Shadow Puppets

Again, for what though? There is no chance of progress or hope. We all agree on that. The only thing is getting Ashley out. Only point is to remain in the pl on the tiny tiny chance we get a takeover Because there very well may be a way to force Ashley to sell without it drastically affecting the fortunes of Rafa and the team. Would you prefer us to go down and force Ashley out, or stay up and force Ashley out?

There’s nothing particularly factually incorrect about that statement, and we all know Rafa wants to unite people behind the team, so it’s absolutely possible he’d put his name to it. I don’t really have a problem with it to be honest. It’s basically just “please get behind the team in the stadium” kind of thing.

From 2016

I know for a fact that that £6m clause isn't true by the way. It was in the first 12 months of his contract, but not now.

You, my friend, come across as such a reactionary moron. Can you not see the difference between Pardew and Rafa is that Pardew would be complicit in the summer we've just had, Rafa has been fighting for us. He's been energising the fan base to try to make a difference. He doesn't want to leave. He loves the club, that much is clear. I think, deep down, he is holding on in blind hope that we will be sold. In the meantime he's just getting on with the job. The only job in hand though is to keep the man who shafted him on the gravy train for another year. That's it. Yes pardew would be complicit and Rafa gave up his summer holiday again but maybe more fool him as he hasn't learnt off last year. He just sounds too content with what has happened. Total disgrace and he seems ok with it. There just feels nothing to get behind anymore club feels dead. I think he knows Ashley is going nowhere and I can see him signing a new deal and having a few more summer windows like we have just had. Rafa gets adored and a huge salary and uncle mike stays on the gravy train. Everyone wins but us again That has to be the most skewed view on the situation that I've read so far. Congratulations. Why should Rafa walk? He loves the club, loves his job. It is those above him who are accountable. Maybe he feels that the longer he is here, with the fans on his side, the more we can collectively ramp the pressure up on Ashley. Rafa knows that if he walks, the hopes of a city go with him. Some will protest, yes, but most will be thrown straight back into the apathetic mindset that came before. Rafa is the only manager we've had in my living memory to have come out swinging for the owners whilst still working here. He's trying to change the club from the inside. He knows it's potential. But it's potential is gone if he goes.

You, my friend, come across as such a reactionary moron. Can you not see the difference between Pardew and Rafa is that Pardew would be complicit in the summer we've just had, Rafa has been fighting for us. He's been energising the fan base to try to make a difference. He doesn't want to leave. He loves the club, that much is clear. I think, deep down, he is holding on in blind hope that we will be sold. In the meantime he's just getting on with the job.

One.

"2 out of 3 ain't bad" - Lee Charnley, 9th August 2018

It's a double-edged sword. What Rafa has done with limited funds IS impressive, but the argument is that we could push on further if the owner had any ambition to do so. Exactly right when you look at the business other clubs have completed and some of those with respect are far smaller than this one it is an actual piss take. How any genuine supporter can say otherwise- well they are not a genuine supporter if they think everything is ok Well yes, I completely agree with you... but the idea here is surely to convince EVERYONE, not just our support, of his bad ownership. By all means use those figures, but just be prepared to be shot down repeatedly without a stronger message. "But Shelvey/Diame/Lascelles/Ritchie would have been £20m+ players in today's market" "But look how well you did without investment... why should Ashley care" "But you've managed to still improve your sqaud this summer, even with making a profit. Why should Ashley care about investing more" These are just some of the comments you'll get back. If the infographic is framed so that it's about Rafa's brilliant management, and then add in "just imagine what we could achieve if we had an owner who cared about us improving". That would be a more water tight argument IMO.

I don't know... it's very easy for the press / Ashley's cronies, to turn around and say "look how well we did creating a premier league 10th finish team with next to no spend". There's a risk people will find it impressive.

The best thing you can do, in my opinion, is direct your anger (in a peaceful way) towards Sports Direct and the other companies Ashley is involved in (including Keith Bishop Associates). It's working... slowly, but it's working.

I'd hate to lose Rafa for the sake of hoping people joined in the protests. I'd much prefer to explore as many avenues as possible to put pressure on Ashley as a fanbase without losing the only good thing about the club in the process.

Protests won't get him out of the club. Untill some one pays him his asking price he'll stick around unfortunately And what affect do you think anti-SD protests have on his asking price? Do you think it will raise it? If we hammer SD, that decreases the value of the free advertising he gets from the club. It's not hard to follow the logic really, don't be intentionally dense. Protests have never worked with this man.. it will have zero effect on his asking price.

I'm very much of the opinion that Rafa and the players need our support, so I'm all for people continuing to go to the games. However, I love the idea of focusing protests on Ashley's main business interests other than NUFC. We have to become such an inconvenience to him, where it's actually affecting the running of his other businesses, before he really commits to leaving, in my opinion.

Perez gets abused in the ground by all the old cunts who think they know best like. So he should. Barring a good 5 games at the end of the season, he’s been woeful for 2 years.

Not a chance, but I do believe he’s on there to get even closer with our fan base, ultimately helping his cause when he starts to inevitably turn the screw on Ashley and co.

Outstanding!!!

??? “Jewels remain still cleaming”

I've come round to this guy. He actually looks semi serious about Iniesta ?

Where does he say that?

He was shite last night like. Miscontrolled everything. But I’m willing to give him a few more run outs to see what’s he’s got.

What a performance that was...probably our most assured away performance of the season I reckon.

Wow.

I remember the first half of the season being boring but effective football. Second half of the season we played some fantastic stuff. Yes, we had some great players, but Pardew definitely had them set up right.