Wandy

He did say, in that interview with Martin Samuel a couple of years ago, that he would keep his executive box "because my family will demand it". So we might not be shot of him just yet.

If nothing else he can see what the club could have been like under him if he wasn't such a clueless prick.

Apparently Ashley is going to be at SJP on Sunday with his family for the game....

13 minutes ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

...which is why it's a bit of an own goal to keep a hold of him even for one or two more games. His record is utter, utter dog shit, and is not likely to improve, given his past 20 years. He has absolutely no idea what he is doing. His presence is just fucking toxic, and the sooner they jettison him, the better for the club.

I don't disagree with you on that, and I'd have peddled him immediately. But the point is that the owners have not handled the media side of this well at all. They have allowed the story, that he was getting sacked, to remain out there all week and then done the opposite. It's not a good look.

This club and its owners are going to be scrutinised to a degree that I'm not sure the owners have yet realised, and the media will be looking to sabotage us and create a shit storm at every turn. This week should be a quick wake-up call for them.

I mean, he has a point about the reporting that has gone on this week, and it does make you wonder who the source was. This is a wake-up call for the owners about what is to come. This club has always been a media feeding frenzy, and that has now been cranked up a million-fold, so they are going to need to step up their game and get all of their ducks in a row to avoid PR farces and keep the media sharks at bay.

If he can get 2 wins from the next 2 games before being peddled then I don't mind tolerating him for another week or so. But I've got zero confidence that he can do that. We just have to hope that the players get the results despite his ineptitude.

I really, really hope he gets zero attention from the crowd on Sunday, even if we lose badly. These owners are results-focused and they don't need pantomime booing to let them know that Bruce needs to go.

And I'm sorry, anyone hoping for a bad loss needs to give their heads a shake. We are deep in the shit with the fixtures we have ahead of us, and desperately need the win tomorrow.

Notice in his press conference today he said "I decided to stay here". Wonder if that means that NUFC have contacted him about coming back?

It's possible to get a one day Sky Sports pass, via NOW TV, to watch this, aye?

1 minute ago, ToonTastic said:

Kinda is though. Newcastle only has a population of 260,000. Man Utd average 72,000 and they have a population of 500,000 plus. Granted its split between two clubs but it's still asking for a lot of people to come to the area and help fill the stadium. 

Is that the city of Newcastle upon Tyne? So not including Gateshead, North & South Tyneside, Northumberland & parts of County Durham?

Newcastle United is the team that represents all of Tyneside and the surrounding areas. Something that seems to escape certain people that just live on the north side of the Tyne. I would not be at all surprised if there were more season ticket holders outside of the city boundaries than within it.

This season we have been getting near capacity crowds. 10,000 have walked away over the last two years and God knows how many before that. Now factor in that we may about to become one of the biggest clubs on the planet. The potential for crowd sizes is monster-sized.

Yeah if he is still there on Sunday he has simply got to be ignored. And even if we lose, the ideal scenario would be to simply shuffle off and not say a word. That's not going to happen of course.

7 minutes ago, pedro111 said:

70k at the very least? That's optimistic.

We will fill a 70K stadium easily if we are turned into an elite club. It's not even up for debate.

21 minutes ago, Jackie Broon said:

 

Yeah, as much as I'd like to see a 65,000+ capacity stadium full for big games, when we were playing in the champions league we struggled to fill the stadium. Even the first time round when we had 36,000 capacity it was easy to get tickets for those matches, even Barcelona.

 

 

Crowd sizes for Champions League games should have no bearing on making a decision on what capacity stadium we should have. Its the domestic competitions that count, and the simple fact is a Newcastle United challenging for domestic honours every year will, at the very least, fill a 70K stadium every week.

2 minutes ago, hakka said:

 

You do realise we could still lose the Spurs game even if Bruce was sacked already? It's not a default position we win as long as he is sacked. It's our 8th game of the season. We've been in this level of shit after 20+ games under Bruce. Even if it took a few weeks to sack him and replace, we have a months for the new manager to sort out the club before January to bring in players to improve it.

Yeah I know, but if we lose under Bruce it will put everyone on a right downer. And we really have a horrible two months coming up so we cannot afford to take risks giving him even one more game IMO.

No point hoying a hissy fit if he is still there though. It does seem like they are putting a lot of thought into the footballing decisions, which gives reassurance that they are not going to be hoying money at mercenaries and journeymen in the transfer market.

If we were mid-table and comfortable it would be fine to keep him on for a few more weeks. We aren't though. We could easily finish Sunday's game cut adrift from 17th place due to another moment of spectacular ineptitude from him, if he is allowed to continue. It's not worth the risk IMO and he should be binned before Sunday no matter what. 

23 minutes ago, Billy Pilgrim said:

If you thought this week couldn’t get any better, check out this glorious monument of seethe 

 

https://richardajkeys.com/index.php/blog/299-privileged-private-confidential
 

Because we belied

Dear me, what a bitter cunt he is. And "the most embarrassing corporate bid in football takeover history"...?  What on earth is he babbling on about?

I've seen them have meltdowns about us before but this is just insane. This has truly sent them over the edge. 

They are desperate for the rest of the country to be as upset about it as them but its just not happening. The fans of practically every other club grumbled about it for 10 seconds and then have forgotten about it. 

We are media darlings once again. Even the pundits who have poured nothing but scorn on us over the years are now blowing smoke up our arses. There is excitement because this will just make the league more thrilling and even more financially lucrative. The PL effectively just became the unofficial Super League. And we are the wealthiest lot within it. Lovely Jubly. 

The bunker mentality they are displaying is impressive in the weirdest of ways. Just hunching in and telling each other the things they all want to hear. Desperately searching the internet for anything that paints a negative light on the takeover and then reposting it to give themselves an online cuddle. It's like watching, in real time, thousands of people have a collective nervous breakdown. 

It's definitely the CAT that has forced it through. The fact that it was watched by over 30,000 people in 50 countries and the judge basically laughed at them has made them absolutely shit bricks. I'd love to know what was disclosed when the hearing went offline for those brief moments.

18 minutes ago, Tsunami said:

I think we got in just before the door was bolted and the PL change their rules. I’ve heard from reliable sources that NUST and others convinced Ashley and his team that anti competition rights and abuse of position was the route to go down, as Arbitratration wouldn’t wouldn’t win.

 

Seems pretty clear that we’ve had something the PL didn’t want to come out and when it was apparent they’d lose CAT that they’ve caved and said settle with Qatar and jobs a good ‘in.

 

Been reported that PIF paid the money by liquid funds meaning it could go through so quickly as it was more or less loose change and required little manoeuvring of funds. It’s ridiculously silly what kind of funds we have potentially come into. 
 

I hate Ashley but my god, I may end up giving him some redemption for his final act.

I read a great quote on Man City's Bluemoon forum that went along the lines of... the PL and dodgy six thought they had pulled up the drawbridge after City sneaked in, but the Saudis have just ploughed a missile through the drawbridge. 

I don't care what anyone says. Ashley's legal action is what forced this through so quick. The PL's CAT QC probably went straight back to them after the hearing last week and told them to do a deal, and pronto.

1 hour ago, OpenC said:

Everybody hates us already

 

We've done fuck all of any consequence and we're already massively despised

This is sensational. Not a ball kicked and they are all absolutely bricking it already. Truly fantastic stuff. 

1 minute ago, LionOfGosforth said:

 

In the past that might even have gotten under my skin, i'd probably have been raging at the utterly ridiculous closed-shop attitude. I mean do they actually read what they write and believe it the fucking corny, entitled arseholes? I used to feel much more affinity in football terms with Liverpool than the snidey bitter sods across the park, the city itself is quite similar to Newcastle as well. if this is their general script they can shove it where the sun don't shine.

 

Today is a new day, I just smile and move on with my day, knowing and believing that we're finally owned by credible, professional people who want to improve us and that we're finally rid of the cancerous wretch. Whatever comes, that's plenty enough for me.

They've only been fine with us because for decades we haven't been a threat and they've pinched a lot of our star players. Now with the possibility of the tables being turned they are showing their true colours.

3 minutes ago, Happinesstan said:

Mad pitch invasions, is it? Not looting Jewellers all over Europe and eroding the trusting nature of an entire fucking continent?

Correct. I did the Anfield tour a few years ago and the tour guides were actually bragging about the looting that went on during their 1970s European glory nights. Absolute fucking Scallies.

Just now, Pokerprince2004 said:

 

Literally spent 3 hours going through other teams forums this morning. Liverpool and Everton were definitely the worst. Thought Man City were probably the best nearly all their posts were positive and looking forward to another team challenging 

Agree. Man Utd on Red Cafe seem to be a bit of a split. A lot of them worried but not as much hostility towards us as I might have predicted. RAWK though is just in meltdown about it. The most overwhelmingly spoilt fans in football dishing out lectures on how football fans should think. You couldn't make it up.

Anyone been checking the forums of the other teams to see how this has gone down? I have..... and, apart from the peasants down the road, it's definitely Liverpool fans that are taking it the worst. The fuming is delicious. 

I particularly liked this one...  

"This lot have always felt deserving of being at the top table. Even in the 70s (mad pitch invasions) and throughout  the first Kevin Keegan circus in the 80s with helicopters arriving in the middle of the park, they’ve always felt they were something that they weren’t. They were always “more passionate and better this and better that”.  Bollocks of course.
Of all the so-called “sleeping giants”, this one has always been a wankfest of a club. Wolves, Leeds,  or even Sunderland  have better credentials than this shower.
They’ve  rammed home the argument so much that they’re so passionate and loveable and this and that  that the press have bought into it and every man and his dog think that they “deserve” it. Well they don’t. And I’ll make a total U-turn on the way I felt only a few months back about the Super League. Anything to keep these nouveau riche arseholes out.
Hope the new signatories to the new Super league stipulate at least 2 European Cups won in 2 different decades. At least the red Mancs have got the credentials. That’s one place this lot, Chelsea and PSG can’t buy their way into."

After the gut wrenching lows of the last 18 months of this saga it feels totally surreal tonight. Almost anti-climatic, but still in a good way. This must be what it feels like if you have lived in poverty all of your life but have learned to adapt to it and survive...and then you win the lottery. Just a kind of numb "has this really happened?" moment. I guess this will only really sink in after a few days. The nightmare is over. 

She's really impressive when she speaks. Got that great mix of being professional and driven but with warmth too. Can't help but be massively optimistic that she knows what she's doing and will take us where we want to be.