Wolfcastle

She had a relationship of sorts with Rafa Benitez - that's really the main thing for me that Staveley is/was genuine. I don't think she'd be in cahoots with Ashley and toy with Rafa if that were the case. Other than publicity and not good publicity I just cant see what would be in it for her but that can be said of BZG too. Its strange that these people would allow themselves to be used and made to look stupid, even if it is just a front, by Ashley. Even if they were in on it getting slaughtered by cretins like Martin Samuel and talked about as incompetent by football fans generally and as scammers in cahoots with an percieved pig like Ashley. I can see that with Kenyon mind.

^ ^ ^ Yep. He is, his replacement will be and their replacements will all be bad and irrelevant. Nothing will change until the owner goes.

The only thing the coach can control is the performance. Good, bad or indifferent coaching isn't always reflected in results. The performances are 100% his to own and they are probably or certainly the most consistently bad in the history of the club. In any regard including Keegan, I don't reall us ever being this consistent. On the other side being a patsy he can't defend himself without indirectly criticising the running of the club - one indicts the others poor performance. I suppose he's not out of his depth at this or to put it another way, he's decent at lying and pretending. And he's respected by the fans about as much as all that deserves in fairness. Todays shower was criticised by the same national media that will be saying he's doing a great job iater in the week. This for them was a rare sight of Bruce's NUFC. This is how it is every week. So if its this bad, by the admission of BBC/Talk S**t pundits and commentators - imagine seeing that every week and it being parroted to us that he's doing a 'great job'. A terrible showing x20 = good job apparently.

Don't need fans. All you need is an audience. They're wallpapering the place FFS. I fear that. Its contradicts itself in essence but I know you mean paying fans and isn't that the reason for the fakeover in the first place? What other reason was there to do it twice this year other than that? He is sociopathic and the only other alternative is he's a full-blown sicko in this regard. There was no need for good PR. He's already acquired that from enough areas.

Totally agree with the OP. Fell out of love with football in the early 2000s and it was just NUFC until it was comatosed by Ashley. Its not the same thing so its only reasonable that peoples feelings change on it. I'm convinced football games are a lot worse than they were - a stinker was rare in the 90s in the PL and the atmosphere's could even carry them. Whislt the quality of players at the lower end has improved its been condensed into a much of a muchness - top players are nowhere near as good as top players were and there's less of them. Very few can even beat a man despite tackling being all but obsolete. Relatively recently I've watched Aston Villa v Sheffield Wed 94/95 (both lower end of mid-table that year) and Coventry v Swindon 93/94 (Swindon were the original joke until mackems and Derby came along) - both those games, unspectacular at the time would be 5star matches now. There's a theory I read somewhere, based around Don Bradman that better explains this. There are rarely jokes in world cups now but also France are the worst world champions I've seen by a million miles. To say nothing of the media being dumbed down severely since the 90s, the atmosphere's the worst they've been and only getting worse, messing up FA cup 3rd round day. The FA Cup is now what the league cup was, the league cup now is what the ZDS cup was. Maybe its just that football is painfully uncool now. Too mainstream, corrupted, soulless, sold its traditions out, atmosphere. Relatively few people seem to get fun out of it now too. That atmoshpere yesterday was a morgue as it probably was when Arsenal were getting 18,000 in the 80s and we played there - a difference now is the hype now massively out-weighs the product and the soulless nature of it - all that money for the same product - makes it feel worse.

You're right. The perpetual decline is underway. The law of diminishing returns is in place re tickets, fakeover lies, hope etc. All the managers have control over is performances and these performances are far closer to relegation places than almighty 12th and that will surely balance itself out and likewise the clubs value. That price isn't going to get any higher but he's sadistic enough to take a hit on that to f**k the club up a while longer. A relegation - who would even care about coming back to the PL under this owner again?! Only one person benefits - him. So attendances would plummet in that event - even with freebies. The good news is it seems like it would take doing a sunderland or at least staying in the championship with a half empty stadium to get rid of him and for the penny to finally drop that the end product from this owner is misery and it must be stopped. I'd snap someones hands off for a couple seasons in the championship to get rid of this c**t.

3points We had 28points after Huddersfield and before Burnley on Feb 23rd last season and won the next game and 28points the year before, drawing the next game Lose to Palace and its exactly the same as last season apart from the far worse football and apart from of course "Bruce is doing an excellent job" where his predecessor didn't. The only way that is true is if they're taking into account the owner is horrific but the same cretins that think Bruce is doing an excellent job also think Ashley is. So he's got a good owner and is producing this!? and this!?! is excellent!?! The only people thicker are those that believe what these idiots parrott.

Sheik Mansour was genuine. "The Arabs wanted Keegan" - Derek Llambias and when Ashley d**ked them around they went and bought a similar sized club for a fraction of the price from an actual willing seller. Its just too prepostorous to believe we'd be the only club in the top two division that nobody's been interested in buying or investing in and that its always someone elses fault and never Ashley. You need to be able to think for yourself to mind you.

I think were already banned from Europe, by the owner, on account of it being a benefit to the club but not to him. (a double jeopardy as far as he's concerned) Amazing how many times what's right for the club and right for Ashley clash. Europe, the club losing land - the Ashley family getting richer etc. The two are in direct competition with each other and nothing is said. He benefits to the exact tune the club is damaged.

Fine. I just want this club out of the coma its been in for 13years first. Besides we've got a lot of natural potential to be re unleashed.

Corona-virus! Remember how it was the financial crash that was blocking the sale of the club 10years ago?

The only thing that's for sure is he doesn't really want to sell and that club has only ever been up for sale in name only. I don't know what his game is with this - roping the Saudi's into it to sell a few season tickets and provide an excuse for the 100millionth transfer window of no spend seems a bit too elaborate. There'll be something in it for him unbeknownst to us. Been saying since Staveley #1 that its the best chance for Ashley to sell. The club will never be worth more because he'll never invest to maintain this standard and were just waiting to be surpassed. Relegation will always be on the horizon because of this and were one relegation away from sub 30k gates and not guarantee of coming back (less of a draw every time, no Rafa offering services and hope) and a club worth half what it is now and less coin coming his way and a requirement for investment (which will kill the horrible b**tard)

Honestly feel that's all there is left to do and its SDFC totally. The only difference between some of us and those that still go is that those that still go need it spelled out for them and slapped across their face with all the allegory and sub-text left aside and it being too late to stop - to finally get it, and see what is really going on. The only reason its up for sale, yet so obviously not actually for sale, is to keep some hope. The only investment I've got left is seeing the back of him. If we knew he was going to be still here 12years ago how many would have bothered with any of it. Could have formed a new club and be challenging SDFC in that time. We've arrived at the point now where every person and every country that could buy or broker a takeover of NUFC and every newspaper, website or TV network has been used to leak info of it. That there'll be no more reportings of it and no more fakeovers.

The last Kenyon thing, and I think the one before it, never got an official end. A club statement to that effect. These things just disappear into the air now, unworthy of a statement. I feel that since he doesn't want to sell - just having the club up for sale is fake cover for something. Probably to give false hope that he's going because I can't believe anybody with anything about them, if they knew this guy was here for x amout of years, could invest in the club. And by not saying a deal has fallen through, clubs not for sale or officially there's nothing in these stories - its a fakeover by definition. Unless of course he sells, which he never does/will. Clubs not for sale and never was - never steered anybody wrong yet unfortunately.

"Its probably nothing"

difference is I suppose Gold and Sullivan sold west hams home and moved to the soulless olympic stadium with the promise of champions league competing for trophys etc and where are they? They're around where they usually are and the moving to a bigger stadium was obviously an attempt to grow the club and move it forward. If they stayed at limited capacity Upton Park they couldn't do that. Man City did the same exact thing for the same exact reasons. It doesn't always work out and every new stadium is soulless but they tried. Its the promise everybody has when moving to a new ground and its never panned out. mackems, boro, Millwall, Darlington, Spurs are no better now than before, Southampton are no better. Doesn't mean its the wrong thing to do.

Anybody seen Die Hard 2? Anybody know how to do that thing with the computer? If we all chipped in for a fraction of that price we could hire someone to Dirty Den him with some daffs.

Corrupted Ashley apologist Samuel has gotten stuck into West Ham's owners in the paper today. Wonder why? Not nice when its your own club i guess but perfectly fine somewhere else. They've had a £240million net spend, he says, since they took over but the "football is rotten" so a fans revolt is justified. Dear me. Imagine having that for 13years, a fraction of the net spend, not trying to move forward and an indefinite future of the same ahead. This guy is pathetic and pathetic at his job. Sullivan and Gold have missed a trick. For the right price he'd turn a blind eye and even condone whatever grievance they have, if there is one beyond being frationally worse than their 40year average on the field. *mackems would have you believe there's no such thing as net spend and were the only ones that mention it. Apart from that I wanted to rip the thing up and choke him on it.

Howey.... YOU JUST MADE THE LIST Both lists in fact. I've one for shills for the regime and one for people that are just too thick to get it. Congratulations. That attitude reads to me like - *the situation is an utter disgrace, the football has never been more dire, but whatcha gonna do!? so lets all just curl up and die"

Scandalous. Something needs done about this. Its blatant propaganda. Get a rival paper on it or lets get it out there somehow. Always said - if the Oyston's had the pockets to get the media onside they could have hollowed Blackpool into oblivion to the same sounds were subjected to "trying to sell" "doing well" "fans won't give the Oystons a chance" etc. As we all know if you have the media onside and controlled you CAN do anything in some countries. Can't be allowed to become the norm here or rich owners can do anything in football or elsewhere. Very dangerous road if this isn't nipped in the bud, exactly why something should be done.

Like a large section of the fanbase they have accepted that Ashley is here forever , hence they need to keep onside with the regime If I knew that it would make me stop going not continue to go. That's no way to go on surely 'oh well clubs dead, he's not going, lets just plod along as if neither is the case' . They should tell him to do one. Keep the club dead on his time not ours. That's why neither of us are for sale

Everybody in the know, or rather everybody that gets fed by the regime - The Mail, their southern shills Samuel and Edwards and Charnley (now Bruce via Charnley) have poo-pooed it. That's all come from the fat man for me. I'm sure the interest is genuine and that's there's been interest we've never ever heard about over the years but there's zero interest in selling.

Clubs dead. Well, if only, because then we could start over. Hence why what should be a nightmare ie getting and staying relegated and losing another 10k fans on top is actually the only hope there is. The integrity and point of sport totally destroyed here. It doesn't matter if we win or lose, doesn't even matter in a negative sense whether we even stay up or go down anymore. Its dead in all but name and dead to me until he goes or vanishes mysteriously.

Bull s*** Takeover or £45million bids for players - which b*llsh*t is it Downie?

Three games in a row against teams in yellow. This is by far the most exciting thing that has happened since Ashley bought the club.