Unbelievable

Another corner.

Martins soooooo close.

Good bit of play there. Another corner.

Listening to the commentator you'd think Bolton were reigning PL champions..

This really is more like watching rugby than football..

Ameobi didn't even move when the ball deflected towards him..

Rugby..

Elmander should have scored..

We're shit so far.

Phew again, should have been a pen..

Phew, off the line clearance by Jose..

Whatever it is, it doesn't resemble football so far..

Come on!!!

must i list all the good/great deals we've done to disprove this point? Yes please. Don't forget to mention the negotiations where we screwed up badly and ended up not getting the players we desperately needed to strengthen the squad.. milner - 12 dyer - 6 or 7 parker - 7 luque - anything rozenhal - 3 emre - 4 faye - 2.25 n'zog - 6 all good/great deals imo as the players either wanted out or were not good enough. i cant say much about the "incoming" deals as i dont know enough about why each failed deal wasnt completed but im happy enough with the players we did buy so far (xisco tbc). Except Milner and Faye I would say they were all at around market value; Milner being a positive exception, Faye a negative. Nothing to particularly shout about, but also not worthy of complaint.

Undercutting us seriously there More interestingly, it's a point that none of our so called accountants has spotted. If we were to rent out this advertisement space commercially surely that would bring in a tidy sum.. Wonder whether we will get Sports Direct as our shirt sponsors next season and what those worried about our finances will have to say about that if indeed it happens.

must i list all the good/great deals we've done to disprove this point? Yes please. Don't forget to mention the negotiations where we screwed up badly and ended up not getting the players we desperately needed to strengthen the squad..

What an utterly, utterly ridiculous comparison.. You're showing yourself up a little bit there Lib. what part? the food bit? that was a joke. You'd be better off not trying that again.. Aha, just noticed that could have been interpreted as a threath, which it wasn't meant to be.. I just meant you aren't a very good comedian.. Sorry Lib..

What an utterly, utterly ridiculous comparison.. You're showing yourself up a little bit there Lib. what part? the food bit? that was a joke. You'd be better off not trying that again..

What an utterly, utterly ridiculous comparison.. You're showing yourself up a little bit there Lib.

Mike Ashley is to blame for Newcastle crisis, not me, blasts Freddy Shepherd By Brian Mcnally, sundaymirror.co.uk 1/03/2009 Michael Owen's £16million move from Real Madrid in 2005 is being used as a smokescreen to disguise Newcastle's crippling financial problems of 2009. Former chairman Freddy Shepherd has accused Toon owner Mike Ashley and his board of trying to hijack the up-front funding of the club record Owen deal to deflect from their own financial inadequacies. And Shepherd has blasted Ashley's net investment over four transfer windows as "a joke". In a blistering broadside Shepherd has warned billionaire Ashley to "stop making excuses and blaming everyone but himself" and remember his own words to his unhappy Sports Direct investors about "acting like cry-babies". Ashley's first balance sheet since his Toon takeover shows the Magpies parent company making a massive loss of £34m on 2007-08 and more than doubling the club's net liabilities to nearly £36m. The Magpies now owe Ashley, who paid £134m for the club in 2007, a staggering £248m. Shepherd has taken off the gloves after Magpies managing director Derek Llambias described as "crazy" Newcastle's decision to pay for the Owen deal with sponsors' cash. Shepherd said: "Newcastle bought England's top striker without borrowing from the bank or being landed with any interest charges. The fact we paid up front was the factor that allowed us to win the Owen race. "It was a gilt-edged deal from a financial perspective, even if the injuries that have blighted Owen's time at Newcastle meant it didn't quite work out on the football front. "The fee for a world class star like Owen was £4m a year over the period of his deal and with turnover in the £90millions it equated to less than four per cent of turnover. "I think fans will question how such a miniscule proportion of turnover could spark a cash crisis in 2009. "They are trying to camouflage the problems they have created and distance blame from themselves with a pathetic PR campaign. "When we broke the world transfer record for Alan Shearer in 1996 the fee was £15m. We borrowed at high interest rates when turnover was much less so it was a far costlier and riskier deal in real terms than Owen's. "I make absolutely no apologies for trying to bring the best to Newcastle. Shearer worked brilliantly, Owen didn't - but that is how football works. "I'd challenge any one to compare the cash I backed managers with to the break-even transfer policy that now appears to be in place." Shepherd believes many of Ashley's decisions have heightened the club's cash problems. He added: "He sacked Sam Allardyce, that cost £4.6m. They failed to back Kevin Keegan above and that's brought a legal claim for a reported £8m. "They have lost the fans which has sent gates down to below 48,000 and cost revenue. They've sold nearly £50m of talent they inherited and lost top players such as Shay Given, James Milner and Scott Parker. "This comes at a time when the net spend on players is virtually invisible. The financial performance of the club is as worrying as what is happening on the field. My salary was criticised but it never matched the £1.35m it cost to bring Chris Mort in as chairman. "Ashley's Sports Direct company advertising is plastered all over the stadium and the club publications but the accounts show that just £42,250 was paid to Newcastle. "And what sort of business sells Shay Given to the world's so-called richest club, Man City, and has to to wait until the summer to be paid? "When blame is being dished out for the present predicament I don't think too many people will be fooled by the excuses coming from the people who have been in charge for two seasons. "I have been attacked for everything from the fact that Ashley failed to exercise due diligence to that I set up a deal to sign a world-class star without borrowing to do it. "I wouldn't buy a secondhand car without checking it was road-worthy and whether there were any HP deals on it, so I don't see how it can be anyone's fault but his that he didn't look at the books before forking out £134m for a football club."

Both him and Boumsong got more flack than they deserved in their time here. As fans, when a defender is having a rough time mentally we seem unable to cope with that and our reaction to minor and major mistakes just aggrevates the situation until it spirales out of control. Since them the only two central defenders I have seen who were a cut above them are Bassong and Faye. Colo could well go the way of Boumsong and Cacapa: a promising start until he makes a few mistakes and the weakness in his game gets found out and suddenly he's not good enough for the Premiership. What we often fail to see is that central defenders need good coaching and confidence; both issues that come from good management. Luckily, we look like we're sorted on that front for the next two or three years...

A bit simplistic don't you think? It's not as him being gone or the circumstances surrounding his departure could have no ramifications on our future..

By "right" I mean we'll see who caves in first on the negotiating. You are saying Newcastle shouldn't have let Given talk to Man City. My opinion is that Newcastle buy themselves negotiating time by letting everything else be sorted out apart from the fee. Losing Given isn't good but he wants to leave. £5m is a joke offer. The money Man City have paid for other players in this window mean Given should be going for at least £12m in my opinion. If he goes for £8m it isn't great but it is better than £5m. It looks like whatever we get will be too late to spend. We may as well try to screw them out of every penny we can. We had a discussion back on Jan 31st about it being wise or not (pun intended) to let Given discuss personal terms and have a medical before agreeing a transfer fee. Some people thought this wouldn't make a difference to the transfer fee negotiable, some numtpies even thought it would strengthen our negotiation position... In the end it is confirmed we will receive 5,9 million, and that's in a future payment. In my view the club have f***ed up badly here and it was easily foreseeable, yet some people just can't look beyond their desire for Ashley & Co to work out at this club and critisise them for their mistakes. They are new to football and it clearly shows. Let's hope they wise up (or even wise out) quickly for our sake.

Thanks. I can't stop laughing now..

Man U is getting bumraped so far second half..