Phil

He gave up drink after the assault in December 2007 and has been keeping his nose clean. you always seem to have a lot to say in bartons defence may I ask why you seem to like him so much? I went to Uni in Manchester so saw him play a lot at City.

He gave up drink after the assault in December 2007 and has been keeping his nose clean.

Financial year end? Yep, bringing money forward to help balance books, thats not good business, people slated Shepherd for buying England strikers using sponsorship money yet again however we're getting in future ST money early which means it wont be available come next seasons transfers. I think your conspiracy compass is working overdrive, a chairman who wants people buy season tickets, something must be up. When money comes in has no relevance on when it goes out.

that was a class goal.... similar to gazzas

This is my favorite http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pBSpxcOCm8

Financial year end?

£147m of debt versus £70m of debt. Losing £25m a season versus losing £30m a season. That's stabalised? Maybe you should wait until the accounts are actually published, before you quote them. Or better still dont post anything as you clearly dont understand what's already been published.... 70m

And it continued its slide into the Championship under his running. ...and thankfully we are going back up. So what is your point??

I don't think even CT would claim he hasn't done anything wrong. In heinsight sure, but that heinsight for you.

Ashley has it all to prove, but you are kinding yourself if you dont think the club was on the slide before he took over. I'm in the pro-ashley camp because i dont think he done anything wrong. That siad, he's still got a lot of work to do to even get on level pegging as the old regime.

Despite CT's daft response the question still stands! Why if Leazers accepts the old regime made mistakes and we accept they gave us the best football in years does he keep banging on about them?

While the end result is the same, there is a massive difference between actively seeking a buyer and willing to accept an offer. With the later having no major influcence on the team. bit harsh... Personally i think owners/chairmen should let the manager/players do all the talking.

Guess that means i'm LLambias-esque If the club is put up for sale again in the summer i'll hold my hands up and say I was duped. What do you think his orginal intention was in buying the club - money, branding, fun?

Care to expand on which bit particular you disagree with?

Your whole statment is massively flawed. The old regime didn't live within their means. As a fan i was over the moon with Owen's arrival, but adding 10m debt a year meant it was a risk we simply couldn't afford to take. As custodians of the club there job was to rationalise the risk/reward, but they run it like fans, getting carried away with the hype - and rather than minimising the risk by loading his contract with clauses if we didn't make Europe they bent over and took one from his agent. People who critise the old regime don't come to the match thinking its monolpoly viewing players like financial assest. They were just sick of players like Kieron 'f**kin' Dyer picking up £80k a week.... I'd love to hear you justification for Dyer being on £80k a week, as we gave him that knowing he was a sick note! Also, I think our views of Ashley's business model is also incorrect. I dont see his aim to make us into profitable entity, just a self sufficent one. He brought in more players in January than any other club. Ok, Best may not live up to his name, but he's a player that fits our needs perfectly and you have to be a realist, there were no better players availible. Maybe Victor Moses, but his agent made my blood boil, the goon was constantly on Sky Sports bigging him up spouting rubbish about Real Madrid being interested link. Under the old regime we would have taken one from his agent to get him. Sure Ashleys made mistakes, but I truely belive he is learning.

I think you are over judging how good the Premiership there are several teams we could compete with today. > Birmingham > Stoke City > Blackburn > Bolton > Wolves > Burnley > Hull City > Portsmouth Selling Taylor wouldn't make sense as you can't buy his level of commitment and loyalty. So who else do you think will be found out?

I'd say the fault wasn't in Boumsong or Coloccini, more the player alongside in most cases. Boumsong got hung out to dry by Roeder after partnering some lightweight reserve on the night. Coloccini looked awful alongside Steve Taylor who far from being the big dominant centre half used to run back to his goal line as a second keeper in the premier. Not surprised that the scapegoat was a foreigner considering Leazes is the topic starter though. So, somebody is shite and you blame his partner ? Typical NO bollocks. What have you been drinking ? Fact is, you are either a good central defender or you aren't, its got nowt to do with your partner. Boumsong was shit, and NO was absolutely full of posts by arseholes like you who insisted he was great, and more to the point slated the board at the time for not handing more and more money to the very manager who bought him to push the club on only for them again to slate the same board for not winning the premiership. The same people are now praising Mike Ashley for being the mastermind behind a relegation and a glorious promotion campaign, insisting he is"getting it right" when he is light years short, still, of achieving what his predecessors did. I think, personally, you should fuck off and debate how great Mike Ashley with your bum chums ie thickmick, macbeth, baggio, and all the other tosspots who can't bring themselves to admit they were spouting absolute shit for years. Shows you know less about football than business, quite an achievement. I know a fair bit about football lad, and I know that in football you have to take risks if you want to succeed. You are either a good footballer at a certain level in a certain league or you are not. Simple as that. Boumsong would not make a good premiership central defender no matter who his partner was. ....and yet he's playing in the champions league. so you think that makes him a good premiership defender ? I hope for your sake, ref the reply you made to me the other day, you know more about business than you do about football You're not one of these NO accountants who are trying to make a case for Mike Ashley are you I guess we look for different attributes in a player. Not that many would agree, but i liked Rozenhal. we certainly must. I never thought he would be a good premiership defender either. What do you think of Colocinni ? I'm usually right in my assessment of players mind with several instances and posts on here you can find if you like. I think he's a good player with a largely injury free record. He's not in the same class as Woodgate, but then Woodgate is never availible - so it's a fair trade off. Our midfield are painfully slow at coverng ground and rarely looked to collect the ball from the defenders, so he's not someone i'd consider replacing. Also, I'm not a big fan of making changes in the team for little gain so i'd definately stick with him for a few more years. Although I did say in another thread I'd happily let him go if we could bring in Wheater, but it's pie in the sky. What do you think of S.Taylor?

The money he made selling our club to the first person that would give him the blood money he wanted? regardless of that persons intentions or ability? selling his shares behind the back of his business parter (ie Shepherd) while he lay in a hospital bed? All that is twatful, at best. To be, however, our clubs life president and never be seen at the ground or never be seen to be questioning whats going on is unforgivable. The final nail in the coffin however is to then write an article bleating on about how clubs being bought by people with money who want them as a plaything is wrong when he sold the club to someone who gave that very same reason for taking over. As for not having a problem with the money he made when he decided to get out, Id love to be in a position where I take on a football club "for the love of it", put in a fairly minimal investment then make millions a year out of it and then sell it on for £55m profit and still have people saying he deserves it. You're one of a kind though CT I'll give you that, in one thread you'll argue that the Halls almost bankrupted us and Ashley saved the club yet in another you say you think they fully deserved the millions they took from us. You cant have it both ways, any criticism thrown at Shepherd must also equally go to the Halls, just as the praise for the good times should to. As Caulkin said, take a look down the road for how selling your local football club should be done. Not for the highest bidder or the first past the post but ensuring they have the clubs interests at heart. When you compare what Hall has to say with the article that Sir Bobby wrote a few months before his death it's like chalk and cheese. Whilst gracious that Ashley treated him like royalty at home matches it didn't stop him castigating him for the sheer fucking mess he's caused. I'd love to hear the Ashley sympathisers try to justify why they think Sir Bobby was totally wrong. Are you going to provide a link or just run your mouth off? The article was linked on here about a year ago - it'll take time to find it, but I will... Found it... http://www.toontastic.net/board/index.php?showtopic=20898 thanks for finding it. His letter was levelled at Wise never visiting Newcastle, given Wise is no longer here I don't see the relevance. Maybe i've missed something? ...and just to clear any misguidings you have SBR was an Ashley sympathisers. Bobby didn't blame Ashley ... his big disappointment was Wise!

maybe its this one Bobby didn't blame Ashley ... his big disappointment was Wise!

The money he made selling our club to the first person that would give him the blood money he wanted? regardless of that persons intentions or ability? selling his shares behind the back of his business parter (ie Shepherd) while he lay in a hospital bed? All that is twatful, at best. To be, however, our clubs life president and never be seen at the ground or never be seen to be questioning whats going on is unforgivable. The final nail in the coffin however is to then write an article bleating on about how clubs being bought by people with money who want them as a plaything is wrong when he sold the club to someone who gave that very same reason for taking over. As for not having a problem with the money he made when he decided to get out, Id love to be in a position where I take on a football club "for the love of it", put in a fairly minimal investment then make millions a year out of it and then sell it on for £55m profit and still have people saying he deserves it. You're one of a kind though CT I'll give you that, in one thread you'll argue that the Halls almost bankrupted us and Ashley saved the club yet in another you say you think they fully deserved the millions they took from us. You cant have it both ways, any criticism thrown at Shepherd must also equally go to the Halls, just as the praise for the good times should to. As Caulkin said, take a look down the road for how selling your local football club should be done. Not for the highest bidder or the first past the post but ensuring they have the clubs interests at heart. When you compare what Hall has to say with the article that Sir Bobby wrote a few months before his death it's like chalk and cheese. Whilst gracious that Ashley treated him like royalty at home matches it didn't stop him castigating him for the sheer fucking mess he's caused. I'd love to hear the Ashley sympathisers try to justify why they think Sir Bobby was totally wrong. Are you going to provide a link or just run your mouth off?

I'd say the fault wasn't in Boumsong or Coloccini, more the player alongside in most cases. Boumsong got hung out to dry by Roeder after partnering some lightweight reserve on the night. Coloccini looked awful alongside Steve Taylor who far from being the big dominant centre half used to run back to his goal line as a second keeper in the premier. Not surprised that the scapegoat was a foreigner considering Leazes is the topic starter though. So, somebody is shite and you blame his partner ? Typical NO bollocks. What have you been drinking ? Fact is, you are either a good central defender or you aren't, its got nowt to do with your partner. Boumsong was shit, and NO was absolutely full of posts by arseholes like you who insisted he was great, and more to the point slated the board at the time for not handing more and more money to the very manager who bought him to push the club on only for them again to slate the same board for not winning the premiership. The same people are now praising Mike Ashley for being the mastermind behind a relegation and a glorious promotion campaign, insisting he is"getting it right" when he is light years short, still, of achieving what his predecessors did. I think, personally, you should fuck off and debate how great Mike Ashley with your bum chums ie thickmick, macbeth, baggio, and all the other tosspots who can't bring themselves to admit they were spouting absolute shit for years. Shows you know less about football than business, quite an achievement. I know a fair bit about football lad, and I know that in football you have to take risks if you want to succeed. You are either a good footballer at a certain level in a certain league or you are not. Simple as that. Boumsong would not make a good premiership central defender no matter who his partner was. ....and yet he's playing in the champions league. so you think that makes him a good premiership defender ? I hope for your sake, ref the reply you made to me the other day, you know more about business than you do about football You're not one of these NO accountants who are trying to make a case for Mike Ashley are you I guess we look for different attributes in a player. Not that many would agree, but i liked Rozenhal.

I'd say the fault wasn't in Boumsong or Coloccini, more the player alongside in most cases. Boumsong got hung out to dry by Roeder after partnering some lightweight reserve on the night. Coloccini looked awful alongside Steve Taylor who far from being the big dominant centre half used to run back to his goal line as a second keeper in the premier. Not surprised that the scapegoat was a foreigner considering Leazes is the topic starter though. So, somebody is shite and you blame his partner ? Typical NO bollocks. What have you been drinking ? Fact is, you are either a good central defender or you aren't, its got nowt to do with your partner. Boumsong was shit, and NO was absolutely full of posts by arseholes like you who insisted he was great, and more to the point slated the board at the time for not handing more and more money to the very manager who bought him to push the club on only for them again to slate the same board for not winning the premiership. The same people are now praising Mike Ashley for being the mastermind behind a relegation and a glorious promotion campaign, insisting he is"getting it right" when he is light years short, still, of achieving what his predecessors did. I think, personally, you should fuck off and debate how great Mike Ashley with your bum chums ie thickmick, macbeth, baggio, and all the other tosspots who can't bring themselves to admit they were spouting absolute shit for years. Shows you know less about football than business, quite an achievement. I know a fair bit about football lad, and I know that in football you have to take risks if you want to succeed. You are either a good footballer at a certain level in a certain league or you are not. Simple as that. Boumsong would not make a good premiership central defender no matter who his partner was. ....and yet he's playing in the champions league.

Wouldn't surprise me if Chelsea want him to take a pay cut, they let Lampard and Terry run their contracts to the wire.

Taking his running of the club out of the debate, as he did good and bad things. Whenever I saw on TV or in the paper it was usually a source of embarsement, some examples; 1. News of the World Exposé followed by a pathetic 10 months exile. 2. Calling Shearer Mary Popins. 3. Undermind SBR position as manager by anouncing his position was availible at the end of the season 4. Slagging off Owen