Mike Ashley has really done it now. In his efforts to rebrand Newcastle's stadium as sportsdirect.com@St James' Park, which I'm pretty sure is just a dyslexic email address, Ashley forced supporters to launch their own bid to buy the club from him and end his reign of embarrassment.

Well, Sting and the rest of The Police (you know, the other two guys who aren't Sting) are backing the Newcastle United Supporters Trust's totally originally titled "Yes We Can" campaign to gain control of the club.

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Some common themes developing in the post-match interview - concentration and the lack of ability to close games out in particular:

"First half we never really imposed ourselves as I know we can and conceded two poor goals. But then we picked ourselves up and showed some of the qualities I expected from the start.

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Cavalieri
Degen Skrtel Kyrgiakos Insua
Spearing Plessis
Kuyt Voronin Babel
Ngog
Goals:
Merida 19'
Insua 26'
Bendtner 50'
Any loss is disappointing, especially when the team's already lost six, but this one doesn't sting too bad. Arsenal, with Nasri, Bendtner, and Eduardo in the line-up, didn't exactly play the Super Teens, and probably deserved their victory. Click to continue reading...

Speaking about the key presence that Given has become since his signing from Newcastle last January:

"Shay's been more than I could have hoped for in terms of his presence on the field.
"He's got a calming influence on the back four. That's made a marked difference to the way the guys in front of him have been able to defend.

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It is probably the most famous wasp in the world, the wasp that almost cost Fabio Cannavaro his career. The Italian defender was stung last week and later treated by Juve medics however following this Cannavaro failed a drugs test.

Over the last few days Cannavaro has been cleared of any wrong doing and he has revealed more information about that sting and where it was.

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I, like a movie star or a heavily concussed spy who nevertheless completely remembers German, am taking a trip, which means I won't be around much for the next 10 days or so. New posts will appear faithfully while I'm gone, including a guest joint from a Liverpool fan about Michael Owen and a good-faith attempt to imagine what Wayne Rooney's life would look like if he were an Ent.

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Ex-teammate Cristiano Ronaldo and his countrymates bedamned! Wayne Rooney won't miss Portugal if it doesn't qualify for the World Cup.

"It would be nice to see Portugal not there because in the last two tournaments they've knocked us out.

Apparently the sting of that '06 game lives on. Click to continue reading...

Today we mourn, once more, the passing of greatness from us. We must also make room for some joy amid our sadness. The joy of his achievements, the joy of his words, the joy that we knew him at all. Tears will come, as they did that awful day in July, and their sting will [...] Click to continue reading...

Sting the musician, not the verb was in attendance for the Champions League playoff second leg match between Fiorentina and Sporting yesterday in Florence. Seems kind of random, but I'm sure there was a very good explanation for him gracing such a nondescript match with his presence. I'm thinking something like:

-He knew it would be one place where the other members of The Police wouldn't be to annoy him.

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