Jack Flash

"We thought the Hartlepool game worked well last year," the manager told nufc.co.uk. "It was a chance for us to ease people like Hatem, who had been involved in the European Championships, back into the fold and it was probably one of our best performances of pre-season. "Sylvain Marveaux got a couple of goals and Shola Ameobi, Haris Vuckic and Gabriel Obertan all scored. By the time the St. Mirren game comes around I'll be starting to formulate my team for the first league match of the season and I see this friendly as an opportunity for some players to try and force their way into my thinking. "So there'll be a nice mixture for that one, similar to Hartlepool last year, because it's a Scottish Premier League team we're facing and we're expecting a good game there."

Because they win stuff. We almost got relegated and finished with the 3rd highest average attendance so they're doing something right. Also, what does he mean by top clubs? Man United sell out every week but then they've got lines of snap happy Asian chappies (forgive me oldtype) queuing for tickets week after week, similar for Liverpool just replace Asian with Irish. The London clubs seem quite secure, but then they have absolutely mammoth fanbases right on their doorstep. Every other club in the league is either playing week on week with an indeterminate number of empty seats in their ground or are looking at ways to get fans through the door. Anyone who criticises a club for making it affordable to supporters to get through the turnstiles and watch their team, especially in this financial climate, is a pillock. Anyone who thinks clubs fill their stadiums for any other reason than that they are successful is the REAL pillock http://espnfc.com/stats/attendance/_/league/eng.1/barclays-premier-league 3rd in that table and almost relegated in the real table. Odd. Did you actually read the full content of my post re NUFC..? We had finished 5th in the previous season, qualified for Europe and people had no expectation that the team would play as badly. Also, a large number of ST holders had bought tickets for 3 seasons - they aren't going to chuck them away until they've had the majority of use from them...also, wait and see what happens if we have another season like the last one. Your figures don't prove a thing over the long term - Liverpool and Spurs - to mention but 2 clubs - intend to either extend or rebuild their stadiums to a bigger capacity and then we'll see how our attendances stand up if we remain also-rans whilst they challenge for Top 4/Cups. We could easily fill a stadium of 75,000 - just as SJH wanted to build at Leazes Park in 1995 - were we to be competing at the top level rather than being mid-table johnny-come-latelys and losing in the FA Cup 3rd round to the likes of Brighton in successive years... Our average attendances are always excellent for (very often) no reason. We got 48,750 the year we went down, 43,384 in the Championship and 47,718 our first year back. How many clubs would get those numbers in those circumstances? How many clubs would still be selling out 52,000 seats in a relegation fight? None imo. We've got absolutely zero to play for and to look forward to next year and it'll still be mostly full.

Because they win stuff. We almost got relegated and finished with the 3rd highest average attendance so they're doing something right. Also, what does he mean by top clubs? Man United sell out every week but then they've got lines of snap happy Asian chappies (forgive me oldtype) queuing for tickets week after week, similar for Liverpool just replace Asian with Irish. The London clubs seem quite secure, but then they have absolutely mammoth fanbases right on their doorstep. Every other club in the league is either playing week on week with an indeterminate number of empty seats in their ground or are looking at ways to get fans through the door. Anyone who criticises a club for making it affordable to supporters to get through the turnstiles and watch their team, especially in this financial climate, is a pillock. Anyone who thinks clubs fill their stadiums for any other reason than that they are successful is the REAL pillock http://espnfc.com/stats/attendance/_/league/eng.1/barclays-premier-league 3rd in that table and almost relegated in the real table. Odd.

Not sure if real of course. Take too long to check it out but the goal scored stats appear wrong (though not a million miles away) for all teams expect us. Our only english league goal was scored by James Perch, which would be a win against Man Utd if you remove all none english goals. Shola against QPR was another win. Probably wrong then. That Wilson lad is a vile pervert imo.

Not sure if real of course.

I have a hard time siding with any decision based on religion. Sorry Papi

A now traditional visit to non-league neighbours Gateshead is part of Newcastle United under-21s' pre-season friendly fixture list, announced on nufc.co.uk. Willie Donachie and Peter Beardsley's side, who reached the final of the Citibank Hong Kong Football Club International Soccer Sevens last month, will warm up with two behind-closed-door games before playing two matches in England either side of a pair of games north of the border. They include a trip to Scottish League Cup holders St. Mirren, which will see a number of first-team squad players join the under-21s in Paisley. Paul Dummett and Conor Newton both had successful loan spells with the Buddies last term. First up this summer is a practice match at the Magpies' training ground against Hamilton Academicals on Tuesday, 16th July and another behind-closed-doors clash against Southampton on Saturday, 20th July. No members of the public will be admitted to these games. However, spectators will be welcomed by Blue Square Bet North outfit Workington when Newcastle head to Borough Park on Wednesday, 24th July. Then on Saturday, 27th July, United will take on Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, although the kick-off time has yet to be confirmed, before the meeting with St. Mirren at St. Mirren Park three days later. Finally, the Magpies will cross the River Tyne to take on Anth Smith's Gateshead at the International Stadium on Saturday, 3rd August. The Heed have announced that admission prices will be £10 for adults, £5 concessions and £2 for under-16s. The full list of under-21 pre-season friendlies is: Tuesday, 16th July - Hamilton Academicals home (behind closed doors) Saturday, 20th July - Southampton home (behind closed doors) Wednesday, 24th July - Workington away (kick-off 7.30pm) Saturday, 27th July - Kilmarnock away (kick-off TBC) Tuesday, 30th July - St. Mirren away (kick-off 7.30pm) Saturday, 3rd August - Gateshead away (kick-off 3pm)

He's currently a 1in 4 striker. 179 in 426 says wiki I meant this season. His previous matters very little, he's not that player any more. Not sure why not. He's only started 2 league games this season so it's very harsh to judge him on that.

He's currently a 1in 4 striker. 179 in 426 says wiki

£6 million for a proven 1 in 2 striker isn't bad at all.

Hilarious if true. It's not. I made that picture.

Why do you say that? Because we'll do better, or just they won't sack him whatever? Because he survived the worst season I've ever watched and we won't do as badly as that next year so there's no reason to sack him. You were born in 2010? I wasn't as bothered about the relegation season because there was so much going on (Keegan, Kinnear, Shearer etc) that it was likely to end badly. There's no excuses at all for how badly last year went and that to me is far worse. How does last season compare to other 'poor' seasons for you? 1997/98: Keegan gone, Kenny Dalglish here. Ferdinand gone, Rush signed. Shearer gone (for the season), Paul Dalglish signed. Title-challenging football gone, Champions League football here. Are a moment of history (Tino) and an appearance at Wembley enough to make up for the sheer contrast between the previous season and this one? 1998/99: Dalglish gone, Mr Sexy Football here. Champions League gone, Cup Winners Cup here. Rush gone, Guivarc'h here. Another Wembley no-show, early European exit and another nothing league campaign for the team that had been genuine title challengers not 2 years removed. Lowered expectations? 2004/05: fresh off our 4th, 3rd, 5th SBR is sacked and Souness is tasked with the job of dismantling his squad right before our eyes. A couple of cup runs are ended by 4-1 thrashings while our best player ends up with a medal but in a different league. 2005/06: a continuation of the Souness debacle is abruptly halted and we dither about looking for a replacement while Roeder is stood holding the fort as we surprisingly qualify for Europe. This was poor season for all that happened OFF the pitch, rather than on it. Shearer broke the record, so I guess it wasn't all bad. 2006/07: Roeder seemingly gets the managers position via osmosis, leads the club to it's first minor trophy since the Texaco Cup of 1992(?). Playing squad continues to be decimated by injury and transfers (both outgoing AND incoming). A decent UEFA cup run is ended when we manage to throw away a sizeable lead against AZ Alkmaar; the inevitability of that 2-0 defeat summed up Roeder's 'style'. 2007/08: New owner, new manager, new success on the pitch? Not so, as Fat Sam is hounded out by the fans thanks to his shocking signings and rubbish football. In hindsight, this may well have been the point when the new owner (FMA) realised that the club couldn't afford to keep pretending to eat at the top table of football clubs and decided to run us within our means. Cue a decade of 'lowered expectations'... 2008/09: won't talk about this - 4 managers, or something. None of those seasons resulted in us securing our PL place after game 37 with such a good squad so they aren't as bad. The 08/09 season was too much of a car crash to be compared to how settled and stable this season was.

Defoe would work far better in our team than Cisse but I wouldn't want to swap them.

http://i44.tinypic.com/2z827av.jpg Since deleted.

Because they win stuff. We almost got relegated and finished with the 3rd highest average attendance so they're doing something right.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4709879/Demba-Ba-snubs-80000-a-week-offer-to-join-up-with-QPR.html Him going to a very good team wasn't just a happy coincidence, yo. Most of our players would go to Chelsea given the chance.

It's a start.

Like many others, all talk no action.

He's off. Also not sure how that's an "exclusive" interview

Pretty unfair that, Sammy strikes a decent ball and has good trickery. I'm not sure what kind of athlete he would be, maybe a long-distance runner in the paralympics? In our colours, he's had 1 good shot. Every other one has been absolutely awful.

And that would take us from 5th to almost relegated? No thanks. Obviously Pardew was fairly set in his ways and didn't learn from mistakes but the board/bad luck gave him a massive helping hand. Another January where his top striker left and wasn't replaced. No point going over all this again. It's mostly Pardew's fault and nothing will change my mind on that. Time to move onwards and sideways and focus on next season now. So you don't want to engage or discuss or think for yourself BUT EVERYTHING'S ALAN'S FAULT. Get in "mostly". It's been done to death over about 2,000 pages. Go back and read it if you want.

And that would take us from 5th to almost relegated? No thanks. Obviously Pardew was fairly set in his ways and didn't learn from mistakes but the board/bad luck gave him a massive helping hand. Another January where his top striker left and wasn't replaced. No point going over all this again. It's mostly Pardew's fault and nothing will change my mind on that. Time to move onwards and sideways and focus on next season now.

And that would take us from 5th to almost relegated? No thanks.

Why do you say that? Because we'll do better, or just they won't sack him whatever? Because he survived the worst season I've ever watched and we won't do as badly as that next year so there's no reason to sack him. Fair enough, you might be right. I wouldn't be surprised if Ashley has given him a tougher target than just to do better than this season though. I don't think not sacking him now means he has no standards to meet in future. I think we'll finish mid-table which is the best result for everyone that matters. I don't see Pardew getting us much higher and I don't see Ashley envying the task of finding a new manager so it'd be win win.

Why do you say that? Because we'll do better, or just they won't sack him whatever? Because he survived the worst season I've ever watched and we won't do as badly as that next year so there's no reason to sack him. You were born in 2010? I wasn't as bothered about the relegation season because there was so much going on (Keegan, Kinnear, Shearer etc) that it was likely to end badly. There's no excuses at all for how badly last year went and that to me is far worse.