AyeDubbleYoo

Wasn't Ireland injured when he arrived?

But you could say the same about Ireland to an extent. When fit and on form and starring for a City side with a decent number of £20m+ players, he was undoubtedly a good player. And his injury (in theory) isn't a serious one that'll damage him physically. Not saying I believe this is the case, but I don't think it's too stretched to imagine Ashley looking at Ireland as a worthy gamble. Good age, of good calibre/talent, was performing well a few years ago, but is cheap now due to a drop in form in recent seasons (bit like Nolan when we signed him). If he turns things around then we get a valuable player who normally wouldn't be an option for us in for a low price. Yeah, I don't really disagree with that, I've no idea what is going on in Mike Ashley's head. I just think that bearing in mind Ireland's mental personality, it would be a gamble too far to sign him without him playing at all. That said, if he's cheap enough and Pardew thinks he is ready to knuckle down and regain his past form, he is potentially a great player... so who knows.

Just facebooked it as well, this needs to be shared with the world.

I think Ben Arfa is likely to be an exception. The chance to sign a player of his ability for that money is too good to turn down, especially since his leg break seems to have been pretty clean. Even Gosling was a pretty unique situation... a chance to pick up a good young player for almost nothing.

Harsh, Lovenkrands has a lot of experience, even though he's shit now.

Agree too, discussion of player wages is mental for the most part.

I thought we weren't paying Ireland until he plays?

We'll have a dilemma if he plays three or four good games before the end of the season. In a way I hope he doesn't play at all, so we won't have to take a risk on him permanently.

Yep, that'll make Arsenal look good as Barca will absolutely murder them.

There's no way they were robbed man, for one thing the referee missed at least two penalties they should have had. They defended bravely, but last-ditch defending for 90 minutes is never going to get you through. It isn't a game plan either.

Footballers' twitter accounts.

Barca are amazing like, I might just give up watching all other sport and only follow them. 30% possession and 0 shots for Arsenal, that's the reason they're going out. That and Nicklas Bendtner's ridiculous feet.

The BBC should refuse to allow Mike Phelan on the TV anyway IMO, if Fergie is going to boycott them they should shut Man Utd out completely. Also, they should definitely submit an official complaint over this, it's about time that Fergie got slapped down a peg or two.

I think Cronky was just exploring the possibilities anyway.

They're like those two old men on the muppet show.

I thought Barton was probably back?

But how do you account for all the games we've won so far Bob?

It has to be Ferguson, we can't mess about with the team as much as we did against Everton.

True, although that kind of makes the original claim even more ridiculous, since then it would mean that Pardew was lying to Taylor just so Ashley could subsequently sell him for more money. Which IMO is even more out there. Aye, I'll give you that one. I think Pardew just came in and thought 'Steven Taylor, the Geordies love him and he'll definitely be better than that Will Michaelson', which is even more disturbing... Well that's possible, I think Taylor is actually thought of as quite good amongst people who don't have to watch him play. In any case, a new manager is entitled to try out different players.

Bon anniversaire Hatem, mon ami. Probably spelled that all wrong, but he gets the idea.

Jamie Carragher is anything but smooth.

True, although that kind of makes the original claim even more ridiculous, since then it would mean that Pardew was lying to Taylor just so Ashley could subsequently sell him for more money. Which IMO is even more out there.

Ranger hasn't achieved anything yet, I rate him but it's disappointing to hear that he's not knuckling down and giving everything to succeed.

True, he didn't say the guarantee was actually written into the contract, but the effect is the same.

I mentioned the "guaranteed start" because someone else said they thought that was how Pardew got Taylor to sign a new deal. I didn't invent the idea just to say it was unlikely, I was responding to the proposal that it existed.