TheBrownBottle

He absolutely is in their pocket - he’s paid a ten figure sum to manage their asset. He’s proof that having money doesn’t mean you’re not a mug

Yeah, I think she was right too. Ashley’s reign had basically bottomed-out our value. A paint job and some TLC would likely have doubled the value relatively quickly.

True, but from memory didn’t Staveley say that PIF were looking to buy into football - and she presented NUFC and basically sold them on the idea that this was the club to buy?

I can. It’s a petulant and childish response - and a Forest win wouldn’t be any less damaging for Luton than an Everton win. To accuse the referee of acting in the interest of Luton brings the game into disrepute. Forest should be charged - and whoever runs their Twitter account should have their toys taken away

Rugby league is called ‘football’ or ‘footy’ here in NSW. Rugby properly is called rugby union football or rugby league football, as opposed to association football. I guess most folks will call football whichever code of the game is the most popular where they are. I don’t watch gridiron either, but each to their own like.

Yeah, I don't think the lad shirks. If anything he is open for the ball constantly - I get far more frustrated with his dawdling on the ball than owt else

Isak won’t be off this summer - and when (if) he does go, Arsenal and Spurs won’t be in the picture

Yep - there is no argument that certainly before WWII, Sunderland were one of the biggest clubs in England

Incredible to think that their most recent spell under the much-loathed Ellis Short was their second-longest unbroken term in the top flight - ten seasons

In the top division: Newcastle - 34 out of the last 40 Sunderland - 17 out of the last 40

The fact that Ashley had any say in signings is depressing; talking about 4-4-2 and having two left wingers. He knew nowt about football

Good lad

This could all be true, but Tonali was almost certainly intended to replace Longstaff in the starting XI

I’m from Newcastle, didn’t realise that was an option The ground does not equal the club. If that is the case, and we move, I presume you’ll go and support someone else?

Yeah, I agree there’s definitely consequences to a move - particularly if it is a distance from the site. I do think that a club has a ‘soul’ of sorts. It’s a balancing act - like I said, I don’t think those who don’t want to move are ‘wrong’ in any meaningful sense. Also agree re West Ham. That’s the worst possible move - it’s not fit for purpose, that ground. It’s not a football stadium

I know the history of SJP. I’ve read enough books on NUFC. I also don’t like what football’s become in terms of the anodyne match day experience and the pushing out of traditional local working class support. I don’t like the ‘Americanisation’ of football. I don’t like shit kickoff times, the decimation of the FA Cup, the all-pervasive greed which has wreaked havoc on the football pyramid. But the game has changed, and that seems unlikely to be fixed. And if it isn’t to be changed back then all I want is to see a competitive NUFC. I don’t get emotional about where a rectangle of grass is situated tbh. It’s not an irreplaceable structure. Many of England’s biggest clubs have moved home, or are likely to in the not too distant future. If staying at SJP leaves us behind, then I don’t give a monkeys about going. Preferably there would be a solution to stay; but thanks to Newcastle’s relative isolation - and the fact that it is unlikely that the obvious and grown-up prospect of ground sharing with our favourite neighbours for a couple of years during a rebuild has zero chance of occurring - it’s either stay and get left behind or build somewhere else. No issue with those who want to stay, but they shouldn’t pretend that staying would have no consequences on the club’s future.

3-1 to NUFC

It definitely would. I’m not at all worried about the ‘what happens when we’re shite’ discussions. We don’t know when or if that will happen - and even if it did, the club still had big gates for most of the Ashley era. It’s a long time since I was on a half empty terrace with my dad at SJP

Sunderland’s continuing presence in the lower leagues next season means that for those of us born in 1982 they will have spent more than half our lifetimes outside the top flight. I propose that they aren’t stuck there - it’s their natural home

Given the squad shortages, I’m ok with it tbh - an extra few days’ rest. I’m going for a 3-1 win down there

The lad looks like a player, but I’d rather we take no risks with a kid of his age - it sounds sensible to me if we’re not risking him before the end of the season

I could see Bruno going if the right money came in. I don’t think Isak’s going anywhere. Every player has a price. Complaining about FFP has nowt to do with supporting the club tbf Rod. Masters and the PL have boxed us in and I’ve seen nothing at all about an army of lawyers to date - we’ve basically ticked off every regulation which boxes us in.

I didn’t say selling our best players. I was talking about buying young players at reasonable prices with a view to making a profit on them. I don’t think we’re about to sell Isak. I could easily see us sell Minteh if someone bids £20m. This is no different from what Man City and Chelsea do already.

Doesn’t matter if they want it or not. FFP pushes us into that position.

You all must be in the upper tier of the East Stand then. Nowhere else in SJP is as it was in the early 80s.