Chicken Dancer

Yes and no really. If either go on a mad one until May and wind up with well north of 70pts then fair play. If they end up with about the average and we don’t then we’ve failed.

I understand what you’re all saying and was not meant to discredit Bournemouth or Forest whatsoever. They’ve both been mint. I still stand by what I said. This version of Newcastle should not be finishing below either, especially with no European football or injury crisis. If 4th/5th points ends up being about the average and we don’t get there at the expense of either, then I think that could be considered a failure of a season. Obviously if we win the cup I’d be delighted to finish 17th.

I'm definitely of the opinion that if we can't get Champions League this season without the distraction of European football + Man Utd/Spurs being shite + 5th likely being enough, it's been a failure. Especially if Forest or Bournemouth (or both) finish above us. Nothing against them - they've both been absolutely mint so far - but we definitely shouldn't be finishing below either of them at present. Especially given most of our 'stars' have avoided long periods out with injury. My main worry is that despite being class for about 6 weeks over the festive period, something has been off all year. From the first minute against Southampton back in August something just seems missing. Recently, we've seemingly reverted to type and it looks very much as stale as it did in the early part of the season. If we lose the final, I'm hoping that it works similar to 22/23 when we started to pick back up again and had that fantastic spring when we were blowing teams away on a weekly basis. Sadly, this current team looks and plays nowt like that team.

Oh aye. Absolutely bewildered why that wasn’t a yellow either Was fucking shocking that actually. Gutted to be reminded.

I thought he, alongside many in their team, were utter cunts all day. Fouling constantly and obstructing off the ball. Baleba should have got a second yellow too. He pulled Tino in the second half but Tino didnt go down. Convinced if he does he gets booked again.

I was a member in 22/23 and was much easier to get tickets and sit where you want. It’s the ballots that’s fucked it. pretty sure the club sell tickets for inflated prices on 3rd party websites too, which won’t help.

Honestly one of the worst I’ve felt leaving the stadium in years and I honestly mean that. Absolutely fuming - it’s very rare you’ll get to the quarters with the teams that are left in it now. An absolutely huge opportunity missed and it will be even more sickening when one of Bournemouth, Brighton or Villa go on to win it. I certainly wouldn’t fear playing Man City at Wembley at the minute. It feels like 2023 all over again. Playing absolutely shit in the lead up to the final. Was quietly confident when we beat Arsenal that we could cause Liverpool problems. Now I’m pretty certain we’re to be embarrassed on and off the pitch.

One of the most fuming I’ve been leaving a game in a while that. We’d have never had a better chance at the FA cup in a long time. Timid display on and off the pitch. Mind the officials were shocking. Every contentious throw went their way. But hard to make excuses on a day we were flat. Proper de ja vu of the final in 2023.

Potentially recency bias but Jesus, that was by far the worst I can remember. Timid atmosphere to match a timid display.

This is pretty much me. Me, dad & brother gave up ST and almost 500pts between us. I’ve been fortunate enough to get one back since, but it doesn’t feel the same for some reason. Still get up and down when we win/lose, but something doesn’t feel right. Maybe just still in shock that we’re competitive tbh

The thing that riles me most is that there's plenty who think people just jacked in their tickets because we were shit Surely if that was the case, the 2x Championship seasons would have been the place to start? I'm not saying people didn't wrap their tickets then, but the exodus in 2019 was purely down to Benitez leaving/Bruce getting the job. Making a stand. There were regular attendances of 50k + in the Championship season of 16/17. I had nowt against those who stayed and those who packed in. It was a tough decision that I absolutely thought about long and hard. I've been ridiculously fortunate to get a ST since but saying folks packed it because we were shite is completely wide of the mark.

What a rant to read this morning. He seems like a bit of an arsehole.

Yeah but my point being is she has no ST, so how does she get tickets for every game?

I'd be going full strength for this. We've a very decent shout of going far in this competition, especially given Liverpool are out. Beat these and I'd literally take anybody at home. In fact I'd probably prefer Man Utd or Man City. Win this and we are a game away from Wembley again. 100% Full strength. Them two away ties at the Amex under Pardew were grim.

Artificial 'limbs' too. Not so much with us (yet), but all you see on social media is 'THESE LIMBS...WOW'. The same knobbers hoying £7 pints of piss lager during international tournaments.

To be fair I've been to Anfield 4 times and it was absolutely shite all 4. I'd hazard a guess their league position more than out else contributed to the atmosphere. That being said, I completely agree about the acoustics & character of Anfield being class, but especially their song book. Them & Man Utd always seem to have long songs that catch on fairly quick. We're lucky to hear Blaydon Races these days. FWIW their fans have had similar complaints re Anfield as we are having now with St James'.

I've nowt against her, but isn't that Charlotte on record saying she doesn't/didn't have a ST post-takeover? She's at most away games her. It does make you wonder.

Pissing in the wind sadly. There'll be people munching Bao buns recording the Scousers singing YNWA.

Definitely! He's your typical 'old-school' fan. I remember going to my first few aways with him in the early 00s and him starting chants on the bus and in the ground and almost cringing. Now I look back and think fair fucking play. He was even banging on about the support in the 80s then, so you can imagine how he feels these days. But even in his 60s he's definitely what I would consider a vocal fan for sure.

I could be wrong but I do genuinely believe we lost a fairly vocal home & away element of our support in the summer of 2019 when they walked alongside Benitez. Obviously the way the tickets are issued both home and away play a massive part (probably the main part). I only get to about 4 or 5 a season now (I done 18/23 in 16/17!) and there's definitely a different 'feel' about the away ends these days. By that I mean the type of people I see in the away ends as well as the support levels. Definitely much, much worse. I got told to sit down or move by a fellow fan in the San Siro ffs Coppers basically told us to stand anywhere! I've gave my Wembley ticket to my old man which was always the plan, but I can't see it being any different to 2023.

Eurgh. I hate this fixture. Home and away, but especially away.

This is pretty much it. The only people I don't sympathise with on the subject of moving are those who are just utterly selfish bastards. I genuinely see why people would want to stay and why they would want to move, but those who want to stay purely because they know they are sorted can come across as right pricks. I've a season ticket and I'd be glad to move in order for the club to take the next step. The pros far outweigh the cons for me. There's also a pretty staunch group of our fans who see members are proper peasants or something. It's lifting at times.

I hope so! It should be mentioned too that those 3 games are sandwiched between Ipswich, Chelsea & Everton at home. Hopefully Arsenal away is moved as we are in the FA Cup final that weekend.

Probably quite a few, but they'll definitely be disappointed if they think it will. When the Anfield Rd end was completed by about 10,000 extra seats, I'm sure Liverpool made 10% available for new Season Tickets. Stating the obvious here but one off tickets make the club a lot more money than season ticket holders. That won't change and the club will be looking at 18k extra as more ££. A parent taking their child, whether local or not, is going to likely spend so much more in the ground than a ST holder who MIGHT get a single pie or a pint. There surely can't be many fans who sup even 3/4 in the ground. If I'm feeling frisky and I'm in early enough I'll get 1 pre-match and 1 at HT, but more often than not I get neither. The new stadium will have much better facilities and I reckon they'll do some drinks/food offers post-match like Spurs do to encourage people to maybe stay and watch some of the later game with a few drinks, but given our individual/group routines, and the proximity of the stadium to the city it will never be like Spurs up here. They should definitely bring in a waiting list though. I think given the Trust shat their pants and did nothing for those who cancelled in protest (uploaded points etc, including me) they should try fly the flag for them if they can. I doubt it, but it would be nice for those who haven't been fortunate like myself to get sorted since. The Trust said they didn't approach the club as only about 30 people did it (bollocks btw), so surely 30 wouldn't hurt anybody.

Our away games worry me. Last 3 away are Villa, Brighton & Arsenal. We genuinely should be winning all of our home games left in the league, but well aware that we will probably have at least one slip in there. Hopefully we make up for it with a win at one of the 3 mentioned. Yesterday really was a huge win. Fully expecting our annual defeat at Anfield on Wednesday, so beating West Ham the Monday before the final would be a nice way to go into the game.