Colos Short and Curlies

Wtf? First of all, it was well documented that several clubs have had offers for Shola accepted, but he simply won't budge - how's that our fault? As for Smith... erm, who the f*** has made an offer for him then? So it's the board's fault for: 1, not being able to change free will of a human being. and 2, not making other clubs bid for our players. being on first name terms with Shola for a while I know that if the guy knew he wasn't wanted he'd fuck off, no question. No way he'd drag his heels unless convinced he had a job to do here. As for Smith, he's ex Man U, played for England as recently as last season, you dont think if we made him available teams wouldn't bite? Player in last year of contract, no extension discussions. Bids accepted for said player. How black and white does he want it spelt out that he has no future here?

They're both still burning a huge hole in our resources. I know that, but all the same we've had 2 months to sort the problem and here we are still with it. And it's a bloody serious one What if the budget isn't there? Why isn't it there? We've got a small enough squad! Speculate to accumulate. We've got a small squad but up front we're well stocked, you can't go adding extra strikers to make up the numbers when you've already got 6 of them that featured last season still here. we're nowhere near well stocked. On the balance sheet yes, perhaps. On the pitch we have ONE, ONE ffs who we can rely on to be fit and perform We've got 6 strikers on our books, you can't just keep adding more without getting rid of the s*** and all the crying in the World won't change that. Right , so you need 4 players. You have 1 who is generally fit and performs well, 2 that peform well but cannot be relied on to be available, and 2 that cannot be considered adequate players for that role. You're still nowhere near having the 4 players you need. As Shearergol said, that's why you cant run a football club like a business and why you can view players like assets But if you are in a position where you are paying £10m in wages to one of the strikers common sense says you can not kleep adding to that cost. In that way you do have to run it like a business, decisions have to be made on how you fill your squad. We made the decision to sign Smith as a striker cum midfielder. We are not in a position to replicate the cost on a replacement until we get rid. And none of this 'We've got a billionaire owner' crap. There is a limit to how much a person is willing to put into anything.

They're both still burning a huge hole in our resources. I know that, but all the same we've had 2 months to sort the problem and here we are still with it. And it's a bloody serious one What if the budget isn't there? Why isn't it there? We've got a small enough squad! Speculate to accumulate. As entered in two different threads. If Alan Smith stays for the remaining 4 years of his contract we will pay hime £10.4 million Shola has shown how difficult it is to get highe earners to leave. £10m would give us a huge amount of leverage to work with

A quick trip to . . er . . . INDIA, perhaps?? I'm thinking a night in Magaluf personally

This may be nothing.... but..... Mike Ashley was due back in Sports Direct yesterday but was 'tied up on other business' (or so I've had let slip). He may have just faniced a night in Magaluf. he may have been on other business. Or he may be involved in something big to do with us. No details forthcoming unfortunately

Its not £1.5m. Its effectively £12 million to us as we would be saving £10.4m on wages. No brainer really

Would have to get Chris Kamara in there somewhere

Negotiations will start at £19.8m, but who knows what the final figure will be... Does that mean that the maximum ZSP want is £19.8 million or that they will only start negotiating at £19.8m and then barter upwards? Ashley - he you go mr Russian - £19.8 of the finest Sterling. Mr Russian - haha, give me £20million Ashley Ok, here you go Mr Russian - haha, give me £22million etc? Daft way of negotiating

West Ham have no money!

Without wanting to piss on anyone's chips, its only Front Page in the North East. We've got a front page dedicated to the couple murdered in Antigua here in Wales

See that, we're not just Newcastle, we're THE Newcastle

Just to put that into context, we still owe Alan Smth over £10million if he stays until the end of his contract

Its a big BIG if but..... If Smith could get one goal he might just start shooting occasionally

And move it to London..

Tbh not selling up shows a lack of ambition by the current board. You lot won't remember, but back in the Ice Age we had a similar board, wouldn't sell out to the Woolly Mammoth consortium. I was there, I was willing to put in my iron. Did you? At least Shepherd showed his ambition by holding out for a larger bid, even lying in hospital he was negotiating the top deal for himself.

Italics - missed that one, should have put it in. Bold - thats a Ronnie Gill exclusive (could also insert Taylor there) but was only thinking national media

Just for fun.... Which story next appears on the media Wheel of Fortune?

6. Feeling lucky!

Or Tevez

Bilbao?

We don't have a Warehouse contract. Yeah I can't quite see Taylor turning up for training in an evening cocktail dress. Maybe Burtons though to go with the cost cutting

So Senderos is worth more than our Argie bloke?

The one thing I'm worried about if Ashley sells... What happens to the big Sports Direct banner??

Players with long hair should never cut it short. It always ends in disaster

To be fair to Shearer, the couple of times I have spoken to him - once when I worked at the ground, once past him in the street - he was anything but an arrogant sod.