Raconteur

Can you provide any evidence of this? Not that I endorse Big Geordie's position (in fact I liked quayside's post on the previous page), but BG is posing the question rather than saying that is what Ashley plans to do. I agree that "asset strip" is a phrase the haters use to freely - if you want to talk about ripping money out of the club, let's get Merlin in to talk about the dividends Shepherd payed himself even when the club was losing money... If, in years to come, we post profits through selling players and replacing them with shite, and Ashley takes those profits, THEN he is asset stripping...

Great story

I'll assume for your username that you're not a troll who supports another club. And I'll also assume from the doggedness of your responses that you're not some idiot WUM. Firstly, Andy Cole left 16 years ago. Andy Carroll left eight weeks ago. One was here for three years. The other was a Geordie. Never mind apples and oranges, you're comparing apples with poo. Secondly, your use of ALEGEDLY implies that you're one of those who believe that Ashley pulled a Jedi mind trick on poor Andy and convinced him to give up a loyalty payment rumoured to be worth £3 million - because no one has satisfactorily explained why Carroll didn't deny the transfer request hapened, or why he would cast himself as the bad guy (and lose that cash) to be Mike Ashley's pawn in some pantomime played for the fans. I don't hope he breaks his legs - he can recover from that in less than a year. Actually, maybe a David Busst style break would do the trick...

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/1859/josh.gif If we're signing immobile, past it donkeys to lump it long to, I'd rather we brought Jan Koller out of retirement - he'd be on a free, too, and probably wouldn't ask for huge wages. And he'd still be better than Zigic.

Yep, that was my first thought too. The club isn't worth anything like £300 million, but there's no way Ashley is selling for a penny less. Like him or loathe him, we're stuck with Mike Ashley... I don't think we can put too much stock in these numbers, though; the Championship season was always going to be a disaster financially. Total debt, revenue, wage-to-turnover et al are all significantly different only nine months later. The figures released in twelve months time (ie this season's figures) will be the really interesting ones - even before you think about the Carroll cash...

No way! Worst player is least talented - if you factor in fees or wages or reputation then you're not talking about worst player but worst signing... Wrong! You can pay top money but still the player could still be rubbish with little talent at all. But generally there's a connection between talent/skills on the pitch and money paid. But Boumsong, Luque, Xisco, and Owen are prime examples of the opposite. Those kind of players are the worst, because not only are they shit on the pitch, they also tie up enormous amount of capital which results in a club that cannot afford recruiting replacements. In other words there are two subjects that could be discussed. One: Who was the LEAST TALENTED player. Focus is on football SKILLS only. Two: Who was the worst player OVERALL. Focus will then be on salary, transfer sum, talent, performance on the pitch and behavior. A simple question that could be used as a primer is: Which player has hurt the club the most? Unless the nominator specify which one of these categories he has in mind, people will never agree. Anyways, I don't give a shit about players like Loven. yes he's inferior. But he's not the main causes of all our recent problems. He was free and is not paid much. In other words, I have category two in mind when I state that Owen is the biggest cunt ever to be associated with this club in modern times Is English your second language? Is that why you have an inability to understand the nuance of the language? Despite your patronising efforts, you are still confusing worst player with worst signing. Dresden doesn't need to clarify his question - he asked who the worst players in the club's recent history, and you have answered with the worst signing. In effect, you're making up your own question. Make no mistake, Michael Owen might very well be the worst signing the club has ever made - in fact, I'm struggling to think of a worse signing. But if you're seriously telling me that Owen was a worse player than Matty Pattison, then you need to go back to school.

Cue an article in a few days time where he claims to have been misquoted (or a translation error)

No way! Worst player is least talented - if you factor in fees or wages or reputation then you're not talking about worst player but worst signing... it still cant be løvenkrands.... Never said it was - I plumped for one of Pattison, Ramage or Huntington. If I had to pick one it would probably be Pattison

No way! Worst player is least talented - if you factor in fees or wages or reputation then you're not talking about worst player but worst signing...

I'm convinced Perch is a real chance of starting in CM. Nothing to support that, of course, more a sense of dread...

For a supposed top international nation our forward line is absolutely turgid. Who supposes that England is a top international nation? The only people who even think that are the same red tops that sabotage their World Cup and European Championship campaigns... That said, there was a time that England's strikeforce truly was world class, but decades since that could be said about the team as a whole

Any of Roeder's kids (Pattison, Ramage or Huntington) if you take "worst" to mean worst and not some bullshit effort/talent to fee/wages equation. Yes, the likes of Owen, Luque, Smith and Boumsong were terrible signings but by no means the "worst players in the recent club history".

Don't think Perch is that bad. He's got to be a chance of playing CM against Wolves too...

Which should be Kadar - if he wasn't made of glass...

I'm with you - every time I see this thread bumped I hope to read he's gotten into trouble at a Scouse nightclub, or Gerrard has snapped his legs in training. Instead I'm reading about his former punching bag

Really? Yup, he (and Bullard) played against Leeds - they must have some magic water at Ipswich to get those two sicknotes starting at the same time...

Dyer to Ipswich on a month's loan.

And the #10 to Jose Enrique to cconvince him to stay?

Which part specifically is rubbish?

This is why I voted that he'd be sacked - if the supporters aren't satisfied with player investment in the summer, the backlash against Ashley could be translated into lower attendances, and when combined with disappointing results (caused by yet another season of a thin, inadequate squad) Ashley will pull the trigger in a foolish attempt to deflect the supporter anger against him...

To be honest, I did ref an under 9 match once (about 20 years ago) and realised it's not for me! The way those parents screamed in protest for even the most flagrant foul being pulled up - I remember it like yesterday... I can't even imagine officiating in front of 50,000 baying fans. I always said you had to be a masochist to be a goalkeeper, well, referees take it to a whole new level!

I don't see how you can draw any such inferences from the five lines I posted, what a ridiculous post. You don't play as many matches in the Premier League if you're as unfit as you claim Nolan to be. Pull your head in.

In ten years time one player will be able to say he made the most of his career while the other will have a fat wallet and dreams of what might have been. Which do you think is which? Some of the praise Dyer has received here reads EXACTLY like the criticism Gutierrez gets - not many goals or assists but is an important part of our attack due to his pace and dribbling... Both are inconsistent and frustrating yet one is lauded while the other is castigated!

Surely he's waiting for the likes of Sol Campbell to be available on a free in the summer? Maybe he'll bring back Sami Hyypia while he's at it...

I'll never forget when Harry Kewell (who weighs four- fifths of fuck all and has the strength of a gnat) knocked Rio off the ball before going on to score in an Australia v England friendly many moons ago. I couldn't believe "one of the best defenders in the world" could be brushed aside by a flyweight...