Are you ready for the big kick-off?

Premier League football back on the agenda at SJP
In just a few days time we see the return of the Premier League. You can put the tools down, put the wife away, pat the kids on the head and get down to football for the next nine months!

Alright maybe it isn’t quite that extreme but the football season is close to the hearts of many fans of clubs up and down the country and, being realistic, we are no different.

So take this as a little preview of this season if you like. I won’t go into too much depth as Premandup has not long set me a more in depth at what he thinks could happen this season, so I’ll stick with being general about things and ask if you think we are prepared for the new season?

When you look at pre-season you would have to say that it was alright. Nothing spectacular, just alright. We played some good teams and some bad teams, we won games and lost games. Most importantly though a lot of players got a chance to impress and the majority of them took it with both hands and can be expected to be given further chances to impress in the coming weeks.

If there is one thing that is slapping me in the face like a bit wet fish though, it’s the lack of action some of our first team players have seen in our pre-season campaign. Yohan Cabaye has only played something daft like 18 minutes during pre-season, and others like Papiss Cisse and Hatem Ben Arfa haven’t played much more. Tiredness is a reason apparently, although I wonder if their exclusion has at least something to do with wrapping them up in cotton wool?

We shall soon find out I guess…

In terms of transfers in, I’m pretty sure I’m not alone when I say that I’d been hoping for more in through the door than we’ve seen so far. However it’s important to remember that we’ve not lost any of our big hitters so far and at the moment it looks like it is going to stay that way. Our first XI hasn’t been weakened although, much like last season, an injury or two in certain positions will leave us exposed although there is still time for these shortcomings to be addressed.

We have a very tough start to the season, not just in terms of opposition but also in terms of frequency of games. We have three games in the first week of the season, or five games in the first two weeks of the season if you prefer to look at it like that, which is likely to stretch our resources to the maximum early doors. I get the impression that the way our season pans out depends on how we come through the opening two weeks of the season.

Anyway, I’m ready for the new season and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do.

The question is, what do you think we can manage this season?

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

272 thoughts on “Are you ready for the big kick-off?

  1. @Newkie
    Originally thought it might mean Cabaye dropping back next to Tiote and Ba playing behind the striker, doesn’t look like it now with the Anita signing though.
    Maybe misquote?
    Maybe it means 90% of “the time he plays”, ie that he’ll be on the bench but when he does play it will be up front.
    Excited though, if Anita settles and Santon firmly finds his feet this year we’ll be up to 9 European class players. Even Saylor may join that bracket if he stays injury free.

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  2. Do people think we should really go at Spurs or play it more defensively? *If* we can get the majority of our big guns fit then i’d like to see us go for the kill 😈 Bit wary of a repeat of that horrible Saturday night last February, but they look (on paper at least) a weaker team right now. I really hope they don’t get Adabayor in before saturday. That guy always seems to tear us to bits 😐

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  3. ST-Yeah that’s what I thought, and that’s where I wanted him to be honest. I know what you mean about the “misquote” as I agree it could be interpreted as Cisse and Ba will take turns rotating as the main striker…but I’m not sure they’d be happy with that for the whole season or not. Obviously our 5 games in 15 days or whatever is understandable…maybe Pards is relying on one of them getting injured and making it easy for him 😉

    Still, unless Anita is sublime i’d still say our strongest formation would have Cabaye sitting alongside Tiote, Marv and Benny on the wings and Ba playing behind Cisse.

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  4. Solano @74 See what your saying about waiting until Jan for a striker,but if by some fluke Senegal beat Ivory coast and we lose the Dembas then every club know we need a striker and will hold us to ransom. Reckon that’s a bad gamble to take myself . Would rather we got one in now but still want a CB in first.

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  5. Wyart lane@78 with all our injuries I would be happy with a point.Good luck to you too ,well after you play us that is 😉

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  6. @Kim Yep true. Unfortunately Ashley loves a flutter. Wouldn’t mind as much if we had a youngster on the fringes but we don’t really. Campbell is still a season or two off being in the same position as Sameobi/Tav etc I’d think.

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  7. Assuming we find ourselves in a few comfortable situations throughout the year I’d be happy for Campbell to get some game time….If your good enough your old enough and all that. He seems to have the attitude, may as well give him some cameos. Even just 10min going up against some opposition PL centre halves, he’d learn a lot..

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  8. Kim @64

    yeah too many big names on treatment table , reckon a few could be like “lazerus” come Saturday night if not PC then DB , if not a deflected shot off Simmos **** in the 90 th minute as long as its 3 points will do lol

    Hope they play Modric because he dont want to be there , no heart or passion anymore and difference last year Adebayor seems to be sat in his nice Manchester home at min waiting to rip Levy off

    If we are to challenge for top 4 this year (which i think we will) we can ill afford to drop points at home id prefer those to come in better quality opposition than Spuds

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  9. Excited for the inevitable. Allen to flop and Anita to take the Premiership by storm, leaving Liverpool fans questioning their transfer policy 😆
    They just don’t seem to learn that “flavour of the month” buys like Carroll/Adam/Henderson don’t work if they don’t fit the team!

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  10. Cant understand all the full back talk we need a CB really and with senegal likely to get knocked out of ACON we will have shola, Ba, cisse, HBA, sameobi, and maybe this lil young le mans lad who could hold on for us until jan.

    CB is must

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  11. Newkie I really can’t see what else Pards could mean other than if Ba is fit he will play as a central striker, which imo means Cisse and maybe Benny just behind, but I still think that was a big mistake to assure him of a start in the middle for 90% of the time, because if its better for the team to have Cisse or anyone else there then Ba should have to live with that, theres no I in team

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  12. Cheers ice
    Dave – I wouldnt take pards 90% too literally but can see Ba, cisse and HBA as attacking three as pards seems to favour that style

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  13. Wyart – what a mug eh not being disrespectful he is a good player but hes no world beater to think he above playing for spurs.

    Where would he get into the madrid team anyway? Ahead of ozil, khederia, alonso, Di maria…..

    Another ponce

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  14. Dave-Agreed. Although recently I think Ba has said on twitter that he enjoys playing wherever and whenever, and he’s happy to play for the team…so maybe Pards has talked with him again and convinced him?

    Or we’d be lining up as

    –Cisse—-Ba
    ——Barfa—–
    Tiote-Cabaye-Anita

    Or Ba alongside Barfa behind Cisse.

    Still looks central, on a chalk board 😉

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  15. @Newkie
    Ahhh I reckon you’ve cracked it. Bet that’s the formation Pardew has in mind. With Cabaye on the right of it to possibly whip balls in and Anita on the left.
    Imagine that formation with Santon and Debuchy tearing up either flanks 😯 Would be incredible.

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  16. Solano-Aye, and then we’re free to switch it up either with the same players on and go back to last years 4-3-3 or bring on Marv/or whoever to add width or Obertan as a pace outlet if we’re under pressure..

    Personally I’d keep Cabaye in the middle so he can sort of roam up field a little more, and see more of the ball in general. Agree on Anita on the left, Tiote on the right, Tiote’s crossing actually improved loads last season I thought, and both of them should be able to provide decent service from defensive positions, as well as the odd wonder goal 😀

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  17. Spyro@87 yeah a few in off the **** would be fine 😆

    Dave@93 Agree. 😀

    Interesting ,I just watched Dave Whelan on SSN talking about Wigan. He was asked where he wants the club to be this season .He says they are aiming for top 8 place and eventually want to be in the top 6 teams in England. This is a team that finished 15th last time out with 17 losses and 10 draws (43points). A few of us on here have been ridiculed for suggesting Toon need another top 6 finish and other teams were mentioned as comparisons with many saying would they expect a high finish again or feel it a failure with suggestions they wouldn’t .Well we have the owner of a club stating he wants a top 8 finish after finishing 15th and I suspect every club out of the usual top 6 wants top6/8 and why not I say ,it’s not being delusional it’s aiming high and playing for something other than an also ran. Wanting top 6 again is not being a deluded Toon fan it’s just what every fan wants.

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  18. I would like to think a million or so added onto the original Carroll bid might just be accepted now.

    If we are seen to get Anita and one other in then it’s got to look impressive to most players, providing we don’t offload. !

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  19. @Kimtoon

    It’s not delusional wanting a top 6 finish next season when we finished 5th last term.

    It’s negative to suggest we can’t expect the same again. Some on here have said that. 🙄

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  20. Kim-It’s not delusional wanting a top 8 finish. However expecting it, and regarding anything less no matter the circumstances as a complete failure of a season-to me is a bit ridiculous. That’s where i’d draw the line personally.

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  21. @Kim I just think there’s a difference between fans like you wanting it, and other fans expecting it.
    Every fan wants top 6. Every fan can’t get it though. We can’t expect something when there are so many teams capable of also achieving it.
    I’m sure Man City don’t “expect” the title. We can “expect to challenge for it.”
    But we must accept that we haven’t had to juggle this amount of games in years and that our squad is still very much a work in progress.
    Which is why falling short of top 6 is not a failure.

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  22. @newkie
    Agree. Tbh I think relegation released me expecting unrealistically and I’ve enjoyed supporting us loads since. Before that every season I expected top 6 (though the sums we were paying it was justified) but the talent wasn’t particularly there and I ended up disappointed each year.

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  23. We should beat spurs if they don’t have modric(and parker is injured) even with all of our injuries.

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  24. Plus, can you imagine Dave Wheelan coming out and saying “I think we’ll aim for another season where we struggle to stay in the league, fanny around for most of the season and pull it out the bag at the end, again” ??

    Saying “we’re aiming for mid table” is also, just boring 😉

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  25. ST
    I don’t think relegation quite had the same effect with WH as it did with us with all they’re ridiculous spending. I mean a newly promoted club willing to offer 18m for Caroll is ridiculous.

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  26. @Newkie & Trumpet

    I see failing to qualify for Europa next season as a failure IF it’s because we haven’t bought or bought wisely in the transfer window.

    Nothing can be expected in life BUT if you fail because of lack of vision, preperstion or effort then it’s failure in my book.

    If we have done all of the above and fail to qualify then I wouldnt put it down to failure providing we knocked on the door and just missed out.

    If we end up mid table then I would question last seasons result.

    What do you think?

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  27. Solano-Agree with you completely, i’m basically the same. Ever since 2005 I’d been so angry and continuously disappointed, with the players we had, the managers, the antics, the performances, the results, the football being played.

    Relegation did kind of rejuvenate me, just like it did the club….

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  28. Troy-Yeah I can understand that point of view. That being said, if we brought in Douglas and he was unsure at first (as many foreign players are) we lost Staylor (because we always do) Colo picked up a serious injury, or Krul did, or Ba/Cisse didn’t replicate their quite frankly insane form last year or teams like Everton turned around their notoriously poor start to the season and went great from the start, and Liverpool finally played to their price tag, Chelski overtook us because they can spend 100mil in a summer and Villa got their act together and put a decent string of results together, and we went all out to win won or three cups well….I think I’d forgive us finishing 9/10th.

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  29. I’d say a “failure” is not managing to hit your targets as a business.
    I’d also say our target this coming season is top 6.
    …so by that logic, ‘failure’ to reach the top 6 this coming season would be just that – a failure.

    That’s how I see it anyway. 😎

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  30. @ Andy
    I know it’s just mental. My non Newcastle supporting friends hate it when I preach to them but clubs really should just look to us for a blueprint ❗

    @ Troy
    Yeah, if we didn’t sign a CB with Saylor/Colo getting injured and Cisse/Ba going off to the ACON then the board would have to shoulder much the blame.
    But every club has this issue, Man Utd had a ramshackle back 4 for half of last season. It’s difficult getting in the perfect back up of someone good enough for first team and happy enough to sit on the bench.

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  31. I can understand if we are beset with injuries and have no adequate backup that we will struggle that’s a given .But with a full strength squad and additions we should really expect top 6 again imo . We can play fringe players and younguns in the Europa cup as it pays out sweet fa if you win anyway. PL is our bread and butter and we should concentrate on that and the FAcup . Bearing in mind that the T.V revenue gets more impressive the higher you finish apparently ,I’m pretty sure MA will be expecting a top 6 if not 4 finish .

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  32. I know nothing of Anita but as a balance I must remind you of this comment made when we initially got linked to him;
    The Kid
    2 mos ago
    Not seen this guy myself, but spoken to some Ajax fans and they have said he’s nothing great. Certainly not good enough to replace Tiote…

    Is Kid about to see if he has owt more to add?

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  33. Troy you think it will be a failure to qualify for europe 😯 you will need to get your tin helmet on and get ready to be told your ridiculous, childish and not a real footie fan etc etc 😆 😆

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  34. @BD

    I haven’t had time to take my tin hat off for 48hrs as B&B is in the opposing trench throwing mortar bombs! 😯 😛

    I have left him a list of questions which he has failed to answer but I put that down to him reloaded his bazooka! 😛

    Mind, to be fair, he’s been hitting with pebbles so far. Easiest battle I’ve had with him for years. It’s do much easier when it’s all written down and he can be corrected on his misquotes and muddy water tic tacs!

    I’ve got him over the barrell having been dunked half a dozen times and he’s gasping for air. 😛

    You there B&B? 😆

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  35. Dave, top 6 is essentially the top third (more or less) and it’s where we belong IMO. I’m not saying I want 1st, 2nd or 3rd, although I wouldn’t mind. That would be unrealistic expectations. I can’t understand how anyone can say it’s unrealistic to ‘expect’ top 6. The last time I ‘expected’ top 6 was about 7 years ago, I haven’t since then but we’ve came a long way in the last few years and I now expect it again.

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  36. Rod ,With the calibre of players we have all over the pitch it’s not an unrealistic expectation I agree. Every year for so long I have worried about relegation ,this is the first time in yonks I have felt we are on the verge of something really good ,just hope MA feels the same and invest in some more talent. 😉

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  37. @rodz

    He finished off last night by sneaking on when I went to bed and wrote so many misquotes and twisted meanings that when I read the post I thought he must be talking about someone else.

    I’ve corrected him this morning and asked him a list of questions which he’s failed to answer.

    He may be at work but I can’t wait to hear his answers.

    As I’ve said, he twists and misquotes all the time but cos its not normally written down he believes his own mind.

    There’s no hiding on here and that’s why I like it.

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  38. Troy 😆

    Rod I agree 100% with you mate and have maintained that from the end of last season.
    But I will be interested to see if Solano starts to rant and rave telling you, kim, Troy and a few others that are expecting top 6 that you’s are ridiculous for putting too much pressure on the team etc, the same way he tried to do to me.
    So look forward to finishing later and checking it out 😀 or maybe it’s just me he has a problem with 😉

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  39. Go on any Liverpool forum and they are ALL thinking they will be top 4 nevermind 6 . I wouldn’t swap Toon squad for theirs in a million years .They may well have more passing in their game now bucks there but they won’t win the league and I don’t see top 4 for them either .Non the less they all expect it.

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  40. Exactly Kim, like you say, it ain’t rocket science. Speculate to accumulate and all that. There are probably a thousand sayings which express our current situation. It’s good to see this Anita move looking like it’s on anyway, although I ain’t counting chickens yet! Hopefully there’s a couple more on their way in I.E. a striker and a centre back.

    Looking forward to Saturday, although I’ll be in Glasgow doing our annual Fantasy League auction at a mate’s house, so it’ll be a football blackout until the evening for me. I’m hoping they’re gona record the Spurs game and play it later on. There’ll be some proper dummy-spitting on my part if not.

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  41. Troy, hopefully it’ll re-ignite later then 😆 – most entertaining.

    Dave, I’m fine with other people’s opinions. If it’s a subjective argument then nobody is ‘right’ anyway.

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  42. @Big Dave
    My comment @108 just about covers my feeling on the matter.
    I’m very wary that we are “expecting” to finish above teams that have been finishing above us for years.
    If Everton start like they finish they will be a big threat. If Liverpool realise you can hit the ball inside the woodwork they will be a threat.

    I’m guessing most of us want to give the Europa League a real go yeah? Well that means players like Colo etc having an extra 10 (hopefully) odd games.

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  43. So if we finish 7th, make the Europa final and win the Carlking Cup, it will somehow be an unsuccessful season? I don’t think any fan really believes that if they are being honest.

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  44. MDS
    Replace winningthe Carling(Now Capital one) cup with Europa and we reach a cup final but finish 7th and I’ll be delighted as we’ll be a recognised name throughout Europe and will have silverware.

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  45. MDS, you’re twisting my worms there mate. Of course that wouldn’t be ‘unsuccessful’. There are circumstantial exceptions for most outcomes.

    I’d say it had been an unsuccessful season if we won the league; but in the last month of the season Tiote lost an arm in a shark attack on Tynemouth beach, SJP pitch collapsed due to underground mineshafts, and Cisse decapitated himself in a freak convertible/low bridge accident.

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  46. MDS ,I would love a cup win .If we were to win the FAcup and qualify for Europe again 7th place would be fine as we are showing progress by winning a cup something we ain’t done for years . A cup win would make up for 7th place yes ,for me anyway. 😉

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  47. Troy @498 (other thread) Pointing out your bull ***** really is getting tiresome now. You accuse me of replying to your questions with questions. The trouble is you’re like a drunken sailor on deck in a storm; you’re all over the place. It’s no wonder I have to come back with question after question because you’re so difficult to pin down. You need to revisit my questions to you @225, 232, 241 and a whole load of other posts. You will see you dodge them and simply reply with questions of your own. Hypocritical.

    You say “twisting quotes again”. No twisting quotes, fella. Everything in quotes is your words; cut and pasted, pal.

    You say, “Finally, you accused me of misquoting someone in your last post and advised me to check what comes out of my mouth before criticising others. I replied to that and stated I had never misquoted anyone Anns pointed out JJ misquoted me.”

    CC @319 questions your Llambias quote and you say @359, “(Sorry I said Llambias instead of saying Pardew who was quoting Llambias’ boss. )” Really!

    You say, “As far as Wellington goes. I can only assume you haven’t read his post either? If you have then no one was accusing anyone of misquoting.” What did Wellington mean @411 when, following your quote, he says “This is false.”?

    You say @375, “But let’s not digress from the very first issue that this is all about. You stated, Most if not all of the £35m had been spent. I’ve explained time and time again why I believe it hasn’t on players, which is where Ashley stated it would be spent. I’m still waiting for you to explain where it’s gone as all I get its gone, as I’ve all I’ve had is irrelevant finances (laughable in itself) and statements about players fees, agents, youth teams.

    You talk about twisting things. When have I argued that the money has all been spent on players? I simply said “spent”. You could argue, reasonably in my view, that most, if not all of it, has been spent on players, if some of it was used to pay off millions owing on players.

    But this was never the wrong you were trying to right. You were arguing against my comment that there is little, if any, of the £35M left with which to buy players.

    In answer to whumpie @362 “This is not moaning about the club, it was me trying to stop people making sweeping statements that really are utter rubbish.” In fact your tirade against Ashley @369 is a moan. Everything you’ve said is about you holding the regime to account for broken promises. You wanting a further £30M or so spent.

    You say @359 “If you are content with Ashley promising the cash will be spent in players at the point of sale then reneging 6months down the line and saying it will now be reinvested in the club, then more fool you.”
    You ask, “Have I once said I wanted all the Carroll money spent?”

    This is a point I’ve been asking you to clarify as the whole thrust of your thread is that you have wanted all the Carroll money to be spent. In my view, your statement, “We are still waiting for the Carroll money to be spent” was a clear criticism of the regime. If you do not want all the Carroll money to be spent, why do you say you are still waiting for the Carroll money to be spent?

    You say, “I’m questioning why there was no money when we have a surplus of £25m -£30m on transfers since Carroll was sold.” You also say, “Am I not just stating that money should have been made available to buy a CB of quality and we might have been one step closer to building Rome by being in the CL.”

    No, you are not just saying that, although you have changed your ground substantially. It’s a good job for you that that did not happen because you were so confident that we would not get anywhere near the top four that you almost lost £5,000! The least you say about that the better.

    How is there no money anyway? The club is working on transfers at the moment so there is clearly a transfer budget. However, there’s certainly not the £25M – £30M that you are waiting to be spent, unless the maverick Ashley sees a huge bargain (buy Carroll, sell Carroll?).

    To piece together what you seem to be saying: we have £25M to £30M to spend; you are waiting for the regime to meet its promises and spend it; in the end, when pressed, you end up by saying you just want them to buy a centreback.

    You keep saying Pards has been denied a centre back to the detriment of the club. If Pards wants a centreback as a priority, why is the club using what money there is to capture another midfielder? Be patient, stop criticising, and we will get a centre back.

    What best sums you up is your argument that the accounts that include the Carroll cash are irrelevant when considering the amount of Carroll cash available for transfers. 😳

    By the way, your correction @115 of your spelling is still wrong. Can you get nowt right? Its no wonder you’re so hard to follow; Munich Mag was in knots with you @227.

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  48. Andy, I ain’t seen it actually. But I’ll assume there’s a decapitation scene in there. 😀

    BLIMEY B&B! 😯 I’ll read that when I put mi tea oot… 😆 😎

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  49. Rodz – Was it you who said arguing with Troy is like trying to pin water to a tree? I cannot think of a more appropriate analogy. He’s sure to come back. However, I’m simply no good at pinning water to trees, and I’ll have to let him have the last word.

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