Martin Lol

Wouldn't disagree with you with the active/inactive interpretation. The problem is that refs aren't using consistency when applying that rule. If that had been Henry or Shevchenko in Berbatov's place, the goal would have stood as they would have been perceived to have been inactive. Not because they were/weren't, but because of who they are and who they play for.

Seeing it live, I thought it was a penalty, seeing it on tv, I would have been seriously pissed off if that penalty had been given against us. A duff penalty decision cancelled out by a duff offside decision. Spurs did enough to deserve the win, even if the way the winning goal came about was wrong. Impressed by Reading though, got a lot more about them than Wigan (for example) had in their first season in the premiership. The work ethic did them proud, a bit like Bolton but with a bit more skill, and Sidwell did well but got no support from Harper and simply couldn't compete with the Spurs MF on his own. If he does make the move to Newcastle in the summer, as is widely rumoured, he'll do well for you, especially if he partners Butt. Not really certain where that would leave Parker though tbh.

Agreed. Six points for safety assured irrespective of what the other clubs do.

I would have agreed with you if it wasn't now coming out that the 3 teams who have put forward the idea are Glasgow Rangers, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. I'm shocked tbh that the last 2 named clubs would even entertain the idea..................... unless they are convinced they will qualify automatically and it may do some harm to their rivals.

Are there any positives to take out of the figures? I know FFS said the revenues were up, but if Newcastle don't qualify for Uefa or Intertoto, presumably the revenues will go back to where they were the year before last. I know I've said it before (as have the majority here) but until there is a sensible salary structure in place that is adhered to, things will get progressively worse imho.

Pretty well true but the team that comes 4th can't necessarily expect to win the FA Cup to continue their participation in the CL. Under the FA rules the losing finalist takes the European spot if the winners had already qualified. Having said that, I'm inclined to agree with Alex, the G14 will close ranks and it won't happen. Shame really.

Before the Andorra game, there was a journo suggesting that if Bent had returned to Charlton injured, Charlton's claim for compensation would include loss of income due to loss of PL status. Debateable whether any such claim would have held up in court but maybe the FA didn't want to risk the situation where they may have needed to persuade a judge to share their opinion. TBH, England shouldn't have needed Bent to beat Andorra................ and so it proved.

I totally agree. It would also add a bit of spice to the Premiership with (presumably) the Big 4 chasing just 3 CL places based on league position. With, for example, the Emirates stadium funded by expected CL participation to the group stages for the next 10 years, the possibility of no CL involvement at all would be a huge black cloud on the horizon for Arsenal.

UEFA are to consider a proposal that would see cup winners qualify for the Champions League. The radical idea will go before representatives from clubs, leagues and national associations in June before a final decision is taken by UEFA's executive committee in September. If the proposal wins support it will see the FA Cup winners take the place of the team that finishes fourth in the Premier League and would apply to any country who have more than one team qualifying for the elite European tournament. UEFA's communications director, William Gaillard, told PA Sport: ``This is one of many, many ideas that are being discussed. It will go before our new strategic council in June and a final decision will be taken in September. ``Many ideas are circulating of contrasting views and this one is that the cup winners from countries with more than one qualifying team for the Champions League would go into the tournament. ``Many people like cup competitions and feel that the end of European Cup Winners Cup has been a raw deal for the cup winners. ``It would need the agreement of the clubs, leagues and national associations so if they support it, it will go forward or it might just disappear.'' UEFA new strategic committee will have representatives from European's football governing body, the players' union FIFPro, the leagues and the clubs. It will also be asked to look at an idea put forward by UEFA president Michel Platini that would see the lowest qualifying teams from England, Italy, Spain, Germany, France and Portugal playing off against each other for three places in the group stage of the Champions League. Interesting thought. The FA Cup would all of a sudden become hugely popular again!

This isn't, nor ever was it intended to be, a thread where Spurs was on the agenda. It was simply relating to what the dividend was last year and could it have been spent better. In fact, as there was no dividend, the second question automatically became irrelevant.

The truth indeed.

Cheers for the info Just seemed to recollect someone saying divi's were still being paid, but as they're not, there wouldn't have been any extra money which could have gone into a transfer pot.

1. Does anyone know how much was paid out in dividends in the last Annual Accounts? 2. If that money had been used to improve the defence instead of the shareholders' bank accounts, how many places higher in the league do you think Newcastle would be now? I reckon roughly where Spurs are now, maybe just above, maybe just below. Bearing in mind the Premiership pay out £500k per place, that would be an extra £2/2.5m coming in to improve the squad further. Personally, I think it's a false economy to pay dividends, what does everyone else think?

New Manager? No Yes New Players? 2 3 or 4 Top 6 finish? No Quite likely I think it depends on how well Newcastle start next season. A shabby start and GR would be favourite for the chop. If that happened, I could envisage a change of thought process which could be of considerable benefit. If you start off against a few 'easy' teams, there will be a managerial opinion that you've turned the corner and things will probably drift like this season.

True, although there have been a few examples of players opting to go elsewhere (usually Arsenal) because of the belief that being good and signing for Chelsea doesnt necessarily mean that you get opportunities. Spurs and Arsenal go on about those concerns to ease players away from Chelsea and I would imagine that all the other premiership clubs do the same. The problem is that Chelsea can also afford to pay ridiculous wages to go with ridiculous transfer fees. Scott Sinclair (currently on loan at Plymouth) is reputedly on £15k pw and has been since he signed for Chelsea as a 15 year old. The FA can surely do something about this, no? A teenager making £15K a week? Ridiculous. I hope the Russian gets bored and sells the f****** club. Win the CL Chelsea, so he doesn't care anymore. Nothing the FA can do tbh. Chelsea want to give him silly money, the kid's happy to take it. The FA have got more important things to do like getting shot of McLaren! Agree with your hopes and dreams for Chelsea though. :lol:

True, although there have been a few examples of players opting to go elsewhere (usually Arsenal) because of the belief that being good and signing for Chelsea doesnt necessarily mean that you get opportunities. Spurs and Arsenal go on about those concerns to ease players away from Chelsea and I would imagine that all the other premiership clubs do the same. The problem is that Chelsea can also afford to pay ridiculous wages to go with ridiculous transfer fees. Scott Sinclair (currently on loan at Plymouth) is reputedly on £15k pw and has been since he signed for Chelsea as a 15 year old.

If the Mirror is to be believed, you're still definitely after one. All the ususal suspects wanting to sign him. Leeds United have slapped a £2 million price-tag on 16 year-old striker Tom Elliott. The Mirror says Elliott is wanted by a host of top-flight clubs including Tottenham, Everton and Newcastle. http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=33749

Very true. Play attractive football with a smile on your face and the majority of fans no matter what club would be happy to see you do well (so long as it's not against their own club)!!

Good news for Newcastle fans, good news for England fans, even if he won't be in an England shirt in the summer. In short, good news for football fans. As I've said many times before, a striker's main job is to score goals and imho o current Englishman does it better than Owen. If he and Rooney were both available tomorrow, I would still pick Owen before Rooney, even though Rooney should in theory cost twice as much as Owen.

Unusual for a Bosman signing on fee to go over £3m though so, more often than not, it still works out significantly cheaper than buying on the open market.

True, Arsenal have done it for a while, but not to the degree that most would imagine. Toure and Eboue were products of the association with ASEC Abidjan/Beveren rather than filching from other clubs Academies, such as Fabregas and Vela. The scum academy has maintained such its reputation (with justification) that they have always had the cream of the Home Counties youth to work with. The truth is that all clubs do it to some degree or other, Spurs are close to signing Tom Elliott from Leeds for example, but maybe the difference with Chelsea is that they do have the resources to take almost any youngster they wish to take. In the last year they have taken a youngster from Spurs and (amazingly) from Arsenal as well. If the best Academy system in the country isn't safe from being cherrypicked, then tbh, no academy in the country is.

I mentioned in another thread the way Chelsea were hoovering up a lot of the good young talent across Europe, Sinclair, Bertrand, Woods and Taiwo amongst others. The latest seems to be Jeffrey Bruma. Chelsea have raided Feyenoord's youth team to sign teenage midfielder Jeffrey Bruma, according to reports in Holland. Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad reports that The Blues have secured the 15-year-old on a prospective four-year deal. Bruma has not signed a professional deal at De Kuip as he is yet to turn 16, and Chelsea appear to have taken advantage by convincing the starlet to make the move to England. Sporting director Frank Arnesen (pictured) has exercised his keen knowledge of the Dutch market, developed during a lengthy spell in PSV Eindhoven's managerial ranks, to clinch the signing of the player who will be lifted from Feyenoord's Under 16 team. The Dutch side have one of Holland's finest youth academies - with previous graduates including Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Robin van Persie and Celtic's Evander Sno - but Bruma will now be looking to rise through the ranks in West London, not Rotterdam. http://msnsport.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=457084&cpid=8&clid=8&lid=&title=Blues+'sign+Feyenoord+starlet' I think this is one of the reasons why Arnesen appears to have Abramovich's ear more than Mourinho, brought in to recruit talent on the cheap and is delivering.

Getting better and more confident after a shaky time at the Emirates. Wouldn't surprise me to see him play the majority of the remaining Pemiership fixtures with Ledley/Gardner doing the Uefa matches. King could be back soon but heard nothing positive on the situation long term, hence the need for another quality CB.

How much do you reckon Newcastle have to fund transfers?

Rocha sounded out Luisao to reform their Benfica partnership at Spurs. Indication was that he wanted a) a CL team that b) played in Spain. That's not saying that nothing could happen but not confident.