merlin

Well guys, although I do not contribute regularly to the site now, this subject is one on which I can perhaps add to the debate. Most of the members of the site will be far younger than me and therefore were not around in the late 60s when NUFC went into the then Fairs Cup for the first time even though we finished 10th in the then Div 1, mainly due to the 1 city - 1 club rule which excluded Everton because Liverpool had 2 clubs. Same applied to other European cities with more than 1 club. As you all know, we won the Fairs Cup at the first time of asking, beating teams like Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, Real Zaragoza, Vitoria Setubal and Rangers before meeting Ujpest Dozsa(who had turfed out Leeds, then title contenders) and defeating the Hungarians over both legs. During the great Cup run, we had several youngsters who played a major part in our success, Alan Foggon(19 when he scored our 3rd in Budapest, Keith Dyson and John Craggs, a young RB who deputized for David Craig in some games. Joe Harvey was not frightened to play these lads when they were 18 and they didn't let him down...if they are good enough, they are old enough as long as you don't field too many at the same time(as Ossie Ardiles did - probably of necessity - in 91-92 and they just weren't ready to play all at once although Steve Watson played a major part after KK joined as manager). Eddie Howe has a strong pool of players to choose from but from what I've seen od Miley he does deserve a chance in some games this season...Eddie has not made too many mistakes so far so its up to him but local lads are a big strength of a side if developed properly - I wish him luck .

As a former contributor to the site who long ago ceased to comment due to certain posters' responses, I have only once since commented on any topic and the failed takeover was that subject. It now appears that the PL have confirmed the general view that they are not , to say the least, acting in the best interests of competition in English Football and certainly NOT in the interests of NUFC. We have all seen the visible proof that there was a breakaway attempt by 6 self-appointed 'Top' clubs to join a Euro Super League and to monopolize and consolidate their positions to the permanent disadvantage of the remaining PL clubs(and also any club further down the league which may have ambitious owners)and the real chance of their positions being threatened by a Saudi takeover of NUFC has, in the opinion of many people, played a major part in the foot-dragging by the PL to allow the takeover by PIF and its front figures. There is no doubt that Staveley and the Reubens were genuine about trying to get the takeover through but the PL have procrastinated at every turn, using the UK's tortoise-paced legal process to prevent it happening. These appear to be the real facts behind the arbitration panel being delayed until 2022 - almost 2 years past the first agreement to sell then club by Ashley and the PIF to buy it. In my view, this whole saga has killed English football and it is now in view as no better than the actions of certain other European clubs, like Juventus, who were relegated after match-fixing accusations some years ago. I would not in all honesty buy a ST in these circumstances or even pay to watch the PL - no way would I give financial sustenance to an outfit like the PL or support a club being run on a shoestring until the fabled takeover(or another) goes ahead.....why would you ? I struggle to imagine what action fans could take, other than witholding finance, which would have any effect apart from NUFC resigning from the PL in protest and there is NO way Ashley will do that. I genuinely feel sorry for you younger lads - at least I have seen NUFC win a Euro trophy and an FA Cup(as a child)and I will always remember the first KK era with great fondness but barring some sort of miracle, the club is going to be also-rans and slip further behind any ambitious club in the PL for the foreseeable future. I wish you all good luck and hope something else turns up but it is hard to imagine that - also very sorry that the Saudi promised support for the NE is now no more than a dream...the region deserves more and NO UK political party will change the way they ignore it.

Have to come out of exile to agree totally with you manorpark - Green arguably turned us round in 71/72 when we were falling into relegation territory, such a dynamic and influential player...reckon we wouldn't have surrendered so badly at Wembley 74 if Green had been playing. Allen will not be known by many younger fans but he was great - a late developer, he was, I believe, 21 when he was on the left wing for our first Fairs Cup game which all the 'experts' thought would see us out of the tournament ; instead, he took Van Der Hyde, the Feyenoord RB, to the cleaners with his twisting, darting runs with great crosses resulting in us winning 4-0 and setting the base for our eventual victory in the tournament after we hung on to lose 2-0 in Rotterdam in the return game with the Dutch. Allen badly injured in a league match with Notts Forest after a desperate Hindley hacked him down - cruciate lig damage , could not be corrected in those days and despite trying to come back twice, Allen couldn't - a great shame for the club and player himself who maybe would have played for England. Allen was a true Geordie too, born in Walker.

I promised myself I would never return to post on this site several years ago but I am going to break this rule for once because the fiasco that this takeover has become warrants it. You make a really good point with your post and it is undoubtedly now shared by a large and growing number of disillusioned fans of NUFC. It is bad enough that such a wealthy prospective owner is being messed around in what looks like a determined attempt by the PL to deter them but what really sticks in many fans' craw is that there may be a very good chance that the obstacles being placed on the takeover are being pushed by a group of powerful clubs who have a vested interest in preventing NUFC from gatecrashing their gravy train party. Despite what some think, NUFC is the ONLY club from a group who should be challenging the Top 6 which can grow to the extent of challenging ALL the supposed 'Top' clubs ; think back to the 20,000 on the waiting list for STs when SJH and KK were running the club when SJP was regularly packed to the rafters and think also of how things could be given the almost limitless wealth of the PFI - new, larger stadium(which would be filled if we had anything like the success of Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea or Man U in the past), competing eventually for world's top players and thereby making it difficult for Real Madrid, Bayern, Barca and the top English clubs to pile up the riches from CL football every season. Neither Everton, Wolves or Leicester would be able to match the attendances a successful NUFC could draw if they were given similar financial backing. This is why I do believe there are hidden reasons why the PL are agonizing over this takeover. Why would any thinking NUFC fan want to follow a club over the next few seasons that would probably be run in similar fashion to the past 13 years under Ashley ? Then add to that the fact that they suspect that the PL appears to be corrupt and run for the benefit of a few top clubs.....it would be pointless because you would be aware that nothing is going to change if it puts certain clubs' noses out of joint. I have followed the comments since the takeover was first mooted as I have on other sites and it is clear that many fans will not only desert NUFC next season but almost certainly football itself unless they choose to watch minor league sides - and who could blame them ? We shall see whether the PL wish to develop the game further or restrict it to those they favour. Said this before myself although some people don't like hearing it. Big PL clubs hold a certain amount of clout with the officials, just seems naive to think otherwise. Anyway, nice to see you back mate, always thought you were a top poster. Many thanks for that, Tron - the feeling is mutual !

I promised myself I would never return to post on this site several years ago but I am going to break this rule for once because the fiasco that this takeover has become warrants it. You make a really good point with your post and it is undoubtedly now shared by a large and growing number of disillusioned fans of NUFC. It is bad enough that such a wealthy prospective owner is being messed around in what looks like a determined attempt by the PL to deter them but what really sticks in many fans' craw is that there may be a very good chance that the obstacles being placed on the takeover are being pushed by a group of powerful clubs who have a vested interest in preventing NUFC from gatecrashing their gravy train party. Despite what some think, NUFC is the ONLY club from a group who should be challenging the Top 6 which can grow to the extent of challenging ALL the supposed 'Top' clubs ; think back to the 20,000 on the waiting list for STs when SJH and KK were running the club when SJP was regularly packed to the rafters and think also of how things could be given the almost limitless wealth of the PFI - new, larger stadium(which would be filled if we had anything like the success of Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea or Man U in the past), competing eventually for world's top players and thereby making it difficult for Real Madrid, Bayern, Barca and the top English clubs to pile up the riches from CL football every season. Neither Everton, Wolves or Leicester would be able to match the attendances a successful NUFC could draw if they were given similar financial backing. This is why I do believe there are hidden reasons why the PL are agonizing over this takeover. Why would any thinking NUFC fan want to follow a club over the next few seasons that would probably be run in similar fashion to the past 13 years under Ashley ? Then add to that the fact that they suspect that the PL appears to be corrupt and run for the benefit of a few top clubs.....it would be pointless because you would be aware that nothing is going to change if it puts certain clubs' noses out of joint. I have followed the comments since the takeover was first mooted as I have on other sites and it is clear that many fans will not only desert NUFC next season but almost certainly football itself unless they choose to watch minor league sides - and who could blame them ? We shall see whether the PL wish to develop the game further or restrict it to those they favour.

This is dreamland stuff - if Rafa ends up with this sort of kitty, he won't be here to spend it...some a---licking Pardalike will be doing it. Rafa needs a MINIMUM outlay of 70m to keep the club in the PL - anything less is a relegation battle.

Delighted for the players and manager, who has done a brilliant job in a short time and especially for the fans who should be given PL football - and of a decent standard - all the time. The really hard work begins now and its up to one Michael Ashley to ensure Rafa has enough funds to build a side capable of holding its own - and progressing - in the Premier League. There should be NO flirtations with relegation for at least 10 years. We shall see.

Cry..? I'm still laughing at him..you must be from the same stable of idiots ; you should remember the famous old saying - ' It is better for a man to keep his mouth shut and be thought a fool, than for him to open it and prove the matter beyond all doubt'.. Thanks for doing so..!

Thanks for that comment HTT...we may disagree on politics but at least we have never resorted to Primary School insults on that or about our football opinions.

Sorry - you are about 25 years too late...yep, moron alert described your comments only too well.

Well it's useful but compared to being in the EU it's small fry. Don't get me started on the EU...have you seen how much we pay INTO the thing every year and how much the red tape these bureaucrats produce costs UK business..? 120 BILLION is the latest estimate. Anyway, this site is about FOOTBALL - not politics. Did you get that from the daily mail? Where did you get your view from...Brussels or the Grauniad...? The UK is leaving and will eventually do well out of it so people should suck it up and get on with it...incidentally, I think the Mail is a comic... don't you live in australia? Britain being dictated to by unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels(and eventually having to join the Euro) was ONE of the reasons we now live in Australia...the others are more obvious. Thanks for warning us about it..have you had it seen to..?

No need to worry, the likes of Merlin and every expat sitting in an English pub in Benidorm will come back. The people sitting in 'English' pubs in Benidorm have got to sell their houses into the disaster that is the Spanish housing market before they can think about going back to the UK...AND to try and make a profit on it... The only way we would be back there is if the Health costs get too high here...and the NHS is having its own problems too....

Nobody is stopping you - and where would you like to go..? Those employment paradises of Greece, Spain and Portugal perhaps...or maybe France IF you can speak the language AND manage to get in front of all their own people who get first preference(quite rightly)for jobs....??

Well it's useful but compared to being in the EU it's small fry. Don't get me started on the EU...have you seen how much we pay INTO the thing every year and how much the red tape these bureaucrats produce costs UK business..? 120 BILLION is the latest estimate. Anyway, this site is about FOOTBALL - not politics. Did you get that from the daily mail? Where did you get your view from...Brussels or the Grauniad...? The UK is leaving and will eventually do well out of it so people should suck it up and get on with it...incidentally, I think the Mail is a comic... don't you live in australia? Britain being dictated to by unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels(and eventually having to join the Euro) was ONE of the reasons we now live in Australia...the others are more obvious. That was a factor in you moving to the other side of the world? I did say there were more obvious ones....it has been a great move for us and now being retired the climate is better - certainly where we live. Nevertheless, lots of people moved 'to the other side of the world' from the 16th Cent onwards...the Mayflower settlers left for America because they didn't like the way they were treated in England and being run by people who had got Spain, Portugal and Greece into such a mess didn't appeal to us either..

Well it's useful but compared to being in the EU it's small fry. Don't get me started on the EU...have you seen how much we pay INTO the thing every year and how much the red tape these bureaucrats produce costs UK business..? 120 BILLION is the latest estimate. Anyway, this site is about FOOTBALL - not politics. Did you get that from the daily mail? Where did you get your view from...Brussels or the Grauniad...? The UK is leaving and will eventually do well out of it so people should suck it up and get on with it...incidentally, I think the Mail is a comic... don't you live in australia? Britain being dictated to by unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels(and eventually having to join the Euro) was ONE of the reasons we now live in Australia...the others are more obvious.

Well it's useful but compared to being in the EU it's small fry. Don't get me started on the EU...have you seen how much we pay INTO the thing every year and how much the red tape these bureaucrats produce costs UK business..? 120 BILLION is the latest estimate. Anyway, this site is about FOOTBALL - not politics. Did you get that from the daily mail? Where did you get your view from...Brussels or the Grauniad...? The UK is leaving and will eventually do well out of it so people should suck it up and get on with it...incidentally, I think the Mail is a comic...

Bloody hell, how attacking was our lineup.... Found this interesting, especially the defensive stats compared to offensive stats: Don't forget that Supermac was himself only 21 when he signed for us...he was so brash and full of confidence that he rolled up to sign at SJP in a white Rolls Royce..! 'I'm here to score goals' he said, '30 this season'....and he did ! Nobody who saw it will forget his home debut v Liverpool, KK and all, and his breathtaking strike for his second goal that put us in front. He put us 3-1 up in the second half after we had been a goal down and then got carried off after a sickening collision with Ray Clemence that knocked out his front teeth...he didn't even remember what happened..a simply fantastic debut and unforgettable. When he joined us, he was basically all left foot, but he went on to become a far more complete striker and very good in the air too. If he had been a young man in KKs promotion side he would have got just as many goals as Cole, and he was a really exciting player to watch because of his pace. Alongside a player like Peter Beardsley he would have been frightening....and worth a fortune in today's market. Thanks for sharing that, bloody hell I didn't know he was only 21 when he signed for us. Watching clips of him he was obviously a great striker and a few of the older lads I know said he was electric and exciting to watch. We've always had good strikers, but never quite a good side. Not for any long period anyway. Yes, we did have some good strikers...Supermac with John Tudor(not a great player but a real grafter), Mickey Burns(played behind the front two) ; before that, Bryan Pop Robson & Wyn Davies. During Macdonald's time we had decent forwards and m/f but a poor central defence. The FBs were very good, Nattrass and Kennedy both class players but the centre of the defence was poor. During Robson/Davies time(Fairs Cup), we had a good defence and two great strikers with different strengths but a m/f which was not very creative....always fell short in crucial areas. If Joe Harvey or Gordon Lee had signed Alan Hansen from Partick it might have been different..

Don't forget that Supermac was himself only 21 when he signed for us...he was so brash and full of confidence that he rolled up to sign at SJP in a white Rolls Royce..! 'I'm here to score goals' he said, '30 this season'....and he did ! Nobody who saw it will forget his home debut v Liverpool, KK and all, and his breathtaking strike for his second goal that put us in front. He put us 3-1 up in the second half after we had been a goal down and then got carried off after a sickening collision with Ray Clemence that knocked out his front teeth...he didn't even remember what happened..a simply fantastic debut and unforgettable. When he joined us, he was basically all left foot, but he went on to become a far more complete striker and very good in the air too. If he had been a young man in KKs promotion side he would have got just as many goals as Cole, and he was a really exciting player to watch because of his pace. Alongside a player like Peter Beardsley he would have been frightening....and worth a fortune in today's market.

Sorry - NO he wasn't a bigger icon than Supermac. Quinn yes, by far, but Supermac was fantastic. As good as Cole was, he was basically a two season success at SJP...Macdonald was there for 5 years and only injuries stopped him scoring 30 goals every year. As quick as Cole was, he couldn't touch Macdonald over 20-30 yards as Macdonald could do the 100 metres on 10.9 secs. He was better in the air than Cole too. No way was Cole a bigger icon than Supermac....ask anyone who saw both of them regularly.....

Also, remember the Lee Clark incident at Southampton where Clark kicked the water bucket after being subbed...KK put him on the transfer list until Clark begged him to forgive him...yes, he could be tough with the players and all credit to him. Many of the b-----s deserve it, they are so far up themselves..

See this is where it's so subjective about what a big/successful club means etc. For example, Leicester city have won 2 league cups and 1 league title in the last 20 years. We may have better support, but Leicester have been a million times more successful than us in that time despite being below us in the table for 80/95% (don't know the exact stats) of that period. You can look at clubs like Luton and Watford and they too have won trophies in the past 30 years...we have been the UK's biggest underperformers EVER when you consider crowd sizes and financial turnover.

Well it's useful but compared to being in the EU it's small fry. Don't get me started on the EU...have you seen how much we pay INTO the thing every year and how much the red tape these bureaucrats produce costs UK business..? 120 BILLION is the latest estimate. Anyway, this site is about FOOTBALL - not politics.

Really like this guy - would be an excellent buy for us and bring more goal-threat from m/f.

Zero ambition to do so. Barely willing to keep SJP looking decent. not sure if that is serious, but Goodison is a shithole, (sorry Everton fans I know it will have emotional attachment) way past it's sell by date and not fit for their purpose any longer. St.James' is a wonderful stadium with arguably the best location in England. Why would any sane person want to move from there ? Because our beloved owner has now taken action to ensure that we can never expand it if and when a more ambitious owner takes over...and sentiment cannot rule over modern football priorities. We may not like it, but a move away from SJP is now the ONLY way the club can ever fulfil its support potential and remain one of the Top 5 supported clubs in England. We were second only to Man U before Arsenal moved to the Emirates in support capacity...now we are falling further and further behind other clubs.

I'm biased of course, but imagine being in the home dugout at St. James' Park as the manager and looking around the full stadium, imagine being the away manager at any ground looking at your Newcastle fans in their thousands supporting their team like crazy. Imagine all of that and being so negative and so f***ing miserable like Pardew, like Allardyce... Makes no sense to me! Times a million for Ashley. NUFC is a great f***ing institution, a great football club in a great city with a great public as Sir Bobby would say. How many people have wasted such a once in a lifetime situation at this dear club of ours, managers, players and owners etc.? Its criminal really. All you say about NUFC is true...then you look in the Boardroom and above and you see a fair percentage of those who have wasted once-in-a-lifetime situations...