TomYam

I understand Cox walked out on the club after the first round of negotiations. Unlike many others, the club didn't have a wealthy benefactor and the board was conservative and risk averse. Cox wanted a fat new contract as a reward for achieving promotion as well as quality investment in the team. His stock was high so as soon as he met some resistance (which he doubtlessly anticipated), he walked. It was a real missed opportunity for the club as Cox was a good team manager and the team could have competed at the top of the league with 2-3 good additions (esp goalkeeper and CF).

Fair enough. It's about opinions. I'd argue that the attendances dropped principally because of Hall's manipulative and disingenous actions from 1988-1991. In my opinion, had Hall not appeared on the scene in '88, Newcastle United would have remained a mid table side until the advent of the PL and would likely have been taken over shortly afterwards. I'm not sure what you mean about us not having the club we have today without Hall's input. Surely you could say the same about Ashley or the P.I.F? I'd argue he took the club to the brink of disintegration and then took us to the brink of exhilarating glory before taking us to the point of bankruptcy and quickly selling out to a cancerous individual. So a very mixed record and, of course, he made himself fabulously wealthy in the process. Evidently I've never cared for Hall, but a part of me will always be grateful to him for his appointment of KK and the glorious few years that followed.

That's not quite factual, is it? I believe John Hall's Magpie Group started their hostile takeover campaign in May 1988. The club was still being run in the traditional way - by a bunch of directors, made up of farmers, doctors, solicitors and accountants, who had very little money and were struggling to find the wealthy backers that many other leading clubs had. Most of the directors comprised those that held the greatest number of (inherited) shares amongst the many hundreds of shareholders (George Dixon was the largest shareholder and had no interest at all in football, and sold out to Hall at the first opportunity). It's true that attendances were much lower than a dozen years prior, but that was the case with almost every other club - in fact, although only 21,038, we had the 6th highest attendance average in 1988. The stadium was a crumbling wreck but, again, that was true of so many clubs - particularly after many stands had to be closed off/pulled down after the numerous football ground disasters, such as the Valley Parade fire. It's true that the club had achieved very little over the past dozen years and was, ultimately, incapable of holding onto their very best players when wealthy clubs like Liverpool, Spurs or ManU came calling, but it's often forgotten that the club had just finished 8th in 1988. We were a mid table club. The real problems for the future of the club started after the takeover campaign started. Hall was using The Chronicle and S&N to oust the board and refused to communicate directly with them. The board resisted. Eventually a stalemate was reached and Hall took a place on the board on the condition that his promise to 'democratise' the club was undertaken by Hall. That failed and, for better or worse, Hall assumed total control of the club after a 3-4 year battle. It was that battle that almost led the club to oblivion. Salvation came in the form of KK who, almost overnight, transformed the fortunes of the club.

Yes. We had to beat the top 4 teams in the PL (as well as 11th placed Brentford) in order to win the League Cup. So we did it in just about the hardest way possible and I doubt many teams have achieved that.

The trade off for the Metro Centre and regenerating that immediate area was the devastation caused to Gateshead town centre and some negative impact on Newcastle city centre (eg. the Handyside Arcade would almost certainly not have been replaced by Eldon Garden - built to compete with the shiny monster mall a few miles away). Each to their own but, for me, the negatives far outweigh the positives - but then I've always disliked out-of-town shopping malls. Not sure what else Hall has done to regenerate the area. Certainly his ownership/guardianship of Woolsington Hall has been a disgrace. His impact on sport in the area has been a mixed bag. Depending on your opinion, his appointment of KK was a stroke of genius or a last desperate roll of the dice having brought the club to its knees. Imo, both are true. Certainly, Hall and KK instigated the greatest years in Newcastle's history since the mid '50s. You won't find much fanfare for Hall amongst ice hockey fans in the area.

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.