Wallsendmag

They are bargain basement Chmpionship players we have playing for us. In 2 of the last 3 games our opponents have been able to bring a player on off the bench who is worth more than our entire team. We try to go toe to toe with these and we get battered. Tactics are spot on. I'm sure Rafa would like to be more adventurous but, put simply, we just don't have the offensive players in the squad to do that so we sit back and try to get something on the counter when we can. Tbf it's worked quite well away from home.

The fact that we're starting with Atsu and Hayden in a Premier League match v Manchester United just sums Mike Ashley up.

Awful mistake. Could well have cost us a point.

They went from 10,000 v Sheff Wed to 75,000 v Derby County, back down to 14,000 for their next home game all in the space of a month back in 1933. Always been a fickle lot. They used to be renowned for it.

It's a great crowd for a 3rd tier game. And although they'll wank themselves off over the attendance today, they fail to realize all the empty seats in every other game they've played at home this season. Exactly. Where have these 46k fans been for the past 3 years? A football team is for life, not just for Christmas.

He's gone at the end of the season. He's becoming disillusioned with the (home) supporters now which was probably the only reason he's still here. Now the cracks have started to surface in that bond he's probably thinking there's nothing left here for him now and he can move on to a bigger club in the summer.

We have the lowest spend in the league and the 3rd lowest wage budget. Whilst "miracle" is probably too strong a word, if we can finish 17th it's a very big achievement.

Agree 100% with everything written here.

Pickford is hilarious viewing mind.

More tickets requested; https://www.shieldsgazette.com/sport/football/newcastle-united/newcastle-put-in-request-for-more-checkatrade-trophy-tickets-as-fans-snap-up-sunderland-allocation-1-9503180/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Plus at least 4 in their end

Not at SJP I don't think, but loads of times at away games. If the pair of you have never heard it at SJP you must be very young. It was the norm believe me Can fully imagine it being an absolute cesspit in the '80s like. I'm a scumbag '92er so I've never heard it. "He's black, he's broon, he plays for the Toon, Franz Carr, Franz Carr!" used to get the occasional airing in the 91/92 season. Tony Cunningham before that also Saw someone throw a banana at him from the Paddocks. Nobody batted an eyelid either.

Nah. Jose was done. He had lost the confidence of the board, the players and the fans. It would have been a disaster. Don't think OGS will get them in the top 4 and I don't think he'll get them any further in the CL than Mourinho would have either.

I don't see the point in them paying £24m to sack Mourinho to bring in OGS until the end of the season. Surely they'd get a bigger points return just keeping hold of Mourinho then getting rid and appointing a full time manager in the summer.

Not at SJP I don't think, but loads of times at away games. If the pair of you have never heard it at SJP you must be very young. It was the norm believe me Can fully imagine it being an absolute cesspit in the '80s like. I'm a scumbag '92er so I've never heard it. "He's black, he's broon, he plays for the Toon, Franz Carr, Franz Carr!" used to get the occasional airing in the 91/92 season.

Ffs, good luck, I may be joining you although a work pal has just bought a few in our end today so fingers crossed Wouldn't be the first (or 2nd) time I've done it. Out of the 6 of us, three are from Wallsend, one from South Shields, and two from Seaham. Those 3 can blend in no problem but our accents are a dead giveaway. Judging by the amount of available seats when we booked our tickets and that only 2 stands look like they've been opened it looks like this game might be an embarrassment too far for the unwashed and they're giving it a swerve anyway.

Just bought 4 tickets in the East Stand at the Stadium of Shite thanks to an ex Sunderland season ticket holder who allowed us to use his supporter number. Needing another 2 because they wouldn't allow me to buy any more than 4 off his number so if anyone knows of a couple more tickets going spare I'll take them. Not bothered what end they're in.

Fumaca v Palace springs to mind. He looked like a pub player. Marveaux away at Everton. Got taken off about 2 minutes into the 2nd half.

Still don't think he's serious about selling. Kenyon offers £300m, Ashley will want £400m. Kenyon offers £400m, Ashley wants £450m and so on. He's playing a game. It's what he does. It's what he enjoys doing. His next move will probably to jet off on holiday to the Caribbean. I still don't believe for a moment he's genuinely interested in selling NUFC and losing all the benefits that come with owning the club. It's a genuine money maker. A licence to print money and that's before all the Worldwide exposure he'd lose from advertising his other businesses around SJP.

Never understood this 7 in a row patter. Apart from the fact that this is an Under 21s fixture for NUFC and not an official 1st team fixture (for us), the last time both clubs senior teams met the match finished in a draw.

I personally wouldn’t belittle their support, especially in games like this. In jest maybe, but nothing more. They are a well supported club and like our own club, don’t quite deserve such a following or haven’t exactly done anything to justify such a following. I’ve never been one for belittling the free tickets thing either, although I’m pretty sure it wasnt some altruistic act of charity by the club to reach out to the wider community in the way cheaper season tickets or price freezes at our own club wasn’t either. What I do think the free ticket thing and their attendance figures do show, however, is the sol’s capacity is far too large for the kind of club Sunderland are and their fanbase where full houses are conditional and based on so many factors. Our full houses is pretty much unconditional, although I think if the roles were reversed, we’d do well to get 30k gates as well. They should have capped it at a max of 40k. Their attendances shouldn’t be mocked and we shouldn’t compare our own against theirs or anyone else’s really. If anything both clubs’ large followings have been as much of a curse as a blessing. 50k averages every home game in the top-flight of the championship has made life much easier for the likes of Mike Ashley. Clubs whose attendances should be mocked are Man City and Chelsea. Wigan/Bolton generally get mocked for having so many empty seats or used to even when they were a PL club, but some clubs will never be able to pull in a huge following ever home game or even away and while bigger capacities help clubs to grow and for more and more people to attend, every club will have a hardcore unconditional following and it’s that following who will always follow their club no matter what. I was at Brisbane Road a few weeks back to watch Gateshead, over 4000 home fans and 30 or so Heed fans. The away part of the South stand was empty, but Gateshead aren’t going to take a thousand or so fans away from home and Orient arent going to suddenly grow an extra 1,000 followers just to watch them play Gateshead in the conference. Why should a club’s true following/support be judged like that? Fair enough at City or Chelsea whose success if enjoyed at NUFC or Sunderland would fill tens of thousands of more seats where as if they swapped places with our clubs there would be even more empty seats. 8k for a Tuesday 2nd Round FA Cup match given where Sunderland are at right now shouldn’t be mocked, I bet most of those fans were kids and families and not regulars. Our own cup attendances have always been boosted by non regulars who without we would see similar figures as regular match day going fans decide to give such games a miss. Why anyone would want to go to watch any of our clubs right now boggles the mind like, especially our games. Rubbish. I've never known a group of fans big themselves up anything like what they do. No well supported club gets a crowd 4 figure crowd for an FA Cup game. No doubt the back patting will return when they get 30k+ when they play our junior team and the fact that it'll prove that they've only turned out to watch our U21s instead of their own team will go straight over their heads.

I'll just go with my instinct and I haven't changed my opinion in many years about Mike Ashley and that is there is no way on earth he'll want to part with Newcastle United. It makes him too much money and it gives him and his other businesses Worldwide exposure that it would be impossible for him to get otherwise. Once again Sports Direct was plastered all over the stadium and seen on TV in over 100 different countries on Sunday. Every time there looks like some public unrest he issues a statement saying he's selling up and this is something he's done ever since the first time it happened after the Hull game when Keegan resigned a Decade ago. Put it this way, if I was in his shoes there's not a chance I'd be willing to part with such a cash cow. In his eyes he's bought the perfect football club.

And that's exactly what he said!