Consortium of one

Gerard Houllier or Steve Bruce.

I am glad Joe didn't try to say "Obafemi" otherwise we'd have another disgruntled, unsettled player on our hands. Obladee, Oblado, Obuymeanotherbottleofwhiskeyplease.

Wise: Dennis, sit tight lad. We think we can push Kaka, Messi and Buffon through because of the weather. We're waiting on word from FIFA. It's looking good. JFK: Super! That's awesome news Dennis! Is the press conference set? Wise: (giggles) JFK: Dennis? What was that? Seems we have a dodgy connection. Wise: Shit! Joe, Derek is on with FIFA. They're knocking all 3 deals back. (giggles) JFK: Fucking cunts!

Ironically, wouldn't Nolan and Ryan fit in with Keegan's profile of "proven Premiership" players? And, two birds in the hand are better than two in the bush. Also they'll settle in a lot quicker than Ebondo and M'Bia would have I would guess.

Ironically, wouldn't Nolan and Ryan fit in with Keegan's profile of "proven Premiership" players?

vaginal itch

Using Ian W's format for this... Given - I love watching him play. He's talented and passionate and has good reason to be frustrated. Harper - good deputy Beye - quiet, consistent, professional player. An asset to any squad Bassong - Looks to able to form a solid pairing with Colo Taylor - I want to see more of him at RB while Beye is out. It may untimately turn out to be his best position Collocini - I think he's still adjusting to the league can be the foundation for the back for in time Enrique - I still don't know what to make of him Edgar - may develop into adequate cover Cacapa - he should have been sold instead of Faye Duff - too much a wage bill for too little an end product N'Zogbia - All I see is a guy who dribbles with his head down so he has little awareness of where his teammates are around him. Guthrie - Would love to see him in the holding role alongside another really creative CM. could develop into a very nice player Butt - Past it Gutierrez - I think he's the only player with any creativity on the squad. Love to watch him play and dream of what he can be with more talent around him Barton - Our best holding MF right now. Still has questions surrounding his character Geremi - Consummate teammate, I'll bet, but yeah his legs are gone Smith - Don't think he offers the club anything, ATM Viduka - He's a tease Martins - he's a wild card. has tremendous physical skills if not technical skills. best paired with a technically sound bigger forward Owen - Bye bye Carroll - I like what I've seen but can he do it consistently? Ameobi - Rotation player Xisco - Don't know why JFK has buried him. get this lad on the pitch. Kinnear - Caretaker, not a permanent solution. It's incredibly difficult to evaluate this squad as a team because they never get to play together for an extended period of time

Again, it's all down to s*** communication from inside of the cub. yeah, that too.

And if he still hasn't taken it, I think it says a lot about Mike Ashley. People are saying he doesn't care about the club and he was just in it for the money. But if he isn't taking the interest he clearly is making an effort to help the club It is his f***ing club man. Yeah, and he could be taking the interest right now and no one would give it a second thought. I tell you what, after people slagged him off after the Keegan fiasco I could understand him taking the interest if I were him. I say again, if he were in it just for the money like a lot of people have said, he would have taken the interest. Business is business unless you look at the club differently.

And if he still hasn't taken it, I think it says a lot about Mike Ashley. People are saying he doesn't care about the club and he was just in it for the money. But if he isn't taking the interest he clearly is making an effort to help the club. His failing is that he has made terrible decisions about who to trust, IMO.

Yes, Ashley screwed up because he didn't do the due diligence to find out that the sale of the club triggered specific clauses in the loans. However, he did the club good by loaning money to the club with interest but foregoing collecting on the interest to benefit the club. He has also put his own money back into the club. I really think his heart is in the right place when it comes to the club. It may just be that he has placed his trust in the wrong people. people like Mike Ashley (rightly so) hire lawyers to read loan agreements, some one failed him in that regard. He also made a mistake with some of his management, specifically Lliambas and Wise, IMO. So while it appears that Ashley has made some blunders, it's not because he didn't have the best interests of the club in mind. If he didn't care he wouldn't have made these monetary concessions. He didn't just buy the club and try to run it as a business. It sounds to me like he had a decent plan to move forward and ran into the perfect storm ie: managemnet issues coupled with the current financial crisis. Ashley fucked up because he trusted the wrong people.

Some questions/points We buy a player for 10M, he's given a 4 year deal. From a balance sheet perspective, his value decreases 2.5m/year for 4 years. So if we sell the player after 3 years for 6M the club would still record a "gain from sale of asset" of 3.5M right? 10-7.5 = 2.5 + 6 = 3.5??? Also if the parent company loans money to a sub, it has to have interest otherwise it isn't really a "loan" right? If the loan does have interest, the new owner would assume the loan payments as the new owner unless their is some kind of provision included in the sale agreement.

I wonder where we would be if we had fewer players that have been injured?

I think he's done a decent job in a difficult situation. That being said, I wouldn't offer him a contract beyond this year if my life depended on it.

2-0 Jonas and Owen score

That youtube video of Allardyce yelling into a bullhorn during a practice, choreographing the players movements was enough for me.

I can't shake the feeling that Joe Kinnear is going to be out in the cold and twisting in the wind for the club when all is said and done. Wise and Lliambas must be having a contest, each trying to out do the other in regards to sending Kinnear out with updated "news" and seeing if he will repeat it to the press. Wise: I sent Joe out to tell the press we've offered 5M for Mbia. Lliambas: Good one Dennis (giggles). We know he's not coming here but Joe sure does (more giggles). I've sent Joe out to tell the press that Mike will address all the issues after the window closes. (laughter) Wise: Ok, how's this: I tell Joe we've tabled a 25M deal for Kaka (hysterical laughter). Mike Ashley pokes his head into Derek's office. Wise and Lliambas suddenly get serious looks on their faces. Ashley: What the hell is Joe talking about? He's saying I'm going to address all the issues once the window closes? Lliambas: Beats me Mike, I've no idea where he got that one from. Dennis? Wise: (looks nervous) No idea boss, I'll look into it once I finish with these...umm...scouting reports!

I just find it odd the way he is conducting business in the media. It almost sounds as if he's trying to convince himself that the club is making progress. Maybe Wise is BSing him just to get JFK off his back and in turn, JFK is taking Wise's BS and talking to the press about it. Joe Kinnear rings Dennis Wise JFK: What progress have we made Dennis? Wise: Huh? On what? JFK: those players I tipped you on. Wise: Right...right...(shuffles papers loudly). Oh yes, we're doing quite well. We have some bids in. JFK On...? Wise: Uhh yes, on a couple of your guys. JFK: Is M'bia one of them, The bloke for 4M? Wise: Yeah, yeah. That's it. (Wise finds a scrap of paper with a couple of names scribbled on it) and... uhhh... Gomis? Yeah, yeah, Gomis too. JFK: Great, Dennis, (breathlessly) I knew I could count on you.

Classy player who lost his legs. The plus he gave the club on set pieces was canceled out in other areas. I don't think he can ever give a productive 90 minutes of football any more.

Vini, vidi, vici

What the hell happened to Carroll, Taylor, Enrique and Geremi? Training ground injury?

This

The club needs depth. The player is still relatively young and has had success in the past. He's coming on a free. Maybe he plays with a chip on his shoulder and wants to prove everyone wrong. Maybe we catch lightning in a bottle. If he has his legs, sign him I say. Maybe this will be a prelude to other deals but I'd be afraid if the dominoes start falling. If one fall the wrong way the club may be left short in some areas and we can't afford that.

I think it's hard to judge any center back when he has inconsistent center midfielders in front of him.

If he "caught the Newcastle bug" then he will bring a certain amount of passion to his work won't he? I would think that if one brings passion to their job, when a conflict begins to erupt they won't sit on their arse in London while it gets inflamed. They won't fiddle while the club burns. They won't send text messages in the aftermath when face to face resolution is a must. We've all seen how Mort communicated when he was with the club. He did it with the fans and I'm sure he did it in the back rooms. It's fair to say if Mort had been there with the club (as opposed to Llambias idling in London) whatever disagreement arose between Keegan and Wise, et al wouldn't have blown up the way it did.