OTF

Lovenkrands may suffer a fair few injuries, but he had a good season playing in his actual position up front. In the premier league he was largely used out wide which he was poor at. What really has surprised he this season is his finishing. Some lobs, curling shots, powerful strikes, deft touches, glancing headers we've seen them all fro him this season. He also runs some good lines off the ball, something that Shola and Carroll don't do. I think he'll be a key player for us next season. Of all our options to play up front I prefer the Lovenkrands and Carroll combination. As Stevie said, he also really seems like he loves playing for the club. His return from the passing of his father immediately springs to mind.

Ashley selling up after releasing a statement that says it will take 5 years for the club to be operating at a profit?

I think you just get a nominated time share of the trophy given out to the team with the 5th highest average league placement. Either that or the one for posting about shit from 10 years ago that bears absolutely no relevance to the league today. Can't remember for sure.

Further on the TV money, 50% of it is divided up equally amongst all clubs (£22.5m each), and 25% is divided out based on appearances on TV. The final 25% is the prize money that is divided and distributed based on league position. So I was wrong to include the prize money in addition in my earlier calculations.

Cloud cuckoo land if you think we'll get £45m over our first season back...perhaps if we won it we'd get two thirds of that... Here's how the prize money breaks down... http://english-premier-league.suite101.com...tball-clubs-get So (for example) Sunderland earned about £20m this year from Premier league position and TV income. You can add to that a few million on sponsorship. We will be a lot better off but as you say, we had a parachute payment for relegation. I reckon we'll be about £10m better off in the top flight. When the daily mail say that the play off game is worth £45m, they're factoring in the £15m for your first season up and then the 2 parachute payments that follow over the next two seasons. The £45 figure was taken from the vestibule of knowledge that is Wikipedia: The total raised from these deals is more than £2.7 billion, giving Premier League clubs an average media income from league games of £45 million a year from 2007 to 2010. They also receive smaller amounts from media rights for the domestic cups and in some cases substantial amounts from media rights for European matches. I also saw that article from which you are quoting ('tis where I obtained the figure West Ham received), and that is what prompted me to ask if the £45m figure was accurate. Breaking it down if the average was £45m that means for 20 teams it's a total of £900m pounds across the season. Sky and Setanta paid a total of £1.7 billion. Breaking that down it was apparently Sky paying £1.3 billion and Setanta £392 million giving them coverage from 2007 to 2010. This is just for the UK. So divisding that by the 3 seasons that it covers that's £564m per season. Then the BBC has a deal for match of the day games. Across the same three seasons that was for £171.6m or £57.2m per season. Sky and BT pay £84.3m over the 3 years (£28.1/season) for the rights to show delayed matches. This takes the total TV money per season from the UK to £649.3m. Then you have international TV rights which apparently was £625m across 3 season, breaking down to £208.3m per season. Add that onto the UK figure and you're at £857.6 per season already very close to the figure required to earn the average team £45m. So even if it's not actually £45m it's certainly closer to that figure than it is to the £14.6m mentioned above.

You mean 'ever' right?

If they do, there's no way in the world they are in excess of the transfer fees still coming in from players sold within the last 18 months, as there is no way in the world that these players were all paid for in full up front.

It's a fair effing point, how can you lose £32.5m from a season in the the championship, then when you go up to the premierleague where your TV money is supposed to average out to around £45m just for league matches, with Domestic Cups potentially adding a small amount to it still lose £28m despite not spending any money on incoming players, or increasing the wages of any of the existing players. It flat out does not make any sense. Let's inflate the TV figure we got from the Championship to £5m which means there's a additional £40m for the upcoming season. Take off that the £12m parachute payment that we would have received and that brings the additional funds figure to the princely sum of £28 million. So how the hell does that get turning into a minescule £4.5m difference over the losses from the previous season?! If no additional players were purchased that should bring the loss to a total of £4.5m. If Nicky Butt was on £50,000 a week taking his wage off the books nets an additional £2.6m so the total losses would then be £1.9m, before taking into account prize money for the position on the table. Finishing 17th on the table this season apparently netted West Ham £3.2m, so if we achieved the lofty ambition of survival next season without signing additional players in theory we should be turning a profit of £1.3m assuming we receive the same amount from gates/tickets. ...Is anyone able to confirm whether the TV figure of £45m is accurate as it all hinges on that.

I hope that is the new shirt, because it could potentially be a helluva lot worse. I think I'll get mine with BOSMAN on the back, should keep me covered for the next 5 years.

The money earnt from the sales of Milner, N'Zogbia, Duff, Bassong and Martins absolutely can not be forgotten. At the very least half of that should be used in strengthening the squad. In the end if you don't spend money you'll be left behind. We're already left behind more than half the teams in the league, not trying to improve the squads puts us in a very real danger of being left behind those in the bottom echelons of the league, and that does not make business sense.

I expect he'll be seen in the SBS studios during the World Cup. Given their penchant for showing full body view with no table to hide behind those watching will get to see exactly what sort of shape he's in.

Bloody Viduka. Should have been keeping fit and doing something as he'd still add a hell of a lot to the Australia squad. I reckon if the World Cup had've been somewhere more appealing to him he'd have done a lot more to stay in contention. It would have been a good swansong for him before heading back to the relatively amateur A-League.

At least this one was brief and to the point without any double speak. I wonder what the next statement will be. I'll take a stab...

Yep, unlucky for him as I think he was in better form than all of the other centre backs named prior to his injury.

Or that as a striker you're much more likely to score a lot of goals if you're playing in front of a midfield that is substancially better than the team you're playing.

Don't really want Harewood here again. Senderos's wages would be too high I would imagine. Even though his value has dropped the fact that he's available for free could drive up the price that clubs will be willing to pay for his wage. Plus I'm not convinced that he's any better than Williamson who is third choice here (or even Kadar who is coming along nicely). Seb Larsson I'd have here for sure. Right sided midfielder is an area where we lack, in fact wide midfield in general we lack any depth. Past Jonas and Routledge the next option is Ryan Taylor and then you're forcing central midfielders wide (Guthrie, Barton etc) which didn't work in the Championship so certainly won't in the premier league. I wouldn't expect that he's on particularly high wages at Birmingham, though again being on a free could mean a bit of a battle as I'd imagine he'd be quite well sought after. At 24 he fits with the previously noted youth policy at the club, and as such paying slightly higher wages with the payoff of no transfer fee presents a very low risk option. Gamst Pedersen I like, plus he adds an extra dimension and additional creativity to the side and fills an area where we're weak. Not sure on wages for him, doubt he was on anything particularly high at Blackburn, no doubt he'll be looking for more as he's not getting any younger (turns 29 in 4 months). Looking outside of England is a pretty big risk, and many of the other good players available within England are either too old, or will be looking for wages vastly in excess of what we'd be willing to pay. Bouma might be worth a gamble on a one year deal with an option to extend, but given the severity of his injury coupled with his age it's a pretty big risk. Alternately there's Steve Finnan - I didn't see Finnan play much this season, so can't comment on how he currently is, but he was a very handy and capable player for Liverpool for a long period. At 34 there's not much time left for him, but given our lack of options at right back he could be a decent shout for a single season. Likewise 33 year old right back Mario Melchiot who is a solid player who has a good record as far as injuries go (so far as I can tell). Up front Ivan Klasnic is a good player. Just turned 30 though. Did a solid job for Bolton, and is a different sort of player to our other options up front.

I agree that Carroll, Lovenkrands and Ameobi aren't good enough to be the number one striker in a premier league side, however I think they're all capable deputies in their own ways. Of the three Carroll is potentially still on the up. So whilst we basically need to get in a a new striker, those three will give us reasonably good depth up front. Best need not be mentioned. Hopefully he's sold. A midfield of Jonas, Barton, Guthrie, Routledge is semi decent; plus you have Nolan to add to the mix. I suspect we'll see him played in behind a lone striker a lot next season - probably Carroll when the striker that we need doesn't arrive. Alan Smith will provide cover for injuries in the middle, but we're really lacking in any sort of depth out wide. A move for available-on-a-free Morten Gamst Pederson would provide some much needed depth there. His wages wouldn't be particularly high at Blackburn. Alternately Martin Petrov on a 1 year deal wouldn't be a bad option. Seb Larsson also a free would be a good option down the right in addition to Routledge. Of course expecting us to get all, or any, of them is probably a pretty forlorn hope. NUFC - Daring to dream of signing uncontracted players . Defensively as a priority we need a new right back, dropping Simpson down to cover. It seems unbelievable that these simple and cost effective steps (or ones similar) are purported to being not even considered for next season. At their best they offer the opportunity to build the club and take them up the Premier League table, at their worst they provide additional cover and depth to lessen the likelihood of relegation. Realistic potential side without paying a single transfer fee (Beye is on loan ): GK - Harper RB - Beye CB - Taylor CB - Coloccini LB - Enrique RM - Routledge CM - Guthrie CM - Barton LM - Jonas SS - Nolan CF - Carroll Subs (from): Krul, Forster, Williamson, Simpson, R. Taylor, Pedersen, Petrov, Larsson, Smith, Kadar, Ameobi, Lovenkrands, Ranger, Vuckic, Tozer, Donaldson. It's not horrible, and there is some level of cover in all positions.. I hate that we have to think like this.

Mike & Derek's Master 10 Step Plan Step 1. Devise 5 year plan, based on casual observation of clubs that appear to be doing ok. Step 2. Implement said '5 year plan' by paying excessive amounts of money to bring in new management and director positions that severely undermine existing staff. Boy this is fun! Step 3. Pretend that everything is ok. Oh my, what's going on? Step 4. Try to escape. For Sale, check our web site for price Step 5. Claim that you're in if for the long haul and remind everyone of the five year plan, but this time base it off teams a little lower down the spectrum in an attempt to cover for lack of action in attempting to address the rot that has set in due to minmanagement (Refer to Steps 1-4) Shit! Noone bought it... Step 6. Panic. Try to do something that will make 'everyone' happy. Talk about it like it's a long term move that's part of your continuing committment to the club."Bringing Alan Shearer back to Newcastle United was the best decision I have made" Step 7. Sell off anyone that you can get money for. Pretend that anyone who wasn't sold was strictly retained because they wanted to play for the club, and because the club wanted them and NOT because no-one offered anything for them. Step 8. Close your eyes, cross your fingers and hope. Step 9. When all is doing well make some positive moves on the market helping to secure promotion to the Premier League and giving the illusion of light at the end of a long dark tunnel. Step 10. Devise 5 year plan, based on finger in the wind calculations about how to turn a profit by alienating players and fans through inactivity.

This is up there with putting the price of the club up on the web site. Pathetic that we're such an amateur operation. Top 5 in gates in the entire country and we're run by a bunch of hopeless clowns who continue to amaze and dazzle with the depth and diversity of their incompetence. It's absurd.

That's exactly what I mean.

Limited to matches I've seen live (radio doesn't have the same lasting effect).. it would have to be: (1) Enrique's goal and the subsequent celebration. (2) Celebrations on the pitch after Plymouth match. (3) Nolan chasing the ball down (against Reading), knocking it back to Ryan Taylor and having it whipped into the box for Shola to score. Others, (4) Andy Carroll's goal scoring form. (5) Lovenkrands playing well in his preferred position. (6) Guthrie playing well in his preferred position. (7) The signing of Routledge. (8) The signing of Williamson. (9) Coloccini getting his confidence back (10) The Fernando Pancake song

Keeping him would be foolish IMO. Way behind Carroll, Lovenkrands and Shola in the pecking order (and even Ranger IMO), plus I reckon next season away we're going to see a lot of Kevin Nolan in behind a lone striker, so he's even less likely to have a run. Going up to the premier league means less games and a less demanding schedule overall and we need to bring in a new leading striker which would render Best completely useless. Sell him off as a loss, because that amount would soon be realised in wages anyway. If he's on say 10k a week that's more than half a mill a season going down the gurgler. Timbuktu correspondant signing off...

I don't care for the club or the manager, but the players deserve to have qualified for champions league qualifications. Did the double over their nearest rivals on the table, have beaten the title winners and Arsenal amongst others. I didn't think they would do it, but now that they have they deserve it.

Well thats going to be useful then It could be... on his Michael Owen'esque Full-colour Brochure

This season was the first time ever that Shola has scored ten league goals for us. Took him 10 seasons. He is a European goal scoring machine though. 12 goals in 41 appearances. Completely different player TBH. Chopra would have scored f. all for us if played more extensively in his early years at the club.