AyeDubbleYoo

Was just going to say this, he thought of a football club as a rich man's toy and amusement for the weekends. His naivety was staggering.

Jason Scotland for £2m is a decent punt.

What's spot on about it? The man appreciates a good post, why argue?

They're not really impressive, but my champions league tickets always warm my heart when I see them. I've got a programme from the Fairs Cup campaign that was my Dad's as well, think it's Benfica.

Of course it's possible, it's just more difficult. A couple of goals here and there and we would still be in the premiership now. The problem with debt is who it is owed to. If, like Fulham and Chelsea, all of the debt is owed to the owner who gives very favourable terms and never really wants it back, it's fine (unless he changes his mind). Our spending was unsustainable, even if Fred had stayed it would have had to be seriously cut. The problem with Ashley wasn't the principle of cutting costs, it was all of the incompetent decisions he made while trying to do it.

Thought it was Ben Affleck for a second, are you sure it's not?

Fuck me, that tshirt is a disgrace. Have some respect!

No idea on this one, to be honest. It probably doesn't make any appreciable difference whether we have H&C or Kinnear. Except with Kinnear we would be waiting for him to keel over at any moment. Maybe we would do better with transfers with Kinnear, but I can't see us making many of those anyway with the ownership situation unresolved.

Watching some of the games on TV at home will be a major plus for me this year. Not worth getting relegated for, but still...

Still convinced Lita has proper potential, definitely worth a punt IMO.

That thread is pretty good like, the Adebayor brochure is brilliant!

After the fans? Hell it hurts, but the club lives on as does my looking forward to the coming season. Ashley has lost face, lost credibility, lost the security of his family (even if it is just a sense of unease, but it is likely more than that if he were to go out on the town again), and lost more money than I will ever get to see. I would say he has, all things considered, lost far more than me during his time here. A lot more than probably anyone on here. You're a braver man than me saying that! Probably right I suppose, I doubt many fans would have the perspective to admit it though.

My brother plays poker at Aspers and always sees Geremi and Bassong in there... he has a Geremi shirt that he paid for with Geremi's money!

We were the same, weren't we? We didn't complain about Shepherd or the Halls when Tino was heading stunners against Barcelona... but it was really just temporary success that we mortgaged the club's long term future to achieve. (Also agree they did a great job with SJP mind)

jesus christ dude, history and kudos? how long have you been watching football? lampard and terry were all that CH had at that time... this is turning to tragedy Mate, I didn't mean Chelsea... I meant that City couldn't compete with the likes of Barca, Madrid and Man Utd for the best players - even if they could spend more. Calm down FFS i'm calm, just saying the bold bit is what everyone was saying about chelsea then...too inconceivable to think city might emulate? Not inconceivable no, but let's admit that Chelsea had a much stronger base to build from. And London is a much bigger draw to players. Anyway, just realised I've sidetracked the thread... I'd go for the money!

jesus christ dude, history and kudos? how long have you been watching football? lampard and terry were all that CH had at that time... this is turning to tragedy Mate, I didn't mean Chelsea... I meant that City couldn't compete with the likes of Barca, Madrid and Man Utd for the best players - even if they could spend more. Calm down FFS

Surely the state of Chelsea when Abramovich arrived is a big factor? If you think of their best players, most of them were already in place. City might be rich, but they can't offer the history and kudos that the best teams in Europe can. They will attract the second tier of player but will struggle to get the very best IMO.

Obviously it's Ashley's own fault that he's going to lose money, but nevertheless he is going to lose it. Like stupeedo says, he is the second biggest loser after the fans.

What do you mean 'claim the loss' though? Limited company owners only pay tax on their profits, so if you don't make any money you don't pay tax, right? Seems fair enough to me. And if he sells the asset for less than he paid then he won't have any capital gains either. But he won't be happy, because the only way to avoid tax is to lose money anyway.

Of course he will... he hasn't taken anything out of the club and will be selling it for much less than he paid.

The only realistic view at the moment is that we won't be signing anybody, surely.

We don't know if Shearer is any good at this point, so right now I would choose the money.

Centre back is a confidence position as well isn't it, I think that's why a lot of players have struggled at Newcastle. Not saying he was great, but with the right coaching and support I think he'll be good.

What? He was hopeless for us, but I agree he looked good for the States. Maybe I've forgotten, I thought he looked decent... defenders never get given a decent change here anyway. You might be right though.