Kitman

Is George Graham working these days?

Pardew manages OK when his team's on a roll. He's pretty clueless though when he doesn't have that momentum, which is why he's a mediocre manager. I'm happy he's gone because he's a complete shithouse of a man and I dont want him at our club regardless of who comes next.

@ that comic strip I'm long past the point of caring about what happens on the pitch. I find what's happening at the club interesting but in a rubber-necking-at-the-car-crash kind of way. I don't know what will happen in the summer but it will certainly be on the cheap and much less than we actually need. Its such a shame. We should really have "Abandon hope all ye who enter here" written above the turnstiles.

I must have watched a fair few episodes of the Dukes of Hazzard as an adolescent. Admittedly perving Daisy Duke was the main attraction but Boss Hog and Rosco were a hoot. RIP

Amen brother!

We might hope for a raft of new signings but we'll still get Willo and Dummett as our centre backs and Gouffran and Anita will still be here. The club's run by football hating fuckwits.

Unfortunately I don't think anything the fans say will affect Ashley. The only thing that would have the remotest impact would be bad publicity for Sports Direct at the ground; as has already said it seems the majority of matchgoers won't support that.

So what? If someone wants to pay him a 100k a week then thats up to them. I couldn't give a shit whether Sterling wants to pay for Liverpool or someone else who he thinks will give him trophies. Modern footballers look after themselves first, second and third; anybody who expects any different is naive imo.

lol I was assuming the people wouldn't be from Sunderland. On the basis you have to pay to get in.

Air shows are shit imo. They're in the same bracket as country shows, bored people standing around wishing they'd gone to the beach instead. Or anywhere else in fact.

"nonanza". I like it

The summer transfer bonanza will be deferred till January for sound, prudent financial reasons. When it won't be a bonanza on account of the lack of "value" in the market place.

England seem mentally weak to me. Maybe the set up or the management doesn't breed confidence or a good spirit....seems from a distance.like something needs to change cos I cant believe we dont have the talent to compete

Yes. Also to be a tax deductible expense it has to be a real business expense of the company not a profit shift to Ashley or one of his companies. So if its a tax fiddle (as some are claiming on N-O) there has to be genuine business substance behind it to stand up to HMRC scrutiny. Edit: I mean if the extra cost is nothing to do with player depreciation

Back to the good old days of the previous regime? Presumably he'd have to be an officer of the company otherwise its really a dividend. Seems more likely its a fee of some kind paid to an associated company for unspecified services.

3 out of the 5 players were unfit to play and continue to be so. That's just a rip off. I don't know whether Streete was fully fit but it's suspicious he only lasted about 30 mins of action.

Dont drop your Garde

Toontastic: infecting computers since 2006

Whatever we spend, it will be far less than we actually need. Every year I hope to see the back of perma-crap like Obertan, Gouffran, Williamson but every year they are still here lining up for the first team. Our squad is thinner than a French pancake and just as full of crepe.

I can't see any rational explanation for the sudden hike in costs. I suppose they may have been super aggressive on player depreciation but I suspect its more to do with syphoning profits off to SD. Whatever the reason, to the layman it looks like a deliberate exercise in manipulating the result.

Its a shame the final wasnt more of a contest from a neutrals point of view. The Kiwis had a fine tournament but the Aussies outplayed them when it mattered, so credit to them. Theres disappointment here obviously but I'm sure the Kiwi lads will still be treated like heroes when they return.

I don't think they've any more idea than we have