Happy Face

The call being criticised is appointing Carver at all, rather than appoint anyone competent. This horrified fans and risked relegation. Ashley had seen how Keegan's season turned out before he allowed that. he didn't learn any lesson. Rafa will not get any more than the club can afford (like any previous manager) and he'll not get carte blanche to spend what he wants from the budget where he wants (like previous managers). He might have more input on identifying targets but that's as far as it goes, from that point he's reliant on Ashley, Charnley and Moncur wheeling and dealing for the best price... and walking away from deals they don't see as value.

Did it with Keegan, repeated it with Hughton, and again by sticking with Carver rather than replace him. McClaren sacking was the first sign that he might possibly have grasped the concept of taking short term costs on the chin to pursue long term gains. The fact it failed has probably put him off doing that again

Exactly the same as the Keegan situation in every regard then

Take the sissoko fee out if you like, at -£1m we'll still be 16 places below Brighton.

we had £45m cash in the bank at the start of the season when we spent £80m. Assuming the same income but nowt in the bank we could therefore spend £35m. But, TV money is at least £20m more, so there's £55m. And we're meant to be getting £10m a year for Sissoko and Wijnaldum, so there's £65m. Then there's the new shirt deal, which should be a few million more than the Wonga one. Should get some wedge out of Thauvin? De Jong? Krul?

The club turned a profit with McClaren in charge. We don't spend more than we generate. Same for every manager. McClaren didn't get to choose his signings or who was sold. Same as every manager. He wasn't backed particularly. The self financing model started generating bigger budgets and he was the first to really benefit from that. Rafa will get a reasonable spend too. He just won't get carte Blanche to spend it where he wants. Ashley's approach has been entirely consistent from the day he sacked Allardyce.

Chalk and cheese. He wanted to come back up. Performance on the pitch is far more important to him when we're in the championship. Winning is not a big cost and pays massive rewards. In the premier league winning usually requires a Titanic investment for comparatively little more reward. Being average is preferable. In the championship, it's the ONLY time he'll go a season without doing something to piss fans off. He hired McClaren to manage us in the premier league, not Rafa or someone similar. Rafa was only encouraged when relegation threatened.

Course he will, but he'll prioritise the transfer policy that brought Sissoko and Wijnaldum over it. Unquestionably.

Ashley's model in every aspect of his life is buy low and sell high. It Rafa wants to spend £25m on a defender he won't be able to bear it. Ashley doesn't give a fuck if Rafa walks once we're up. If fans stop going he'll just slash season ticket prices again. Plenty of people who want a few cheap days out will take him up on it.

Ashley took his £18m personal loan back out in December and invested another £15m through a parent company. That suggests that what the club has, it can spend and there won't be more repayments to Ashley one PL status is confirmed. With £40m profit from sissoko and Wijnaldum coming in installments, a new shirt sponsor, increased PL media income and one of the smallest top flight wage bills, there's plenty of scope to invest. Issue won't be the amount he gets to spend, but whether he can choose where it is spent, and whether the club are half arsed in chasing his targets which they feel aren't good value.

ooh, I do! https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.androidexplained.com/oneplus-3-aptx/amp/ I'll have to flash my oneplus 3t and get back to you

Mentioned in the materialism I just got the y50bt headphones and am very happy with them, never knew they were aptx until you brought it up, and lo... https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2016/02/23/aptx-tech-dominates-top-bluetooth-wireless-headphones-list

Surprised they weren't more melancholy about sending us down at their own expense last season.

Thought this was the title of the new film about Adam Johnson's life.

Add it to your sigs and set up auto tweets for first thing in the morning, lunch time, tea time, and bed time.

Nah, tbh anyone that affected by cancer will donate and not care about the gaming side and whether you even do it or not Donated and shared on Twitter.

One hint is to include a link to your just giving page whenever you're​ asking for donations rather than requiring click throughs

Agreed. Promotion party hangover. They're on the beach. They won't get another point. We'll do 3 on the bounce, no bother.

So it's the listener, not the song, but there's a definitive answer that allows you to snipe at other listeners? FWIW, if you read my posts, I agreed both about ill communication and that time and place outrank either innovation or maths.

I was being daft, but dodging debates and interviews, two major resignations and plans announced for increasing tax and foreign aid. They're doing their best to put supporters off them aren't they.

Hung Parliament is 5 to 1 Same as you could get for leave before the brexit vote. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-u-k-snap-election-is-riskier-than-it-seems/

3% on Netflix is recommended. I've added it to my list.

Aye, apart from borrowing a music collection, that's what I hate about all the streaming services, they simplify it for the masses. I want detailed control of smart playlists, rather than just dragging songs in and out.

iTunes and isyncr & rocket player for Android.