Wil

For me, the bottom line is we didn't have to sell now, without a replacement, and jeapodize the whole season. Unlike Liverpool's more professional approach. We should have stood firm and transferred him in the summer, if indeed they felt giving him something in the region he was asking for would have destabilised the club. The fact that he took the money shows that Ashley was always a seller when the price was right, whatever the circumstances. To my mind everything else is just a smokescreen. I wouldn't be surprised if Ashley had a cigar on and just got off on screwing as much money out of the deal as possible, sending out a message to his opponents in the business world that he always drives a hard bargain. I can't see that the best interests of the club were ever at the heart of this. Note how Pardew announced he sought assurances about the use of the money, it was not as though he was offered it by a man who had decided this was the best way to take the club forward.

I would say Ashley's only ambition for the next few years is for premier league revenue. And he's taken a huge gamble on that with this sale. He basically thinks we can survive there by using his own cheapskate business practices of driving costs, such as players wages, down and maximising revenue via player sales. One by one our current top players will be sold. And in the end, they will not want to stay anyway. If he had real ambitions for the club he could have made a real statement of intent by holding onto Carroll and buiding around him. Gutting though it is, it's Liverpool who have shown the ambition.

I don't have any hard feelings towards Pardew. He's ended up a patsy working for a couple of cowardly amateurs, much like all the others since Keegan. And now he knows it, bigtime. Basically they've hung the manager out to dry,again. It's the same pattern repeating itself. Reckon he'll find it extremely difficult. The media will be probing about all the reassurances he gave, and he'll have to be diplomatic to hang onto his job. He probably came into it thinking he could influence Ashley with some sound football knowledge and advice. but any authority he had at the club has now been completely undermined, which is the most damaging thing. Anything he says will not be trusted now, because noone believes that the clowns running the show have the best interest of the club at heart. It's all been starkly demonstated tonight in the contrast between how the professionals at Liverpool have gone about their business, compared to our completely shameful and embarrassing attempts at managing a transfer window in the best interests of the club.

The only thing clear about this is Ashley was obviously unwilling to offer him a better contract to stay. Unfortunately, this is what we've got to look forward to when the big clubs come calling, and its sickening. The top players know we're a club going nowhere.

If Carroll goes, Pardew's going to have to front all this - but we all know who's decision it is. He's been completely undermined. It's just madness selling at this time.

"doing everything they can to resist" doesn't sound like "he's not for sale"

Wondering if this means AC is willing to go? Usually does when it reaches this stage. Can't see why he would, or why we would sell to them. We can compete with them next season - if we hold onto our players that is!!

Yeh, been thinking myself, we now have a very good core of players. A couple of good additions in the summer and we really could move on up. As you say, none of us know what's in Ashley's mind and what his real motive is at this time. He could do something really good for the club, after all. Personally, I'm a bit concerned by the all the talk from Pardew about the persuading he's had to do to get Ashley to hang onto our top players. But maybe he's just been educating him, and if Pardew really is his man then maybe he'll listen to him.

The Sun reckons Liverpool are in, 30m. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3380368/Liverpool-want-30m-Andy-Carroll-to-replace-Fernando-Torres.html Written by Rob Beasley who has appeared in the past to be close to Ashley, did his only newspaper interview etc. Looking a bit more feasible than the Spurs story.

Would make sense of why Pardew has let Routledge go. Shafted at the last minute by Birmingham and already having made clear to Routledge he didn't fancy him by accepting an offer. Probably no point trying to hang onto him after that.

A striker to play alongside/cover for Carroll is essential. Pardew would need to smooth the way by getting at least a couple off the books on loan. And a winger who is better than Jonas and Routledge. Those two additions would improve the situation a lot. But they'll have to be clever buys to get Ashley to cough up.

Six more wins, is the way I'm looking at it. Reckon we can do that, just about. Hopefully one in the next two games will reduce that to five. But the window is now crucial. Pardew has to get some reinforcements out of Ashley. Another striker is essential.

Think it's good news. Can't see how we would replace him for the money Ashley is likely to release. Pardew clearly rates him, and I'd expect him to be his first choice. He kind of showed his hand with his selection yesterday. For me, Taylor does offer a physicality neither Colocinni or Williamson have, which helps us not being bullied in games like we were against Bolton, for example.

So far,what I have heard from Pardew has been encouraging. He is certainly talking a good game, anyway. We'll see if Ashley backs him in respect of holding onto/extending the better player's contracts, which seems to be Pardew's focus at the moment. Am beginning to think his confident personality might be a good fit and go down well in the boardroom; and that maybe he will fight his corner with these characters. Anyway, talk is cheap. The window will show whether he's taken Ashley with him or not.

If Pardew indeed had the job lined up some time ago, admitting that at a press conference would have created absolute mayhem and in my view a worse fallout than saying what he did. He was no doubt being "economical with the truth" by referring to the formal offer he presumably received after Hughton was finally sacked. Everyone knows how deals are done in football - managers and players alike - but no-one ever admits it. I can't remember an instance, anyway. I'm trying to see it like that, rather than him "lying to the fans".

Have to agree. Better than I expected. And it sounded like he has fought his corner a bit in negotiations, on his staff and especially over Carroll. Time will tell how much they support him on that, of course.

Mike Ashley. Ashley selling up in 2016. I'm 100% convinced of this. Agree. Clear as daylight. And probably a yearly incentive for the manager to keep us in the prem. Each year Ashley claws back his loan by reinvesting as little as possible in the team, selling up eventually for approx what he paid. This is the real 5 year plan. Nothing to do with progressing the club in any way at all.

The things I have been hanging onto the last 15 months - the pride in the spirit of the manager and players, the pile-up celebrations, thinking that Jose and Cheik may stay for their careers, the newly acquired dignity and respect thanks largely to Hughton - all seemingly heading for dissolution....... Like Jinky I've also been following since 1960. It does feel a dark place right now, but nothing lasts and this discredited regime will definitely move on eventually. No doubt it's going to be depressing for a while, it might feel like someone's stolen a few years from us. But I'm thinking I'm just going to have to wait them out. Don't quite know exactly what my feeling's going to be when the next games come along, but it's the great passion of my life and I haven't been able to do anything about that so far - even when i've tried!

The supposed five year contract is the thing doing my head in. Which of our top players are going to stay knowing Ashley is apparently looking to stay that long (even if he isn't) with his new "vision", and Pardew his voice in the dressing room? Even if they wanted to stay there's going to be no protection when the bids come in. Already the word is we'll listen to offers for Carroll. Watching the whole squad disintegrate will be be a bit heartbreaking if I'm honest. No way can team spirit be maintained, a vital factor in football but seemingly not in Ashley's incentive driven businesses. The five year stuff also fits with the contracts offered to Williamson and Ranger, which no doubt would have been run by Pardew.

The league is too close this year for s**t like this. Can't see the players playing for him. If the worst happens, hopefully Ashley will finally cut his losses and f*** off. It's clearly the only way the club will ever move forward.

Pardew is apparently a mate and therefore pliable. It's the only possible reason he's in the frame. Psychologically Ashley and Llambias would have felt totally isolated and unappreciated by the bond between manager, players and fans, and now want to re-establish their influence. Got nothing to do with football of course. Hope to Christ it's Jol, though. Pardew is already dead in the water.

My big fear would be an implosion in team spirit. Are the influential players at the club going to respect or be inspired by him? Will they continue to play for the shirt and the fans? When they have apparently been so close to Chris? That’s the kind of thing I’m asking myself, and it’s difficult to say until I see them play. But it’s been a really tight knit group and spirit has carried us a long way, making up for a lack of quality, as well as investment from Ashley. I’m not confident we can survive the upheaval. Things are so close in the league this year. However, the bottom line is we’ll never get a top manager under Ashley.

Long time reader, first post….. This is obviously not a football decision, these people know nothing about football. Reckon this is just about the concept described in their pre-season statement. My hunch is Ashley feels Hughton is too close to senior players who long term he wants to get off the books – Nolan, Barton, Colo etc. and replace with younger, cheaper players. Also he would have been mightily miffed that Hughton wanted an outside appointment as assistant and let everyone know. My guess is he would have wanted Beardsley, who has been very supportive of the regime, in that role to eventually take over in future – again fitting the “concept”. This again shows a complete lack of football knowledge regarding the nature of the manager/assistant relationship. Pardew is ambitious and desperate enough to agree to all this. He fits the bill. And I wonder if that’s why his previous assistant Wally Downes has just taken the job at West ham. He can also be passed off as “experienced” by Ashley and Lambias. Having said that, the players have done Chris no favors with some of their recent performances, they’ve given the board the excuse they’ve been waiting for.