HawK

I think steve_69's so enraged and disillusioned now the fog has cleared that he's just counter-arguing everyone's post for the sake of it

Really? When has he ever done anything in reaction to a protest from the fans? Or a story in the media? There may be some perception that his actions are a direct response but i've never seen anything to substantiate that. Abramovich is a totally different kettle of fish. He is a football fan who bought a club for enjoyment, not business reasons. His actions are therefore based on emotion unlike Ashley You might want to read back a few issues in the Chronicle. As they are banned now for covering a protest march of <200 people.

Actually, the protest is completely the right thing and the correct thing to do to move Ashley on. Negative brand association is why no-one wanted to take the place of the SD hoardings in the first place as the club is so toxic. Negatively influence the brand, by painting SD associations (NUFC) in a bad light is the way forward. Video footage and national newspaper sports headlines with 1000s of people walking out of a stadium with SD plastered all over it is not good for SD. SD is what Mike Ashley cares about. How many people do you really think give a s*** about the plight of Newcastle United? Just us mate, just us. The way rival football fans are, they'll probably buy more stuff from Sports Direct just to spite us. OK so he might lose sales in Newcastle but his sales will not suffer elsewhere at all. The uplift in sales from the stores in Sunderland will probably offset any loss from this region. Will our protest have any negative impact on his business whatsoever? Nope! So, do nothing? Sounding a bit apologist there mate

Actually, the protest is completely the right thing and the correct thing to do to move Ashley on. Negative brand association is why no-one wanted to take the place of the SD hoardings in the first place as the club is so toxic. Negatively influence the brand, by painting SD associations (NUFC) in a bad light is the way forward. Video footage and national newspaper sports headlines with 1000s of people walking out of a stadium with SD plastered all over it is not good for SD. SD is what Mike Ashley cares about.

hmmmm he is really s*** though Dummett really shouldn't be the focus of any fan ire at all. It's unwarranted and misdirected. He's exactly the sort of person we need to be cheering on when he plays, there's nothing he can do about be shit and it's not his fault he's being picked ahead of more gifted players. Frustration needs to be directed at Pardew, not Dummett imo.

Very much doubt it's the sole reason, but it's certainly a good way to get the manager to sign whatever you want - Ashley pays the debt off, Pardew pays back Ashley with a low-basic contract. If the manager makes you money (positions, transfers), then performance related gains make sense. Has Ashley ever been involved in gambling?(no nufc jokes needed ) You could argue the way he does business, his whole empire has been built on the back of being a gambler. Which adds more fuel to the fire that he 'hates' Newcastle. What better way to gamble than by investing in a football team.

Very much doubt it's the sole reason, but it's certainly a good way to get the manager to sign whatever you want - Ashley pays the debt off, Pardew pays back Ashley with a low-basic contract. If the manager makes you money (positions, transfers), then performance related gains make sense.

how professional (if true) Again, this was the unspoken truth at the time - this is one of the reasons why Pardew's weekly pay is so comparatively low. It was stipulated that he would earn the majority of his wage in the SD-way, that is, all performance related. Money made on net player sales (he would have gotten a huge chunk of Cabaye's fee). I'm speculating, but not without cause, that as it's target driven, with each place worth £X, and a minimum target of 10th being the 'public' target, that he is likely to not earn very much at all on top of his basic if the team drops below 10th. It might even create a situation where Ashley can get rid of him much more cost-effectively as it may be worked into the contract that agreed-upon minimum season expectation targets had to be met. Lets not forget, Ashley does not make mistakes (cough). Now, if there was a public target and that was not met, he can safely get rid of Pardew without much backlash and actually improve his standing with the more naive of supporters by doing so. Pardew effectively sold his soul when he signed the 8-year deal to Mike Ashley, he won't walk away, he can't now with his managerial reputation (if any) is in tatters he won't be easily employed again in the PL, and he needs to service said gambling debts. Ashley doesn't want to be seen to have made a mistake with his 8-year contract, so unless Pardew performs well below agreed expectations, he's here for another 6 years. Unless.. The fans do something about it, and hit Ashley where it hurts, and that's his SD brand.

Wishful thinking, but perhaps the players have got wind that if the club finishes below 10th, Pardew can be got shot off with minimal collateral. With him being in the stands/out the stadium for the past 7 games, it's given them the perfect opportunity to try and do just that. That kind of intimates Pardew's tactics and gameplans have been better than what we've seen over the past 7 games, which I don't like to think about actually. But would be nice to think that the players are against him too.

He's made 10s of millions, absolutely tonnes. Through SD. That's the scam.

Sounds Pardew-esque

There are plenty of managers who would fit the middle ground, but Keegan would never be one of them. Can you imagine him coming to Newcastle with the aim of finishing 10th? Ashley should never have conned him that we wanted to win stuff. Actually, there was every indication when he first arrived that he wanted us to do well. He invested in players, watched the matches with the fans etc. The turning point was the death threats and him believing he couldn't attend matches with his family any more, and ever since then he's done his damndest to spite the people of Newcastle for it. The death threats happened because he sold Keegan down the river. I'm not one of those who think Keegan should have been given a blank chequebook, I understand that a club has to be self-funding in the long run. But bringing Keegan in as manager with the dream to become the club we were previously when that was never the intention was dishonest. If Keegan had been told come here as manager to finish 10th, do you think he would have been interested? Of course not. A liar and a scumbag he may be, but a total idiot Ashley isn't. He said he would be putting in £20m a year into the club from his own funds, in addition to whatever other revenue the club made. It would have gone sour pretty quickly with Keegan if said £20m didn't materialize at the end of that first season before the tribunal. I've made sure to keep myself abreast of pretty much all the Ashley quotes and dealings since he's come to the club, and I can distinctly remember that those first 4-5 months post-Allardyce that we were all firmly behind Ashley, he was investing in players (Coloccini, Smith (ugh) and the rest). How he signed some of the players and the people that he got in were clearly complete mistakes. It speaks volumes that he didn't source the players himself like some other sugar-daddy owners, but employed what he thought were football people to bring in players. He seemed, to me, to want the club to do well. Ever since the beginning of the next season with the Keegan unrest and the threats (real or otherwise), is when there has been a complete u-turn in club policy and direction - not a penny more into the club, invisible to the fans. I am 100% against Ashley now, and have been since the tribunal. But go back to the SJH quotes on the sales of his shares, Ashley's representatives told him that he wanted to advertise SD in Asia, and wanted to use NUFC to do it. Back then, it seemed perhaps through Euro qualification, Champs League etc. But now he's gone the other way, and has turned us into one of his SD stores.

There are plenty of managers who would fit the middle ground, but Keegan would never be one of them. Can you imagine him coming to Newcastle with the aim of finishing 10th? Ashley should never have conned him that we wanted to win stuff. Actually, there was every indication when he first arrived that he wanted us to do well. He invested in players, watched the matches with the fans etc. The turning point was the death threats and him believing he couldn't attend matches with his family any more, and ever since then he's done his damndest to spite the people of Newcastle for it. Northumbria police at the time confirmed that they were never contacted regarding death threats or threats of any kind to Ashles's family. And Ashley has been seen (admitedly rarely) at St James' Park since. It might surprise you that Ashley may not have been totally honest regarding these threats. As an independent employment tribunal confirmed Ashley is a proven liar. If you've read up on my previous posts you'll know I repeat the tribunal findings more than most on this forum. If he had lied about said threats, so be it. Could have been the Keegan fallout and the tarnishing of his reputation that's done it. I think we can both agree since that period - for whichever reason - he's taking it on the people of Newcastle.

There are plenty of managers who would fit the middle ground, but Keegan would never be one of them. Can you imagine him coming to Newcastle with the aim of finishing 10th? Ashley should never have conned him that we wanted to win stuff. Actually, there was every indication when he first arrived that he wanted us to do well. He invested in players, watched the matches with the fans etc. The turning point was the death threats and him believing he couldn't attend matches with his family any more, and ever since then he's done his damndest to spite the people of Newcastle for it.

Tevez Tevez channelling some Silvio Dante right there. 'But they pulled me RIGHT BACK IN!!'

Stopped reading there

Wouldn't be the first time we'd make sure to make a player captain so they'd be happy though :/

I have to say I'm a bit surprised at Lambert's progression at Villa, or lack of. Even with a poor squad, I thought he'd have them in a better position than he has. Other than HITH (hoof it to holt), what else did he do at Norwich?

Hatem was one of the most gifted French players of his generation, was shit for us under Pardew. Mascherno has won more trophies since leaving Pardew's West Ham than most clubs have won in their history. Tevez, see above. All 3 players couldn't buy a place in any of Pardew's teams. And people still want to portion any blame at all on Hatem.

There is no reason for Mike Ashley to sack him, the only reason would be a genuine threat of relegation. Anything else you may hear or believe from the club is pretty much horseshit. This is not a club any more, it's an advertising vehicle. If you want change, protest against SD & Ashley.

It was public knowledge at his appointment that he would make money personally off of transfer Net Spend if it was good.

If he said including this season then it would be.

http://www.themag.co.uk/the-mag-articles/classic-pardew-blunder-exposes-disastrous-mike-ashley-era/? If it wasn't the same shit served up every day I might laugh.

Aye pretty much. Absolute horse s**** this. Yep, ridiculous nonsense. Have you seen Everton play under Moyes? And it took him over a decade to get them that way. A decade of shite football, and almost every season spending the first half of it flirting with relegation and the winning the rest of the matches. Moyes is better than Pardew, I said that and still people are thinking I called him the same. Learn to read? We will play the same clueless football, we will defend better, we will concede less, we will NEVER win anything. And this is who you want to replace Pardew? Jesus f*cking wept. Open your eyes and look outside the PL, there's half a dozen managers in the Championship who'd have more of a clue than Moyes.

Not going to sign anyone worthwhile, Ameobi new contract, Adam Campbell and Adam Armstrong leading the line with lets not forget Moussa '2nd striker' Sissoko supporting. Bigirimana 'new signing' on his return to add the 'missing creativity'. Going to be year after year of never challenging for anything, just existing. Even a terminally ill person has an end in sight, no offence intended. But it really is this bad and if you're looking forward to the summer you need to wake up.