BlueStar

Best retort to any completely unforgivable branding (I know, I know, more unforgivable than trying to change the name of the ground and splashing his logo on the roof of the Gallowgate) would be guerilla tactics of having people scattered around the ground at random intervals unfurling banners over his hoardings reading "Sweatshop Direct.com" "JJB Sports" and "JD Sports". Calling him a Fat Cockney Bastard and telling him to fuck off is water off a duck's back, he cares far more about his brand than his personal popularity.

A productive thread for them then Worth a read right through Last few pages are just peopel pleading for the thread to be deleted out of embarrassment. People slagging off the Echo and The Mail for reporting it, and then people pointing out the official SAFC Twitter had retweeted it and Sunderland players had been sending their best wishes and talking about the last time they met his non-existant son and what a great lad he was Shouldn't laugh about these things, but I suppose a non-existent kid getting non-existent cancer isn't quite as taboo...

Precisely. And pointing this out doesn't mean people are delighted with the end result either. It's a bitter, petty stance you get in lots of situations, reminds me of people saying "Well done, the invasion of Afghanistan/Iraq/Vietnam wasn't a great idea after all. All those soldiers died, you must be delighted we didn't win, congratulations." The people who were predicting transfer window failure seem more pissed off about it than the people who thought it would go well, if anything. But if someone's been smug and arrogant in dismissing people's concerns, of course he's going to get stick when those concerns turn out to be justified. I don't actually think that Ozzie really did believe a load of money was going to be spent, I think it's more that he's invested so much time and credibility in arguing with Leazes Mag about the old board (which then became new board/old board after the takeover) that he simply can't conceed on the virtues or otherwise of Ashley now. It's like if you've already sent £30,000 to Nigerian scammer or you've spent the last two years preaching Harold Camping's doomsday prophecy - it's easier to just hold firm no matter what than to budge even slightly and have to admit to others and, more importantly, to yourself that all the support and belief you ploughed into it might have been misplaced.

RTG called it http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=625273

Was that when we started playing "Medal" aka the entrance music of wrestler Kurt Angle?

I hope you're all gonna apologise when we spend a load of money in January!

Twitter? After the Whitley Bay match on Saturday there were rumours in a few pubs Steve Bruce had packed it in as well, can imagine they're the kind of rumours that quickly get legs.

You seem at least as angry at fans for expressing their concerns about it as anyone has been about what might happen to the sign - And I've not seen a 'majority' saying they're not going to support the club any more because of it though. At any rate, if the club is the city and the people, can we then stop the shrug of the shoulders and "He owns the club, he can do what he likes with it" whenever Ashley does something crass or destructive then?

So the fans, basically. Or "the fans", bleating on with their empty rhetoric, if you prefer. Surely people having pride in their ground and and having concern that the sign will be replaced with somethign tacky is exactly what Bobby was going on about? I mean, he's slagging off marketing departments in the same quote, which is basically what you roll your eyes at fans doing.

Which is all very well, but if my first reponse had been "Oh well, it's only been like that for two decades." then I'd expect you to come out with this rubbish, rather than seemingly throw weight towards the "anything that happens is FUCKING SHIT" brigade. All we know is that the "Newcastle United" lettering has been taken down. It may or may not be replaced. It may or may not be put back up with advertising (SportsDirect@St James' Park). But if it's been there for 20 years or 200 years isn't really the issue for people who are fond of it, don't want it to come down and are concerned what it might be replaced with. Where have I said anything like that, ever? Surely the obvious answer is because he hasn't gotten out of the club and he's still here. Not quite sure why you're so suprised or angry about the fact people are giving their opinions about what's happening or might happen to St Jame's Park on a Newcastle message board. And is it really pissing in the wind anyway? The whole Sports Direct @ St Jame's Park thing seemed to be something Mike and Derek had pretty much decided on, then we don't seem to have seen that name used in any official capacity since. Find it hard to believe the backlash against it has nothing to do with that.

Well, I'm not a psychiatrist, nor do I play one on TV.

Which is all very well, but if the club were to decide they were going to change the current badge I'd expect the first response would be "What are they replacing it with" rather than "Oh well, it's only been like that for two decades."

Said after a 5 year non-stop argument with Leazes Mag.

Wasn't the end of it either though, was it? Is Shearer part of the club's heritiage? How about the club crest, which has been around about as long as that sign? Can we fuck about with that an all, seeing as it's such a modern invention?

Getting sick of thinking "God, wish the next transfer window would hurry up" a day after the last one closed...

Here's an idea if you don't want to make "knee jerk" signings, sign someone during the fucking months and months you've had to sort it out you bunch of useless pricks, then you don't have to make the choice between panic signing and no-one at all.

Not good enough.

On Ashley's New Year Resolution list, along with getting down to 13 stone.

If it was a choice of Sammy/Vuckic or Beattie I'd go for the former, but think it's going to be a matter of if we'd rather have Beattie or Lovenkrands starting in some games.

The fact we've got an up and coming kid with talent, who is actually glad to be here, thankful for his opportunity to play football for us and is a canny lad with a good work ethic rather than a Grade A cuntflap is one of the few things we have to be happy about at the moment.

Would it really be awful having Beattie on the books? Where would he fit in the pecking order and would you really prefer the player directly below him in that order on the pitch instead?

so what happened to them? They changed name. New York Red Bulls FC Red Bull Salzburg so... Sports Direct Football Club (SDFC) That Red Bulls s*** still kills me. Henry in a Metrostars jersey would have been outstanding. Would there actually be anything stopping him if he wanted to rename us Sports Direct United and change our colours to red and blue? Any English or Premier League regulations? Doubt there would be any regulations stopping him from changing the team colours. Yeah, was talking more about if the team name could be used for advertising. There are limits on how many sponsors you can have on your shirts etc I imagine.

I expect he'll do the usual "talk so much and say so little." It'll all be about frustrations, not being held to ransom, tried hard. It won't be "I wanted to buy this guy and Mike wouldn't put up enough money to get him."

Would have liked us to get Bendtner. His ego could work both ways though, either he'll absolutely thrive on being a bigger fish in a smaller pond and getting loads of game time, or he'll blame everyone else if he's not banging in a goal a game and sulk around expecting everyone to serve him up chances on a plate. Put him in my fantasy team in the hope of cursing him.