TRon

Always knew that Given would end up getting demoted at Man City so I am well chuffed. Fuck you Given, enjoy sitting on the bench.

He was asked to do something about the wages bill, and refused to. That's what has happened. If he is going to refuse to do that, then he needs to be on solid ground in saying that it doesn't need to be tackled. Beye 40k Shorey 35k Sidwell 40k NRC 50k Davies 35k L. Young 40k That's 240k *a week* sat doing absolutely nothing. That's shocking, but it's the Owner/CEO or whoever that negoiated those salaries in the first place surely, balming everything on the manager is just not right IYAM. Oh and however bad that looks, it's chicken feed compared to where we were two years ago. If I was given the choice of having either Lerner or MON at our club I'd pick Lerner every time.

After all the money he's spent you would think MON would be prepared to work to a budget for a year or two. Could be wrong but it appears he's took the huff because he's not got £50m more to chuck down the drain this year.

I can remember Guthrie disappearing up his own arse for a vast majority of games in the Prem. Expect more of the same.

He hinted at the lack of quality in delivery and the need for a top quality finisher which was interesting. Other than that he said we created a lot of chances.

Not bad. I was half fearing the fat cunt would want players to pay £1m to play for Newcastle.

Yes. I think we'll struggle for goals but I expect us to be hard working and well organised so we should get enough points.

I think we'll stay up but it's going to be a hard slog without more threat up front.

Nice enough football through the middle, but with five midfielders you would expect that. The forwards were all substandard including the wide players for me. No quality delivery and not enough support for the lone striker. We are going to struggle for goals against Premier defences on that showing.

If Keane is the only option as a striker then I would agree with Ashley to keep the cash.

Agree with this basically. A quality striker is going to be far more important this season than a CM, we do have Barton fit this season in any case. Quality strikers cost money though, and I can't see us spending the sort of cash needed to get one in. Ashley probably reckons he's already spent £6m on Xisco so that's job done in his eyes.

This basically. Sol Campbells and Goslings are all very well but I am hoping that Ashley will be prepared to loosen the purse strings enough for us to go for a semi decent forward.

The fact that his agent is naming our club as having an interest means it isn't happening as far as I'm concerned. If it was serious he would have kept his trap shut.

I think Owen was a world class striker for a few years, unfortunately they were all before he came here. Add that to the fact he didn't come here willingly and had to be paid a king's ransom to persuade him, it was always going to be a recipe for trouble. At least Sol genuinely seems to want to be in the north east and is looking to set down roots here. Totally different situation when you look at it that way.

He's not worth the daft wages he's after in any case. Probably a blessing in disguise.

The main problem for Sunderland is that it is still a shithole. Players like Bramble and Zog will go there only for the money and you can bet they will live in Newcastle, the city they much prefer. Fucking hell I bet Steve Bruce is living in Newcastle as well.

Ashley isn't really interested in sinking more money into this club. Partly that is down to him being tight and partly it's down to the anti-Ashley hate mob who have probably made sure he sticks to that policy. It's a shame he isn't going to use promotion as a chance to build us into a decent team but as no one else has taken the chance to buy the club it's pointless complaining about it. If you don't like the way the club is being run just don't go to the games.

I think a better question would be who will spend on NUFC? Where are the investors?

I wouldn't. I'd look at what those around me were earning (particularly someone who contributes nothing like Smith, not to mention the rest of the back four) and decide what I thought I was worth. Being local has fuck all to do with anything, being English probably means he can probably command higher wages. Being English doesn't mean he's worth it though unless he wants to do a Sol Campbell and sell himself to the highest bidder. He's fucking shit in reality.

The only thing that concerns me is that the Evertonians are all saying he is slow and lacks flair. You would like to think he has one of the two, like for instance Guthrie, who might not be quick but has some ability on the ball. However at the same time they seem to think they should be getting £3-5m for him which would suggest there's more to his game than they care to admit. Looking at their forums plenty of them think he's a good squad player now with the potential to become a very good player in future. Apparently he's decent on the ball, but his main attributes are an ability to get into goal scoring situations, a good shot, excellent workrate and a nack of scoring important goals. A box to box midfielder with an eye for goal...so that's the other side of the story. Actually considering how few of our central midfielders have the ability to go box to box, work rate isn't a commodity that should be looked down on. That's something that Milner could have provided if played centrally during his time here had any of our managers looked to use it.

The only thing that concerns me is that the Evertonians are all saying he is slow and lacks flair. You would like to think he has one of the two, like for instance Guthrie, who might not be quick but has some ability on the ball. However at the same time they seem to think they should be getting £3-5m for him which would suggest there's more to his game than they care to admit. interesting comparison(s) with milner, eerily the same for me - flourished with quality coaching lucky we have that in abundance for gosling isn't it? I don't really see the comparison with Milner who at least has the ability to run at people and a decent strike on him. Milner might have got slagged off here but not many denied he had ability, it was always a case of him not using it right/being mis-used.

The only thing that concerns me is that the Evertonians are all saying he is slow and lacks flair. You would like to think he has one of the two, like for instance Guthrie, who might not be quick but has some ability on the ball. However at the same time they seem to think they should be getting £3-5m for him which would suggest there's more to his game than they care to admit.

If all that is true you would have to wonder what Hughton see's in him? A free transfer isn't good business if he's no better than we already have. It will be interesting to see whether Hughton has a better eye for a player than your average Joe Bloggs (BB version).

Happy with the signings of both Perch and Gosling so far. Neither are spectacular additions but both are young and ambitious. While it would be nice to inject some real quality into the centre midfield area, we do have Barton and Guthrie in there with Smith and Nolan also in the mix. While they aren't the best in the premier, buying in players of a higher pedigree would probably cost a fair whack unless we are going to go for over the hill proven quality. In that respect Gosling is a better option IMO.

I don't usually like players who don't have pace but McFadden's a clever player and he'd be much better playing behind the main striker than Nolan in a 4-5-1. Worth a punt IMO.