Jackie Broon

My, very much layman's, understanding is that infrastructure spending isn't actually specifically exempt from FFP. It's just that it is capital expenditure on physical assets and so doesn't affect profit/loss. Only youth, community and women's football spending is actually exempt.

Welcome to Newcastle

Also add Pete Doherty, Maxïmo Park, Everything Everything and Smoove & Turrell to that list.

To be fair Gabriel's (formed by a mackem and named after a street in sunderland) were pretty fucking class too.

No insult taken, I was only being playful. Many people refer to Man U as United in the rest of the country and media, but in Newcastle, United means NUFC. Please don't shut you mouth, your insights are very much appreciated

Great post @Milanista but there's only one team that gets called United on this forum and it's not the one from Salford that changed its name from Newton Heath.

Maybe he's just a fan of expensive metal dildos?

I think it's more the massive payments extorted from clubs by agents that people have an issue with, like Mino Raiola getting £16m just in 'fees' from Man U when they bought Pogba back.

More likely that he would take Willock's place in the team I think, although I think that Bruno will probably generally play in place of Shelvey in that deeper holding role next season.

Although that does indicate that Darlow is better than De Gea.

Because he has a reputation of his distribution being shit, which is maybe a bit of a myth: https://themastermindsite.com/2022/04/26/the-myth-of-nick-popes-poor-distribution/

Well not the owners because PIF apparently tried and failed to buy Man U before turning to us. The fans on the other hand: https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/10197295/man-utd-91-per-cent-fans-want-bin-salman-glazers-poll/

Particularly as we hold the British (and I think world) record average attendance for a season outside of a top flight league, and three of the top 5 highest average attendances outside of a top flight league: 1947/48 - NUFC - 56,283 1949/50 - Spurs - 54,111 2016/17 - NUFC - 51,106 1946/47 - NUFC - 49,397 1974/75 - Man U - 48,389

He's been playing as a wingback for Forest hasn't he?

In a waffle house on wearside...

It's sensible to go for Eriksen on a free as first choice in that position but if we don't get him I'm sure Paqueta will be somewhere on the list of other options. We're not going to spaff our whole FFP allowance in two windows but I doubt there is a fixed budget.

They're very unlikely to be buying a football club, or starting a golf tournament paying hundreds of millions out, for solely financial reasons, there are much better ways to invest their money than that. There might be an elements of MBS and/or Al-Rumayyan being big sports fans and friendly or not so friendly competition with other Arab states, but image is likely to be a big part of it. Saudi Arabia can't just stop being and oppressive regime, they're in an incredibly unstable region, look at what has happened in other middle eastern countries that have risen up against oppressive regimes or where there has been an attempt at introducing western democracy... The Arab Spring and resulting conflict and instability in previously relatively stable and prosperous nations, the removal of Saddam Hussein's oppressive but stabilising regime in Iraq. The Saudi leadership will see their actions as completely necessary to maintain control and stability in their country, and they probably are, but they will also want to present a different image to the rest of the world and that almost certainty is at least an element of their reason for investment in sport.

Kevin Keegan, I was only 6 when he played for us, and didn’t really get into football until my teens but I loved Kevin Keegan. I think partly because I’d gone to Mrs Keegan’s nursery in Jesmond and though she was his mum

There were similar stories about Malcolm Langstaff, often seen around Jesmond in just cowboy boots on playing his guitar and shouting at passing traffic in the 80s and 90s, struggling with his mental health after losing his wife and kid in a car accident. I don't think that was actually true.

Andy Woodman bumped into Ashley in As You Like It and after a bit of power drinking Ashley said he was going to give him an 8 year contract. He went in the next day and Pardew told him he couldn't accept because it would piss off the rest of the coaching team, so he went to Ashley to turn it down and his response was to give Pardew and all of his coaching staff 8 year contracts. In a way it makes Ashley seem like a good lad, but set against all his penny-pinching everywhere else

The story of how the entire coaching staff ended up with eight year contracts

Jeff Vetere was the other.

Not really, he said: "Juan Sartori and I remain wholeheartedly committed to Sunderland AFC and our collective focus is on preparing for the upcoming Championship season. "Neither I nor any employee from SAFC has had any dialogue with the cryptocurrency group 'The Fans Together' and although a timely conclusion to this matter is preferable, any transfer of shares must not compromise the club's integrity. All shareholders must also be qualified to take the club forward in line with EFL Governance and have alignment with the values and principles of SAFC and its supporters, as well as our long-term strategy." He's only denying that he's spoken to them, very clear from that that he's not speaking for The Don and Methvan and it's unlikely he'd come out with that if they haven't been.

thanks. Some have thought I'm just a fan of Tarantino.