B-more Mag

And Martin Samuel joints the parade of t***s.

Not enough of these polls come with the option "this question is so pointless it doesn't deserve an answer."

But then again, there's this: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/newcastle/article3177770.ece I hope Mr. Lovejoy feels better, having got that out of his system. It must be a burden being the voice of "fair-minded fans" and determining who has "ideas above their station."

Even though many of the facts are not yet in the public domain, the appearance (to me) is that the whole situation was handled sloppily. With a few exceptions I would think a team as savvy as Ashley/Mort would be able to handle the spin on this very well. The fact that they didn't is concerning from a management standpoint (I haven't decided how concerning), and the Redknapp situation doesn't help.

Get on board with the Ray Hudson bandwagon. He's braver than a matador in high heels.

Joe Mantegna

My dad's friend told me Bill Richardson's looking for a new job. Way more experience than Clinton. Have to go through the proper channels, of course.

Ray Hudson!

Unless Mort wanders down to the nearest zoo and appoints a baboon as a manager, I don't think he's going to reach this bizarre conclusion. I'll be gutted if they don't appoint a foreign baboon.

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Put a pair of sunglasses on him and we can start calling him The Dude. That rug really tied the room together.

This is true, but how on earth would it make any financial sense at all? Undoubtedly financial motives are behind it, but what baffles me is how anyone thinks this would prove itself out with any substantial financial reward.

If ever an avatar intermingled nicely with a post, this is that instance. Why thank you kind sir. Just wish more people would open their eyes and accept things change. It's 2007 and clubs aren't run the way they were 30 years ago. Football is a worldwide sport and the Premier League is the most popular going. Introducing it to a whole new audience in America is an opportunity to be embraced, not rebuffed. Fucks sake. It's futile. The game has been here for decades and hasn't taken off (as a professional sport). A Premiership game or two here or there won't make a difference.

The theory that playing NFL games in Wembley or Premiership games in the Meadowlands will have anything more than a negligible effect on the general popularity of either sport on the other side of the Atlantic just seems faulty. Sure, there is a critical mass of people in the U.S. that will seek out quality football (there's also got to be at least one American football fan in England), and there's no doubt a Premiership game here would sell out. But playing games overseas seems like it would only make economic sense if, over time, a significant number of people that were not already interested in the sport become interested as a result of those games. One or two Premiership games here or NFL games over there are just not going to do that.

Heard tell God made an offer to Ashley but only if J.H. Christ agreed to manage. H. Ghost in charge of the academy.

Venom -- Welcome to Hell

Looks like Martins is being made available for the right price. Dontcha think? He's available at £13m whether we like or not. f*** all to do with him being made available. True, but those Allardyce quotes practically read like we've started an advertisement campaign to get shot of him. The language "From that point of view he is still a Newcastle United player" gives off that vibe (i.e., from other points of view he's not, and he's available at the right price). Hard to tell with just the words on the page though.

Looks like Martins is being made available for the right price. Dontcha think? Erm, if there's a clause, we haven't got a choice, have we? Oliver had him off to Arsenal iirc. Depends on what the release clause actually says, no? Wouldn't think the clause would require a sale, even if the threshold is met, if player and team both want player to stay.

Has anyone seen Luka Modric play? Young attacking midfielder with Dinamo Zagreb. Wenger may have him tied up with a rofr, but you never know?

Indeed. He'll probably go down as one of the worst signings in Premiership history. Times only has him at 40th worst, so he's got that goin' for him.