chicago_shearer

Newcastle could really do with some American owners to be honest.  This kind of s*** (and the kind of s*** that has been happening to this club for years) would never fly in America.

...because they don't have relegation. Mismanagement is not exclusive to Britain.

 

My point has nothing to do with relegation at all.  There are very few professional sports teams in America ran like a f***ing circus.

 

Disagree - there are plenty of examples of similar circus type management.

 

Al Davis - Raiders

Mark Cuban - Mavs

De Bartolo family - 49ers

Marge Schott - Reds

If our new American owners do for Newcastle what Mark Cuban did for the Mavericks, then I'll be very very pleased.  He's a loud mouth, but he made them successful.  Same goes for Jerry Jones in Dallas.  They like the spotlight, they like the circus, but they usually win more games because of it. 

Al Davis and the Ford family in Detroit are the worst examples I can think of.  American or not however, we could do with a less sentimental and more results oriented ownership.  It will help keep Freddie Shepherd in check at the very least.

A better comparison is between HIV and full blown AIDS, with the present regime as the latter.

We are not by most important criteria a football club at the present time.  No one is in charge.  Ashley is done, he is gone, lost interest.  We have no owner, we have no manager, and we don't have a team that is capable of getting out of the Championship (or even of remaining competitive).  The revenue is halved and nothing has been done about the wage bill.  This is a 100% death sentence. 

Shepherd is obnoxious, he has a history of bad appointments, alleged interference with managerial decisions and apparent financial ineptitude.  And I don't care.  Because time is up.  Every day we wait, is another day we fall behind.  If you think playing Doncaster is embarrassing, just wait until they win.  Butt, Ameobi, Geremi etc. are not going to drop down a division (with no pre season manager) and suddenly look decent.  We weren't getting beat just by Man Utd and Liverpool, we were getting outplayed, outfought and beaten by Hull, Stoke and Bolton. 

In fact, I'd say that anyone who is against the Shepherd return doesn't fully appreciate the gravity of the situation.  This might feel like rock bottom, but it can get worse.

C.Ronaldo is worth more than Newcastle United unbelievable

It might sound ridiculous, but buying Cristiano Ronaldo might be the more sensible investment.

You are on a plane, it is heading straight for a mountain, and the pilots have parachuted out, leaving you to die (Indiana Jones style).  If an experienced pilot of the same plane with a terrible safety record steps forward to take the controls, I wouldn't hang around and wait for the alternative. 

It is July this week and we have THE SAME SQUAD. 

Welcome back fatty.  Now get to work, because we are hairline deep in shit.

Are they wearing it on Sunday for the Confed. Cup final?  I hope so.  And I hope they practice a choreographed Thriller dance in case they score.

in case being the key words there

I've no doubt they will get thrashed by Brazil.  Brazil, in their clean, classic, well designed Nike shirt.  A shirt that would have been no doubt butchered beyond all recognition - with zippers, stripes, neon panels and tinsel - had it been left to Adidas.  

Just been talking to someone who says that they are good friends with someone who works for someone who sponsors NUFC, they are refusing to sponsor them until they know the situation or have a new owner in place.

 

Freddy Shepherd's consortium did make a bid for the club but apparently was rejected & Freddy Fletcher is part of one of the consortiums (rumoured to be the profitible group with Steve McMahon)

 

He also said that Ashley does want £100m but wants £20m if we get back to the PL at the first attempt, plus the new owner would have to pay the £40m overdraft.

 

Also unrelated but he knows our youth team player Daniel Leadbitter very well as he has coached him since he was about 6 and is very good friends with his parents.

 

Daniel Leadbitter bit is true but obv not sure on the reliability of the takeover stuff as i havnt known the guy very long but thought post it anyway

  How about £100m and we don't remove his testicles with the claw side of a hammer for getting the club relegated in the first place?

Are they wearing it on Sunday for the Confed. Cup final?  I hope so.  And I hope they practice a choreographed Thriller dance in case they score.

Not 100% sure if this should go in here but 08/09 USA home Michael Jackson tribute shirt

http://www.onionbag.com/images/products2/10MJUSAHSS0809.jpg

 

 

  Christ, that is actually real.

That Chelsea top would be so nice if it was made by someone like Nike instead of Adidas.  The whole badge/sponsor layout ruins a perfectly nice top.

 

Adidas really is awful when it comes to making football kits.

For the last time NO! Adidas>>>>>>Seeing Viduka playing naked>>>>>>>>>Weaing Nike

 

Nike makes far better kits than adidas ever will.

I suppose if you like carrying knives. Adidas actually have some class about them

Well they both make shoes and plastic/lycra football shirts so I don't know about taking it that far.  I might have agreed with you back in 2002 when Nike were still doing that circle around the number on all their kits, but in the last few years they have been keeping it very simple and clean.  Our last decent home shirt was the one with the blue northern rock lettering.  Everything since then has been poor.  Gold lettering, stupid collars, any way they can f*** up the simplest design in the world.  Just compare with what Nike put out for Juventus.  Miles ahead.

Why is the final on a Monday night?  

I hope the US wins. Maybe it can do something in raising "soccer" profile in the US.

They have been saying that for ages.  I actually think the unpopularity of the sport in America is greatly exaggerated.  Yes, it is 5th or 6th choice for most Americans.  So what?  It's a big country.  The sport has a solid fan base of mostly educated, white collar middle class types, first and second generation immigrants and young kids who have been playing in youth leagues.  That will grow steadily over time.  Television coverage of international soccer is already better in America than most European countries.  Turnout is healthy at professional games across the country, especially in urban areas like LA or Chicago.  Last week I went to a game in the South - about a thousand people turned up, the teams were made up of ex American college players, a few journeymen pros from Africa and even a few English players (one guy who used to play for the Man City reserves).  The quality was surprisingly good (and they had a $1 beer night!).  The atmosphere is a bit family friendly and tame, they have their furry mascots, statistics and stupid team names (Raving Rhino, Lightning Hawks etc.) but that is just Americans being Americans. 

My point is that it is getting to the point that the "building the profile" argument gets to be a cliche.  There is a very substantial market, they have the money and the facilities, they have the players and talent.  It isn't as if people won't pay attention.  Smaller nations have done much more with much less.  So the expectations should really be a lot higher.  They don't need to overtake the NBA or the NFL before they start taking it seriously.  In fact, I think the popularity argument has become an excuse for an underperforming national side.  When they fail to show up in a major tournament, they can fall back on the "oh well, it isn't very popular, when we grow the sport etc..."  More could be done in stimulating interest amongst working class, inner city youths (i.e., people who don't have first names like Landon & Taylor) but when you look at what the likes of Croatia are able to achieve without a top class domestic league then you wonder what the hell they are complaining about. 

Ah s***, smug Lalas dulling my shine.

I can't stand him.  No Lalas you ginger clown, it wasn't all hard work and "hustle".  It was more down to the fact that they have a team of reasonably talented players at the moment that can compete to an international standard.  Something that the US national side didn't have during your glory days of getting humiliated by Iran at France '98. 

The only way that kit could be any better would be if they had Dowie instead of Taylor & Beye modeling it. 

One more goal, Brazil...

Aren't the USA through at the moment with scores as they are?  (3-0 in both games as I type this).

3-0 USA, could be going through instead of Italy.  Funny stuff. 

Wish we'd get rid of adidas and change to nike. 

No thanks. i like being able to wear our kits in public. Adidas is better than every other kit maker

Adidas are miles behind Nike. 

If it meant a full time manager actually getting down to work tomorrow morning, I'd give Hitler a fresh start.

MIKE ASHLEY WANTS ALAN CURBISHLEY (NOTW mind)

 

ALAN CURBISHLEY is being lined up to become Newcastle boss.

 

Toon owner Mike Ashley is trying to sell the club but he is making contingency plans should a quick sale not materialise.

 

Curbishley has been sounded out and, despite the chaos that surrounds the club, he would be willing to move up to the North East.

 

Alan Shearer remains in charge of team matters but the situation is becoming increasingly complicated as his relationship with Ashley has become so strained.

 

Seymour Pierce, the brokers handling the sale, have received a formal bid from an international consortium with no links to the North East. The American group tabled a bid of around £100million on Friday after Barclays did the paperwork on a working overdraft of £25m to ensure the club can keep going in the short-term.

 

"A deal is nearly done, it's very close," said a source. "It could be announced as early as Tuesday or Wednesday next week."

 

Ashley believes he can get a better deal if Newcastle have a manager in place for the massive rebuilding job needed to help the club secure immediate promotion.

 

And Curbishley, 51, was the master of that type of management in 16 years at Charlton. He turned them from a club who did not even have a ground into a consistent Premier League force. And since he left they have slid down into League Two.

 

Curbs also steered West Ham away from relegation but, after a mid-table finish, he fell out with the fans and the board and left Upton Park last September, claiming constructive dismissal.

This won't be finished until late July at the earliest, we will start the season with no left back at all and a frighteningly disjointed squad of journeymen and youngsters, and the next regime (whoever it ends up being) will use this wasted summer as the official excuse for poor performances on the pitch - right up until the point that we turn and call for the new board to be sacked.

It's just getting predictable now.

If he has to go, I hope we sell him abroad or to a top 4 side.  Would be very annoying to see him playing for a mid table Premiership team.

He should have worked harder to keep us in the Premiership so that the gravy train kept going.  Too late now.

Sorry Oba, but getting shot of mediocre players on Champions League wages is one of the few bonuses of getting relegated.  Good luck finding a mid table club with the money to afford you, or have fun in Dubai or Japan.

Is anyone else absolutely bricking it about this entire takeover business?

 

I don't just mean with regards to our immediate need to get a manager in and prepare for the upcoming season etc, I mean in terms of being stung by Ashley. I was delighted when Shepherd left and welcomed Ashley with open arms, giving him the benefit of the doubt for far too long. Don't mind admitting I was totally wrong on that.

 

This time around I'm far more cynical, and though it would be tough for anyone to do worse than Ashley has, I'm shitting myself we'll get someone s****. Obviously none of us have any say in who buys the club, but that still isn't stopping me changing my mind constantly about who I think would be a decent choice.

 

I see your point, but I'm more nervous about what will happen this summer when we are 3-? weeks behind everyone else, needing to at least halve our wage bill and also build a competitive squad for the Championship (which is more competitive than most seem to think).  I just want this over.  Everyone else seems to have Saudi/Kuwaiti billionaires interested, I don't see why we can't dig one up.

absolutely none of them. they relegated us.

Aye exactly.

 

Can't see how anyone can be "gutted" to lose any. None of the fuckers are fit to lace the boots of Shearer, Ferdinand, Ginola, Albert etc.

Yep.  No respect for any of them after this season.  Some did better than others obviously, but thats only the difference between celebrating when and if they fuck off (Coloccini, Barton, Butt) and just shrugging (Jonas, Enrique).

I'm seriously beginning to question whether this is really just incompetence or actually deliberate. 

Remember when Llambas said there was a plan in case we went down? 

Because from the outside perspective, you might be forgiven for thinking it looks like total chaos.  Chaos in danger of making this last season of failure bleed into the next.  How can they be this bad at acting professionally?  These clowns are running this club with all the finesse and expertise that a 15 year old boy would show Angelina Jolie's bra strap.  Total, total amateurs.  No planning, no forethought, and absolutely no sense of urgency.  About as much urgency as the players showed against Villa. 

Fuck you Mike Ashley.