quayside

I think Martinez (or anyone worth considering) would not take the job with Kinnear as DOF so that question is not really answerable . Also I cannot believe anyone would disagree with your final sentence.

Just crap today, we had some players missing but what we had on the pitch was better than what they had. Really poor.

Ok let's assume you are right why the fuck would Pardew resign? No manager in his right mind resigns unless he's doing it either knowing he's got a cast iron case for constructive dismissal or he's agreed a payout to go. And following on from what you say Ashley must have a plan for a replacement, who is it?

A great name and great avatar deserve better than this s***.

Well hes not talking about the xfer fee so we must have... On the plus side we didn't talk to the player if we didn't have a bid accepted.... Don't know about that. Translation would be: is Grenier really worth only half of Cabaye? Could easily be regarding our transfer fee, Yeah I read it as that. Also says he has concerns about turning up at Newcastle as the new Cabaye rather than being Clement Grenier.

40 million Euro release clause. Match that and he's ours.....

Always seemed like a player that was definitely going to move. It was weird that he even came to us. We were a great career move for him. We paid him more than he was on in France, allowed him to prove he could crack it in the Premiership and also in a team where he was an absolutely key player rather than one that contained several class acts.

Know what you mean. Loved watching hiim when he was on it, one of the best we've had in midfield tbh - but never really felt he was our player. Mind you that's probably a comment on the game as it is now. Couple of total weirdos. I am. Not at all sure about Ian tbh.

Mourinho won the Champions League doing pretty much the same thing. #allardyceapologist

Know what you mean. Loved watching hiim when he was on it, one of the best we've had in midfield tbh - but never really felt he was our player. Mind you that's probably a comment on the game as it is now.

I think he was taken here on loan in case Oba Martins got injured. Sibierski was bought in as a stand in for Shola. As it turned out Oba hardly ever got injured and Shola needed a new hip (or something) so Rossi never got games and Sib did.

Yes. There's plenty of things that he does control to judge him on, and no shortage of judgement either.

The idea that clubs like PSG do their scouting based on what managers say in press conferences is laughable. Cabaye is a first choice French international, PSG is one of the richest clubs around (as well as being French) and they only knew about Cabaye because Pardew said something in a presser? Do me a favour.

Newcastle-Online cliche time - "It's amazing that this needs explaining".

He definitely started talking about the possibility of Cabaye leaving last summer before anyone else was, his motivation for that is debatable I suppose. Cabaye's wife tweeted about wanting a "nice" transfer in February last year. Maybe it was a joke, but the player and his entourage must have been looking for the next big payday. It's what footballers do. Doesn't explain why we hadn't seen any rumours in the press of Cabaye departing for months and months, then suddenly Pardew's prattling on about it in a press conference and things seemed to start happening. I'll accept the club is very willing to sell at the right price, but really cannot believe that no one was aware of Yohan Cabaye until Pardew put him up for sale in a press conference. FFs every decent player is on the radar of clubs that can afford to buy them, and every f***ing agent is working behind the scenes to make sure those clubs know their player is available. We don't have to facilitate the sale so keenly though, do we? Less than a week after Pardew had started his latest sales pitch Arsenal had bid and the player was in a huff, refusing to play in a League game. My hunch is that Pardew is encouraged to do this as a big fee now and then funds steady squad investment with minimal money going in. Ok the investment policy on money received is probably right, that seems to be the way. But I don't think anything Pardew says makes the slightest difference. He has nothing to do with players in or players out. He got caught out by the Carroll sale and was roundly accused of being a liar. In this case he must have known there was interest in Cabaye going not only from the player himself but also from other clubs. Whatever he says in that situation will sound crap tbh.

He definitely started talking about the possibility of Cabaye leaving last summer before anyone else was, his motivation for that is debatable I suppose. Cabaye's wife tweeted about wanting a "nice" transfer in February last year. Maybe it was a joke, but the player and his entourage must have been looking for the next big payday. It's what footballers do. Doesn't explain why we hadn't seen any rumours in the press of Cabaye departing for months and months, then suddenly Pardew's prattling on about it in a press conference and things seemed to start happening. I'll accept the club is very willing to sell at the right price, but really cannot believe that no one was aware of Yohan Cabaye until Pardew put him up for sale in a press conference. FFs every decent player is on the radar of clubs that can afford to buy them, and every fucking agent is working behind the scenes to make sure those clubs know their player is available.

He definitely started talking about the possibility of Cabaye leaving last summer before anyone else was, his motivation for that is debatable I suppose. Cabaye's wife tweeted about wanting a "nice" transfer in February last year. Maybe it was a joke, but the player and his entourage must have been looking for the next big payday. It's what footballers do.

As an evil believer that Pardew is an average manager who is better than anyone the current owner would find as a replacement - I agree.

Aye, he knows this. Some part of me just doesn't trust Kinnear to negotiate/convice Cabella/his angry bosses or Grenier to join us within the forthcoming four days. Unfortunately for Alan(and us more importantly) he has no say in that whatsoever. Yup. He could just be saying it in public to put some pressure on those who are calling the shots. I still can't quite believe that Kinnear might be involved in this process

You'd like to think so but it's got a horrible air of possibility about it, given Ashley's track record.

Well done that man! Yup I can see that - Wimbledon connection, proper geezer etc etc

Jesus Christ Seriously, how far do you have to be up Alan Pardews arse to post this sentence with a straight face? It's a reasonable question. I think we'd struggle to find a better manager who would work under the restrictions placed on Pardew and meet Ashley's liking. "Restrictions". There'd be tons of managers who'd give their right bollock to work with that squad and manage the players we've signed the last 3-4 years. "and meets Ashley's liking". Quite crucial that bit. The idea that we sack Pardew and instantly upgrade is plain f***ing wrong, particularly if what I've been told about our first choice replacement should Pardew leave is true Well someone needs to at least ask the question - what have you been told? The upper end of the possibles may be someone like Di Matteo, although as I type that I'm riddled with doubt because he's a bit foreign. I'm guessing that the lower end might include Kinnear but also the likes of O'Leary, Curbishley, or maybe another attempt to capture Geordie hearts with Lee Clark? Gonna tell us what you heard? I've heard a 'dirty' name mentioned too.......... Dirty Harry? Surely not....too far north and would not work with any DOF let alone Kinnear. Any other dirty names out there?

Jesus Christ Seriously, how far do you have to be up Alan Pardews arse to post this sentence with a straight face? It's a reasonable question. I think we'd struggle to find a better manager who would work under the restrictions placed on Pardew and meet Ashley's liking. "Restrictions". There'd be tons of managers who'd give their right bollock to work with that squad and manage the players we've signed the last 3-4 years. "and meets Ashley's liking". Quite crucial that bit. The idea that we sack Pardew and instantly upgrade is plain f***ing wrong, particularly if what I've been told about our first choice replacement should Pardew leave is true Well someone needs to at least ask the question - what have you been told? The upper end of the possibles may be someone like Di Matteo, although as I type that I'm riddled with doubt because he's a bit foreign. I'm guessing that the lower end might include Kinnear but also the likes of O'Leary, Curbishley, or maybe another attempt to capture Geordie hearts with Lee Clark? Gonna tell us what you heard?

Yep, what's the bloody point in it all. Was it Dave who posted a stat saying what % Sports Direct had increased taking since Ashley bought us? Sadly a large part of it is that. I think Sports Direct's success is two fold. Ashley's involvement in us, and tbf clothes/shoes/trainers that parents and lower paid workers can afford. I know that's not something we want readily admit but it's true nevertheless. The current climate has been kind to him. Not that i'm doubting his ownership of us has had nothing to do with it, just a smaller part of it than we think imo. Aye I wouldn't say it's a massive part but I would say there's got to be something noticeable in his figures I reckon or the club would have to go one way or the other ambition wise. I've really no idea now what Ashley really wants. Does he want to sell, while people say he would there has been no effort on that front. Does he want to own a successful football club, the lack of ambition says no. So he just want to own a mid table self funding boring football club. Doesn't make sense. I think he came in with two ideas - 1. To be the fabled 'Geordie Abramovic' after being fed s**** by Hall/Shepherd 2. To advertise his company internationally. Obviously 1 has gone tits up so we're left with 2 & as long as we exist in the premier league - off our own steam - he's doing a number on us. Only a tiny fraction of SD business is international right now. I said on another thread that the best result for us (under his ownership) would be that at some point he wants to expand SD internationally and he wants to use us to help. In that situation the only way we'd be any use is if we were much higher profile and more successful than we are now. So he'd have to show more ambition for the club.

Tbf that is as much a comment on how abject Cisse has been as it is a comment on Shola. Shola gets a game because he fouls the opposing centre halves (may even cause some pain to them who knows?) and can defend a corner. They are both excellent at strolling into offside traps although tbh I think Cisse shades it. In the occasional game this season Shola has looked like a decent attacking option without actually scoring, whilst Cisse has scored a few meaningless goals and done absolutely fuck all else. We have needed someone stronger and better than either of them for two seasons now.