biggs

I find the level of anger a bit misplaced. Firstly, I don't think it's true to say that he didn't try. He simply isn't that good any more. That's why there hasn't been a stampede of big clubs wanting to sign him, and he got dropped from the England squad. I also think that Owen himself found the captaincy a bit of an embarrassment. He's a quiet character and he plays very much as an individual rather than at the heart of the team. He was also clearly uncommitted to the club in the long term, and was simply seeing out his contract. He failed to live up to the captaincy role on or off the field, but he shouldn't have been given it in the first place. Agree on the captaincy bit but hey its all the other shit that grates on us being his lack of commitment and couldnt care less attitude on the field or off ,he just never felt like our player so our resentment comes from this .His performances and lack of effort in our last few games were pityful and that will live long in my memory .

Can there not be a extermination of any sort of connection between Ashley and us ffs

Hope the little cunt breaks his leg.

Exactly he can go where he wants for all i care he is just another nomad footballer and he moves where he see fit . Bit harsh like. He was at Rangers over 6 years We will just have to see how long he lasts at his next club but staying with us was never gonna happen tbh and imho he is at an age were he will go from club to club .

Sorry if this has already been posted but its from our old mate George Caulkin in an article from the The Times and tbh its a little bit more interesting the some of the shit we have had to put up with but thats not saying i believe any of it . American dream looms for Newcastle Mike Ashley, the Newcastle owner, has begun the search for new owners for the club George Caulkin Thirty-eight days after Newcastle United suffered the trauma of relegation, their first-team squad will report back for pre-season training tomorrow. From the outside, it appears that little of substance has changed. Mike Ashley remains the (reluctant) owner, Alan Shearer is still hoping to be appointed manager, no players have been sold and none bought. Finally, however, an end to the impasse is within sight. What exactly has been happening at St James’ Park? Very little, apart from season-ticket renewals, job losses and the unveiling of a banana-coloured away kit. Since Ashley’s announcement that he wished to end his disastrous stint in charge of Newcastle at the earliest possible opportunity, activity has largely gravitated towards the London offices of Seymour Pierce, the investment bank charged with handling the sale of the club. With players on holiday and Shearer on Tyneside awaiting developments and itching to begin a task he is relishing, Keith Harris, Seymour Pierce’s executive chairman, has been gauging interest, seeking financial guarantees, opening Newcastle’s books up to scrutiny and travelling to the Far East and the United States to meet potential investors. That process is now drawing to a close. So where do we stand now? The timeline, all being well, is as follows. Harris will receive bids for Newcastle tomorrow. Ashley has stated that he is seeking £100 million for the club (he bought it for £134 million and has since invested another £110 million on reducing debts and running costs), although there are complicated factors, including the continuing legal case between Newcastle and Kevin Keegan, their former manager. By Thursday or Friday, Harris should be in position to offer Ashley his recommendation. In essence, Ashley will accept the highest bid, although Harris, a football man (and former chairman of the Football League) who has been toiling assiduously on the project, is mindful of the responsibilities of his position (in other words, he wants Newcastle to be left in safe hands). At the time of writing, it looks as if an official announcement on Newcastle’s next owners could be made by the middle of next week. Who will Ashley’s successor(s) be? As things stand, only Harris has any inkling. What we do know is that as many as four serious parties have been involved in the bidding, two of which have pulled ahead of the others. Part of Harris’s skill has been to maintain the integrity of the process and to operate in a climate of complete discretion; neither Ashley, Shearer nor other staff members at Seymour Pierce has any knowledge of the bidders’ identity. The same applied when Ashley initially put the club up for sale last year. It has been a useful rule of thumb that a majority of companies or individuals who have come forward can immediately be discounted as time-wasters or publicity seekers. The exception is a consortium with which Freddy Shepherd, Newcastle’s former chairman, has had an involvement, but it is understood not to be a prominent candidate. Most supporters will be relieved. Harris has been speaking to an American group and it now seems feasible, if not definite, that Newcastle will become the latest English club with backing from the United States. The Ashley era has demonstrated that you should be careful what you wish for, but surely any new owner would represent an improvement. What Newcastle need is good sense and stability along the lines of Randy Lerner at Aston Villa, or Ellis Short, at Sunderland, both of whom have been content to leave the business in the hands of qualified professionals and/or those with a football pedigree. What will happen to Shearer? In his last discussion of note with Derek Llambias, the Newcastle managing director - which took place at the start of last week - Shearer was informed that he was the preferred choice of manager by both leading bidders. That would make sense; while the club’s record goalscorer is unproven in the dugout, off the pitch, over the course of the final eight games of last season, he began restoring sound practices and basic discipline to the training ground. More fundamentally, he offers a precious link between the club and a group of supporters who, understandably, are verging on disenchantment. Shearer’s appointment would provide Newcastle with goodwill and breathing space, although nothing has been agreed. Relationships would need to be constructed and there is no guarantee that Shearer’s plan for the team’s regeneration, which he submitted to Ashley at the end of the season, would be accepted. Something must give, however, and soon.

Do you think Ashley and Llambras really care ,i think they dont give a flying fuck .

Window licking

Dave are you one of the mongs with your face pushed through the fence

Exactly he can go where he wants for all i care he is just another nomad footballer and he moves where he see fit .

KK walked though, he wasn't sacked, in fact Ashley tried to bring him back and KK refused. Tough s*** if KK didn't like Wise, it doesn't make him entitled to £8m of the clubs money because he cannot put personal differences aside, he knew someone was going to fill the role, he said so himself. Ashley paniced coz his mod fkd up and he new KK would have him for a fortune, he was not willing to give KK what he promised him when he took the job, so no deal was struck when they met in London for talks. God forbid something changes in the work environment. If everyone was like KK we'd all be unemployed as soon as we got our hours changed, or a expenses restructured or moved to a new location or job position. Really though, it was more to do with the fact he didn't like Wise having a say on transfers than money spent on transfers; KK honestly thought he could walk in to our club being out of the game for a while and take control top to bottom with a man that only knows him on reputation. KK needed to work in the setup and let his authority grow day by day as he was getting it right, not demand all or nothing at the 1st barrier, businessmen don't work like that, they think with their heads and not their hearts, and the result was KK Vs Ashley, Heart Vs Head and no one won bar the mackems. Shhhhh be quiet cos Tooj might read that your saying nasty things about Keegan and it makes him angry and you dont want to see Tooj angry

Thats what you said in the Keegan thread so its just following you around its a highly emotive subject dont you know and the main crux of our problem

Yeah your a nobody till youve had Sciatica looks great on your C.V

I feel you, had the same thing a while back, take care man. I find walking is the best cure. Cheers for that hope i can get rid of it ,ironically i am on my feet at work but it bites away

Grabbed a couple of articles off the net for a read first his controversial Bond holders malarky Monday 31 Jul 2000 Controversial former Newcastle chief executive Freddie Fletcher has severed his last remaining ties with the club after nine years. Fletcher, the man most closely associated with the club's recent court battle with season-ticket holders fighting plans to move them from their seats, has informed the board he is standing down as a non-executive director with immediate effect. A statement released by United onb Monday revealed the Scot "wishes to pursue a range of business interests and does not feel that he will be able to commit adequate time to fulfil his obligations to the club". John Fender, chairman of Newcastle United plc, said: "I would like to thank Freddie Fletcher, on behalf of the board, for his contribution to the company over the last nine years as chief executive and, more recently, as a non-executive director. We offer him our best wishes for the future." Fletcher, who joined Newcastle from Rangers, was a key figure in the club's return to prominence, working alongside former chairman Sir John Hall and present incumbent Freddy Shepherd to rouse a sleeping giant. He presided over several phases of the redevelopment of St James' Park but has announced his decision to leave the board just weeks before the newly-revamped stadium re-opens as a 52,000-capacity all-seater venue. Fletcher also took on the role of acting plc chairman in recent times but stood down from both that position and as chief executive in March to serve as a non-executive director. Fender took over the chair and David Stonehouse was appointed to carry out the day-to-day running of the club in the wake of his move. Fletcher's critics immediately linked his decision to take a back seat with the fury created when the club tried to move 4,000 season-ticket holders to make way for corporate clients last season. Six bondholders launched a long and bitter legal battle to block the move only to finally lose out in the Court of Appeal in June, leaving them with a bill for costs totalling £198,000. But both Fletcher and the club dismissed the claims and the former called on fans to try to heal the wounds which had festered in a war of words. "What I want to do is to urge the fans to heal any breech there's been and get behind everybody and ensure that what we're in the news for is winning football games," he said. "No person is bigger than the club, it doesn't matter who they are. "When the present regime came in eight years ago the club was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, was in a relegation spot for the old Third Division and had a stadium which came nowhere near meeting the aspirations of the fans or, indeed, the Taylor report. "When it opens in August, £75million will have been spent on it in the last eight years. "That's not because the board despise the fans, that's because they recognise that the fans are the best fans in the world and want to give them the best." Then we have what he said about Shearer Shearer is the right man for job says Freddie Fletcher Apr 2 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal ALAN Shearer is the ideal man at the ideal time for Newcastle United, according to the man who relaunched Newcastle United with the appointment of Kevin Keegan as manager 17 years ago. Freddie Fletcher was Newcastle’s chief executive when Keegan was lured back to St James’s Park to rescue the club from relegation to the third tier of English football. And, having also played a major role in the signing of Alan Shearer for a then British record of £15m from Blackburn Rovers in 1996, Fletcher is convinced United’s much-criticised owner Mike Ashley has pulled off a masterstroke in persuading Shearer to answer his SOS call. [glow=red,2,300] “The appointment of Alan Shearer has been done under the radar and it caught everyone by surprise, including me,” said Fletcher, who remains a Newcastle supporter despite severing his official ties with the club eight years ago.[/glow] “I didn’t see it coming, but it is an excellent decision and one which Mike Ashley should be applauded for. [glow=red,2,300]“I know there are still supporters out there who are unhappy with the management structure, but all of that can wait until the summer. I would urge everyone to get behind the team over the next eight games. [/glow] “If the club is united, it will stay up and Alan is the ideal man to bring everyone together. He is that sort of character, he loves the club and the club loves him.” It has been impossible for anyone who remembers the dramatic appointment of Keegan in 1992, and the thrilling drama which followed, to not draw comparisons between then and now. Fletcher said: “It has brought back a lot of memories because it obviously has so many comparisons to the appointment of Kevin Keegan. Like then, Newcastle were in relegation trouble – albeit to what is now League One – and nobody saw Kevin’s appointment coming. “It was a complete surprise, but it gave everyone a lift and sparked a revival which saw us stay up on the last day of the season with a win over Leicester. “When Kevin came, he brought confidence and he brought enthusiasm and that is what you need in a relegation battle. You can not underestimate how important confidence is in a football team doing well and I think it has been in short supply recently. Alan Shearer will bring that, too.” And, if Shearer can keep the Magpies in the Premier League, Fletcher predicted it will not be long before Newcastle are once again challenging at the top end of the table. He added: “We stayed up on the last day of the season. The next year, we went up as champions and the year after that we were playing in Europe. That shows you how quickly things can change if you have the right man as manager. Kevin was the right man then and Alan is the right man now.” LUKE EDWARDS Not reading too much into it but you never know with his previous business with the club .

Tbf there might be as much truth in what ive said as what sh*t the papers write on a daily basis as they know nothing more than anyone else. What would peoples thoughts be if Fletcher was involved? I wouldnt want Fletcher, Shepherd or Hall back at the club. So can you explain exactly why Fletcher should not be involved ? cos in my mind he was the brains behind the Halls when they were in power as the commercial side etc and he brought us up a level so are you tarring him with the same brush

I had the pleasure of watching him play for the Toon and seeing him on Superstars and was so proud of him and for us older ones when he returned as a player with Arsenal the whole ground would sing along as one to the tune of Noel,Noel SUPERMAC IS KING OF NEWCASTLE and it brought tears to my eyes what we had lost .

I would say the second scenario if Hulse and Elliot had knowledge of Shearer coming in i reckon they would stay but in Hulse case Liverpool knocking on your door is too good to say no too even if Sheare was appointed looking at it logically for him ,so is this a message we should take as a warning or just one of those things and we read too much into it .

Hughton and Calderwood are only here because no-one else would touch them with a bargepole. Story of NUFC appointments for the last 5 years.... Random observation does that mean Keegan and Shearer

Agree 100% remember fat Sam and what happened ,but the blame is obviously down to Ashley in the first place for allowing this situation to happen in the first place and we all know that .

Its been happening for years tbh just jockeying for position ,2 papers from the same building and to be fair if you bought both you wouldnt want to read the same stories in both papers altough the true facts come in handy .

Part of that arrogance is self belief tbh but sometimes miss placed like you say in the above game and back then you had much bigger personalities then you have now for example Frank Worthington,George Best ,Stan Bowles ,Rodney Marsh to name but a few who said a lot of things for a reaction and were more like playboys than today with you strict club rules and media spotlight.

Nice to hear so many good things about him from other posters instead of the ignorant mutterings that will probably appear soon from what they hear on the legends .

Tbh he cares deeply for the club as you can hear it in his voice ,he is a tit at times but arent we all when it comes to our feelings on the toon its just he gets heard by a few more people

Sorry guys have to pull out as ive been on jury service this week and next and its sparked off my sciatica thats effecting my lower back and tbh im in agony and cannot risk aggravating it as work comes first and cannot afford any time off on sickies as 3 years ago it fucked me for 3 months so sorry again.