Minhosa

Then Ashley wouldn't be here so the argument would be pointless.

If you're consistently told you're not able to compete, from all areas of the club, you''ll eventually accept it.

Fingers crossed. Good point that. Is it ?. JFK bought the two players who have given us two of our best moments. Ryan 'over the wall' Taylor. Kevin 'hat trick in the 5-1' Nolan. Is his judgement on a player that bad........... It is when he called up trying to sign Elizabeth Taylor and the Nolans Sisters for his 60th Birthday bash.

I like it when the beat goes da na da na Luuk came to score goals go da na da na We know you wanna give us a show da na da na De Jong, De Jong, De Jong I like it when the beat goes da na da na Luuk came to score goals go da na da na The Jong, De Jong, De Jong. Sisqo - Thong Song - 1999.

risk/reward I guess. They're clearly after the big money and have developed a strategy around that. Obviously it doesn't always work (Redknapp, AVB, Capoue etc) but at least they have a sell. Their fans probably broadly get their 'modus operandi'. I just begrudge that Ashley's isn't football or competition related. It's a crying shame for a football club from a football area. That's basically it, Spurs were floating around basically like us at the moment, up and down then it seems Levy just thought fuck it, let's back Redknapp to the fullest and just go for it. They ended up in the champions league and now some were even saying with the signings they made could challenge the title this year, wasn't to be but at least they have got themselves in a position now to even think that. I read somewhere that Kinnear put a bit in the program saying 1/2 signings a year is what we should expect but i can't possibly see how that could ever work for a football in the Premier League. I don't even think that's enough to sit pretty in the mid table without something going tragically wrong sooner or later. Even with the saviour signings last Jan, we still nearly committed suicide, not out of the realms of possibility that next time we do actually go down. If we don’t invest this summer, we may as well just stop dreaming.

This is the thing which proves it's all about dollar for Ashley. I see no reason why we couldn't have said to PSG.........you want Cabaye for £20m and we've been told £12m for Clems. We'll get Clems and you pay £8m more than whatever we pay for his replacement. If the board were concerned about the football team, this is the approach they would've adopted. As this ensures consistency and gives us a chance of progression. Failure to bring in a suitable replacement damages the football team through to May, at the very least. Not that they give a fuck.

Some people would argue that the reason is less money. I'm not saying we're spending enough, I don't really know how much is acceptable. I agree with you in principle, I would love to just say "fuck it, we're NUFC, we're the best club in the world" because that's what every fan wants to believe. It's not even that though Ian. It's like the Man City game back at the start of the season. That was an absolute given that we'd get humped and, a large part of that imho, is this ethos around the club that we're not as good as other people. Well how can these other 'smaller' teams give them a game? It's negative, it's defeatist and I don't think we should have to listen to it. It's not about being the best team in the world or winning every game, it's about putting your best 11 players on the pitch and instilling in them the believe that we can give better teams a game.

What do you mean "within their grasp" though? They've done well so far, nobody could deny that. But would they put themselves into massive debt to go from 10th to 4th? I just think sometimes how brilliant other clubs are is massively exaggerated on here. But meh. Interesting to see if Man Utd or Chelsea manage to get Luke Shaw as well. Interesting to see Spurs sign all of their replacements BEFORE the Bale sale was completed. The Luke Shaw thing becomes irrelevant if the club are on an upward projectory. Ask Saints fans what they think of their club right now and I'm sure the general mood would be positive in terms of application from the manager and playing staff and general progress. They are playing good football whilst investing money and generally improving in league position. Same with Everton. Why can't we? Obviously Southampton fans will be very pleased, maybe less so now Cortese has walked. And they're on an upward trajectory for sure, but my question is how far they will push it. Remains to be seen I guess. I don't think that's the question though. For me, the question is 'are they pushing to improve every season with a view to breaking into the top 4?'. I could get on board with that. At least they're trying. We finished 5th yet they play better football, seem to have a very good young manager and appear to have a committed Board. If we can do it, why can't they? Fair points, I'm just saying that they are doing well up to a point. And I am jealous of the football they try to play for sure. Why can't we do it? I guess because we have an owner who's not capable of spotting and appointing a manager like Pochettino. But I would add the caveat, Southampton's progress might well turn out to have an upper-mid-table ceiling just like a lot of other clubs' has. (Also the most important member of their board has just walked, and the owners want out) The owner situation would obviously be a massive worry, as it would for most clubs who've done well lately, I guess. As for their ceiling, it's hard to tell and very much depends on themselves in the same way it does Everton and others. I fucking hate this dumbing down of our club though. This notion that we can't compete with other, bigger clubs? Why not? Because we choose not to, that's why. That's what's unacceptable imho.

risk/reward I guess. They're clearly after the big money and have developed a strategy around that. Obviously it doesn't always work (Redknapp, AVB, Capoue etc) but at least they have a sell. Their fans probably broadly get their 'modus operandi'. I just begrudge that Ashley's isn't football or competition related. It's a crying shame for a football club from a football area.

It's good news that JFK hasn't scuppered these deals, but also a big worry that we don't seem to have done any that weren't in place before he arrived. Maybe he's not as completely incompetent as he seems, can only hope I suppose. Very true that he's not brought anything new to the table but then I would always have accepted damage limitation as far as that flacid cock is concerned. With any luck he can maintain a low profile before retiring, either from work or from life. Oh aye, me too. In many ways it's the best case scenario if does nothing. Just hope there is someone at the club who can do deals. I guess Carr is the key still. Carr and that Charnley bloke apparently.

What do you mean "within their grasp" though? They've done well so far, nobody could deny that. But would they put themselves into massive debt to go from 10th to 4th? I just think sometimes how brilliant other clubs are is massively exaggerated on here. But meh. Interesting to see if Man Utd or Chelsea manage to get Luke Shaw as well. Interesting to see Spurs sign all of their replacements BEFORE the Bale sale was completed. The Luke Shaw thing becomes irrelevant if the club are on an upward projectory. Ask Saints fans what they think of their club right now and I'm sure the general mood would be positive in terms of application from the manager and playing staff and general progress. They are playing good football whilst investing money and generally improving in league position. Same with Everton. Why can't we? Obviously Southampton fans will be very pleased, maybe less so now Cortese has walked. And they're on an upward trajectory for sure, but my question is how far they will push it. Remains to be seen I guess. I don't think that's the question though. For me, the question is 'are they pushing to improve every season with a view to breaking into the top 4?'. I could get on board with that. At least they're trying. We finished 5th yet they play better football, seem to have a very good young manager and appear to have a committed Board. If we can do it, why can't they?

What do you mean "within their grasp" though? They've done well so far, nobody could deny that. But would they put themselves into massive debt to go from 10th to 4th? I just think sometimes how brilliant other clubs are is massively exaggerated on here. But meh. Interesting to see if Man Utd or Chelsea manage to get Luke Shaw as well. Aye, the likes of established sides like Everton and Spurs are bankrupting themselves trying to break into the top 4. Spurs took massive gambles. They were throwing huge sums of money around without really being in a position to afford that. Paid off in the end though. Everton have got there on good management rather than spending power. Something Ashley just overlooks. You say that, but they very obviously could afford it. What happens if the Bale sale falls through? So what, they're still sitting on £000'm's of assets to sell off if they really have to OR worst case is that they keep him, they add a load of players and they achieve a top 4 space to fund the whole splurge. Call me naive but I don't think Daniel Levy would risk the future of the club for the sake of a few extra players in the summer. Truth is, they and everyone else knew the Bale deal was happening and they proactively addressed it and planned for it. We all knew the Cabaye deal was happening and we'll have a last minute panic and then sit on the money. Tell's you everything you need to know about the commitment of the respective owners and why they are the game. One wants to compete and achieve and one wants to run an indirect Sports Direct marketing department, at a profit.

What do you mean "within their grasp" though? They've done well so far, nobody could deny that. But would they put themselves into massive debt to go from 10th to 4th? I just think sometimes how brilliant other clubs are is massively exaggerated on here. But meh. Interesting to see if Man Utd or Chelsea manage to get Luke Shaw as well. Interesting to see Spurs sign all of their replacements BEFORE the Bale sale was completed. The Luke Shaw thing becomes irrelevant if the club are on an upward projectory. Ask Saints fans what they think of their club right now and I'm sure the general mood would be positive in terms of application from the manager and playing staff and general progress. They are playing good football whilst investing money and generally improving in league position. Same with Everton. Why can't we?

It's good news that JFK hasn't scuppered these deals, but also a big worry that we don't seem to have done any that weren't in place before he arrived. Maybe he's not as completely incompetent as he seems, can only hope I suppose. Very true that he's not brought anything new to the table but then I would always have accepted damage limitation as far as that flacid cock is concerned. With any luck he can maintain a low profile before retiring, either from work or from life.

What makes this move a bit more interesting is that JFK is obviously applying whatever methodology he's being told to by Ashley to bring players in. This and the Remy deal were both effectively in place before Llambias departure, the players having been identified a long time ago. I suppose its good news that JFK doesn't have carte blanche with regard to this. No fears of a Hartson/Gary Breen double swoop over the next few days at least.

Sadly that's the case with a lot of viewpoints. Maybe we should all come and join you in La La Land with Tinky Winky and Po, eh Ian? Ashley could turn up in the middle of the night with JFK and spit roast your Mrs and you'd come on here to say it could've been worse, Llambias could've been there too. f***ing hell, we get that people have differing views but to take them to the extreme every time just makes you look like you're on a wind up/craving attention. It's bordering on mental this like lads... what have I said to make you think I believe everything's great? Or that I love either Ashley or JFK? It's actually like my posts exist in a parallel universe where everybody has a frontal lobotomy before being allowed to read. Everything that's not an outpouring of hate is put down as 'being in la-la land'. Genuinely worrying that this is how people form opinions. Whatever the scenario, whatever the general temperament and whatever the downside you consistently seek to spin it into a positive Ian. That's great but you're constant desire to turn s*** news, s*** decisions and s*** management into acceptance of our overall position in the big wide world of football is f***ing nauseating. I'm a NUFC fan who wants my team to compete on every single level, who wont accept not trying in cups, who wont accept anything other than maximum effort to achieve the highest place finish possible with the squad available to us and who absolutely detests being told that we can't compete or we can't match other clubs who are 'bigger'. f*** that, what's the point? This is a simple game of best 11 Vs best 11 and with the right set up and application, we can give any team in the world a game. Do you think we were the biggest club in the world when KK arrived the first time? We were on the cusp of extinction and within a few short years we were an absolute powerhouse, all driven along by total commitment and effort from those running the club. I hang on to that feel good factor not because we nearly won a title but because everyone believed that we could achieve great things. Don't make the mistake of thinking football has changed which locks NUFC out. It doesn't. We've changed. We've allowed ourselves to float along to virtual non-existence. I don't ever recall people crying because AC Milan might want one of our stars. I remember laughing at s*** like that because we believed in the bigger picture, in the general direction of the club. I don't see why we can't achieve this now if the current owner applied himself and gave the football club and it's fans something to shout about. You continue to accept the current situation if you wish, but I'll continue to demand better if it's all the same to you. The frustrating thing is that we are not even looking for stupid money to be thrown around the place. A lot of us criticised Freddy Shepherd for that. We are looking for decent investment, I wouldn't say Swansea or Soton were throwing money around in the summer but they invested in their squad, ok Swansea have struggled but thats not the point I am making, both teams have spent a decent amount of money to try and push on, it seems that Mike Ashley is happy with status quo as long as the status quo is in the top 10. Modest investment each transfer window could see us competing higher in the table. The league has been so open this season that if we kept Cabaye and added a few more players that we could even have an outside chance of a battle for 4th place. We are in a decent financial position, I like that we are more cautious with our funds these days, however, there is cautious and then there is a complete lack of ambition unfortunately we fall into the latter. Yeah - bang on. I'm certainly not looking for mega money to be spunked for the sake of it but even if there was a game plan, a broad vision of how he intends to run the club with a view to progressing at least we could buy in to it. The problem is, you can't buy in to standing still, hence the lack of communication, commitment or passion from the owner. Mike Ashley is running a business and not a football club. I'm not that interested in supporting a business, I want my football club to compete and at least try to win things. If that's not the point of competitive sport then we might as well all pack up and fuck off.

Sadly that's the case with a lot of viewpoints. Maybe we should all come and join you in La La Land with Tinky Winky and Po, eh Ian? Ashley could turn up in the middle of the night with JFK and spit roast your Mrs and you'd come on here to say it could've been worse, Llambias could've been there too. f***ing hell, we get that people have differing views but to take them to the extreme every time just makes you look like you're on a wind up/craving attention. It's bordering on mental this like lads... what have I said to make you think I believe everything's great? Or that I love either Ashley or JFK? It's actually like my posts exist in a parallel universe where everybody has a frontal lobotomy before being allowed to read. Everything that's not an outpouring of hate is put down as 'being in la-la land'. Genuinely worrying that this is how people form opinions. Whatever the scenario, whatever the general temperament and whatever the downside you consistently seek to spin it into a positive Ian. That's great but you're constant desire to turn shit news, shit decisions and shit management into acceptance of our overall position in the big wide world of football is fucking nauseating. I'm a NUFC fan who wants my team to compete on every single level, who wont accept not trying in cups, who wont accept anything other than maximum effort to achieve the highest place finish possible with the squad available to us and who absolutely detests being told that we can't compete or we can't match other clubs who are 'bigger'. Fuck that, what's the point? This is a simple game of best 11 Vs best 11 and with the right set up and application, we can give any team in the world a game. Do you think we were the biggest club in the world when KK arrived the first time? We were on the cusp of extinction and within a few short years we were an absolute powerhouse, all driven along by total commitment and effort from those running the club. I hang on to that feel good factor not because we nearly won a title but because everyone believed that we could achieve great things. Don't make the mistake of thinking football has changed which locks NUFC out. It doesn't. We've changed. We've allowed ourselves to float along to virtual non-existence. I don't ever recall people crying because AC Milan might want one of our stars. I remember laughing at shit like that because we believed in the bigger picture, in the general direction of the club. I don't see why we can't achieve this now if the current owner applied himself and gave the football club and it's fans something to shout about. You continue to accept the current situation if you wish, but I'll continue to demand better if it's all the same to you.

Has anyone seen much of him? What does he bring to the side? Carr seemed to fancy him before his Germany move, so this continued interest bodes well. He's obviously spent some time in Holland to pick up Anita and that's worked out well so hopeful LDJ has something about him to justify the interest.

Sadly that's the case with a lot of viewpoints. Maybe we should all come and join you in La La Land with Tinky Winky and Po, eh Ian? Ashley could turn up in the middle of the night with JFK and spit roast your Mrs and you'd come on here to say it could've been worse, Llambias could've been there too. Fucking hell, we get that people have differing views but to take them to the extreme every time just makes you look like you're on a wind up/craving attention.

Probably in France agreeing his terms and doing a pre-medical then.

Good post that from .com. Good summary at the end. Though the summer would be the time to judge the impact of such a sale. If renewal time comes and goes and the result is much the same that's a tacit confirmation that the club can ride roughshod.

They'll get their money back from Man U/Arsenal in the summer/12 months time. Yep - he'll not see out 2 years there and he'll be back to England to another top club.

Not bad if you believe that he only wanted a fee of£80m when he was gonna sell up a couple of years ago. Guess who............

Yay, we won at spreadsheets (________)o(___) I was talking to a friend of a friend in the pub the other day, talking about football. I was bemoaning our lack of ambition in the transfer window, how our expectations have been lowered so much the last few years, etc etc, and he started going on about how we've now got a much more sustainable wage bill, how it was once 85% of turnover, how now it's much more sensible and how with the new tv deal coming in, and commercial revenue on the rise, the figures look much better. I suddenly found myself reflecting that this must be how it would feel to be a supporter of, say, Marks and Spencer or WH Smiths or something, pleasure reduced to financial figures. Depressing. If it makes you feel any better, we would support 'The Officers Club' based upon that example. Yohan Cabaye was £147m this morning. Oh, don't get the impression WHS or M&S were chosen for any particular reason. This season for me seems most like hanging around outside Poundland, hoping they do one of those riot-causing half price sales. We employ a local hoodrat called Graham Carr and his job is to run into other stores when no one is watching and nick their best gear. We then flog it from our store for more money. Great, isn't it?

Yay, we won at spreadsheets (________)o(___) I was talking to a friend of a friend in the pub the other day, talking about football. I was bemoaning our lack of ambition in the transfer window, how our expectations have been lowered so much the last few years, etc etc, and he started going on about how we've now got a much more sustainable wage bill, how it was once 85% of turnover, how now it's much more sensible and how with the new tv deal coming in, and commercial revenue on the rise, the figures look much better. I suddenly found myself reflecting that this must be how it would feel to be a supporter of, say, Marks and Spencer or WH Smiths or something, pleasure reduced to financial figures. Depressing. If it makes you feel any better, we would support 'The Officers Club' based upon that example. Yohan Cabaye was £147m this morning.