Opposition view: Newcastle United

[Paul Lake's Left Knee]

just so you don't tar us all with the same brush,

What are your expectations for the rest of this season?

We've signed a kid from France (no surprise there) and loaned Remy from QPR who may very well be heading straight to jail. What are my expectations? Survival, but not by much. 1st team is strong, the minute we lose anyone from the starting 11 we're in trouble. We've no sub right back, no striker (Shola doesn't count as a footballer unless we play the mackems), no real deputy for Krul and if Ben Arfa gets crocked we've no real invention in midfield.

Are you happy with the manager?

"We are, although a number of Newcastle fans would like Alan Pardew replaced - but we don't think the manager was given a big enough squad to play those 14 games in Europe last season, when we reached the last eight of the Europa League."
We're not like, he's a mouth piece for Ashley and if he had a bit more backbone he'd have already walked. He's tactically limited and needs another coach or two to help him on that side of things. However, with this owner, he won't get the financial backing in the window, and it'll be increasingly hard to convince players to join a club who's owner's ambition is to finish 17th or above. However, he's probably the level of manager we can expect.

"We should do a lot better in the coming season, with a bigger squad and a lot less games."
This nonsense can fuck right off, yes we played in Europe, but we also dropped out of the cups fairly sharpish. Also we definitely do not have a bigger squad, we've let Simpson and Perch go for naff all, despite both being adequate subs. Perch (for all his faults and he has many) is a cheap utility player who can plug any of 5 gaps in case of injury. Simpson is an average Premier League right back.

Who are your key players?

A fit Ben Arfa will terrify any defender, if we can keep him on the pitch and release the ball to him quicker (I don't want to see him having to drop deep to collect the ball from Colo) we'll be a much better team. Cabaye is important, but if we stop 4-4-2 and go to a 4-5-1/4-3-3 style Sissoko could become vital. He's a Yaya Toure type of player and yet Pardew tries to start him as a striker or even worse, out wide . Colocinni is massive for us, he improves each defender by a noticeable measure. If he's crocked or he is involved in another illegitimate kid scandal, and we have to start Taylor and Mbiwa... well we're fucked.

Were you happy with the business conducted during the January transfer window?

Well, if it were in addition to any kind of business in the previous summer and followed up by any kind of business in this window. Sissoko can be quality, Gouffran is a decent enough player, Haidara looks a prospect at left back... but all of these players could (and should) have been signed in the preceding summer in preparation for the European campaign. The Europa League was a genuine chance of winning silverware for the 1st time in half a fucking century and Mike Ashley didn't invest because he wanted to save a few million. (Just like he would rather haggle over £5m than sell to Mansour. Cheers you wobbling mound of whale spunk)

Are there any rising stars in the squad that we might not have heard of?

The best prospect we have at the moment is off to Carlisle for some 1st team experience. Adam Campbell has done really well at each level and has looked intelligent on the ball when he's had his brief cameos. He won the same MVP award as Messi and Iniesta for the Nike Cup (or something like that), but we all know that looking good as a kid, doesn't necessarily mean anything. Sammy Ameobi is worth a follow on twitter, but I'm not sure he'll make it. Quicker and trickier than his older brother, he still doesn't strike me as a player who'll do more than be on the fringes of our team for a while, then join a string of fair to middling Championship sides. Dummett is decent, but like Sammy, he'll probably fall short of making the grade.

Your Achilles heel?
Paper thin squad, tactically limited manager, rumours of infighting, ex-players having digs at the French contingent, an owner who won't spend any money, a Director of Football who may honestly be mentally unwell, a fan-base that is sprinting towards apathy, a Club Captain who may very well want away at the drop of the hat.....

We could probably do with a new right back as well.

In all seriousness it's goals. Demba Ba finished our top goal scorer last season. Cisse scored 8 last season and if Remy doesn't play to the standard he set last year we may find it increasingly difficult to stay out of trouble.

If you could have any City player in your team who would you choose?

We're weakest up front, so it'd have to be one of your 4/5 top class strikers. I like Dzeko, Aguero is just a beautiful player to watch... but realistically, I'd try and get Sinclair on loan. An attacking line up of 3 or 4 from Cisse, Remy, Ben Arfa, Sinclair & Gouffran would make me a lot more confident about the season to come.

What is your perception of City as a club?

You're like the hard-working local builder that won the lottery and becomes a property magnate. The leg-up the new owners gave you propelled you into the upper echelons of English football, but it's not like you were a none-entity before. Vocal, and mainly local support has always marked you as a decent away day and decent visitors to our fair (wet) and fine (alcoholic) city. A lot is made of the mega-rich oil barons buying you and changing your fortunes. Yet, Jack Walker did it for Blackburn, Hall did it for us, Abramovic is doing it for Chelsea, secret money men are trying to do it for Tottenham. It's nowt new, it's just that you're the most recent. I think if Mansour had bought Fulham, or Stoke other fans may have been a bit more put out because they're not what I'd think of as a "proper football club" but Man City, Everton, Newcastle ... no one could really begrudge us if that had happened. I've liked the two times I've visited the Etihad, (once with us and once with AFC Wimbledon v Luton in the play off final) but it's a bit of a tek and there needs to be more pubs around the ground.

Likely starting XI for the game, and score prediction?

Krul
Debuchy Coloccini (c) Yanga-Mbiwa (or Steven Taylor) Santon
Ben Arfa Sissoko Cabaye Tiote Jonas
Cisse

"We'd take a 1-1 draw"

I'd take a 1-0 loss if you offered it now. We're going to get humped, plain and simple. No confidence, no new players, no new ideas (we're still lumping it to the back post from every corner to no effect), no chance.

This is much more like the Geordies i know. Used to live in a house with a lad from Oldham and 4 Geordies. Was a great laugh and constant football chat, always had a soft spot for them from then on and explains my dislike of all things Sunderland.

A few are tipping Newcastle to go down, I doubt they will but lower half of the division is where i think they will finish. Not convinced by Pardew (again many tipping him to be the first sacked) and certainly not convinced by Ashley, who the words fat prick seems to have been invented for.

 

[The Fish]

This is much more like the Geordies i know. Used to live in a house with a lad from Oldham and 4 Geordies. Was a great laugh and constant football chat, always had a soft spot for them from then on and explains my dislike of all things Sunderland.

A few are tipping Newcastle to go down, I doubt they will but lower half of the division is where i think they will finish. Not convinced by Pardew (again many tipping him to be the first sacked) and certainly not convinced by Ashley, who the words fat prick seems to have been invented for.

I think, if I set the 1st day of the season melodrama aside, we should survive because;
There's some awful teams in the league this year; Hull, Palace, Stoke, Fulham,
There are some clubs who may struggle because of their manager; Stoke, Everton, sunderland and
There are some clubs who you just cannot predict where they'll end up; ourselves, Villa, Norwich, Southampton...

Of those nine clubs we should at least hope to be outside the bottom 5...

Pardew is likely to be 1st out the door and I'd put some cash on him if I were you. Ashley doesn't want him and tried to renegotiate the particulars of his 8yr deal. Couple of things to clarify here; while he is on a long deal, if he fails to meet performance targets he can be booted for a year's compensation. Also he's still one of the lowest paid managers in the top flight so even if he is booted, it won't cost MA that much.

Basically, I'd have Shepherd and Hall back, invite them round to mine so they can call my mam a dog, call my Dad a thick shit and they can both curl one out on my sister's plate if it meant we got shot of Ashley. Without a doubt any financial security he claims to have provided is washed out by the irreparable damage he's done to my club. We won't be setting up a FCUM style protest club, but Gateshead, Blyth and the like may start seeing inflated attendances, which for a club that prides itself on the fan's loyalty is a miserable state of affairs. It's just that so many fans are saying they'll not pay any money into the club until Ashley is gone.

Anyway, good luck for the season, please beat the mackems this year and if you could see to throwing us a few points when we meet again in January, that'd be great.

 

[Paul Lake's Left Knee]

This is much more like the Geordies i know. Used to live in a house with a lad from Oldham and 4 Geordies. Was a great laugh and constant football chat, always had a soft spot for them from then on and explains my dislike of all things Sunderland.

A few are tipping Newcastle to go down, I doubt they will but lower half of the division is where i think they will finish. Not convinced by Pardew (again many tipping him to be the first sacked) and certainly not convinced by Ashley, who the words fat prick seems to have been invented for.

I think, if I set the 1st day of the season melodrama aside, we should survive because;
There's some awful teams in the league this year; Hull, Palace, Stoke, Fulham,
There are some clubs who may struggle because of their manager; Stoke, Everton, sunderland and
There are some clubs who you just cannot predict where they'll end up; ourselves, Villa, Norwich, Southampton...

Of those nine clubs we should at least hope to be outside the bottom 5...

Pardew is likely to be 1st out the door and I'd put some cash on him if I were you. Ashley doesn't want him and tried to renegotiate the particulars of his 8yr deal. Couple of things to clarify here; while he is on a long deal, if he fails to meet performance targets he can be booted for a year's compensation. Also he's still one of the lowest paid managers in the top flight so even if he is booted, it won't cost MA that much.

Basically, I'd have Shepherd and Hall back, invite them round to mine so they can call my mam a dog, call my Dad a thick shit and they can both curl one out on my sister's plate if it meant we got shot of Ashley. Without a doubt any financial security he claims to have provided is washed out by the irreparable damage he's done to my club. We won't be setting up a FCUM style protest club, but Gateshead, Blyth and the like may start seeing inflated attendances, which for a club that prides itself on the fan's loyalty is a miserable state of affairs. It's just that so many fans are saying they'll not pay any money into the club until Ashley is gone.

Anyway, good luck for the season, please beat the mackems this year and if you could see to throwing us a few points when we meet again in January, that'd be great.

Just backed Pardew in the sack race, he's the firm fav though.

Cant argue with any of that really, i would put you between 10th and 14th, around Villa, Norwich, Southampton much like you say . All i will say to the stay away fans you have, is that without the dark times, you dont appreciate the good times as much, us winning the title in 2012 would have meant more to City fans than any of the 19/20 titles the scum have, mainly due to trekking around division 3 and getting 30k fans each home game, my friends and family who support them totally agree with that. Pre Hall your attendances did drop off, your stadium was falling down and you were heading for division 3. So, i dont think your fans should be too upset, it could be a lot worse eg Coventry. Also if those that hate Ashley do nothing, then he will just carry on, ruining your (not his) club. Peter Swales did his best to ruin City, and if the fans hadnt staged protests, chanted for his removal and the like, he'd have carried on as long as he could have done.

Good luck to you as well, Howay the lads and its about time we beat the fucking Mackems.

 

[The Fish]

This is much more like the Geordies i know. Used to live in a house with a lad from Oldham and 4 Geordies. Was a great laugh and constant football chat, always had a soft spot for them from then on and explains my dislike of all things Sunderland.

A few are tipping Newcastle to go down, I doubt they will but lower half of the division is where i think they will finish. Not convinced by Pardew (again many tipping him to be the first sacked) and certainly not convinced by Ashley, who the words fat prick seems to have been invented for.

I think, if I set the 1st day of the season melodrama aside, we should survive because;
There's some awful teams in the league this year; Hull, Palace, Stoke, Fulham,
There are some clubs who may struggle because of their manager; Stoke, Everton, sunderland and
There are some clubs who you just cannot predict where they'll end up; ourselves, Villa, Norwich, Southampton...

Of those nine clubs we should at least hope to be outside the bottom 5...

Pardew is likely to be 1st out the door and I'd put some cash on him if I were you. Ashley doesn't want him and tried to renegotiate the particulars of his 8yr deal. Couple of things to clarify here; while he is on a long deal, if he fails to meet performance targets he can be booted for a year's compensation. Also he's still one of the lowest paid managers in the top flight so even if he is booted, it won't cost MA that much.

Basically, I'd have Shepherd and Hall back, invite them round to mine so they can call my mam a dog, call my Dad a thick shit and they can both curl one out on my sister's plate if it meant we got shot of Ashley. Without a doubt any financial security he claims to have provided is washed out by the irreparable damage he's done to my club. We won't be setting up a FCUM style protest club, but Gateshead, Blyth and the like may start seeing inflated attendances, which for a club that prides itself on the fan's loyalty is a miserable state of affairs. It's just that so many fans are saying they'll not pay any money into the club until Ashley is gone.

Anyway, good luck for the season, please beat the mackems this year and if you could see to throwing us a few points when we meet again in January, that'd be great.

Just backed Pardew in the sack race, he's the firm fav though.

Cant argue with any of that really, i would put you between 10th and 14th, around Villa, Norwich, Southampton much like you say . All i will say to the stay away fans you have, is that without the dark times, you dont appreciate the good times as much, us winning the title in 2012 would have meant more to City fans than any of the 19/20 titles the scum have, mainly due to trekking around division 3 and getting 30k fans each home game, my friends and family who support them totally agree with that. Pre Hall your attendances did drop off, your stadium was falling down and you were heading for division 3. So, i dont think your fans should be too upset, it could be a lot worse eg Coventry. Also if those that hate Ashley do nothing, then he will just carry on, ruining your (not his) club. Peter Swales did his best to ruin City, and if the fans hadnt staged protests, chanted for his removal and the like, he'd have carried on as long as he could have done.

Good luck to you as well, Howay the lads and its about time we beat the fucking Mackems.

re: the protests, I've spoken to a couple of local journos and they say that he just doesn't give a fuck. There were death threats and all that and at that point he was looking to sell up, but he valued Newcastle too high and nobody was willing to meet his valuation. When we protest again, he'll stay away for a bit, see if anyone wants to buy at his inflated price, realise they don't, then just stay quiet until the furore to dies down again. This is a man who truly views my club as a marketing tool for selling his cheap tat. The stadium renaming was just that, Virgin weren't allowed to rebid to be our sponsor because he was courting Wonga and the controversy they bring. We're stuck with him until his personal loan to the club is paid off or someone pays him what he wants. Neither of which are going to happen for a good few years yet.

You don't know if your owner has some friends that're are similarly financially liquid, who fancy have a competition with Sheikh Mansour do you?

Honestly haven't ever been as resigned to mediocrity as I have this year. Even under Jim Smith and Ardilles there was hope for something better, but these days it's just "Maybe we'll stay up". I'm not saying we're anywhere near the title (of course we aren't), but we should at least be aiming for the Europa League spots.

 

[DenisLawBackHeel74]

just so you don't tar us all with the same brush,

What are your expectations for the rest of this season?

We've signed a kid from France (no surprise there) and loaned Remy from QPR who may very well be heading straight to jail. What are my expectations? Survival, but not by much. 1st team is strong, the minute we lose anyone from the starting 11 we're in trouble. We've no sub right back, no striker (Shola doesn't count as a footballer unless we play the mackems), no real deputy for Krul and if Ben Arfa gets crocked we've no real invention in midfield.

Are you happy with the manager?

"We are, although a number of Newcastle fans would like Alan Pardew replaced - but we don't think the manager was given a big enough squad to play those 14 games in Europe last season, when we reached the last eight of the Europa League."
We're not like, he's a mouth piece for Ashley and if he had a bit more backbone he'd have already walked. He's tactically limited and needs another coach or two to help him on that side of things. However, with this owner, he won't get the financial backing in the window, and it'll be increasingly hard to convince players to join a club who's owner's ambition is to finish 17th or above. However, he's probably the level of manager we can expect.

"We should do a lot better in the coming season, with a bigger squad and a lot less games."
This nonsense can fuck right off, yes we played in Europe, but we also dropped out of the cups fairly sharpish. Also we definitely do not have a bigger squad, we've let Simpson and Perch go for naff all, despite both being adequate subs. Perch (for all his faults and he has many) is a cheap utility player who can plug any of 5 gaps in case of injury. Simpson is an average Premier League right back.

Who are your key players?

A fit Ben Arfa will terrify any defender, if we can keep him on the pitch and release the ball to him quicker (I don't want to see him having to drop deep to collect the ball from Colo) we'll be a much better team. Cabaye is important, but if we stop 4-4-2 and go to a 4-5-1/4-3-3 style Sissoko could become vital. He's a Yaya Toure type of player and yet Pardew tries to start him as a striker or even worse, out wide . Colocinni is massive for us, he improves each defender by a noticeable measure. If he's crocked or he is involved in another illegitimate kid scandal, and we have to start Taylor and Mbiwa... well we're fucked.

Were you happy with the business conducted during the January transfer window?

Well, if it were in addition to any kind of business in the previous summer and followed up by any kind of business in this window. Sissoko can be quality, Gouffran is a decent enough player, Haidara looks a prospect at left back... but all of these players could (and should) have been signed in the preceding summer in preparation for the European campaign. The Europa League was a genuine chance of winning silverware for the 1st time in half a fucking century and Mike Ashley didn't invest because he wanted to save a few million. (Just like he would rather haggle over £5m than sell to Mansour. Cheers you wobbling mound of whale spunk)

Are there any rising stars in the squad that we might not have heard of?

The best prospect we have at the moment is off to Carlisle for some 1st team experience. Adam Campbell has done really well at each level and has looked intelligent on the ball when he's had his brief cameos. He won the same MVP award as Messi and Iniesta for the Nike Cup (or something like that), but we all know that looking good as a kid, doesn't necessarily mean anything. Sammy Ameobi is worth a follow on twitter, but I'm not sure he'll make it. Quicker and trickier than his older brother, he still doesn't strike me as a player who'll do more than be on the fringes of our team for a while, then join a string of fair to middling Championship sides. Dummett is decent, but like Sammy, he'll probably fall short of making the grade.

Your Achilles heel?
Paper thin squad, tactically limited manager, rumours of infighting, ex-players having digs at the French contingent, an owner who won't spend any money, a Director of Football who may honestly be mentally unwell, a fan-base that is sprinting towards apathy, a Club Captain who may very well want away at the drop of the hat.....

We could probably do with a new right back as well.

In all seriousness it's goals. Demba Ba finished our top goal scorer last season. Cisse scored 8 last season and if Remy doesn't play to the standard he set last year we may find it increasingly difficult to stay out of trouble.

If you could have any City player in your team who would you choose?

We're weakest up front, so it'd have to be one of your 4/5 top class strikers. I like Dzeko, Aguero is just a beautiful player to watch... but realistically, I'd try and get Sinclair on loan. An attacking line up of 3 or 4 from Cisse, Remy, Ben Arfa, Sinclair & Gouffran would make me a lot more confident about the season to come.

What is your perception of City as a club?

You're like the hard-working local builder that won the lottery and becomes a property magnate. The leg-up the new owners gave you propelled you into the upper echelons of English football, but it's not like you were a none-entity before. Vocal, and mainly local support has always marked you as a decent away day and decent visitors to our fair (wet) and fine (alcoholic) city. A lot is made of the mega-rich oil barons buying you and changing your fortunes. Yet, Jack Walker did it for Blackburn, Hall did it for us, Abramovic is doing it for Chelsea, secret money men are trying to do it for Tottenham. It's nowt new, it's just that you're the most recent. I think if Mansour had bought Fulham, or Stoke other fans may have been a bit more put out because they're not what I'd think of as a "proper football club" but Man City, Everton, Newcastle ... no one could really begrudge us if that had happened. I've liked the two times I've visited the Etihad, (once with us and once with AFC Wimbledon v Luton in the play off final) but it's a bit of a tek and there needs to be more pubs around the ground.

Likely starting XI for the game, and score prediction?

Krul
Debuchy Coloccini (c) Yanga-Mbiwa (or Steven Taylor) Santon
Ben Arfa Sissoko Cabaye Tiote Jonas
Cisse

"We'd take a 1-1 draw"

I'd take a 1-0 loss if you offered it now. We're going to get humped, plain and simple. No confidence, no new players, no new ideas (we're still lumping it to the back post from every corner to no effect), no chance.

Welcome Fish.

Thank fuck for your sensible assessment. Good luck after Monday.

 

[Paul Lake's Left Knee]

I think, if I set the 1st day of the season melodrama aside, we should survive because;
There's some awful teams in the league this year; Hull, Palace, Stoke, Fulham,
There are some clubs who may struggle because of their manager; Stoke, Everton, sunderland and
There are some clubs who you just cannot predict where they'll end up; ourselves, Villa, Norwich, Southampton...

Of those nine clubs we should at least hope to be outside the bottom 5...

Pardew is likely to be 1st out the door and I'd put some cash on him if I were you. Ashley doesn't want him and tried to renegotiate the particulars of his 8yr deal. Couple of things to clarify here; while he is on a long deal, if he fails to meet performance targets he can be booted for a year's compensation. Also he's still one of the lowest paid managers in the top flight so even if he is booted, it won't cost MA that much.

Basically, I'd have Shepherd and Hall back, invite them round to mine so they can call my mam a dog, call my Dad a thick shit and they can both curl one out on my sister's plate if it meant we got shot of Ashley. Without a doubt any financial security he claims to have provided is washed out by the irreparable damage he's done to my club. We won't be setting up a FCUM style protest club, but Gateshead, Blyth and the like may start seeing inflated attendances, which for a club that prides itself on the fan's loyalty is a miserable state of affairs. It's just that so many fans are saying they'll not pay any money into the club until Ashley is gone.

Anyway, good luck for the season, please beat the mackems this year and if you could see to throwing us a few points when we meet again in January, that'd be great.

Just backed Pardew in the sack race, he's the firm fav though.

Cant argue with any of that really, i would put you between 10th and 14th, around Villa, Norwich, Southampton much like you say . All i will say to the stay away fans you have, is that without the dark times, you dont appreciate the good times as much, us winning the title in 2012 would have meant more to City fans than any of the 19/20 titles the scum have, mainly due to trekking around division 3 and getting 30k fans each home game, my friends and family who support them totally agree with that. Pre Hall your attendances did drop off, your stadium was falling down and you were heading for division 3. So, i dont think your fans should be too upset, it could be a lot worse eg Coventry. Also if those that hate Ashley do nothing, then he will just carry on, ruining your (not his) club. Peter Swales did his best to ruin City, and if the fans hadnt staged protests, chanted for his removal and the like, he'd have carried on as long as he could have done.

Good luck to you as well, Howay the lads and its about time we beat the fucking Mackems.

re: the protests, I've spoken to a couple of local journos and they say that he just doesn't give a fuck. There were death threats and all that and at that point he was looking to sell up, but he valued Newcastle too high and nobody was willing to meet his valuation. When we protest again, he'll stay away for a bit, see if anyone wants to buy at his inflated price, realise they don't, then just stay quiet until the furore to dies down again. This is a man who truly views my club as a marketing tool for selling his cheap tat. The stadium renaming was just that, Virgin weren't allowed to rebid to be our sponsor because he was courting Wonga and the controversy they bring. We're stuck with him until his personal loan to the club is paid off or someone pays him what he wants. Neither of which are going to happen for a good few years yet.

You don't know if your owner has some friends that're are similarly financially liquid, who fancy have a competition with Sheikh Mansour do you?

Honestly haven't ever been as resigned to mediocrity as I have this year. Even under Jim Smith and Ardilles there was hope for something better, but these days it's just "Maybe we'll stay up". I'm not saying we're anywhere near the title (of course we aren't), but we should at least be aiming for the Europa League spots.

Doing nothing though means he will just carry on though, bit of a catch 22 situation. The Scousers have their candles out at the drop of a hat, as long as you arent like them, most real football fans would support you.

Most of the Sheikh's friends wouldnt dare go up against him, would be a lack of respect, to him and indirectly the royal family. Thats not the only problem Newcastle (and similar clubs like Villa and Everton who are after investment) have is that even if a Sheikh did come in now, the FFPR that have been brought in will prevent you doing what we have done, its not an anti-City rule, but it certainly anti another City rule. I wouldnt want to deny other real football fans (bar the Scum) the joy and excitement such a purchase can bring, however the majority of clubs agreed to these changes, which are by design, plans to maintain the status quo.

When we were yoyoing up and down the leagues, i was living in Birmingham, travelling up for every game, all the local Villa fans thought i was mad, but i always got value for money from my season ticket, virtually every game meant something, i loved it and not even half of the time (ie the promotions) but all of the time. The Villa fans around me, finished mid table every year, out of the cups in Feb and had nothing to play for, and their tickets cost more than mine. The worst season I've been a City fan was under Pearce, soulless PL experience, everyone bored and apathetic, werent going down but werent doing anything, didnt score a league goal after new year, even when we were really shit it was at least a laugh and we scored the odd goal. My friends and family used to say what a real football fan i was sticking by City through the shit, but for me, even with all the travel, that was a much better and richer experience, than the Pearce bollocks and thus the apathy you describe.

Keep the faith fella.

 

[The Fish]

Doing nothing though means he will just carry on though, bit of a catch 22 situation. The Scousers have their candles out at the drop of a hat, as long as you arent like them, most real football fans would support you.

Most of the Sheikh's friends wouldnt dare go up against him, would be a lack of respect, to him and indirectly the royal family. Thats not the only problem Newcastle (and similar clubs like Villa and Everton who are after investment) have is that even if a Sheikh did come in now, the FFPR that have been brought in will prevent you doing what we have done, its not an anti-City rule, but it certainly anti another City rule. I wouldnt want to deny other real football fans (bar the Scum) the joy and excitement such a purchase can bring, however the majority of clubs agreed to these changes, which are by design, plans to maintain the status quo.

When we were yoyoing up and down the leagues, i was living in Birmingham, travelling up for every game, all the local Villa fans thought i was mad, but i always got value for money from my season ticket, virtually every game meant something, i loved it and not even half of the time (ie the promotions) but all of the time. The Villa fans around me, finished mid table every year, out of the cups in Feb and had nothing to play for, and their tickets cost more than mine. The worst season I've been a City fan was under Pearce, soulless PL experience, everyone bored and apathetic, werent going down but werent doing anything, didnt score a league goal after new year, even when we were really shit it was at least a laugh and we scored the odd goal. My friends and family used to say what a real football fan i was sticking by City through the shit, but for me, even with all the travel, that was a much better and richer experience, than the Pearce bollocks and thus the apathy you describe.

Keep the faith fella.

The problem at the minute is the Newcastle fans who are protesting don't have the single-mindedness. There are a few factions, some want a fan run club, some want to punt it to local businessmen, some don't care and just want a ruckus. If we could get a genuine strategy we might make progress. Until then it'll be ill-advised stunts (like Steve Wraith's coffin gag), the chants and the immediately confiscated banners.

Oh, we're not expecting to suddenly fly up the league fuelled by the deep pockets of an international oligarch. I'd be happy with an owner who had realistic ambitions for the club. With our monopoly of the area, our stadium, our brand-name, our international fanbase (we're massive in Peru because of Solano, apparently) we an attractive commercial revenue partner. With the playing staff with have at the minute, the facilities we have at St James' and Darsley park and the scouting system we could find, attract and improve players. My point is that Newcastle United should be able to assault the Europa League spot with some consistency and hopefully finally get a fucking domestic trophy.

Don't get me wrong, Newcastle United's fans won't disappear like we're Middlesbrough or Blackburn, but instead of 47k, we'll be down to 41k. The away support will still be there in numbers, but ... yeah... it's depressing.

 

[johnny on the spot]

Cheers Fish.

I live up here and you're pretty much bang-on with the many Geordies I know. Football mad, short-changed to fuck.

 

[wilmslowblue]

What is your perception of City as a club?

The best team money can buy. Along with Chelsea, QPR (to an extent), PSG, Monaco and a few Russian clubs - City are an example of Billionaire owners coming in and spending hundreds of millions of pounds on players, with seemingly no restrictions at all - there seems something wrong with that. Hopefully the UEFA Financial Fair Play Rules will put a stop to that kind of outlandish spending - but I'm not convinced it will.

Yawn.

Good job for him Ashley didn't spend any money at Newcastle then!

And he misspelt 'defence'.

Other than that he didn't seem to have anything too interesting to say, there have been far better interviews.

Pretty much agree, the usual tripe spouted by bitter, jealous fans.







Lazy responses.
U
Hope we batter them now with all of our most expensive signings scoring to rub it in.

Have to completely agree with this post. Very bitter and jealous of us very surprised actually cause I thought those lot might have actually been happy for us but there you go! There wasn't an issue when they were breaking the transfer records in the late 1990s! Did they win anything? This is where the source of their jealousy comes from tbh cause they all expected us to fail miserably like they did. Closet rags I mean how many trophies have they helped them win over the years? I know personally a few of their hardcore away support and one of them even has a Manchester United bedroom at his fathers house and has somehow forgotten to take both Giggs and Beckham posters down as well which I personally thought was strange.

 

[yatesy94]

Another bitter that's bought into the Media lambasting of our club - no change there then.