Shays Given Tim Flowers

No chance. If we were going to sign him it would have been when he was available for nowt in the summer.

Conference might be a bit much but I was thinking about this the other day and broadly I think I agree with you. Teams into the Premier League tend to fall into one of three categories: 1. Trying to win the league. 2. Trying to qualify for Europe and/or better the club year on year. 3. Trying to stay up as an achievement in itself (ie promoted clubs and the real minnows). We're none of them, we're content to merely exist. We're not alone in this, but it brings into question what exactly the point is. Sure, we continue to feast at the top table but to what end? Where's the hope meant to be, the chance of success (in terms of the categories above), the target of glory? This is why the cups absolutely should be a priority; specifically when we're already safe from relegation. f***ing arseholes. I think this is what drives a lot of the Pardew angst. With a better manager at the helm we might be able to flirt with doing something.

Would improve our counter attacking no end.

How long did that take you? Do you realise you'll never get that time back?

Joe has gone to the office to ask MA for some petty cash to buy some paper.

Really isn't a tough concept to grasp what people mean when they are talking about more excitement. Pretty much encompasses everything.

l'eau(n) deal?

Play well, lose narrowly (i.e. tight for most of the game then end up 2-0 3-0). Be nice to avoid a red card.

I think that's exactly what he talks about. He will be drilling into the team to contain and keep it tight for 60 mins and hoping we take a chance before that time Isn't every player given a dossier about their opposite number before every match? Which is the sort of pseudo-management that has seen is incapable of a sustained starting 11, formation, gameplan etc.

At the end of the day with Pardew, we're probably not going down but we don't appear to be going anywhere either. Will be miserable as fuck when the next round of the Cup is played.

Well Andy Carroll illustrates 35,000,000 points. Whatever. Secondly, Campbell has achieved considerably more than most of our young prospects. Krul made his debut at a similar age took, him a while to be our number one. Such a myopic and ignorant view of youth development.

Considering he's one of the top prospects (albeit one who has stagnated of late) I dread to think what GB thinks of the others academy lads.

Sounds like a regional detective duo starring Martin Clunes and Pauline Quirke, coming soon to ITV1.

What?! So Taylor and Williamson in the centre? Well that's just hilarious. Yeah, funny as f***. I'm sure you'll be laughing if Hatem returns to the RW on account of an out-and-out defender being at RB. Its what one of the local papers are saying in one of the other threads. Campbell will tear those two to shreds.

He isn't apparently. Mbiwa to play right back.

Best player at the club. He needs to be playing. By all means get him to work on things, but first and foremost get him on the pitch.

Maybe we're just doing a favour for his agent.

I do, it never happens sadly, they just get reinvented, IF a club really did "go down the tubes" it may stop the ridiculous over spending throughout the game. Then and only then will the fans who turn up be important again. I don't think it would. The only way guaranteed to stop over spending is better regulation of clubs by the FA, salary caps etc.

Don't ever like the idea of any club going down the tubes completely.

At least he went to play the ball here. Unlike his sending off in the 0-6 against Liverpool. Just needs to stop letting the hate flow through him.

We're such a philanthropic club.

'We're still fighting for this title' Happy New Year all.

Coming back to manage in 20 years time and one of the youth team players touches his face.

It'll be like when Peter Pan leaves at the end of Hook.