NJS

At the start of last season I thought he was pretty decent too but thought he ended quite badly - a lot of the goals which cost us so much could be put down to him imo and I think we should look at replacing him or at the very least having some competition for him - I don't count either Taylor as a threat for that purpose.

My opinion too.

Absolutely knackered - spent about 4 hours all told attacking the garden/jungle with trimmer, shredder and chainsaw (great fun) and only did about 20% of what I need to get done. Might hire a fuck off shredder for the weekend as the one I got last year is a wimp. Manual labour always makes me grateful I have half a brain which can make me a living.

Slightly relieved - internet was off this morning and on phoning Virgin was told it definitely wasn't a general problem and my modem was knackered - told an engineer would be here today but then when he went to book it was told Thursday was first appointment - the prospect of 2.5 days with no internet (other than via phone) is actually quite scary - sad twat that I am. However just came upstairs to take a break from garden clearance and saw all the lights on the modem on - they were wrong surprise, surprise.

Because that's what we do. We did it with Milner. We did it with Given and Nzogbia. We did it with Carroll. We sell without cover at the end of a window, occasionally having bought early to move season tickets. Do me a favour, Liverpool sold Torres at the last minute, leading to the Carroll deal. Hindsight proves it was better not to make some stupid 12th hour sale and instead have the time now to invest that money properly. They agreed the deal at the weekend leaving them the full monday to get their men.

I think I've said before I find CT's irrational optimism quite enjoyable at times as generally I like to live in irrational hope sometimes as well but I think going this far leaves him open to some piss-taking. I think HF's posts about good players coming in being "pointless" if it comes with the price of the most positive aspect of the last two years (the team spirit) have been overlooked and that sums up my view.

Thought he always wanted to finish at Oldham - maybe the prospect of getting kicked and making "cheeky mistimed tackles" without red shirt rules didn't appeal. Canny player though.

Leaving aside his comment post Keegan about putting that in, I was just stating that a summer with zero outlay would have been a disaster waiting to happen, I then mentioned a figure I think equates to a modest amount out of summer cash flow that should have been spent anyway. Last summer we did spend a bit of money when the financial position was a lot bleaker than it is now which is why I think he should protect his investment more. The Carroll money is a convenient excuse/cover-up for the usual cop-out. I wouldn't be surprised if post Enrique/Barton/other departures we end up with very little being spent net. Some of the mooted signings look promising but overall I'd be pleasantly surprised if we start next season with a stronger team/squad.

50m? did we ever spend 50million net in a single window ever? under any regime? We never had a £30/35m windfall before. the truth about your man and the bollocks spoken of him here and elsewhere, is about to be revealed this summer to all those who STILL are totally blind, blinkered, or can't bring themselves to admit they were and still are spouting shite. Fuck off with the your man shit you stupid non-post reading imbecile

50m? did we ever spend 50million net in a single window ever? under any regime? We never had a £30/35m windfall before.

Is it just me or does anyone think when they hear or read the incessant shite about spending the Carroll money that nobody poses the simple question of if he hadn't been sold does that mean we would have spent no money at all this summer? We should have been planning a modest £20m anyway so as far as I'm concerned anything less than £50m is just another bullshit Ashley waste of time - and that's before departures are considered.

Might be interesting to see how Ferguson reacts to what he will see as his failure. I think he has a stubborn streak which will make him want to try again but you never know he may just think sod it and think about going again. I wasn't surprised at the team he picked as that's the one that's done the business in recent big games but I was surprised he didn't change it earlier - Valencia and Giggs were abysmal and he should have changed it at half time imo though 1-1 probably seemed okay. Don't know if there's any crack but the decision to have Owen on the bench instead of Berbatov was incomprehensible to me.

Sod grease - a major character in what is still the best TV series ever made - B5. RIP Zack

Answered this a few times but you ignore it. Because their rich owners (its not just Man City) are willing to spend more than ours. All of these clubs have the power (if their owner wants to) to make our larger turnover meaningless. I don't recall anybody saying that 5-6 years ago and when they booed Shepherd at Shearers testimonial, was that the reason why ? Your irrational hatred is sad mate, it is getting in the way of any common sense. Meaningless irrelevant reply as usual. Football in 2011 has nothing to do with Shearer's testimonial or anyone's opinion of the previous regime. Your view that turnover equates to spending power which you keep repeating is out of date - you can keep repeating your stock phrases about revenues all you like but the bottom line is you relish the ongoing failure of the club.

Answered this a few times but you ignore it. Because their rich owners (its not just Man City) are willing to spend more than ours. All of these clubs have the power (if their owner wants to) to make our larger turnover meaningless.

Work in IT development for an investment bank. I do a bit of everything in that field and don't mind dealing with users. I like the job but the place is shite at the moment - mates and other people have left which has narrowed the work and the manager is an arsehole (promoted from a project manager to a level so far beyond his competence its frightening). Been looking for a new job for a few months but have found that its hard to find "Jack of all trade" type roles like mine - the emphasis is on very expert niches which doesn't appeal to me (and it means if I do go for one of these expert roles I'm not quite up to scratch compared to other applicants). Will get there though and not quite suicidal yet.

Not really. It only makes sense if they insist on the same basis for sales - if not cash flows are out of balance.

Extract of a quality rant by PZ Myers:

One half-decent striker down, 3 better ones to go.

Ferry from Northern Spain to the south coast wouldn't effect them too much. That'd be the sensible option, rather than driving all the way from Spain to Calais or whatever. Didn't that Bilbao-Portsmouth route take 24 hours though?

wasn't Randy Lerner another new owner who had a "plan" and was showing us how it really should be done etc etc etc blah blah blah What a shame eh. To be fair, I don't remember HF being one of those who trot out this sort of shite Stevie, his football awareness is pretty good, unlike his politics Lerner did exactly what you've just suggested we should do - spent a load of money.

The bottom line is so what. Was there a mass campaign? - no. Did the Halls sell because they felt the fans didn't want them? - No. Did a couple of thousand people booing Shepherd convince him to go? - considering the fact he actually resisted Ashley I'd say no - to suggest it influenced the Halls is ludicrous. So we're left with a few people on the internet a lot of whom don't go to games or never have and another lot who will say anything to wind people up. As I said - so fucking what. However the other facet is your almost religious need to rub Ashley's failure in anyone who did want change faces. You suggest it serves them right that Ashley is shite and its just rewards - this extends presumably to the rest of us that as we didn't stop these bastards and their heresy we are all to blame and deserve Ashley - hence the gloating at any failure. Just as insane as the preachers predictiing the end of the world - how can a future prediction be a FACT? I think its unlikely but you can only say that after he's gone. It also fails to acknowledge the underlying truth that to actually try and do it would cost more wealth than the club ever did have or ever could have - as we keep saying timing was everything but those times are gone. I agree completely with KK but funnily enough he's at odds with Hall as quoted today on .com: So the only person who did matter when it came to the Halls leaving is also the person who most backed Ashley and is the person who most go it wrong.

Strangely hopeful After 6 or 7 interviews in my never-ending quest fro a new job i gave quite easily my best performance so far at one earlier. If I don't get a second interview I will be seriously pissed off. I have another first interview on Thursday which I'm hopeful about as well.

I don't think it would have made any difference to Blackpools fate, but I did think when he scored "What a twat".

Well as far as I could see the first one was down to Simpson, the second Coloccini for buying his dummy and the third as a combo of Krul/Taylor for not dealing with a cross/player. However the substitutions didn't help and I didn't see the point of favouring Best/Smith over the young lads who did so well last week.