Happy Face

http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1538&context=globaldocs Do they think Reebok are a company with a conscience like?

Comparing apples and oranges a bit that though innit? Instagram (or Facebook - their owners) make money by selling peoples photos and personal information to advertisers. They're a data mining company primarily. Kodak sold a product. Totally agree with the article on the whole like. There should be laws against profit seeking web companies (or any others for that matter) using free (slave) labour. Why do Macdonalds have a minimum wage imposed upon them but highly skilled web designers (for example) with tens of thousands in university debt have to work for free for a few years in the hope of making it?

Vine available on android ...with zoom...so better than the ios version

Fixtures out in a fortnight. I'll predict when Pardew will be sacked then.

That's what I wondered. Twitter offers embedding text... So wondered if we can use it, if it's just a screen grab tagged as an image that's unacceptable

The playing time of English under-21s in the Premier League has fallen to its lowest level. English under-21s made up 2.28% of the total minutes played in 2012-13 with Manchester City, Chelsea, Swansea, Stoke and Wigan failing to field an English player under 21 all season. The new figures fall behind Italy (2.38%), Spain (3.40%), Germany (6.22%) and France (7.32%). But the Premier League hopes to boost these numbers in three to five years. England's Under-21s team begin their European Championship quest against Italy on Wednesday evening in Israel. And with former England players such as David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher all retiring from football recently, there are fears that a new generation will struggle to make a similar impact. According to new research by the CIES Football Observatory, only 35 English under-21 players made appearances in the Premier League last season, the lowest figure since 2005. In addition, Swansea did field Welsh defender Ben Davies, who is classed as under-21 national. The overall use of under-21 players in the Premier League has fallen from the highest of the big five European leagues in 2005 at 10.33% to the lowest of the big five, now at 4.45%. And the percentage of playing time by English Under-21s is also on a downward trend, barring a peak because of the introduction of the homegrown rule. England Under-21 boss Stuart Pearce told BBC Sport: "I'd be lying if I said it's not important that our best young talent is playing in the Premier League." The English top flight already has the lowest number of national players across all ages at 42.9%, compared to Italy (45.6%), Germany (55.4%), Spain (61.6%) and France (71.6%). Sports statisticians Opta claim the figure is 36% in the Premier League. But the Premier League says that two-thirds of under-21 players in the top flight are English. And via its £320m Elite Player Performance Plan - brought in last season - it plans to tackle the issue by improving standards in club academies by increasing the number of hours youngsters train and the quality of coaching. The introduction of the under-21 Premier League is also intended to improve the flow from the youth team to the first team. The Premier League's director of youth Ged Roddy said: "I don't subscribe to the view that it is going to take 10-15 years to see an impact. "Within a relatively short space of time you should be able to see players coming through hopefully in increasing numbers. There's been a lot of very good practice going on for many years and what we are doing is building upon that good practice and adding some new impetus along the way as well." Pearce added: "The Italian league at this moment of time has not got a massive influx of foreign players, I don't think, as the Premier League has at this moment in time. So the bar has been raised at home because of the money, the finance and one or two other things. "But looking at it purely from a selfish point of view to want England to win things, I'd prefer obviously if more of our players were playing more regularly and at a higher level." Outgoing Football Association chairman David Bernstein said that "we desperately need to increase the pool of real quality players that the [senior team] manager Roy Hodgson has to choose from," while his replacement Greg Dyke, who begins his role on 13 July, said: "A lot of coaches I talk to tell me there is a lot of talent out there, but they can't get through." Dyke also claims that the chance to learn in first-team environments is becoming more limited as managers' positions become more precarious. If Wigan boss Roberto Martinez joins Everton, Newcastle manager Alan Pardew will be the Premier League's second longest-serving manager, having joined the club in December 2010. Under-21 Premier League technical match observer David Pleat said: "It is difficult because you do have foreign owners and you do have foreign coaches and because they see their careers as more short-term unless they are successful quickly, they are more likely to tend to go for tried and tested which means foreign players." Stoke have failed to field an English player aged under 21 in the first team for the last three seasons, a fact that owner Peter Coates is aware of. He describes the new figures as "disappointing" but believes there is an urge to develop young English players. "We have a difficult transition between 18 and 21 and only the very exceptional players get the chance of playing Premier League football at that age group. So it does represent a challenge," he told BBC Sport. "It's an issue that's well known, it's much discussed and my own view is that we are going to see improvements in this area but there is a lot of pressure on managers for results. "It's hugely competitive, they are nervous about young players playing and we are able to attract the best players in the world and it's something we have to get better at." http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22687663

Can you embed a tweet on here? I'm sure I've seen it done.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/30/xbox-one-watching-ads-microsoft Wasn't there a Black Miorror about this a year or 2 ago?

I know. I think perception is massive for us as fans watching. 8 out of 10 passes finding their target is quite satisfactory when we are 5th and people are bouyant. 2 out of 10 passes going astray when we're nervous and in a relegation battle becomes a massive bone of contention and we focus on it it disproportionately, making more of them in our minds...especially if the misplaced passes are particularly poor. Same goes for a wild shot from miles out wasting possession and the opportunity for someone else with better shooting boots to have a go. His lack of bite this year is undeniable though. Pardew has neutered him. Which is what a lot of people on here were screaming out for when he got sent off against the Mackems.

Aye, good read. Think it's silly to compare single games though. Look at his overall record... I've highlighted those areas where he has had his best season yet and those where he has had his worst. I think the fact he is less successful at tackling or turning over possession than in any other season (he tackled less well than Cabaye in 12/13!) is what has let him down this season. It starts and ends there. That's what he should be all about. His discipline is better, he takes less daft shots, wins more in the air. While he's passed at a rate which is about the average of his previous two seasons, with accuracy still down on his first season (but better than last) his number of key passes is up. So a mixed bag there. The changes Pardew has asked him to make, which have seen the improvements, have been at the expense of his most important quality...being our midfield bulldog that wins the ball (or receives it when under pressure) puts his foot on it, takes a moment and lays it off to someone else simple.

I don't think there's anything particularly defensive about Cabaye's game either. Nor should there be. He's sat too deep to open locks with his passing. He's alongside Tiote most of the time, passing short balls left right and backwards. When I say he helps avoid conceding I mean purely in terms of retaining possession, not tackling back or owt. Only reason I can see that Sissoko couldn't do that role and make us a better attacking team is that after Ben Arfa, Sissoko is our most dispossessed player. So Pardew has to be wary of him losing possession in dangerous areas.

Perhaps. His bulldozing runs never amount to anything as he always seems to be running from inside the opponents half and into their final third. Defenders close him down and he never seems to release it quick enough or accurately enough, not since those first couple of games. I'd love to see his runs come from inside our half, into the space before their final third. Draw opposition players towards him but hopefully without the urgency that they swarm around him when approaching the box which always sees him lose possession. Give him a bit more time to look up when he's carried it 20 yards and see other players of ours moving into the space left by players closing him down.

6 goals and 4 assists in 13 games since February. Played every minute too...apart from the Liverpool game. Not great, but not bad...for someone at West Ham. Van Persie scored 8 and assisted 6 in the same timeframe, playing EVERY game.

He is always in advance of Cabaye (often ahead of Cisse!)...and I would prefer to see those roles reversed. That said, i think the deeper midfielder is a MUCH more important role when it comes to avoid conceding, which is always paramount to Pardew. Sissoko being new to the league and finding his feet probably didn't need that pressure in Pardew's mind, I hope he is more inclined to entrust him with it next season.....if we still have cabaye to move into a more advanced role that is. Sissoko's runs will be much more effective from there too imo, if used more sparingly.

Player maps from whoscored.com

http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/the-cashfree-challenge-are-contactless-cards-a-safe-way-to-pay-8642245.html I often pay for stuff less than £20 on my card but never been offered the option of contactless payment. Either places don't have it or folks serving don't want to ask me if I want to pay contactless. I left Barclays 10 months ago and they had NFC enabled debit cards back then...but Santander still haven't offered me NFC enabled replacements for my debit or credit cards. I use NFC on my phone for altering settings at work, home, in the car and out and about. Still waiting for the apps to be usable in the UK for paying with my phone though.

If you're dreaming why not have a better CB than Steven Taylor?

Whose career has not been enhanced at Newcastle over the last 2 years?

2.1%

It's like the middle East encapsulated in two young boys. Typical western belligerent like. Starts the violence and complains about reprisals.

Remarkable to think back at how scared I was to get my shoes wet in a few inches of water and would just watch the tide coming in more and more around me...so in the end i'd have to wade through waist deep waves as the light faded.

20th anniversary of my first ever gig next week...