Consortium of one

Surely Duff would have helped us this year but 4M for him is just too good to pass up. Still, I would have felt better had he been sold in July rather than mid to late August. Need to start buying to fill out this paper thin quad.

This Moat is the front man because he is local and a fan. Buy the club, get it stable, get it promoted then sell it on. Moat may stay on as a minority owner. Ashley must know that that is the plan and he's been trying to hedge his bets so he can recoup some of his money if the club does go up and that is most likely what the hold up is. I think he'd have sold outright for the 100M but the bids have been lower and Ashley wants assurances that he'd get the difference if the club goes right up.

I think Jonas is one of the players that deserves quite a bit slack. He signed for a club that was managed by Keegan and was supposed to be top half of the Premiership with a chance to push for Europe. Instead, Keegan bolted and the club went on a season-long spiral into relegation. I don't know how any player could keep his confidence and how, given the clusterfuck of a season, we can begin to judge any player adequately. That being said, in the first game, I thought Jonas was abysmal. At the start he seemed more interested in drawing fouls than anything else and when he didn't get them he went into a shell. Against Reading, I thought he played much more confidently (as did the team) and I was really hoping he'd finish on thast looooong through ball from Nolan earlier in the game. I think he showed a little lack of composure on that play but as he continues to make runs (and he made a few more as the game went on) he'll find the back of the net. Overall I thought the team played confidently and I hope the takeover can be finished quickly so the players can take the club forward. A good run of games and I think the club can start to run away and hide for top spot and I think Jonas is an integral part of that. There just aren't too many Championship defenders who can handle him. He and Jose Enrique can be devestating combo on the left side in the Championship. And I still say that if we can find a creative CM Jonas could be even better.

I don't have an ITK, I guess I am one. Talked to Barry Moat after the game. Nice fella but he talks real fast. He's trying to cobble together some investment money and wanted to confirm my interest. He must have had a comma or decimal out of place as he thought I had quite a bit more than the $16, 238.59 I've raised. When I insisted on pledgeing the amount in full (less travel and lodging to sign the deal) he said he'd get back to me and hung up. He did say that he expected it all to go down this week, Wednesday at the latest. Shearer was to be named and there would be in excess of 10M in the transfer kitty with 3 and possibly 4 players already lined up and ready to sign. He also told me that Elvis WAS alive and ran a small curio shop in Gatehead.

Sell. he can help at winger and striker, IMO and I'd prefer to keep him but 4M is a good price and it would really help the wage bill. We are very thing at the wing though and the money has to be spent back ASAP.

Sell. As good as he looked last week as the season grinds on those crisp, sharp tackles will become the late, sloppy tackles that draw yellow and red cards.

This game will be on ESPN360 once again for those of us in the states.

I thought he made some canny kicks. I remember thinking he could get an assist or two this season if he plays regularly

sacking fat Sam was probably the only thing fatter Mike did right.

Hughton appears to be incredibly unimaginative so I expect he'll go with --------------Harper-------------- Raylor--Taylor--Colo--Enrique Jonas--Smith--Barton--Duff -------Carroll----Shola------- I would go --------------Krul---------------- Raylor--Taylor--Colo--Enrique ---------------Smith-------------- Lua Lua-----Barton-----Jonas ----------------Duff-------------- --------------Carroll------------ Just for fun

watched this on ESPN 360 Harper: deputy Krul: LEGEND Enrique: looked lost going forward Coloccini: cannot operate in space, direct balls kill him S Taylor: OK but I still think he's a better RB R Taylor: looked better as the game went on Jonas: went down far to easily early on and Dean wouldn't give im a fair shake after that Smith: great workrate, nice sliding tackles, good interventions, offensively handicapped Nolan: was invisible except for his nice pass to Duff and that horrible header Duff: whole lot of nothing until he moved into space nicely and finished even better Shola: clueless Carroll: beast in the air. shouldn't have been taken out Barton: best MF we have, time bomb? Ranger: with better service could have scored a brace Hughton: Ranger for Shola, Barton for Nolan would have been the smart play. 1-1 is acceptable. Midfield is s***

Ashley did that. Look what happened.

interesting listen. I seem to remember that I'm usually unable to get BBC radio over the net here in the states.

Ashley: Joe, I've fired Tea Lady and need someone to fill in if I keep the club. JFK: Well, me health isn't the best yet, can I try it for a couple of weeks and see if it works out? Ashley: Sure and if it does, we'll give you a two year deal

this

So the new owners will land on the pitch in a helicopter at 3pm. At 4pm there will be a presser to announce Keegan. KK will tell us that he's in charge and that Bassong will be sold for 15M, Geremi will go to Besiktas for 3M, Beckford will be there as a new signing and as a touching finale, Joey Barton will be handed the captains armband while AC/DC plays "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" in the background. Right?

Soccer Circus could use a fresh infusion of cash so, yes, Keegan is indeed returning.

I checked on my bid for the club (I've raised over $10K now) and was told that it was not being considered. I was also told that some news was imminent...

outfreakingstanding

I reached out to Mr. Shepherd late last night and offered to throw my financial weight in with his. He thanked me for my offer but said that he had already forged a partnership with prominent Northeast businessman Rick Parkinson...

Seymour Pierce has finally responded to my offer. Evidently. topping the $5K mark has piqued their interest. They wouldn't give me access to the "data room" but let me into the "data foyer". Once in I was able to chat with a couple of fellas, one had a nick of "MAsher" and the other was "lollambias". At first they were angry because "Keith won't let us talk to anyone" but they lightened up when I challenged them to some Tetris. They didn't do so well and left

ESPN will make a new pay channel in the US for the games they've gotten from Setanta from what I've heard.

I've reached out to Paul Allen, offering to throw my financial weight in with his in an effort to get this resolved ASAP. I expect to hear from Paul shortly.

Thing is, Sports Direct success requires everything that NUFC success doesn't... pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap, and keep costs to a minimum. Yeah but at some point he'd have to to do some negotiating which would (I presume) require a modicum of intelligence. He reminds me of Tommy Boy, a fat, walking disaster. Unlike Chris Farley's character, Ashley doesn't come off as the lovable buffoon, just a buffoon.

How the hell has he built one successful business if he's such a schmuck? He screwed up the purchase. Completely mismanaged the club and ran it into the ground. When he tried to sell the club in September he alienated potenbtial buyers in Dubai. I mean, really, how did he ever build up Sports Direct? It seems like he's a complete moron who is completely incapable of not pissing everyone off. It's shocking that he's had any success at all. I wouldn't trust him to shovel s***.