Mowen

And that is why he'll never be a true great. On the other hand, if someone's as good as Cloughie they can do what the fuck they want.

It's fairly simple really. Everyone and every organisation is free to demonstrate respect however they feel it is appropriate. That doesn't mean they have to wear a poppy or even hold a minutes silence - I'm pretty sure there won't be one at work on wednesday. Wearing a poppy doesn't actually mean you respect or particularly care about the fallen in the same way that not wearing one doesn't mean the opposite. Actively disrespecting something like this (i.e. singing through a minutes silence) crosses a line though.

He'd definitely look good in a suit. I could see him playing poker in a tux, martini in hand a la Bond. I really believe he could pull that look off. Great topic Keef.

Yeah, that game rattled him. I seem to remember he was brilliant in the Wham game (3-0 iirc) nearer the end of the season and got someone sent off in the first half but he wasn't on the same level generally.

On another note, I've always thought Taarabt looked exciting when I've seen him. I was keen for us to get him for this year.

I'm sorry, but anyone who puts the combined £35m worth of Anderson and Nani into a 'not-so obvious' list deserves a chuckle

I'd keep Carroll even though I don't think he's actually worth £4m yet. Partly because I think he's very important to us going up and partly because I want to see what he can become here. This season will be massive in terms of his development, he'll learn a lot leading the line and learning how to play first team football week-in week-out. To break him in against worse but arguably more physical defences should hopefully teach him some cunning as it looks like he has all the physical attributes if he can learn how to use them properly. As another point, how often do you see a target man style striker really break through at a young age? Usually it's the smaller, quicker strikers who burst onto the scene sub-21. Also, bit romantic, but I like having a local lad or two in the team / squad. I wouldn't be overly disappointed to have him at 3rd/4th choice striker in the PL.

Got a feeling Hughes made his debut in the CL against you. Sounds like a tough first game.

I thought that was the name of Boca v River. It was probably fucking Sky.

You're such a card. Who'd would've thought of using an inaccurate stereotype Sky have perpetuated against there own fans? I'm just joking about that bit really, is a bit true though, most of my mates talk absoulte bollocks as does my dad, my dad thinks Nicky Butt should start for the experience for example. ONly people I hear that talk sense really are on here. You're taking the piss, aye? I don't agree with most supporters either. If I had my way i'd have Jonas taken out the back of the training ground and beat with a stick until he learned how to float in a decent cross although i've realised i'm in a minority. I, like you, have also suffered an earbashing at the hands of one of the few Nicky Butt fans still out there (it might've been your Dad. If so tell him he's a c***). Do these experiences mean I'm against fan ownership? No, because I respect the fact that they, like me, have a vested emotional (and if NUST get their way, financial) interest in the club. I'd much rather disagree with people who I know have put their time and money into this football club over the years rather than a bloated billionaire with no attachment. Aye, was a slight jest. I'm not saying I wouldn't have this over Ashley, I just don't think it will work A) I don't think they'll raise the money. B) Do any of these people havea clue about running a 300M investment. C) We'll make Kneejerk and rash decisions and we'll spend whatever money we raise in the first window. That's fair enough I suppose. They're all valid reasons to be unsure about any potential fan takeover. I see it this way - if they don't make enough money then there is no harm done so it's not really something to worry too much about. To combat the last two points I personally would be hoping the fans would elect a President ala Barca. When 'fan ownership' is uttered I think a lot of people assume Paul from Row M suddenly is going to be given the day to day running of the club and that's that. In reality I imagine we'd see a Newcastle fan with the knowledge and personal experience, someone like Barry Moat or Graham Wylie, voted in and given a set term running the club. Obviously i'm not involved with any of this work so it's all speculation on my part but that's personally how I see it working. From what it sounds like it does infer that members will all have avote on major decisions. I would be happy with this structure if it was basically run like a normal football club where the Chairman basically makes most of the decisions but is answerable to the board. Personally I don't think it matters whether the Chairman is from Newcastle either in fact I'd prefer if he wasn't, I'd like someone who has already been a chairman or MD before like David Dein (Dreamworld). I think a freh perspective would help. I can't see the 'vote on every issue' thing being workable in the real world. It takes too long. Maybe for stuff such as kit supplier, sponsors, pie and pint prices etc. but not for transfers and the like. I suppose we'll not know the full details until Monday, possibly later. Yeah I know day to day decisions wont be made like that but say manager changes will, I just think itll be kneejerktastic tbh, like I said we'll get through so many managers. Our high management turnover over the past few years was due to mistakes by the board rather than fan pressure. Robson - Sacked at the wrong time. Majority of fans wanted him to stay. Souness - Wrong man from the start, played poor football and ruining a top 6 team. Arguable whether the fans played a part. Roeder - Wrong man again. Fans liked him and sung his name while protesting against Freddy. Sacked at the right time but it was a surprise to most fans. Big Sam - Came in during the takeover and despite the poor football got very little abuse. Save for the duo within view of the Sky cameras against Liverpool he seemed to be well liked and his name was still being sung come Stoke. Keegan - We know what happened there. The thing with voting for a new manager is that they need to want to come to us. I've no doubt we'll have some who'll want Keegan and some Mourinho but lets be realistic, they're never going to get what they want are they? Agree with most of the appraisals but there was huge fan pressure to get rid of Souness for a while before he went and rightly so. It is staggering how many people think that the fans were involved in getting rid of Allardyce.

£2 on Pilko to score first and NOFC to win 8-0 @ 5/2. Good value I'd say. Pilko to score first? Might as well bet on Smith and Jonas to grab hattricks FFS.

One of the shirts? Which one? Haven't got it yet Waiting for it to be delivered by the player in question?

Make the most of it, if we go up we'll disappear off the TV for another season. I doubt that like. Fucking hate Monday night games. It's an extension of the weekend and makes monday at work more bearable...Tuesday's generally a shitter though, nobody enjoys being hungover on a Tuesday.

Make the most of it, if we go up we'll disappear off the TV for another season. I doubt it, think something like 50% of all our 2009 games have been on. I'm almost relying on some TV games to be able to get to the aways now I'm playing Saturdays and can't have too many weeks off so Sunday games like Cardiff are good for me on a selfish note. It's an absolute piss around really though, unacceptable for so many of our games - particularly aways - to be moved to such inconvenient times.

Old bastard.

It's mental how much we've been on the telly. I bet we still get higher viewing figures than most premiership teams, but it's utterly ridiculous and not fair on either our fans or the other clubs in the league who'll for the most part only be on the telly about once a season.

How original...

One of the shirts? Which one?

What made you think Allardyce would have been a great success for us? Many of the useless high earners were signed under his jurisdiction and we played football that rarely looked like getting us a result. Also, what do you mean by success? Just not getting relegated?

That's part of the "media" turnover. Right, with you, I thought the £26m was just TV appearance money - didn't realise it included that. Also forgot about the extra games also I'd be surprised if we make much less gate money for the cups than last time around. Huddersfield had more people in than Spurs last year and we only had a replay at home to hull in the FA. Dont forget the sizable reducions in corporates this season, those empty seats represent 3/4/5 empty seats anywhere else in the ground That's a decent point actually, the cheaper seats are generally full, it's the more expensive ones that are empty. Still wouldn't make a huge difference to the figures UV is talking about with regards to revenue drop mind.

Like what, out of interest? I thought they made a poor start but have been decent to good recently.

If we got Beye in I'd play him at centre back alongside Colo with Taylor at right back, would be superb in this league. Decent enough in the prem I reckon. Fairly high wages though, there's no way he'll come in on loan.

That's part of the "media" turnover. Right, with you, I thought the £26m was just TV appearance money - didn't realise it included that. Also forgot about the extra games also I'd be surprised if we make much less gate money for the cups than last time around. Huddersfield had more people in than Spurs last year and we only had a replay at home to hull in the FA.

It was the first time I'd ever noticed you could change that when editing your post...thought I'd see how it worked. I love Dave really. you love dave really + dave is a cock = you love cock. It isn't like I try and hide it.