D. Yimentov

[quote author=RS link=topic=104159.msg7196257#msg7196257 date=1587297999

Ah. Happy days. NCB donkey jackets, the clinging smog of a thousand benson and hedges. p*ss cascading down the concrete steps. Sitting on the crush barriers. The only space on the terrace when someone lit a giant firework and you were the only one unaware. Happy days man.

Exactly

Can you not think Saudi Arabia's politics are barbaric whilst supporting the club?

 

It was the same with Ashley and his abhorrent business practices. I'm boycotting, but that's because of the way he's running the club as opposed to his shithousery at SD.

 

I'm not saying turn a blind eye, but if you protested the ownership of every business and their behaviour you'd have a full time job on your hands.

Would you be willing to support the team and protest the regime?

"We want the Suadis out, say we wan...... Is that Neymar warming up?"

As someone who grew up as a ST holder during the KK years, trust me when I say, if this is as it appears on the surface, for those unfamiliar with NUFC as a good club, a competitive club, a club with good intentions - you are in for one hell of a ride.

 

I used to go to every home game, getting to the ground for 130pm thinking only of how many we'd score, how many we'd win by, being disappointed when we drew at home (!) and taking delight in every top player linked and then inevitably signed.

 

The atmosphere was out of this world. The momentum frightening.

 

When that city is behind it's football team, I mean like fully on board, there is nothing like it anywhere.

 

Buckle up.

 

Only problem is is getting those fans we had in the 90’s back into the ground in place of the Ashley apologists and modern day football fan.

 

Lots of things have changed with football and society since then and most of them to the detriment of the match day experience.

 

It’s the same with going to see bands on the whole these days too.

 

Hopefully it’s a great ride if it happens but will never be like the KK days IMO. Hopefully I’m proven wrong.

 

I agree with this unfortunately. The decline of heavy industry and rise of the service sector means we're all a bunch of ponces now. We'll still have the best atmosphere in the country but the energy of 1993 probably won't be there.

 

Just silly

Rafa with a tea towel on his head looks just the same. We could kill two birds with one stone.

@ All you Adam Smith types,

Is buying the failing brands of the high street good business strategy or is it mental?

Over the line, under the table, through the mud and up Steve's arse.

The new owners will absolutely 100% unarguably be morally way behind the western world, and worse than Ashley.

 

But I am firmly of the opinion that it has very little to do with the fans and shouldn’t be thrown at them as a moral dilemma. We have no choice in who our owners are (as has been made abundantly clear over the last 13 years). All we can do is support the team and hopefully enjoy watching some good football. I think it’s fair to say that you can love what the owners are doing to your club and hate their human rights record at the same time.

 

Muslims think the western world is a moral cesspit.

Christians think the western world is a moral cesspit.

I think it's a moral cesspit, although not always for the same reasons as the religious folk. The point is, declaring ourselves unequivoally 100% morally superior is nuts.

The new owners will absolutely 100% unarguably be morally way behind the western world, and worse than Ashley.

 

But I am firmly of the opinion that it has very little to do with the fans and shouldn’t be thrown at them as a moral dilemma. We have no choice in who our owners are (as has been made abundantly clear over the last 13 years). All we can do is support the team and hopefully enjoy watching some good football. I think it’s fair to say that you can love what the owners are doing to your club and hate their human rights record at the same time.

Muslims think the western world is a moral cesspit.

I'm officially moist

We'll be so moist that Rafa will have to go round with a spatula to get us out of our seats after the games.

We could just continue to make the Sir John bigger. Just keep pushing back into Leazes Park until it's 5 tiers high and the East Stand looks like a toothpaste box from the back row.

Cantona literally could have had three red cards!

The stamp on Shearer was a fucking disgrace. Would've broken Al's ankle if he'd connected properly.

What are some Ashley-isms that you hope to never hear again after he's gone? I'll start with "purple players".

Purple manager. Quite literally.

Transfer targets full leak:

 

 

 

I'd doubt they'll have time for Mickey Mouse bullshit either

What tactic do you think Amanda go for in the press conference?

1. I'm not hear to discuss politics.

2. Saudi Arabia is a fantastic country and the prince is lush.

3. Mmm... dry biscuits.

Remember when it was stated he was trouble and had a bad attitude? Maybe that's what a personality equals in football these days.

 

Easily my favourite player. Whatever happens next, I hope he's on the journey with us.

 

Agree

 

 

Apparently he’s late to training on occasion which maybe Bruce is willing to overlook somewhat given how important to the team he is.

No chance Rafa will stand for it.

I actually really enjoyed seeing how well organised we were.  It was quite cathartic knowing your manager knew what he was doing and wasnt relying on mavericks or 'big performances' week in week out.

 

I still dont understand why people ignore what he achieved in the second half of the season when he had Almiron at his disposal.

 

Tbf, I judged him on his time at Liverpool where his caution against weaker teams probably cost them the title. Always tagged him as more of a cup winner than a title type. That said, I have said in the other thread that given he is highly intelligent and a student of the game, he's probably moved on quite a lot since those days. He doesn't seem the type not to learn and adapt to the modern game and more effective styles of the day. Would love to see what he would produce now if he had a quality squad available to him.

 

This is the thing that excites me most. Although it's a double edged sword in the sense that I actually don't actually think he bought well for the Championship season and he does have that precedent of buying hard to shift dross.

 

There's always been this question mark over players Rafa has bought, but one thing which I think gets overlooked sometimes, is that he buys players to fit his methods. Individually they might look fairly s****, but generally as a team they get results. I'm not sure he would buy Maximin for example, he'd probably buy someone who looked a lot less flash, but you can bet his team would function better than a Brucey one with the flash players.

He's also bought a lot of players who he instantly realised were shit and kept them locked out of view. I would like to see Rafa back but from everything I've read the transfer market is one of his weaker areas.

One of the best things about Rafa is his professional conduct. No headbutts, no dry biscuits, no grinning after getting dicked 5-0 at Chelsea. He's an excellent face for any club and you can tell he's well liked by lots of other top blokes. I think that sort of stuff can go a long way towards influencing referees and the media.

I've wondered, given the proximity of her home, if she's got some personal affection for the club, either through a family connection or something else. I'm quite certain that brokering deals for the world's largest sovereign wealth fund has absolutely nowt to do with football fandom, but perhaps the fact that she wants to be on the board would suggest a personal edge to the proceedings? Plus the fact she's just kept coming back and back and back despite being told to f*** off and publicly embarrassed. Either way, you just get a good feeling from her; I'm excited at the prospect of her being involved because of her track record, her persistence and - like I say - the hint that she might personally really fancy it.

I've wondered this too. Then again, anyone with sense can see the potential of a club like Newastle or Leeds. It's only people like Merson and Gorilla Digits who think we should never be able to compete with Southampton.

SSN were interviewing Kevin Phillip's  the other day and the presenter asked him how the Saudi influence would affect the power balance in North East football.

 

Sunderland might have to take a back seat

If they finish the season of 18 months later, nobody is counting it as a real season, right?

I hope fans from up and down the land will remind Liverpool that they didn't really win the league.

Great article!

 

http://www.true-faith.co.uk/takeover-fake-news/

 

 

 

Was going to post this yesterday but dont like Micheal Martin particularly.

I had an argument with him when I was 8. I said Ginola was right-footed; he said left-footed.

What was Alan Oliver like? Bit before my time really. Laurent Robert tried to give him a hiding didnt he?

 

Was so far up Freddie's arse that he was almost signing the checks himself. He acted like the Oracle of the north and was extremely annoying, as well as ugly as f***. But he did often have the inside line, despite the odd hilarious mistake (Brett Emerton).

 

Wonder whatever happened to him.

Yeah, Oliver was close to the club so he usually had the scoop.

I actually have some sympathy for Lee Ryder though. I'm also dreadful at spell chegking my own work. If I were him I'd get Sandra the receptionist to look over my articles before submitting them. I'd also recommend that he sticks with phrases he knows how to use, like John Gibson does. In John's journalistic arsenal he has, "More chance of finding Lord Lucan", "More chance of finding Shergar" and "More chance of finding Lord Lucan" again.

I don't see how even with all the money in the world you could instantly build a title trophy winning team anyway. The league has changed so much from when say Chelsea "bought" success. Even newly promoted teams can spunk 30/40 million on a player. You need a boss who can manage and gel together a pampered lot into a unit. We aren't needing 1 or 2 additions. Years of under investment has seen clubs pass us by. With every window they too strength widening that gap. We need a long term plan to get a core team together and then add those quality players in window by window  cycling out failed and aged acquisitions you know like a good/normal club should.

 

Simple answer , you can’t and we won’t .

 

It’s not what we want , FCB gone then a club that tries, job done.

I think you absolutely can. Football's rotten. If these blokes want to come and throw silly money around, I can't see anyone stopping them. They might have to pay fines or take some hits, or they might just bribe someone off and do whatever the fuck they want, but if they're in it for a dick measuring contest, they shan't be stopped.

Time will tell.

Remember when it was stated he was trouble and had a bad attitude? Maybe that's what a personality equals in football these days.

 

Easily my favourite player. Whatever happens next, I hope he's on the journey with us.

I get the impression he's not as zany as people like to imagine he is. Whenever I've seen him interviewed he seems pretty normal. The whackiest thing he's done is swear on the radio.

I've noticed they have this weird thing going where they pretend to not understand why we adore our club legends, and declare us fools for not appreciating some of the worst people ever to have been associated with the club.

Now that everybody hates us, I hope we celebrate our 6th and 7th goals in games like the weird American ladies did at the world cup when they beat those amateur Thai girls (there's a google search).