José Enrique

[Dr Venkman]

Good post magpie, I genuinely think if it wasn't for the Carroll sale Ashley would be well on the way to getting back on the good side of the fans.

 

This season, as you say, has been much better than expected.

 

it is a good post, but it glosses over the issue which strikes at the absolute heart of what the club is about now. that is, that we replaced a very well performing manager who was popular with players and fans, with a man who had very little reason to be hired other than he didn't deserve the position and therefore was more likely to agree to demands placed upon him on transfer policy.

 

and my oh my, weren't we all shocked when carroll went in january. yes the money was massive, yes its a great deal if you put the money back into the team PLUS the money that should have been due to be invested anyway. but the chain of events is as plain as day imo, would anyone be surprised if the big debate in the winter is whether we were right to accept a massive bid for tiote on deadline day?

 

I would understand it if we received a ridiculous bid (£30m+) for Tiote a few hours before deadline and we took the money without being able to find a replacement. I wouldn't like it though, but it's too good to turn down from a business point of view, and we can't buy a replacement just in case someone makes a last minute mega bid for our players.

 

if we want to progress, at some point we have to say no. our most important players shouldnt be for sale at any price (yes i know even man u had to sell ronaldo, nani was already at the club though, its different). what if we were offerred 300 million for our entire first team squad? that would be good business, right? we could just play the kids, get relegated and then we'd have loads of money to buy a new team to push for promotion

[Ocho]

According to here: http://www.nufcfans.co.uk/

 

Jose has handed in his tenancy termination notice on his flat in Jesmond.

[Guest WashyGeordie]

According to here: http://www.nufcfans.co.uk/

 

Jose has handed in his tenancy termination notice on his flat in Jesmond.

 

With no proof/links...

[Cajun]

 

Has anyone noticed the typical "I've just handed in my tenancy termination notice" in his body language. Was he motioning throwing keys or something?

[Chrisjraby]

Maybe with his new contract and inevitable payrise he's buying a house?

 

Nobody really knows what's going on do they!

[Dave]

Theoretically if we're financially sound and have a better bank balance relative to other clubs we would be allowed to spend more.

 

Is this not a bit of an oxymoron?

[quayside]

Good post magpie, I genuinely think if it wasn't for the Carroll sale Ashley would be well on the way to getting back on the good side of the fans.

 

This season, as you say, has been much better than expected.

 

it is a good post, but it glosses over the issue which strikes at the absolute heart of what the club is about now. that is, that we replaced a very well performing manager who was popular with players and fans, with a man who had very little reason to be hired other than he didn't deserve the position and therefore was more likely to agree to demands placed upon him on transfer policy.

 

and my oh my, weren't we all shocked when carroll went in january. yes the money was massive, yes its a great deal if you put the money back into the team PLUS the money that should have been due to be invested anyway. but the chain of events is as plain as day imo, would anyone be surprised if the big debate in the winter is whether we were right to accept a massive bid for tiote on deadline day?

 

Surely you don't really think Hughton was sacked because he could prevent Ashley pulling off deals like the Carroll one?    

[Dr Venkman]

Good post magpie, I genuinely think if it wasn't for the Carroll sale Ashley would be well on the way to getting back on the good side of the fans.

 

This season, as you say, has been much better than expected.

 

it is a good post, but it glosses over the issue which strikes at the absolute heart of what the club is about now. that is, that we replaced a very well performing manager who was popular with players and fans, with a man who had very little reason to be hired other than he didn't deserve the position and therefore was more likely to agree to demands placed upon him on transfer policy.

 

and my oh my, weren't we all shocked when carroll went in january. yes the money was massive, yes its a great deal if you put the money back into the team PLUS the money that should have been due to be invested anyway. but the chain of events is as plain as day imo, would anyone be surprised if the big debate in the winter is whether we were right to accept a massive bid for tiote on deadline day?

 

Surely you don't really think Hughton was sacked because he could prevent Ashley pulling off deals like the Carroll one?   

 

prevent, no. be opposed to, or try and make himself an obstacle against, yes. we all want an easy life.

[Guest Antec]

Good post magpie, I genuinely think if it wasn't for the Carroll sale Ashley would be well on the way to getting back on the good side of the fans.

 

This season, as you say, has been much better than expected.

 

it is a good post, but it glosses over the issue which strikes at the absolute heart of what the club is about now. that is, that we replaced a very well performing manager who was popular with players and fans, with a man who had very little reason to be hired other than he didn't deserve the position and therefore was more likely to agree to demands placed upon him on transfer policy.

 

and my oh my, weren't we all shocked when carroll went in january. yes the money was massive, yes its a great deal if you put the money back into the team PLUS the money that should have been due to be invested anyway. but the chain of events is as plain as day imo, would anyone be surprised if the big debate in the winter is whether we were right to accept a massive bid for tiote on deadline day?

 

Surely you don't really think Hughton was sacked because he could prevent Ashley pulling off deals like the Carroll one?   

 

prevent, no. be opposed to, or try and make himself an obstacle against, yes. we all want an easy life.

 

According to Golfmag, Hughton was too close to the players

[quayside]

Good post magpie, I genuinely think if it wasn't for the Carroll sale Ashley would be well on the way to getting back on the good side of the fans.

 

This season, as you say, has been much better than expected.

 

it is a good post, but it glosses over the issue which strikes at the absolute heart of what the club is about now. that is, that we replaced a very well performing manager who was popular with players and fans, with a man who had very little reason to be hired other than he didn't deserve the position and therefore was more likely to agree to demands placed upon him on transfer policy.

 

and my oh my, weren't we all shocked when carroll went in january. yes the money was massive, yes its a great deal if you put the money back into the team PLUS the money that should have been due to be invested anyway. but the chain of events is as plain as day imo, would anyone be surprised if the big debate in the winter is whether we were right to accept a massive bid for tiote on deadline day?

 

Surely you don't really think Hughton was sacked because he could prevent Ashley pulling off deals like the Carroll one?   

 

prevent, no. be opposed to, or try and make himself an obstacle against, yes. we all want an easy life.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Hughton himself say, in an interview, that the Carroll deal was a good piece of business?

[Dr Venkman]

Good post magpie, I genuinely think if it wasn't for the Carroll sale Ashley would be well on the way to getting back on the good side of the fans.

 

This season, as you say, has been much better than expected.

 

it is a good post, but it glosses over the issue which strikes at the absolute heart of what the club is about now. that is, that we replaced a very well performing manager who was popular with players and fans, with a man who had very little reason to be hired other than he didn't deserve the position and therefore was more likely to agree to demands placed upon him on transfer policy.

 

and my oh my, weren't we all shocked when carroll went in january. yes the money was massive, yes its a great deal if you put the money back into the team PLUS the money that should have been due to be invested anyway. but the chain of events is as plain as day imo, would anyone be surprised if the big debate in the winter is whether we were right to accept a massive bid for tiote on deadline day?

 

Surely you don't really think Hughton was sacked because he could prevent Ashley pulling off deals like the Carroll one?   

 

prevent, no. be opposed to, or try and make himself an obstacle against, yes. we all want an easy life.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Hughton himself say, in an interview, that the Carroll deal was a good piece of business?

 

absolutely. what does he care?

[AyeDubbleYoo]

When Hughton was appointed a lot of people were opposed to him because he was seen as a 'yes man'.

 

Like it or not, Mike Ashley controls NUFC and we are better off with a manager that he trusts and wants to work with than one he doesn't. The manager can't be constantly fighting the owner or always blindly saying yes to him, it has to be about teamwork.

 

Anyway, back to Jose Enrique, he's definitely staying!

[alpal78]

Aye, fair dos if he goes off to Milan, I can take that. Liverpool would just be beyond awful though.

 

The Fat Cockney b****** will happily turn United into Liverpool's feeder club if the money is right.

 

 

The same as 95% of clubs.

 

I don't like Ashley or Lambyarse but not many clubs would have turned down that sort of money (8th most expensive player in history) for a young lad with half a seasons experience in the premiership.

 

I could understand the derision directed at the board if we sold the lad for £10m just to make a quick buck but all players at all clubs (apart from maybe Chelsea and City) have a price. Especially if the player has indicated he wants to leave. Look at the ludicrous things Man City and Man Utd had to do to keep hold of their star players, we as with most clubs aren't in a position to do that. We tried it before and despite it working at first we started going backwards and the over spending wasn't helping buck the trend.

 

If Liverpool came in with the reported £15m bid for our left back in the last year of his contract and not looking to extend then I couldn't really blame the board for accepting it.

 

Good Post, totally agree with what your saying.

 

Good thing Ashley's ass is so big so you can both simultaneously fit your cocks up it, like.

 

This is so typical, personal attacks are used instead of having a logical debate whenever someone post something not along the lines that Ashley is the devil incarnate. Alterantively you get one liners cliche on bank balance that does not engage the points made.

 

Cajun makes a good point (one that I've been making as well). The club's error is if they don't replace Carrol with a good striker of similiar or higher standards (that might be difficult for some though, coz they think that Carroll is one of the best strikers in the world! )

 

On the other hand, although Cajun has a point when he said that we would have paid over the odds had we got Carrol's replacement on the last day of the Jan transfer, I am still p*ssed off that we did not attempt to get Sturridge given the leverage that we had over Chelsea (though I suspect the deal with Bolton might have been done earlier).

 

I will wait to see what happens in the summer and am cautiously optimistic that we will get a good number 9 and hopefully one more striker. The last few games hopefully are driving home the point that our current strikers are an awful bunch.

 

and what if the summer's been and gone and the transfer activity hasnt been good enough? we've spent about 10 million on a two young prospects, signed a couple of free transfers and lost enrique, who we've replaced with kadar (and put a last minute 'bid' in for adam johnson).

 

you'll be on here saying that we should wait and see what happens in january and that those of us saying we've seen it all before and ashley is true to form are just impatient and launching personal attacks.

 

depends on your point of view, personally if someone's taking the p*ss i've usually noticed after 5 years

 

If having had the whole summer to plan the transfer window and we end up losing and not replacing Enrique, and not getting quality striker(s) to replace Carroll, then why would I say let's see what happens in January? You're completly missing the point, those who are saying let's see what happens in the summer are not saying that because they just want to procrastinate strengthening team, the fact is most decent and reasonable transfers are done in the summer, whereas the Jan transfer window are stop gap buys which comes with over inflated prices. That's why our transfers in the summer will be more indicative of Ashley's vision for the club and people are right to say that we should wait till then before passing a judgement. You can of course disagree but debate the points instead of making idiotic statements like bumming Ashley or spouting cliche irrelevant points about bank balance.     

 

 

cliche irrelevant points about bank balance, don't be so sensitive. i fully reserve the right to make sarcastic remarks about anything i want, i'm insulted by your refusal to write in paragraphs but i'm not gonna pick you up on it because i don't agree with you on some things.

 

fwiw, people who are saying lets wait and see what happens in the summer either haven't been paying attention for the last 5 years or are expecting quite a radical transformation in ashley imo

 

 

Sensitive? I'm only trying to teach you ethics of debating i.e. you engage the points instead of replying with irrelevant stuff. Sorry that's proving to be too difficult for you. No point debating in a civil manner with you.

 

Your post is absolute rubbish. Pay attention on what? Our transfers under Ashley bar the last Jan transfer window has been decent. Colocini, Tiote, HBA...etc are all excellent players.  Last Jan was bad but it was an exception to the rule

[Dr Venkman]

Aye, fair dos if he goes off to Milan, I can take that. Liverpool would just be beyond awful though.

 

The Fat Cockney b****** will happily turn United into Liverpool's feeder club if the money is right.

 

 

The same as 95% of clubs.

 

I don't like Ashley or Lambyarse but not many clubs would have turned down that sort of money (8th most expensive player in history) for a young lad with half a seasons experience in the premiership.

 

I could understand the derision directed at the board if we sold the lad for £10m just to make a quick buck but all players at all clubs (apart from maybe Chelsea and City) have a price. Especially if the player has indicated he wants to leave. Look at the ludicrous things Man City and Man Utd had to do to keep hold of their star players, we as with most clubs aren't in a position to do that. We tried it before and despite it working at first we started going backwards and the over spending wasn't helping buck the trend.

 

If Liverpool came in with the reported £15m bid for our left back in the last year of his contract and not looking to extend then I couldn't really blame the board for accepting it.

 

Good Post, totally agree with what your saying.

 

Good thing Ashley's ass is so big so you can both simultaneously fit your cocks up it, like.

 

This is so typical, personal attacks are used instead of having a logical debate whenever someone post something not along the lines that Ashley is the devil incarnate. Alterantively you get one liners cliche on bank balance that does not engage the points made.

 

Cajun makes a good point (one that I've been making as well). The club's error is if they don't replace Carrol with a good striker of similiar or higher standards (that might be difficult for some though, coz they think that Carroll is one of the best strikers in the world! )

 

On the other hand, although Cajun has a point when he said that we would have paid over the odds had we got Carrol's replacement on the last day of the Jan transfer, I am still p*ssed off that we did not attempt to get Sturridge given the leverage that we had over Chelsea (though I suspect the deal with Bolton might have been done earlier).

 

I will wait to see what happens in the summer and am cautiously optimistic that we will get a good number 9 and hopefully one more striker. The last few games hopefully are driving home the point that our current strikers are an awful bunch.

 

and what if the summer's been and gone and the transfer activity hasnt been good enough? we've spent about 10 million on a two young prospects, signed a couple of free transfers and lost enrique, who we've replaced with kadar (and put a last minute 'bid' in for adam johnson).

 

you'll be on here saying that we should wait and see what happens in january and that those of us saying we've seen it all before and ashley is true to form are just impatient and launching personal attacks.

 

depends on your point of view, personally if someone's taking the p*ss i've usually noticed after 5 years

 

If having had the whole summer to plan the transfer window and we end up losing and not replacing Enrique, and not getting quality striker(s) to replace Carroll, then why would I say let's see what happens in January? You're completly missing the point, those who are saying let's see what happens in the summer are not saying that because they just want to procrastinate strengthening team, the fact is most decent and reasonable transfers are done in the summer, whereas the Jan transfer window are stop gap buys which comes with over inflated prices. That's why our transfers in the summer will be more indicative of Ashley's vision for the club and people are right to say that we should wait till then before passing a judgement. You can of course disagree but debate the points instead of making idiotic statements like bumming Ashley or spouting cliche irrelevant points about bank balance.     

 

 

cliche irrelevant points about bank balance, don't be so sensitive. i fully reserve the right to make sarcastic remarks about anything i want, i'm insulted by your refusal to write in paragraphs but i'm not gonna pick you up on it because i don't agree with you on some things.

 

fwiw, people who are saying lets wait and see what happens in the summer either haven't been paying attention for the last 5 years or are expecting quite a radical transformation in ashley imo

 

 

Sensitive? I'm only trying to teach you ethics of debating i.e. you engage the points instead of replying with irrelevant stuff. Sorry that's proving to be too difficult for you. No point debating in a civil manner with you.

 

Your post is absolute rubbish. Pay attention on what? Our transfers under Ashley bar the last Jan transfer window has been decent. Colocini, Tiote, HBA...etc are all excellent players.  Last Jan was bad but it was an exception to the rule

[alpal78]

Good post magpie, I genuinely think if it wasn't for the Carroll sale Ashley would be well on the way to getting back on the good side of the fans.

 

This season, as you say, has been much better than expected.

 

it is a good post, but it glosses over the issue which strikes at the absolute heart of what the club is about now. that is, that we replaced a very well performing manager who was popular with players and fans, with a man who had very little reason to be hired other than he didn't deserve the position and therefore was more likely to agree to demands placed upon him on transfer policy.

 

and my oh my, weren't we all shocked when carroll went in january. yes the money was massive, yes its a great deal if you put the money back into the team PLUS the money that should have been due to be invested anyway. but the chain of events is as plain as day imo, would anyone be surprised if the big debate in the winter is whether we were right to accept a massive bid for tiote on deadline day?

 

I would understand it if we received a ridiculous bid (£30m+) for Tiote a few hours before deadline and we took the money without being able to find a replacement. I wouldn't like it though, but it's too good to turn down from a business point of view, and we can't buy a replacement just in case someone makes a last minute mega bid for our players.

 

if we want to progress, at some point we have to say no. our most important players shouldnt be for sale at any price (yes i know even man u had to sell ronaldo, nani was already at the club though, its different). what if we were offerred 300 million for our entire first team squad? that would be good business, right? we could just play the kids, get relegated and then we'd have loads of money to buy a new team to push for promotion

 

True to form, trying to falsify a point by taking an argument to the extreme, what an idiotic point.

[alpal78]

Aye, fair dos if he goes off to Milan, I can take that. Liverpool would just be beyond awful though.

 

The Fat Cockney b****** will happily turn United into Liverpool's feeder club if the money is right.

 

 

The same as 95% of clubs.

 

I don't like Ashley or Lambyarse but not many clubs would have turned down that sort of money (8th most expensive player in history) for a young lad with half a seasons experience in the premiership.

 

I could understand the derision directed at the board if we sold the lad for £10m just to make a quick buck but all players at all clubs (apart from maybe Chelsea and City) have a price. Especially if the player has indicated he wants to leave. Look at the ludicrous things Man City and Man Utd had to do to keep hold of their star players, we as with most clubs aren't in a position to do that. We tried it before and despite it working at first we started going backwards and the over spending wasn't helping buck the trend.

 

If Liverpool came in with the reported £15m bid for our left back in the last year of his contract and not looking to extend then I couldn't really blame the board for accepting it.

 

Good Post, totally agree with what your saying.

 

Good thing Ashley's ass is so big so you can both simultaneously fit your cocks up it, like.

 

This is so typical, personal attacks are used instead of having a logical debate whenever someone post something not along the lines that Ashley is the devil incarnate. Alterantively you get one liners cliche on bank balance that does not engage the points made.

 

Cajun makes a good point (one that I've been making as well). The club's error is if they don't replace Carrol with a good striker of similiar or higher standards (that might be difficult for some though, coz they think that Carroll is one of the best strikers in the world! )

 

On the other hand, although Cajun has a point when he said that we would have paid over the odds had we got Carrol's replacement on the last day of the Jan transfer, I am still p*ssed off that we did not attempt to get Sturridge given the leverage that we had over Chelsea (though I suspect the deal with Bolton might have been done earlier).

 

I will wait to see what happens in the summer and am cautiously optimistic that we will get a good number 9 and hopefully one more striker. The last few games hopefully are driving home the point that our current strikers are an awful bunch.

 

and what if the summer's been and gone and the transfer activity hasnt been good enough? we've spent about 10 million on a two young prospects, signed a couple of free transfers and lost enrique, who we've replaced with kadar (and put a last minute 'bid' in for adam johnson).

 

you'll be on here saying that we should wait and see what happens in january and that those of us saying we've seen it all before and ashley is true to form are just impatient and launching personal attacks.

 

depends on your point of view, personally if someone's taking the p*ss i've usually noticed after 5 years

 

If having had the whole summer to plan the transfer window and we end up losing and not replacing Enrique, and not getting quality striker(s) to replace Carroll, then why would I say let's see what happens in January? You're completly missing the point, those who are saying let's see what happens in the summer are not saying that because they just want to procrastinate strengthening team, the fact is most decent and reasonable transfers are done in the summer, whereas the Jan transfer window are stop gap buys which comes with over inflated prices. That's why our transfers in the summer will be more indicative of Ashley's vision for the club and people are right to say that we should wait till then before passing a judgement. You can of course disagree but debate the points instead of making idiotic statements like bumming Ashley or spouting cliche irrelevant points about bank balance.    

 

 

cliche irrelevant points about bank balance, don't be so sensitive. i fully reserve the right to make sarcastic remarks about anything i want, i'm insulted by your refusal to write in paragraphs but i'm not gonna pick you up on it because i don't agree with you on some things.

 

fwiw, people who are saying lets wait and see what happens in the summer either haven't been paying attention for the last 5 years or are expecting quite a radical transformation in ashley imo

 

 

Sensitive? I'm only trying to teach you ethics of debating i.e. you engage the points instead of replying with irrelevant stuff. Sorry that's proving to be too difficult for you. No point debating in a civil manner with you.

 

Your post is absolute rubbish. Pay attention on what? Our transfers under Ashley bar the last Jan transfer window has been decent. Colocini, Tiote, HBA...etc are all excellent players.  Last Jan was bad but it was an exception to the rule

 

Yup, that was intentional. I stopped trying to debate with you in a civil way when you showed that you were not interested in having one

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I know what Venkman is driving at, at some point we will have to start rejecting fairly attractive bids. But I do think the Carroll deal falls into the "too good to turn down" category.

[quayside]

Good post magpie, I genuinely think if it wasn't for the Carroll sale Ashley would be well on the way to getting back on the good side of the fans.

 

This season, as you say, has been much better than expected.

 

it is a good post, but it glosses over the issue which strikes at the absolute heart of what the club is about now. that is, that we replaced a very well performing manager who was popular with players and fans, with a man who had very little reason to be hired other than he didn't deserve the position and therefore was more likely to agree to demands placed upon him on transfer policy.

 

and my oh my, weren't we all shocked when carroll went in january. yes the money was massive, yes its a great deal if you put the money back into the team PLUS the money that should have been due to be invested anyway. but the chain of events is as plain as day imo, would anyone be surprised if the big debate in the winter is whether we were right to accept a massive bid for tiote on deadline day?

 

Surely you don't really think Hughton was sacked because he could prevent Ashley pulling off deals like the Carroll one?    

 

prevent, no. be opposed to, or try and make himself an obstacle against, yes. we all want an easy life.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Hughton himself say, in an interview, that the Carroll deal was a good piece of business?

 

absolutely. what does he care?

 

Interesting angle 

 

It seems to me that since his departure Hughton is being credited with remarkable qualities. But I think he was as much a puppet as any manager, if not more so. He did do a good job in the Championship with a squad that was, by some distance, the best in the division.

 

My opinion is that Hughton was sacked because Ashley and or Llambias did not think he was up to the job in the Premiership plus they wanted someone who could act as the club's spokesman and be a stronger figure from a PR viewpoint - seeing as PR had not exactly been the club's strongest suit. Whether this judgement on Pardew was correct is not for debate here as it has consumed a lot of space on at least one other thread, but he certainly communicates far more openly than Hughton ever did.

[alpal78]

I know what Venkman is driving at, at some point we will have to start rejecting fairly attractive bids. But I do think the Carroll deal falls into the "too good to turn down" category.

 

True but the example of selling the whole team is a stupid pointless exaggeration

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I know what Venkman is driving at, at some point we will have to start rejecting fairly attractive bids. But I do think the Carroll deal falls into the "too good to turn down" category.

 

True but the example of selling the whole team is a stupid pointless exaggeration

 

Yeah, course it is.

[Guest Antec]

Good post magpie, I genuinely think if it wasn't for the Carroll sale Ashley would be well on the way to getting back on the good side of the fans.

 

This season, as you say, has been much better than expected.

 

it is a good post, but it glosses over the issue which strikes at the absolute heart of what the club is about now. that is, that we replaced a very well performing manager who was popular with players and fans, with a man who had very little reason to be hired other than he didn't deserve the position and therefore was more likely to agree to demands placed upon him on transfer policy.

 

and my oh my, weren't we all shocked when carroll went in january. yes the money was massive, yes its a great deal if you put the money back into the team PLUS the money that should have been due to be invested anyway. but the chain of events is as plain as day imo, would anyone be surprised if the big debate in the winter is whether we were right to accept a massive bid for tiote on deadline day?

 

Surely you don't really think Hughton was sacked because he could prevent Ashley pulling off deals like the Carroll one?   

 

prevent, no. be opposed to, or try and make himself an obstacle against, yes. we all want an easy life.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Hughton himself say, in an interview, that the Carroll deal was a good piece of business?

 

absolutely. what does he care?

 

Interesting angle 

 

It seems to me that since his departure Hughton is being credited with remarkable qualities. But I think he was as much a puppet as any manager, if not more so. He did do a good job in the Championship with a squad that was, by some distance, the best in the division.

 

My opinion is that Hughton was sacked because Ashley and or Llambias did not think he was up to the job in the Premiership plus they wanted someone who could act as the club's spokesman and be a stronger figure from a PR viewpoint - seeing as PR had not exactly been the club's strongest suit. Whether this judgement on Pardew was correct is not for debate here as it has consumed a lot of space on at least one other thread, but he certainly communicates far more openly than Hughton ever did.

 

Fucking hell

[Dr.Spaceman]

[Dr Venkman]

I know what Venkman is driving at, at some point we will have to start rejecting fairly attractive bids. But I do think the Carroll deal falls into the "too good to turn down" category.

 

True but the example of selling the whole team is a stupid pointless exaggeration

 

i'm going to get really upset if you don't stop calling me stupid and idiotic. a bastion of debate shouldn't have to resort to that language. fwiw when i was talking about paying attention, i was mostly referring to the part where we got relegated, remember that?

[quayside]

Good post magpie, I genuinely think if it wasn't for the Carroll sale Ashley would be well on the way to getting back on the good side of the fans.

 

This season, as you say, has been much better than expected.

 

it is a good post, but it glosses over the issue which strikes at the absolute heart of what the club is about now. that is, that we replaced a very well performing manager who was popular with players and fans, with a man who had very little reason to be hired other than he didn't deserve the position and therefore was more likely to agree to demands placed upon him on transfer policy.

 

and my oh my, weren't we all shocked when carroll went in january. yes the money was massive, yes its a great deal if you put the money back into the team PLUS the money that should have been due to be invested anyway. but the chain of events is as plain as day imo, would anyone be surprised if the big debate in the winter is whether we were right to accept a massive bid for tiote on deadline day?

 

Surely you don't really think Hughton was sacked because he could prevent Ashley pulling off deals like the Carroll one?   

 

prevent, no. be opposed to, or try and make himself an obstacle against, yes. we all want an easy life.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Hughton himself say, in an interview, that the Carroll deal was a good piece of business?

 

absolutely. what does he care?

 

Interesting angle 

 

It seems to me that since his departure Hughton is being credited with remarkable qualities. But I think he was as much a puppet as any manager, if not more so. He did do a good job in the Championship with a squad that was, by some distance, the best in the division.

 

My opinion is that Hughton was sacked because Ashley and or Llambias did not think he was up to the job in the Premiership plus they wanted someone who could act as the club's spokesman and be a stronger figure from a PR viewpoint - seeing as PR had not exactly been the club's strongest suit. Whether this judgement on Pardew was correct is not for debate here as it has consumed a lot of space on at least one other thread, but he certainly communicates far more openly than Hughton ever did.

 

f***ing hell

 

Go on...

 

You think Pardew doesn't communicate with the press more openly than Hughton? Or you believe the "old casino mates" theory?

[Conjo]

Good post magpie, I genuinely think if it wasn't for the Carroll sale Ashley would be well on the way to getting back on the good side of the fans.

 

This season, as you say, has been much better than expected.

 

it is a good post, but it glosses over the issue which strikes at the absolute heart of what the club is about now. that is, that we replaced a very well performing manager who was popular with players and fans, with a man who had very little reason to be hired other than he didn't deserve the position and therefore was more likely to agree to demands placed upon him on transfer policy.

 

and my oh my, weren't we all shocked when carroll went in january. yes the money was massive, yes its a great deal if you put the money back into the team PLUS the money that should have been due to be invested anyway. but the chain of events is as plain as day imo, would anyone be surprised if the big debate in the winter is whether we were right to accept a massive bid for tiote on deadline day?

 

I would understand it if we received a ridiculous bid (£30m+) for Tiote a few hours before deadline and we took the money without being able to find a replacement. I wouldn't like it though, but it's too good to turn down from a business point of view, and we can't buy a replacement just in case someone makes a last minute mega bid for our players.

 

if we want to progress, at some point we have to say no. our most important players shouldnt be for sale at any price (yes i know even man u had to sell ronaldo, nani was already at the club though, its different). what if we were offerred 300 million for our entire first team squad? that would be good business, right? we could just play the kids, get relegated and then we'd have loads of money to buy a new team to push for promotion

 

Theoretically it would be a great deal. Including the Carroll money we could buy 25 £13.4m players, or 11 £22.7m players and 14 £6m players etc etc.

Theoretically, if we got proportionally value for money as we have under the current regime, we could possibly become the best team in the world.

Theoretically, that would give the club much better revenue due to the champions league and other prize money, shirt sales etc, and we could afford not to sell the players.