AyeDubbleYoo

I hate it, but it would be almost pointless for Ashley to advertise his brand if he didn't use his brand identity. He could rebrand SportsDirect in black and white in general mind, that might be a good move.

The competition and fresh ideas from Marveaux and Obertan might actually do Jonas the world of good. Very pleased to see him sign either way.

Spot on, but I think it will be summer. i was taking the piss....were you ? Definitely not. Ashleys will have learnt from Enrique / Barton and wont want Jonas away on the cheap in the summer. Much easier to tie up now than when Marveaux is keeping him out. Before everyone gets too carried away, remember Ashley does want us to be self sufficient. That will require us to make money on players like Jonas. No it won't.

?

Yep, hope for an announcement on the curly-haired wife shagger soon.

This is the kind of game I would have previously said we'd 'probably' struggle in, now I think we can 'probably' win it as long as we go out and impose our play on them. 3-1 to the toon, Ba 2 and Cabaye.

Nice place that, anyone want to split it seven ways?

There's no way Ashley is capable and/or bothered about manipulating the press to the extent that some people have said. Even if he was, the stories planted by him would be indistinguishable from the 99% of made up bollocks that already fills the papers during the transfer window.

(You're right like)

Yeah, of course we wanted a striker, we just weren't necessarily prepared to pay the money it would have taken to get one. Obviously that approach has pros and cons.

To be fair, I have to do the same about Gateshead.

You are my idol. Hero I knew as well. Go me.

Never mind, he got the right answer in the end.

Little nod to N-O from Ryder there?

Great post by Chez, hopefully the next disaster is a while away as you say. If this season goes well it could be the start of a few successful years, as long as we use it to build on rather than settle on.

His pull back for Best was very good. Still mildly sceptical about him but he's been better than I expected so far and looks to be improving.

He's in Crook's team of the week on BBC this week, with Ba.

Seems strange to say it but Carroll had his least effective games for us against Samba and Haangeland, yet Best's given both of them a bit of a battering. He's a lot better in the air than I first realised. Yep. Yet I still read from a lot of people he does nowt except score goals. His all round game is very underrated IMO and to say he's just a poacher type is a lazy opinion. Always thought he has been very good in the air. He's not massive but he leaps and hangs well.

Very true on all counts. I hated him for a while, then he won me over, but he was still essentially not really cut out for a top-half team and would likely have got dramatically worse in the next couple of years. West Ham giving him that massive contract is a heel of a risk.

I still shudder to think what would have happened if we hadn't come straight back up though.

Ha, I was exactly the same. When the recording of the captain said it was nearly time to depart I started crying and all sorts! Will second the love for Saltwell Park, great conker hunting as well.

Now it just looks like a typical modern stadium, where before it was an icon.

Low scoring week I reckon, except if Rooney hammers in three.

I don't think it's really Carroll's fault though. We know he's decent on the deck, so does Dalglish and probably Liverpool's entire squad. The problem is that when defenders see a massive bloke showing for the ball up the pitch, and they want to play it safe, they can't resist lumping it up to him. For me the problem is more with how Carroll's teammates allow themselves to be affected by his presence than Carroll's own ability. Crouch suffers from the same issue. Defenders (and a lot of midfielders too) just love to shirk responsibility and hit a long ball.

That's epic.