ewerk

Do they ever trace these people who are using the card?

Was there ever any more word whether this Sheik was behind the takeover? As has already been said I can't see any attraction for a hedge fund interested in making large profits, they may rename the stadium and hike up ticket prices but I don't think a significant sustainable increase in profits is possible without huge investment. Surely if Freddy continues to play hardball Belgravia could agree a deal with the Halls and a number of other investors to take their holding above 50% and then free freeze the Shepherds out from the running of the club. Though I'd say the Halls will also be looking to hold out for as high a price as well.

Given the curse of Roeder I now believe relegation to be inevitable.

How do you work that one out then? Not really that difficult, they finished third, a point behind Man U last season, and they are going backwards while Liverpool continue to go forwards. I actually think they may run them quite close this season. Liverpool won't get near Chelsea this season, if any team is going to do it it will be Man U, the scousers don't have a hope.

And lets not forget that Villa have actually won something since Shepherd took over.

Good luck, try not to get killed. Love, ewerk xxx.

Nah, my past couple of visits to OT haven't been the happiest.

Well for some reason I'm feeling strangely optimistic about this game. and by strangely optimistic I mean a hard fought 2-1 defeat rather than out usual hammering. At the very least I hope the lads are well up for this and a couple of good individual performances from Martins and Duff.

I saw it last night for the first time. I knew from the reviews it was going to be terrible but being a Kevin Smith film I held out some hope for it only to be sadly disappointed.

Geek.

How do you work that one out then?

We are not one of the top teams in the country, to say we are is laughable. If you asked a selection of supporters of others club if we were one of the "top teams" in the country the majority would say no, the final nail in that coffin came with Sky's dropping of us from their "top" fixtures. The appointment of the manager is almost entirely down the the chairman, that is one of his key functions and what he is paid to do. The facts are that apart from Robson, a fairly obvious appointment, he has recruited managers who have done terrible jobs. Now I know you will reply with your "trophy winning managers" line but at the end of the day the chairman shouldn't just be in the job because he owns shares but it should also be because he has the ability to make better decisions than the average fan. Now this is where Freddy fails, yes he has kept us on an even keel financially but footballing wise he has made poor managerial appointments and made transfer decisions without the knowledge of the managers, a capital offence IMO. Lets not forget the timing of his dismissals, I'm sure you'll agree that sacking managers early in the season isn't the ideal situation but something Freddy has been guilty of. Not to ignore his persistence with Souness when it was obvious to every man and his dog that it wasn't going to work out for him here. Yes Freddy has done a good job financially but its the fans that enable him to do so. I don't have the facts or figures but it seems to me that we haven't made a huge impact in the lucrative oversea's markets as our rivals have and therefore haven't exploited our potential, in fact merchandising has made up less than 10% of our income. And finally we come to the main point; you're continual comparison with the Mc Keag/ Westwood era. If we continue to judge ourselves with that period we will never progress. I'm looking at it from when SJH left and we were one of the top clubs in the country to "midtable, hoping for Europe fodder" as we are now. Due to my age I may be judged as a "Keegan band wagon jumper" but the way I see it is that as a club we have to keep progressing or we will start regressing. The clubs around us, our rivals, have made strides regarding managers, setups, coaching, scouting and signings whereas we have fallen away and lost ground on them which has made itself clear in our league finishes. Look at our current setup where we have more academy coaches than first team coaches, its farcical. Roeder came into the job promising an overhaul of scouting and the Academy and so far we have seen fuck all, at the end of the day this should be coming from the chairman down but we have yet to see any evidence of any guidance from our chairman. To conclude, I believe that Shepherd is a man incredibly lucky to find himself in charge of a Premier Leage club and doesn't quite know what to do with it. He has made poor managerial appointments, tried to play manager himself at times and ignored all other aspects of the playing side while throwing the fans' money at the problem with little success. You LM may be happy with qualifying for the UEFA Cup most seasons but I personally want something more, I want to see NUFC lift a cup or at least challenge for the league but sadly I can't see this happening until someone with more ambition and foresight takes over at the helm of our club.

So old its funny.

There are 87 examples over the last decade. Shame you are blind to evidence mind ....... At least you can laugh at yourself. So you are disputing the fact that we have overtaken many major clubs who were ahead of us, and have qualified for europe more than them in the last decade ? Please supply the evidence this is not the case, if for some strange reason you happen not to believe it. Coming on a night when we have qualified for the next round of a european competition, when many other clubs with "superior" boards - in your opinion - are not even in europe at all, your timing could not be better. By overtaken do you mean going from 3rd, 6th, 2nd and 2nd to finishing in the bottom half in 5 of the next 9 season? Hardly a sign of progress is it? No. As I have explained before, the board as a whole since 1992 has done this, where Fred was a major part of that board, but not chairman. Since taking over as chairman, we have consolidated our place among the top clubs, consitently qualifying more for europe than every other bar 4, which is on its own merits unless of course you think we have a divine right to always finish 2nd. Which if you do, you will also not deny that, by that criteria, Arsenal, Manu have both gone backwards since they both last the last league title and in Manures, case, the European Cup ? Firstly I am talking about Shepherd as chairman, not as a board member. The facts are clear, we have been in decline since he became chairman. Now you didn't really address my point, you say we have consolidated our place amongst the top clubs; have we? As I said, out of the past 9 seasons we have finished in the bottom half 5 times! That isn't consolidating our place, that is going backwards. Are you honestly telling me that that is not a decline from the days of SJH? And yes Arsenal and Man U have been in decline over the past two seasons, the facts speak for themselves, unfortunately you can't hear them.

Though it does say 4 to 6 weeks for delivery which may be too long for you to wait.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/United-Behind-Head...TF8&s=books There you go.

Well at least those two games mean that everyone can shut the fuck up about Gerry Armstrong in '82.

It's all about streamlining. BTW does anyone at the club have their coaching badges? Fucking mockery.

It has officially been announced. Well done Scotty.

Looks like Freddie Starr couldn't come up with the readies then. The plus side of this accident is that Hammond's profile has rocketed and he can expect to be inudated with offers now.

I believe LM epitomises all that is wrong with our club at board level. He's busy looking down and saying "well things could be worse" while most of us are looking up and asking what we are doing wrong and how we can improve things. The former attitude has got us where we are now, happy to tread water and hope for a top 6 finish when a club our size should be planning a way to break into the top 4.

There are 87 examples over the last decade. Shame you are blind to evidence mind ....... At least you can laugh at yourself. So you are disputing the fact that we have overtaken many major clubs who were ahead of us, and have qualified for europe more than them in the last decade ? Please supply the evidence this is not the case, if for some strange reason you happen not to believe it. Coming on a night when we have qualified for the next round of a european competition, when many other clubs with "superior" boards - in your opinion - are not even in europe at all, your timing could not be better. By overtaken do you mean going from 3rd, 6th, 2nd and 2nd to finishing in the bottom half in 5 of the next 9 season? Hardly a sign of progress is it?

Aye, not always with soap but they do get a rinsing. However if I'm in a club and I'm the only one on the toilets with the guy handing out soap and towels I sometimes don't because I feel obliged to give him a quid and thats not value for money IMO.

Which begs the question what are you doing on here and not in your bed?

Jaysus Shinton you were away on holiday just a few weeks ago. Life of an fucking international jetsetter you lucky bastard.