Memphis

Considering it only took a solid 3 years of monitoring to get Siem in, we'll have a cracking replacement in time for the 2017-18 campaign. Not sure what league we'll be in, of course.

Almost everyone is a mercenary at whatever job they happen to have. Company A is limited in scope and offers little room for advancement. Company B -- a better run and more ambitious outfit -- wants to hire you for more money. In any walk of life that's pretty much a simple decision. It's up to our club to display the sort of ambition that would allow for those types of employees to feel fulfilled. We won't, so they'll forever be moving onwards. And the Big Boy will happily line his pockets (even in a limited fashion) and then use the excuse that we simply can't compete. Rinse and repeat ad nauseam.

There are but I think that sums up the attitude of "just be decent and if you're better than that then OK" pretty well. For a player talking of Champions League a quote like that would be jarring. Your point is fair and if I had more time to do it I'd find better examples.

http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/Fans/FansForum/0,,10278~3831748,00.html No one send the link to the minutes from the Fans' Forum to Siem, OK, he seems happy believing we want to win things. Hate to ruin his day.

MONITORING http://s.hswstatic.com/gif/air-traffic-control-tracon.jpg

Level 1 - Scouting Level 2 - Monitoring Level 3 - Enquiring IF PLAYER IS APPROACHING LAST YEAR OF CONTRACT (OR HAS A RELEASE CLAUSE): Level 4 - Unsettling Level 5 - Annoying Level 6 - Offering Level 7 (theoretical) - Signing IF PLAYER IS NOT IN FINAL YEAR OF CONTRACT OR WITH RELEASE CLAUSE: Level 4 - Re-monitoring Level 5 - Re-enquiring Level 6 - Waiting Level 7 - Failing

"We was going to always struggle to compete wif teams before the World Cup but after the tournament we will struggle to meet the inflated valuations. We're trying to stay within the confines of our communication without losing the loop on some key targets but getting them over the line in this moveable feast will take some doing. We just have to thank Mike Ashley for paying for my mobile bill so I can ring up Lee and Graham to find out who we can't afford to sign."

Every transfer article just reads so ridiculously. Mentions of a "transfer kitty" are equally laughable. I feel bad for the journalists who have to fill up space with the nonsense but every one of these pieces should be thrown in a pile and burned. Nothing to write about until someone's at SJP holding up the shirt. Anything else is pointless.

Schneiderlin replaces Ribery so I guess it's time to make derisory bids for Grenier and Lacazette!

Ribery out for sure - I'd say there's a very decent chance Cabella plays a relatively prominent role now. Lacazette might replace Ribery too, knocking off another potential target.

http://media.giphy.com/media/WbKWrXFlHEdpK/giphy.gif NUFC DEVELOPMENT SQUAD http://a.gifb.in/102010/1287507497_horse-plazying-with-big-ball.gif

L'Equipe said Cabella's been very impressive in the French camp and would be the coaches' preferred replacement once Ribery is officially ruled out, though they suggest it could also be one of two other of our one-time "targets" (such as they are), Alexandre Lacazette or Florian Thauvin, that ultimately replaces him.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/sports/soccer/fixed-matches-cast-shadow-over-world-cup.html?smid=tw-bna&_r=2 Rather detailed and interesting New York Times report on match-fixing in the leadup to the 2010 World Cup, how it happened, how useless FIFA is in helping with this sort of thing, and how vulnerable certain federations are at this stage now in regards to this year's World Cup.

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Would only be slightly less offensive to the fans if he dropped his pants and took a massive shit in the middle of the pitch before the Sociedad match.

#fret That'd be a grand total of 11 goals coming back (and 2 own goals). Neat.

It's time to repay the apathy. Attending or watching any cup match next year means you're part of the problem, too.

#movablefeast

Only 23 teams have ever won a top-flight League title. Ever. Only 8 other teams have finished as runners-up but not won a title. So that's 31 in total over 115 years. And of the 115 different top-flight titles that have been up for grabs in history, 5 clubs have won 65 of them. Meaning the other 18 teams have won only 50 titles between them. It was ever thus. In the first 22 seasons of top-flight football, 7 different teams won. In the 22 years of the Premier League, 5 different teams have. Winning the league is by design a virtually impossible task for all but the best squads, of which there are destined to be a very select few. The way those few have come to be is different now but their existence is not.

Did the survey. Doubt it matters but it was a bit cathartic.

Joe Hart looks scared shitless of his own supporters there

Very much a microcosm of our season. First half, surprisingly strong, in a good position. Second half - total and complete collapse based on basic errors and indiscipline. Well done, lads.

How can anyone defend Shola here? Why? Dowd likes to talk a lot, everyone knows that, once you've gotten the yellow, just shut up and get on with it. You want to stamp the constant moaning from players out of the game, you do things like that. I have no sympathy for Shola. Just stop talking. And Pardew shouldn't defend it or try to justify it after the match. It's just a dumb thing to do, regardless of how shit the referee's decisions have been.

"This could be a painful 20 minutes for Newcastle." - Jon Champion Not if it leads to the end of 24 painful months - and ends the chance for more.

http://picturesofshola.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/apple.jpg BYE GUYZ