bobbydazzla

Beardsley is having another meeting today. That's probably it then. Trying to obviousthly errrr, get a picture of, obviousthly errrrr, Pedro, obviousthly errrr.

Couple of press photographers with long lens cameras milling about next to the Bobby Robson statue when I just walked past. They were stood behind some metal crowd barriers that have been put at the bottom of the slope, the barriers aren't usually there. I thought 'ello, 'ello, 'ello, what's going on here then....

Geoff Keegan

One of the Arabs gets a servant to pass him the blunderbuss then KABOOM, the fat man gets smoked

There’s a country house near Blanchland that’s owned by some Arab royalty and they come over now and again to shoot birds.

It's probably rammed up Charnley's shitter.

Wonder if the fat twat ever goes out for a bounce on that trampoline.

Sports Direct in the BBC headlines for negative reasons again today. They're being blamed for overcrowded slum housing and people shitting on footpaths in Shirebrook. Constant negative press and a tumbling share price is likely to be giving investors the hump.

McClaren at the end of May: "We dominated games throughout the season, created chances but didn't win matches. Spirit and effort was fantastic. We've played well all season - controlled the games, plenty of agression and composure. Disappointed to have been relegated"

Mike Ashcunt

Steve McCunt

Actions speak louder than words. Remove Carver and Charnley Appoint a strong manager and MD immediately Invest significantly in building a solid squad over a number of windows If selling players, buy decent replacements Try to be competitive in all competitions Ashley takes on a role as the visible leader of the club, ensuring regular positive communication and backing it up with actions If Ashley does all of that then there's a chance of him regaining the trust of supporters over 2 or 3 seasons. But his track record suggest today's interview was all lies and he'll do absolutely fuck all apart from cream off the TV cash and spend nowt whilst aiming for 17th place every season.

He's a Newcastle fan, grew up in the north east.

I've said this on here before, I knew John Irving when we were in our teens and he was a passionate fan of NUFC. I've found it hard to comprehend that he's had a leading role in Ashley's regime, when it's clear that they're intent on destroying the club from within. Maybe the current antics have been too much for him and he's decided he needed to get out.

This nails it for me. The vast majority of people in the the ground are incapable and unwilling to drive any change. And change at NUFC will only come when the reputation, revenue and share price of Sports Direct is threatened or actually starts to see negative results as a result of the activity of NUFC fans supported by national media. This football club is a small part of Ashley's empire, but it's the most visible and vocal. He bought NUFC because of the increased press we could create for the SD brand. Let's turn that to our advantage and make sure that coverage is about zero hour contracts, dodgy pre-pack administrations etc . It's his achilles heel. Until recently Tesco was an unstoppable retail business. But the tide has turned as shoppers move away and a number of scandals emerged. Tesco lost £6.4bn last year. The same could happen to Sports Direct, it's not impossible.

He couldn't give a shit about fans not going to games. But constant media references to Sports Direct and their zero hour contracts, toxic brand, unethical redundancy processes, dodgy pre-pack administration and government enquiries into his business activity is not the news that SD shareholders will be happy to read about in the international press on a daily basis. He can't risk damaging the Sports Direct brand, so that's his achilles heal. A determined and intelligent campaign by NUFC fans who have the support of mainstream media means we can talk about our frustrations with the management of the club, but more importantly can put the SD brand in constant focus for many negative reasons. And the media seem to have an appetite for this at the moment. NUFC is a small part of his business operations but also the most visible and we have a genuine opportunity to become a really big thorn in his side.

I jacked a couple of years ago. Stopped the season ticket, stopped away games, stopped watching matches or highlights on the telly, stopped listening to radio coverage. I often don't know when or who we're playing. If I see the scoreline after a match I don't celebrate if we win, I'm not miserable if we lose. I'm completely numb about what happens at NUFC. I've got better things to do than waste time and money on the shite that Ashley and his cronies want us to lap up like bleating braindead sheep. A few weeks back I was in town on a match day so nipped into the boozer to see the lads I used to go to the match with. Out of a group of 20 season ticket holders every single one told me the same thing - "It's shit, I can't be arsed to go, but if I didn't go I'd never see me mates, so I've got to keep going". There were plenty of shit times in the pre-Ashley era but I've never seen such widespread malaise amongst a very loyal and passionate group of lads. Ashley has ripped out the soul of the club.

Knew John Irving when we were kids and he loved NUFC.

I knew John Irving pretty well in our teens and he was a passionate fan and loved going to the match. It's a real shame that he's now happy to be the mouthpiece for this regime. But I guess he gets paid enough that he's willing to toe the line. That's even worse if he used to be a fan. I'd always assumed he was just a numbers man with a passing interest because of his job. When I knew John in the early 90’s he was a huge Newcastle fan. Simon Esland was similar, a big Newcastle fan that ended up landing a high profile job at the club. Although he’s now left and gone back to Vodafone.

I knew John Irving pretty well in our teens and he was a passionate fan and loved going to the match. It's a real shame that he's now happy to be the mouthpiece for this regime. But I guess he gets paid enough that he's willing to toe the line.

He's regularly said he'd love a shot at designing our kit. And until recently Nike also had a geordie and Newcastle fan as Global VP of Football Footwear. But sadly we still ended up stuck with the Puma shite.

All their top designers, especially the tailored in England ones have moved to Nike. It's anyone's guess how they do now. Ah that's a shame. Bizarrely I don't like any of the current Nike efforts. One of the main designers for Nike football is a geordie and a Newcastle fan. He focuses on their key clubs - Inter, Barca, Man U etc.

After Pardew's comments about "The Board" in relation to Kinnear's exit it made me wonder about who, other than Ashley, makes key decisions and how much they have the best interests of the club at heart. Lee Charnley is obviously a key player behind the scenes. John Irving appears to be much more involved. I knew him pretty well in our teens and he was a passionate fan, I find it hard to believe that he'd be in favour of many of the antagonistic moves during Ashley's reign. And the same could be said of Simon Esland when he was at the club, our paths crossed a few times before he joined NUFC and he was also a passionate fan. He wasn't on the Board but he was rolled out regularly to face the wrath of the fans. Lambeezy and Mort have both been and gone, with the general consensus being that Mort was decent but Lambeezy was as bad as Ashley. Kinnear was an incompetent fall guy and Pardew seems to have limited influence and is scared shitless of criticising his paymasters. So other than Ashley, is there anybody else involved in key decisions and why are they getting it so wrong, on so many occasions ?

As far as I can see only a few things would get him out: 1 - If SD began to significantly underperform based on things that were happening at NUFC 2 - He received an offer for the club that allowed him to turn a decent profit and a smug exit 3 - If we weren't in the top flight for a number of seasons and his use of NUFC as a vehicle to market SD beyond the UK stopped

I cancelled mine a few years back because of Ashley's treatment of the fans and club. I thought I'd really miss the games and at first it felt strange not going, but you soon get used to it. As someone else had said - view it like an abusive relationship, there comes a point when walking away is the only thing you can do. And cutting off an income stream is the only way to damage Ashley. He's not arsed about anything else other than money.