gjohnson

Knowing his record probably legit. Stubbed toe so out for 9 months

It's got to the point where he can't be relied on as a first team player. At 32 he isn't going to get more resilient to injuries. At present he's just a 50k+ per week expense. Adding nothing to now, and a rapidly diminishing future return. If he can't get in shape and deliver then we really would be better giving Osula more minutes. After all we did spend a fair wedge to get him so must have seen something there

Nothing to do with smoke and mirrors at all. Plain and simple fact that for what it would cost to upgrade St James to 65/70k would be far more than a new stadium purely because of its location...the things that would have to be done in order to do it (listed buildings/metro etc) would be tied up for years while various whingers object and protest. That's before the practical difficulties of actually doing it... No doubt some environmentalists would protest if it ended up invading a park by a centimetre, but that would still be more efficient than trying to rearrange a significant part of a major city.

Obviously it's no silver bullet, but perception is vital for raising commercial revenue. A modern fit for purpose stadium is far more attractive to bigger sponsors than a relic which hasn't had a serious upgrade for 25 years. Without sounding like a broken record...would City's commercial revenue be as high if they clung on to Maine Road? We live in the past, we stay in the past

Was a typo...it meant months not games

He won't be leaving us for anything but free.

I stand corrected. Apologies if I got them mixed up

According to Forbes City are worth 4b and the UAE have invested 1,7b so those people (not you btw) who claim they are wasting money terrible investment etc are clearly misguided. That's all well and good, but it is a terrible investment if their intention was to actually make money. Yes their 1.7b may be worth 4b now, but that only matters if they want to sell, and if there's anyone anyone willing or able to pay that. With no desire to sell or interested buyers it's still 1.7b spent with little prospect of getting it back

Prices will continue to rise until people stop paying them...whoever said the club aren't governed by normal economic rules is dead wrong in that sense. If the club could fill a stadium charging 3k for a season ticket they would. As long as we're not relegated and attendances aren't falling they aren't going to get cheaper. In a world without stupid financial rules like psr/fmv we could give away tickets for free and the owners probably wouldn't even notice the difference on a balance sheet

A move is the only thing that makes sense. If we stuck to things purely for history's sake we'd still be in caves rubbing sticks together to make fire. Yes it would be a shame to lose the individuality, but to be fair...and I think this applies to most that haven't had the fortune of seeing a real trophy...St James has generally been a park of misery and disappointment. There been good times, can't argue with that but I doubt many Man City fans are now crying over moving from Maine Road

I dount it would even make much difference to local business. People will still go to the centre for food and drink before and after match....its not like there's another area within 80 miles people would go to instead. If people can't tolerate a a little extra travel time without a pint then they've bigger problems than actually getting there to watch the match.

So the long and short of it is that we're probably pretty much skint. Would a Monopoly analogy work here... We've got no cash left, but have 3 hotels (Isak, Gordon, Bruno) a couple of utilities (Joelinton, Botman) and a few houses (Hall, Livramento, Willock). We've landed on a chance square that says pay property maintenance or whatever and the only way to realistically get out of it is to sell a hotel as the rest won't bring in enough to pay it, let alone help buy more hotels. Sell a hotel....worked for Chelsea

Exactly this....inside St James is brutalistic and basic (for the majority). Entirely functional and little more. Inside Wembley looks like a modern airport...not exactly essential but more pleasant and welcoming to walk around in. Not especially relevant to the purpose of a ground but looks a higher class

If that barcode strip was brought out today with no nostalgia from 50yr olds listing after the misery of the 80s again, it would be pretty much universally hated. Home kit is black and white stripes. We complain if anyone tries to do something different/innovative. We complain if it's boring and debate the correct width of stripes and ratio of black to white. Our best perceived kits are always associated with enjoyable and entertaining teams. That hated 2008 kit would probably be loved if we weren't relegated in it

For us or any other team?

I was in favour of renovating the existing stadium, but have come to terms that even it's most modern sections are now almost relics not far from 30 Yr old. Upgrading the existing stadium would be far more than a whole new one, and wouldn't necessarily have the disruption of a temporary loss in capacity or having to groundsheet with the local pond water. Yes it's currently a great location but an extra 10-15min walk/1 extra metro stop isn't going to stop people going unless their sole reason is to drink themselves stupid before and after a match. Yes there might be some reduced footfall in bars and food joints but unless it's somewhere massively out of town...those are still places people will go. Would probably spell death for the Strawberry...which to be fair is a hole that no-one would go near if it wasn't right outside

See Captain Black is getting ready for his annual cry

Totally understandable, but think back....how many of us were disappointed when we got Bellamy after missing Jeffers. No one rated Bellamy, but he (along with Robert)was transformative as he brought an element to the team we didn't have, and few realised he would bring given there was little evidence of it in his previous seasons. Perhaps EH/PM see something DCL would add when playing with our lot. Just a bit of optimistic spin on an underwhelming possibility

The new Haris Vukic

They've not exactly got a great record of making competent decisions since Big Jim came along

He wasn't great for us but doesn't come anywhere near the worst. He was brought in to do a job, did it and left. He's doing well now so good for him

Absolutely there is, it's just a case of actually finding it. It's not like there's a shortage of teams for kids...from where I live there's 7 clubs within a 10 minute drive, but the facilities comprise of a pitch and a few cones so no wonder most from out before being picked up by a pro club

I think we were intended as a vanity project ala Qatar/PSG originally, but the obstacles weren't expected. So either we're a slow burn profile raising exercise, or a step to make profit. They could probably get double what they paid for us by selling now, but given the lack of rumour/whispers/garbage on that it doesn't appear likely so implies that it could be seen as long term low risk investment. Kind of like the suspect financial advisors always go for....shove your pension into a high risk strategy and you could be a millionaire next week or broke the week after, compared to low risk...you might only make a tenner a month but you won't lose

It certainly is. Shows you can do whatever you want in football and just tie it up in legal for years. By the time any wrong doing is proved, it's 15 years later and no-one cares anymore. In a world of criminals, the only crime is being caught...and if you've got good lawyers it can be delayed indefinitely

Impossible to say whether it's of any use to us at all. It could be good or it could be nothing. It's not detrimental to us, but will make it harder for certain clubs. At worst it's not bad for us. At best it could mean bigger and more sponsorships. Who the f**k knows. Need to be a lawyer or accountant to understand football nowadays