BirtleyMag

We were doing really well that season before we sold Cabaye too, definitely on course for a similar season to the 5th place season. We went from looking like European contenders in the new year to a team that looked like relegation fodder in the end, with thanks a to classic Pardew capitulation too. That 5th place season and first half of 2013/14 was probably as good as it’s been under Ashley (not much to shout about I know).

Is it straight to pens if it’s a draw or extra time first? I agree that a loss here will be the start of anti-Bruce stuff from the crowd, not that the w*nkers running the place will care. They’ll be delighted if we go out.

West Ham for 70 minutes is about the longest spell we’ve managed to play well for this season but that’s about it. Rafa’s last game at Fulham was the last time we were good from start to finish.

It’s not even worth getting annoyed at anymore. The more you try and reason with people to stop going the more they dig in and try to justify it. There’s more anger directed between fans than there is at the main problem which is exactly what Ashley wants. Unfortunately, any proposed actions against Ashley just result in a vicious cycle of bickering and arguing between fans so nothing changes. Be interesting to see how many fans don’t renew if we go down though. I have a feeling it will be quite a lot more than expected, which will just confirm that many are only there as long as we’re in the premier league.

Only 5 points off 18th as it stands. Can’t see us winning against Southampton or Sheff Utd so we’ll be right in it by the time we play Aston Villa.

I see the media are trying to dress up today’s performance as improvement. Yes, a third consecutive goalless draw at home is a vast improvement.

Wanted Man City to win but the celebrations by their away fans was absolutely pitiful for that 2nd goal.

A change in formation won’t suddenly make us start playing better football because the current management don’t know how to do it. Every time we’ve deviated from our usual set up we’ve been well beaten so what would change this time?

Even this year could have been a fantastic year with so many of the ‘big 6’ struggling to put together a good run of form. Could have easily been eying a European spot this year had Rafa stayed.

Not even been there 2 months has he?!

Those who cancel will just be replaced by the happy clappers who get excited if we sign a couple of attacking players regardless of who’s in charge.

People have short memories if they don’t think we can get dragged into the relegation battle. We had 35 points after 27 games when ‘the best coach in the league’ managed to nearly to send us down in 2014/15. Under the current management we look no better than what we did under Carver except for having a better goalkeeper this time. FWIW, I think we’ll stay up but it won’t be comfortable and will almost certainly result in relegation next season when Ashley & Bruce are still here.

The ground will be packed with 50000 free ticket mags

It really is astonishing how little these former players/pundits seem to talk about NUFC without having a f*cking clue. Chronicle are just as bad for publishing that as well.

Palace haven’t won since Boxing Day. You know what happens next...

Just sickening reading how much detail Rafa went into and that we decided to bin him off for Bruce. It’s no coincidence that players like Schar, Sean Longstaff and even Dummett have regressed massively this season.

Think this is what you’re referring to. Whether or not it was true or not is up for debate. Just looks like another fake ITK account to me.

If we were where Sheff Utd are now then the club would be bricking it because we might qualify for Europe and the fat man won’t want that. Our relatively comfortable position at the moment is exactly where Ashley wants us to be. The sad thing is many will see it as an acceptable season if we manage to get past West Brom (We’ll get knocked out in the quarters by the first good side we face) and go on to avoid relegation. The cycle then starts again next year to be repeated once more... I keep saying to myself that I can’t be bothered to watch/keep track of our games but still do every week, even though it’s pointless in the grand scheme of things.

Does the 10 year deal run out this year or next year? Find it funny when people use this as their excuse to keep going when it’s pretty easy to cancel.

Overtaken by 3 clubs who were in similar positions to us before Ashley took over. One being Man City, who’s success we could’ve enjoyed had the fat leech not took the p*ss with their owners. Another one being Tottenham, who have have been ran shrewdly and had relative success over the last 12 years. If Ashley had done it this way he would’ve made much more money out of us than he ever will at the moment. The other team being Everton, who didn’t have a pot to p*ss in for the most part but have always been mid table or higher.

We gained 20 points from our final 12 games last year. Can’t see us getting anywhere near that this year. The ‘better than last season narrative’ will be replaced by the excuse (which has already started) that Bruce can’t get the team to be more expansive and will have us playing better next year.

The chronicle are just as culpable in all of this as Bruce is. Happy to tow the line so they don’t upset Mike and get banned again. A sustained effort by the local media against Ashley would do a lot to unite supporters in getting rid of Ashley imo. Instead we’ll get the clickbait sh*te like ‘5 things we learned after Arsenal’ and no criticism of Bruce/Ashley.

On paper, there are a few teams that we should be taking points off in the next few weeks but can you honestly back us to win any game? The only game we’ve really took apart the opposition is against West Ham. We’ve looked p*ss poor against everyone else, but been bailed out by a freakish amount of goals from our centre halves and Dubravka making more saves than anyone else in the league. We’ll stay up just down to the fact we’ve got 31 points and will probably scrape a couple of wins.

Just like the home fans then...

The man is just a walking cliche