Taylor Swift

What a save, KruL@

GET IN!

Krul looks chubby but damn, that was an awesome save.

Nolan, you fucking cocksucker.

These cunts have no bottle.

Duff's foul was dumb but what the fuck was Harper doing?

Gay.

Excellent stuff by Carroll.

We're playing well...

Jonas' crossing Some things just don't change.

God, I'm glad football is back.

45 more matches and 85 minutes to go.

Exactly. It'll take us 90 points to win the league. Let's end today with 3 on the board.

Football's back

I'm really going to miss him. People are always so quick to hold up sport stars as role models when most of the time they don't deserve that title but SBR lived his life with honour, magnanamity and dignity; he is the perfect role model. That 4-1 quote is simply superb.

The world is a poorer place without you, Sir Bob. Thank you for the good memories. Thoughts and prayers with his family.

Well done Habib for doing this like a man. I lost some respect for him over all the whinging this preseason but I appreciate the way he's giving up his loyalty bonus and being honest about his intentions. Best of luck, Habib.

I would accept that, a manager good at building a team up, getting them up and doing well. Preferably who would stick around to see it happen. The major problem with having KK is the embarassing wankathon if/when we went up as to how we will start an assault on the Champions League. If he came back i would have to stop using the net/buying papers/reading forums as the national pisstaking will be immeasurable Who would honestly care about the pisstaking if we're successful? With KK as manager and a board that he trusts, we'll be back where we belong. I'd say that even if the board was poor and couldn't give him 30m to spend; if he is aware of this and any promises made are fulfilled, then there's only one direction this club is heading. Anyway, realistically, it ain't happening. But with regards to the thread, there's only one correct answer.

So, Parky, is he friends with the big time property boys in HK or is he one of them?

I see a third option though, he sucks it up and stays, then we don't get relegated. I see that as well. No doubt in my mind we'd still be a prem team if KK hadn't left. No way would we have went down. Me too. Obviously 'wise and ashley being really annoying bosses' was more important to Keegan than ensuring the club stayed in the Premier League. He's not Mother Teresa, man. He has no obligation to the club, especially if the people representing/owning the club undermine him again and again. The fans don't own the club. The fans don't set the budget for each window nor were they the people who hired him, so his responsibility was and always will be to the people who hired him and who run the club. Now, if this same group of people undermine his authority then he's got every right to tell them to fuck off. He doesn't owe the club anything. The fact that we've been relegated since his departure - because of the incompetency shown by Llambias, Wise and Ashley - shows how valuable KK actually was to the club and how bafflingly idiotic the board is.

I know. As I've explained, a sizable portion of UAE nationals are of Persian origin - most of them filthy rich. Yes. Please. Which Emirati isn't filthy rich? Not exactly a unique insight, man.

Does this mean that Gerrard drops back into CM? Benitez surely can't expect to challenge for the Premiership if Lucas is one of his starting midfielders. Something is probably happening on the David Silva front if he can 20m+ for Alonso.

Must mean something's happening on the takeover front. I think this also means Dzeko is off to Milan sooner rather than later.

Keegan any day of the week, stability or not. Why do people think that KK would fuck off just like that? The first time he did it because of the restrictions that being a PLC would have placed on him, and he was right. The second, he was undermined by Wise and Llambias, so he had to leave. I was wrong for backing the DoF structure but with clear hindsight, it's pretty obvious what went on - KK was also right to leave. If we have an owner who trusts KK and tells KK exactly what his role is, then why would Keegan leave? If he knows how much he can spend in each window and there are no unilateral limits (such as age restrictions/contract lengths etc.) placed upon the budget, then I can only seen good things happening for the club. On the other hand, Shearer is a man living on his reputation as a player. I know it's been said many a time but it's worth repeating: having a success playing career has no correlation with having a successful managerial career. I like the fact that Shearer's honest but his first 8 matches weren't exactly inspiring, were they? The stability argument also doesn't hold if Shearer's shit because we'd be fucked if we stuck with a shit manager just for stability's stake. We have a choice of a man who lead us thisclose to the Premiership title or a man who has zero experience at this level - or any level, in fact.

That said, I can see him being one of our better players this coming season. He's always rated pretty highly (relative to his actual ability) when it's been a while since people have seen him. I'm not sure why.