OzzieMandias

What money has he been trousering, exactly?

What extortionate sums are you referring to? You had to ask! Well, I'd like to know the answer.

What extortionate sums are you referring to?

http://cards.littleoak.com.au/197071_abc_orangebacks/new_154_wyn_davies.JPG

Aye, Eskimos and Ecuadorians, Poles and Polynesians, from Rangoon to Rwanda, Tehran to Tierra del Fuego they'll all be saying to each other, "Did you hear about them gates at St James' Park?" What a terrible state of affairs.

When were we "normal"?

Well, to be fair, most of our transfer targets for this summer were sorted out so far in advance that we bought them all in January.

Think of it as a balance to the general tendency of wallowing in the worst-case scenario, trying to be gloomier and more self-pitying than the last poster.

Doesn't work, though, if you have a Mac.

I think this is harsh for reasons we've gone over on here a hundred times. They couldn't sell papers if they didn't have access to matches and press conferences and since our club is basically Communist Russia they have no choice but to toe the line. That possibly limits their options in terms of journos too. It's a piss take of a situation but we've seen what happens to journalists that make life even the slightest bit uncomfortable for Ashley, they get banned from the ground. I have massive sympathy for The Chronicle/Journal, they used to be half-decent (not amazing or anything) when NUFC wasn't run by fucking petty arseholes. You were probably too young to notice when Sir John Hall, at Keegan's insistence, imposed a "blanket ban" on reporters from The Journal in 1994.

Mackem Minger's take: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jul/25/papiss-cisse-newcastle-wonga-row

Well pleased this has been sorted out. I was convinced we'd have to sell him.

Very engaging interview with José: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jul/19/jose-mourinho-chelsea-godfather

Good piece. Thanks for that. What's this bollocks about people thinking he's Jewish, though?

Trust Mick to find something to moan about here. Protocol now demands I ask you to produce a list of employable geordie fitness gurus.

Beardsley was one of the two great exceptions, the other being Keegan returning as manager the first time. And it was largely the relationship between the two, and the way Beardsley was able to animate Keegan's approach on the pitch, that made that period sparkle. But returnees usually mean at best disappointment and at worst disaster.

Despite the fact its pretty obvious he and Cisse don't work? Great player but if the partnership didn't work well before why all of a sudden would it work now? So you'd honestly at this stage turn down Demba Ba? Yup. He's history. /copyright Ozzy I never want our former players back again. When they're gone, they're gone.

Isn't Cisse agitating for more wedge and/or making a principled/tactical fuss about wearing a shirt sponsored by a non-Islamic financial institution? I don't believe we want to sell him, but maybe the interest in Bent is because we reckon we might lose Cisse anyway.

Perfect characterization of FIFA: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/jun/26/sepp-blatter-fifa-brazil-world-cup

I just read that Independent story. The amount of nonsense and obvious mistakes in there beggars belief. It reads like it was written and edited by unpaid interns... as perhaps it was.

Maybe Llambias can now do a Keegan and sue the club for 25 million.

Then how about preventing individuals from having a controlling stake in football clubs? It can be argued that football clubs are so ingrained in our culture that they should be owned by the people in the local community rather than held by wealthy businessmen as an investment. That'll never happen, especially under this Govt. Indeed. A Conservative government taking on an assortment of powerful interests -- Emirates, oligarchs, billionaires -- in the name of football fans?

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/gareth-bale-files-application-to-trademark-eleven-of-hearts-goal-celebration-logo-8661873.html