macphisto

100% get where you're coming from. I tried to completely stop following football completely after Carroll was sold but it was there at the back of your mind. That's why I'm so pleased to have new ownership as it feels like I've discovered a new sport! I could never follow another team, just wouldn't be the same.

You think if there was mass hostility to the Saudi's that they would have still taken us over? To be clear I'm not saying I'm against the Saudis as I was over the moon when they took us over but if the vast majority of fans were hostile to the takeover then I don't think it would have gone through.

I'm convinced if we had of had mass boycotts at one or two games, drastically reduced season tickets then he would have gone much sooner. I guess we'll never know but I highly doubt Scousers or Glaswegians would have put up with Ashley like we did. As I say we'll never know.

You might not get to elect but you do get to reject potential owners.

Of course you have a say in who owns your club. Not all fan bases are like Newcastle's.

I don't quite get the sympathy for Chelsea. Genuinely, I feel more sorry by what's happened at Sunderland where wideboys have been allowed to exploit the club and fed the fans blatant lies (similar to Ashley).

How? It's true. we didn't do anything meaningful about Ashley during his whole tenure. Maybe I'm wrong but I thought @gjohnson was referring to Ashley.

Why don't you support non-league? I'm not trying to be snide when I ask that.

I think you can, it's just as a supporter base we decided not to do anything about Ashley.

When you step back, things don't change that quickly. Saudi's have been our partners since its founding. Russia has been a strategic enemy of the UK since the revolution, apart from a few years during World War 2.

He scored 11 Premier League goals last season. Decent return but nothing amazing. His only good return in the Premier League was the season before when he scored 17. He's on par with Alli as they've both lost their way. Granted Alli is further down that path but Rashford has been a regular now since 2016/17. Apart 2019/20 season he hasn't really pushed on at all since he came on the scene. I'm not saying he's a terrible player, just an average player when you look at his stats in the Premier League and who he plays for.

I'd walk away from any fee above £25 million at the very max with a load of clauses on top to bump up the fee in the event he turned it around; we have to consider that he is currently about 6th choice to start at Man U. As a player he is on par with Delli Alli, they are of a similar age, as someone who has completely lost their way and possibly never going to reach their potential.

What do you think about his performances in the Premier League over the past few seasons? Fair enough the 2019/20 season but based on numbers I would say he's been average the rest of the time. Do his stats in Premier League not tell the full story? 10/11 goals a season is not to be sniffed at in the Premier League but it's also nothing special at the same time. I get where you're coming from regarding attitude, most fans will forgive players if they can see they're putting in a shift.

Like a few others on here, I think Rashford is an average player. His career just hasn't progressed in the last three years. If it's not injuries then it's senior players not helping him out or some other excuse. He's 24 now and should be pushing on. Signing Rashford would remind me so much of former signings like Owen, Duff and Nicky Butt. Can anyone think of a young player who's career stalled at a big club, similar to Rashford, and then went on to fulfil their potential elsewhere? I know Chelsea let De Bruyne, Salah, Robben go but I would hardly say their careers had stalled when they left.

That kind of logic could apply to any owner as anything could happen to an owner. I also wouldn't worry too much about geopolitics in our case as international relations is not that volatile; Russia has never been an ally of the West.

I'm not trying to be contentious for the sake of it but that doesn't mean anything to me. I completely understand why it does matter to some people though I think that is more about people being able to drink in town. I do like the prominence of the stadium and convenience of being central which could be replicated elsewhere. Just as an example, if the stadium could be moved to where the arena is then I wouldn't be fussed at all. I did move away from Newcastle a long time ago so maybe I just don't have the same affection for the stadium as others.

We wouldn't lose any of that if we stay within the city centre apart from L7. I've highlighted the section in bold as I haven't been to the ground in over 10 years. Was the atmosphere that good under Ashley? I do know one thing for sure, there is no better way to kill an atmosphere in a stadium than to have it all season ticket. The crowd grows old together and it just becomes terrible. We had an awful atmosphere in the latter days of Hall before Ashley; that's why there was such a demand at the time for a singing section as the atmosphere was so flat.

I personally would still not rule out the possibility of us moving. They will have been made aware of the discussions about the stadium online and thought it best to put them to bed by making this statement now. You are not going to upset many people by saying you're staying and expanding as opposed to saying you're moving that could cause opposition from some sections of fans. A few things to bare in mind, lets wait to see how long the waiting list becomes for season tickets, how many non-season ticket holders buy tickets for cup matches (a good gauge of how many fans are missing out on league matches), feasibility studies on extending and finally in the article they do say they are going to speak to the council. Who knows what might come up in those talks? They do mention that the new training ground is about 3 years down the line and whilst I don't believe it's a linear process where we have to build the training ground and then the stadium we are probably looking at three to four years before anything happens in terms of work on the stadium. A lot could happen in the next few years to change their minds.

Look to get it up to 60-65,000 but not moving.

I'm all for moving and building a new stadium if we have to move but Four Lane Ends? I couldn't think of a worse place. I wrote previously that I'm confident the council would find somewhere to put the stadium in the city centre if we have to move.

100%, the club shops that were in Monument Mall and near the exit to Northumberland street in Eldon Square used sell a right load of Newcastle related tat back in the day I would also say that pretty much 100% of the stuff they sold were Newcastle related. Just going off the image in the article, that is not a club shop. It's a Castore shop selling Newcastle gear along with other parts of their range. Nothing wrong with that and as long we get our rightful share then I am not too concerned but it does mean that ultimately we are still losing out as the "mugs, keyring, prints and all that shite" do eventually add up to a bit of money that we are losing out on. As I say, nothing major in the grand scheme of things but I do hope we eventually do get a few real club shops like we used to have pre-Ashley.

I'm not being pedantic here but is it a club shop or a Castore shop that will sell Newcastle along with other ranges of their clothing? The two are completely different as we wouldn't call Niketown on Oxford Street, London, a Liverpool club shop. Going off the image in the article above, I can't see anything that's black & white. One of my reasons for asking, not related to Newcastle, is that I think Castore are trying to exploit a hole in the market by Nike & Adidas trying to promote sales through their websites and only working with a small select group of retailers; certainly when it comes to selling their premium products. Ashley has complained about their strategy and last year Nike stopped selling their goods on Amazon in the US. It's the changes in the sports market above that makes me believe Ashley has something to do with Castore. It would be too difficult to turnaround his existing brands and turn them into a premium sports brand so I would not be surprised at all if he is one of the major players behind Castore in trying to establish them as a premium sports brand. Handing over complete control of our merchandise, an area where he specialises, to Castore was very suspicious. Did he still have control of merchandise at Rangers too when Castore took over?

"a question from a Journo to Neil: 'Sunderland were the richest club in the world in the 50's, now that it's Newcastle do you think the Tyne-Wear rivalry will continue to even exist?'" https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/awful-journalism-this-morning.1572744/

Which PR? If we had a capacity of over 70,000+ then I'm confident there would be space for all groups of our supporters from corporate to local kids from the East and West ends of Newcastle. Some matches would be more difficult than others to obtain tickets for but most groups would be able to watch the team throughout the season. I think this ownership is very switched on and I have no doubt they know the importance of not cutting off future generations.

It might not have turned you off but it did for plenty of others or rather the crucial bonds that last a life-time and are developed between 14-17 years old going to the match just didn't develop. Also, I don't mean to be patronising here, but you missed out on so much as a young fan. Going to the match with with your mates in your mid to late teens is one of the best times, if not the best time to support a team. I would hate for future generations to be denied the opportunity to watch the match in-person like what happened during the Hall years.