Happy Face

What it goes to show is that you're an utter pillock who struggles with comprehension. I said that that charge should not be applied to Hitchens, citing the fact that he reported from several warzones, including Iraq during 2003. Greenwald asserted something of Hitchens that was not true, I pointed that out. That is called 'arguing against what someone is saying'. In misapporpriating and manipulating what I said in an attempt to make some kind of point (not the first time, a regular feature of your arguments), you are actually guilty of your own charge of arguing against personalities, rather than what someone is saying. Given that you claimed to have been reading Hitchens for years, I am surprised it is taking so long for you to cite some material of his that you take exception to. Surely something must have popped up over the years--surely you aren't just regurgitating what others have said without being a critical reader yourself? I won't be in a rush to read your response as you clearly struggle with basic comprehension. You forgot to call me a lugubrious popinjay.

You just reminded me I've got that Hitchens post to respond to where you seemed to argue against Orwell who was quoted from Homage to Catalonia as saying "no true patriot ever gets near a front-line trench, except on the briefest of propaganda-tours" because you thought it was Greenwald saying it which made it lily livered codswallop. Only served to show you're more about arguing against personalities than what they're saying.

Its not a groundshift, just confirmation that you get carried away with yourself and talk shit sometimes. So do i tbf. Always happy to pipe up when I've got something wrong. I quoted myself 6 pages ago on what I said about shirt sponsorship back in the day. Though my conclusion - sports direct on the shirts - was shit, I was hardly carried away with anything, I was in 2 minds on it and could see it going either way...it's gone the way I'd thought initially, which was to keep SD away from shirts and not harm the sales of them. I've never said Ashley will always spurn income in favour of promoting Sports Direct. He's not averse to taking the hit of lost income in favour of brand exposure though. Its not just your views on whether SD would go on the shirts, its your views on how they run the club and assumptions behind that which are (or should be) questioned by this deal. You've been very vocal about the overall strategy and vision for NUFC and as far as i can tell, SD on the shirts was the logical conclusion from that global view. I may be being unfair on you though, just the impression i got. If he doesnt want to harm shirt sales, then he is revenue maximising at NUFC which means the tax efficiency and commercial reasons for transferring cash from SD to NUFC for all branding would hold. A major point you argued against iirc. I'd love to see where I argued about the tax efficiency of any move. I know as much about tax as I do about effective douche use.

Its not a groundshift, just confirmation that you get carried away with yourself and talk shit sometimes. So do i tbf. Always happy to pipe up when I've got something wrong. I quoted myself 6 pages ago on what I said about shirt sponsorship back in the day. Though my conclusion - sports direct on the shirts - was shit, I was hardly carried away with anything, I was in 2 minds on it and could see it going either way...it's gone the way I'd thought initially, which was to keep SD away from shirts and not harm the sales of them. I've never said Ashley will always spurn income in favour of promoting Sports Direct. He's not averse to taking the hit of lost income in favour of brand exposure though.

Like the shirts, just covering the old Northern Rock signs...

Apologies for the naive immaturity. Hadn't realised the groundshift this reprasented. My brain keeps listening to my eyes rather than you Chez.

"Maybe me and the gaffer don't share quite the same philosophy" said Ben Arfa, http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/jan/04/newcastle-cheik-tiote-wayne-rooney?newsfeed=true bollocks

"I was a virgin until I cuckolded Andy Carroll. Unfortuantely I ended up with a broken jaw. The private medical bills were a worry, so I took a loan from Virgin money and recovered to once again wear the black and white I love, while Andy Carroll is falling on his arse, lol. For all your borrowing needs, Virgin money offer excellent rates of interest, in some cases matching what other financial institutions are offering, don't delay go to virgin Money today" "oh...and Derek's doing a great job, he sorted out the bonuses and the players are over the moon"

Shit got real... Luis Suarez case: Ouseley calls Liverpool 'hypocritical' Kick It Out's Lord Ouseley has labelled Liverpool "hypocritical" over their handling of Luis Suarez's eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra. Liverpool players wore T-shirts in support of Uruguayan Suarez - a move Ouseley has called "dreadful". Lord Ouseley also said Reds striker Suarez's apology was "lamentable". The anti-racism campaign's chairman said: "Liverpool need to take a hard look at themselves. Suarez's attempt at a belated apology is lamentable." Continue reading the main story I cannot believe a club of Liverpool's stature, with how it has previously led on matters of social injustice and inequality, can allow its integrity and credibility to be debased by such crass and ill-considered responses Lord Ouseley Chairman, Kick It Out anti-racism campaign Liverpool are not appealing against the Football Association suspension and £40,000 fine imposed on Suarez by an independent commission for his comments towards Manchester United defender Evra at Anfield on 15 October. Suarez did not mention Evra by name in his apology and has also stated that he would carry out the suspension "with the resignation of someone who hasn't done anything wrong". Kick It Out had previously commended Liverpool for choosing not to appeal against the ban. A statement on its website on Wednesday said: "We commend Liverpool FC in bringing closure to this matter, reaffirming its commitment to an unequivocal, zero-tolerance approach towards discrimination in football." However, Lord Ouseley, who was chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality from 1993 to 2000, wrote in the Guardian: "Liverpool need to take a hard look at themselves and how they have responded to the complaint and the investigations into the allegations of abuse in the Patrice Evra/Luis Suarez case. "Throughout the entirety of the proceedings, over the past three months, all we have heard are denials and denigration of Evra. "Since the publication of the 115-page report of the findings of the FA's independent commission, Liverpool's vitriol has increased. "Suarez's attempt at a belated apology is nothing short of lamentable. "I cannot believe that a club of Liverpool's stature, and with how it has previously led on matters of social injustice and inequality, can allow its integrity and credibility to be debased by such crass and ill-considered responses. "Liverpool have been particularly hypocritical. You can't on the one hand wear a Kick It Out T-shirt in a week of campaigning against racism when this is also happening on the pitch: it's the height of hypocrisy. "Liverpool players wore a T-shirt saying: 'We support Luis Suarez', seemingly whatever the outcome. This was a dreadful knee-jerk reaction because it stirs things up." Piara Powar, executive director of Football Against Racism in Europe, believes the FA would be within its rights to charge Liverpool and its manager Kenny Dalglish over their handling of the situation. "Liverpool have constantly undermined the investigation and its outcome," he told BBC Sport. "They have been disrespectful to the FA and questioned its integrity and neutrality. "If a manager had done that in a post-match interview the FA would have brought disrepute charges." It is understood that the FA has no plans to charge either Liverpool or Dalglish.

That is absolutely mint Took me a second to cotton on but that is quality. Has to get started at the games.

Are Northern Rock Stores all rebadged as Virgin Money stores now?

I think the Northern Rock Deal was expiring this month. They hadn't taken the option which was on the table for a longer deal while they were a public company. Assume Virgin have just taken up that deal now. But the NR deal was up until the summer wasn't it? And the fact that the NR brand was ceasing to exist on 31/12/2011 after the Virgin Money buyout is anything but coincidence to me. The whole 'new sponsorship' thing is a non-story IYAM. I thought it went to the summer but one of the lads last night was saying it was due to end this month. I've not checked.

Maybe I'm just being slow but i still don't see how Ashley being prepared to sell advertising space to other parties if the price is right means he never had any interest in using the club to promote his brand like SJH said he'd wanted to from their first meeting. He's always been selling advertising space to other companies all around the ground. I agree anyone that said free shirt sponsorship was bound to happen has been proved wrong here...but I think you're stretching that narrow prediction too far if you think it disproves the line of thought that one of the primary benefits Ashley saw in buying the club (if not the primary one) was advertising his other business interests.

I reckon Taylor will be a future Robbie Savage style publicity whore. He fucking loves it.

Not sure how keeping a shirt sponsor as a business other than Sports direct negates any of the Sports direct promotion he's used the club for over 5 years...and which he always intended to. For example, this is still there.... ...and even if some other company now pays for the right to replace it, and he accepts that offer, it will have served his original intention.

I think the Northern Rock Deal was expiring this month. They hadn't taken the option which was on the table for a longer deal while they were a public company. Assume Virgin have just taken up that deal now.

From Tiote's first touch he looked up for it. Commented at the time that he was gonna turn it on to stir interest from Fergie.

I sang "Keegan is our King" first time around, just instinctively. Second round of it I did give it up for Rapey though.

He doesn't think about what he's saying, he just speaks to fill the dead air. Alan Brazil: "I was sad to hear yesterday about the death of Inspector Morse, TV's John Shaw." Mike Parry: "John Thaw, Alan." Alan Brazil: "Do you know, I've been doing that all morning. John, if you're listening, sorry mate."

Full Strength? Brilliant performance. Demba Ba is the best signing we've ever made. Well done Mike Ashley.

You truly epitomise the term 'namby-pamby'. Only a warmonger such as yourself with the deaths of hundreds of thousands on your conscience - who in all liklihood has cheered on a few 'queer bashings' as necessary to stop the spread of gay - could possibly avoid the question when watching the film. For shame.

How do you justify your thieving ways? I don't Blood on your hands tbh. That's you that is, warmonger.

How do you justify your thieving ways? I don't

Santon and Ben Arfa would be torn apart by Nani et al. Yeah, Taylor and Gutierrez will shut up shop, it'll be like the Berlin Wall (before it fell down). Santon went into a tailspin for 2 years after having 1 bad game by all accounts. Could do without a humiliation in one of his first games at the club. Water off a ducks back for Ryan Taylor.

Assumes people that control multi-million pound advertising budgets have the vision of a cat. /Iain Macintosh