brummie

They haven't done any research at all, Gough especially is embarrassing. Gough is so incredibly, mind-bendingly thick, he barely manages the extremely low level of English language proficiency required to keep TalkSport listeners happy. Listening to him struggling and trying to convey his thoughts on an issue is the aural equivalent of watching a puppy trying to pick up a balloon.

I agree entirely. It is the perfect opportunity for him to go and keep his stock as high as possible - in fact, doing so now, he'd come out of it looking much better than had he done so last week, or before this Kinnear nonsense. I doubt there's a person in this country (well, maybe two) with more than a passing interest in football who wouldn't entirely understand if he legged it now, while he's got his chance.

Surely a few quid on Pardew to be first manager to go next season would be like practically free money? No manager with an ounce of pride or self-respect is going to put up with reporting to Joe Fucking Kinnear.

God, the bit at the end where he starts talking about being able to pick up the phone and call Arsene Wenger whenever he likes .....

I just listened to the thing on Talksport, and am actually blushing, it is so embarassing.

If it turned out that Cisse's talk with the club about Wonga was to be held with Kinnear, I'd pay good money to be a fly on that wall.

Nah, you stayed up last season and that will have helped them all. Stick to your policy IMO, it will come good. It's not so much I don't believe in the policy, I do, just that it'd be best served by more experienced heads here and there.

Dein is probably the most accomplished football administrator of the last few decades.

I was thinking about this this morning whilst reading the paper. When we appointed McLeish, a common line of thought was that, had the club been taken over by a malevolent force for evil, intent on doing as much damage to the club and to relations with supporters as possible, it couldn't actually have done a better job of doing that than what the board actually did. That's precisely how this appointment looks. I doubt Ashley wants to screw up his own investment, but if he wanted to screw up the club as much as possible, what would he realistically have done that could have been more damaging than this?

Apparently completing signing of Nicklas Helenius in next two days, then Antonio Luna from Seville, and less likely but rumoured, Dennis Praet from Anderlecht. They're all young(ish) and promising, which is very nice, but at the back of my mind is a big flashing alarm saying that we need to be buying in some more experienced heads rather than just potential.

He's rambling on like a mentalist.

Just watching that interview on Sky, and that thing about Geordies wanting Geordies is the most worrying thing. Even those of us who aren't Geordies or Newcastle fans know that is a tired, stereotypical load of nonsense.

You're doing a great job of consoling us brummie.. Genuinely, the only thing I think you can take solace from is that this is clearly the action of a man who wants to force out his manager. So, Pardew doesn't put up with it - and, let's be honest, what manager with an ounce of pride would put up with this? - and resigns. Kinnear takes over and lasts weeks before doing a Houllier, and there you go, free to rebuild. I know that's poor, but I genuinely don't know what else to think. It is utterly, utterly bonkers. WTF? We have a billionaire owner and one of the lowest paid managers in the league. OK, so he has a 8 year contract; I'm sure Ashley could afford to sack him without appointing a senile dinosaur in a position that didn't exist since he last got us relegated through a catalogue of ownership blunders? I did say it was poor

You're doing a great job of consoling us brummie.. Genuinely, the only thing I think you can take solace from is that this is clearly the action of a man who wants to force out his manager. So, Pardew doesn't put up with it - and, let's be honest, what manager with an ounce of pride would put up with this? - and resigns. Kinnear takes over and lasts weeks before doing a Houllier, and there you go, free to rebuild. I know that's poor, but I genuinely don't know what else to think. It is utterly, utterly bonkers. WTF?

Honestly, even for us not as well versed as you are in the utter madness of Newcastle United, this is beyond believable. It is utterly staggering. It looks like someone has decided to set a course for disaster.

It's getting to the point where I'm thinking of replacing you as "other team whose forum I have thousands of posts on". It's just too depressing.

Even I feel angry. And I don't even support you.

On the bright side for you lot, no fucking way would any manager with a smidgen of pride put up with Joe Kinnear working above him on playing style and transfers, so I reckon Pardew will be offski.

Did he really say that? With regard to this DoF role? That must be for you like "it's because of who I used to manage" was for us with McFuck.

Have to say, I agree. Not so much that it is pretentious, but it drains every last ounce of enjoyment from the game by hugely over analysing it.

Entirely agree. It is a fantastic book.

Bacuna? Yes, both on the official site, so all done. Add Tonev who signed last week, and the fact that apparently Helenius is signing at the weekend and it looks suspiciously like someone has been doing their scouting for a few months now and decided exactly who they wanted. Somewhat different to MON frantically googling players in the last week of August.

That's different, as the author is a writer who spent time with the hooligans to write the book, rather than hooligans writing books about how they "ran" West Ham in the 1980s or whatever.

Have you watched us play lately? Bring back any of those memories for you? To be entirely honest, you weren't half as bad as we were, and even if you were, at least Pardew has managed the occasional season not playing like that. McLeish was just doing what he always does. It wasn't even ineptitude on his part. That was his thing, his MO, his way of doing things.

I have no idea whatsoever. As I understand it, he hasn't spoken about it, has he? What I do hope is true is that it turns out it really is his belief (if we can every really know, that is), rather than just an excuse to leave or screw more money out of the club. That would make it one of the more cynical, depressing demonstrations of what the modern footballer is. Have to say, I am suspicious, and wonder how the objection to money lending squares with playing in the Barclays PL (and indeed having that on his shirt, too).