TheBrownBottle

Looks 17 to me I’d ID him if he wanted 20 Bensons

Watching the man try to say ‘Leazes’ is like watching a cyborg trying to mimic a Geordie accent in order to become a better YouTube content creator, but just failing to do so.

Aye, we’re both guessing really (not trying to be disrespectful in saying that; just that we don’t know what the owners think). I hope you’re right, believe me - I’d be more than happy if you are

Yep. Newcastle has never felt like a city - the centre feels like a large town. You can walk from one end to the other and back on a single lunch break.

I still think Castle Leazes is probably the more likely site if we were to build a new ground, which be a right pisser as it is an extra five mins walk minimum. Ten mins if you normally are in the Gallowgate.

It depends tbf - it definitely is if you’re drinking in the Haymarket or the top of the Bigg Market. It’s not from Central station way or the quayside

All capitalists are socialists when it comes to bail-outs …

19 of the 20 clubs just supported the changes being put through. They’re not exactly queueing up to knock it on the head - probably because it suits most of them down to the ground.

I know you didn’t mention Spurs; it is more that Spurs have been seen as the lesser of the Sky Six - so overtaking them would be the first battle to win. I don’t KSA ever does ‘cute’. It does overconfident statements and financial waste.

If SJP wasn’t there, there’s no way anyone would consider it to be central in any sense. No fucker goes anywhere near there on a non-match day

There is a weird notion tbf that Grey’s Monument is the centre of the city. It really isn’t in any real sense - certainly not for bars and restaurants. Newcastle isn’t a city in any real sense in any case. It has the feel of a town due to its relatively small centre. The arena site really isn’t less accessible in any sense. There are far more (good) bars near central station & on the quayside which are much easier to get to the arena than SJP. Honestly, it doesn’t arse me either way, but the idea that the arena is a terrible trek is absolutely crackers. All this boils down to whether or not the ownership is serious in their stated ambitions or not. If we stay at SJP, we stay roughly where we are right now in all respects - we won’t catch the current elite in a lifetime, never mind five or ten years.

I think you’re right, and I have genuinely thought about just sacking all of this off. I don’t like state ownership of clubs, but I also don’t like the closed shop PL. It always felt possible to break into the top clubs, until the last decade or so. It’s a complete stitch-up

Beamish gets my vote Tbf I’ve never, ever drank in the Strawberry on a match day. Just looks heaving. Used to drink in there a fair bit on non-match days though if me and my mates were on a Haymarket crawl

Yeah, agreed. I think the short-to-medium term has to be to follow Spurs’ model - buy young, quality players with an eye to moving them on for megabucks. The club already has an age policy in place for most transfers apparently, which suggests that we may well be going down that route. There’ll be a few upset punters when they realise that this means the likelihood is that the likes of Bruno, Isak etc are as likely to be sold as not. But it’s the only way to bridge the huge income gap in the immediate term.

Excavated material is treatable; it is just at a cost. If PIF are serious I don’t see why that would be a problem. Not sure how old you are, but I can remember the ‘Friends of the Town Moor’ brigade back in 1997 - despite popular backing from the support for a move from SJP, those fuckers didn’t half kick up a stink. edit: that last paragraph sounds like I’m being sarky re your age, but that’s not the intention

More watering holes at the bottom end than the top end of town I suspect that the council are more likely to approve regeneration of a brownfield, not a greenfield site - and the public resistance is likely to be minimal.

The adidas deal is a five-year one. Fan zones and training ground sponsorships won’t put a dent in the quarter of a billion difference between us and Spurs. I can guarantee that next season’s accounts, like this season’s when they’re produced, will not show anything close to the growth in 22/23. I’m not convinced that this is a clever game - the club needs a big state-of-the-art new stadium or I’d say we’re close to our ceiling at the moment, without something extraordinary being achieved on the pitch.

At present, I’d say we’re running out of headroom. There’s some low-hanging fruit still available, but after that we look knackered at the moment. I can’t foresee circumstances where our revenues go past £350m without something really significant happening - which would leave us at about 60% of Spurs’ income.

Yeah, I was excluded player sales. It’s tricky because as you’ve said, that’s the ‘known unknown’ of football finances - you know you can / will sell, but there’s little cost certainty

No. SJP is no more the ‘city centre’ than the arena is. It’s far less of a pain in the arse to than SJP from most of the watering holes in the city

If you’re from the west of Newcastle - ie where most of Newcastle actually is - then SJP is a pain in the arse to get to and from on match days. The access to the arena is no worse - the walk from Central station is hardly more difficult than monument to SJP

That’s because they were kicked out of the AFC - of which they were members - by those pillars of liberal democracy, Kuwait.

Why do people keep saying ‘access to the arena is rubbish’ as if Barrack Road is a multi-lane superhighway? SJP is a pain to get to as well

And she can fuck right off with that one

The Champions League money lands this season, adidas next season. The annual 40% growth isn’t a thing - that doesn’t just appear - that was partially through league placing, partially through new deals. There are no new deals, and we’re unlikely to finish 4th. The club’s income will be just under £300m.