Kitman

RIP

Because there's no other way anyone could've known her full name to get through the contact centre. She's never been south of Leeds in her life other than holidays abroad and she knows no southerners, and I certainly know no southern old boilers. Didn't you work down south Stevie or maybe still do? Could it not be connected with that?

If Obertan didn't have the heart of a hamster, I don't think we'd miss him at all footballing wise. As it is I think he'd strengthen the squad as things stand. However with every fresh tweet acting the twat, I'm glad he's gone.

Regardless of whether Warnock is whinging or not, Barton should keep his trap shut. I would have thought the last thing Mark Hughes wants it Barton stirring it.

The question of wages is a complex issue imo. Under the Halls/Shepherd we went for instant success in the first team, so as a rule we went for established players. However it was difficult to attract high quality existing stars to the north east after the Dalglish years when we were steadily going backwards (with the exception of SIr Bobby). So we either needed to pay well over the odds in transfer fees and salary or take a gamble on crocks like Carr and Babayaro or marquee players like Owen and Kluivert no-one else fancied. I imagine there was a general acceptance on the Board's part that we needed to pay over the odds. However, for whatever reason it didn't work and wasn't sustainable in the long term. The current lot seem to be getting it right, the most important thing imo at the moment is the sort of stability we haven't had since SBR, but we also seem to be a lot more canny in terms of the players we go for. I don't mind bargain bin shopping if they're all like Demba Ba.

He'd have to take his beaded seat and cushion home, that's why

I agree. I think it would help with atmosphere too - it's just better craic to be standing with mates or like minded people. It could easily be policed.

I don't believe there is any political will to reintroduce standing areas. Which is a shame as I believe it's the best way to watch.

Cool. What's the upshot then - life's too short to read 42 pages of shizzle.

Weather's usually toss in April. Are you from Europe H-S? If so turn the seasons on their head, so April in NZ is the equivalent of November in Europe.

We always seem to struggle at Craven Cottage. I remember seeing us there years ago when Saha tore us a new arsehole. So I'm none too confidently predicting a 1-1 result.

But was it bought cheap if it was loaded down with debt and a crippling wage bill? I thought the suggestion was he'd overpaid for it in most people's opinion. And is there any evidence as yet that he's repaid debt out of the club's cashflows?

Sorry Jay was just messing. Forgot the safety wink.

No inspection needed when the river's there to break the fall.....

Might not want to join us. Might be a heed the ball. Might want too much money. etc

Do you fucking mind, I'm talking about my holidays

Yup, beautiful spot. We spent most of the day sunbathing by the lake and looking at the mountains.....

Yup it's not bad all told - the GFC hasn't really bitten here (the economy's more driven by what happens in China and Aus). The main thing is that most of the cool things need decent weather. Funnily enough the summer's not been too flash by Kiwi standards altho' not a total washout. But we've had a bit of rain in January which is quite unusual. The main thing I'm kicking myself over is I didn't do a bungy jump in Queenstown. I'm toying with the idea of doing one off the Auckland harbour bridge but it's not the same as the ones in Queenstown, which are truly terrifying......it didn't help reading about an American in Kenya who did a bungy jump into the croc infested Zambesi......the bungy snapped (she survived)!

Exactly. I realised that I'd just started a quote pyramid myself there. Oh the irony. Oh the shame.

Cheers mate. All good with you? Blenheim (Marlborough region, north of the South Island) is wall to wall vineyards. All of them offer tastings and food. Bloody invitation to drink n drive......

Cool. I've got an ipad. Is tapatalk a free app?

Whey hey! Had a month off work to enjoy the summer, Gem. So been surfing, golfing, bit of trekking in the bush, lounging on beaches ogling women in a way inappropriate for my age, and so on. Did some touristy stuff too so went to South Island, visited a few vineyards in Blenheim, did some whale/dolphin watching in Kaikoura, and then went to Queenstown and did some sightseeing, jetboating etc. I've checked in here occasionally but been too busy to post. We had family over too over xmas so a lot of eating and drinking. Oh and CT - I haven't put a single pound on over xmas

I agree about the quote pyramids. They're a nightmare. I'll try and remember to cut the pyramids, sometimes they do encompass the whole picture though. I expect most people read posts sequentially, so you don't need to see them repeated again and again to get a sense of the points being made. It actually detracts from the power of the argument if you have to wade down a pyramid of quotes to find the latest point.

To my knowledge he hasn't taken anything at all out of the club has he?

I disagree Dr Gloom. Leazes is perfectly entitled to his opinions, tedious or not, same as you and I are. I've been on here and N-O since about 2006 and Leazes/NE5 has been consistent in his views throughout that time and has argued at nauseam with all comers. Unless you're new to TT or N-O, there can't be anything that you don't know about his views or his approach to argument. And yet time after time people will try to "win the argument" or pull him down. Which they basically won't be able to do, and it just perpetuates the whole thing. So to me the choice is simple. If you're sick of his views, then don't engage in debate with him. Or PM the people who constantly troll him and ask them to stop doing it. I doubt there'll be much of a debate over Shepherd if no-one's arguing about it. I don't blame him for responding directly to people trying to call him on things, that's his prerogative imo. The truth is some people enjoy having an argument and Leazes is an obvious target. Banning should be reserved for the truly offensive not somebody you disagree with or find annoying. imo the main thing that needs to be sorted is the quote pyramids - quoting one or two posts is all that is necessary and I'd be in favour of limiting the qupote function for everyone.