Can we put on another Sho against Spurs?
Time will tell on that, but right now we have Tottenham Hotspur to take care of as they roll up to St James’ Park with a new man at the helm looking to arrest an alarming run of form at the Cathedral on the Hill.
Andre Villa-Boas is the new man in charge at White Hart Lane these days and he will bring his Lillywhites to Newcastle looking to improve on a rather abysmal league record that has seen them win just three games on Tyneside since the inception of the Premier League, with the last win coming way back in 2004! Since then there have been six meetings between the two sides in the North East with Newcastle tasting victory four times and the spoils being shared on the other two occasions.
Newcastle
New signing Vurnon Anita is fit and ready to play a part although I’m not sure whether he will be given the nod from the start having only arrived from Ajax yesterday. It’s possible though, and both manager and player have said that he could be an option due to his fitness levels built up with Ajax, and they know far more than many of us do.
Besides that the news for Newcastle is pretty grim. On the plus side, Fabricio Coloccini and Papiss Cisse look like they will be fine to feature. However Demba Ba is struggling with a shin complaint and Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa and Cheik Tiote have trained this week but all have question marks over their fitness. Sammy Ameobi is definitely out.
Tottenham
The thing about Tottenham is that they are kind of rebuilding at the moment, and it’s a work in progress. Luka Modric is unlikely to play as he waits to finalise his protracted move to Real Madrid, but it’s up front where they have a problem with Jermaine Defoe being their only recognised first team striker at the moment.’Elsewhere Scott Parker is out but aside from that Villas-Boas has a full squad to choose from.
Final thoughts…
I’ll skip the history as I got carried away with myself and covered it earlier, so now it’s straight onto thoughts about the game itself.
If it wasn’t for the injuries I would be confident of a win for our boys to kick the season off with. This is not to say we can’t get a win regardless, but missing a few of our players hits us quite hard in certain areas and it kind of balances our Spurs’ relative weakness in attack.
Well I say weakness, but they still have Jermaine Defoe who has proved he is a top striker over the years and always seems to love playing against us, as does Rafael van der Vaart and Gareth Bale. However the one area where we are going to be at our strongest is in defence with a first choice pairing of Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor flanked either side by Davide Santon and Danny Simpson protecting Tim Krul between the sticks.
It’s midfield where I worry though, especially in the centre and even more so should Yohan Cabaye and Cheik Tiote fail to make it. Personally I think Tiote will make it but Cabaye will miss out thanks to a lack of football in pre-season owing to tiredness, something that Tiote has managed to avoid while playing games throughout pre-season so his fitness should be at a higher level. If neither make it what are the options? Dan Gosling? Vurnon Anita? James Perch? I think so as I don’t think any of our young lads like Mehdi Abeid or Gael Bigirimana will be thrown in just yet.
Up front it’s simple really. No Demba Ba means Shola Ameobi will partner Papiss Cisse up front but before people scoff just remember Shola’s rocket from last season against the same opposition where he came off the bench and rescued a point for us. Shola Ameobi as a front two leaves me feeling less pensive than just playing Shola Ameobi up front on his own, put it that way!
In conclusion the time for talking and debate is nearly over, transfer speculation can take a back seat for at least a day or two and we can concentrate on that green piece of grass in the middle of St James’ Park once more. It’s been a long time coming…
Howay the lads!
Venue: St James’ Park
Date: Saturday, 18th August, 2012
Kick-off: 5:30pm – Live on ESPN
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288 Comments
The title of this post made me so excited! Love the fact the season is begins tomorrow!
Cant wait for Adam Johnson to sign
betting suspended apparantly, These twittering twats really should grow up… 
On topic i think that all but Ben Arfa will play, Same with spuds bet me life Bale and Sandro start.
2-1 Ba and Cisse
CC for me some of our main players have had very little game time,tiote,cabaye,benny ect,looks like to me little vern will start imo
Can’t wait
:
I can’t see Ba, Cisse, Barfa or Tiote playing a full 90mins at 5:30pm on an empty stomach, with Ramadan ending either on Saturday or Sunday evening. If they do I doubt they’ll be particularly sharp. I’d expect to see them put in about half an hour, if that. Especially if they’re not even taking fluids.
Bale will most certainly start but our injuries do highlight our lack of first team depth, and we havn’t kicked a ball in anger yet
,still hopefull of the win though.
Watched Pards at his press conference he made a point of stressing that the PL campaign is the main priority over everything and they intend to challenge the top 4
This time last year it was top 10 ,seems Pards and the lads have caught the ambition bug and deluded tag off some of us fans 
.
That’s good to hear Kim.
I have faith anyway. Just stuck 30 quid on us to finish in the top 6 at 11/4.
“Shola Ameobi as a front two leaves me feeling less pensive than just playing Shola Ameobi up front on his own, put it that way!”
Shoal is better up front alone. At least he can only get in his own way.
I’m sorry to those that adore him, but he is shit 90% of the time.
If Marv is fit and Ben Arfa. They can play either side of Cisse.
Leave Shoal on the bench where he belongs.
Rod,
let’s hope you win.
JJ ime with you 100% mate,say it how it is always been my way
Off topic ,but how the hell can Manure afford £200k a week to RVP for 4 years when they are so massivly in debt? I don’t understand how that works.
JJ, I agree about Benny and Marv either side of Cisse ,that is some tasty sandwich that., I smell goals a plenty there.
JJ, that’s a bit harsh like, 90%.
…I’d maybe say 70%.
KIM it does not work end of,its there name thats keeping them afloat with banks ect and there turnover,but one day it will go “bang”imo
CC
If Johnson goes anywhere it’ll be somewhere like QPR or Liverpool.
Ice ,we can live in hope
TBH ,I wouldn’t give RVP £200K a week ,he’s too injury prone and he’s getting on in footie terms.
Hell not go to QPR they are the biggest charlatan piss takers in the country, We probably spent more on Anita and a couple of development lads than they have on their “ambitious” signings (Washed up freebies and loans)
Why the press humour these clowns ill never now…
………………………. Krul…………………………………
Simpson…. Staylor……Collocini…….Santon..
……………..Tiote……Jonas……….Anita…………..
…..Obertan…………………………………….Marvaux
…………………………. Amoebi…………………………….
Cisse wont last a whole match, (been fasting all month),2nd half sub….
The defensive 3 are as good as anyone in the league.
lets not forget how spuds hammered us on the break last season as we pushed up… 5 man midfield..
start solid, then let Cisse loose 2nd half…
ba (injured ?)
Cabaye (injured ?)
Ben Arfa (????)
The financial Fair Play ruling kicks in next year, where clubs are permitted losses of up to £37.5m over a two-year period. It’ll be interesting to see how Man U tackle that one!
I suppose there’ll be loopholes that Alex Don Fergusioni will be able to exploit.
Aparently we tried to get RVP.. we offered 7m and 35k a week…fucken Gunners kept moving the goal posts
…well at least we tried.
How’s it hanging homies?
Danny0 @Dannyantino
“Vuckic, Biggie, Abeid, Tav, Good, Campbell all involved in tomorrows u-21 game. Must mean we have a pretty fit first team imo.”
when all fit….
………………………. Krul…………………………………
Santon………….. Staylor……Collocini……………….Jonas
…………………..Tiote…………….Anita…………..
…………Ben Arfa…… Cabaye………..….Marvaux
…………………………. Cisse…………………………….
would like to add Debuchy and Douglas to that side, but…..
The back is obvious. I expect to see Perch-Anita as the fulcrum, and Jonas & Obertan on the wings. All things considered, Shola is likely to start at CF, but whether there’s a #10 or another striker played off him is hard to say.
Cisse and Benny up front.. Benny in the hole behind the great man whey hey Cisse…
Can’t wait for that season to kick off. According to quite a few we didn’t play anyone at the start of last season, don’t think many will be saying that this season. Really hope we can get off to a good start. Personally I’d go:
Krul
Simo/Saylor/Colo/Santon
Tiote/Anita
Amal/cabaye/Marv
Cisse
I don’t know how fit Benny is so I’d start with Amalfitano and Cisse is taking part in Ramadan so start with him and replace him with Ba either at half time of just after. Benny can obviously change the game aswell and if he has Oba and Jonas on the bench, it should give us options.
Don’t think we want to go too attacking coz Spuds have very attack minded full backs so we may have to double up and Cabaye may have to play alittle deeper at times but I don’t want Cisse to be left up there alone like.
I think Cabaye should be alright, having played through the Euros and as long as he’s been training he should be alright. You’d have to assume Arfa is definitely out though…Gunna be interesting, injuries on both sides. Hoping Defoe isn’t as sharp as he looked for England the other day…
So many unknowns on this one – only Pardeiu really has a clue who’s in what state, so I’ll not even guess (I know. Pussy.)
I think Parker will be a major miss for the Spuds. He’s right in his prime and such a pivotal player. Without wanting to invite too much piss-take, I’d liken him to Gary Speed for us: you didn’t realise how important he was until he wasn’t playing, then… ooops.
I reckon 1:1. Cisse to score.
I’ve also got a feeling that Shola’s going to have a cracking first few games. Then his hamstring will go…
“In conclusion the time for talking and debate is nearly over”
Ha if only that was true….
All this talk of brushing spuds aside due to there injuries is premature; they will still have a very strong team.
Can see us team as follows;
Krul,
Simmo, Colo, Taylor, Santon
Obertan, Tiote, Anita, Jonas
Ba, Cisse
Subs; Elliott, Willo, Raylor, Cabaye, Marveaux, Ameobi, Sameobi
Amiobi. Out. Injured. Now. There’s. A. Surprise we. Will. Defo. Need. A. New. Striker. As. These. Two. Are. Totally. Unreliabe
Also when Shola scores the winner tomorrow, you’ll all be eating your words
Whumpie-Don’t ever compare Parker to Speed. He’s not fit to lace his boots!
Rossheather, what’s with all the sentence breaks?
…are you a Dalek?
(sorry, couldn’t resist)
Where you hear shola injured?
Rodz, I Can Only Assume That He’s Related To Somebody Called Lee Dodd (Who Often Posts On Ed’s Blog) And Who Always Begins Every Word With A Capital Letter
Chris G, each to their own I guess
twat
Who’s that aimed at Jay Jay?
Do.You.Have.To.Ask?
Tomorrow be a tough game and would happily take a point now, however I have a sneaky feeling we will 2-1 , alot of changes at Spurs over the summer so I think we might just sneak it.
Mark Lawrenson
ah, that’s OK then.
…nice to be held in such high regard.
always rodz mate, get the beers in
When did Manure sign Jim from American Pie?
Too early for that Jay Jay
…slightly off topic, but does anyone else think we missed a trick not bringing in Bosingwa on a free?
not too early for me
think wages would be too high with bosingwa rodz
I can see a slight resemblance Newkie, although this is one of my all time favourites:
http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/lookalikes/122163/shit-lookalike-david-de-gea-a-windswept-alpaca.html
(from their most entertaining ‘shit lookalikes’ section)
Yeah, you’re probably right with the wages thing Jay Jay.
…plus he won’t have to move out of his west London mansion.
I’ll be in west London next week
At long last a match preview
I think i’ll go with 1-1 or a scrappy 1-0, but I don’t expect Spurs to be as easy as some have made out over the last couple of days.
few injuries aye but still fancy a strong team. we’ve seen in the past Pardew won’t risk players, but i reckon our team may be
————————–Krul—————————
Simpson——Saylor——–Colo——-Santon
——————Anita——–Tiote——————
————————-Vukic————————-
Obertan————–Cisse————-Marveux
got option with Shola, Gutierez, Gosling, so to be honest, who knows, but reckon it’ll be a good game
Big Dave me ma couldn’t get potato bread this week
I could see us resting guys who are questionable for Saturday and have them ready to go for either Greece or Chelsea.
Rod-that’s quality mate
Re Bosingwa…no. He’s gash! Call me old fashioned but I want defenders that can defend
Bollox to Greece, League games a major priority, for me the squad selection will give a good insight into Ashley’s thinking
MDS-Aye, I think Cabaye needs to be 100% to perform as Danny, looking forward to Anita as Sandy too
Man, i’m on fire today…..
Newkie, I know what you mean about defenders who can defend.
…maybe that’s why we gave up on Debuchy. Although I think we probably wanted him as a winger, who could be used as backup in the RB position. Most of our current crop of players do seem to be very versatile in that way.
Jay she should just make her own then
Rod-Aye, may be right there. Let’s hope we didn’t miss out on a Gareth Bale like revelation
We do have plenty of versatility at the back though….just not great quality.
JayJay@62 ,Pards said in his press conference that the League is their priority and that they are aiming to for the top 4 teams this season.
Rod ,I have said since the Euros that I think we’d use Debuchy as a winger who can cover as he doesn’t actually defend that much. For one of the games for France he spent the first 70 mins in the oppositions half attacking ,much to Benny’s dismay apparently
.
I’m actually, properly nervous about the start to the season. Last year I just had low expectations, so everything above them was a bonus. This season, with that impossible precedent set, it’s all very different.
Let’s just hope that the Spuds’ new sprog-cum-manager takes a while to bed in and he doesn’t know how best to unleash his best players… of which he has rather too many for my liking.
I suspect he’ll do well there. Just not yet, eh?
Must admit, I’m most curious (if not nervous) about the team we’re potentially putting out tomorrow. Quite a few niggles and knocks, not to mention Ramadan’s influence on four of our key players.
As much as I hope I’m wrong, I think we may have a shaky start to this season’s campaign.
cc im pretty sure Vuckic, Biggie, Abeid, Tav, Good, will be in thursdays squad not sure if camble will be there like
Owen and Stoke eh…
Hope Huth snaps his fecking leg in their first training session
The first pair of fixtures are challenging ones. I have no idea what to expect from us with this many suspected knocks and injuries. I think we’ll see a cautious start from both sides but with a better second half. This will be a very challenging season. My priority would be holding on to fifth place. We aren’t deep enough or strong enough at the back (especially CB) to play in Champions League with any success and I expect Chelsea, Spurs and us to fight it out for 3rd, 4th, and 5th place. If we do any better than 5th place I would consider it an extremely successful season. On the other hand if we finish any lower than 6th I would consider it an extreme disappointment. Can’t wait for tomorrow to come.
Gerodie-You don’t expect Arsenal to be challenging top 5 spots?
I’m still hopeful we’ll get everyone fit. It’s always interesting to see how many “little knocks” spring up just before an international match
Fingers crossed that is the case anyway.
I really hope Anita gets some game time, just so we can get a look at him.
Can’t wait for tomorrow night!!
Newkie@72 – No need for that mate. Michael is quite capable of injuring himself
I give him 2 games before he pulls, strains or tears summit 
I hope Shola starts on the bench really. Cisse can play as the lone striker with wingers and midfielders backing him up. Marveaux will definitely start.
We just might see Jonas in the center of midfield too
Jon R-Well, there will be no “tears” from me when it happens.
Ho ho ho….
Wow, RVP top of the assist table in the last 4 years
Agree with you Andrew, would prefer to see Shola on the bench and all service given to Cisse in something similar to last years 4-3-3 up until Ba gets back.
Jay jay…agreed but that doesn’t mean you play players that aren’t fit. Especially with 3 tough matches today
Phil Mcnulty at BBCsports preview says Liverpool 6th ,Everton 7th ,VILLA 8th
and Toon 9th. , nice to see some things never change eh,at least he ain’t got us down for relegation candidates. 
benny, cabaye, cheik and papiss are fit i think they all trained yesterday as they were all on the pics on the website, the only 1 i didnt see was demba,
Kimtoon-I do expect villa to be better this year, much better manager and their squad has always been good-some very good first teamers and constantly seem to produce good young players too. People like Zog, Ireland and Given are a few players most wanted/wanted back not too long ago, and Darren Bent is a top class striker.
Still, they shouldn’t be finishing ahead of us
Well if they are all fit to play I will go Krul Simmo Saylor Colo Santon Anita Tiote Benny Cabaye Marv and Cisse in a 4231 formation ,No Ba as he’s got a bad shin apparently.
…two of my best mates are Villa and Everton supporters. We’ve had £20 bets this last 3 seasons over who finishes highest. I’ll certainly be offering to take their hard-earned off them again in 2013. I can see Everton being there or there abouts, but not Villa. their squad ‘ain’t bad’, but Lambert’s no magician. They ain’t been the same since Ashley Young left, and their back line is shite. They’ll be lucky to break the top 10, IMO.
Lambert isn’t a magician, but anyone who isn’t McLeish (or Megson) is bound to be able to get a lot more out of the side. Not really sure if their squad suits his style of play though with the emphasis on crosses and a “big man”..they have too many technical players that are just wasted….still all the better for us.
Back line is shite, and Warnock is a dirty bastard
Everton will be reliant on keeping Jelavic fit I guess.
@80, I meant “this week”
Rodz @ 85 I tend to agree Villa around 10th and Everton around the 8th mark.
Can’t wait to ask Solano if he thinks Pards is utterly ridiculous and deluded as well as me, for putting so much pressure on himsel and the team 
Kim @ 67 I was just reading Pards interview there
Yes I do Newkie @74. My mistake. I wouldn’t assume they will be in the top 4 however. They look to be slipping to me. Maybe Spurs will fall out of the top 5 as well but Wenger always pulls it together in the league so I think the final standings might be Man City, ManU, Chelsea, Arsenal, Newcastle, Spurs, Liverpool. Below that anyone’s guess. Sunderland 10th or lower, Aston Villa improved over last year but still 10th or lower. All this without any really big signings by the top 7 in the remaining days of the window of course so probably things will change again by Sept. 1.
Yeah Newkie, Jellyfish was a reet find for them at £5m. I think he’ll be in a few people’s fantasy teams this season. Mine included.
I’m amazed at McNulty having Villa finishing above us anyway. Did he travel back in time 3 years to make that prediction?
…I’d like to borrow his time machine anyway if anyone sees him.
…mind you, I don’t know why he didn’t just use his time machine to travel to May 2013. That would’ve been a more logical approach.
Dave@88, yeah ,it seems we ain’t the only deluded ones after all.
Geordietwo-Yeah sorry I wasn’t nitpicking in your list just wandering. Be interesting how their new players settle, but it would be nice for them not to buy anyone else and have an unsettled Song, just means they’re a few injuries away from trouble then…and we could really compete against em!
Rodz-Aye, defo in my team. Certainly shows the SPL has some good players…or it did at least…
difference between hoping and expecting Dave.
I’m sure pardew wouldn’t see 7th as a “failure.”
Kim yep were not the only ones
although I noticed that Solano wasn’t the only one that Basically said it was too much to expect our team to be in the top 6 
Newkie stop nitpicking man
Speaking of Fantasy Teams, is this Blog doing a league again this year?
Very excited for the start of the season, if not a wee bit nervous. But I am very happy that it’s finally here.
Yes Newkie @93 I think it is a big question how AVB will do with Spurs. I think they may suffer a letdown and have trouble with his system. But it also depends who they bring in after Modric leaves. A real battle this season. I only hope we don’t suffer injuries at the CB position as we are not in the least prepared for it (what else is new?). This is the most frustrating part of our squad by far but we could definitely be in trouble during ACoN again as well. Shola usually has several injuries a season and he is no spring chicken now. Saves his best for Sunderland but there are 18 other teams. I hope Ben Arfa has a breakthrough year but he is already injured even if only a knock. Really interested to see Anita in action.
Solano I can’t see him coming out in the press to say that they were going to push for the CL spots unless he thought they could and not just hoped they could so I dare say if the team doesn’t hit his targets he will see it as failure, after all failing to reach your targets is failure no ?
Newkie, I’m off visiting a mate of mine tomorrow in Glasgow, he’s a big Rangers fan so I expect to hear a lot of disgruntled views from him. He gets really political when he rants on about Rangers, a lot of which goes over my head but I guess it’s just like that up there with the ‘old firms’ and all that.
…he actually told me to buy Jelavic for my team last season when Everton signed him, but I didn’t believe him when he said he’d cut it in the PL.
Dave, I think Troy rubbed off on me a bit
I guess I’m in that bracket your referring to. Pards has said the right thing, players wouldn’t really want to be told we’re just aiming for the EL again, they want to hear we can win the PL-like Benny boy said. Does that mean we’ll win it, or even have a slight chance? Feck no.
It’s the right thing to say, I’d hate to imagine the fan reaction if he said anything but top 7 wouldn’t be a complete failure.
Dave i word call man ut fans that “expected” the title deluded as their squad isny significantly better than citys and imo to “expect” something you need to be clear favourites.
Norcal@96, I haven’t heard owt mate. I guess Toonsy ain’t had the time with his new arrival. I’d have thought there’d be a sign-up button on the site if there was one.
Geordietwo-Yeah, i’m hoping a bit selfishly they’ll just sell Modric, won’t bring anyone in and Levy will pocket the cash. Can’t quite see it happening, but I can dream
Definitely be an interesting season for AVB, think he’s a decent manager, but it’ll be interesting how he deals with players. VDV is pretty temperamental in regards to how he plays, and AVB does seem to rub a few players up the wrong way…
Rod-
Yeah, I bet Glasgow is an interesting city right about now…more disgruntled scots than usual, must be a sight to see 
Yeah, I think it’s kind of hard to get away from the massive Sky/media EPL bias. Players who score goals in foreign leagues, pah, they’re shite man! It’s not like Jelavic and Cisse have the best goal per game ratio in the…oh wait.
well ill go for us to be 6th,and scum to gan doon
Solano Manure or City fans expectations are of no concern to me I was asking you about Pardew expectations
I also meant to ask you, I know you said that the quote you made about me saying 5th would be a failure, was just a simple mistake on your part even though you put the quote in speech brackets to make it look like they were my exact words.
I have also asked you several times but with no answer, if you would be grateful enough to show me where I made the relegation quote from here >
How in the space of a year can you go from thinking we were relegation battlers to “we should be challenging for 4th place”. Do you actually follow football? Or do you just swing wildly on your emotional pendulum ensuring you can never be happy and just enjoy what we’ve actually achieved.
True, but I’m also sure he wouldn’t see 7th with some good cup runs a failure.
I bet he hopes Ba and Cisse get 20 goals a piece, if they didn’t would it be a failure? Course not.
As far as league positioning goes there are too many other circumstances affecting it. Who knows how much more Liverpool and Tottenham may splash. If Everton replicate their end of season form they could be a big threat.
Also teams rate us now, I doubt anyone will be coming to St James looking for a win, we have to adopt a whole new style of play for teams that are happy to get draws against us now.
We don’t know the tactic Pardew will take with Europe. Will he play our first team twice a week? Who knows.
Failure is a such strong word for such a difficult target. Perhaps if we didn’t have Europa, but we just don’t know how our we are going to juggle the squad.
Ice 105-Nah mate, we need them 6 points each year
Dave I’m sure many people can vouch to say that you thought you would struggle in the Premiership last year without a “proven striker”
My expectations this year are the same as last year: top 8. And I was labelled a dreamer by you among others.
I give you one simple, valid comparison and you just refuse to acknowledge it.
The point was that I don’t like the idea of expecting something that is so tightly contested, as it could easily swing either way.
Indeed Newkie
…they are out there I guess, just need to find them. There’s plenty of pap. Reet, I’m off. Bye for noo…
HOWAY THE LADS!
Another pile of shite from Humpty Dumpty @ 218. You have made this a win an argument at any cost issue, as you do all the time with me and everyone else. It should be about football; observations, relevant points, criticisms, debates.
You’re right; I haven’t got time to follow every debate on this site, and I’m not familiar with the two camps Carroll debate.
I will ignore here your considerable self-serving dross and try to salvage any valid football related points you try to make.
TROY: I set out my stall and stated since Carroll was sold we had made sales IRO £55m and purchases of £25. That was the basis of my argument. We were in profit IRO of £30m over that period. I would find it difficult to understand if anyone couldn’t get that concept.
B&B: I got that concept. That was the easy part, although I admit it was not clear whether you were saying the figure was even more than that. In order to appreciate the point you were making, I invited you to give your figures of the total costs of money spent, not just the headline figures.
TROY: Nothing you had stated at this point that you were correct as I was about to ask you to consider the sales of Nolan, Enrique, Barton, Smith, Carroll, Best, Guthrie would offset contract improvements on others on the saving of wages alone. Top earners gone from the club saving a fortune!
B&B: As you had it all very clear in your head and it was the basis of your point, I wanted you to do the sums about the cost of new contracts, improved contracts, agents fees etc. Your argument was about the figures so spell it out – just give the full picture and not the headline transfers.
TROY: At no time have you disputed we have have a sales surplus of £30m and you ask me to account for contracts. Are you really suggesting intake you seriously at this point that £30m could be spent on reserve and academy set ups?
B&B: I mentioned how it could be argued in the name of financial conservatism that, for example, Cabaye’s costs could be nearer £9M than the headline £5M because of contracts, agents fees, accountancy policies on prudence etc. That is just one player.
I haven’t kept a track of the costs of improved contracts to Colo, Tiote etc, and I don’t know how much the three new young lads have cost in total. I just don’t know how you can know all these costs. I’m not saying you can’t produce something reasonably detailed and persuasive, and I was just asking you to do so.
Clearly, my subsequent questions appeared to you to be me trying to get off your hook. You flatter yourself, fella. You wanted to keep going over the same initial ground about the figures, whilst I was turning to the bigger picture. I could see (1) we were wasting a lot of time trying to meet minds on the calculations (2) the initial route that you had taken us down wasn’t really relevant to the basis of my original post that you pounced upon. It was my post so I should know what I was getting at by it and (3) I could not see where you were going with it all and wanted to find out. It really is easy to win an argument if you insist that a person stays on your ground whatever, and it does not help if you cannot see why they might have legitimate reasons to go down another route. It is not a question of twisting and turning.
TROY: You ask me to tell me why the accounts are wrong which I keep relying cos they swallow up the cash by taking into account previous debts and commitments. No one, not even the club, suggested that the Carroll money was ever going to be used for that. In fact, though I quoted Llambias, it was Ashley who stated all the Carroll cash would be used in the summer for the team.
Does that not tell you that the finances, which you used to justify your point are not relevant. You even state that the money was swallowed on previous debts and contract commitments leaving a surplus of £5m.
B&B: I have accused you of not being able to follow someone else’s argument, but I confess to being unable to follow this. I hear what you’re saying but, as much as I try, I don’t understand how it suits you or where you’re going with it.
I have never disputed that the club initially gave everyone the strongest impression that all the money would be spent on new players. However, we all know that they tried to slither out of this. Llambias was using a different method of calculation of costs etc. What you were wanting us to concentrate on solely was whether he was right or justified in his calculations of hidden (i.e not headline transfer fees) costs etc. He may have a fairly good argument, he may not. Llambias may have had a valid point, but my original point had nothing to do with this.
But where were you going? If you were criticizing the regime for broken promises, I wanted to know whether you wanted it all spent and you were not concerned about paying down debt. No good criticising the regime for broken promises if you don’t want all the money spent anyway. Basically, I didn’t understand (a) what was behind your onslaught, and (b) what exactly you were calling for. I still don’t because you seem to want to keep me on the hook that you think you have me on.
Norcal @ 96 Toonsy was looking at one but thats the last I heard.
Ice
what about 4th and Scum stay up
Newkie @ 100 in that case then would it not have been better for Pards to have lowered his predictions rather than raise the fans expectations, it seems a bit of a silly thing to do because he has just raised the fans expectations so if we don’t get top 6th more fans will say we failed to reach our targets ? the targets set by our manager
Troy, my original post that there was no point waiting for the Carroll cash to be spent was based on the following (1) the Carroll profit combined with everything else for the year showed an overall profit of £5M (2) the transfer pot is what Ashley and Llambias say it is.
I ask you how you can spend a profit of £35M when you have only made a profit of £5M. You say that is irrelevant because you are only looking at the position from the sale of Carroll onwards and that shows a massive surplus. I say I can’t understand why you are drawing an arbitrary line from the time of the Carroll sale? As far as I can see, your only basis for doing this is that, according to you, Mikey or Llambias, or Pards quoting Llambias, has said the money will be re-invested in the team. However, it is those very same people who have back-tracked and said, when we said the team, we meant the academy, new contracts, improved contracts, agents’ fees, first year’s wages, etc. They also said they inherited massive outstanding debts still owing on previous transfers.
Thus, I ask you
(1)To be clear on your figures of the true (as opposed to the headline) costs (Llambias does have some sort of argument about “hidden” costs, even if he was highly misleading to say the least about how much would be re-invested). It is not the basis of my original point, but it is the ground you have hitherto insisted we stick to.
(2) Why you draw an arbitrary line following the Carroll sale in your calculations of what you are waiting to be spent. Is it on the basis of the “promise”?
(3) If you know that the regime’s “promise” on the Carroll money was clearly back tracked upon shortly after it was made, why are you still (18 months on) waiting for it to be spent?
(4) If you’re not waiting for the Carroll money to be spent, and are just wanting Pards to get the centre back that you say Pards says he requires, what relevance is any of this? Pards has had the money but he has spent it on a midfielder.
(5) Why are you so pleased with the Anita signing when (a) you’re normally so cautious and wait to see a player perform first and (b) the money that is available has been used on a midfielder and not a centre back, the absence of which which you appear to have hung your argument around.
(6) You say at no time do you expect all of the cash to be “spent”, but “made available when required”. Is this not what is happening? Do you believe Pards now when he says getting another player now would be just icing on the cake?
In summation, I don’t know what you’re trying to say or prove. I will reply to the dross in a separate post.
Solano yes I admitted to you already that I did say we could struggle without a proven striker, and you can give me as many valid comparison as you want, but imo its a simple question and easy to prove, you stated that I said we were going to be relegation battlers last yr, to which I asked you to prove it because if you can’t prove that I said something will then don’t say it simple.
I don’t bs about anything that you have said, and while you might think that it’s not that important I do
I am not going to let you or anyone else get away with trying to make me look like a bit of a dick that bullshits and tells Lies when I know I didn;t say them
Saying we could struggle without a striker is completely different than saying we would be relegation battlers
Big Dave this expectations game is a tricky one. I prefer it when we lie low and say little about where we will finish. Pardew can make his expectations clear to the squad without telling the press even if it leaks out afterwards. My big question marks lie around strengthening the defense and whether or not Ba and Cisse can play together in a way that brings out the best in both of them. I think our midfield will be excellent. Maybe this is the season something special happens.
i agree with dave because he agrees with me,simples
Humpty (this is what you are in my phone list now), I respond to your points, which really are scraping the bottom of the barrel, and only serve to confirm exactly what I’m saying.
TROY: Reflecting at this stage in the debate, do you consider you have come across well. Within a few posts you accuse me of talking piles of shite and next you are reeling me in?
B&B: Are you under some illusion that “you” have come across well?
You have clearly missed the whole point of my criticism, which doesn’t surprise me. Indeed, it simply demonstrates that you miss the point all too frequently and/or side track an argument, often putting your words in others mouths to shoot them down.
It is quite remarkable how often you ignore the main, difficult questions and never return to them. I invite anyone who hasn’t slashed their wrists by now to trawl through any of the previous posts and see this happening all of time.
The “reeling you in” was a light hearted remark. I don’t understand what you can take from it. Such remarks go backwards and forwards all the time. I don’t have problems with them from you or anyone else, although they do get wearing when they’re wrapped in a crusade by the Sweeping Statement police against sweeping statements.
TROY: At this point, I’m in a discussion with another about wage caps. A separate discussion not involving you. Instead of concentrating on our debate which you appeared to be struggling with, hurling abuse, reeling me in, you then try and get involved in my wage cap debate.
Talk about muddying the waters. This is the start of you continuously goading me into talking about the wage cap. It comes across that you are trying to get away from the debate we were having and moving onto another subject.
B&B: Oh so you refer to your discussion on a public forum as a “separate discussion not involving you”. You say, “You then tried to get involved in my wage cap debate.” “Your” wage cap debate, eh?
This is a good example of the sort of frustration I have with you. There is no hope if you cannot see how lame that is as a defence. Even now when it is pointed out, you won’t get it.
How do you think it sounds when you do not think I or anyone else can hold down two separately running threads? Why do you think I would be running scared from you? Sheer conceit and hubris, which I just let ride, but it’s not a good tone. You’ve still avoided the “wages cap” issue by the way.
TROY: At post 160 13/8/12 you changed the whole tone by stating, “I DON’T NEED A NIT PICK WHEN TROY DELIVERS A SKIP LOAD OF SHITE, AS HE OFTEN DOES. I NEED A BLOODY SHOVEL”.
B&B: As you know, that was a light hearted response to Jon R talking about you in general, after Jon R was referring to our nit picking. That is fair game all round. If you had said that I wouldn’t have a problem.
TROY: You accuse me of pouncing. I queried your opinion which is what a forum is about. I would suggest pouncing is a more accurate word to describe your actions. Any ridicule on my behalf after that is justified.
B&B: You pounced as you always do. Everyone on here knows exactly what you’re like, so who are you trying to kid? People find themselves up to their neck defending themselves in an argument before they can figure out how they got there.
TROY: At post 169, under less than 10 posts each, we formed the foundations of our points.
B&B: No, you formed yours; as usual you didn’t want to listen to mine, accusing me of twisting and turning. I spent the rest of the time trying to understand where you were coming from; defend a comment that I didn’t even think was controversial; and establish an opportunity to explain myself.
I’m only holding up the mirror to you for your own good, bro. Well mine too, because I’m always in line for repeats of it, which are ten times as bad when you’ve had a drink.
Dave @ 113: well, if a league does start, we won’t have to rebuild the team, right? I’ve got mine all set and ready to go…using the site we all did last year.
i think we will struggle;; to keep goals oot without another c/h as i cannot see taylor staying fit all season or colo come to that yes we have players to step in for the odd game but over more than 3/4 games i would worry
Ice I know your not in to squabbling etc so im sorry to go over old ground with Solano but I need to get it sorted because as I said imo it makes me look like a bit of a dickhead and it’s been pissing me off so bare with me
Geordietwo yeah I agree that they can be tricky but IMO if we fail to get 6th its a failure to me, thats my opinion and I should be able to express that without Solano or anyone else call me utterly ridiculous, deluded and question if im a real supporter because of that, I don’t agree with a few peoples opinions on here but I have never abused them and called them childish name because of it.
Simply because everyone is entitled to their own opinion without me trying to make them look like dicks because I respect others opinions, so its not much to ask to be respected the same way
Dave-No not really, because fans already jump on everything else he says in regards to transfers, or losing players, or how people are doing and take it in a negative light, he’s probably a bit tired of it himself.
Also, what he said is something I agree with completely. We should aim for CL, why not? If you asked Pards would he expect to finish in the top 4 I imagine he’d give you a slightly different answer though, namely he wouldn’t expect it. No reason not to try though.
If we won the EL but finished 8th, or 9th, or even 10th really, that would be a brilliant achievement in my eyes, and a quality season of achievement and football. If we get knocked out of all the cups early. I hardly think he’s raised anyones expectations-you already had your expectation for the season did you not? So do I, and basically everyone else, although it may vary with players ins and out. Pards is just voicing his opinion, I don’t think anyone is getting carried away by it are they?
Anyone else think that Arsene Wenger did well to get 20 mill for a 29 year old in the last year of his contract ?…..
We tend to lose our lot for nowt…
Newkie you just answered it ” fans already jump on everything else he says” exactly so why would he make it harder for himsel if he doesn’t really believe that we can do it and be up there fighting
As for ” I hardly think he’s raised anyones expectations-you already had your expectation for the season did you not? So do I,” Newkie yes I had mine and expressed them but there is a lot of younger fans that would maybe have been thinking that we could be in the top 8 but after reading that it would raise theirs, I have seen it on here with my own eyes when we get linked with certain players some of the younguns get all excited thinking that its nearly a done deal
Hmm…what bothers Big Dave more: being misquoted or being told to get behind the lads?
Ice @120. Agreed, but we survived last year with Willo starting most of the season, as scary as that was at times.
DAVE let it gan owr your heed mate your a bigger man than that,everyone has a view and anyone that is toon fan should respect that, weather they agree or not,bloody bore if everyone thought the same why have a blog then?,but anyway i do see your point never thought you had joined jabba gang (lier)
So you admit you said we’d struggle. Well others said we would “struggle to survive”, what were you saying we would struggle to… what?
You don’t need to prove anything to me, if you didn’t say it you didn’t say it, just let me know and move on.
And the “dreamers” tag last year was brought about so how you can say you never belittle anyone’s opinion I don’t know.
@Newkie – bang on, I want us to challenge for top 4, I don’t expect us to finish 4/5/6th and I certainly wouldn’t label anything lower a failure.
Proud of how we are progressing as a club and a squad and even if we don’t adapt to juggling Europe and the league this year I am convinced we are heading in the right direction.
MM I was talking about this to a client today, manure came 2nd last yr so lets say that RVP scores 20 + this yr and helps them win the prem would £20 mil be dear
So I think for RVP that wasn’t bad money and if Manure hadn’t have came in for him some other big team would have. in one way Wenger done alright but it might prove a costly mistake because he got them into the CL last yr
MM remind me,when did we lose out money wise dont think we had a player of rvp class to lose out on
@123- MM I think both sides did well inthat deal. Wegner got himslef 20M to spend for a player that was gone of ther season, and Man U is suddenly very dangerous in attack.
20M for Man U is like 7M to us
Dave-Because he does believe it-to an extent, as do I. Because you never know. I don’t expect us to be top 4. I doubt Pardew does. However, football is unpredictable. The reason I wanted decent strengthening this season and why its exciting is because of what we could accomplish whilst our rivals-spurs, arsenal, liverpool (possibly chelsea), may fail to perform/are in transitional periods-if this is the case then we can really push on and give ourselves a great chance. We have a first 11 that imo can compete right up there, bar city and manure and if all goes well we could be in the champions league.
That being said I would completely understand if that didn’t happen-we had our luck last year, we may have bad luck this year, and other clubs may be far more fortunate. If that’s the case and we miss out on the Cl or even EL qualification I don’t see how it’s a failure solely due to the positions. There are so many variables its unbelieveable. If we get a number of serious injuries then we were unlucky, and if our squad managed to keep on battling despite poor luck and players tried hard-well I wouldn’t call them failures.
Also Dave @124-Ahh well what do they say about the young, ignorance is bliss?
Solano @ 127 so do you admit that you were wrong when you stated I said we would be relegation battlers.
1st when I said struggle I was talking about struggle for a top 10 spot not survive.
2nd I know I don’t need to prove nowt because I never accused you of owt ? it was you that accused me so it was up to you to prove what you were acusing me off or don’t use it against me ?
3rd I never made the dreamers tag and never used it against anyone ask Troy he’ll back me up on that, so what are you on about ????
4th even if I did use the “dreamer” tag its hardly the same as calling someone Childish, utterly ridiculous, deluded and asking are they a real fan.
As for moving on yeah if you had of admitted that you got it wrong and apologised for accusing me in the wrong yeah we could have moved on, but instead you tried to change the subject or ignore it or ask me to answer more questions. Do you have a problem with admitting when your in the wrong
I admitted I made a mistake for the quote at the time!
Jesus christ.
So I’ve admitted it.
Quicker than it took you and all the dreamer tag users of admitting that you were wrong about your season predictions.
Bored of this now man, you’re dragging along a meaningless issue and I honestly don’t care.
Also, stating that you never used dreamers, but “even if you did”
@Dumpty
Woo hoo hoo hoo
I have never heard a poster talking about someone else sounding just like himself.
You should have addressed that to yourself.
I honestly read through your response wondering whether you have been to the nearest mirror yet and repeated those important words
” TROY HAS DONE ME BIG STYLE”
Clearly not long enough for it to have sunk in.
I love the way you grasp in desperation for support. It’s almost cringeworthy.
Look everyone what Troy is saying.
I am at work at the mo and don’t finish til 3am.
I’m off tomoz so I will have a suitable response for you.
Grandad Les once told me on his death bed.
” TROY, YOURE A FINE MAN AND A THINKER. BROWNLIE IS ROTTER AND A STINKER”
Newkie @ 132 tbh I always feel sorry for them as I hate to see younguns getting all excited just to be left disappointed I never forget the look on my wee lads face when his Idol Carroll went just a few months after he got his name and number on his home and away kit, then when Joey B went
I asked him lastweek did he want a name on his new kit and he said Dad whats the point when my fav players just leave 
but in the end I got him DEDE 9 on his kit because he’ll never leave 
Dave-Aye it’s a shame that really, I think most of us grew up taking that kind of thing for granted…I mean obviously players have always come and gone, but there was never the insults and dummy spitting that seems to come from players a lot of the time now. The Carroll thing shook a lot of people really, after saying what he said and living the dream, I don’t think many expected him to leave, I know I didn’t.
You sure you don’t want Shola on the back?
Dave @136 ,I always get the lads name on his shirts the only time I didn’t was when I had Shearer on it .That little shirt is still hung up on his wall in the Toon section alongside the portrait sketch of famous no.9′s .
The rest of his room is a space theme. 
Dave-tell you what you should do, I remember when I moved to Wales from Australia when i was like 9 and obviously I was fucking pissed off
So my mum asked me what colour I wanted my room and all that so I said black and white stripes, managed to get at least one wall (the long one) in black and white, she hated it but it was class 
Dave,
You should have got Ameobi on the back of his shirt…
There’ll be one here forever.
Big D…… DEDE9 was a smart move mate, well done….
Solano @ 134 you admitted you made a mistake for the anything less than 5th quote incase your too angry to see it I said that you admitted that already. but you never admitted that you lied or made a mistake when you stated I said we were relegation battlers.
Yeah I agree it is boring and its slightly irritating and pisses me off that your not man enough to just simply admit and move on never mind apologise for making me out to be a liar.
But that tells me more about you.
as for the dreamers tag I don’t give a fuck what you believe I have never used the dreamers tag to hurt anyone and have only ever used it as a way of defining the so called 2 groups last year “the Dreamers” and ” the Neggers” when I was talking to someone. But if you can find where I have used it to try to hurt or use it against someone i’ll apologise for it and admit your right
I just can’t believe that you are that self righteous and arrogant that you can’t simply admit when your wrong even when it means that everyone else can see you for what you are
The signing of Van Persie at 29 for so much money shows short termism from Ferguson. (I don’t call him Sir until he acts like one). I think he is just putting his eggs in one basket that RVP and Rooney will fire him to the title next season and he doesn’t care much about the future. And why would he at his stage of management.
Boys and girls, this is the way it is with the toon….get used to it.
We should try and enjoy every game and every season as long as the toon are on the ascendency, and we were that last season. However, and I may be looked on as a negger, or as playing things down a bit, but I really do believe it. We are our own biggest enemies at the end of the day. Enjoy it while we can, cos we know that the rot may set in at any moment, sell Tiote, Cabaye, Pardew leaves etc etc and we take a downward spiral.
I am still ecstatically happy what we achieved last season. If we get anywhere near that again this season, I’ll be well happy. The sad bit is that there are clubs at the top end of the league who have SO MUCH money to play with, that it is dificult to compete, even if we DID have an owner who wanted to mix it with the “big boys”.
I consider Man City, Man United and Chelsea as the rich clubs. Arsenal are trying hard under the astute Arsene Wenger, Liverpool are just a basket case when it comes to splashing cash around…
Right thats my rant over
JJ are you for real
Kim the problem was that for long enough most places over here would only print the players names and not others because there is a lot of names and letters over here that can mean totally different things to other places
Newkie he already had a black and white stripe room but it hurt his eyes so now its just covered in Toon and call of duty posters and a massive big toon flag that covers one wall
DJG I think you are dissin SAF a bit man, the bloke has put in brilliant service to English football man, say what you like…
.
I reckon Manure are looking at the wrong end of the team, they need to get the defence sorted out imo. Wor African lad Demba gave them a real hard time at SJP last season
Everyone seems to have forgotten that Manure have also signed Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund. I read a few weeks ago on a NATIONAL web site that they were kind of intimating that they signed the bloke to sell shirts in Asia….
What a pompous statement, the bloke was immense for Bundesliga Champions Dortmund last year, and will prove to be a real handful in the EPL. Man U have got some real firepower up front… 
MM I always thought you were a glass half full man
where as Ice’s glass is always empty, and Richie doesn’t have a glass and drinks from the bottle cause he’s a greedy c@nt 
Munich-Yeah pretty much agree with you. But that doesn’t make you a negger, that’s positive stuff! I think? right?
Dave-Fair enough man, I can see how it would probably do that if the whole room was like it
Big D…do you sleep in Dede’s bedroom now and then to remenisce ? Or do you have Toon stuff on your bedroom walls an’all ?
Big D….Ice’s glass is always empty cos he’s got 12 of them…
Looking forward to welcoming Richietoon back….
Newkie you’ve followed the toon long enough to know how quickly the wheels can come off the toon chariot mate…
I mean a few yonks ago we were basking in the Champs League giving it lowdy, thinking we’ve made it big, a few years later we’re getting cuffed by Southend and stuff….
By the way Chrissy Houghton is a legend…
MM @ 146 I have noticed a lot of ones saying that a lot of the bigger teams arn’t all that and that they have wasted money on this and that and some haven’t really strengthened
as for SAF not caring about Manures future I think that total BS he cares as much about Manure as anyone and I think £20 mil to them will be chicken feed if he helps them win back the prem
MM @ 149
as for Richie yeah it’s been quiet at times without him, hopefully it won’t be long till he’s back on slagging Aussie while we’re slagging him 
DAVE so you took my advice @126 or chose to ignore it
MM my glass is always full took me a few yrs to knock wor lass in shape but shes learning
Munich-Ahh right I get you-yeah I know, I’m always braced for an inevitable fuck up around the corner and I don’t think Mikey will ever be able to shake that now, but there we go. I just meant enjoying the ride and being happy with what we did last year and what we could do this year, all positive stuff
Ice…you would think Big D would know by now you’re always right mate…
Ice
sorry I only seen it there now I can ignore most things and very little gets to me but when I have pulled him up on it several times and he still hasn’t admitted that tells me it wasn’t a simple misquote but a lie and I hate Liars always have and always will 
MDS @ 125 sorry mate both well not really because if im misquoted normally if you bring it to someones attention they will admit there mistake or correct it but if they don’t and try to ignore it while still trying to make you out to be a dickhead thats even worse than being told to get behind the team ( Lads)
Newkie, you’re a steady lad and know where the toon are coming from…
Enjoy it while we can, cos contrary to what a lot of fans think, we are not traditionally one of the “big clubs”, though we did rattle a few cages last season…
In fact we have always done that, that’s the beauty of following the toon…
Yeah despite Manure’s debt they are THE global football brand, nobody else really comes close. 20 mil is pocket change, despite the debt. It is interesting in the fact that it could well hurt the futures of Hernandez and particularly Welbeck. Welbeck is overrated (what’s new, he’s english) and I’m not his biggest fan, but he’s young and he’s got talent, and he needs to keep playing. Looks like he’ll just be there for when Van Persies glass legs go again.
So Ice have you thought anymore about how long we should give Richie off when he gets back ? I know we were thinking about 2-3 days but should we give him that long ?
Munich-Aye, all true (not sure about the steady lad bit
). Entertainment through good football and a general “circus” like appearance/approach to everything, with a bit of cage rattling to keep the big boys on their toes.
Hopefully some day soon one of them will trip and we can snatch a bit of glory too
Newkie, to be honest, apart from a couple of FAC finals in years gone by, I reckon the Euro League could be a good outlet this season…
Depends if we take it serious or not I suppose…
MM aye mate have aways enjoyed the toon ride and boy has it been a strange one most of the time,seen it all heard it all before over the yrs,yes its took a while to keep dave right but hes getting there slowly,hes used to stabbing people with needles and getting payed for it,i use knifes and dont even get credit for it
things not shared oot fair 
DAVE ive thought on it and your reet,i think ill allow him two comments,want him to feel at home quickly
Ice what was it like for the 1st 10 yrs or so after we were formed
as for stabbing people where your going wrong is that instead of just stabbing them you should advertise yours as scarification because people think they’re getting something cool and will pay good money for that 
Icedog/Big D…I always have to hark back to the poor lad getting the muckle Andy Cole tattoo the day before we sold him to Manure…
Munich-Yeah definitely, I mean you look at the teams that qualify and think why not? We’re one of the best sides that has qualified. Problem comes in with the CL drop outs. Fair enough they may not take it that seriously, but the fact that teams like City and Manure can drop into it just like that kind of undermines the whole thing….although it was nice that they both got dumped out of both competitions last year
DAVE i still remember you pushing me in the pushchair when you went to get wor hughie to sign your footy top
Newkie…it’s out of order that the Champs League drop-outs get a second chance…but that’s money talking for you …
Iced@168…
Night night peeps….
MM I have a toon badge on my leg and I was going to get return of the king across the top and KK and the date at the bottom when he came 2nd time round
but that wouldn’t be as bad,
Newkie I think we both agree that we should take the EL seriously and try to win it, as for the CL teams dropping into it imo thats just rewarding them for failure and isn’t fair
Munich-Aye, they just do it to keep people interested I suppose. And by people I mean the armies of glory hunters across Europe
Night dude, take it easy
MM so long old bean
Dave-Aye exactly…hopefully we’ll have better luck with these random European sides than we seem to have with bloody non-prem clubs in the domestic cups
Yup, all to cater to the big clubs and their trophy cabinets I guess
The wait is over for another year.
It feels like xmas eve.
Newkie I think it demeans it and could stop other teams taking it more serious
DJG-176 so true!
Dave-Yeah, and it’s quite the insult for smaller teams (which includes us I guess but I meant a lot smaller
) who work so hard in their own leagues to get a spot to play in Europe only to have an absolute giant drop down and usually rob them of their hard work. I can’t quite remember how it works, is it teams that finished third in the group stage of CL drop into it? Or was it third and fourth 
Think it might be both, 8 CL teams or so? 
Hello all, I’m very near Newcastle now (hiking up at Hadrian’s wall!) and coming to watch the game tomorrow!
Where’s a good place for a pre-game pint?
Finally! I’ve been trying to post that message for HOURS!
I’m up near Steel Rigg, if any of youse know the place–near Haltwhistle. I just had a pint if Cumberland Ale… Getting closer to the toon…
Fucking windy and wild out here… Why exactly did them Romans want to hold this place? It’s amazingly beautiful up here on the border o the national park… But there is nothing out here! I guess that’s the nature of frontiers.
Fuckingb beautiul though… We’ve been traveling around England for 10 days or so and my little woman likes it up here in the windy wilds the best.
FSOTC-I was gunna say, still walking at this hour?
As for recommending anywhere I’m not much help, don’t spend much time in the toon unfortunately, the only place I go to before a match when I’m up there is my “local” which is actually a rugby club in Gateshead
I don’t know if Gateshead will help for tomorrow but thanks Newkie!
Anybody else?
I just realized the clouds have blown over a bit and maybe I can see the lights of Newcastle from here! Going to wLk out to try to catch a few strays from the Perseid meteor shower…. Check in again shortly…
FSOTC
You have a multitude of bars in the toon before and after the game.
Shark Bar, Shearers, Rosie’s, Bodega and many more all next to the ground and chokka before the games with great atmospheres.
Avoid the Irish club afterwards though as you might bump into me wearing my trunks and cape.
Humpty @135, I have taken the time to go back and re-read two points that you pulled me up on.
My comment about your delivering a skip load of shite was nothing to do with the Carroll cash saga. It was in response to your comment that every club has a wage cap and it was ludicrous to suggest otherwise. I couldn’t hack the hypocrisy of the Sweeping Statement Police coming out with that one and getting away with it, whilst sucking on helium. We had also been accused by Jon R of nit picking and my response was to him.
The reason for my comment about reeling you in like a catfish (followed by a smiley) was simply this. You kept going on “tell me your figures, we have should have IRO of £25M to £30M, justify your statement, we have made profits on players since the last accounts, show me where the money has gone, just look at the time since the last Carroll cash …” For bad, because you were nibbling big style for an argument, I thought I would first put Llambias’ arguments, which do have some degree of merit. Quite how much, I don’t know. Whilst they are not my arguments (hence the comment) I do not believe that your calculations are anywhere near as black and white as you make them out to be. Moreover, I felt anyone would find it difficult to forensically analyse the financial position to prove him wrong so wondered how you could be so dogmatic. Besides, you would only accuse me of twisting the argument or changing the point if I did not deal directly with the figures and the precise point you insisted on concentrating on. I knew that Llambias’ arguments had little to do with the reason I made my original statement, which I could justify in my own way, on my own terms, given the chance at any time.
Newkie @182
Which one? I probably know it.
FSOTC – definitely avoid the Irish club afterwards
Whey!
Cannit wait
Troy I can imagine you in Rosie’s with a sheepskin coat after the match, talking to any poor fecker that’ll listen.
Stood out on the B6318, looking for shooting stars, but no luck. May have seen a Roman ghost or two with my iPod flashlight…
FSOTC-Yeah, basically I was saying I’m no help for a good place near the ground
DJG-It’s the one in Low fell mate
Great screamin’ Jesus, Troy, I’ll keep my eyes peeled for that!
Hey, ain’t this Rodzers O’clock? Where is that sonumbitch?
It’s cold as a witch’s tit up here. Is this really August?
Supposed to be a nice day tomorrow afternoon. Heatwave daawn saawf.
FSOTC, I am in Scotland mate and apart from the daily torrential downpour the weather is warm and dead canny.
Nowt like walking to work in the warmth in a coat. You have to as it’s been torrential downpour for about 3 months so you end up sweating your tits off with it being so bloody hot at the same time!
We used to go to The Goose for cheap doubles before the games. Haven’t got down there early enough for drinks before a game in ages though
Not sure if I want Krul in my fantasy team….21% of people have him now
Anyone got a league for the premierleague fantasy footy to send me to join?
Same question as Moreno…
Come on Toonsy stop slacking and sort one out for us
I could just do one now but a bit short notice for the deadline to be in I think? I’ll have a look
Well. Another cloud break, but no shooing star omen….
Moreno, my hands are too cold to type much more here…
Current temp in my home turf, NYC, is 85F… How do you all manage?
Off to bed before my wife kills me…. Maybe see some of you tomorrow…
Right so code league is 1714976-385368 once you register Newkie, might just be me and thee though haha
One more thought… It looks like a beautiful day tomorrow for the game… Amazing…
That’s fine, maybe we could call it the Shola Appreciation League? Think it’s just me and you in that too
Canny name but already done and my team is called Shola’s Slayers
FSOTC-Enjoy yourself buddy
Ahh shame…Great name choice, almost as good as Santiago Munez FC
Gunna have to get Shola in the team for the derby weeks though…
Double game week for Reading..hmm..
@DJG
I stand at the corner of stowell street with my loud haler and recite verses from Shakespeare.
I take the loud haler so I can be heard over B&B.
Troy, when you and BB go to games, do you sit next to each other? If so, do you actually watch any of the footie or?
@Dave
Surely the whole point of the “neggers” things was that you believed the likes of Carroll hadn’t been replaced? And that we had ruined the team spirit by selling Barton etc? Which you “may” have gone along with…
So if we finished 11th with Carroll then surely you expected us to finish considerably lower without him/Barton/Enrique/Nolan
Again this may have been some other people last year. I find it hard to believe but I apologise if you weren’t one of them.
No drop the tiring act of dropping my name in when I’m not present at the blog.
I’ll hold my hands up and say I said that…yet my opinion was based on cold hard facts about the conduct of the regime in the prior years.
They have recently seemed to learn from their mistakes and had success on a lot of calculated gambles (with our scout at the helm of that side of the operation) and for that we are a better team.
However, you are speaking with hindsight of events after the sale of those key players and we were speaking of the facts we knew at the time so it’s easy to look down on others for what they may have said with that benefit
@Moreno,
I’m not looking down on others for having view in the slightest, as you say it’s easy to judge with hindsight.
I’m more just urging caution as some expectations of our squad after one good year have escalated wildly.
It’s tomorrow! Howay the lads.
Newcastle shirt on. Newcastle socks on. Television? good, still working. Only 15 hours to go.
And joined the nufcblog.co.uk Championship fantasy league. Aiming for a top 5 finish; anything else will be an abject failure.
And if I finish below 10th I’ll show my arse in Fenwick’s window.
@Moreno
The comments made in those years from the doubters was fully justified.
You can only play with the hand you were dealt with.
@Begas
You love quoting me don’t you?
So you wear the toon top and socks?
Thats perverted! Get some trunks on man!
Are there many footy fans in your neighbourhood?
Bris,
Nice one fella…I am working first game of the season and it’s televised..sickener
Troy,
There are still some things that are unforgivable that those lot have written in the annals of our history which a few good seasons haven’t swayed for me and likely never will!
Troy: You’re very quotable – I’ll give you that
I know a few people around here, but only one pommie. Strangely, and I’ve wondered about this many times, most people I know are not Stralians by birth – Spanish, German, Greek, Maltese, Lithuanian. Been like that since I arrived here 30-odd years ago.In the main, the people I played football with were Greek, Arab, Malaysian, Croat, and few Scots.
The only Aussies I have ever known well were people I worked with.
Bris-Sound’s like you’ve been lucky out there then
It took me a few years to settle in Australia because I couldn’t speak broken English.
Mind, there were a few who thought I couldn’t speak English at all. One guy, an Iraqi I think he was, once asked me if I spoke a dialect of German.
And by then I thought I’d done well to lose my Geordie accent.
Bris, when I lived out there most of my family also moved out, and three of my aunts had married Geordie lads before moving out there. The amount of times that aussies thought we were Irish or Scottish was unbelievable, apparently in school they thought my cousin was Scandinavian
Fast forward 20 years, playing in an over 35s league, one of the guys from the club’s younger team was surprised to find out that I was English – he said he thought I was Australian, but with an education.
I was a youngun so I picked up that whiney accent pretty quick…now I’m stuck saying northern/aussie phrases with a sort of neutral/welsh accent. Right mongrel
Aye, Newkie, I’ve been taken for Irish, Welsh, Scottish, German, Australian and, bizarely, Canadian.
Australian with education? My god…
All I seem to remember being taught was that the British came over and destroyed the aboriginies homes and their culture, but the noble Australian convicts managed to overthrow said government and nowadays don’t treat the “abbos” bad at all
Meanwhile they still vote to keep the queen. I just don’t get em
Migrant living is a whole new experience. You always carry some sense of being alien with you.
‘You can only play with the hand you were dealt with.’
Aye, pretty good fun mind…
Uhh, the migrant thing…not the hands and the playing…
Newkie, were you here in the 1960s? I can tell you that things have moved on since then – although you wouldn’t know that reading some of the newspapers and hearing some people talk.
And, btw, we didn’t vote to keep the Queen; we voted against a certain type of republican system. It was a matter of staying the same or having a politician’s republic.
Love Troy’s ambiguous saying. I suppose he has had a lot of practice at using his hand for playing
Bris-nah mate, it was like, 96-2000
Oh right, was it actually a change of political system? I thought it was just like a “head of state” formality kind of thing. Still, whenever I’m out there I’m surprised by how many people don’t mind them. Thought that was one of the bonuses of Australia personally, less posh bastards
Yeah, basically, it was to change the head of state to the Governor General. Many wanted a president, many wanted to vote for the president. Some, like myself, would have preferred to change the whole system and do away with the states. Some wanted the GG to be elected, some wanted the GG to be president of the House. There were many variations, so it was easy for the PM to divide the vote by putting forward a non-question that nobody particularly wanted, and get what he wanted – no change.
Bris-Ah right, yeah that sounds pretty complicated. It’s a safe bet people will tend to stick to what they know when there’s a complicated thing in politics…or even if it isn’t, bit like the lib dems trying to change the voting system here to the Alternative Vote system
‘Thought that was one of the bonuses of Australia personally, less posh bastards
‘
When I meet some I’ll let you know
Guess the only ones you get are ex-pats
@moreno
Me likewise and I’m still highly sceptical of them.
I’m always waiting for the next underhand tactic.
I believe they should return the ground back to its original name unless SD pay for the privilege as no other company are going to put their name to it.
Apart from that they’ve certainly got their act together over the last two seasons.
“Brothers don’t necessarily have to say anything to each other-they can sit in a room and be together and just be completely comfortable with each other.”
Wooo hoo hoo hoo hoo :
Not if you are Troy & Blackley.
“When brothers agree, no fortress is so strong ”
Troy Stavers 2012
Reet off to the laundry basket. Bloody knackered.
“When brothers agree, no fortress is so strong as their common life”
Antisthenes quotes (Greek philosopher of Athens, disciple of Socrates, 445-365bc)
Moreno – as you know I’ve always believed in and understood what they were trying to achieve – yet I aint smug
ST – you’re bang on about Big D – he used to lord on about how we were doomed and he was Captain of the Neggers – now you have him cornered like a little rat he is screaming and squirming, and if I might say being very rude and disrespectful – shame on you Big Dave
I feel alive again, I love Newcastle United
Whoop, match day! Bring ‘em on!!!!!
Looking forward to seeing these boys in action…. particularly Magic Marv and Anita. Wouldn’t mind seeing Obertan on as a sub and playing like he apparently has in the pre-season!
2-1 Cisse and Obertan to score
Also, pub day
Thank flock the new season is upon us. Man that was a long pre-season…
My feckin fence blew down last sunday.. my car was broken into last night and while I was having a break & bite to eat for lunch (from fixing my fecking fence).. some bastard drove up in a Ute ( trayback car) and stole my wheel barrow from the roadside verge. If it wasn’t for the footy tonight, I would be ready to murder some one.
Just a question around my adventures with the criminal element…. Batty isn’t holidaying in Oz is he?
Bugger! Rudely awakened from my pre-football sleep by a woman, South African. You doing anything she says. Me: just preliminary meditation for the kick off. She: what kick off? D’oh.
Shame about the wheelbarrow Oswaldo.
That’ll be you without transport now then
…was it insured?
@aussie
Woo hoo hoo hoo hoo!
I know i shouldn’t laugh but I’m howling
Glory be,the footies back
AMF kna it wasnt batty mate he was up on the church roof last night ime his witness i was holding the touch for him,anyway he woundnt break into your car,he would just take the whole show,and your fence wood is bring a canny price at the mo
looking forward to see toon line up
AUSSIE , Sounds like a crap week ,let’s hope for a Toon win to cheer you up
Rodz, yep, I will have to walk everywhere now… Its upsetting as the barrow was a family heirloom that I purchased last year
Ice, thanks for setting my mind at ease
The cop last night actually said that bad things happen in three’s… I wonder if she stole it
Aussie Magpie Fan…….you probably half-inched the wheelbarrow yourself mate…come clean about it ..
Brisvegas…you know women “You doing anything ?” has 50 ways of being interpreted…
…oops only talking about my woman, maybe Safee’s are different… 
Thanks Kim, a win will certainly put a smile on my dial
Eminem, we have the metric system here, no way I ‘half-inched’ it mate
Well just a few hours to go and THE SEASON KICKS OFF and all things that matter and we hold dear returns . Oh yeah their is the wife and kid , nearly forgot
My prediction for the game a Cisse double and one from HBA in a 3-1 win .
I can feel a 1 all draw coming on today for some reason…. want us to win tho
Axel, I like you’re optimimism mate, if that was the end result the Quayside and the Bigg Market would go ballistic tonight !….
Hope you had a canny time at the Den Haag game, never had a chance to crack on with you about it…
AMF ime not covering for richie mind, the rat bag never shares nowt.
if marv plays think we might see a show from him imo
Off doon Munich toon in a few hours to watch the game in the pub with the one other toon fan living in Munich…
Aussie I just hope we have more luck against Spuds than you are having, but you know what they say you reap what you sow
Stardy get back to Jabba before you get in trouble you bull shitting little pug nose weasel.
Here’s an intresting one , just been reading in a dutch newspaper that Douglas now has his dutch passport and his club are lining up Boyota (man city) on loan as his replacement . No teams have been named in the report but it seems he will be on the move soon . Just putting it out their because Pardew has said he hopes for 1 more signing before the window closes .
Ice, so your saying that you would finger Richie……….. in a police line up
AXEL all gen is welcome mate keep it coming
DAVE keep a clear mind mate,rise to nowt,dont spoil your pleasure of first game
oh what a defender – Boyota!!!
Sorry, long day
hope Douglas comes..
Axel, sounds interesting mate.
MUNICH MAG it was good too be at the game ,we got into the Newcastle section of the ground , but you did not miss much entertainment wise . Poor game Ameobi had a good goal disallowed but apart from that no real action . Hope after we beat the greeks we get a Dutch , German ,Belgian team so we can get too a real game .
AMF well you would need a bloody big room for a line up with,you know me if the price is right we have a deal
Ice
:-) 
been reading in to the type of player Anita is, anyone else think it will be more like this
———Tiote——–
———Anita——-
——-Cabaye—–
Tiote destroying everything in sight, Anita dominating the midfield, linking things up, and Cabaye pulling the strings with the attackers?
3 against 11… we will get slaughtered ILM
I Love Mike (how I dislike typing those words): From what I saw of a few Ajax games on DVD it’s more likely that Anita would play behind Tiote.
Ice @ ?? I’m on my phone so no numbers
but you know me mate 
England 3 Estonia 3 in the Euro Beach Soccer competition – in Spain. Nice dancing girls.
ILM we won’t have to wait long to find out, hows things going with you where are you now ?
long time since i have posted..
Nice to see the end of what i call a too long break from football.
I think the game will end in a draw, but am crossing my fingers for a win!
HWTL
BV you perving again
leave that to richie mate 
What I’ve seen of Anita, him and Cabaye could be treading on each others toes as the “ball playing central midfield hub” of the team…. there again a few years ago we didn’t have one, now we have two of them …
Wehey the lads, flippin heck has my watch stopped….
let’s get the party started…. 
Crying shame that winnie Johnson has died without ever being able to bury here son, The law in this country is an ass.
Ian brady should have been beaten and tortured to within an inch of his life until the sick cunt told police where Keith bennett was buried.
Anyway im digressing any news on the injury front sky werent even mentioning Colo and Tiote in their injury doubts list does that mean they have been passed fit ??
@B&B
Hello Bumbling Boris, that’s your new name in my phone book list.
First let me give you a brief understanding of my thoughts regarding your latest posts which were in response to me slaughtering you.
I must say Boris, you really did dig that hole even deeper. 
Despite the fact I disect our original posts and highlight the obvious change in tone of the posts, caused by you, describing my posts as a pile of shite and reeling me in like a catfish, you choose to defend yourself and advise me it was lighthearted. You state that if I had said those quotes you wouldn’t have a problem.
Wow! I certainly do have a problem with it and don’t play the victim in all this, (as this is how you are coming across) when I pursue a point to the end to make you realise you are wrong IMO.
You repeatedly shout for help from others, hoping that others will back you up and as I’ve stated it comes across cringeworthy. You’ve stated a few times that people know what I’m like on this blog in that I pounce on bloggers statements.
If you really take a step back and analyse over a period of two or three years of posting on here, you would recognise that I pursue those that use derogatory terms to others for no reason.
I know virtually all the bloggers on this site now and how they post. There are ongoing fueds which you may not be aware of.
There have been a number of posters that I dislike, not because of their opinions but there vile comments they make towards others. Though this has lessened over the past year, i do put that down to myself and Big Dave pursuing them until they get sick of using such terms.
Dave does it in a different way, far more maturely whereas I take the piss and try and ridicule them.
Other than one moment of anger, I have never used a derogatory vulgar remark towards anyone first. If I have, it will be seldom and it will be in response to them using such terms towards me or others.
To me, it’s a sign you have lost the argument and you haven’t got a decent answer, so you abuse them. Thoug a lot of bloggers accuse me of winding people up, again, the only ones I wind up are those that are WUMS themselves and enjoy the banter (Aussie for example) but its never vulgar as you have shown. Other bloggers who accuse me of winding them up conveniently forget the vulgar abuse they showed towards me initially and I have a select few that I target with piss taking humour because of that.
You will never see me ridicule anyone who I has not provoked me initially.
You say this is a relentless crusade to prove a point.
Too right it is. Everytime I hear you shout for help from others having started the abuse i dig in deeper. It makes me cringe.
Stand up on your own two feet and deal with the issue yourself.
Troy abides by the Blaydon & Ryton district blogging FairPlay rules 2009.
Background and scene set;
I move onto your very poor attempt to justify all points I criticise you for in my last damning post I sent you.
You pose a series of statements @114 which have
all been explained by me already and I fail to see how you need to go over it again. It’s as if you havent read my explanations. Have you? I’m beginning to doubt it.
@118 you ramble and it’s mainly about me missing the main points and putting words in others mouths to shoot them down.
You have actually accused me of that before and I asked you to give me an example. You really did make a fool of yourself when you came up with 3 examples in which I didn’t do such a thing. I’m not surprised you brought it up again, as your memory seems to be like a gold fish. It’s almost as if you are cutting and pasting each long post and rejigging a few words. You must try better Boris.
I love the bit where you try to defend yourself against me accusing you of muddying the waters by trying to change the subject onto wage caps and you say, ” How do you think it sounds when you do not think I or anyone else can hold down two separately running threads?
Well I’ve just ducked my head under the cold shower to see if I’m dreaming.
nope ! I’m not! 
Have you actually seen our discussion over the past 96 hours on one issue. I can see I can’t do it when I’m discussing anything with you, as I’ve learned over the years, you will introduce a third a fourth a fifth debate to run alongside all in attempt to muddy the waters.
Have you never noticed me over the years always saying, let’s go back to the original point, keep on track, I’m not talking about other issues until this one is settled? You must have? Why do you believe I say that? Why do you believe I get frustrated with you?
Why did I point out that you diverted the main issue in the debate about my opinions whether the money should be spent.
You actually tried to justify why you did that and stated it was still part of the original debate.
It wasn’t . Can you not see how? It simply wasn’t, isn’t, will never be.
I would be more than happy if we had finalised the original debate, whether we came to a point where we had to agree to disagree but not beforehand. It simply doesn’t have anything to do whether the money had been spent or not.
Hold on I just need a sniff of laughing gas.
that’s better.
Woo hoo hoo hoo:-)
To conclude and to keep to the original point of where the money is? I maintain that there should be a surplus of transfer fees available IRO £25m to £30m. (I’ve explained why and no need to do again). You suggest that is what is happening. Pardew is getting money provided.
It was only the start of this month we allegedly bid £13m for Carroll, £6m for Douglas, bought Anita for £6m , a bid in for Debuchy.
I’m not saying we were after all to be bought but it’s credible that if we got Carroll and one other it would total IRO of £20m.
Is that not an explanation that the money I’ve quoted all along is there?
Finally, I chortle everytime you talk about me being worse in drink.
pot, kettle 
I’m just wondering whether you consider yourself to be worse in drink?
Anyway, grandad Les whispered to me on his deathbed.
” keep that Brownlie off the drink, as he doesn’t half get drunk easy”
He was a wise man Wor Pops
CC @280 with you 100% on that bud
I
I apologise for my grammar as its all done on a mobile and its difficult to review.
Troy, stop using my jokes mate.. sad to see you have fallen so far..
Humpty, I can’t believe what I’ve just read @281. I absolutely despair.
First, I have never known anyone write as much as that and say nowt. I invite anyone to read my last points to you (split up over three posts) and state whether you have addressed any of my points to you. You have ducked everyone of them. You’ve not just kept your head beneath the parapet, you’ve retreated 100 miles back to HQ. I hope I’m wrong nad you’re going to come back with a second post that you’ve already got prepared, fella.
Second, I can’t believe your talking about “starting abuse”. You don’t have to swear to start abuse (and by the way I only likened your posts to a heap of shite, your last one being more of a mountain than a heap). I’d ahrdly call that abuse. The only thing that you see as abuse is the use of vulgarity. Real abuse is “bullying”, jumping on an innocent statements to embark on crusades, never seeing that someone else has a point; writing off their attempts to make their points or to seek clarification as twisitng and turning. I don’t get upset at you for that sort of abuse, but I do get infuriated at you at your complete inability to understand. I know when someone understand because they deal with the point I have made in their own way. It doesn’t help that you crow on all the while.
The points that I have developed are far more interesting than going over the same ground, but you’re determined to not to allow the debate to move because you want to catch someone on a hook and show all the bloggers how clever you are. Now that is not just bullying but cringeworthy. There is nothing cringeworthy in appealing to others to help me out when I’m in despair. Strumpet helped me out, and I thank him for it.
I expect you to stand up and be a man and address the substantive points I have made. First of all, you can declare your hand as to what your point is. Who knows, when I find out, I might even agree with it? I don’t know how many times I’ve asked to explain why it is not legitimate for the profit on the Carrol sale to be set against other losses of the same year, including losses on other player transfers. Your only response seems to be you have to look at the time from the Carroll sale. Nothing else counts. Why is that? If you say because that is what the regime said. I say so what? They’ve long said somethign different and that is my point.
What time you setting off for the match?
CC@280 Agree mate ,I heard the news on the car radio and was cursing and swearing me head off about him. Right to the end of that poor womens life he had all the control ,the evil sod. Hellfire will be too good for that piece of shit.
@Bumblung Boris
This is another example of pinning the concrete to the tree.
You are simply mind blowing. If you scroll back thru my posts you will find that at a relatively early stage that I was aware that Lambias reneged on the original statement made by Ashley.
Fully and utterly made clear that I knew what had originally been stated. I am fully aware of that and I sincerely hope your nugget noodle brain took that in when providing your responses.
Not only did I emphasise that, taken all that into account and providing you with figures of wages saved from offloaded players and the £20m in sales must leave us with a balance of roughly £25m -£30m.
Not only do I still believe that pot is there to spend now, it should have been made available last summer.
The club gambled this season and not only took every fan by surprise but also the club.
I’ve stated it’s backfired as the money that looks like is being bandied about with transfer bids for Carroll, Anita, Douglas, Debuchy all seem to suggest I was right. The figure was always there but they gambled and were cautious last summer.
I ask you again, how can’t you see I’m right
All your questions have either already been answered or off track.
I’ve stated it’s backfired as the money they are using now should have been used when Pards wanted a CB.
Sorry but I’m posting whilst getting ready for the match.
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