who did what.” But Adam said the bust-up between Taylor and Carroll, which is said to have happened in an ice-bath, was no different to a spat between friends. “If it happened with two friends while playing five-a-side football it would not be within the remit of the police to pursue that, unless they got a complaint,” he said. “Criminal offences take place everyday that people decide not to report for whatever reason.” Of course there are some exceptions where pursuing a prosecution is so important that police will go ahead without a victim statement, in particular cases of domestic violence. Carroll is currently on bail and awaiting a crown court trial over a charge of assault after an alleged incident in a Newcastle city centre nightclub last year. He is accused of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Michael Cook in December. But Adam said this would not affect the police’s decision, and would only come into play if he was arrested, charged and sentenced. “If he was convicted of that offence and then was convicted of an assault on Taylor they would take both into account when sentencing,” he said. A Northumbria Police spokesman said that no complaint has been made, but if one is it will be followed-up.

I assume this is a pisstake? It has to be I tried to take the point seriously and consider how Souness might have managed to lead the club into Europe, but I just couldn't wrap my head around the idea. The fact that Roeder, Glenn Roeder, was brought in to right the ship speaks volumes. Also, I'm no Ashley-ista, but the signing of Michael Owen did a lot of damage to the club-- we had entirely too much money tied up in that injured little fucker and it really limited the club's ability imo to improve the squad when we needed to. And to make that sulky bastard into team captain....a real leader.

Could use Ranieri now.

Chelsea's 5 gives them the same goal differential as Man United.

Great results for Palermo.

Release the Kraken!

Perfect, those two reputable sources working together will ensure we strip away all the conjecture and get to the truth of the matter. After all the last thing they will want is to get us slagging our own off and blowing things out of proportion before we know if anything has even happened.

Enrique, Guthrie, Lovenkrands, Carroll, Jonas, Routledge, Kadar, Krul. In that order... at least for today. Really warming to Carroll. Goals will do that. Enrique has been one of my favorites since he signed. Initially, I took to him because he was discounted in the press as another shit NUFC signing. This, despite the fact, that he was obviously a very good player-- to my eyes at least. And to the eyes of a lot of posters here as well. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=534468&cc=5901

We've lost one game since October.

Can I sell James Milner for £12M?

Already have, apparently http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/18/glenn-hoddle-nigeria-police-investigation

Voted for Løvenkrands and then instantly regreted it. Coloccini is the right answer I think.

Some time ago a thread got side-tracked by a debate as to whether Stoke City was a shit club or not. People took one side or another of the debate citing the club's history, their attendence, the "virtues" of their fans, etc. I got to thinking about whether there were 20 non-shit clubs in England. That is, 20 clubs that I'd want to see in the top flight. If you could choose the 20 clubs in the Premier League, which one's would you choose and why? 1) Newcastle United 2) Sunderland 3) Manchester United 4) Manchester City 5) Everton 6) Liverpool 7) Leeds United 8) Aston Villa 9) Arsenal 10) Tottenham 11) West Ham United 12) Chelsea --- 13) Boro 14) Wolves 15) Norwich 16) Derby 17) Birmingham 18) Sheffield United 19) Stoke City 20) Hull City Personally, I couldn't come up with 20 that I genuinely wanted in the top flight though there were plenty that I wanted to go away--Wigan, Bolton, Blackburn. After 12, I just rounded out the list based on (perceived) attendence. So I don't think you could have a top flght without some crap clubs in the mix. The best you could hope for is clubs that draw reasonably well, represent different regions, or perserve some derbies. Is it important that all of England is represented? Are derbies important?

Owen's attitude was terrible and he contributed nothing as captain. The sight of him sulking about the field said it all. But then, Keegan at least managed to squeeze something useful out of him for a time. Funny how that experiment went by the wayside.

Twente Enschede, Montpellier

<b>Prem</b> Top 4: Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City Relegated: Wolves, Burnley, Portsmouth <b>Championship</b> Promoted: Newcastle United, West Brom, Swansea Relegated: Scunthorpe, Plymouth, Peterborough

Herpes every time.

Yes and I'm not so sure. As proud as I am of the results against Egypt and Spain, I feel the success at the Confederations Cup masked over some real problems with Bradley's tactics and squad selection. Really dreadful to watch. Would've liked to see more of Torres and Edu instead of a half of each.

This is a pretty good view on us, mainly because we essentially were Fulham a few years ago. 6 or 7 players on the team in 2008 or something like that. Someone mentioned your shitty KO times, I could only wish ours were that nice. I'll be waking up at 7:30 for two weeks straight, other times are 10 and 2:30. Except Fulham had sense enough to drop Bocanegra. No one else to put in. Most of the time he has a quiet game, without too many mistakes. When we have him at LB it really neutralizes him. It's just a really sad statement that we (feel that we) do not have any other options. What does it say about USSoccer, Bob Bradley, and MLS that they haven't developed a better player than Bocanegra--he's been a lock since 2002. And now there's actual talk about bringing Beasely into th squad. DaMarcus Fucking Beasely? Who next? Bobby Convey? Paper-thin squad. I'm feeling very negative about the Cup. England is going to rip us a new one. Could see the US repeating the performance of 98-- losing all three matches. Anyway, sorry for venting.

This is a pretty good view on us, mainly because we essentially were Fulham a few years ago. 6 or 7 players on the team in 2008 or something like that. Someone mentioned your shitty KO times, I could only wish ours were that nice. I'll be waking up at 7:30 for two weeks straight, other times are 10 and 2:30. Except Fulham had sense enough to drop Bocanegra.

Don't fix it; it ain't broke.

I think the US top is dreadful. Could do without the red collar and all the polychromy. But, yes, the sash is quite reminiscent of the shirt worn in 1950. I wonder if the design was chosen because the US is playing England in the World Cup.

Why do you think it was a while before I came on? I was outside the ground queuing for my copy.