TheBrownBottle

Gotcha

Yeah, I remember that match - it was a bear pit for any game vs Man Utd during that period. Cole acting the cunt didn't exactly help - there was a bloke who sat near me who was ejected during Cole's celebrations (he was apoplectic - though 'happily' not in a racist way, just in an angry rabid-dog hating on all things Man Utd kind of way. It was completely owa the top, nonetheless).

The fixture and the opposition made the atmosphere that night - there were plenty of turgid atmospheres that season. Half the articles in The Mag in the mid-90s were whinges about the shite atmosphere from the all-seater stadium (and the grumbling about 'glory seekers' who'd came into the ground). The home game vs Sheff Wed earlier in the season I recollect being about as flat as it could be for a capacity crowd.

For this year, league position will bring in a healthy chunk of change if NUFC stay around their current position (around 13m more than last year), the cup run + more sponsorship deals. Why five years?

Bellamy was one of those players who did this - in Baja Beach Club. BR on Bellamy one week before getting the ax: "What Craig Bellamy should do is to honour his contract, all right? That is what he should do. At the moment he is doing too much talking. He had a bit to say yesterday and he has signed a new contract to play for Newcastle United Football Club. Honour your contract, Craig Bellamy. Honour your contract like everyone else has to and just concentrate on playing and scoring goals for this club. If Bellamy is publicly saying that, then I am publicly replying to him face-to-face. What does he want to do? Does he want to be manager or does he want to be the player? He is doing very well. That is why I am saying `Hey Craig, just enjoy your football and score goals. He has done well but he cannot make threats to the club." I think he did have a part in it. Shame he texted Shearer that time from 100 miles away. edit: I intensely dislike the little shitehawk. I'm glad he was Shearer's legs for a couple of seasons, but he's a tiresome little berk who's had nowt much good to say about us after leaving.

Yep - it is easily forgotten that this was pretty much what happened for a century until SJP went all-seater in the mid-90s. You could almost trace out the seven ages of man inside the ground (not infancy of course) - all represented by different locations.

Yep, and that's the nature of society generally - they'll say 'yes' if they think it sounds like a good thing, but any follow-up question whereby it is implied that there may be a sacrifice on their behalf and suddenly there is a 'no'. One for the politics threads, but this is what happens in general polling too. 'Do you think that the utilities and railways should be nationalised?' 'YES' says the majority. 'Are you willing to pay extra taxation for this?' 'NO CHANCE' is usually the reply of a significant number. And that is the only time I'll compare the seating / standing question to why Labour lose elections despite their policies all being popular.

Have to say, I’m now confident we’ve secured a top half finish - win vs these twats and I’ll start looking at European competition; as in the Conference League. Top four will only enter my mind if we’re in it after the Spurs game at home on 23rd April. Once you’re 30+ games in then I’ll start to dream (get nervous)

I attend Western Wanderers games fortnightly and watch the other games on TV. WC performance isn’t relevant to me - it’s a poor Australian side. It’s definitely not Second Division standard, much closer to Third and the worst teams would struggle in the fourth tier. edit: I work in Parramatta usually, so attending midweek games is easy enough. I was there for the top of the table clash vs Adelaide on Friday night. It was an entertaining game - but the standard wasn’t great

Maybe the old third division, certainly the old fourth, where the standard is more similar to the A League - and remember Kuol wasn’t a starter for the Mariners either. He’s a really young lad with potential and time on his side - but the loan to the SPL at this stage was daft. It’s a new league on the other side of the planet and he would have been better suited (to me) to a loan to a Mediterranean club, where the pace would’ve been more like the A-League. Malta or similar.

It’s hardly Hearts’ fault though - if the lad isn’t yet good enough to come on they should hardly be pressured into bringing him on. It was always high risk sending him on loan to the SPL - the 4th tier, like Anderson, made far more sense. Ameobi still in situ, though.

A shame really, as they’d be queueing round the block to make that move. Still, standards must be maintained.

Only good thing he ever did for me. Always found it interesting that Kinnear was no more of a dinosaur than Bruce yet got treated very different from him by the press. I’d bring him back for press conferences only.

Love owt like this, me. A real reminder of the relative status of the two clubs.

FFP losses aren’t the same as accounting losses - but clearly £71m would take some creative accounting to write off for FFP. Given the likely huge losses this year too, it is patently obvious just what sort of financial straightjacketing we’re in. Try telling it to the ‘we should have spent £150m in January to secure CL qualification’ lot though - they won’t accept it. I think they’re going to be disappointed for a couple of more years yet - it is going to take years to get the club’s revenues on track with the big boys given that you can’t just get a sweetheart deal from Aramco or whoever

I, for one, am looking forward to Miguel Delaney ending his support for Man Yoo in the event of a Qatari takeover.

Agreed - there’s still plenty of our lot who think that F1 etc doesn’t get mentioned in terms of KSA, despite the BBC bringing it up all the time

Agreed, and I am aware that some universities now run seminars on being drunk not being an excuse for sexual assault etc. Still though, it instinctively seems wrong the notion that someone would think rape is ok unless specifically instructed not to rape.

wtf is that? Also *Leazes

Joselu subbed off after remembering how to play like Joselu

It’s been a lot longer than that tbf. Season tickets from 93/94 were very, very expensive - especially in the NE still suffering the effects of Thatcherism.

It was completely inevitable that type of whinging. They’re like those old blokes who think that a seat in a pub / club is theirs and get offended if you sit in the fucker. Just fucking accept a seat swap. No-one ever thinks that the Strawberry corner is the best seats in the house in any case. Watching the match from there is like playing 16-bit FIFA with its isometric camera view.

I'm really glad to hear that. I spent my teens and twenties desperately wanting to stand again (my ST was in the Milburn Paddock until 95-96 - I was 12 when the paddock was closed in 95). It is often a much better way to watch a game - especially if you're young(ish), had a few pints and want to gan a bit radge (singing and dancing and jumping, that is). Now that I'm 40 it sounds like a nightmare! Those who want to be in it will love it, though.