Alex

They should've sponsored Man Utd. Missed a trick there.

IP check. I reckon this is Blaydon parodying Li3nZ.

Should've added 'decent / reliable' We had a Baird tv in the 80s. I'd forgotten all about that. Remember tv repair men btw?

I googled it to check but I assumed it was Japanese (which is why I checked). What British companies were making tellys, video recorders etc. in the 80's like?

I think the won the CL with no Italian players in their starting line-up (and won the treble that year with virtually no Italian players involved).

Sharp's Japanese like but other than that you're spot on

And read some Jack Kerouac / Richard Brautigan to get you in the mood

Enjoy it. My road trip in Canada was probably the best holiday I ever had.

I reckon the Inter link is the agent/player trying to push the deal through anyway.

Pardew's managed both of them reasonably well for half a season each. He hasn't really proved he can successfully manage either long-term. That's not being churlish, I just mention it because everything I've heard about Carroll suggests he's an absolute knacker. I'm still excited at the prospect of this deal mind.

Big Sur is meant to be lush, is it not worth spending an extra day on that stretch, HF?

Apart from the sunderland goals, there's the annoyance factor, i.e. how much he winds up that little fanny MattM4.

Inter are struggling with the FFP rules apparently and have flogged a load of players. That'll impact wages too. Apparently Morratti is about £1,000m down over the last 10 years.

I was reading that (ironically, Mr Platini) it'll affect Spanish and Italian clubs more than English ones as the EPL still generates a lot more income than La Liga or Serie A. I know you're on about the likes of Chelsea and Man City though. I think Liverpool will struggle to compete too as they already are and they've been bankrolled for years.

Above Lineker's ffs (not any more, but still)

In laws have been a few times and they love it. The Xmas markets and the general atmosphere at that time of year is meant to be really nice.

Got a week in Scotchland in September (Trossachs). Booked up for a week in Crete next June as I'm fucking sick of this 'summer'.

Whether or not 5th is the ultimate is moot but it's a hell of a lot better than the club has done for a good while. I can't realistically see how the previous owners could have done better either. Given 1) They didn't have the money themselves and 2) The access to cheap credit just isn't available any more and 3) Super-rich sugar daddies are willing to fund Chelsea and Man City. On top of which you have clubs like Arsenal and Man Utd who generate a lot more income than us. This is down to Man Utd being one of the top three clubs in the world (arguably the no. 1 in terms of world wide support) and Arsenal filling a brand new ground, week in, week out, whilst having probably the most expensive match tickets in the world (certainly in England). In that context 5th (long term) probably is the ultimate. If it isn't I'd like a detailed explanation as to how we can do better than that. Unless of course someone takes over and is willing to spend several £100m of their own cash on players and wages. Which is something no NUFC owner has been willing (or able) to do.

One of the many reasons why the Olympics (and World Cup) is shite for the country having it is that local traders are forced out at a time when they should be reaping the benefits. Incidentally (and I realise there were more stadiums to build) the last World Cup cost South Africa about £3b and they made a fraction of that in return. Fifa made a fucking fortune out of it though. Tax free.

Nah, if he had the bastard would still be here. Can you believe he was here 5 years? Less the loan at the end, which NUFC paid the vast majority of his wages for anyway. Btw, if we re-sign Carroll, will that be all the Carroll money accounted for?

Could be worse, you could've paid a fortune for one of the (already somewhat shabby) flats in an old BT office block on the same roundabout.

Still think it was a complete waste of time like. I think the Police and the CPS were hamstrung in that because it was a race issue they had to do something about it. Anyone involved in anything to do with the criminal justice system will tell you there's more serious crimes with a lot of evidence that get thrown out before a trial purely on the basis the time and money this isn't available. I think this was a high profile cosmetic exercise and they probably knew he'd get off but also knew there'd be hell on / indignant moral outrage if they let it slide. Not that Terry emerges with much credit like although seeing people in the media falling over themselves to state he's an innocent man, you'd almost believe he is. It was ridiculous when the star witness / wronged party didn't know what Terry had said and didn't want the trial to go ahead. I don't buy the notion that it's highlighted the seriousness of racism either.

How to make Carroll feel wanted: we won't loan you because we want to sell you

Who was the bint who came out the court with a bottle of rose champagne / Aldi cava after the verdict btw? Classy

Oldfields is canny and quite often does lunchtime deals (2 courses for a tenner / 3 for £12 - that sort of thing). Not a pub like.