Lake Bells tits

True, oh man. I dare not dream! Either way, we should go tits out on whatever european contest we end up in, as opposed to stoke who rested 8 players away to valencia to lose 1-0 so that they could finish... 10th instead of 12th in the league? pathetic.

Its not the golden calf unless you actually get to the group stages though, is it HF?

Europa league Games at Stadium of light?

Just the cash money from our league position this year will probably see us into the greens... thing is our CL-dream might be wiffed out by the start of august - there are very good teams in the qualifying stages as well. We wont make much money if we get knocked out straight away, would need a few group stages wins at least for it to actually matter. Regarding what kind of offers we would knock back, Im not sure its linked to CL/EL at all. If we get a fat offer from a oil/rubles club, we will sell its as simple as. Im fine with that, well Im not but Ive come to terms with it.

CL would be ten times as awesome, but if I were to leave that bandwagon for a small moment I have to agree. Arsenal last year had to play Udinese to qualify, its not easy even getting to the group stages. I can see us faring better in the EL. The thing is EL isnt really all that attractive to most top clubs, whereas we would piss alot of people off if we managed to qualify for the CL. Regardless of being stuffed 0-8 it would be so awesome to host Barcelona, Bayern Munich etc at St.James... EL doesnt compare, at all.

Valid point that we need CL or our players will fuck off. Its a point, but its not valid. Everyone and their grandfathers, even Leazesmag, can see us build something here. To suggest we will have a case of rats fleeing the ship is ludicrous. We dont need CL, its that simple.

Well at least the stadium of Light will finally be full?

pathetic conclusion and I wholeheartedly disagree. Yet another one of those tapping up articles, now framed in the manner that if we cant get into the CL - players will go They even have the nerve to suggest teams like Tottenham and Chelsea have no problems missing out on CL while we cant. Our entire team is either here from the days of Championship fotball or signed with a top-10 finish in mind. Expectations gets adjusted along the way but to suggest we will lose players if we dont get the CL is just lunacy. Not one in our team expected that, even EL was a pipedream. Our foundations are now built around PL income and PL income only, we dont NEED European fotball to finance our wages. Neither does tottenham or Chelsea but their wages are considerably higher, their ground houses 15.000 less and they are below us in the league. Players might get sold, but if they do it will be because silly offers come in regardless of if we get CL or EL - not because they are unhappy. I actually think Ashley might have a problem convincing them to leave the way things are at the moment We are being monitored because we do well, yeah no shit sherlock - but players of the quality we currently have are going to perform regardless, so no news there. In short, go fuck yourselves guardian, horrible article.

Nee problem, just get a motorbike like J69. effortless parking provided you can make it to london alive.

I dont think we disagree really, its just semantics. I do have one remark though: What if he performs brilliantly, scores 15 goals and contributes to european fotball next season too. Thats surely a way of paying back also, albeit not in cash ( directly) There are other ways of repaying us than with cash, on the pitch for instance. I do understand we are wary though, with the history of Owen, Luque etc..

I am making up his knee issue? Ok, seems to have put a few clubs off - but I wont bother arguing about it. The medical condition is one that doesnt cause him to be more prone to knee injury, its just that when the knee goes - its gone. He wont be able to play fotball again, and if there is 3 years left on his contract thats paying for 3 years of golfing in argentina. Nevermind. You are right, Demba Ba didnt come cheap. He cost us alot of money even on a free. And we were never going to get much back for him with that clause. We got him because we believed him to be a good fotballer. Which is my point, not everything is RESALE value. Where we disagree is that 26 is fine and 29 is not. So the tipping point is somewhere in between? Its murky waters.

None, the gamble paid off. My point is that Demba Ba on his current contract has no resale value, which we were happy with since we got him on a free. We arent happy anymore obviously because he is too good and his knee is fine but at the time we were, since he came on a free. Which supports my theory that we CAN be lenient with our "young players with a resale value only" policy if the right opportunity comes along. I dont see how pointing this out is controversial.

No, it was just a joke remark, but good is a wide-reaching term - he might not be magnificent but he is alot closer to that than most other midfielders in the PL. 25 goals in a season is insane for a CM in a mid-table team no matter how you look at it. Thats kind of my point, he is getting better with age. Or Peaking if you will. Not long ago Cabaye was the deep sitting midfielder, now he is more advanced. Point is, its not set in stone - Im sure we could fit him in. My main view is that he is a better PLAYER than Jonas though, nitpicking aside. As with everything else, up for debate - but statistics this season is heavily proving my point.

He has a knee issue, saying he passed his medical with us means fuck all. Everyone knows about his knee. How much would we get for him if we sold him now then? Why are we desperate to sign a new contract with him? Because we get fuck all back for him on his current contract which we gave him coming on a free, which again proves my point. We werent that bothered with the resale value since he came cheap ( and we didnt think he would be THIS good either). He has a clause around 7 million where half of it goes to him leaving us with 3,5 million or so minus fees etc etc. What a nice resale value.

How does demba ba fit into that policy? 27, exploding knee, signed him despite a clause that gives us fuck all if he goes. There was no resale value whatsoever and ashley knew that before signing him. Ashley is a maverick and an opportunist. Our blueprint is young players with resale value, that doesnt mean its set in stone. If a very good player becomes available for massively less than he is worth or even for free, we arent above striking to get them. Being tied to a policy of only signing young players would limit us and is stupid. You could call Ashley many things, but he is not stupid. Anyway silly debate as he wont be free but if he was, suggesting that "we wouldnt go anywhere near him" is a step too far.

Clint Dempsey on a free transfer, wouldnt even be a discussion. As far from knee-jerk as you can possibly get, the entire top-6 would be interested.

The sad thing is that you could stand outside money in hand with the ground being half-full and they still wouldnt let you in since you are a newcastle supporter.

If Dempsey is simply a good PL-player by being a 25-goal a season midfielder in a shite team, what does that make all the other midfielders in the PL Lets say we play him like Jonas, is Jonas suddenly a deepsitting midfielder? He is a different sort of player sure, but he also offers alot more going forward and a whole new dimension of endgame compared to Jonas. Its an offensive suggestion but keeping the ball and creating chances is also a good way of defending. Anyway I realise he is too old for ashley, I just disagree that he is too old for fotball. You see 29 as a gamble in terms of age, I just dont. Midfielder prime age is 27-32, but everyone is obsessed with "potential" nowadays and less about current and actual ability. Shame really.

Thats taking it a bit far like, if he was a free transfer he would be in the chopper already. Fair point though.

None of those players are even on the same planet as Dempsey. Valuation is speculative, what if we got him for 8? 29 is nothing for a midfielder.

I just disagree with the suggestion that any player in their late 20`s "could have one season left in them". Has Dempsey ever been better? He is in his absolute prime, not a "could be good in 3 years" player. Ive watched Dempsey quite a few times this season. He is a magnificent player, baffles me why you think he is in the Adam/liverpool/mackem mould. Buying any player is a risk, but going by how he has been this season - 10 mill would be a bargain if he could replicate that form next season.

Jonas needs competition Imo. Noone is benefitting from playing 90 minutes every game, both physically and mentally.

A shame, 29 is no age for a midfielder. People are getting obsessed with the age thing, over 25 and you are on the decline appearently.

I see your point but my opinion ( and feel free to debate this) is that Dempsey is the real deal. He just turned 29 and is in his prime and 23 goals and 7 assists from midfield in an otherwise mediocre Fulham team? He isnt exactly charlie adam. Arteta is a year older and is delivering the goods for Arsenal. To me he is a straight upgrade from Jonas, his end product is immense. We would be sacrificing a bit of defensive graft, but if we get debauchy in that might be acceptable anyway.

Where Jonas plays now? Would be canny competition for that spot like? We cant just have a first XI and shite on the bench like we used to. between two domestic cups, europe and the league we need a bigger squad and a wider variety of quality.