Benwell Lad

I was getting sick of this last night like. Far too many rounds of "get out of our club" including once when we were taking a freekick and once when we'd just won a corner (both when 1-0 down). I wish more of our fans would join in with positive songs. Thought QPR played a good game and we were unlucky not to concede more early on when they piled the pressure on. We had no shape in the first half and I was pleased Hughton had the balls to make the obvious sub - had a horrible feeling at half time that he was going to persist with Butt. It seems they only have a reportoire of 2 or 3 boring songs which they repeat over and over, it's no wonder the rest of the crowd can't be bothered to join in. And one of their only songs has the audacity to tell away fans their "support is s***" How many songs have you come up for the toon? How many songs did you start in St James last night? Great question ! First of all I applaud the singing section and those who want to create an atmosphere, it's just that it's all become very limited, repetitive and boring recently. To answer your queston A) Lots. B) None. As a "veteran" of the Leazes End in the 60s and 70s I was lucky enough to enjoy what was probably the best atmosphere SJP ever had. For the big games (including Fairs Cup 60,000 sell outs) there'd be 18,000 packed into the Leazes, all standing under a tin roof, it was deafening and amazing fun to be part of. Everyone sang in that end and the chants were inspirational, often very witty and topical. My favourite was probably "you'll never walk alone" with scarves held aloft - before Liverpool put a copyright on it. The chanting was only in the Leazes End - other parts of the ground seldom joined in, although the posh season ticket holders in the old main stand would bang their feet on the wooden floors when they got excited. There was also quite a bit of "aggro" in the Leazes back then between rival gangs from different parts of the city. I suppose the Gallowgate corner and scoreboard took over when the Leazes end was destroyed (sacrilege) and as the stadium developed it became more normal for the whole ground to join in when things were going well. The modern day L7 singers should provide the spark which gets the rest (even old timers) going, but they need to be a bit less boring and repetitive to really make it happen. Good luck to them - they're probably enjoying themselves just as much as the previous generation of singers did. I am jealous of you for that. I wish I could have experienced it. I love to hear St James Park on a really good match day. The last ones that really stand out in my mind as brilliant were the home game against Boro, and the game against Arsenal a couple of seasons ago, evening kick-off when we drew 1-1 and the crowd really were the 12th man, and roared the team on. However too many games grow stale and flat because we only tend to sing "Newcastle, Newcastle, Newcastle", N & a E & a W, C", "Geordie Boot Boys", "la, la, la Geordies", with the occassional airings of s**** like "Your support is f***ing s***" and the songs where we are claiming to hate sunderland. We need to get more songs going, and the lads at the back of the Singing section really do try, with things like "Don't wanna go home", "This club is my club" and the Discoland tune, but unless other people join in then nowt new will catch on. More singing in the pubs and the concourses is what's needed tbh. And more singing from the other stands. Those games stand out for me too, along with one or two others. It's a shame that they're the exception rather than the rule because everyone who is at those games enjoys it so much more and it becomes a real occasion which is talked about afterwards, whatever happens on the pitch.

I was getting sick of this last night like. Far too many rounds of "get out of our club" including once when we were taking a freekick and once when we'd just won a corner (both when 1-0 down). I wish more of our fans would join in with positive songs. Thought QPR played a good game and we were unlucky not to concede more early on when they piled the pressure on. We had no shape in the first half and I was pleased Hughton had the balls to make the obvious sub - had a horrible feeling at half time that he was going to persist with Butt. It seems they only have a reportoire of 2 or 3 boring songs which they repeat over and over, it's no wonder the rest of the crowd can't be bothered to join in. And one of their only songs has the audacity to tell away fans their "support is s***" How many songs have you come up for the toon? How many songs did you start in St James last night? Great question ! First of all I applaud the singing section and those who want to create an atmosphere, it's just that it's all become very limited, repetitive and boring recently. To answer your queston A) Lots. B) None. As a "veteran" of the Leazes End in the 60s and 70s I was lucky enough to enjoy what was probably the best atmosphere SJP ever had. For the big games (including Fairs Cup 60,000 sell outs) there'd be 18,000 packed into the Leazes, all standing under a tin roof, it was deafening and amazing fun to be part of. Everyone sang in that end and the chants were inspirational, often very witty and topical. My favourite was probably "you'll never walk alone" with scarves held aloft - before Liverpool put a copyright on it. The chanting was only in the Leazes End - other parts of the ground seldom joined in, although the posh season ticket holders in the old main stand would bang their feet on the wooden floors when they got excited. There was also quite a bit of "aggro" in the Leazes back then between rival gangs from different parts of the city. I suppose the Gallowgate corner and scoreboard took over when the Leazes end was destroyed (sacrilege) and as the stadium developed it became more normal for the whole ground to join in when things were going well. The modern day L7 singers should provide the spark which gets the rest (even old timers) going, but they need to be a bit less boring and repetitive to really make it happen. Good luck to them - they're probably enjoying themselves just as much as the previous generation of singers did. Thats interesting about the gangs. as a kid, standing in the leazes corner, over the big entrance that led to the bogs, near the new stand. i could never understand why it appered nufc fans were fighting amonst themselves+ police.it was mental back then, and the atmosphere was cracking. i experienced leazes as a kid, gallowgate after it was knocked down. the new L7 crowd is the best its been since the place went all seater. Looking back, it does seem very strange but at the time it was definitely part of the youth culture in the city. It was mostly skinhead gangs, SAB,DBAB,WAB,BLAB etc etc - I'm sure you know who they were ! You mention the police as well, their methods were certainly a bit more "primitive" back then. That reminds me of one spontaneous chant about a member of the local constabulary known as "Fatty Williams" who was on match duty one afternoon, as he walked along the cinder track the whole Leazes End started singing "Fatty Williams is a b@stard" - he must have felt great.

I was getting sick of this last night like. Far too many rounds of "get out of our club" including once when we were taking a freekick and once when we'd just won a corner (both when 1-0 down). I wish more of our fans would join in with positive songs. Thought QPR played a good game and we were unlucky not to concede more early on when they piled the pressure on. We had no shape in the first half and I was pleased Hughton had the balls to make the obvious sub - had a horrible feeling at half time that he was going to persist with Butt. It seems they only have a reportoire of 2 or 3 boring songs which they repeat over and over, it's no wonder the rest of the crowd can't be bothered to join in. And one of their only songs has the audacity to tell away fans their "support is s***" How many songs have you come up for the toon? How many songs did you start in St James last night? Great question ! First of all I applaud the singing section and those who want to create an atmosphere, it's just that it's all become very limited, repetitive and boring recently. To answer your queston A) Lots. B) None. As a "veteran" of the Leazes End in the 60s and 70s I was lucky enough to enjoy what was probably the best atmosphere SJP ever had. For the big games (including Fairs Cup 60,000 sell outs) there'd be 18,000 packed into the Leazes, all standing under a tin roof, it was deafening and amazing fun to be part of. Everyone sang in that end and the chants were inspirational, often very witty and topical. My favourite was probably "you'll never walk alone" with scarves held aloft - before Liverpool put a copyright on it. The chanting was only in the Leazes End - other parts of the ground seldom joined in, although the posh season ticket holders in the old main stand would bang their feet on the wooden floors when they got excited. There was also quite a bit of "aggro" in the Leazes back then between rival gangs from different parts of the city. I suppose the Gallowgate corner and scoreboard took over when the Leazes end was destroyed (sacrilege) and as the stadium developed it became more normal for the whole ground to join in when things were going well. The modern day L7 singers should provide the spark which gets the rest (even old timers) going, but they need to be a bit less boring and repetitive to really make it happen. Good luck to them - they're probably enjoying themselves just as much as the previous generation of singers did.

I was getting sick of this last night like. Far too many rounds of "get out of our club" including once when we were taking a freekick and once when we'd just won a corner (both when 1-0 down). I wish more of our fans would join in with positive songs. Thought QPR played a good game and we were unlucky not to concede more early on when they piled the pressure on. We had no shape in the first half and I was pleased Hughton had the balls to make the obvious sub - had a horrible feeling at half time that he was going to persist with Butt. It seems they only have a reportoire of 2 or 3 boring songs which they repeat over and over, it's no wonder the rest of the crowd can't be bothered to join in. And one of their only songs has the audacity to tell away fans their "support is shit"

Ironically I thought it was the best football match we've been involved in all season - mainly due to the opposition. In the end a draw was a decent result. If we take anything from it, it is that this league will NOT be a pushover and we will have to work hard and seriously to get out of it. I couldn't subscribe to the pre-season wailings of "oh we'll go straight down again" and nor do I subsribe to the recent "promoted by Easter" sentiments. We're in for a long hard ride - but one that can be successful with good application. QPR played much more like a "Premiership" side - confident on the ball and not overawed by the occassion. When the league settles down I'm sure they'll be top 6 and in with a shout for promotion.

quite good in the 1st half, quiet in the 2nd. very canny in the pub. the singing sections endless renditions of "your support is f***ing s***" is as pathetic as it is embarrassing. It really is. It seems like they only have a couple of songs which they just repeat over and over again. I'm all for a singing section and cranking up the atmosphere, but our juveniles could learn a lot from ManU etc. They should be the "spark" that gets the rest of the ground going, but as long as their repertoire is so limited and embarrassing that is unlikely to happen.

Mind you Blair was better at head keepies up (with Keegan) as Cardinal Hume would have had great difficulty when wearing that hat thing.

Andy Fairweather-Low and a former Roman Catholic archbishop (Basil Hume ?) Almost any boxer/actor/author etc in Newcastle to promote their forthcoming fight/play/book etc

if the council is sharper why is it the shithole that it is ? Newcastle council may not be perfect but they've consistently outperformed Sunderland's, much to the annoyance of many mackems and helping the shoulder chip and inferiority complex grow even bigger. Who is Niall Walton ? Anyone else noticed the peculiarly mackem tendency to often refer to their players etc by Christian names, whereas we (and most others) tend to use surname or both names ?

Mike Lazarus and of course their greatest ever player Rodney Marsh.

Bang on. Bobby was a true Geordie gentleman and did a great job for us but it was at Ipswich where he really had success and made his name. It's fitting that they named a stand in his honour and as you say the cancer foundation will be his legacy to our region. There's been a lot of emotional nonsense spouted recently but there have been others, and will be again, who have done as much as Bobby for Newcastle, and we've only got so many stands. Jackie Milburn was arguably our greatest CF in a club where the position has always been revered and he won trophies for us. He deserves the honour and when someone else eventually does the same then maybe they'll deserve it too.

Excuse the ignorance but what does that mean? Means West Ham get a goal start i.e. Man City have to win by 2 clear goals for bet to come in.

Should we be successful and get promoted, Ranger may be one of the players who is good enough for the Prem. An immense talent and he is learning very quickly, the last month will have brought him on a lot. I have also been impressed with Carroll so far. I think the way the two of them work the opposition back 4 "defensively" is excellent and has helped the team get results. It's in stark contrast to what we've seen from Martins, Viduka etc recently.

b@st@rds get out of our club ! Come on lads it's a really catchy ditto, but geographically flawed and helps perpetuate the myth about our parochial ways. The words should be changed - he's from Hertfordshire or Buckinghamshire or somewhere isn't he ? He's not a cockney. "You fat Herfordshire b@st@rd" doesn't quite have the same ring to it though does it ? Maybe "southern" would work. Even the (mistaken) assumption that all Londoners are cockneys would mean the only "cockney" connections in our club are Harewood, Steven Taylor, Ranger and Hughton, and they're all doing canny jobs. Give the poor old cockneys a break.

Great post ! Shame the highly paid lazy media just go for the easy lines and it takes a fan to sum it up accurately.

If someone ran onto the pitch and spat on me i would remove their little charver testes Reminds me of a classic Jackie Charlton line when he was a match summariser for ITV or BBC during the World Cup when the despicable Rijkaard spat on Rudi Voeller. Asked by the presenter what he thought about it, Big Jack replied in best Ashington dialect " Well air'd iv chinned im" (Well I'd have beaten him up - for those who don't understand South Northumbrian) Class.

Owen, that is, who was persuaded by Alan Shearer (the man most of us are clamouring for to be our manager) and his mate Souness to come to Newcastle. The same pair pretty much forced Bellamy out of SJP. Meanwhile Given just kept his head down and drove his Bentley (reg G1VEN) round Darras Hall. And so on and so on and so on.............................................

Definitely Given because he just wasn't man enough to to say he wanted off a sinking ship and was going to the biggest payer. If nothing else he owed the fans some honesty. Still don't think we miss him that much anyway. As Bellamy has also been mentioned, I can not understand why there would be any animosity towards him, he was pretty much forced out of a club he stated many times he loved playing for - and actually LOOKED like he loved playing for. Our sad demise on the pitch pretty much started with Bellamy's exit. Co-incidence ? If we could have any one of our ex players back I'd want Bellamy. Total workie ticket but great footballer.

Benwell Lad in denial Pwned. Thanks go to UV for posting this earlier. Just had to repeat it. It's not to be missed. Thanks for that, I'm honoured that you and someone else even bothered to re-visit it. You were talking about your intelligence earlier, the level of which should be enough to recognise my post was a provocative one intended to create debate about what was a very emotive subject at the time. Yes my standpoint was somewhat for the defence against the masses but not really in a supportive way. I did it on purpose. I just wish there was a platform where such things could be debated rationally and not just hundreds of pages of childish insults, repeated "tripe" and profanity. For the record I was not besotted with Ashley's arrival in the way many on here were originally (where are they now ?) I prefer (maybe it's age) to take a more level headed view on anything good or bad which happens to our club. Personally I wish Ashley was gone and replaced by someone who can take the club forward in a stable way. His tenure has been a disaster, much the same as Keegan's return as manager was.

Because a load of Ashley supporters desperately need to try and deflect at least some of the blame for the club's current state away from their beloved leader? If it wasn't for dastardly Keegan, the way Ashley was running the club would have worked & we'd now only be a couple of years from challenging for everything don't ya know. who are these ashley supporters ? most agreed when he came in we couldn't keep going as we were financially, haven't got a clue what happened with keegan and think ashley got it totally wrong with kinnear etc. or is it a case that some think if you have any criticism of keegan or the previous board then you must therefore think that ashley has done everything right ? Haven't you seen them ? Where have you been man ? There are loads of them to be seen walking up to SJP on matchdays with ASHLEY printed on the back of their shirts, they sing pro-Ashley songs during the match and wave banners with things like "Cockney Mafia In" and "Boycoutt Keegan burgers" printed on them. During the week they organise meetings at pubs in places like Felling, Winlaton and Bamburgh trying to convince people how great Ashley is.

A very intelligent player and defender. Given time and in a settled club will be a great asset.

A Newcastle United forum is no place to make a level headed critique about Keegan's role in the recent demise of the club - shame on you ! Contrary to what subsequent posters have stated about your post and geographical detatchment from Newcastle, as a Newcastle based, Newcastle fan for many decades, I agree with most of what you say. The Geordie obsession and love affair with Keegan ( who ultimately won nowt just like the rest of them ) is a source of amusement to most savvy football fans. A serial quitter and probably Ashley's biggest mistake.

Over many decades of watching NUFC I can only recall seeing one player who stopped playing on the park because he wanted to get a move. It was disgraceful. It happened in the 70s, he wanted to go to Liverpool and later became a Newcastle "legend", Kevin Keegan's right hand man and is currently employed by Huddersfield Town. It's strange how things can work out.

I'm just relieved that they now won't be able to make a £30M bid for Wor Shola.

However at this level, it's enough. More than enough. Smith is offering a lot more than just big tackles right now. As a senior player I think his determination and attitude is rubbing off on others in the team and that is arguably more important than a defence splitting pass or superb cross. He looks like a true captain.