magpie1892

Not necessarily. Are they the ones who sponsored Barca? Yes.

There was an interested party in 2012 whose attention may yet be rekindled: Qatar Foundation. It's a governmental body that sort of sprays money about on various stuff and, in tandem with the QFA, are trying to 'internationalise' the national football team. I wrote a piece for a Qatari magazine at the time basically begging them to buy us - much as Si King did last night on Hairy Bikers (mentioned above) I saw Qatar play Scotland in a friendly at Easter Road last year (and all their games in the Asian Cup in 2011) and they weren't great but they are improving. Their Uruguayan manager, Jose Carreno, when I spoke to him, stressed the need to get their national players into better leagues; the whole lot currently play in the Qatar Stars League which is of an appalling standard. There is one exception though - their 'shining light', teenage forward Akram Afif. He plays for Belgian 2nd-tier side Eupen - an offshoot (ASPIRE) of the Qatari government bought the club purely to get their players into European leagues. They're looking at clubs in S.America, Africa and Asia also, but there remains an interest in the EPL for two reasons - to develop their better players as described above, but secondly to establish Qatar as a credible host for WC2022, which they still recognise is lacking. So they may yet return to the table. I think most people (myself included) would prefer a new, British owner, but anything is better than the thieving megacunt we have at present. If nothing else, at least we would see the back of Bendy Wendy and her lying pals, Charnely, Carr, Moncur, etc. Not necessarily.

I do. His tat empire is struggling really badly and the consensus in the City is that he wants to take s*** Direct private again. To do that, he's going to need the cash and selling the club is the only way he can raise the required revenue. The loss of the TV cash will be a huge blow as that won't be available for him to continue to siphon off, the advertising space & revenue he's stealing from the club will plummet in terms of international exposure, merchandising sales are down and will continue to drop, so that's more money he's stealing from the club which will dip sharply in value. He'll struggle to find a shirt sponsor of any repute and if he makes the mistake of putting 's*** Direct' on the shirt then... wow. So unless we look like coming straight back up (which was nailed on last time, but won't be this time IMHO) I think the worse we do, the more likelyy he is to sell. For the first time since the c unt turned up, I'm cautiously optimistic we might get our club back.

52,000 is plenty if Leicester City are anything to judge by. More pressing in the immediate is buying players in the positions required, and who actually seem to give a shit.

Looks infinitely preferable to watching NUFC.

Some people in here are furious. Insulted, ffs "He's lying to us". What? An addict in denial? Never. The fact he's in denial doesn't make me angry. What does irk me is that he's been giving it '11 months clean and everyone jumps on me for this blip'. Does anyone like being taken for a fool? have you any idea about alcoholism ? as a alcoholic you have a blip every now and again its part and parcel of the recovery and my wife works in that field and has been on courses given by experts ,im not getting at you so don't take it personal but it is not a easy thing to rid yourself of as you can imagine but the lad has as everyone is aware huge problems to overcome and his family by all accounts seem to do f*** all to help him Funnily enough, when I was living with my grandparents (before my grandfather's liver gave up) in Pyrford, I somehow found myself going out with a girl whose dad was a sports lawyer. Through him, we got tickets for a sports dinner at The Grosvenor and Gascoigne was at our table. The 'journalist' Harry Harris was also at our table and when HH went for a leak, Gazza decided to as well - into the pitcher of lager that Harris was topping up from. No-one said a word and, boy, did I get it in the neck from my then girlfriend later on for not saying anything... I'm a bit surprised by that story. I've never been in that precise situation, but why didn't anyone say or do anything? It's quite a well-known story, apparently. Well, it was 25 years ago, when it was doing the rounds. I assure you it's 100% accurate. Why didn't anyone say anything? Fear, I think. This was post Italia '90 and pre '91 FAC final and Gascoigne was untouchable. I'd barely turned 18 and I was just a bairn. When I got it in the neck from my lass afterwards, I had to explain that I was simply too scared to pipe up.

Some people in here are furious. Insulted, ffs "He's lying to us". What? An addict in denial? Never. The fact he's in denial doesn't make me angry. What does irk me is that he's been giving it '11 months clean and everyone jumps on me for this blip'. Does anyone like being taken for a fool? have you any idea about alcoholism ? as a alcoholic you have a blip every now and again its part and parcel of the recovery and my wife works in that field and has been on courses given by experts ,im not getting at you so don't take it personal but it is not a easy thing to rid yourself of as you can imagine but the lad has as everyone is aware huge problems to overcome and his family by all accounts seem to do f*** all to help him Yes, as I mentioned above, it killed my grandfather - in front of my eyes; as it happened, as I was living with my grandparents at the time during my 'gap yah'. So I reckon I have a handle on it, in addition to volunteering for my local Council teaching basic literacy in 2010-11 to a class which was, judging by the smell and pupil interaction, about 40-50% alcoholic. I make no claim to being an expert, but I would claim to be more than a layman. Funnily enough, when I was living with my grandparents (before my grandfather's liver gave up) in Pyrford, I somehow found myself going out with a girl whose dad was a sports lawyer. Through him, we got tickets for a sports dinner at The Grosvenor and Gascoigne was at our table. The 'journalist' Harry Harris was also at our table and when HH went for a leak, Gazza decided to as well - into the pitcher of lager that Harris was topping up from. No-one said a word and, boy, did I get it in the neck from my then girlfriend later on for not saying anything... I'd earlier tried to talk to Gascoigne about NUFC when he turned up but, even on arrival, he was so drunk he could barely speak. Anyway, I digress. I don't take what you say personally in any way - this subject is a hell of a lot bigger than you or I - but when you mention his family, saying: 'by all accounts [they] seem to do f*** all to help him' then I would have to agree. In agreeing with you I am not casting aspersions on his family, but I wonder who among them is qualified/capable to help him? For me, it's clearly a job for professionals, but Gascoigne hasn't even met them half way.

I think there's a lot of people who DO care (and many who do not) but are struggling with their sympathies. I don't blame Gascoigne at all, as I know from personal experience that alcoholism is a fearsome beast. When my grandfather - who had been a very high achiever in WWII and for the Crown Agents thereafter - retired, he started drinking out of boredom. And booze killed him. I suspect that boredom has played a big part in Gascoigne's current condition. i.e., he was alcoholic 20 years ago at Rangers, but it's got immeasurably worse since he hung up his boots (or, anecdotally, was unable to tie them up when he was playing for that Chinese club).

Some people in here are furious. Insulted, ffs "He's lying to us". What? An addict in denial? Never. The fact he's in denial doesn't make me angry. What does irk me is that he's been giving it '11 months clean and everyone jumps on me for this blip'. Does anyone like being taken for a fool?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35918259 It's actually quite insulting that he persists with the fantasy he's been dry for 11 months up until last week's 'blip'. If he thinks anyone is buying this crap then he's more ill than I thought.

Have to agree with Ronaldo. He was a wife-beater and full-blown alcoholic when he was playing in Scotland and then Boro, Everton, etc. I think he would absolutely love to be a coach/manager, but he's got too many obstacles in his way. Primary among them at the moment would appear to be staying alive.

Does falling off once in 6 months work out as bad as being a constant alcoholic though? He's drinking every day, man. Look at the state of him. He'll do a 7-10 day detox, again, then back on the gin. I don't know why he persists with the lies that he's been dry for a year, as he recently claimed. I'm curious as to where the money's coming from. He was sitting across the aisle from me on a train to KIngs cross about a month ago. Was on the phone to his agent constantly about talk ins etc and the jist was that he was getting between £30 and £50 for signed photos and signed football shirts on top of the appearance money. I guess that would fund his lifestyle. He doesn't seem to spend much on clothes, doesn't (to my knowledge) own a car, doesn't take flash holidays, etc. How long the 'talk ins' are going to last is worth considering. That well is getting pretty dry in my opinion. Poor b******'s liver must look like one of them cards they use to test for colour blindness. His clothes were ( and always have been as far as I can recall) expensive designer gear to be honest. Long, long gone are the £1,200 silk Versace shirts he used to buy by the rail in their shop Merchant City when he played for Rangers. The stuff he's been in for years now - ordinary shirts, flannels, soft blazers - look like the sort of gear you get from White Stuff. Their shirts are about £40 and blazers £120.

Does falling off once in 6 months work out as bad as being a constant alcoholic though? He's drinking every day, man. Look at the state of him. He'll do a 7-10 day detox, again, then back on the gin. I don't know why he persists with the lies that he's been dry for a year, as he recently claimed. I'm curious as to where the money's coming from. He was sitting across the aisle from me on a train to KIngs cross about a month ago. Was on the phone to his agent constantly about talk ins etc and the jist was that he was getting between £30 and £50 for signed photos and signed football shirts on top of the appearance money. I guess that would fund his lifestyle. He doesn't seem to spend much on clothes, doesn't (to my knowledge) own a car, doesn't take flash holidays, etc. How long the 'talk ins' are going to last is worth considering. That well is getting pretty dry in my opinion. Poor bastard's liver must look like one of them cards they use to test for colour blindness.

Does falling off once in 6 months work out as bad as being a constant alcoholic though? He's drinking every day, man. Look at the state of him. He'll do a 7-10 day detox, again, then back on the gin. I don't know why he persists with the lies that he's been dry for a year, as he recently claimed. I'm curious as to where the money's coming from. You reckon so? How do you know this? I thought that aswel like duno how he can afford this lifestyle Well, I think we're agreed that he's not been dry for a year. Let's also agree that there are stories about him having done something stupid (the texts to the ex - he could NOT have been sober) that makes the papers every other month, so there's got to be countless other things (i.e. what goes on behind closed doors where he just goes on a bender and gets cabbies to bring him his gin and ciggies) that we don't hear about - him just watching MoTD with a bottle of Gordon's in hand, etc; four-day jobs where he doesn't leave the house. But really, a picture says a thousand words. If he'd been on the wagon for six months and fallen off just the once then he wouldn't look like he'd been in a prolonged and losing fight with the pavement, nor his pallor, nor the lesions and spotting, nor his stoop, etc. He's killing himself. Those pictures have 'full-blown alcoholic' writ large all over them. Like I say, I'm curious as to where the cash is coming from. Mind, I suppose it's not that expensive a lifestyle if all he needs is gin and fags and the odd tin of soup. Maybe the rent on his flat is paid by his management company for when they wheel him out to make a c unt of himself at his silly 'talk-ins' which, I understand, are touch-and-go as to whether he's hammered during these (from both the papers and a couple of people I know who've gone to see him). Plus everyone still buys him drinks... A few years back I walked past The Forth on Pink Lane and he was stood inside at the window with a couple of cronies, drinking pints. A new biography had just been published (ghostwritten by his then agent) where he claimed he was sober and had been for many months, so I've seen the contrary with my own eyes. It's desperately sad, but he's committing the cardinal sin of addicts with these preposterous tales of having been dry a year - he's refusing to admit he has a problem. Actually, I think he no longer cares.

Does falling off once in 6 months work out as bad as being a constant alcoholic though? He's drinking every day, man. Look at the state of him. He'll do a 7-10 day detox, again, then back on the gin. I don't know why he persists with the lies that he's been dry for a year, as he recently claimed. I'm curious as to where the money's coming from.

That story is utter shite. Absolutely no substantiation from anyone, quotes, clubs, player, agents, etc. No wonder Ryder picked it up, he's that f*cking desperate.

Yup.

I spoke to Lee Clark about Ranger whom he briefly managed at Blackpool. Said his attitude was 'appalling', 'especially during training'.

No.

I reckon four years. Out in two.

Not so sure this is a bad thing. The wreckage he left behind - plus his appalling behaviour - at SJP has actually woken up some sections of the MSM, and his programme notes on Saturday (the like of which I have never read before) have really given him enough rope. He'll eventually get bombed out of CPFC and then, eventually, tw@ts like Ian Wright will have to shut their ignorant mouths. Much like McClaren (almost seems like he was never here...), Pardew's current gig will be his last as manager of a club in the top three tiers, at best. One needs to be careful about stigmatising those with mental health problems, but significant evidence exists that Pardew is not only a s*** manager, he's also very, very ill.

If he has the money, yes it is.

I never said it was offensive, but as you concede, it is cringey now.

Really needs to stop. Very mawkish now. Shades of the Princess Diana hysteria.

Amazing insight! Well my passive aggressive chum, someone seems to be arguing the opposite. No offence. I totally agree with you. I don't care if we end up as other 'Leeds or Portsmouth' (yawn) - I just want my club back. As long as that fat c*** is owner, we're going nowhere. Except down the way. Guarantee we could get 45,000 in the Conference with competent people at the helm who actually care about the club, fans, etc.