Mick

We just went further into debt, the same as the year before when we suddenly acquired an overdraft for the first time, the overdraft was for £17 million.

In 1991 we were in the old 2nd Division, the teams listed below were all in the 1st (top) division. Why did Leeds who were 4th top of the 1st division only have 12,000 on average more than we did in 1991? Why did Villa only have 9,000 more in the same division as Leeds? Why did Chelsea who were 5th in the 1st Division only average 5,000 more than we did in 1991? Why do they all have higher gates on average today than they had in 1991? In 1991 Liverpool were 2nd in the 1st Division, why did they finish 3rd last season yet still have a higher average crowd? In 1991 Arsenal won the 1st Division, how come they finished 4th last season yet had an average crowd that was almost double that of 1991? Last season (edit: should have been season before last) Man U finished eactly in the same position as they did in 1992, they had almost 24,000 more fans in this time round. I could go on but don't see the point.

You must have got your words mixed up as I can't see Roeder and Souness helping to bring players in.

Agreed, very good on the wing although I think his legs might have gone.

I enjoyed the run up's to the finals but it's arguable about the best round to lose in, I felt better walking out of Wembley having lost to Chelsea than any of the others, I walked out feeling that we'd done ourselves justice, something we didn't do against Liverpool, Arsenal or Man U, I've never felt as low walking out of a match as I did against Man U, that could have been because it was the second time we'l lost in the final and realising that you don't get to finals too often, whatever the reason, it was the worst. As for the "Giant Killings," they were bad but they're long gone, the same as losing to Birmingham last season 1-5 at home, none of those felt as bad as losing in the final. I would say that for a 3 year period people were jealous of us but I've known plenty who were not when we were struggling in the lower reaches of the Premiership.

How did you feel when we finished 7th? How did you feel when walking out of Wembley after losing to Arsenal and Man U? I can tell you how I felt, I felt like shit and couldn't get home quick enough and I don't know a single Newcastle supporter who felt any better than I did. I'll just remind you that the managers didn't appoint themselves, very few fans thought the last two managers were good enough, you seem to have changed your mind on Souness quick enough but you were more than happy with Roeder, most people were not. You can't criticise fans who thought these were good enough (whether they did or not) while making it look as if it had nothing to do with the Chairman, just because others have appointed as bad or worse.

I'm not shitting myself at all that Ashley might not match 3 consecutive top 5 finishes, are you? minimum requirement, wouldn't you agree ? How can he be even "as good as " if he doesn't match the best effort ? This is also the level that you and all the other anti Shepherd whatever he does bashers have insisted is ours by right, and would be if not for his presence. this is precisely what you have been saying, and you know it. 5th best average, and qualified more for europe than every other club bar 4, fact. Well, you must be blind. Its been picked up by another poster in this very thread. The minimum record to beat is actually an average league position of 9.4 over 10 league seasons and an average points total of 53.4, that's what Shepherd achieved while Chairman. Another link request, this time to any post on this forum where anybody has claimed that we have a right to anything. Where have I said that we have to get 3 top 5 positions under anybody to prove that Shepherd wasn't holding us back? I've just been through "this very thread" a few times and I can't even see a post where Macbeth has posted or been mentioned until you did it, my browser must be shite.

I'm not shitting myself at all that Ashley might not match 3 consecutive top 5 finishes, are you? As for how well we'll do, I'll wait and see how it goes, even if we don't match the 3 top 5's, it doesn't mean Shepherd wasn't holding the club back, remember the club he took over in 2nd place and left in 13th with an average league position while he was chairman of less than 9th and a record of having been beaten by Doug Ellis in a head to head of league finishes. Put a link up to show where Macbeth has said that as extra £1 million a season would "make a massive difference." You might be right about him saying that but I can't remember it.

I'm glad I didn't read that at work.

Are you turning to religion in these difficult times?

I had to think about that one.

Oliver being right was never a priority, arse licking was good enough.

This isn't the talk in, it's a thread discussing it.

I wonder if it was Tony Blair who kept texting him asking for Roeder to be given the job?

The answer to the how long question.

He's right about backing his manager, the problem is that he employed them in the first place, it's no good putting all of your money on a donkey if it's running in the national, prick.

I thought about posting that then decided that if it's too hard for somebody to put "christopher mort" into Google then why bother.

That's possible, we'll have to wait and see.

I've answered the question and you've responded to it in the post that I'm now responding to. I can understand that you're probably having problems seeing the screen, here's a cyber present as a sign of my condolences at your loss. http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/6995/kleenexblj3.jpg

I guess that Allardyce thought that he could come to the club and do a good job. Also, I think he has a better chance now than he did when he first came.

I don't think Ashley was showing any interest in December, I've seen something in the last couple of days which mentioned a timescale of a couple of months, St James' Holdings was setup a couple of days before Sir John sold up.

Chris Mort is working his bollocks off for the club, that's good enough for me at this time. The club has been run unprofessionally for years, the sooner we start moving forwards the better but I'd prefer the club to move forwards while knowing where we stand and not on guess work. If the review is holding us up for now then so be it, that will not always be the case, I see today’s developments as another sign of progress and also a sign of confidence that those running the club feel they can start to make decisions without the help of anybody.