.....Journal headline, not mine!

The paper says this morning that BR,DH, and FS were present at a televised news conference yesterday in China where it was revealed that the Magpies are now the "unofficial" partners of the Chinese game.

One wonders how big a deal this is if we are only to be "unofficial partners", and in what "Chinese game" - tiddly winks perchance?

They go on:

"The Newcastle delegation met with Dalian Shide owner, Xu Ming, on Friday to finalise thier plans to expand into the Chinese market within the next few months. Player exchanges have not been ruled out, and the tie-up will involve a 1st team friendly at the 55,000 capacity Dalian People's Stadium next summer.

Xu Ming is one of the 10 richest men in China (ah, now the fog begins to clear - Ed!) and owns five of his country's leading Clubs. All five will act as official suppliers of United merchandise later this year as part of a deal which City analysts believe will see the Magpies close in on Europe's richest Clubs.

It is understood the deal is set to eclipse ManU's recent commercial partnership with baseball's NY Yankees, and will involve regular live coverage of Robson's men.

Although Ming will not be investing directly in the Magpies, he is keen to extend his influence into Europe and will be invited to accompany the Club on CL & UEFA Cup trips in the future."

Could be interesting, and indeed could be very lucrative.

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2002

Answers

We're Shide and we know we are!

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2002

....boom, boom! ;o{)

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2002

A link up of this sort has to be fanstastic for the Toon. Just think of all the world-wide fans, the huge amounts of money and a ready made team of stars to pick from.

Mind you, I'm not so sure about the ming bit :-(

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2002

Well I always knew that you were minging.

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2002

From a financial point of view, great news.

From a non-financial point of view it seems we are trying to attract glory-seekers.

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2002

Great spot soops - that did cross my mind!

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2002

Newcastle's fast passing game, pinging the ball around, clearly fits

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2002

Really great news!

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2002

Hmmm. I remain to be convinced - I seem to recall Crystal Palace signing 2 Chinese players in an attempt to sell shirts in China. (Suspect Terry Venables had something to do with this). And they`ve been in dire financial trouble ever since though doubtless this is a coincidence. And Portsmouth had grand plans to sell half a million Pompey strips in Japan by signing their keeper (despite the fact that he`s even shorter than Shay). Well I`v only been here for 6 weeks but I`m virtually certain I haven`t seen any Pompey shirts. The only way to make money abroad through merchandishing is through being successful - hence no Japanese Portsmouth fans or Chinese Palace fans. Player swap could be interesting though - out of a billion Chinese there must be some decent footballers!

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2002

half of them are probably women though

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2002

Funnily enough the Chinese women`s team is indeed one of the best in the world!

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2002

...until you find a 'chink' in their armour!

Please don't go back to the 'nitty grit' thread, I hope not, having lived here (on and off) since 1979 - we call each other (respectfully) 'names' all the time ;7)

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2002

You are the Weakest Chink, Goodbye!

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2002

What's that meant to mean, Paul?

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2002

It's a phrase used on a game show here. Anne Robinson presents it and when someone is voted off she says "You are the weakest link, Goodbye!"

-- Anonymous, May 19, 2002

ADK, I haven't seen a single Portsmouth shirt and come to think of it, the only Arsenal shirts I've seen have been worn by mates (sorry folks but beggars can't be choosers).

However if Nakata or Ono joined the Premier League, they would have a positive effect on shirt sales.

-- Anonymous, May 20, 2002

I agree about Nakata Kegsy, but isn't Yoko a bit frail for the EPL?

-- Anonymous, May 20, 2002