timeEd32

They will probably survive, but they are already 12 points off a playoff place. It becomes unlikelier by the week that they get out of the division this year. Given their financial situation, they are pretty much fucked. I think their only hopes are striking gold with a quality (likely unknown) manager or a rich owner rescuing them, otherwise it's likely to be a long time before we see them again.* (* Assuming some series of events that involves Ashley staying and Rafa walking doesn't send us plummeting alongside them.)

He wasn't - there's a group of three I know, one a Liverpool fan (another Chelsea), who absolutely hate him and think he's completely overrated as a manager.

A journalist who writes for a publication that covers the Premier League said this to me today... go on... After the transfer window closed he argued that we had a perfectly fine squad and Rafa shouldn't have any complaints. Which now, of course, means that in his mind we are performing about average given our squad (i.e. a replacement manager would be doing the same).

Give over, man. I'd f***ing love it if that happened. Seriously, did you see them on Saturday? I'd have a heart attack if we had someone like De Bruyne spraying passes around in black and white.

Must.not.get.too.excited.

I did, just haven’t made it to a game yet. Two young kids makes it tricky. I’m not far from Manayunk in Lower Merion.

I thought someone said he was a supporter. Are you in the area?

I moved to the Philly area a year ago. I haven't joined them yet but Toon Army Philly has a dedicated pub in a great location as the owner is a supporter. There seems to be a pretty sizable group.

My condolences.

I'd love to know what these reasons are? - I'm not going to say he deserves no credit for the Pats success, but he struck gold with Belichick/Brady. - He's hesitant to buy a PL club because there isn't a salary cap - He's done nothing to push the NE Revolution forward. I think he's widely viewed as the worst owner in the league. A big part of that is he's let (forced) them to continue playing in a half empty NFL stadium in the middle of nowhere, while every other club has built their own stadium. - He's buddy-buddy with Trump (although he has called him out a few times) - I hate Boston sports teams so the same reason I wouldn't want us to be owned by FSG Honestly, he'd be way better than Ashley but the way he's let the Revolution stagnate would be very worrying.

Kraft can get fucked for a number of reasons. Obviously better than Ashley because just about anyone is, but would not want.

The value is always what someone is willing to pay! Which usually is somewhere around the value estimated by experts unless someone is willing to pay more for sentimental reasons. Actually in recent years most sales of professional sports clubs have been for quite a bit more than teams were valued at by experts. I really don't think £350-400m is that crazy assuming a) it includes the debt and b) there are no clauses that keep Ashley or Sports Direct involved for any period of time.

I like the idea, but are they revamping the way the FIFA rankings count friendlies to accommodate this?

If relegation wasn’t a thing there is no question we’d be tanking every season.

There will be a line in the article about it that says something like: “Staveley’s group was very interested in Newcastle United, recognizing the club’s potential, however negotiations with Mike Ashley went nowhere.”

If there's anything interesting about that it fits with the narrative this past weekend that the gap between the top 6 and the rest of the league has grown this season.

I can't wait for the day I load this forum and the first thread is [glow=red,2,300]Various: Unnamed Middle Eastern buyer close to completing takeover[/glow]

Like twice a season a ball lands at someone’s feet like that off a corner. Of course for us it lands for Grandpa Mo.

Since our team is generally a lot more likable now I think I’m going to direct my hate at Atsu.

So obvious they are going to score.

Wow, that bruise on Joselu.

I was just finishing yelling “Joselu you fucking jackass” as that trickled in. What a ball by Shelvey.

Getting tired of Atsu.

Can’t even get upset about that.

Holy shit Yedlin. Nice having a Ferrari at the back.