AyeDubbleYoo

I thought Smith was a good signing.

Quite a habit he has there. Interesting that he seems to make the same mistakes again and again. Was the Lilywhites purchase a mistake, or the Dunlop one? Genuine question, I don't have a clue. He's very rich for a man who keeps making such big errors.

Newcastle fans are guaranteed to love Shane Long as far as I can see, he has everything we like in a player. He runs his arse off, works hard and when he gets the ball he's direct and goes at people. Given chances, his finishing is also good. He might not blossom straight away, but I think because of his general style the fans would be patient with him. Obviously the downside is he wouldn't be a marquee signing.

So is Shane Long.

Is that the first sighting? Kudos if so.

I think he's a decent player and there are worse strikers at the club, but for some reason I'm just not attached to him and wouldn't be bothered if he left.

I think in HBA's case that cliche is totally justified. I won't be able to restrain the jizz when he waltzes through the Arsenal defence and opens our scoring for the season.

Guthrie Ah of course, always think of that as the Beardsley shirt that a proper attacking MF should be wearing. Can't take it off the Scouse pudding I suppose.

Watched it the other day, got it online for around £10. Could have been so much more but I thought it was OK for a simple recap of the games. First one I've bought, not sure I would buy another one unless it's a really special season.

Who is 8?

Still hate to see Carroll playing for someone else, it's shit.

I'm gay for Jonas.

Interesting if they're waiting for a man to come in who's probably never seen Erdinc play to decide whether to sell him. Guess he probably signs off all deals being sporting director.

Or do they...

What exactly were we looking forward to in 2007 when we were insolvent, had borrowed against every asset, our owners weren't going to put any money in and we had Allardyce as our manager? People do seem to judge the previous regime only based on the Champions League years.

Is that Glen Johnson? Jesus. Nobody in that picture looks like a human.

I came to this thread to make exactly this post!

With you on that one.

I don't think anyone does though Dave, all we're saying is that we're not against prudent financial management now it is necessary. Not sure I can grasp the subtlety of your first sentence though, you recognise the financial restraints on the club but you don't factor that in to judgements on what we're doing? Genuinely confused. I know we can't spend as much as Manchester City. I know we can spend more than Stoke City. Fair play, I think the same, as long as Stoke City are spending within their means.

I don't think anyone does though Dave, all we're saying is that we're not against prudent financial management now it is necessary. Not sure I can grasp the subtlety of your first sentence though, you recognise the financial restraints on the club but you don't factor that in to judgements on what we're doing? Genuinely confused.

Of course it is, but if they increase in value it's because they're doing the business for us, in which case why would we sell them? We should be signing players who we expect to perform well for us and that's it. Their value increasing should be inconsequential unless they specifically want out of their own accord. Totally agree with that. I don't think selling them for a profit is the strategy though, certainly not the primary one, it's just good to invest in assets that won't be worthless if you need to sell them.

I for one am not the least bit surprised that you think so. They can't even run a decent website or manage a box office, they're hardly going to be orchestrating an internet-wide influencing campaign. And if they are it's the worst one ever. Fess up Ian, how much is the club paying you. It certainly took a lot of effort on their part to fix me up with this whole "Korean Toon Fan" cover story when I'm actually some fat bastard from London who's on Mike Ashley's payroll. I do it for the love of Mike and Del. No idea how I ended up as an "Ashley sympathiser". I've hated a lot of the decisions he has made, but I just try to understand things based on the reality we're now operating under. I hated the Carroll sale but the fee was massive, I hated the Hughton sacking but Pardew is doing well. I was devastated by relegation but we did well to bounce back. Sometimes I think the positive stuff gets ignored because the mistakes have been such big ones (even though they haven't ended up costing us that much). Also, Ashley is bringing an approach that is common in business but unusual in football.

I for one am not the least bit surprised that you think so. They can't even run a decent website or manage a box office, they're hardly going to be orchestrating an internet-wide influencing campaign. And if they are it's the worst one ever.

Isn't buying players who you expect to increase in value a good idea?