PRL

The title change is not good when you go to the football board... All I saw was "NUFC: Kevin Keegan R..." - that scared me!!!

If Ashley caves in to Keegan we could end up with Robbie Fowler type signings (Thierry Henry?) rather than steals like Jonas. I'd be wary of that scenario if I was Ashley. Didnt Keegan sign the likes of Ginola, Beardsley, Cole, Shearer, Asprilla, Ferdinand? Good enough for me Keegan buys names. He's capable of making very good signings but he wouldn't have a clue how to go about making Wenger type signings. Hence daft decisions like Fowler and given half a chance, Thierry Henry, players who command premium prices when they are going downhill. Can you sustain a football club like that? I wouldn't say people like Beresford, Lee, Albert, Venison, Bracewell, Allen, Cole et al were 'names', they were players either classed as past it or who hadn't even been picked up by the big clubs... It's such a myth to say Keegan just bought players who were already big names...

and if he's going to walk out over milner,smith and barton you have to question him. It's the principle here... I think he'd have willingly sold off his own bat but only once replacements had been bought and he knew they were surplus to requirements. Had we sold both on Monday our squad would be about 15 players!

That sounds believable to me, and it fits with the LMA's statements. Either that or its just someone's guess based on what the LMA said. I started to doubt when they mentioned Collingwood - he's a mackem... I know they're obsessed with us but i cannot see him going that far.

I'm pretty sure, if Ashley and Keegan had fallen out irrepairably then Ashley would just pay out his contract and tell him to do one. He had no problem doing that with Allardyce and if it's a money matter then surely they would have just given Keegan the money in exchange for his silence. I think Ashley will be saying he wants Keegan to stay as manager on his terms and Keegan will be saying he wants to stay on his terms. Solely personal opinion but i think Keegan is actually relatively happy with the buys but not happy about selling behind his back, so i can't see why they don't compromise, with Keegan having control over who can leave the club and Vetere and Jiminez (i for one don't actually think Wise is involved in our first team transfers) scouting for Keegan to then ok deals on players they find. As much as i'm happy with what has been brought in and the price we have got for Milner, you simply cannot run a football club where you sell players without the manager's consent - how can a manager build a side / work on a system not knowing when players will be sold? It makes no sense...

FYI betfair users - i'd probably take this chance just to cover your original lay to ensure you don't lose anything at all should the worst still happen... For the wider world... I'm still not completely convinced this is the end of it but at least i can now leave work, an hour and a half late because i couldn't work faster than a snail today with all this going on, at least with renewed hope he might be staying. Howay the lads

I'm torn. I'm really fucking angry right now, but I'm waiting to find out who with. I will certainly be put off lining Ashley & Co's pockets if it turns out they have fucked over Keegan, but there are plenty of people on this board who have had to put up with the club getting fucked over in far worse ways in the 80s and they're still here, which makes me question whether I'd be right to walk away. Despite having a poncy southern accent and living in London, I'm a Geordie through birth and heritage and it's not just something you can leave behind or disregard. As much as this hurts, I can't say i won't support the team any more because I will, at the end of the day what I support isn't the chairman, it isn't the manager and a lot of the time it isn't even the team, it's the supporters themselves, the people i sing with, moan with, bitch at and generally pass more of my time talking to than anyone else in the world. I was going to compare walking away like walking away from the missus, but it isn't - it's way more than that. It's been with me since I can remember and whatever it does i'll always love the club and the city - it's more like family i guess, it's in the blood.

I knew it was some kind of spelling catastrophy *catastrophe...

Betfair down to 1.05.... this is like water torture

If anyone is tracking my movement on here today i'm fucked, i would much rather be doing work to be honest, this is fucking painful but can't take my eyes off it...

telegraphed that one

Go to english soccer, barclaycard premiership, managerial change. He's now 1.09

WUM

Whats that mean to us not attracted to wasting our money betting ? Basically means people are heavily backing to happen but definitely not confirmed - once it is confirmed it'll go to 1.01, so imagine it as a doomsday clock, we're basically 13 mins from the world as we know it being blown up

Disagree - if Ashley goes whoever comes in will be able to do a similar job / may even be better (and whilst i appreciate what he has done for this club in clearing the debt, other aspects of his ownership have left a bit to be desired). Keegan, to me at least, is just about irreplacable.

So Ashley refused to sell when this Abu Dhabi group were interested but now is willing to sell any of our players and sack Keegan... Something really doesn't add up here

on train on way home, refreshing wap every ten secs but nothing happening just hoping theyre waiting for me to get in

Stuck at work til 7 then gym induction from 8 til 9. My fault for being a fat cunt but wish i'd thought it through before booking last week... come 9pm it's a taxi home then 3 hours of all this...

We've had this the first time Thaksin took over, when Egg went into West Ham, Lerner into Villa, etc... I know they are all different but i wouldn't immediately be dejected because city have (another) pile of cash possibly at their disposal. New owners often means new manager so next time City have a slump we might see another change at the top which will unsettle everyone there. A club has to be managed well to succeed, not just have loads of money chucked at it. I know people will point to Chelsea but they had Mourinho who wasn't exactly a bad manager. Not saying Hughes is, just think he might not be who they want and the merry go round at City could start all over... As long as we're quietly working away in the background, getting some kind of stability, bringing some youth talent in and buying players of the quality we have so far, i'm happy to see City et al go mental

The Middle East really don't need to make money in the short-term, you know. If anything they need to find ways to spend money like hell short-term that could become something that isn't a massive loss-maker and can break even in the long-term. I know they don't need to make money, but the essence of an investment group is to invest money to make money, not to lose money short term and hopefully break even long term. I know that they are ridiculously cash-rich at present but i don't really understand the point in investing for the sake of investing just to hopefully break even long term. It's not like if they didn't invest it someone would come along and take it away from them... What happened to good old fashioned leaving your money in the bank for a rainy day?! I suppose the one thing they may hope for is positive western exposure...

I still never really understand investment groups getting involved in footie. Don't see where they will make money which is what investment groups are supposed to do...

Applies Europewide i'm pretty sure, hence Inter supposedly signing Quaresma today and Calderon saying Madrid would be making no more signings (If they couldn't make any it would seem a bit of an odd thing to say)

Transfer deadline is often the single day that encapsulates being a toon fan... Loads of expectation and excitement make it all worthwhile before the inevitable disappointment as we reach midnight and snap up Gok Wan or whoever it was Man Utd released...

Exactly this. On my own and absolutely swamped but can't stop F5ing and i've only been in half hour

Absolute bollocks. Seems to have been pretty spot on tactically since he came back, operated without any open chequebook and with a pretty ragtag team at the beginning of his reign and throughout his first couple of seasons, relying on managerial skill and uncovering unknowns to get the team in a position to attract the top players and was the person who got us into the position in 96 in the first place. Also, didn't we have a better defensive record than ManYoo that season? Can't recall whether we had Peacock playing then or not?! Your opinion sounds like something that bint from the Guardian would write.