Wandy

Yep, agree with that.

Their pre-WW2 history mainly which, in all fairness, is impressive. In 1939 they were comfortably one of the biggest clubs in the country but they have dined out on it for a long time now. Ask yourself this. Who, outside of Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal, City, Chelsea, Spurs, Everton, Villa and Newcastle are bigger than them? West Ham certainly are now and arguably Leeds too, based on potential. After that though there is very little between around another 10 clubs, one of which is SAFC. Based on their crowds and early history I'd put them leading the pack of a 2nd tier of clubs that includes the likes of Wolves, West Brom and Leicester.

Their average league placing since the end of WW2 is a place or two outside of the top 20, making them officially a 2nd tier club. In the PL era it's even worse, 25th. They like to bang on at us, asking why we have some expectancy that our club challenge at the top when our average league place is about 11th. Well if that's the case, why should they expect that they be competing in the PL, based on nearly the last 80 years of their history? I'd still put them about 12th to 15th biggest club in the country but they've been getting progressively smaller over a long period of time. Ironically, a successful NUFC could possibly help them turn that around, as a more attractive North East to the world's top footballers could rub off on them to a certain extent.

It sounds like getting out of his Milanese environment was desperately needed then. Eddie will turn this lad around too, and not just with regards to the football either.

If he hasn't bet on football and the Italians tell us to ban him then we had better be telling them to go fuck themselves. Banning a player from their trade for Blackjack & Poker FFS. They can fuck right off.

Yeah, goes to the trouble of "exclusively" announcing that a committee is discussing the viability of moving the terrace, then finishes off by saying it will could never/will never happen. So why would there be such a committee at all then? He made the video so he could claim some ITK credit if it ever happens. Trouble is he will look a bit of a tit if it does.

Yeah, he's definitely disappearing up his own backside with each passing video. Still quite like the channel, but it's quite staggering how he casually dismisses other people's theories but puts forward his own as somehow more authentic.

I guess that means that you are one the worst culprits for the ridicule then.

Quite ironic, considering he has stated adamantly on his other previous videos that this kind of thing could never & would never happen. Would also make a lot of people on here eat humble pie as it routinely became the in-joke to sarcastically mention it. Realistically, it's the only viable way of getting SJP properly expanded. And by moving the terrace, I imagine it would give the option of an even bigger expansion down the line. Maybe one day we will actually see that Level 7 full-bowl mock-up come to life?

Yep. The clause is there to make sure the selling club gets a price they like, and also to provide an unhappy player with a quick getaway if they have an exit plan in place. Its not there to allow a buyer free roam to poach a player and leave the seller with no power to stop it.

If it's been triggered but Bruno doesnt want to leave, then NUFC can simply say nope. Simple as that

Yep, if Bruno wants to leave at some point then it will happen because there is no point in hanging on to an unhappy player. The clause just means that we get a price we are comfortable with.

The release clause thing is bollocks anyway as all it means is that a club must bid that amount to even get to the table. Once there, NUFC can still tell everyone to jog on if they want to keep a player who is happy here. Only if that player wanted to leave would it be an issue. Meeting the release clause price just means that talks *might* happen.

Like I say, I haven’t been to an away game this season so am only going off what friends have said who have been to all of them. The consensus is definitely that our lot have been quiet for significant periods of every game, compared to last season and beyond. The problem for me isn’t that our support is crap compared to other fanbases, that obviously isn’t the case. It’s more that our lot are becoming very generic and similar to fanbases that I have derided for years for the fickle/conditional nature of their support. For decades I’ve poured scorn on the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal & Man U for being great when they are winning but mute when things go against them or a game is dull. We really seem to be fast turning into that, which is depressing considering we finally have a club worthy of the amazing support from years gone by.

I don't think the home atmosphere has improved in general to be honest. Wednesday was obviously exceptional but in the main the SJP atmosphere is very inconsistent. And it seems that the new ticketing arrangement is making away days exactly the same now.

Well I haven't been to any away games this season so can't comment from personal experience, but I know a few who have been to all of them and the general consensus is that it's much worse this season, so far.

That's the problem though. It seems that the away support is becoming very much like the home support. It's never been that way in all my 35 years of going to games. The difference has always been like night & day.

That kind of stuff does not affect our *regular* away support. It's the difference between the home NUFC crowd and the away crowd. We don't want our away support to mirror the home support, where the noise is selective, depending on the game and circumstances.

Have to agree. If nothing else it would properly highlight the problem and bring things to a head.

I could see it coming to a point where there are scuffles. Will only take one "hardcore" bunch, who manage to make it to a certain game, then being lectured to sit down....

Apparently there were people complaining about standing up too. Sorry, but if I was at an away game and encountered that then they'd be getting to told to jog on. There needs to be a new loyalty scheme introduced specifically for those who attend away games otherwise every match is going to be hogged by daytrippers.

Reading a few comments on social media from fans on their way home from West Ham, saying the away support was terrible today....." 5 minutes of singing after we score, then silence"..... Can't comment as I didn't watch or listen.. There is once again a lot of anger about the "regular" away fans now being prevented from going to games too.

Not necessarily. The current SJP site is a hefty plot of land that would be converted to green land. And planning may not be granted by these groups but it was Dolly whats-her-face and her little band who effectively put the blockers on. The council were ready to approve it.

Nah, it failed mainly because John Hall's proposal was to keep SJP as a (smaller) rugby stadium as well as building the new football stadium, hence the loss of a lot of green space. A new proposal could allow for a land swap, whereby the current SJP plot becomes part of Leazes Park. The "friends of Leazes Park" group (or whatever their name is) have already said they'd be open to developments that help renovate the park and this could be such a development.

I don't think money is the issue, to be honest. The way that the game is going NUFC may be worth £10bn within the next 20 years so dropping £1bn or so now to ensure the future value of the club could make a lot of sense. I think the issue is permission to do stuff, but also the disruption to the club (and therefore the team) that might come from a move or redeveloment. But if the council came to the owners and said "here's the keys to Castle Leazes, do what you want with it" then I don't think they'd be too concerned about costs. We could do what Spurs did and build a new stadium on *almost* the same footprint, ie moving the stadium slightly North-West to move away from Leazes Terrace. This would obviously mean a complete rethink of Barrack Road and would mean either redirecting it or maybe creating a tunnel wher Barrack Road currently is. The issue we have with that proposition is that there will almost certainly be a period of time when we'd have to play at another venure...maybe for a full season, or even 18 months. They could maybe extend Gateshead Stadium to a capacity that accomodates current ST holders but that would mean virtually no general sale ticket sales. Maybe for that period of time they would need to bin off STs and make attendance by the ballot for everyone? The other option of course would be playing down the road at the SoL. Unthinkable maybe at first thought but people might come round to it if they see what the final result of a new stadium would be.