Gallowgate Toon

The Ashley frame is pretty funny, tbf

I think they'll take their time to gather some of the intelligence they feel they need to make the least destabilising decision while they get things lined up the way they want. I imagine the question is 'when do we sack him?' rather than 'should', and I imagine it'll be the players' opinions that help them get to that decision.

Yeah, the Disney etc. thing doesn't work. The Premier League had the power to actually stop this but they seem to have been let off pretty lightly and nobody seems bothered enough about their involvement to boycott the product or protest them in any capacity.

Would absolutely take Favre. He feels like the right level to take things forward, tbh. I would absolutely love Conte here but he's never been at a club more than a few years, has he? Seems like someone we'd want to come in once we've solidified a bit.

Conte Amazing, man.

That ending line is absolutely awful. He's just said it's not complicated but then only asked half the question. No, I don't like murder or torture... but what now? This is apparently an assault on football, everyone's problem, but nobody seems willing to do 'something' about it. Outraged fans are only bothered enough to spam some tweets out calling us bastards. Where are their protests? Where is their action? Nobody seems to have answers but the expectation is on us to deal with it. Doesn't he have ties to the area too? Fairly shocking, if so.

I think it's a widescale problem in our current society, tbh. Everyone has their opinion and it's a really, really important opinion, despite having little-to-no-knowledge of what actually happened. See Brexit, Covid etc. Almost alien these days to either admit you don't know something enough or that someone may just know better than you.

I'm about 70 no/30 yes. I don't like how being ridiculously rich gets you up the ladder but that's the way our society is built, not just football. Money is everything. This really is the biggest issue here. I don't like where the money is coming from but I'd say that about most potential owners. Granted, they're a really bad example but our own violent history in the middle east really isn't great - there are many shades of grey in this area. We should still continue to highlight where we disagree with their regime. This is also a chance to help progress ideas in Saudi too, amazingly. I don't think we've 'sold our soul'. The Premier League sold the whatever the 'soul' of English football was many years ago. We didn't control who bought us and we're not actually adopting Saudi values ourselves. Some have genuinely suggested we advocate beheadings because we still support Newcastle - this is absolutely bizarre logic. As others have said though, we can't go around putting MBS' face on things etc. Our message should be consistent going forward - new era, hope, regional pride, inclusivity, LGBTQ etc. What the fans represent and believe in is absolutely not the same as what an owner believes in. This should be obvious. I'm not actually convinced sports washing is the slam dunk many journalists think it is either. I already knew the Saudi state is bad, some mates didn't before because they're not interested in geopolitics but now have seen what they're capable of and they don't like them either, but they still want to support the team. So I don't feel 'complicit' in this sense because I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be complicit in. There seems to be a misunderstanding that defending our reaction to this situation is actually defending the Saudi state.

I don't think it's jealousy, but it is ego. Largely thanks to Twitter, journalists are a more prominent piece of the puzzle now and two of the consequences of that are that they often play to a trend and believe their opinion is almost fact-like. Many of them have absolutely steamed into this issue and tried to corner an entire fanbase who are essentially, at this point, just going through the euphoria of winning a couple of perceived lotteries at the same time. The North East has been continuously on the backfoot for decades and they appear to expect we not feel any joy or look for any positives in the situation. Instead, we should be miserable, discontent, and delving straight into another phase of turmoil & unrest which we're then often ridiculed for by... the media.

At the very least, give us some time to get coordinated. Being piled on for having a piss up and a party for one night ffs. I'm sure the sensible among us will make some kind of showing imminently. Dishing it out about local reps/groups who haven't called the owners cunts yet and are likely looking to take the progressive education route instead. Their job is to do what's best for our region and building relationships is likely going to be an important part of that going forward. Most of these couldn't give a shit about the North East a few days ago. Massaging their own egos as they complain on Twitter and then do very little about it.

Journalists picking up on that TF shite but seemingly not linking to the tweet itself, curiously... As a sidepoint, I've realised over the last couple of days how many incredibly annoying, pseudo intellectual sports journos are about. Absolutely desperate to get their opinion out and have their sly digs like heartbroken teenagers, with little dissection as to why this might be so important to the city/region or any real attempt to get into the detail of the context from our perspective.

And we also need to have some direction about how we show solidarity for human rights. This is absolutely the time for the Trust to make their mark, especially with Flags coming back too.

I think I'm happier about this today compared to yesterday. I think I was in shock last night, trying to take it in but not really feeling much. Today, I just want to read all about it and am enjoying all of the stuff captured last night Can't wait for Spurs.

Whoever their PR team are, they're good probably just been reading this forum for 4 years and nicking ideas.

I don't disagree with the views necessarily, either, but I know someone giving fans shit for this who absolutely loves Obama (I like him too, FYI), seemingly forgetting his drone strike record.

The lack of nuance in the debate is what'll be annoying, tbh. Barry Glendinning being the absolute worst culprit. Like most things in life, it's not as simple as a yes/no answer.

I don't think Rafa ever walks away from things mid-season, unless he's told to go. They may think they can go with Jones/interim until the end of the season but significantly invest in players to keep us up in January.

Genuinely more excited about potential investment into infrastructure and the city, at this point. The team will take a while to build and they'll make mistakes along the way. Getting the right manager for the time and vision is absolutely key but I'm expecting them to not get that right first time. I also wonder if they're sneakily going to hope that Rafa might be up for walking away from Everton at the end of the season.

Keep Shearer absolutely away from anything team/operations-related. Get him as part of the media setup or something.

'oh luke, please write a pr piece for me asap!' it's not about you or your bald mate, you dick. Actual desperation from Edwards to be relevant. Pathetic excuse for a man.

Sam is class, tbh, and some of his music is really, really, really good. He's a credit to the region.

The Gunner is my local

This is going to take some time to digest Fuck me, it's finally over.

Surreal.