Just the start?
Virgin Money chief executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia – a Manchester United fan, as it happens – had this to say before she watched her team go down 3-0:
“Now that Virgin Money and Northern Rock are ‘united’ as one business, it gives us great pleasure to continue the shirt sponsorship of Newcastle United Football Club. The Northern Rock sponsorship started in 2003 and it is an important link to the North-East which we are pleased to continue. Combined with our sponsorship of the Virgin London Marathon and the Edinburgh Festival ‘Fringe on the high street’, the shirt sponsorship of Newcastle United Football Club embeds our involvement in the communities we serve.”
How long this deal was in the making, we can’t really be sure, but as soon as the T’s were crossed and I’s were dotted the club didn’t hang about. A two and a half year sponsorship deal was confirmed and the lads trotted out in front of a sold out St. James’ with the Virgin Money logo ironed over the spot Northern Rock had occupied for the best part of eight years.
The first thing that came to my head upon hearing the news was Virgin = red and white, an unthinkable colour scheme for an NUFC kit for obvious reasons. The aesthetics of the new logo were soon forgotten however, and by the time Phil Jones nodded meekly into his own net to seal a fantastic win over the champions, nobody was talking about Virgin.
Except for me. Perhaps I was allowing myself to be carried away by the euphoria of the evening, but I got to thinking about the man behind the logo. Virgin Group chairman Sir Richard Branson is, put simply, no mug. He started his first business – a magazine named ‘Student’ – when he was just 15 years of age. Since then, Branson has founded, built, bought, and sold, and his Virgin Group is today made up of over 400 companies.
Not too shabby, but is he a sports fan?
In 1996, Branson became the majority shareholder of the London Broncos Rugby League team, bringing with him a wealth of business experience and a new lease of life for the struggling club. In his three years in charge, Branson’s team managed a second placed league finish and played their way to a Challenge Cup final at Wembley Stadium. Despite this, attendances were moderate at best, and when they began to dwindle so did the Virgin Group’s interest in the sport. Branson sold the club to avid supporter John Hughes in 1999.
Fast forward to 2010, and Branson has decided to take another stab at the sport thing (if you can really class Formula 1 as a sport – it’s all about the fastest car, isn’t it?). Virgin Racing was founded, though the immediate impact was nothing like that which Branson experienced with his rugby league team and it was sold not long after, leaving with nothing except a rather unattractive record – the most starts (38) without having scored a single point.
But rugby is rugby, and racing is racing. Both have their fans, and I guess they can both be entertaining at times. Still, here in England they’ll be forever in the shadow of the beautiful game, both financially and in terms of interest, and Richard Branson must know this.
Is it possible that shirt sponsorship is only the beginning? After all, Llambias has said on more than one occasion that the shirt deal may well incorporate the stadium naming rights. The Virgin Money Arena? It could happen, and it may not be such a bad thing, if it brings Branson closer to the club. The fourth richest man in the country, a billionaire four times over – could he be the one to relieve Mike Ashley of the burden he purchased from Freddy Shepherd? As soon as Ashley breaks even, he’ll be looking for a buyer, and it may be that he won’t have to look very far.
Give Branson a taste of the passion that surrounds his new investment, and he might just get hooked.
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145 Comments
Branson’s not the type I reckon.
hahaha
Quality heedline Archie!
As much as Branson seems like he’d be a good owner, there’s always gona be a ‘better the devil you know’ thought in my head. I don’t think Ashley would sell up at this stage anyway, he’s got us this far, through all the shit – things ‘should’ only get better from now.
(although I’ll re-assess Fatty in February)
not a chance.
branson is not that daft
Maybe not stu. The bloke knows how to make money, and football clubs are hardly cash cows. Still, he’s nothing if not adventurous. The way this season has been going, with a couple of sell outs and the lads surpassing expectations, he might just fancy getting amongst it, for the excitement if nowt else.
Cheers rodz, I wanted to go with ‘is branson the answer to mike’s pickle?’ until the missus told me it was bransTon pickles, not branson! Gutted.
Beware what you wish for, Branson is a self made man and as charming and charismatic that he is, he is as ruthless as my mate mike. I wouldn’t be expecting an avalanche of cash to be pumped in, I genuinely believe we would be run in much the same way, slowly building, turning debt into a profitable business. Still, might get a bit more communication and panache, but behind the scenes much of a muchness for me
The Virgin Arena has a bit of a ring to it, at least it would be funny rather than embarrassing when people forget to call it SJP….
Agree with you archie-he’s a man who likes to make money, he can be adventurous, but its probably wishful thinking
Archie, that one’s a cracker too, and despite the different spelling I think you’d have got away with it. Sexual innuendo wins every time for me though, hands down.
Well one can only close ones eyes and dream of this. Think some of you’s are right and he likes to make money but he is so much cooler and charismatic than MA and has more dough. Cmon Branson!
Off topic see sky sports news are running a piece from saggy chops redknapp about his admiration for ba, how everyone is now looking at him and a release clause in his contract. Hate they way he does business through the media, cretin
Think about this.
We hear about Ashley breaking even and upping sticks for a new owner to come in.
Does that make any sense whatsoever to anyone?
Let’s all put ourselves in Ashley’s position. I’ll start.
I buy the club, I make mistakes but I continue to pump money in for it’s continued survival.
I manage to start to get things right after a massive head shrinking ball busting baptism of a learning curve and I look to a plan to now make the club self sufficient.
I am now in a position to forge ahead , not onnly with the club but also my other brand (Wolfie direct).
Sponsors are coming in, my team /squad/academy/facilities/management/scouting are all bearing fruit and I’m basically a kick in the arse away from achieving a goal I first set.
I am now in a position to start playing a little bit because I know that everything is in place so now I can push this club further on, knowing it’s not going to rape my trouser pockets.
What do I do?
Do I carry on my quest to propel this club further in this healthy state or sell up just to make a few quid and have some other owner come in and reap the benefits of all my hard work or do I sit back and say “this is it, we are strong and I will keep us strong and work from a workable budget that can be afforded to the manager who I entrust to see this job through for however long he wants..”
After all the hard work that’s been put into this club and make no mistake there’s been some head busting graft put in by all, I’m fairly sure Ashley would take a stance the same as I would and that’s to soldier this club on with an excitement and a knowledge that his learning curve will bear fruit in short order.
Ashley took a step forward and two back at first, now he is taking a step forward with steady footing.
Hmm. Would be fairly decent, and he is adventurous, but he’s cut from the same cloth as mike imo. I don’t think we’d see much of a change. We’d still be run self sufficiently
I’m copying this from the previous post because I think it’s important we remember why players choose to leave teams even though the supporters worship them. I don’t think either Demba Ba or Tiote are mercenaries but if someone offers them twice the wage we give them then they are going to seriously consider it. They would be mad not to. That puts the honus on our owner to make sure they are well paid in order to keep them, not counting on the players’ good thoughts and intentions about the club and the city. That is ridiculous. Players go where the money is. They want to be paid fairly compared to their peers. The same goes for Colo. He wants to be paid fairly and Ashley thinks otherwise. We won’t get around this by Llambias crying poverty to the press. It’s pathetic. We can’t afford agents fees but everyone else in the league can? We can’t pay competitive wages for great players? What utter tripe.
will he invest in the club the way MA has?
how long before the bedsheet brigade turn on him
Why would Tottenham pay double our wage? They too have a wage cap you know, andd its not that high…
Has anyone else noticed it has taken half a season for Ba to start being recognized by the southern press? Their coverage of the Prem is pathetic. All they want to spout is bad news about any team outside the top 6. How about some balance in the comments during the matches? It is only just starting to happen for us now because they would look like fools considering we are in 7th place.
I’m pretty sure Ba must be around 60k a week, perhaps more as WHam were very keen to keep him.They apparently offered him 50k to stay, and I wouldn’t put it past them as they paid silly money to many players. So on a free transfer, Ashers might even have gone to 70k with performance bonuses etc. Can you see Spurs going to 140k for someone who’s knees might apparently explode? I can’t.
I’m not talking about Spurs with the double our wage toonsy, I’m talking about wages in general. There is no way to prove it but I don’t think anyone in our squad other than Colo has a wage above 50K a week now. Sooner or later we will be badly burned by this policy. I’m not sure what Ba’s wage is (I don’t remember even seeing a guess by the press) but we will have to pay him well to keep him. The same with Colo. Other clubs will come in and try to unsettle them as Carroll was clearly unsettled by Liverpool. That’s all I’m trying to say. Our wage structure not only has to make sense fiscally it has to be competitive to keep top players. Only time will tell as far as finding the right balance is concerned.
Aye, i’d agree they’re cut from the same cloth, only difference i’d point out is branson seems the kind of bloke who cares about his reputation, whereas we know mike couldn’t give a flying about his. He wouldn’t turn us into city but i still think it’d be a small improvement if it ever happened.
Newkie I just don’t believe Ba makes 60K a week with us. The policy was made very clear in the summer. No over-paying for players or in wages. I don’t believe West Ham could afford to offer Ba 50K a week either. Again we won’t find out but Colo’s wage for example has been cited as being anywhere from 50K a week to 90K a week by various sources. I believe the middle figure of 70K a week is fairly accurate because it got published soon after his signing. Nobody knew Ba was going to have this great an impact and even he said he wasn’t sure how he would do with us. Add that to the bad knee stories and there is no way we are paying him 60K or 70K a week. Several teams would offer him 100K a week now I believe because he has played a half season without any sign of knee problems. That will be an onging issue for Ashley and Llambias. I would imagine an offer of 30M or more for him would be seriously considered by Ashley.
Are we even certain Ba has a release clause? God I hate ‘arry.
People think Tottenham eclipse us in the wages stakes but I bet they would get a shock if they really knew what they were paying.
Tottenham are basically self sufficient and you don;t become self sufficient by paying sick wages out.
Granted, one or 2 players may be on what’s classed as fantastic wages but they will be the ones that will command a mammoth transfer fee (Modric)
Tottenham have won nothing of note for a while and their ground isn’t huge but they do have an advantage of being in London, which attracts players.
When another London club come calling with a bigger wage, the players want offski(Modric)
We are brainwashed into believing what we are told about wages but in reality we haven’t a real scooby of what genuine wages most players are on at any club except the stand out one’s like Beckham and Rooney, Lampard, Terry and such.
The rest is mere putting 2 and 2 together and coming up mostly with 5.
Phil you are spot on mate,football clubs are not cash cows,so why do people keep saying Ashley is only in it to line his pockets.Please don,t jump down my throat lads,I know Ashley has dropped some monumental clangers but he is one hard nosed bastard of a business man probably exactly the same as Branson(they have not got where they are by being anything else)so how do we know if Branson would be any different.The men at the top have a plan of where we are going and they will stick with it regardless of what we think and I for one am all for it,are we not starting to bear the fruits a little already,we have players now playing for the shirt,not the pay packet,how many times have we been able to say that in the past.I honestly don,t know if Ashley will sell or not,but he will see this plan out,we will be self sufficient,with a bloody good side,a full house every week so if he does go he will leave us in a better position than when he arrived
ArchieMag good read but can’t see it happening, as for a release clause I really cant see Jabba the c@nt allowing a clause to be in Ba’s contract
This isn’t just about Spurs. In fact I would think it is mainly not about Spurs. Harry always opens his mouth and puts his foot in it. I would be more worried about Chelsea and ManU putting in bids for our top players. Abramovitch isn’t going to sit and watch his team finish 5th. He will make some big moves soon and someone is going to be going to them. The same with ManU and probably City as well because they love to throw money around. Spurs are of little concern beside those 3. You can’t hide performances like Ba’s in the first half. Other clubs are watching him and drooling. And several of them have obscene amounts of resources.
Gerodietwo-How do you mean the policy was made very clear? Because we shipped out Nolan who wanted more dosh/more years even when he was gash? Because we got rid of Barton after he continuously slagged off the owners and caused discord, whether it was deserved or not?
If we were clearing out our top earners I’d think Colo would have gone first don’t you, after he is reportedly our top earner?
I genuinely do think Ba is on over 50k with us. If he was offered 50k by West Ham, why would he move to us for less? If he was also receiving interest from all across the PL, why would he be happy with less? I’d be willing to say that he is easily over 50k.
Those fans who say our wage cap is like 25k are as deluded as those who expect 25mil to be spent this Jan.
It’s Virgin on the ridiculous.
Big Dave –
Aye, you’re probably right mate, it would seem odd for Ashley to put any kind of clause into a contract that wasn’t going to benefit the club (and therefore him). Saying that though when we first signed him we heard all sorts about pay-as-you-play and a performance related salary and what not, who knows what kind of deal he eventually signed. After all, nobody predicted he would turn out to be absolutely amazing for us, at the time a 20mil release clause would have seemed way too much for anyone to pay for him. Now though…
Newkie how do you know it wasn’t Ba’s agent putting out the £50 k offer from Westham ? but it wouldn’t surprise me if they did offer that as they must be paying Fat Nolan a hefty sum. as for why would he move for less maybe he didn’t fancy playing in the championship as a lot of players don’t like dropping down.
I agree that there is no way we have a £25k cap
I’m not saying your wrong just stating other possibilities
Phil (ArchieMag) V’s ArchieMag
im confused who is who 
Troy I heard on the grapevine you were sucking up to Jabba about how good he was
fuk it was cheap to buy you a couple of cheap tickets done the trick 
Wolfie – I think you’re wrong about Ashley like. He’s taken an awful lot if shite since buying the club ( a lot justified too) and I believe he made the decision to sell a couple of years ago only he couldn’t because of the financial world at the time and also the clubs financial position (losing £30m per year).
So what does he do? He sets to work on making the club stronger off the pitch which makes it so much more attractive to potential buyers.
It happens every day in the business world, companies are tweaked here and tweaked there and are basically manipulated to be a more attractive asset.
He wants out in my opinion, it’s not about football for him, it’s about money and how to write this whole episode in his life off without losing too much.
One and the same Dave, it just depends whether I post from my phone or my laptop, for some reason my phone saved the ‘Phil’ part – but sorted that so it’s all good, i’ll stick with ArchieMag from now on
GEORDIETWO, I agree the big clubs will buy but they have to offload before they do if they intend to bring in players on massive salaries.
Chelsea have to rid a wage bill of Drogba and maybe Lampard or Alex before they can add as even Abramovich won’t want to sustain that in their position with no guarantee of a push forward.
4 massive spenders all vying for 1 meaningful place…something has to give as I wouldn’t be a happy owner spending a shit load on wages plus mental transfer fees to finish 4th or 5th which someone out of them is gonna do.
If Branson bought the club he would want us to get into Europe – to fill his planes with fans.
Karen Brady started the Demba Ba buy out clause by stating in the press last week that they did not keep him because his agents demanded a buy out clause.
With regard to Nufc getting him on a free transfer there may have been no transfer fee involved but there would have been a hefty signing on fee . This could have been £5m with £4m to Ba and £1m ( 20% ) to his agent along with a wage of £40K per week.
Having a dodgy knee , it was a bit of a gamble that Ashley took ,but so far it is a gamble he has won.
If a buy out clause is in force and set at £7m , and we have to lose him at the end of the season then we would have had him for a season for absolutely nothing.
However any club taking him would need to pay us £7m , pay Ba another huge signing on fee along with wages, which is one hell of gamble considering the knee injury.
@Big Dave
Don’t always believe what you hear on the grapevine.
It’s was the equivalent of saying Adlof Hitler always wore a well pressed uniform.
A minor compliment about a grotesque man.
STUART79 @ 32.
You say he’s making the club stronger off the pitch but he’s also making it stronger on the pitch and it goes hand in hand.
His objectives are to make his business grow globally, which ultimately means that we grow with it.
Troy I thought as much mate
Archie thats good then, as I didn’t know what was going on there
Big Dave-Aye it could have just been his agent to be honest, but I know most Hammer fans wanted him to stay, and like you said they’re clearly paying fatty Nolan a fair slice-you’d have to say at least 50 k surely? Possibly more? They would have wanted to keep Ba and unload Cole no doubt, either way they still have a few squad members on huge wages.
The rags can’t be trusted, but i try and use given information and combine it with common sense to try and work out what a player is likely on, or indeed what he’s definitely not on.
Sidekick-do you have a link for that Brady stuff? That’s quite interesting.
Sounds like what Ash did with “Oh Carroll wanted away blah blah” as I bet they were desperate to keep him…desperate enough to pay 7 mil for his exploding knees anyway.
Personally I don’t want Ashley to go. I think he enjoys football and therefore NUFC. Why is it some fans blame him for relegation but do not credit him with our current league position or our first win against Man U in 10 years? I am enjoying the way the team is playing more than I have for some time and I suspect most fans are. Time to lay off the Ashley bashing. It’s getting boring.
Wolfie – Who’s the 4 massive spenders? Only Chelsea and Man City are big spenders who are reliant on money from their owners.
No worries sidekick I just googled it
Perhaps the buy out clause was because Ba was willing to drop but fancied returning to the top if someone was willing to pay? Then when a bunch of clubs made it clear they’d have him in the summer anyway he just cancelled the contract? Meh, hope so anyway.
Newkie; I don’t have a computer link for the comment..
I read it in the Karen Brady column in the Sun newspaper last Saturday.
And the more I think about it, the more I think Karren is just being a bitter old bitch about Demba Ba leaving them after they were shite all season…
Newkie the thing is but Ba was decent last season but with us he is a completely different player on a different planet, so I guess it’s easy for us to say this and that because we have now seen his potential if you know what I mean
STUART I’m on about the 4 teams that would shell out obscene amounts on wages and transfer fees to stay in a position of winning the league.
Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea and now Liverpool are in on it.
All of them will spend obscene amounts to gain a march on the other now. It’s like keeping up with the Jones’s .
But Man Utd don’t spend what they don’t have and Liverpool haven’t spent huge amounts when you consider who they sold and their turnover.
If you’ve got it, spend it. That’s what pisses me off about Ashley to be honest, he doesn’t spend it even when we’ve got it.
According to the bible that is football manager Ba is on 40k a week. Settled
liverpool dont shell out massive wages
Groucho@40,
Under another owner we finished second and other another owner we beat manu 5 nill does that make those owners better than ashley !
imo its not about where we are now in the league now its about where we finish !
Its not about getting Ba for nowt or finding tiote cabaye ect its about keeping them for more than a season !
Its about progression and consistency and not shitting yourself every transfer window , are fulham fans worrying about losing there players or stoke fans no and we are in a better financial situation and have a better fanbase !!!
Look at everything that has happened so far under ashleys tenure and he is not a good owner , and imo that will not change .
does branson have any interest in football
if he doesnt ,cant see him parting with his own money
HITMAN, it depends on what you class as massive wages.
Well said, Keith.
I’d rather have Mike Ashley over any owner the way we are operating because we simply aren’t a mug club for mercenaries to rape.
You stick a all go no quit sugar daddy owner onto this club and we will have a good looking team in terms of well known players but 90% of them will be mercenary money grabbers with a long contract and half a heart.
We would have something to complain about then because the fans would see what a group of overpaid under performers looks like once again but only on a massive scale.
GROUCHO
January 6, 2012 at 19:19
Personally I don’t want Ashley to go. I think he enjoys football and therefore NUFC. Why is it some fans blame him for relegation but do not credit him with our current league position or our first win against Man U in 10 years? I am enjoying the way the team is playing more than I have for some time and I suspect most fans are. Time to lay off the Ashley bashing. It’s getting boring.
the copied post sums it all up for me, nice one GROUCHO.
Keith@ You may be right I just know I am more than satisfied at the moment and although I know many may not agree with me I don’t think Ashley is any more eager to sell players other than under circumstances that occur at all clubs.
Dave-I’m not so sure you know, I mean obviously some of his goals this year have been sublime, but is it really surprising? He scored 7 in 12 for the worst team in the league, who often played him out wide in a 4-3-3. We’ve played him as the main man, and we have far more creativity than the Hammers did, and he’s taking our pens. He was a great player even last year, and would have earned that kind of salary imo. Now he should be on like 100k, if not for his knees anyway
I see Joey on a question of sport didn’t even know Jagielka and Osman even though it was obvious, not too clever that lad eh
Keith @ 50 spot on mate he has ripped the heart from the club made us a laughing stock, and we still don’t know what other surprises he has in for us, as he normally springs them on us when things are starting to look up
Newkie
reading that again yeah it is a bit of a muddle 
groucho@56, im also more than happy with the team and the football and i hope you are right but history is against you …. less than a month to find out what direction the club is taking !!!!!!
bigdave@58 , exactly mate its clear to see
Agree with Keith as well….Ashley used to get unfair stick about certain things before, and perhaps might still, but the fact I go into every transfer window with a pessimistic viewpoint is his doing, when it should really bring more elements of excitement.
Keith, the club is on the up .. dont you think?
Big Dave, i dont call beating man utd 3-0 being the laughing stock … people need to get up to speed here .. change is ok you know, we don’t have to do things just like everyone else.
Maybe Branson will become a marathon runner or a comedian as well. I mean it must only be a matter of time, right?!. Based on this, he sponsors the London marathon and Edinburgh festival so….
Let me ask this, if we hadn’t beat Man Utd 3-0, would this even be a suggestion… No!!
Some would even be complaining about the whole red and White thing.
I agree with Wolfie, Ashley has a business plan for the future of the club, which he is working towards and seeing the light at the end of a very long tunnel. He’ll keep working on that, but make no mistake, just as if a club comes in with a good offer for one of our players, he’d sell… so would he if someone really wanted our club… Branson does not really want our club, the bloke is simply sponsoring our strips.
I want MA to stay! .. dont like all this talk of club being sold etc / new owners ..
Toonpipes – I couldn’t agree more about the club being on the up. The only problem is that Ashley tends to have a habit of kicking the club and the fans in the bollocks when things are going well.
spot on stu ,ive got me metal under crackers on hes not giving me 2 acres agen
TP the clubs on the up ? thats normally when Jabba drops another bombshell on us. No I wouldn’t say beating Manure was being a laughing stock but then I never said that anyway did I ? but I would call the SD@SJP a laughing stock I think all the tacky signs are a laughing stock, the KK court case was another one I could go on and on, but you don’t really need me to tell you what shite he has caused us
toonpipes@ , the club is on the up ! if by that you mean league position half way through the season and mid table last season and championship the season before then yes !! and change is great i imbrace change but i do not imbrace the treatment of keegan the appoint of kinnear relagation selling quality players being lied to changing the name of the stadium etc etc etc so if and when that stops i will embrace away but untill then ( lets see what happens in january because if wolfie is correct ill change my name to ashley and put a pillow down my top) there will be no embracing from me
short memories on here.
il say it again for those that havnt heard me say it a 100000000000 times,ashley will do whats best for ashley not the club
Batty @ 68 im sure there will be a few lining up to take it from him and they will go back for more
we could go on typing it all night big dave but i think there would be little point ha
Keith and the fact that they still haven’t got round to telling Wor Al that the job they promised him isn’t his anymore, but some fans don’t give a fuk what he has done to harm the club @SDA
spot on hitman
So where have you been Mr Batts
So what is we change the name??!!! – will bring more cash into the club .. we will still call it st james anyway ..
yous lot want us to spend loads of cash on players and collo contract – WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THE CLUB TO DO THAT WITH?!! SCOTCH B LOODY MIST … !!!??? MADNESS SENSELESS MADNESS
DAVE mr batts doesnt even reply on f/b,so no chance asking where hes been
Hitman, i coined the phrase bedsheets and brickwallers and it was in response to one of our numerous regular arguments .. i know one day, you will come over to the DAAAARRRRKKK side
erm sky money, premier league money, advertising money.
and the fkin judas money
Big Dave, they arent bombshells, they are changes and you dont like change .. but we need to change .. we need to stop banging on about kk who didnt want to work within sensible financial constraints .. and we need to accept that we need to sell the naming rights to the club to get more cash in .. its change and its progressive and we need to embrace it
get a fkin grip lad,it was stardy that started the bedsheets shite..
Hitman, yes .. but we over spent .. even tho we got all of that … we overspent and put ourseleves in the s hit so we didnt have any money .. if the club is run sensibly, we will have money .. but it doesnt happen immediately it takes time ..
big dave , exactly , but why dont they listen is short term good form more important than keegan shearer sjp etc and long term stability !
100% over the line ….. they dont know how bad we can be …..agents fees and wages…. blah blah
Fa ck off, it was me mate .. ive got a grip – im not the one who cannit get over kevin keegan .. thats yee
Keith .. i reckon if you took all the s hit that decka and MA has taken you would mebs shout your mouth off n’all every now and then ..
Toonpipes – Why don’t they use some of the circa £50m income we’ve received over the last 12 months from player sales?
Ice are you trying to tell me that Batts wouldn’t answer you
They have done .. didnt you notice the signing we’ve made? incredible signings that have other supposedly bigger and, probably in many if the neggers eyes, better run clubs, drooling over the players we’ve snaffled ….
I notice Bobby is on is way over to the dark side n’all .. so divent worry Hitman, he’ll hold your hand ……..
DAVE aye thats right,owr busy talking to jabba
Sorry, Toonpipes, I forgot we have the most expensive collection of gold piping under the training ground pitch and we invested in a new TV for the training centre.
Not cheap you know…
Sorry but I don’t think 7th in the league & being respected once again (from a playing perspective) by ALL teams including ManU, ManC, Chelsea, Liverpool, Aresnal & Tottenham as us being a laughing stock…
This is the best we’ve had for years on & off the field so for fooks sake enjoy it!
wasnt the selling of our sole(SJP) ment to be for brining in players this window.
Ice he must have missed it as there is noway he would do that on you mate, unless he has turned on us and crossed back over to the darkside
Witters stop being such a boorish fuking prick
are you not banned 
Sorry Dave
I dunno I haven’t been back on I’m on another self imposed ban
Witters you won’t miss much anyway mate
don’t worry we will keep you a seat on the reality train 
toonpipes@ , thats not really true is it now !!! 50 mill profit on player sales alone then sky money then season ticket sales then premier league money then corporate money then merchandise , your being silly , and as i have said these players are only good finds if we benifit from them not sell them on within a year , less than a month for fatty to prove me and the negs ( sensible reasonable geordies ) wrong
aye witters you know what you can do
dave that dog is to busy cleaning dog shite up he hasent answerd me
Batts Ice wouldn’t ignore you mate maybe it just takes him longer typing while picking up dog shit
Well they do say the proof of the pudding is in the eating and certainly the pudding is not fully cooked yet. It may turn out in the end to absolutely marvelous or it may be something none of us can swallow.
What about Jordan Rhodes anyone?
Keith I would rather be a neg than let mesel be treated like a beaten wife that keeps thinking Jabba is going to change only to get battered by him again and again, while feeding of the crumbs he throws down to ye
Stuart don’t know much about him
Stu, I doubt that will happen. Lee Clark has been on Sky Sports saying he’s not going anywhere for any price.
….guess I’ve heard that before though. We’ll probably see him in black and white by next weekend.
…well he didn’t say that, exactly, he said ….”I know, Jordan knows, the owner knows and everyone inside the football club knows that come February 1st he will be our player.”
Notts County?
Jordan Rhodes – I would take him. 21 year old.
29 goals in 22 games – granted in league 1 but scoring is obviously built in to him.
1-3mil id take a gamble.
rod aye i saw than then he winked while saying unless the toon want him
@big dave , exactly i would feel humiliated saying itl be ok now itl be ok now and its for the benifit of the club long term over and over again just to get booted , bollocks and spin if you ask me like .
The youth setups great … for other clubs to benifit from !!!
Hope it does change but i aint gana hold my breath or hang by my balls
…suppose if he went anywhere Bats, we’d have to be in with a pretty good shout, with Clarky as his boss anarl that.
….funny you should mention that Keith, I am actually suspended from my bollocks right now, got a couple of coat hangers fixed to the landing light on my staircase. It’s all part of my New Year Zen health drive. I’d recommend it. Reet, back to the meditation……..
Rodz , nice hope its working for you I’m just trying 2 cut out the carbs but each to there own mucka
Just got back from the pub where some little bastard found it amusing to take the piss out of my monocle, cape and riding breeches!
Twat!!!
toonpipes @91
It is spelled ‘signage’ not ‘signing’
Grif you must be on the wrong blog.
We dont have spelling police on here.
Its all a bit sad as you clearly understood what TP meant..
Anyhoo good to have the same old debate on again.
Just for the record, I dont think Branson would be interested in taking over from the Fat one. There is either no money to be made or the fans hate you for being a tight twat. I think he will just be happy having his money making business on show on our shirts for a couple years and see how that goes.
Troy – do you drive around in a big american truck by any chance? and talk like a ponce
I hate Harry Redknapp, last year he courted Carroll in the press now Ba. such a shame he has dementia ,i mean how else can he of forgotten about Modric and Chelsea and all his moans of how they were tapping him up via the press. Also Karen brady need’s to keep her trap shut , not too bitter is she. Wouldn’t surprise me if Ba’s agent ain’t invovled in this s***e either.
BB….I think Griff is joking, taking the piss out off our big Sports Direct “signage”
Troy…is Chris Eubank your source?
My missus works for N Rock and met a senior exec from Virgin recently. . She pointed out the benefits of buying the naming rights then returning the name of the stadium to SJP: instant popularity in the region and the potential for £50k+ new accounts. This hadn’t occurred to the Virgin guy, who was v excited at the idea and pledged to take it back to his Board. Fingers crossed!
Stuart – I think Rhodes is an interesting one. On one hand he’s beasted Leahue One but on the other hand it is only League One. Defo deserves a shot higher up the leagues, but I haven’t seen enough of him to be able to take a guess at whether he could jump up to Premier League level straight away as that is pretty much what we need at the moment in my opinion.
The Pope….When the renaming thing first came out, I’d said it would be great if local company like Sage for example, sponsored the stadium and kept it as St James’, they could still have their name plastered all over it then everyones happy. That said I think Ashley is more than happy to keep SD all over it
Toonsy – I think your right Rhodes is playing a blinder in THAT league but it’s a world away from PL imo. At the right price defo worth a punt ,but in all seriousness we couldn’t expect him to be as prolific in PL as he is now.Also talent aside you have to consider what team he ends up at because it’s more intimidating playing infront of some crowds than others. you either freeze in fear or rise to the occasion that’s the gamble the club take. Obertan is an example of a player with potential who lacks confidence ,maybe Man utd came too early for him.
Whats all this about M O’Nelly getting manager of the month.
Bollix.
At least Demba got player of the month (begrudgingly lol)
I agree we go 11 games unbeaten against everyones predictions and Pards gets bugger all
Well I hope its the usual kiss of death that these awards often are.
(Not for Demba tho obviously ha ha)
Anyone think Pards will play Benny from the start tommorow?
nah more likely Vukic alongside Best.
HBA on the bench
Would love to see Benny start for once and he needs it to get back to his best as he does look a wee bit off the pace .Was a terrible injury ,maybe that’s why Pards so reluctant to give him 90 mins. Wouldn’t mind seeing if Obertan could play up front (Put your daggers away ,just an idea like ).
I reckon Benny will start, just a hunch though.
Oh and Kimtoon- Apparently Obertan feels that’s where his best position is, personally though I wouldn’t have him anywhere near a proper striking role. He might be able to pull it off in a 4-3-3 formation, but pards doesn’t seem too fond of those.
Agree HBA needs game time, but the word is he refuses to play for the ressies and AP not too happy about that.
So I think he will have to make do with a few apps from the bench.
Can see him banging in a t/f request come the summer.
Just my opinion like.
Ha ha Newkie. A front three of Shola-Best-Obertan. Zero goals between them
Aye, but to be fair I don’t think its match fitness he needs. Sharpness maybe, but do you really pick that up from ressie matches? Your playing in games people don’t really care too much about, and against much lesser quality players. I dunno. Its not professional for him to refuse to play them, but he’s hardly going to test his abilities playing against other teams youngsters, might make him even more selfish with the ball.
He should have been put on the wing ages ago imo, as a sub for Jonas/Obertan in matches to keep them on their toes.
Beardsley
Well obviously not now….But in the fashion of Arfa and Ba playing off Best/bambi, or maybe Arfa/Obertan playing off Ba, or just using the width like Arsenal. His finishing can’t be much worse than walcott right… 
The stage is set, your brand is on the kit of a famous north east club following your buy-out of a government owned bank for 3/4 of a £1,000,000,000. They beat current champions Manchester United 3-0 and are first on match of the day that same night. Hip hip hooray, for he’s a jolly good branson for he’s a jolly good branson for he’s a jolly good BraNSON and nobody can deny. Meanwhile people are starving in Timbuktu.
The headline to this….
Could a Virgin tycoon pop his football cherry?
I take it you weren’t born when Alan Pardew was wearing a Virgin Atlantic Crystal Palace shirt in 1991 then???
DJG – He didn’t own Crystal Palace you know?
…beat me to it Toons (well only by a couple of hours).
The thing is though, as Branson’s company were Crystal Palace’s shirt sponsors in the 90s, he did also look into buying them 2 years ago. Admittedly the club was going for a lot less than ours, but I wouldn’t write him off at all. Foot in the door and all that.
http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/streathamnews/5000086.Sir_Richard_Branson_to_look_at_buying_Crystal_Palace/
Branson won’t buy. He’s known for buying businesses on their backsides and turning them round. A la telewest/NTL or now northern rock. If he were to buy he would of when we were relagated. An entry point at a low.
We can’t be far off breakimg even and getting round to paying billy bunter his money back. He would want a premium for the club at that point.
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