TheBrownBottle

Hope so mate

The Ice Man won't be going anywhere in the summer. I've never been more confident of anything. It doesn't even make sense from a 'buy to sell' policy point of view - the lad's value is more likely to increase with time. On a technical level, the best centre forward I've ever seen at the club (not the best centre forward - divvunt gan radge). Those ice-cold first time finishes from just inside the 18-yard-box are his specialty. He's the closest I've seen to Henry, and he's ours.

I told Mrs BB that if Jennifer Lawrence drops a hint, I'd be off Odds are about the same

My favourite NUFC midfielder remains Rob Lee (and that would be hard to shake off, given he played during my formative years ...) - but Bruno G is the most complete midfielder I've ever seen in B&W. Like everyone else I hope he stays, but I wouldn't hold it against him if he wanted to go off to get a chance to win the big pots. He's in his peak years - we've still a bit to go yet.

Doesn’t make any difference to our transfer budget - it’ll go into the 23/24 accounts. More likely it’ll offset any potential FFP worries for this season (edit - as in the one just finished)

Reminds me of when Lego used to do women figures, but because they were the same shape as men they’d have to paint an hourglass figure onto the torso

Beardsley was unlucky to be at Liverpool during the Heysel ban. If he had been able to play European football during his peak years he’d have been in the running for European or World Player of the Year. He’s still the closest thing to Messi that this country has produced.

Isn’t context fun? Here’s Sunderland players celebrating their Papa John’s Football League Mickey Mouse Cup win: I even saw the fans celebrating like loons the year before when they scored in the Papa Johns final at Wembley. So they’re the last set of fans on earth in a position to sneer at where we are …

Completely agree. Four in a row was an impassable barrier - most football anoraks could name those clubs who’d managed three (Huddersfield, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd) - but Man City have just broken another one with little fanfare. Their treble last year just seemed a bit flat to me - a procession instead of a triumph. I get that people think it’s funny that the same old clubs can’t get past them, but I do think that there is a joylessness to it all.

Yep. I think he’s worth what we paid. We didn’t get what we paid for. This doesn’t mean I think he’s rubbish or anything - I just don’t see anyone paying much more than that

I still think the East stand should have been named after him. Perhaps if we remain at SJP, the new East Stand could be named in his honour? edit: the statue of Robson is still mystifying to me btw.

A very young Alan Shearer comes into shot on 00:19

Or Wilson & Trippier for that matter

Half both those valuations and you're on the money I reckon

There was a replica PL trophy at SJP in 1996 just in case Bryan Robson's Middlesbrough team did us a favour and got a result against Man Utd. Which seems less likely than Arsenal winning it

I was one of the daft twats who fell for it. My ST was in the lower part of the Leazes. There was a bloke near me with a tranny who turned to a few of us and said '1-0 Leeds! (Brian) Deane has scored!' I jumped up and started shouting that Deane had scored for Leeds. Hopefully I wasn't alone, but half the Leazes started going crackers. Then the stupid cunt told us he'd misheard, and it was 1-0 Man Utd, Keane had scored. So if you remember a spotty teenager with a blonde mop of hair jumping up and shouting that, then apologies - that was me

Lewis Miley seems to be pronounced Lou-ee despite his name not being Louis.

18 hours and the rest - there’s no direct flight from London to Melbourne even for wealthy footballers. It’s closer to a day’s flight.

You’re all harder bastards than me. Travelling against the clock (UK to Australia) is knackering. Melbourne is only nine hours different at the moment (half the year it’s eleven hours) but jet leg impacts everyone. Some can cope with it better than others.

I can disagree with it - he’s using a comma before a verb in a relative clause. The entire article is replete with this sort of thing - there’s an obvious comma splice in it too, as well as the use of a comma before a subordinate conjunction. It’s a piece of piss to point at signs for shops which have an incorrect use of the apostrophe and feel superior. I can’t be arsed with it personally - and the people who do it wouldn’t thank others for pointing out the flaws in their prose.

Do it in a Mackem accent. Definitely homophones in that part of the world

There are exceptions to every rule …

It’s a hard life - I miss Tyneside at this time of year, mind. That feeling has usually disappeared by the start of October, though!