Andymc1

Such a defeatist attitude. "We can't do any better than we're doing now so we're not going to bother trying to improve."

I know, it makes you wonder why every other club haven't done a Portsmouth.

You're living on fantasy island man, we're not going to do anything the way you want the club to be run. If we're going to do anything we're going to have to spend some money, something we don't want to do and don't like doing. It's this kind of attitude that will see us go down the same road as Portsmouth.

And there you go again which is it? Spend money and get champions league /league placing or not. You talk so much drivel man, if we spent man city money we'd be in the champions league. Just as they are, and Chelsea We don't have the option to spend that much money. Let me rephrase then: "...no matter how much of OUR money we spent without totally f***ing ourselves over" our money as in solely income generated by the club, any point Ashely being here then? We DO have the option we just choose not to. How is it hard for you to grasp, bottom 4 net spend over the past 5 years Us/Everton/Arsenal/Spurs. Er... yeah. 4 clubs being run quite well then, in terms of transfers, and they've all done quite well, without making enormous leaps and bounds or having a full-on tilt at the title. In that time our squad has improved loads. What's your point? Ashley isn't there to pump loads of his own money in and have a cheeky tilt at the title no matter what the cost. Nor is Levy, nor is Kenwright. They're there to run the club as a business, so that it progresses. That is how you run a football club. Jesus wept man, I can't believe you actually think that last sentence. Football must be so s*** for you. And that's utter toss about them not having a tilt at the title. And even so I was talking about CL that you said was impossible for us. You constantly contradict yourself, seemingly obsessed with balance sheets/profit margins/. Levy hasn't put his own money in? Righto It's not s*** for me, cheers. In my ultimate fantasy world, Newcastle would tick along like Arsenal for a bit, be totally self sufficient, break into the top 4 and end up having a go at the league. That's the perfect all-time scenario. When we sell players at a profit and our team gets better for years in a row I think to myself, ooh, if we keep this up we'll have a very good team indeed and it'll be all ours. Well done Newcastle. I don't really like the idea of some guy coming in and showering us with cash so we win more. It'd be nice, but not as nice as the other way. I'm interested in balance sheets and profit margins inasmuch as that's how you do an Arsenal. You have to be making money. I said CL *on a consistent basis* was impossible for us unless we spend absolutely loads. That's true. Am I f*** contradicting myself. You're f***ing comical. Even in your wildest dreams you would choose to "do an Arsenal" Your dream would be to challenge for the league and not win it Total ambition!

From about early October til Christmas we played pretty well and got good results. Anyone with eyes during that good run could see that we were winning games by working hard and denying teams space. If it turns out you genuinely don't have eyes then I apologise And since Christmas... ...we've been pretty s***. Mainly due to... ...playing Arsenal and Man City, not having some key players and just not playing very well. Sorry, the answer is Alan Pardew. Better luck next time.

From about early October til Christmas we played pretty well and got good results. Anyone with eyes during that good run could see that we were winning games by working hard and denying teams space. If it turns out you genuinely don't have eyes then I apologise And since Christmas... ...we've been pretty s***. Mainly due to...

From about early October til Christmas we played pretty well and got good results. Anyone with eyes during that good run could see that we were winning games by working hard and denying teams space. If it turns out you genuinely don't have eyes then I apologise And since Christmas...

You've done well not to bite there. I'm going to follow suit and just laugh

This has been said about the last two summer windows, how much more do you need to see to realise there is something wrong, something very wrong happening. But the squad and the team have gotten better over that period. We've brought in decent players, and we'll almost certainly be able to make money out of them in the future. Team that started v Aston Villa on 14/9/13 Krul Debuchy Coloccini Yanga-Mbiwa Santon Anita Cabaye Ben Arfa Sissoko Remy Cisse Bench: Gouffran Tiote Sameobi Elliot Marveaux S. Taylor Dummett Team that started against Villa on 2/9/12 Krul Simpson Coloccini S.Taylor Santon Ben Arfa Cabaye Anita Gutierrez Ba Cisse Bench: Bigi Marveaux Obertan Harper Williamson Gosling Amalfitano Team that started v Aston Villa 17/9/11 Krul R Taylor S Taylor Coloccini Simpson Cabaye Gutierrez Tiote Ba Best Obertan Bench: Elliot Perch Guthrie Marveaux Lovenkrands The Ameobis Look at our squad become magically better and stronger over that time period as we execute our shitty transfer policy that makes a profit.... We'll revisit this post after we play Villa next week, the team certainly wont have "become better and stronger".

Same for me. The first time I've ever wanted us to lose, I think. Although there may have been another under similar circumstances when Souness was here.

think they call that a 'counter-argument' round here right I'll bite. You completely contradicted the very argument you yourself spent the whole time making "wages/money = league placing" you then bizarrely suggested that you don't want us to spend money because it won't work, and "oh wouldn't it be so easy to spend 500m and we will win the league" well yes by the very criteria you yourself set out. You don't even know what your own point is. Well. Horseshit. I said wages/money broadly = league placing. At no point did I contradict that, at all. My guess is that if you think I did, you're one of these people who thinks a deviation precludes a trend. I said I don't want us to spunk more money than we can afford because long term, it won't work. I sarcastically said hey why don't we just spend £500m like Man City and win the league. Obviously that is sarcasm. I know exactly what my point is. Cheers. Yeah then you directly contradicted it. By implying it wasn't possible, and that "spunking" money wouldn't work. Nobody said spend 500m, nobody even suggested it, we could easily afford to spend what Liverpool/Spurs do. No idea what you mean by "it wouldn't work long term" most clubs operate at a debt. And debt doesn't work long term. They run themselves into debt and some sap ends up covering it. That's not how we should be looking to run. Arsenal is the model you want. I said spunking £100m right now might just about get us into the top 6 for a season or two, but then what? If we don't replace Cabaye etc and try to push on in the next season or two I'll be as disappointed as you. Are you a director? No, you're a 'fan'. Why the fuck do you give two shits what the balance sheet says? Spending a bit of money in the transfer windows will not automatically make us Portsmouth. I want to see the team play well and win as often as possible, I'm not overly concerned about the profit and loss account.

think they call that a 'counter-argument' round here right I'll bite. You completely contradicted the very argument you yourself spent the whole time making "wages/money = league placing" you then bizarrely suggested that you don't want us to spend money because it won't work, and "oh wouldn't it be so easy to spend 500m and we will win the league" well yes by the very criteria you yourself set out. You don't even know what your own point is. Well. Horseshit. I said wages/money broadly = league placing. At no point did I contradict that, at all. My guess is that if you think I did, you're one of these people who thinks a deviation precludes a trend. I said I don't want us to spunk more money than we can afford because long term, it won't work. I sarcastically said hey why don't we just spend £500m like Man City and win the league. Obviously that is sarcasm. I know exactly what my point is. Cheers.

By a strange coincidence i was thinking this exact same thing, just not about Ashley.

Based on what though? Share price in line with the exposure his company has had over the same time period. Unless that was all a 'coincidence' of course. This whole debate was done in November, if people don't believe advertising works then it's a total waste of words.

Sports Direct's share value has increased 22 times since 2008 after experiencing a rocky start to their life on the exchanges. Might be other reasons as well, but I think NUFC has been very, very good for his SD aspirations. I would say the influence of NUFC has been fairly minor TBH. He's ruthlessly smashed the competition and the economic downturn means people have to shop at bargain-basement retailers. No doubt it's been good to get his name in the papers a bit more, but not worth the money he's spent. You work in marketing. What you driving at? Becoming synonymous in the press with the biggest football brand in the world (the Premier League) at one of the more historically big and interesting clubs. "Fairly minor". Nobody's saying it's the biggest reason and only you're bringing the idea in that it's covered his spend so far in its entirety or anywhere near. It helps. A lot. If you don't agree I'm not sure why you're working in marketing, go and work in accountancy with Quayside. In reality it's not very tangible so it helps your agenda, you can downplay it. If marketing wasn't that big a deal he'd sell the advertising space in the ground and get real money for it, since the benefits for him of plastering Sports Direct all over the ground are "fairly minor". This. To describe it as "fairly minor" is utterly moronic. It's been absolutely the opposite, it has been pivotal to the success of SD's online boom.

Krul Debuchy-MYM-Willo-Haidara Tiote-Anita HBA-Gouffran-Remy LDJ

Blaming HIS substitutes

We don't have any other alternatives. Santon is a failed experiment IMO. Sissoko bombs forward too much to protect the back 4 , Anita is too lightweight, MYM would also be a square plug in a round hole. Gouffran does put in a good shift and also has a decent eye for a pass. Only to the naked eye.

Go and see a doctor man.

I've still a massive soft spot for Viana. Loved him as a player man....that Feyenoord goal. (hell those uniforms with the white shorts and socks we'd wear when things clashed)...absolutely loved that player. I don't know why but the thought of someone describing strips as 'uniforms' cracks me up

Oh right, I did not know that. It will probably be tight but knowing my luck Taylor will win 7-0! I think it'll be a tight game but it was a similar format in the UK Open on Sunday. Taylor lost on Friday & Saturday in the UK qualifiers so he's by no means back to form. He lost to Keegan Brown & Andrew Gilding which says a lot really.

Without doubt.