oldtype

When you think about it, this club has been going nowhere for the past decade or so and probably will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. What Ashley and Pardew are doing is just breaking the cycle of false hope-heartbreak-false hope again that all of us have been suffering through. Now it's just a flat line of disinterest.

He's roughly a league average goalkeeper. Good enough to start for us and there are advantages to being homegrown. No point in selling because he's worth more to us than he is to anyone else probably

The vast majority of times it's the right call to not sack your manager. As a mid-table club any replacement you're getting is probably similarly mediocre anyway so might as well give a guy some time to get used to the place and not pay expensive severance fees.

So he's sacked for only getting 15 points from 17 games. Points we managed in our last 17 games? 16. Compare our squad and if Mel is sacked Pardew should be hung. I'm actually surprised we got 16 points. Would have guessed about 7 or 8 if someone asked.

Yeah, might as well put his face on the club crest. The club will go bankrupt before he's gone.

That's depressingly true. How many years left on this contract again?

At least we're not the only ones suffering

It's difficult to reconcile his ruthlessness with regards to certain managers (Allardyce/Hughton) and his stubborn perseverance with others (Kinnear/Pardew). I suspect the answer is just that he's just incredibly loyal to people in his inner circle. Ashley wanted to keep Kinnear on despite relegation and his heart giving out, and went out of his way to offer his old buddy another job years later. God knows to what extents he'll go to protect Pardew.

All we need is Wenger to retire now. Voilia, the Premiership's longest serving manager

Should be an extended penalty shootout

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/shola-ameobi-talentspotter#FvsV2dAY8CVU10ya.99 Spotted James Milner's one of these at the bottom of the page. Some of the answers. TV programmes Friends and The Office. I enjoy comedies. I like laughing, it's a laugh isn't it? Hobbies Golf, Playstation and I enjoy walking my dog. He’s a Canaan Hound, originally from Israel. He’s only six months old but he’s massive, so he takes me for a walk. His name’s Zizzi. J-Lo or Beyonce? Neither, I prefer my girlfriend Any tattoos? No, and I’ve definitely got no plans to get any. I'm now convinced the boring milner page is actually him Couldn't make it up

I hope Pardew manages them someday.

Aye, he really has. He's one of the better tactical minds among active English managers imo, but I suspect he's a bit of a difficult personality. Probably more deserving of a Premiership job than most English managers who already have one.

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/shola-ameobi-talentspotter#FvsV2dAY8CVU10ya.99 Wait, Shola is... Mike?

If your boyhood club for some reason keeps giving you contracts for over a decade, would you turn them down because you knew you weren't good enough? He's a terrible footballer, but very little fault can be put on him for having been utilized so far beyond his abilities.

I'll show my arse in Fenwicks window if he makes it as a regular first teamer. He's not got the ability, the heart nor the will I'm afraid. Just like his brother that you guys seem to want to forget about. We'll never know if he's got the ability or not because he's being developed in a toxic environment without any sort of coherent youth development strategy. It can't be a coincidence that the same clubs tend to produce all the good youth prospects while we consistently produce fuck all. You have to imagine spread of talent is roughly equal across the country, it's a matter of having a system.

In Spain all you need is for two teams to have a bad year. What Atletico are (about to) accomplish is still the equivalent of flipping a coin and having it come up heads fifty times straight. For us, it would be closer to five-hundred. It's different for entitlement teams like Man United or Liverpool who had already built gigantic brands before the modern era, which allow them to generate enough cash to compete and attract players with their prestige. Money, money, and more money is the only option for teams on the level of Chelsea, Man City, or us.

We really didn't like. That's so wrong it's unbelievable like SanToon. We had an untested manager buying unproven players at market prices. We broke the transfer record for a proven player but we built towards that and loaned the money to do so. We built and built. Times have changed IMO. It's impossible to win a title through "gradual building" now

Have to say I honestly can't imagine Shola swearing

Kids like Sammy who have significant strengths and significant weaknesses are the exciting prospects. They may look awkward now but if they're taught well and learn to shore up the holes in the game they can tun into very, very good players. Unlikely to happen at this club given our tendency to butcher the career of youngsters, but he should have more opportunities.

Class from Kompany ushering the guys who don't get medals up to the podium before heading up himself

For the league at least it's a certainty that we won't win it unless we're bought out by a sugar daddy. We may fluke a cup somewhere but that chance is negligible.

Hmm. I would like. Not a f***ing chance would I want us to buy success on the scale that Man City or Chelsea have. I know it would feel empty. Because this feeling is what its all about man. Because not subscribing to one means that you MUST subscribe to the other? Howeh. The alternative is never winning the league. I'd gladly sell my soul for a chance to compete.

They could have Graham Danby sing the North Korean national anthem in the center circle for all I care

God I fucking hate football. It is their team I suppose