TheBrownBottle

Careful. He knaas the Krays

I’m sure he just had rough ideas on the numbers. When I used to ring him he’d ask how many? ‘Six (or whatever) please Keith’. Not once did I get a ‘it’s full mate’ response - and sometimes there’d be two coaches and you’d have a couple of seats each, as clearly it was just over one coachload. The costs were split anyway - I never knew the cost until on the bus. Great days - drinking and smoking and singing all the way there - take over a pub before the game - stop off somewhere on the way back to Newcastle, never made it home before midnight unless it was a local(ish) team. NB - by the early ‘00s it was a lot more than a couple of coaches of course - I can remember trips with six or seven coaches

The attendance numbers are for the tax man more than owt else - the ‘official’ attendance. It’s number of tickets sold. For most of footballing history, the crowds were UNDERstated. Clubs would knock huge numbers off the attendance as it was cash on the gate - they didn’t want to declare all of it to the revenue.

You’re thinking of Keith Barrett - he’s alreet. The other Keith is the one who did the CAT case thing. Also, that banner - fuck me. It genuinely looked like it was using cancer to take the piss, whether intended or not.

Yep, that’s part of his repertoire. He responded to a lad I know on Facebook with ‘I know your dad’ before stating his name and the pub he has as a local. All used to to stop anyone questioning whether or not the Mackem plane thing was a good idea. ‘Thumb heeded plane nonce’ remains my favourite description of the man. I still love though that Martin of TF has plugged the cunt’s boat trips incessantly without realising what the bloke is - a tiresome thug and a ‘soopafan’.

I grew up in a council house and my folks barely had a pot to piss in. Didn’t manage to go to jail yet mind - if you don’t go to jail does that make you middle class? Curry is a massive weapon. But so are the tf lot. The Alien vs Predator tagline (whoever wins … we lose) is applicable here for me. Also noted that offering other Newcastle fans outside on the internet is not the sole preserve of the baldy plane and boat organiser.

Don’t worry, I argue with the ones who agree with me the most ?

Yes, in a UK newspaper. I’m not at all arguing that F1’s KSA ties do not get flagged constantly - the incessant ‘this is only ever about Newcastle’ brigade are tiresome with that shite. Of course Amnesty etc will flag it up. I was referring to the US - NASCAR, not F1, is where the vast majority of motorsports fans get their kicks. In terms of F1, more criticism on the BBC today: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/64979439

They’ve won so many European Cups now that they’re jaded. Oh.

‘I’ll have a scab burger, and a pint of Scargill to go with that.’

There’s a little bit of rose-tinted glasses from all parties on the Gullit-Shearer issue. I can remember The Mag’s printed opinions, the callers to radio stations and conversations in the pub before and after games. It was the Sunderland game that turned absolutely everyone against Gullit on the Shearer issue - before that, there were plenty who thought he had a point re Shearer’s performances. That Shearer continued scoring goals is a testament to his character and ability, but the Shearer of August ‘99 was very different to the one we’d signed in August ‘96. There were plenty of solid rumours in the first year or so of Robson if Shearer being sold to Liverpool and later Villa.

It’s a shite one for me, the WC was bloated enough with 32 teams, 48 + 8 games is a piss take. Money has driven it like this - just like the expansion of the Euros

Plenty of negative coverage of KSA involvement with F1 in the UK - F1 didn’t used to be particularly popular in the US, not sure if it has more visibility these days? If it is still a minor sport that would have an impact of visibility

I still think he’ll go to Liverpool, CL or not. They desperately need new blood in MF

It’s also why, despite the excitement of others every time the question comes up, what happened at Chelsea is highly unlikely to happen to NUFC. International relations with Russia over the last couple of centuries - since the Napoleonic era if we’re being honest, World Wars aside - have never been any better than ‘frosty’. KSA’s existence really starts with the Treaty of Jeddah, recognised and signed by the UK - and they’ve been a key ally since then. This doesn’t mean that KSA’s barbaric govt or its atavistic practices are anything other than horrific, nor that organisations like Amnesty are not right to call them out. But it does mean that the diplomatic pressure is in favour of pleasing a key ally of Britain, rather than - as with Russia - always the latest diplomatic crisis away from the club being forced into a sale.

It was mildly amusing when the famous Steve Martin had to tweet saying that apparently there was an English referee with the same name who was having a bad game, because Billy from Benton had called him a useless cunt on Twitter

Struggling to picture any Geordie wanting Leeds to stay up tbh. Or Forest for that matter. Would happily see that lot go again. Everton would obviously be hilarious, with West Ham just behind that. Leicester also would be funny, and anyone who ever visited Filbert Street would shed no tears. I’m utterly indifferent to Palace, Southampton and Bournemouth, so I wouldn’t be arsed about them staying up. But if I still travelled to away games, I would happily not make those trips next year. Can’t we just relegate all of them?

I’m only saying that if it is given a red card follows. I actually think the referee not giving it in the first place saves us from the VAR call, in agreement with what you’ve said. I also think if the referee calls a pen and gives a red card VAR doesn’t overturn it

Willock and Bruno returning to full fitness helps, and Isak looked good again - I really do feel someone is going to get a right hammering off us in the next few games. At some point, the woodwork isn’t hit and the sitters aren’t missed. We create plenty of chances.

It’s a nailed-on red if given. It’s an almost certain goal

There were rumours that Qatar Airways were a potential sponsor. Everyone is obsessed with us getting sponsored by Saudia for some reason - but with the ‘fair market deal’ stuff floating around this wouldn’t seem necessary to me.

I get the international footage, and because the game was on at daft o’clock on a workday for me I only got to see the last 20 mins and had to watch the waffle afterwards to see the earlier goals etc. Shearer thought it was a pen.

I hope he’s surviving those Only Fools repeats and high cholesterol breakfasts. Thoughts and prayers with you

I didn’t say you’re a Nazi. I said that Braverman’s actions and rhetoric is leading to the deaths of vulnerable people - and that’s not an opinion. Braverman isn’t a bitch. She’s a nasty, venal, hateful cunt. And she absolutely is hard right. And she isn’t alone. Plenty don’t give a shit about what is causing vulnerable people to climb into dangerous boats and attempt to cross the Channel. They are the ones who’ve caused this, not those who call this stuff out.

That’s right - being an immigrant is a bad thing. That’s what the papers told me. So I’m an ex-pat, which is why I don’t need to learn Spanish, and means I can sit in the Red Lion eating a full English every morning not worrying about the locals. I’ve no idea about local news anyway, because the telly in here only shows Only Fools on a loop