afar

They need to buy Butland in the summer. This game is over.

wtf

Llanna barely looks like a footballer since he's come on. He's ahead of Shelvey in the England pecking order, lol.

This game has been killed by Salah injury, just a matter of time for Madrid now. Without Salah, that team looks distinctly average. They need to stop feeling sorry for themselves though, because it's one way traffic right now.

Having Wearside and Jack next to each other in that sentence is a little strange...

Can't wait to see Dier and Henderson ping the ball around at the world cup though guys, now that's what real football is all about.

I don't have a problem with him personally, he's did very well for himself (although his salary is ridiculous for the position he is in). He's obviously going to tow the party line and try t put things out there that support the owner. It's kind of a no win situation, Mort gets a lot of praise on here for his time in the role but it was a lot different at the time, the fan base hadn't gotten to know Ashley yet and we were still in the love boat mode with him, so the job of the MD in that situation is a lot easier as he's not have to defend the owner at every juncture.

I paid £21.60 for a 5 minute check up this morning like. My last visit about two weeks ago cost me $100 and I have a good insurance plan ! Every 4 months, I'm there for a cleaning, which I usually pay about $40 for. I'm not sure what percentage my insurance company pay probably around 75% - 90%, so you can see how expensive things are. I am in there for at least an hour a time. This time was my yearly check up, so they did x-rays and the actual dentist checked out my teeth rather than the hygienist, so it was a little costlier. I have 4 kids and a wife of course whom I have to pay for too naturally. They've recommended braces for my eldest, they cost $7,000 and the insurance companies pay only about 10% of that, she has one tooth that is a little out of place, I've told her to suck it up Honestly don't know how people without insurance can afford any dental work over here.

I'm sure we'll be willing to meet it Yeah, that's what I thought straight away, why even bring our name up with that kind of money being mentioned.

Jesus, I'm constantly fighting a battle over this side of the Atlantic with folks who make fun of British people's teeth. Mine are actually relatively straight, despite no braces, so I use myself as an example of the norm. But people like him don't make my job any easier, ffs dentists are practically free in England, go see one.

The Milan team that night was mental as well. Ha ha ha aye - I was looking before at the teams - absolutely incredible team! AC Milan: Dida, Cafu, Maldini, Stam, Nesta, Gattuso (Rui Costa 112), Seedorf (Serginho 86), Pirlo, Kaka, Shevchenko, Crespo (Tomasson 85). Subs Not Used: Abbiati, Kaladze, Costacurta, Dhorasoo. Goals: Maldini 1, Crespo 39, 44. Liverpool: Dudek, Finnan (Hamann 46), Traore, Hyypia, Carragher, Riise, Gerrard, Luis Garcia, Alonso, Kewell (Smicer 23), Baros (Cisse 85). Subs Not Used: Carson, Josemi, Nunez, Biscan. Booked: Carragher, Baros. Goals: Gerrard 54, Smicer 56, Alonso 59. When talking about the 2005 Champions League, a lot of people just focus on the final due to the drama associated with it. But if you study our run, you will realize that the entire campaign was one of the greatest managerial performances of all time. For example, we played Juventus in the quarter final and defeated them 2-1 in the first leg. Compare the teams. Carson, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Traore, Luis Garcia, Gerrard, Biscan, Riise, Le Tallec (Smicer 73), Baros (Nunez 66). vs Buffon, Zebina (Montero 81), Cannavaro, Thuram, Zambrotta, Blasi (Pessotto 45), Emerson, Camoranesi, Nedved, Del Piero (Trezeguet 61), Ibrahimovic. And then we knocked out Mourinho's record breaking Chelsea. Before that we defeated the Champions league finalist from previous year, Monaco, Deportivo ( who were CL semi finalist previous year), and a very decent Olympiakos team which had Rivaldo. If you believe the press, it was all back to the wall defending but it was not. For example, in the first 30 minutes in the home leg against Juve, we blitzed them. Once we got a two goal advantage, we sat back and frustrated them and attacked them on the counter. The second leg was 0-0 but we had the better chances to win. Without a doubt, among the top 10 greatest managerial performances in England. And the best part is, he then took a team with Peter Crouch upfront and Pennant on the wings to another CL final two years later. He has a ridiculous record in Europe. I think in the 12 years he has participated in European competitions, he has reached the semi-finals or finals atleast 8 times. Which is a stunning record, as he often did not have the most expensive teams. It was a truly amazing run and to follow that up two years later with another final appearance, again with a average (in terms of top level european clubs) looking side was remarkable. This year's team has a little more quality certainly up front, but should still on paper be classed as underdogs.

20% initially on the cheap then buy ‘the don’ out if things go well. Possibly For a man of considerable wealth, it's a weird investment, if he wants to own a football club, Sunderland make zero sense, even if they were still in the PL. We've seen ourselves how clubs in the region are not very attractive to investor and we are way way more alluring than Sunderland, both from a club perspective and the city in which it resides. If I'm a mega rich man who is not sure about getting into footballl, but if he is he's going to do it on the cheap, I'm looking at PL clubs like Bournemouth, Watford, Southampton, Huddersfield, Palace or Brighton, if I'm looking at investing in clubs not in the PL, Leeds, both Sheffield clubs, Fulham, Reading, Villa, Forest and all three relegated clubs are way more attractive. Sunderland are in League one, they have huge financial issues even if the debt is now cleared. There is no guarantee they will even be back in the champo next season, it just doesn't seem like a club an serious investor would want to get involved with, even if they are just getting their foot in the door and taking a watching brief. Their max potential is not that great.

sweetjesus WTF, didn't they see him play during his 4 months there

He's not from the SPL man, he's only managed the Champo and league one up there

I thought we always paid up front for our incomings, must have been a change in policy if we owe other clubs 22 million.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/44226120 TBH he's exactly the appointment they need to make and a departure from the ones that got them into this mess. Young up and coming, with an excellent lower level track record, not a big name but someone who has the potential to grow and is accustomed to working with little to no money. Hope this is BS and they go down the route of re-appointing Coleman, that would be hilarious.

TBF, they've been in a state of constant misery for 2 years (you can probably back that up through their entire PL life too which was far from fun times) so they are desperate to cling onto any hope that things will change. Honestly I can't knock them for that. However it may come crashing down on them soon enough, I do think though that next season they will be still in the love boat with the new owner and winning every week will help that. Next season back in the champo is the key one, if he can convince someone stupid and rich enough to join him they may still have a football club, if not they are royally screwed.

Yep, going back to his Valencia days he's incredibly negative anytime the pressure is on. His approach to big games is absolutely terrible. Unless you watch his teams consistently you don't know that but it's clear to anyone who does. I really know nothing about him, but three UEFA cups in a row, would suggest that that statement can't be wholly accurate.

They probably will like, 16,500 season tickets sold so far, that's not bad tbh. They'll probably get close to 20k before the start of the season, now since all this optimism has hit them. Then they'll start playing games and realise how crap that league is, they'll be winning virtually every week and they'll flock back. The following season is going to be the big test, it'll be the last of the parachute payments, financially they may need back to back promotions to survive as a club. https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/16-and-a-half-thousand-season-tickets-sold-so-far-says-donald.1431619/

Shame, but realistically he's never going to be Prem level. Wouldn't be adverse to this, if we install a buy back fee. Say sell him for 5 mill, put buy back of 15 mill in there, cover ourselves in case he suddenly breaks out.

I don't see any evidence in his history of management to suggest he would. Would be fantastic to see him return, great financially for him too, got a big pay off no doubt, now gets the chance to return perhaps on a better deal, as he holds most of the cards

Would be a great deal for all parties tbh, no problem with the buy back fee. Think it's likely because he's in the right age bracket for Ashley's liking. The biggest concern though is the competition we may face.

He better than Jamaal, it's official ask Southgate.....

Exactly, you can't play the "we didn't get all the transfer fees because clubs paid in installments" card when this has been going on for years, so money is constantly coming in from previous transfers. It's just tiring hearing how they spend so much effort spinning to story, if they put that much effort into actually running the club we wouldn't bitch about them as much.

I would imagine wages in Belgium are way lower than PL levels probably on a par with top champo clubs, which we were that season of course. Think it is a huge drop off, what NUFC made in parachute payments was probably more than the bulk of that leagues clubs total income. He also probably got a pay increase for promotion, I wouldn't be shocked if he is on 30k, which will blow in the water what anyone else makes over there.