Happy Face

Hopefully Ashley's cottoned on.

QFT and that. It's like a bunch of charvers have got a racist old tramp surrounded in old eldon square, poking him with sticks trying to inflame his ire and everyone's just walking past letting them get on with it. We might not agree with the entrenched views of the victim, but just leave him to his views and stop the goading. He can argue with the sky quite happily and it harms no-one.

Reconsidering my position on the prediction of no improvement on 12th place of last year. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Like the Doomsday Clock, I'm adding a bit more time to our life expectancy on the back of this news...we'll see how it goes over the next 13 days. Up until the profitable window closed last year we averaged 1.3 points per game. After the profitable window closed last year we averaged 1 point per game. Those extra points would have took us up to 8th. Up until the profitable window closed in the relegation season we averaged 1 point per game. After the profitable window closed in the relegation season we averaged 0.73 points per game. Those extra points would have took us up to 16th. Buying players rather than selling them is the way to maintain/improve performance. Fingers crossed.

good business for Mike Ashley. Where is the other 27m quid ? barely covered the losses on wages to Owen, Martins, Viduka and duff the year they got us relegated.

he only cost 7.5m didn't he? was the 10m figure dreamt up initially to make us look like billy bigger bollocks.

More likely Ba on his own Cisse joining Ben Arfa on the bench...not ready

Last time we agreed a fee it was for Maiga wasn't it. "stay frosty"

Don't rush to gloat Mr "Spurs are finished"

Two Geordie Dembas There's only two Geordie Dembas Two Geordie Denmbas There's only two Geordie Dembas

This January too. Did you see Ameobi on Sunday?

Nah, Chez says that was to cover losses from the 2 years previous. This is either club commercial income for the current financial year (Virgin money money?), future player sale income or Mike Ashley's own money getting spent.

Notched 33 goals in his last 51 games over the past two seasons in Germany. Nice.

Surely got to be worth a point Happy? What is? Prediction thingy I don't have any idea what you predicted or got proved right on. Assume I'm an alien and explain it to me please. That Mikes having a punt for a CL spot I'll take it you don't want the point then.

Surely got to be worth a point Happy? What is? Prediction thingy I don't have any idea what you predicted or got proved right on. Assume I'm an alien and explain it to me please.

Surely got to be worth a point Happy? What is?

Kitman 17/08/11 - Pardoo will be gone by xmas. He wasn't.

Dr Gloom 29/05/11 - pardew sacked before christmas after a holocaust of a start to the season. He wasn't

Some might say Demba was a decent signing, but either way we scored 23 by Christmas day.

What would you pay?

I've read Hitchens' thoughts on The Kings Speech. Not that you'll believe it. Both of the Hitchens brothers wrote about the historical innaccuracies of TKS, that's when you know it must be bad. Why wouldn't I believe you've read that? I don't believe you've read/listened to his arguments for the Iraq war because you never refer to his actual arguments when discussing his stance on that topic. Speaking of Hitch I read this the other day, thought it was pretty prettaaayy good: http://www.salon.com...etter_than_you/ I haven't referred to his arguments against The Kings Speech either.

I've read Hitchens' thoughts on The Kings Speech. Not that you'll believe it.

I think that covers the 2 peaks to the very right on the graph. Shepherd was worryingly like a gambler chasing his losses towards the end, they were playing with fire given the amount of borrowing they were doing to support their manager, and running out of things to borrow against. I think Shepherd's shortcomings tend to be overstated by the current heirarchy sometimes though*, in order to forgive the sins of Ashley, who it shouldn't be forgotten was free and easy with daft transfer fees (£5m for Xisco?) and long contracts for has-beens (Alan Smith?). He drastically worsened the financials at the club by getting us relegated, and he was complaining about the expensive contracts players had when he was the one that signed all those contracts that were ongoing in the team. Like Shepherd though, it's all in the past. In 2 and a half years Ashley's managed consistent improvement on the pitch (even if he irritates off the pitch - sacking the manager, renaming the stadium, moving swathes of supporters, selling top performers etc.). If he achieves 6th/7th this season, then the appreciation will be short lived, the concern will be that improvement will cease as he doesn't have the ambition to bring in a Modrc, an Adebayor or a van Der vaart. *Not that anyone would mention it if Leazes didn't go on about how he was the dogs bollocks.

Made in Dagenham Not bad. But like The Kings Speech or The Queen in that I can't see why it was so highly praised (though not to the same extent). Very much a TV drama i thought. BBC quality mind, not ITV.

Makes sense. That's why buyers were all over PL clubs. My point still stands. Among all those clubs changing hands, we remain one of the most expensive. Doesn't tally with the financial mess being portrayed in hindsight. The financial "mess" is not hindsight, it's a nailed on fact and is evidenced in the accounts, liabilites exceeding assets, revenues spent in advance etc etc To contend there was nowt wrong is ridiculous. The sale price is driven by what someone is prepared to pay, no-one who did do due dilligence, in the previous year, was prepared to pay anything. People get stung on buying stuff all the time, if they don't do their research. More fool them, and more fool Ashley in particular, but thank fuck he had deep pockets. Never said there was nowt wrong. I was saying in 2007 there was plenty wrong. But hindsight has it that Ashleys frugal ways are saving us from shepherds overspend, but Ashley spent 2 years making things worse himself when he arrived, having come in with his eyes wide open about the level of debt.