Mick

And he had no option but to answer and fill the papers, I feel sorry for him.

Mmm I can really see why you still back the manager.

Gay boy.

He's taken talking shit to a new level, he's probably never spoken the truth for years, if at all.

Somebody is building on some land I thought the club owned opposite the Milburn stand and it has a big Shepherd sign up which seems strange.

The last thing I want is Pardew getting the players he wants.

I'll stick this one in here. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/newcastle-legends-warn-mike-ashley-2269674?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter Newcastle legends warn Mike Ashley that Joe Kinnear is the wrong man for the job 2 Sep 2013 23:00 "If Joe Kinnear was speaking to you, are you going to join this football club?" asks Toon legend Rob Lee Rob Lee had some harsh words for Joe Kinnear Joe Kinnear has been warned he's the wrong man to lead Newcastle's search for new signings - as a trio of United legends sounded a warning to owner Mike Ashley. Ex-Newcastle stars Rob Lee, Andy Cole and Alan Shearer last night outlined their concerns over Newcastle's ambition, and future chances of success, as retail tycoon Ashley comes under further pressure to publicly outline his aims. Former midfield maestro Lee was scathing about Director of Football Kinnear, who failed to land a permanent deal in the summer after boasting he could talk to any manager in the world. Boss Alan Pardew faced questions about United's lack of signings for the first time yesterday, and admitted he wanted at least another striker. Kinnear was in charge of making the deals happen for the likes of top target Bafetimbi Gomis, but only Loic Remy, who turned the club down in January for QPR, arrived on loan. Lee asked: "Kevin Keegan sold this club to me when I joined. If Joe Kinnear was speaking to you, are you going to join this football club. I'm not so sure..... They aren't coming. Players don't want to join Newcastle anymore." Cole accused Ashely of "throwing a spanner in the works" this summer, after making some progress, and warned: "You've got to have some sense of ambition. You've got to try to bring new players in to keep the players already here on their toes and to raise standards. "They seem to get themselves on the right track and all of a sudden someone here derails them. The punters were fairly happy a couple of years ago, the team were moving in the right direction and then decisions are made at the top. "It's almost as if somebody running the club wants to upset the punters and I find that very strange. If you upset them, they're going to eventually vote with their feet because there is only so much they can take." Record goal scorer Shearer expressed his fears that the Keegan side of 1996, which almost won the title, is likely to be the best in living memory. He said: "I think two years ago, they overachieved when finishing fifth and I think last year, they underachieved. They are somewhere in the middle. Like a lot of other football clubs, they needed more players but they did not arrive in the window. "I kept on listening to Alan Pardew saying he wanted some players and the club were confident of bringing some in. Reading the lines, I expected a player or two to come in. I haven't got a clue why they didn't. They bought a few in January, but I would be amazed if they were in a relegation battle. "That 1996 team which just missed out on the title may be the best any Newcastle fan sees in his lifetime. It could be a long time before that happens again. It takes an incredible amount of money to get there. You've seen what Spurs have spent. You have seen what Chelsea, Man City, Man United, Arsenal have spent and Newcastle cannot compete with them anymore unfortunately. "The aim now is to try to win a trophy be it the FA Cup or the League Cup and to stay in the Premier League unfortunately. It might be a while before you see Newcastle challenging again for a top four place which is a shame because the fans here deserve it." Ashely has overseen Newcastle become the cheapest top flight to watch according to a BBC survey published yesterday. He stabilised the finances with an interest free loan that currently stands at £129million, but steadfastly refuses to say why he bought the club and where he wants it to head. He has been advised that the fans will not keep filling St James' Park, and can't be taken for granted. The 51,000 who turned up for Steve Harper's testimonial on Wednesday was the biggest crowd of the season, and Lee said: "To be told their biggest crowd of the season is for a testimonial match is a huge surprise and it's worrying for them. If you're not going to try to improve by buying better players, fans are going to vote with their feet. Alan Shearer has also spoken out against the Newcastle hierarchy "They've had a hard few years again. They did very, very well a couple of years ago and almost got into the Champions League again, but it has fallen apart since and they are struggling. I was here for the West Ham game a couple of weeks ago and it was poor. If we have a fall team out we're decent, but if a couple are missing, we're going to be poor. "The fans want to see the club progressing and they want to see the owner spending some money on the team. That hasn't happened. I'd like to see them spend it on a few more British players. They've not got enough in the squad. They've gone too far. Some of the foreign players have been good, but some of them aren't good enough and there doesn't seem to be any desire to invest in domestic talent. But asked if Ashley should step aside if he hasn't got the ambition, Lee added: "In an ideal world, he should, but it isn't an ideal world. If he sold it, you don't know if you're going to get someone even worse. The likelihood is you are going to get a foreign owner. There aren't any Geordie billionaires out there. That's the problem you've got."

So, apart from every other owner, name an owner who would agree.

As if he wasn't going to.

The pressure isn't only to sell.

It all adds pressure.

I don't know if this link has been posted. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2419156/Alan-Shearer-Andy-Cole-Rob-Lee-slam-Newcastle-owner-Mike-Ashley-Joe-Kinnear.html Look what they've done to our club! Ashley and Kinnear taken to task by trio of former Toon greats By Sam Cunningham PUBLISHED: 22:40, 12 September 2013 | UPDATED: 22:40, 12 September 2013 Newcastle United legends have slammed club owner Mike Ashley and his sidekick Joe Kinnear for the way the club is being run into the ground. Fans turned out in droves for Steve Harper’s testimonial on Wednesday — the sell-out 50,793 crowd at St James’ Park was their highest this season. There were 4,000 more than at their previous home game against Fulham, which said as much about their love of former goalkeeper Harper as it did their hatred for Ashley and Kinnear. Gone are the days of competing for the Premier League title and glorious Champions League nights; of record transfer fees and regular England internationals turning out every weekend in front of an adoring Geordie faithful. After they had pulled on the black-and-white strip once again this week to play for a Newcastle Legends side, former greats Alan Shearer, Rob Lee and Andy Cole, stars of that golden spell in the 1990s, spoke out about the current plight of the club. They fear no-one wants to play for Newcastle any more, claim the club are going backwards and believe Ashley should step aside. Alan Shearer The Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer joined Newcastle in July 1996 for a world record £15m and spent the rest of his career at St James’ Park. He scored 206 goals in 404 games and until recently had a bar at the ground named after him. Even his time as manager, when Newcastle were relegated in 2009, did nothing to tarnish his legendary status among fans. Andy Cole Though only at the club for a relatively brief period, Cole made his mark. He joined from Bristol City in February 1993 and immediately helped Newcastle win promotion to the Premier League. In his next season he scored an incredible 41 goals in all competitions — which remains a club record for most goals in a season — before joining Manchester United. Lee said: ‘Kevin Keegan sold this club to me when I joined. If Joe Kinnear was speaking to you, are you going to join this football club? I’m not so sure. Players don’t want to join Newcastle any more. ‘It’s not going to be a short-term fix. It’s not a case of the club only needing a couple of players and then they’ll be very good. It’s more long-term than that. There aren’t the kids coming through the academy any more. Since I left we’ve had Steven Taylor, Andy Carroll and Shola Ameobi.’ The club broke the bank and the world-record transfer fee when they signed Shearer for £15million from Blackburn Rovers in 1996. Does he think those days are over? ‘I would say so and so would the 52,000 fans as well and a lot more,’ the former England striker said. They played such good attacking football under Keegan they were labelled ‘The Entertainers’. In successive seasons from 1995 to 1997 they finished runners-up in the Premier League. Had they not thrown away a 12-point lead over Manchester United in 1996, they would have won the title. This season it took them until the 86th minute of their third league game to score a Premier League goal. Rob Lee Joined Newcastle in 1992 from Charlton and spent the next 10 years playing in the North East. In that time he helped Newcastle win promotion to the Premier League and was also a key member of Kevin Keegan’s side who challenged for the title. During his time at the club, Lee played more than 380 games. . Why did more people turn up to watch an exhibition match than a top-flight game? ‘It’s probably a break from the monotony of watching the team play,’ Lee said. ‘Against West Ham it was 0-0 . . . I couldn’t remember playing in a 0-0.’ Shearer added: ‘That 1996 team which just missed out on the title may be the best any Newcastle fan sees in his lifetime. But that is why they turned out on Wednesday night because that’s an era they loved and enjoyed. They enjoyed being entertained and that is just what that team did. It could be a long time before that happens again.’ Since Ashley bought the club in May 2007 they have had six managers, one executive director of football, two directors of football, an attempted name change of St James’ Park and a new sponsorship deal with payday lenders Wonga. They have been relegated to the Championship and finished in the top 10 only once. ‘They seem to get themselves on the right track and all of a sudden someone here derails them,’ said Cole. ‘The punters were fairly happy a couple of years ago, the team were moving in the right direction and then decisions are made at the top which throw a spanner in the works. ‘It’s almost as if somebody running the club wants to upset the punters and I find that very strange. If you keep the punters on board here, it’s half the battle. If you upset them, they’re going to eventually vote with their feet because there is only so much they can take.’ Should Ashley leave? ‘In an ideal world, he should,’ Lee said. ‘But it isn’t an ideal world.’ Ashley and Kinnear have done themselves no favours by their dismal performance in the transfer window. When he was appointed director of football in June, Kinnear boasted about his endless list of contacts, about having Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger on speed dial and that he was going to be the best director of football the world had seen. New role: Joe Kinnear was appointed as director of football, but Rob Lee is not convinced he can attract the big names to St James' Park New role: Joe Kinnear was appointed as director of football, but Rob Lee is not convinced he can attract the big names to St James' Park When the transfer window shut they had signed a player on loan who turned them down in January — striker Loic Remy — and a little- known teenager on a free. Yesterday manager Alan Pardew, speaking at a press conference about the lack of transfer activity, said: ‘I hope it doesn’t affect us. When the fans see how we play over the next eight games, if we keep everybody fit, I think they will feel a lot better than they did on deadline day. ‘Over the past 10 or so years since I’ve become a manager, I’ve said the first 10 games really and truly give you a clear indication about where you are at.’ The fans are going to take a lot of convincing. They have already accused Ashley and Kinnear of turning Newcastle into the laughing stock of football. Getting relegated would be no laughing matter.

Pardew, he's shit, it's as simple as that.

In this summer transfer window, I agree. January; they were ace. Summer before that; s**** again. The bastard season starts in the Summer, not winter. We strengthened half way through a season and at a time when we looked like going down.

I don't have a single complaint about last night, £10 was a bargain. I was given the chance to see some of the best players I've ever seen in a black and white shirt playing within a few miles of home and I couldn't stop smiling for 90 minutes. If was brilliant and will probably the highlight of the season for me.

I wanted a night off from him and his mates

Bore off

It was weird tonight, I actually remembered what pride in the club felt like.

Nobby was brilliant tonight and some of his passing puts our current crop to shame. Barton taking the mackem out was another highlight, he's got a screw loose.

Hundreds were turned away tonight

He didn't have to, England and Newcastle both have shit managers and I don't know why anybody bothers watching England on top of watching us.

Robert was allowed to play his game, that makes a massive difference.

Both Keegan and Robson would have found a place for Ben Arfa and both would have got more out of him than we currently do.

Read the comment.

You're right, Rob Lee was good from his first game and only really went off the boil during his last season before he left when his passing wasn't as good.