OzzieMandias

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/05/28/american_dream_too_little_too.html

If these figures being mentioned are true then Allardyce is going into uncharted waters as he's never been a big spender. This might be his biggest problem as manager of Newcastle, let's just hope he puts some good scouts to work because a lot of hard work is going to be needed, sometimes it's easier to hide behind having no money than it is to spend well, Keegan managed it but a lot have failed, Souness for 1. I'm fairly confident that if he sticks by his own meticulous methods when investigating potential purchases, he'll get more right than wrong, regardless of the figure he's spending. However I admit this is one area where he needs to prove himself and I think he will. One thing in our favour regarding Allardyce is that his whole career has been managed carefully for this very occasion; managing a big club, winning things and buying top players. He's very ambitious and is an intelligent man - this is what he's wanted to do all along, he won't go weak at the knees and go on some mad wasteful FM spending spree ala a Souness. The beauty about Sam is even if he has money to spend, he'll still use the loan, bosman and cheap unknowns system and always look for real value for money. He'll have to, tbh. Top talent is spread very thinly right now – the fees being talked about for Berbatov show how few players there are around who might make a difference at the very highest level – and we're not the only club going into the market with new money to invest in players.

Excellent Keegan interview: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/05/26/king_kevs_circus_act.html

No, its a much betteridea to get players who aren't upto it, and pay them too much. Lets not bother getting the RIGHT players, eh? That't be stupid. Meanwhile, out in the real world, the kind of talent that makes a difference at the top is rare enough that people are talking forty mill for fucking Berbatov. It'll take a while to build a decent team again. During the rebuilding phase I bet there will be a lot of coming and going. Beckham on a loan spell? I wouldn't have a big prob with it.

Aye, OK. Let's get some cheap shite in, then.

If it wasn't Sunday tabloid bullshit, would it actually be bad news? Beckham here for a loan spell while the club is rebuilding? Why not? Think of him like Gallagher under Robson. Bit of class and experience. A real trier. Stabilising influence. Creator of chances. There's a bit football left in him yet and I bet Allardyce would know how to get the best out of him. He could keep l'il Mickey O. company and catch up with Butt. Ashley will use him to sell shirts, the profile of the club will be elevated, and joy shall be throughout the Toon.

I thought the timing was excellent. Just like the Godfather.

So that's a "yes", then?

Not just internet, but that is one of the revenue streams, along with everything from good old-fashioned TV to highlights on your fucking mobile phone. Media contracts these days often have clauses about rights in media that have yet to be invented.

Funny thing is Ozzie and before recent events, when I broached this subject a few months ago.....Shot down in flames I was and no doubt. blueyes.gif Not by me. Whether we like it or not, this is the reality.

It's billionaires now because there are potentially massive profits but it takes massive investment to get them. Football isn't just football any more, just music isn't just music. It's all part of a great big global marketing web in which brands sell brands from one end of the planet to the other.

As in every field of life and business, there are still profits, but they are concentrated at the very top of the tree, and it'll carry on getting more like that.

I think a "European superleague" might well happen, though it's more likely to be a development of the Champions League than some totally new entity, it'll happen with FIFA/UEFA approval, the teams involved will still play in their national leagues, and there will be some kind of promotion/relegation mechanism. And as for the game being dominated by money, get used to it. It's only going to get more like that. Football is now a global business and the Premiership is one of its most popular "products" – especially in Asia, where economies are growing the fastest. TV revenues are increasing and will continue to do so for the forseeable future. That's the biggest growth area but merchandise (with which market Ashley is intimately acquainted) is another. And there are a lot of potential shirt-wearers in China.

At least it'll mean NE5 still has a team to support in the north-east.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/05/24/loan_arranger_thrives_in_game.html

If we have an uncertain pre-season, so be it. In the long term, this has got to be good news. It's been apparent for a while now that English football is going through a phase of expansion and renewed investment, similar to the period when the Premiership first broke away from the other leagues. Back then, we were ahead of the pack in terms of investment, which resulted in a few years of relative success for the club. Until yesterday, though, it looked as if we were slipping behind in terms of what's happening now – expansion of revenues based on vastly increased TV opportunities, and the popularity of the Premiership in global terms. (This is why all the yanks are getting involved -- baseball or American football are never going to become global sports.) Shepherd could keep the club going, and has been looking to buy it out himself – and pocket the increased cash. But this would have to be done without new investment, meaning that, barring miracles, we would be condemned to mid-table mediocrity for the forseeable future. So whatever the hiccups at the start, this kind of takeover is exactly what we need to keep up. Even better, it's being done without Ashley having to go into debt. Man U and Liverpool (maybe Villa too -- I know less about their situation) are now saddled with huge debts as a result of leveraged buy-outs, and the clubs (the fans!) will have to pay for that in the medium- to long-term. Same would have happened if Shepherd had bought out the Toon. He would have had to borrow around £100 million -- and the club (us!) would have had to pay that back for him. And better this guy than some dodgy Thai billionaire, no?

Come on you Meelan!

Hope he goes to Sunderland. He doesn't need a last wage packet, though. He's already one of the richest footballers in England, having apparently made an extra fortune out of property speculation.

Tomorrow's Observer reckons Ben Haim to Chelsea and Viduka to Portsmouth.

People are probably going a bit OTT but Allardyce has proved time and time again that he can get the best out of players who are coming to the end of their careers or who have been struggling for one reason or another. Given how the majority of our team have underperformed its no suprise this subject will be brought up again and again. He also chooses the players he thinks he can get more out of – carefully, even to the point of psychological profiling. He's not a magician who can wave his magic clipboard at any old donkey and transform him into a footballer.

I agree with him on this thread, like. People are talking like Allardyce can transmute any old lump of base metal into pure, shining gold.

Butt.

He's a talented guy but he's not going to transform the squad overnight. In the short term he'd be mad to scrap Owen, Dyer, Emre, Duff and Parker. I don't care about Mattison or O'Brien, and Carr and Babayaro should be replaced as soon as possible. But he should definitely keep Butt for the time being, and Owen if he wants to stay. That way we have a chance of developing a team with a spine: Given – Taylor – Butt – and then, well, we need a number nine. But he has to start working with at least some of what we've got, or we really will have the thinnest squad in the Premiership – and start the season with a bunch of players who still haven't learned each other's names.

Apparently Mourinho's dog is called Gullit.

Oh aye. Where do they "claim to be the 'fans voice'", then? i think everyone knows exactly what i meant. OK, so they don't claim to be "the fans voice".