Mick

If your reference was two fold then it's a load of shite two fold. The post had nothing to do with the thread title because it was in response to a direct question from fading star, which was quoted. As for defending Ashley, I posted facts not opinion, if that is defending him then that's life.

They raised £200,000 from the dinner.

It was mentioned at a press conference just after they bought Man City.

Pace creates space if used right, I just hope Marting looks along the line to avoid the offside trap.

We haven't seen Jonas play in a team with genuine pace, I hope we get the chance on Sunday.

Martins has had a good few training sessions since his operation so he should be OK for a start, I just hope that we've got the bottle to pick our two quickest players, I'm not convinced that we have the bottle though. Our biggest weakness will be Nicky Butt being ripped apart through the middle, he's my biggest worry and a possible liability if you pack the midfield. I know you're hard to break down, that's why I hope we go for pace.

He tried to sell up because that's what we as fans wanted, he refused to return calls when Man City's new owners were interested in us, that was before Keegan left.

Jonas is good at holding onto the ball and in Martins and Lovenkrands we'll have a couple of mobile targets for him to aim at.

All he's done since the day he bought the club is hand over money, that says more than any Man U season ticket holder telling you the opposite.

I think Martins and Lovenkrands will have you on the back foot if they both play, home win.

That's exactly what your post is.

The wage bill is 70.4% of our operating expenses so that's got to be the most obvious area to go looking to make savings. Targeting anything else as a starting point wouldn't make sense as the savings would me minimal in comparison. In business you always go for savings in whatever area offers the greatest gains, 10% of a 100 is better than 50% of 5.

Yes, he put £30 million in instead of £20 million.

What extra £20 million?

Apart from the loans which Ashley paid off, we know he had put in an additional £30 million at the time our accounts were audited. We have no idea how much has been put in since that time, if anything.

I can't remember any as bad as Derby away under Allardyce.

The stadium debt doesn't reflect in the losses made.

I don't really want to get into Allardyce but I will say that keeping him would have been as big a gamble as any taken so far and one that was more likely to fail. As for Ashley paying off loans, it was the only way we could reduce the money going out and is saving £8 million a year which would have now been higher if it wasn't for Ashley and his loans. The club spent something like £5 million the year before when trying to re-structure the debt, Ashley totally wiped it out from his own pocket, at least as far as costs for the club is concerned.

I'd be proud of it.

You expect £25 - £30 million on top of the £50 million lost in two years? Welcome to the real world.

The extra TV money - Already being spent. Advanced season ticket sales - Already done. Third party investment - Who? A share flotation - We've got a falling stock market where people are worried about investing, football is no longer a market investors are looking to get involved in. Increased season ticket prices - We're looking to reduce prices because we're in a global recession. Selling the naming rights to the Gallowgate - Possibly, if anybody is willing to pay for it in a global recession. Not sacking Sam Allardyce - Great, we might be in the 2nd division now and bringing in even less cash. Not appointing a director of football a million a year - Do you suggest we go back to having 1 scout like we had under Roeder? Not sacking Keegan - This has cost nothing so far and don't worry, without Ashley he wouldn't have came here. Extra incoming money for finishing higher up the table - Yes, we did that, we finished higher than the season before they arrived. Better ticket sales - We did that, the gates were up almost 1,000 per games in our first season with Ashley.

OK, I'll go and reply to that one.

I agree, yet we'll no doubt hear "Ashley Out" on Sunday at the Monument. Talk about not being able to see past your nose.

£20.3 million and before you ask, £54.5 million. Edit That was loss before tax, operating loss for the two years was £50.7 million. 2nd edit Where was that coming from without Ashley?