TheBrownBottle

Plenty don’t arse themselves for midweek European games at SJP in fairness. I can still remember sitting in a half-empty SJP vs Tallinn not long before the Ashley era. The vast majority of football clubs don’t have city centre stadiums - it’s what makes SJP special and unusual. So unless our support is markedly worse than the average, I don’t think it would have made much difference over the years. Again, not advocating for a move away from the city centre - but I think that we’d at least be able to match, say, Leeds in having decent crowds despite Elland Road being outside of the city centre.

Agreed

This doesn’t happen in any other place where clubs have stadiums outside the city centre - but it would on Tyneside? Seems doubtful

If you wanted to be cynical about it, the ground’s location is to the benefit of the wider city and the support - but it’s not actually to the benefit of the club. What would be best for the club would be a stadium with few local amenities, forcing supporters to get there early and spend their money in the ground, not in local pubs. Again, absolutely not advocating for this - the club should be in the city centre.

I don't think it would destroy the club, but it would fundamentally change the entire matchday experience. It wouldn't be the same rocking up to Killingworth, Newburn or Percy Main or wherever. But it wouldn't destroy the club (I wouldn't want to see us leave the city centre)

Not for footballing reasons anyway

A grade II listed park is definitely more destroyable than the grade I listed Leazes terrace

Have a look at what they’ve done to Mecca …

Fucking hell the Ronnie Gill website has more pop ups than a 90s geocities website. What a fucking clip

Always found it amusing that alcohol isn’t prohibited in KSA due to religious reasons (though of course practising Muslims can’t drink alcohol), but because a dictatorship didn’t want another national embarrassment caused by a pissed-up member of the House of Saud …

Yep

Usually best to wait for two dates - first day of the season, and end of the window - before worrying about the ins / outs during the window. We're a long way from panic stations yet. It is also obvious that we'll need to be careful re the budget

The adidas deal won’t be based solely on sales. That’s what the guy who posted on Twitter isn’t getting. There will be a lump sum payment plus additionals based upon sales

He’s implying that the club makes practically nothing via the adidas deal, as he’s misinterpreted the sale of kit as being the only reason that a manufacturer makes a club’s kit in the first place. It isn’t - it is also a form of sponsorship - working with clubs gets adidas’s brand more recognition. He’s taking about ‘gross sales not reaching £40m’. Well, of course they won’t - our kit won’t sell in the numbers required to reach that number.

Tbf I wouldn’t swap Barnes for Anderson or Minteh.

Yep. It would also be naive to think that just because Liverpool's approach was rejected out of hand by the club, that feelers weren't put out by Liverpool. Gordon strikes me as a young man with his head firmly screwed on - I doubt that any of this will have an impact on his performances. Big clubs are going to be interested in our best players; big clubs do buy and sell from each other, too.

I never thought it was either/or. I reckon Gordon is happy here - he’s at an ambitious club where the support clearly loves him. And at the same time, his boyhood club - one which is bigger and more successful - would be interested in buying him for likely a hefty wage rise and a better chance of winning trophies might just have appealed to him. His being interested in a potential move doesn’t mean he’s unhappy at NUFC

FFP/PSR only relates to football direct costs - not all club costs are counted. So while interest payments are included, debts generally are not. This can mean that new stadium costs can be met by clubs - and more importantly, leveraged buyouts don’t hit the PSR bottom line either

Good to know that the weird and borderline racist ‘sign players from Asia because we’ll get more sponsorship money’ crack is still alive and well. Something that I honestly hadn’t heard in about a decade and a half.

Got to just set up for the season as if he isn’t ever going to be available, no bugger will buy him now, he needs to be third choice going into the final year of his contract It is a bloody shame, I love the bloke as a player - a real old school no.9, absolutely is the part in that famous old shirt when he is fit. But he’s never fit for more than a few games.

*Ashington klaxon*

No, I think there is something it. Hardly panic time, but Howe doesn’t make unguarded comments. The media talking like he’s about to leave is melodramatic, but it’s more that they’re making a lot out of something real rather than making shit up

Yep - Howe isn't exactly known for making unguarded comments. Clearly there is a concern for him - that doesn't mean he's handing in his P45 tomorrow, but it is also counter-intuitive for people to stick their heads in the sand and pretend that there is nothing to it.

Agreed, it could change elements of the rulebook - but we'll see. I don't think City winning the APT case is a shoo-in.

No underestimation from me - I've been scratching my head as to why it has taken so long to get so many of the obvious low-hanging sponsorship fruit through the door - training ground and kit in particular. The problem is that we're not Man Utd - not even close in terms of worldwide recognition or reach - so we won't attract the same size or number of deals, and the biggest deals are already done (kit, kit sponsors) - so what would the actual value be of all those additional sponsors you mention? 5m? 7m? 10m maybe? It isn't going to be earth-shattering. And we're not in Europe - which would of course have an impact - so you've raised an issue not a strength.