Unbelievable

We're the lazy lumps..

A pro Mike Ashley guy.. Will he be lynched?

Jeezus, that was bad..

Who's this reporter?

800 members..

The people who had just arrived at the club, probably with the help of Russell Cushing, very few people walk into a new business and start to make changes from day 1. From what point in time can we hold them accountable for their decisions? Are they still learning?

So which players have we brought in since Ashley took over that will help us reach our five year goal (only three years left) of being back amongst the European places or, in the words of our esteemed owner: "a team that will go all out to try to give Chelsea a walloping, that'll try to stuff Tottenham and that will be brave and bold enough to attack Man Utd"? Being very optimistic (question marks for the one I consider debatable at best) I would say Enrique (?), Colo (?), Bassong, Guthrie (?) and Nolan (?). In that same time we have lost Given, Milner, Dyer and N'Zogbia who have proved they are more or less capable of that level. The reality is we are on a cost cutting operation at the expense of the quality on the pitch, and as things stand we are equally likely to be in the bottom half of the Championship as we are of being back in Europe in three years time. If that is good enough for you, bless you..

not in as many words, but it was obvious enough. we knew that we were going to be buying young, promising players instead of old, experienced ones wanting big contracts like the ones we're stuck with now. we all knew about this all summer. Load of rubbish. if you couldnt see that we were after younger players who we would get the best out of instead of buying old-ish players who we would be getting on their way down then no wonder you're disappointed. did you not hear the "players that are right" talk? The players that are right are the players that have the qualities required to achieve the ambitions the club sets, not the cheapest possible squad capable of clinging on to its Premiership status. No wonder you are so pleased if that was the level of ambition you expected from Ashley.

not in as many words, but it was obvious enough. we knew that we were going to be buying young, promising players instead of old, experienced ones wanting big contracts like the ones we're stuck with now. we all knew about this all summer. Load of rubbish.

I don't think I can see any quotes from Ashley there that are are that heinous or even particularly unreasonable in context. Things change, Kinnear drops a bollock or two, but lies and propaganda? Meh, I think you are crediting the club with a little too much intelligence and showing very little yourself trying to whip up outrage with some cherry picked (and at best tenuously connected) lines there Mr Happy Face. That's exactly the point; they keep changing the context, hence contradictions, half truths and propaganda.. That's putting it nicely as well. Some might say the supporters have been deliberately lied to in order to sell season tickets for three years in advance.

And look at the date:14/09/2008. That's after he'd shown his true colours. <-- that quote epitomises "the transfer system" that keegan apparently agreed with to come back a year ago. im still waiting for you or somebody else to show where he's said we'll spend our way up the league btw. No, that would have been this (contradicting one).. "The caliber of player we want to bring in is someone with a lot of Premiership experience or Champions League experience and they are in short supply. We are at a stage where we don't want to just bring players in to add to the squad, we want players who are going to be in the first team." Chris Mort 02/08/2007 The one you refer to is from after Keegan left.

http://www.toontastic.net/board/index.php?showtopic=22300&st=0

Cracking article. I think it's very significant that the local press are also making this point. Questions need to be asked and answered about our consistent unwillingness or ineptitude when it comes to bringing in the playing personnel required to fulfill the club's (and owner's) ambitions. Especially the point about the Arsenal setup is well made; we are a million miles away from copying their structure and success.

The club's actions or lack thereof initiated the events that led to this transfer don't forget. Had we done things differently then we'd not have had to sell him for any amount in the world.

If you want to look at moments, how about that "moment" against Blackburn where Carroll was it? Knocked one on to the Zog and he just stopped running for it. The one that Carroll put through so hard that Zog was never going to make it?

Anything under 10 million is derisory considering we sold our best player to a club throwing money around left, right and center.

Ok, fair enough.. Misunderstood your post. Apologies..

Would be nice if someone revealed it, just to make sure. Your point being..? When we agreed to let Given talk to City before agreeing a transfer fee I expressed my concerns about the wisdom of the decision as it would have a negative impact on our negotiation position. Different paper reports now suggest we have got a derisory fee for him. I can't validate these figures, but this is coming from various sources and there is no smoke without fire. I also know that if the fee reported would have been 15 million people like you would be praising "the system" for how well it negotiates for outgoing players. Is it inconceivable they fucked this one up RM?

Reality is our first team is now worse than it was in December. Of the £10M Kinnear allegedly was handed for transfers, the club have spunked a whopping f*** all, not counting profit from the sales of our best player and a whinging French c***. harper or given? given is better, although its a lot closer than some people think. nolan or butt, geremi, smith or the ever reliable barton? thats easy. lovenkrands or n'zogbia? a player who wouldnt have ever kicked a ball for us again or anybody? easy. taylor is very versatile and a decent player who'll add depth. if kinnear was handed £10 million then blame him if you're not happy. I've seen you made this point a few times already, but up until this week N'Zogbia was willing to play for us and arguably one of our few players capable of creating anything resembling a goalscoring opportunity, which is something you completely fail to consider..

OK, I realise people are pissed off, but why has the finances thread been forgotten? The club is losing £20m a season. How exactly is Ashely pocketing cash? It's not.. Just a paper "loss".. OK, Ashley is putting £20m a year in to cover wages. Better? Nope, we made a loss due to player amortisation. Means nothing in terms of cash flow.

OK, I realise people are pissed off, but why has the finances thread been forgotten? The club is losing £20m a season. How exactly is Ashely pocketing cash? It's not.. Just a paper "loss"..

I don't know if the fee banded around is true (if it is then that's disgraceful), but I do know the way we "negotiated" in this deal was always going to knock a few million of the transfer fee. You don't let a want-away player speak to a proposed club before they've offered a fee you're comfortable with ffs! Puts you in the shit when they come back to negotiate and there's no way back..

I see you're someone else who thinks we wanted to sell Given and Insomnia. I'm not defending the lack of players coming fwiw. No I'm not one of the mongs who thinks Ashley is asset stripping if that's what you're implying. But the fact that we had our money in our hands and didn't actually do anything about it is monumentally idiotic. I think the use of the words "asset strping" by the so called mongs is wrong. He is reducing the cost of running the club. I bet Given and Zog were on more money then Nolan, Taylor and Lovnkrands. It's funny how better players tend to command higher wages isn't it?

He's got a good case for constructive dismissal. Watch him walk out tomorrow and sue us.

Seriously doubt that. Me too.. It's gross incompetence rather than some ploy to destroy us.. Hardly makes me feel better..