NJS

I've never known how football fits in with employment law tbh - how they can get away with "transfer fees" legally is beyond me. I'm sure the key is the registrations rather than the contracts. I'm also not sure that the old club/company is 100% gone.

More to do with the gentrification of football via all-seaters than any society wide anti-racist zeitgest. I think the latter has happened but if you go to an away game where the fanset is more "concentrated" old school fans than that racism is nearer the surface than at home games.

That argument is completely true and I accept it but it shouldn't be seen as a 100%, always get out of jail free, no foul coverall. I think you can call anybody for being racist - though I think Stevie's whatabouttery in this case is wrong.

I always assumed Havalange was a corrupt fucker and I've never had any reason to think any other members of FIFA and the IOC aren't too. You can just imagine the bribers saying "Well Mr Blatter we were bunging your predecssor for years and you mean to say you're a different kind of bloke and you won't take our money?" - yeah right.

That Fernandes talks as if he's commited to them but I get a sense of the dodgy fuckers who bought Pompey and Shiniwatra or whetver the fuck his name was as well.

Been to Utrecht a few times after we met a lad from there when we played PSV in 97 who was supporting us. Used it as a base for a couple of the pre-seasons + Feyenoord 03 and also once just for a few days on the piss. Nice fuck off church. Eindhoven looked ok but was too nervous to enjoy it as we'd gone without tickets and spent most of the time trying to get sorted.

Just reading that the administrators reckon that 2.75m of the 5.5m was to pay for the players contracts and registrations. That may be okay in the sense that a clubs assets is its players but that does mean that everything else including Ibrox was valued at 2.75m - and that is beyond dodgy as fuck.

The company I used to work for in Newcastle had a customer (Financial advisers) who Carol Decker out of T'Pau worked for - we used to do support but I never got to speak to her.

I know its semantics but I could maybe just about accept "I'll smack your arse" from a mother but as you say "up me arse" crosses some kind of line.

The strongest swear word I ever heard my Mam use was probaly sod - she definitely wouldn't have used arse - obviously a generational thing but despite being a serial swearer myself I still find the thought of parents swearing to be a bit "common" to use an old-fashioned word.

The only thing I know Moyles from was that first appearance he did on Buzzcocks years ago when Lammar was still host and he came of as an utter cock-end - never been interested in him since and I presume he's fucking off somewhere to die. I've never listened to Radio one since Mark and Lard did the breakfast years ago and now only listen to XFM.

I was on Allupurinol for years after my first attack in 89 but when I moved South and needed a new prescription they wouldn't give me one without a blood test whch showed the problem was clear so I stopped taking it. Since then I had one mildish attack 4 years ago but this has been a bastard. At her suggestion, I've told the doc today I'm going back on it once this ends.

Pissed off - again - went back to the docs as this gout atack I have hasn't abated and I thought they only lasted 4 or 5 days as thats what the previous two I've had did only to be told a "standard" attack as bad as the one I have now usually lasts 3 fucking weeks. Then I mentioned I hadn't been sleeping well due to a wheezy chest and cough and mentioned I thought iit might be hay fever only to be told its fucking asthma and now I'm one of those spacas who have to carry inhalers. I think I'm not going to like geting old(er) at this rate.

Well the first question should be were you there and did you hear it? As I said if that applies to all TV then it would be a farce. "Public order" as I understand it involves words or behaviour that causes a public reaction - you can't walk into a bar in Glasgow say and shout "you're all Jock twats" as that would cause a reaction - fair enough.. I then don't see how someone calling Anton Ferdinand anything should provoke a reaction in anyone else. Are we saying if I call you a twat that someone else can complain as they are offended? Even if it was a black person who complained, I'd argue the point that calling someone a black cunt is racist but only to that person - I don't think you can argue he was calling all black people cunts in that context.

I also find it strange that Terry has been charged with a public order offence where the "victim" didn't hear the comment, no other person in the vicinity did and the crowd couldn't react. That would leave the watching TV audience as the only "public" who could react and if we start charging people for what they say on TV in case someone watching reacts where will that end?

It's only in the last 30 years or so that an atempt to narrow the definition has been made on both sides/in all areas. Maybe Me, Stevie and a shit load of Mackems can only acknowledge through gritted teeth that until the late 70s nearly everyone in Northumberland and Durham were happy to call themselves Geordies - witness SAFC fans singing it at Wembley in 73. I think the narrowing down, whether it was because of the derogatory use of Mackem and their seizing of that phrase and turning it into one of pride or not was a good thing in many ways as it adds a layer to the rivalry. Of course in places like South Shields, Durham and the SAFC enclaves around Ashington its going to cause more bother as people who have only ever defined themselves as Geordies are now asked to realign their idenity. I certainly know lads from Shields who are SAFC fans who downright refuse to ever associate themselves with the concept of being Mackems. I think I've said before its about layers - just as a lot of people have pride in calling themselves Geordies and Englishmen, I can take pride in calling myself a Sanddancer and a Geordie - I honestly see it as a subset rather than something mutually exclusive. Because of the number of people I've met from all over the North East who support NUFC I just can't bring myself to accept Stevie's ultra-narrow definition as I think its disrespectful to too many - I don't mind a bit pisstaking here and there but being categorically told that I can't be defined as a Geordie is something I will never accept.

She was quite sexy in Buffy though I think she's lost something as an adult. Okay there were several sexier lasses but she still had her moments.

Tbf a fair response to "did you just call me black cunt" is "I've never called anyone.....". At the time I did think that's what he said. Now if the case is that did call him that in the first place then fair enough.

Well I sent through a more detailed 3 page CV this morning and I've now got a phone interview next week - so the shit begins again.

When we were up for the tournament in 95 we got talking to a couple of Rangers fans who were coppers - they reckoned nobody in Scotland were like Aberdeen when it came to "proper" thuggery. They said they always had to think twice when they were ordered to get stuck into them. I suppose the Glasgow/Edinburgh lot are a bit like Newcastle - most bother is just hardish lads who are pissed rather than proper firms. Also it's a classic Irvine Welsh quote which I always suspected was true that Hearts fans are more numerous and more passionate about the game than Hibs but Hibs have the better firm.

Aye, I expected the gay dig. I am turning into a right hypocodriac puff as I get older like.

Is there any definitive way to determine whether you have hay fever? I've had what I thought was a cold for about three weeks but adding the eye iritation to the sinus discomfort makes me think it might be hay fever - I do have a bit of a cough as well though so don't know whether thats a deal breaker. I remember years ago going for a training placement when I was at universtity and having to have an allergy test (drops on the arm etc) - can you do something similar for hay fever or should I just give this flixonase stuff a go and sod it?

Which doesn't exist I agree with you completely - football aside I just hope a way can be found to punish what looks like according to TP's posts to be criminal behaviour - and that's just regarding the administration liquidation process let alone the previous goings on. As I said I also really hope the money can be recovered somehow.

The funny thing is your underlying reason for arguing that threatening adminsitration is a meaningless scare tactic is to have a go at Ashley when as I've said the biggest user regarding Newcastle is Hall.

Not sure how the law works as its a new entity but I'd like to see the new club be forced to pay off the money owed. That may drag them down such that its not an easy return to the PL (especially as their decent players are leaving) but it would still be worth it imo. The "target" of all of this shouldn't be to see a "Rangers" back challenging Celtic in 3 years time and all the extra revenue restored as if nothing happened - it should be to ensure the debts are paid.