Rayvin

I can actually imagine Ashley sitting down and thinking Pardew was the second coming of Fergie. I can definitely, definitely imagine Pardew sitting down and thinking that.

Because we finished 5th one year. I really think that's basically the whole reason.

Not wanting to tempt fate, but might he do a job for Chelsea? Willian and Oscar seem a bit off the pace this year, and some more physicality might be what they need.

I think stuff like satirical newspapers, yes, I'd say free speech is always allowable. Where there is no intent to physically harm, basically.

I think some people in the West truly believe in it, but the truth is that it can be highly politically inconvenient (palestine), and becomes extremely problematic when people are put in danger (inciting hatred). At the government level it's a sham, I'll give you that.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/12/west-ham-sam-allardyce-everton-roberto-martinez-fa-cup Sam Allardyce claiming greater tactical flexibility than most other managers here Such a bell end.

Here's the thread if anyone is bothered: http://www.toontastic.net/board/topic/29382-john-carver/ I've never been of the opinion that he was even that good to be honest, aside from his questionable displays of loyalty. I guess SBR swore by him but even so...

Was just having a bit of a scan back through the forum and came across the thread where Pardew unveiled Carver as the new assistant manager. Seems like everyone was well on board with him being signed up then. Are we just older and wiser now or has he lost the plot a bit in the past few years? Or would we never have wanted him as a manager anyway?

I was going for a slightly more diplomatic label.

Again though, remember that it's not in Ashley's interests to put Carver in charge and risk us getting relegated. This might be just too early in the season for him to take the calculated risk to be honest. Also, it's much cheaper to bring in a good manager with a good backroom team than it is to buy players; if he finds someone who can get the team performing, it'll benefit him in the long run. If I was him, I'd be prepared to spend a bit more on this appointment in order to provide stability and, more than anything, good value for money for player transfers (i.e. the players we buy are used correctly and appreciate in value).

ALso, why did our debt balloon so much once Ashley took over... I know he put a lot of money in, but I thought he was just cancelling out debts that were in place elsewhere?

Couldn't the £3m received for Pardew be used to cover all of that? They can't be paid that much ffs.

I think a lot of football fans are for one reason or another, very much led by the media. Everton have been a fairly recent 'crisis team' and so they're now inevitably tipped for relegation. I agree that it's ridiculous, but judging by your average fan's reactions to the Pardew era here, it doesn't seem as though critical analysis of news sources is a high priority.

Insightful.

Good bit of bonding with the father-in-law, that

I bet that's gone down well. It's true mind, I can't remember watching Sunderland ever play anything approaching attractive football. I may have blanked the Phillips era though, when they were admittedly a pretty good team.

I appreciate the pointers - I'll let you know my thoughts on the two you mentioned at least. And yes, I've signed up with Majestic as well so I'll give them a look.

It goes without saying really, but Fox News is an absolute disgrace.

I'd settle for the new manager not having to carry out a full squad overhaul following the sale of several key players.

Normally I get it from either the wine section in Fenwicks or some of the standalone wine stores you get in small country towns. Clitheroe has a particularly good one (not that it's worth visiting for any other reason really - I go quite frequently though as my g/f's family live there). I wouldn't say I have a preferred source as such, but you find much more variety in the smaller establishments than you would from supermarkets or anything like that. Anything closer to home that you'd recommend?

I thought the trailer looked pretty good actually - made me laugh a couple of times. Are those just exceptional highlights then, to draw adults in?

Thanks for the input. I'll start looking into what you've said, quite fancy giving both a try - I enjoy beer too tbf, but red wine has particularly got me in the past year or so, all the more now I've been able to try multiple different kinds.

I'm groundlessly confident that Ashley will have hired someone other than Carver within the next week or so. There's been no positive words said about Carver whatsoever.