Unbelievable

As I've already asked you twice, what do you mean by this anyway? Is keeping him here on his current contract, which is entirely feasible considering he has a running contract, nobody knowing the details of the release clause and him possibly wanting to stay even if it did exist and could be triggered, "busting the bank"? If so, yes, definitely. Is entering talks with him to renew and extend his contract "busting the bank"? Then yes, I would also like us to do that. If the club manages to secure a new deal that gets rid of the release clause and commits a very good player to us for the foreseeable future without paying the player more than we deem him worth, and the player his happy to commit to such a new deal, then I don't see the problem. If as you suggest he is actually unhappy (without any evidence to support this statement might I add) then he is at liberty to not enter negotiations with us for a new deal, have his agent try and get other clubs trigger the release clause, etc. The scenario where we "bust the bank" and end up with an unhappy player is an impossibility if you ask me, unless you don't trust the club to do the right thing, which is very much unlike you.. Edit: not even going into the details of the formation (discussed at length already) and injury proneness (irrelevant without knowing the details) all i've said is that if the current rumours (ie 7million) are true than I can see him being away. i believe pardew when he says it's not about the money for him. Just like you are guessing as to the reasons for his poorer form so am I and we are arriving at different conclusions Im not saying we should be looking to get rid, I've never said that. I hope you are right. we'll see come september. So what was the "bust the bank" statement all about? bust the bank is about offering a player more than we can reasonably afford when they really want to be away for other reasons. As I said, not like you to not trust the club to do the right thing. Can you (*theoretically*) really see them offering him beyond our wage structure to entice him to stay despite him stating he wants away? I certainly can't, especially considering what we've done to players who've tried to hold us hostage in contract negotiations lately.

As I've already asked you twice, what do you mean by this anyway? Is keeping him here on his current contract, which is entirely feasible considering he has a running contract, nobody knowing the details of the release clause and him possibly wanting to stay even if it did exist and could be triggered, "busting the bank"? If so, yes, definitely. Is entering talks with him to renew and extend his contract "busting the bank"? Then yes, I would also like us to do that. If the club manages to secure a new deal that gets rid of the release clause and commits a very good player to us for the foreseeable future without paying the player more than we deem him worth, and the player his happy to commit to such a new deal, then I don't see the problem. If as you suggest he is actually unhappy (without any evidence to support this statement might I add) then he is at liberty to not enter negotiations with us for a new deal, have his agent try and get other clubs trigger the release clause, etc. The scenario where we "bust the bank" and end up with an unhappy player is an impossibility if you ask me, unless you don't trust the club to do the right thing, which is very much unlike you.. Edit: not even going into the details of the formation (discussed at length already) and injury proneness (irrelevant without knowing the details) all i've said is that if the current rumours (ie 7million) are true than I can see him being away. i believe pardew when he says it's not about the money for him. Just like you are guessing as to the reasons for his poorer form so am I and we are arriving at different conclusions Im not saying we should be looking to get rid, I've never said that. I hope you are right. we'll see come september. So what was the "bust the bank" statement all about?

As I've already asked you twice, what do you mean by this anyway? Is keeping him here on his current contract, which is entirely feasible considering he has a running contract, nobody knowing the details of the release clause and him possibly wanting to stay even if it did exist and could be triggered, "busting the bank"? If so, yes, definitely. Is entering talks with him to renew and extend his contract "busting the bank"? Then yes, I would also like us to do that. If the club manages to secure a new deal that gets rid of the release clause and commits a very good player to us for the foreseeable future without paying the player more than we deem him worth, and the player his happy to commit to such a new deal, then I don't see the problem. If as you suggest he is actually unhappy (without any evidence to support this statement might I add) then he is at liberty to not enter negotiations with us for a new deal, have his agent try and get other clubs trigger the release clause, etc. The scenario where we "bust the bank" and end up with an unhappy player is an impossibility if you ask me, unless you don't trust the club to do the right thing, which is very much unlike you.. Edit: not even going into the details of the formation (discussed at length already) and injury proneness (irrelevant without knowing the details)

he played, and everyone has been saying how he doesn't look fit or happy. as the seasons went on he's looked less happy so i guess it'll come down to his happiness as opposed to anything we do. i don't want us busting the bank to keep a player who may not suit our preferred formation and has injury worries. It's amazing that now he's on a goal draught, how people are finding reasons to put him down. Where's all this "break the bank coming from" and despite whatever "injury worries" label that he seems to be stuck with, I don't remember him bing out for any significant amount of time. As for his role in the 433, he was very close to scoring in quite a few of those games (remember him hitting the bar/post at least 3x) and even without scoring, he played well in majority of those games. If anything this is the time for the club/fans to support him so that he can regain the confidence to hit top form again it's not the drought that i've noticed, it's that earlier ion the season everything that came to him stuck and his control was phenomenal. not so of late and it's been getting worse. fatigue, confidence whatever it's been very noticeable. As alpal78 rightly suggests though, is that not when you'd expect a club/manager/supporters to stand by the player and help him get back to his previous form? i am, i've said three times i want him to stay. still think he'll be off as he wants to be a first choice front line striker which he won't be here. You also said this:

he played, and everyone has been saying how he doesn't look fit or happy. as the seasons went on he's looked less happy so i guess it'll come down to his happiness as opposed to anything we do. i don't want us busting the bank to keep a player who may not suit our preferred formation and has injury worries. It's amazing that now he's on a goal draught, how people are finding reasons to put him down. Where's all this "break the bank coming from" and despite whatever "injury worries" label that he seems to be stuck with, I don't remember him bing out for any significant amount of time. As for his role in the 433, he was very close to scoring in quite a few of those games (remember him hitting the bar/post at least 3x) and even without scoring, he played well in majority of those games. If anything this is the time for the club/fans to support him so that he can regain the confidence to hit top form again it's not the drought that i've noticed, it's that earlier ion the season everything that came to him stuck and his control was phenomenal. not so of late and it's been getting worse. fatigue, confidence whatever it's been very noticeable. As alpal78 rightly suggests though, is that not when you'd expect a club/manager/supporters to stand by the player and help him get back to his previous form?

Heh? I've given four reason that may or may not have contributed to the fall in performances, which has also been greatly exaggerated as I've argued, rather than just the one that gets trotted around here all the time (change of formation). How is the change of formation theory any more probable than any (combination of the) other possibility(/ies)? Efit: just seen your edit. You're now saying exactly the same thing as me..

he played, and everyone has been saying how he doesn't look fit or happy. as the seasons went on he's looked less happy so i guess it'll come down to his happiness as opposed to anything we do. i don't want us busting the bank to keep a player who may not suit our preferred formation and has injury worries. If he's not happy why would he entertain the idea of a new contract (which I think is where you're going at with the "busting the bank to keep a player..." statement?), or even come out inviting interested parties to trigger the supposed release clause? As far as I am concerned Pardew is doing the right thing: try to make him feel wanted and committed to the club. If it fails and he leaves (which isn't unlikely unfortunately), by all means move on and try to make us a stronger team by getting in a replacement better suited to the wide role in 4-3-2, but until then why would we be actively trying to get rid of one of the best forwards in the past Premiership season who we got for free on a relatively low wage? i'm not actively trying to get rid of him, i've said a couple of times of my last few posts that I want him to stay, but that I think he'll choose otherwise. Wasn't aimed at you specifically that last point.. However, I still fail to understand your breaking the bank/happiness argument. He's tied down to us, isn't he? It appears whether the wil be here come the 1st of September is not completely in our control (if the release clause rumour is true), but why should we not do everything in our power to keep him happy and committed? as i just posted, if a players not happy for footballing reasons then i don't want him staying just for the cash. I'm not too sold on him and cisse in a front 3, it might work but i'm not sure, if ba thinks not that's what'll see him leave imo. What makes you think he's unhappy for footballing reasons, when he's publicly stated the opposite? recent performances,pardews comments and players,when asked, always say they are happy, or even nothing wrong with the club (ie they haven't done anything wrong) but this current position isn't working. anyhow, we'll see by september. How is it not working? Have our results been disappointing when he's played in that wide left position? Has the fluidity of that system not meant all 3 forwards have essentially played all over the front line in matches? Has Demba Ba himself not had some very good goalscoring chances? OK, he's not scored for a while, I'll grant you that, but he's missed some sitters (including a pen), hit the woodwork multiple times and been a key part of the best attacking play we've seen for many a season. It's not like you to be all drama queen btw. You're normally one of the more balanced posters. Did you not take your chill pill this morning? he may well feel it's not working for him, don't you think his performances haven't been as good since the change in formation/tactics, coupled with what may be my reading between the lines of pardews comments. like i've said, don't want him to go so lets wait and see. His performances have tailed off towards the end of the season, no doubt. However, I don't subscribe to the notion that this is entirely caused by our change in formation/tactics. The African Cup of Nations played its part, breaking up his rhythm and maybe knocking his confidence by going out losing all three of their matches after being touted as one of the favourites to win the tournament. Fatigue played a significant role in the later stages of the season, as evidenced by the frequent second half substitutions. The fact another striker came in (possibly even on his recommendation) and stole his thunder in spectacular fashion undoubtedly had an effect. And of course the change in formation contributed to the drop in performances as well. In the 4-4-2 formation where he was coupled to Shola and Best we had a battering ram to do the hard work allowing him to take the headlines. However, I don't think the change of formation has meant he has had a significantly lower number of chances per game. He was very clinical for the first part of the season (after a rusty start during Ramadan), then completely lost his finishing touch in the second half of the season due to a multitude of reasons (see above). The goals dried up, but the chances didn't. Also, while he has stopped scoring, he hasn't stopped playing good football until the last few matches of the season (coincidentally when we moved back to the 4-4-2; a switch some claim was meant specifically to accomodate him). He was pivotal in making that 4-3-3 work, and his intelligence and control of the ball has contributed massively to our excellent run for the last third of the season. What all this this proves to me is Demba Ba is very much a confidence player. When he's confident he's one of the best in the business, but his confidence is also fragile and a number of events coinciding have had an averse effect on his performances. All in all though, he's still had a fantastic season far beyond what anybody could have expected from him when he arrived here on a free last summer. I trust Pardew to manage him right if he decides to stay (be it with a new contract or not) and him to be a key player for us next season just like he has been this time around.

he played, and everyone has been saying how he doesn't look fit or happy. as the seasons went on he's looked less happy so i guess it'll come down to his happiness as opposed to anything we do. i don't want us busting the bank to keep a player who may not suit our preferred formation and has injury worries. If he's not happy why would he entertain the idea of a new contract (which I think is where you're going at with the "busting the bank to keep a player..." statement?), or even come out inviting interested parties to trigger the supposed release clause? As far as I am concerned Pardew is doing the right thing: try to make him feel wanted and committed to the club. If it fails and he leaves (which isn't unlikely unfortunately), by all means move on and try to make us a stronger team by getting in a replacement better suited to the wide role in 4-3-2, but until then why would we be actively trying to get rid of one of the best forwards in the past Premiership season who we got for free on a relatively low wage? i'm not actively trying to get rid of him, i've said a couple of times of my last few posts that I want him to stay, but that I think he'll choose otherwise. Wasn't aimed at you specifically that last point.. However, I still fail to understand your breaking the bank/happiness argument. He's tied down to us, isn't he? It appears whether the wil be here come the 1st of September is not completely in our control (if the release clause rumour is true), but why should we not do everything in our power to keep him happy and committed? as i just posted, if a players not happy for footballing reasons then i don't want him staying just for the cash. I'm not too sold on him and cisse in a front 3, it might work but i'm not sure, if ba thinks not that's what'll see him leave imo. What makes you think he's unhappy for footballing reasons, when he's publicly stated the opposite? recent performances,pardews comments and players,when asked, always say they are happy, or even nothing wrong with the club (ie they haven't done anything wrong) but this current position isn't working. anyhow, we'll see by september. How is it not working? Have our results been disappointing when he's played in that wide left position? Has the fluidity of that system not meant all 3 forwards have essentially played all over the front line in matches? Has Demba Ba himself not had some very good goalscoring chances? OK, he's not scored for a while, I'll grant you that, but he's missed some sitters (including a pen), hit the woodwork multiple times and been a key part of the best attacking play we've seen for many a season. It's not like you to be all drama queen btw. You're normally one of the more balanced posters. Did you not take your chill pill this morning?

(aimed at Des Cahill (whomever he is), not you..

he played, and everyone has been saying how he doesn't look fit or happy. as the seasons went on he's looked less happy so i guess it'll come down to his happiness as opposed to anything we do. i don't want us busting the bank to keep a player who may not suit our preferred formation and has injury worries. If he's not happy why would he entertain the idea of a new contract (which I think is where you're going at with the "busting the bank to keep a player..." statement?), or even come out inviting interested parties to trigger the supposed release clause? As far as I am concerned Pardew is doing the right thing: try to make him feel wanted and committed to the club. If it fails and he leaves (which isn't unlikely unfortunately), by all means move on and try to make us a stronger team by getting in a replacement better suited to the wide role in 4-3-2, but until then why would we be actively trying to get rid of one of the best forwards in the past Premiership season who we got for free on a relatively low wage? i'm not actively trying to get rid of him, i've said a couple of times of my last few posts that I want him to stay, but that I think he'll choose otherwise. Wasn't aimed at you specifically that last point.. However, I still fail to understand your breaking the bank/happiness argument. He's tied down to us, isn't he? It appears whether the wil be here come the 1st of September is not completely in our control (if the release clause rumour is true), but why should we not do everything in our power to keep him happy and committed? as i just posted, if a players not happy for footballing reasons then i don't want him staying just for the cash. I'm not too sold on him and cisse in a front 3, it might work but i'm not sure, if ba thinks not that's what'll see him leave imo. What makes you think he's unhappy for footballing reasons, when he's publicly stated the opposite?

he played, and everyone has been saying how he doesn't look fit or happy. as the seasons went on he's looked less happy so i guess it'll come down to his happiness as opposed to anything we do. i don't want us busting the bank to keep a player who may not suit our preferred formation and has injury worries. If he's not happy why would he entertain the idea of a new contract (which I think is where you're going at with the "busting the bank to keep a player..." statement?), or even come out inviting interested parties to trigger the supposed release clause? As far as I am concerned Pardew is doing the right thing: try to make him feel wanted and committed to the club. If it fails and he leaves (which isn't unlikely unfortunately), by all means move on and try to make us a stronger team by getting in a replacement better suited to the wide role in 4-3-2, but until then why would we be actively trying to get rid of one of the best forwards in the past Premiership season who we got for free on a relatively low wage? i'm not actively trying to get rid of him, i've said a couple of times of my last few posts that I want him to stay, but that I think he'll choose otherwise. Wasn't aimed at you specifically that last point.. However, I still fail to understand your breaking the bank/happiness argument. He's tied down to us, isn't he? It appears whether the wil be here come the 1st of September is not completely in our control (if the release clause rumour is true), but why should we not do everything in our power to keep him happy and committed?

he played, and everyone has been saying how he doesn't look fit or happy. as the seasons went on he's looked less happy so i guess it'll come down to his happiness as opposed to anything we do. i don't want us busting the bank to keep a player who may not suit our preferred formation and has injury worries. If he's not happy why would he entertain the idea of a new contract (which I think is where you're going at with the "busting the bank to keep a player..." statement?), or even come out inviting interested parties to trigger the supposed release clause? As far as I am concerned Pardew is doing the right thing: try to make him feel wanted and committed to the club. If it fails and he leaves (which isn't unlikely unfortunately), by all means move on and try to make us a stronger team by getting in a replacement better suited to the wide role in 4-3-2, but until then why would we be actively trying to get rid of one of the best forwards in the past Premiership season who we got for free on a relatively low wage?

I see your point, however from that reported 7 million we would supposedly only get half. Also, his reported wages are quite low compared to other 15+ goal a season forwards. I cannot see us replacing him with a player of similar quality without having to shell out significantly more on transfer fees, signing fees and wages. He has a contract for another 2 years, so if we are even thinking along those lines, why not do it next summer? Of course, all this is from our perspective. If the clause rumours are true we may not have a choice, but that's a completely different discussion which I think may be influencing people's thought process regarding our summer plans..

You're not alone. He was a pivotal cog in that 4-3-3 formation that saw us go on a 6 match winning run. Anybody advocating selling him (by choice) needs their heads checked.

Agreed I got raped on here for saying such things a couple of weeks ago

They've renamed the KKK thread: The Kenny Dalglish Discussion (*) - Post A Rumour and Get A Week Off Free

Very easy for you for the next seven days at least. Next?

The sig from the RAWK forum nazi explains a lot:

Went over to see what they're saying about it on RAWK, but silly me, I should have known they wouldn't been allowed to discuss it. It really is 1938 Germany over there. How does anyone be arsed to post on that forum when the mods are a bunch of up their own arse nazis that decide peoples opinions and thoughts for them? They're mental.. WTF

Damn! Hope not.

Which papers?

He's also 28 and I presume on a very decent wedge for a player of such limited ability. Suits the mackems to a tee..