Unbelievable

The Colback Anita partnership practically sent us down last season. I always felt and was hoping to be proved right that they were Championship standard, but looks like they're not even that.

Anita has been absolutely shockingly bad so far

So erm for those of us who haven't been paying attention this summer (like me), how has our pre-season and transfer dealings been? Are we ready to mount a serious promotion challenge?

Strong sense of deja vu. I literally don't know who half of our team are, but howay the lads!

Good riddance

Good riddance

Shame. He's obviously a good level above the Championship, so he was always going to be one of the most likely players to leave. Good luck to him. The fact he's gone to Palace is neither here nor there for me, but surely bigger clubs would have perhaps been interested? The thing I've never understood from a NUFC perspective is he was presumably signed to play left wing, yet I don't think he ever played there for us in the end.

Don't know this lad. Hope he does well. Sad to see Krul leave though.

Aye, it's bliss! Cheers Wullie

Ah damn, missed this. Hope it will be on iPlayer or something later. Sounds like he's even more intellectually challenged than I imagined.

Cheer up mate, we're getting Rafa.

Big statement, but actually think about what that means for a second. Don't see your problem with that. You could still have the day out you seemingly value so much?

even if you take everything so far as water under the bridge all we're ever going to be under ashley is an advert and the vehicle for the latest wretched shirt sponsor he can find i'd much rather be rid of him forever and take our chances that we get a proper owner If we were competing at the top of the Premier League and winning cups, possibly the league then would you accept Ashley's ownership? I'm pretty sure most would. Yes, the same way I'd accept John Carver managing the team if he was winning leagues or cups. Neither is going to happen though. Rafa isn't a sign that Ashley's changed and things are going to be different. He's a panic appointment that we kind of lucked into. If McClaren had us comfortably lower mid-table then he'd still be here, for as long as he kept doing it. Spot on

I'm not shouting down any form of protest. I'm just doubting what not showing up is going to achieve. That's exactly what you're doing. "It won't work so don't bother" Being in the Championship massively increases the chances of a sustained boycott having an effect with the Premier League money taken out of the equation, because the matchday revenue again becomes the main source of income, especially if you don't get promoted first time back and the parachute payments decrease. I got a text from an Everton mate of mine last night: "Just read (Ashley's statement). Ashley would have been long hounded out at Liverpool or Man Utd, or Arsenal. An entirely empty stadium just once would do it." The perception within football is that we are so desperate to show our "loyalty" that we'll keep going come hell or high water, even when they're actively taking the p*ss. Nobody knows that better than Mike Ashley and that's why he sticks around. He's like Donald Trump where Newcastle are concerned: “I could stand in the middle of Northumberland St and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any supporters.” Cardiff boycotted one single game and within a week, they had their blue shirts back. Liverpool organised one walkout and within a week, the club had changed their pricing policy. At Newcastle though? Nah, definitely won't work, don't even try. I can't leave him, he loves me and he promises he'll change. Shut up and take my money Mike.

The hostility from Wullie and a few others was towards Former poster Nixon (journalist Kristan Heneage), not George Caulkin.

Out of interest, what proactive action are you taking now he's ran out of chances with you? Can't wait for the day he's out of our club, but enjoying a Rafa Benitez led Newcastle is a lot more appealing to me than whinging in the shadows. What can I do from 200 miles away?

I'm just over wasting my time thinking about the worst case scenario if we were to get someone like Rafa. History shows Ashley ruins everything, got it. Know it, its in the back of my mind, I'm not surprised by his idiotic decisions anymore or his stupid press statements or open letters, he's a c*** who I wished met his end today. I'm not prepared to give Ashley any support or whatever you're inferring man, I'm just simply stating I want Rafa as our manager b/c I want to enjoy football again and I want to enjoy that now. Fair enough mate, each to their own. I understand why people would cling on to the hope that Rafa might bring. I just don't understand how that would somehow exonerate Ashley. Loads of people on here have been saying that Spurs should be about giving Rafa support for 90 minutes, which I find completely astounding in the situation we find ourselves in to be perfectly honest. The first and only priority should be to weaken Ashley's stranglehold on the club. Focusing on the unlikelihood of Rafa staying and Ashley changing his ways to accomodate him seems completely futile to me based on 9 years of solid evidence pointing to it never going to work.

Even if you know full well it will end in tears, yet again Kanji? Just how many chances are people prepared to give him? Personally speaking I can't find any joy in following this club anymore. People hang their hat on the Rafa situation's outcome whilst deep in their mind they must be aware that this is just the next episode of the Keegan/Shearer/Hughton syndrome where a man of class and dignity is used by the vilains in charge only to be undermined later.

I'm just completely baffled that people are more concerned about Rafa staying than they are about driving this c*** out of town. The Rafa Benitez appointment proves beyond a doubt that this club could always attract high calibre managers if it wanted to. It just wasn't interested until it was knee deep in brown stuff and needed a miracle only someone like Rafa had a chance of pulling off. None of that will have changed now we are relegated. What fans should focus on solely is ensuring we get our club back one way or another. If a manager like Rafa is still interested in coming here at our lowest of the lowest ebbs, imagine what could happen under capable and ambitious ownership. Whether Rafa stays or goes is immaterial to me since I believe the chances of him being here by the end of the year are slim anyway. One transfer window of empty promises and getting players he doesn't want at the expense of players he desperately needs under these buffoons is probably all that is needed for him to run a mile, and rightly so.

I don't care about Rafa to be honest. If he even stays it's only a matter of time before he realises what he's let himself in for, gets fucked over and leaves. I really can't imagine Ashley completely changing his philosophy and giving a manager, a position he doesn't hold in high esteem clearly, the reigns effectively. Ashley hates it when people get ideas above their station; just look at what happened to Hughton and some of the players in that team. After 9 years it should be abundantly clear that this man is incapable of successfully running a football club.

Hopefully what happened next will happen again this time.

We're still following the Aston Villa model very closely.