madras

Is Mike Ashley steering Newcastle United in the right direction? He never took over in 1956. Happy.............you missed the point again. I will try again. What is past is past. You cant change that. History is history. You can moan, whinge, complain and protest until the cows come home but it will do no good. However, you could give the bloke the benefit of the doubt and see what he is trying to do and support him and the club. You can change the future. It doesnt mean you have to like him personally but you can appreciate the policies he is putting in place which quite clearly, is to try an avoid what happened under the shepherd regime. I thank him for that because if we continued down that path, we would oprobably have ended up another Portsmouth or Leeds. Thankfully, by putting in astute financial plans and re-building towards the future, Ashley and crew are steering us on the right path, whether you like it or not. Astute financial plans If he came out and told us what his plans were, where he sees the club being in five years time and how he intends to get us there - then we might have reason to give him the benefit of the doubt. That he won’t implies that there’s something he doesn’t want us to know, or that he doesn’t have a plan and is just making it up as he goes along, or he just can’t be arsed to let us know because it’s his club and none of our business. In the three years since he bought the club I’ve only heard Mike Ashley utter two words, and they were f*** Off in Goal III. no we wouldn't. we'd say talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words, just like we did in freds last years and we would have if mckeag,westwood et al had to have a public face. edit.... no one would give a s*** about his public relations if we were doing well. fred/hall got away with loads when we were doung well. If his intentions are good, let’s hear them. Why hide good news? as i said earlier, doesn't matter what he says, people would just return with "actions speak louder than words" etc. So if he came out and said ‘my plan is to spend just enough on the squad to avoid relegation for the next five years and use the extra PL income to claw back my losses’ everybody would just say it didn’t matter because actions speak louder than words would they? Why would he do that like? Why would you want him to? I’m just illustrating that words count, not as much as actions but count they do. When it comes to intentions words are the only option, and I think a lot of supporters would like to know what Ashley intentions are. All the contemptuous wall of silence achieves is uncertainty and confusion, and who does that benefit? true in that we'd all like to know what his intentions are but no matter what he'd say peoples minds are already made up and only his actions could prove anything either way. If you really believed that you wouldn’t be arguing the toss with me on this thread. i would cos i'm a beligerent t***...anyway my question above is much more pertinent. Some might say there’s one word too many in that sentence. true. there is no need grammatically for the "much".

Is Mike Ashley steering Newcastle United in the right direction? He never took over in 1956. Happy.............you missed the point again. I will try again. What is past is past. You cant change that. History is history. You can moan, whinge, complain and protest until the cows come home but it will do no good. However, you could give the bloke the benefit of the doubt and see what he is trying to do and support him and the club. You can change the future. It doesnt mean you have to like him personally but you can appreciate the policies he is putting in place which quite clearly, is to try an avoid what happened under the shepherd regime. I thank him for that because if we continued down that path, we would oprobably have ended up another Portsmouth or Leeds. Thankfully, by putting in astute financial plans and re-building towards the future, Ashley and crew are steering us on the right path, whether you like it or not. Astute financial plans If he came out and told us what his plans were, where he sees the club being in five years time and how he intends to get us there - then we might have reason to give him the benefit of the doubt. That he won’t implies that there’s something he doesn’t want us to know, or that he doesn’t have a plan and is just making it up as he goes along, or he just can’t be arsed to let us know because it’s his club and none of our business. In the three years since he bought the club I’ve only heard Mike Ashley utter two words, and they were f*** Off in Goal III. no we wouldn't. we'd say talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words, just like we did in freds last years and we would have if mckeag,westwood et al had to have a public face. edit.... no one would give a s*** about his public relations if we were doing well. fred/hall got away with loads when we were doung well. If his intentions are good, let’s hear them. Why hide good news? as i said earlier, doesn't matter what he says, people would just return with "actions speak louder than words" etc. So if he came out and said ‘my plan is to spend just enough on the squad to avoid relegation for the next five years and use the extra PL income to claw back my losses’ everybody would just say it didn’t matter because actions speak louder than words would they? Where has he said this? Just answer the question, if you are able to. Do you understand the concept of future tense? if he said ''' i've been bankrolling this club for 2 years and putting my hand in my pocket more than anyone in the clubs history" what would you say ? I’d say - if you want us to move on why do you keep harping on about the past? Why not talk about the future instead? fair point...............would you believe him either way ? If we could look into his eyes and hear the inflection in his voice, it would tell us a lot more about what kind of man he is, and that really is what we need to know. At the risk of going off on tangent it’s a bit like Tiger Woods, or Bill Clinton. Judge me on my as yet nonexistent future actions wasn’t enough. They had to face the music before the process of redemption could start in earnest. If they’d got a spokesperson to say sorry now stop moaning they’d have been slaughtered. i go the other way. i dont trust what they say, i'll believe what they do (and i've been very consistent in this), and come on man...look at your examples. why not throw OJ in there aswell.

Is Mike Ashley steering Newcastle United in the right direction? He never took over in 1956. Happy.............you missed the point again. I will try again. What is past is past. You cant change that. History is history. You can moan, whinge, complain and protest until the cows come home but it will do no good. However, you could give the bloke the benefit of the doubt and see what he is trying to do and support him and the club. You can change the future. It doesnt mean you have to like him personally but you can appreciate the policies he is putting in place which quite clearly, is to try an avoid what happened under the shepherd regime. I thank him for that because if we continued down that path, we would oprobably have ended up another Portsmouth or Leeds. Thankfully, by putting in astute financial plans and re-building towards the future, Ashley and crew are steering us on the right path, whether you like it or not. Astute financial plans If he came out and told us what his plans were, where he sees the club being in five years time and how he intends to get us there - then we might have reason to give him the benefit of the doubt. That he won’t implies that there’s something he doesn’t want us to know, or that he doesn’t have a plan and is just making it up as he goes along, or he just can’t be arsed to let us know because it’s his club and none of our business. In the three years since he bought the club I’ve only heard Mike Ashley utter two words, and they were f*** Off in Goal III. no we wouldn't. we'd say talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words, just like we did in freds last years and we would have if mckeag,westwood et al had to have a public face. edit.... no one would give a s*** about his public relations if we were doing well. fred/hall got away with loads when we were doung well. If his intentions are good, let’s hear them. Why hide good news? as i said earlier, doesn't matter what he says, people would just return with "actions speak louder than words" etc. So if he came out and said ‘my plan is to spend just enough on the squad to avoid relegation for the next five years and use the extra PL income to claw back my losses’ everybody would just say it didn’t matter because actions speak louder than words would they? Why would he do that like? Why would you want him to? I’m just illustrating that words count, not as much as actions but count they do. When it comes to intentions words are the only option, and I think a lot of supporters would like to know what Ashley intentions are. All the contemptuous wall of silence achieves is uncertainty and confusion, and who does that benefit? true in that we'd all like to know what his intentions are but no matter what he'd say peoples minds are already made up and only his actions could prove anything either way. If you really believed that you wouldn’t be arguing the toss with me on this thread. i would cos i'm a beligerent t***...anyway my question above is much more pertinent.

Is Mike Ashley steering Newcastle United in the right direction? He never took over in 1956. Happy.............you missed the point again. I will try again. What is past is past. You cant change that. History is history. You can moan, whinge, complain and protest until the cows come home but it will do no good. However, you could give the bloke the benefit of the doubt and see what he is trying to do and support him and the club. You can change the future. It doesnt mean you have to like him personally but you can appreciate the policies he is putting in place which quite clearly, is to try an avoid what happened under the shepherd regime. I thank him for that because if we continued down that path, we would oprobably have ended up another Portsmouth or Leeds. Thankfully, by putting in astute financial plans and re-building towards the future, Ashley and crew are steering us on the right path, whether you like it or not. Astute financial plans If he came out and told us what his plans were, where he sees the club being in five years time and how he intends to get us there - then we might have reason to give him the benefit of the doubt. That he won’t implies that there’s something he doesn’t want us to know, or that he doesn’t have a plan and is just making it up as he goes along, or he just can’t be arsed to let us know because it’s his club and none of our business. In the three years since he bought the club I’ve only heard Mike Ashley utter two words, and they were f*** Off in Goal III. no we wouldn't. we'd say talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words, just like we did in freds last years and we would have if mckeag,westwood et al had to have a public face. edit.... no one would give a s*** about his public relations if we were doing well. fred/hall got away with loads when we were doung well. If his intentions are good, let’s hear them. Why hide good news? as i said earlier, doesn't matter what he says, people would just return with "actions speak louder than words" etc. So if he came out and said ‘my plan is to spend just enough on the squad to avoid relegation for the next five years and use the extra PL income to claw back my losses’ everybody would just say it didn’t matter because actions speak louder than words would they? Where has he said this? Just answer the question, if you are able to. Do you understand the concept of future tense? if he said ''' i've been bankrolling this club for 2 years and putting my hand in my pocket more than anyone in the clubs history" what would you say ? I’d say - if you want us to move on why do you keep harping on about the past? Why not talk about the future instead? fair point...............would you believe him either way ?

Is Mike Ashley steering Newcastle United in the right direction? He never took over in 1956. Happy.............you missed the point again. I will try again. What is past is past. You cant change that. History is history. You can moan, whinge, complain and protest until the cows come home but it will do no good. However, you could give the bloke the benefit of the doubt and see what he is trying to do and support him and the club. You can change the future. It doesnt mean you have to like him personally but you can appreciate the policies he is putting in place which quite clearly, is to try an avoid what happened under the shepherd regime. I thank him for that because if we continued down that path, we would oprobably have ended up another Portsmouth or Leeds. Thankfully, by putting in astute financial plans and re-building towards the future, Ashley and crew are steering us on the right path, whether you like it or not. Astute financial plans If he came out and told us what his plans were, where he sees the club being in five years time and how he intends to get us there - then we might have reason to give him the benefit of the doubt. That he won’t implies that there’s something he doesn’t want us to know, or that he doesn’t have a plan and is just making it up as he goes along, or he just can’t be arsed to let us know because it’s his club and none of our business. In the three years since he bought the club I’ve only heard Mike Ashley utter two words, and they were f*** Off in Goal III. no we wouldn't. we'd say talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words, just like we did in freds last years and we would have if mckeag,westwood et al had to have a public face. edit.... no one would give a s*** about his public relations if we were doing well. fred/hall got away with loads when we were doung well. If his intentions are good, let’s hear them. Why hide good news? as i said earlier, doesn't matter what he says, people would just return with "actions speak louder than words" etc. So if he came out and said ‘my plan is to spend just enough on the squad to avoid relegation for the next five years and use the extra PL income to claw back my losses’ everybody would just say it didn’t matter because actions speak louder than words would they? Why would he do that like? Why would you want him to? I’m just illustrating that words count, not as much as actions but count they do. When it comes to intentions words are the only option, and I think a lot of supporters would like to know what Ashley intentions are. All the contemptuous wall of silence achieves is uncertainty and confusion, and who does that benefit? true in that we'd all like to know what his intentions are but no matter what he'd say peoples minds are already made up and only his actions could prove anything either way.

Is Mike Ashley steering Newcastle United in the right direction? He never took over in 1956. Happy.............you missed the point again. I will try again. What is past is past. You cant change that. History is history. You can moan, whinge, complain and protest until the cows come home but it will do no good. However, you could give the bloke the benefit of the doubt and see what he is trying to do and support him and the club. You can change the future. It doesnt mean you have to like him personally but you can appreciate the policies he is putting in place which quite clearly, is to try an avoid what happened under the shepherd regime. I thank him for that because if we continued down that path, we would oprobably have ended up another Portsmouth or Leeds. Thankfully, by putting in astute financial plans and re-building towards the future, Ashley and crew are steering us on the right path, whether you like it or not. Astute financial plans If he came out and told us what his plans were, where he sees the club being in five years time and how he intends to get us there - then we might have reason to give him the benefit of the doubt. That he won’t implies that there’s something he doesn’t want us to know, or that he doesn’t have a plan and is just making it up as he goes along, or he just can’t be arsed to let us know because it’s his club and none of our business. In the three years since he bought the club I’ve only heard Mike Ashley utter two words, and they were f*** Off in Goal III. no we wouldn't. we'd say talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words, just like we did in freds last years and we would have if mckeag,westwood et al had to have a public face. edit.... no one would give a s*** about his public relations if we were doing well. fred/hall got away with loads when we were doung well. If his intentions are good, let’s hear them. Why hide good news? as i said earlier, doesn't matter what he says, people would just return with "actions speak louder than words" etc. So if he came out and said ‘my plan is to spend just enough on the squad to avoid relegation for the next five years and use the extra PL income to claw back my losses’ everybody would just say it didn’t matter because actions speak louder than words would they? Where has he said this? Just answer the question, if you are able to. Do you understand the concept of future tense? if he said ''' i've been bankrolling this club for 2 years and putting my hand in my pocket more than anyone in the clubs history" what would you say ?

Is Mike Ashley steering Newcastle United in the right direction? He never took over in 1956. Happy.............you missed the point again. I will try again. What is past is past. You cant change that. History is history. You can moan, whinge, complain and protest until the cows come home but it will do no good. However, you could give the bloke the benefit of the doubt and see what he is trying to do and support him and the club. You can change the future. It doesnt mean you have to like him personally but you can appreciate the policies he is putting in place which quite clearly, is to try an avoid what happened under the shepherd regime. I thank him for that because if we continued down that path, we would oprobably have ended up another Portsmouth or Leeds. Thankfully, by putting in astute financial plans and re-building towards the future, Ashley and crew are steering us on the right path, whether you like it or not. Astute financial plans If he came out and told us what his plans were, where he sees the club being in five years time and how he intends to get us there - then we might have reason to give him the benefit of the doubt. That he won’t implies that there’s something he doesn’t want us to know, or that he doesn’t have a plan and is just making it up as he goes along, or he just can’t be arsed to let us know because it’s his club and none of our business. In the three years since he bought the club I’ve only heard Mike Ashley utter two words, and they were f*** Off in Goal III. no we wouldn't. we'd say talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words, just like we did in freds last years and we would have if mckeag,westwood et al had to have a public face. edit.... no one would give a s*** about his public relations if we were doing well. fred/hall got away with loads when we were doung well. If his intentions are good, let’s hear them. Why hide good news? as i said earlier, doesn't matter what he says, people would just return with "actions speak louder than words" etc.

Is Mike Ashley steering Newcastle United in the right direction? He never took over in 1956. Happy.............you missed the point again. I will try again. What is past is past. You cant change that. History is history. You can moan, whinge, complain and protest until the cows come home but it will do no good. However, you could give the bloke the benefit of the doubt and see what he is trying to do and support him and the club. You can change the future. It doesnt mean you have to like him personally but you can appreciate the policies he is putting in place which quite clearly, is to try an avoid what happened under the shepherd regime. I thank him for that because if we continued down that path, we would oprobably have ended up another Portsmouth or Leeds. Thankfully, by putting in astute financial plans and re-building towards the future, Ashley and crew are steering us on the right path, whether you like it or not. Astute financial plans If he came out and told us what his plans were, where he sees the club being in five years time and how he intends to get us there - then we might have reason to give him the benefit of the doubt. That he won’t implies that there’s something he doesn’t want us to know, or that he doesn’t have a plan and is just making it up as he goes along, or he just can’t be arsed to let us know because it’s his club and none of our business. In the three years since he bought the club I’ve only heard Mike Ashley utter two words, and they were f*** Off in Goal III. no we wouldn't. we'd say talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words, just like we did in freds last years and we would have if mckeag,westwood et al had to have a public face. That's all I've ever said too. Actions speak louder than words. I'd be happiest to never hear another peep from Ashley or his spokesperson or the unnamed source at the club about what a good job they're doing. I'll never believe a word they say now and I'll judge them on their actions alone. Since "taking the club off the market" (which is a ridiculous notion as all clubs are potentially "for sale") those actions deserving credit consist of bringing in some players in January that weren't all free. That looks to have been enough to secure promotion (touch wood). Let's see how they go next season before we start sucking any cocks. spot on. hopefully hereby endeth this thread.

The problem with the old format is that you could win the whole thing without never really facing true top tier opposition. Just take a look at the teams we defeated in the way to our first title: - Hansa Rostock - Kaiserslautern (2 Germanies for the win) - Sparta Prague - Benfica - Dinamo Kyiv - Sampdoria I know the balance of power wasn't the same in the early 1990s, but still none of those were great sides. Compared to that, last year we played: - Wisla Krakow - Basel - Lisbon - Shaktar Donetsk And then, in the knockouts: - Lyon - Bayern Munich - Chelsea - Manchester United Quite a difference I'd say. also its quite retrospective. wolfsburg were in it this year but at the time they weren't in the top 6 german teams. historically aston villa won it when being an average first division side after being the best side in the country a year earlier.

Is Mike Ashley steering Newcastle United in the right direction? He never took over in 1956. Happy.............you missed the point again. I will try again. What is past is past. You cant change that. History is history. You can moan, whinge, complain and protest until the cows come home but it will do no good. However, you could give the bloke the benefit of the doubt and see what he is trying to do and support him and the club. You can change the future. It doesnt mean you have to like him personally but you can appreciate the policies he is putting in place which quite clearly, is to try an avoid what happened under the shepherd regime. I thank him for that because if we continued down that path, we would oprobably have ended up another Portsmouth or Leeds. Thankfully, by putting in astute financial plans and re-building towards the future, Ashley and crew are steering us on the right path, whether you like it or not. Astute financial plans If he came out and told us what his plans were, where he sees the club being in five years time and how he intends to get us there - then we might have reason to give him the benefit of the doubt. That he won’t implies that there’s something he doesn’t want us to know, or that he doesn’t have a plan and is just making it up as he goes along, or he just can’t be arsed to let us know because it’s his club and none of our business. In the three years since he bought the club I’ve only heard Mike Ashley utter two words, and they were f*** Off in Goal III. no we wouldn't. we'd say talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words, just like we did in freds last years and we would have if mckeag,westwood et al had to have a public face. edit.... no one would give a shit about his public relations if we were doing well. fred/hall got away with loads when we were doung well.

Stab the f***er & steal it. Wouldn't that put a hole in it? several hopefully.

I thought if you were commenting on the atmosphere at games and the sentiments towards Ashley then you'd be someone that was going to games. Talking to people in the pubs afterwards and that. Not a soopafan dig or owt, bu you've got no basis for asking question 6. Well,let me tell you this. Living on the other side of the world doesnt make me any less of a fan than those who have season tickets to SJP. That comment is just blatantly ridiculous. In fact, I probably get to see more NUFC games televised here than you do over in the UK. You might want to remember that there are many other fans on this forum who are in the same situation as me and probably wouldnt take your comments lightly. You might like to know that I have had a heavy involvement with NUFC matters for many years and have plenty of contacts through the club over those years. Most of your replies to my questions were quite interesting and whilst I agree with some and disagree with most, this is a forum of opinions for world wide supporters of the club and you should be wary of making comments regarding other fans opinions, even if they do live far away. With regard to question 6, I think the majority of posters on this forum will readily admit that protests against Ashley have diminished over time at games, whether they like it or not. Furthermore, I cannot think of a single fan whom isnt pleased, surprised and elated that after a difficult period, Newcastle United are currently top of the CCC. I would say that you are certainly in the minority. I never for one second suggested it made you any less of a fan. I'm just saying people in and around the stadium have a clearer picture of what the feeling is toward Ashley in and around the stadium. I don't see how that could be at all contentious. nothing to get defensive about. There's not been any 'protests' since the Hull game last seasonff. I don't agree that there's been any diminishment in the hatred of Ashley since the opening game against West Brom. Your last sentence is absurd. Yoiu could as easily say I cannot think of a single rape victim whom isnt pleased, surprised and elated that after being visciously raped, they are still alive. First of all, I dont think Ashley really cares anymore what the minority think, despite comments by Llanbiase recently. The team is performing and getting results and despite all the past problems, there is still 40 odd thousand turning up at SJP for every home game which is way way above his wildest expectations at the start of the season. This is going round in circles. It's not a minority Secondly, the comment regarding being happy with our current situation as a football club compared to a rape victim is non sensical. How the hell can you make such comparisons is beyond me. I know Bill Shankly once said that football is a matter of life and death but violation of a human body as a comparison to the demise of a football club is just plain idiotic. Do you write for the daily mail? Have a sense of humour man. I was highlighting how pathetically grateful you come across for the smallest of mercies with the most extreme analogy. I was joking about the holocaust with the lads at the match the other night too. I am basically a positive person and I dont like to dwell on the past. What is done is done and as someone else said previously on trhis thread, it is time to move on which appears to be what the club is trying to do, without over committing itself financially. To be unhappy to be top of the CCC at this present time after a couple of years of total mayhem is just plain daft. Again, pathetically grateful. You sound like a cuckolded husband thanking his wife for letting him smell her battered gash after she took on the local rugby team. I actually have read some comments from posters on this forum who would be happy to stay in the CCC because we are winning games, although I can say I dont agree with them. Too much negativity and hatred is blinding too many people on here and it is well and truly time to back the club, from top right through to the tea lady, if we are to get back to where we once were under SBR. It will take a few years but if we are financially healthy and have a committed youthful playing staff eager to impress, then I can see the club back up there with the likes of Everton, Villa and even Spurs. Where we were 3 years ago Where we were 3 years ago???????? 1..On the brink of financial meltdown under Shepherd!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2. Having aging, overpaid, injury prone unmotivated superstars like Viduka, Owen, Luque, Boumsong, Dyer, Insomnia and Martins failing to produce week in, week out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3..A succession of failed managers like Allardyce, Souness and Roeder in charge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I would really love to be back in those days of being threatened with relegation year after year. 2005/2006 5 Tottenham Hotspur 7 Newcastle United 11 Everton 16 Aston Villa And before you say it, I tend to put the past behind me and look to the future. Being top of the CCC allows me to think the future is better than what is was. You obviously are up set at being top of the CCC? Maybe that could be because Ashley and Co. are proving you wrong? Maybe you live too much in the past? Maybe you wish you were a supporter of MiddlesBrough instead of NUFC and be happy to have failed to achieve a top 6 position in the CCC therefore failing to achieve an opportunity of immediate promotion back to the PL? Maybe you are just a pessimist? My username is descriptive of my general outlook mate. We've not finished this low down the league in 18 years man. Mmmmmmm that cherry you just picked was tasty. To quote Macca I can't see how it's cherry picking to reply where we were in relation to them in the seasons before Ashley arrived. Even in 06/07 we were only 2 spots off Villa. If he gets us back to those kinds of positions then he'll have got us back where we were before he arrived. Then he can start looking to improve things and I'll give him credit. Not until then though. The season before Ashley arrived Roeder had scraped 13th (to his credit i suppose) with one of the worst squads Ive seen in many many years, Babayaro, Carr, Moore, Taylor, Duff, Parker, Emre, Miler, Oba and Shola. Not to mention the likes of Huntington, Edgar, Gooch etc. Who was responsilbe for this?? Still not acknowledging that at the time, whislt Everton, Spurs and Villa hadnt a chieved a great deal, they were in a much better position financially to expand and invest which they have done and it shows. Had we carried on investing to keep up with them where eactly would we of been financially?? Who can say. Maybe in as much debt as we are now (£146m+)? But with double the turnover. and double the outgoings ? is it better to be indebted to the owner than outside creditors ? 1. Again, who can say. 2. Undoubtedly to the owner...like at villa. how much do villa owe lerner compared to how much we owe ashley ? I think that's exactly the point. Lerner's done a good job. Ashley hasn't. not if ashley was taking over more existing debt than lerner (and it is an 'if' as i don't know).

under the old format it often happened that the uefa cup was of a higher standard than the european cup.

I thought if you were commenting on the atmosphere at games and the sentiments towards Ashley then you'd be someone that was going to games. Talking to people in the pubs afterwards and that. Not a soopafan dig or owt, bu you've got no basis for asking question 6. Well,let me tell you this. Living on the other side of the world doesnt make me any less of a fan than those who have season tickets to SJP. That comment is just blatantly ridiculous. In fact, I probably get to see more NUFC games televised here than you do over in the UK. You might want to remember that there are many other fans on this forum who are in the same situation as me and probably wouldnt take your comments lightly. You might like to know that I have had a heavy involvement with NUFC matters for many years and have plenty of contacts through the club over those years. Most of your replies to my questions were quite interesting and whilst I agree with some and disagree with most, this is a forum of opinions for world wide supporters of the club and you should be wary of making comments regarding other fans opinions, even if they do live far away. With regard to question 6, I think the majority of posters on this forum will readily admit that protests against Ashley have diminished over time at games, whether they like it or not. Furthermore, I cannot think of a single fan whom isnt pleased, surprised and elated that after a difficult period, Newcastle United are currently top of the CCC. I would say that you are certainly in the minority. I never for one second suggested it made you any less of a fan. I'm just saying people in and around the stadium have a clearer picture of what the feeling is toward Ashley in and around the stadium. I don't see how that could be at all contentious. nothing to get defensive about. There's not been any 'protests' since the Hull game last seasonff. I don't agree that there's been any diminishment in the hatred of Ashley since the opening game against West Brom. Your last sentence is absurd. Yoiu could as easily say I cannot think of a single rape victim whom isnt pleased, surprised and elated that after being visciously raped, they are still alive. First of all, I dont think Ashley really cares anymore what the minority think, despite comments by Llanbiase recently. The team is performing and getting results and despite all the past problems, there is still 40 odd thousand turning up at SJP for every home game which is way way above his wildest expectations at the start of the season. This is going round in circles. It's not a minority Secondly, the comment regarding being happy with our current situation as a football club compared to a rape victim is non sensical. How the hell can you make such comparisons is beyond me. I know Bill Shankly once said that football is a matter of life and death but violation of a human body as a comparison to the demise of a football club is just plain idiotic. Do you write for the daily mail? Have a sense of humour man. I was highlighting how pathetically grateful you come across for the smallest of mercies with the most extreme analogy. I was joking about the holocaust with the lads at the match the other night too. I am basically a positive person and I dont like to dwell on the past. What is done is done and as someone else said previously on trhis thread, it is time to move on which appears to be what the club is trying to do, without over committing itself financially. To be unhappy to be top of the CCC at this present time after a couple of years of total mayhem is just plain daft. Again, pathetically grateful. You sound like a cuckolded husband thanking his wife for letting him smell her battered gash after she took on the local rugby team. I actually have read some comments from posters on this forum who would be happy to stay in the CCC because we are winning games, although I can say I dont agree with them. Too much negativity and hatred is blinding too many people on here and it is well and truly time to back the club, from top right through to the tea lady, if we are to get back to where we once were under SBR. It will take a few years but if we are financially healthy and have a committed youthful playing staff eager to impress, then I can see the club back up there with the likes of Everton, Villa and even Spurs. Where we were 3 years ago Where we were 3 years ago???????? 1..On the brink of financial meltdown under Shepherd!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2. Having aging, overpaid, injury prone unmotivated superstars like Viduka, Owen, Luque, Boumsong, Dyer, Insomnia and Martins failing to produce week in, week out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3..A succession of failed managers like Allardyce, Souness and Roeder in charge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I would really love to be back in those days of being threatened with relegation year after year. 2005/2006 5 Tottenham Hotspur 7 Newcastle United 11 Everton 16 Aston Villa And before you say it, I tend to put the past behind me and look to the future. Being top of the CCC allows me to think the future is better than what is was. You obviously are up set at being top of the CCC? Maybe that could be because Ashley and Co. are proving you wrong? Maybe you live too much in the past? Maybe you wish you were a supporter of MiddlesBrough instead of NUFC and be happy to have failed to achieve a top 6 position in the CCC therefore failing to achieve an opportunity of immediate promotion back to the PL? Maybe you are just a pessimist? My username is descriptive of my general outlook mate. We've not finished this low down the league in 18 years man. Mmmmmmm that cherry you just picked was tasty. To quote Macca I can't see how it's cherry picking to reply where we were in relation to them in the seasons before Ashley arrived. Even in 06/07 we were only 2 spots off Villa. If he gets us back to those kinds of positions then he'll have got us back where we were before he arrived. Then he can start looking to improve things and I'll give him credit. Not until then though. The season before Ashley arrived Roeder had scraped 13th (to his credit i suppose) with one of the worst squads Ive seen in many many years, Babayaro, Carr, Moore, Taylor, Duff, Parker, Emre, Miler, Oba and Shola. Not to mention the likes of Huntington, Edgar, Gooch etc. Who was responsilbe for this?? Still not acknowledging that at the time, whislt Everton, Spurs and Villa hadnt a chieved a great deal, they were in a much better position financially to expand and invest which they have done and it shows. Had we carried on investing to keep up with them where eactly would we of been financially?? Who can say. Maybe in as much debt as we are now (£146m+)? But with double the turnover. and double the outgoings ? is it better to be indebted to the owner than outside creditors ? 1. Again, who can say. 2. Undoubtedly to the owner...like at villa. how much do villa owe lerner compared to how much we owe ashley ?

I thought if you were commenting on the atmosphere at games and the sentiments towards Ashley then you'd be someone that was going to games. Talking to people in the pubs afterwards and that. Not a soopafan dig or owt, bu you've got no basis for asking question 6. Well,let me tell you this. Living on the other side of the world doesnt make me any less of a fan than those who have season tickets to SJP. That comment is just blatantly ridiculous. In fact, I probably get to see more NUFC games televised here than you do over in the UK. You might want to remember that there are many other fans on this forum who are in the same situation as me and probably wouldnt take your comments lightly. You might like to know that I have had a heavy involvement with NUFC matters for many years and have plenty of contacts through the club over those years. Most of your replies to my questions were quite interesting and whilst I agree with some and disagree with most, this is a forum of opinions for world wide supporters of the club and you should be wary of making comments regarding other fans opinions, even if they do live far away. With regard to question 6, I think the majority of posters on this forum will readily admit that protests against Ashley have diminished over time at games, whether they like it or not. Furthermore, I cannot think of a single fan whom isnt pleased, surprised and elated that after a difficult period, Newcastle United are currently top of the CCC. I would say that you are certainly in the minority. I never for one second suggested it made you any less of a fan. I'm just saying people in and around the stadium have a clearer picture of what the feeling is toward Ashley in and around the stadium. I don't see how that could be at all contentious. nothing to get defensive about. There's not been any 'protests' since the Hull game last seasonff. I don't agree that there's been any diminishment in the hatred of Ashley since the opening game against West Brom. Your last sentence is absurd. Yoiu could as easily say I cannot think of a single rape victim whom isnt pleased, surprised and elated that after being visciously raped, they are still alive. First of all, I dont think Ashley really cares anymore what the minority think, despite comments by Llanbiase recently. The team is performing and getting results and despite all the past problems, there is still 40 odd thousand turning up at SJP for every home game which is way way above his wildest expectations at the start of the season. This is going round in circles. It's not a minority Secondly, the comment regarding being happy with our current situation as a football club compared to a rape victim is non sensical. How the hell can you make such comparisons is beyond me. I know Bill Shankly once said that football is a matter of life and death but violation of a human body as a comparison to the demise of a football club is just plain idiotic. Do you write for the daily mail? Have a sense of humour man. I was highlighting how pathetically grateful you come across for the smallest of mercies with the most extreme analogy. I was joking about the holocaust with the lads at the match the other night too. I am basically a positive person and I dont like to dwell on the past. What is done is done and as someone else said previously on trhis thread, it is time to move on which appears to be what the club is trying to do, without over committing itself financially. To be unhappy to be top of the CCC at this present time after a couple of years of total mayhem is just plain daft. Again, pathetically grateful. You sound like a cuckolded husband thanking his wife for letting him smell her battered gash after she took on the local rugby team. I actually have read some comments from posters on this forum who would be happy to stay in the CCC because we are winning games, although I can say I dont agree with them. Too much negativity and hatred is blinding too many people on here and it is well and truly time to back the club, from top right through to the tea lady, if we are to get back to where we once were under SBR. It will take a few years but if we are financially healthy and have a committed youthful playing staff eager to impress, then I can see the club back up there with the likes of Everton, Villa and even Spurs. Where we were 3 years ago Where we were 3 years ago???????? 1..On the brink of financial meltdown under Shepherd!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2. Having aging, overpaid, injury prone unmotivated superstars like Viduka, Owen, Luque, Boumsong, Dyer, Insomnia and Martins failing to produce week in, week out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3..A succession of failed managers like Allardyce, Souness and Roeder in charge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I would really love to be back in those days of being threatened with relegation year after year. 2005/2006 5 Tottenham Hotspur 7 Newcastle United 11 Everton 16 Aston Villa And before you say it, I tend to put the past behind me and look to the future. Being top of the CCC allows me to think the future is better than what is was. You obviously are up set at being top of the CCC? Maybe that could be because Ashley and Co. are proving you wrong? Maybe you live too much in the past? Maybe you wish you were a supporter of MiddlesBrough instead of NUFC and be happy to have failed to achieve a top 6 position in the CCC therefore failing to achieve an opportunity of immediate promotion back to the PL? Maybe you are just a pessimist? My username is descriptive of my general outlook mate. We've not finished this low down the league in 18 years man. Mmmmmmm that cherry you just picked was tasty. To quote Macca I can't see how it's cherry picking to reply where we were in relation to them in the seasons before Ashley arrived. Even in 06/07 we were only 2 spots off Villa. If he gets us back to those kinds of positions then he'll have got us back where we were before he arrived. Then he can start looking to improve things and I'll give him credit. Not until then though. The season before Ashley arrived Roeder had scraped 13th (to his credit i suppose) with one of the worst squads Ive seen in many many years, Babayaro, Carr, Moore, Taylor, Duff, Parker, Emre, Miler, Oba and Shola. Not to mention the likes of Huntington, Edgar, Gooch etc. Who was responsilbe for this?? Still not acknowledging that at the time, whislt Everton, Spurs and Villa hadnt a chieved a great deal, they were in a much better position financially to expand and invest which they have done and it shows. Had we carried on investing to keep up with them where eactly would we of been financially?? Who can say. Maybe in as much debt as we are now (£146m+)? But with double the turnover. and double the outgoings ? is it better to be indebted to the owner than outside creditors ?

surely you were there 2005/6. we were shite and spent the season until easter looking over our shoulders and even took ourselves by surprise with a very late run and that was sandwiched between below half way finishes with more looking at relegation than europe.

He's only had almost 3 years, how much longer does he need? well hasnt he been tolerable this season, major fuckups not really around willing to spend cash in jan to ensure promotion if llambias could f*** off everything would be fine I’d say the renaming of the ground was a f*** up, as was starting season without a permanent manager. The meagre spend in January is given far too much credit. Ashley spent the absolute bare minimum he thought he could get away with to cover any possible injuries problems. When we were looking good for promotion under KK the board went out and spent serious money on Andy Cole, who went on to serve us well in the PL until he was sold for a 400% profit. This time we went out and bought Best for next to nought, we couldn’t even compete with Wigan for Moses. Or, looked at without the gosh-how-I-miss-my-Fweddie glasses on, during that transfer window we were probably the most active club in the top two divisions in terms of getting players in. I think you’ll find SJH was in charge of the purse strings last time we went up. Not that it matters, my point was (until you tried to turn this into another debate about Shepherd, you’re obsessed with him) that the investment in January wasn’t the big w*** fest it’s frequently made out to be. all people said was that we bought well, not that it was the best window ever. you'll rememebr in that summer under hall many weren't happy that our only signing was beardsley (allen only coming in because of beardsleys injury) No, it’s put forward as evidence that he’s learnt from his mistakes. When in fact it could just as easily be another variation on the short sighted minimum investment policy that got us relegated. The failure to land Moses is interesting. A highly rated young player who Hughton said we were after who ended up at Wigan. Was it the £2.5m price tag that scuppered our attempt to sign him, or was he attracted by the bright lights of Wigan? Or perhaps we couldn’t match the wages Wigan were offering. Whichever way you look at it looks like NUFC weren’t interested in building for next season. yes the moses thing was ineteresting...perhaps they didn't want to pay what they considered to be over the odds (like most every other prem team bar wigan) Or perhaps they aren’t prepared to pay the market rate and we will only sign players our competitors in the PL aren’t interested in. Hughton himself said ‘our efforts to sign Moses is a combination for now and the future. The most important thing is to get promoted, but there has also been an eye on the future’. And then our eye on the future was scuppered by Wigan and their outrageous wage structure. If we can't compete with big spending Wigan the quality of player we bring in is unlikely to move the club forward. We’ll get promoted and that will be the end of our progress - which some will no doubt find highly amusing. or maybe he just wanted too much. even if its wigan if someone wants more than you think they are worth you don't do it. At the end of the day Wigan got Moses and we got Best. A million maybes doesn’t change that, or what happens on the pitch. This season has been a great example of how wages influence results. How Hughton would have fared if he’d had to operate within Scunthorpe’s wage structure we’ll never know, but it’s looking like we find out how good he is at managing the division’s poor relations over the next few years. do you know if best or moses are on the bigger wage ? as for the rest it'll make a change to underperforming at an unmanagable wage structure.......................unless of course you think the banks would have let us borrow more ? are you happy that Wigan are buying better players than we are ? i wouldn't be happy if we went down the route of paying more than we think a player is worth either and i'm yet to be convinced about moses (which i said at the time), reminds me of Lua Lua the elder...would you have been happy paying over the odds for him ?

everton/WBA/auxerre and stabaek/arsenal/anderlecht

We've got to live within our means if we're ever going to move forwards again, it might even become a law within the game that we have to do it if we're going to compete in European football. If that does happen then we should be in a good position as our income should give us an advantage over most teams. that all depends on wether ashley decides to make his money back out of the club somehow.

too many people have favourites and those they like to scapegoat and it often clouds the judgement as to how they are actually doing.

no favourites.

have you read the findings of the tribunal ? have you read the findings of the tribunal ? would have been interesting if ray wilkins had claimed constructive dismissal when keegan was DoF at fulham ? i've read the findings and i've asked some questions about them, as yet unanswered.

Agreed. It says a lot about him as a professional. quite possibly we helped him out aswell if he has formed good friendships here it would help him through it. word from denmark is that he is very happy here after feeling his career had drifted away at schalke.

his seemed more deliberate than johnsons the other day against sunderland.

quite possibly.