First out....

Humm, it looks like Denis Wise and his mates are starting the summer clear out. Emre seems to be on his way back to Turkey, going to Fenerbahce. If the price that is being quoted is correct it seems like good business. Emre hasn't contributed much at all for the last year or so. He's always been injury prone and he seemed to have been a hangover from Souness's days.

At his best Emre is brilliant, its just that his best in a black and white shirt came two years ago and that form hasn't really been recaptured since then. I'll always be grateful for the free-kick against the mackems that he scored, but since then he's been a bit part player. Still, I'd be willing to bet that if he is going it'll be just our luck that he'll have a storming Euro 2008 competition.

One interesting thing that it does seem to indicate is that Barton will be staying.... Not a surprise, but disappointing.

Brief Encounter

As I've mentioned before, I have to travel a fair bit with my job, this week I've been to Edinburgh, London and today, Glasgow. I also use different types of transport, train yesterday, car earlier this week and today I flew. I must have the carbon footprint of a yeti, but it saves so much time flying.

Anyway, there was I sitting waiting to get on the plane and a bloke in his 50's wandered up and sat next to me. I did the usual, quick glance and then back to the paper... Slight satellite delay whilst my synapses caught up... And then I realised that the ex-Toon manager Graeme Souness had sat next to me. I was so torn... I wanted to demand my money back from him for numerous games, but not least the Manchester City 0-3 just before he got sacked, I wanted to berate him for Boumsong, ask if he'd taken a back-hander for Amady Faye - or did he just sign the wrong one? As the words "Albert" and "Luque" were forming on my lips the flight was called. Perhaps I should have taken my friends texted advice

"Slap him and ask 4 a refund 4 all the rubbish that we paid good money 2 c". Needless to say I said nowt.

I also don't know what else alarmed me more, the fact that despite the fact that he had been staying overnight in Manchester (he was commentating on Sky - Manure v Portsmouth) he had no luggage - not even a man-bag. Or the fact that he's a Daily Mail reader... Somehow neither surprised me that much.

On the plane one thing just summed him up. The captain had to make an announcement that the weight distribution on the plane wasn't right and whoever was sitting in the wrong seat should move to the correct one... Guess who sheepishly had to move? Selfish to the core. Git.

I've been cross all day thanks to Sourness - just like old times eh?