TRon

Intelligence. It's not on the option list so I voted "other".

what a fucking stupid thing to say. Get real, Kinnear didn't even acknowledge Xisco was here. When he was talking in the press he would say "I have however many strikers" and name them and not even mention Xisco. He was treated appaulingly. why single out kinnear? shearer didn't play him either , you know. i suppose shearer wouldn't pick torres as well ? fact is, if he was good enough he would have played. the fact shola and carroll were picked ahead of him speaks volumes. Well that worked out well didn't it? Thankfully picking Shola and Carroll and rewarding them with new contracts saved our Premiership status...woohoo! Still at least Michael Owen and Nolan have proved their worth...

You didn't answer the bit about mid table. And the £40 million overdraft is a figure punted by the News of the World. You are right though that whoever buys the club needs to expect to find further funds to keep it going, certainly in the short term. However for someone who is prepared to do it properly and, importantly, can afford to do it properly £100 million gets you one of the best supported clubs in the country, and these are supporters who will actually turn up at the matches and not just watch it on tv. And judging from last season they will do that even when they don't have anything to believe in. Since you also get one of the best grounds in the country you are buying an infrastructure that will allow you to play at the highest level - and if you can do your job as owner and get it to that level by running the thing properly and investing in the squad sensibly you don't have all the crap of having to upgrade the facilties. It's an opportunity for sure. Going back to Ashley and his options it is hard not to look at anything he does with both scepticism and cynicism however I still see a sale as his best option. A sale is his best option but being the clueless chancer that he is, he will wait till the last minute hoping to get the best price without realising that every day a sale is delayed will reduce the value of the club as a going concern. This is how the moron operates, we have seen plenty of evidence over the last couple of years.

Kinnear didn't rate him but he was instrumental in handing out lucrative contracts to Butt, Nolan, Ryan Taylor and Ameobi. Someone really should write a headline article on how that happened.

We got told by Coventry fans that Bellamy was s*** and he wasn't. He may had shouted his mouth off at every given opportuinity and just as injury prone as Owen, but sh1t i wished we kept him instead of shipping him out and wasting 17 million on that turd. Typical, great buisness by Shepperd as usuall. Bellamy is a great example of why it's better to have a mobile player rather than a supposedly class finisher who stays invisible for 90 mins. When Bellamy was hounded out of the club everyone thought it was a great deal to get England's Michael Owen, but it's far better to have someone who's heart is in it and can provide other things to the team as a whole.

Lambiarse and Fattie are holed up somewhere in London, I doubt they have a clue what's going on around the club. This is just more stalling while they try and sell the club while committing as little money as possible. I expect them to fuck up the sale of the club as their track record of spectacular failure is pretty consistent.

You are wrong. You can't just buy a team to get promoted and then buy a whole new team to stay up because the current lot aren't good enough. You have to assess players on whether they have a long term future in the top division. As well as that we need to keep our better players and sell or move on our least effective players. Martins has many faults but he is still miles better than most of the carthorses in our team. If he is sold then he should be replaced by the right type of player, someone young hungry and fast. We don't want any more Kevin Nolans to add to our wheelchair brigade.

I haven't seen Darren Beckford but I'm hoping he's pretty mobile if he's on his way here. If Oba goes as seems inevitable, we will be losing one of our few players with genuine pace and our squad is already overloaded with tired, washed up players. We don't want any more, these are the type of signings which has seen us relegated.

Curbishley's teams play good football but he was assembling a collection of crocks by the end at West Ham. I'm also not convinced he could handle the pressure of coming to a place like Newcastle and being perceived as robbing Shearer of his rightful job.

SJH did champion Martinez as a potentially good choice for manager after Fat Sam was sacked. That suggests to me that his knowledge of football is miles better than either Ashley or Shepherd. Whether he's a hypocrite, I don't know, I can't say I blame him for wanting to take the money the mess Shepherd was creating at the time. Definitely the most intelligent Chairman I've seen in charge at Newcastle though.

What happened to Shearer's plans which were supposedly handed over to the club bankers for approval then? Did Barclays just put them away in a drawer and forget about them or is it more likely this was more stalling bullshit which we have become used to hearing from Cockney Wanker & Co?

Basically all our high earners are going to need moving on which will include Oba. The fact is he will probably fetch the highest fee of all our strikers which gives a true reflection of his worth regardless of people's opinions here or anywhere else. He's our best striker and he will need replacing. Please note when I say he is our best striker I don't mean he can finish like Torres or is in the same class as Tevez or Berbatov....just that he is our best striker as opposed to Shola or Xisco. I haven't included players who are out the door like owen or Viduka but for the record I think he's better than them as well because both are busted flushes.

The fat bastard made all his transfer mistakes here, he's not about to do it again unfortunately.

I know, it's crazy! Would you people rather he came out and said 'f*** newcastle I'm glad I sucked it dry for the last few years, bunch of c***s'. Get a grip. If he has fell in love with the club he's got a funny way of showing it. He's staying for the money but so what? Is he one of our better or worse players? As far as I'm concerned we've got a better chance of coming back up next season if he's here. There is plenty of other dross we can get shot of first.

I've no doubt we'll replace him with some over the hill star who will add "valuable experience ideal for the Championship". Out with the new in with the old.

100% agree with that.

The lack of perspective is astounding. Shepherd was a terrible Chairman but his running of the club is like a beacon of light compared to Ashley's. Let's just hope a credible third alternative is out there, otherwise beggars really can't be choosers. Without a takeover we are going to the wall. Bearing this in mind, I would welcome back even Shepherd rather than watch Ashley run us into the ground from his bolt hole down south.

Just out of interest, how much money will Sheperd have invested in the club as opposed to Ashley if this were to happen?

I will be absolutely shocked if these guys take us over. Just publicity seeking whores iyam. As long as someone takes over I'm beyond caring. Anyone is going to be an improvement so it's not like we can be picky.

I agree, if the reported 12 million bidding war is true between Arsenal and Spuds, then we are getting a good deal. Who said he was a world beater? Fact is right now he's one of our best players, and young too. Selling him is a f***ing stupid idea. Have you learnt nothing from Ashley's tenure? Thats not the decision that is being reported, he wants away and i dont blame him. Neither do I, it's just the attitude that he's not all that and we'd be getting a good deal that I disagree with. A good deal is keeping hold of a good player. If we sold him right now that money would just go straight in Ashley's pocket anyway because I can't see him reducing the price of the club by £12m. As Skirge says, if the report is true then it's of the clubs own doing by being a total f***ing mess. Hold up there sparky. I've always advocated the need to not just sell Bassong for the sake of selling him and that cosidering his age and wage, he's should be no where near the top of the list of players sold. However if we get an offer that exceeds his valuation then we should most certainly take it. The point about selling him while Ashley is still flogging the club is very true, there is a danger that that 12 million will go straight into Ashley's pocket, if they paid all up front for him, which is not going to happen we'll receive installment payments. We can afford to sit on this and wait for the best offer to come hopefully by which time the takeover is complete. If we don't receive an acceptable offer then tell Bassong to suck it up and honour his contract. I don't buy this crap we are fed about there being no way to hang onto a unhappy player. Oh and transfer dealing should never be black and white like you indicate of not learning the lessons of Ashley, sometimes you have to look to make a profit on a young player to move forward. The problem with taking a good offer for Bassong is that we'll inevitably cock it up when we try and replace him. Does Coloccini replacing Faye ring a bell?

At the moment you couldn't blame any player for wanting out, there is absolutely no clue to the future of this club. If we would appoint a manager he would be in a position to sit Bassong down and say, "you are under contract and unless we get a stupid offer you will be playing here next season. If you want to commit we'll give you a new contract on 5 times what you are currently getting. How does that sound?" What are the chances of that happening though?

Would be just like Ashley to think any prospective buyers won't notice that the squad is being sold off and will need replacing. Will he factor that into the price or will he be a fat turd? You decide.

I'm sure he does but if the current situation drags on much longer there won't be anyone other than the big wage wasters who will want to stay if they get the chance of a move. Only confirmation of a takeover will save the situation as it stands.

Bloody horrendous. I'll bet Ashley won't be showing his face around town in the near future. The fat bastard will get his face caved in.

If he can't sell it's just a case of preparing for a long spell in the Championship for me, as there is no chance we will be able to take the club forward with an owner who's heart isn't in it. Rather than switch allegiance on false pretences I'd just lower my expectations to rock bottom and pick and choose games to watch - if anyone decides they'd rather not stump up money to watch in the flesh I would totally understand. If there's no ambition then there's not much point.