OzzieMandias

That's more or less what he paid for the club, plus what he's sunk in since in the form of interest-free loans.

By where Matthew Bank meets Jesmond Dene Road, on the Jesmond side. The street where Shepherd lives (Bemersyde Drive) runs along the southern boundary of the grounds. I used to do a paper round in that area. Bemersyde Drive was the worst street of the lot, all these really long garden paths you had to traipse up and down.

he's attempting to make a buck (nowt wrong in that mind) La Sagesse and the Osbourne Garage are also both about a minute from where he lives, so if he's looking to make a positive regional impact, he's not looking very far. Nowt wrong in that either, but let's not blow it up into something it's not.

If you define "regional" as "Jesmond" then maybe.

Source? 55% said that even given the current world financial situation they were not prepared for Ashley to stay at United. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2008/11/29/ashley-given-second-chance-in-fan-survey-61634-22365564/ Not only do you misrepresent the poll, you also ignore the fact that the trend it expresses is moving away from the position you take.

Source?

The way I see it NUSC are a pressure group. If the people running the club aren't satisfying the fan base, then it's the place of the NUSC to apply pressure to them. The NUSC don't have to have a viable alternative, money to pay the bills or any magic solution. In the same way as Greenpeace aren't in the game of providing fuel alternatives. At last, a supporter of NUSC who's honest enough to admit what they really are and not try to pretend that they're a genuine supporters' club!! Well done Happy, I admire your honesty. I disagree with you, but at least you're honest about it. You're wrong about Greenpeace and all by the way. They're a genuine supporters club in that they represent the views of Newcastle supporters. Do you think a supporters club should show unswerving support to the people in charge of the club they love rather than the club itself? On the contrary, they're not a genuine supporters club in that they only represent the views of some Newcastle supporters.

Other way around. He's keeping quiet in order to get paid off.

Perhaps it's wise not to read too much into a second-hand account of something supposedly said by "the guy in charge of the programme". Are you suggesting the quotes in the match programme are just made up? Why not, everything else the clubs says is. In that case it would be even wiser not to read too much into a second-hand account of something supposedly said by "the guy in charge of the programme".

Due to Keegan and the club being in 'talks' centering around exactly this, then yes for once I think you can take Llambias with a smaller dose of salt when he claims that Xisco was a KK buy (along with Xisco's quotes when he signed...) Agreed. Given that they are, for legal reasons, keeping very quiet about anything in contention regarding Keegan's attempt to get £9 million out of the club, the fact that they just came straight out with this suggests that it's not at issue and Xisco was indeed a KK purchase.

Perhaps it's wise not to read too much into a second-hand account of something supposedly said by "the guy in charge of the programme". Are you suggesting the quotes in the match programme are just made up? No. I didn't even mention the quotes in the programme.

Perhaps it's wise not to read too much into a second-hand account of something supposedly said by "the guy in charge of the programme".

Oh, I see, so what you meant by the "long term talk" being bollocks was Ashley getting overexcited about the possibilities of this season. Silly me. Interestingly, though, speaking of the long term, Llambias lets slip something about what something or other might be worth in 6-7 years' time, which strikes me as a better clue about how long they expect to be around and what kind of timescale they might be considering.

That's the most baffling thing. They're effectively spit polishing the club with the view to attracting buyers yet Llambias seems to talk in the long term. I really do hope MA wants to offload ASAP but I fear we're going to be in the second tier in a few seasons time still finding ways to cut costs. I fear you are correct. It's admitted in this article that the long term talk was bollocks and it seems they are just continuing with this speel in the hope that supporters have something to cling onto. I am in no doubt we will financially be better off when they leave but unless these youngsters are superstars we are going to be years behind most of the premiership. Could you quote that bit, please? I must have missed it.

That Llambias is out of his depth is clear from the short-sighted managerial saga with joe kinnear. The problem is, the NUSC are like militant Unionists intent on getting the boot into the leadership on every perceived failure and I can only see both sides putting their defenses up as a result. Yeah - far better to do nothing and take the medicine which is given to you without question. NUSC might not be perfect, but at least they are doing something - rather than those who are happy to sit on their hands apart from sticking the knife in when it suits. I'd say that doing nothing is better than doing the wrong thing, and usually better than doing something very, very badly. If they claim to represent fans, they should accept and listen to honest criticism from fans, just as they expect the club to accept theirs.

The statement reminds me of what Fred said before he appointed Roeder tbh. Me too, but I didn't dare say so.

It's because the club is being ran by non-football people. How does that explain it, like?

I'd like to understand that, too. Maybe it explains why we got/will get such a big fee for the guy.

Yes, that bit is particularly cringeworthy. It's all a bit like a daft discussion on here, really, with people more interested in denouncing their opponents than arriving at any kind of useful conclusion.

I got the impression points were being scored on matters that actually arent that fundamentally serious that regime change is the only answer. They made some good points on some important topics but some of those (Shay leaving for example) can be explained by events which were eventually out of their control (i.e. his transfer request). Anyway does this mean they are now trying to work with Llambias / Ashley or still want them out? Search me. Generally, I'd say that if they want the club to listen, then they have to give them a reason to do so. But their membership and influence isn't big enough on its own to win them a hearing, and aside from "you should borrow more money" they don't seem to be brimming over with useful suggestions.

I have to say, if the NUSC is serious about wanting a constructive dialogue with the club, then they have to do a bit better than just bickering and point-scoring and counting it as some kind of victory when the guy they're putting on the defensive gets flustered. Llambias, unlike the lawyer Mort, is no trained communicator. That much, for what little it's worth, has now been proved.

I'd love to read a proper transcript.

I want the bald Georgian back.

My local team are currently sitting on top of the Bundesliga. A few years ago I tried going to their matches, and though I enjoyed the company of the crowd that I went with, I found it impossible to care very much whether the team won or lost. That made for painless defeats but also for joyless victories. I don't think it's treachery, though, to watch a team that plays in a different league than the Toon. I have a colleague in London who moved there from Manchester, and as a result stopped supporting Man U and started supporting Arsenal. Couldn't get my brain around that one at all. I've also got a friend, these days working as a football journalist in Italy, who grew up in Burnley and then did his reporter's training at Thomson House in Newcastle. He couldn't bear to watch Newcastle, as we weren't Burnley, so every Saturday he used to go up to Edinburgh to watch Hibs. Mad, but I understood that one better.

This.Thats all. Wouldnt they be suing him for 2m? Couldnt give a shit tbh,i just know if something meant so much to me i wouldnt be trying to skank money from it. Seeing as he was contractually obliged to pay up £2m if he broke the deal, he'd only avoid that if he claimed that they'd broken the deal. Bearing that in mind might explain him accepting an out of court settlement, eh? Doesn't want to be wrongfully sued but doesn't want to screw the club he loves - a settlement would thus not suggest his case wasn't watertight. Flawless logic, so far as I'm aware. Flawless logic? He was contractually obliged to pay the club £2 million if he walked. He walked. He doesn't want to pay the £2 milion to the club so he sued them in what is essentially a defensive action. Occam's razor, my man. It was for the benefit of those who'll blame him for taking compensation but will also take an out of court settlement as evidence he was in the wrong all along. It seems that for many, Keegan has to pay £2m to Ashley to prove he isn't a mercenary scumbag as 1) legally disputing who was in the wrong sees him accused of thieving from ordinary supporters and 2) if his case were valid, he wouldn't duck the court date and take less/no money. As I said, his accepting an out of court settlement might be to prevent indirectly his taking money from the supporters he loves. It would be pretty unwarranted to assume that's the case, however - in the same way other deductions have unwarranted quantities of faith placed in them. Your post essentially reasserts my point. You're putting yourself into contortions because you want to believe he loves you.