Memphis

I do think it's a situation like music where if professional leagues don't get out in front as quickly as possible, people will become accustomed to finding free ways to stream a premium product and won't go back. It's not like that isn't already happening... The NBA and MLB have done very well in promoting their products and getting them available to as many different devices and formats as possible (although they still restrict viewership of local teams if you are within the local television viewing area). And they're aggressive in getting their highlights out - whether through a YouTube deal or through a league-branded embeddable video player. The Premier League could certainly do that at the very least. But the ridiculous restrictions on things as simple as fixture lists tells me they've got a long way to go to be progressive enough to see the value in legal online viewership. Why they wouldn't want as many people to print and discuss the upcoming matches is totally beyond me.

They'll show all of them except perhaps the Fox Soccer game and the ESPN game (obviously) on FS2Go. And the ESPN one will be on ESPN3 also, so theoretically it's only the one match you could miss.

http://t.co/lRUoPj7b Hard to believe they'll be showing all 10 final day matches simultaneously live on 10 separate TV networks. When I first started following, if we got a several-days-delayed match at midnight or later, we considered it a blessing. This is pretty extraordinary.

Here's the link to the full interview from The Manager magazine: http://www.themanager-magazine.com/issue11/#/32/ Definitely worth a read.

That's exactly right. Oakland is perennially one of the lowest-attended, lowest-spending teams in baseball, so their General Manager Billy Beane tried to identify weaknesses in the market that would allow them to find undervalued players. Slight baseball aside - they used on-base percentage and walks to help figure out players who were more productive than their stats would have indicated, and they signed college players as opposed to high school prospects because they were more of a sure thing. What Ashley is doing isn't Moneyball in any sense other than finding players whose perceived value by Carr and the scouting staff exceeds their market value. That's not Moneyball, that's just smart buying. I suppose there is an element of Moneyball in focusing on leagues which continue to produce talent that's undervalued in the market, but that's not nearly the same thing. Incidentally, Oakland's strategy was found out, other teams started doing the same things they did, and they're back in the shit. If you have a scouting staff you believe in and an ability to sniff out bargains, that's all you need for Ashley's approach. Most teams have one but not the other - or neither at all.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17730352 Newcastle set for Europe after Liverpool reach FA Cup final

http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/hawksbee-and-jacobs/120410/auclair-ben-arfa-was-seen-unmanageable-france-169344? Ben Arfa talk begins at the 3:25 mark - high praise for the club, Pardew, and the fans in the handling of Ben Arfa.

From the Guardian website: http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/4057/hbaz.jpg They got Ben right, at least. Maybe a few more decent goals like yesterday and they'll be bothered to work on Hatem or Arfa.

Such a strange game. They're passing, controlling it, but doing very little. Their pressure, though, is causing us problems on the ball. It took some seriously quick, beautiful passing to get Cisse's chance, and a moment of magic from Ben Arfa for his. It's a tough one to call - think we need to press a bit more aggressively to have some possession at some point.

I don't understand why the presenters seem so shocked Carr watches players multiple times before buying. What else would you do?

I didn't enjoy watching that second half one bit. First half was fine, beautiful finish by Cisse, certainly could have had two more. We were well in control if not spectacular. Second half was awful. Norwich were much the better side and could certainly have gotten a goal or two. Guthrie's fitness is atrocious. Cabaye looks knackered as well. Our whole side looked so slow and bereft of ideas. No invention, no real inspiration. The buildup is so slow and the play so predictable that teams find it quite easy to overload one side or the other, and we almost inevitably give it away. It was three points, I'll take it, but the performance still leaves me wanting much more.

Pardew wants very badly to be a Brendan Rodgers-type, perceived as a bit Continental while retaining his English charm, but when push comes to shove, Pardew simply doesn't seem to have the balls to actually, you know, PLAY that style. Swansea yet again set a perfect example over the weekend, playing their style - a legitimate passing, ball retention style - against fucking MANCHESTER fucking CITY and they won. Not only did they win, they won going away, deservedly so. At one point they had 69% possession against a team with talent worth 100m+ more than their starting XI. That is commitment to your principles. For all Pardew's talk preseason and during the season, as we've been more and more successful, and edge closer and closer to a European place, it's clear he's scared shitless. When we were in the months of August-November, just starting out, there was no pressure, the expectation was lower, the wins came easier against opposition that didn't know enough about us. Now they do. As a result, you see Pardew revert back to his true self - hoof, hoof, lump, lump, direct ball, bypass the midfield, don't worry about passing it around, just get the result any way you can. He's far more concerned now with the opposition - as evidenced by the disgraceful last 70+ minutes against Wolves and the first 45 against the mackems - than with letting his very good team simply play. It is frustrating. I like Pardew and think he has done well but it is clear he has his limits and we are seeing them quite clearly.

As I understand it, it's the practice of accounting for an asset over the life of its contract - a 10m fee for a player on a 4 year deal would be amortized at 2.5m per year, for example. More knowledgeable people than myself will be able to provide better details.

Sewelly's said it best. If he's a squad player/cover player going forward, I'm fine with it. If he's seen as a first XI regular, no matter where on the pitch that may be, it's a problem. He is certainly good enough to be a squad player in the Premiership but he should be nowhere near a top 6 quality starting XI. Surely Pardew knows this, right? (Don't answer that)

Not sure why it's so imperative that Ryan Taylor be on the pitch all the time. On merit, he should be dropped. No pace, no creativity, just an occasional set piece which Cabaye and/or HBA could also provide. If Pardew's serious about dropping players who don't perform, that should be it for him. Ben Arfa was fantastic from the very start and needs to get 90 minutes. And if you're going to play Cabaye and Tiote together, it's Tiote who needs to be dropping deep and protecting the back 4, not Cabaye.

"But for us I'm not overly disappointed. It could be a lot worse. After Spurs we needed to just get ourselves back to something like our normal selves, which we were today. But we still should have won." Staggering quote.

Very clearly. Has espoused a philosophy that he himself is unwilling to deploy even against a bottom 3 managerless team when we're at home. That alone tells you how little he believes in his "A" team's ability to play his allegedly preferred brand of football. Mind you, with Williamson as a central defender, I'd be scared too. Should have bought someone else.

I've been a supporter of Pardew's and still am but the lack of urgency and clueless play speaks very poorly of him. To have two weeks to prepare for a Wolves team that: 1. Has no permanent manager 2. Has not won in 9 matches 3. Is in the bottom 3 4. Just lost 5-1 to West Brom and look as poor as we did - even from the beginning (remember Doyle had a great chance 43 seconds in) - is largely on preparation. We looked complacent and lazy. Certainly the players played their part in that but Pardew does as well. Also, while Pardew spent ages talking about our increased possession this season and retaining the ball ("It lost us a few matches last year", he'd often say), his tactics indicate a manager either too scared or too inept to set a team up to actually retain the ball against a hard-working but limited opponent. Very worrying for me. Very very worrying.

I wonder why he looked slightly off the pace. Oh wait, Pardew gives him ZERO pith time and ZERO confidence. I agree with you. I don't think it's fair that he's put in this position. For me he's better than Raylor 1000 times out of 1000 on the right side. But I'm not Pardew and that seems to be the way it is.

Eh? When? Two dribbles to the touchline that resulted in goal kicks immediately spring to mind. One run to the center with two passing options open was similarly wasted, though not as obviously.

Why feel the need to mention him? He played 25 minutes and got 3/4 close shots away. He wasted a few opportunities too, fair enough, but christ the whole team deserve a fucking weeks fine for that shit. Because he's such a touchstone for so many people. His inclusion in the side is such a divisive thing that his performance merits extra scrutiny. He was no worse than anyone else, mind, but seeing as how every match is a referendum on him and on Pardew, it needs to be discussed.

I love Ben Arfa but he was not good again. Whether he's trying too hard to make a statement to Pardew or whatever, he wasted two or three excellent chances and looked well off the pace. Guthrie was shocking too.

Absolute shit. Pardew's tactics have to be questioned in addition to the lack of bottle shown by the players. Fucking infuriating this. No service from the midfield but we bypassed them so so often - likely because Pardew often plays that way against "grafting" sides. We only seem to play football against the good teams. Nothing from the right side, Williamson was a catastrophe, disgraceful.

I haven't been this angry with a performance in a long time. This is absolutely atrocious.

Don't know how anyone could have tried to justify the shocking effort we put on from the 2nd goal on. We've made it hard for ourselves and it's fully our fault.