TomYam

That's kind of how it was with Spurs back in the middle to late '80s. Making masses of money first, winning second. Remember they were the first club to float on the stock exchange and set up a marketing dept. Taught ManU a thing or two.

Perhaps there will be a different FA Cup winner this year. The same 5 clubs have won in 31 of the last 36 years seasons (and ManC joined the party only recently). In fact 9 of the last 10 finalists have featured the same 5 clubs. So for all the talk of 'shocks', a true 'shock' only counts when one of those 5 (possibly 6 if you add Spurs) loses to ANY OTHER clubs. Arguably it's more of a shock if Arsenal were knocked out by Brentford than Nottingham Forest losing to Chesterfield. Plymouth Argyle defeating Liverpool is obviously a monumental 'shock'. One for the ages.

😀 The great majority of Alnwickists support the toon. Just not the 100% it should demonstrably be.

More than a few knocking around. My next door neighbour in Alnwick - who was born and bred there - is a ManU fan. Wears that hideous red shirt all the time seemingly.

Just like the old days pre-VAR. I can remember how favoured by refs ManU were, just how many controversial 'goals' they scored late in games. That's why VAR is necessary and just improved application. Or perhaps VAR should only be used when ManU are playing?

Unusual looking guy, Trossard. Sometimes he looks 8 years old and other times over 80. He plays as erratically as he looks - sometimes brilliant and other times a total dud.

Very sad to hear that Alan Shoulder has died. He was only 71. I remember seeing him in his debut for us against Stoke in December 1978 when I was a youngster. His partnership with Peter Withe was outstanding (for the short while Withe was with us). R.I.P Alan.

#Instil discipline after player power had seen the board cave in to the demands of senior players (Nulty, Gowling, Tommy Craig) and install - against their better judgement- Richard Dinnis as manager.

Gordon Lee was the most destructive manager we ever had, but he was quite competent. He forced out many of our best players (MacDonald, Hibbitt, etc) while executing a harrying and dull long ball style, helped achieve our highest placing for 26 years, walked out on us mid season and whispered dissent into the ears of our players after he left the club. He turned things upside down and then walked out - all in 18 months. Then the pendulum swung the other way as McGarry was brought in to instil discipline. 1976 -82 was a calamitous period of mismanagement, an unambitious and stagnant boardroom, decrepit stadium, tumbling attendances and a backdrop of economic woe.

Two points re the Spurs drama and a new stadium impacting Newcastle's hospitality industry. Spurs, being a London club and a tourist beacon doubtless has 'customers' with slightly different tastes and requirements. Do they have massage chairs available in row F? Second, if we were to move to a 72,000 capacity stadium that should mean 20,000 more mouths to feed and refresh. Even if those 20,000 somehow find a way to inhouse bacchanalian bliss, that leaves the remaining 52,000 to hit The Beehive, Clock and Garter.

The PL and team football shirts are very popular in Thailand. When I first came to work and live here more than 20 years ago the popularity of clubs was approx ManU 50%, Liverpool 25%, Arsenal 15%, others 10%. Today it's approx ManU 50%, Liverpool 25%, Chelsea 20%, 5% others. ManU marketing is everywhere, hence they are still hugely popular even when failing. Somewhat surprisingly, ManC still have a low support base, but that's partly due to ManU historically being called 'Manchester' here as opposed to the ubiquitous and deeply irritating 'United' in the UK.

Don't forget that Spurs were the initiators of the group of clubs that became the 'big or breakaway 5' and then went on to form the PL. Unlike the 3 red tops. they've won very little over the intervening 40 years, and had a lengthy period of mediocrity, but Spurs were intrinsic to the commercialisation and elitism you see in the game today. It so happened they started to be highly competitive again at just the right time - just as we went in the opposite direction.

Not keen either, but a lot of that is down to an intense dislike of current chairman Daniel Levy and utter contempt for former chairman Irving Scholar.

As far as the media is concerned only 3 clubs really matter - the same ones that have driven the domestic football agenda for almost 40 years. Add the fact the transfer window has been nobbled by PSR constraints, as well as increasingly clichéd and poor standards of journalism, and you have repetitive hyperbole such as the Isak to Arsenal link.

Agree with this. Southampton ascented to the FL in 1920'21 and quickly became stalwarts of the second tier. They got their first taste of top tier football in 1966-67 and have subsequently played at the highest level for 47 of the last 59 seasons. The Saints have finished in the top 4 only once - in 1983-4, when they were runners up to the Red Pool of Liver.