cubaricho

I don't think Ashley will be here as long as some are suggesting. But even then, who do you want to buy our club? Some rich Arab billionaire? They are soon going to tire of throwing tons of money into clubs and not getting any profit. They come in and rip the souls out of clubs and then move on. For what it's worth, I think Ashley will take a loss on his investment, but he won't take a big one. He's managing the debt/whatever you want to call it down so that we will be more attractive to buyers. I'd wager he won't be here for another five years.

I miss Mort

Stoke having a good chairman and good spending habits bodes well for Orlando City as it is co-owned by Coates. They really could make the push to MLS.

Quick synopsis for anyone who can't be arsed to decipher it; Mike Ashley may be acting out of self interest. In other news, dogs bark, cats meow and McDonalds may be fattening. See, to me it seems like he's acting only acting out of self-interest in a backhanded way. He got in way over his head, for much more than he originally thought, and now is working to make the club seem a more attractive option to potential buyers because he wants out. He may make some pretty bad football decisions (which he shouldn't be making in the first place) but his business sense is shrewd, even though his buying of the club was not.

Interesting thread, most of which has gone over my head.

Because you can't put the new letters on top of the old letters?

The drop off between the top five and everyone else is staggering. Money is truly ruining the sport.

I honestly thought everyone would've mellowed out on day 2. Guess not.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/29/despite-daily-ramadan-fast-muslim-nfler-trains-for-the-season/?hpt=hp_c2

There was an article over here about a NFL player getting ready for the season during the month of Ramadan and how he coped with it. Basically he gets home at night after practice and eats a big meal, goes to sleep, wakes up around 2 am, has a "lunch" and then has a big breakfast before he leaves in the morning. It sounded like it was just fine. I don't think it's a viable excuse to be shit.

don't think it would make any difference, if i lived there i'd still go, support the name of the club and it's players. Except that won't even be on the stadium anymore...

If we're in the Top 10 I'll be happy. Our squad is thin but I think it's versatile so we can cope with a limited number of injuries.

Sydney is a better party town imo. Melbourne is more cultured plus you can walk up side streets in Sydney and not get stabbed Is there that much crime in Melbourne?

Have to agree with all of these positive points expect the money being available in January. I'll believe that when I see it. The other points though are spot on. I'm excited to see the kind of football we'll be playing in a few months once all of the players in the squad start to gel and figure each other out.

Just did a quick Google Streetview vacation for Melbourne and I never realized it was such a large city. Looks like a good time.

Fairly sure when you have Iniesta, Xavi, Fabregas, Busquets and Messi feeding you all you need to do is stay onside and you will score. Their biggest first team striker is a 5 ft 9 in Villa Obviously we won't be Barca but we can play a good possession/passing game without a target man and still win matches.

Not that we'll be that great, but Barca don't have a "target" man do they really? As long as the team is fluid enough (and I think Ba can run/has good movement) then the team can still function at a very high level.

Never agreed with that btw. Started this argument before he made that Tweet. He clearly states on many occasions about not making enough quality signings - what are players like Cabaye supposed to think with those kinds of comments? If he didn't get a bumper contract at QPR he would've fallen out with the new players in a very short period of time I'd imagine, the only difference being they wouldn't have bitched about it on twitter.

He still would've chosen Sunderland, as bad as it is to say. He has ties to Bruce who gave him his best season to date.

3 weeks until the next home game though. That's an age in football terms, which is why it will have been timed for now. Leaves any anger to disapate or be channeled into fighting amongst ourselves in the Gallowgate. Divide and Conquer - a classic example. Or enough time to stage a proper show from the fans.

Totally unnecessary and highlights why we're better off without him, regardless of his contribution on the pitch. Used to really like you Joey...

Good post.

Wonder how much of the 35m is being used to change the sign?

He can't possibly defend taking the sign down. It's a classic part of the stadium's history.

Milking what ffs? i'm not allowed to say that i'm dissapointed in my teams transfer activity in a "transfer deadline day thread" because you're in a worse situation and no one else can feel bad because it's not as bad as how you feel? From an outsider you signed: a very promising left winger that was wanted by Liverpool a dm/cm that looks the business and just won the French league a physical striker that managed 7 in 13 in his opening half season in the league and looked a beast a left back that was only recently billed as one of the best young players in his position in Europe and all i've heard is how bad you did because you didn't buy another striker. You're right mate, for some reason everyone seems to be unable to see past the fact we haven't "replaced Carroll". We did need another striker, but our other signings are pretty good IMO. How dare you defend the transfer win.....oh wait. Nice to see a bit of positivity around the place.