AJ9

Well I have shared are my own personal views on why am pledging, as asked, and no, I don't feel the need to defend my own personal reasons for pledging, because they are personal, and undoubtedly wrapped up in my emotional relationship to the club as much as anything else. I'm also not trying to convince you to part with your money - I'm not here to persuade you, I'm certainly not interested in the 'sell'. BTW there are literally thousands of community interest organisations, social enterprises and projects around that are doing amazing things that change people's lives up here including community ownership of land, men's sheds, refuweegee, freedom bakery, all the parkruns, gala day organising committees, the children's wood. If you have look through Foundation Scotland's website there are lots and lots of projects that have received small grants, but who started from nothing.

Anyway, I've given my views on why I'm behind it in response to @reefatoon's post. I can't and won't change people's minds, so I'll just leave my post at that and let everyone move on.

Sorry, are you asking me to provide examples of community organising work I've been involved in? Is this a job interview?

Maybe that might have been a good option I don't know. I feel like most of the opposition to the scheme comes from an 'it'll never work' argument than a 'will I see my money again' argument, but I could be wrong.

Okay, fine. Perhaps the tone of my posts don't help the discussion. The reasons I am pledging are as follows; 1. I have some hope for a better Newcastle in the future, which I want to bring my son to. I desperately want him to be able to experience the joy of supporting this mad, mad club. 2. In my own life I have spent a lot of time in community organising, and I understand how small actions started now can make a big difference in the future. Okay there are no guarantees but nothing is ever guaranteed. 3. I'd rather this club spent a decade in the bloody northern league with an active and involved fan ownership model than this hollow shell of a club we have now. 4. I don't miss the money each month, as, to me, it's basically the cost of 2 pints. 5. I see how the Hearts foundation have managed to develop here and I see no reason why we cannot do similar. 6. The aim of 1% ownership is not a fantasy - more like saving to buy your house. You start now, and in future, who knows when the place you want might be up for sale. 7. 1% ownership and a position on the board is by far and away better representation in NUFC related matters than anything we have ever had. 8. I don't really mind if it fails and my money goes to charity. Hope that clears some stuff up.

Anyway, I’m happy to let them take £10 a month from my account that I would otherwise be spending on caviar and copies of the Daily Mail

Can anyone think of any other thing in life that is proposed and absolutely guaranteed to happen in the future? You’re investing in an idea with risk attached, which isn’t guaranteed to work, just like a thousand other things in life that are ultimately not guaranteed. Honestly it’s boring how much people whinge on the sideline about the “plans” as if they need a cast iron guarantee of X before they can consider it worthwhile. I can only assume that the same people are absolutely delighted with the current stasis because it provides them with the safety of a known quantity to piss and moan about

Okay mate I’ll stop living in my ivory tower here in Glasgow and start thinking about how the only people who can possibly afford to pay a tenner a month are cunts rolling around in 4 x 4s, shopping at Waitrose. Sure most working people going to the match can afford a tenner a month, whether they choose too is another thing. I’ll get back to the Mail online, need to catch up on my hate.

“But it’s people’s hard earned cassshhhhh!!!!” Give over man, it’s a £10 a month and most people are pissing that away on shite from Amazon/bets/cans/pret. You’re going on like it’s a gigantic financial commitment. Obviously for some who are destitute, it’s not feasible, but to go on like it’s some sort of mad financial scheme to fleece people from their cash is totally disingenuous

Here come the posts shitting on individual players…

Gammon faced Southgate haters out in force again like we’re Brazil ‘70 and he’s fucking Howard Wilkinson…people are idiots man

Heard a good chorus of sad mackem bastard

I think it is fine to concede possession. However, the problem was that we didn't really press at the right times (when they crossed the halfway line), and we didn't attack the wide areas. We should have been able to have Sancho or Rashford hug the touchlines ready for a more direct ball/quick release. I think we could and should have picked them off. Anyway, I'm personally really sanguine about it all. We played a great tournament and were beaten by the better team on the night. It has been a great month and while it would have been great to win, as much as you want it, there's another team who want it just as much. It isn't a case of just picking the right players and we win...there's another team trying to do exactly the same...I'm not sure if that makes sense, but I sometimes think that in all of the analysis, we focus on what we should have done, and forget that we're up against a really good team, with great players and a freak of a goalkeeper. The reason we lost is because they won, and beat us fair and square. Love this team though and even if we never win anything, at least we had some fun for once!

I get really really annoyed with the people who prattle and whinge about us not playing attacking football. Look at our record prior to Southgate. Look the football we've played for the past 25 years. England have been utterly boring, tactically clueless and at times, absolutely shit for all these years. As soon as we start actually winning some tournament games it's like our squad is Netherlands 74 being put in a straightjacket by some grandma. Based on the recently history we have absolutely no right to be playing expansive football and winning games, and lets face it, are still light years behind the few national teams that can do so. Absolutely mad English exceptionalism at its finest. People think that because they've seen Foden or Grealish do a few tricks that we should somehow be playing total football.

Guilty of typing exactly what I think. Shouldn’t have posted it but still think it

With Grealish - I think he is good enough for City tbh. I don't think his ball carrying is an issue (i.e. the assertion that he doesn't release quickly enough). There are different players in that city squad. Mahrez, KDB and Foden often carry the ball in a similar way to Grealish. I think the issue is more that he wouldn't get into the starting XI. I could see him at Man Utd.

Also binned all of my social media accounts apart from WhatsApp. I haven't missed Facebook or Instagram one tiny bit. It has actually significantly improved my wellbeing to get off them tbh. Twitter is a funny one - I don't have an account, but because tweets are so ubiquitous on news pages, forums etc. I do actually access twitter, but I don't have an account, and I no longer spend hour scrolling through tweets. It's quite good actually.

That's such a weird take on the game. I thought both teams were excellent at times. City in the second half were outstanding

It's actually a theme of football journalists tbh. Creating some sort of troll schtick to give meaning to their sad little lives. Barry Glendenning does it on football weekly too, and then claims to be tired of all the twitter aggro and football nonsense. Perhaps watching and commenting on football as your job is just an incredibly dull, unfulfilling, pointless job...

Let us back in or we will leak details of why you stopped the NUFC takeover ?

I can’t allow myself to get angry at the lack of punishment like. Should there be? Yes, absolutely. Will there be? Not on your life. The result will be that this situation will come up again and as sure as night turns in to day, these arseholes will pull it again, and the apocalypse will happen, sooner rather than later. Football is fucked, it can’t be saved. There are too many contradictions in the model. Let’s just be thankful that it’s still free to be able to pick up a ball and kick it around a park ?

Great to see Barmulloch on the map again

They’d be better off fucking off to create their own esports super league tbf

Not that I’m into this thread particularly but the purpose of it is pretty evident if you look back to the first post. Also, was it not just a “positive optimism” thread pre-Saudi takeover? The point being that the thread is here to be a lighthearted antidote to the misery elsewhere.

Shot up to £36000 on the counter now...wonder if it’s just catching up?