Novocastrian

Fat Fred = No ability to run a football club but prepared to put up the cash. Fat Mike = No ability to run a football club and not prepared to put up the cash. I'd rather have Fat Fred, it was more fun.

Anyone who thinks that players of the calibre of Mbia are inbound should just keep smoking. :toke:

Does that mean we'd finally get that central midfielder and those full-backs we've been after? Hopefully, but Jonas, Bassong and Colo have all been great signings, both quality- and moneywise. Based on this I believe it to be ridiculous to be hatin' on Wise just because he's a Yorkie. He's a NUFC man doing great things for us, and that's what matters. How is he doing great things for us? There's gaping holes all over the squad. Get with the programme man, he "unearthed" two international footballers playing in one of the most high profile leagues in the world.

1. New owners. 2. New progressive manager given total control of playing side. 3. Major surgery is required with the playing squad. I can't understand anyone saying we only need to tweak the squad. We are largely in the position we are in because the squad is too small and far too short on quality. Get the big players back onside Given, Martins, possibly Owen. Spend up to £30m + on 4 or 5 good, proven players. 4. Once the team has been stablised it may then be possible to implement Ashley's so-called Arsenal model of scouting for young, hungry players. This model will never sustain a team at the very top level though, younger players need protection and to be brought into the first team progressively. Aside from the fact that all major clubs are continuously scouting new talent. The days when undiscovered gems could be found playing amateur football are long gone.

You would think so but many still refuse to believe that Ashley would be reckless enough to not only fail to strengthen but to weaken the squad further by selling more players. On balance, and this is only a personal opinion, I believe that we will have a weaker squad going into the second half of the season (relegation battle). Well done Mike.

Looks like we have finally found our level. The people who forced Keegan out accused him of being a "dreamer" because he wanted big names to galvanise the club like he did when he arrived as a player. I still can't believe some people are prepared to give Ashley the benefit of the doubt to the end of the transfer window. The people who put up with this from Ashley, then Ridicule Keegan for taking a stand, should be Taken outside and Shot in the head.Thier brains are beyond saving. he didn't take a stand man, he f***ed off and is now suing the club he pertains to love, what do you think he'll do with the millions he didn't earn if he wins? donate it for new players a stand have been to stay and vocally, as manager, tear to shreds the system, wise & ashley forcing them to actually sack him or back him, no? hang on ill fetch, the gun. righto EDIT: f*** it, why can't you actually debate a point? you spout stuff out then when someone calls you on it your lip goes out...f***ing back yourself up man, what stand did KK take exactly? you just like arguing for the sake of it. Even though Favouring Ashley is a hopeless position. KK took a stand on his principles, he couldnt work under Denis wise, so he left, i call that standing by your priciples,.. you wont understand tho, if you havent got any yourself. this will just run round in circles,.. I believe in What Keegan did here last time, and i believe , backed up he could have repeated it. you show me a manager that did better than KK here , in my lifetime,.......................................... mental. how can anyone think that? will we be 12 points clear in this league at any point in the next 20 years? Things can change relatively quickly. Did people think we could be 12 point clear in the PL when we were nearly relegated to the third tier in 1992? The "big four" are not set in stone there has been various big fives, top three, big six over the years and it will change again in the future.

Looks like we have finally found our level. The people who forced Keegan out accused him of being a "dreamer" because he wanted big names to galvanise the club like he did when he arrived as a player. I still can't believe some people are prepared to give Ashley the benefit of the doubt to the end of the transfer window. The people who put up with this from Ashley, then Ridicule Keegan for taking a stand, should be Taken outside and Shot in the head.Thier brains are beyond saving. Well quite, the thing which bemuses me is at what point did people decide to settle for such mediocrity? Yes, we are not going to challenge Man Utd, Chelsea etc any time soon but does that mean we should top trying? One of the reasons I hate Liverpool so much (more than the Mackems) is because I'm so bloody jealous. When I see them I see us, I see what we should have been. To settle for lower mid table anonymity with Portsmouth and f***ing Bolton is mind numbing. We may be s**** at the moment be we are, still, one of the richest and best supported teams in the WORLD!! Check the stats.

Looks like we have finally found our level. The people who forced Keegan out accused him of being a "dreamer" because he wanted big names to galvanise the club like he did when he arrived as a player. I still can't believe some people are prepared to give Ashley the benefit of the doubt to the end of the transfer window. At least with Ashley here the Club is in a stable financial position, and we are finally trying to run it as a business. If we stay in the league this year I will be happy regardless of where the Mackems/Smogs finish, personally I'd sell Given and use the money to buy a striker. Harper a more than able replacement and Forster and Krul are two very good prospects. RE: Barry Ferguson I think it would be an excellent signing and would give more talent and passion to the side. WAH!!!!!!!! Please tell me that was a WAH.................

Like many other modern day whingers, such as David Bentley, he refuses to take any responsibilty for his own performances and lack of moral fibre. Hopefully we will get a decent amount for him and he can disappear up his own arse like those other French left sided players Olivier Bernard and Didier Domi who also thought they were too good to play for us.

Owen and Given leaving is not the real problem per se. The problem is adequately replacing them. If Fat Mike was as good as his word he would put the £20m and add it to the £15m(ish) we could bring in by selling the pair. We could then start bring in players to replace the likes of Duff and Butt who are now playing from memory. In reality, what will happen is the majority of the money will be trousered by Fat Mike and Owen and Given will be replaced by the likes of Lita and Kenny underlining the decline of the club.

Looks like we have finally found our level. The people who forced Keegan out accused him of being a "dreamer" because he wanted big names to galvanise the club like he did when he arrived as a player. I still can't believe some people are prepared to give Ashley the benefit of the doubt to the end of the transfer window. do you have anything to suggest this isn't just JFK's target and f*** all to do with ashley? hardly fits in with the "policy" and "transfer team" thing does it? signing someone of his age, price and wage bracket granted ashley has to take the fall for appointing such a t*** in the first place but if this is who kinnear wants then it's who he wants Who knows? It often seems like we are running two parallel systems. The "management structure" supposedly scouting for younger players who are then bought with no recourse to the manager and the manager's own targets bought from another transfer fund. It's as if Kinnear has been told we've got £5m and we are bringing in Carlos Kickaball and Julio Geordio, you have £5m have a look around and see who you fancy, here is Willie McKay's list of clients. Either way the system seems fragmented with no clear leadership or direction and no communication between the actual parties themselves (Kinnear, Ashley, Ashley's cronies, Wise etc)

Looks like we have finally found our level. The people who forced Keegan out accused him of being a "dreamer" because he wanted big names to galvanise the club like he did when he arrived as a player. I still can't believe some people are prepared to give Ashley the benefit of the doubt to the end of the transfer window.

That covered buying Colo.

Just out of interest where did the Milner money go?

Di Canio, the Fat Duke, Van Bronckhorst.

Probably one of the few top level midfielders in Europe who would get burned for pace off Geremi.

Overrated, typical "midfield general in his own mind" pointing at where the ball should have been played and standing around with his hands on his hips. A terrifying portent of things to come?

I don't think he is a liar. I think he is genuinely in the dark like the rest of us. That is difficult to comprehend for some people who have JFK as Ashley's mouthpiece feeding the fans and press disinformation to throw them of the scent as Ashley plots in the background. I really think JFK has no idea of Ashley's intentions, just snippets picked up from within the club and the chaotic and labyrinthine "management structure" which is presiding over the disintegration of the club.

Pompey are nailed on for relegation in my view. Adams will be lucky to last until the end of the season.

I dont really think we have a problem with our away support. when the team needs us behind them, we'll get behind them. there is an issue with getting tickets fo an away game, its done on a loyalty thing so is a closed shop to most fans, its the sam few thousand you see everywhere. day tripping isnt really an issue with away fans, as to qualify for a ticket, you need a certain number of credits, like at your place last week, you werent entitled to a ticket unless youhad a minimum of 8 away credits from last season. the game last weekend was an odd one atmosphere wise, we never really got going, even though we were twatting you. why? i dont know, maybe a combination of kick off time, hangovers and the freezing cold. Also the team were coasting on the pitch and the support seemed to coast along too. At Anfield this season the atmosphere has been very tense at times. there is a growing feeling that we may be about to launch a serious challenge for the league, and the atmosphere is getting tense and its affecting the players on the pitch. a few of the 0-0's we played out last month, had we sored the roof would have come off the ground. Our fans are desperate to win the league this season, but it isnt helping the atmosphere. infact, unless its a big European night at Anfield or the derby, the atmosphere is poor, but i have found that the same in most grounds over the past few years. the other difference between our fans and most others is we actually sing about our own team and our own players. there have been a few on here praising Man Uniteds away fans, but do you actually listen to what they sing?. the vast majority of their songs are about Liverpool. Scousers this and scousers that, Hillsborough this and Heysel that. even when they won the European Cup last year, they were singing "are you watching Liverpool" when they lifted the trophy. singing about them when we arent playing them is something you wont hear from our fans. Never heard an anti-Sunderland song when were playing Bolton/Portsmouth/West Ham/etc etc? He's a scouser, I think he was on about their support and singing about Man U when they play the likes of us. Surely that's the same as us singing about Sunderland when we play Liverpool or Man Utd. I often hear Sunderland songs at random Toon away games.

I dont really think we have a problem with our away support. when the team needs us behind them, we'll get behind them. there is an issue with getting tickets fo an away game, its done on a loyalty thing so is a closed shop to most fans, its the sam few thousand you see everywhere. day tripping isnt really an issue with away fans, as to qualify for a ticket, you need a certain number of credits, like at your place last week, you werent entitled to a ticket unless youhad a minimum of 8 away credits from last season. the game last weekend was an odd one atmosphere wise, we never really got going, even though we were twatting you. why? i dont know, maybe a combination of kick off time, hangovers and the freezing cold. Also the team were coasting on the pitch and the support seemed to coast along too. At Anfield this season the atmosphere has been very tense at times. there is a growing feeling that we may be about to launch a serious challenge for the league, and the atmosphere is getting tense and its affecting the players on the pitch. a few of the 0-0's we played out last month, had we sored the roof would have come off the ground. Our fans are desperate to win the league this season, but it isnt helping the atmosphere. infact, unless its a big European night at Anfield or the derby, the atmosphere is poor, but i have found that the same in most grounds over the past few years. the other difference between our fans and most others is we actually sing about our own team and our own players. there have been a few on here praising Man Uniteds away fans, but do you actually listen to what they sing?. the vast majority of their songs are about Liverpool. Scousers this and scousers that, Hillsborough this and Heysel that. even when they won the European Cup last year, they were singing "are you watching Liverpool" when they lifted the trophy. singing about them when we arent playing them is something you wont hear from our fans. Never heard an anti-Sunderland song when were playing Bolton/Portsmouth/West Ham/etc etc?

Wins help you avoid relegation though. Draws dont. Thats why the win ratio is more significant. absolutely true. just pointing out that you can see it in different ways. he's at least made us hard to beat Agree there WTF. Can also see O-N's opinion. I just fear that over the course of a season, that kind of average is more likely to make relegation a possibility. Definitely not going to agrue against how pleased I have been with our recent spate of clean sheets Given our position when he took over you could be right, but over the course of a season our form under Kinear would get us near enough 49 points. Not particularly impressive, but a total we've only beaten once in the last 4 years and only 7 points less than when we finished 5th several years ago. I don't want Joe long term, but considering everything when he took over, our current form shouldn't be underestimated. We are still flirting dangerously with relegation. I just wish Kinnear had the decency to put a considerable air gap between ourselves and the relegation threatened teams before he started talking himself up. His record is average at best.

The only slight glimmer of hope I have is the fact that he has made this announcement now and not the day after the transfer window has closed. However, I'm so sceptical I will only believe he has the club's best interests at heart when he puts his fat gold sovereigned fingers into his tight George jeans pocket and starts investing in the playing side. Another window with 2 or 3 established players going out and cheapo untried Euro youngsters coming in will be the final straw.

From the thread the other day and I still think it's right. I'm a bit 'meh' about this news tbh. Part of me thinks it's good news; at least we know what's happening and can try to move forward. On the other hand it's obvious as f*** he's just been unable to find enough profit. He's got a long way to prove he really has the best for this club at heart. I don't trust the man, either in what he says in statements and via his official mouthpiece Kinnear. He has to prove to me that he's learnt from his mistakes over the Keegan affair, and that means spending more money improving the squad and communicating a shitload more with his [glow=red,2,300]customers[/glow]. If that means bringing someone like Mort back then so be it, but it needs to be addressed. At the end of the day I feel this lets us move forward, and that's only a good thing. Where we move to is a completely different question... I think that's half his problem.

Ashley must be delighted with the reaction from some of the mugs on here. When he's finally run the club into the ground, a process which is already well under way, maybe some people will see him for the incompetent and disingenuous chancer he is. As for Keegan, the club is heading back to where we were when he first found us. But at least Chris Mort will be here