LoveItIfWeBeatU

http://www.football365.com/news/sunderland-a-club-killed-by-mismanagement

Are we playing toward the Gallowgate second half?

Looks like Loic Remy's career continues to nose dive: - http://www.nufc.com/

Luton Town are top of League 2 so they are in good form and full of confidence. I'd put the strongest side possible out within reason. NUFC have often struggled against lower league opposition. I certainly wouldn't play a bunch of kids against them.

Hopefully NUFC get taken over and we can buy better players so our fans no longer have to idolise shit players. I remember the days of having Shearer, Ferdinand, etc up front. I guess those that rate Mitro never saw those days.

I guess some people would expect a fly weight boxer to come out swinging against a heavyweight? Pep complaining teams aren't playing against his team. It would be interesting to see how he did if he wasn't always managing the best, most expensively assembled teams in the world. The wankers at Sky unhappy because it wasn't entertaining for "neutral" watchers. Are you not entertained? Sorry it wasn't the drubbing you were hoping for.

I bet Valencia were glad Gary Neville went for it when he was their manager, especially when they lost 7-0 to Barcelona.

What was Neville expecting? He wants us wide open and getting ripped to shreds so he can employ his expert analysis of where we went wrong.

What a cunt Neville is.

So annoyed at Fulham for spoiling Sunderland's chance at 365 days without a home win. After avoiding that record Sunderland have gone right back to not winning.

Really? I thought they used to have half their starting 11 on loan. Maybe they were from abroad?

No wonder Sunderland finally got relegated if you're now only allowed to loan 2 players in total from the Premiership. Half Sunderland's team used to be made up of loaned players. I wasn't aware the rule had changed. Still, 2 decent players from Premiership teams and 2 from Europe (hopefully Rafa's connections would get us someone like e.g. a Real Madrid player not making the 1st team - if the loan is bankrolled) would help us massively.

Loans make sense if they are for decent players. No decent player is going to want to sign permanently for NUFC if they think we might get relegated. Also players will want to see if the takeover goes through. Decent player needing to put yourself in the shop window to secure your World Cup squad place as your not starting for your current team? Come to NUFC where you'd almost be guaranteed a start every game. It's also only a 5 month commitment. I don't care if you don't buy a single player in the transfer window as long as we loan the quality we need. Yes, it has come to this. We need to borrow off teams we used to rival. Maybe we will again if we get taken over but we need to secure our Premier League status first.

Reading between the lines, it sounds like PCP Capital would still be interested in NUFC even if relegated (obviously depending on the price).

NUFC will be able to loan much better players than we can buy. Players won't want to sign long term for a club which may be relegated. We'd be a great option for decent players who aren't getting enough game time at their current club to ensure they get into World Cup squads. Hopefully NUFC will pay the loan fee and wages required.

I imagine Mike Ashley's valuation of a relegated NUFC would be more than anyone would be willing to pay. He doesn't seem happy with a £300m (which is a profit on the £250m he's supposedly put in) valuation. He'd be offered half that for a Champion club. He'd probably prefer to bankroll the team in the Championship under the assumption that NUFC would be promoted again. He does like to gamble like that. If we got promoted again he'd be straight back to wanting an unrealistic fee for the club while not being willing to invest in the squad.

Going by the comments on here, imagine how entitled some of our fans are going to be if NUFC do get taken over.

I think they'll find it's them that's fucked.

They won't make a return on their money unless they run us correctly, as we'll be in the Championship missing the sky money. Either way, I want Ashley gone, full stop. Genuine question. Which owner of a football club has made any profit on it? I'd be worried about any potential owners who saw the club as an opportunity to make money. Even with the rise of the TV deals, that's just going to push up the player costs with it. Breaking even or making a very modest profit are medium term goals. There are much better things to invest £300m + into if a good return on the investment is the main reason behind the investment.

RTG doesn't seem to have a thread for their '20 in a row' record. I thought they liked their records? Must be holding out and hoping to go the full year without a win at home before commemorating it with a thread and they don't want to jinx it.

They should have played this over the PA at the end of the game: - Was there a representative from the Guinness Book of Records at the match ready to congratulate SAFC on their official record?

My wife read out the story from The Star to me this morning. After reading the name Amanda Staveley out she mentioned that she had a friend called Amanda Staveley when she grew up in Ripon. She said her family owned Lightwater Valley. I said "That's the same woman! How come you're just mentioning this now?" She'd not been following the potential NUFC sale story. Unfortunately she hasn't seen Amanda for 20 years so I don't think I'll be getting any inside information.

I don't rate Mitro but surely he can't do any worse (when it comes to goal threat) than our current starting strikers can he?

I guess Joselu in the number 10 role? Hopefully Gayle is physically and mentally over his injuries.

For me, Gayle is out of the question due to his playing style and lack of physicality. So between Mitrovic and Joselu I'd say both have flaws, but Mitrovic is a better finisher without doubt, he can hold up the ball equally as well and is more confident. Therefore Mitrovic comfortably plays over Joselu for me. And I think if Mitrovic could follow instruction from the manager, Joselu wouldn't get a look in on current form. Oh, and Mitrovic has proved himself in the Premier League in his first season playing for a dreadful manager with a dreadful team. He scored 9. Joselu looks unlikely to reach 9 at present. Talk about damning with faint praise.