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We shouldn't be, that's the point. Our ambition should match our size, income and fanbase. We're a team that should always be aiming to be the very best that it can be. We're no different to any other team, except that our income, fanbase and size should put us near the top 1/3rd of the league. Obviously it's not an ideal world, and Abramovich has changed all of that, but we should be looking to be a progressive, aspiring and ambitious club. Anyone getting their hands on us would have an absolute goldmine of potential success, adulation, undying loyalty, income and undoubted fun. We get called deluded, but f*** it, I've lived elsewhere, in this country and abroad, and I have never come across anywhere remotely like Newcastle when it comes to just how much football means to a city and it's people. Don't tell me not to over-dramatise it, we're Newcastle United, we're not f***ing Blackburn. Thanks. Like I said, brand value. There is a cultural glass ceiling at the top of the Premiership that is far more resilient than any gap in financial capabilities. Due to the fact that we acted like fucking idiots precisely at the moment when it was being defined, we're firmly on the wrong side of it.

It's not really about the first team squad or gate receipts anymore. It's all about brand value. You need to be one of those clubs where the media and just the general footballing culture will hype you up as one of the "big boys." No matter what our relative league positions are, Liverpool FC will always be a more attractive proposition than NUFC assuming that we are in the same division.

I want him to retire here. Like someone said, he may be shit but he's our shit. The whole fiasco where he almost moved to Ipswich should prove to anyone that God's will has bound Shola and this club together for all eternity.

I think everyone's aware that we're just one of the dozens of clubs who mostly populate the lower ranks of the Premiership, occasionally piece together a jammy European run, and provide talent for the 5~6 teams at the top. No need to over-dramatize it, that's just what most Premiership clubs are right now.

Who says we are spending it? It's going to be spent on something, obviously. It might not necessarily be players.

I'm surprisingly not bothered, probably because I've just come to accept that this sort of thing happens when you support NUFC. It seems like a pretty shit deal for both Newcastle and Liverpool. Us for obvious emotional reasons and them because they've just spunked 35~40 million on a young player who may or may not retain his current form over the long term. In some ways I think both sets of fans could be less than happy about this. Actually, I should probably rephrase and say that it's a pretty shit deal for both Newcastle and Chelsea, given where the money's actually come from. As for the cash itself, 40 million pounds is a ridiculously large amount of money. It's the kind of lump sum that could completely revolutionize a team and its league position if spread around wisely. It's a shame that I have absolutely no faith whatsoever in the capabilities of the people who are tasked with spending it.

Oh fuck off

Also, welcome to the end of the "this group of lads" era, I guess.

I guess this was coming some day. Might as well get it over with. What scares me the most is that I'm actually not that bothered.

Redknapp at Manchester City would be like a sex addict with a truckfull of Viagra

South Korea's Koo Ja-Chul, the Asian Cup's leading scorer (5 goals 3 assists in 6 matches), moves to Wolfsburg. Just to add to the random Korean news, Jisung Park has announced his international retirement at age 29.

I can kind of understand where the Chilean dudes were coming from. I'm nominally a US citizen and I've spent about half my life in the States for various reasons but if Korea was playing the US at Giants Stadium on the 4th of July, I know exactly who I'd be rooting for.

Llorente as a backup plan to Andy Carroll. I know wor Andy is fantastic and all but something about that idea just seems ridiculous

We need bodies in midfield. He is body in midfield. Good signing as long as he's not at Alan Smith levels of uselessness. Surely he's not that bad. I'm just concerned that he's coming injured and that he might get a bunch of those "complications" that all of our players tend to pick up.

Nagatomo was class in the World Cup. He's been impressive in Serie A this season for Cesena. Very good fullback, one of Japan's best players. Aye so I've read. Be interesting to see if one of the big boys takes a punt on him in the summer. Probably be relatively cheap and he is still farily young. Been watching Nagatomo for ages, very impressive player with a ridiculous work rate. Watching him man-mark Jisung Park last year was probably the most manic, hyperactive football I've ever seen.

It's a moment of great historical significance for the Zainichi (ethnic Koreans in Japan), to have one of their own not only called up to the Japanese national team but actually scoring the winning goal for them at the Asian Cup. I hope this somehow becomes a catalyst for more equitable treatment and social acceptance for them. I don't particularly hate him for being a Judas-cunt blood traitor either () since he tried on several occasions to get into our national setup and failed before getting called up for Japan despite being a third-generation Korean and never having lived here.

I guess I would if not for the fact that he's probably the last player "this group of lads" want to see back.

It would be interesting to see the reception he gets at St James and his reaction to that.

No were selling Enrique and are going to perceiver with Perch until the end of the season when we will sign his replacement, Jlloyd-Samuel on a free. Aka J-Dog. Is it actually spelled like that in British or have I just witnessed one of the most hilarious vocabulary gaffes I've ever seen?

Seriously, this has got to stop. We got relegated once when all of us thought that we were "too good to go down" and it was a shock. I get it. But this post-relegation stress disorder is reaching ridiculous proportions. We're now trying to overcompensate to the point where we just assume that the next crisis is right around the corner and it's illegal to have ambitions beyond bare survival. We are eight points off the zone (with game in hand), but more importantly, we are eight teams away from the zone. That means all of those eight teams have to out-preform us by a significant margin for us to go down. It is mathematically possible, yes, but it is in no way shape or form likely. Heck, how about this. Go over to the BBC results predictor thing and start punching in some numbers. Come back to me when you realize how difficult it is to force through a realistic permutation of results that gets us relegated. Go on, have a try. It's like being that guy who's been through a terrible wreck of a relationship and gets dumped by his girlfriend who then afraid to ever commit to a relationship again because he thinks he'll get hurt again.

If you're willing to take 17th place in a season where we're 9th after 23 games, you might as well "take 17th place" for next season as well. And the one after that. And the one after that. In fact, go on and "take 17th place" for the rest of your life.

Man, I remember that. My first truly painful moment as a Newcastle fan. Anyway, having had a night to process my pain... "The Agony Scale" Stevenage - 1 Losing 5-1 to Birmingham in the Cup - 2 Nigel De Jong on Hatem Ben Arfa - 3 Away leg at AZ Alkmaar or however you're supposed to spell their name - 4 Shearer's last FA Cup match against Chelsea - 5 Keegan walking - 6 Losing to Uruguay at the World Cup - 7 Joe Kinnear - 8 Hughton sacking - 9 Newcastle getting relegated - 10 Having the f***ing blind linesman convinced the f***ing retarded referee that a non-foul from outside of the box constituted a penalty and then getting my hopes up with a late equalizer only to see three of our lads consecutively bottle it John Terry style in the shootout. In the semi finals of the Asian Cup. Against Japan. Have I mentioned that I don't like them yet? - FIVE MILLION Stevenage was far, far worse than losing to Birmingham 5-1 in the cup. By miles and miles. It's relative, obviously. Stevenage was really, really, shit when it happened, but within a few hours I wasn't really bothered.

Was it not obvious enough that I just included things that have happened while I've been watching you [insert appropriate insult here]?

Man, I remember that. My first truly painful moment as a Newcastle fan. Anyway, having had a night to process my pain... "The Agony Scale" Stevenage - 1 Losing 5-1 to Birmingham in the Cup - 2 Nigel De Jong on Hatem Ben Arfa - 3 Away leg at AZ Alkmaar or however you're supposed to spell their name - 4 Shearer's last FA Cup match against Chelsea - 5 Keegan walking - 6 Losing to Uruguay at the World Cup - 7 Joe Kinnear - 8 Hughton sacking - 9 Newcastle getting relegated - 10 Having the f***ing blind linesman convinced the f***ing retarded referee that a non-foul from outside of the box constituted a penalty and then getting my hopes up with a late equalizer only to see three of our lads consecutively bottle it John Terry style in the shootout. In the semi finals of the Asian Cup. Against Japan. Have I mentioned that I don't like them yet? - FIVE MILLION

Selling Shola would be like pawning off your old, senile grandmother. Don't do it man.