Wallace

That's what I think as well especially as Hughton saw firsthand last year how to get the best out of Owen and how the team improved without Smith.

Who knows for sure if Arsenal are really interested? He is young and French so Wenger must be after him - easy for the rumour pages to come up with that one and then of course it gets picked up by all the papers. It would not be a surprise if Wenger was interested but then again Shay and Zoggy were joining Arsenal every transfer window and it never happened.

One of the other Sundays (People?) reckons that Kinnear has had a set back and they are considering bringing n Venables on a short-term contract.

Way too risky to play 3 forwards would CH and JK think here... Was suggested in an interview with Kinnear earlier in the season when Owen, Martins and Viduka were all fit. He said he preferred 4-4-2.

I do blame alot of the fans including myself to some extent, we don't create the atmosphere of old that made St James' a fortress and people are constantly protesting and were even booing the team. We need sod all this crap and back the team. It's 2 way thing though - if fans see the players can't be bothered why should they put the effort in. Why are the fans held responsible whenever anything goes wrong at Newcastle. As far as I am concerned, it all comes down to bad decision making by Ashley & co. We've got decent players - better than our relegation rivals. A decent manager would have them in the top half of the table.

Most long standing premiership clubs that get relegated struggle to come back up quickly - look at Coventry, Southampton, Leicester. It is those clubs like Birmingham, West Brom and the Mackems - the yoyo clubs that tend to come back up at the first attempt. I can't imagine how the club will deal with relegation. Obviously, they are going to be in a mess financially and a lot of players will leave so we will have to buy a whole new team. Even if some players want to stay, will the club be able to afford to pay their wages? Some of the kids will step up but as they have not really played senior football before, we will not know if they are good enough. All the other Championship clubs will see us as the team to beat and so will up their game. If we kept the team intact, I am sure that we would win loads of games and come straight back up but that won't happen and I have no faith that the people running the club will cope with it in a sensible fashion. I am seriously worried about relegation but I blame Ashley and his mates for the poor decision-making throughout this season and would blame them entirely and so I guess that they would get their come-uppance. I think there are positives as a fan because the largesse of the Premiership makes me sick at times and it will be good to visit some different places etc but I am concerned about the overall effect on the club and how long it will take for it to recover.

But we were told the money was there to spend in January. We had bids totalling £40m+ knocked back according to Llambias. And if there's an expensive player the manager doesn't think is good enough....why can't he be loaned out? Even on a percentage of his wage we'd save money. It's a step not taken with an underperforming first teamer since Keegan loaned out Rozenhal and Ameobi. With the exception of Duff & Owen, our high-earning low-performing players have also been crocked most of the season too. Who is going to pay Alan Smith's £60000 per week wages knowing that he hasn't played in a competitive game for 8-9 months? Who is going to give Viduka his £80000 per week wages knowing that he's never more than 10 minutes away from yet another niggling injury that'll keep him out for the season? If it weren't for the transfer windows we may have been able to shift some of the garbage out on loan but that's a whole different thread. Frightening innit. The squad already lacks the depth needed. We're just letting the contracts run out on Cacapa, Owen and Viduka. Gonna keep paying Duff, Geremi, Smith and Xisco to play in the reserves because no-one wants them. Carroll and Edgar are the only "reserves" with first ream experience so there's no-one to come through and replace them. ...and we're spending f*** all because there's a credit crunch. Getting back to the paying up front for players thing. If we have to buy replacements for Cacapa, Owen and Viduka for a start and then possibly Bassong, Barton etc. The first 3 will all be leaving on a free so no transfer fee will be coming in just a saving on wages but if we are only going to receive fees in instalments for the other players leaving and we need to buy 6 or more players, how on earth are we going to pay for them if we insist on paying for them in full?

I don't have a problem with teams loaning out their young players to gain experience but what I don't like is when clubs buy players and then loan them out again straight away.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/newcastle/article5854476.ece From The Times March 6, 2009 Bassong has been a rare positive in another gruelling season for Newcastle. Signed from Metz last summer, the 22-year-old Frenchman has been heralded as a success story for the recruitment department that is led by Dennis Wise, the executive director (football), but Bassong has credited Kevin Keegan, the former Newcastle manager, for his discovery. “I came to Newcastle because my agent knew Kevin Keegan and my agent told him he had me and that I was a good player at Metz,” he said. “Kevin had seen me play one or two times for France Under-21 and he asked my agent if I could come for a trial.”

True. You always see him rest players against other teams but he always puts out his strongest side against us.

Reading drew on the opening day of last season at Man Utd as well.

There was definitely an air of resignation at the end of the game rather than anger. What can people do. We all know what the problems are and they have been apparent for several years now and the lack of action by the club, means that we are heading one way fast. I just find it amazing that the the club seem to think it will all be OK in the end and that complacency and arrogance will hurt them - if not by relegation at least financially which will have huge implications for their "5 year plan". People just think whats the point and are sick of being taken for mugs. I do not think our players are especially brillant but they are good enough to be moulded into a decent top half team.

I think there has been complacency shown by the club recently that we would not be relegated. Let's hope today has given them all a kick up the backside. We may have winnable games on paper in a few weeks time but if we have been thrashed a few times before then and other teams pick up (stoke for example have more fight in them than our lot do), morale may be rock bottom by that time. We have to pick up the odd point from these tough home games and win at Hull to give ourselves a chance.

Blue Star have had to cancel several of their games because of it.

I think Harper always looks rusty when he first comes back into the team but inevitably improves once he's played a few games.

I'm no fan of Allardyce but if Shepherd had still been at the club, it may have been different for him because he would have had the backing of the chairman and all his moans about the club acting too slow in the transfer market would not have been the case.

It said in one of the papers that Ashsley loaned the club the money to pay for the Nolan deal in full but we won't get the first instalment for Given and co until the Summer. I can't quite understand why we have to pay in full for players when no other club does. Surely it just means we will continue to have cash flow problems.

You can download a podcast of the Llambias interview with Radio Newcastle. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/nufc/

The are pointing out that the reasons fans will not renew next year are not for purely financial ones. A lot of fans have lost hope and have no belief in the regime. This is what the club does not seem to understand. Actions are needed by the club not hollow words. Getting a good manager in would be a start and although I appreciate that it is not appropriate for them to talk about that until the end of the season, I think talking up JFK like Llambias did in yesterday's interview, will just alienate more supporters.

Llambias interview with Mick Lowes was on Radio Newcastle this morning. Will be more tomorrow morning. The man does have a voice. Nothing new though.

I joined NUSC and have attended a couple of the meetings. I became a member because I believe there should be a supporters club (have never understood why one has not existed for so many years) and from what I hear at the meetings, the committee are trying to establish such a club but it will take time to evolve and Rome wasn't built in a day. Yes there have been mistakes made when emotions were running high but a lot of people are working very hard and giving up their own time to try and establish this organisation. They have been talking about Supporters Trust status and are seeking advice from the official bodies for supporters clubs - they are trying to do this in the correct way. The message I get from the meetings is striving for change and an acceptance that although they would prefer Ashley to sell up, that that is unlikely to happen anytime soon. There are disparate views and all are heard and they say they will represent the consensus. They are not trying to damage the club and just care passionately about its current state and its future and want the hierarchy to engage with the supporters - to understand how important the club is to the supporters and to the city. When Ashley surrounds himself with all his mates who just pop up and down to Newcastle on occasion, how are they really going to get a feel of the despondency and apathy felt by so many and the real sense of worry for the future if changes are not made. I am just incredulous that people are so negative and especially hostile towards the organisation and the reasons for it totally contradict the impressions I gained from attending the meetings. Tom and Peasepud often seem to have to defend NUSC on this board and I think their postings reflect my understanding from the meetings. (And for Llambias to say what he did about NUSC in the interview last week was incredibly small-minded and reflected badly on him as the MD of the club. Ashley and co. may wish to ignore the supporters but they need to start paying attention rather than continuing to alienate the supporters with crass comments such as those in the paper today). I just wish people would go along and voice their opinions rather than slagging NUSC off with their pre-conceived ideas about the groups intentions. It's an evolving group - if you don't like their views, get along and help get them changed.

How about everyone singing you'll never walk alone in the 70's, teams all around the country singing "we're by far the greatest team the world has ever seen" and teams using the I'm forever blowing bubbles tune for songs, like our version of it? Like previosuly mentioned, get over it, either that or suggest somethign good and catchy that people can put a song to.. I was thinking about "You'll Never Walk Alone" the other day whilst listening to yet another discussion over whether Celtic or Liverpool sang it first. All clubs used to sing it in the 70s (even though it was recognised as Liverpool's signature song) and hold up their scarves. I wonder why and when all the other clubs stopped doing that?

It is all about appointing the right manager and not one of their mates. That is the most important decison they have to make. If they get a good manager, then things will start improve.

I'd say Wigan and Hull are both smaller historically. definitely Wigan, astonishing how little history they have and how meteoric their rise has been. Swansea did play in the old First Division at one point - under Toshack? For both Wigan and Hull, it was the first time they had played in the top division.

He didn't buy Titus though - Chris Hutchings did. And according to Wigan fans, Bramble has been one of their best players this season - maybe that is down to Bruce. He did drop him last season when he was making mistakes. Butt admittedly did not do well at Brum.