Eddy Chibas

Nah, he wasn't around to watch Hughes out of his depth either. Developed a close relationship with football, and jumped aboard the Man City bus, when Fifa Online exploded a couple of years back, on the latest next-gen game consoles. Has something to do with unlocking dem gold pack players, from the one team. Funnily enough his little brother has adopted Chelsea as his team, to provide some healthy competition in the house. They even have heated arguments over who will come out on top during the transfer windows. It's like watching a competition unfold before your very eyes, or an arms-race featuring a pair of duelling trophy hunter supporters.

I can't bring myself to enjoy this team's quality of football, purely on account of the smug, 21yr old trophy supporter I know (with his sense of entitlement, and lack of humility). Apart from highlights, I haven't watched them since very early in the season.

Prefer what the Raiders are moving into, also the Vikings new stadium.

Case in point: Guardiola reportedly issued a directive to his board. If any PL team (especially Manyoo) made a move for Ousmane Dembele last Summer, they (the board) were ordered to blow any bid out of the water (effectively hijacking a transfer to a rival).

Allardyce's Everton will comfortably finish mid-table, but what a disgusting waste of technical ability on show already.

Had a heated discussion with Citeh supporter who became a fan at the tender age of 20. He doesn't even know who owns the club, doesn't even care tbh. Anyway he was pretty offended that I wasn't a fan of Guardiola. The case I presented - top coach, but I'm not keen on the bloke (because of his reputation, in the man-management department). So this kid throws in my face the "Newcastle are s***, you don't like Guardiola & Manchester City because you're jealous" card. Add context to his remark, he's aware that of the current top echelon I lean towards Spurs (based on Pochettino record at Southampton). So he doesn't like it when I sing Pochettino's accomplishments, with a far more restrictive transfer budget compared with City's open chequebook. Had to remind him there's no jealousy on my part, even happily admitted that we're s***. Btw he has no idea who Mike Ashley is either - only follows City's transfer rumours. Just had to inform him that I don't envy a football fan who happened to 'discover' the richest club in England just shy of his 21st bithday, and doesn't know what Maine Rd was.

Relegation fights aren't far reaching & savage enough. The top 6 are rewarded each year, with the opportunity to play in Europe, so the bottom 6 should be hauled over the coals. My system (which includes 4 team promotion from the Championship)...... 4 relegation places, two of which (19th & 20th) are automatically culled/relegated. 15v18 and 16v17 decide who else goes down ie. the losers of those two ties.

not a chance. we've proven time and time again we'll accept being shat on from a great height. we wont be forcing anyone out. All that happens is that supporters vote with their feet and are replaced with happy clapper day trippers that go for a day out and a laugh with the lads, lads, lads. If Ashley opened a Shit Sandwich themed fast food outlet (right near SJP), and promoted as part of the matchday experience, it would take off. Such a venture, in Liverpool, would most likely be firebombed.

Sure paid him back by borrowing money off them, not paying it, and stopping communications. His dad probably thinks the same Aye. Mortgaged the family home to finance Ashley's start-up costs and got shafted. There's no boundary as to whom Ashley won't scam.

Because negative news re: this club is usually close to the mark unfortunately. I have zero faith in Ashley to do the right thing here. I think it'll happen. It makes no financial sense for Ashley for it not to. And money is all he cares about. He's a vile, horrible c*** who doesn't give a s**** about anybody, yes, but surely he can't throw this away or it's curtains for getting any sale for north of £300m. An absolute dire day at SJP on Saturday doesn't change that. From what I've read about Ashley, in the retail/corporate world, he never concedes ground/compromises - it's about winning the deal. He's as pig-headed as they come. That's what will scupper any sale, if it happens imho. There's a magic figure in his head, and he just won't meet anybody in the middle.

Misunderstood footballing magnate's family received death threats from those barbarian supporters in the North East. Edit: those ungrateful, barbarian supporters from the North East.

Absolutely not, we might be uncomfortably close to the relegation spots by the time January comes round, and there's no guarantee the players needed to turn it round will be available then. Anyway, if Ashley thinks there's no chance of us getting relegated then he should have no problem with the clause. I don't think they're taking the piss either. We've dropped points on the back of Ashley choosing to back Rafa with peanuts, namely upfront (Joselu). Sketchy looking run of fixtures prior to Jan 1st, and it's biting us on the arse now. Understandable that PCP/Staveley are playing hardball.

Have to rinse my eye sockets with bleach after reading that thread. I see threads like this, where there's quite a bit of support for the guy, and it's no wonder as to why ashleyout.com (which met resistance) failed to gain traction the first time. Best reply from that disaster zone. Perfectly summation of SportsDirect United.

She may well be as Liverpool are at home to Southampton. Just running with the theory that Staveley has used/is using NUFC to strong-arm Fenway into selling Liverpool, or to drop their pricetag from the current quoted figure of 1 billion. Rough crunching of the numbers, minus net transfer market spend. 300m purchase, from Hicks & Gillett. 114m for the stadium expansion (As a sidepoint planning permission to further develop Anfield expires in 2019, so this is a plus for big spending investors who want to maximise commercial revenue/potential) On top of the £414m above what is their net spend in the transfer market, during Fenway's ownership. Wonder what the projected figure/profit could be, if Staveley was able to beat them down to say 900m.

Looks like Tyler Durden's antics have escalated, with age.

Structurally yeah. Gaining the green light to proceed (when it's possible/likely that it would obstruct the natural light of any high density, residential/student blocks) after Ashley has erected his residential towers might be an obstacle though. Shepherd's plan, to include the Gallowgate extension as part of an overall project to create an entertainment precinct (ie. the hotel complex etc) was probably more feasible.

They really need to get that land as well as part of the deal. Ashley's plans (for Strawberry Place) is the tank parked on the lawn of an owner with ambitious plans.

e But isn’t he known for being c*** in takeover deals, ‘he parks his tanks on your lawn’ is a quote that springs to mind. Obviously it’s the other way round but he’s still likely to be a c***! He's got a huge reputation for being incredibly difficult to work with. He's known to be a total renegade when it comes to custom, practice and good business manners too. Essentially, he's ripped up the rule book in many respects and has the financial muscle not to give two f***s about the consequences. I know someone very senior up in the commercial property world in London who dealt with him in the (relatively) early Sports Direct days and he's got some fairly eye opening views on dealing with MA. One thing is very clear to us all is the ego maniac in him and how thin-skinned he has been towards any sort of personal criticism or slight. Didn't Pardew get fined for saying 'Mike's not a football man' or 'not from the football world and doesn't understand it' when he was here? . Outside of his signature 'fake' closing down sales I heard a few stories about Ashley's practices (during his early years), concerning dealings with suppliers. He was infamous for suddenly shifting the goalposts, and reneging on already agreed terms - used to have employees to park their cars in front of delivery trucks, blocking the truck's exit until new terms were reached. Rumor was floating around too that Mort & Ashley fell out, and CM travelled to SJP (this occured well after leaving the chairman position) because there was a dispute over the monies owed to Mort's firm which handled the acquisition of the club (from Ashley's side of things). The "tanks on the front lawn" quote...... wouldn't surprise me if that came from Whelan, or a former boardmember of JBB, given that Ashley used his presence on the board to basically sabotage Whelan's efforts to keep JBB out of admistration.

Face palm

At least a long-term injury keeps him below the radar a bit, and out of the shop window, if the end game of Ashley's ownership is drawn out past the new year.

Ashley/Sports Direct United looked to pay peanuts for a striker in the Summer, so they're duly receiving a monkey's brand of comedy (from this guy so far) in front of goal.

I'm indifferent to a compromise regarding a name change, in exchange for an arrangement which circumvents FFP rules (which includes a major investment in the playing squad) while aiming to be a competitive sporting entity again.

Sheff wed, sheff utd, forest. Ashley will need a club who are happy to just yoyo and exist at the top of the championship and bottom end of the prem...and accept his awful SD s*** all over the stadium. I hope he keeps his grubby mitts off Sheffield Wednesday. They are a nice old fashioned club with loyal fans. I was thinking along similar lines. All his ShitDirect hoardings plastered all over a grand old stadium. Would be a sad sight indeed.

150m set aside for buying players over two years (4 transfer windows) isn't enough in today's market imo. Hopefully this figure doesn't include commercial/advertising revenue, if the Sports Direct shackles are removed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/football/41662958 In his new book 'Any Given Saturday' Given reveals his belief that the SportsDirect boss tried to run the club "on the cheap". He said a low contract offer in 2009 left him disillusioned, and criticised what he felt were money-saving attempts to make him sign a transfer request once he turned it down. 'How much did they really want to challenge?' The keeper told the Chronicle how he and his lawyer Michael Kennedy met with Ashley and assistant Derek Llambias for contract talks in 2009. "I went out of the room soon after the meeting had begun and returned to the car," he said. "Michael was back out, sat in the passenger seat, soon after. 'We're not staying,' he said. 'That was not a serious offer in any way, shape or form.'" "I was prepared to stay for the rest of my career but, ultimately, I was in my prime, a potential Premier League winning team wanted to sign me and Newcastle did not give any impression they wanted to chase silverware. "How much did they really want to keep me though? How much did they want to be challenging? Did the boardroom care about keeping their most loyal players? In a word, no." 'A gun was put to my head' Given felt Newcastle tried to make it seem as if he had been pushing for a move away from Tyneside. In reality, he said, they offered him a contract worth less than he was already on. "In the end, with me unhappy at what was going on and the lack of ambition shown by the club, a gun was put to my head," he said. "They said they would not allow me to leave unless I signed a transfer request. By making me hand in a formal written request, it meant they could waive 10% of the fee I otherwise would've picked up after moving. "With the fee being around £6-8m, it effectively meant I was waiving £600,000 to go. "They made it sound like I was holding them to ransom and that poor little Newcastle were being stitched up by just another greedy footballer when, in actual fact, I wanted to stay - but only if Newcastle gave me a competitive contract and, by doing so, proved the club had big plans for the future."