leffe186

...because they don't have relegation. Mismanagement is not exclusive to Britain. My point has nothing to do with relegation at all. There are very few professional sports teams in America ran like a f***ing circus. Disagree - there are plenty of examples of similar circus type management. Al Davis - Raiders Mark Cuban - Mavs De Bartolo family - 49ers Marge Schott - Reds 4 out of 92 (MLB, NBA, NFL - 137 if you include NHL & MLS)? I think a lot of his has to do with the passion aspect of English Football. The reason the top clubs are doing well is because they are run by foreigners with no real passion for the club and (sometimes) enlist personnel with close ties to the club to help advise them, but when the "hour cometh" they think with their head and with business sense rather than their heart and hold very little sentiment. Now it just boils down to the choice, would you rather have a some-what soulless club (at least from the boardroom stand-point - there will always be passionate fans) that is well run and be at the top of the game or have a haphazardly run club with local owners at the helm and being adrift in the lower leagues? Unfortunately the face of the game has changed, even over the past 20 years or so, and you've either gotta keep up or fall behind. Football is a world business now and there is very little room for staunch localism. There is room for staunch localism at the level of fans at least, though certainly less than before. If there wasn't, then me and you would probably have found better things to do than banter on here. There is also room for staunch localism at the top, as long as the chairman is not incompetent - see Wigan. I mentioned relegation seriously, because the entire American system is so different that we can only take some lessons, not look at the US as a panacea. No relegation, wage caps, the draft, etc etc - "chairmen" and owners in America are protected from abject, tragicomic failure by the system. I don't know enough about the checks in place regarding prospective owners of American franchises to say whether they are more or less stringent than those here - but my guess is that they are more. I would like to be well-run and be at the top of the game, regardless of whatever country the person in charge comes from. I agree that those at the top are doing well, but is it really because they are run by foreigners? Is it more likely that, like Man U, Arsenal & Liverpool, a team was doing well, the Champions League perpetuated that and then someone came in with a lot of money (borrowed or not) - it just happened to be someone from America in the case of Man U or Liverpool.

I am shocked, what a f***ing waste of a great football player. Yeah waste. He should go play for one of the big plastic super money clubs like Inter so his talent can actually be wasted. Actually, he should go to the likes of Spurs or Villa, so he can "challenge the top four" I fail to see what's wrong with him joining l'OM. He'll be paid alot, he'll be playing in the Champions League and he'll hopefully be fighting for the league title. You all want to make it out like he's going to Uzbekistan or something. I'm sure Lucho will enjoy playing at one of the biggest clubs in the world infront of some of the best supporters in the world. And I'll enjoy watching him lead the team in the fight for the title. Honestly, I'm disgusted by a football world where someone moves to the biggest club in France and it's considered a waste because he's not at a "super club". Hear hear. That said, it would have been nice if he'd come to Spurs

...because they don't have relegation. Mismanagement is not exclusive to Britain.

Dawson only played 13 league games last year. He did actually get better, after a decidedly ropey time the year before. Even if Bassong's better than Dawson (and he's probably got better touch and is quicker, their tackling is similar, and Dawson's better in the air) he still wouldn't be a first choice for Spurs which was my point. Bassong would be great cover, as he would be for Villa. I like Bassong but to be honest, I wouildn;t want us to sign him. We need an experienced head at CB to bring the best out of Davies or Cuellar - when Laursen got injured, those two both went to tit. I thought Cuellar was going to provide that cool head when you signed him. He was classy at Rangers, particularly in that UEFA run.

Dawson only played 13 league games last year. He did actually get better, after a decidedly ropey time the year before. Even if Bassong's better than Dawson (and he's probably got better touch and is quicker, their tackling is similar, and Dawson's better in the air) he still wouldn't be a first choice for Spurs which was my point. Bassong would be great cover, as he would be for Villa.

Yeah, I agree, as long as Shearer gets appointed sharpish and you sort out his contract he'll stay. Still think he would be a reserve for us mind.....

No centre-forwards and the back-up keeper = a made-up formation. Didn't see much chance today!

He's not saying anything out of the ordinary, is he? If it's people like him then you presumably hate every other team - and that would be fair enough. "Why we'd want to bring in anymore rubbish from Newcastle is beyond me." Like they have just done the league and cup double. Beye and Enrique would get in the Spurs team for starters. I know there are deluded Spurs fans, but it's special pleading to say this guy thinks we've just done the Double! Beye, no. Corluka or Hutton on the right, King, Woodgate or Dawson in the middle. Assou-Ekotto has just had a great season too, though I agree Enrique shades him. Other than that, Bassong would be great cover in the center. Being honest, if you were Spurs who would you buy from Newcastle who'd go straight into the first team? Shorn of the gratuitous comments, it's difficult to argue with him.

It's only a no-brainer because of the mess at SJP. I can't take any Chelsea fans seriously now and know more than a few who have been fans since the 80s and earlier who are embarrassed by the Abramovich years and don't feel it's the same club. I agree, and no doubt will have the same feelings over Man City. 15 years ago I wouldn't have dreamed of backing Chelsea in any game, now I'm really not fussed either way when they play in Europe. If my team (Spurs) went about things the same way then I genuinely don't know how I'd react. Clubs' identities have always been a bit blurred (Blackburn bought the Premiership on a smaller scale) but the Man City level of insanity means that you cannot keep deluding yourself that your club is just that, your club.

He's not saying anything out of the ordinary, is he? If it's people like him then you presumably hate every other team - and that would be fair enough.

Jesus. 100 pages. What price 200?

I believe the technical term is refuelling problems.

I suspect one or two of them may want to offload theirs now

Kinda, but I think they're not actually that good. I think they play well with the underdog spirit because the style of play that favours is a natural fit to the US players. It's when they're NOT underdogs that they play differently and that causes problems. If they're playing against a side that tries to shut up shop and they need to break down, they may struggle. After all, the reason they're a Top 15 footballing nation is partly because they've been doing things right so far, and NOT getting dumped out of the World Cup early.

Brilliant. How much later did you go back? Did you keep going over what you said in your mind?

Haven't been able to watch this at all. Honestly, was the Hart booking right or a Home decision?

This. The Premiership teams always pillage the lower leagues in June. Can we start a Championship transfers thread, as all this Premier ship talk is depressing me. Agreed - will be an opportunity to evaluate the other teams in the Championship.

Fair enough, my image of him is still rooted in last year I think. I still have a fantasy he may become a sort of latter-day Micky Quinn goal-hanger.

Understandable given the state of his finances and his legs.

What he said. That was the first thing I thought - might actually be a great move if he can put together more than 5 games on the trot.

Which is just a mild form of what I had said. I have never known such spite and glorying in the misfortune of a club (and yes, fans) NOT your local rivals. Everton were by far the worst. They even sang songs against us in their last game away for God's sake. I gather one or two others did it, and you had to listen to the likes of 606 and Talk Spurts phone-ins to believe the attitudes against us. I do believe it's what has happened because of a concerted attempt by the national rags against us over the years, which I believe started when Shearer signed for us and not their beloved Man U. But to take that to its logical conclusion, if Man U went down in the same circumstances you're telling me the reaction wouldn't be as virulent. Or Liverpool. Or Spurs for that matter. I don't believe that for a second. The spite and glorying in the misfortune of a club is because that club is a big club and a competitor. Personal reasons might vary, but that's the gist. Sure, some people might buy into a media perception of Newcastle fans as insanely deluded, just as they do with Spurs fans among others - but to say it's uniquely aimed at Newcastle is absurd. The flipside of that is that when you're doing well, the media is on your side (Keegan etc) and that means you get loads of floating fans from outside. Them's the breaks. That's how bandwagons work. I remember having an argument with a Liverpool fan who said that "we're different, we're the best of all fans, it means more to be a Liverpool fan etc etc". I cannot believe that if Liverpool were about to go down and if their board and management was in such a mess, there wouldn't be songs about it at SJP. Or WHL.

Perhaps. But when Given left we only had 27 points from 25 games (two thirds of the way through the season), so it was hardly a massive drop off. Actually Dave, I don't think that's the best defence! That means 7 points from the last 13 games. That IS a massive drop off.

Is it though? He needs to go somewhere that he will play everyweek (doubtful at Chelsea) im sure other clubs would have wanted him in the Premiership who could play him week in week out. Didn't he have absolutely ridiculous wage demands though? Even City wouldn't pay them. Surely nobody is though? Chelsea certainly won't be, maybe they plan on loaning him out, could see him at a club like Everton tbh where he would get plenty of games at a good level. He was asking for £60-70k a week. Imagine him walking in the dressing room and being a higher earner than the likes of Arteta, Jags & Cahill? Or going somewhere like Villa and pulling in more than Young or Petrov? Jumped up little t***. If being an t*** (Such a rubbish word) makes you 60-70 thousand pounds per week, then most people would do it. Bottom line is that if there is someone out there willing to pay him that much, than he is worth it. So, Michael Owen then......

Will be interesting to see if clubs try to increase their prices for Newcastle visits. I have a vague memory of legislation being introduced to prevent this - can anyone enlighten me?

What's a good storm? Is that one with really cool lightning?