manorpark

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'?

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.

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.

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 four of the top five financial clubs. None of this "Top Five" thing is news, though, 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" in the UK (9th to 13th in the world) 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 only on earned income / Turnover) then the hoped for success that that should bring (Champions League qualification again, etc) will 'eventually' lead to improved earned income / 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.

So many people are instantly-prepared to believe the worst of people and to believe all the bad news instantly. Nothing will change that automatic negativity, I suppose, sadly. This whole thing is 95% fabricated press rubbish. Steven Taylor will agree a slightly different (better) contract soon - all part of the negotiation process - none of the "deadline" drivel is true - he will become an excellent defender with us for years to come.

Scored the only goal in the Sunderland v Leeds 1973 FA Cup Final, for Sunderland. Don't care how old you may be or say you are - how can you not know about that??? i know who he was, but i don't know who scored goals in other FA Cup Finals before i was born, why would i, or why would anyone else? as for the fella dying, sad for anyone who knew/liked him, i'm sure. Most people I know who are interested in football tend to know about such things. Things that are part of "football folklore" are well known, and particularly things that are part of local/regional "football folklore" (as in this case) are very well known. I and my friends/family always seem to know about things that happened before we were born (in subjects of interest to us such as football and regional-football particularly) every bit as well as we know about things that we have experienced in the years that we happen to have been alive. I am surprised by these comments to the contrary!! A lot of the younger fans (and some from outside Newcastle) think that football, and NUFC, was invented in 1992 by Sky, though. Like i say, i know about him, but only because of the north east connection. I wouldn't have a clue about west midlands fa cup heroes of yesteryear, for example - and fans from outside of the north east might well not know about Porterfield. Bet everyone remembers Ronnie f****** Radford though. w******. That's because it is bl****y well shown on the BBC, every single year when the 3rd Round of the FA Cup starts!!

Scored the only goal in the Sunderland v Leeds 1973 FA Cup Final, for Sunderland. Don't care how old you may be or say you are - how can you not know about that??? i know who he was, but i don't know who scored goals in other FA Cup Finals before i was born, why would i, or why would anyone else? as for the fella dying, sad for anyone who knew/liked him, i'm sure. Most people I know who are interested in football tend to know about such things. Things that are part of "football folklore" are well known, and particularly things that are part of local/regional "football folklore" (as in this case) are very well known. I and my friends/family always seem to know about things that happened before we were born (in subjects of interest to us such as football and regional-football particularly) every bit as well as we know about things that we have experienced in the years that we happen to have been alive. I am surprised by these comments to the contrary!!

Scored the only goal in the Sunderland v Leeds 1973 FA Cup Final, for Sunderland. Don't care how old you may be or say you are - how can you not know about that??? RIP.

Bring back Going Home (called 'Local Hero', by some) it is GREAT! It has been a noticeable miss this season. Bring it back !!!!!!!

Different now!

Agreed, as while moving outside the City Boundaries has been actively considered many times in the past (I seem to remember) it will never happen to us now. Even with the 'brand new regime' in power, any stadium changes will surely only involve an expansion at SJP. SJP is in such a fantastic location, being not just "in Newcastle", but being "in the City Centre" - and not just in the City Centre, but being on a hill, 'lording it over' everywhere. FANTASTIC STADIUM!! if they expanded it to 60,000 oh boy... i'm drooling Personally, I am certain they WILL expand to 60,000. I know under the old regime is was 'about to happen' as part of plans by Freddy for the area around SJP that the club own. Ashley (via Mort) strikes me as someone who knows how to make money (!) so I am certain he will proceed with most of it - particularly (the important bit, for me) the actual continuation of 'Level 7' around the Gallowgate end, taking us to the 60,000+ figure. i thought plans stopped tbh.. excellent if it happens No, but they (like all activities) are part of "the Review" and the property side of things is still being considered. I just think that expansion to 60,000 (if not the rest of Freddy's plans) WILL go ahead eventually.

Agreed, as while moving outside the City Boundaries has been actively considered many times in the past (I seem to remember) it will never happen to us now. Even with the 'brand new regime' in power, any stadium changes will surely only involve an expansion at SJP. SJP is in such a fantastic location, being not just "in Newcastle", but being "in the City Centre" - and not just in the City Centre, but being on a hill, 'lording it over' everywhere. FANTASTIC STADIUM!! if they expanded it to 60,000 oh boy... i'm drooling Personally, I am certain they WILL expand to 60,000. I know under the old regime is was 'about to happen' as part of plans by Freddy for the area around SJP that the club own. Ashley (via Mort) strikes me as someone who knows how to make money (!) so I am certain he will proceed with most of it - particularly (the important bit, for me) the actual continuation of 'Level 7' around the Gallowgate end, taking us to the 60,000+ figure.

Kingston Park would be OK (from the "being within the City Boundary" perspective) as it is in Newcastle. But Whitley Bay and Wideopen are both outside the City, being in 'North Tyneside'. Agreed, as while moving outside the City Boundaries has been actively considered many times in the past (I seem to remember) it will never happen to us now. Even with the 'brand new regime' in power, any stadium changes will surely only involve an expansion at SJP. SJP is in such a fantastic location, being not just "in Newcastle", but being "in the City Centre" - and not just in the City Centre, but being on a hill, 'lording it over' everywhere. FANTASTIC STADIUM!!