Exiled in Texas

Where do I sign up? The line on the left?

Townsend - you should have looked a little further ahead. You dumbass!

Yeah!!! [emoji3] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What? Five images in, and still no Father Ted kicking Bishop Brennan up the arse {Edit - That should be Father BeníTed}

Too good to let that pass without acknowledgement

I saw that too.... and its so ironic that he doesn't see how much the same statement mirrors their situation The mags Mackems are too thick to recognise all the good work he's done. All they can think about is spend spend spend to reclaim their rightful place back in the Champions League Ship

That's the issue though..... Ashley was ok with relegation as long as the finances were kept in balance, as he was playing the long game of financial stability. They don't have the discipline to stay with the plan and get stronger. Its sack the manager as we need a quick boost (and screw the financial cost). This time last season, they should have started planning for their Championship season with Moyes as part of a three year plan, but they let it get so toxic that he wouldn't stick around. Same is happening with Grayson. He will be hounded out, and the cycle will repeat.

For 30 seconds I liked us becoming the #1 premier league team in Turkey - preseason on the Bosporus

They are solvent enough under Short to meet their immediate payments, so there is no reason for Short to put the club to go into Administration and lose all his money. However, their revenue flows don't allow for much beyond immediate running costs, and debt payments (According to the retired accountant GrumpyOldMan on RTG who has been deep into their finances). The biggest threat is the external loan that is held by SBC. When that comes due in 2019, if they cannot pay it, then they are truly f****d. But I think their entire financial position is aimed at creating enough cashflow to pay off that loan. They will have to reduce player costs in line with their new revenue streams, including the reduced Parachute payment for next year and the final one in 2019, but they may still stay afloat... but at the new operating model of Championship/League 1 finances/players. RTG all think that Short should just sell up for pennies on the dollar, and dump the club on the sidewalk for someone else to pick up and run. I just don't see that happening, unless Short is convinced that they will continue to hemorrhage cash even under the most austere financial conditions. And in which case, who would take on such a toxic business. I actually think that they will settle into bottom of the championship or even League One under their new financial conditions, and stay there until the external debts are paid. Only then, and it might be 3-4-5 years, will they be able to invest in playing staff.

New Owners/Billions... it's not a question of how much they have.... but their intentions and disciplines for financing the club. (I won't call it investing as that term implies that there would be a pay back for the original stake, and most fans use the term "investment" in place of the true term "pissing the money into a big pit of nothing"). Fans shouldn't expect that owners should invest/spend money for the sole purpose of personal enjoyment of their personal club playing having nice players, climbing the table or winning games. The Abramavich days of personal spending by a rich guy as a plaything are gone. Fans should expect that their clubs would be financially viable, and that money generated by the club would be spent in the club.

If the ball was kicked out of play before the foul was committed, then it would be a goal kick. And just a card (color TBD). You can only give a freekick when a foul is committed when the ball is in play. Out of play, and it's just a card.

Interesting views on here and RTG about this news, and in many ways polar opposites. Some RTG suggestions even proposed that Ashley should sell Newcastle and buy Sunderland, or that they wish that Short would buy Newcastle. These comments made me think about how each owner is perceived by each club and what they have done from a business perspective. (Yes, we know that Short buying Newcastle was intended to assume that Short would have the same effect on Newcastle finances as he did on Sunderland). But actually, might the crazy scenario of the owners swapping clubs actually give the other club what it needs? This board sees Ashley as someone who has taken the club backwards, in its ability to compete in the premier league, and he is hated by fans. RTG look at Ashley and see that he has put the club on a firm financial footing making NUFC financially self-sufficient. A few comments that they would like him to be their owner. Whereas, RTG see Short as the guy who destroyed Sunderland by chasing PL rainbows and building insurmountable levels of debt, while we might look at Short as the type of owner that would invest/spend money where there a good possibility of a return on that investment. I think he has been a good owner for them, but has been misled and let down by his board, managers and players. (His mistake, is not cutting off the money flow earlier) So what if…. What if Ashley did sell Newcastle, and buy Sunderland. Ashely would immediately put them on a financial plan to stability, and he would take a relegation (or two) to ensure that they are financially viable. Never going to reach for the moon in terms of league placement but would invest enough to get into the Premier League and would be happy with lower-mid Prem League position. And while Shorts failing has not been about the money spent (because he has spent and spent), but what it was spent on and by who. With Short’s willingness to invest, wouldn’t he love to have the recruitment plan and manager from Newcastle that’s able to spend on the right players and have a positive cash flow? Not that I want this to happen or believe that it would happen, but there is a certain symmetry that each club might just have what the other club needs.

Best thing to do would be to shift players, when they struggle again to shift high earners f***ing around not putting the effort in then other avenues will be explored. Who wants to buy their players? It's like them saying that Short should get out of their club.... you need a buyer before you can sell.

The irony is that the Mackematics geniuses over at RTG are convinced that with the Pickford sale and the relegation induced wages cuts, that they are already reducing their debts by huge chunks. Their resident retired accountant GrumpyOldMan keeps having to bring the voice of reason that they are still in Shit Creek financially.

When I first saw that I thought it was so light as it was during warm ups..... then I saw the scoreboard and realised that was during the game. OMG. That's both tragic and tremendous at the same time

more like 2,600

[emoji3] OK, so maybe not the derby games or the big rivalry games - but if they wanted Christmas Eve games then they should schedule the right match ups for that. And we know that having a London club travel to the NE for Christmas Eve would be unthinkable but having Newcastle in London wouldn't cause a second thought Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A scholarship at a top 100 D1 school is probably worth anywhere from $100,000 to $200,000 when you factor in tuition payments for the degree, accommodation and meals etc. not to mention the shoes and clothing that they get given to wear. At smaller D2 and D3 schools the tuition/room/board package would be less but those kids are there to play now and will not be going pro. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

thanks for link. Great article. The whole system is a f***ing mess. We need something which takes ‘ownership’ (of the academies and the young slaves) away from businesses. Must be some learning to be had from the USA? Youth Soccer in the US is split into two main sections - Rec Soccer - Local town soccer associations having open enrollment for anyone to play. Players are randomly allocated to teams (no drafting/picking players) but generally you have the right to return to the same team each season. Coaching is the teams responsibility, so it's almost always a parent of one of the players who coaches. This is available from 4yrs through to U19. League fees are usually around $100 for an 8-10 game season (one spring, one Autumn/Fall) The other is Academy or Select soccer. This is the true pay-to-play soccer. There are tryouts and recruiting, paid coaches and that sense of entitlement that comes from paying between $2000 and $4000 per season to play. There are probably 10-15 Academies my area (Dallas/Ft Worth) so some play in higher leagues than others. Select soccer is usually where the kids who are good (or whose parents think they are good) will go play, and this is the path that you need to go to play soccer for your highschool and/or into College. There is a high drop out rate around the 14-16 age when the amount of practice/games gets to not be fun any more, or where the players get more bench time than game time. I think the difference in the US, is that the peak of any non-professional sport seems to be through the university route, so study and grades remains important. The idea of dropping out of the education route to focus on sports (and the risk that carries for those that don't succeed) is not something that the US mindset would agree to.

If they are going to have Christmas Eve games, then build the schedule with that in mind and scheduled "local" games for that game day. NE vs NE, Midlands vs Midlands, London vs London etc Don't have a teams furthest fixture (Newcastle v Swansea, Bournemouth v Huddersfield) scheduled for Christmas Eve. It;s not a bad idea - it just needs to be planned into the schedule, and not be an afterthought where you have fans trekking the length of the country when they could have been a quick trip home with a bit of fore thought.

I doubt their contracts had a second relegation wage cut as no one would have thought that a Premier League club would suffer two straight relegations to league 1. But I understand that Sunderland would continue to receive the parachute payments even if they did go down again into league 1.

That can't be true surely: https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/i-would-honestly-take-reid-back.1393346/ Just waiting for the "were we too quick to dump Moyes - what chance we could get him back" thread

RTG really is re-tread central. Would love to see Waghorn or Murphy back in Red-white. If they need a new player - the rolodex only goes to an ex-players who are doing well (or rather did well against them). Need a new manager - How about PDC, Big Sam, Mick Mac?? Bring Him Home. FFS - haven't they got a clue outside of their re-treads??

Meanwhile, in unrelated news... PSG takes out a new insurance policy for "player assets" for a value of approximately 220M