afar

The thing that would worry me more if I were a Mackem supporter is the trend, outside the win against us they appear be on a downward spiral, this might not be the best time to be in that form, with the rest of the strugglers picking up. Their next game could be absolutely vital for them, they lose that and I'm not convinced there is enough desire in their squad of players for a relegation fight, which will probably be in for. We too of course need a big result next time up, to keep up our forward momentum, but I would rather be in our form, with our players than theirs any day of the week.

As someone mentioned above this is a huge result, I don't think the scale of it can be underestimated here. If we had lost this one, there was a big danger of becoming marrooned at the bottom, with confidence draining away. Now we are up in 14th, ahead of the mackems (who I feel may be a team in huge troubles as their form, except for our game of course has not been good at all). Looking forward to watching this one when I get home from work assuming wife has done her duties with the PVR

We could be bottom of the league by the time this comes around, if Spuds win and Bolton and Wigan get something out of their games.

Throughout the summer I was pretty suspicious of the motivies of the board and far from impressed, I was definately not an Ashleyite. However I still voted yes to this because I think he has the opportuntity to redeem himself with the fans, if he wants to, and that's the real question here. One thing is for sure we are gonna be up shit creak without a paddle if a buyer has not been found and Ashley maintains his indifference to the club.

I'll tell you one thing about Barton, he's always seems to be talking to others. I noticed before the cgame, he had a long chat with Enrique, obviously trying to encourage him in his first start for a while. At half time, he was at it again this time with Colo. I'm not sure he should be captain but it's good to see some communication going on there.

Yes but I also see him roughing up defenders, winning some aerial battles, showing some nifty footwork and passing, scoring two goals and winning a pen. That's the Shola package good and bad. Wow Tron's back to talking some sense, good to see it. Of course the haters like to highlight the bad and dismiss the good.

That's the problem for West Brom though, yes the pass it around nicely, but it's ineffective, they are not good enough to hurt teams, that's why I think they be heading back down come the end of the season. In our postion right now we need effective football not pretty pretty stuff, the first half for me was fine, entertaining stuff we had a cutting edge to our play, a little bit more quality and we could have been further ahead at the half. The 2nd we sat back too much for me and allowed them back into the game. The setanta commentor said something on the lines of "Newcastle are under constant pressure from West Brom" TBH that was a load of baloney because outside of the goal they created very few clear cut openings.

Unbelievable, the guy has turned himself around, he's been 1000% better in the last 3 games than he had been. I'm not saying he's been a world beater but his performances have improved vastly on the crap he was producing before. Yet he still gets stick. This is the trouble with a lot of NUFC fans, especially on this board, they have their pre-conceived notions of players, managers etc but will not change them despite any evidence to the countary. These players can do no right in their book. TBH I think Shola is becoming increasingly pivtol to the way Kinnear wants to play, I'm not saying he wants to play long ball, but he certainly seems to want a big man up front who can ruffle some feathers and at the moment Shola's doing a pretty decent job of that. I for one am very thankful for his 2 goals and winning a penalty in his last 3 games, don't think we could have expected more of the lad, like I said he's not a world beater.

That Daily Mail article reads like we are supposed to feel sorry for Styles, it's funny that Beye's ruiling was overturned by those mean people at the FA, while the Manure one was "wrongly awarded". Got no sympathy at all for the guy, nor should we, it's not about the personailities it's about the incident and a terrific challenge like that should not be rewarded with a penalty against you, a sending off forcing you to play with 10 men for almost 80 mins and a suspension. Nothing the FA can do about the first two but I'm glad they had the balls to do something about the suspension. And Mark Hughes can f*** right off, TBH, I hated him as a player, Like him as a manager but his comments post game about how the sending off helped us and this further comment are making me loath the guy once again.

So where's this official announcement then ?

I used to live in Orlando, when I was in corporate accomodation before I moved into a place of my own I used to go to the British Pub at the Mercado center on International Drive, who showed matches every week. If you're staying in the Beuna Vista or Kissimmee area there are a few British Pub down that way, I'm not as familiar with that end of town, but they cater for the Brits pretty well. I doubt your Villa will have Setanta, as it's generally an added extra channel, I pay $12.99 for mine in Canada, and every game is shown in full at some point over the weekend. We also have sportsnet and the score out here that show live games. I think the US has Fox Soccer Channel or Foxs Sports World that but some games from Setanta to show live.

I think they've rode their luck extremely well, against us for example, if Guthrie knocks in that sitter early on it would have been a different. At the moment they are getting all the rubs of the green, that'll start to even itself out soon though and I expect them to start falling. Not saying they have not done well though, because they most certainly have but they've also had lady luck on their side too.

For me Kinnear has done just about everything right since he came in. If he continues in the same vein and we start pulling away from the relegation spots, then we will owe him a huge debt of gratitude. Should he be given the role full time, well I think time will tell on that one, I'm not totally ruling him out. I wasn't a huge fan of the bloke before he took on the job but he's gone hugely up in my estimation since taking over and I doubt he would be a disaster like the last temp manager we had that was given the job full time.

UV is spot on, it just seems all too convenient for Ashley, he's got a lot of people feeling sorry for him right now, does he deserve that sympathy, I'm not so sure. Making a huge profit on this venture in the economic climate we are currently in, just doesn't seem quite right to me.

Jesmond born, raised in Majorca and Jesmond/Gosforth and later in North Tyneside. Now living in Calgary, Canada after spells in Florida and New York.

My attitude is that they don't represent my views and they have done nothing at all to hear mine. If anything, they've done everything they can do avoid them. Tbf though Mick, that's probably because your a little bit mad though

OK, if you're going to present your beliefs as fact, provide proof. OK I should have put the IMO in front of that. The guy's a hard nosed business man and to be honest I'm not critical of the stance at all, I would be looking for exactly the same thing if I were in his position. It's like when you sell an item you are looking for the best deal you can get, speed does matter unless you have a pressing need for money and to the best of my knowledge I don't think Ashley is, you don't care if the item goes to a good home, you just want whats best for you. If he;s such a hard nosed businessman surely theres a good reason why he's selling at possibly the worst time for him and the club AND for potential investors? I'm not sure it is such a bad time, the club is an attractive proposition, he's looking to make 50 Mill profit apparently. Again he's not going to sell unless he gets the right price (for Role model, IMO), so if someone doesn't stump up the cash, he'll not sell simple as that. Recession really hasn't hit the PL teams yet, if the falling attendances continue and have a knock on effect with TV revenue, then yes there will be recession, Ashley could well see this as the Top of the market right now. You make it sound like he's choosing the best time to sell, when in fact the militia fans are doing the forcing. Had they not protested so much - do yout hink he would of sold? If not - any imtimation thats he's being manipulative hard nosed etc is moot. Back onto the non point though - how investable do you think a club is when its fans foce the last owner out - with no manager at the helm club in dissaray and no transfer window in sight for another 3 months to rectify some potential problems - all whilst close to bottom of the league. You were the one bringing up why a hard nosed business man would sell at this point in time, I'm just making the point that's it could easily be considered a great time to sell. Whether that's by accident or planned I'm not no so sure. I doubt in a years time the club will be worth any more, he's just taken in 3 years worth of season tickets a a big chunk of TV money. At the end of the day motivation for buying the club is two fold: a) The large supporter base should ensure revenue streams, a lot of potential owners will think we can make money of that one, actually I'm sure MA had that in his head when he started out. The club of course is now largely debt free, the wage bill has been reduced and there is potential to further reduces should they wish, ie, selling Owen, not taking up option on Viduka. From a financial point of view it's very appealing. b) Exposure, who had heard of Mike Ashley before he took over ? I don't think that many, whether it was intentional or not Ashley's profile has been raised considerably during his ownership of NUFC. Some groups are after exposure, such as the nigerians and south africans.

OK, if you're going to present your beliefs as fact, provide proof. OK I should have put the IMO in front of that. The guy's a hard nosed business man and to be honest I'm not critical of the stance at all, I would be looking for exactly the same thing if I were in his position. It's like when you sell an item you are looking for the best deal you can get, speed does matter unless you have a pressing need for money and to the best of my knowledge I don't think Ashley is, you don't care if the item goes to a good home, you just want whats best for you. If he;s such a hard nosed businessman surely theres a good reason why he's selling at possibly the worst time for him and the club AND for potential investors? I'm not sure it is such a bad time, the club is an attractive proposition, he's looking to make 50 Mill profit apparently. Again he's not going to sell unless he gets the right price (for Role model, IMO), so if someone doesn't stump up the cash, he'll not sell simple as that. Recession really hasn't hit the PL teams yet, if the falling attendances continue and have a knock on effect with TV revenue, then yes there will be recession, Ashley could well see this as the Top of the market right now.

OK, if you're going to present your beliefs as fact, provide proof. OK I should have put the IMO in front of that. The guy's a hard nosed business man and to be honest I'm not critical of the stance at all, I would be looking for exactly the same thing if I were in his position. It's like when you sell an item you are looking for the best deal you can get, speed does matter unless you have a pressing need for money and to the best of my knowledge I don't think Ashley is, you don't care if the item goes to a good home, you just want whats best for you.

What is more of a factor for Ashley speed or getting the right price on the deal ? I think on quick look at his dealings in the past will tell you the answer to that. Speed is not a factor in this for him, nor is finding the right buyer bullshit, the only factor for him is the price and that the money is clean.

Aren't Seymour Pierce handling the sale? They are supposedly a reputable company and I doubt they'd be conducting negotiations if the price was set stupidly high. If they are getting a fee for their services I doubt they will turn down the business even if they think the price of the club is too high. The economy is in the toilet remember, in that situation when someone comes knocking on your door, you don't want to turn them away. The point that you missed though was that we don't know either is true, we are not privvy to the bidding process and what stage they are at, how realistic the bidders are or how far/close they are to the figure Ashley wants. As a supporters group they therefore need to ensure that the owenrship is aware that they believe it's in the best interests of the club to resolve this issue fast, I don't see any problem with them stating this point, again it's their verbage more than anything they are actually inferring.

OK I've caught up a little on this thread. I have to say I'm a little disappointed by the the constant attacks on Ashley by name, their statements do come over pretty poorly. Having said that, I fully support their willingness to get off their arses and try to do something about this crisis, which is something most of the posters here complaining about what they said would never do in a million years. Like someone said above if you don't like what they are saying, then go create your own group, since the consesus seems to be that you all agree with the principle but not the implementation. I do think they are right to put pressure on Ashley to increase the speed of the sale, as I've said before selling up well before January is vital for the club, otherwise we'll see another wasted window which could lead to relegation. But he's trying to sell, you cry, how do we know he's not close to finalising ? Well I'll counter that by saying how the hell do we know he's anywhere near getting the price he wants for the club ? We don't know either. We don't even know for sure if he's really serious about selling or if he won't except anything other than a ridiculous price for the club. So I agree with them that they need to keep up the pressure. What I would do though is to get someone in to sort out the verbage they use, outside of the boycotting of sponsors and personal attacks on Ashley, their sentiments are correct IMO. They do need to drop the Ashley hate campaign, it's getting a little tedious and will make things much more difficult if and most probably when Ashley tells us all that he couldn't find a suitable buyer and we are stuck with him. They should be concerntrating on the structure, on the club's lack of communication with the fans, on wishing JK all the luck in the world despite the current events letting the squad know that as supporters we are still 100% behind them, getting some positive PR out about the fans to repair the damage we have suffered once again and on the future direction for the club. The thing is, it is extremely difficult to speak with one voice when we as fans have so many different opinions, whatever they say will not go down well with everyone but I think an organised group that attempts to put united (pardon the pun) front is the way to go.

Can't abide southern 'cockney' teams like Gateshead, hope Blyth stuff them In reality I have zero interest in this one.

Wow a post from you without a jibe at Keegan !! But anyway you are spot on, therefore as I said earlier it's absolutely vital for Ashley to sell up well before Jan 1st.

I've got to say I'm getting a little worried now, those noises from Harris suggest there may not be any substance in the 6 or 7 or however many consortiums bids. I think Shepherd made a good point when he mentioned the need for Ashley to sell prior to the January window. One thing we pretty much all agree on here is the need to strengthen the squad, money will need to be spent in January, especially if we are still looking at a relegation fight, Ashley won't want to do that so it's vital for the club that it's sold well before the window opens.