The Fish

Because if he doesn't bail Sunderland out that investment is a calamity. If he does bail them out now, he could recoup money on that investment, if he doesn't he absolutely won't. Any potential buyer is going to pay pennies on the pound, aren't they? If he pumps in enough to keep them afloat they'll pay more. Surely? A League 1 club, in administration, with no saleable assets, is worth fuck all. A Championship club, operating on a shoestring, is worth a lot more than that. Rock and roll.

Can you get bespoke artisanal heroin?

Sounds about right. He's got the look of a man who'll interrupt your story to tell you about the car he's buying.

He's got a billion quid, and while some of it may be stuck in shares, he can still access it. It's not like their relegation was a shock, so he had plenty of time to sort that out. Say your mate owes you £3k, and you can either get £1k back now, or loan him another £1k so he can get to work and repay you the full £4k over the next few years, what would you do?

I think we were trying to bring in a #10, but ultimately we were relying on Barnes and Charnley to get the job done.

Their debt is manageable if they get into the top flight. Once they're back in the land of milk and honey, that debt can be eaten away at. That's why I can't understand failing to spend money now.

No idea, but you're right, Short may look to sell that stadium under their feet to cover his own losses.

That's the biggest concern for them. Whether it's to avoid administration, or as a result of it, should they need to dump things like their best players, their academy, their stadium etc. The club that remains will face an arduous road back to the Premier League. Portsmouth had to dump everything and they not only look miles away from the top flight, but the clubs around them (Southampton, Bournemouth) have benefited by poaching their youth prospects.

What about a 3 in midfield when we play the big teams? Hayden close to and protecting the back four, with Merino winning the ball in the centre and Shelvey a little further forward of him, aiming to release the wide men? Against sides that look to bypass the midfield I think Merino’s ability in the air is very useful, and we’d likely be able to play him and Shelvey together?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41239042 Sky will be able to stream midweek Championship matches after agreeing a new £600m five-year domestic rights deal with the English Football League. All EFL clubs will be able to stream midweek league games via their websites if Sky are not broadcasting it live. The contract will run from 2019-2024, with the value of the rights increasing by 36% from the present agreement. Sky will also continue to broadcast the Carabao Cup, Checkatrade Trophy and play-offs until May 2024.

Regista

Do they own their own stadium?

What gives me hope is that he looks very busy, happy to put the graft in. If he just looked like he can ping the ball around (like Shelvey), but wasn't working hard I'd expect him to fall away, rather than stay the course/improve.

What happens to his ownership of Sunderland should they enter administration? Do the administrators get involved with looking for external financial help? Or are they solely interested in cutting costs and raising funds by selling assets?

I think some of Parish's concerns hold water. I absolutely believe that De Boer is an arrogant prick that the players didn't take to and I'm sure that he didn't want to keep Parish in the loop Re: transfers. That said, Parish has such an ego I'm amazed any manager lasted longer than 5 games with him. Simon Jordan is a cunt too.

If Short doesn't have access to liquid assets in the same way as Ashley "doesn't", then they're fine. The rumoured debt was around £100m, wasn't it? This summer they spent buttons, but have recouped about £30m in player sales didn’t they? they've still got the parachute payments coming their way as well. So how much would he need to personally commit, to keep the wolves from the door? I think RTG is spooked by it because misery loves company. When shit is bad on the pitch, any travails off the pitch gain importance. Guarantee if they were sitting at the top of the league there wouldn’t be as many worried about administration.

I watched the first half. Aarons was poor, kept running into his man. Shelvey was taking the mick, but the players getting onto his Hollywood balls weren't able to deliver a decent final ball and the targets of those balls weren't making the right runs. Those criticisms aside, the team in the first half played similarly to the first team, putting lots of pressure on the ball and looking to break quickly.

Wouldn't it be harder to unload SAFC were they in Administration and in danger of relegation to League 2, than it would be if they were comfortably safe? What's the cost of a club like Sunderland AFC getting relegated to the 3rd tier? Not just the initial financial hit, but the damage to reputation and so on. Have clubs like Leeds, Bolton, Portsmouth ever really recovered? Say, for arguments sake, Short puts in £20m to keep the club from entering administration, accepting that that would mean falling foul of FFP and incurring a £5m fine and a points deduction next season (I don’t think the punishment would be that rough btw), surely that’s a price worth paying? He could simply value the club as its current value + £25m cost of keeping them afloat? I dunno, without knowing how deep the hole they’re in is, it’s tough to guess at a plan to get them out of it.

I don't know enough about their finances, but I'd be surprised if there wasn't a route available to billionaire Ellis Short that allowed SAFC to avoid administration.

From the Beeb; 3 of Palace's concerns seem to be meddling in 1st team affairs, and it's no shock that Parish wants to get involved in picking the team. He's as bad as Pardew for rating himself.

Think it’s more a case of exceeding expectations than anything else to be honest. He looked shaky in his first full game, but has grown in confidence and influence. When his signing was announced I was certainly under the impression that he’d be a back-up for Shelvey or Hayden at best. As it stands, he’s been our best central midfielder thus far (imo, obvs) and I’m not sure I’d want to drop him to accommodate Shelvey. He still needs to improve his use of the ball and could do with cutting the diving out of his game, but those things aside he’s done very well despite being thrown in at the deep end thanks to Shelvey’s idiocy.

I reckon they'll comfortably stay up, they have a few players missing through injury don't they? There's too much shit in that league for them to go down imo. Bolton and Brentford are 6 games in and yet to win a game and I'd expect Birmingham to continue struggling too. If they sack Grayson they'll pursue someone like Pearson, but I can't imagine there's a lot of money to play with and that will put off most decent managers. Moyes and McInnes walked away after seeing the budgetary constraints, didn't they?

I expect for a few of them it's just bluster. I cannot fathom anyone thinking of us as anything other than the more relevant(?) of the two clubs, all but the most blinkered would surely concede that? Which is why you'll hear them use indefinite qualities like "classier", "proper" and the like. For some there's a reliance on twisting the facts to create a reality where; all Newcastle players are shit, all Newcastle managers are shit, all ex-Newcastle players are shit unless they do well at another club at which point it was the aforementioned shit managers that did for them, all ex-Newcastle managers are better than the incumbent, all points are lucky, all losses thoroughly deserved, all penalties are soft, all red cards are blatant. Our Championship team was both utterly shit and way too good for that league. But only because we spent more than anyone else (we didn't) and kept our best players (we didn't). Our c£30m surplus is irrelevant to our expenditure. Also the number of players brought in for that £55m is irrelevant. Players must be bought for the 1st team, if that's not the case they're a waste of money. We were shit at home (we weren't), were too defensive (we scored plenty), while also looking shaky at the back (we didn't). Only a few of that title winning side would get in their team that is currently around 20th? Grayson was a better option than Benitez because the former is experienced in that league and the latter isn't. Oh by the way, Benitez' managerial ability wasn't responsible for any of his many trophies, all were due to inheriting good sides, luck, or spending a fortune because he's a chequebook manager. It's bizarre. There are plenty of real, actual, truthful things to have a dig at Newcastle United (and some of our fans) about, I cannot for the life of me understand why they'd try to take positions that are so simple to demonstrate hold no water?

You ain't heavy, you're my brother.