Dr Venkman

It wasn't an absolute disaster. Although it didn't end well we also had a few seasons that we could only dream off now.. because when john hall handed the reigns to fred we were a very good team, we got progressively worse under shepherd, souness, roeder, allardyce. people really need to remember what an idiot shepherd was, ashleys tennure so far has been shit, but dont even try and pretend that it means shepherd was good for the club once he was promoted.

we're rubbish but that doesnt mean shepherd is devoid of all blame. his time as chairman (not major shareholder, whatever, he was the 'man at the top') was an absolute disaster, stop pretending it wasnt.

i'm going tomorrow and i'm really looking forward to everything except the football

well i've always said that if he's manager next season i wont be giving the club another penny until ashleys gone, kinnear saying this doesnt sway me either way, i'll decide when renewal time comes along

i was in some awful pain right there, davey standing like partridge

It's called "warming up" - you should try it next time...it might stop you being so useless for the first half of the match i dunno like, i've seen nicky butt 'warming up' before every match for 3 years

i remember thinking appointing sammy lee was the worst decision i've ever seen in my life, does that count for anything?

are you saying that what I've posted isn't correct ?

Then why do the likes of KK, Capello, Wenger and Ferguson always bleat on about confidence? Aye, Owen scored at the weekend. What happenned? we f***ed it up. Not going to do his confidence good one iota. And its not just about confidence in ones own ability, it is about confidence in the team, and if Owen doesn't have confidence in his team mates, he is not going to have the full mentality to consistently put the ball in the back of the net. confidence doesnt eradicate quality a lack of confidence diminishes a players quality, i cant see how there can even be any argument against that. Might diminish it, but it doesnt eradicate it, the chances tonight were simple, put on a plate for him. exactly, he is physically able to do it and do it often, so why did he miss them tonight? and perhaps even more tellingly why did xisco miss a sitter too? because sometimes you miss. even the best players have moments when the even the basice evade them. absolutely, but that isnt justification for dismissing a lack of confidence as a reason

The setup evidently still doesn't work by any stretch of the imagination if that is the actual series of events. i see where you're coming from but it depends on your definition of work, doesnt it? if we end up improving the squad then surely thats the ultimate test? not the series of events? It's on the verge of collapse at all times if that's what is required every time the manager wants a meeting, or to get a budget. just business isnt it? managers go to money men for more cash in plenty of areas, just the way of the world. anyway thats by the by, my point is if we improve the squad i dont think it matters how we get there. i.m.o. As billytray says though, why are we halfway into the only chance to amend the squad and relying on our manager whinging to them before they sort out the details? You're right in that the quality of the squad is the most important thing, but it concerns me hugely that they appear to have learnt nothing from the Keegan debacle. We're just lucky Kinnear is so desperate for this chance he'd not dream of walking out. regarding your first sentence if i was to give the benefit of the doubt i'd say because ashley is trying to run the club without spending too much money and being 'responsible'. or i could just say he's a tight cunt. i dont know. the reason i keep coming back to improving the squad being the ultimate test is because post allardyce i've been happy with our transfer policy tbh and i dont see any reason why they wont continue in the same way. its my last shred of optimism tbh.

Then why do the likes of KK, Capello, Wenger and Ferguson always bleat on about confidence? Aye, Owen scored at the weekend. What happenned? we fucked it up. Not going to do his confidence good one iota. And its not just about confidence in ones own ability, it is about confidence in the team, and if Owen doesn't have confidence in his team mates, he is not going to have the full mentality to consistently put the ball in the back of the net. confidence doesnt eradicate quality a lack of confidence diminishes a players quality, i cant see how there can even be any argument against that. Might diminish it, but it doesnt eradicate it, the chances tonight were simple, put on a plate for him. exactly, he is physically able to do it and do it often, so why did he miss them tonight? and perhaps even more tellingly why did xisco miss a sitter too?

Then why do the likes of KK, Capello, Wenger and Ferguson always bleat on about confidence? Aye, Owen scored at the weekend. What happenned? we fucked it up. Not going to do his confidence good one iota. And its not just about confidence in ones own ability, it is about confidence in the team, and if Owen doesn't have confidence in his team mates, he is not going to have the full mentality to consistently put the ball in the back of the net. confidence doesnt eradicate quality a lack of confidence diminishes a players quality, i cant see how there can even be any argument against that.

how much of your money are you risking ? I dont see what your point is, am I the owner of NUFC? We need a new central midfielder worth at least £8million, never mind our whole budget being £8million. So it's not possible to buy a good midfielder for less than £8 million? In todays market? I wouldnt bank on them being much better than what we already have considering this budget will be split amongst at least 2 signings. depends where you shop I would say, if you want Premiership proven then you will have to pay the going rate but there's plenty of talented players kicking around Europe if you know where to look. Sounds easy, have you emailed the club? Not sure what point you're trying to make tbh, are you saying we couldn't pick up a better midfielder than Butt in France for £4 million? NUFC clearly don't believe so. Why's that? Because they haven't done it? Instead they've offered Butt a new contract and given Ameobi one. shudder

The setup evidently still doesn't work by any stretch of the imagination if that is the actual series of events. i see where you're coming from but it depends on your definition of work, doesnt it? if we end up improving the squad then surely thats the ultimate test? not the series of events? It's on the verge of collapse at all times if that's what is required every time the manager wants a meeting, or to get a budget. just business isnt it? managers go to money men for more cash in plenty of areas, just the way of the world. anyway thats by the by, my point is if we improve the squad i dont think it matters how we get there. i.m.o.

The setup evidently still doesn't work by any stretch of the imagination if that is the actual series of events. i see where you're coming from but it depends on your definition of work, doesnt it? if we end up improving the squad then surely thats the ultimate test? not the series of events?

so its loans, then kinnear says he got ash and lam in for talks, and today we've bid for players? whats the problem?

Was just thinking that. Fucking hell that Guthrie cross late on put it on a plate for him. I make it six gilt-edged chances over the two ties. Not fucking good enough. Sign of a side lacking in confidence more than anything else. Only one man is responsible for the apparent lack of it. Owen missing half a dozen great chances is because of the side lacking in confidence? Righto. Including himself. If he had the confidence he'd be banging them in. Think back to this time last year - what did Keegan say the problem was? Lack of confidence. Well he bought the confidence back, and this bunch of players looked top quality. New (good) manager equals more confidence equals better performances equals better results. At the end of the day, the board have two responsibilities - managerial appointments and investment, and they need to sort the former out first, as he's not going to get the players playing above 50% their best, making any investment in new personnel completely pointless. i agree and thats exactly what i was thinking while watching the highlights

all about who he's replaced with really

Mad, i will be 41, when this game takes place, whilst im not overweight, i cant run anymore,..i hadnt played, im not kidding 11 a side since 1990, its worth it for that one moment in the match, when you get the opportunity to get the old magic out and show these young boys how its done. jay jay sea is that you?

if we're seriously gonna do that i'm gonna need 6 months warning, no way am i turning up to that not properly fit

yeah i thats why i said except stephen. to my knowledge there was only one un-registered player and that was toby?

glad i'll be at blackburn to see his debut hat-trick

regarding 27 people being interested i would suggest the following. those who took part in the first one get a starting place (maybe excluding stephen? plenty of time for subs to get on as we discovered at the last one) and those who let us down on the day without a decent explanation are blacklisted, namely jawesome and pegasus bridge.

Think Cafu without the tracking back. Fitness programme started today, training with a Sports Development Student mate of mine, Jesus christ he actually wants me to vomit. some tracking forward would've done

funnily enough taylor thinks he'll be at arsenal or liverpool within a year