For me this is one of those “write off” games where I’m not expecting anything but if we do manage to grab a point or three it will be more than a welcome bonus.
The task is tough. City have quality all over the pitch and even though they’ve looked poor in recent weeks and have seen any chance of retaining their title shrink to just a slim glimmer of hope as their city rivals seemingly run away with things, the fact is that we’ve NEVER won at the Etihad and you have to go back to the year 2000 to find the last time we managed a win at Manchester City’s old ground.
Of course anything can happen in football and all that, but Manchester City will be overwhelming favourites for this and need to win to maintain any hope of prolonging their chase of Manchester United for another week. Perhaps the added pressure could would in our favour? I don’t know, but an unexpected point or three wouldn’t go amiss as we look to put some distance between ourselves and those scrapping it out in the relegation mix.
Manchester City:
Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and Vincent Kompany are all available after recovering from injury ensuring Roberto Mancini has virtually a full squad to choose from.
Newcastle:
Alan Pardew has somewhat of a selection headache when it comes to the full back positions on both sides of the pitch. Davide Santon, Mathieu Debuchy and, luckily for not as long as was first feared, Massadio Haidara are all missing so I’m assuming we’ll see Danny Simpson at right-back with Jonas Gutierrez at left-back.
Cheik Tiote is also unavailable although given the way he’s been playing since he started believing his own hype I’m not sure whether his absence is a good thing or a bad thing.
Tim Krul is back in training but won’t be considered for selection while Fabricio Coloccini is back on Tyneside but still approximately three weeks away from full fitness. Hatem Ben Arfa is still out although may not have to go under the knife to cure his hamstring problem whilst Ryan Taylor and Haris Vuckic remain out.
Previously…
City won the reverse fixture 3-1 at St James’ park just before Christmas and in truth it was pretty comfortable for them, so a win tomorrow would complete City’s third consecutive league double over us.
Recently we’ve been poor against City. Of course that has been aided by the increase in the ability of players they have at their disposal, but overall we still hold the advantage when it comes to head-to-head records. There have been 166 games between the two sides. United have won 70, City have won 58 with the other 38 ending in a draw.
Stats and facts:
Mike Williamson could make his 100th appearance for United.
Manchester City have lost just once at home this season and have conceded a league-lowest 11 goals at home. To add to that, City have the best defensive record in the entire league as things stand.
Newcastle have kept one clean sheet in their last 12 league games.
United have conceded 35 second-half goals this term. Only Aston Villa have conceded more (37) in the second half of matches.
Final thought…
Anything is a bonus really for me. I don’t expect anything but if we turn up and play to our potential then you just never know. I’m not banking on any points though so as long as we give a good account of ourselves against a team that has undoubted within its ranks I’ll be happy enough.
Howay the lads!
Date: Saturday, 30th March, 2013
Time: 3pm
Venue: The Etihad Stadium
Totally agree. Anything will be a bonus.
Only question for me is whether we replace Tiote with Anita or Perch.
premandup(Quote)
Good assessment Toonsy, I would add that at this point they are not really chasing Man U so much as keeping above Chelsea and ****/Spuds in the race for the lucrative top 3, non-qualifying round champs league spots.
DJG(Quote)
Don’t think we have a chance of winning this. Just hope we play a lot better than in the Wigan game, which really should not be that hard considering how bad we played.
A win would put me on cloud nine for about a month though 😀
Santii(Quote)
If we won with the absentees that we’ve got then we really are top 6 challenging team and I’d expect us to be up there next season.
Andymag(Quote)
Nothing to see here im afraid,
Elliott,
Simmo, Taylor, Mbwia, Perch
Anita, Cabaye, Sissoko.
Marv, Cisse, Goofy
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
Toonsy good preview, and maybe sometime Willo will save you a bit of writing 😆 but I wouldn’t hold your breath.
With a full team I would have had higher hopes but with the team atm i’m not expecting owt.
But Citeh are beatable so you never know, as long as we give it our all i’ll be happy
Big Dave(Quote)
I would have Jonas at LB, going to need some work rate against Milner or whoever on their wide right. would have Sissoko up against yaya toure in the middle. but agree the rest picks its self.
kev(Quote)
A point and no new injuries would be nice 🙂 Cannot see it though.
Munich Mag(Quote)
no points and no injuries might be best we get
kev(Quote)
0-3 – Cisse hat trick!!!!
Ok, so I agree with everyone else in that a point would be a highly unlikely one. In fact a defeat by less than 2 goals would do as goal difference may have a role to play if things get *** squeakily bad.
—————- Elliott ————-
Simmo – Saylor – MYM – Jonas
——— Anita —– Cabs ———-
—- goofy – Sissoko – Marv —–
————— Cisse —————-
That would be my 11 to face Shitey.
Sharpy17(Quote)
too be honest dont see why we dont give campbell a run-out in a write off game, we might need him in the more important games if Cisse picks up an injury, wouldn’t want to have to blood him in must win home games such as Fulham and 5-1ers.
kev(Quote)
Have you seen the fixture the Mackem’s have left, and with their top scorer out for the season! They didn’t make hay while the sun was shining and now have a tough run in! Squeaky *** time in Mackem land. 😮
DJG(Quote)
Makkems run in…
March
30 Man Utd (H)
April
6 Chelsea (A)
13 Newcastle (A)
20 Everton (H)
27 Aston Villa (A)
May
4 Stoke (H)
12 Southampton (H)
19 Tottenham (A)
Munich Mag(Quote)
By the time they play Villa they could be in a spot of bother and Villa will be fighting for life. I wouldn’t fancy Tottenham away for a last day survival battle. 😮
DJG(Quote)
1-3
Stuart79(Quote)
Fergie doing alright for Birmingham
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
Good preview Toonsy , I can’t see anything but a loss for us . Can’t believe Kompany ,Aguero and Yaya Toure all make back in time for us ,typical 🙄 . Just have to hope they have an off day and we play a blinder . 😉
KIMTOON(Quote)
Dave @ 67 previous thread – The reason I’m so late in replaying is that I’ve been to my twins’ birthday party this afternoon. (If I’m not making any sense, it’s because I’ve had a few tinnies.)
I’m not sure of your point? It’s common for owners of group companies for tax purposes to carry out non arms-length transactions between themselves.
You say SD should be paying NUFC to advertise. If it isn’t, and you’re not happy about it, it’s surely over to you to answer the question as to why it isn’t? By your logic, it is surely in Mikey’s own interests to get SD to pay on a full commercial basis, as he is 100% owner of NUFC and only a part owner of SD. Why isn’t he? Surely, you have got to explain what he has got to gain by not doing so. I’ve given you my reason. What’s yours?
I will take your post and try to answer it in full for fear of being accused of not doing so:
“B&B could you tell me where is the proof that SD is paying our mortgage?” I think you may have misunderstood what I’m saying. I’m saying Mikey has given the club an interest free loan. My reference to a mortgage was an analogy: if someone visits you and offers to give you a massive freebie, you wouldn’t diss them for not offering to pay for the cup of tea you’ve given them, would you?
If you, Dave, were to give the same loan of £140M, it might cost you and your family upwards of £10M a year. If Munich, as a supporter of NUFC, complained that your majority owned company didn’t repay a small fraction of this in advertising costs, you’d feel pretty insulted, wouldn’t you – even if part of the benefit to NUFC arose from tax advantages you were able to swing your way?
You say he is going to get all his money back anyway. If that’s the case, he should charge SD for advertising as it would be to his benefit when he sells. That’s because NUFC, of which he is 100% owner, would be better off as against SD, of which he is only a majority shareholder. If he’s not charging it, why isn’t he? I’ve given you my explanation, but if you’re complaining that NUFC is giving SD a freebie, you give me yours.
You say, “As for Mike lending his own club money we have been over this hundreds of times, when he sells the club he will get his money back including the interest free loan he lent himself.” I’m surprised you’re saying this if you’ve been over it a hundred times. Not because I haven’t seen the argument before, which I haven’t, but because there is a big difference. If Mikey lends NUFC £140M interest free, the only entity to benefit is NUFC. When he sells the club, NUFC retains that benefit. If Mikey were to charge interest, the loan would be bigger and NUFC would be worse off. This would mean that NUFC would be worth less on a sale and Mikey’s loan, or Mikey himself, depending on how much had been paid off, would be worth more. So, when Mikey sells, he would be in the same position overall. The club, however, would be worse off if Mikey were to charge interest.
To sum up, would you prefer Mikey to charge NUFC the going rate for a £140M loan, which he is entitled to do, and for SD to pay NUFC a commercial rate for advertising? I’m just not sure where you’re coming from?
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Please keep the response brief
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
TLR – Thanks for your advice. Good that you have something to say.
I thought I was doing well considering I’m now well served.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
TLR – Perhaps you could give your BRIEF opinion on the rights and wrongs of SD not paying for advertising? 😛
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
B&B
I am jealous I have not had a few tinnies
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and Vincent Kompany have all been injured. And I thought it was only our top players that got injured. 😐 😆
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
TLR – I’ve been meaning to ask you. Is that avatar a pitcure of your sis? 😯
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
SD should clearly be paying for advertising.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stuart79@25, they probably are in some bizarre nefarious accountant friendly way…
Munich Mag(Quote)
B+B don’t mean to be rude but you lost me when I started having to go through all that.
You say that Jabba has gave us a £140 mil interest free loan ?? do we own the club ? or has he put £140 mil into the club he owns ??? as I cant work out why he would give us the loan ???
So maybe you could keep it simple and just answer the main point did he give us ( the fans ) the loan or did he give himself the loan ??
Big Dave(Quote)
BB@23 , The trouble is when our best players are injured they rarely all come back at the same time and when they do come back they invariably break down again 🙄 🙁 .
KIMTOON(Quote)
Oh and by the way B+B I had no intention of starting all this ****, I was merely making a point after you accused me of nit picking about SD not paying for the advertisement, to which you said,
BLACKLEY & BROWNLIE
March 29, 2013 at 10:35 (Edit)
I can’t believe anyone wants to nitpick over the advertising. It’s like a benefactor turns up at your dooor out of the blue and offers to pay off your mortgage for nothing in return, and you want to charge him for a cup of tea.
So I just asked the simple question if you had proof that SD were ” paying the mortgage” ???
Big Dave(Quote)
🙄 I just hope someone isn’t writing out another essay 😀
Big Dave(Quote)
BD @ 27 – Ashley gave NUFC the massive interest free loan. That’s why NUFC benefits.
As kev says on the pevious thread, it’s all the same to Ashley. However, it’s not all the same to NUFC. NUFC benefits massively. That’s why I’m saying anyone carping on about SD paying for advertising is nitpicking. That’s my simple point: “nitpicking”.
If you disagree about all this, and clearly you do, then answer my question. By your logic, it is surely in Mikey’s own interests to get SD to pay on a full commercial basis, as he is 100% owner of NUFC and only a part owner of SD. Why isn’t he? Surely, you have got to explain what he has got to gain by not doing so. I’ve given you my reason. What’s yours?
@29 you say “So I just asked the simple question if you had proof that SD were ” paying the mortgage” ??? My point was about nitpicking. Someone giving you a major financial benefit and you complaining about him, and slagging him off to the neighbours after he’s given you the good news and gone, that he didn’t leave you any money for the cup of tea. I’ve given you my reasoning as to why it’s nitpicking. What’s yours? I know you’ve been over it 200 times before, and satisfied yourself, but I don’t get it.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Kim @ 29 About the players rarely coming back at the same time. That can be a good thing or a bad thing. It depends on whether your glass is half empty or half full. With poor managers, like Pards, it’s always half empty and I’ll be waiting for him to use that one. To my mind, what counts is how many big players are out and for how long, not whether or not they all come back together. My point was simply that certain fans, on the back of our manager’s comments, make such a big deal of our injuries and yet I read above that City have had their three best players out. Every team gets injuries, sometimes to their best players, but they get on with it. Many of our rivals at the bottom haven’t got the quality of squad that pards has got at his disposal to counter it when it happens. When City beat us, and other sides around us pick up points, it ramps up the pressure massively. Despite what some people say, I think we’re still right in the dooky.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
B+B so you prove yet again that you can’t give a simple answer without answering it without a question, if you can’t or don’t want to give a simple answer just tell me ❓
Did Jabba give us the Fans the loan ❓ or did he give NUFC the club he owns himself the £140 mil loan ?.
I could pick further points in your post @ 31 but I will stick with the question above for now 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
B&B @32 ,I take your’e point ,yes all teams suffer injuries ,but teams like Citeh have so much quality in the squad that they get by where as we and the smaller clubs can’t cope so well . Missing Benny for so much of the season has really hampered our creativity ,and we really missed Cabaye too ,I didn’t realise quite how much until he returned. Saylor was a huge miss as well ,not many teams have to struggle by with a Willo in the back four 😉 .
KIMTOON(Quote)
Dave – @27 you asked did he give us the loan or himself the loan? My first statement @ 31 answered your question. I know you don’t read if it’s any more than a few sentences but this was the very first sentence. I said Ashley gave NUFC the massive interest free loan and to me I has categorically answered your question. Sometimes I might use “us” and “NUFC” interchangeably, but that’s okay isn’t it? You weren’t taking me to mean that ashley was giving a loan you and me personally, were you? It really is quite simple. When are you going to answer my questions?
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Kim @ 34 – I largely agree. But Benny, Cabs and Sayls have played quite a bit this season and for that my grateful glass is half full. The teams around us have had to rely on their own Willo’s and worse, I’m sure.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Kim your right our injuries hit us far worse because as you said we don’t have as good of quality replacements as the big boys, so IMO us missing just 1 of our main players is as bad as Citeh missing 2 of theirs, but I guess thats Pards fault 😆 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
B+B so your saying he gave himself the loan ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave @ 37 – It’s easier if I take it in simople steps for you, I can see that now. Pards and the pardophiles like yourself have made excuses about our injuries. I have argued ours are no worse than other teams. All teams suffer injuries including all our rivals in the bottom half. To hear some people talk, teams don’t have the misfortune of having their three best players out at once. Having read the article above, I just happened to make the point that City are an example of a team that has been in that position. (Arguably, they are their three best players.) The fact that they have a much bigger and better squad than ours is irrelevant. It’s not pards fault that we get injuries, but it is his fault if he points to that as a reason for our poor season. That’s because we are up against other teams which suffer from injuries much the same. It is just another baseless excuse. I don’t want excuses, particularly not baseless ones.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Good on Fergie for getting a goal today and an assist for CP’s own goal, Inman also scored for Crewe but I can’t see him having a senior career with us.
Andymag(Quote)
So because Jabba gave himself ( NUFC ) a loan we should all be grateful and not question why SD get a massive global advertisement hoarding for free, when we could sell the same advertisement space to companies that are willing to pay for it .
maybe it’s because if the money goes into the club ( NUFC ) that Jabba owns it would then be expected to go back into the club and not Jabba’s pocket.
But if on the other hand SD make more money out of the global advertising hoarding @ SJP then Jabba gets to pocket that with no questions asked, and maybe thats also why SD can afford to sell a replica shirt almost £20 cheaper than the club shop sells them 😀
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave @ 38 – I’m really not trying to be funny here, and I know I’ve had a few tinnies, which is unusual for me, but it looks like you’re just being a complete tool. I apologise if I’ve got you wrong and it is my fault, but I cannot think of a simpler way of saying it. No, he did not give himself the loan. He gave NUFC the loan. I must have said this at least three times now. I don’t think I have said anywhere above he gave himself the loan such that you might be confused, but if I have, I’m not saying that. Surely by now you understand the point I’m making? He gave NUFC the loan, and NUFC benefits far more from that than loses out from the lack of any piffling advertising fees that you want to carp on about.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
I was just hypothetically discussing with Rio and Anton, (hahahaha, stupid 80s names) how much of a ****** like me would ACTUALLY be insane if I was listening to Haircut 1000, as opposed to Kanye (mthfkn) West?
The results are in…
20% – You are mentil
50% – Just forget about it
30% – bollocks
Rodzilla(Quote)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RijB8wnJCN0
Rodzilla(Quote)
B+B > No, he did not give himself the loan. He gave NUFC the loan
who owns NUFC ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave – Where we differ is that Jabba didn’t give himself a massive interest free loan. He gave it to NUFC, our club. Do you understand the different ways to invest in companies? Commonly, owners either loan money or use it to increase their equity. Broadly speaking, the overall value to the owner is the same, but a loan is more flexible, and for certain tax purposes, more tax efficient to the owner. As far as the recipient company is concerned, in this case NUFC, it is far better to have an interest free loan rather than a loan on full commercial terms. I note the club’s indebtedness has now dropped too despite not getting any money for advertising, if indeed that is the case, so full credit to Mikey for that. I don’t know why it sticks in your throat to say so.
I’m sick of loans now, so unless you want to answer my questions to you, I’m not going to mention it again tonight. In fact, I’m getting off. Suffice to say, it’s ironic that I answer all your questions, sometimes the same question three times, despite your accusations that I don’t, and yet you don’t answer any of mine. No change there.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Ah the old injuries are the same for everybody thing. Are we really trying to convince everyone that its the same for us as it is for Citeh when three top players are crocked? Really?
Combine the shallow squad we had pre-January and the almost tactical attrition of our regular choices against a third of a billion nicker worth of top class talent having a blip at City and it gets laughable. Having an entrenched agenda to denigrate the present NUFC setup is one thing, but stretching statistics to level the field is another. There`s no doubt that if we lose two key players, we start struggling. City, Chelsea, Man U, Arsenal just throw another multi-million sub that we wish we had on, and carry on.
The proof of it is, we tried throwing the likes of Bigi and Sammy in and dropped like a brick down the table. You can`t tell me that if City lost Aguero, Toure and Kompany to injury they would be down here scrapping it out with us.
Tsunki(Quote)
B+B as for your complete tool comment I will just give that a bye ball, I try to refrain from childish abuse etc etc on here when im having a debate, as I like to show people a bit of respect, or maybe it’s just the drink talking in this instance, so maybe it’s better that you do get off 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave @ 45 – you’re just not getting it, are you? He is saving NUFC boat loads of wonga by giving it an interest free loan. It just so happens it doesn’t really affect his overall wealth. If he sells NUFC in ten years time having saved it £10M a year for ten years, the purchasers will pay him that much more for his shares because the club itself is that much more wealthy. The bottom line is that that extra money is IN OUR CLUB. The club can spend it on players, or it can pay off it’s loan. Either way, it benefits our club massively. What’s more, if the club uses the money saved to continue to do well in the transfer market, it could be substantially better off.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Fucking hell 😛 😆
..you’re such an arrogant ****! 😆 😛 😯 😆
Rodzilla(Quote)
…all good drama 😉
Rodzilla(Quote)
…but FFS
Rodzilla(Quote)
Dave @ 48 – I never said you were one. I said “it looks like you’re just being” one and I apologised if I was wrong and you weren’t just being stupid deliberately. It is clear for any one to see that I answered your question over and over again and yet you were accusing me of not doing so. If you weren’t doing ti deliberately, then the cap doesn’t fit.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Geoffrey went to the shop with $5.
He bought a quart of ****, 3 cheese balls and a ******.
Let’s bomb North Korea
Rodzilla(Quote)
Tsunks @ 47 Did you read my point to Kim @ 32? My simple point is that all teams get injuries to their best players from time to time in the course of a season. The article above commenting on City shows that, but many on here would have you beleive that injuries to best players only happens to us. Of course, City have a far better squad than ours and I’m not asking pards to compete with them FFS.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
…just as well you’re not one hat as well.
Rodzilla(Quote)
BBC News just showed Shane Ferguson’s free kick goal and described him as a “trainee”.
He isn’t a Birmingham player and he is about 22 years old. How poor can you get in terms of research.
funkyjesus(Quote)
B&B is both right and wrong.
He’s right that Ashley paying off the bank loan with one himself massively benefits us. 10M or whatever a year that the club is saving on interest is fantastic.
But advertising should still be paid for. It shouldn’t be “oh Ashley has done one nice thing for us, that means he can have the advertising for free”, it should be deducted, even at 5M a year, from the debt owed to him.
I have no problem with Ashley taking money on top of that to pay himself back, I don’t see why Stu has a problem with that, you put money into a company, you want it back at some point.
Would you prefer to Ashley remains there? That means a prospective owner either has to pay Ashley the money back outright or take out a loan (and the interest) to pay him back :/
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
Would you prefer the debt to Ashley remains there*
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
It looks like Rodz has a day off from the corperate grind. I remember him before he started working for the man, before he sold out. He was more edgy back in those days 🙂 🙂 🙂
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Regarding the SD advertising… Who gives a **** if he gets it for free or not, why is it anyone’s concern other than the clubs. If Ashley was a great bloke and everyone loved him, no one would care about it. I am sure that if another sponser wanted to pay for signage at the groung, the SD signs would come down.
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Strumps @ 58 – You’re both right and wrong. You’re right when you agree with me and wrong when you don’t.
First, as long as NUFC is substantially benefiting, it doesn’t matter that SD doesn’t pay for advertising. So, NUFC could charge SD for advertising, but then Ashley would just say, if that the case, I will reduce the benefit of my interest free loan accordingly. Swings and roundabouts, so what’s your point? NUFC benefits overall. What’s the basis of your insistence?
Second, if Ashley and his companies are better off overall taxwise as a result of structuring matters a certain way, and he uses some of that saving to benefit the club, why would you insist on doing things differently?
Third, I would question your view that the advertising rights are roughly half the benefit of the interest free loan or anywhere near it.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
B&B I feel the FFS and appreciate what you say about injuries affecting everyone, but when you say
“It’s not pards fault that we get injuries, but it is his fault if he points to that as a reason for our poor season.”
It doesnt make sense, sorry. It would if you were among those that thought our pre-January squad was any good but it plainly wasnt. Its still not that great now. But back then we were throwing unprepared kids with no more than useless reserve footy experience into crucial prem games. Thats why we are now down here with all the utility-player sides. I just dont think we had the makings of a side even SAF, Benitez or Villas-Boas or any other magical tactician could have worked wonders with. We had a **** team full stop. It stops being an excuse when its just a fact. I just dont understand where you think Pardew could have engineered a good side from them. I think the best illustration of a team that has been motivated beyond their capabilities is one that plays out of its skin and gets hammered badly by proper teams like Man U and Arsenal in quick succession, and ends up shattered and demoralised for weeks afterward.
Tsunki(Quote)
B&B – “Strumps @ 58 – You’re both right and wrong. You’re right when you agree with me and wrong when you don’t.”
😆
Tsunki(Quote)
Strumps – would I prefer the debt to Ashley to remain. Ideally, Ashley would gift the momey to the club instead of loaning it. However, there are sound commercial and tax reasons why he doesn’t. The next best alternative is what is happening, which is an interest free loan, which benefits the club massively. The more the club saves, the more it can repay the loan, which seems to be what is happening. It would be appear ashley is gradually shifting debt to equity. Why knock it? Why nitpick about piffling advertising when all the time the club is benefiting as the accounts show?
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Mind, I can`t see how holes can be picked in an interest-free loan. Getting ANY loan would be a miracle for portsmouth, coventry…. The commercial ins and outs of why Ashley is doing it is irrelevant. He`s done it, cheers!
Tsunki(Quote)
Tsunki @ 63 But I do think out pre-january squad was good. That’s the point. We finished fifth last season. Nobody at the start of the season was thinking we’d be flirting with relegation. When they were complaining about the lack of a CB etc, it was with a view to challenging for Europe. I think our squad was a top eight squad; it’s since been massively strengthened, but the results and more importantly for me the performances, have been well below what you’d expect. You might criticise our squad, but I’m comparing it with West ham’s Stoke’s, West Brom’s etc. Pards would like to blame our rank under-achievement on injuries, but as I say, our injuries are no more than the average for any team. Injuries, unless they are remarkable, can never be an excuse. We often play teams who have their best players out through injury.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Tsunki @ 66 – It’s as simple as that for me. If the advertising was worth more than the interest free loan, you’d ask questions, but surely nobody’s suggesting that it is?
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
B&B @67 – yes a good fighting team with high morale but one that was so thin a mere couple of key injuries flipped the switch. I think it shocked everybody how inadequate our backup was and the January spree showed a level of firefighting that bordered on panic at how they had all overestimated the depth of quality. Flimsy, lightweight, lacking substance.
Having said all that though, I would concede that I would be far less understanding if Pardew managed to steer his `new` squad to relegation.
Tsunki(Quote)
Has anyone mentioned that chris houghtons norwich are above us in the table having spent a lot less and with smaller resources. just saying 😀
kev(Quote)
Bb..i think you are confused on the nufc situation. the only way nufc could exist as a third party was if they were a limited company and mike ashley was just a majority shareholder. then it would be ma lending nufc the money. but nufc was delisted and is now a private company owned solely by ma.. so it is ma lending ma money..sadly nufc does not exist in its own right. if ma wamts to call it mike.ashley.f.c and we play in red white and blue..he can.. no votes.. just his whim…oh **** i hope he doesnt read this might give him ideas.
kev(Quote)
Just happy to be watching the lads again. Steeling myself against defeat, hoping to hold out for a draw, dreaming of a win.
I’m looking forward to seeing how all the other games pan out as well.
And I’m looking forward to the Perth Glory v Adelaide game this afternoon.
brisvegas(Quote)
http://www.goalsarena.org/video/england-barclays-premier-league/29-03-2013-crystal-palace-0-4-birmingham-championship_en.html
Fergie’s FK is peachy 😎
M(Quote)
Agree with Vegas 🙂
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Tsunki@63 has got it spot on in my opinion….
“I think the best illustration of a team that has been motivated beyond their capabilities is one that plays out of its skin and gets hammered badly by proper teams like Man U and Arsenal in quick succession, and ends up shattered and demoralised for weeks afterward.”….
The obvious injury situation, distraction of Europa League, the hereto unrecognised weaknesses of the so called back-up squad, and the alleged tactical inadequacies of our manager can all be cited as facts as to why we have been pretty gash for the majority of the season. At the end of the day, we are close to the bottom of the league on performances alone, no flukes here I’m afraid..
What is interesting is that with a few good results we could finish as high as tenth, no sweat. With a few bad results we could get relegated or finish 17th with some serious sphincter control being called upon. Goodness knows where we would have been without the boost of our January signings 🙄 . Even allowing for that, we are still a long way from being out of the brown stuff imo.
btw …. thank goodness we got the distractions of the FA Cup etc out of the way pretty quickly, that was a master tactical move by the club…
Munich Mag(Quote)