Heake

In line with the "roller coaster" that is following this mad house I fully expect to have lost another blue chip player by 11pm tonight without signing anyone & go on to smash the Albanians tomorrow leaving us both utterly bewildered & exhilarated in equal measure.

painful, but the only way to galvanise support - which remains the only hope, in the short term, to oust Ashley. The problem, as I see it, is we`ve played some canny decent stuff this season, enough to marginalise those who were militant enough to stand & be counted. Unless things get considerably worse, apathy will be the deciding factor in determining our short-medium term future. Its the age old "anger is an energy" thing, without it, the majority will, as has been the case for years, will just remain sick as fuck whilst enjoying the odd day in the sun. Or maybe it was always meant to be this way? Either way, I`ll be steaming by 11pm tonight.

You can only do that if the players club wants to sell and the player wants to come laughable No, common sense. Whilst decent theatre (If you like that sort of thing) & a blatant excuse for bone idle plagiaristic journalists, transfer deadline day seems to always throw up this kind of nonsense. Its as if transfer dealings fall into the bracket of neuroscience or quantum mechanics FFS. You have a scouting network & contacts within the game in order that the players you fancy can be tapped & their availability evaluated so that when the windows open, its simply a case of thrashing out deals between interested parties. deadline day panics being a clear manifestation of the brinkmanship between agents / clubs etc. & the obvious downside to having "short" windows. However, if you have a clued up, experienced & skilled set up, there's no reason why you cant be savvy enough to fill the gaps that need filling. Assuming we don't get any deals "over the line" by 11pm, this can only be gross incompetence or club policy. To argue otherwise is either unbelievably naïve or disingenuous. My monies on a mixture of the two: Incompetence (Kinnear) & club policy (Ashley) People who cant believe the state we`re in have short memories mind.

The problem with upping the anti is your only one good result / performance away from more mass ambivalence

Anyone see that Uncal Mick clown on the box before the match by the way? It was either him or his look must make up the generic goon appearance in the gene pools of mackemdon It provided the only source of entertainment all afternoon to be honest.

If Partridge fails to get a result against that lot, Poyet or no Poyet, then he really needs to walk away. Pound for pound we`re head & shoulders ahead of them, only very poor planning & tactics would allow them anything from the game.

Yep, I`d go along with that. Hold on to your butts folks Joe`s in the wings & he`s ready for the cue.... (I think we`ll get beat tomorrow) The ideal scenario is that we play utter gash & somehow fluke a win & he bites the dust anyway. Mind you, that old cliché "be careful what you wish for" should be ringing in everyone's ears at the moment

I disagree, why should he give up an absolutely amazing job just because it's not perfect? It's not like he's Mourinho and can pick and choose his setup exactly. This is entirely the point: He has chosen the pragmatic, in terms of the economics & the ego, alternative to his professional integrity. Don't get me wrong, what modicum of professional integrity I possess would be insignificant against the kind of wages & profile he enjoys at NUFC. but its not about me. Besides, I`m sure I`m not the only hypocrite that's posted on this forum I don't think 'integrity' means you should give up any job that doesn't perfectly suit you though. You have to weigh the factors. Yes, he has to accept the players Carr signs and basically do what he's told, but he's still the manager of a top club and works with quality players on a daily basis. The only way for him is down, there's no reason for him to walk out. I`m of the opinion that he`s woefully short of what is required at this level & is still nowhere near getting optimum performances from the players at his disposal on a consistent level. He is tactically inept to the point that even both Dicanio & Bruce taught him a lesson lately(There are numerous other examples) & his record over the last year & a half is woeful. He may have a job that "perfectly suits him", but its clearly not a good fit from a fans point of view, surely. Sadly, he comes across as quite a nice bloke & its never good karma to wish a bloke out of a job, but we really should be doing so much better, & he knows this.

I disagree, why should he give up an absolutely amazing job just because it's not perfect? It's not like he's Mourinho and can pick and choose his setup exactly. This is entirely the point: He has chosen the pragmatic, in terms of the economics & the ego, alternative to his professional integrity. Don't get me wrong, what modicum of professional integrity I possess would be insignificant against the kind of wages & profile he enjoys at NUFC. but its not about me. Besides, I`m sure I`m not the only hypocrite that's posted on this forum

You have to question Partridges integrity given the public undermining he has been subjected to during his tenure. If he had any professional pride, he would have walked months ago. I couldn't have been the only one who watched Bayern last night & was in awe at the chasm of difference in coaching between that of Guardiola compared to him. I genuinely believe that with a decent coach / coaching setup, we could be perennial top sixers. (Edit: & win a fucking cup!)

Think as Ron said, if we sit deep and stay compact you would hope they would struggle to break us down and providing Remy's fit, we do have the speed for an effective counter attack. I think they'll be very conscious of the fact that they won't have too many wins this season and will see us as a real chance of getting 3 points. I'd rather that than them sitting deep and watch us ponce about without any penetration.

Has he reallythough? I would argue that the inconstant & at times, frankly appalling football being dished up, of which Partridge is ultimately responsible for promotes instability & can polarise the "dressing room" to the point of anarchy. There have been rumours that this may have happened more than once under his tenure already.

I don't buy into that. I would imagine big Mike would have more than covered himself, if not I`m sure his lawyers would have insisted on it. No, my reasoning as to why he`s still here is on the lines of: - Partridge would be the classic "turkey voting for Xmas" if he walked. - Ashley`s reputation / ego would undoubtedly take a big hit were his judgment seen to be so poor (Though I`m not sure how much of a fuck he gives about that mind.)

Why not go for a more progressive, utopian approach & not have any fucker? The 1st team can be simply determined by the outcome of an intense cards school on, say, Thursday after training. Training being what everyone fancies on any given day. Matchday would simply be a case of hanging the shirts up & letting them getting on with it. Post match interviews could be a series of pre-recorded, generic footballing cliché`s compiled from sampled archive footage of "Big Ron" / Dave "Harry" Bassett & their ilc. I wouldn't be able to tell the fucking difference man.

Such is the current state of the club I doubt whether we`d gain any tangible benefits from sacking him. He`s desperately "short of the mark" as a manager at this level but Ashleys recruitment record suggests we`d probably take another two steps backward should he give him the boot. Ashleys NUFC`s prime function is to appease the accountants & has no real aspirations to achieve silverware, this is on record. As a consequence, we get the food we need to survive & anymore is a waste - The appointment of JFK to oversee the summers "underspend" is, I believe, testament to this. Sacking Partridge makes sense in footballing terms, but the odds are we`ll not go down & as long as he continue`s to provide premiership football we will operate as an insipid pale shadow of the club we were a decade or so ago. The fans remain both the problem & the solution in this scenario in that the will for change is there but the militancy required to bring about a change is not (Generally speaking). I didn't enjoy any of last night, I used to, even when we got beat it was usually a close affair, but its just fucking soul destroying at that moment. & it only Tuesday

Joe Kinnear

I`m inclined to despise the part of me that says "fuck him, he is where he is & he`s had enough chances & more than enough help from people with vastly more resources than the average man."...But its there. However anyone with an ounce of compassion can see he`s a desperate soul who is clearly mentally ill. Unfortunately for him, it seems there are almost an equal amount of twats out to exploit him as there are to help him. consequentially, his chances don't look good in the long term.

Very well put. That is just an embarrassing mentality to be honest. Oh no, we shouldn't try and improve the club's situation as there is a slight risk the next owner might be even worse, as unlikely as it is. By the same token we may as well keep Pardew for the duration of his contract regardless of relegations or results, because you never how the next manager is going to fare. Would you consider Ashley to be worse than Shepherd - Hall? Yes, hands down. He's several tens of millions of cash taken out behind Shepherd and Hall in the badness stakes tbh. I knew such a childish reply would come, hence I edited my post. I have absolutely no problem with an owner doing well as a result of the club doing well. The club was on the fast lane to insolvency whilst Shepherd / Hall saw it as a cash cow which was milked on a very regular basis. Shepherd was quite unambiguous in his opinion on you and I on their infamous "cultural trip" in "98.

Very well put. That is just an embarrassing mentality to be honest. Oh no, we shouldn't try and improve the club's situation as there is a slight risk the next owner might be even worse, as unlikely as it is. By the same token we may as well keep Pardew for the duration of his contract regardless of relegations or results, because you never how the next manager is going to fare. Would you consider Ashley to be worse than Shepherd - Hall? Much of muchness really. I loathe Shepherd more than I hate Ashley, but they're both absolute w*****s. Absolutely, so if we accept that the last two / three owners have been utter cocks (Two of which were supposed to be fans before owners), why should the next owner (who is unlikely to be a fan - unless we see some bizarre lottery win / massive change of heart form Ashley) place the fans interests above hard cash? I can respect a "beer glass half full" attitude, but to assume that the next owner(s) would be any less frustrating than the present incumbent is, at the very least, optimistic. If there exists a benevolent prospective custodian who has the long term interests of the club & the region at heart & the funds to back it up perhaps someone should give them a call & tell them to get there asses down to the Orange Tree pretty fucking pronto to thrash out a deal.

Very well put. That is just an embarrassing mentality to be honest. Oh no, we shouldn't try and improve the club's situation as there is a slight risk the next owner might be even worse, as unlikely as it is. By the same token we may as well keep Pardew for the duration of his contract regardless of relegations or results, because you never how the next manager is going to fare. Would you consider Ashley to be worse than Shepherd - Hall?

I remember going to a popular sports memorabilia / book shop (You know the one) in Newcastle before a game last season to buy a copy of True Faith. One bloke behind the counter asked if I also fancied a copy of "Black & White daft" while I was at it as it offered a more light hearted perspective on life around NUFC at the moment. "There's only so many time you can call Ashley a fat bastard" he said. I think this kind of sums up the majority of the support at the moment & is perhaps a fair reflection on society as a whole nowerdays. I think we`re all fucked off with it / him but unless he bites the hand harder than he is at the moment, I just want to hold on to one of the few pleasures in life I still enjoy & can do well: Drinking & getting up for it at match days.

Whilst the suggestion of a boycott is well meaning & in principal a powerful tool if "successful". It is, in my opinion, unlikely ever to attract the kind of numbers to force any tangible change in Ashleys mind-set. Some of the posts in this thread are alarmingly lucid & informative but, unfortunately, insular. I would suggest that attendance to home matches are seen by most as an important element in their social life, and that to sacrifice them, would be a sacrifice too far. I think there are a few more rungs down the ladder we need to go to in order to convince enough people bite their noses off on a Saturday afternoon. Also, a boycott of Sports direct would be both unrealistic, in terms of the lack of alternative sports shops on the high street (Ashley now has a monopoly in this market) for people who could be arsed to look for one & inconsequential, in terms of its potential to hit Ashley hard enough to care. I am becoming more ambivalent towards Ashley as the days go on. I find his stewardship unambitious, embarrassing & crass at the best of times but I just wonder what would come over the hill should he decide to bail out.

So you go out with all intentions of a romantic liaison to your favourite Italian Restaurant, order starters & an exquisite Chianti. An hour later & she `s "put the bean on you"!! ....All because you overheard someone say "when she's been on the wine, she usually gives the head"

Ms Bellamy said: “She couldn’t give any reason as to why she headbutted the male, but said she tends to headbutt people, especially when she drinks wine.”

Donald Mcintyre? I thought he meant that fat bloke with the glasses (Who`s name eludes me) who more than often used to get twatted every week. (He might be dead now)