afar

I know it's way too early but I've kind of given up on the lad ever making it, taking less and less interest in the various loans he goes on.

What's the most depressing thread on the forum ? This one or the "Non Takeover" one ? Thank god for the Mackem thread to cheer us up

Almost a third of the way through the window and no movement, hardly a surprise but criminal really in our situation.

You are spot on it was a good weekend despite no PL games going on. It's incredible how new manager bounce effects teams, hell we even got it with Souness, went on a great run at the start of his tenure. Wish Hughes had been allowed to stick around for a little while longer, but I do feel it will be tough to find the right manager for Stoke, that group of players will be tough to manage and there aren't too many that seem to fit their criteria, a month or so of looking around then eventually settling on someone lie Harry Rednapp would be great.

Not sounding great tbh.

Not great news for us, means Hughes is closer to the trap door, need him to hang around a little longer.

Best result for them, they really don't need a cup run in their situation.

Despite Burnley's great season, I would be disappointed if we didn't target that for a potential win.

Surprisingly strong side, no excuses for no winning tbh.

Probably people listening to the match. People who don't know it's also on the BBC site. Forrins can't listen to the beeb coverage.

https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/summer-takeover-not-in-sunderland%E2%80%99s-best-interests.1411121/ Reply #18 is interesting

Obviously that work you did in your break really has paid off as you've grown in to the man you are today ......

He's a student man ... remember those days ...

Tom makes a lot of sense. Can't wait for Saturday's disappointment excitement. Hope Tom is right, all the journo's are doing their best to dampen any hope we have though.

The lack of any substantial link in the transfer market, for a window we know is crucial that we bring in quality players early on has me more than a little concerned that all this ITK comments about the deal being already done are way wide of the mark and Edwards etc are probably a lot closer to the truth. If we had a Takeovermeter, where 1 is not happening and 10 is So long you fat useless bastard, I'm probably at at 3 right now. Honestly if Rafa doesn't even have assurances on his budget right now when January has already started, as the Chronicle suggesst: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/inside-newcastle-uniteds-likely-january-14114176 then that scares the shit out of me, that at best we are not moving fast enough and at worst Rafa will just say, fuck this and walk out. Someone official from the club need to come out with a statement soon, their stated target has been missed, time for an update.

Can Stifler provide a photo at this so called School cup game, will need that days newspaper in the shot to collaborate the date of course ? On a serious note, I'm still of the opinion that it's not unusual for a academy product to attend a senior game, and one of great importance as this one was, no matter what their allegiance is. I do believe his line that he was a fan of the good guys but he's just not the smartest of individuals, along with being a pretty wretched footballer.

I was convinced he took the job based on transfer promises, but you are 100% right he has left a better job to go there, he must be getting a canny monthly pay rise. It could well be that simple, he went for a pay rise. But it's ridiculous short termism, because he's blowing what rep he had, some desperate PL club would have given him another chance, I'm pretty sure of that, or at worst a Champo team with actual money to spend.

It's got to be their sole objective now, which is hilarious considering the way they acted towards us when we went down. Next year could be even tougher for them, if they survive they will see a big drop in parachute payments, still paying PL wages for a lot of their players who are quite frankly not up to Champo level. If they go down again, they'll be in an even bigger mess with still no money to get out of it. They may not get back to the PL for a decade or so.

It is really, if he's an academy player with them, going to watch a senior game is perfectly normal.

Armstrong to L1 doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but he's clearly not been good enough at one of the worst teams in the Champo, so I guess what can you do.

I'm all for whomever Rafa feels will work in his system, I won't claim to know an awful lot about Deeney, but right now Rafa has a set of strikers that aren't scoring enough goals, if he feels Deeney can offer the team a goal threat either through netting himself or assisting others then sign the bloke, if he comes at a reasonable cost, he's touching 30 so the price should reflect that.

Hmm, just think we are so desperate for some positive news we are clutching at any straw out there.

Sports Direct don't own NUFC though do they, it's MASH holdings and Ashley's personal wealth, how can this have any bearing on NUFC at all ?

Where did the ITK's say Saturday or the 6th? Must have missed that amid the pantalaimon conquest of the universe... If you scroll back to page 218 or something like that, some guy put crayons all over his text messages from the standard source "who he trusts and has been right before about certain stuff".

It would be nice to know one way or the other tbh, this uncertainty is killing us and could have huge ramifications for the club. If we are stuck with Ashley then lets get on with it,and start bringing in players that fit his ridiculous financial constraints. I guess in his mind, as long as we are in a comfortable position in the league, waiting this thing out till the end of the season won't be the worst thing in the world. If we can survive, he's then pocketed 100 million, which is almost if not all full profit, since we've spent virtually nothing, spend that's probably easily covered by incoming staged payments of player sales from previous seasons. It all hinges though for him on if we stay up, he's got nothing to sell if we go down, if he had any sense (which we know he does not) he would listen to Rafa and sanction some modest spend on loans, 2 or 3 experienced players with PL ability, would make the world of difference to this squad.