merlin

I DO like irony... It WAS irony, wasn't it...

Vampires can't see their own reflection and even if he could, he'd be looking away again pretty quickly....

This - but I won't give a relegation assessment until October...

When you have an owner that 'puts the club up for sale' and then fails to keep an appointment with Mansour in Dubai, you have the answer...people know Ashley messes them about so they will wait until he gives himself enough rope....

Best the utter weaklings can do either side of singing about Shola and Pardew. Cretins. Ron, man. Really think this fan rage is somewhat misplaced. I was looking at the screen tonight thinking "daft c***s" at those that paid money to go and watch that in the flesh, then I took a look in the mirror at someone who was sitting at home like a mug doing exactly the same. Only difference is Sky got my money instead of NUFC, which is just as bad if not worse. I don't think it is at all. The fans are refusing to fight for the club in supporting this nonsense. I can see where you're coming from but I think it's pity more than anger that I feel towards them. However, I've been where they are so I can appreciate why they still turn up. There are times when it's all you have, and for some people it's all they'll ever have, they live for it. I can't be mad with people for supporting the team, which is what most of them are doing at the end of the day. Fair point. I just wish people would see the big picture. Surely virtually nobody enjoys the rubbish we serve up at SJP and on the road these days. but what is the big picture? everyone stay's away? won't change anything not with the tv deal it would just mean further cost cuts and bring us no closer to anyone actually buying the club which is the big issue, no one wants to. Disagree - if Ashley is put into a position where he runs the risk of having to put money into the club because attendances were poor and nobody was buying merchandise, he would be out like a shot. In any case, his lack of investment in players will eventually lead to relegation and that will kill off his Sky golden goose. Last night's result is the first step along the way to possibly being relegated. Also don't agree that nobody wants to buy the club - they do, but they know what Ashley is like and they will wait until he is in a position where he cannot mess them about or hold them to ransom...Ashley isn't the only billionaire who thinks he is street-wise....as with everything else, there is always someone smarter/richer and they will come along eventually but it may take a while.

This - Pardew has negated the skills of most of our players.

Play decent winning football and he wont be. I still don't think the level of performance/style of football has any bearing on whether he's sacked or not. Hughton wasn't sacked for footballing reasons, and Pardew wasn't kept for footballing reasons. Hughton just wasn't compatible with the set-up. Providing Pardew remains compatible (ie, doesn't kick off with Kinnear/Carr/the owners), and we're above the relegation zone, he'll see out his contract. Please. No. Don't worry - I am confident that Ashley won't be at the club long enough for Pardew to 'see out his contract'. New owners within 18 months, I reckon, and Pardew will be history not long after that...at the latest.

We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Why not do the same for when the season doesn't match expectations? The season will match expectations Seriously positive and negative shouldn't be in an equal balance on this board. There is far more to be negative about the club and the likely prognosis for this season than there is to be positive. That's just common sense. We were by and large terrible all of last season and nearly relegated. The major change of the summer was the appointment of JFK as DOF. I'm not saying there aren't things to be positive about by the way. Fair enough, I agree with most of that. It's just doing my head in that people are having a go at our manager for being negative ahead of Monday's game based on quotes that rather suggest positivity with a blend of realism. Whilst I wanted to see Pardew replaced with a better manager, and still do, I don't understand why the slating for this season should begin before a ball is even kicked, especially considering once again he's being hung out to dry by the board who haven't backed him at all this summer, specifically ignoring his requests for Premiership experience. He's up against it right from the off, and I get the feeling some people want to see him fail, even to the detriment of the club, which is where I draw the line. I don't want Pardew ideally, but since he's here representing the interests of the club for the foreseeable, I hope he does well. I don't know about anybody else, but I've got nothing against Pardew personally, I just want to see us producing some good football. Despite not having the ideal owner, my opinion is that he's failed to get the best out of the players at his disposal. They might not be good enough for Europe but they should certainly not be a relegation threatened team. The football he's produced has been poor and so my opinion of him is poor. Even if we sign Gomis I can see him turning out lop-sided teams that struggle to string two passes together. That doesn't mean I want us to fail, just that I think he's clueless. If we do well then I'm happy to concede that I was wrong. I agree with all this, TRon....I couldn't care less what Pardew is like as a person and there are people who say that Brian Clough was a nasty piece of work etc etc., but I would have had Clough as our manager in the blink of an eyelid because I KNOW he would have made us successful, given the chance. Pardew could run around town with a daffodil up his rear end for all I care - IF he was a successful manager. His teams play awful football and apart from one season, unsuccessful football. As you say, he fails to get the best from players and in some cases, has actively made them less effective. That's my beef with him - not interested in whether he is a 'nice bloke' etc etc. Or a rotten one, as long as he was being successful. Most people gave him the benefit of the doubt when he arrived but in my view, he has failed to be anything other than his CV would suggest.

The header was pure class. Thought we missed out badly when Wolfswinkel went to Sporting, then again when Norwich signed him - he looked good in Portugal and he looked a good player yesterday too. Hughton looks to have done a smart piece of business at 8m....bet he's glad he got fired from SJP...

Things are no different now regarding Pardew than they were last season as far as I'm concerned. He was a bad manager then and he is a bad manager now - he is out of his depth at this club, just as he has been at the smaller clubs he managed before. We need him out - end of.

Not denying he is s*** going forward but we are s*** even when 10 man are behind the ball defending. I think we overrate our organization and defensive tactics. We are so ineffective in closing down oppositions as well even if we spend more than half the match chasing the ball. Watching us defend then attack as a team seriously depressing. I will hold my judgement on Tiote till he moves to another team or we have a better manager change. This - Tiote was a completely different player under Hughton. As with most of the squad, he has declined markedly under Pardew's management. Only Colo has retained his undoubted class and he is getting older now.

Not worth voting yet - time to do that is around October, when we will have a good idea just where the club is going this season...Pardew could also be on the way out by then and that would make a difference to everyone's vote.

I believe that there ARE people who have an interest in buying the club, but they will only make a move when it suits them....and that means if we start to struggle early this season and Ashley wants out fairly quickly. Nobody is going to throw money away unnecessarily.

This lad seems to have pace and gets goals at junior/feserve level, but we have had many local players who have done this over the years, but failed to make it. The likes of David McClean in the late 70s/80s spring to mind...he even had the same ginger hair as Campbell and was raved about as a youngster who played for England Schoolboys, but he had his most successful spell in the game when he was at Darlington and helped them win promotion under Cyril Knowles in 1985.McClean was bigger than Campbell too. I have a feeling Campbell could go the same way as his size will go against him - you have to be exceptionally good to make it as a small forward, esp a central striker . I hope I am wrong, but there it is and good luck to the lad.

Funny how clubs like Swansea and Saints are better at it than us then - would YOU sell your house to some shyster for less than the market value ? Answers on a postcard to M Ashley, Sports Direct etc etc....

Shearer joining Newcastle in 1996 was probably the high point in the club's years in the Premier League. He could have joined Man U when they were winning everything and would undoubtedly have picked up a barrow load of medals with them had he done so. The fact that he chose us was a tribute to KK's selling power, an illustration of how highly we were regarded at the time and proved that Shearer WAS a true fan of the club. Regardless of what he says, he must slightly regret not having won more silverware in a career that well deserved to and because of his injuries after joining us - especially the one at Goodison in that 1997 pre-season game - he never really showed us his best after that season out because it took half a yard off his pace. It is a credit to him that he altered his game to cope with it and still became a club legend by virtue of his goals for us. Unless we are taken over by a VERY rich person/group, we will never ever see a similar world-beating transfer at St James' Park...Shearer is as much a part of the club's fame as were Jackie Milburn and Supermac although Milburn brought the club the FA Cup and Macdonald was arguably the most exciting CF I have seen in a B&W shirt because of his pace. We were lucky to have him - Happy Birthday, Sir Alan..!

This expresses my opinion in a far better way than I ever could. I know what you're saying, but I think it's a bit silly to accept the sale of all our best players just because Pardew is the manager. Would YOU want to work for a boss who you thought was a dickhead, or who couldn't use all the abilities of you and your fellow-workers..? Course not, but what evidence is there that Pardew thinks that? And even if he does, how does that effect whether or not PSG will bid? Its not about what Pardew thinks - its about what Cabaye thinks of him. We are going to lose the best players over time because they know Pardew is a poor manager and we are going nowhere under him....look at Jonas' comments about fitness, and he is one of Pardew's favourites....

This expresses my opinion in a far better way than I ever could. I know what you're saying, but I think it's a bit silly to accept the sale of all our best players just because Pardew is the manager. Would YOU want to work for a boss who you thought was a dickhead, or who couldn't use all the abilities of you and your fellow-workers..?

No chance IMO Agreed - will be October at the earliest if Pardew is to be sacked unless we get off to a really bad start in the first 5 fixtures. Ashley is desperate to avoid a pay-out if he can.

To be fair, if i was looking at another club in this situation i'd be thinking the same thing, probably surprised lasted the season actually. Bad results in a short period of time in football these days and the outcome does usually end up with the sack. We've just tried to brag about stability for the past few years though so wouldn't look good on our part to follow suit hence probably why one more chance has been given. I would be thinking the same thing too, but then if they stuck with their manager they would probably get a lot of credit from many quarters. If you look at David Moyes and Everton with Kenwright holding his nerve through the troubling times when they were flirting near the bottom on more than one occasion but he stuck by and now he's managing the biggest club in the country. Whether he's earned that position or justified getting that job on his achievements from Everton is open for debate. However had Kenwright sacked him when things got tough, he certainly wouldn't be anywhere near that job right now. I get sick of saying this - Moyes had a better record before he came to Everton and he was much younger than Pardew... There is NO comparison...look at Pardew's CV before NUFC.

Outsiders don't have THEIR team managed by him ! If he's here, he can't be given THEIR teams job ! Agreed - and ask the fans of W Ham, Charlton and Southampton if they would have him back... Somehow, I don't think we'll be killed in the rush....

You are unhinged. The main problem is that Pardew is too....

Nowt to do with English football, that. It's to do with us and how utterly s*** we are as a club. Yep, plenty of other teams gave them a good game last season, we just bent over for them. People on here and at SJP were praising us for getting battered by them at home. Lots and lots of smashing people on here but I really f***ing hate what NUFC fans have become in general. Battered wives thankful for the odd glass of warm milk. We don't always agree, but this is SO true....

English football may well be in a sorry state, but its more a case of the sorry state of Newcastle United which means that Morecambe have more chance of beating us than we have of beating City... Many thanks to Ashley, Kinnear and Pardew - even if the first 2 had done the business, there is still Pardew to worry about...

I would take real Rolls Royce signings like a Berbatov over that age limit. But generally, i'd stay away. I want us to sign players who will get better. The problem is that the players we sign never seem to get better, most clearly get worse, in fact it's difficult to think of any player recently who has improved. Maybe Ba? Our coaching as a team and for players individually is appalling. Still most of them are now so s*** that nobody wants to buy them, that's the upside. Hard to think of one player who has improved under Pardew's tenure. Most have gone backwards and the only one that in any way showed some improvement was Perch, and only then when played in midfield. Tiote, Cabaye, Sissoko, Cisse, to name but 4, are all arguably worse players now than they were in the early days with the club. This will continue to be the case as long as he is manager in my view.