manorpark

I understand that there are many different views on this. It is both the strength (and weakness) of all these internet forums and 24/7 Sky-Sports-News coverage, that so many different views (with their opportunity to influence your thinking) are imposed on us, causing confusion among what is probably an amazingly simple situation. ALAN SHEARER IS THE MAN TO LEAD NEWCASTLE UNITED FC FOR THE NEXT 20 YEARS. Who else could you EVER say that about? Seriously? Any other choice from amongst the available managers would not ever do that - would they? Whether they were "European Cup winning" top foreign managers, or the (so-called) "cream of English managers" they would only be here short term, would be mercenaries (obviously, that's the way it is) and (in all probability, despite their pedigree and great CV) they would probably FAIL. Alan Shearer is not just a "former great player" . . that is the reason so many people give when arguing against him. They say - "a great player does not necessarily make a great manager". VERY VERY TRUE!! A good painter and decorator does not necessarily make a good accountant. Yes, we all know that. That is obvious. However, with Shearer, that ignores the many things that make up Alan Shearer that do not fit with that (very) simple statement (no matter how many times it is repeated) that DO uniquely apply to the (VERY unique) combination of - "Alan Shearer and Newcastle United" . . . FIVE REASONS: (1) Alan Shearers Character. He is a strong character, just look at his on-pitch behaviours, attitude, leadership, during his time with us and England. Just remember (as one simple example) how he faced down the tough-nut Keane and made him look and behave like a weak-minded idiot. (2) Alan Shearers respect around the world, as a 'recent' top world player. How good that would be in attracting players of the TOP quality. (players that the likes of Allardyce and Redknapp and so many others, would never even get to speak to). (3) Alan Shearers love of Newcastle United FC. It seems to me, when listening to him, that his feelings for the club are just like mine. They are just like yours too!! He cares, just like we do - unconditionally and forever. Unlike you and me though - he is in a position to do something about it! (4) Alan Shearer lives here because he wants to. Even the parochial, automatically biased Southern English press (aided by the riduculous Oliver guy) would not even be tempted to say - "Alan, what about the weather and the shops, would your wife not prefer to live in Basingtoke or Bogner???" (5) Alan Shearer seems to have all the abilities needed to be very good at what the job requires (particulary, at THIS club) uniquely perhaps, amongst the many football players that have retired in recent times. Those are rare qualities in any walk of life, that make him different. FINALLY: It is so true that "a great player does not necessarily make a great manager". BUT, when it appears that there is one who would - and it is almost specifically ONLY at OUR club - then we should . . . . GO FOR IT !!!!!!!!!! In my opinion . . .

I wish the idiot fans would just have some patience and read this quote over and over. More likely they'll forget it by next week and spout on about how Mort and Ashley want Sam out and that patience is something they both don't possess...............its depressing but what can you do? the opposite is true, the stability comes from being succesful not the other way around. Oh Dear . . Stability (with the right people involved . . Ashley / Mort / Allardyce / Money on top players . . facilitates the opportunity for success. THEN (as you say) success should come, and that creates it's own form of additional stability. BUT, first you need . . . . . that has sod all to do with stability,more with (hopefully) the right people in the right jobs. if allardyce hasn't drastically improved on where we are now he will be gone by august 2009. the quest fro stability shouldn't mean keeping hold of possibly the wrong personnel That is where successful (Ashley) and intelligent (Mort) people come in. They make the judgement call about 'personnel'. They appear to have made it already . . we'll see. In truth, that is all we can do and all we should do - wait and see. This Mort/Ashley club is so different to what it has ever been (and I went through the SJH changes from Mckeag) and it just looks, sounds and smells (!) RIGHT! Have faith - this is different.

I wish the idiot fans would just have some patience and read this quote over and over. More likely they'll forget it by next week and spout on about how Mort and Ashley want Sam out and that patience is something they both don't possess...............its depressing but what can you do? the opposite is true, the stability comes from being succesful not the other way around. Oh Dear . . Stability (with the right people involved . . Ashley / Mort / Allardyce / Money on top players . . facilitates the opportunity for success. THEN (as you say) success should come, and that creates it's own form of additional stability. BUT, first you need . . . . . that has sod all to do with stability,more with (hopefully) the right people in the right jobs. if allardyce hasn't drastically improved on where we are now he will be gone by august 2009. the quest fro stability shouldn't mean keeping hold of possibly the wrong personnel That is where successful (Ashley) and intelligent (Mort) people come in. They make the judgement call about 'personnel'. They appear to have made it already . .

I wish the idiot fans would just have some patience and read this quote over and over. More likely they'll forget it by next week and spout on about how Mort and Ashley want Sam out and that patience is something they both don't possess...............its depressing but what can you do? the opposite is true, the stability comes from being succesful not the other way around. Oh Dear . . Stability (with the right people involved . . Ashley / Mort / Allardyce / Money on top players) . . facilitates the opportunity for success. THEN (as you say) success should come, and that creates it's own form of additional stability. BUT, first you need . . . . .

I wish the idiot fans would just have some patience and read this quote over and over. I don't get much chance to post on here much at the minute, but this quote is G R E A T, Can we not fix this as a permanent logo at the top of every page? Please let's learn this quote and repeat it to ourselves whenever we feel we are starting to turn "Shepherd-esq daft" in our minds!

Is it? In what way, exactly??

Hmmm, on re-reading . . . .

If it were a change in his contract, then Owen would have had to agree to it. This obviously can't be the case because he hates Newcastle, has no loyalty to anyone but England, and will be off as soon as anyone decent puts an offer in, etc. What utter drivel, UV. Utter sarcasm, tbh. Either way, an unfortunate collection of words.

If it were a change in his contract, then Owen would have had to agree to it. This obviously can't be the case because he hates Newcastle, has no loyalty to anyone but England, and will be off as soon as anyone decent puts an offer in, etc. What utter drivel, UV.

"Utd" already have him, we paid £16m for him. Thanks. Also, he was always going to stay with us, he will probably stay for the rest of his career. How "unfashionable" is it, to say that, eh? It will happen though, he is going to stay here at Newcastle UTD.

Owen/Martins OUT, Anelka IN..... Nah Smith/Ameobi/Viduka OUT, Anelka IN... Aye. NO! Ameobi OUT / Anelka IN . . . . . YES (that makes good sense).

Bring it back. I'm gonna write to the club. It should be a permanent part of the match-day.

Good Grief - Do you really think ("he is a very similar player to what we already have available") that??

Nobody has ever been as good at it as Jimmy Smith was. He did it regularly, in big matches and against any player. GREAT to watch!

The date of the name change from the "First Division" to the "Premier League" is an arbitrary date from which to start your statistical comparisons. It is a 'much beloved' date for some people. Often these are people who think that football was invented in 1992, and was invented by Sky! I am not saying that you are one of those, but there are plenty of them around, and this is just pandering to their seeming beliefs. The game has a lot more money in it now and the formation of the Premier League helped in this, but it would probably have happened anyway (unfortunately, in many ways). There was no tangible difference between the last season of The First Division and the first season of the Premier League - so why do you start your analysis at that arbitrary date? Normally people would look back and analyse issues over (say) the "last ten years" or the "last twenty years", or the last 30, 40, or 50, or whatever. Often mentioned, but I have yet to see anyone like this. Seems simply a stock insult tbh. There are quite a lot of them where I work, and near where I live, have seen the odd one on here (or they seem to be) but not too many, thankfully.

The date of the name change from the "First Division" to the "Premier League" is an arbitrary date from which to start your statistical comparisons. It is a 'much beloved' date for some people. Often these are people who think that football was invented in 1992, and was invented by Sky! I am not saying that you are one of those, but there are plenty of them around, and this is just pandering to their seeming beliefs. The game has a lot more money in it now and the formation of the Premier League helped in this, but it would probably have happened anyway (unfortunately, in many ways). There was no tangible difference between the last season of The First Division and the first season of the Premier League - so why do you start your analysis at that arbitrary date? Normally people would look back and analyse issues over (say) the "last ten years" or the "last twenty years", or the last 30, 40, or 50, or whatever.

Within reasonable timescales (probably shorter ones than many are saying - but definitely NOT in the immediate future) the above should be extended to include "Challenging seriously for the title" (as, most recently, in the Robson/Keegan periods) and then "challenging season in, season out" and then, winning the league and a sprinkling of cups, for a prolonged period. At this club (and with our new owners) we should not be so FRIGHTENED to say this - but do NOT expect Ashley/Mort/Allardyce to say anything like this. They are far too clever and professional for that. True, but I think we have to learn to walk first before we start running. I think our new regime are as well aware of that as you and I are. If not more so.

SO TRUE! Allardyce, plus Ashley plus Mort. Brummie, I will be getting back to you. Having to do work at the moment . . . . .

I wouldn't bet against any of them, to be honest. I would!! As I say above - "We are in a very competitive rich-mans league now (the names you mention, plus Abramovich etc) and you have to ally this new-owners-thing to any other natural advantages any of these clubs may already have (think about OURS) to estimate who will be the most successful."

Within reasonable timescales (probably shorter ones than many are saying - but definitely NOT in the immediate future) the above should be extended to include "Challenging seriously for the title" (as, most recently, in the Robson/Keegan periods) and then "challenging season in, season out" and then, winning the league and a sprinkling of cups, for a prolonged period. At this club (and with our new owners) we should not be so FRIGHTENED to say this - but do NOT expect Ashley/Mort/Allardyce to say anything like this. They are far too clever and professional for that.

The thing is, you could say the same thing about Thaksin Shinawatra, Bgorgolfobiscuitbarrel, Randy Lerner, ENIC, Gaydamek, and whoever eventually buys Everton. Billionaire owners are going to become the norm rather than the exception. Right now, there are an awful lot of clubs with very rich, ambitious owners. Have you got the much vaunted "five year plan" yet? If you haven't, I bet you do soon. It seems a must for every recently taken over club to have one. There are going to be a lot of disappointed billionaires soon, when they realise we can't all win the league. Ashley/Mort/Allardyce will never say anything as totally stupid as "five year plans" or "we are going to dominate the league" or "we are going to win this that and the other by whenever". Ashley is a winner who does not talk about his intentions, until they are no longer intentions. This is a far too intelligent and professional set-up for ANY of that. We are in a very competitive rich-mans league now (the names you mention, plus Abramovich etc) and you have to ally this new-owners-thing to any other natural advantages any of these clubs may already have (think about OURS) to estimate who will be the most successful. In a few years time we will KNOW who is the most successful. I would not bet against Mike Ashley!!

Our future is going to be very different from that. Very different from (most of - Keegan/Robson years apart) the last 38 trophy-less years. Though, even in those 38 years, I have been to quite a number of Cup Finals with us: 1 - 1969, European Fairs Cup Final (WON). 2 - 1974, FA Cup Final (LOST). 3 - 1976, League Cup Final (LOST). 4 - 1998, FA Cup Final (LOST). 5 - 1999, FA Cup Final (LOST). But, as I said in my recent earlier post, winning the odd cup is not going to be particularly significant in our future (in my opinion). They will NOT say that (they are way too professional for that) but I do not think that is remotely what Ashley/Mort/Allardyce, have in mind (particularly Ashley).

Mike Ashley is a billionaire and a football fan. Now, he is a Newcastle United football fan. He will not be interested at all (neither am I) in us winning the odd cup, here and there, or anything like that. He will want us to challenge for the league, season in, season out, and to win it as often as possible. That is what he will (in my opinion) have instructed Allardyce and Mort to build towards. Hopefully, we will win the odd cup or two on the way, and after we get there too, but they are not (cannot be) his ultimate objective. I doubt also, that he has the automatic subservience to and reveration for, this mythical thing (that so many people revere) known as "the big four". People talk about this grouping as if they are as permanent as the Roman Wall! They are the four English clubs who have recently been very much the most successful. That is all they are. They (or some of them) are likely to be around to some extent in the future, but so are we and one or two others. That is (in my view, as I say) what our billionaire owner will want - US to be the top club, and he will not care who (if anyone) is up there with us. That is what is happening now, we are at the very start of the process of building toward this. How long will it take? - Don't know. Does he want the odd cup win on the way? (FA / League / UEFA, whatever) - Yes, but those are not the objective. Does he idolise - as permanent - four other football clubs that are currently doing well? - Unlike some, I am sure he does NOT.

A wealthy business sometimes (in some years) spends more than they earn and in other years (most of them) they earn more than they spend. That is the case with us, we are a very rich club, have been for almost 15 years, but some years we have spent more than we have earned, as have the other top five. None of this "Top Five" thing is news, is it? We have been in the top four (or since the Russian arrived at the joke London club) in the top five financial "rich list" for the last 15 years or so. The only real difference is that in the last year or so, the "mid table also-rans" (financially) like Spurs/Everton, etc, have got closer to us and we have lost ground on the other four rich clubs. Although it does not alter our earned income at all (Turnover) at the time, when and if Ashley does start letting us spend some of HIS money (making our money available to buy players more 'flexible', rather than being a specific budget based on earned income, then the hoped for success that brings (Champions League qualification again, etc) will 'eventually' lead to improved Turnover figures. That should enable us to pull away from the mid-table clubs (in financial terms) and re-open the financial gap between us (the big five financial clubs) and the rest, again. I would imagine that Man City, Aston Villa and even West Ham, would hope that they can (similarly) move closer to us! Let's hope our financial development/improvement under Ashley, exceeds theirs (to re-widen the gap) as well as hopefully starting to exceed the level of development of Liverpool, Chelsea, etc. If Ashley knows what he is doing (and he certainly does seem to, financially) - it could and should happen. seems i've been mislead,i thought we survived on debt. Not according to the accounts I have seen. There has been a significant long-term debt built up in the form of loans to finance the redevelopment of the ground, training ground, etc. Long term debt (loans etc for capital projects) is different to making a trading profit / trading loss, in any given year. Ashley is tackling this, also, as I am sure you know. i'm just looking at it purely as our debts against out assets and how much the club can get their hands on without borrowing. Successful businesses do not hoard cash, they use it. If they need to make a large investment, they borrow the amount required, secured (if they are rich enough, as we are) against current and planned future income levels. Thats how it works. Businesses are not banks. They do not keep huge amounts of unused cash lying around. yeah i get all that but we've made big losses (end of year accounts) without making big profits in other years,which is why the share price was shagged.we werent rich,big turnover aye,but rich ? I have not got any of the paperwork in front of me, but I am aware that we made a trading profit in most years and a trading loss in some. We have a large turnover, we make a profit most years, we have a pretty guaranteed high income stream - we are rich. If you choose not to accept/believe that, I doubt if there are any words that I can think of, that will change your mind!!!

Why sad? and who said 'part time'?