sadoldgit

Have you ever had to manage on a budget? Did you notice that we didn't spend much on players either but we still managed to get some quality in. These people have to start somewhere and as they were known by the club they would have known if they were any good or not. I think the plan was to get in a coach and have a DOF come in and do the other work. Both Wigely and Gray were/are good coaches. THey might not have been the best decsions but when you are working to a tight budget they are the kind of decsions that get made. If it meant we could pay a little more on players/wages the decisions also don't look quit so bad. And in hindsight I would say the decision to emply Redknapp was far worse than the previous poor decisions.

Or they might just come to the conclusion that the CEO didn't like him, wanted someone who was more, erm, compliant to his wishes, and sacked him?

THis is yet to be as cold as the winetr of 62/63 and back then the winters were colder than of late. Up to recently the winters have been much milder. The term Global warming seems to make people think that they won't get cold winters. In fact what it does is change the climate so that parts of the planet will actually have periods o worse weather. Some people don't believe that Man have influenced weather (which to be fair does change over time) but there is plenty of evidence to show that Man has accelerated change in weather patterns by over use of fossil fuels, farming (methane from large cattle stocks) etc. Very simplistic response but don't take the phrase literally. The planet is warming up in general causing shifts to weather patterns. I should add that I have been on ths planet for the best part of 6 decades. When I was younger we had definate seasons, now we just seem to have weather, if that makes sense?

As a third division club, and even a CCC club, if a bigger club wants our players they will probably get them. Big fish eat little fish.

Big time! Many years on and she is still giving me grief through being difficult with my contact with the kids. Her way or no way. David Beckham has OCD too. Just thought I would throw that in!

Ah, the old Rooney school of negotiating!

I don't suffer with it myself but did through my ex wife. She also has a Narcissitic Personality Disorder on top of that which made the whole thing a living nightmare. SHe no longer has to wash her hands hundreds of times a day, but is still a complete control freak.

No Nick, Plan B is when you get a new manager when you have just had a thumping win away from home : )

Do you really think we could ever average 40k though? Really?

And while we are at it, how can ge be so sure that the trophy cost us promotion? Playing in multiple competitions doesn't seem to cost teams doing doubles and trebles. Just as well NC isn't CEO of ManU. He has hardly broken the bank this season to get us out of Div One and we are supposed to believe that he would spend a fortune in the Prem? LOL He is playing a PR game and you can't blame him for that.

Boom boom.....

The defining part to any season is where a team kicks on and does the business. It hasn't happened for us yet and given the form in the season so far, unless we get new blood in it isn't going to happen.

Is Baggs ( a brand or a fish?) the biggets c*ck in the history of The Apprentice? How Sugar kept him for Liz I will never know.

It is Saints Lore that if you don't get promoted at the first time of asking you are a rubbish manager, as Adkins will find out if he doesn't get us up this year.

I worry that we won't get the players we need until the summer as that will mean another season in this bloody division. We do need new blood - how many players is any ones guess but two qulaity players in the right positions would make a huge difference. And a Plan B would be nice.

DD, will you still be so suppotive of NA if we don't make the play offs this season?

We do need new blood in January but do we have the cash and the owners the will?

The trouble with our electoral system is that encourages Governements to start of mean so that they can "buy" votes with sweetners 4 or 5 years down the line. Not ideal for building a stable economy.

I think you will find that Mr C B Fry is having the arguement DD...unless you think that winning the CCC constitutes winning a "major" trophy? When was the last time they won anything? Fairs Cup in the 70's???

LOL are you serious? A miracle finishing 6th in the CCC? When did I ever say that. I said that his aim was to make the play offs and he achieved that. We would probably have gone up too but for a couple of individual errors by players. I never sneered at Burley. I never sneered at Pardew (who you seem to support too). I am not sneering at Adkins. I did not sneer at Hughton. I simply pointed out, as I will again, that Newcastle United have not won a major competition for decades. If you want to add the CCC as a major comeption that is down to you. Personally I don't. 5th biggest league says it all. Surely major means biggest? I was say 5th was minor. If you want to make an arguement out of that little lot you are now on your own mate.

And you believe that?

Blimey Otters me old mate...a stonking post!!!

I still don't get why some people were not happy with Pardew. His team scored an awful lot of goals and he surely must take credit for that, width or no width. He certainly got the best out of Lambert. His team also won football matches. Whether Adkins will be better or not only time will tell, but we haven't set Div 1 alight this season and if we don't bring in some quality in January it is hard to see how we can push on with what we have. Pardew was expected to take us up last year and was under no illusion that it was this year or bust. Somehow Adkins is escaping that pressure so far this year but why? Surely the expectation should be the same? HOwever, whereas Pardew had money to use, it doesn't seem as though the same financial support is there for Adkins (so far at least). If Cortese is serious about his ambitions he will have to spend more money. He tells us he is the boss. Fine, then do what you need to do otherwise we will be spending another year in League 1 and people like Lallana won't hang around much longer.

Someone said here that Pardew was Susan Boyle to Adkins Cherly Cole. Really?

After last year I as hoping to build on the momentum. However, without the fresh blood (read investment in the promotion push) we seem to be treading water. Last year I beleived that the people running the club were going for promotion big time. I don't get that feeling this year.