AyeDubbleYoo

No, do you expect me to like what he's saying?

Makes me sick reading those answers about the famous Liverpool number nine shirt. I hope the Liverpool fans take it for what it is, a total load of horseshit.

I know why, it's because we thought he loved the club.

Word.

I know man, but let's not pretend it means that the opposite of what they say is true every time.

You know, it's easy to believe everyone is against you and get credit on forums like this for being cynical and clever. and wtf does it do with believing everyone is against you? ashley's been a disaster for the club and cares less for it than most sunderland fans, there's plenty of evidence for that. I know that, you missed off the rest of my post where I made it clear I was only talking about this incident (and I admitted Ashley has a lot of faults).

You know, it's easy to believe everyone is against you and get credit on forums like this for being cynical and clever. Ashley has many faults, I don't deny that, and he certainly manages the club in a way that is quite jarring compared to the last bloke. But I don't see any evidence that Pardew is lying about the Carroll situation, and there's also no evidence that Pardew had anything to do with Hughton's sacking. Maybe they asked him if he would be interested in the job, but that must happen all the time.

Hate to say it, but that sounds paranoid as fuck.

I don't see any evidence that Pardew is lying, that interview seems 100% genuine. If he is lying then he's the best I've ever seen.

Flawless interview that, very impressive.

I'm no under illusions anymore regarding football. Pretty damn sure our local lads would poof off somewhere else if we couldn't pay them €6m a year like we do. Agree with you 100% after all of this. I shall never trust what a player spouts through their gob ever again. Same, actually I'm quite a lot less interested in football after this.

Standard procedure under a regime that had no control over its spending. As I said before, it's fair enough for Carroll to use this rival offer to attempt to get a pay rise from NUFC (I've done that myself at work). But Ashley is well within his rights to tell him to bugger off. Sooo both parties were right to act the way they did?! As far as I'm concerned, the ettquette of wanting to be compensated slightly for potential loss of earnings wasn't exclusive to Newcastle United c/o Shepherd, to suggest otherwise is madness. Not taking another job isn't 'loss of earnings'. It's just earning less than you might earn elsewhere, your current employer has no obligation to compensate you for that, if they believe your current deal is fair or the most they can afford. Yes, both parties were 'right' in a way, I just feel let down by Carroll because I believed NUFC meant more than money to him.

Agree Why? He's run off to join a rival for a massive pay rise.

I think of all the challenges you mentioned, this is the one that the other players in the squad will find easiest to deal with.

The thing is, there's no such thing as the market value of a footballer, so there's no reason NUFC should always up a players wages to what he would have earned elsewhere. They have to manage the finances of the club in the best interests of everyone, based on their strategy.

Exactly, I'm not angry or disappointed in Ashley (for this) because any owner would have done the same. I'm gutted with Carroll over this though, he's destroyed my faith that any footballer could care about more than money.

Standard procedure under a regime that had no control over its spending. As I said before, it's fair enough for Carroll to use this rival offer to attempt to get a pay rise from NUFC (I've done that myself at work). But Ashley is well within his rights to tell him to bugger off.

Pardew sounded before the Carroll sale like he was planning a decent amount of business in the summer. I imagine it will be much the same as was already planned, maybe a couple of million more hear and there. I don't think that's necessarily a failure though, it's not like there's a magic bank account called 'transfer funds' that is separate from the rest of the club's accounts.

Because it was made clear that he wasn't as much wanted as the £35M. But you don't need to submit a transfer request to be sold, you just need to agree to leave. (I won't post this again, sorry, I know it's going round in circles)

Exactly, when a 20-year-old kid comes to someone like Mike Ashley and asks for a big pay rise a few weeks after they've just had one, they're quite rightly told to fuck off. We all know that in jobs you sometimes use other job offers to get a payrise off your current employer. But you have to be prepared to leave if they say no.

Well that's one of Ashley's biggest flaws - he's arrogant and he treats his employees as if they should be grateful to be working for him. Who's to say he didn't try something to keep Carroll, but that something was never going to be spending more money on his wages. And obviously he wouldn't have minded the £35m. I don't think anyone is suggesting Ashley is blameless.

Yep, that's the answer IMO.

Yes and yes, and there's no way I believe he was in talks over another new contract before Liverpool made a bid.

It makes perfect sense. Now the club can come out of this pretending they didn't want to sell him. It's PR. Sure there's no force involved, but does it really have to be? On the one hand, you're asked to leave. On the other hand, you have an offer to triple your wages. You're missing the point, I'm asking why Carroll would have submitted a transfer request if he didn't want to go. Because they didn't want him there! They wanted to sell him. FFS If he wasn't wanted he could have reluctantly agreed to go. Submitting a transfer request is saying "I ask to leave the club".

yep- how i see it. How could he have made Carroll hand in a transfer request though? It doesn't make sense. Are you daft? Would you stay at a club where the owners want to sell you? You'd stick two fingers up at the pricks. Yes, but if they want to sell you you can just say "OK, I don't really want to go but I'll leave if you don't want me". Submitting a transfer request is actively asking to be sold. And, no, I'm not daft (well, not very).