Wallace

I think that is quite a telling comment actually and implies that problems between the players and the board do exist.

So in a roundabout way I guess Pardew is backing up what Joey and Jose said in their tweets.

SimonPryde Simon Pryde Barton MAY train with first team next week. Full Alan Pardew interview on #totalsport tonight. Won't hear anywhere else. http://t.co/v8U0IM7 1 hour ago

He admits that himself often enough.

I would be pretty annoyed if we bought Rob Green. It is the one area we do not need to strengthen and if he came here, it would be as the number 1 so that would mean 2 of the goalkeepers would be sold. When we are desperately short in other areas and keep pleading poverty, it would be a ridiculous transfer especially as he would want big wages.

Not so sure. He might have said he wanted to stay beforehand but he doesn't strike me as the kind of person who will accept this treatment and/or back down from his original sentiment. If he decides now that he wants to go (depending on the interest from other clubs) then many will turn on Barton and the club will believe they have played this perfectly. We'd just have to hope that a replacement was coming in, though the Barnetta thing doesn't sound too promising. I think this is the reason for the club feeding the olive branch story to the press.

Well he can certainly do what Ranger does coming on as a late impact sub and unsettling tired defenders with his pace. And even though Sameobi is still very lightweight and will get pushed off the ball easily, the same happened to Ranger often enough.

What I don't understand with this latest Barton story is that surely the journalists must realise they are being used by the club to get this information out there to dilute the fan's anger so why do they report it without question. This happens so often with this club and they have become very good at it so why do the journalists continue to play along with it.

Would love it to be true but sounds to me like a familiar NUFC tactic - trying to get the fans back onside by making it look like they are making conciliatory moves so that when Barton leaves, they can turn round and say that he was the one who wanted out after all because they had made the effort to keep him.

When the Daily Mail were banned from SJP, the journalist concerned would buy a ticket so he could report on the match and journalists from other papers would fill him with what was said at the press conferences.

I cannot believe the way that the broadcast and print media are hanging on his every tweet and reporting them as soon as they happen. He is certainly providing a lot of content for them all.

Where is Kadar? Injured? He certainly does not seem to be part of the first team squad at the moment.

Colo was at the game. Gestured to a couple of lads that it was OK to come over for autographs/photos and the next minute he was surrounded. Next time I looked over he had moved. Fans were singing Leon Best so I guess he was there as well although I didn't see him.

Was Vuckic injured? He came off very late in the game and went straight down the tunnel and then it took a minute or two to get Airey ready to replace him.

i bet we don't. You may hate the people running the club, but do legitimately think they will happily enter the season without any leftback at all? This seems absurd. Dummett, Ferguson, Perch, Simpson, Raylor. I really can't see them spending any more money on anyone. We need a Left Back, we need another Centre Half as well, we need a centre forward to play the Bellamy/Beardsley role but i just can't see them parting with any cash at all on any more players. Perch must be on the way out seeing as they sent him to Holland with the kids. (Not heard any reasons why he couldn't go to the USA). He may not be up to much but to exclude him from the senior squad seems exceptionally harsh as at this rate he is going to be needed this season.

who are you counting here HBA? Ba? Cabaye? Gosling? Marveaux? other than HBA & Ba (harsh imo too) who else have we targetted that "play up and cause trouble"? a player leaving on a free doesn't automatically make him a c*** You've not read the Enrique thread then. Ben Arfa - no comment necessary Gosling - left on a free after assurances he'd sign a new contract Cabaye - a year left on his contract, utilised a release fee in his contract and announced to his manager he was moving to Newcastle just before their last game of the season Marveaux - ran contract down, as such wasn't played much last year Ba - left Hoffenheim after refusing to play N' Zogbia (if serious) - no comment necessary They wont all act up like Barton, but none of them are stickers, and they are all motivated enough either by money or ambition to leave their respective clubs in the lurch. There's nothing wrong with that per se, but when it's combined with the lack of ambition, and the lack of any kind of integrity from the senior management at the club, at the very best you can expect many more Enrique type situations in the future. It's no way to build a squad with any kind of stability, and will mean at best the club is constantly in a "rebuilding" phase. Of course that plays into the hands of an owner who isn't bothered about onfield success - just blame it on those greedy players for destabilising the club. If this had happened at another club, we would have been one the first in the queue to sign Barton.

Think he is just desperate to go now and so will be happy to go to a non CL team especially one with ambition to be so.

Wait till Ben Arfa starts playing up as his history implies there will inevitably be a falling out at some point and he has shown that he is not one to keep quiet either.

A manufacturing company would go bust if it didn't have materials or the staff to produce the goods it sells correct, you'd look to cut costs in every area that did not affect the quality of the product you were making, only as a last resort should you/would you look to use inferior materials and thus potentially compromise your product reputation (assuming it had one) my point about ashley is that the debts are owed to him for f***s sake, and as mick points out we're running close to even - 35m should and could have seen a little investment above the shrewd buys we've made to climb the table and claw more money in from table positions another year ticks by and barton and smith leave the wage bill (loven & shola?), more cash becomes available within the wage budget and things progress...he chose the alternative instead mike has played the greedy little director taking a chance...he's taken chances before and we were relegated, while i don't think that'll happen again he shouldn't be operating this way man I think Ashley takes gambles with his decision making. Pre-relegation the gambles failed but post-relegation, they have all come off. At some point, he is going to run out of luck.

Off to training. Joey7Barton Joseph Barton Just off to training......getting close to start now 32 minutes ago

What went on at leeds? Wouldn't believe a word coming from Beardsley these days.

Bet he is not looking forward to his next press conference.

Whether the stories about Barton refusing to play or rowing with Pardew are true or not, such stories will be fed to the media in order to quell fan disquiet and try and turn them against Barton. They have done with it with Keegan, Shearer, Given, Nolan and Carroll. It is Barton's turn now. I think it is interesting that the odd player comments seem to be supportive of Barton. He was certainly a favourite with the younger players.

Wonder if he always carries around a book of quotes with him.

How are we off for English/homegrown players? Barton, Nolan, Routledge and Campbell and potentially Ranger, Perch and Forster all out and being replaced by foreigners. It looks to me as if the only English players in the first team will be Taylor/Williamson and Simpson. Are we making the quota up with the kids? Last year we had the joint highest number of English players with Villa.