Consortium of one

I don't think you can compare Carroll's contract situation to Tiote's. We don't know what happened behind the scenes and we probably never will. The way every thing came together it sounds like the Carroll situation was the perfect storm that got him out the door. Maybe the one thing I can agree with is that this Tiote deal was in response to the Carroll situation in that the club feels they need to lock up their good talent so they can signal that they are ambitious. It's not only a reward for Jehovah Tiote but it also send the message to Enrique and Barton (and others) that they aren't a selling club and that the Carroll deal was an extraordinary situation.

Some one once posted a clip here of Allardyce tooling around on a cart all the while yelling instructions into a megaphone. I think it was a practice at St. James' Park and the players were woodenly moving around with questioning looks on their faces. I would love to see that again. It was classic.

you could take put a higher mortgage on it if there was equity on it, alternativly you could take out a mortgage on more favourable terms....like i have done several times. Yes, but also if you had a load of other debts and your financial position was constantly worsening, the bank would be unlikely to agree to any refinancing. you'd think so wouldn't you, however i've been doing a lot of reading on why the economy f***ed up with things like derivitives, SIV's, credit default swaps etc and the standard rules of credit seemed to have been thrown out of the window for a few years there. I also remember reading about portsmouth that they had been allowed to keep borrowing long after they should've been stopped. Bingo Monay managers got stupid and/or lazy and began to believe that the money pot would never get empty. Loans were being made and fees were charged and interest on those loans were expected with little to no thought of the loan ever being repaid. Imean if loan "A" couldn't be repaid, just make loan "B" to repay "A" and it's all good! In reality most of the financial ventures were little more than Ponzi schemes in their own right.

Fairfield County, Connecticut checking in. I don't get into the city much but if I do I'll swing by Legends.

Cisse can be very streaky. When he's good, he's good. When he's off, he's awful. You'd have to have another option for when he slumps. Carlton Cole would also impede Rangers progress. An older player who can still be effective who could help tutor Ranger would be ideal. That player could give you a year or two and then step aside for (hopefully) Ranger. I'd love to see Hooper here.

My opinion of Joey Barton grows daily...

has there been any more to the Sylvain Marveaux rumors?

This season is retribution for the relegation year. Bad decisions and bad luck then, bad decisions and good luck now. It's a testament to the players, really. Where as they slowly collapsed under the shit storm of 08/09, this year they just work harder and perservere. Even Ashley has to see that by adding some good pieces the club can be a contender.

Huge 3 points and a win that shows that the club isn't for the drop. They can now push for Europe.

Free Transfer - Check Has Legs - Check http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VtZA_846X3s/S8VAKE4dWAI/AAAAAAAAAEE/FH5F-Ne-6AM/s1600/Trading-Places-p12.jpg

DEBUT HAT TRICK

Can't help but admire the kid. When everyone is saying you can't do it and you do it... ...fuck 'em

Holy crap. What an absolutely stupendous comeback. Tiote's goal has to be considered for goal of the year. WOW

Can we all agree that Philly is the land of the douchebags? And scumbags. Philly has a lot of them too. Scumbags and douchebags. Yeah, that's Philadelphia all right.

After a difficult and disappointing close to the season I can picture AC telling Dalglish, "getting Kevin Nolan in here will be good for me and that will be good for the team"

The problem here in the states, and specifically NYC is that it costs so damn much to go to a game. Tickets get into the hundreds, parking can cost up top $50 and you can drop a hundred on food and drink easily. That cuts a lot of real fans out and the seats are scooped up by corporations who are there more for the experience. American football is a little more reasonable than baseball. I'll stand by the passion of the american sports fan as I know it but I will say that before I die I want to sing in St. James Park.

I'm sorry man, but this is crazy. You're nuts if you think there isn't any passion. When you were at this game, did you stop to watch the fan as the ball was being pitched, or while the ball was in play? Are you sure you're not just talking about the long stretches of time where absolutely nothing is happening? As for away support, who was playing? I wouldn't expect 5000 Dodgers fans to make their way to NY for the Mets game. What month was it? Was it a game with playoff implications or was it one of those relaxed day games? Just because we don't sing doesn't mean we don't care. Yep. Go to an NFL game and the noise will be as loud as a derby in the Premiership. It's not as 'hostile' in terms of the potential of violence because there aren't that many away fans (tough to travel), but it's definitely loud and intimidating. Wear a Jets jersey to Foxboro or a Dolphins jersey to the Meadowlands or any visiting jersey to an Eagles game. You'll see hostile I do get the pooint about franchises moving, though Mike, I take it your're a Yankees fan?

I just think that because the US has so many more people that a lot of those people have little interest in sports and are out on the fringe. Also have to factor in that even hard core sports fans have so many different teams in different sports to choose from where as Europe has football and...? I have friends that don't care about sports and I have friends that are like me: don't miss a game of their favorite teams and can stop on a dime to analyze a game or their team. I know of not a single Newcastle fan though od even one that watches football on a regular basis. Have some online friends who follow it very closely. One even edits BarcoLoco which is a newsletter for Barca fans in the states.

Man, Jordan used to torment the Knicks. I can still see Charles Smith missing all those putbacks...

I've been a New York Mets and Jets fan for 40 years now. I've been a UConn Huskies (men's BB) fan for 31 years (since the Big East was first formed). Like NUFC for you, these teams are in my blood. The Mets last won in '86. The Jets have never been to a Super Bowl since I became a fan. I went for a decade before the Huskies began to get good and go on to win two NCAA championships. I can tell you that the wait, the long hard years bereft of hope and awash with futility make it all worth while when your tgeam climbs to the top of mountain. As for Newcastle United, well, I haven't followed them nearly as long but I can't even play another Premier team on FM, FWIW. Lord knows I've felt compelled to at least a half dozen times in Ashley's ill fated reign. Suffice to say that the twists and turns at NUFC are in line with the ups and downs of the Mets and the Jets. Still, you can't knock me off of my teams. I'll root for them til the day I die even though rooting for them will likely have been a contributing factor to said death. When they win, it will have all been worth it. I remember 86 when the Mets came back and beat the Red Sox. I remember UConn beating Duke in 99. Both those wins were redemption and the years of wwaiting made it all worth it. So buck up and carry on and never, ever, ever give up. As a famous writer once said, it's better to have loved and lost than have never loved at all...

On the bright side maybe we can sell Nolan to Liverpool over the summer so he can resume being Andy's babysitter

Seriously, being offered 35M for Andy Carroll would make any of us blink if we owned the club.

If people want to blame someone, it should start with Carroll's agent. This is roughly how the whole thing probably played out and the agent was probably pushing each step to conclusion. I mean, he probably got a cracking fee from Liverpool. He also engineered the the 6th (?!!!!!) largest transfer fee to date (for a high potential but largely unproven player). Not only does the agent get some cash in his pocket and a big ego boost if he facilitated this whole scenario I suspect he'll add some heavy hitters to his client list. See, this could be bad for three out of the four parties. NUFC get what could have been a local legend pulled out from under them. Liverpool spunk big money on what could be a spectacular flop for the money and the player goes to a club still in trouble with the burden of a huge transfer fee over his head. The only one who definitely comes out good is the agent. Maybe it works out for all four parties. Still, the only sure bet for a happy ending is the agent.

With all the clubs I follow, I root for the uniform. At least that is what I keep telling myself...

I'd like to say this kind of spending is unsustainable but if we came through the last economic crisis and haven't lost a few clubs in the process maybe it is sustainable?